“It’s where we go to towns with terrible reputations, and we actually give them a chance to fight back against the clickbait media,” Mandel said on The DA Show. “So we might go to the smelliest town in America – that’s what it’s known as; the article has been written – and then we let the town show what it’s really all about and demonstrate how it’s so much more than that.”
If you’re curious, the smelliest town in America, allegedly, is Coalinga, Ca. Is it actually smelly?
“It was – right by the freeway exit,” Mandel said. “Terribly smelly because it’s right near a cow feedlot. But when you get off the freeway and actually go to the town itself, which is a few miles off the freeway away from the wind, it doesn’t smell very bad and it’s actually a really cool town.”
Mandel, a stand-up comedian, also opened up about his new normal during the coronavirus.
“I was actually performing in Phoenix the weekend that it was declared a national emergency, and the club did not shut down yet . . . and people still showed up,” he said. “So I performed [that] Saturday and Sunday while it was in a national emergency. So I don’t know. I haven’t really been in touch with any of the clubs. I had one offer, but . . . I don’t need to risk my life just to go perform for 14 scared people. I could wait on that.”
Mandel would also have reservations about selling his merchandise after shows, which often involves shaking hands, posing for pictures, and handling money or credit cards. He’d prefer not to wear an N95 mask during shows, but he’s also not a fan of stand-up over Skype.
“That’s like a thing that’s all over the Internet: comedians doing comedy over Skype and Zoom,” he said. “A lot of legit comics are doing it, but it just sounds so – I don’t know, man. That’s not the thrill. I can’t imagine getting that adrenaline rush from just staring at a few people who are probably texting away while they’re in a little Zoom box.”