Join comedian Nick Thune for a raw and hilarious conversation about his journey to sobriety—how it’s reshaped his comedy, strengthened his family, and transformed him as a father. With his signature wit, Nick shares deeply personal insights, proving that even life’s toughest moments can come with a punchline. Don’t miss this compelling episode of We're Out of Time with Richard Taite.For all things Richard Taite, the We're Out Of Time podcast, and Carrara Treatment Wellness & Spa: https://linktr.ee/richardtaiteIf you, or a loved one, are struggling with drug and alcohol issues please contact us:https://www.1callplacement.org/For more on Nick Thune:https://www.nickthune.com/Key moments from this conversation with Nick Thune & Richard Taite. Intro 00:00 "I heard your sober? Who told you?" 01:03I can handle this. I couldn't 02:49Nick's depths of addiction 08:54Fear of not being funny sober 12:25Clear minded in sobriety 15:25Nick on talking with his on about drinking and substances 22:4815 Minutes of fame 30:33Sober & Present father 39:20Nick, a pro snowboarder? 44:31
Chapter 1: What led Nick Thune to sobriety?
i heard you're sober we told you you did i was on my way to vegas and i just decided i'm gonna land and have a drink and i'm performing tonight at this casino go down to the pool have a drink go to my show just so much alcohol and took it to my room and just drank it and then fell asleep and then woke up to pounding on my door the casino and hotel security because i was supposed to be on stage 20 minutes ago
And that's how quickly alcoholism just wrapped me right back up. We got to go to the bathroom at two in the morning, go downstairs, take the equivalent of like five shots because my heart hurt, my chest hurt. It didn't like make me think, maybe I shouldn't do this. How long did you go on that run for? 10 years.
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Chapter 2: How has sobriety changed Nick's comedy?
Nick soon. All right. Thanks for coming, man. I appreciate it. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Yeah. So I heard you're sober. We told you, you did before, before the gig. That's when I, yeah, that's when I do all my preparation for the show. It's very voluminous. It's about six minutes. Yeah. Yeah. It's nice. I mean, it's, it's nice. I do the same thing when I'm, you know, about to do a show.
I'm like, on the drive there, I should really investigate this. And luckily the LAS is doing a, do you ever do that where you're like wanting to listen to NPR and they're doing a donation drive and you're like, oh. There goes a week of me listening to radio because I cannot listen to them begging for money. I wish they had money. That'd be nice. That would be nice. Yeah.
When you don't have money, it kind of sucks. Yeah. I've been so poor that I couldn't pay attention. I went ahead and I was so poor, I had to buy six of the fake Top Ramen for a dollar instead of five for the real Top Ramen. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that was a bad time. There was a six. Was it a package of six? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, I've been there.
Never really cared much for money or about it really, but it's nice. But yeah, sobriety for me, it's my second round of it. Final round. How much you had the first time? 12 years. Of how? Of like from Seattle, got sober at 17, moved to LA, stayed with it for a while. And then just decided, I think I, you know, I think it's what everyone does. It's like, you know, I'm an adult now.
Chapter 3: What are the struggles of being a sober comedian?
I'm like, I've been on The Tonight Show. I've got a Comedy Central special. Like, I can handle this. And could not handle it from the first time that I did it, actually, which is kind of funny. Like, I was on my way to Vegas. And I just decided I'm going to land and have a drink. It's going to happen. I'm performing tonight at this casino.
I'm going to go down to the pool, have a drink, go to my show. Went down to the pool, had a beer. I was like, oh, you know, I'll get like a mixed drink. I've never really done that because I was 17 when I got sober. So like, and I go to the bar and I order this like absinthe.
Chapter 4: How does Nick navigate fatherhood in sobriety?
filled concoction that was probably like a Long Island iced tea in some way just so much alcohol and took it to my room and just drank it and then fell asleep and then woke up to pounding on my door and it was the casino and hotel security because I was supposed to be on stage 20 minutes ago and And that's how quickly alcoholism just wrapped me right back up. It was just... There was no question.
At that point, it should have been like, oh, let me go talk to somebody and tell them what happened. But then, instead of doing that, I went home and didn't tell anybody. And then pretended... Like I was having my first drink at a dinner with my wife and some friends after talking about it for a while and saying like, I think I could try it. Like, let's just give it a shot, see what happens.
So alcoholic. Yeah. And then pretended to have a margarita for the first time. I was like, wow, that's all I need. You know, cut to me almost immediately saying, you know, like sneaking shots of booze, like everywhere I go, friends, houses, my house, like only booze, no pills. Um, no, I did have a pill phase. I had a, no, I mean, during this phase, not during this phase, everything. Yeah.
Everything. Yeah. Cocaine. Yeah. No, cocaine though. I never really, I just did when people gave it to me. You never bought cocaine. Never bought it. And then you didn't do cocaine. Yeah. If you don't buy your own cocaine, unless you're like a hot girl who never buys cocaine, you don't have a problem with cocaine. It never got there.
But towards the end, it was a more and more thing, a more and more regular thing to keep me up, to keep me able to drink more. That's right. But it was never my drug of choice. Right. I really wanted to be subdued. So pills and booze. Yeah. Yeah, I had a really great pill phase. You know, I did have a way of seeing when things were going to be really dangerous.
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Chapter 5: What were the consequences of Nick's addiction?
Like, oh, this pill stuff is maybe more dangerous than alcohol. Like you would never stick a needle in your arm. I would have, but I never did. No. Right. I'm not afraid of needles. Oh, so that wasn't your thing like, okay, that's a bridge too far. Yeah. And nobody ever offered it to me. Oh God.
You know, like I, the Coke thing was, became offering and it was like, I would lose a weekend to Coke for sure. If I'm performing in Denver and you know, the wait staff gets it for me or something. Did you ever get to that show? Yeah, I did. And it was, I remember being horrible. I remember being, it was just in the same building. Right.
You know, I just got in the elevator and went down, but I just remember being out of it. Like I just, it set, but it didn't phase me. It didn't like make me think maybe I shouldn't do this. How long did you go on that run for? 10 years. Really? Yeah. 10 years. Yeah. What was the wreckage? Um... The wreckage is, you know, divorce, but that was actually after sobriety.
But I mean, you know, the wreckage happened in that time. Well, that was during the 10 year run. Yeah. Yeah. And it was just, I compromised everything, you know, I compromised. I didn't grow. Well, wait a minute. Let's go back to that. Yeah. You went ahead and got divorced and you've got an 11 year old child with that woman, right? Yeah.
I know how it feels to not be under the same roof as your children. It's gotta be, it had to be painful for you. Yeah. I mean, and then the pandemic hit, which was, you know, like even a more weird thing to like have, you know, not knowing if he's safe when he's over there. with all this stuff going on, making sure she's being safe, but she is, she's a great mom.
And, and that, that was hard, but I also, it helped me kind of reclaim my life, you know, like it, it really helped me go to meetings. Like I had time on my own to do things. And that is meetings where their meetings, or do you go on the zoom? During COVID, I was doing Zoom, but I got sober before COVID. Got it. But yeah, I was a big meeting guy my first time in sobriety. I loved it.
I would sit in rooms and smoke with men three times my age. I remember when we could do that. God, it was the best. Just bad coffee and cigarettes in Seattle, raining outside. Just the best. Vietnam vets and... Just hearing it and like, you know, being like, well, I haven't lost anything yet. But, you know, I know that if I do it again, I will. And then I did.
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Chapter 6: What role did rehab play in Nick's recovery?
I mean, I just I lost almost lost my life. I mean, I ended up in the hospital and just from delirium tremors. I that's you know what, man? For those of you that don't know, it's just you drink so much alcohol that when you wake up in the morning, you're shaking so bad and you're so sick, you have to keep drinking. You have to start drinking. Like at six in the morning, you got to start drinking.
It wasn't even six in the morning. It was, we got to go to the bathroom at two in the morning, go downstairs, take the equivalent of like five shots because my heart hurt, my chest hurt. And you had to get back to bed. Yep.
and I remember being convinced for a long time that our bed was lopsided because my blood was like rushing one direction of my body I think it was like rushing up here like my legs were getting like numb and I was convinced that the bottom of our bed was higher than the head and was constantly trying to and in the end it was just like my body was so messed up that it was like blood wasn't transferring like how long how long did you have that bed
Years. Did you sleep in the same spot at night? Yeah. Okay. Your bed was uneven. Not to, not to. But I'm glad you thought otherwise and it got you sober. But when I got sober though, I wasn't like, my blood wasn't running. Right. Yeah. And your bed was fine? Yeah. Oh, okay. I'm going to be wrong. No, but it wasn't.
I'm not saying that I don't think that it could have been, but I do think that my body wasn't running right. For sure. You know, like the pain that I was feeling and like the numbness of my limbs. Like that's what I would wake up with my legs being numb. You had the DTs. Yeah. That's so bad.
you have the DTs for any extended period of time and it's very hard to get you back because you're a wet brain. Yeah. So you were right. You were, I don't know, a year or two away from that, huh? I was. And I, when I checked myself into rehab, you know, I had friends do it for me, but I, I kind of put my hands up and she said, I need help. I, uh,
Got into rehab and they had me for two days and they were taking care of me, you know, the nurses. Right. And that's when I was hospitalized, when they couldn't take care of me anymore because they found me naked in the backyard in the middle of the night. Right. I'd been talking to walls. I thought there was a radio station. You just need a higher level of care. Yeah.
But once you were stabilized, you could have gone back. I went back. That's right. But yeah, I woke up in the hospital. Who knows? I mean, I was there for like five days, I think. How did you feel when you woke up in the hospital? Was it, I got to get out of here and have a drink? Or was it, this has just kicked my ass and I've got to change my life? Yeah.
Oh, no, I was never, I'm going to go have a drink again. Because my son was five and I just decided I'm not... compromising the rest of... Right now, he might never remember and know of me as somebody who drank, even though I'm going to tell him and he'll know. For sure. But he'll never remember that. Thank God. Yeah. And so I... And it was not an option.
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Chapter 7: How does Nick manage his mental health post-sobriety?
It's no different than if you lived in a place for 20 years and you moved to another place for four or five months and you're talking on the phone. Well, the car knows the way home. Which house does it go to? Yeah. Goes to the one that you've been to for 20 years because the car knows the way.
Well, this is what you actually said something before we were taping that I thought was, I wanted to know more about, but about nicotine. Right. So I quit nicotine in December, early December, and I've been doing it for 30 years. You know, it's like the one thing I've just, it's been a constant. Right. Never away from it. Sure. Yeah.
And then now, and you, and you said like, are you, is your head clear? You know, like what is the time? Because they say seven days or less and the addiction, physical addiction is gone, right? Like the body needing it is gone. The brain though. Yeah. Yeah. The more, more, more thing that I need to reach for it is gone. It was gone for me. But for five months, I could not get my head clear.
And, you know, I think for a living. So it was really hard for me. So what I did was I didn't pick up. the cigarettes again. And I was smoking four packs a day. I mean, I'm not an alcohol. I'm a real addict. Like I don't have substance use disorder. Okay. Like I've got alcoholism and drug addiction.
Well, I'm just curious about like how long it does take your brain to... I don't know because I folded after five months, but I didn't smoke cigarettes again. What I did was I would wear a patch and I'm wearing one now. And until I have my coffee and a patch... I'm not really awake. So if I'm doing something critical at 7, I'm waking up at 5. Because I want to be clear. Yeah.
Yeah, you can't wake up at 6.30 and just roll into something. No. But how did you... But how long did it take your head to clear or is it not clear yet? I don't know. I think it's clear. I mean, as far as I know, you know, I mean, it's never been fully clear. Because you don't remember what clear is. Yeah, I don't know at all.
I mean, I know that I remember the amount of vodka that I was drinking, which was about two-fifths a day around and one and a half or two, depending, sorry. Yeah, no problem. I remember this guy in rehab telling me, you know, one of the guys that was driving me around,
The work there said like, oh, yeah, I drank the same way you drank, the way you're talking about vodka, you know, and he's like, your brain is going to be yours until your brain is like clear of it. And until it's functioning normally again, you know, like really kind of explain to me. What I've been doing, you know, and I can't remember exactly what he said even.
I've looked it up since and read and, you know, it's a fascinating thing what you are doing to yourself and everything beyond getting a buzz. You know what you can do that might be okay to clear that up? Mm-hmm. Yeah. But if you have a nicotine patch on your arm, there's no problem, and it actually makes you more clear. So I like that, but I like the hyperbaric chamber thing for you.
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Chapter 8: What insights does Nick have about addiction and recovery?
No, the thing where you like get into a little tank and it's dark with no sound, pitch black, and you're in like salt water that's like lukewarm and you just stay in there for an hour. That's the scariest I've ever heard of. Yeah, it's like an MRI, but you're really comfortable. People, people like, I remember people being like, you got to do mushrooms and do one of these tanks. Oh my God.
That's a death trap way now. I mean, this is like a Joe Rogan thing. Like Joe used to have the, I mean, when I, when I did his podcast and when he lived out in whatever he, whatever that area, what's that area that everyone lives in? Like Justin Bieber, that's rich. Oh, Hidden Hills. Calab. Yeah. Somewhere over there. Calabasas. But yeah.
Hidden Hills is in Calabasas, and that's the only place to live when you're in Calabasas. It's secure. You get an acre of flat land. There's horses. Oh, yeah. Very safe. Great place to raise children. Yeah, he had those just built in there. He's like, you want to do one after the pod? I'm like, uh... Probably not. The only one what? He had these deprivation tanks or whatever. Oh, my God. Yeah.
And this was Joe? Joe Rogan? Yeah, I don't know if he still has that stuff, but I remember he had it at his Calabasas place. Right. I saw him. Funny thing, I didn't know who he was. And my buddy Chris Bell was on his show because he did something called Bigger, Stronger, Faster. And it was like a cult documentary that for weightlifting and fighting and stuff like that. And Joe loves that stuff.
And then he did a new one called Prescription Thugs, which is about the evil of opioids and prescription drugs. And so I watched it because I love Christopher. And so I watched the show. And as I'm watching it, I'm looking at this guy and I'm like, that's the cool guy from ESPN. That's the fight guy. I had no idea he had a podcast. I had no idea he was a comedian.
I just thought he was the cool fight guy. News radio. Didn't know. Didn't know. It's funny. Didn't know. It's funny how something finally makes it into your world. That's right. And how you... I mean, it's like my son watching a Marvel movie and he's like, wait, isn't that guy in Harry Potter? I'm like, yeah, he plays a couple different mythical kind of creatures.
Yeah, these are different guys that are playing. But also, he was in a movie when I was young that was like, you know, it's funny. It's just like how people find things. I'll never see Tatum O'Neill as anything but the pitcher in the Bad News Bears. Yeah. Ever. Yeah. Right? It's hard to get past the first time you saw somebody. Right.
Some people are never going to, like the kid from, and he's like around from Macaulay Culkin. Yes, I mean, that's a tough one. That's a tough one. Yeah. One time I was doing a show and... Michael J. Fox. Michael J. Fox, yeah. But he did some movies. He like had a career, you know? Do you know him from anything other than Back to the Future, even though he was on that show? Milk Money. Milk Money.
I think it was the name of a movie. I just remember I did like his movie. There was a couple movies that I really liked. Milk Money should be the name of a band. Yeah. I mean, it's a great name. That is a great name. Yeah. Yeah, but Wendell White is doing a show in Minneapolis and one of the waitstaff came back and they're like, hey, Macaulay Culkin's in the audience.
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