Church & State -That Joke isn't Funny Anymore with Lou Perez

Spokane Valley could become a sanctuary city. Of a different kind. Councilman Caleb Collier says that this proposal... I'm proposing that the city of Spokane Valley issue a proclamation stating that our city is a Second Amendment sanctuary. Welcome to the fire. Welcome to the fire. Today on Church and State, that joke isn't funny anymore with Lou Perez. Hello, Christian Patriots, and welcome to Church and State, where we drive morality and religion over tolerance and apathy. And I'm your host, Caleb Collier, once again, your favorite far-right shock jock, and the show that talks about politics and religion. Jesus Christ is our referee, so it's always nice and clean. Real quick, let's point you to the website, churchandstate.media. Fill out this form, get our newsletter, bypass all of the censorship, and of course, I personally call every single one of you who fills this out, so please do so. Also, check out our most recent episodes. We continue to bring just hard-hitting topics, great guests. I want you to check those out and share them with friends, family, and neighbors. They're very important. Also, check out the featured guest page. We've had some incredible people over the years. As I always tell you, my personal favorite, Ron Paul, although I just did have Mike Adams, the health ranger, on. So that might be a personal favorite, too. But anyway, go to him. Click on the name. It'll go right to the episode. Check that out. Listen to it. Also, please do some shopping with us. Hit the great affiliates that we have. We've got some companies that I support, that they support us as well. I use them personally. And with every one of them, use the promo code CHURCHANDSTATE. Many of those, you'll get a discount. And regardless, you'll be helping to support us. And speaking of support, hit the donate button for us. Keep us alive on NRB TV, Prepper Broadcasting Network, newscasters, so many great networks that have brought us on. Also, National Syndication through AMFM Radio starting this month. Obviously, that takes money, and so any support you can throw our direction, we do appreciate it. Lastly, if you want to get a hold of us, churchandstate1776 at proton.me. With that, it is an absolute pleasure to bring you Lou Perez. You know I love comedy. I dabble a little bit myself here on air. Nothing to this caliber, but Lou Perez is a comedian, a producer, and an author of That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore on the death and rebirth of comedy. He's been on Gut Field, Fox News Primetime, One Nation, Open to Debate. He's traveled the... really the world, as a stand-up comedian. And Lou, it is awesome to have you on Church and State. Oh, well, thanks for having me, Caleb. Really appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely. I love when I can bring on a comedian onto the show because I believe comedians... are kind of the canary in the coal mine as far as culturally what is going to be taboo. Would you agree with that? Well, if you know the booker for the coal mine, I'll do any gig, really. So if anybody wants to bring me down there to do some time. I don't necessarily know if comedians are like the canary in the coal mine, but... I think it does say a lot about the culture when comedians are kind of put under the microscope and judged and picked apart by the jokes that they're making, the subject matter that they're taking on. And sort of years back, I was producing comedy for a YouTube channel called We The Internet TV. And it was satirical sketch comedy. And what I noticed was we would put out satirical content. And then when you looked at the comments, suddenly there were serious debates happening in the comments. And I would, you know, sometimes get caught up in it and, you know, start going, you know, going at it. And then I would have to remind myself, like, wait a minute, this all started with a comedy bit. So I think sometimes it's easy to forget where things might start. So I think comedy is definitely a good barometer about what's happening in the culture, whatever's happening in pop culture, you know, see what comedians are saying about it. And I do agree that comedy can be a way to talk about things that might be a little too controversial to talk about, you know, quote unquote, over the dinner table or that sort of thing. Sure, it lessens the sting. If you can say the truth, and honestly, the best comedians have truth to their stand-up or to their show or whatever it looks like, but if you can say it with a smile, it does kind of take the sting away from it a bit. Sure, sure, yeah. And I find that the straighter you're able to play something, the often funnier it'll be. So in my private life, Like, when my wife is introducing me to, you know, new friends and stuff, and they ask, you know, what does your husband do? And she says he's a comedian. Like. For one, people are kind of attracted to that because it is kind of a weird, you know, a comedian. Like, who's, you know, who's a comedian? And also they're like, who is he? I don't think I've ever seen him before. So how can he be a comedian if I don't know who he is? But there's also there's something like, wow, he's pretty serious. It's weird to think that he could be a comedian. So I often find myself delivering lines in a very straightforward manner in a straight face where. people don't get that I'm joking and that I need to, you know, maybe let them in on the joke. I like that. You know, there's kind of that classic Abbott and Costello, you know, they were both funny in their own right, but you had more of the straight man who would deliver the lines that were actually hilarious, but they were witty. And then you had kind of more of the buffoon style, maybe, you know, the Will Ferrell just kind of out there just making crazy movements and obviously more of the highlight, I suppose, in the Abbott and Costello thing. But I think the straight man is some of the funniest comedians out there are the people that can deliver lines like that. Oh, yeah. And it's so important, too. I mean, it's a comedic archetype that you really need. And you could just see all the examples out there of the straight man and the funny man or crazy man and see what happens when there isn't a straight man in the scene. Scenes don't work as well. You know, you need somebody who's going to like ground it in in reality. I would completely agree with that. I mean, Chris Farley was was hilarious, but he was even funnier when paired with David Spade. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I love the comic routines. I love how many truth. I mean, obviously one of the individuals that stands out would be George Carlin, who told so much truth. It kind of got him in trouble, but people loved him and they laughed and he sold out everywhere he went. Yeah. And when I was younger, I was a huge Carlin fan when he passed away. And I think we're coming up on, oh my goodness, maybe 15 years or more. You could fact check me on that, but it's been a long time since he since he passed away and I remember crying like a baby when he passed away. As I've gotten older though, I have gone back and watched some of his routines and some of them I think are just brilliantly performed. The seven dirty words you can't say on television I think still holds up and so much in part because of just him as a performer. He was excellent on stage. Um, but some of those, you know, quote unquote truths, I don't necessarily know if they, uh, if they hold up. Um, and you know, whatever, he's a, he's a complicated man, just like, uh, you know, just like everybody I read his, his autobiography and stuff. And, you know, he's a man of contradictions, you know, he had a, apparently had a, uh, a problem with the rich, you know, with rich people, especially rich white people. He happened to be a white guy. He happened to be Irish. He happened to have at one point a private jet, you know? There was this little anecdote he tells in his book about being in his neighborhood, and I think it was Beverly Hills. It was definitely somewhere in Los Angeles, although I guess technically Beverly Hills and Los Angeles aren't the same. And he had his daughter there, and they were pointing at the neighbors, and he said, basically, look at these jackasses, these yuppies or whatever. And it's like, but George... You're living in the same neighborhood as them, like you have chosen to live in the neighborhood. So, you know, like I said, complicated man, hypocrisies, some stuff doesn't hold up, but the stuff that does hold up, I think is brilliant. Sure. So let me ask you this. From from my view, anyway, I see the pendulum having swung the other direction. And I see that as a positive. There was a time period, honestly, not too distant in the past where comedians were getting canceled. You had individuals like Jerry Seinfeld, for example, who was going to colleges. And then he's just like, I'm not going to colleges anymore because I literally cannot do any stand up. Everybody's offended. And now it seems like within just the past few years, the pendulum has shifted and people are enjoying the controversial again, and people are enjoying the jokes based on stereotypes. You know, are you seeing something similar there? Oh, yeah. I mean, I my my book came out a few years ago. That joke isn't funny anymore on the death of. and rebirth of comedy. I think that's the title. I forget. It's a long time ago. But the book was very much one of hope and a positive book and looking at even being in the belly of the beast, the eye of the storm of, I guess, what might be called woke 1.0. I thought it was a fantastic time for comedians. I think if people spent... most of their time getting their comedy from network television and, you know, late night comedy, you know, you might look around like, man, this is scary. Like, comedy's dead. But, you know, all you needed was some Wi-Fi, and you could be able to, you know, go out there and find all of these independent creators and comedians who were able to, you know, show their stuff. And what I found was definitely at that time, there seemed to be a lot of new sacred cows, you know, that, you know, suddenly out of nowhere, uh, you know, they were given this, you know, you, you know, you dare not blaspheme against, um, against these things. And, you know, you had a lot of comedians that, you know, refuse to go that, to go that way. Uh, and I think it opened up a lot of opportunity for comedians like myself to say like, Hey, if you're not making fun of, you know, this, that, or the other thing, well, Okay, I got jokes. I'll go and I'll do that. And I definitely think things have turned around and been a lot more positive. I think if you want to find the perfect encapsulation of that, I would say look at Shane Gillis. In particular, Shane Gillis was hired to write for SNL. He was fired from SNL because of some stuff that he said on one of his podcasts. And then years later, he then is invited to host SNL, right? So I think just looking at that really shows which direction we're going, for sure. Sure. Do you think Dave Chappelle contributed to breaking through that woke glass ceiling, as it were? Yeah, I think so. For one, I think... in particular him taking on the trans stuff, right? His willingness to do that, I think, you know, made him, you know, a target for a lot of activists. You know, one can argue that, you know, while one could argue that, you know, maybe it had an impact on his comedy that wasn't necessarily all positive because he had so many specials, it seemed. And it was sort of like– they were almost serialized. Like you needed to see the one special to understand where he was on his journey talking to the other one. So there was that. But that's more of like an artistic critique. But I think his willingness to do that, to make those jokes, especially to do it on a platform like Netflix– When the people came out and when the people working at Netflix kind of, you know, took to activism, wanted to take him down, and Netflix stood behind him, that was a big thing. And, you know, granted, Dave Chappelle is Dave Chappelle. I mean, they're standing behind a giant in comedy. But I do think that even that gave a lot of— I think it resonated a lot with, you know, comedians that weren't necessarily as well-known. And then I think Ricky Gervais as well. You know, he's probably another person who, you know, who had a big impact on that. But, yeah, I think I think for sure he played an important role. I got to say, when he did the Oscars, I think it was, he started calling out all the actors. Golden Globes. Okay, yeah. I don't typically pay attention to the Hollywood stars giving each other awards. Yeah, I know. But when he was calling them out for being friends with Epstein and their faces were just like, I mean, that was gold. Yeah. Well, I think that's something that we've seen over the last few years. I mean, one of the, you know, one of the great things about, uh, social media, about people being able to produce their own content is, you know, more people are able to talk and more people are able to comment and, um, and, you know, go after people who are elite, who are living in their bubbles, who have been, you know, kind of, you know, outside the range of, uh, of criticism. Right. And, uh, So that's a good thing. The downside of it is that you have a lot of people who are speaking who it's like, oh, man, it's a lot of noise. It's a lot of garbage coming out there. But there really is something that's happened to celebrity over the years where it's been diminished. There's kind of no more glamour. Anyone can go look at you know, Hollywood of like, uh, you know, the sixties and seventies and stuff. And I'd say even like, you know, through, you know, through the eighties and it was a lot more glamorous. These people were, were very much, you know, kind of treated like gods in a, in a way. And there's been, you know, something just about social media and more people being able to comment that's kind of brought them down, uh, to a, to a level where now, I mean, God, there's sometimes I look at, you know, I see clips of those shows and I'm like, I don't know who that person is or, you know, I don't know what's what's going on. Sure. Yeah, I'm definitely in the same boat. And a lot of this is they've done to themselves. You know, there was there was a wall of separation, if you will, with Hollywood and the masses. And they had their PR people and they were going to say something. It was rehearsed. And now they're getting on their phones there. They're posting on social media. And you're like. that person's an idiot. I can't even watch anything they do anymore. Yeah, or, I mean, look at, you know, someone who I, you know, loved as an actor, you know, Brad Pitt, you know, who, you know, who doesn't want to be Brad Pitt, right? You know, but, you know, all the stuff that he's been going through, I mean, he has, like, all of his kids, like, basically, you know, wanting to change their last name and stuff, and I don't know, as a father, as a man who's never been as handsome as Brad Pitt and never will be as handsome as Brad Pitt, but I am a father, man, I can't imagine making that trade, you know, being Brad Pitt for a year. But without, you know, my kids, that's tough. Yeah. Are we a gossip show? Are we gossiping now? We might be. This might be the closest that I've ever come to being like TMZ, maybe. I'm not sure. But let me ask you this one. You know, there was, during that woke period, there were subjects, as you said, that were just people didn't want to approach. And there was a lot of that cancel culture going on. A lot of people were offended constantly. And yet... A lot of these stereotypes, they're funny because there's an element of truth to it. For example, if I make a comment that women who like women tend to love Subaru Outbacks, we laugh about that, but there's truth to it. Is that something that all comedians strive for to kind of— I don't even know. Is it just a touch of that racism and they come right back from it, or sexism and come right back from it? I mean, I have to admit, I— I'm a big fan of Subaru's. No. Um, are they sponsors of the show? If they are, then I'll, I'll do a reading, a live reading for them. Uh, I really like good racist jokes, like racist, sexist, misogynistic, what, you know, uh, what, what's it, uh, hating men, uh, whatever that word is, uh, for hating them out. Misanthropic people who hate humanity. I really like really good jokes. Um, that doesn't mean that I like to carry that stuff into my personal life, right? I will gladly read a whole book of racist jokes rather than succumbing to the pitfalls of racism. I think that's an important thing. And as online discourse and stuff has opened up and people are sharing memes and all this stuff, I mean, some of the funniest stuff you will ever find is from, you know, some anonymous account online. For those who don't know, if you guys go on X right now and follow Howling Mutant Zero, he has some of the best, the best dark, dark, dark humor out there. And I get a kick out of it. But, you know, I guess I'm able to, you know, compartmentalize, right? I mean, I do make jokes for a living, and... you know, I'm able to, you know, have jokes, making fun about making fun of being a dad, being a husband while at the same time being a devout dad and a devout husband. So. Well, I just followed him there. So that's a fantastic tip. Anybody else who enjoys a little bit of dark humor, there you go. You can go check out Howling Mutant. But I got to tell you, you know, I served in the Marine Corps and we had black, white, Jew, Asian. It didn't matter. I mean, we're all Marines and we'd all gone through the same circumstances to get to where we could wear that Eagle Globe and Anchor. And some of the things that we would say to each other, I mean, if you were woke and you walked into the Marine Corps, at least when I served, you would be so offended. But we were cracking jokes about the brothers liking fried chicken. And, you know, I mean, it was just constant. The Asians couldn't drive and all that stuff. And we all loved each other and we all laughed about it. Yeah. No, and I never served in the military, but I found that, you know, some of my favorite fans who really enjoy my stuff are veterans. There was, I remember there was a We were going back and forth on something. I don't know if it started out as a joke about abortion or a comment about abortion. And this guy, he was a veteran. He had said, oh, you want to force a woman to carry a retard. And I responded back, I would never force a woman to give birth to a Marine. And he was a Marine. And he absolutely got a kick out of the joke. And it's like, yeah, we're going back and forth. We're joking around. I mean, plus. The stuff that I'm sure that you guys have seen, not only on the battlefield, but after when people come home and you're dealing with a lot of broken, traumatic psyches and stuff, there are different ways to cope and to handle and to deal with it. I know you have projects like the Wounded Warrior projects, which I think are really important for the men and women who served or coming back. And then there was a project, man, my apologies for not remembering the organization's name, but they used to film short films and stuff with veterans. And one of them, I think it was like a zombie film that they did. And casting was pretty easy. They had so many amputees and stuff where here you have a a, you know, a veteran who had both legs blown off and he's cast to play like this, you know, haunting zombies coming after people. And so, um, so I think there are, you know, there are so many ways of, you know, dealing with that trauma and trying to, you know, use it and supplement it and make it turn into something, into something positive. When, when somebody accuses you of being racist or antisemitic, does it, does it personally make you want to go even harder? Uh, no, not necessarily. Maybe you want to go, go harder. I mean, I laugh at that, you know, cause at this point it's, it's just a, you know, just, just meaningless. Um, uh, I think, I think I actually like Jews too much. Uh, it's a problem. I gotta, you know, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta deal with that. Um, uh, but it is, I mean, it's just the thing where it's kind of like a, um, uh, I don't know. It's, it's a haymaker that someone throws at you to, you know, think that that'll get you. And it really just doesn't work anymore. It really doesn't. And it's like, you know, what do you do if you're that person? And someone's like, no, that, that, that doesn't hurt. And it's not going to change anything. And it's like, Oh man, like what's, you know, what's plan B. Um, so, um, yeah. And it's, uh, and, and usually, I don't know. Uh, usually they're pretty fun to, you know, to go at, you know, to, to, to joust with, if someone's gonna, you know, gonna say that about you. Um, there was actually one guy who slid into my, into my DMS and, uh, I, uh, I found a picture of him online and I shared it with him, uh, like as like a comeback, like look at this doof. Um, and he accused me of being an anti-Semite. And what was funny is Just that week, that very week, friends of mine, my Jewish friends, had given me a beautiful Star of David necklace that I had on. So I was able to share with him my Star of David, me wearing a Star of David necklace, you know, in public. he didn't really know what to say about that. Yeah, of course. Because what I find is the comedians that are approaching these subjects and teasing the stereotypes are legitimately the least racist, the least sexist, the least anti-Semitic out there. Well, also, you know, I think something happens too where I actually did a show a few weeks back and one of the comedians was complaining about the Christians in her neighborhood. And it was a show I was on. I didn't want to, you know, start any, any beef before the show, but, um, she was a atheist, I think Jewish by, um, she was born or raised a Jewish, but she was, you know, an atheist. And, uh, she was talking about a neighborhood in Brooklyn where it's like, how many Christians are you really running into in your neighborhood? But, you know, rather than, you know, have a, you know, a, an argument before a show. Um, I let it go. But I, I talked to a buddy of mine and I'm just like, I am still amazed at just how flippant, uh, people are and glib talking about Christians, right. Where, you know, uh, I'm sure had I just turned around and said, yeah, well, you think the Christians are bad. Oh my God. Have you, have you ever talked to a Muslim? Oh dude. Or, you know, or a Jew, uh, then it would have been a very different conversation and a very big problem. So I think now more people are comfortable calling out that bigotry and saying, look, either it's all cool or it's not cool. And if you want to have a real conversation, because the lady in Park Slope, Brooklyn, It's like you can make your— hey, if you'd rather have, you know, five mosques on your block versus, you know, five churches, all right, we'll, you know, we'll see. You could take a nice vacation to Dearborn and see what it's like, you know. Probably pretty enjoyable for you, I'm sure. You know, a lot of stand-up comics, and I know you've done a lot of stand-up comedy in your life, but they'll end up with somebody who's kind of disruptive, right? And they'll try to kind of take the comedy skit and move it their direction with their agenda. Have you found that there's a specific people group that are the most disruptive as you get out there? Oh, hecklers? I mean, hecklers, they all suck. I can't necessarily pinpoint, you know— you know, this specific kind of person. I did a show. I was going to guess feminist women, uh, was, was my guess on that. Well, I didn't know in my, um, in my experience, it hasn't been that I did a show in Los Angeles, in Hawthorne, California at a moose lodge that a buddy of mine helped set up. I was, um, we were doing like a family trip to California, uh, And I figured, oh, while I'm here, I might as well try to do a show. So we did a show. And before the show, there were a couple of guys who came up to me. They're like, oh, my God, man, I've been following you for like over 10 years. I can't believe I finally get to see you live. And this is so excited. Well, those two guys were the ones who heckled me. My biggest fans at this show were the ones who were so drunk that they decided to heckle me. And the one response that, you know, you often hear will be, oh, I was just trying to help out. And so I think, you know, as, you know, Mr. Rogers says, you know, remember the helpers out there. If you consider yourself a helper, you will never, ever, ever help a comedian in any way, shape, or form when they're on stage live in front of you and other people. So just keep that help to yourself. That's what that's what I would say. I think that's very good advice for anybody watching this, because my wife likes stand up comedy. And oftentimes I will admit I go to him and I'm kind of stoic. Some of them aren't very funny, I will just say. And a lot of the Christian ones, which is the ones my wife tends to take me to, some of them really need to practice their skills. But, hey, we're hitting a hard break, ladies and gentlemen, but we're going to continue. We've got another 15 minutes. Hey, this is Caleb Collier with Church and State, and I want to tell you about Patriot Pouch. Look, if you're one of these individuals that's interested in nicotine and potentially the health benefits from it, but you're concerned about some of the side effects... Patriot Pouch might be your answer. This is a company that uses nixidine instead of nicotine. It hits the same nicotine receptors in your brain, but without those side effects like elevated heart rate or elevated blood pressure. So if you want the health benefits of nicotine without nicotine, Patriot Pouch may be the company for you. I need you to go to patriotpouchusa.com, use the promo code churchandstate, you'll get a great nicotine replacement, and you'll be helping to support church and state in everything that we do here. And remember, when you go to PatriotPouchUSA.com, not only are you supporting a Christian Patriot business owner, but you're helping to support church and state. And we are back. Thank you for staying with us. You're over at churchandstate.media. And we're going to go right back to our guests. But real quick, let me plug one of our awesome affiliates. And I'm thinking coffee, Chris. I love coffee. It gets me through the day. A lot of the coffee companies, though, like Starbucks, dare I say, I don't really like to support. Plus, you're going to save a whole lot more money if you're brewing it at home. So go check out Hunter's Blend Coffee. It is delicious. They got some dark roasts that I absolutely love. They're Christian. They're patriots. And you really need to be careful, ladies and gentlemen, nowadays where you're spending your money. So here's a company that I trust, that I use personally. Chris likes it even better than I do. Go check them out, Hunter's Blend Coffee, and use that promo code CHURCHANDSTATE. You'll get a discount on this one, and you'll be helping to support us. And speaking of support, one more time, hit the Donate button for us, ladies and gentlemen. I really do need the help to stay on the air. I'm coming at you five days a week. That takes a lot of time, a lot of money. So please hit that donate button. All right, with that, let's go back to our guest. I'm really enjoying the conversation with Mr. Lou Perez, author of That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore. And we've been talking about just kind of the experience of comedy as it's kind of gone through the ebb and flow of what's acceptable culturally. And I am so pleased that we've come back to a point where we can laugh about stuff, where we can make a joke that some people might say, oh, that's a tad racist, but I'm still laughing. And my guest is in complete agreement. I want to showcase his book here. And Chris, if you would bring that up for us. I want Lou to talk about this a little bit here. You can order it on Amazon. Why did you decide to write a book? I mean, it's a very good title. Oh, I'm sorry. Can you say that again? I muted you by accident. Oh, gotcha. Okay, I wanted you to describe your book and the reason you decided to write it. And I was commending you on the title of it because it's just a great title. Well, thank you. Yeah, so that joke isn't funny anymore. If we have any Smiths fans out there, it's a song by one of the greatest bands ever, Johnny Marr on guitar, Morrissey on vocals. And then we actually. When it came to designing the cover, we basically took the Smiths' album, Meat is Murder, and we did our version of it. So, yeah, that book, it came out of... I had recently lost my job, my position at We The Internet TV, where I was producing and writing in the face of the comedy channel. And there was a... an academic paper that was being passed around. I think it was pre-published. So it was, you know, it hadn't been gone through like, you know, peer review and all that. But it was about the growth of right-wing echo chambers on YouTube, which is a really interesting thing to think about that you have academics studying YouTube, right? It's like, oh, this... Must be an important thing or, man, this is one way to get some money. I don't know if USAID was involved at the time, but who knows. And then at the back of the paper, they had this index where they were rating all these different YouTube channels. And they were rating some far left, right wing, far right. And they happened to rate We the Internet TV as far right. And for those of you who might not remember the time, I mean, this was a time where, quote, the far right were marching with like tiki torches and stuff. And as a guy, as a comedian who was looking for a new job and really wanted to keep working in entertainment, I didn't think it was a good idea to have my name associated with a far-right YouTube channel named We The Internet TV. So a buddy of mine, Noam Dwarman from The Comedy Cellar, he reached out to me and said, you know, you should really do something. You should really respond to this, either a video or write something. And the more I thought about it, I'm like, yeah, I got to do that. So he hooked me up with someone at The Wall Street Journal. And I was able to publish my op-ed rebuttal in the Wall Street Journal. And basically, you know, kind of making the case that I just made now about that. And then also the way that they put this paper together, Joe Rogan was considered far right. Brett Weinstein was. Ezra Klein, you know, it's like all over the place. People who were clearly not far right were given this label. And when I was writing the book, because the article ended up becoming the catalyst for my book, I had reached out to the authors of that paper. And the version that ended up getting published was very different. There was no longer the index there. They changed the title and all this. They really took the teeth out of it. And one of the authors who got back, he said, you see, this is science working like this is, you know, but something that I pointed out was if you want to read the updated version of the paper, the published paper, it costs like 10 bucks, right? So you've got to go and pay $ 10 on this website, download it, read it, and all that. Which nobody's going to do. Nobody's going to do that. I'm going to do it. Why? Because I had written this original thing. But the free version, the original version, it's still floating out there. So there's even a possibility in the days that we're in now that somebody could come across that thing and read it and think the worst of you. You bring up such an interesting point with this whole far-right thing, and I want to ask you a question on that because I intro my show, Your Favorite Far-Right Shock Jock. I didn't take that. Somebody actually called me that. It was actually Vice Media did an article and called me a far-right shock jock, and I was like, hey, that's kind of funny. I'll use it, kind of taking their ammunition away from them. But on a libertarian perspective– The far right isn't at all what the mainstream narrative would tell you is the far right. They're going to claim that it's the fascists and everything. That's not at all. When you really look at the scale, at 100 percent, you have total government. At zero percent, you'd have anarchy as a minarchist within the libertarian belief system. I'm very much far right because I don't want hardly any government at all. But as a comedian, how do you see this as this narrative that they fooled the public with on what a far right individual actually is? Well, I think it just shows how difficult it is to really pin down what people are and what people believe and that these boxes don't do, they don't do a lot of, they don't do a, well enough, I think, to really define somebody. I think ultimately it's important to ask somebody, well, what is it that you actually believe? And I have friends of mine, for example, a buddy of mine, he has a microbrewery. And kind of the culture around microbreweries are very much kind of, you know, as you would describe, like, you know, libertarians and stuff, people who, you know, creators they want to make for themselves, entrepreneurs and all that. And because he is in the microbrewery business, people think all these other things about him. Even people in the microbrewery business think like, oh, well, he must be really into guns. He's not a gun guy at all. I think he's pretty anti-gun, actually. But it's funny where it's sort of like microbrewery is coded this way. you know, if you have a microbrewery, therefore you, you have all these other things. Um, and I think it's a, it's a lot more, I think people are a lot more complex than that. Um, uh, so yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's interesting. Uh, different neck of the woods. A lot of the microbreweries out here are hardcore leftists and, uh, they're all specializing in their IPA, which tastes like pine. I can never, ever get into IPAs, man. It's just, uh, yeah, it It's like the taste of... It tastes like a haunted beer. In a way. It's like there's something that happened to this beer that it's trying... It's not able to go on to the other side. It has unfinished business here and it's haunting. You know, to me, I'm sure you remember back in the day when we were, well, to be quite frank, underage and we'd get whatever we could. You know, it's like you drink like half a bottle of old English malt liquor. And by the time you got halfway through it, it finally tasted OK. That's what an IPA is to me. You got to get through like two or three of them before you're like, OK. But it's not because they taste good. It's because you've dulled your senses. Yeah. And it's like, isn't, you know, life, there's enough suffering in life. You don't have to, you know, bring it upon yourself, you know, just enjoy it. Like I'm a margarita guy. I, I like skinny margaritas actually let there, um, you know, don't let, you know, don't let the feminists, you know, get you to believe that it's a feminist drink. Right. I don't like all that sugar. So I like less sugar in my margarita, but I mean, I will, you know, happily down, uh, margaritas, uh, um, Well, I can't down as many as I used to, but give me three of those over an IPA any day. Yeah. I mean, it's a little bit like, uh, scrubs with the, uh, give me a appletini, uh, light on the teeny. Yeah. I mean, it's fun. You know, I like, uh, I like a good old fashioned and, uh, you know, that's my drink of choice, but definitely not something that I literally have to pinch my nose to drink. And, uh, you know, all these people wearing flannel that wouldn't even be able to survive the outdoors for, for three hours, you know, are telling me, no, this tastes like lemon and a hint of hops. And you're like, no, it tastes like garlic. Yeah. Garbage juice. You are drinking garbage juice. I'm glad we're like-minded on this one. I also want to point out your website here as well, theluperez.com. There's a lot on this website. I mean, about, you can book, there's productions, writings, podcasts, and I want to get into the podcast as well that you do. But tell us a little bit about this website and what people can expect. I love the woke James Bond, by the way. Or no, this is James Bond fighting for free speech. Never mind. That's also very solid. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, Elon Musk, he actually retweeted that on X a while back, and it has like over 40 million views or something like that. So, yeah, that was a very cool day to be on my phone, just seeing just tons and tons and tons of comments and new followers and stuff. Yeah, I mean, my website, it's if anybody wants to, you know, keep up to date with, uh, what I'm up to. Um, you know, they can join my mailing list there. And, uh, I, uh, actually I use a sub stack as well. Um, so. Okay. And then the podcast, you know, you, the, uh, the happy hour econ, and it's a, a comedian and an economist. And I got to say, I love the mashup here because oftentimes when people are talking about the economy, it's a bit dry, uh, to put it lightly. Uh, but you, you throw a comedian in here and now, especially you, with what we're experiencing with inflation and everything, you kind of have to laugh, otherwise you might cry. Yeah, I mean, I have the honor of co-hosting this with Phil Magnus, who is an incredible, brilliant economist and historian. Some people might, you might know Phil from some years back with his amazing debunking of the 1619 Project. He's He's the guy online where people will be like, oh, dude, why don't you try to read like some Karl Marx before you comment on it? And then he shares the book cover of the works of Karl Marx that he edited. So every episode, it's really fun to be speaking to somebody who knows so much more about this subject than I do. Yeah. can make it, you know, seriously interesting. And yeah, so it's been a, it's been a lot of fun and every episode is like 30 minutes long, you know, it's kind of these, these short, short bites of economics. And what you really see is that, you know, as dry as some people can make it, I mean, economics is around us and we're doing it every day, you know, trade-offs and personal choice and, and, you know, all that stuff. So it's, it's really fun when you're able to, to see it happening around you and comment on it. And so I've been having a great time with that. I think it's such an important subject. And regardless of people find it to be a dry subject, it is all around us. And politically, we're seeing it. I mean, we have the rise of the DSA right now. The liberal left has gone over and they've fully embraced a lot of socialism practices. And you and I both know socialism ultimately leads to communism. And so, yeah, that is an economic theory of total state control. And individuals like you are going to be on that free market side of things. And we should be having good, meaningful conversations. And if we sprinkle a little comedy into that, that much better. Yeah. And with the DSA as well, Democratic Socialists of America, I mean, they've seen their ranks grow considerably. I mean, they're, I think, at 120,000, 130,000 now. They're organizing and being part of convoys to Cuba. They are winning elections all around the country and, you know, the mayor of, of New York city is, is one. And I think it's, I think they have a message that, you know, is resonating with people and needs to be, needs to be combated for sure. And you could just tell like, you know, how, you know, how much they're resonating with the fact that the democratic establishment is scared of them as well. I mean, they're, you know, basically using the Democrats as a way to, you know, to gain power and influence. So I think it's really, really important to remind people of, you know, what's at stake here, you know, historically speaking, because, well, we've seen it happen, you know, all over the world. I would definitely agree with that. And on the Republican side, they have their own concerns as well, because there's A lot more people than I'm seeing anyway that are coming over to that liberty side, whatever that may look like, whatever they want to call themselves. But I think both sides are done with the establishment. One is going far left and one is going farther right. Yeah. No, I think that's a good way to put it. And again, I think it's really tough in a two-party system. I mean, each party will necessarily have to have a tent big enough to allow for, you know, I don't know, undesirables, you know. And so it just it's sort of like, well, which undesirables are you more comfortable with? Well, I think when I go home tonight, I'm going to have a margarita in your honor and a salute, as the Italians would say, to the undesirables, which we are probably both a part of. I'm trying to be more desirable. I've got to go work out a little bit more. I've got to groom a little better. Plastic surgeons could make you look like Brad Pitt. Yeah, that's what the liars will say. I've got to figure out what I'm doing with this hairline, though. It might be a trip to Turkey in my future. We'll see. I've thought about that too. Mine's going up a little bit as well. So it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on. We've hit the conclusion of the show. I want to remind everybody, I'll just do the one website right here. We've already covered all of them, but go check out the luperez.com. Fantastic website. Basically everything, it's a one-stop shop for everything that Lou is doing, where his book is, where his podcast is. So please go check that out. Lou, any last words for the audience? No, thanks so much. I had a great time. And yeah, if anybody is out there looking for some reading material or listening material, I also narrate the audio version of my book, That Choke Isn't Funny Anymore, and that's available on Amazon. There we go. All right. Well, there you go, audience, thelewperez.com. Go check it out. Lou, I'm going to go ahead and close this out. If you hold on one more minute post-production and say our goodbyes, I'd appreciate it. Thank you again for joining us on Church and State. Thank you. All right, ladies and gentlemen, there you are. Comedy is not dead. It's come back with a vengeance, I would say, and I applaud this. I love the ability to go and see a show where I don't have to be concerned about wokeness and the ability to make fun of everything and all things. I've told you before, I'm a bit of an absurdist, and hey, life can be rather absurd. The Church and State is brought to you in part by Colonial Life Spokane, Independent Agents, Finders Insurance, and Mark37. com. I'm Caleb Collier. I was born for a storm. Welcome to the fire. This is Caleb Collier with Church and State. Are you tired of your device spying on you? Ladies and gentlemen, we live in 1984. Your phones, your tablets, your smart televisions, they all are spying on you. And this is why I heavily endorse mark37. com. This is everything you need for your digital privacy. Phones, tablets, laptops, all of them are ghost protocol. So that means that you are in charge of your own data. Just go to churchandstate.media, scroll over to shop and hit mark37. com for all of your privacy needs. Make sure to use that promo code church and state. Hey, this is Caleb Collier with Church and State. And I want to tell you about methylene blue. For a long time now, you've seen the Maha people using methylene blue. I thought I'd give it a try. You know what? It helped me considerably, not only with mental clarity, but also with insomnia. Now, you got to be careful with methylene blue because the market is filled with counterfeit products. But Best 365 Labs is the greatest methylene blue on the market. telling you, take this stuff, enjoy the benefits, and also have a little bit of fun when going to the bathroom. I need you to go to best365labs. com and use that promo code churchandstate. You're going to get a discount. You'll also be helping to support Church and State and our pursuit of truth. Hey, this is Caleb Collier with Church Estate, and I want to tell you about a great product, Liberty Cigars. I know for myself, there's nothing grander than sitting around a campfire, having a great theology discussion with a group of men while smoking a cigar. That's why I love Liberty Cigars. Every cigar has a story to tell. Not only are you going to be smoking the finest cigars on the market, but you're also going to get a history lesson with every single one of them, from George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, the heroes of the American Revolution, generals, presidents throughout history. I'm telling you, I absolutely love Liberty Cigars. I need you to go to libertycigars.com. Use that promo code CHURCHANDSTATE. You'll get a discount, and you'll also be helping to support Church and State with everything that we do.