To millions of people, Adam Carolla is simply “that guy from The Man Show.” To millions of other people, Adam Carolla is not only one of the world’s most popular podcasters, but a best-selling author, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. Since launching The Adam Carolla Show six years ago, Adam has released four books – in addition to the Rich Man, Poor Man e-book – two films (Road Hard and Winning: The Racing Life Of Paul Newman) and his own adult beverage (Mangria).
Beyond the live shows that he tapes for The Adam Carolla Show, Adam also tours steadily. He will be doing stand-up at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury on Jan. 15. Presumably, the show in Westbury will include the infamous What Can’t Adam Complain About? segment that’s become a signature of his; he released a full-length stand-up album titled Road Work, Vol. 1 What Can’t Adam Complain About? last year. As if all of that weren’t enough, Adam remains the host of To Catch A Contractor for Spike and he regularly appears on other programming within his Carolla Digital podcast network. Adam also finds time to be the father of twins, Sonny and Natalia, who are featured on the cover of his latest book Daddy, Stop Talking! and occasional Adam Carolla Show guests.
I had the opportunity to speak with Adam by phone in advance of his appearance in Westbury. Adam kindly entertained some questions about how he manages to stay so productive, but his “last words” were also informative. For more information on the Ace Man and his various endeavors, click on over to www.adamcarolla.com.
When was it that you knew that your podcast was something that was going to last, and not just something to do while you were having problems with your radio contract?
Adam Carolla: It’s a hard question to answer since it was never interrupted, it was just something I did every day…To me, communication, while I like getting paid for communication, it’s also something I do for free most of the day. I used to work in construction, so it was so tangible and it felt like work, and talking never felt like work. So I never really thought of it as, “When do I stop working for free?” I essentially never felt like I was working. But obviously it costs money with bandwidth and money was going out the door and no money was coming in the door. It started to become apparent that even if we couldn’t figure out a way to make money doing the podcast, we could use it as a tool to sell tickets for traveling around the country and doing live shows. At some point, even though the podcast didn’t make money, I still used it as a modality for selling tickets, the same way I’m talking to you right now for free. (laughs) I don’t get paid for the interview, I sell a couple of tickets and it makes it worth my time. So that’s what I figured out with the podcast. Pretty much, as soon as we started figuring out that we could do live shows, that’s when I started to figure out that this thing’s a moneymaker, even if it’s a moneyloser.
Sure, so the podcast and the live shows gave way to Mangria being successful and Road Hard being funded. Nowadays, seeing that you’re able to get things off the ground, are people pitching you products or ideas to invest in?
A: Yeah, on occasion it comes up. Pretty much I’ve slid under the radar of Hollywood and Wall Street for the most part. Every once in a blue moon, usually somebody — my wife — will say, “How come they’ve never written an article about what you’ve done? This is incredible.” I go, “Yeah, I know.” I’m not really in with that crowd, so to speak. The answer is, basically, no. I’ve been sort of quietly been successful.
Now that Road Hard is finished and everything related to it has been completed, are you happy with the end result?
A: I’m happy with certain aspects of it, and wish that other aspects of it…With crowdfunding, there’s always a couple of people that moved and the t-shirt got sent to the wrong address, or the wrong size t-shirt got sent to the wrong person. It’s 10,000 people to satify and if one percent of that 10,000 aren’t satisfied, there’s a fair amount of tweets that you’re going to read about it. The movie, the product itself, I’m very happy with. I’m sort of disappointing that it’s polarizing, some people loved it, some people hate it. It’s weird to me, because it feels like a nice short comedy to me, but it’ll get a five-star review, then it’ll get a one-star review, then it’ll get a five-star review, then it’ll get a two-star review. It really swings around a lot, I guess that’s the nature of the beast with comedy. But I’m happy with the product…It was well-received, but I’m not satisfied with well-received. I want everyone to love it.
At the New York City screening of Road Hard at Carolines On Broadway, you said that you didn’t think that [Adam’s agent James] “Babydoll” Dixon was going to stick around. I was curious if he ever watched the film, or if he gave any feedback on how he was portrayed in the film.
A: It’s unclear. He and I have never had a discussion about the film, so I don’t know. It’s a good question, but I never asked him. I’m not sure that he’s seen the entire film, I’ll put it to you that way. He came to the premiere of the Paul Newman doc, but he fell asleep at the El Capitan Theater. He’s not in that business and I don’t really bring it up to him, but I’ve never had a discussion with him about that movie or how he was portrayed in that movie.
The only other “Babydoll” portrayal I’m aware of is from The State, which was 20 years or so ago on MTV, as done by Tom Lennon. Do you know what we thought of that?
A: He was flattered about it. No press is bad press for Babydoll…It was really funny.
With your live show, a lot of people love the What Can’t Adam Complain About? concept. Have you ever been stumped during that portion of the show?
A: The only time where really that didn’t go well is when I did some charity event for some guy I don’t like now. A charity crowd is a bad crowd. Someone said, “Complain about the word ‘no.'” It came across like crap, it just didn’t work at all…It’s the only one I remember as being well under a five. They usually range from six to nine and a half.
So with you as a person, I think everyone is impressed with your work ethic. You’ve regularly explained that to be as a result of having had a real job. Do you have an actual system for time management or making sure that everything gets done?
A: Let’s see…A way to know if everything’s going to get done if I’m not there?
For example, when you have a busy calendar, a lot of people would look at it and feel overwhelmed, as if they’re not going to get everything done. In your case, everything seems to get done.
A: Yeah, I have an assistant and we work on my calendar on almost a daily basis. I have coached the assistant, Matt, to find the holes, find the slots. Some guy will call in, he’s got a podcast I’ve never heard of, he’s never heard of it, no one’s ever heard of it, but he wants me to be on his podcast. I tell Matt, “Find the hole when I’m in the car, when I’m driving to Ralph’s in Huntington Beach, Saturday to sell Mangria. I’ve gotta leave at 11:30, I’ll call him at 11:35, I’ll be in the car for a half-hour.” There’s your hole. I just tell him, “If the guy comes back and says that doesn’t work for him, or he doesn’t do his podcast on a Saturday or whatever, I’ll tell him sorry and we’ll part ways”…That’s just how I do everything.
I’m in the car right now, I’m on my way to my studio and that’s the way I do everything. There’s a lot of business and work that’s done on the way to work, and on the way from work. That’s a big part of it. I’d say, at least three-quarters of the interviews I do are done on the way to To Catch A Contractor or on the way to work or driving home from the airport, whatever it is. The other stuff is, weekends are always on the table. There’s always the possibility of work, travel, what have you, on the weekends. I said to every successful person I meet, “Could you be where you are if you didn’t work on weekends? Or if you refused to work on weekends?” And they just laugh, like, “No, of course not.” I don’t make a big distinction between a Saturday and a Monday. But I do so many different things and they’re usually things that involve some aspect that I’m interested in, that it never really feels like work. It just feels like an obligation, it feels like a schedule. It’s a way to sort of look at your life and try to treat it like a racecar. Just pull off all the stuff that weighs too much and stop doing anything that slows you down…
The thing I like about race cars is that they’re very dialed in, and there’s a way to dial in your life. I can’t tell you how much stuff that I do is sort of popping my head in the edit bay, look at stuff for 10 minutes, give five pretty fixes, yes’ or no’s, and then leave. And then I come back again two hours later, and I see whatever it is that I asked to be implemented. But I don’t sit in the edit bay for two hours. You can kind of get through life that way if you’re surrounded by people who listen to you, and you’d be amazed how much you can get done in a day.
I noticed that you’re still credited as a writer on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Do you contribute material from afar, or how does that work?
A: No, but where’s my money? (laughs) You mean when you watch the credits?
Yes.
A: Like literally on the show credits, not like on IMDb or something?
Correct. I mean, the last time I really paid attention a year or so ago, I saw your name on the credits.
A: Huh, that’s interesting. Maybe it’s a union thing, maybe Jimmy likes me, maybe they forgot about me. Maybe it’s some sort of thing where if you were there at the beginning, you get grandfathered in. But you know, I’ll take it.
So finally, Adam, any last words for the kids?
A: I have two sayings that I’m fond of saying and I like, so I’ll just give you both of them. One is, “Disappointers never disappoint.” So to all those people who wish their dad would hug them but never hugs them, that person that constantly lets them down, that person who’s constantly late is late one more time. They’re that way because they’re that way. I’ve never been surprised by a disappointer.
The other thing I tell people is before you do anything, before you send that vitriolic e-mail, just ask yourself, “Does it make you money or does it make you happy?” And if the answer is no to either one of those, maybe you shouldn’t do it.
Wow…
A: By the way, writing someone an e-mail to tell them to eff themselves after they’ve insulted your family, can make you happy. I’m not saying, “Don’t tell anyone to eff off.” That can make you happy. But I’m just saying, push it through those two templates. Money, happy, and see where you land.
-by Darren Paltrowitz
