YouSaid · the spoken record

Al Franken

lines on the record: 79
first: 2022-05-05
most recent: 2022-05-05
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“My contention is, since I really was pissed, it wasn't acting. Okay. And therefore, it had been acting, it would have been very good acting. All right. But we'll leave it there”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was all you people. And I said to you, and I said, Right, and you thought that I was actually acting. Or trying to act, but I wasn't. I was really pissed. So enough of that”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“If there's, it's we don't know what's happening. We have this retreat where you're in front of all the Democrats and two people talk before you, Bagala and Tim Kane. I think the president.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“At least it was my job. Okay, this is just very quickly Scott Brown wins in Massachusetts. Very quickly, very quickly. We now only have 59. It means that the House has to pass the ACA as we wrote it. They don't want to do it.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And when you're a performer, you learn stuff. You learn how to present stuff. And you learn how to do it more powerfully or certainly if you're a comedian be funny, but to be more effective. And he's a great communicator. He's a great communicator.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But when you're a performer, you pick up certain skills, right? And I noticed this like when I was on in the Senate that none of my colleagues had been actual performers in that sense. And I was on judiciary and many had been prosecutors, but I think they were prosecutors like U.S. attorney and stuff like that, not people like courtroom prosecutors.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And did he? No, I don't think he did. I don't think he did. So speaking of John Stewart and looking not going to hear anywhere else.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, this is just the truth. So then he calls me about a week later. Well, I got that film from the guy at Seinfeld. I go, yeah. He goes, I don't think he's very funny. And I just said,”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That didn't fly, but well, and then we let that lay and then he leaves the Senate, but then he calls me up and he had done like he had gotten up at a comedy club in Philadelphia and he kind of told a couple jokes and went a little viral. And so Caroline's in New York wanted him to do a week. So he calls me up. And I go, well, okay, do you have an act? He goes, well, no. And I go, well, you got to get an act. And I said, you know, there's this movie. comedian that Seinfeld has done and you should watch that because the process him putting together an act. So well, how would I get that? And I tell him how to go an Amazon like that.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He goes, yeah, I've been on it. I go, well, you know, the correspondence, the young correspondence they have on it? He goes, no. So I said, you've been on the show, but you haven't really actually watched it, right? Well, no. Okay, well, they have these young correspondents. It might be funny if they say they have a new comedian correspondent and it's you because you're so old and they go, I said, well, I'll talk to John about it. So I called John Stewart and I run the idea by him and he has really good instincts in about three seconds he goes, no. So I go back to Arlen and I go, well.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes. So I say to him. And then I realized like he wants to do comedy. So he said, well, you know, I was, I came in second and the funniest man in Washington contest like 20 years ago or something. So I go, okay. So I go, I said, do you know the Daily Show?”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right. And because he turned Democrat when I came in, we were the 60th. And because of that, we passed the ACA. So Arlen loses and the primary, right? Yeah, he loses in the primary. So he comes up to me like the next week. I'm presiding. And he comes up to me and goes, I was wondering if I could talk to you about comedy. So he must”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's what you do This is so funny. I don't know if I've ever said this publicly. So, okay, so Arlen Spector. Yes. Okay, he loses, right? Right. He loses.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And, you know, I'm very different than the other performers there. At least half the performers after they get off the stage, my first line now when I go up there workout stuff is, well, so-and-so killed, but no wonder they stole all my material. And their stuff is so dirty that everyone knows, you know.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, that's what people want to hear about That's what one of people. And I go to basically about a little over a year ago I started saying, I'm going to do stand up. I'm going to do standup. I started in comedy with my partner Tom Davis, Franklin Davis, and we went to high school together. And we were big bobbin ray fans. And so we did Bob and Ray. So when we toured, we did Bob and Ray, which is very different than a guy standing up doing or a woman standing up doing stand up. Yeah. So I had never really done stand-up. And so I started going to this place with a comedy seller. Yes.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Off of John Stewart tree. Those are all the daily show trick. which started, by the way, I did indecision 92 for Comedy Central, covering the conventions in both the Democratic and Republican conventions four hours a night. So that was actually called Indecision 92. So that predated the Daily Show. But yeah, that's that tree, you know, and politically incorrect, which became the current real time is also part of that tree. But if you go to watch stand up, you don't hear a lot of.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know what you're watching. I mean, it's interesting because I go to clubs and I go watch other comedians who I admire a lot and it isn't that much political. I mean, obviously Bill Maher does the show that's about that week's politics and current events is political. But there isn't a lot. And it's actually, it depends how you do it. He's carved out an area for himself that the audience knows what they're getting. A number of people have done that.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I go, well, Ted, your crowd will laugh at that joke. But I have to tell you, I knew the punchline about a third of the way through it. Now, here's my reward for giving him honest feedback. Okay, you tell me a joke.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Ted Cruz. Yes. And both of those are true And part of it is that Ted kind of considered himself a fan of comedy So every once in a while, every once in a while you come up to me on a Monday and said, I saw a whole repeat of SNL, the Stuart Smalley. And that was really funny. I go, you know what? He's not such a big. But every once in a while, I tell the story about he comes up to me and says, I've written, you do this every once in a while. I've written a joke for my stump speech. Can I run it by you? And I go, okay, sure. And this is in 16 when, of course, Hillary's running. And he starts to tell me this joke. And at a certain point, I go, okay, I know the punchline's Hillary's phone. I know that. And the joke goes on and on and on. And finally, Hillary's phone.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He hasn't I don't know it's there's a thing I say in the show and I've said this for years which is that I probably liked Ted Cruz more than most of my colleagues like Ted Cruz and I hate”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, you know, satire is what closes on Saturday night is what they say. But this is laugh. This is funny. And a lot of it is stories about the time in the Senate and about my former colleagues.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Mainly in the office. Mainly in the office, we just had an incredible amount of fun in my office and got a lot of great work done. But I believe that for a whole period of time the lease turnover of any staff. Because we just, and we're very serious about our work, and we did great work, but we just had fun”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Know it's easy to do in a caucus lunch. I mean, I could be funny in a caucus lunch, I could be funny in the cloakroom. I could be funny on the floor. You had designated.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, very different. I will defend myself there. But it was actually on the right side of a thing, which is like, hey, your kids”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Simple example is in 1998, I think it was, I wrote a magazine article trying to tell parents maybe they should monitor what their kids get online. But I wrote it satirically. So I wrote my son Joe did a great fourth grade report last week on bestiality. He downloaded a lot of great visual aids. And the kids in the class just loved him. So that became Al Franken.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“On it, but the Israelis worked on it too. There's various versions. Anyway, we got the Russian one or the Republicans in Minnesota got it. So I would, for example”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I mean, I internalize it pretty quickly. Basically, what happened is that everything I had ever said or written that could be put through a dehumorizer, which is some Russian technology, another way. Yes, yes.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was the Barrymore Theater, where evidently the Barrymores played. And then I go to Detroit. You know, those are the...”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right. That's right. I'm on the only former U.S. Senator currently on tour tour. And off tomorrow to Madison, Wisconsin at the Barry Moore Theater.”
2022-05-05 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 488 — Al Franken · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source