Tom Segura Discusses His ‘Take It Down’ Tour And The Rapidly Evolving World Of Podcasting
Written by SOURCE on October 29, 2019
The world of podcasting is evolving at a stunning rate. Once perhaps unfairly associated with a solitary individual with a laptop and a microphone chuntering away about some apparently fascinating unsolved murder, podcasts are now an entire industry and, believe it or not, the top tier are eyeing up Netflixās throne for a takeover. Chief amongst them is Your Momās House, an irreverent to the extreme show helmed by comedians and husband and wife duo Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky, filmed in a full studio, assisted by a whole production team and an expanding budget. The show has its own in-jokes and references that stretch back as far as the podcastās own 10-year history. Itās impossible to understand and follow them all ā but that doesnāt mean itās not worth trying ā but they have an ever-growing legion of fans dedicated to doing just that.
Some of those fans are more famous than others. Their tight-knit comic friends who make semi-regular appearances ā Bill Burr, Bert Kreischer, Nikki Glaser, Andrew Santino, Chris DāElia, and so on and so on ā do their best to keep up, but itās Danny Brown who may have snatched the Number 1 Fan title. When he appeared on the show back in February he stole the show. He made references to episodes from years ago and has since cited the show as one of the key influences on his new album, uknowhatimsayin. Heās also since gone on to host his own show, Dannyās House, which bears more than a passing resemblance to YMH.
Of course, Your Momās House isnāt even the coupleās primary venture. Both veteran comics in their own right, they take turns touring while the other stays at home to raise their two young sons. Currently, itās Tomās turn to head out on the road and, having just wrapped up the first U.S leg of the Take It Down tour, heās now headed to the U.K and Europe for the first time in almost a decade. At that point he was opening act for Russell Peters, but now heās the headline act at his Take It DownĀ London show this Friday (October 31) at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo followed by dates atĀ The Lowry in Salford (November 2)Ā and two shows at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin (November 3, 4pm and 8pm).
Youāre just about to start on the European leg of theĀ Take It DownĀ tour. How does touring Europe compare to touring the States and North America?Ā
Itās going to be my first time doing it, ever, so I think itās exciting but also you have the same thought that you hadā¦ I remember the first time I went to Canada, which is obviously really close to the United States, but you have this general panic that about whether things are going to be the same there or not. Are jokes that work here going to work there, so thereās some of that about going to the UK, but Iām going to Paris, Antwerp and Berlin. I donāt know how the fuck thatās going to work.Ā
But itās not the first time youāve performed in a non-English speaking country, right?
Yeah, I did an Asian tour. I did Hong Kong, Singapore and Macau. This is like 2014. That was really fun. It worked basically the way youād think it would work, but you still have that thought of āIām in a totally different culture, a totally different part of the world.”
Did you have to change up your material at all for the cultural differences?
Not really. I think what ended up happening is when you go abroad the people that end up coming to your show at this point are dialed in on who you are, so for the most part I would think somebody going to the show knows that this is an American guy. Iām obviously not going to talk about something super specifically American, but they get it and thatās why theyāre at the show.Ā Ā
You mentioned on Theo Vonās podcast about doing a show in Spanish. Howās that coming along?
Itās always been something Iāve wanted to do. I did a set here in Los Angeles at a Spanish show. That was my first real life experience of it and that was fun. Iām planning a couple of new ones after the New Year. I have a lot going on though between now and shooting a special in November, but when thatās over, Iām hoping to be able to do more Spanish language shows. The goal would be to shoot something in Spanish.Ā
How did that L.A show go? Were you getting laughs?
Yeah, but I havenāt felt that level of terror since I was brand new. You wanna talk about panic, I was like holy shit! I speak Spanish fairly well, but ordering breakfast and telling jokes are completely different things. I didnāt know how it was going to go, but luckily it was a really good crowd. They were primed for me so it was the ideal situation.
Youāve spoken a lot about the politics and the bullshit of comedy clubs. Like getting bumped on line-ups or club owners not paying you. Are you at the level where youāve left that behind now?
Yeah, I mean, I donāt have to deal with that now, but I fully realise thatās a reality for other people. Now Iām touring in theatres and itās a whole different ball game, but that type of element will always exist in clubs. It sounds weird to say, but in a way itās almost the appeal of clubs. You instantly know youāre going into a seedy, shady place with some of them. I donāt know what itās like in the UK, but the trend now in the States is big, shiny, beautiful clubs. So all the new clubs look like sports bars where they have huge screens and itās very polished, but the clubs I was used to starting out were always dirty, dingy and the manager was kind of a scumbag-looking dude. That element will always exist in comedy clubs.
I guess itās a way of testing you, in a way. If you can make it through that then maybe youāve got something.
Absolutely! People drop out. We always talk about how part of āmaking itā as a comedian, so to speak, is sticking with it. You start out with this group where you recognise them because you see them at every show. Then six months later and youāre like āWhereās that guy?ā and you just donāt see them again. Fast forward 10 years later and you recognise maybe five of the comics you started out with.Ā
Were there times you came close to quitting?
Well, I remember having really bad bombs where you bomb so hard. Not even at a small show, at a big show. Youāre early on in your career and you have that moment at the hotel later where youāre wondering if you even know what youāre doing. I really thought I knew what I was doing. I donāt think I ever actually thought āIām never doing this again,ā itās more like moments of doubt.Ā
For me, one of the strengths of Your Momās HouseĀ is that itās really out there, but itās also got a weird family vibe to it. Do fans ever get too familiar or cross any boundaries? Like the Bert jokes for example?
Definitely. People definitely take it too far. Living in this world you have to accept and deal with trolls or whatever, but the first time you see someone shit on you on social media itās kind of startling if you havenāt experienced it before. Now if somebody is doing it it doesnāt really have the same effect. You build up a tolerance. The comment section of anything is generally a wild west so Iām just not going to engage with it that much. I just know not to do a deep dive, but it takes a while to learn that lesson. With the jokes, my dynamic with Bert is that we are really good friends and we do tease each other. I definitely do say meaner shit than he does, but itās also our relationship. Heās not confused by it. I donāt know if this is too old of a reference, but I think of it as like the old Chris Farley and David Spade movies, their dynamic. Bert is definitely Chris Farley and Iām definitely Spade. Heās this big, crazy maniac and Iām just saying sarcastic, shitty things to him. Talking to you, thatās clear to you. So you realise that part of the population is just not going to get it. Theyāre not going to get the joke, theyāre not going to get the relationship, theyāre not going to get why you think something is funny and itās wasted energy trying to explain it to them. You just have to move on.
I guess thatās the price of it.
Exactly. Itās the price of exposure.Ā
The other strength of the podcast is that obviously people go there to watch you and Christina be funny and the messed upĀ videos and everything, but the interviews have really taken on a life of their own. I donāt know if itās because youāre not journalists working for a media company, but people are definitely willing to tell you stories that they maybe wouldnāt tell anyone else.
Thatās awesome, man. Thank you.Ā I love it. I think the reason those interviews work for us is that I am genuinely curious about people. I try to get to know people. I try to get stories out of people, so when you like having conversations then naturally youāre going to get good ones recorded. The real reason I even started podcasting was I was a guest on this one podcast years ago and I was irritated by the way the host spoke to people. In my head I would hear myself thinking āYouāre not going to ask a follow-up question on that?ā It really bothered me and I would picture myself in his seat. I couldnāt believe they would just leave a statement sitting there and not ask anything else. I just love interviewing people that Iām curious to get to know.
You havenāt always had guests on the show though. How did that evolve?
Well, we went from having guests to having no guests. The idea behind having no guests was if you can build an audience thatās not guest-reliant, then youāre building a fanbase that just wants to hear you. So we did that for a while and then we brought them back just to switch it up again.Ā
Of all the many guests youāve had, who has been your favourite apart from Alyssa Milano?
Haha! Well, Danny Brown was amazing. Hereās the thing: Our show has so many inside jokes. When people first hear the show and hit me up they always ask me what all the reference are about and you canāt explain it because itās 10 years of references. Itās going to take you a while. But Danny Brown and Brendan Urie, they listen to the show already and thereās nothing quite like having a guest on who is calling things out and referencing stuff from years ago, it takes it to another level of fun. There are comedians we have great dynamics with, like Bert and Ryan Sickler, and you have like a shorthand language with them. Thatās always fun, but Danny and Brendan stand out to me as two of the most fun episodes weāve ever done.Ā
What do you think the future of podcasting, or at least your lane of podcasting, is?
I canāt imagine itās anything other than upwards. Someone asked me recently if I thought this was the peak of podcasting and if we were heading towards over-saturation. I donāt think so at all. Youāre hitting over-saturation in the sense that a lot of people are trying to get noticed. I think people are still figuring it out. Do you remember when Netflix switched from DVDs to streaming? People realised they could just hit stuff on demand and then, in a lot of ways, they basically destroyed the cable business. People realised they could just watch what they want and not have to sit through any bullshit. I think the same thingās going to happen here. With podcasts, you can be into finance, sports, comedy, politics. Thereās no reason why more and more people arenāt going to be creating high quality content. So I think weāre at the beginning of it. I always make this point to people, but youāre starting to see the Fortune 500 companies advertising on podcasts. Thatās really the sign that the explosion is yet to come. Pretty soon, when you have maybe 40% of people listening to podcasts ā which is a little way away ā advertisers are going to realise thatās where the ears are.Ā
Absolutely. Thereās a huge chunk of the global population that even skips Netflix, let alone live TV, and heads straight to YouTube.Ā
A lot of people donāt know, because they donāt think of it this way, but Netflixās biggest competitor is YouTube. Itās the exact same concept and platform, just a different way of delivering it. They both have the same goal: they both want you to get lost on their platform and not go anywhere else. Thatās why you have a million choices. They want you to be drowning in choices. They want you to get stuck there and watch one thing after another. With YouTube thereās actually even more choice than Netflix.Ā
So whatās the future of Your Momās House?
Weāre going to keep doing the show weāre doing. We have the studio ā I just pulled up there now ā and weāre producing a lot of other shows, which weāre having a lot of fun with. Weāre basically doing a version of what those big platforms do. I want you to get lost on my channel. Bert and I have our own podcast, 2 Bears 1 Cave, we produce a show for Dr. Drew called Dr. Drew After Dark, we produce a show called Ryan Sickler called Honeydew, and theyāre all on our YouTube channel. So our business model for that is āhereās a bunch of content, hopefully you can find something you like here.ā Thatās really what it is.
What are you thoughts on the UK comedy scene? Apart from one or two Brits going to the States, there doesnāt seem to be much cross-pollination.Ā
To be honest, I donāt know too much about it. Obviously, the UK has always had a great comics. Last time I was there was in 2010. I opened for Russel Peters at the O2 Arena in London. I met some local guys and they were all really cool, but Iām not too exposed to it. But Iām a huge fan of the British comedy shows so Iām really excited to go there and be around it all. I want to see the land where the language I speak originated from. Iām very excited to get confused by all the different accents.Ā