Speaker 1: Now, if you're looking for something to do this weekend,
Speaker 1: I happen to know that Friday night there's a very
Speaker 1: funny comedian coming to the Paramount. And his name is
Speaker 1: Dusty Sligh and he joins us now from a rather
Speaker 1: cool looking office. Who's that just over your shoulder in
Speaker 1: that in that picture right there? Dusty?
Speaker 2: All right, Oh, this is Steve Martin. A lot of
Speaker 2: people think that's Jeffrey Epstein. They think I would have
Speaker 2: Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaker 3: On my wall. For some reason, Steve Martin I.
Speaker 1: Was going a little bit like bad picture of George W.
Speaker 1: Bush from when he was younger. I was a little
Speaker 1: bit confused, Yeah are you big Steve Martin? A weird
Speaker 1: to Yeah, what are you big? Steve Martin fan?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I like Steve Martin a lot.
Speaker 2: And somebody gave me this sign though, and I just
Speaker 2: thought it was a cool It's like a road sign,
Speaker 2: but uh, it's spray paint and I think it's cool.
Speaker 3: And I got this these horses at a at a
Speaker 3: yard sale. I'm into that.
Speaker 2: I don't want my I want my studio to look
Speaker 2: kind of weird cool.
Speaker 1: Well, that's funny that you say that, because I have
Speaker 1: a little side project where we do a web show
Speaker 1: and we are actually building our entire set based on
Speaker 1: items from thrift stores. We feel really passionate about giving
Speaker 1: new life to ugly things that other people said they
Speaker 1: didn't want anymore, so we are bringing them all into art.
Speaker 1: So I have a great deal of appreciation for that.
Speaker 1: Tell me a little bit about where you grew up. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, tell me a little bit about where you
Speaker 1: grew up.
Speaker 2: Well, I grew up in Opa like Alabama. This shirt, hey,
Speaker 2: I got a little stain on it. That was it
Speaker 2: wasn't showing it. But it's Opal like Alabama. It's a
Speaker 2: great place. I grew up in a trailer park, you know,
Speaker 2: and I had a lot of fun. Not sure why
Speaker 2: they call it a park.
Speaker 3: You know, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: There was no rides in there, and we had like
Speaker 2: a water slot, you know, no water slides. We had
Speaker 2: like a slipping slot, you know, an old tarp with
Speaker 2: some dish detergent on it.
Speaker 3: Well, my life was good.
Speaker 2: I liked growing up in the trailer park. My dad
Speaker 2: also lived on a farm, so I liked that too.
Speaker 2: I got a double dose of the country life. And
Speaker 2: then I moved to Charleston, South Carolina for ten years,
Speaker 2: where I waited tables and was an alcoholic and now
Speaker 2: I live in Nashville for the last ten years sober,
Speaker 2: but well relatively sober.
Speaker 3: I don't drink. And then I have kids.
Speaker 1: So you've gone from alcoholic server to relatively famous comedian
Speaker 1: in pretty short order in the grand scheme of things.
Speaker 1: I mean, when did you decide you wanted to go
Speaker 1: into comedy.
Speaker 2: Well, I was doing comedy in Charleston, you know, just
Speaker 2: messing around, just kind of something to do while we
Speaker 2: were drinking, and I started to get good at comedy.
Speaker 2: And then I quit drinking and I got really good,
Speaker 2: and then I was like, oh, I can do this.
Speaker 2: Maybe I can do this for a living. And uh,
Speaker 2: and that's what I've been doing.
Speaker 3: I realized I have a red light over here.
Speaker 2: I couldn't figure out why my arm was red and
Speaker 2: why my I'm so red.
Speaker 3: But there's a light over here. That makes more sense now.
Speaker 1: I thought you were just tanning while we were doing
Speaker 1: the interview. I wasn't gonna bust your chops or anything
Speaker 1: about it. And everybody has their own INTERVIEWIY regime.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't have a window in here, but I
Speaker 2: got you know, I got a plant, so I'm a
Speaker 2: plant light going.
Speaker 1: Uh, let me ask you when you just because you
Speaker 1: brought this up. I probably wouldn't have asked this question,
Speaker 1: but you just brought it up. You you were a drinker,
Speaker 1: You were an alcoholic by your own admission, and then
Speaker 1: you decided to quit drinking while you were doing comedy.
Speaker 1: Was there ever any fear that it was the booze
Speaker 1: that was making you funny and you were going to
Speaker 1: struggle being sober? Because I've talked to multiple artists who
Speaker 1: have had a really tough time with that transition.
Speaker 2: Well, I, you know, was not a professional comic at
Speaker 2: the time, and I wasn't really worried about it because
Speaker 2: I was like, I'm pretty sure I'm having a good
Speaker 2: on but I'm pretty sure alcohol is wrecking my life.
Speaker 2: I'm having a blast, but I don't think this is
Speaker 2: going well.
Speaker 3: And I was like, I need to stop doing this.
Speaker 2: So I was willing to give up comedy and whatever else,
Speaker 2: you know, just to you know, survive and live.
Speaker 3: A good life.
Speaker 2: And it just so happened that when I quit, I
Speaker 2: did think about quitting comedy. I was like, I don't
Speaker 2: know maybe because all my jokes were about drinking. They
Speaker 2: were all about being overweight and being an alcoholic. And
Speaker 2: then I quit drinking and I lost weight really fast,
Speaker 2: so I was like, well, none of this makes sense,
Speaker 2: so maybe I'll just quit comedy. But you know, I
Speaker 2: was still running an open mic, and then I just
Speaker 2: started to notice that I was able to write jokes
Speaker 2: a lot faster, and they were better jokes.
Speaker 3: And I was like, oh, maybe my whole life is
Speaker 3: just going to be better now.
Speaker 1: Amazing how that turns out sometimes, doesn't it. Where do
Speaker 1: you get where do you get your inspiration for your humor?
Speaker 2: Well, I like to say, for the record, though I
Speaker 2: still support people drinking if people can handle.
Speaker 3: It, yeah, and have fun doing it.
Speaker 2: I support it because I wish I could drink, but
Speaker 2: I don't wish it enough to do.
Speaker 3: It again, because I know it affected my life negatively.
Speaker 3: But I don't know where I get inspiration from for
Speaker 3: jokes from.
Speaker 2: I mean, I you know, I just write down things
Speaker 2: all the time that I think are funny, and sometimes
Speaker 2: or actually a lot of times, I write something down
Speaker 2: and I'm not able to really make it funny for
Speaker 2: the audience yet, But I keep it written down, and
Speaker 2: then somehow I'll come up with a whole hour of comedy,
Speaker 2: and then i'll record that hour, and then when I'm like,
Speaker 2: all right, what do I do next, I'll pull up
Speaker 2: old notebooks and I'll see where I wrote that joke,
Speaker 2: and I'll go, oh, let me try that now, and
Speaker 2: then then I'll be able to make it funny.
Speaker 3: Somehow.
Speaker 1: You're very low key on stage, like you're you're the
Speaker 1: at You're the opposite of a manic comic. And I
Speaker 1: think it's it's like catches you off guard as a
Speaker 1: member of the audience a little bit. And is that
Speaker 1: is that on purpose or is that just an extension
Speaker 1: of your natural personality.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's just just me, you know. I
Speaker 2: mean I think that I change a little bit on stage.
Speaker 2: It's not intentional, but I think something happens to me,
Speaker 2: you know, walk out on stage, I have the microphone,
Speaker 2: Like I am a little different, but you know, I'm
Speaker 2: still a little fidgety.
Speaker 3: I'm fidgetty now, I'm fidgetty on stage.
Speaker 2: I just think there's something about like talking, it like
Speaker 2: gets me going in a way.
Speaker 3: But I'm still low energy.
Speaker 2: So I feel like it has to go somewhere, So
Speaker 2: it goes to my hands, and I touch a lot
Speaker 2: of things, and I touch my glasses and my hat.
Speaker 1: So you you are, I mean, you're you're comedy being
Speaker 1: poor in the trailer park. You've you've embraced this kind
Speaker 1: of redneck Alabama sort of persona. And I used to
Speaker 1: work with Larry the Cable Guy many years ago, but
Speaker 1: I was surprised to find out he's actually from Nebraska
Speaker 1: and not at all rednack, you know, just like it
Speaker 1: was shocking to me. Is this who you are on
Speaker 1: and off stage, same dude?
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean Larry the Cable Guy told me
Speaker 2: that he grew up on a pig farm in Nebraska.
Speaker 3: So I'm like, not southern, but may he's still redneck. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I grew up in a trailer park.
Speaker 2: I mean I moved you know, we moved away when
Speaker 2: I was fifteen. And I'm forty two now, you know,
Speaker 2: so that was a long time ago. But yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean I was gardening early. I have had a lot
Speaker 2: of radio calls today, and in between radio calls, I'm gardening,
Speaker 2: you know, And I was building some flower pots, you know,
Speaker 2: and I still build like a redneck in a way.
Speaker 2: I don't measure anything. I just I eye it out.
Speaker 2: I marked it with my fingernail and then I cut it.
Speaker 2: Nothing that I build is straight, but it holds up.
Speaker 3: It looks okay.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't want to go into a business where I
Speaker 2: built for other people, but I build my own stuff
Speaker 2: all the time, and I get into it. I'm like,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm like artsy redneck, you know, like I
Speaker 2: you know, I definitely grew up, you know the way
Speaker 2: I grew up.
Speaker 3: But I don't know. I think I caught an.
Speaker 2: Artsy gene somewhere in the family line, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. And I'm like, you know, I'm into.
Speaker 1: You're naissance redneck.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm into movies and music and you know, I like,
Speaker 2: you know, I like cheese and you know, culture things.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: When I when I drank, I like to go to
Speaker 2: some nice bars, and you know, of course the redneck
Speaker 2: side always came out. Eventually I would go in and
Speaker 2: have a glass of wine. But it's later when I'm
Speaker 2: doing shots of bourbon that I'm getting kicked out of
Speaker 2: the bar and losing it on people.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, you did say bourbon and not southern comfort.
Speaker 1: So I'm docking you a couple redneck points just for
Speaker 1: that right there. But I won't document.
Speaker 3: I will tell you that I don't even know what.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd never got too into what the liquors were, right,
Speaker 2: I just knew there was a there was brown liquor,
Speaker 2: and then there was like tequila, and there was vodka,
Speaker 2: and I liked them all. But I never really knew
Speaker 2: the difference in bourbons and whiskeys and Southern comfy. I
Speaker 2: just knew that it's brown liquor and I'm into it.
Speaker 1: Southern comfort tastes like cough syrups, So if you don't
Speaker 1: remember a distinct liquor tasting like cough syrup, you may
Speaker 1: have avoided it successfully, unlike me, who I got some
Speaker 1: Southern comfort stories that I'm not proud of, to be
Speaker 1: perfectly honest.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, not my best work.
Speaker 2: There used to be a bar on James Island, South Carolina,
Speaker 2: called the Oasis, which sounds very nice, but it's on
Speaker 2: an island and it says oasis. But it was like
Speaker 2: a really crumby bar and everybody you could still smoke
Speaker 2: cigarettes inside, and they would have on like Wednesdays, they
Speaker 2: would have buy one get two free bourbons, and so
Speaker 2: we would do triple bourbon with a little splash of coke,
Speaker 2: and that's what we would drive.
Speaker 1: Don't you look back on that and just wonder how
Speaker 1: you're still alive? Honestly, you know, you look back. I
Speaker 1: look back at I call it my lost twenties, right,
Speaker 1: my lost decade.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: I look back, and there was multiple times where, if
Speaker 1: not for the grace of God, things could have gone
Speaker 1: completely differently. And I am so grateful that number one,
Speaker 1: camera phones weren't a thing when I went through that,
Speaker 1: and number two that for some reason, I made it
Speaker 1: out on the other side okay and unscathed and with
Speaker 1: some brain cells intact. So let me ask you one
Speaker 1: more question about because your style and you're from Alabama,
Speaker 1: do you play better to crowds in certain parts of
Speaker 1: the country than others? Like where do they get you?
Speaker 3: I don't know, you know, it's it just depends, you know.
Speaker 2: I think my comedy, like from from hour to hour,
Speaker 2: depending on what I'm working on, changes a little bit.
Speaker 2: But you know, I do really well in the Southeast,
Speaker 2: I do really well in the Midwest, but I also
Speaker 2: do really well in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, and
Speaker 2: I think that Oregon in Washington State is a bit redneck.
Speaker 3: Outside of those cities too.
Speaker 1: And a lot most of the people in Seattle and
Speaker 1: Portland look like you, long hair, trucker hat, t shirt on.
Speaker 1: So you're one of them. You're just like a transplanted
Speaker 1: one of them from far away. Dusty is going to
Speaker 1: be this weekend at the Paramount. You can get tickets.
Speaker 1: There are still some left. I just looked. I also
Speaker 1: on the blog today, I put his longer stand up,
Speaker 1: a film, whatever you want to call it. It's fantastic.
Speaker 1: I watched it this morning. I absolutely loved it. So Dusty,
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna Have you been to Denver before?
Speaker 3: Oh many times. I love Denver. I love Colorado altogether.
Speaker 3: I've driven around a lot of Colorado. It's great. I
Speaker 3: love it well.
Speaker 1: I think we have great crowds for comedy and they're
Speaker 1: gonna love you this weekend at the Paramount. So I
Speaker 1: appreciate you making time for me today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I appreciate you having me here. This is great.
Speaker 1: All right, Dusty, thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 3: Man, thank you.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: That is Dusty Slay. Go see him. At the Paramount
Speaker 1: Theater this weekend, and h yeah, that's Friday Night. He's
Speaker 1: got one show Friday night at seven pm, and there
Speaker 1: are some good, good seats available