0:04

This is another

0:04

episode of stand up comedy, your

0:07

host and emcee, celebrating 40

0:07

plus years on the fringe of show

0:11

business stories, interviews and

0:11

comedy sets from the famous and

0:16

not so famous. Here's your host

0:16

and MC. Scott at words,

0:21

ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the podcast. And you know, we've

0:23

been trying to explore some of

0:27

the different areas that lead up

0:27

to and included in stand up

0:31

comedy. And one of those is

0:31

comedy writing one of the most

0:35

important aspects of being a

0:35

comic entertainer. And today on

0:39

the podcast, we have somebody

0:39

that's just brilliant when it

0:43

comes to writing. He went from

0:43

columnists to comedy, which

0:47

included television, and author

0:47

to public speaker, ladies and

0:51

gentlemen, my good friend, Mack

0:51

Dryden.

0:55

Thank you, Scott.

0:55

Oh, thank you for that. Oh, I'm

1:00

humbled by that applause. Thank you.

1:03

Well, you're in

1:03

the heart of Kentucky, and you

1:07

are a very successful author.

1:07

You're a public speaker, you

1:13

spent a much of your career as a

1:13

comedy performer on the comedy

1:19

team of Mack and Jamie. And if

1:19

you guys get a chance, go back

1:23

and listen to some of the early

1:23

interviews with Mack Azuz with

1:26

his partner Jamie, our craft,

1:26

but you got your start as a

1:31

columnist. Can you share with

1:31

the audience how you kind of

1:35

became a writer in in? How did

1:35

that start off? We just good in

1:40

English class?

1:42

Well, I yeah, I was

1:42

always drawn to it. And I was

1:45

always kind of a funny guy. I

1:45

had a very funny dad. And he

1:51

just it just rubbed off off on

1:51

the three boys he had. And from

1:56

the start in school, you know, I

1:56

was kind of, and I would write

1:59

funny stuff for the the school

1:59

paper and funny poems and all

2:05

that it was just in my blood. I

2:05

don't know. Yeah.

2:08

So you were

2:08

writing that early on? Are we

2:10

talking High School?

2:12

We're talking earlier

2:12

than that, like, celebrate

2:15

seventh grade?

2:16

Yeah. I mean, a

2:16

lot of people are still learning

2:19

how to write and you're already

2:19

putting together articles that

2:24

people could comprehend. That's

2:24

amazing.

2:27

Well, yeah, I was a

2:27

little bit of an outlier,

2:31

because I was in school in

2:31

Mississippi, which is not known

2:35

for his scholastic achievement.

2:35

Though, even though we have some

2:43

of the greatest writers in

2:43

history, William Faulkner and

2:46

Eudora Welty, and all that the

2:46

joke is that more Mississippians

2:50

right than read. But anyway, so

2:50

I,

2:54

I hadn't heard

2:54

that. But that's interesting.

2:57

Yeah, yeah. Whole

2:57

bunch of Mary Hannah. I mean, I

3:00

could go on. But Willie Morris,

3:00

but yeah, I always had an

3:04

interest in writing. And it just

3:04

tickled me to death when I could

3:07

take a lot of people to death

3:07

just by looking at something on

3:10

a sheet of paper that I had

3:10

written that was just kind of a

3:13

magical superpower to me. The

3:13

first job I actually had, as a

3:18

writer, I was able to meet Piper

3:18

reporter van in Biloxi for a

3:21

couple of years. And, but of

3:21

course, I had to keep my hand in

3:25

it. So I also drew the

3:25

occasional cartoon to accompany

3:30

a feature story. And I would

3:30

sometimes write a humorous

3:34

column. And that was, I was able

3:34

to scratch that itch that comedy

3:39

is because I didn't know back

3:39

then I was in my early 20s, mid

3:43

20s, that you could make a

3:43

living in comedy because I was

3:47

from Mississippi, we didn't have

3:47

comedy clubs. I moved to Key

3:50

West and met Jamie, we put on

3:50

some shows down there that were

3:54

very successful. And I, you

3:54

know, it's just the fact that I

4:00

was the writer of the to Jamie

4:00

was an outstanding improv

4:04

performer, impressionist and all

4:04

these kinds of things, but he,

4:08

he just, it wasn't in him to sit

4:08

down with a blank sheet of paper

4:11

and put words on it, you know,

4:11

and that's, that was how I kind

4:15

of Excel. And in fact, he had to

4:15

basically drag me kicking and

4:19

screaming on the stage. We're

4:19

not ready. We're having all

4:22

it'll be fine. He was that kind

4:22

of performer. You probably

4:25

remember that.

4:26

Yeah, he's a very

4:26

strong personality, always

4:30

upbeat. But I think if you don't

4:30

mind me saying, Mac, I think you

4:35

jumped ahead a little bit. I

4:35

wanted to dive into a little bit

4:39

more. It sounds like your

4:39

foundation as a writer came from

4:43

those early days of high school

4:43

and being a columnist. What, how

4:48

did you pick the topics? I mean,

4:48

I didn't know you did cartooning

4:51

as well, because then you have

4:51

to also be a bit of a graphic

4:55

artist. But was it were you

4:55

already at an early stage? He's

5:00

writing about what was funny in

5:00

your school or what was funny in

5:04

your neighborhood or town? Or

5:04

were you already seeing kind of

5:08

the funny in life? Do you

5:08

remember how that came along?

5:13

Yeah, it was not that

5:13

early, you know, I didn't have

5:16

that many outlets to actually do

5:16

anything with my comedy writing.

5:21

It was, you know, I did

5:21

reporting a lot for school paper

5:24

and all that other stuff. I

5:24

would sneak in a comedy column

5:27

every once in a while. I

5:27

remember in high school writing

5:29

one about the table manners in

5:29

our cafeteria. And that got to

5:35

hoop title, what was it chump,

5:35

slurp Bert, I believe was the

5:42

title of

5:43

slurp and verb

5:43

for that. Yeah, sounds like Hi.

5:46

So cafeteria. So I

5:48

got, I got into

5:48

college, I went to Ole Miss, and

5:51

then University of Southern

5:51

Mississippi. And, and I actually

5:55

did have a fairly regular column

5:55

in the school paper there. And

5:59

it was strictly comedy. And I

5:59

just loved it and got, you know,

6:04

I got some feedback that kind of

6:04

gave me that, that rush you get,

6:11

but I wasn't performing yet.

6:13

Right. And we're

6:13

getting a little reinforcement,

6:15

a little support. Where are you?

6:15

I think maybe I was a little too

6:20

vague on the question. Were you

6:20

writing about? What was funny in

6:24

life? Or was it? Did people

6:24

bring you topics? How did you

6:29

find your subject matter? For

6:29

this kind of early stage comedy

6:33

writing?

6:34

Well, it's the same

6:34

thing as I do now, which is to

6:40

find the shared experience. And

6:40

it must Point High School, we

6:45

all ate in the cafeteria. And so

6:45

I wrote about things that

6:50

everybody who would be reading

6:50

the paper could relate to, you

6:54

know, I wasn't going to go off

6:54

and some talk about Brazilian

6:57

lizards or something I was going

6:57

to talk about what people

7:01

related to and, and I would

7:01

throw in, you know, I couldn't

7:05

name names, if I embarrassed

7:05

people. But I could talk about

7:10

individual teachers, if I teased

7:10

them gently. And it was not an

7:14

embarrassment, things like that.

7:14

Then, well, I am going to move

7:19

forward because I moved to Key

7:19

West after I was a newspaper

7:22

reporter in Mississippi. And

7:22

that's where I met Jamie, where

7:25

we put on the shows. And again,

7:25

it was shared experience. I put

7:29

on a I wrote a basically a

7:29

Saturday Night Live sketch show

7:34

based on the weirdness of

7:34

Keywest. And you've been down

7:39

there haven't just got

7:40

no, oh, you

7:40

haven't Well, had family have

7:43

lived there and told me some of

7:43

the unique aspects of Key West.

7:48

So you have this foundation of

7:48

writing and writing about your

7:52

immediate atmosphere that you're

7:52

living in, in the in, like you

7:56

said, the shared experience of

7:56

the people around you. And that

7:59

carried you through high school

7:59

and college. And when you get to

8:02

Key West, and you meet Jamie,

8:02

you're already thinking about

8:07

you're in this new environment.

8:07

It's a whole new subject matter.

8:12

And you're off and running,

8:12

writing about that already.

8:17

Absolutely. Because,

8:17

well, first, the first thing I

8:21

did to make some money down

8:21

there, I drew a Yeah, I was I

8:25

did graphics, I drew cartoons

8:25

mostly. And I created a cartoon

8:30

calendar. And it was, you know,

8:30

satirizing the Keywest

8:34

experience, which was easy to

8:34

do, all you had to do was walk

8:37

down the street and see the

8:37

characters. And it was quite a

8:41

mixture. It was the Cubans, the

8:41

hippies, the art people, the

8:46

gays, the drug dealers, I mean,

8:46

it was just it was a wash with

8:51

character pirates.

8:52

And when there's some people that have money down there, I mean, it's not a cheap

8:54

place to live. So no,

8:58

absolutely. So you got a mixture

8:58

of different types of people.

9:03

And you were able to see and

9:03

then express through your

9:07

writing, the the lifestyles all

9:07

being mixed in that kind of

9:13

gumbo of life.

9:15

Yeah, absolutely. And,

9:15

you know, and of course,

9:18

everybody who was going to see

9:18

this show on we put on shows in

9:23

the theater, everybody was from

9:23

Key West. I mean, it's only five

9:26

miles long and free now five,

9:26

and that 20,000 People back then

9:32

anyway, and so I was speaking

9:32

directly to them. They walked

9:36

off the street park their bikes

9:36

locked him up and walked inside

9:40

and then saw Keywest reflected

9:40

to them in an exaggerated and

9:44

satirical way. For example,

9:44

there they've got what tako

9:48

Palmetto bugs which are these

9:48

huge roaches, tropical roaches

9:52

that are bad I don't know how

9:52

does that as long as matchbook,

9:54

you know the big thing. And I

9:54

had a saint's there's make me a

9:59

costume and I've been became a

9:59

man sighs, Palmetto bug, and

10:03

infested Jamie's apartment. And,

10:03

you know, stuff like that.

10:08

So are you. I'm

10:08

just interjecting NASA question.

10:12

Were you. You were already with

10:12

Jamie at this point. Was this a

10:16

you said you were doing some

10:16

theater? Was it a kind of a

10:19

play? You were writing the whole

10:19

script for both for multiple

10:25

characters. You transition from

10:25

being a columnist to being a

10:29

script writer at this point?

10:32

Yeah, sketch

10:32

writer, I would call it. But

10:35

yeah, I cast it. And, you know,

10:35

told people who are going to

10:39

have auditions and we had a cast

10:39

of about, I would guess, maybe

10:44

10 people, 12 people who played

10:44

multiple characters, just like

10:48

on Saturday night, live, of

10:48

course, and make costumes and

10:51

all that. Jamie was a was a

10:51

stand up comic, in Key West at

10:56

that time, and that's why I

10:56

hooked up with him. And he was

10:59

the best stand up comedian in

10:59

Key West being the only stand up

11:03

comedian and keyword. But that's

11:03

not to take away from his not

11:08

not to diminish his talent

11:08

happened to be the truth.

11:12

Proud crown to

11:12

wear. That's interesting. Great.

11:17

So actually, we weren't

11:17

a comedy team. We were just we

11:20

were just working together

11:20

because he was the he was the I

11:23

left him wasn't noticed the

11:23

station. But he was on a radio

11:26

station part time. And I think

11:26

we told you this story. And I

11:31

wanted to do this show. And I

11:31

left him a note and said, You're

11:35

one of the funniest man in Key

11:35

West. I'm the other one. Let's

11:39

get together. And we did. And

11:39

the rest is history. But we did

11:43

three shows, I think, in the

11:43

theater and Key West before we

11:48

started putting the act together

11:48

and started driving twice a week

11:52

of Fort Lauderdale to appear on

11:52

the comics at the comic strip.

11:57

And that's where the Act came

11:57

from. But

11:59

was it anyway,

11:59

interesting, though, because one

12:03

of the reasons I wanted to chat

12:03

with you, Mack is that you are

12:07

such a prolific writer. But even

12:07

I, as your friend wasn't aware

12:11

of this transition from

12:11

columnists to skit writing to

12:17

you know, and you start working

12:17

with on these theater pieces.

12:22

And then you you guys kind of

12:22

formed a comedy team. And you

12:25

said, the rest is history. But

12:25

just to make sure the audience

12:28

understands Mack and Jamie has

12:28

to be one of the premier comedy

12:33

teams of the 80s 90s. And into

12:33

the 2000s. You guys started off

12:38

as pretty quickly moving into

12:38

headlining gigs, toured all over

12:44

the world doing as one of the

12:44

top comedy teams, and actually

12:49

ended up with their own TV show

12:49

called comedy break. But the

12:54

transition from being a calmness

12:54

to being a skit writer to going

12:59

into stand up comedy. You

12:59

mentioned that Jamie had to kind

13:03

of drag you on stage, as I know,

13:03

because we're friends, you're

13:08

kind of more of an actor and you

13:08

were a writer and then you kind

13:12

of started acting was a stand up

13:12

comedy a tough transition, or

13:17

did it comes pretty easy for you.

13:20

Oh, no, no, it was

13:20

hard. I had been able to hide

13:28

behind roles. The I did some

13:28

acting and other plays in Key

13:32

West. I was I was Ernst Ludwig

13:32

in Cabaret, among others, but I

13:38

was able to hide behind that

13:38

script that somebody famous

13:41

wrote, and then when it got to

13:41

me, but what hooked me on going

13:47

for stand up, I think was that

13:47

when we did these sketch shows

13:52

satirizing Keywest, the first

13:52

time I went on stage, and

13:57

perform something I had written

13:57

and heard other people perform

14:02

something that I had written and

14:02

getting howls of laughter. That

14:06

was like a drug. To me. It was

14:06

like, oh, boy, I want to do a

14:11

lot of this. This is what I want

14:11

to do for the rest of my life

14:14

that somebody will pay me for

14:14

it. And you know, as it

14:19

happened, I was able to, to

14:19

improve and to turn that into a

14:25

lifetime career. I've been doing

14:25

it for over 40 years now.

14:28

And I just think

14:28

it's so great that you went from

14:32

being a columnist where you kind

14:32

of heard that people enjoyed

14:36

your your comedy writing to what

14:36

every comic entertainer will

14:41

tell you is that addictive

14:41

feeling of adrenaline and joy

14:47

when you're on stage and you get

14:47

that immediate reaction to

14:51

something you're doing. It

14:51

really is a special feeling,

14:57

isn't it?

14:58

Oh, it absolutely yes.

14:58

No. mean, immediate satisfaction

15:04

and reward. And you know, when

15:04

you're doing well, and you know,

15:07

when you're not immediately to,

15:07

you know, you've thrown those

15:11

bricks before that you think

15:11

it's gonna be so funny and, and

15:16

flops with pop out of your, you

15:16

know far ahead and it's like, oh

15:20

my gosh, but you learn. And you

15:20

know, our batting average, got

15:25

better with every performance

15:25

the first time we'd put, you

15:29

know, six new little pieces on

15:29

stage, two of them would work.

15:33

The next time we put six faces

15:33

on stage three out would work,

15:37

and we got better and better.

15:37

And then we finally got to be

15:40

like nine out of 10, you know,

15:40

get back just experienced, you

15:44

know how that goes. You've been

15:44

on stage enough to know that.

15:47

Right? Right. And

15:47

it's so true that you have to be

15:51

consistent and prolific in your

15:51

writing. Now you were you made

15:55

it clear that Jamie is more of

15:55

an actor more of a, he took

16:00

naturally to improv and comedy

16:00

that way. Now you're doing most

16:05

of the writing, I'm sure that

16:05

Jamie and you would sit down and

16:08

rehearse and he would help find

16:08

the funny in moments. But is

16:14

this something you're doing

16:14

every day, what I wanted to

16:17

share with the audience is that

16:17

I'm always stressing the

16:20

importance of writing, and how

16:20

it's the backbone of that makes

16:25

stand up comedy really work. And

16:25

some people have you have shared

16:31

that they had to write every

16:31

day. Jerry Seinfeld, Ed Solomon,

16:36

there's a few people that are

16:36

really good writers, but they

16:39

really work at it. I feel like

16:39

you're that way.

16:45

Well, if I'm not

16:45

actually writing, I'm gathering

16:49

ideas of practically always,

16:49

since my reporter days, have

16:54

kept a little notebook and a pen

16:54

on my person at all times.

16:58

Because something will occur to

16:58

me and I think, oh, man, that'd

17:02

be a great premise for a bit.

17:02

Let me write that down. Because

17:06

if I don't, and I'll just say,

17:06

Oh, I'll remember that I won't,

17:09

I'll forget what was that? I was

17:09

walking through the mall, and I

17:12

passed the shoe store. And oh,

17:12

that was funny. But and so if

17:18

you don't write it down, so that

17:18

that is a major part of the

17:22

creative process, for me,

17:22

anyway, is, is just recognizing

17:27

things out there in the world,

17:27

that everybody, you know,

17:32

everybody goes to the mall,

17:32

everybody stops at the gas

17:35

station, everybody stays in a

17:35

hotel. I mean, it's just, it's

17:41

those shared experiences that,

17:41

you know, Seinfeld is just a

17:45

master at I mean, he can make a

17:45

five minute bet on losing a sock

17:49

and a washing machine, you know,

17:49

it takes work.

17:55

I think it's

17:55

interesting that you use the

17:58

term reporting. And I think

17:58

that's exactly what it is, I

18:03

think stand up comics in a way,

18:03

are reporting to the audience,

18:10

about life around us. And in the

18:10

fact that you took your skills

18:15

as a writer and a reporter for

18:15

or, you know, columnist, and mix

18:21

that with comedy. You know, I

18:21

mean, you took that process that

18:27

you learned is a younger writer.

18:27

And when you came into comedy,

18:33

that really made it easier

18:33

because you both of us know

18:36

stand up comics that really

18:36

struggled to write that they

18:39

love to perform, but it's

18:39

difficult for them to sit down

18:43

with a pen and paper and figure

18:43

out what they're going to say.

18:47

And a lot of them like Robin

18:47

Williams would would prefer to

18:50

just wing it and use that

18:50

Rolodex in their head. But most

18:55

stand up comics need to learn to

18:55

write and it's it's a challenge.

19:00

And for you, it felt very

19:00

natural. And you had a process

19:04

you developed that process,

19:04

being like a reporter, noting

19:09

the funny in life. Anyway, to

19:09

expand on that is it? Is it what

19:15

makes something funny?

19:17

Oh, boy, I

19:17

forgotten. Maybe you can think

19:22

you're in the we're in the

19:22

comedy business so long. There

19:25

was some comedian and I'm sorry,

19:25

I forgotten who it was who said

19:29

that? comedians have a third

19:29

eye. They see that funny and

19:35

thing. And I think that, that

19:35

it's true. People have asked me

19:40

many times can you teach

19:40

somebody to be funny? I think

19:43

the short answer to that is no.

19:43

You can't teach them to be

19:48

funny. He can coach them how to

19:48

develop habits and one of them

19:54

is like you're talking about

19:54

keep those antenna up and if you

19:57

see something that you think

19:57

People will relate to. And you

20:03

know, we there's the, that, that

20:03

moment when you, I mean I've got

20:07

a bit in my Acworth alphabet and

20:07

I'm in hotels a lot because of

20:11

the corporate thing and say Oh,

20:11

I love my room that knew it was

20:16

fancy place when I walked in my

20:16

room and saw that $7 bottle of

20:20

water in there for my

20:20

convenience. Thank you that must

20:24

be a real hassle for them to

20:24

keeping up with the accounting

20:29

and everything so for their

20:29

convenience, I drank mine and

20:31

filled it back up in the sink.

20:31

And people get a good you know,

20:36

yeah 70 bucks for a beverage if

20:36

I don't get a buzz, I ain't

20:39

paying you know, and it's that

20:39

kind of thing where everybody

20:43

has gone into that not everybody

20:43

but most people have gone into

20:46

that hotel and they got water

20:46

for sale sale and you're in your

20:50

room and it just it kind of

20:50

rankles you know I want to drink

20:53

a water I don't want to pay

20:53

somebody but and and so you keep

20:58

your those that antenna up all

20:58

the time and take that note

21:02

because boy, for me anyway and

21:02

evaporates as soon as I walk

21:06

through the door if I don't

21:06

write it down. In talking about

21:10

reporting, by the way, I

21:10

actually used I combined my

21:17

journalistic skills with my

21:17

comedy skills. And I used to

21:21

write a ton of satirical news

21:21

stories. And I did that on a

21:26

couple of shows on Comedy break.

21:26

For one thing we have a little

21:30

news breakdown, but we couldn't

21:30

do much topical stuff but I just

21:33

ran across one from way back I

21:33

got it in front of me. Soviet

21:37

leader Boris Yeltsin has called

21:37

for a higher tax on vodka to try

21:41

to do something about Russia was

21:41

drinking problem. He said he

21:45

decided to do something about it

21:45

when the last big military

21:48

parade and Red Square turned

21:48

into a conga line. A jury

21:56

awarded the Food Lion

21:56

supermarket chain five and a

21:59

half million dollars in that

21:59

lawsuit against ABC saying the

22:04

network use the illegal means to

22:04

videotape rattling off cheese

22:08

and unsafe food handling. So ABC

22:08

was forced to eat a little crow,

22:13

which at Food Lion is marked

22:13

Cornish in. So anyway.

22:19

So that's it a lot of reading.

22:22

Thank you. And as

22:22

you can see, I've got the

22:24

journalistic thing down, I

22:24

wrote, you know, hundreds of

22:28

news stories. So and I got a I

22:28

got a degree in Journalism at

22:32

Ole Miss. Oh, cool.

22:35

Well, yeah. Now,

22:35

of course, most comics don't

22:38

have a degree in journalism. And

22:38

it really is, you have to put

22:43

out the effort and dedication to

22:43

write each and every day. Now,

22:47

Mack and Jamie was an incredibly

22:47

successful comedy team, we've

22:51

picked up that you did most of

22:51

the writing. And Jamie was able

22:56

to augment and make bring it

22:56

together on stage and really

23:00

make it work. After that you

23:00

became an author, you've written

23:04

a couple books, and you're a

23:04

public speaker, which is a

23:09

different kind of writing when

23:09

can you explain the difference

23:12

between comedy writing and

23:12

writing as as a speaker

23:18

tell you there's not

23:18

much difference in my case,

23:21

because I'm I have basically

23:21

made our living for the last 15

23:28

years as a humorous,

23:28

motivational speaker. For those

23:32

of you who don't know my

23:32

background, I'm a two time

23:36

cancer survivor and I get a ton

23:36

of laughs with that would you

23:39

believe I spent a little time in

23:39

a Moroccan prison. I survived a

23:45

near fatal marriage and the the

23:45

sharks of showbiz and all that

23:51

and I pull all of that together,

23:51

it's best left to the top

23:56

hilarious guide to achieving

23:56

your goals because I've done a

23:59

lot of I've achieved a lot of

23:59

different goals in my life

24:03

particularly for a kid who grew

24:03

up in a paper mill family in a

24:06

town a small town in Mississippi

24:06

went to the tonight show had my

24:11

own show on television performed

24:11

all over the world and and so I

24:16

made a seven step guide to

24:16

achieving your goals. But I just

24:23

make made it as funny as

24:23

possible and it changes all the

24:26

time of course I'm but I've got

24:26

this basic outline. And I use

24:31

PowerPoint funny pictures and

24:31

all that kind of stuff. But it

24:34

is very much like just straight

24:34

comedy writing because I do so

24:39

much humor within it.

24:41

But you take that

24:41

comedy and you bring you make it

24:45

poignant to the to the situation

24:45

where you're able to share that

24:50

you went through by the way your

24:50

book on your time in a prison is

24:55

amazing. And some of the other

24:55

stuff you've you've helped me A

25:00

write and perform with. But it's

25:00

interesting because on the one

25:07

point you spent most of your

25:07

life writing to purely entertain

25:11

people for that moment to get

25:11

that immediate reaction. That's

25:15

the real joy of stand up comedy.

25:15

Now you're taking that comedy.

25:21

And you're, you're adding some

25:21

important information, you're

25:25

sharing a path, you're sharing a

25:25

process that helps people, by

25:32

using your life's history is the

25:32

basis of the foundation, making

25:38

it funny, and getting across

25:38

important points that could be

25:44

advantageous to people. I mean,

25:44

you make it sound like it was

25:47

really easy, and maybe it was

25:47

for you. It's not for everybody

25:51

else. So I just, I just think

25:51

it's fascinating that you've

25:57

been able to do that. And I know

25:57

you've been a huge success as a

26:00

public speaker, what are the

26:00

important impacts that you feel

26:05

sharing really touch people? How

26:05

do you take it from comedy to

26:09

really, you know, a strong

26:09

impression on somebody?

26:14

Let me just clarify

26:14

one thing maybe correct your

26:18

little you said it was might be

26:18

easy, easy for you, but not for

26:21

everybody. It was not hate and

26:21

it was a it was grunting it out.

26:27

Boy, I mean, I work hours and

26:27

hours and hours trying to trying

26:32

to make that transition trying

26:32

to make a point of that point.

26:36

And yet, keep the keep the

26:36

comedy rolling. Or keep keep the

26:40

laughs rolling. And I'll just

26:40

give you an example here one of

26:43

the I get booked at cancer

26:43

survival celebrations a lot. And

26:50

it hospitals and bases, various

26:50

places because I'm a bill myself

26:54

as the funniest two time cancer

26:54

survivor in the US. And so

27:00

people, you know, that piques

27:00

their interest if they're in

27:05

that field, and then they go

27:05

online, and they see some, some

27:09

video of me doing exactly that.

27:09

And I just I inspire people and

27:13

put it in perspective for them,

27:13

how to face their fears and all

27:17

that. I'll just give you a quick

27:17

little excerpt here from my

27:21

speech essay when I so I felt

27:21

the lump in my body where it

27:25

doesn't belong. And I went to

27:25

the doctor got bad news. Mr.

27:28

Dryden, you have cancer and I

27:28

got my breath back and said, How

27:31

are we going? What are we going

27:31

to do about this? He says,

27:33

you're going to go into the

27:33

hospital, you're going to lose

27:37

the testicles, you're going to

27:37

undergo 17 weeks of radiation

27:41

treatment. And you're gonna pray

27:41

to God. I said, wait, go back to

27:45

step one. Lose what? Hold on,

27:45

let's not rush into this.

27:49

Because you know, you just get

27:49

more personally attached to some

27:53

organs than others. Like, I

27:53

don't even know what my spleen

27:57

feels like. I have certainly

27:57

never scratched it, I can assure

28:01

you that. So I did. I make jokes

28:01

about my whole experience I got

28:08

I got laughs from my radiation

28:08

mistress. You know, I'm lying,

28:13

but make it on this Glass Lab.

28:13

She's drawing these Navajo rug

28:17

designs on my body in my nether

28:17

parts and then aiming this

28:21

thermal nuclear device at me

28:21

telling me it's perfectly safe.

28:25

And then of course, he puts on a

28:25

big lead vest and disappears

28:28

into the fallout shelter. So you

28:28

get the idea. I make the

28:35

experience something to laugh

28:35

about, even though it's, you

28:39

know, there's some poignancy in

28:39

there too. I talked about trying

28:42

to take care of my caregivers,

28:42

but I get laughs on that too.

28:46

One day, I had my head in the

28:46

bucket and the nurse came by and

28:49

said How you doing Mr. Drive?

28:49

And I said, Well, I've picked up

28:52

about everything but I found my

28:52

class ring. And just listening

28:58

to her laugh at that made me I

28:58

was taking care of her. I turned

29:01

turn the tables on her she you

29:01

know, she has been taking care

29:04

of me well, now I'm taking care

29:04

of her and making her feel

29:07

better. So it's an you know,

29:07

I've been doing variations on

29:12

this speech for almost 20 years.

29:12

So I just polish and polish and

29:15

make it better all the time I

29:15

tried to is it has ultimately

29:20

become not as much of a public

29:20

public speaking, which people

29:27

have won. It's a performance

29:27

just without making an analogy I

29:31

perform from from the moment

29:31

they say so please welcome back

29:35

Dryden to thank you very much.

29:35

You've been wonderful. I know

29:39

where every line i mean i improv

29:39

sometimes but very rarely

29:43

because I want to keep that

29:43

magic going. I do not want to

29:47

stop that roll on and got them

29:47

up. So it's it's very similar to

29:54

a stand up performance since I'm

29:54

performing the whole time

29:58

physically, verbally I use every

29:58

tool I've got every instrument

30:05

that I can play up there. I did.

30:07

Well, I think it

30:07

certainly was. Yeah, it's an

30:10

interesting correlation that

30:10

you've just expressed that a lot

30:15

of public speakers are using a

30:15

PowerPoint or the reading

30:19

something they wrote, and they

30:19

can be kind of dry they can be.

30:24

We've all heard boring speeches,

30:24

and presentations, I think

30:29

what's interesting is that you

30:29

make it clear that much like a

30:34

one man comedy show, you know,

30:34

like, aka Bob Dewback, or some

30:39

of the others that are out

30:39

there, doing one man theater

30:43

pieces, you're performing your,

30:43

you've made a presentation or

30:49

performance out of your speaking

30:49

topic of cancer. And what that

30:55

does is helps you share the

30:55

information, but in a much more

31:01

entertaining and engaging way.

31:01

And it's been said many times by

31:05

me that the key to entertainment

31:05

is engaging with the audience.

31:09

And you have found that magic

31:09

combination of mixing the humor

31:16

in life with the tragedy in

31:16

life, and sharing it in such a

31:20

way that it's entertaining and

31:20

poignant. And I think that

31:25

that's a real gift, Max. So

31:25

congratulations on that. I

31:29

wanted to touch on briefly that

31:29

you've also in your later years,

31:35

were able to take your talents,

31:35

and share them. You've done some

31:42

punch up work for me. I know

31:42

that you've helped some other

31:46

speakers with their topics and

31:46

with their their talks, do you

31:51

find that challenging to write

31:51

for somebody else's voice?

31:57

Well, certainly

31:57

challenging in many ways, but in

32:02

another way, Scott, it's, it's

32:02

so it's been a surprise to me

32:07

how much I enjoy it. Like when I

32:07

was working with you, I couldn't

32:12

wait to get back to it, you

32:12

know, I put two or three hours

32:15

into something and take a break.

32:15

And then one of the whole year

32:18

up, I know what I could do. For

32:18

whatever reason, I never before

32:23

I started doing this only a

32:23

couple of years ago, actively

32:27

seeking out people who would

32:27

like me to punch up their

32:31

speeches to get some more laughs

32:31

out of I had thought that I'm

32:35

gonna, you know, I'm not gonna

32:35

write for somebody else and let

32:37

them get the laughs Jay, I want

32:37

I want to get the last. But it's

32:41

such a joy to, to share that and

32:41

and just add my little skill

32:50

that I have that that most other

32:50

people just don't have. I have

32:55

worked recently. I mean, you

32:55

know about comedy, and you can

32:58

tell a joke, and you can you can

32:58

deliver a line on stage and get

33:02

a laugh with it. So you're a

33:02

little bit different. So for

33:05

many of my other clients,

33:05

although I think you'll admit

33:08

that I brought some good stuff

33:08

to the eye that we haven't

33:11

talked about that I wanted to

33:11

talk to you about what worked

33:14

and what didn't. And now it's

33:14

not the time,

33:17

right. But you're

33:17

right that I had a little bit of

33:21

a foundation on performance. But

33:21

when you're fighting for a

33:26

doctor that has to give a speech

33:26

at a convention, and you're just

33:30

trying to help him punch up his

33:30

talk, and they don't have that

33:35

foundation of performance

33:35

entertainment. It is a bit of a

33:40

challenge, right?

33:42

Well, it's a big

33:42

challenge, because you can't

33:45

really all know I have,

33:45

specifically doctors, as matter

33:51

of fact, I have made videos of

33:51

myself delivering the line like

33:56

I would do it to tell them that,

33:56

you know, you cannot just do the

34:00

line like this. You have to give

34:00

it a little inflection a little

34:03

bit of emphasis.

34:06

Oh, that's

34:06

interesting, though, man. You

34:08

don't just do the writing, you

34:08

can also share the performance

34:12

aspect of it. I think that's

34:12

yeah, I think that's brilliant.

34:16

I'm sure they find that really

34:16

helpful.

34:19

Well, I yeah, they have

34:19

said that they do that they

34:22

appreciate me going to the

34:22

trouble setting up my little

34:25

camera. But it's also in self

34:25

defense. Because those words

34:31

laying on that paper in front of

34:31

them. Probably don't speak to

34:36

them, like they speak to me. And

34:36

I can see it and I can say Oh,

34:41

that's great line. I know

34:41

exactly how I would say that.

34:44

But they look at it and say well

34:44

that, you know, I didn't learn

34:47

that in med school. So I don't

34:47

know how to do that. But they

34:52

can, you know, I can give them

34:52

an idea of how even you know, I

34:56

mean, it's kind of it's it's

34:56

cliche, how come complex comedy

35:02

is and I think you probably saw,

35:02

I think, Seinfeld, it spent a

35:07

couple of years getting an 11

35:07

word joke just right, it changes

35:12

so many times. But it's a very

35:12

delicate thing. If you don't, if

35:18

you don't pause just before you

35:18

say that last word that happens

35:22

to be the punch word of that

35:22

line or whatever. If you just

35:26

run it together, it won't work.

35:26

You gotta give him a moment to

35:30

catch up anyway, it's things you

35:30

can hardly, you just can't

35:34

explain on paper, you have to

35:34

show them. And that's what I

35:38

did. But I must say, I've gotten

35:38

really good response from people

35:44

I have. Well, I, you I mean, I

35:44

wrote some stuff for you, and

35:48

you were pleased with it. I hope

35:48

some of that work. And I've

35:51

gotten good response from a

35:51

woman named Melissa, she teaches

35:55

scientists how to present to

35:55

everyday people without putting

36:00

him to sleep. And one of the

36:00

lines that I did for her she,

36:06

she warns them against focusing

36:06

on themselves to focus on the

36:10

audience and what interests

36:10

them. So I gave her this, when

36:14

this is her lines, and then my

36:14

line. It's easy to allow our

36:19

focus to be on ourselves as

36:19

speakers. And we spent a lot of

36:21

time thinking about what we want

36:21

to accomplish, what will make us

36:24

feel comfortable. For example, I

36:24

know for a fact that my hair cut

36:30

is awesome. Jerome is amazing.

36:30

But I would never bring it up

36:34

during the presentation. When

36:34

it's most important to anyway,

36:37

so she when she's talking about

36:37

keeping the focus on the

36:42

audience, and then she's

36:42

bragging about her hair cut

36:44

right away. Right. Got a good

36:44

laugh. So yeah, it's hard to

36:49

explain this part of it because

36:49

everybody's different. And

36:53

everybody has a different voice.

36:53

But I just looked at their, I

36:57

just did a, I looked at an hour

36:57

keynote speech, taking notes

37:03

from an agricultural economist,

37:07

and grilling stuff.

37:10

Got off the bat, dry,

37:10

man. But I managed to put some

37:17

stuff in there to add some stuff

37:17

that he was, quite frankly,

37:21

thrilled with. And, and it was,

37:21

I must admit that it was kind of

37:26

easy to thrill him because he

37:26

did not have a single laugh in

37:30

that hour. He wanted some laughs

37:30

and he was a good performer. I

37:34

mean, a good presenter, you

37:34

know, he was energetic he was he

37:39

would walk around, he would use

37:39

his hands. He could do all that.

37:42

But it was my God, who cares

37:42

about porque futures and Brazil,

37:46

you know, it's hard to make that

37:46

funny. But, but I managed to do

37:51

it, I managed to get five or six

37:51

designers in there, and he was

37:55

tickled to death. So it's very

37:55

satisfying, I must say, to grow,

38:00

that I can stay at home and do

38:00

it.

38:03

Yeah. Well, Max,

38:03

I gotta tell you, you have had

38:06

such an amazing career, and the

38:06

talents that you have brought to

38:12

the entertainment world into

38:12

television, and through the

38:17

comedy team of makin, Jamie,

38:17

it's interesting. And I'm sure

38:21

you realize, at least in the

38:21

back of your head, you've come

38:24

full circle. Because you explain

38:24

that in your early days, you

38:30

wrote for your elementary school

38:30

in high school and your college

38:34

papers, and you were writing.

38:34

And you would have to kind of

38:39

wait for that feedback and kind

38:39

of wait for things. You went

38:44

through the comedy years and the

38:44

TV years where you had that

38:47

immediate reaction. And now

38:47

you're back to writing. But for

38:51

other people where you have to

38:51

kind of you write something, and

38:56

then you cross your fingers and

38:56

hope that it's presented

38:58

correctly. And you're getting

38:58

feedback. Third party, right. So

39:03

that is your, your career's kind

39:03

of gotten full circle. And but

39:08

it's been such a successful

39:08

career. mention the name of your

39:12

book, because I think people

39:12

might want to get that.

39:16

Well, it's called

39:16

fluffing the concrete, making

39:19

the most of foreign prison or

39:19

anything else. And it's, and I

39:25

also have a book of humor called

39:25

does this book, make my head

39:28

look fat? And they're both

39:28

available on my website, which

39:33

is simply Mac drive.com. And go

39:33

to the store.

39:37

And if somebody's

39:37

interested, though, in maybe

39:41

having you punch up a speech or

39:41

have you as a public speaker, if

39:45

they go to Mac dryden.com, they

39:45

can reach you.

39:48

That's it, just go to

39:48

the contact page, and they can

39:51

reach right out by phone or

39:51

email, and I'd love to hear from

39:55

you.

39:56

Hey, I just

39:56

appreciate you taking the time

39:59

to share kind of the process of

39:59

writing and how it enhanced you

40:04

as a stand up comic how it

40:04

brought success to you, in the

40:08

comedy team of Mack and Jamie

40:08

and how, even in your later

40:11

years, it's supporting you. And

40:11

not only from the financial side

40:17

that you can write for other

40:17

people or put your book out

40:20

there or do some public

40:20

speaking. But also on the

40:23

personal side, it allows you a

40:23

vehicle, creative way to express

40:30

yourself that that itch that you

40:30

mentioned in the very beginning,

40:36

it doesn't go away. We still as

40:36

creative people want to keep

40:42

that going. Right? Wouldn't you

40:42

agree?

40:45

Oh, absolutely. No

40:45

doubt about it. It's like any I

40:47

mean, I consider myself an

40:47

artist. I don't think artists

40:52

ever retire it if they lose

40:52

interest, because of whatever

40:56

reasons, that's one thing. But

40:56

if they still have that fire in

40:59

the belly and want to create,

40:59

you know, that's why George

41:02

Burns, almost made, made it to a

41:02

show on his 100th birthday. Not

41:07

quite, but he was still doing

41:07

stand up in his 90s. And I

41:12

aspire to that. But writing is

41:12

something of course that you can

41:15

do forever. As long as you got

41:15

your wits about you and I I'm

41:19

trying to stay fit enough and

41:19

healthy enough to keep mine

41:24

about me for a while. But I I

41:24

will always write I think I

41:27

enjoy writing. Even if it's a

41:27

funny letter to a friend, you

41:31

know, I guess my cakes doing

41:31

that as well. But

41:35

it's been a real

41:35

gift to society to have you be a

41:39

part of everything and from the

41:39

television, from the stage

41:43

performances to your books, and

41:43

the writing that you've helped

41:48

in other people's speeches.

41:48

There's a lot of Mac drydene out

41:52

there and for me, and you've

41:52

been very beneficial to me.

41:56

Thank you. And thank you for

41:56

sharing all this on the podcast.

42:00

Mac. You're a good friend. And I

42:00

think what you share about

42:05

comedy writing is so important.

42:05

And I hope our listeners have

42:08

gotten something from everything

42:08

you shared today. Thank you so

42:12

much.

42:13

Thank you, Scott,

42:13

really appreciate good talking

42:16

to you, buddy.

42:16

Ladies and

42:16

gentlemen, thank you for sharing

42:19

this moment and this interview

42:19

with Mack Dryden talking about

42:22

comedy writing. We'll be back

42:22

next week with another great

42:26

show. Thanks for listening, be

42:26

sure to tell your family and

42:29

friends and we'll see you next

42:29

week. Bye.

42:33

We hope you enjoyed

42:33

this episode of Stand Up Comedy

42:36

your host and MC. For

42:36

information on the show

42:39

merchandise and our sponsors or

42:39

to send comments to Scott. Visit

42:43

our website at WWW dot standup

42:43

your host and mc.com Look for

42:49

more episodes soon and enjoy the

42:49

world of stand up comedy. Visit

42:53

a comedy show room near you