Guests this week: Chris Riggins & Ronn Vigh
This week's edition of Copeland's Corner, with featured Headliners Chris Riggins & Ronn Vigh, as they and Brian discuss this week's hot talk topics.
Follow Chris Riggins on Social Media: @ChrisRigginsComedy
Get more info. from Ronn through his website: RonnVigh.com
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For more from Brian...
Visit his website: www.BrianCopeland.com
Follow on Social Media: Twitter & Instagram - @BrianCopie
Email: BrianCopelandShow@Gmail.com
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Copeland's Corner is Created, Hosted, & Executive Produced by Brian Copeland.
The Podcast's Booking Producer is Jarron Williams.
This Show is Recorded & Mixed by Charlene Goto with Go-To Productions. Visit Go-To Productions for all your Podcast & Media needs.
Host Brian Copeland: [00:00:00] Well, hello again, this is Brian Copeland talking welcome to another edition of Copeland's Corner. If all goes well, we'll be joined a little bit later on in the podcast by a distinguished panel of comics. We'll talk about some of the news of the week. Welcome to my family room. You know, if you're watching this over YouTube, as opposed to listening to it over one of your favorite platforms, we are here broadcasting from my, uh, I should say recording from my, uh, from my family room.
So welcome to my home, uh, before we get started, uh, story, I wanted to talk a little bit about, uh, right now, Wednesday, when this is being recorded, uh, there is a trial taking place, a, uh, not a court hearing, actual trial taking place in, in Colorado, uh, a group of, uh, of activists. As well as, uh, uh, some Republican voters, uh, are trying to get [00:01:00] Donald Trump taken off of the 2024 ballot by saying that he is ineligible to be on the ballot because of, uh, the 14th amendment.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars anybody who is a federal official who, while after taking an oath to defend the Constitution, then aids or abets an insurrection against the Constitution or a rebellion against the Constitution. Uh, this goes back to after the Civil War, uh, there were some, uh, some representatives.
Uh, who were, uh, potentially there were going to be representatives from the, uh, the former confederacy who would have been in the Senate or been in the Congress. And, uh, they did not want those people who had tried to destroy the union sitting in Congress. So Trump side says that, uh, that he should be.
Allowed on the ballot because what you're doing, if you refuse to put him on the ballot is you are disenfranchising several million people who would have potentially voted for [00:02:00] him and that the voters should decide it should be up to the voters to decide if they want them or if they don't, uh, personally, I mean, if you watch me or listen to me, you know how I feel about Donald Trump.
Uh, but even if this weren't Trump. You know, he did even though he denies that he had anything to do with the insurrection and those of us who saw it with Our own eyes and heard what he said at the ellipse when he riled that crowd up saying you gotta fight like hell We're not gonna have a country anymore.
We knew exactly what he was talking about Matter of fact, uh, one of the witnesses who testified today was a professor who is an expert in hate speech who has interviewed people like the the oath keepers and the kkk and uh, uh, all the the proud boys all these, um These white supremacist groups, and he's an expert on them and what wiles them up and he testified that what trump does Is that he uses double speak where he?
talks about violence in hypotheticals, you know, like remember when he was talking about that if the Democrats try to [00:03:00] take away people's guns the NRA people would take care of that And so he says things like that, and that gives him some kind of plausible deniability. We can say, no, I never told anybody to do anything.
I just mentioned that this could happen. You know, it's like mafia. Oh, nice country. You got there'd be an awful shame if something happened to it. Uh, but I, I hope that they, uh, that they, the, the, uh, judge, I guess it's just a judge in, in Colorado. It is not before a jury, uh, sides with the plaintiffs. In this case, because if you did in any way participate in or encourage or aid in a bed, a rebellion against constitution, you have no business in a position where you are swearing allegiance to the constitution.
You just don't, I don't care if it's Trump, I don't care if it's Biden, I don't care if it's me. You know, if you're doing something like that, you know, if you, if you are trying to destroy democracy and you're against the constitution, you have no business in a position where you were supposed to be defending constitution.
My opinion, what's yours?[00:04:00]
This is part of the podcast that we call Headliners on the Headlines. Joining us this week, two of our regular panelists, Ron Vi is here and Chris Riggins is here. We're going to start with you, Chris, where you're on a bus, right?
Chris Riggins: I'm actually I just got off the bus. The whole reason why I'm late is because I thought.
That I would have at least an hour before we got to our destination when we were supposed to do this But the bus pulls into orlando right as i'm supposed to call you So I had to get all my stuff off the bus. I'm in the hotel lobby actually in orlando
Host Brian Copeland: So now didn't you see the n double a cp advisory about going to florida?
Uh, advising not to go to Florida. I mean, that's an actual advisory. The NAACP will not, this is that the state hospitable to people of
Chris Riggins: color. What I am here with security. So I'm okay. [00:05:00]
Ronn Vigh: Hey, I sold my dad's house in Florida. And the biggest accomplishment there was two years of doing it. I never once stepped foot in Florida and that was a great success right there.
Host Brian Copeland: What did you get
your
Ronn Vigh: prize? Oh no, I lost a lot on the house , but, but it's done with, and you know, right after I sold the house like two days later, there was one of those big hurricanes and I'm like, oh no, like watch the hurricane, come and knock this thing over right now. And I could have gotten all the insurance money or something instead after two could
Chris Riggins: that've been more, I knew I had
Ronn Vigh: to go to Florida and I'm so happy
Host Brian Copeland: for that.
So where are you right now, Ryan? You in Vegas?
Ronn Vigh: Yes, I am here. I can't, I can't wait to get back. You know, I'm, I'm, I still have my place in San Francisco and I, I miss the Bay Area so much for so many reasons. Yeah, I don't miss the Bay Area for so many reasons right now. So when my lease is up in February, I'm going to move and I just, I'm torn.
Is it back [00:06:00] to the Bay Area full time or try something else?
Host Brian Copeland: Oh, that's not even a question. Just get back here. Get your mind back here. Oh, I miss it. I,
Ronn Vigh: there's so much and I can't stand about it right now, Brian. I miss the people and I miss the comedy. I miss like like minded people like you all because Vegas is a, there's a lot of nice people here but it's A little weird.
And then, so, you know, we have a Republican governor now and it gets a little Trumpy around this time of year and it makes me just want
Host Brian Copeland: to Trumpy runs. Tell me you're, I love that. Hey, so who are you in Orlando with? You was Chappelle.
Chris Riggins: Uh, yeah, I'm with Chappelle tonight. Tomorrow night we're doing, uh, the Amway center.
Um, we just drove in from Atlanta, um, to do in Atlanta last night. Um, it's crazy. So yeah, Orlando tonight. And then I'm back to California.
Host Brian Copeland: Are you guys working here or are you just coming home?
Chris Riggins: Uh, I'm coming home. I have to go. I have shows that I'm doing. Um, I'm headlining the punch line in November, so I'll be back home working on a whole new hour [00:07:00]
Host Brian Copeland: trying to get that all set up.
I'm starting. That's my November goal is I'm starting to work on a new 45, which I haven't done in years. So I'm starting to put on my 45. So you'll probably see me around working out.
Ronn Vigh: And I'm here trying to work on a new three,
Host Brian Copeland: a tight three, make sure that it's a tight three. All right, well, let's, let's start with this.
Um, Donald Trump's adult children are expected to testify this week. And next week in, uh, his fraud trial in New York, uh, when, depending upon how this fraud trial goes, he may lose the entire Trump organization. Now, uh, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump are co defendants. Ivanka Trump was a co defendant. But they, they determined that the, her misconduct happened outside the statute of limitations.
So they can't, you know, they can't include her. So she was separated, but she was subpoenaed in order to testify and so testify against her dad. So she has gone, uh, to, to [00:08:00] the appellate court and, and, uh, through several other procedures to try to get out of it or cost a subpoena, but the judge says he's got to testify and it's next week.
So my question is this, um, in most jurisdictions, a spouse cannot be compelled to testify against a spouse. You can't be forced to testify against your wife. Can't be forced to testify against your husband. Do you think it's right? That a kid is being forced to testify against her father? Ooh,
Chris Riggins: you know, as a parent, no, I don't think it's right.
I think, you know, You should allow them to have the volition to choose to do that if they want to, you know, and if the, if the parents bad enough and the kid has enough moral compass, they'll do it just because they know what's wrong. And, uh, and they'll want to do it, but I don't think you should force. I think they should have the option just even as bad.
As Trump is and as terrible as his family is, they still have those things that make them human, which is their family. And as much as I don't really care for all of [00:09:00] my family, um, it doesn't mean that I want to put my family in prison or that I want to be put in a position that I have to turn on my family.
Um, so it's, it's, it's one of those things it's like, you know, there's, there's the, the, the, the very real truth that he is a bad person, but that's her dad. You know, and as a dad, I understand, you know, it might be tough. That's, that's her daddy. So I don't know. I just, it also depends on their relationship.
So I think it's messed up.
Ronn Vigh: You're not going to catch me using any common sense or empathy here. Yeah. She should testify.
Host Brian Copeland: Um, you know, you, you would talk to Chris about turning against your, against turning against your family. I'm thinking about two things. One is that the FBI and the, the, the DOJ is asking the public for help. In, uh, identifying people they have not identified who were January 6th. So, um, I posted this on Facebook and got like a couple of hundred comments.
And my question is, if you [00:10:00] found out that your kid or your, your brother, or your neighbor, or your friend had been part of January 6th, Would you turn them into the FBI? Yes. Okay. Now see, that's it. You're, I mean, you're, you're, and you'd be forced probably the test of, uh, you would probably be. Well, I
Chris Riggins: guess here's the thing, but there's the difference is there's a choice I have.
I can totally say, I don't know. And act like I didn't see him. Or if I do go that step and turn them in, yeah, I'm a testify. You know what I mean? It's kind of like, that's the whole, the whole line. Like if I'm a, if I'm a go that, that step to turn them in, yeah, I'm a testify. But at, you know, for that, that's just like, yeah, you guys are traitors.
You're, you're treasonous, uh, traitors in our country. You should be in
Host Brian Copeland: prison. Ron, would you, would you turn in somebody close to you? If you found out they were part of January 6th, would you call the FBI? Would you
Ronn Vigh: say 99. 9%? Yes. Um, since I've not never been a father, if it was a child, I don't know what that relationship or [00:11:00] bond would be like.
For me to say that I could or couldn't or would or wouldn't but um, but for the most part I uh, I have this conscious that just doesn't let up lately. It just nags me when I feel like I may have done something wrong and it just sticks with me for days until I do it right. And I feel like we really need to kind of be guided by that moral compass lately because everything is just out of control and it's a tough thing but um, but I, I, I would definitely a friend probably.
I mean, I lost all respect for my I think I've talked about this before, when my uncle who was, who, who served, died, my cousin wrote in his obituary at the end of it, go Trump in a effing obituary. So I don't have patience for it. What? I just, wow. I'm just a gobsmacked. That's terrible. They did the military, it's called like a military salute at the funeral where they come with the flag and they do the whole, they did all that and they still wrote go Trump.
And this was at the time. [00:12:00] You know when he was definitely in the news for for dodge and drafts and stuff like that. This is about 2017 I think
Host Brian Copeland: and calling people calling soldiers who were who died or who were captured
Ronn Vigh: losers. Yeah Yeah. Yeah, exactly So I at this point just have no patience for any of this and if I know you were there and The agencies need my like help.
Yeah, i'm turning you in
Host Brian Copeland: All right, let's make it closer. Let's, let's bring it closer. I don't know if you remember this sort of the unit bomber, the way the unit bomber got caught was his brother turned to bed. I mean, could you turn in your brother if he's doing
Chris Riggins: that, if he's blowing up people and hurting innocent people?
Yes, without a doubt. I mean, I'm going to call him first and like, Hey fam, I'm turning you in. You know, I think that's the whole difference of it. It's like, for me, I would let them know it's me. I'm not hiding behind it. That turns you in you killed innocent people. That's not right. You know, it's it's it's very much the the mentality I have So yeah that brother or not you kill people.
It's it's a deal [00:13:00] breaker.
Ronn Vigh: Yeah for me again. I don't have a brother I probably don't have anything Are you an only child? Well, i'm an only
Host Brian Copeland: child that explains a lot
Chris Riggins: I'm, like an only child. My brothers are 20 and 16 years older
Host Brian Copeland: than me So your nickname was oops.
We
Chris Riggins: were so close to
Host Brian Copeland: being done.
That's rough to grow up with siblings that much older than you. Cause you, cause you know, I mean, you do the math that, you know, that you are, that you, you weren't. You're an unexpected supply, a surprise, but
Chris Riggins: the point is you get spoiled. That's the thing. And you just have to do the hardest part is your brother saying, Oh, they never let us watch TV after 8 PM.
Oh, they never let us have candy after dinner. Oh, they never, it was just like a series of things that you didn't get to do that. I get to do it. I'm just like, well, should have been born later. But well,
Host Brian Copeland: they're tired. I mean, by the time they're at the last one. I [00:14:00] know this myself haven't raised three.
You're just tired. Just whatever. You're a lot. You're a lot stricter on the first ones. Now, only children. What I've learned from, uh, from my kids, uh, peers is the thing that I found fascinating is that is that only children when it's time to go to college, they get as far away as they possibly can, whereas those with siblings will go to college locally.
Those who are only children because their entire 18 years of life. All of the attention from both parents has been focused on them like a laser. Everything they did. Is that your experience?
Ronn Vigh: Actually for me, it's quite opposite, but it's not because I didn't want to get far away. I think I My family so I was the first person in all my family to ever leave new jersey Okay.
Nobody left. And I was grow grew up very sheltered so much so that my mom wouldn't even drive more than a town away out of fear of getting lost. And that was a time when there was no Google Maps and [00:15:00] things like that. Yeah. So when it came time, I like wanted to go and get out and explore the world. But at the same time, I was terrified because I took on all my mom's like fears.
And also my parents got divorced and so things were finally starting to come back together when I was in my late teens and college was into consideration to where now my parents suddenly realized all the mistakes of my childhood and want to spend time with me today. They kind of like talk me into staying local and going to a commuter school so they can have more time, even though I want it to get out.
And so I did the college. And then four years later, I turned 21 and I went into New York City on my own because my parents would never take me to New York City. They were afraid of everything. And I accidentally tripped someone at a bar and that person was from San Francisco. We hit it off and two months later, I moved to San Francisco.
Wow.
Host Brian Copeland: So, I'll put somebody in a bar. It's amazing how fancy.
Chris Riggins: This is a clumsy San Franciscans.
Host Brian Copeland: Alright, speaking of New York, I'm glad you mentioned New York. [00:16:00] Um, story today, uh, Jonathan Majors, actor, uh, who, uh, most recently in, uh, in the Ant Man movie, uh, we played Kane the Conqueror and, uh, in, uh, in Creed III.
Okay. Uh, Michael Jordan's opponent in creed three is fighting domestic violence charges in New York and several months ago when this first came to light, when he was first accused, uh, I guess of beating his girlfriend, uh, his, uh, his manager dropped him. His agency dropped him, his publicist dropped him, and the question was what, what, what Marvel was going to do because, uh, this came the Conqueror character is supposed to be the big villain who's like the Thanos of the, of the current phase.
If he, if he followed these films, well, I'm reading today that now, now that he, I guess the proceedings have begun that Marvel is considering shifting the focus and basically dropping that character and making the villain Dr. Doom instead. So. Here's the thing. He denies the charges. He denies the allegations.
He's not been convicted of anything. [00:17:00] Do you think that he's been treated fairly?
Chris Riggins: Of course not. Of course not. And also because what they leave, which there's another story that the woman that accused him of domestic violence is actually being charged for domestic violence now herself for that. Really? I didn't know that.
Well, here's the thing. This is why relationships are so crazy. This is one of those, we both kind of, we fight. We're two, we're a couple that fights. You know, and, and this is what happens when the couples are equally physical. The only problem is what happens is the man tends to get in trouble because we're perceived to be stronger, bigger.
Yeah. Jonathan's no small dude. He's he's buff as hell and he's black and she is white.
Host Brian Copeland: Uh, he's going to jail.
Chris Riggins: He's done. I think what's happened is, and I don't want people to misconstrue this, the Me Too movement was a good movement. It was to, it was to get rid of, uh, things that were happening in the industry or in our world [00:18:00] that need to be taken care of.
But the problem with is when you go so long without doing something about a problem. That when you finally correct it, you tend to overcorrect and go beyond and above what needs to be done. And now these companies are seeing this and they're like, Oh, no, we got to get rid of them cases, bad PR. And it's like, you, instead of saying, let's wait to see what happens, it's the, it's guilty to proven innocent.
We're black men, uh, for
Host Brian Copeland: everybody, but I mean, for everybody in terms of this and you're right about the me too movement and I support the me too movement. But the thing is, is that, and I say this and I, and I know I'm going to get flagged for saying this, but every guy who makes a pass at you or who makes a comment towards you is not Harvey Weinstein.
Exactly. And that's basically, you know, kind of where we got to a point where there was such an extreme now. And I come from a home with domestic violence. I come from a home with a father who beat my mother. I, you know, and I was about nine. Well, what was I about 11, 12 years old. I had to pull [00:19:00] a butcher knife on him to get him off my mother and get him out of the house.
So I'm not supporting bad words. I want to make that really, really. Yeah. But nobody's proven that he's a better. Well, yeah,
Chris Riggins: he's accused of it by
Host Brian Copeland: somebody, you know, I think they should have waited until there was a verdict until, you know, once he's convicted, then that's different. That's completely if you're convicted of this by.
Chris Riggins: How much, how many millions of dollars are they gonna spend to reshoot all these movies now with the new villain, um, also with the actor strike still going on. So everything's pushed back. Yeah. So this, they're gonna lose so much money just to, just to maybe hedge a bet, maybe to be on the right side, because at the end of the day, it's like my mama told me, she said, if you see a man a, a couple fighting in the street, you leave them alone.
You don't jump in the middle of that because you don't know what's going on in that fight and you might end up being in more trouble than whatever's happening because I've seen men try to step in and intervene in couples [00:20:00] arguments and fights and then guess what? Both those people I get out of my fight and then you're getting beat up by two people who are, you know what I mean?
So when it comes to this, they need to just say, you know what? Let this man have his due process. You know, clearly there's something going on, but you know, that has nothing to do with us. It has nothing to do with Canyon to Conqueror. This is this man's personal life. But unfortunately, we're living in this era where overcorrection is, is, is done and black men are automatically guilty to proven innocent, especially when it comes to rape, domestic violence, or anything concerning a white woman.
Well, but
Host Brian Copeland: I think, I think that that's everybody, every guy is guilty and this climate is guilty until proven innocent. If they're, if they're accused, let me bring Ron and thoughts.
Ronn Vigh: I mean, I definitely well, first of all, I don't actually I'm so sheltered. I don't know who this person is. And I don't know any of the movies and I've never seen a Marvel movie.
So taking all of that away. Yeah, I have no attachment to any of this is that we do need I think it does need to be a verdict [00:21:00] or something needs to come down before we just start like casting the blame and taking things away. But the other thing that was annoying about things like this is that Agencies, um, a production company and so forth.
They don't care about the cause or have a moral compass. They're so goddamn greedy. They just care about money and they lose them a dollar. And that's all they care about. You can't tell me that they actually care about improving the environment for, you know, other actors and actresses and society. They don't give a shit.
Um, actors wouldn't be on strike for so long right now, if they did, you know, um, Uh, uh, care about any of that. So I, we're so quick, we're so. Also, there's so much context and other things that would probably go into it, too. For instance, like, in the comedy industry, stories finally come out about specific comedians and their behavior.
But a lot of us have known these stories for 15, 20 years, and [00:22:00] they were always, you know, quietly kept secrets. So I don't even know if that's a part of it and going on as well or not. Things are not so black and white. And I think a lot of these movements where we are now we've made them so black and white.
I mean, even even take it into like arguments about like Israel and Palestine, which I refuse to get into people, right? There's no thinking there's this or this
Host Brian Copeland: slow nuance. No, there's no nuance at all. It's, it's either you are, you are on one side or you're wrong.
Chris Riggins: You are so right, Ron. It's all about money.
Like the Hollywood does not care about women. They don't care about abuse victims. They're not going to take the money. They was going to pay him and put it into shelters and shit. They don't care what they care about is their bottom line. And if, if, if they think that people aren't going to go see Marvel movies because the villain in the movie might actually be, uh, have made mistakes in this real life.
That's just, that's just ignorance. You know what I mean? It's just so stupid [00:23:00] knee jerk reaction to think that, but, and, and they're not even, they're underestimating the debauchery of their Marvel fans. That's what they're underestimating. Most comic book nerds are not going to be like, oh, they're going to be like, dang, so come on.
Host Brian Copeland: Oh, man. Comic book nerds. Well, I'm one of them. So there you go. Uh, let's see. The house is voting, uh, today, Wednesday, when this is being recorded. By the time this drops up tomorrow on Thursday, you'll kind of know how this shook out, but they're voting today on a resolution to expel George Santos, congressman from New York, another New York story.
Um, who's admitted to lying about his background and is, uh, he did have to get elected and he is, yeah. They're facing federal fraud charges. So the resolution is being pushed by, uh, his fellow Republican congressmen from New York who do not like him being a part of the delegation. So it takes a two thirds majority of the house to get rid of him.
But you know, they've only got like a five seat majority or something to Republicans. If they lose them, then it's down to four. So, um, a [00:24:00] couple of things, keep, keep this in mind. He's lied about his name, his name. He lied about his name! We don't even know what his real name is! His name, his education, his, uh, his work history, uh, losing his mom in 9 11, he lied about being Jewish, he lied about having Jewish, uh, grandparents or something that got killed in the holocaust, he, uh, he's, he's, uh, he lied about being a college volleyball star.
Why would you lie about something like that? I mean, it's just, he's lying about something. Yes. No, my
Chris Riggins: kids love college volleyball. Nobody's going to be like, Oh, nobody knows him. I don't have a college volleyball. Also, can I
Ronn Vigh: say, have you seen his outfits? I think he's lying about being gay as well.
Chris Riggins: Oh, have you guys seen the Saturday night live skits that they do about him?
I don't, I forget the actor's name, but he is so good at George Santos. Like he's literally lying about having COVID that he pulls out a COVID test and talks about it's a phone. Like he's the line. [00:25:00] He's like, I discovered you, Michael J. Like it's, he's a line about everything is so perfect because I just don't know.
I feel like. Why aren't they giving him an award? Uh, isn't he like the best liar of the liars?
Host Brian Copeland: Because they all lie. They all lie, but not to this extent. Well, I'm
Ronn Vigh: sorry, in the corporate world and stuff, if you're found out that like you never led these companies and you got a job saying that you did, then you're going to get fired.
Like you're just essentially lying on your resume. There's no reason. For him to be there and because he's, you know, been in battle and like scandal for so long What what is he possibly doing? And what good is he
Host Brian Copeland: doing? He's a vote that they need he'll vote party line and he's a vote that they need that's really what it boils down to And so it's been hard for them to get anything done Uh, because of the fact that they have not been able to, to get the votes that they need.
And their majority is so incredibly thin that they can't afford, I don't think he's going to go. I don't think they're going to get to two thirds. I will be shocked. I know all the Democrats will vote to get rid of them, [00:26:00] but you know, are you going to get half of the Republicans to do it? I don't, I don't think so.
Yeah. That's the big
Chris Riggins: difference between Republicans and like, I want to say the right and the left is a sense that when the right sees something, they, they told a lie. They do not book. That's how Trump got in the office. They like, we don't like him, but he's our guy. Whereas, you know, the left side wants to nitpick and pull everything apart and try to be so righteous that they get nothing done.
So yeah, I'll put you right.
Host Brian Copeland: I'll Frank exactly. I frankly should not have gone for that. I mean, they, they, they waste no time. They, the Democrats don't play, you know, you, you get accused of something. And, and, you know, I thought about, you know, it's a comic, we've all done stuff or said stuff that taken out of context.
If it comes back could bite us in the ass. I know, I know that I have, I can't think of a law, but you know, all the years of comedy I have, you know, when you were comics and you goof around and you do it, and if it's recorded or a picture is taken and it's completely and out of context, it could be trouble.
It could definitely be trouble, you know, and that's what, what happened to [00:27:00] Frank. And I mean, I do not think he should have resigned over this, but he was forced to reside basically. Basically. And you're talking about, he may run again, get a seat back. I hope he does. I hope he does. Uh, let's see. Well, Oh, here's something I want your take on.
Um, Matthew Perry died on Saturday night. Matthew Perry of a friend's fame, uh, found dead in his, in his hot tub in the Pacific palisades on, uh, on Saturday night. And, uh, just a couple of thoughts and I want your thoughts. Um, story I saw today, linguists are saying that his care, his character Chandler on friends helped people learn English and American sarcasm.
Thank you. After it was syndicated to over after friends was syndicated to over 100 different countries. And, uh, there is a lot of coverage about that. I mean, just a ton that, you know, when I'm looking at stuff today, there are several new stories and different angles every single day about this. And people are feeling like they're.
Like it's a personal loss. And so first question, do you think that there's too much coverage about this? And have you, have [00:28:00] you seen it all? Uh, I don't think I've seen it all, but I mean, have you, have you seen how much there is? Do you think that there's too much about this? And number two, um, I wasn't a France fan.
I mean, I, I've seen a handful of, or half a dozen of them, but you know, the joke that I used to do back in the day was that I, um. Learn watching friends and watching Seinfeld that there are no black people in New York at all. There are none. There are no black people in New York. You know, I would say that all the friends episodes are called are titled the one that or the one, you know, whatever, you know, the one that got away, the one that whatever.
And I would say when they're going to do the one with the black people, you know, what are they going to do? Yeah. Well, they did do one. They, they had
Chris Riggins: Aisha.
Yeah. She was, she was, she was Joey and Ross were fighting over her, which was, you know, the only way we're going to get black people on that show. Cause it was funny when, uh, recently the, the, the creators of friends were being called out on the lack of diversity. Uh, uh, David Schwimmer really literally said, [00:29:00] I fought for Ross to have more women of color love interest.
And I'm like, so it's only diversity as long as you can
Host Brian Copeland: get laid Ross. Yeah. You, you, you were friends fan.
Ronn Vigh: Me. I know. And you know what? So let's see when friends ran, that was probably like the late nineties, right? I think
Host Brian Copeland: 94 to 2004, I think it was.
Ronn Vigh: Okay. So that was like right at the time where I was just so into TV. I was, I would have been 15 and 94. Okay. So like my mid twenties and I know like so much in that time period, but I never got, I never got into friends, but it's interesting what you said, um, about the other countries and people learning English.
I've heard a lot of people tell me that they've learned English from watching American. sitcoms and watching, you know, uh, different programming from America. And I always thought that that was like, um, very, uh, very interesting. Uh, I do think it's an iconic series. I never got it. Um, and I, the [00:30:00] one thing that I hate when someone dies like this.
Is I don't know. We don't really know how or why he died, but there's been a lot of speculation on his mental health leading up to that. And I think if we're going to talk about that, we should really continue to talk about that because mental health is a huge problem.
Host Brian Copeland: Uh, he was an addict, you know, he was an addict and actually he was, I listened to his, uh, his autobiography about 3 months ago, uh, audio book with him reading it.
And I really felt like I knew him afterward, but he talked about, I mean, he had something like 18 stomach surgeries, a coma and all this because of all the drugs he took. He's just a whole 10 years of friends. He goes, I can look at any season and go that season I was on Coke. Oh, that was a season. I was on bike.
Oh, that was a season that I was drunk the whole time. And since I said, he didn't watch the reruns because of that.
Ronn Vigh: I think like, I don't want people to remember him then for things like that. On the same hand, I think that's an important discussion to have. Because I don't think a lot of us [00:31:00] would really be aware, you know, we're never aware of what a lot of people are struggling, you know, mentally and, uh, and so forth.
So I would love maybe to perhaps bring up more discussion on that and ways that we can look to help other
Host Brian Copeland: people. Well, the thing he said he wanted to be remembered for is that what he's been doing since he's been sober had been sober for a year, had been sober for a year at the time of his death. So he said, you know, we'll, we'll, we'll see what the toxicology report says as the autopsy and whether or not that was a factor, but he he's been actually helping a lot of other people get, get straight help, help, help an addicts get straight.
And that's what he wanted to be remembered for. He said recently, because he just did a book tour, you know, not too long ago, promoting this book. It's number one, it's back to number one, uh, today. You know, it came out several months ago and it's number one on the bestseller list as of today. Um, so, but you're, you're right.
You never do know when, when, when people are struggling. And we've all known comics that were, um, either, either, you know, I always said about mental health and about depression. I've been very open about [00:32:00] my battles with depression. He said, if you put a hundred comics in a room and he said, anybody who's had depression or mental illness issues, raise your hand, you'd have 99 hands go up and one liar.
You know, uh, and I think there's something about, about struggling like that or, or having that, uh, uh, those challenges in your life that, that make you a better comic, believe it or not. I mean, look at prior for God's sake, you know, the greatest who ever lived in my opinion. I mean, look at, look at the stuff that prior went through, you know, with everything else.
You know, talking about it, you think it makes you a better comic? I, you know,
Chris Riggins: I'll be real getting over. It makes you a better comic. I believe, uh, the, the, the, the, the addiction is a symptom of a larger problem that that's going on in your life, uh, whether it's emotional, mental, what, whatever, whatnot. Um, but I think the reason why comics are so good [00:33:00] is because.
We're able to take all those feelings and emotions and make them happy in a sense, you know what I mean? Like we can we can take our pain and make it something that we can use as a tool And I don't know if this is having either one of you But when you do a personal joke about something and someone comes up to you after the show and says I went through the same Thing and I appreciate you talking about it.
That's where you start feeling that immediate connection Through what you went through to how you share it to the world because, you know, hearing him talk about being on drugs during certain seasons, but then you see his performance to the average person. None of us would have known he was on drugs. We thought maybe he just lost weight that season.
Maybe he just gained a little weight that season. Uh, you know, we didn't know he was on drugs because he was so good at channeling that. And taking those emotions and drugs and, and whatever he was going through outside of that studio, being able to go into that studio, turn those cameras on and Chandler Bing comes across and helps [00:34:00] people learn English and, and, and, and it is helping other people laugh and get through their day.
Host Brian Copeland: All right, let me ask you this question. Both of you, have you ever done a set while you were drunk or high? Yeah, well,
Chris Riggins: we call that the first four years of my comic
Ronn Vigh: back in the day I may have when I was a young comic who knew nothing who thought he was great and amazing at everything. I may have, but you may have,
Host Brian Copeland: you know, if you did it with this may have crap, no,
Ronn Vigh: because I've never done drugs in my life, by the way, except painkillers. Uh, but I've never like done actual, like what we consider drugs.
And in terms of drinking, I really don't know, because I think like back when I was in my early twenties, you know, for me, I came to. San Francisco and suddenly it was like, Oh, I can be who I want to who I am. Right. And so I got into the party scene a little bit and it was much more of a hobbyist comic. So I'm sure that I drank but I don't think I [00:35:00] was wasted.
Um, and I actually I fringe now when I see comics go up there and talk about Oh, I'm so drunk. Oh, I'm so high. It actually really, really bothers me. And then a lot of ways. I think that's why comedy is not respected as an art form sometimes. But going back to like our tragedy, like I sometimes get upset because I feel like I make people laugh, which is very important, right?
It's very cathartic, just making people laugh, but I feel like I turn into the gay joke monkey sometimes, right? So I've been trying to move into this area where I have all this personal stuff that I want to talk about because I can. Relate to people. It might not be the same thing, but we've all lost loved ones, right?
And I want to talk about the healing process there. That's been very important, you know, to me I want to talk more about like the mental health and and i'm like I just like i'm in my mid 40s and i'm like getting on more and more and more pills and I think that's ridiculous But it's also helping me live [00:36:00] And I want to talk about like all of these things and I just don't know how to Seem to do it without people climbing up But that's where i'm trying to go because I do want to use the comedy for good Uh these days and if that is just telling my silly little gay innuendo jokes and that makes people laugh Well, that is good.
But I I just want a little more because I I've I've Certainly, with everything that's going on in the world, it sort of opened up my eyes, and you know, I'm like, we're all human and we're all just trying to survive, so like, how can I use the little superpower that I have to make it better?
Host Brian Copeland: That's great, because the comedy, the comedy is the spoonful of sugar, you know.
Yes. It really, it really is, because you can talk about anything if you, if you can make it funny. You can't! About about what you said about being the gay joke monkey because you know The way I look at it is that there are there's universality. I mean gay relationship straight relationship. What's the difference?
I mean, it's the same crap as far as I know relationships a relationship. You're still dealing with the same crap How am I gonna get through this? [00:37:00]
Ronn Vigh: As a gay comic or a comic who is gay and I really call myself a gay comic I said a comic what happens to be gay I feel like we get the same scrutiny that female comics get where, where all of a sudden we shouldn't talk about that and you shouldn't do that.
And people don't want to hear that. Right. And my bed is the same thing that everybody else, you know, going through, right. Okay. And so I have been trying to do what you were just saying is to put it in a little more, um, abstract, you know, terms. So we're https: otter. ai
This in our relationship and this dynamic as well, because we go through the same arguments, the same problems, the same discoveries, you know, um, and so, yeah, but I just, I've been more conscious than ever. I've always been conscious about the wording as a comic, right? And how you do set up some punchlines, most concise information, most information in the most concise way.
But now I'm so aware of the [00:38:00] actual word. Not because I don't sometimes comedy is going to be a little offensive if you do it, right But just because I don't want anybody to leave there feeling like you know You read these yelp reviews or people like oh this comic clearly hated this person and that person And actually I had someone do that to me in philadelphia and it really bothered me All about a joke that I have and they just in my opinion They just misconstrued the joke and they thought it was What's the joke?
Do you want me to go into the whole joke? Go
Host Brian Copeland: ahead. Yes. Yeah. What's
Ronn Vigh: the joke? Okay. I don't do this joke anymore because it was a joke meant for the time. Right. But, um, but I'll say we didn't know the pandemic was getting, you know, um, so bad, but I realized that things were getting really bad in 2021.
Certain things happened. Um, Las Vegas shut down. Broadway shut down. Uh, I knew it was bad. The NBA was mid season and they said, Hey, we're going to try to have basketball games. But without any fans in the stands, and everyone [00:39:00] lost their minds. And I was like, Well, wait a minute, didn't they try that already?
They just called it the WNBA.
But here's the thing. And I have five saves for that joke that I do in rapid fire to where I tried to prove that it's a pro women's Sports and a pro woman joke. It's not an anti woman joke, right? So I'll say things like oh, you're all groaning Well, okay go to your phone and go to Ticketmaster right now Pull up a copy of the ticket stubs from the last WNBA game you went to it didn't happen There'd be more than 12 teams in the WNBA if any of you supported it There are more people in this comedy club than been in stands of WNBA Wouldn't have been in a Russian prison for nine months.
If any of you give a shit about women players. Right. And I go on and on and on and on about it. And then I eventually get them when I say, okay, uh, earlier this year with the WNBA championships, who won, you know, I've been doing that joke for three years and only once [00:40:00] someone got it, right. Wow.
Host Brian Copeland: The, the, the one that got me in trouble.
Uh, that's a similar joke that people misconstrued, uh, when the SACA Joe a dollar came out. Okay. First woman on a, on a dollar. Uh, and I, the joke I did was they're going to put a woman on a silver dollar. Does that mean it's only worth 73 cents at the time they said for every dollar a man made a woman made 73 cents and people would boo that joke, you know, as me, you know, putting down women.
And that wasn't what that was about. I was actually making a joke to shine the light on an injustice that women have to deal with.
Ronn Vigh: Wow. And maybe this goes back to what we talked about earlier with things like the me too movement, and that we're so sensitive to things right now that we're not actually thinking about it.
We're hearing buzzwords and we're getting all upset and suddenly we have to go write Yelp reviews and Facebook reviews and say that this comedian was this and that. And I, I will discuss my jokes to a degree with somebody if they feel like they have a problem and they, and they [00:41:00] will, I will listen because I have one joke that does really well.
That always bothers me because I haven't figured out how to change it yet. But the joke always kills where in the punch line. It specifically mentions a woman, and I call her a bitch, but it's not like, I call, I refer to her as a pranky bitch, but it has nothing to do with her being a woman when I do that.
It has something to do with this whole scenario of being in the office environment. And, and, and so it always bothers me when I say that because I want to make sure people are not laughing for the wrong reasons at that joke. Right. Um. But the joke awesome kills every
Host Brian Copeland: time. It's hard to throw something out that kills.
It's hard to throw something out that kills because it's not politically correct or people are misconstruing. And what, what, what joke have you done, Chris, that, that, that people just haven't gotten, or that they, they're grown, that they've grown on or boo for the wrong reason, because just because they don't get it.
Have you got one? We've all got one.
Chris Riggins: You know, I'm trying to think of, well, here's, [00:42:00] here's the, there's one that I did that Dave actually makes fun of me for. At every show. Uh, so okay. I was trying to make the reference that nobody men, women, men, or women can eat a popsicle without looking like they're, uh, doing oral activities, like you just can't eat a, a missile pop and look like you're just eating a missile.
And the joke on his head on, on that works fine when you talk about, you know, adults, but I brought my kids into it and that just, Through the whole joke to the left and it was not good.
Host Brian Copeland: He was like,
Chris Riggins: That was the worst joke I've ever heard in my life. And don't ever do that joke again. And I've never done that joke again
Host Brian Copeland: ever All right. I'm gonna i'm gonna go into the I'm gonna go. Um, I was gonna say into the toilet for a minute, but [00:43:00] Um, I just had to talk to you guys about that I I I really debated whether or not I was gonna bring this up But I saw it and I go wait, we gotta throw this in.
Um in in the slate has this. Um Uh, slate the, uh, the, the, the website has this, uh, advice column and it's usually stuff about sex is the advice comp. So there was a, an email today, um, from a woman that, well, I'll read it to you. Um, I'm a heterosexual woman in my late twenties. I've discovered after some experimentation that while guys with bigger penises are nice to look at, they can be annoying and awkward to take.
And sex is really much better with guys who are below average in the science department. However, I struggle to communicate this with prospective partners. Guys seem to have some sort of instinctive need to hear that they're bigger than average and get some combination of defensive and angry if you even suggest that they're not.
And they seem to be completely uncomprehending of a woman who prefers a smaller partner. It's cost me a few encounters that could [00:44:00] have otherwise gone well. How do I communicate with men that I'm looking for somebody with a small penis without putting their backs up? Wow.
Chris Riggins: Yeah. I never look for dudes. I was going to places where the tiny peen guys hang out.
Ronn Vigh: I mean, there are
Chris Riggins: MMA MMA matches, there's tons of tiny beans there. Go
Ronn Vigh: knock yourself up lady. I will say this. I don't know how truthful it is. And if this happens on straight Um, dating apps back when I was single, there was a dating app and you know, you do filters, right? So you want to see profiles to male age, whatever.
And one had penis size. And so I put small penis in there just to see what popped up three guys and all of the world popped up under the small penis category. So three truthful men, three triple beds. So she's going to find she needs to find that website and [00:45:00] go find those men. You know, that's what she needs to do.
Host Brian Copeland: Well, the advice, the advice they gave her was they said, I'd be up front if you're using dating apps, put something like quote, I genuinely prefer penises in the five inch range in your bio. And then he warned you that she's going to have trouble with the size of her dating pool. You know, if she does that, her dating pool is going to be smaller.
So, um, I just,
Chris Riggins: I think there's ways to notice it. If they're wearing Ed Hardy, they're probably got a small P. The bigger their truck is probably a small peen. Uh, do they aggress, are they aggressively hitting on you? Small peen. The problem is all the guys that will admit to the small peen are already taking it because they're confident.
They're confident in their news. I mean, this is a problem. I don't understand but you know, I
Host Brian Copeland: assume Yeah, you don't understand I've been
Chris Riggins: i've been [00:46:00] described as the perfect size and I like that. I don't need to be bigger Let's leave your doctor out of it.
Host Brian Copeland: Let's leave your doctor out of it.
Chris Riggins: You know, I'm American.
I don't have no doctor. You're talking about doctor. I haven't been to the doctor in 10 years.
Host Brian Copeland: See, that's why married men live longer than single men do. It's because spouses make you, wives especially, make you go to the doctor. They
Chris Riggins: make you go to the doctor. They want to make sure you don't weigh too much when you die.
So they ain't got to carry that heavy casket. So
Host Brian Copeland: Okay, ron thoughts on any other thoughts. I know you know, I I I you look like you got something to say Well,
Ronn Vigh: generally when I hear penises, this is my wheelhouse, you know
Chris Riggins: Right
Ronn Vigh: You know, here's the thing though That I find interesting is, um, of course, I just have the gay perspective on this and, and [00:47:00] dating through time.
And one thing that the gays do is they don't so much qualify the penis size as much as they qualify the role, top or bottom. And that always bothered me. Because I felt like that I truly can be adjustable for real love and real, you know, chemistry. Yeah. So I never put myself into a box. So I also would never put myself into like checking off the small, medium, large penis box.
I would just go on dates and meet people and just see where it went because I can adjust. If I truly met a good genuine person who would also make me a good genuine person, I can figure out what's going on sexually down there, you know, like what, what, what we're going to do. So I never really, I mean, it's good that she knows what she wants and I think she should be up close.
Upfront and honest
Host Brian Copeland: about it. Of course, actually, she needs to be apparently too.
Ronn Vigh: You know, all these guys have so much ego about it, and they just weed them out. I [00:48:00] know it's got to be a pain in the ass to do that and deal with that. But I mean. I don't know. Or just like figure it out. You'll find the right guy and it will just work out sexually for you.
Host Brian Copeland: No guys cop into that. No guys cop. No guys.
Chris Riggins: If he's into cryptocurrency, he probably has a small penis.
Ronn Vigh: Go to an open mic lady. You can figure out a small penis. Yeah.
Chris Riggins: They're the ones that's gonna, gonna really make you cringe.
Host Brian Copeland: There is a video. There's a video that's gone viral of a woman refusing to get out of the car on her first date when she realizes that the guy is taking her to the cheesecake factory. So she's walking out of the car. I
Ronn Vigh: have something to say about this right away.
Chris Riggins: Go ahead. I do too.
Ronn Vigh: First of all, I used to cringe at like suggesting places on dates because I know that I was a picky person or whatever. [00:49:00] However, I just went to the cheesecake factory for the first time last week. And after that experience, I would definitely refuse. I refuse to get 5, 000 feet in front of a cheesecake factory.
Like it is horrible. That's not a first. I mean, Basically, you know, right there, forget about small penis size, like, you know, right there, it's not going to be a relationship, or she's not going to have a car from the Cheesecake Factory, then just put her in an Uber and go home, like, it's done with, that's all it takes.
But I also, no, don't bring people to the Cheesecake Factory.
Chris Riggins: I mean, first of all, let me just disclaimer, it has been proven that the video was a fake. It was a viral video. They were trying to make the couple that was the, the two people that was in the video, they come out saying it was a skit. It was them doing a skit about supposed to be, you know, and there's articles about it.
It's a skit and it's supposedly about them. You know, trying is this trend of shaming black women for wanting better, [00:50:00] which is a big trend, which is happening a lot in America right now. But as far as like, you know, if this, if this was a real situation. Like you got to communicate with people like, you know, don't take somebody on a first date where you want to go ask them.
What kind of food do you like? Are you into this? Take them on somewhere where you can sit and actually talk to them? Because like Ron's the Cheesecake Factory is not a place for a first date. It's a place when your nephew graduates from. From his, uh, you know, work release program or something and you're like, Oh, let's go to the cheesecake factory and you get a big plate of spaghetti for no reason.
You know what I mean? That's the
Host Brian Copeland: place to go on a first date is Applebee's. If you, instead of the cheesecake factory, step, step it up a notch. They actually made a list after this video, they made a list of places never to take a first date. Uh, cheese, hay factories on it, uh, out for coffee. And that surprises me because that, that was always my, my first date was, you know, let's, let's go and have coffee that way you can talk, you know, [00:51:00] um, well, coffee,
Chris Riggins: we got to remember, this is, this is a joke list.
The list is partially facetious. So to get the coffee thing, I think that was a joke, but yeah, you know, it depends on the person. I've asked him to love coffee and they're like, I don't drink coffee.
Host Brian Copeland: No, it's not. But what is on the list should be sporting events, coffee drinks. I don't understand why drinks, you know, would be on this list. Uh, movies, I can understand movies and concerts being on the list because you can't talk, you know, drinks,
Chris Riggins: drinks is also what we live in a different era now and drinks was.
The whole idea of taking a woman for drinks back in the day was solely to get her drunk enough to get her inhibitions down. So you can have sex with her. So the drinks thing kind of just for me, I never really took women out for drinks because it does imply. Hey, I'm trying to get you drunk. So I can do stuff to you instead of getting to know you.
Whereas. Yeah, coffee is more of a get to know type thing. We're sober, we're actually being more alert. We're actually, [00:52:00] you know, so I don't get the coffee, but yeah, drinks, I can totally understand why a woman wouldn't want to go out with drinks with a dude she just met. You know, there's so many stories of women getting their drinks drugged, going out with a dude, and they go to the bathroom, and they turn their head 2 seconds, and he done drugged them.
So, it's a, it's a safety
Host Brian Copeland: thing, really. Well, that makes sense. I mean, I can, I can buy that. Uh, other also on the list, family functions who on the first day, we're having a family reunion. Why don't you come? Why don't you, why don't you come
Chris Riggins: somebody with codependency issues takes you to a family function, like
Host Brian Copeland: a family
Chris Riggins: function where they're trying to prove something.
I remember my gay cousin brought a girl to the family function because he wanted, he was trying to act like he wasn't gay. And he was like, fam, it's okay. You're gay, fam. You don't have to bring this, this chick to the family function on your first date to prove to us anything. We know, cousin. [00:53:00]
Ronn Vigh: It would be fun to bring a first date to like a funeral.
Host Brian Copeland: Show my
Chris Riggins: sensitive sides. This is my last. This is my last date.
Host Brian Copeland: This is the story I was speaking of a funeral story I read today, Robert De Niro is being sued by his former personal assistant, and among the allegations and things he was questioned about on the stand was she alleged that when she's at her grandmother's funeral he called her twice.
He knows she's at the funeral and De Niro called her twice and asked her to do stuff, you know, get a bus ticket for his nephew and stuff like that at the funeral. And when they asked De Niro, he goes, yeah. And he
Chris Riggins: did it, you know, Robert De Niro is getting a bus ticket for his nephew. You're putting your nephew on the bus, Robert.
That is terrible. Robert De
Host Brian Copeland: Niro better. Um, way better. Oh, let me, let me ask you about this. Um, story in the wall street journal. There's a new section that some airlines have added to air travel between economy and business class, the first class, and they're, they're [00:54:00] calling it in the industry. They're calling it upper middle class.
And what it is, you pay more than you pay for the coach ticket. Upper middle class, this is for people who have more disposable income, but don't want to spend the thousands it takes to, uh, to fly first class or business class. And you get a bigger seat, you get free drinks, the meals are better, but it's not as much as business class.
And I wanted, I have traveled first class. I've never paid for it. I've traveled first class, maybe a dozen times in my life. And it's always been either miles or, you know, you pay a hundred bucks to upgrade to first. Or the club or the venue is flying me. I've never paid for it. Have you guys ever paid for to fly first or business?
Wow.
Chris Riggins: Okay. I'm paying. I'm flying first class from Orlando to LA on Friday.
Host Brian Copeland: Are you paying out of pocket? You paying
Chris Riggins: yourself? I'm paying. Well, I'm getting reimbursed, but I'm paying for it out of my pocket. Yes. It is coming out of my pocket.
Host Brian Copeland: You're getting reimbursed. It's not coming out of your pocket and paying you back.
What's it cost to fly [00:55:00] from LA? From Orlando
Chris Riggins: to LA. I got my, my flight was 6. 89.
Host Brian Copeland: For first? Yep. One way. Okay. That's not bad.
Ronn Vigh: So I fly first, maybe 50 percent of the time now, but it's all because of my status. Right. And as one of the biggest tips that I give newer comedians that are just getting out on the road is.
Stick with one or two airlines, right? Status means everything. And, and, and you want the luggage for your merch and stuff like that, right? These end points really help comedians. And so, but I do refuse to pay for it the majority of the time, because in America, it's never really worth, unless you have that extra money, uh, it's never really worth.
The price. I mean, when we just went to Hawaii, I took my mom there and she wanted to treat herself to first class. And, you know, you have to look at the plane type every not every experience. Yeah, the same too, right? Work. And I [00:56:00] feel like sometimes you're just being taken advantage of. And I don't like people who are just, you know, have hard earned money.
They take it being taken advantage of it never seems worth it. But man, you know what, when you're sitting up there first class, It doesn't even matter if you're just getting, like, a snack and a drink. Oh, it's just nice, like, to not be bothered by all of that, and... I,
Chris Riggins: I took the bed first class to New York at the beginning of October because on the red eye, they offer you that bed that, that, oh my God, Ron, Ryan, let me tell you, once you fly laying down, it changes the whole perspective of your world.
You don't even want to look at the back of the plane. Like I, I either do comfort plus on Delta or I do first class if, if comfort plus is not available, I'll go ahead and do the first class. Just because it's just a piece of mind. It's the comfort. It's the leg room. It's the, [00:57:00] it's the free check in my bags.
It's the, you know, I get on the plane for the Delta sky club. It's, it's all those little bitty perks is the fact that I'm drinking coffee before the plane takes off. While the poor people are still sitting down, it's just,
Ronn Vigh: you know, I recently experienced probably what this is similar to what Brian is saying.
It was called premium economy. I believe on Qantas when I went to New Zealand and that was way better than the 1st class. I'm United. Uh, that I took on the way back and, and, and can I tell you, by the way, I'm just gonna complain about this, uh, even though this is first, this is first world problems to planning about first class.
I had one of those lay down seats, um, Chris, on my United flight from Auckland to San Francisco, but guess what United didn't have? They didn't have any personal air vents in the plane. They took them all out. On this plane, yeah, so I sent a complaint letter about it along with a picture and I'm like, well, it's great that you give me to lay [00:58:00] down bad and so forth, but I like, when I get comfortable because it was a million degrees and there was no fence.
And the other thing that is, they came down and they go, what's your 1st, 2nd and 3rd option for food in case we run out? And I'm like, okay, I got upgraded. Uh, what points? So that's fine. But if I paid 5, 000 and you're asking me for my third option, that's
Chris Riggins: just right. That's why. But you know, right. You said something about flying first class in the United States is not the same as flying any class overseas, like tons of They have amazing planes.
Even their, like, I, I had to fly coach from, uh, Berlin to, uh, Amsterdam Town and even the coach section, the seat was wider. It was more comfortable. I was getting the same basic services as they got in the first class. And then on the next flight going to am from Amsterdam to la uh, we were in the business plus class.
And I mean, it was just like, it was like no difference [00:59:00] between first class. And then you look in the back and everybody's getting meals on plates. Everybody's getting real food. Everybody's getting treated like a star on your own outside of this country era.
Host Brian Copeland: Now, and by the way, United is the devil. Well, I was just going to tell you my story, the first time I flew first class was I was working in Atlantic City.
So it was a flight from, uh, from Oakland to Philly and what the, it was one of the casinos, one of Trump's casinos, as a matter of fact, I was working with Aretha Franklin. And, and what I would do is I would fly into Philly and they would limo me from Philly to Atlantic City. So I had miles, and my wife at the time had never gone to the East Coast with me anytime I went so I was our anniversary so I had enough miles to upgrade us to first, and we were going for our anniversary.
And I got asked by the flight attendant to see my ticket five times. Because she apparently did not think that I belonged to [01:00:00] there and so 5 times I'm not exaggerating. She asked me to see my ticket in
Chris Riggins: the middle of the air in the middle of the
Host Brian Copeland: air. She's like, hey, that was 1 of the times. Yeah, we take it.
What? It was like, 3 times before we took off. I'm sorry. I need to see that again. That's what she keeps saying. And then and then 1 and then once or twice when we were in the air. Yeah. Like, what am I, what's he going to do? Kick me to the, kick me to the back if I'm not supposed to be. Yeah.
Chris Riggins: And that was when I've had that happen once.
Yeah. United is the devil. I had that happen once and I literally made that woman run for everything I need. I was like, Oh, you know what? I need some more water. Oh, you know, it's too hot. Oh, you know what? Can you do that? I was like, nah, nah, you're not going to treat me. I'm going to treat you like the serpent.
I was going to be cool, but now I want a towel. Oh, this towel's not hot enough. Okay. No, I don't want the chicken. I want the beef now. I was on her helmet.
Ronn Vigh: Well, and you know, sometimes now they have, as a former flight attendant, you used to have everything on when I did it on like a paper, like thing like this long, and you'd have to search for the [01:01:00] names and nothing was organized.
It's like a C maybe then, but now they have the tablet that are supposed to be much more organized. So Uh, so unless you switch seats, they should have no problem proving things. So maybe knowing the disorganization of the airlines asking once is valid, but when you start, when you prove it once that that's enough, now you're just asking for other reasons.
Host Brian Copeland: And she got asked for her ID, you know, to make sure that I was the person who the ticket was under the name of. And it was really, it was really, it was embarrassing. To be quite honest, she was,
Chris Riggins: she was trying to get you kicked off that flight. She was literally trying to make you react and get kicked off that flight.
That's what she was. She wanted you to be like, whoa, and then she was going to be like, I was angry. Black guy got to go.
Host Brian Copeland: Well, in, in, uh, in, in first class, the other passengers in first were all elderly white people. It was elderly white people. And, uh, and me. And so, you know, [01:02:00] if you're looking at that demographic, no, we didn't belong, you know, we didn't belong, but it was, it was, it was embarrassing and it'd be honestly, I've flown and I had, you know, frequent flyer miles is how I was able to get the upgrade, but I've, I have not flown United since, and this is years ago, I have not flown United since
Chris Riggins: United is the God damn
Host Brian Copeland: devil.
What's your experience? Why do you say the devil? Lost
Chris Riggins: luggage that was on United when that happened to me, uh, like, like I've had a situation like Ron had where, you know, they just didn't have the basic things that you need on a plane to operate, you know what I mean? Like, Hey, yeah, there's no air, like, it's, it's just, it's not a good airline.
They're not, they're not about the customers. Whereas Delta, man, Delta gives me so much blood, so much hookup. They even gave me, they gave me an upgrade. A couple of weeks ago and I didn't even have to use my points. It was like, Oh yeah, we just had a seat here. You want to take the seat? Yeah. Thanks. Now I'm a silver.
Ronn Vigh: No, go ahead. Go ahead. [01:03:00] No, no, no. Sorry. I, um, lately I've taken a complaining about almost every flight because they aren't a devil, but they're all valid complaints and they have been getting better about sending like a hundred dollars certificates and stuff like that. I call them my Karen credits. But, uh, but I did have something that just happened last week that bothers me and I posted this on my social media and then took it down because people sort of started attacking me.
But the flight attendant fell asleep in her jump seat on an active runway. She nodded off. I watched her nod off and she was sleeping. It was a red eye flight. We didn't take off yet. And it was about an hour away and she fell asleep, manning the door in her jump seat. And it was one of those ones where they're facing you.
So she was right in front of me. So I sent that to United and they sent me. The most combative response telling me that is illegal. What you did taking a picture. I'm like, it's actually not illegal. It's maybe [01:04:00] against your policy, but it is not illegal. And I look into all of this and when it comes to a matter of safety, it's valid.
And I thought they would apologize, and I purposely left the lady's name out of it, and I didn't want her to get in trouble, but to me that is a valid safety issue, and they wrote, you proved nothing with this picture, she has her arm crossed and her head's down, that doesn't mean that she's sleeping, I'm like, oh really, what does that mean, she's dead then, right, because it's like, that is not, I was a flight attendant, that is not this, But your eyes closed is not a brace position.
Uh for I I know this she fell asleep and it's fine We're human but is the larger picture here with the airlines right now is that people tell me It's not like when you flown they are maxing you out on hours. They're maxing you out on days They don't want to pay people. There's constant struggles and arguments with the unions It is a terrible industry to be in right now, and they're trying to take advantage of the worker as much as possible.
So I'm not blaming her, but it [01:05:00] is a safety issue. If we were bumped by another plane on that runway, she's gonna wake up and be startled. She's gonna be confused. She's not gonna know what's happened. She's not gonna be able to open the door. It is a safety issue. And Unite was so combative in their response.
I think she wrote the aviation, um, editor to Politico. Oh. Sent to my stuff. Because I was like, this is ridiculous. Um, I also sent a thing to the FAA and the DOT on it as well. And I'm looking in, like, how do I get directly to Pete Buttigieg's office. Did you
Host Brian Copeland: post a response? Did you post a picture on social media?
Ronn Vigh: I did. And people started attacking me, so I took it down. So what,
Host Brian Copeland: well, why were they attacking you? I don't understand why
Ronn Vigh: you do that. Quiet attendant friends and people are like, well, you don't know the story. And I'm like, you're right. I don't know the story, but the bottom line is they're trying to defend her.
I'm like, cool. What if the pilot was sleeping? You're going to defend that too? Like this makes no sense. I'm not mad at her person. [01:06:00] But I'm saying like, step up your game United every time there's some issue and you're not, you're not owning up to it. And, and it wasn't even, I was like, they should say, thank you.
We'll look into it. Here's this, that, so sorry. They were so combative about it, defending it. That is what pissed me off.
Host Brian Copeland: Yeah, I mean, it is a safety issue. I mean, I think it's legitimate. I think it's absolutely legitimate. But again, we don't know the story, but it's still legitimate. You shouldn't be sleep.
But as a,
Chris Riggins: as someone has worked as an employee, I do appreciate United for standing up for their employee. I've seen so many boys get fired by this stuff, but it sucks that she fell asleep and I feel you right. I think what you were doing was saying. I don't want her to get in trouble. I just want you guys to be aware that you need to stop working your police so much.
So this doesn't happen because you're right. It is safety issue. You're on that. If you're on duty as a flight attendant, you have to be aware of what's cause somebody could have started having a heart attack before they take off and she has to be able to jump up and take care of [01:07:00] that. So I totally feel you.
But on the other stand, I do appreciate the corporate, a corporate entity. Stood up for their employee, even if they were wrong. I mean,
Host Brian Copeland: you worked at Ikea and I love your Ikea stories. Do you think Ikea? Oh, yeah.
Chris Riggins: No, no,
Host Brian Copeland: not those. Are those are those Swedish meatballs a good place to take a first date to go to Ikea and have have Swedish meatballs?
It's
Chris Riggins: dinner if you want it to be your last date. You really don't want this person
Ronn Vigh: to like your furniture on the first day. That could be fun. And that can show you who gets frustrated very
Host Brian Copeland: easily to test. It's all a test. Uh, we are out of time guys. Uh, Ron, where are you playing? Where can
Ronn Vigh: folks come see you?
Are they playing? I'm somewhere coming up, uh, . I don't Oh, come to Vegas. Everyone. I'm at Brad Garrett at the MGM Grand. November 8th, 10th. 11th and 12th. And then if you're listening up in Idaho, I'm gonna be in Boise headlining lounge at the end of the universe, November 17th and 18th. And get you go to I You go to Boise.[01:08:00]
Host Brian Copeland: I do. And get this, I get scared going to Idaho.
Ronn Vigh: I'm bringing as my feature and she's the headliner. She's not a feature, but she's coming anyway. Y'all know, Carla clay.
Cause she's retired and I want her to have opportunities and I love her and she's funny. So I think Idaho is going to get. A, um, a black woman and a gay guy, and they're going to enjoy it. You know, their
Host Brian Copeland: heads are going to explode is what's going to happen. Their heads are going to explode. You're going to have brains.
I'm
Ronn Vigh: having the club is inviting us and letting us be us. So we'll see what happens.
Host Brian Copeland: All right. We'll have a good show. I have good shows there. I hope be safe. Thank you. Be safe. Chris, now, where are you at? Uh,
Chris Riggins: I will be performing, uh, at the, uh, excuse me, Amway Arena, uh, this Thursday, uh, November 2nd, I believe.
Is that 2nd? Yeah,
Host Brian Copeland: November 2nd. That's when this is here in Orlando. That's today. So,
Chris Riggins: today, if you guys hear this this afternoon, I'll be at [01:09:00] Amway in Orlando tonight. So come through. But more importantly.
Host Brian Copeland: I don't think so, not
Chris Riggins: yet. It it, it will sell out. So please get tickets now with Dave Chappelle, but more importantly with Dave Chappelle.
More importantly though, I love Dave Chappelle, but Chris will be headlining the San Francisco punchline on Wednesday, November 29th. I need everybody to come out, sell this out. Let's have a good time. That's awesome. Uh, it's gonna be a great show. So that's the show I really wanna promote.
Host Brian Copeland: That's when I felt like I'd made it as a comic.
'cause San Francisco, the first time I headlined the pipeline. Yeah. It's still the premier comedy club. Well, thanks guys. I appreciate it. It's always a pleasure to have you come back. See us again soon. All right, that's going to do it for, uh, for this edition. We'll check out next week. If you, uh, if you like what it is that you saw or you heard here today and you want to support us, if you are listening, please go to whatever, uh, whatever platform you're on and give us a five star review.
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Uh, that's going to do it for us. Until next time, be kind to your neighbor. He knows where you live.