Episode 338 - Phil Perrier

**Earl Skakel** (0:00)
Okay, Inappropriate Earl Guest. As you know, I used to back in the day of this podcast, used to just have my funny friends on, and it was really the glory days of the podcast. We strayed a little bit, trying to get these big fat celebrities on. And I don't mean Ralphie May, but just people who could draw numbers. We're back to getting my friends on. This next guest is a dude who, in my early years of LA standup, I noticed he was heads and tails above the rest of us.
And I was lucky enough to perform a road gig with him. We'll get into that.
But he has a documentary out now called One Nighters on Amazon that is really about the life of the road comic, and two road comics in this case. Please, former writer on Jay Leno's show, former writer on Arsenio Hall, Mr. Phil Perrier.

**Phil Perrier** (0:59)
Good to be with you.

**Earl Skakel** (1:01)
Dude, you've always been one of the funniest people I know. And I just, when I saw the documentary, I watched it last night, watched it straight through. I almost teared up. I did tear up at times because I don't think people, you know, they see the glamour side of the road, which is say Joe Rogan or Sebastian or whoever in packed arenas and whatnot. They don't see the Tribble run side of the business, which is, you know, 10 hour drives in between gigs.
And that's really what your documentary is about. How did you get it on Amazon? I mean, that's a pretty good feat.

**Phil Perrier** (1:42)
Yeah, you know, I just, I submitted it and they took it. And I was pleasantly surprised. It did not take very long. And I mean, that part of it, everything else took, you know, years, but getting it on there was surprisingly easy. And yeah, I was delighted.
It was a dream come true. You know, I've been wanting this thing, you know, in front of people. And, you know, I think eventually it'll be on YouTube for free and everybody can see it.
But having it, you know, because for years people like, man, what's up with that documentary? And where's that documentary? And I'm working on it. Or, you know, so it was one of those sore subjects, but now it doesn't go to Amazon, you know, only up 99 cents, enjoy.

**Earl Skakel** (2:22)
It's money well worth it. I mean, it's, I think any comic should watch it, whether you're famous or not. If you're famous, you'll relive the glory days of the struggle. And, you know, Billy Gardell's in it, a legendary comic from Pittsburgh and many other comic.
Yeah, he's done so many things, you know, Billy Gardell has turned into the modern day MM at Walsh, like his resume is just, you know, TV shows, movies.

**Phil Perrier** (2:58)
And even he's rich and famous.

**Earl Skakel** (3:02)
Yes, I bombed in front of him once at Michael's Pub in North Hollywood. I haven't talked to him since.

**Phil Perrier** (3:10)
I've done some bombing in North Hollywood myself.

**Earl Skakel** (3:13)
Well, I often tell people if you want to find out what a Tribble run is without doing one, just drive around Michael's Pub in North Hollywood for about 12 hours, get out of your car, do a set and then drive around again for 12 hours. And that's a Tribble run. Yeah.

**Phil Perrier** (3:30)
You know, it's funny you mentioned because Jason Rouse, the guy that edited it, showed it to some comedian friend. He lives in Portland. They showed it to some comedians and he almost invariably said the same thing. It's like they all kind of got choked up because it's like they all recognize, wow, that's my life. I've been to those gigs and I've stayed in those hotels. And it just, every comic has been through that baptism of fire, that sort of minor league type of gig where it's like you're saying, long drives, low money. But you know, sometimes when you're on stage, the magic is real.

**Earl Skakel** (4:06)
Oh, yeah, when you went to the clip in Kalispell, Montana, I remember the one Tribble run I did do. I actually left halfway through because there were some circumstances that Dave and Rocky Watool did not.

**Phil Perrier** (4:21)
I worked up there with Rocky.

**Earl Skakel** (4:23)
Rocky was a great guy, but he was kind of Tribble's, I don't want to say sidekick, but he was like Tribble's, I guess, LA connection to the comics.

**Phil Perrier** (4:35)
Yeah.

**Earl Skakel** (4:37)
And Rocky told me, oh yeah, off nights are covered on the road. I thought, okay, that makes it a little easier to digest.