-Thank you for coming to the show.
-Are you kidding? I'm so --
I'm like little-kid-level geeked right now.
This is exciting stuff. -I'm a big fan of yours.
And to have you and Willie Nelson
on the same show -- -It's a weed-heavy show.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah, yeah.
I want to get to know you, buddy.
I know that you're from Omaha, Nebraska.
-I am, yeah. -Yeah, we love --
-One person, weird. [ Laughter ]
-We allow one to two people from Omaha every night.
But then you moved to L.A. to start your career in comedy,
or how did that work? What was your first job?
-Yeah, my very first job in L.A.
was at the Hollywood Improv Comedy Club.
I was like 19 years old.
I know you started there, too, right?
-That was my club. On Melrose?
-Yeah! -Oh, my gosh.
-Eddie the bartender, he used to always say,
"You're like Jimmy Fallon," which was pretty cool.
-Is that right? -Yeah.
-Hi, Eddie! I love Eddie the bartender.
[ Laughter ] Yeah, he knows.
-I think we both have very excitable faces.
-Yeah, I do. I do get excited.
-Me too. -Wait. But -- That's a good --
You were just doing stand-up there,
or what were you doing at the -- -I was answering phones, and --
[ Laughter ] -Really?
-They did not allow me to do stand-up there at 19.
-Were you working the door? -I worked the door.
I was like the worst door guy they've ever had.
Because are you -- -No.
-Are you intimidated by this guy?
I'm like, "You have to keep it down."
They're like, "Absolutely not."
I'm like, "I'm gonna get someone larger."
[ Laughter ]
"We're gonna get the other guy."
-Did you ever have to deal with any hecklers?
-Yeah, especially early on.
Now people just, like, will scream things
from "Workaholics" or whatever.
Be like, "Tight butthole!" And I'm like, "Not here."
[ Laughter ]
Different thing.
But, like, back in the day, you used to do stand-up
in places where they don't do stand-up a lot.
They always make you do it in, like, Chinese restaurants,
or like laundromats or something.
I did one at a military base.
And they didn't tell --
It was in the officers quarters, so this is, like, the bosses.
And they didn't tell them that it was comedy night,
and it was playoff football which was happening.
So they're all watching the game.
And then some woman goes, "Are you guys ready for comedy?"
And they're like, "Huh?" And then she turns it off,
and she's like, "Andy Devine!"
I'm like, "That's not my name!"
[ Laughter ]
-"It's Adam." -Yeah.
-"It's Adam Devine."
-And then someone just stood up and is like, "N-o-o-o!"
-Actually yelled no?
-And that got the biggest laugh of the night, for sure.
-But did you do -- -I tried to do five minutes,
and then one guy was just freaking out, was like,
"This is not happening! Not here!"
[ Laughter ] -Wow.
"We have to watch the playoff game!"
-"I need to see the Patriots!"
I'm like, "You can watch the Patriots."
-Wow. What did you do?
-I'm like, "You can turn your game back on.
It's okay." [ Laughter ]
But I needed the $100 they were giving me,"
so I'm like, "Can I just entertain your wives?"
And there's like -- the wives are just
pounding drinks in the corner. -Yeah.
-And so I just sat down with them and sort of
conversationally did my act.
[ Laughter ]
-It was a sit-down stand-up? -Yeah, uh-huh.
-I had a similar gig. It was tough.
I did West Point.
And I went in and they had -- -Whoo!
-One. One in every crowd.
-One in every crowd. [ Light laughter ]
It was like a Rathskeller, or some pub,
or wherever they all just hang out.
And again, they didn't announce it was comedy night or whatever,
and people were just hanging out there,
and I go, "Where's the microphone?"
The guy goes, "Oh, there's no mic."
I go -- -"It's right here!"
-It's like, "How do I -- How do we know that --"
He goes, "I'll just tell everyone to be quiet."
I go, "This is terrible. This is gonna be awful."
And then -- so I go, "I think I might have a mic
in the trunk of my car."
Again, it was like -- I was getting a hundred bucks.
-Yeah. -So I go -- So I had
a microphone I hooked into my amp.
I go, "Do you have a stand at all?
A mic stand?" He goes, "No."
He goes, "We'll just get one of the plebes
to hold the microphone." [ Cheers ]
So we made him part of the act. -That's actually pretty good.
-I mean, you got to make the best.
-Yeah. -I mean you know what it's like.
Your Montreal story was very interesting.
-Oh, yeah. But -- People don't --
A lot of people that aren't in comedy worlds don't know this,
but the Montreal Comedy Festival is this huge festival,
and they allow 20 new comics,
and they call them the New Faces of Comedy.
And I was, like, a kid.
I was like a year or two into doing stand-up.
I was 21 or 22, and I had got a callback for it.
So this is a real big deal. -It's a giant --
-Huge deal! And I'm, like, really nervous, you know?
And I was like, "I'm gonna keep it general,
and I'm going to say, 'Hey, comedy crowd.'"
I don't know why I was gonna say that.
-That's your opening line. -But that was my opening line.
-And it's industry all in the room.
-Yeah, tons. It's packed full of industry.
And then I come out and go, "Hey, clomedy cloud."
[ Laughter ]
G-a-a-ah! -"Clomedy cloud"?
-I said, "Clomedy cloud."
And then I just realized what I did.
And I go, "No!"
Actually, I screamed the "F" word,
and I throw the mic down.
And I'm like, "I'm outta here!"
And I walked through the crowd,
and I go, "Look at all this industry!
They could've made me! But then I say 'Clomedy cloud!'"
Like, committing way too hard to the bit,
and then I go outside,
and the bouncer's like, "Hey, uh, man..."
Reggie. I know this bouncer. And he's like,
"Uh, I think you're supposed to be back in there."
[ Laughter ]
And I'm like, "Yeah, I definitely should be.
I said 'Clomedy cloud,'" and he's like,
"You shouldn't have said that." [ Laughter ]
And then I go back in,
and the emcee was, like, taking the mic.
And he goes, "Clomedy cloud."
And I go, and I grab it,
and I go, "How we doing, comedy crowd?"
-Oh, yeah! That's how you do it.
Bring it all back around.
-And they were like, "You are genius.
You planned that all along," and I'm like, "Uh-huh."
[ Laughter ]