Tag Archives: finland

Episode 214 The Captain’s Log with Comedian ISMO and Captain Brien!



Finnish Comedian Ismo joins Captain Brien to discuss his famous “ass” skit from Conan, his journey to becoming a comedian in America, and ISMO and Captain Brien have a competition on who can use more words with “ass” in them! You won’t want to miss this!

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Watch Full Video —————> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2y8Ze-P1SE&t=24s

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PODCAST RECAP

Miss something on one of our episodes of the #naplescaptainslog? Don’t worry we got you covered! Here you will find a full transcript from this episode of the #naplescaptainslog!

Captain Brien: Hey guys, welcome back. It’s the captain’s log and my guest today is ISMO, the world’s most famous Finnish comedian.

ISMO:  Oh yeah, I am.

Captain Brien: Yeah and Finnish is like, what happened to my voice? It’s already finished. So Finnish is like something that I’ve never said before. I’ve never said, oh, he’s a, he’s, what did I say? He’s a Finnish.

ISMO: Finnish or a Fin

Captain Brien: A Fin.

ISMO: Or from Finland.

Captain Brien: Oh yeah. You’re the first person that I’ve hung out with from Finland.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Well, I mean, it’s exciting.

ISMO: Well glad to be the first.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

ISMO:- Yeah.

Captain Brien: So there’s 5 million people that live in Finland you told me?

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: And how on the famous scale how famous are you, the top five?

ISMO: Well, hard to say. Like there’s lots of like sports stars and everything but like yeah. In Finland, yeah it’s pretty, yeah.

Captain Brien: Your superstar?

ISMO: Well yeah I guess.

Captain Brien: You’re like an A-Lister in Finland?

ISMO: I would guess that.

Captain Brien: And you’re working your way up in the United States now?

ISMO: Yeah, yeah.

Captain Brien: I mean you got a video that’s almost 70 million from Conan O’Brien that was amazing. What was that like life changing, the first time you woke up and saw that it hit like 20 million?

ISMO: Yeah, yeah, it’s so yeah, it’s been, uh, I was like, what do I do? Like a year ago when I did Conan it started, the post and the views really started to go up, I was like, okay, it’s now 20 million now it’s 25. What do I do?

Captain Brien: When did your phone start ringing? Like when people started like saying they wanted to book you or they they wanted to have an interview or when did that happen?

ISMO: Yeah, right away like yeah, it’s really changed a lot.

Captain Brien: Really?

ISMO: Yeah, yeah I did touring in the US before that but then it really, really, really took off after that so.

Captain Brien: And and in Finland, you had already had videos out or?

ISMO: Yeah, like yeah, in Finland, I’ve been doing comedy for like, 16 17 years.

ISMO: Yeah. So I’ve done lots of TV and of course, lots of YouTube videos and whatever and things and lots of tours.

Captain Brien: Who booked the gig on Conan?

ISMO: Well, the guy who books Conan

Captain Brien: No but you made the phone call originally?

ISMO: Well, I have a manager here and so.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

ISMO: Yeah, I did. Actually, I did Just for Laughs Festival 2017.

Captain Brien: Oh, okay, I missed that one that’s why I didn’t see you then.

ISMO: Oh, yeah, so yeah, that I think that was the link. Like I did really well there and then the booker for Conan heard about that and then we started from there.

Captain Brien: That’s what happened. So when you got to the US, you were performing at, you said the Laugh Factory?

ISMO: Yeah, that’s where I started in LA like, yeah.

Captain Brien:: And how did they get you on stage first?

ISMO: Actually, they had a competition 2014, they had a competition called “The Funniest Person in the World”

Captain Brien: Okay.

ISMO: So I thought that’s a good name for a contest. So there were lots of comics from different countries and I had never done a gig in America before that.

Captain Brien: So you flew in for the competition?

ISMO: Yeah and I won it all.

Captain Brien: How did you find out about it?

ISMO: Well they searched for comedians all around the world.

Captain Brien: Okay.

ISMO: They like okay we’re gonna have this contest so they searched and they looked for like every country and they found me and I like first you participated like with an online video and stuff but then when you go to the finals then okay then just like hey you have to fly to LA now and I was like oh okay I have to cancel them shows in Finland, move them around.

Captain Brien: And they didn’t pay you to fly in?

ISMO: Well yeah I think they paid like yeah they gave like a travel buyout or something.

Captain Brien: Okay, because they were selling tickets to the show probably, right?

ISMO: Yeah sure so but yeah so but that’s really I did my first ever gig in America in the contest and I won it and then I’m like less than a year later I moved here so.

Captain Brien: Wow, that’s so exciting. And you brought your wife?

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: How did she decide that it was going to be okay that you guys are going to move because she saw that your career was going to be the one that was going to take you here?

ISMO: Yeah she was like all for it so that she’s been super supportive so all the way all the time and like even like we didn’t even decide it was kind of obvious when they was like okay we’re gonna move to America now, I’m literally just like how do we arrange everything so it yeah it wasn’t, there was no debate like we weren’t even thinking like, well because it was like kind of this, you’re going to regret this for the rest of your life if you don’t do it.

Captain Brien: Correct, correct.

ISMO: It was kinda obvious to do it.

Captain Brien: What’s the weather like in Finland? I don’t even know, it’s cold right?

ISMO: It’s really north so yeah.

Captain Brien: It’s cold as hell.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: That’s what I thought.

ISMO: Yeah like it’s really nice in the summer but like the winter is long and cold and dark so yeah.

Captain Brien: And you get a lot of rain or is it all snow?

ISMO: Well yeah, rain in the fall but then December to like April it’s pretty snowy.

Captain Brien: Is there good skiing?

ISMO: Yeah, yeah lots of skiing.

Captain Brien: Are you a good skier?

ISMO: I would say like I used to do it a lot and I used to snowboard a lot that was years ago.

Captain Brien: You have the look, the whole look with the hair, you look like a snowboarder. Captain Brien: Yeah, so that’s a good style.

ISMO: But I have to start surfing now because I’m in LA.

Captain Brien: You need to now how to surf bro.

ISMO: I’ve only surfed once.

Captain Brien: You gotta hang 10, right. Yeah hang loose.

ISMO: Oh yeah, I promise I will start it soon. I’ve been putting it off.

Captain Brien: You probably don’t tan very, well you tan a little bit it looks like.

ISMO: I guess.

Captain Brien: Yeah your skin is not super light, it looks like you got a little surf style tan.

ISMO: oh yeah.

Captain Brien: That’s sexy.

ISMO: Yeah I know I been here in Florida so I’m definitely gonna at least go to the beach. I don’t think I’m going to surf.

Captain Brien: They said your video about, the ass is the toughest word in English is hilarious which it is hilarious but I understand you have one about shit now.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: And that’s better you think?

ISMO: Well, yeah that shit thing yeah it’s like a newer bit and I really love it. I put some of it online but it’s like 10 minutes, 10 minutes of shit stuff so.

Captain Brien: That’s a lot of shit.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Yeah a whole lot of.

ISMO: A shit load of shit.

Captain Brien: A ton of it.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: A crap pile.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Give me a couple words, ways to use the word ass and let me see if I can come up with a couple. Let’s play see how many we can come up with in a row.

ISMO: Okay, well, hard ass.

Captain Brien: Dumb ass.

ISMO: Smart ass.

Captain Brien: Oh, God I am terrible.

ISMO: Oh there are so many.

Captain Brien: You got me on the ass. No come on I gotta be better than that. Uh.

ISMO: Ass tone.

Captain Brien: Jackass.

ISMO: Jackass, yeah.

Captain Brien: Does that work?

ISMO: Yeah jackass that’s great.

Captain Brien: That’s jack who’s an ass.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

ISMO: Well half ass.

Captain Brien: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you could say, move your ass, that’s one of yours?

ISMO: Yeah, move your ass or my ass.

Captain Brien: Ah yeah like a half a ass.

ISMO: Oh yeah half ass is like not concentrating just halfing it but my ass is no.

Captain Brien: Yeah just no way.

ISMO: Yeah my ass.

Captain Brien: Right, like you say your car is fast my ass.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: I love that. So there’s nothing in like in Finnish that’s similar?

ISMO: Well there we have words we have and I actually I did this joke about the Finnish word that means like everything but it’s very different than

Captain Brien: What’s that word?

ISMO: It’s well it’s like two words. It’s and that means like everything but it’s different like you don’t use it as like ass. You add it to stuff like ass but it’s just by itself it can mean like let’s go or look what you have done or I can’t wait to be like it can be anything so. But it’s a weird word it’s completely untranslatable.

Captain Brien: Yeah, so then nobody, do they use it as a joke in the same context or no?

ISMO: Well I made a joke about it but like so yeah but then after that people are like, okay we use that word a lot, yeah.

Captain Brien: While we’re talking let’s get everyone to tell us where you guys are tuning in from? If you’re in Finland, let us know. Do they have Facebook in Finland?

ISMO: Of course.

Captain Brien: They do right? So wherever you guys are we’re in Naples, Florida right now and we’re heading to 103.9 where Big Mom and the Wild Bunch and 96 k rock we just left 1055 the beat and you have six huge shows at Off the Hook comedy club.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: This week, which is amazing.

ISMO: Yeah, yeah.

Captain Brien: And when I first discovered you, I think it was the Conan clip but that’s why I was like, alright, I want to get this dude and then it just like started going crazy, like the clip is 70 million and counting that’s amazing.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: It’s shocking to me. So is there another clip out there? The shit clip is pretty popular too, yeah?

ISMO: Yeah, I put out the shit clip like last year and yeah and that’s only a part of the shit bit. So when I do it live it’s way longer. And yeah have to find some more words to do that.

Captain Brien: Yeah you got to do something like, balls.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: I don’t know like my balls, balls deep.

ISMO: Well actually I have a joke about balls, it’s yeah but that’s different. It’s not like kind of like.

Captain Brien: Yeah you can’t use as many.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: I just came off that off top my head. yeah but that is actually weird that like having balls is the metaphor for being courage.

ISMO:  Like being tough.

Captain Brien: Brave.

Captain Brien: You got big balls.

ISMO: Yeah. And it’s kind of unfair.

Captain Brien: He’s got no nuts.

ISMO: Yeah, but it’s so unfair saying for women.

Captain Brien: Right, yeah, what are they going to do?

ISMO: Yeah, it’s like that was invented by men so I think we should change that.

Captain Brien: I agree, I think they should have some balls, they should get a pair.

ISMO: Well, I always just change the idiom.

Captain Brien: Hey who wants to go see the show this weekend? I’ll give away two tickets tonight and two tickets tomorrow to the next two people that say, that live within 30 40 miles probably because you might not go any further than that. I mean, he is funny, but you’re probably not going to drive more than 50. They gonna drive more than 50 miles to see you?

ISMO: 51, I say 51.

Captain Brien: Your jokes are about 51 mile funny you know, so I agree, I agree Because otherwise you know, you’re gonna be in a small area. You gotta broaden the horizon.

ISMO: Oh yeah.

Captain Brien: So what are you looking forward to doing this weekend? You’re traveling alone right?

ISMO: Yeah, yeah.

Captain Brien: So are you gonna get to the beach?

ISMO: Yeah, definitely, I’m planning to do that one of these days.

Captain Brien: Yeah, because it’s Florida, it’s hot.

ISMO: It’s all about the beach here.

Captain Brien: It really is. And when you’re in town, what’s your favorite food? I’m a good food guy, I’m a foodie. I can tell you where to go. What do you like? I don’t know anything about Finnish food. What is Finnish food? What’s your main dish?

ISMO: Well one thing that’s really popular in Finland is reindeer.

Captain Brien: Reindeer?

ISMO: Yeah, reindeer, yeah.

Captain Brien: That’s probably not gonna go over too big. Bambi is not going to be the dish of the weekend.

ISMO: Or Rudolph.

Captain Brien: It’s not happening.

Captain Brien:: Oh yeah, yeah Rudolph.

ISMO: Yeah, Bambi is a deer.

Captain Brien: That’s right.

ISMO: I eat that too.

Captain Brien: We need to get the right deer.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Yeah. No one’s gonna eat Rudolph.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: They eat reindeer?

ISMO: Yeah it’s really popular. You can have pizza with reindeer.

Captain Brien: Pizza?

ISMO: Or everything, it’s reindeer anything.

Captain Brien: Do they do they shave it or they make sausage out of it because they make sausage right?

ISMO: Well that’s of course many like different ways to have it but most common is like, like kind of these small bites of like smoked reindeer

Captain Brien: Really?

ISMO: and you just sprinkle it on like, you can make whatever.

Captain Brien: And it’s like so it’s like bacon bits?

ISMO: Kind of yeah.

Captain Brien: And they’re just very popular? Everybody has their own flavors or what?

ISMO: Well yeah, we like the more North you go the more reindeer I eat because they all like, the reindeer live in the North so that’s kind of if you’re south in Finland you can get it but it’s not that popular but in the North that’s like the main thing.

Captain Brien: Because we love reindeer here, we care for them and then you guys are just shooting them down and eating them?

ISMO: Well they’re actually like farmed. They’re like domesticated.

Captain Brien: Okay.

ISMO: But they still kind of roam free but it’s kind of like, yeah, I’m not an expert on reindeer farming.

Captain Brien: Why not? Come on ISMO I need some reindeer advice here.

ISMO: oh yeah, yeah you have to like ear mark them and then the let them roam free and then you gather them once a year.

Captain Brien: And then eat them?

ISMO: A few of them or something.

Captain Brien: You just kinda call down the heard?

ISMO: And on the road, you have to always in Finland, you have to watch out for reindeer.

Captain Brien: Oh, really?

ISMO: Yeah there’s lots of reindeer.

Captain Brien: Are they huge?

ISMO: No they’re smaller so like there mooses also, if you hit a moose that’s it.

Captain Brien: Is hunting big in Finland?

ISMO: I think it is, I think it’s kinda big.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: And do they shoot reindeer?

ISMO: Well, no because reindeers are owned by somebody so you can’t shoot anybodies reindeer.

Captain Brien: Oh reindeers are like domesticated.

ISMO: Yeah they are domesticated but they roam free with the ear mark.

Captain Brien: Gotcha, gotcha.

ISMO: So that’s kinda the thing. But mooses are not so yeah people will shoot mooses.

Captain Brien: Huge ones.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: And so they must have moose meat? Yeah, yeah there’s moose meat you can eat.

ISMO: sometimes you can eat bear.

Captain Brien: If I was gonna go to Finland, what would be the dish that I have to try.

ISMO: Well, reindeer definitely with mashed potatoes and lingonberries.

Captain Brien: Is it a gravy on top or no?

ISMO: Normally no just like butter on lingonberries. It’s like a berry that’s really.

Captain Brien: Yeah, yeah, I know they make that jam, right?

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: They make a lingonberry jam?

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Right?

ISMO: So that is kind of yeah, it’s really like, what’s the word, it’s like a berry that’s like makes you go like, uh. I don’t know the word.

Captain Brien: It’s uh, it’s tart? Is it tart, it’s kind of tart aren’t they?

ISMO: Yeah like like hmm, I don’t know the word.

Captain Brien: Yeah somebody said tart and I think they are, I think they’re tart. They’re sweet and tart though?

ISMO: Yeah, but normally you add sugar to them a little bit but they’re not sweet, they’re really like, uh.

Captain Brien: So they’re sour, have a sour taste? And they put that on top of the meat?

ISMO: Yeah, we use lingonberries for everything. Like the jam you can use it for always when you eat. Like if you eat liver or if you eat like blood sausage, always put lingonberry jam on it.

Captain Brien: Blood sausage is not my thing. That’s one of the things I can’t do. Well, even when I hear it on the menu I’m like nope staying far away from that one. But I’m very adventurous with my meals, I like to eat. I eat all kinds of stuff, but the blood sausage sometimes just turns me off.

ISMO: Yeah, well the Finnish blood sausage it’s good. If you go there you have to try that.

Captain Brien: Is it grilled or smoked or how do they do it?

ISMO: I guess it’s like smoked.

Captain Brien: You don’t cook very much I take it?

ISMO: Well I, nobody makes blood sausage at home. It’s a thing you get like from a hot dog stand.

Captain Brien: But when you take it home. Do you cook it?

ISMO: You just warm it.

Captain Brien: That’s it?

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Because it’s already cooked.

ISMO: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Okay, okay. So then it must be like, cured or smoked?

ISMO: Yeah, something like that. In some cities, it’s very popular to have big blocks of it like as a late night snack, your hot dog.

Captain Brien: Yeah, okay, okay.

ISMO: Like a drunk food.

Captain Brien: Do you have mustard, do you put mustard on it?

ISMO: Yeah, and the Finnish mustard it’s different. I kinda miss that it’s different. I miss the lingonberries and the mustard and I miss the there’s this one thing that like curd you know, like something made of milk.

Captain Brien: Is it cheese?

ISMO: No and it doesn’t exist here. I tried to find it forever but it’s like this, it’s kind of like sour cream but it’s completely different. And we use that for all like dipping sauces.

Captain Brien: That must be like, fresh crema?

ISMO: Yeah, but it’s different from that.

Captain Brien: It’s different from fresh crema?

ISMO: It’s like Finnish curd. So it’s

Captain Brien: Isn’t that where the Vikings? You guys have a lot of Vikings?

ISMO: Well, Vikings were mostly like Norwegian. And I think they are not like it’s not like a profession anymore. There’s no school for pillaging. Yeah, that was like Norway on the coast. Finland was like, at that time, we weren’t, we didn’t have boats.

Captain Brien: Okay you were just chasing reindeer around?

ISMO: Oh yeah.

Captain Brien: And so reindeer is like your cow?

ISMO: Well, yeah we have cows also but it’s kind of, yeah. Because it’s like half free and half like, domesticated so. It’s yeah, I don’t know what the equivalent but because it’s

Captain Brien: But it’s tougher, is it tougher than a beef?

ISMO: Like tougher?

Captain Brien: The meat.

ISMO: Yeah because they walk all the time. The cows just eat. So yeah it’s like game meat I’m sure.

Captain Brien: Right, right and you guys like the gamey flavor?

ISMO: Well we have our first, I think we eat more beef than reindeer. Everybody eat red salmon and all that basic stuff but reindeer is kind of like a specialty you sometimes have

Captain Brien: Yeah so like here, we’ll eat gator?

ISMO: Oh yeah.

Captain Brien: Gators popular here.

ISMO: Oh yeah, I’ve never tasted that

Captain Brien: And rattlesnake, you can eat that.

ISMO: Yeah, well I have to try those.

Captain Brien: You should try those.

ISMO: Yeah.

ISMO: Maybe you should do like a mix with the gator, the rattlesnake and throw in a couple reindeer.

Captain Brien: Do you eat the actual rattle?

ISMO: The rattle is dead skin so it’s probably not that appetizing.

Captain Brien: Because then when you take a shit, it’s gotta go somewhere.

ISMO: Yeah it’s gonna. You’d think you had to go then imagine if you eat the rattle.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Holy cow. We are gonna wrap this up. This is the captain’s log. My guest, hey Mackstud, what’s up? My guest ISMO is gonna be at Off the Hook comedy club. Guys, if you wanted to get free tickets, I will give away, let’s see, six pairs of tickets. But when you’re leaving comments, I have to, you know, respond so like when there’s a million comments by the end of this podcast, I can’t respond to everybody. So if you don’t get a message that means you didn’t win but the six people that I will message win. And there will be six and then we’ll be good. And you come see us. Get tickets at Off The Hook Comedy, go see ISMO, what’s your social media?

ISMO: ISMO, I-S-M-O.

Captain Brien: I-S-M-O, you can’t miss him, you’re gonna love him.

ISMO: All caps on Facebook, I-S-M-O.

Captain Brien: Absolutely hysterical and I’m happy to have you. It was a pleasure, man thank you.

ISMO: Thank you.

Captain Brien: Bye guys, we’re out.

Captain Brien: Bye.

Captain Brien: See ya