Overview of Mom's Car: Guy Stevenson
This episode is a warm, funny, and surprisingly personal conversation between Dax Shepard and longtime friend Guy Stevenson, tracing their shared Groundlings history, their mutual love of fighting/weightlifting bravado, and the very different paths that led Guy from Long Island and the Marines into comedy writing and performing. Along the way, Guy opens up about sobriety, dyslexia, his family, major heart surgeries, and the physical toll of aging, while the two revisit some of their most memorable sketches and early friendship lore.
Key Topics Discussed
New Wave, Long Island, and Growing Up Tough
- The episode opens with music talk, especially 80s New Wave bands like Depeche Mode, The Cure, Devo, B-52s, The Smiths, and New Order.
- Guy describes growing up on Long Island in a teacher household:
- Dad was a gym teacher.
- Mom was an elementary school teacher.
- He was a “bad kid,” often in trouble at school, and was tall from an early age.
- Dax and Guy compare Long Island culture, concert-going, and how different New York felt in the 70s/80s.
Dyslexia and School Struggles
- Both men talk about being dyslexic and how it affected reading, school performance, and self-image.
- Guy explains that the breakthrough came when a teacher recognized he was strong at math, which helped him see he wasn’t “dumb.”
- He describes eventually learning to memorize whole words as symbols rather than sounding them out.
- Dax connects this to his own experience and talks about how he still struggles with teleprompters.
Groundlings, Comedy, and Their Shared Writing Style
- The conversation turns to their Groundlings days and how they initially saw each other as similarly physical, weightlifting guys who had fought before.
- Guy recalls one of their earliest exchanges: when Dax suggested they’d have to “fight for alpha,” Guy simply said, “Pick another sport.”
- They revisit their shared tendency to write absurd sketches involving:
- primates/gorillas
- monsters
- action heroes
- large physical men in ridiculous situations
Memorable Stories and Bits
The “Kronk Gym” Lie
- Dax revisits the lie he told Guy that he had trained at the Kronk Gym in Detroit.
- Guy explains how he asked Dax if he’d been there, then assumed “trained there” was the next logical step.
- The story becomes a running joke about how both of them were constantly trying to establish fake toughness and credentials.
Favorite Sketches
- Guy recounts the famous sketch Dax always talks about: the “physics class” sketch where everyone sounds like Stephen Hawking.
- He explains the premise:
- An astrophysics class full of students with Stephen Hawking-style voices.
- A teacher trying to take attendance and distinguish who is speaking.
- The comedy comes from the impossible audio confusion and deadpan performance.
- They also mention another sketch where they played “ultimate killing machines” who were physically flawed and mocked by reporters.
Marines, Sobriety, and Bouncer Work
- Guy explains why he joined the Marines:
- his father told him he wasn’t ready for college or work
- he enlisted before graduating high school
- He says he loved:
- hanging with the guys
- field exercises
- shooting and physical training
- But he hated the garrison lifestyle and the lack of personal freedom.
- He got sober in the Marines after a DUI and rehab through a Navy facility.
- After that, he worked in bars to “immerse” himself and avoid feeling left out.
Bouncing, Fighting, and Chaos
- Guy talks about working at the Circle Bar in Santa Monica and briefly at Jumbo’s Clown Room.
- He describes bar work as a near-constant stream of physical confrontations:
- removing patrons
- alley fights
- being threatened with guns
- He and Dax compare notes on fighting and how much easier it is when you’re sober and aware.
- They also laugh about their Punk’d experiences, including Guy being pranked with Carmelo Anthony.
Health, Surgery, and Perspective
Heart Issues and Open-Heart Surgeries
- Guy gets candid about serious medical problems:
- ventricular tachycardia
- aortic valve replacement
- a defibrillator implant
- endocarditis
- He has had two open-heart surgeries.
- He explains that his valve is bovine, not mechanical, and jokes about asking for a “wolf” valve because he runs a lot.
- He describes the shock from his defibrillator as sudden and terrifying.
The Bike Crash That May Have Saved His Life
- Guy tells a striking story about crashing his electric bike and re-injuring his clavicle.
- Doctors later discovered a serious infection that likely would have turned into sepsis if left untreated.
- In hindsight, the crash may have exposed a dangerous condition that could have killed him.
- He reflects on how angry he was at the accident before learning it may have saved his life.
Weight Loss and Family
- Guy talks about losing around 80 pounds on Zepbound.
- He says the medication made eating much easier to control, and he almost feels like he could stop eating altogether.
- He shares that his sons are all alive and well, and his family motivates him to stay healthy.
- Dax asks about their names; Guy says:
- McCabe
- Atticus
- Rafe
- He also jokes that he wanted to name them all Wolfgang Von Stevenson, but his wife won that battle.
Main Takeaways
- Guy Stevenson is both funny and physically fearless, but the episode reveals a lot of vulnerability beneath the tough-guy exterior.
- His path into comedy was shaped by:
- dyslexia
- sports/fighting energy
- the Marines
- sobriety
- Groundlings improv
- The friendship between Dax and Guy is rooted in shared history, physicality, and a love of absurd sketch comedy.
- The episode is especially strong when it mixes:
- old stories
- prank/fight anecdotes
- health scares
- genuine appreciation for survival, family, and long-term friendship.