Tom Papa – His Latest Book and the Trap Door In to Show Business

From touring as a stand-up to hosting his own baking show, the always entertaining Tom Papa is back with a light-hearted book celebrating the now, You're Doing Great and Other Reasons to Stay Alive. He took the time to swing by the Rocker Morning Show to tell Stefani Bishop why he wanted to right this book in this way, the not-so-cynical side to comedy, and meeting Jerry Seinfeld.

"I just wanted to write an optimistic book about where we all are in our lives. You know, every life is challenging. There's always stuff we have to deal with. But you really should take stock and realize that what you've got is actually pretty great." Papa continued, "This is the good part. You are actually doing pretty great. If you've got some friends and you've got a good cup of coffee, that is what life is all about."

A lot of people are chasing that illusive idea of "happy," that if they stick to this diet, spend more time doing that hobby, they will magically walk through the looking glass to "happy days," but Papa warns against that. "Happy isn't even the thing, ultimately. What's a meaningful life? What's more meaningful? A lot of comedy is cynical. A lot of comedy is negative. I don't live that way. I try to be a little more hopeful. You can still be funny and talk about these things. It doesn't always have to be taking the stuffing out of life. "

So why truly embrace "the now" when you can't get out of bed with hearing parts of your body crack, or your hair isn't as thick as it used to be, or you can't hang like you could thirty years ago? "Every age has it's thing. Sure, when you're in your twenties you have a ton of energy.  And you're youthful and you look young and beautiful, but you're also an idiot. You make a lot of dumb decisions. I look back on my twenties and I'm more embarrassed than anything. I'm like 'that's when I got that horrible tattoo.' 'That 's when I dated that horrible person. There's something good in every little step of the way."

A seasoned comedy vet, Papa new he arrived when Jerry Seinfeld approached him after his set in New York. That meeting would develop in to a mentorship and friendship that would help Papa rise in his career. "Stand up comedy is kind of like a trap door in to show business. It's not like acting where you have to get these amazing roles and people have to hire you. All you have to do is keep showing up to these clubs and getting on stage and if I'm funny people will actually take notice."

Check out the complete Rocker Morning Show interview with Tom Papa below.