Adam Carolla is coming to Bend for an hour of stand-up. I spoke with the legendary comedian about burning houses, building houses, California’s slide into the s*****r, and bidets.
the Source: Have you been to Bend before?
Adam Carolla: I did a show in Eugene and then I drove to Bend. I believe there’s a casino.
tS: Indian Head Casino, Warm Springs?
AC: That’s it.
tS: You’ll be in Bend proper this time.
AC: Thank goodness.
tS: Everyone knows you from Loveline and The Man Show. Now you have a super popular podcast, The Adam Carolla Show. You seem to have gotten more political these days. What triggered that change?
AC: I live in California, and California kind of got ruined, and then COVID kind of screwed up my kids’ lives because they got their school closed for two years, and it was at that point that I started talking more and pushing back more against what I thought was bad policy. I had friends who had a restaurant that got closed down and they’re out of business. Stuff like that. It really wreaked havoc with horrible policy ideas. But I think being in California and seeing California’s demise got me more vocal about that stuff.
tS: I lived in Portland for fifteen years and it’s been tough to watch that city’s demise.
AC: It doesn’t have to go to s**t. It’s preventable stuff they got warned about, like, don’t do it, but they do it, and then it goes to s**t, and they have to fix it. It ends up being political, but it’s more a sociological thing for me. I’m more interested in why you can’t prevent this and how come you don’t understand what’s going to happen. You want to defund the police and then you defund the police and then there’s a bunch of crime, and then you go, let’s not defund the police. Why did you even have to do it in the first place? You didn’t know what the outcome was going to be? That’s what L.A. does. They go, ‘we’re not going to criminalize homelessness,’ and then there’s homeless people everywhere, and then they have to fix it. My whole thing is why don’t you guys figure it out in advance for a change?
tS: What should L.A. do about homelessness?
AC: Homeless people and criminals will take as much as you give them. If you say it’s a misdemeanor up to $950 then they’ll steal $949 worth of stuff. If you say we treat our homeless with compassion, you’ll get a bunch of homeless. You’ll get a bunch of whatever you create. That’s the way it works. You’re going to have to be tough on these people. By the way, it’s not compassionate to let them die on the streets. Let them die of fentanyl overdose and sleep on a curb. That’s compassion?
tS: You were in the news during the Palisades fire when you weren’t sure if your house burned down. Did your house make it out OK?
AC: My house made it out. But most of the houses around me didn’t.
tS: Have they begun rebuilding?
AC: Nobody in my neighborhood has rebuilt anything. I don’t know if it’s a permitting thing. I assume it is.
tS: They don’t expedite that during an emergency?
AC: They don’t really do stuff. I mean, they don’t do stuff you want them to do. But they really don’t do stuff for taxpayers. They do stuff for other people. They don’t really help out the people that are paying. The people that are paying all the taxes don’t get much love. They’re kind of considered the enemy—rich guys. They don’t help them out. It’s a strange relationship to have with the people who are paying the most in taxes. They get the least. That’s pretty much how it works.
tS: You talk plenty about your carpentry experience on your podcast and even had a recurring trivia bit on Loveline. Are you still active in the trade?
AC: I’m a journeyman carpenter. I can build houses. I’ve always done it and I always will.
tS: Why don’t millennials know how to build anything?
AC: It’s important to learn a skill, but you have to destigmatize it. Not going to college doesn’t mean you’re a dumb person. Also, no student debt, and, you know, good money. Nothing wrong with that. (Pacific Ocean sounds) Sorry, I’m on a construction site in Malibu right now looking at something.
tS: What are they building?
AC: It looks like they’re trying to rebuild from the fire.
tS: There was a recent video of you on the Pacific Coast Highway showing all the empty lots with no sign of rebuilding. Same permitting delays?
AC: California isn’t good at this stuff. But I don’t think we want to be good at it.
tS: What kind of policy is that? What is their plan?
AC: I think their plan is just nothing. Like they’re nihilists or something. I don’t think they want anything.
tS: Do you think there will be a swing in the next election cycle?
AC: You never know because they always make horrible decisions. But, yeah, it would be nice if they went the other way. They just don’t typically. They’re not good lesson learners, is how I would describe it.
tS: Do you have any interest in running for office?
AC: It does come up now and again, but I don’t have any real thoughts about running for president or governor. Mainly, I couldn’t imagine putting my family through that. It’s so crazy now.
tS: You probably get more done with your podcast anyway.
AC: Yeah.
tS: You were recently talking on your podcast about what may be the most polarizing issue in the country, and that is bidets. Why are so many Americans resistant?
AC: All I can say is old habits die hard, I guess. But the bidet toilet seat is like the greatest invention ever and everyone should…yeah.
Adam Carolla
Sat Jan 17, 7pm
Midtown Ballroom
51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend
midtownballroom.com/
$42.28
This article appears in the Source January 1, 2026.
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This was an incredibly disappointing Q&A. There were incredibly easy ways to push back on the falsehoods and stupidity of the subject, but instead you just glazed the interview subject akin to Joe Rogan or Andrew Schulz. Sycophantic garbage. Do better.