Episode 321 · Post-Ben
Bill Burr | The Tim Dillon Show #321
with Bill Burr
Oct 30, 2022 · 1:04:41 · 920,000 views · 25 segments, 150 moments indexed
Tim Dillon is joined in-studio by legendary comedian Bill Burr to discuss life, sports, politics, religion, comedy, etc.. pieholes were opened and shit came out
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- 1 min
Racer Head, Web Toes, and Dad Life
#Tim opens by discussing seeing the movie about "Racer Head" and the actor's daughter being born with web toes that got fixed, riffing on his own new perspective as a dad.
2moments
- Tim saw a Racer Head movie and learned the character's daughter was born with web toes that were surgically corrected.
- He'd be the daughter dealing with a father who wanted to kill her because she was deformed.
Racer headBill Burr
- 4 min
Bill Burr and Tim discuss how outsiders misperceive Los Angeles as entirely liberal when much of it (and the state) is conservative, then dig into California's economy, the mayoral race between Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, and jokes about Caruso's Grove development and homelessness plans.
10moments
- L.A. is stereotyped as liberals in infinity pools talking about gender-neutral bathrooms, but red states get equally mocked for backwards stereotypes about their residents.
- Stereotypes exist because people don't travel, and they don't realize how geographically big places like Los Angeles actually are.
- Over the Hollywood Hills, L.A. becomes Trump country and conservative—gun shops line Magnolia Street like Halloween costume stores.
- Driving from L.A. to San Jose takes you through farms covered in "Let's Kill Newsom" and Trump 2024 signs, then it turns blue again in San Francisco.
- California just became the fourth largest economy in the world, beating Germany—ahead of Japan, China, and the U.S.
- Rick Caruso, the billionaire who developed The Grove, is running for mayor as a Democrat despite being a right-wing guy who switched parties.
- The Grove is a soulless place that plays uplifting music to make you feel successful while it sucks your soul out—a Cheesecake Factory, some stores, and a trolley.
- Tim's theory: Caruso will house homeless people in his buildings for 18 months, then kick them out and sell the buildings to the middle class for profit.
- Caruso might be a billionaire with a heart of gold, or maybe Richard Gere picked him up on a date and changed him—or his DJ son just connected him to better people.
- Caruso's son is a DJ, so he's kind of connected to the scene.
- 3 min
Bill and Tim debate whether life today is better than when they were growing up, touching on climate anxiety, the rise of DJs and influencers, and a bit about a fireproof house for the rich to watch the world burn from.
8moments
- Tim notes that everyone is now either a DJ, an influencer, or a podcaster.
- Whether life in general is better now than when he was growing up.
- Tim argues it was better when people weren't staring at screens all the time.
- Tim says the internet makes it easier for people in hate groups to find each other.
- Young people now have only two seasons in many places—summer or winter.
- Tim describes how climate change is drying out trees and forests.
- The future solution won't be preventing fires but building fireproof houses with infinity pools inside.
- After climate disasters push people out, LA will return to massive private ranches owned by single individuals.
climate changeGriffith ParkDJ
- 3 min
They mock reality shows like Selling Sunset for glamorizing real estate agents who know nothing about the houses, joke about former movie stars now selling homes, and pivot into how corporations and underpaid politicians work together while avoiding real scrutiny.
8moments
- Real estate TV agents are hot but don't know basic house details like taxes.
- Former movie stars now sell houses on TV, trading on their looks to meet rich men.
- Hot stewardesses used to exist but now sell houses on TV instead; flight attendants have gotten older and less attractive.
- Tim can't look at younger flight attendants anyway because he's 54 and doesn't want to be a creep.
- Long-haul flight attendants are older women who are burned out and keep working despite clearly hating it.
- Fireproof houses will become a reality as climate disasters get worse, but politicians are too corrupt to regulate corporations.
- Politicians are underpaid public servants who are kept in the pockets of rich people and corporations.
- News networks never go after the big corporations that feed them; they attack easier targets like stand-up comedians.
- 4 min
Bill riffs on liberals attacking dead figures like John Wayne instead of living power, then they discuss corporations like Blackstone and pharma companies escaping blame, before diving into a long sports tangent comparing the Patriots' Deflategate scandal to the Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
7moments
- Tim criticizes media focus on minor celebrity incidents while ignoring corporate villains like Blackstone buying up housing stock and pharmaceutical companies selling synthetic opioids.
- Activists going after dead John Wayne instead of targeting living powerful people who actually control things.
- Older people's job is to pass down what they learned to younger people—what worked and what didn't.
- White people should listen to others' experiences rather than offering defensive counterarguments about historical context.
- Getting too invested in rooting for a side—like how Astros fans refuse to acknowledge their team fixed the World Series.
- Actor who's an Astros fan dismisses sign-stealing as something everybody does, which Tim disputes.
- Minor infractions like Deflategate get permanent outrage while major cheating like the Astros scandal gets swept under the rug.
BlackstoneHouston Astrospharmaceutical companiesMac JonesJohn WayneRed Rocks1919 Black Sox scandaldeflate gate
- 2 min
They discuss the news that Kevin Spacey was found not liable in a New York civil case involving allegations he sat on a 14-year-old, joking about the absurdity and unprovability of the claims.
5moments
- Kevin Spacey found not liable in New York jury verdict for sexual assault allegations.
- Tim describes the charge as "the funniest charge I've ever heard" — Spacey allegedly sat on a 14-year-old at a party.
- Details emerge: Spacey allegedly picked up the teenager like a groom with a bride, laid down on him at a party.
- The legal system makes it extremely difficult to prove sexual assault without clear evidence.
- Tim expresses hope that Spacey didn't sit on a 14-year-old, accepting the jury's not-liable finding.
- 4 min
The conversation shifts to how politicians like Nancy Pelosi get away with suspicious wealth and trading while comedians get punished for jokes, plus Bill discussing why he avoids doing private/corporate gigs for powerful people.
8moments
- Nancy Pelosi and her husband engage in insider trading and get away with it while ordinary people face consequences.
- Politicians making $150,000 annually as senators somehow become worth $20 million; presidents on $200,000salaries buy $20 million houses on Martha's Vineyard with no accountability.
- Tim contrasts politicians' financial crimes with the backlash comedians receive for making offensive jokes about women and power dynamics.
- Tim refuses private gigs and corporate events because his job is to make fun of powerful people, not fraternize with them.
- The White House Correspondents' Dinner worked better before it was televised; now both sides lose their minds over every joke.
- Politicians wouldn't hire Tim for the Correspondents' Dinner not out of fear but because they want a nice, fun evening without real challenge.
- Those in power don't view comedians as a threat; they actually run things or work for people running things.
- Private citizens' data collection and surveillance has fundamentally changed what used to be a celebrity privacy problem into a universal issue.
- 1 min
Tim reads an ad for ExpressVPN about data brokers collecting and selling personal information and offers the promo code for three free months.
2moments
- Tim argues that if you believe your data is your business, you should use ExpressVPN to prevent data brokers from stealing and selling your information.
- Everyone Tim knows uses ExpressVPN and reports being happier and more private as a result.
- 3 min
Bill and Tim discuss whether climate change will get dangerous within decades, becoming more optimistic since having kids, and pivot into complaints about planned obsolescence in TVs and phone chargers designed to break.
6moments
- Tim's 30-year timeline for climate getting hairy is based on his observations driving around with the windows down.
- Having a kid forced him to become more positive about the future, otherwise he'd spiral into doom about what the world will be like for them.
- Planned obsolescence: TVs used to last 25 years and you could replace individual tubes, but now flat screens break constantly and you just throw them out.
- Phone manufacturers release a new charger every year that doesn't work with old phones, forcing people to buy new ones and discard the old ones.
- Corporations are willing to pay government fines for pollution because the fines are so much smaller than their profits.
- In Tim's lifetime, you went from being able to drink water directly from rivers to having to buy bottled water because corporations poisoned the water supply.
corporationsplanned obsolescence
- 2 min
They joke about corporations poisoning water supplies without consequence, complain about the podcast studio's dark desert backdrop, and riff on a viral video of a Chinese robot dog with a machine gun.
6moments
- Poisoning the water supply is treated as a terrorist act that lands you in jail for life.
- The desert backdrop made sense during the pandemic, but now the dark studio vortex needs to change.
- Tim suggests replacing the desert with a Civil Twilight dawn aesthetic to lighten the mood.
- China unveiled a robot dog equipped with a machine gun.
- Tim assumes America already has the same robot dog weapon and will soon fly it over football games to cheers.
- Both China and America have sociopaths, so there's no point getting worked up about their weapons specifically.
ChinaRed Sox and Yankees
- 1 min
Bill talks about balancing conservative and liberal values situationally (knowing when to hug someone versus when to get a gun) and laments that modern life feels engineered and inauthentic.
3moments
- Tim argues that the key is just focusing on yourself and not being a piece of shit.
- The problem isn't conservative or liberal outlook—it's the application; there's a time to hug people and a time to get your gun.
- If you're always hugging people you end up in the trunk of somebody's car.
- 3 min
They riff on how actors like George Kennedy and Brian Dennehy always looked older than their age, contrasted with a modern radiant, smoothie-drinking agent Bill met, joking he might snap like Michael Douglas in Falling Down.
5moments
- Old movie stars looked genuinely old even at 31, compared to how people age now.
- George Kennedy always looked 63 throughout his entire career, even when young.
- Tim met a smoothie-drinking agent who was so radiant he couldn't stop thinking about him for three days.
- Tim wonders if radiant health enthusiasts eventually snap like Michael Douglas in Falling Down and go berserk at a fast food place.
- The agent's health regimen apparently involved DNA testing and serious scientific optimization.
George KennedyMichael DouglasBrian DennyFalling DownCool Hand LukeNaked Gun
- 3 min
Bill and Tim debate how much money you'd need to eat truly healthy, organic food nowadays, and reminisce about fast food chains like Wendy's and McDonald's from their childhoods.
8moments
- Tim compares the genius of innovators like Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen to showing people what's physically possible.
- Food companies turned everything into poison, but eating well now requires enough money to reverse the damage.
- Tim asks how much annual income you'd need to eat the way a 1920s hobo did when everything was organic.
- $200,000 a year after taxes in this state is what it takes to eat wild salmon and organic everything.
- Food is expensive and spoils immediately—organic fruits and vegetables go bad really quick.
- Wendy's used to be the top fast food when Tim was growing up, the only one that looked like it used real meat.
- The square Wendy's burger was their way of saying 'this is different, this is an actual thing.'
- Tim doesn't take his kids out for fast food, but their relatives do—someone's got to be the cool one.
Wendy'sMichael JordanMcDonald'sEddie Van HalenJimi Hendrix
- 3 min
They discuss letting relatives spoil kids with fast food while parents stay strict, then transition into how luxury brands like Louis Vuitton have become mainstream even in places like Mobile, Alabama.
8moments
- Tim explains how being the uncool dad means kids don't want what you offer, only getting excited when relatives take them out for treats.
- Growing up, soda was forbidden at home but allowed when eating out, making fast food feel like fine dining.
- Luxury fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent used to be exclusive, located only on Rodeo Drive and Fifth Avenue, aspirational destinations women dreamed of visiting.
- Tim found a Louis Vuitton store in a mall in Mobile, Alabama during a road trip, marking the shift in how accessible high-end fashion became.
- People carrying coach bags on planes and obsessing over designer goods, while Tim used to just have a gym bag without caring.
- Public figures sell the idea that owning luxury items brings happiness, but Tim argues none of it actually does.
- Tim admits a nice watch or Koozie are the only luxury purchases worth getting.
- Tim wanted to get something dumb sometimes, which is how he justified the Bentley purchase.
McDonald'sBentleyLouis VuittonCoachRodeo DriveKen BurnsFifth AvenueMichigan Avenue
- 1 min
Bill jokes that people assume he's just the driver of his own Bentley, and they riff about giving cheap gifts like sneakers versus expensive Italian dinners to grooming young comics like Chris D'Elia stories reference.
5moments
- Tim explains that sometimes you have to buy a dumb thing, even if it's a nice car.
- You can't take an Italian out in a high-end white car without giving them sneakers instead—that's the only acceptable move.
- Tim argues that everyone appreciates something well-made, whether it's a nice watch or a luxury item.
- Tim lists his interests in mastery—cars, trucks, motorcycles, hunting, and watching people power wash driveways.
- He needs to hire someone to power wash his driveway, but California's water laws complicate the whole thing.
- 2 min
Tim reads an ad for Bespoke Post's Box of Awesome subscription gift boxes, riffing on absurd fictional box contents like vials of blood and Nixon photos.
4moments
- Bespoke Post's Box of Awesome subscription matches your interests via quiz.
- 90 percent of items in each box come from American small businesses.
- Tim received a Box of Awesome containing pancake flour, a loaded gun, a cat tail, and voodoo items.
- Another box included a vial of blood with a ransom note made from cut-out magazine letters and a picture of Richard Nixon.
- 2 min
Tim reads a ShipStation ad about managing shipping and orders, joking about someone drunkenly making acorn ornaments to sell online.
3moments
- Tim endorses ShipStation as easy to use and removes anxiety about package delivery tracking.
- Hypothetical: someone making acorn ornaments with Santa faces needs ShipStation so they can focus on crafting, not shipping logistics.
- Tim's extended bit about someone drunk and high making googly-eyed acorns to cope with depression, delegating shipping to ShipStation instead of handling it themselves.
- 4 min
Bill talks about seeking out master craftsmen like a young cobbler who hand-makes shoes, and laments how modern restaurants add unnecessary loud DJ vibes instead of just being great at the one thing they do, like classic waiters at Musso and Frank.
9moments
- Tim explains his method: find the Dave Attell of any craft—the master craftsperson whose skill makes other practitioners stop and watch.
- Dean Del Rey introduced him to a 24-year-old cobbler named Saying who hand-makes shoes the old-school way, tracing your foot and delivering a custom fit weeks later.
- The people worth remembering are those passionate about their craft who figured out how to make money doing it sustainably.
- Real old-school service—waiters at places like Russo and Frank or Smith Wolinsky's who know your name, your drink, your table, even details about your family—matters and shouldn't be done ironically or as hipster irony.
- Tim had to wear earplugs to a sushi dinner with his wife because restaurants have become unbearably loud, trying to engineer a club-like vibe.
- Every establishment now manufactures an artificial atmosphere with DJs and music, but the vibe often mismatches the experience—like blasting club energy while serving spicy tuna rolls.
- When you're truly excellent at something, you just sell the thing itself; mediocre businesses compensate for lack of quality by layering on DJ sets and manufactured vibes.
- Scenes used to develop organically, but now anything showing commercial potential gets immediately co-opted and ripped off by competitors chasing the same money.
- Tim wonders whether scenes have simply gotten bigger rather than disappeared, or if he's just too old to recognize the new shape they've taken.
Russo and FrankSmith Wolinsky'sDave AttellDean Del Rey
- 3 min
Bill discusses how regional scenes (Southern stock car racing, city-specific music sounds, jazz per Miles Davis's autobiography) used to develop in isolation before being instantly co-opted today.
10moments
- Star car racing out of the South, moonshiners competing, builds into global phenomenon like skateboarding and rap music from New York.
- Back in the day, distinct regional sounds existed—San Francisco, Seattle, Philly, New York, Boston—each with its own scene.
- Gatekeepers decided what the new sound was, allowing scenes to develop separately without intermingling.
- Miles Davis's autobiography describes pre-TV, pre-radio era where musicians in different cities developed their styles in isolation.
- When musicians from St. Louis, New Orleans, and Chicago met in New York at Minton's jazz place, they mixed and created something new.
- Tim asks whether it's good for comedians to put out a lot of material all the time versus working longer on something before releasing it.
- Young comedians now put out a lot of stuff constantly, but back then comedians would work on something longer without putting it out.
- Whether to release frequently or not is individual—some want to be great comics, others use stand-up to launch into TV and movies.
- Tim has no problem with people doing stand-up briefly just to get into television and film, rejecting the gatekeeping mentality.
- People do stand-up for whatever reason—whether they got canceled, want success, or anything else—and that's valid.
- 3 min
Tim asks Bill whether comedians should churn out content nonstop; Bill compares it to musicians who take their time, discusses burning out trying to balance a movie, tour, and family, and quotes Dane Cook and Louis CK on comic rivalry.
5moments
- Tim compares his approach to content and creativity to how musicians strategically space album releases rather than constantly flooding the market.
- Balancing a movie shoot, stand-up tour, and family responsibilities at the same time proved unsustainable, and his act suffered as a result.
- After a few days off from grinding, Tim went to the store and found his mind refreshed enough to riff naturally and generate new material.
- The constant comparison between comedians and their output is wasted energy—each person needs to figure out their own sustainable pace.
- Stan Hope's observation: the second best thing about comedy is killing on stage, but the first best is sitting in the back room with other comics saying someone sucks.
- 3 min
Bill details shooting his new movie in 24 days in L.A., the post-production process (scoring, color, ADR), and expresses confidence after a positive test screening in Vegas.
7moments
- The entire movie was shot in one location in LA.
- The movie is locked, meaning editing is complete; remaining work includes scoring, color correction, and ADR for mumbled or interrupted lines.
- They screened the film in Vegas and it got strong reactions from audiences across all political backgrounds.
- Tim doesn't want to overhype it, but believes viewers will laugh and feel they got their money's worth.
- Studio executives face far higher stakes than comedians do—they can lose their jobs, benefits, and houses if something bombs.
- That financial pressure makes studio decision-makers naturally conservative and more receptive to doomsday scenarios.
- Tim wishes studio executives would come out on the road and see how real audiences actually respond to comedy.
- 3 min
They discuss why studios stopped making comedies out of fear and lawyer caution, and pivot into a broader discussion about empathy for people who fear losing their jobs, and how outrage mobs dig up old tweets to destroy people.
5moments
- Most people aren't invested in hating you—they're too busy with their own lives to stew in it.
- Tim grew up in semi-sheltered Boston suburbs and had a phase of thinking racist jokes sounded tough.
- People need to let others grow out of things instead of mining old Twitter accounts to define and ruin them.
- The left's campaign to destroy people over ancient social media posts represented a genuine low point and abuse of power.
- If someone was an asshole eight years ago but has been fine for seven years, that's actually impressive.
- 2 min
They wrap up the cancel culture discussion by advocating for giving people room to change, and Tim's bit about the 'silent majority' being people who don't comment and should be the only ones allowed to vote.
5moments
- Tim argues people shouldn't immediately destroy someone for making mistakes online—try having a conversation instead.
- He admits he's an unbelievably flawed human being and can't judge others for what he's done in the past.
- Tim thinks people are moving into an era of Live and Let Live, having learned about other perspectives and just trying to exist.
- The silent majority, to him, is the person who watches a video without commenting—those are the voters who should run things.
- Anyone who's ever written in all capital letters on YouTube should lose their voting rights and go to jail.
- 2 min
Bill tells a story about Keith Richards still loving the smell of opening a guitar case, then Tim riffs on God being a sloppy craftsman who slapped humans together and has since moved on, comparing Him to a crazy painter.
7moments
- Keith Richards at 65 said he'd still play music for 80,000 people or 8 people because it's just what he does.
- Richards still loves the smell when he opens a guitar case and said he'd crawl inside and close the lid if he could.
- Watching someone who loves what they do that much affects you subconsciously to either do better or find your own joy.
- Tim has issues with God and his half-assed work on human beings.
- If God was making cars, the amount of recalls and federal bailouts he'd need would be insane.
- God did crush it with the setting though — the mountains, prairies, oceans, and sushi restaurants.
- Whatever God is, it's like a crazy painter missing an ear, barefoot and groovy, just throwing rings on planets.
- 3 min
Bill lists upcoming tour stops including Peoria (Richard Pryor's hometown), Idaho, Colorado Springs, and New Orleans, and closes with advice for young podcasters not to give agents ownership or a cut of their podcast money.
4moments
- Tim lists his remaining tour dates including Peoria, Illinois—Richard Pryor's hometown—plus Chicago, Idaho, Colorado Springs, and New Orleans.
- He keeps a phone note called "places to go" cataloging restaurants, cigar bars, and things to do in every town he's visited over the years to stay out of trouble.
- Tim advises young podcasters: don't let agents get involved in your podcast money, as they'll promise the moon to get their foot in the door and collect a cut forever.
- Podcast advertising money comes from talent and listeners, not agents—there's no reason to give away ownership of your show or let agencies take a permanent cut.