Everything is a Scam — We’re Having a Good Time Ep 190

• 0:00 Welcome, with a cough and an arm banged on the chair on the way down.
• 0:40 Wednesday, October 28, 2026: almost a week with no cigars, and sick the whole time.
• 2:00 Detox or just kids? Doubting germ theory since 2020 (Dusty’s view; not the medical consensus), and watching a cold go through the whole family.
• 3:20 Two weekend shows with a sore throat.
• 3:45 West Wendover, Nevada: you can’t gamble in Utah, so Utah drives over.
• 4:30 Wendover Will, the lit-up cartoon cowboy that stands for the town.
• 4:45 Anti-gambling, but the casinos pay well, and nobody has to gamble to see the show.
• 5:40 Who lives there? Mexican restaurants, trailer parks, an old army base and a museum.
• 6:20 A direct flight to Salt Lake City, and why Enterprise is his go-to rental.
• 7:00 A rented truck, a beautiful two-hour drive and a stop at the Salt Flats.
• 7:40 People told him the Salt Flats look best in summer, when it’s dry. He also stopped at a rest stop a listener suggested.
• 8:20 A tight casino hour and eight, and the opener, Will O’Donnell, does 30 instead of 20.
• 9:00 Shake Shack at the Salt Lake City airport, and a cookies and cream milkshake.
• 9:40 Butterfinger milkshakes, and the Chick-fil-A years when he got pretty fat.
• 10:20 The pesticide-salesman days: knowing which restaurants were near every store.
• 10:40 The long haul to Vidalia, Georgia, with a first stop at the West Ashley Lowe’s.
• 11:20 Moving the competitor’s display, and an 8 AM photo for the boss.
• 11:40 Collared shirt tucked into khakis, a vendor vest and Crocs, and hungover.
• 12:20 Highway 17 toward Savannah and a Hardee’s loaded omelet biscuit.
• 13:00 Falling asleep near I-95, and waking up to a Doberman at the window.
• 13:20 The Vidalia store that had everything set and didn’t want vendors.
• 14:20 The country buffet behind the Lowe’s: fried chicken, cobbler, and ice cream.
• 15:00 Back then he was “a real Mark 7 guy.”
• 16:00 Statesboro and Hinesville, the other far-away stores.
• 16:40 Home Depot or Lowe’s on the way back, and an hour complaining with Lance, the sink-fixture rep.
• 18:00 Ten-hour days, then beers until his eyes got glossy.
• 18:20 Summerville’s all-you-can-eat barbecue ribs.
• 18:40 The Goose Creek Cici’s, and a date he ruined by taking her to a friend’s long play.
• 20:20 The friend from the play, last seen at the Hartford Funny Bone (Manchester, CT).
• 21:20 His nephew springing the Nephilim on that friend.
• 22:00 A Chinese buffet in Summerville, Ruby Tuesday and Bagel Nation on James Island.
• 22:25 Writing jokes at Bagel Nation in Mount Juliet, on the clock.
• 22:55 10 AM margaritas and a call from the boss in a hot car.
• 23:20 Admitting it on the podcast: that boss was right a lot of the time.
• 24:00 A weird rhythm today: maximum stress, and no cigars to take the edge off.
• 25:00 Getting mad at his daughter in a way he never has.
• 25:20 The doctor’s salt room, and the machine nobody turned on.
• 26:20 It helped: a clogged nostril opens up.
• 26:40 A forgotten 10-cent slinky, a tantrum in the car, and losing it.
• 27:40 Three kids is too many: somebody’s always crying.
• 28:20 Back to the travel: Salt Lake City to Tucson, and a nice hotel downtown.
• 29:10 “Mr. Pillsbury” at the front desk.
• 29:40 The Rialto show, and why 2,000-seat theaters are the goal.
• 30:20 Wet Heat didn’t get him there, so the next special can wait while the jokes marinate.
• 31:20 Tucson to Dallas: he flew through Dallas.
• 32:00 Baskin-Robbins for the sore throat, and an easy Uber home from the Nashville airport.
• 32:40 The real book in hand, out November 10, and the $30 price.
• 33:30 Reading the inside flap: community college, the Army plan, the arrest, and the move to Charleston.
• 34:40 Quitting drinking in 2012, and from a trailer park to the Grand Ole Opry.
• 35:10 The back cover. Dusty lives in Nashville.
• 36:30 Back-cover blurbs from Nate Bargatze, Leanne Morgan and Jeff Foxworthy.
• 37:20 We no longer have buying power: cash used to mean something.
• 38:20 Four easy payments of $25, furniture-store financing, and appliances.
• 39:20 Student loans, and his guess that lenders pay dealerships to sell loans.
• 40:40 Loans push prices up: mortgages, car payments, and the air-conditioner guy.
• 41:20 The repairman who led with an expired warranty and financing for a new unit.
• 42:10 “You’re better off buying a new one.”
• 43:00 Nobody owns anything, property taxes, and the school-funding comeback.
• 43:45 “Everything is a scam,” except the book, plus book shows on the 10th and the 12th.
• 44:15 Chapters he hopes his family never reads, ages 19 to 21, and the Army stories.
• 45:20 A thousand signed bookplates, and signing books at shows.
• 46:10 Bible verses around the house: reading Deuteronomy 6.
• 48:00 Ideas wanted: no live-laugh-love, but something that looks cool.
• 48:40 An airport note: Jesus fulfilled the law but didn’t get rid of it.
• 50:20 The emails that disagree, and the “Paul came down” argument.
• 52:00 A TikTok mom whose family stopped getting sick (Dusty’s view; not the medical consensus), and the Trinity question.
• 53:00 God first; Jesus fully God but not all of God, and the Holy Spirit.
• 54:10 Reading 1 John 5:7 and Ezekiel 36:27.
• 55:00 No shows this weekend.
• 55:30 A Nashville book show.
• 56:00 Hartford, then Hershey with John Crist, Henry Cho and Dustin Nickerson.
• 56:20 Fort Lauderdale, two nights in Key West, and Zanies Nashville on November 24.
• 56:45 Signing off under an hour: brain fog, and thanks for listening.

• 3:45 A casino show in West Wendover — A town of casinos for Utah gamblers, Wendover Will, a stop at the Salt Flats, and a 9 PM show with a sore throat.
• 10:20 The pesticide route — Planning Lowe’s and Home Depot visits around buffets, naps in parking lots, and an hour complaining with another rep.
• 24:00 Stress, a salt room and a slinky — A week off cigars, a doctor’s salt room, a lost toy and a tantrum, and three kids.
• 32:40 The book is real — Dusty shows the finished book, reads the flap and back-cover blurbs, and plans book shows and signed bookplates.
• 37:20 Everything is a scam — Cash has no buying power anymore because lenders want everyone on a payment plan, and prices rise with it.
• 46:10 Verses on the doorposts — Deuteronomy 6, the law Jesus fulfilled, and why he doesn’t care for the term Trinity.

Crocs Classic Clog — Closest match to the Crocs he wore with khakis and a vendor vest on his Lowe’s rounds. Amazon 11:58

A cheap toy slinky (brand not named) — Like the slinky his daughter left at the doctor’s office. He offered to buy her a better one at the grocery store. Amazon 26:08

Wet Heat (Netflix special) — His 2025 hour, which he hoped would get him to 2,000-seat theaters. Netflix 30:33

We’re Having a Good Time: (And Other Stories…) (hardcover) — Dusty’s book of personal essays, with Sean Evans, out November 10. Signed bookplates go in a thousand copies. Amazon 32:49

Workin’ Man (Netflix special) — His 2024 Netflix hour, named on the inside flap. The full special is also on his YouTube channel. Netflix · YouTube 33:40

Wendover Will — The neon cowboy that stands for West Wendover. Wikipedia 4:30

Shake Shack — Not something he seeks out, but at an airport it’s big time. Wikipedia 9:14

Mark 7 — Being “a real Mark 7 guy”: nothing that goes in can corrupt him. Wikipedia 15:04

Nephilim — What his nephew explained to a friend with no warm-up. Wikipedia 21:27

Halotherapy — The salt room at the doctor’s office, with salt on the walls and a machine that pumps it into the air. Wikipedia 25:29

Buy now, pay later — Four easy payments at checkout, and why cash lost its buying power. Wikipedia 38:46

Property tax — Why he says you don’t even own your land. Wikipedia 43:10

Bookplate — How the signed copies work: a thousand signed stickers sent back to the publisher. Wikipedia 45:30

Mezuzah — Deuteronomy 6:9, writing the commandments on the doorposts, is the verse he wants to act on at home. Wikipedia 46:24

Trinity — Listeners asked him to talk about it, and he doesn’t care for the term. Wikipedia 52:13

Johannine Comma — The 1 John 5:7 verse he reads: “three that bear record in heaven.” Wikipedia 54:19

Enterprise — mention: his go-to rental. 6:39

Chick-fil-A — mention. 9:58

Hardee’s — mention. 12:33

Cici’s — mention: the Goose Creek one. 18:54

Ruby Tuesday — mention. 22:21

Bagel Nation — mention: where he wrote jokes on the clock. 22:25

Baskin-Robbins — mention. 32:05

West Wendover, Nevada — Casino town on the Utah line, and the weekend show. Wikipedia 3:45

Wendover Airfield — The old base and museum he drove past. Wikipedia 5:50

Salt Lake City, Utah — The flight in, the rental truck and the airport Shake Shack. Wikipedia 6:20

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah — Wet this time of year, almost like a shallow lake. Wikipedia 7:19

Vidalia, Georgia — The far-away Lowe’s that didn’t want vendors. Wikipedia 10:47

West Ashley, Charleston, South Carolina — His first stop on the way to Georgia. Wikipedia 11:00

Savannah, Georgia — Highway 17 on the way down. Wikipedia 12:20

Statesboro, Georgia — Another far-away store. Wikipedia 16:00

Hinesville, Georgia — And another. Wikipedia 16:00

Summerville, South Carolina — The barbecue buffet and the Chinese buffet. Wikipedia 18:20

Goose Creek, South Carolina — The Cici’s near the Lowe’s. Wikipedia 18:40

Hartford Funny Bone, Manchester, Connecticut — Where he last saw the friend from the play. (Official site) 20:39

James Island, South Carolina — Ruby Tuesday and Bagel Nation. Wikipedia 22:20

Mount Juliet, Tennessee — Another Bagel Nation, where he wrote jokes. Wikipedia 22:25

Tucson, Arizona — A nice hotel downtown this time. Wikipedia 28:31

Rialto Theatre, Tucson — Usually a music venue, and a great show. (Official site) 29:51

Nashville International Airport — Even the Uber was easy. Wikipedia 32:15

Opelika, Alabama — His hometown. Wikipedia 34:20

Grand Ole Opry, Nashville — Named on the inside flap. (Official site) 35:01

Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania — November 14, with John Crist, Henry Cho and Dustin Nickerson. (Official site) 56:16

Belding Theater, Hartford, Connecticut — November 13. (Official site) 56:11

Parker Playhouse, Fort Lauderdale, Florida — November 19. (Official site) 56:29

Key West Theater, Key West, Florida — Two nights of shows, November 20–21. (Official site) 56:35

Zanies Nashville — Ending the month there on November 24. (Official site) 56:44

None this episode.

• 0:00 Dusty Slay — His profile page, all the We’re Having a Good Time notes, and his tour dates. The Comedian List: Dusty Slay · All We’re Having a Good Time notes · Tour dates
• 4:30 Wendover Will and Wendover Airfield — The neon cowboy, and the World War II airfield outside town. Wendover Will on Wikipedia · Wendover Airfield on Wikipedia
• 7:19 Bonneville Salt Flats — Why the flats look best when they’re dry. Bonneville Salt Flats on Wikipedia
• 8:32 Will O’Donnell — The opener on this run. The Comedian List: Will O’Donnell · Official site
• 25:29 Halotherapy — What a salt room is supposed to do. Halotherapy on Wikipedia
• 30:33 Wet Heat and Workin’ Man — Dusty’s two hour-long specials. Wet Heat on Netflix · Workin’ Man on YouTube
• 36:35 The blurb writers — The three comics on the back cover. Nate Bargatze · Leanne Morgan · Jeff Foxworthy
• 38:46 Buy now, pay later — How checkout installment plans work. Buy now, pay later on Wikipedia
• 46:24 Deuteronomy 6:9 and the mezuzah — Writing the words on the doorposts. Mezuzah on Wikipedia · Shema on Wikipedia
• 54:19 The Johannine Comma — The history of the 1 John 5:7 line he reads. Johannine Comma on Wikipedia
• 56:16 The Hershey lineup — John Crist, Henry Cho and Dustin Nickerson. John Crist · Henry Cho · Dustin Nickerson