Hollywood has always sold aspiring filmmakers and performers the fantasy of being discovered. You write the perfect screenplay, perform at the right club, meet the right producer, and suddenly someone gives you permission to have a career. But Don Barris built his career around a completely different philosophy: if nobody is coming to discover you, create something they can’t ignore. Don is a comedian, filmmaker, producer, podcaster, longtime Comedy Store performer, and one of the creative forces behind the cult comedy Windy City Heat. His journey through Hollywood is a fascinating example of what can happen when creators stop waiting for traditional opportunities and start manufacturing their own.
Don’s path didn’t begin with a carefully designed filmmaking career. He was performing stand-up at the Comedy Store and gradually realized that nobody was going to magically walk into the room, recognize his talent, and put him in a movie. While hosting the Comedy Store’s potluck night, he noticed something interesting about audiences. Some of the biggest laughs weren’t coming from the polished comedians. They were coming from unusual personalities—the unpredictable characters who seemed completely unlike everyone else. Don began assembling some of those personalities into his own show, originally called Simply Don. Instead of waiting for Hollywood to create a vehicle for him, he started building one himself. The project developed for years before Jimmy Kimmel eventually noticed what Don and his collaborators were doing.
That opportunity took far longer than most aspiring filmmakers would expect. After leaving Michigan for California, Don made a commitment that he wasn’t going to quit. There were periods when his career was going nowhere. He was even kicked out of the Comedy Store and spent stretches of more than six months living in his car. But he continued performing and developing his material. Most importantly, he kept working on the strange comedic universe that would eventually become Windy City Heat. Don says it took 11 years from the beginning of that process until the movie was finally made. That’s the part of filmmaking careers audiences rarely see. They see the finished film, festival premiere, television appearance, or successful deal. They don’t see the decade of experimentation that came before it.
Jimmy Kimmel eventually recognized the potential in what Don had created and wanted to turn it into a movie. The result was Windy City Heat, one of the strangest experiments in comedy filmmaking. The premise essentially placed Perry Caravello inside a movie without fully understanding that the entire production was an elaborate prank built around him. Cameras could exist naturally because Perry believed he was making a legitimate film, while additional footage could be explained as behind-the-scenes coverage. Don describes the concept as the reverse of Andy Kaufman: instead of one performer playing a trick on the entire audience, practically the entire audience understands the joke while one person doesn’t. That concept turned Windy City Heat into something sitting somewhere between a feature comedy, mockumentary, hidden-camera experiment, and real-world performance.
From a filmmaking perspective, the production created an unusual challenge: many moments effectively had one take. When you’re shooting an elaborate prank involving someone who doesn’t know exactly what’s happening, you can’t simply reset the scene and ask everyone to perform it again. Don specifically remembers moments like the snack-table sequence because nobody knew precisely how Perry would react. If he suddenly realized something was wrong or refused to continue, the entire setup could collapse. That unpredictability became part of the movie’s energy. Instead of controlling every performance in the traditional filmmaking sense, the filmmakers created scenarios, positioned cameras, established the world, and then allowed reality to provide the reaction.
What happened after the movie was equally unexpected. Windy City Heat developed a passionate cult following, helped enormously by Jimmy Kimmel, who Don says would buy cases of the movie and give copies to people he thought would appreciate it. Eventually, filmmakers and performers began discovering it through word of mouth. Don recalls Quentin Tarantino enthusiastically discussing the movie and introducing Eli Roth to him backstage at Jimmy Kimmel Live. Jack Black also became a supporter of Don and the Big Three. For independent filmmakers, there’s an important lesson buried inside those stories. A movie doesn’t always find its audience during its initial release window. Some films slowly develop reputations because passionate viewers become their marketing department, repeatedly introducing the work to other people.
Don’s experience also demonstrates how much the filmmaking business has changed. He became increasingly interested in podcasting after watching creators such as Adam Carolla and Joe Rogan develop direct relationships with their audiences. To Don, the internet represented something filmmakers and performers previously didn’t have: their own distribution and promotional infrastructure. Instead of creating a pilot and hoping an executive chooses it, creators can make shows, podcasts, videos, and other projects themselves. Those projects can attract audiences, and those audiences can eventually support larger work. The principle is essentially the same one Don followed before Windy City Heat: don’t build your entire career around waiting for somebody else to say yes.
That mindset becomes especially relevant when Don talks about his plans to create his own entertainment network. He imagines an operation capable of producing podcasts, short-form videos, longer shows, pilots, and eventually movies. Because of his years working in comedy, he also has relationships with performers who might normally cost productions enormous amounts of money but are willing to participate because of those personal connections. That’s another practical filmmaking lesson that rarely receives enough attention. Independent production isn’t only about raising money. Relationships are production value. The people you’ve worked with, helped, entertained, and built trust with can sometimes give a small production access to talent and resources its budget could never otherwise afford.
The career of Don Barris isn’t a traditional roadmap into filmmaking, and that’s exactly why it’s useful. He didn’t follow the standard path from film school to assistant job to studio project. He created comedy, found unusual collaborators, developed a concept for years, connected with Jimmy Kimmel, helped turn that concept into a cult movie, and then continued experimenting with podcasts, pilots, live shows, and digital content. The larger filmmaking lesson is simple: make your own opportunities. Create the pilot. Shoot the short. Build the audience. Develop relationships. Keep producing work even when nobody appears interested. Sometimes the project that finally opens the door is the one you’ve been quietly building for eleven years.
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Alex Ferrari 1:32
Enjoy today's episode with guest host Dave Bullis.
Dave Bullis 1:55
Joining me today is a man I've wanted to talk to since 2004. Joining me today is Don Barris. Don is 1/3 of the comedy trio The Big Three. Don starred and produced in one of the best movies and comedies of all time, Windy City Heat, which is actually one of the most elaborate pranks ever pulled. But we'll get into that later in the show. Don is currently the audience warm up for Jimmy Kimmel Live, and he hosts the Ding Dong Show, the longest running show at the world famous comedy store, every Monday night at 10 p.m. And if that wasn't enough, Don hosts his own podcast, Simply Don the Podcast, and we're also joined by his very lovely and talented producer of the Simply Don and the podcast, Mary Jane. Don and Mary Jane, I want to say welcome to the Dave Bullis Podcast.
Don Barris 2:36
Hello, Dave. Hello, that's Mary Jane. That's not me. The two people there. I don't know if you noticed. So what's up, Dave? You say you wanted to talk to me since 2004.
Dave Bullis 2:49
Yes,
Don Barris 2:50
You didn't see the Windy City Heat when it first came out, then, huh?
Dave Bullis 2:54
I saw it one night randomly, and I saw it. It started right when Perry knocked over the table, and ever since then I was like, "What? What is this? And I started watching it, and man, oh man, I was laughing my ass off, and I was tracking down a copy of that everywhere I could. So that's when I wanted to talk to you since then, Don.
Don Barris 3:15
Oh well, well, whatever you'd like to know, please.
Dave Bullis 3:20
So Don, I wanted to ask you. You know, I wanted to ask you about your background. You know, how did you get started in the film industry?
Don Barris 3:25
In the film industry, well, it it was kind of different than the film industry because I've always felt, especially now, I think that people live in a day and age where you don't have to wait for someone to just pull you out because that doesn't happen much. I started doing stand-up comedy, and I've been a regular at the the comedy store. And now, for about the last four years, except for a couple weeks here and there when I worked elsewhere, I've been the closing act at the comedy store every night. And so I was doing stand-up comedy, and I thought, well, this isn't working very well. This is one of those things that nobody's coming over to see me, pick me out, put me in a movie, to do whatever. So I thought, well, I'll make my own break. And one of the things that I saw at the time, the main thing that I did was host the comedy store potluck every week, and the comedy store potluck is just like new comics guys trying to get into the the arena of doing standup comedy. And I'll tell you something: it's very hard. And there are people that go there, and they will go out and try to go to all these potluck shows all over town, and they'll do it for 20 years and never get any money out of it. So it's kind of a sad thing, but it's a little group, and I I used to host the comedy stores potluck night. And I showcased with the owner Mid Sea Shore, so she'd showcase acts and all that, and I got to watch her. And the one thing that I noticed, the bigger laughs didn't come from the people that were somewhat good that had just started out. the The big laughs came from the guys that were out of their mind and just these characters. So I thought I'd put a show together, and that show it was originally called Simply Don. And what I did is I took some of the more colorful acts that I saw around the comedy store, and I put them together in one show. And then I had Mole come and play a character in it. Well, we worked on that for seven years, so it took a long time before anybody really noticed. And that person that noticed was Jimmy Kimmel. He wanted to do something with us at the time. He had just gotten the show Win Benstein's Money. I I knew him a little bit from working on the morning show out here in Los Angeles at K Rock, and so I didn't know him that well. But he said, "I want to make a movie out of this. About four years later, we got it done, and it's kind of cool because a lot of people really loved it. So, go ahead. I'm sorry.
Dave Bullis 6:23
Oh, and that movie. When you see the heat, correct on. I'm sorry about you.
Don Barris 6:26
Yes. No. No. You're not interrupting me. I just, you know, whenever I just thought I'd give you a quick background. So that's where I got into it. I didn't start out wanting to make a movie. I just wanted to do something else, and we made that film.
Dave Bullis 6:41
I mean, and that movie has become such a cult classic as well. I'm always interested in hearing about these stories, Don, which is why I asked you about your background because I know because you grew up in in in Michigan in Saginaw Township, and so what was the impetus for you to move from Saginaw Township out to L.A.
Don Barris 6:58
Well, I'll tell you something. If you look at a small town in the Midwest, I was always a little bit different. As a guy that became my manager out here, he said, "You never lived under the rules because, as most comics do, they always are thinking outside the box, and they sometimes struggle in school. And I know I did. I know I was school was very difficult for me. I'm talking about college because I just couldn't conceptualize how to remember all this stuff that I didn't care about, and I was more into doing screwy things. I remember having a creative writing class, and I got to just go into this crazy world. And in Michigan, people don't look at you kind of the same because, as a comic that I knew once said, people look at someone trying to do stand-up comedy is like somebody that goes to the moon and walks on the moon. They're both so far fetched for Sony admission because not many people make it. It's such a far fetched tale that you know, and I just couldn't live under that type of situation where I was kind of an oddball. I used to think, my God, what am I? What is this all about? And out here, when I came to California, made the big move, I realized, wow, this is something where I fit in a little bit better. So,
Dave Bullis 8:34
And so, literally, Don, you just packed up and moved. I mean, was there any specific like incident that just caused you to say, you know what? I'm just going to bite the bullet, and I'm moving out to L.A.
Don Barris 8:44
Not really. I just I was look looking for different things. I I wasn't enjoying my life out there. There was you know I was making money because I used to DJ in Michigan. I do uh like like fraternity parties and weddings and things like that, and I started a little business, so I was making money, but I just didn't like what I was doing. And I thought, well, you know what? I'm young enough. I'm gonna go out to California. I have no real commitments here. I'll go out there and just take a chance. And when I came out here, I said, well, this is my last chance. No matter what, I will not quit. And I mean, there were times, like in the first year, I got into a little trouble with other comics because I was kind of a cocky guy, and you know, these older comics, well-established comics, didn't like some young cocky guy coming out there and saying, "I'm after you, man. I'm going to take your spots. People didn't like that. They didn't realize that, but it was too cocky. So there's a few times that you know, I eventually got kicked out of the comedy store. I didn't know what to do. I worked at a strip club, but I made a deal to myself that I would never take a job that didn't have a camera in my face or a microphone in my hand. So I actually got to the point where, like two separate times, I lived in my car for like period of over six months, but I said, "There's no way I'm going to give up. No way. I mean, and everything that I've done has taken forever to do. It took 11 years to finally get the movie made from when I started it until we finally made it. 11 years, but I just said I'm not. I mean, I I sometimes would think about it because when I first moved out here, I was still of that college, high school way of judging time. Like every four years, you know, you you move on to the next step, and I would say, wow, somebody when they when first grade came out here, and it took that. They graduated high school by the time I got it done, but they were in first grade when I first came out here or first started the whole thing.
Dave Bullis 11:11
I think you know that's a really amazing story, Don, because you know I I think a lot of people hear about you know overnight successes, and I forget who actually said this, but this person said there is no such thing as an overnight success because they don't. Because when people you know see overnight successes, quote unquote, they really don't see all the years and and and the struggles and everything they went through, and you know to all of a sudden either when it's selling a script or getting casted in a movie or stuff like that. I completely you know get where you're coming from about the whole time thing. Just, I think a lot of people sort of sort of misconstrued that, if you know what I mean.
Don Barris 11:48
Right. Oh, absolutely. And I think that if you want to take a gamble and do something like that, it's going to take you a long time. You know, even great comics takes them a long time to kind of understand how to play the crowd, how to present yourself, and I think that anybody who ever wants it, who wants to come out and try and make it a show business, because in some parts of the country, I don't know if Philadelphia is, it's much bigger city than I came from, but I don't know how their view of things are, but for most people, it's such a far-fetched dream to even try to get it in show business.
Dave Bullis 12:29
We mostly Don. We mostly hate life in Philadelphia and hate everybody else too. So it's a lot of bleakness. A lot of you know we we we worship fictitious sports athletes like Rocky Balboa,
Don Barris 12:43
Right! You boo Santa Claus. It shows your hatred towards mankind at an Eagles game. So I understand a little bit of Philly, but it's it's a tough, tough gig, and anybody who ever wants to try to do it, the best thing, you know, I'm still far from where I want to be, but I've never given up. We have we completed an unbelievably funny pilot with the big three, and there's people that want to buy it. We were actually they wanted to give us money to make a pilot because so many times, you know, movies like that go away. But thank God, Jimmy Kimmel produced the whole thing because all Jimmy used to-he would constantly buy cases of the movie Windy City Heat, and anybody he thought would like it, he turned on to by giving a copy, made T-shirts, would give people just anything. I mean, so many huge celebrities came up, you know, to talk about how great the film was, why it was great, you know, ranging from Quentin Tarantino, who literally went out of his mind for it. But it was very good for me because at the time I was struggling, my claim to fame was doing the road with dice clay. But because of this movie, you know, Jimmy Kimmel was the producer of it, and thank God he came around. And when we finally got it, he was nice enough to keep me working ever since he kind of met me, so he got me some. He got me an audience warm-up gig on when Ben Stein's Money. Then that turned into four years of working on the Man Show, and then after that, he got Jimmy Kimmelage. I've worked in an industry that if you work 10 weeks a year, you're doing well, I'm working 40 some weeks a year on a TV show. So he's made he put me in a position financially. He's taking very good care of me. So it's it's a it's a funny thing. But you know, all you have to do is have enough money out here to keep a roof over your head. If you can make ends meet somehow, you can then pursue whatever you want. And with that, you know, I realized what a lucky break I had. And in that lucky break, I wanted to make sure I didn't blow it. So I've I have three podcasts I've made. We we finished a pilot that we've been trying to sell, which we could. We just need one person to say, "Hey, go ahead, do it. So it's it's a very funny, funny business, and it takes a lot, and it takes a lot out of you. But
Dave Bullis 15:40
I actually tweeted at Netflix one time, I because they were actually going. That's when one of their buying binges, the old Canadian show Kenny versus Spenny, actually got all their fans to tweet at Netflix. Hey, you should pick us up for another season because they haven't been on the air in almost 10 years. And I was actually tweeting at Netflix like the Big Three is not only hilarious, but they already have a built-in fan base, just like Kenny versus Spenny. And the reason I tweeted them was I was actually applying for a job with them at the same time to be like it was something to do with creative content. So that was going to be one of my proposals, by the way, was to to pick up both those shows because I mean, honestly, Don, I mean, when you see the Heat again, like I like I said in the intro is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's absolutely hilarious, and all these celebrities have heard about it too. You know, Dave Chappelle, I think, was into it. Quentin Tarantino, like you said, and didn't didn't Tarantino? Didn't he come by one of the Ding Dong Show performances one time?
Don Barris 16:36
He he didn't he came by and saw the ding dong show, but he was at the comedy store, and he mainly saw my band and all that stuff. But I bring the I brought the cast on stage, and I was lucky enough to say that when he was there, he was pounding his fist on the table, laughing, and it was like, oh my god! And a real quick story. Well, I'm trying to think. Hostel. Remember that hostel movie? Who's the guy that directed that?
Dave Bullis 17:11
Eli Roth.
Don Barris 17:12
Eli Roth. Well, I mean, I'm still a kid from Saginaw, Michigan. I mean, you know, and you don't see much about stars, so I'm anybody that's a star. I'm just in complete awe. So anyway, one night at Jimmy Kimmel, he had on Eli Roth when they were promoting Hostel, and he brought out you know Quentin Tarantino to help push it a little bit. So I'm the audience warm-up for Kimmel, so I'm out there doing my thing. And Jimmy came up and he says, "Hey, there's two guys that want to talk to you. And I walk behind Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino, and he, Quentin Tarantino, this is what I walked in on. See, I told you, you you come to Jimmy Kimmel, you're gonna meet down Bears. You can ask any question about when you see the Heat, and I mean, I I'm in like in awe. I it was like, what in the hell is happening? And then Mary Jane was with me one night. What was that? It was.
Mary Jane 18:11
Do you want me to tell the story?
Don Barris 18:12
Sure. Do you want? Go ahead.
Mary Jane 18:14
So, Don and I went to a release party. What was it for for Adam Crola's boxer movie, or no, the construction movie, one of his movies around the time of the hostel, and you know when I go to these things with Don, I just kind of like you never know where you're gonna go or where where your place is. You know, you just kind of it's all in the busy to do of it, and so I'm following Don. Don's, you know, talking to to his coworkers and and just whatever is happening, it's kind of unplanned. And all of a sudden, I'm getting chased down because I'm behind Don by Eli Roth, just just to to say hi and to talk about all this stuff, so then I'm I'm in the position to where I'm not really sure what's going on, but Eli Ross is just so excited about Windy City Heat and dawn and what's going on and all that. So that that was the fun little little experience. Yeah, I believe that was that the Arc Light Hollywood. So it was kind of a weird little upper private bar type of release party.
Dave Bullis 19:25
Well, that's absolutely amazing. That is that is so amazing now that that that these people are chasing you down, Don.
Don Barris 19:33
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you something. It wasn't like you know I wish you he was chasing me down. Hey, why don't you do something with me? He just you know. But who knows? I mean, yeah, I you you obviously know who Jack Black is.
Dave Bullis 19:47
Yeah,
Don Barris 19:48
Jack Black can us do his comedy. He has a yearly comedy comedy music.
Dave Bullis 19:57
Yeah, the Festival Supreme.
Mary Jane 20:07
Yeah,
Don Barris 20:07
Festival Supreme. And this year, he was just you know he was playing with us there. He he was going to come up with us on stage, but he had to be up with Amy Kohler. They had something worked out because we're going to be on at the same time. But I mean, he is such a good guy and a fan of this, and so we got to hang out with him a little bit all around there. And it was just every time we do something and somebody else comes around, it's just like my God, I'm just this guy from Saginaw Township, Michigan, and I did something that these people like. Very, very cool.
Dave Bullis 20:49
I know we've been talking about the movie. So, just for the listeners who haven't heard of it, Windy City Heat was a film. It was produced by Jimmy Kimmel. It was released on Comedy Central, and then you know it became a cult classic because, like you said, Don. You know, Jimmy would buy you know the cases of DVDs. You know, I found it one night randomly on Comedy Central, and when the DVD first came out, I actually bought that. I bought. I made sure that I could find this, and now whenever I see a DVD of it, I actually always make sure to buy it, and then I usually just give it out to somebody because that I want them and like I've always said to people, I'm jealous of them because they get to see it for the first time. They get to experience it for the first time. Yeah, because see,
Don Barris 21:33
You know who said that exact thing? Do you know who Gavin Mcinnes is?
Dave Bullis 21:37
Oh yeah, absolutely.
Don Barris 21:38
He's the guy that started Vine Magazine. He said the same vice. Excuse me, vice. But that's exactly what he said. That he gets envious of people that are about to discover this. So those words are pretty heavy and all that. But boy, thank you for saying that. Thank you for doing it.
Dave Bullis 21:56
Oh, my pleasure, Don. I put the movie on for a group of people one time, and there was one person who was a little hesitant because because he asked me what it was, and and I said I don't want to give too much away, so I'll tell you this: it's an elaborate prank on one guy, and he started to watch it, and by the end he he was like, I got to order my own copy off Amazon. I I have to order this movie. So, you know, just for those who listen who haven't heard of it yet. Windy City Heat is a movie within a movie that's a prank on one of the other members of the Big Three, Scary Perry Caramello, and and
Mary Jane 22:34
Wait, I thought it was Percy Caravelli.
Dave Bullis 22:37
Oh, Percy! I'm sorry, Mary Jane. It's my Philly accent.
Don Barris 22:40
What some people say Perry Caravello. I think I remember him saying that. That's how he likes to pronounce. But there are various ways of saying his name.
Mary Jane 22:48
Or Pear Bear, and the spelling is K A R.
Don Barris 22:51
Now let him figure it out. Okay, sorry. Okay, so go on with what you're saying about him.
Dave Bullis 22:56
He's the he's the king of Friday night comedy. So he is the you know one of the other members of the big three, and of course, there's Walter and Moleninsky. So Don, Mole, and Perry are the big three, and they go are, and the movie opens with Don and and and Perry on the way to an audition, and you know, the whole movie is a movie. It's it's almost like a real life Truman show, Don, and that that's that's another way I describe it because yeah, your bit it is just you know it's so well done. It's it's it's again everyone listening, it's an elaborate prank on Perry. So everyone else is in on it. There's hidden cameras everywhere, and they explain that the cameras you know in his face are either a a movie camera because they are you know filming this you know faux movie, or b it's a behind the scenes type deal, and it is absolutely brilliant from start to finish, and you know I again Don I know you probably hear hear it a lot, but it is it is absolutely freaking hilarious, and um and I mean I mean, just just you know, making the move, you know, making that, you know, I wanted to ask, you know, what was your one of your favorite things to actually film about Wednesday City Heat?
Don Barris 24:09
That I what? I'm sorry.
Mary Jane 24:10
Favorite thing that
Dave Bullis 24:12
Yeah, yeah. What was one of your favorite things to film during Windy City Heat?
Don Barris 24:16
Well, I'll tell you something. You know, it's like you have one take to do this, and we thought of some things to do, and that's so we had some kind of guys on. But I think when things worked, I think that you know the the snack table, the you know where mole knocks or peri knocked over the table. I think because that works so well, and you don't know what's going to happen. I mean, this guy could like, oh, this is bullshit. He never did, and I think that's the amazing thing. And when you look at this, but by the time we did that movie, we. Had been doing it for 11 years, and we did a lot of things, and we put a lot of scenarios in there. They're all things that we have that will eventually come out where people can see it. By the way, have you heard the the podcast? We did four years of a big three podcast.
Dave Bullis 25:18
I listen to every single episode, Don.
Don Barris 25:20
Good, yeah. See, that's I. You know, it's unfortunate the movie doesn't really explain what a character he really is. But you listen to four years of the podcast, and you can't even get a better idea. We, like I said, we put together a very cool. Made a couple episodes that we wanted to sell. IFC wanted to give us, you know, a budget to create a pilot for them. You know, instead I brought the money in myself, and so we're just trying to sell that. Hopefully, we can. But it's it's a it's a whole real world. The when Jimmy Kimmel came to me, I knew that he kind of understood when he came with with the thought. This is kind of like the opposite of Andy Kaufman, where in Andy Kaufman he was playing a trick on the world and he stuck to it. In this, it's the opposite because in this, everybody knows what's going to happen to Perry, just he doesn't. So it's like the world is in a prank on one person.
Dave Bullis 26:34
And you know, you talked about the podcast. I view the podcast as a sequel to Windy City Heat, because yeah, because the the the reason is I and you actually mentioned this yourself is it actually builds upon Perry the character. I mean, literally some of the stuff that has come out about Perry. I mean, it is just it's almost like one of those Russian nesting dolls. Like you know, there's a bigger doll, and then you you take that apart, and there's another doll, and you just keep going down, and it's almost like you're you're trying to to dissect Perry to it's like what is the core of this guy, you know, because because there's two things I'm always fascinated with, Don, and that is practical jokes and guys who live on the fringe of society, and Perry is both wrapped into one, and he's just such an interesting guy. And
Don Barris 27:27
Oh, you know, if I could throw this in there,
Dave Bullis 27:30
Oh sure, absolutely.
Don Barris 27:30
Interesting part comes in, but there's a lot of people their first thoughts. Wow, they've got a make-believe world around this poor son of a bitch. Well, two things come up, and as I was saying before, I learned about the world of potluck comedy people. They would do anything to be seen. They want fame. In the movie, Perry talks about he doesn't want to be a movie star. He just wants to be famous, and in that, that's what he got because that's all he cares about. He walks around, and if somebody doesn't know the movie Windy City Heat right now, oh come on, everybody knows that movie. His ego's unbelievable. He's a racist, homophobic pig, misogynistic. He's just an animal to women. There's a girl that came back to town that we've known for quite a while. All right, here. Talk.
Mary Jane 28:30
I'm not interrupting. Go ahead.
Don Barris 28:32
And say something. Go ahead.
Mary Jane 28:33
No, wait till after you go.
Don Barris 28:35
So there's a girl that came to town that kind of did this before. She needed a ride places. She came from Chicago, and he. They went over to her house. He went to the bathroom, came out with his pants off and a heart on. You can't not hate this person. So
Dave Bullis 28:57
That is a classy move, Don.
Don Barris 28:59
Oh yeah, it's he at least lets them know what he's into. There's no question about that. So I think that we can get away with it in the aspect of putting it together. He does gain. He gains exactly what he wants. But he's a horrible person, has no friends whatsoever, and any friend he gets, he just automatically turns up. So,
Dave Bullis 29:27
You know, you know that was funny because when when Facebook first came around, I saw Perry was on there, and I legitimately done dead serious. I sent him a very nice message, and I just said how big of a fan I was of Winnie City Heat. I I didn't tell him anything. I wasn't you know making fun of him or anything. I just said I'm a very big fan of Winnie City Heat. You know I said you know I I really hope the best happens to the big three. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor. And now back to the show. And he sent me back a Facebook message, basically telling me to go to hell, and I was a loser.
Don Barris 30:11
Yeah, he he does that, and then he tried selling T-shirts. I think it he got them for four bucks, and he saw them for 35, and some guy sent him a letter. Hey, you sent me the wrong shirt and it's way too small. His response that was tough shit.
Mary Jane 30:33
Yeah, I believe that was the guy ordered an extra large and he sent him a medium. He felt that that was the closest size he had, but
Don Barris 30:40
That's all he had left, and then this doesn't fit me. Overpaying for a damn T-shirt, and then he goes through all that tough shit. So he's a class act, and you learn to hate him immediately. There's been many people that will actually say, "Wow, I I always felt sorry for this guy. Then he did this to me. Nova should feel sorry for him because number one, he gets exactly what he wants out of it. Exactly, I granted his wish.
Mary Jane 31:09
Can you tell him what happened the other day?
Don Barris 31:11
Yes.
Mary Jane 31:11
So just just the other day, I'm minding my own business. You know, haven't had contact with Perry since, you know, the the podcast or the pilot or whatnot, and I look at my phone, a private message from Perry calling me an unprofessional bitch. So I open up the message and I see that the last communication I had with him was 2012, and it was I believe the time that Mole and Perry surprised Don in one of the podcasts back in 2012, and so Perry accidentally he saw the correspondence from 2012 and thought it was yesterday or no the day before yesterday, and so the the full message was, I don't want to have anything to do with you guys. And then he called me an unprofessional bitch. And less than a minute later, he said, "I'm sorry, that was an old message, and and that was it, literally out of nowhere, just just for no reason, you know.
Don Barris 32:22
I mean, to to add more freaking Nick to him, when we we made a a series of stuff, and one of the things that we went out there and did was, we have all this stuff that we recorded with him, and during one interview, he was talking about the fact he got kicked off the school grounds because every day he worked for his cousin's print shop, and he would go and eat his lunch at this school so he could watch the girls. And they eventually came up and they told him, "Hey, you can't be here, and he fought it, and there's no way he thought it was wrong. That's bullshit. That's bullshit. I do nothing. I just eat my lunch and stare at girls. He is. He has no social etiquette at all. Terrible person.
Mary Jane 33:17
And just to complete that story, Perry was like over 30.
Don Barris 33:20
Yeah,
Dave Bullis 33:23
Because I imagine you know with with the story Mary Jane told about him on Facebook, I imagine Perry just sitting in in that dust bowl apartment of his, and just on Facebook or or Twitter constantly, just sort of stalking random people. That and that's how I sort of think he he lives his life.
Mary Jane 33:44
Absolutely, and I'm pretty sure I was called an unprofessional bitch because literally the night before he had gone out with the fans and exposed himself to that woman. So I think that in his mind he was like thinking that he was going to get in trouble or going to get like, oh boy, I did something. I might. They're going to call me on it, and so out of nowhere, he he thinks that I'm scolding him, and and replies to a message from 2012.
Dave Bullis 34:18
That is that is classic Perry, and you know to go on to the you know you were talking about the strong shirt size. I'm actually wearing a Scary Perry skateboard shirt right now. Wow! Because you know, like you said, Don, you kind of feel like you should throw him a bone. I remember I actually ordered this shirt. I was like, that is nowhere near anywhere what he charges for it. It's actually one of my one of the cheaper shirts that I actually have. I have shirts that cost like half as much that are much much higher quality. And then I made the mistake, Don, of of trying to buy one of his skateboards, and and the skateboard came came in for Christmas this past Christmas. December 2015, the board was damaged, and it wasn't signed at all. And I had to call Perry's manager to get him to, and he just sent me some stickers. He's like, just use these to cover up the damage, because Perry was gonna send me a signed eight by 10, but then he said, and I quote, "Fuck him. He doesn't deserve anything.
Don Barris 35:20
Yeah, customer care in his store is not that good. I'll be the first to admit that. Oh, he's just such a pig, such a pig.
Dave Bullis 35:31
And when when you hear of all these stories, it just adds to to Windy City Heat, and it adds to the podcast because like the layers on this guy, at sometimes he just he he almost looks like a a shrunken Steven Seagal because he you know he's got this this weird trash bag leather jacket on he's got like he he almost looks like Ben Franklin too at some point and he's got this big huge fanny pack on that is it looks like a book bag that's strapped around his waist and it's just you look at this guy and you're like, is this guy for real? Like he stands out like a sore thumb, even in like the even in like the craziest districts. He kind of reminds me in a way of of like, well, I would give him too much credit. I was gonna say like somebody like Tommy Wassow, somebody who's so oblivious, but I think Tommy Wassow is more talented than Perry.
Mary Jane 36:21
Oh, absolutely, absolutely.
Dave Bullis 36:26
You know, so Don, is is there any any talk of of you know when you see the Heat maybe coming out on Blu-ray or even on on on demand or any time? Because I know there was a Netflix a petition I started by the big three fans to get it carried on Netflix, but I just know-is there anything else to to go forward with it?
Mary Jane 36:45
Well, I can answer that question. Basically, with Windy City Heat, Paramount owns it. So Paramount's the one that put it on DVD. Paramount's the one that put it on Netflix. I believe still Instinct. I mean, the disc, the where you send the disc only, not instant queue. And so, to the best of my knowledge, Paramount would have to make the decision to put it on Blu-ray, and or wherever else Windy City Heat could go. I don't think Don or even Jimmy really can do anything without Paramount and their system of deciding what happens with their stuff.
Don Barris 37:28
Yeah, it probably won't be released on Blue Wake, but a lot of people right now are trying to sign petitions.
Mary Jane 37:35
Yeah, he mentioned that. Yeah,
Don Barris 37:36
And yeah, and so there's a group of people that are trying to do that, and it's funny because a while back at the common store, there's a guy that I know that owns this big, like this multi-multi millionaire lives in Vegas and made his money from doing gambling magazines. Well, one night he was with the guy that was in charge of deciding what went on Netflix, and so I talked to him about that, and he was like, "Yeah, I'll definitely do this. I'll do that, you know. Never did.
Mary Jane 38:11
Well, I think that that Comedy Central has a deal with Paramount, and wherever I've seen, you know, like I don't know if this is good to say, but that Kmart and then whatever it turned into, they had all the Comedy Central shows on DVD for like a really good price. And I know that when it was happening, fans from all over America were like, "I just bought 10, 10 Windy City heats. I just bought, you know, 20. Like the the people were going in there and just buying as many as humanly possible. And when I went to look, I realized that it was literally all the Comedy Central ones in a bulk package, the Paramount. So it kind of Windy City Heat lumped in that that purchase selling situation,
Dave Bullis 39:03
I saw some of them too. The I know exactly what you're talking about too, Mary Jane, because I I saw a couple of those at the local big lots. Yeah, yeah, that's where I would buy them too, and I would that's where I was. You know, I would just try to give them out. You know, I would buy them whenever I could. They were like three or $5. I would just hand them out because I know a friend of mine. You know, he like I was telling Don when he saw it on on when I showed him my copy. He actually just went on Amazon and bought that one. You know, everyone, I'm going to link to a show notes, but in the show notes, by the way, where you can actually purchase Winnie City Heat through you know whether it's through Amazon or wherever. But honestly, this is one of those movies where if I had made a list of every every movie people should see before they die. Windy City Heat is definitely on there.
Don Barris 39:46
Wow. Well, so you know, I'll tell you something. The only unfortunate thing, yeah, I get that. If but you know what, you can also, I think they put it on YouTube. Look under Windy City Heat. I think it's on YouTube. So if somebody just wants to watch it. You can get it there, but I mean, you should tell people to listen to the podcast.
Mary Jane 40:18
Oh yes, do you remember most recently on Simply Dawn Drop podcast episode 100 actually was Perry with Don.
Don Barris 40:30
If you want to listen all those, go to simplydontheonthepodcastnetwork.com. We've got a few things out there. We do have the store. We're we're updating all this stuff because there could be some things that are happening even with the big three. So, but it's the big three podcast. What is it?
Mary Jane 40:48
thebigtreepodcast.com.
Don Barris 40:51
No, podcast network.
Mary Jane 40:54
Oh, simplydonthepodcastnetworkstore.com.
Don Barris 40:58
No, the network. Oh, jeez, it's simplydonthepodcastnetwork.com. Go there and there's a few different things. You go to the store and all that kind of stuff. So,
Dave Bullis 41:11
And I want to make the make sure to link to all that in the show notes as well. To even to what Don was saying with Winnie City Heat on YouTube, you know, I wanted to ask you know Don, I know, I mean, time is flying by here, Don. I know you have to go soon, but you know, I know you started your own podcast, which is simply done the podcast. You know, what was sort of your impetus to start that? Because I know, you know, you you you you ended the big. Well, I'm sorry, the the big three podcast ended, but I mean, I know you probably wanted to start your own podcast. But was there any real reason why you wanted to start your own brand?
Don Barris 41:41
Because I had seen what became of Joe Logan's network, and I saw Adam Carolla and all those guys. They started when this thing of the podcast first happened, and they got huge, huge numbers because you know they were kind of known, and like here was a way to listen to these guys. It wasn't out there that much. Now there's so many podcasts, it's really tough to get a share of the market. Who who cares? When they started, there was nothing else. So all these guys got these huge numbers, and they kept them. And I got a chance because the Big Three podcast was first on Ace Broadcast, which is Adam Carolla, and Red Band started. Who worked with Joe Rogan started Death Squad, and all the people that came out of Death Squad, you know, they have a podcast, and they started getting huge numbers of their own because they were part of the death squad network, and bottom line is, it's the new way to promote yourself. You can promote anything, you know. Joe Rogan's almost got the perfect life because what he does is like he does
Mary Jane 42:58
The UFC.
Don Barris 42:59
UFC, he calls those matches. You know, he books a someplace in that town for him to do stand-up comedy. Tickets sell out in minutes because he just goes on his podcast network, and he has so many people that listen on a daily basis. He just pushes it, and I realize that's the wave of the future. I mean, you have to get some sort of market in there, and if you're doing show business stuff, because now we live in the day and age, you can actually make your own pilot. You can make your own series, and if it's set up right, you can make money because you can have your own network, and I, you know, and that way you don't have to talk to anybody. You don't have to do anything. No one has to select you. They still can if they have a role in a movie for you. Oh yeah, here here's a guy. He'd be perfect for the guy stand. Boom, he's in the movie. Ah, but the rest yourself being able to do stand up and doing all that kind of crap, you can go out there and promote the hell out of yourself, and that's why you go on other podcasts. So, I'm sorry.
Dave Bullis 44:13
Oh no, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'm sorry, Don.
Don Barris 44:15
No, no, no. Continue.
Dave Bullis 44:16
Well, I was going to say I I agree with you, you know, immensely because you know that that's something that I found out too is you know there there is a crowded podcast market you know now there's a crowded film you know filmmaking market and somebody sent me when I first started this podcast somebody sent me an article called 1000 true fans and basically it was just about if you can cultivate 1000 true fans you can make a career just off those 1000 fans, whether it's setting up a Patreon, whether it's you know like you said with Joe Rogan and going to see stand up, whether it's a YouTube channel, if you can do it right, he said you know this whole thing is you could you could base an entire career off those 1000 fans.
Don Barris 44:56
Well, it's almost like a pyramid scheme because it's like. Hey, I'm doing your show, you know. I don't know what kind of people listen to you. What happens, you know? But that's what you got to do. You got to do all these other shows. And so, if you have a market share, let's say you have 1000 people that listen every time that you put a podcast on, those are probably 1000 people that don't know who I am, or most of your guests, and you turn them on to that. Well, the more of these podcasts you do, the better. Like I said, Death Squad. What I saw, like, wow, this is how it's done. I saw Adam Carolla. This is how it's done, and you watch those people, and I was close enough. You know, I knew the guy that kind of was the top guy over with Adam Carolla, a guy by the name of Donny Mizrahi. He no longer is part of it, but he brought me onto the network, gave me a chance, and I just kind of absorbed everything there. But I knew because of Red Band what he was doing. Do you know who Red bandas, do you know Devil? Yeah, so those guys are very successful, you know, and they make a lot of money selling T-shirts. They make a lot of money doing a lot of stuff. So I thought that you know all these podcasts can do is help you. So now I officially have three, and you know the ding dong show, which is which was kind of basically how Perry started my world, because I had this kind of like a bizarre show with like 678, comments that came on every time I'd have a show, and one of them was Perry. You know, I started that way, and so then I thought, well, I can still do that. I can just have it without Perry, and have Perry a separate show.
Dave Bullis 46:45
And this kind of ties into with a question, Don, from a from one of the fans. Basically, they can imagine that Perry that Perry is probably like insane to deal with. I'm sure I can't get through the question, Don, without laughing. So I'm sure you're insane
Don Barris 47:03
If you know Perry, you can understand he is the worst person, and just has no matter what you do for the guy, it's never enough. It's never enough, and I can't tell you how many times I just wanted to punch the fuck out of him. Excuse me, I don't know if you usually, but I mean, he is such a bad guy, and he does things that hurt him. But he does things. He now is at the point where he he knows if he wants to get me upset, he knows he can just like not do something the day of the show, or come you know tired or coming a bad mood. Oh, he's just such a bad guy. So go on. Yeah,
Dave Bullis 47:50
It's because one of the one of the questions was, how does Don manage dealing with all of let's say the quote unquote strong personalities between the Ding Dong show and Perry Caravello.
Don Barris 48:02
Who else?
Dave Bullis 48:04
This I think it was Chris. I forget who it was actually right now.
Don Barris 48:10
Well, Chris, that's a great question.
Dave Bullis 48:12
Oh, it's Chris Dorm. Sorry, it's Chris Dorm. So, how does the strong personalities from the Ding Dong Show and Percy Caramelli dealing with the craziness has to be very tough. How does Don deal?
Don Barris 48:24
Well, I'll be very honest with you. It's gotten to the point now I can't. And thank God for Mary Jane because she is now the go-between on everything. And I don't know how she does it because I went through years. Mary Jane, how do you go through it.
Mary Jane 48:41
Well, you know, there's in life. I I put it this way. There's there's facts, and there's things that you can rely on, and then there's those wildcards. And so you know, I know the end goal, and I know the the you know pieces of the structure that don't move, and the rest just kind of can be thrown into a blender, and as long as everything the basics get covered, you know the rest. And like with you know with with the Ding Dong cast, I I do get get a lot of crazy calls and crazy messages, and you know, once you get to know each personality, you can kind of figure out what what their motivation is, and and ways to you know shield them from things that would be stressful in their life that wouldn't necessarily stress out. Like if if you work in a in in any other environment where you know okay this person likes this better than that person, you know, and you just kind of like a manager would would mediate between you know the tasks that need to be done and you know what personalities or or job titles would would likely do it best. And and with Perry, there there really is no logic. You never know how bad of an attitude he's going to have, or how much he's going to try to ruin the ultimate goal.
Don Barris 50:23
He, he. I think the worst thing about Perry is, he now, as I started to explain, understands that if he does this, it's going to piss me off. And just to piss me off, he'll do that, and that usually involves him not coming to a big show, you know, because there's so many times we had a public access shows where I I worked with Perry at the comedy store. Then there were problems at the comedy store, so I took Perry on this public access show because you always have to have a carrot in front of Perry's face that he's always chasing, and so he would purposely try to ruin shows, and it was a lot of yelling and screaming till the last minute. It's it's torture, but you know people could say, "Well, you torture him. Yeah, so I guess it's it's fair.
Dave Bullis 51:19
You know, Don, as you know, getting close to to closing, I just want to tell a really quick story. I remember when you guys were doing the Festival Supreme, Perry was on one of your podcasts, and I can't remember if it was it was the Big Three podcast or simply Don, but he started to badmouth Jack Black, yeah, and he said how shallow Hal sucks, and he wanted a contract, and that that that that he was ripping you guys off. And again, Perry always says he's getting ripped off too, which I always find hilarious.
Don Barris 51:49
Yeah, well, I'll tell you something interesting about that. The main reason we did it is because I wanted to get that soundbite. Because when we went to the festival supreme, we I hear we're on the main stage, same stage as the Antwerp. Are you familiar with that band, De Antword?
Dave Bullis 52:08
Yes.
Don Barris 52:09
Yeah. So I mean, they're a huge band, getting bigger and bigger. So I thought, oh my God, there's gonna be so many people that don't know us. In a way, thank goodness, it was just a lot of big three fans of that. But what we did is, you know you come out you you say the same kind of phony stuff all day. Hey, I just want to thank Jack Black for biting us down here. So Mole does that, and then I said, "You can say, and he goes up there. I just want to thank Jack Black. I ripped the mic from. I said, "Well, you didn't say that on our podcast the other day, and then we played that. Jack Black thought that was the funniest thing ever. I saw him after that. He goes, "I it just killed me, and I do know that we had the guys that worked the sound booth and all that laughing. So it was beyond just getting the audience to laugh. I think it was really kind of like what the fuck is going on here? Type of moments. So that was kind of the story there.
Dave Bullis 53:07
I've never actually gotten to meet Perry, and that is on my bucket list. I know as we, you know, my experiences with them, but but but it's stuff like that, Don, where I just it's almost like it's almost like this weird, odd celebrity that you're like, man, he could he could just like disappear at any moment. I should try to meet him before he just dis vanishes, and that's the way I kind of look at Perry. I I I I want to come out at some point to just meet him. But again, like like Gavin once said, you're afraid you're gonna fuck it up, but you know when you meet him. You're afraid. You don't want to. You don't want to touch the magic. If you know what I mean.
Don Barris 53:44
Well, Gavin pointed out a lot of things because Gavin became the fan immediately, and just, just all he would do is tell everybody in the world, like you. I'll tell you, there's more people because of people like you guys that saw it and then just told everybody that they knew. That's the way this thing becomes somewhat popular, and that's the reason you know the the movie came out in 2003, and still, instead of becoming small, it's becoming bigger and bigger, and the fan base is growing because when somebody turns it on to somebody else. They find it for the first time. Then, so it's I. We still once in a while get big three podcasts that get into the top 200 of the iTunes. They get into the top 200, and we haven't done a show really since 2000, whatever, you know, years ago. You know, we we now if we do anything, it's on simply down the podcast. But back then, you know, we're making the top 200 on shows that are just basically repeats. So. Pretty happy with that,
Dave Bullis 55:01
Yeah. And that's just a testament to how you know how much traction you know not only not only the movie but like like I said earlier, I always view the podcast as a sequel to Windy City Heat because it it just adds all these layers to to everything, and I mean just you know and then of course the $10 shoutouts are always hilarious. I actually was able to send one in one time, and
Don Barris 55:24
What was your?
Dave Bullis 55:25
Yeah, mine was under. I know it was
Don Barris 55:28
May I interrupt you real quick? $10 shoutouts was where if someone sent in $10, they we would read their letter on the air, and what had happened? A lot of the fans knew the buttons to push on Perry, so he'd flip out and get upset. That's what everybody would do-just try to outtop everybody else. So that's what the Pen Dollar Shouter is. Now, pick up your story. What was yours?
Dave Bullis 55:53
Well, I know it was against the rules, Don, but I used a fake name.
Don Barris 55:58
Oh, really? You'd be the first one, right?
Dave Bullis 56:01
Yeah, yeah, I know. It's I went against the rules, and I tried to go for a long game with with my letter, and I parried it. Perry didn't take it the way I thought he would, but but it was actually towards the end of the podcast run where I actually sent in a letter, and I actually couldn't continue on which I was trying to do. I was trying to sort of put together this this kind of long joke on Perry, but it didn't work out so well. But because he again, he didn't respond like I thought he was going to. But
Don Barris 56:35
What was the letter?
Dave Bullis 56:36
The letter was about the Perry Caravelle School of Acting, and was signed. I think. I think my name was Googie Assler.
Don Barris 56:45
Yeah, I probably mispronounced the name.
Dave Bullis 56:50
It was the because it was formerly the Perry Carrello School of Acting, formerly the Perry Caravelle School of Heating and Air Conditioning Repair.
Don Barris 57:00
See, that's funny. You got the joke, and I'll tell you this. See, if I screwed up the name, I used to maybe one of the bad things is we would read the letters on air. We I should have at least looked at it before we went on, but I would just go out there and do it. So I would always screw up names and things like that. So if I messed up your name, I'm sorry.
Dave Bullis 57:26
Well, I actually asked Perry to read the letter to make it even funnier. But but he was like Googie Assler, and he kind of he said it. Yeah, I thought he was going to flip out and you know not know what I what what I was talking about. But he just sort of, you know, I I think that was where the letter before was either about his fake disability scheme or the incident with RC. So I can't remember, but I remember I think
Don Barris 57:52
I would have to say even taking over for the RC guy, which was a whole story that people should be forced to try to find out on their own. You can't tell everything, but I think that the fake disability thing pisses him off more than anything else ever thrown at him. Which is where he was like when he was like a teenager when he first got his car. He got in a car accident that put him in a coma for a few days, so it was a terrible car accident. But he, like most people, they needed excuse for failure, and his excuse is because of his because of his accident that happened 2030, years ago. And it's not that it's funny, but everything in his life was taken to be funny. So people started saying that it was a fake disability scam, and it would just set him off unlike anything else. So that's what you're talking about.
Dave Bullis 58:56
There is there is so much like I was saying before. There's so many layers to this, and it's just you know we would need like 10 podcasts to get through it all,
Don Barris 59:04
But still wouldn't be able to do it. And all the people that have been part of it just you know, but yeah. So I, by the way, I appreciate you being on. I it sounds like you're starting to wrap up. I want to make sure that we could promote a couple things on here.
Dave Bullis 59:21
Oh yeah, absolutely. Because I know you have to go, Don, and I don't want to keep pressing you for time. So, in closing, Don, is is there anything else? You know, you just want to put a period at the end of the sentence, or you know, is there anything you or Mary Jane want to say just to sort of wrap everything up?
Don Barris 59:34
Well, why don't you ask a question? We'll see if we can answer. You can ask any question you want about the Ding Dong Show, about Jimmy Kimmel about Big Three anything you'd like to talk about?
Dave Bullis 59:46
Okay, I actually all right. Um, for I want to ask this to you and Mary Jane. You know, we're honestly I don't want to sound like a like a guidance counselor, but where do you see yourselves in five years? You for both you and Mary Jane.
Don Barris 1:00:10
Well, I'm hoping because and Mary Jane may feel the same way. We put a lot of time into this to try to build somewhat of a network, because I think that you know I'm getting more people that help me out, and money is around the corner. Now we've been offered money from bigger companies, so hopefully I can start this little entertainment network that can have you know because the internet, believe it or not, not only is it the wave of the future, but I think it's either a great way to promote or it's a great way to have a show, you know. And if you can sit there and make all the calls you want, hey, let's shoot this. This sounds funny, and you can go out there and make a little money, that's spectacular. All I'm looking for is to make enough money to live, and we're getting close to that. You know, I'm lucky. I have a job that I work all the time. That I basically work a total of eight hours a week, and in that time, it gives me the money to be able to do all the other projects. So now let's hope all the other things start to click in, and you know, hopefully in five years I'm making a lot of money off things I'm creating myself.
Dave Bullis 1:01:36
You know, Don, I honestly, I I think you were going to get to that point. You know, like you said, with the internet, because you know, just with all the different avenues that are opening up, I actually was listening to a an investor friend of mine. He said, in he knows that about 50 to 70% of his income in the next couple of years is going to come from technology that that that doesn't exist yet,
Don Barris 1:02:00
Right!
Dave Bullis 1:02:01
But but so but but that's because of the way things are going now, you know. There's a lot of different avenues to approach things, and honestly, Don, you know, I think that's you know, I think that's what sort of what you were talking about.
Don Barris 1:02:14
Well, the great thing I'm in a position that I'm around a lot of people that are in show business, so to be able to do shows and to do if it becomes like videos, short videos, long videos, movies, I have an idea for a movie that I, you know, a very bizarre movie that I wanted to do, and just bring in all the people that I know in comedy to do cameos, and like we did a, I guess I can't really say names, but we did the pilot for the big three, and they all kind of worked for me for nothing. But to get the quality of talent, like I had about a cast of about 10, and to get them to do something for you and pay them their normal fee, you're talking millions of dollars. And these guys are working for free for me, so I know that I'm doing something right. But Mary Jane, you never answered the question: Where do you see yourself for five years?
Mary Jane 1:03:21
Well, when I started my my journey in Hollywood, very quickly I realized, and was given advice from from older successful people that it's not just one thing; it is a lifetime of work as an artist. And with all these these projects that we've discussed, and as of recently, I kind of finally felt what what I was I was told in that you know, and it goes along the the the thing. If you love what you do, you never really work a day in your life, and I feel I've finally gotten to a point where I do really enjoy everything going on. So the only thing I can say is that in in five years from now, I I wouldn't want to change anything except for to get to be doing the same things I'm already doing every day and every week and and you know with bigger more spectacular things, but just on a more comfortable level,
Don Barris 1:04:21
Yeah. Where I think that what it becomes, if you're paid, you're feeling good because there's nothing more fun than doing art and doing things that are fun and having because it is like playing. It keeps you young at heart, and it's like playing, goofing around as a kid. But you're goofing around, and your only goal is to have some money come in for that. I think. I think that's everybody's ultimate idea of getting in show business.
Mary Jane 1:04:50
Oh, absolutely. And and I don't even think of it as a like oh have to have money you know to survive. It's more like to get the opportunity. The bigger budget you get to create on you know one project or another, it it just lets the vision come out brighter and more clear.
Don Barris 1:05:12
Yeah, well,
Dave Bullis 1:05:13
That is great way to put it, Don and Mary Jane. You know, and I think you're right too. I think you know when they're able when when any and when he any artist is able to actually do their art and and get paid for it, whether they're a painter, a sculptor, an actor, a comedian, a writer, I think it just adds to it. You know, I think that that that's the dream. You know, when you're living that dream, and and and like you said, Don, you know, with with Joe Rogan now, he's sort of living that dream life because you know he's able to sort of have that synergetic effect where you know the UFC feeds off his podcast, which feeds into his stand-up comedian, stand-up comedy, stand-up move comedy, excuse me, and then which feeds back into the UFC. So it's sort of like this this network that's just feeding one another, and you know I think that's sort of what a lot of artists now are going for. You know whether it's with a Patreon or even some some artists even get paid to tweet. You know, like a company will come by and sponsor them and say, "Hey, you know, five tweets a week or a month or whatever, and we'll pay you X amount of dollars. You know, even stuff like that. You know, ties in with all that stuff we were talking about earlier, with all the revenues and and just all the things that keep opening up. Almost as you know, as technology advances, you know every you know every day now it seems it just seems like there's another avenue to approach.
Don Barris 1:06:26
Yeah, absolutely, and it's I'm I'm more happy about how show business and how you can make money now than when I first started. That's for sure. There's so many avenues. There's so many ways to do it, and you know, and you know, you know, hard it is to get guests to come on your show. Well, it becomes hard to get guests, but now I'm starting to do, you know, Hamlet de bars. Do you know what that is?
Dave Bullis 1:07:00
No, I'm sorry, I don't.
Don Barris 1:07:02
In the '70s, she was like the most famous groupie there was. You know, they say they base part of the character for that almost famous movie, you know, on this woman. I mean, she she has a list of people that she had sex with, from Mick Jagger, Robert Plant to Woody Allen. She had affairs and long affairs with a lot of these people. From what I understand, Robert Plant still comes to see her when he's in Los Angeles. So I mean, there's some interest there, and I'm I'm to the point now. I'm going to start interviewing people like that just to get things going, but it is hard to get gas, especially when there's no money or anything like that. But I just I believe so much that this is the future and this is what you have to have. You know, I'm nobody makes money at first, but I'll tell you, it is an interesting thing to do. And it's when you said that you wanted me to do this, and you honored me by saying that you wanted me to be your 100th guest. I was very happy to do that. I'm, you know, I'm happy that we touched somebody, and I have no problem talking to you about it. I hope that I was pretty good with you. Didn't do a lot of things that led to funny, funny bits. But I'm glad that uh, I hope that was okay for you. I hope Mary Jane was okay.
Dave Bullis 1:08:30
Oh, absolutely. You know, I wanted this to be. You know, I mean, honestly, you know, each show that I do here is different, but I wanted this to be. I know, you know, obviously that you have the big three fan base. I wanted sort of this to be like sort of a an add-on. It's sort of like as I said before, another you know peeling back another layer, and and sort of seeing you know the the Don Barris story, and then and hearing you know what Mary Jane is going through too. You know, just just about being a working artist, you know, stuff like that. And you know, honestly, obviously we talked about Perry, but I honestly, Don, I, I think that's gonna, I think Perry's gonna follow you for until until the until like the end of time. I think, I think
Don Barris 1:09:12
I'm the only one that's fucking up his life. I am the worst person ever. There's people have taken Perry and they they try to do their own little thing with Perry, which usually is terrible for us. But you know, but he is he's gonna be around unless I can get something else for him. That's what I'm trying to do, just so he can make some money off websites and things like that. I'm just trying to help him, but I got to get the fuck away from this guy because he's a terrible person. You know, if you ever want to have me on again, maybe we talk about the ding dong show and other stuff going on.
Dave Bullis 1:09:53
Yeah, absolutely, Don. I, you know, I would love to have you and Mary Jane back on sometime.
Don Barris 1:10:06
All right, very cool. Can we try to promote a few things before we go?
Dave Bullis 1:10:11
Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Feel free to you know work people find you out online, and if there's anything else you want to talk about, please feel free.
Don Barris 1:10:18
Well, you know, on myself, Twitter. If you ever want to follow me, because it is a numbers game. So the more Twitter followers, the better. If you want to get in touch with me, I'm at simply Don One. That's the number one. Mary Jane is.
Mary Jane 1:10:33
A with a circle. S M O K I N G M A R Y J A N E.
Don Barris 1:10:39
There you go. We have we have the Ding Dong Show, which is we haven't put it up online yet, but we have about 100 shows we're going to put up of the Ding Dong Show, and I'd like to get people to start looking at that. But you can on Monday night because we have the Ding Dong Show, we've taken that we're making a podcast of all the live shows from the Comedy Store, but we have a right now it goes live. And Mary Jane, how could they watch the dingo Monday nights?
Mary Jane 1:11:10
Every Monday, if you're going to come to Hollywood at the Comedy Store, it's 10 p.m. But if you're elsewhere and can't come in person, you can watch on YouTube live stream and the channel to find is the the Ding Nang Show. Yes, that is 2 T H E S. So the the Ding Nang Show at 1030 p.m. California Standard Pacific whatever time.
Don Barris 1:11:36
Yeah. So that I'm I'm at Facebook at Don Barris. What else do I have out there? Oh, Instagram. I do a lot of ins. I just got a great video the other day. I'm starting around Sunset Boulevard. I always try to. It's about three 3:30 in the morning. I'm taking somebody home. In the middle of Sunset Boulevard came this guy with nothing but shoes, a helmet, and a skateboard, and he kind of completely naked. No, it wasn't Perry, but I sent the I put this vine video up, which is at Don Barris is my Vine. I put that up, and it was of a guy completely naked skateboarding at 3:30 in the morning, and so everybody said, "Oh, I see, Perry sold another skateboard there. So that was, they'll always tie it into Perry, but all he did was kind of tell me to fuck off, then threw a skateboard at me. But I I enjoy doing that. So Instagram him simply down one two, so that's do that, but it was very fun being on the show with you, Dave. You're a very good guy, and thank you for pushing the the big three. It's guys like you that made it more popular.
Dave Bullis 1:12:50
Oh, it's you know my my pleasure, Don. I actually also everyone just before we wrap up, I want to mention I um I've actually been working on a comic book of sorts, actually about Perry, a scary Perry Christmas, and you know, you know, I usually put that up in the Big Three fan club, and I want to, you know, offline. I want to talk to you, Don, about if it would be okay if I actually put it up on my site again. It would be free. It would just be, you know, I just want to make sure it's okay with you.
Don Barris 1:13:19
Sure, why not?
Dave Bullis 1:13:21
So that way, people can download it as like a PDF or there's one or two other file because people sometimes ask me to put up other file extensions. So I want to actually clip that up there again. It's 100% free. I'm not crowdfunding anything. So and issue four is about to drop down. I think you're going to really like issue four. It actually goes all into Perry's supposed car crash.
Don Barris 1:13:43
Whoa, that'll be see. I've heard about it for so long, but to see it'll be great.
Dave Bullis 1:13:50
Yeah, I think I think we really get to the bottom of this whole car crash thing. So, Don and Mary Jane, I want to say thank you so so much for coming on,
Don Barris 1:14:01
Thank you, Dave.
Mary Jane 1:14:02
Thank you.
Dave Bullis 1:14:04
And again, anytime you guys want to come back on, please. It's the doors always open, and I honestly, I want. I look forward to seeing what both you are coming up with. You know, I think there's a lot of interesting things that are going to be coming out from you two in the next couple years, and very soon actually, not just the next couple years.
Don Barris 1:14:21
Well, thank you very much. It was fun being here.
Mary Jane 1:14:23
Thank you very, very much.
Dave Bullis 1:14:25
Oh, my pleasure, and I wish you guys the best of luck and have a good night.
Don Barris 1:14:30
Alright, bye now.
Dave Bullis 1:14:30
Take care. Bye bye.
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