Ike Barinholtz on Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Hi everyone, this is Amy Polar. Welcome

to another episode of Good Hang. We have

the great Ike Baron Holtz joining us

today. Ike is a hilarious, warm, funny

mountain of a man that I met back in

Chicago many years ago and I work with

him on the movie Sisters. You might know

him from the Mindy Project. We did a

satirical podcast together called The

Chris Chapman Doover where he played a

uh podcast host that uh well is not

great. He wasn't great, but he was

trying his best. He's the co-creator of

a great new show called Running Point

with Mindy Kaling and um he is the star

of the studio which is out now on Apple

and we're going to talk to him about

that. Ike is amazing and as always we

like to um take a minute before we start

to talk about people that know Ike or

might know Ike's work and want to talk

to me about questions they think I

should ask him. So, let's get on Zoom

and let's talk to two queens, Emily

Spivey, writer at SNL, and um Katherine

Han, actress and hot [ __ ]

extraordinaire.

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[Music]

So, how's your day going? What's going

on with you? What what where are you

right now and how has your day been so

far? Well, um I'm in a in my car. Um but

it's getting hotter and hotter, which is

great. Um I just got my eyebrows done

and um that's how much I love Ike is

that I'm showing up in this in this in

this face. And Spivey, where are you

talking to us from? I'm in North

Carolina. Everything's fine. I'm still

getting over that faka flu. the SNL

COVID flu, the right the scourge that we

all got at the plaza. I blame Lynn Lyn

Manuel Miranda. I feel like he was

patient zero

cuz everywhere I went I saw him. All

right. Well, we'll get to Ike because

you both have worked with him in various

ways and I'm going to talk to him and

interview him in just a few minutes.

He's going to be so happy by the way

that you did this. So, thank you. What I

love is his like his enthus the way he

falls in love with the project and just

has its back from the beginning. Like I

just love how he um is so freaking loyal

and faithful to the thing that he's

doing that it really inspires everybody

else to

like be as enthusiastic. Also, there's

never a he never lets the ball drop in

any conversation. Like if it's an

awkward table, he will keep it up. Like

the vibration is very high with Ike

Baron Holes. It's a a very high

vibration human being. I think whenever

I've worked with him and he played a

character on a show that I did, he was

the biggest cheerleader. Um just a

positive joy bomb all the time. Brought

so much to the role. Um helped to really

develop this character and then was

completely so supportive and positive

the whole time. showed up for every

event. Just an absolute gentleman, funny

joy bomb. I mean, what a delight. And I

thank I thank him for that because that

was a show that I had created and was

running and he really helped with my

confidence. Like like I would find

myself going, "Oh, thank God Ike's going

to be there today." Like, "Okay, good."

Ike be [ __ ] God. You're a god among

men. Um, Hanzi, by the way, if you have

in any way turned off your AC, feel free

to turn it on. Oh, thank you so much.

What if you just see me like

just slump to the side? Then you see the

roof this for the

[Laughter]

and Polar and I are trying to guess

which parking structure you're in. Oh

god, what structure is she in? There's

the sun beating down from above. LA,

baby. There it is. LA. So bright. LA is

too bright.

Yeah, we're just using context clues

like from her window to try to figure

out where she is. Like where is she?

God, is that a von? No, it's a girl. I

mean, I I first was really introduced to

him and I know he had like such a huge

body of work before this, but was on

your podcast, Amy. That character that

he played on um the with Dr. Sheila with

was so freaking brilliant. Like so

dropped in. I really dig it. I also dig

his height and his father. Yeah. Yes.

His height and his father. He's a tall

gentleman and he also has a dad who is

new to the biz that we're going to talk

about today. Um you're talk I just want

to clarify. You're talking about a show

called the Chris Chapman Doover which is

on Odyssey a podcast that we produced um

as well as a great podcast that Emily

Spivey is the star of called Women

Talking About Murder. And they were both

with Li with with the great Liz

Kakowski. And Liz and I also made the

Chris Chapman doover with our producer

Jenna here. And um uh those are two

great examples of like our love of

podcasts and us trying to do comedic

versions of styles that we love. And in

in the one that Ike did, Ike plays one

of those guys who can't get it right.

And so he has to keep apologizing for

the thing he said the week before. And

Ike was so good at playing a guy who was

trying to learn from his mistakes but

who had hot takes and he had to say

them.

So good. Such a good character. Okay, so

the last question I'll ask and let you

guys go. Thank you so much for this is

I'm talking to Ike and what do you think

I should ask him? How are his girls? How

is it being How is it being um a girl

dad

and

um because that's something I really

always admired too is the fact because

he has three girls, right? Three girls.

Yes. And which I think is so cute.

Yes. Him and his wife Erica are awesome

and awesome parents. And yeah, Spivey,

you and I have boys. So yeah, it's a com

It feels very different. Well, yeah. I

thank God I had a a boy. If I had a

girl, I'd be

completely like half crazy. I wouldn't

know what to do. I'm sure you know this,

but I would love to know what in the

birth order in his family where he falls

and how that influenced him um uh as a

comedian and where that all started from

for him. Wait, what is everyone's birth

order on this call? Where are you in

your fam? I'm oldest and of of three and

I have two younger brothers. I'm the

oldest and then I have a younger sister.

But people think that I'm the youngest a

lot cuz my sister is so responsible and

seems like an adult and I guess I don't

seem like that.

Amy, you always seem like the oldest in

your family. I am the oldest. So I'm I

have to say because I am I'm older than

my parents, which is I know that's

that's what people don't realize about

Polar. She's weirdly older. I'm weirdly

older than my parents. Both her parents,

but Ike is the oldest in his family. I

know that. And his younger brother is

also an actor. So, it's it's just two

brothers and his dad and now his dad.

That's something I would love to hear

about what that is. And also, I feel

like they all live here. So, he has

these huge Sunday dinners with everybody

all the time. And it feels like it just

feels so wholesome over there that just

kind of like a Sunday roast with all

your relatives coming over like sounds

like I mean it's so far from what my

Sundays my family spread out all all

over the country but um I always feel

like a like a tenderness towards that.

It feels really sweet. Um I love a man

who likes to eat. I don't trust a man

who who doesn't eat. It's weird. It's

weird either. Um okay. Well, have fun

talking to Ike. I can't wait to hear it.

Thanks. And I can't wait can't wait to

have you guys on this, too. And so that

we get to talk well about you behind

your backs, too. So, okay. Love y'all.

Miss you. All right. Love you guys. Good

to see you, Han. Before I pass out, I

can't I can't. And then

Oh, no. There she goes. She wow.

Wait, Ike, look at the um the um fake

food. Fake food. This is all my personal

collection.

You are one of the great collectors of

fake food in North America. Wait. Um,

this is the fake food. This is fake food

for my house. Oh my god. Look at Look at

the garlic. Fake garlic. I'm obsessed

with this tiny neutrorain. Can I have

Oh, really? Why don't you open it up?

Wow. There's actually a

There's a weird Japanese neutrorain

thing in there. I can't prove this, but

I feel that the people who make these

are perverts,

you know? Well, I mean, there's

something mildly perverted about it in a

good way. Oh, you know what? Can we talk

about that? You know that we have a

theory that there's there's a difference

between pervert and creep. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Perverts can be great. Agree. Some

of our greatest Americans have been

perverts. FDR, hands down the best

president. Huge pervert. This is exactly

why I wanted you here. We've got Ike

Holtz and we're at we're off to the

races.

But to your point, perverts can be good.

Creeps almost always are bad. Yeah. And

it's And perverts, you know, people are

so afraid of creeps that I think they

can overcorrect and they can scoop up

perverts. Yes. When they should just

scoop up the creep. Welcome back to

Justice for Perverts. Um I when I hear

the word pervert, yes, I I go like this.

Like for those people that are

listening, not watching, I just get a

little smile in my face like Yes. Like a

little pervert. Oh, little pervert.

Sweet little pervert. you know, uh,

someone who's just like, I don't know,

doing their thing. Again, consensual

adults. Consensual adults. Everyone's

into it. They sitting on cakes and they

all like whatever they like to do. They

like No shame. I do not kick shame. I

might kick shame a little bit just cuz

it's a waste of a delicious cake. Okay,

that's right. Because you love food. I

love food. I take it very seriously. And

when I see someone sitting in it and

touching themselves, I'm just thinking

like someone really put love into that

cake and spent time baking. But to your

point, I love a good pervert. Creeps, no

thank you. No thank you. And and it's

kind of like like good art, like you

know it when you see it. You know the

difference between a pervert and a

creep. Do you think that we have high a

higher tolerance for perverts because of

our age? I think it's a generational

thing. Yeah, I think the younger

generations don't have as much love for

for perverts, but they're young. You'll

get there, guys. Get there, guys. Give

us a chance. I can also tell you this.

Sometimes perverts can become creeps.

100%. I had a friend who I loved and he

had a dad who I actually liked a lot,

but um I remember going to their house

as a kid and the dad had playboys in the

bathroom and I was like, "Amazing. This

is the greatest thing in the world." And

then his parents got divorced and then

the next time went over there he had

hustler under there and then you're like

cuz Playboy you're like when you're a

whatever eight-year-old boy you're

like this is great hustler like that's

P. We're talking about P now which is

not great for a young man. I think what

you're trying to say is that every creep

started as a pervert but not every

pervert becomes a creep. Could not be

more well said. I believe it was Mark

Twain who first coined that phrase.

Yeah. You you you said that to me at the

Mark Twain Awards. You g when you gave

when we gave each other awards at the

Mark Twain. I whispered and I hugged you

and said,

"Congratulations." How's my hair piece?

By the way, you look incredible, Ike.

This got uh woven into my head this

morning. Looks so Yeah. What kind of

glue do you use on that? This is just

good old Elmer's. Good old Elmer's

picked up at Right Age, you know. Paste

it on there. It's a glue stick though,

so it's not like I don't have white glue

all over my hair. Do you like wearing

wigs, by the way? Like No, I hate it cuz

I have like seven hairs left in my head

and just whenever Well, yeah. But

whenever they they pull them out, like

the clips, it just that hair comes out.

I'm like, yeah, I I have so much fake

hair in my head right now, and it's

wild. Like, if I took it all out right

now and laid it on the table, it would

look like a regular person's hair. I

need so much fake hair to look like I

have even normal hair. You were a great

wig wearer, though. Like when you used

to like old UCB SNL sketches, you really

wore a wig better than anyone. Better

than anyone in this whole town. Well,

let's get really get started. Yes. Okay,

let's be real and get this interview

started. Let's be real. Ike Baron Holtz

is here. Ike, we met when and where? We

met in I can tell you pretty much like

the exact year is like 1996.

Uh, I had just started taking classes at

Improv Olympic, which was your former

theater. And you guys had just left like

five months before I started to go start

UCB. Maybe it was a year, but whatever.

You guys had left. And UCB was already

kind of like the cool thing. And I

remember they were like, "Hey, there's a

uh Amy Polar and Matt Bessor coming back

to teach a workshop at Improv Olympic at

like 11 a.m. on a Monday." So, I had a

day job and I lied to my boss. I was

like, "I have the flu." And uh and I

went and um no one like for some reason

it was just me and three other people

and Matt Besser was like, "Yeah, we

can't do this with this few amount of

people." And so I remember you were

like, "Why don't we just smoke a joint

in the green room?" And I was like, I

did. So unprofessional. And I was like,

"This is the coolest person I've ever

met in my life. Like like I'm obsessed.

This is incredible." Um, and then you

guys came back and did the workshop. And

I remember the first half of the

workshop was you teaching us, just

getting in there and doing scenes. And I

was like, this woman is the greatest

improv teacher I've ever seen in my

life. Like, oh my god, I love her. She's

the greatest. And then the second half

was Besser, who was trying to teach us

the Mortal Kombat form, you know? Yes.

And the group of improvisers that were

doing the workshop, we were all bad. We

were all like very young and green and

trying to get and the form wasn't going

well. I'll never forget Matt Besser, God

bless. And just goes at one point goes,

"No, I should have done something else."

He said it out loud. That's never a good

sign when your teacher uh says out loud.

Yes. Yes. But but I was still like it

was such an amazing memory for me

because it was really when I first

immersed myself in our world and and it

was always cool. And then whenever like

you know I'd be at a friend's house

watching Conan and you would like come

up into a bit I'd be like she she taught

us a workshop smoked a joint with her.

Oh my god. How much how how you started

when you were 18? I was 18. Yeah. I I

went to college for a year at Boston

University and just did not enjoy it.

Was not going to class. Was very

distracted. And I knew I wasn't going to

go back and I knew I I was being drawn

to acting. And uh I went to go randomly

see the Improv Olympics 10th anniversary

show and I believe you guys shot a video

uh and I was just blown away by seeing

you guys saw McKay for the first time.

Tim Meadows specifically was so funny in

that show that I was like I am signing

up for classes tomorrow. So that was

kind of my journey from college into the

improv scene. Do you ever think about

finishing college? I am going to try to

enroll. Have you seen the film Back to

School with Rodney Dangerfield? I'm

gonna try to do that. Um, uh, no. I I

you know what? That is something that

like I I just I don't know if it is for

everyone. You know what I mean? I think

college used to be, at least when I was

there, it was a thing where everyone

went and it was just a fatal complate.

You would go to college, you would get a

job, and that's how it work. And I think

that's changed a little bit. Yeah. Um,

and to me, I'm just kind of

like, yeah, I don't It's never something

I I was like longing for. Yeah. You

know, I mean, I just find your brain

your brain so huge. You're super super

smart guy. I mean, we'll get to it, but

you basically won. I mean, you won

Jeopardy. I won so celebrity Jeopardy.

And then I did I went on regular

Jeopardy and I did win. You won on

regular Jeopardy. So when you were first

in Chicago and by the way I'm wearing

Chicago like my heart just melting. It's

just beautiful and that's like a vintage

one but it's nice. It's really good.

That Dave Stasson would go wild. We love

Dave Stson your writing partner

co-creator of Running Point. Great show

that's coming out or or out is out. It's

out with Kate Hudson. Mindy Kaling also

producing on that. And you guys are huge

basketball fans. We've talked a lot

about basketball. Can we talk about the

Bulls? Yeah. And I mean, know I don't

know where to start, but the current

Bulls or the the great Bulls of my youth

being because I will say this, growing

up in Chicago in the '90s was so

remarkable

that I am so fortunate that I've

inoculated myself from any sports pain.

Right? Meaning that the Bulls have been

terrible now for a while. The It's the

worst. It's the lowest point for Chicago

sports across the board. Every team is

terrible.

And I want them to do well, but I don't

live and die by it because I had so much

of a run in the 90s that I'm not like,

oh, even if the Cubs went to the World

Series this year and they lost, I

wouldn't be like, damn it. I'm I feel

like the '9s gave

me such a wonderful joy that I still

hold on to it and I'm able to watch

sports with a very healthy approach to

it. Do you uh remember the first time

you saw Michael Jordan and did you ever

meet Michael Jordan? Yes and yes. Uh

first time I saw him live I went to a

Bulls game before he was on the team um

when it was all Orlando Woolridge. Uh uh

I saw him his second season um uh before

he got hurt uh or his third sorry his

third season when after he came back for

the first time and it was crazy. It was

it was such a phenomenon and like

especially in Chicago before he really

blew up. Um, and then I met him years

later at a health club and I was holding

a uh, you know, Archie magazine, Archie

Archie. I was holding like a Jug Head

Digest 12 and he walks in. I was froze

and I How old were you? Oh god, maybe I

11. I don't want to say like 17. I was

reading Jug Head. Uh, was it Desi

Jughead? Uh, it was actually uh,

Slaughterhouse 5.

Jug Head. That's That's creep territory.

That's not pervert. That's creep. That's

creep. That's true. Uh, so, uh, but I

just walked up to him and held up my Jug

Head Digest and he just looked at it and

signed it and I was I melted. So, you

have it signed still? I have it signed

still. It's still at home. Uh, and yeah,

it's it's uh I love him. I love him. I

love too that he has lasted so long.

That documentary that came out was so

great and a whole new generation of

people never saw him play live still uh

understand how wonderful he is. Well,

uh, as we continue to talk about sports,

I just want to say that underneath my

Chicago Bulls sweatshirt is this guy.

It's going to be a Boston Celtic shirt.

Yeah, it is going to be a Boston Celtic

shirt cuz look at this. Oh, that's

really good. That's really good. Best. I

did love him very very much. Is it Is it

um I loved him so much. I loved him so

much. That was the '8s Celtics were the

'9s Bulls for us. They they kept us

going for a really long time. He was

amazing. And I know there's like a

nine-part Celtics documentary that's

coming out. Bill Simmons. Bill Simmons.

Bill, we cannot wait to see this. You

know, he's from Boston. Bill Simmons.

Yes, of course.

[Laughter]

Bostononians are like Canadians.

Bostononians are like love to say

they're from Boston and they know

everyone from Boston. Canadians are the

same way. Very true. They're like, you

know, Brian Adams is Canadian. It's

like, okay, all right, you got that one.

Fine. Like, you know what? You should

leave with Martin Short maybe.

Can you tell us a little bit about

Running Point? Yeah. So, Running Point

is is it's a story inspired by the life

of Jeannie Bus, who is the owner of the

Lakers, who I've actually gotten to know

over the years, and who really is like I

imagine like most owners of sports teams

like

have like satanic rituals where they

worship Mollik and their billionaires

and stuff. She's just like a normal

person, you know? It's like a family

business. and and she's so like

forthcoming and wonderful and her life

really is crazy. I mean, she's the only

female owner in a in a incredibly

maledominated field and running a legacy

team, one of the most important teams in

the league. And so, we thought that a

family comedy or Mindy Kaling thought

like a family comedy uh uh set in a

basketball office would be a really

funny world and and thought of Dave and

I and brought it to us. We obviously

worked with her on the Mindy project

years ago and we really loved her and

hadn't worked with her in forever. And

so the three of us just kind of talked

about what it could be and and what we

think it is. And uh yeah, that was like

three years ago and now doing really

well. It was it was Yeah, it did number

one on Netflix, baby. Shout out Papa

Ted. We love you, Papa Ted.

For those of you who are just listening,

we just dabbed. We dabbed in honor of

Ted Sandos getting Netflix dab running

point is canceled. Oh no, you just got a

text. It was the dab.

Little dab will do you is what they say.

A little dab will not do you will not do

you inab you in.

Oh my god. Um you do a lot of things

really well. You write, you produce, you

um uh act, and they're all like you you

you have a lot of skills that you can do

really well. How do

you I I guess the question is

like which one right now is the one

that's like turning you on the most?

Which is the one that like because you

just were in as an actor photography and

it's a problem. I can't believe I said

turning you on. Why did I say that? I'm

I'm so bad at this. I just started.

I like I seriously don't know how to ask

questions. Like what are questions? Hey,

there's one. That's a question. What are

questions? Because on but but I guess

what I'm trying to get at is people I

don't think enough people know how much

you write. I'll say that. Yes. I right

now is a very blessed time where I love

shooting and acting and being on set and

production. That is fantastic. Um, as

you get older, you know, I'm at that age

right now where my kids are still want

to like hang out with me a little bit

and they still like they're going to be

gone soon. They're going to be teenagers

that just don't want to hang out with

me. You have so much time until they're

teenagers. Yeah, they're still little.

Yeah. But yeah, the oldest is like she's

like 11 going on. Um, and and it it will

I know it will go fast. So I right now

like in this little phase of like

writing and spending I think also too

we've kind of through the years through

COVID we figured out how to like really

focus a writer room and be very

effective with our time like I'm sure

like at parks you know you remember like

oh yeah they're coming in at 10:00 and

they're leaving at 10:00 you know what I

mean like it's long long hours it's it

is a little bit better now where you can

kind of manage your time a lot better

target it a lot more still put in the

time but be able to cook dinner every

night That's my real favorite thing to

do is to like cook dinner at night for

the kids and eat like a giant just

bucket of food. Um, uh, that is like the

the fun zone right now. And that will,

you know, hopefully change at some point

because in a few months I'll be like, I

need to get out of here. I need to be on

set. Yeah. I don't think, you know,

maybe for people that aren't too aware,

when you're on set filming something,

it's kind of when you have the least

amount of control of your time and

you're looking to surrender completely

and you're looking at a 12-hour day, 12

hour plus days. If you're acting, too,

you're getting in hair and makeup. If

you're shooting far away, uh, you know,

you're waking up at 5:00 a.m. and and

that's when it can get rough, but then

you're exhilarated because you're on set

and you're funny and you're with all the

fun people and stuff. So, um, but right

now the zone I'm I'm really, uh, loving

is being creating and being at home and

writing and stuff. That's I remember

with Parks, I mean, the best thing about

it was the immersion into the world. And

the worst thing about it was

just so much time away. Like I I really

had to figure out how to

um, balance having little kids and being

on set. It is not easy. It's hard. And

we're lucky too. Like we're shooting

Running Point in LA. Mhm. I got friends

that are like, "Oh yeah, I'm going to uh

uh Newfoundland for four months to shoot

like a sci-fi show." That's really

tough. That's where you're like, "Oh

man, you gotta really love acting or,

you know, need to do it and go and that

that's the rough one." Okay. And then to

get to the other thing that you're doing

because I'm very excited to watch this

the studio studio with our good friend

Kathern Han. We love her. I remember you

told me years ago you were like, "Do you

know Kathern Han?" I was like, "No."

you're like would love her and you were

right. Katherine Han is she's a a good

example of someone I met in my 40s. You

know, you think you've kind of met your

friends for life and Katherine and I we

just kept hearing about each other and I

was a big fan of her work and I knew her

work and then she came on Parks and um

Paul Rudd was like have you don't know

Kathern Han and he said oh you two are

gonna and we just immediately like and

she is one of my dearest friends and so

funny and so talented. People are

obsessed with her on Instagram. Like,

like if someone posts like a trailer for

the show, like every reply is like,

"Mother, mother, I'm coming for you. I

love you." You know why? Because her and

Plaza did the kissy kissy. Oh. Oh, I

know. They did a little bit of witches,

witches, kissy kissy witches. And the

original show was called Kissy Kissy.

The original show was

It was like I'm doing a show where me

and another wizard kiss and I don't

think it's Wizard Kiss. Wizard Kiss.

Wizard Kiss actually does sound like a

pristine show. Who would be the guy that

we would like to see you kiss in Wizard

Kiss? Do you remember Bull from

Nightcore?

Richard Mole.

I'm going to say who who would we want

to see you kiss in in w in in Wizard

Kiss? It would be like um Do you want

like a younger guy like uh some I met

Timmy the other night at the Laker game.

Should we get Timmy? Oh god. I' I would

binge. He's adorable. If you and Timothy

Shalamé kissed in a new show called

Wizard Kiss. Timmy, if you're around,

give me a call.

Like, you guys are casting spells and

every once in a while you go. Critics

are like, "This is the worst show ever.

It's the end of Peak TV. It's over.

So many executives are firing because of

this green lighting." How about Timmy

Sha? Timothy Shallam. He's got the

goods. Speaking of Michael Jordan. Yeah,

that's I that's I thought of you when I

saw that speech cuz I was like that's

that's my guy right there. Okay. And I I

promise we'll cut this part because I

could talk about it forever, but you

know, I'm kind of into the Anog, which

is this like thing that tells what

personality you are. And Ike is at any

three. So is Jenna, our producer. Uh so

is Tina. So is Seth. Achiever, right?

Threes are like, get it, win. Yes, be

the best. Yes, I would say that Timmy's

speech is ultimate any 3 energy. He

recently gave a speech at the SAG Awards

where he basically said, "I want to be

the greatest." Yeah, I loved it. I loved

it. I loved it. And I love that too. He

wasn't like, "I want to be the greatest

like Brando." He's like, "No, I want to

be like Michael Jordan and Michael

Phelps and Biola Davis." Biola Davis.

Yeah. It wasn't just to acting. It was

this whole spectrum of things. Yeah. No,

he's got the he's got the goods, man.

He's making mustaches. Uh great again.

He really is. I saw him at the Laker

game. He had a beautiful mustache. He

looked great. Who grows a great

mustache? Um Henry Cavl. Yeah, that

thing is incredible. Yeah. Yeah. It's

It's like thick and strong. Mine is not

great. Mine looks like a guy that like

is killed very early on by Liam Niss in

one of the Taken films that's like I

don't know what I like like Yeah. Like

that. It's like thin and wispy and I

will grow it out sometimes and like no

one likes it. It's not it's it's it's

Have you ever grown a full beard? Have

you ever I had one like literally two

weeks ago. It looked like it was very

like was I an imam? Was I a rabbi?

Somewhere in between. I don't know. But

it was very long and and and and thick

and and quite frankly gross. It got you

like once it gets past a certain point

once you're dealing with what's that

smell? Oh, I had cereal. Like you know

what I mean? It's so disgusting.

Disgusting. So, yeah. So, I I shaved it

and then my daughters were like, "We

missed the beard." I'm like, "Too bad."

Yeah. Did Erica like it? Your wife? I

think at first it was kind of like, "Oh,

this is nice." She's like, "Oh, there's

a stranger in the house." She was like,

"Oh, no. We do a whole scenario. Don't

chase me. Don't chase me.

The money's in the safe. Leave me

alone."

Oh, fine. I'll take off clothes. Fine.

For every five minutes, she says some

long complicated thing. For every five

minutes I don't tell you the code to the

safe. I'll take off one of one article

of clothing. Bearded man that doesn't

live here. That's not my

husband. And you're like, "Wait, what's

the rule? Let's just watch TV. Come on."

Okay. But she liked it. She didn't mind

it. No, she didn't mind it. And it was

cool. But then it just got like I think

for the premiere of Running Point, I

showed up. And it also when you're an

actor, people are like, "What are you

shooting?" And you're like, "Nothing."

Like, "Are you in the Revenant part

two?" you're like, "No, I'm just I got

nothing going on."

Um, you brought up Katherine Han and we

do this fun thing with on Good Hang

where before we have our guest in, we do

a little Zoom, a little fun Zoom with

people that know them and we talk well

behind their back. Oo. It's almost like

this is your life a little bit. Yeah.

It's a little bit like, you know, the

idea is you don't really know who's

going to show up and who's going to pop

in. And so we did a zoom with Kathern

Han and Michelle Obama and Michelle.

Wait, who are you gonna say? Sorry.

With your first wife, Michelle Obama.

Oh, yes. Yes. And Katherine, we did it

with Kathern Han and Emily Spivey. Oh my

god. And we got to talk about my

all-time faves. Truly. I know. God, I

love Spy. And they had questions for

you. Oh. And Han Spy's question was

about your daughters. Like, what is it

like to be the dad of three girls? You

know, you're a girl dad, as they would

say. I'm a I'm a girl dad. I'm a girl

boss. And um I'm a girl interrupted. Uh

it is, you know, I grew up in a house

with boys, just me and my brother. And

um it is it is a delight. Like it is

like, you know, and again, I'm in that

zone where they are really like still

little and they want to play and they

are asking me questions about the world.

You know what I mean? And I am very well

aware of the fact that there will be a

time where they're just like they won't

even be texting. They'll have like a

chip in their brain and be like, "Dad,

I'm shipping right now." But I have a I

have a vision of like um you know Payton

Foster getting married and to each other

getting Jesus. Sorry. No, not to each

other. And you first of all, you love to

cry. You're a big crier. Jesus. Yes. And

um that might I don't know if that's a

girl dad thing, but it's definitely an

Ike thing. You love to cry. I feel like

and I have this vision of you dancing

with one of them and then the other

sisters tapping out like that's

I'm going right now. That's the part

about girl dads of which I I Are you

trying to make me cry? And then you're

like and then your grandfather's ghost

comes down and he tells you he forgives

you. And I'm

like that would be good. I think we're

similar in this way which is you you

live very big. You take big swings and

you love that about people and you are

definitely that kind of person. You're a

party pumper. Yes, I think we both are.

I'd like to say we share that in common.

We like a good time. We like trying to

like get get party going, the energy

going. Like I've been to a million

parties with you, small and big. And

when Ike shows up, like it's like we're

we're getting started. Come on, let's

cut loose. Yeah. And have you always

been like that? Do you think that just

like that was your from day one vibe? I

remember like when I was like five, like

my parents would have like friends over

for dinner and I would like after dinner

walk around and be like, "Let me see

your cigar." Like, you know what I mean?

Like I was like doing bits and like

imitating Indiana Jones and stuff. And

so like I do love uh you know being

around people. I love like like sitting

around like a bunch of your friends like

doing bits and laughing and and maybe

having a few drinks. Like that is a very

very fun time. And and uh I'm not

stuffy. Again, I'm a lot like Rodney

Dangerfield. You really are for kids.

And let me just ask anybody under the

age of 53 about Rodney Dangerfield.

Okay, let's take a water break. My

Stanley.

I wish Stanley was a sponsor. You can

get him. Do you have a Stanley, too? No,

this is a Yeti. Should get Yeti as a

sponsor, but an actual Yeti. I love my

Stanley so much. I know it's basic.

Well, maybe not. If Stanley, if you're a

sponsor, it's not basic. It's a

wonderful way to drink.

But if you're not a sponsor, I know it's

kind of basic [ __ ] Stanley stuff, but

there's something about the weird like

baby bird gerbble thing you have to do

where you have to

go. That's so satisfying.

It's strange.

Okay. So, um I feel like you're like

your Emily and and Han and I were

talking about this about you about your

enthusiasm for life and for projects.

Like when you come onto a set, when you

say yes to something, one of the best

things about you is people know you're

going to commit. Yeah.

Where did that feeling of like where did

you learn that idea that you had to

commit and what does it you what does it

do for you? That's I'm gonna say that's

that's that's I think from from our old

improv days. I think that's a big part

of it is uh I mean just at like a basic

level like you know I will give Mick

Napier some credit on that one because I

remember Mick who's like a famous

Chicago improv director and guru. I

remember I was taking classes with him

one time and I think early on when I

would do improv I was like a lot of bit

of a sideline guy like I would kind of

come on and say like a funny line from

the side and he was like [ __ ] get in

there man get in there you know do weird

[ __ ] be weird and I think that kind of a

big part of of our improv training is

learning to not be afraid of failing.

So, as you develop as a improviser, you

start to learn that like, oh yeah, even

if this scene is bad, you got to commit,

man. You got to like go all in. You got

to just you got to you got to do it. And

I think that kind of just bled

into, you know, the way I look at work.

I will say I'm very lucky. Uh I'm, you

know,

uh by and large doing projects that I

love. You know, if I was doing The Sound

of Freedom, too, you know, I don't know

if I'd be like, "Hey everybody, I got a

food truck."

Yeah. You know, um but uh but you know,

and again, most of the things I do are

comedy and stuff. And I do think it's

very important that, you know, when

you're on set, when you're when you're

when you're doing a whether a TV show or

movie, it's a comedy, it should be

loose. It should be Yeah. You know, it

should be people should be ready to

laugh and and and you know, but you do

but you bring it over to not just your

work, like your life, too. Like when

you're in something, you're really in

it. Yeah. Yeah. You really are in it. I

I Yeah. I you know, I again I think it's

just cuz I'm lucky. The people I'm

hanging out with. They're like our

friends are great friends. You know, the

people we know are are wonderful people.

And so I'm I don't know. It feels like I

think we're only here for a couple

minutes and it's good just to kind of

throw it all out there. You know what I

mean? It's a hard It's a good lesson to

learn early. I always try to tell my

kids this, too. Like, if you can get

past the fear of being cool, like you

said, or failing or being cool. The

coolest people are the people that are

like take the biggest swings and go for

it and just kind of It's a hard lesson

to learn to just get over being

embarrassed, but you don't mind being

embarrassed. You also have to go

through, I think, a lot of embarrassing

things. Like, you know what I mean?

Like, I [ __ ] my pants on the L one time,

you know what I mean? And like, it was a

nightmare. Like I've been in countless

bad improv scenes and movies that didn't

work and episodes of TV that were just

like what? You know what I mean? Like

I've had I've tripped at an airport like

you know what I mean? Like all these

things I think add up and kind of they

give you metal. I think people probably

know who maybe have listened to you on

other podcasts, but you talked about

being in boom Chicago, which was like

you performed in Amsterdam with Jordan

Peele, Seth Myers, Seth, Josh Myers, Liz

Kakowskiowski, Josh Myers, all these

like great people over there. And how

many How long were you there? Almost two

years, which was wild. It was crazy. It

was a crazy party. Did you celebrate Y2K

in Amsterdam? I did. I did. What was

that like? Cocy. Very cocaine. Very

cocaine from what Ideed. Indeed. um

cocaine, but it was it was Dutch, so it

was like cocaine.

Uh uh just like regular cocaine. It's

just more condescending.

It's just more to the point. It's more

directed to the point. Yes. Um but it

was really it was a great time. It was

it was just uh you know uh really fun

people. I was really young. I was like

22. I'd never been to Europe before. Um,

we were doing like the theater was like

becoming like a thing where like the

prime minister would come and we would

have huge audiences and it was just it

was like the ultimate party and we're

all like still friends and it it was

really really fun. That sounds so great.

I might go back this summer but I would

go back with my family which would be

interesting you know like hey girls this

is where I took too much ecstasy and

vomited before I saw Oasis. Yeah, I

picked the pill out of the vomit and ate

it

again. This is a different time, guys.

This is like 1999. Please don't judge

me.

This is before you could get another

pill. You only had one. You had to get

it out. It's But it wasn't on. Are you

Are you going to see Oasis again? Do you

want to I would like to see Oasis. Do

you think that Oasis I mean um I'm

curious if Oasis will they will they

tour? I are they going to make it to the

thing? I think they will make it. They

seem to have like they're pumped.

They're I think they're pumped and I

think they need the money very bad.

There's an amazing clip, if you can find

it, of Liam

Gallagher making a little cup of tea and

he's just like, you know, back in the

day I had four people doing this for me.

I had one person holding the cup, the

other person putting the bag in, the

other person getting the water, the

person heading to me. Now I have to do

this [ __ ] shite by myself. That's why

there's no more rock

stars. It's really a good good little

clip. But yeah, no, I'll see Oasis. Like

I I I'm a '9s boy. They were so [ __ ]

cool when they came. And those brothers

fighting all the time. So cool. That was

when you could just be like, "Maybe I'll

show up, maybe I won't." And you and and

I I mean, I guess you can do that now

still, but it just feels more you'll

just get sued more. Yeah. If you walk

back then you just people would go,

"Hey, come on." Yeah. Yeah. Oh man,

sucks. But I had a great night anyways.

still saw Sebido. They rocked.

Sebado. Oh my god, that's such a deep

cut. You I I love your family. I You

have a brother in who's an actor and

incredible John Baron Holtz, great

actor, great guy, wonderful family,

family man. And now you have a dad who

is an actor. Yeah. And um Emily and and

Han both wanted to know what it was like

now to have your dad be on TV. And we

they were asking what your dad did

before, which I didn't really know. What

was your was he a lawyer? He was a

lawyer for like 35 plus years. He wanted

to be an actor back in the day. And then

like he like auditioned for Second City

when like John Belalushi was there. Like

he wanted to be an actor, but just was

impatient. It's like ah I'm going to

have a family. I'm going to go to law

school. And uh he he was yeah was you

know a litigator for 30 plus years. But

he was very supportive of my brother and

I and they came to so many improv shows

and there was a couple shows that we did

with him. We brought him on stage and

acted with him which was really fun.

Susan Messing brought him on stage and

did a show with him one time. It was

crazy. Um, but yeah, he always had this

kind of little passion. And I remember

like five years ago, he was like, I'm

gonna retire and I don't know what to do

and you know, blah blah blah. And and I

remember thinking like, well, move to LA

and, you know, maybe you could, I don't

know, get a line on a show or something

or, you know, I'll put you in stuff if I

can. And and

and long story short, a year after that,

a friend of a friend is like, "Hey,

would your dad put himself on tape? were

trying to do like a new hybrid show

where they need a judge and it sounded

insane and low stakes. I was like,

"Yeah, sure. Call." And so he he he he

they called him and my brother and I put

him on tape and I remember filming him

and looking at John and being like,

"He's pretty good. He's a good good

read. He gave a nice little

performance." So we sent in the tape and

like an hour later a friend of mine is

like, "Hey, I'm cast I'm producing the

show. I'm going to cast your dad." Oh.

And that show was Jury Duty. So it comes

out and it's a huge hit and he's like

recognized everywhere he goes now and

like God bless him. He loves it's like

it's his dream. He's so living his best

life and he's in Running Point. He's in

the studio. He's he was in the

accountant part two with Ben Affleck. Oh

my god. Yeah. No, he's he's he's a

working Los Angeles actor. And it's

amazing. And it's like even when there's

times where you're like like if I'm

cooking dinner on Sunday at 4:00 and I

got the stove, I got four burners going

and he'll come up and be like, "Hey,

remember whenever you get a chance if

you could put me on tape for that

thing." And you're like, "Okay." So then

you're all a sudden you're you're still

taping him. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, so

we got to talk. That's too much. It's

you got to hand that over to somebody

else. I I He He Yeah. And that someone

else is not my mom. I'm not going to put

her through that.

Okay. So, we did this podcast that was

really fun because we were we we did a

bunch of um satirical podcasts. Well,

your pitch to me, which I was still like

the greatest pitch, is like, "Don't you

want to improvise but not have to go on

stage after 8:00 p.m.?" You know, you

were like like we could just go if we

were in a studio and just riffing. And I

was like, "Oh my god." And you were

like, "What if it was a fake podcast

network?" And yes, it's it basically one

show your your character Dr. Doctor

Doctor Sheila. You have to say her name

in the form of a question. She's not a

doctor. She's not a doctor. She kind of

launched it and

then her last episode introduced Chris

Chapman, which was my character, which

was a I would say he would be

a member of the manosphere. Yes. Right.

He's definitely adjacent to some of the

podcasts you've heard of. Yeah. um

experts who have um uh supplements and

labs and um like uh a lot of uh uh they

do extreme stuff. Yeah. Kind of thing.

Yeah. Where it's like, oh yeah, no,

you're supposed to actually sleep in ice

water. Like you're supposed to I read

that if you sleep for eight hours

encased in ice water, it it will help

your in deinflammation. It's the stuff.

Or even even more, they're like it'll

help with your menopause. That's what

they say. And you're like, "Oh, okay.

Give that a shot." Okay. Uh, but yeah,

misinformed, uh, confident. You were

incredible at at at talking

extemporaneously as that kind of person

because like I said from the beginning

when we started and Liz Kakowsky, the

co-creator, and I would laugh. We would

be we would we would just say like,

"Look at I go. You are able to talk

about subjects and go very deep about

the conspiracy theories around them."

And sometimes I don't know where where

you left where Chris Chapman Yeah. and

Ike there was some blur. Yeah,

definitely there were some blurred

lines.

They came to me with an idea and they

said, "We know the effect you have on

our society. We know how significant you

are. We want you back." And they said,

"The one thing we are worried about,

we're worried that no women will listen

to the show." So they said, "You want to

do the show? You need to get 1% at least

female listenership." Right?

the the character of Chris Chapman is

feeling like the world is, you know,

moving too fast and he's trying to catch

up and trying to apologize for stuff

that he got wrong and then when he

apologizes, he kind of he gets it wrong

again. He gets it wrong again. And I I

think there there is a big part of me

like that. like a lot of the guys that

he's in inspired by. I think there's a

part of a lot of dudes who there's a

component of that where you're like,

"Yeah, I I like to smoke weed and like

to, you know, talk about

like, oh, [ __ ] who shot JFK. I want to

know who shot RFK." You know what I

mean? Like like that's like there

there's a part of that. Um, now I don't

I think all that is kind of gone and

it's been replaced by just Well, I think

it's always interesting and and this is

men and women. I I think we both share

this which is I I think it's very funny

when people act like act like experts,

super experts. Yes. And then go, "Hey,

I'm just I'm just a guy. I'm just a guy.

I'm just a guy, man. I'm just a

comedian." No, no, no. You just told us

about how to perform a heart transplant.

Yeah. Yeah. You own that now a little

bit. You can't buy You just said it, but

now it's like I But you know what? Hey,

man. What do I know? I'm just a dumbass.

I just got a lot of hot takes and Yeah.

Yeah, I'm just a dumbass. And and and I

would say also with women, um women are

asked to also give tons of supportive

advice and life advice in a way that if

you missed it, you'd be like, I'm

imagine they're certified therapists.

Yes. And you look at them, you're like,

oh no, they um they were uh they used to

own a gym. It is a golden age for those

types of people in all fields. Like when

you go onto your Instagram algorithm or

Tik Tok algorithm, you just see people

that are just like, I'm here to tell you

that if you eat oatmeal, you will

literally die. And like they're so

confident. You're like, I was going to

have a bowl of

oatme what what they're up to. And uh I

like the ones that are like and by the

way, I'm the biggest sucker for this,

too. I I I am the audience, but I like

people that are like top five ways to,

you know, get top five ways to uh

forgive your partner. It's like number

one, take a moment and realize they

didn't mean to do what they did. Number

two, make a decision to forgive your

partner. You're just like Mhm. Mhm.

You're listening. This is so good. And

it's just it's so surface level stuff.

It's just so like the only way to be

happy is to choose to be happy and say

to yourself, "I'm a happy person." And

you're like, "Yeah, yeah, yes, you are

right." It's so, but I'm I am a sucker

for I love a list. I love a list. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Especially workout stuff,

too. Like I'm like, "Oh, oh, this is top

five ways to like to like do sit-ups

without doing sit-ups. Yeah, sign me

up." And then you see like a doctor

comment being like, "I'm actually a

spine doctor. This will you'll never

walk again if you do this." you're like,

"Okay, what do I do?" But then you do

research and the spine doctor, there's

actually an actor who played a spine

doctor on TV and he he added the word

doctor and if you look a little closer,

his last name is

doctorally John Doctor and Yeah. Yeah.

One of the things we're doing on Good

Hang is we're just kind of like figuring

out, you know, these conversations are

an attempt to like feel fun and and an

escape from a lot of stuff. What do you

do? Where do you go? What do you watch?

Who do you listen to? What kind of video

do you put on? What do you watch to

laugh? One of the great things about

having kids is you get to go back and

you get to watch shows with them that

you love. So, I have gone through uh

Seinfeld with my kids and they loved

Seinfeld. They love

They do.

What Who do they They love everyone.

They love everyone. They love JLD. They

They They love Kramer. They love Kramer

standup. Uh, no, I'm joking. These

maniac. Um, they um but they they just

love the show. They love the show. Um,

and then we uh started doing the Mindy

project which they were very into. Uh,

they got into the office. Our next on

the docket is a little show called Parks

and Wreck, which they're going to love

it. They're going to like freak out

about. Um, so going back and watching

those like like watching three episodes

of a sitcom that you have seen before

but you love very much is like mother's

milk to me. like it's so nice. It's so

relaxing. It is It is just It just makes

you laugh really hard and also just

takes you back to that time. You know

what I mean? You instantly go back to

like 2012 and you're like, "What a

different world. What a different time."

Um so those are the main ones, but I

also like I love when I see like a a

totally new thing. Um like um I loved uh

I love You ever seen the movie Bottoms?

Yeah. So good. I I loved that movie. It

reminded me of one of my all-time

favorite comedies. A very big movie in

our house which happens to star one Amy

Polar. Hamlet 2. I'm not even kidding

you. Is like like it is a Hamlet 2.

Check it out. Masterpiece. It is one of

the funniest movies ever made. I've seen

it dozens of times. It's one Eric and

I's favorite. It's We always tell people

about like have you seen Hamlet 2? And

they're like what? Steve Kugan the great

Steve Kogan literally one of the

funniest men of all time. and you and

and bunch of high schoolers, Katherine

Keenir. Um, but Bottoms reminded me of

that and it came out of nowhere. I had

never seen a lot of those people before.

So, when I see things like that and then

um you know there's there is Tik Tok.

There is You do watch Do you I do watch

Tik Tok. I do watch Instagram. Secret

Tik Tok. I'm I'm once I learn how to do

it. Who do you like on Tik Tok or

Instagram? Um, a lot of chefs. A lot of

a lot of chef uh work. Do you like all

that macho chef stuff where the guy like

cooks in the woods and the meat? Uh,

yeah. There's those guys, but then

there's the guys that are like shirtless

and they're like kneading dough and like

putting their face in the dough like

it's like a butt. Like, and you're like,

it's like too much. It's too much, guys.

You're turning mad a little too much.

Yeah. Like, I love you so much. Thank

you for doing this. I can really say

without a doubt, this was You know what?

It's a good hang. Oh my god. It was a

good hang. [ __ ] hang. Please just

come back all the time. Let's do it

tomorrow. All right. Let's do it

tomorrow. See you then. Fantastic.

Thank you so much, Ike Baron Holtz,

Isaac Baron Holtz, um, your legal name.

Thank you so much for being on the

podcast. I love you and, uh, you're so

hilarious. And check out the studio,

which is coming out soon or already out,

depending on when this is out. But um I

just want to end um by saying, you know,

uh when we do the Polar Plunge, we want

to dip into something that changes the

chemistry in our brain and makes us come

alive. And I wore my Chicago Bulls

sweatshirt today, but really at the end

of the day, I'm a Celtics girl. Grew up

watching the Celtics and love them. And

if you have not checked out the great

documentary

um it's uh Bird Versus Magic about Larry

Bird and Magic Johnson and their

incredible friendship, rivalry,

competitive relationship, whatever you

want to call it. Highly suggest. It's

excellent storytelling and um it's uh

it's about the two greatest players

ever. I know Michael Jordan. Um okay.

Uh, thank you so much for listening to

Good Hang. Uh, we we love that you're

here and we'll catch you next

time. You've been listening to Good

Hang. The executive producers for this

show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss

Berman, and me, Amy Polar. The show is

produced by The Ringer, and Paperkite.

For The Ringer, production by Jack

Wilson, Cat Spalain, Kaia McMullen, and

Aia Xenerys. For Paperkite, production

by Sam Green, Joel Levelvel, and Jenna

Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy

Miles. All I ever wanted was a really

good