#22 The Detroit Coney Dilemma with Actress Erin Cummings

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All right, thank you Mr. Phoenix for their amazing introduction. That was amazing. Welcome everyone to Episode 22. That's right Episode 22. i 22 if you had I 22 on the Jeff Dwoskin show bingo card. That's two ducks quacking quack quack. And you have got that square covered. Man, what am I first introductions to entertainment was going on a cruise with my family and the cruise directors doing bingo and doing all the funny things when they would read bingo names I had to warn you to true ducks are quacking quack quack.

Anyway, welcome to Episode 22. We're gonna do it. Alright, well, hey, it turns out then I'm huge in France. That's right. I charted in France on the comedy interview chargeable charts for Apple podcast so thank you. I'm huge in France me and Jerry Lewis stat is great company. It reminds me this Steve Martin bit that Ouff means egg and chapeau means hat it's like those French have a different word for everything. Anyway, excuse my horrible impression, but they Thank you, France. Thank you, France and come on US, Canada, UK. Come on you guys. The rest of the world. Come on, stop it up. Listen to the Jeff Dwoskin show as much as France. Huge in France. My new tagline.

Speaking of which I would love if you all subscribed on amazon music, Apple podcast, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, and tell all your friends. Tweet about me Facebook about me. Graham about me. Tick Tock about me. Come on help spread the word of the Jeff Dwoskin show. You can do it. You can do it. You can do two things that I know you can do. You can prevent forest fires. And two, I know you can help spread the word of the Jeff Dwoskin show. Thank you. So for Episode 22 a special episode. I've got my friend and actress and just an amazing person. Erin Cummings is on the show. Yeah, you know where? From Sparta guest Detroit 187. She was on Star Trek Enterprise cold case. madman everywhere, everywhere. She's amazing. And we're gonna talk and you're gonna love it. And I love it.

I do want to give a quick shout out to a few podcasts his success breeds success podcast, psychedelic podcast, scenes, knives, podcast, spooky podcasts that all had me as a guest recently had a great time on their podcast. So definitely check those shows out as well. Good times, all around, get into the podcast world, folks.

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Alright, this is the part of the show where I just kind of share something about social media with you. And then you can Google it and figure out how to do it yourself. One thing Okay, on LinkedIn, they have LinkedIn now has stories just like Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. I've tried it and I had like three views. not impressed. I've got thousands of followers on LinkedIn. So I don't know if people are looking at LinkedIn stories just yet, but I'm going to be when they do. So a more useful tip for you this week. Something that I realized I needed to do and hadn't done is is clean up your bios and go look at Like all the about settings in your Twitter and your Facebook and your Instagram, because if it's been a while you might be like, wait a minute, I haven't had that phone number since 2016. What up? Anyway, so do that I did that. And I realized, Oh yeah, I had a lot of things wrong. So I had to fix that. So definitely do some spring cleaning. You don't need a broom to fix your bio, but it doesn't hurt to buy a broom and support our sponsor anyway. But my point is, go check your bio. And just make sure everything's the way you want because it may not be how you're a member. And that's the social media too. Right? Write?

Well, I am so excited for this interview for you guys to hear my chat with Erin Cummings. She's so amazing. She was the founder of mittens for Detroit. She's a fabulous actress. You may have heard Jackie the joke man and I talking and he mentioned Erin and the event we all did together real special times. So ladies and gentlemen, here's my conversation with Erin Cummings. All right, we are here with actress Erin Cummings star of bitch slap, Spartacus, Detroit 187, Pan Am, and a million other awesome stuff. How you doing Erin?

Erin Cummings 6:13

Oh, I'm good. I'm good. Thank you so much for the fun walk down memory lane of some of my some of my projects that all got canceled.

Jeff Dwoskin 6:23

They were all amazing. While you were a part of it.

Erin Cummings 6:25

You know what my my agent, he always used to say you have like one of the most enviable resumes in Hollywood because you have so many television shows on your resume. But nobody realizes that one of the reasons why you have so many projects is because they all get cancelled so quickly, that we just get to jump from one to another to another. You know, I'm like, well, it would be nice financially, if I could just get on one show that would last for five years. That might be pretty cool. But hey, I'll take it. I keep working. You know what, I'm happy that I get to keep working. That that right? There is an honor and a blessing for sure. So I I just but I certainly don't mean to come off as complaining. I'm very fortunate.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:09

No, you got a great resume. I think a lot of people would kill for it.

Erin Cummings 7:14

One person almost seemed like she wanted to I sat down at a at an audition is funny because like, I feel like actors always have that, you know that one person that always seems to get every job that they go up for. And they're like, Oh, if only so and so wasn't, you know, wasn't going to be auditioning for this, then it would be my job. And I was auditioning for this film. And this, I sat down on a bench next to this next to this woman about my age. And she looked at me and she goes, you're Erin Cummings, aren't you? Like, Oh, God, like, yeah, I guess that's a bad thing. And she said, every single job that I think I'm going to get, you end up booking it, so I'm just gonna go ahead and leave. And I was like, No, no, no, I'm totally unprepared for this. I promise I'm not going to get this job. And I didn't. So I really hope that she did. But that was like a kind of an awkward but funny encounter. I mean, at least she was honest. I appreciated that.

Jeff Dwoskin 8:08

That's hilarious. I had a comedian that felt that way about me here in Detroit, but it wasn't as probably stocky as it sounds like yours might have been.

Erin Cummings 8:21

Like, what do you mean? Was he saying you get more laughs than I do? Or was he like, you always get into the rims that I want to get on? Or like what was

Jeff Dwoskin 8:29

what was it was it was like I had, you know, comedians always think that the other person has whatever they have, despite the fact their own ability. So it's like the fact that I would have something man he didn't.

Erin Cummings 8:42

Right.

Jeff Dwoskin 8:43

It's not as fine as an acting job. I guess. Yes, there's one. If there's one role one person gets it. But you know, when you're just working clubs is kind of sad. I mean, there's, there's 10 other clubs any other night that

Erin Cummings 8:54

right? Exactly. And you all you know, you you get the spot that you get, and you get the amount of minutes that you get, and you know, you get the laughs that you get based on whether or not your material is good and whether or not you are effective at communicating it. You know, that's kind of a that's kind of strange. But I mean, there's I also I Did I ever tell you about how I tried to do stand up comedy.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:21

I would love to hear how you tried to do stand up comedy.

Erin Cummings 9:25

Yes, I will say this, I have a deep, deep amount of appreciation for stand up comedians, having tried my hand at it, like very briefly. I did this movie many years ago, called Welcome home, Roscoe Jenkins, Don't look for me because my part was completely cut out of it. But I remember you know, I did the audition. I got the role. And then Malcolm Lee, who is Spike Lee's cousin, he was directing the film, and I was just he I had a work session with him and I had no I didn't know what a work session was. I was like, Alright, cool. I I'll just go along for the ride I was I didn't prepare anything I kind of just showed up and the film was starring Martin Lawrence, Mike Epps, Monique Cedric, the entertainer, ABN Crockett and James Earl Jones and just a whole bunch of other people. And I remember I got into my, my work session, and he goes, alright, well, cool. Just, you know, show me what you got. And I froze. I said, What do you mean, show me what I've got? And he said, Well, yeah, you know, just like improv some stuff that your character would do? Well, that was already a bit tricky, because my character was supposed to be a white girl, who is obsessed with black people, and obsessed with black culture. And so does all these things to try to emulate black culture. And it's one thing when a black writer writes things for you, as a white actor to then portray, it's a very different thing. When me just right away girl just goes in and decides to quote, you know, improv, what, like a white person obsessed with black people would do to try to emulate black people in front of a black director, I was like, I don't feel comfortable.

Super. But I didn't want to say that because I didn't want to sound like I was unprofessional or not, you know, able to do whatever, you know, was being asked of me and my job, it was just so uncomfortable. And I really did not know like, what the line of funny versus just downright offensive that would get me fired and a meeting with HR. Like, I was like, I don't know what to do here. And so I kind of, I think I pretty much screwed that, that pretty bad. And I remember, like walking out of the room and Cedric the Entertainer was going in right after me. And he was like, Oh, hey, what's up, I'm Cedric. And I was like, I just want to bury my head in the sand right? Now. Thankfully, when we got to set, I ended up being able to, you know, do it, you know, pull some things out of my hat. But I also had Martin Lawrence, right next to me, you know, going, Oh, hey, try this. Oh, hey, try that, you know, feeding me lines. So I was like, okay, cool, as long as you are the star of the movie, and also, a black person are telling me what to say. And I'm not like just being an offensive, horrible, terrible white person, then I will, I'll go along, and I'll play ball. And so it ended up working out really well. But I remember thinking to myself, you know, here I am trying to do something that is totally out of my wheelhouse. You as you know, almost everything that you've listed, pretty much everything you did list was his drama. That's sort of my what I'm what I do most of the time. And so I said, Here, I am working alongside these people who have excelled in this part of performance that I've never even attempted. So a friend of mine had recently taken a stand up comedy class. And I said, All right, sure, I'll take it as well. So I took the class, learn how to, you know, construct a set, you know how to tell a joke from the perspective of being a stand up comedian, as far as storytelling and bringing the audience in and not just being like, Oh, hey, knock, knock, you know, dumb stuff that people are telling a funny story that really nobody thinks is funny, except for you and your buddies from college. And so we did this set, as you know, the class and there was a scout there who would always come and they try to find new people. And he came up to me and said, Hey, I'm, you know, I work for the Comedy Store, would you be interested in coming and doing a show? And I was like, Oh, my god, yes, absolutely amazing. And of course, in my mind, I didn't, I'm thinking like my name in lights. I'm gonna it's gonna be like, you know, Jerry Seinfeld presents Erin Cummings at the Comedy Store. You know, I didn't realize that it was like, Tuesday night at 10pm. You know, like, when Cummings is one of 25 people who are not getting paid to do this, but really just wanted to get up on stage and tell the jokes. So I invited everybody I mean, I must have invited 30 people, and you know how it goes, you know, you invite a ton of people and they're making a lot of money off of you. So you get to pick your spot. And I had really rehearsed my set. I was, I was, I kind of think that I, I pat myself on the back here. I kind of fucking nailed it. So if I do say so myself, I have no doubts. No, I will say this, that first show, man, I am pretty proud. I wish that I somebody had videotaped it to be able to actually have the proof that I did it. They said, Oh, you should come back and you know, do another show. And I was like, cool. So the next show, I figured, oh, well stand up. comedy is so easy. I don't need to rehearse. I don't need to practice and you know what I'm just gonna invite Like, you know, to people that couldn't make it last the last time. So instead of me being the fourth in line, which was where I chose to go, the last time I was, I think number 21 in the lineup. And by the time I finally got up on stage, the only people that were still left in the room were the two people that I had invited, and all of the people that had gotten over their drunk hump. And we're now in that angry like, they were past laughing drunk, and they were now just angry drunk. And I got up on stage, I couldn't remember any of my set, people were booing and laughing. And it was so mortifying. And I remember my friend that I had invited, who, of course, I had totally bragged about how awesome and funny I was and how everybody loved me. And I got on stage. And she was like, so are you gonna be doing that again? And I said, No, I think I'm good. I think I'm done with. It was definitely a humbling experience, but also a really great experience of the real the realization that something that looks so easy when you're just sitting there, eating your mozzarella sticks, and, you know, drinking your jackin diet, it looks so easy from the audience perspective. And it's so not and I never, I never really realized how much work goes into not just the performance of it, but also the crafting of the jokes, the crafting of the story, and then bringing it back around, you know, I really gain a totally new appreciation for stand up. And that was actually years before I started doing the comedy show for mittens for Detroit, in which you and I met. So I I tip my hat to you, Jeff Dwoskin, you are very talented at what you do. And I have a deep admiration for you and your comrades,

Jeff Dwoskin 16:53

you are so sweet. And I just want to say I just want to say why he was talking about that second show, all I wanted to do is reach across the internet and give you a hug. Because I knew exactly, exactly because I've been there so many times.

Erin Cummings 17:08

Let's see that difference between you and me. You've been there so many times. And you've continued to get up on that stage. And that is one of the one of one of many reasons why I have such a deep amount of respect for comedians because I know that pain, I have felt that pain and, and I was like, Okay, I don't like this pain. I'm gonna go and I like being in the audience. So I I think it says a lot about someone who can just go I know, it's like people who it's like people who are constantly who get married multiple times, you know, some people see them as someone who can't commit and I'm like, Man, that person loves to be in love. They know how horrible at divorces and they're like, fuck it. I'm just gonna, I'm going in. I'm doing it again. I don't care. You know how much that could hurt the first time but you're like, I'm willing to give it another shot, man. This time. It's gonna work. I appreciate people like that.

People don't give up. Don't give up.

I mean, I have a little bit of it myself, because I've certainly taken some hits as an actor, but you know it. Fortunately, when you fail as an actor, unless it's no, no not fail, sorry, when you don't knock it out of the park as an actor, unless it's on a stage. Usually, you just have to read about how bad you are on the internet, you don't actually have people heckling you right in front of your face.

Jeff Dwoskin 18:31

You read reviews,

Erin Cummings 18:32

I used to, I used to like when I would when I did, when I would do a play. Like when I do theater, it's so hard not to read the reviews, I think because those are often written by people who at least have a dramaturge a dramaturgy degree, or they have some sort of background in theatre that makes their opinion valid. I don't really read stuff online about TV or films, because so many of the things online are just they're just some random person with a keyboard, you know, the keyboard warriors that you know, and also so often it doesn't even come down to performance, it comes down to someone's personal preference over whether or not they think my forehead is too big, and I just don't have any. I don't have any room for that. So I used to read them. And then when I realized, oh, people on the internet can be really mean and a lot of times they're really dumb. So I'm just gonna do my job and hopefully be able to have enough trust in the director and the people that I'm working with on the day who will be able to go Okay, yeah, that's that's working for that's that's not working. And then in the meantime, just continue to work on my craft in classes and Thankfully, I married an actor who is not afraid to work with me on projects on auditions. He coaches me all the time. He puts me on tape for auditions. And I do the same for him. And he's not afraid to be like, nope, nope, I didn't believe that. I didn't believe that. Nope, that didn't work. That didn't work. So he kind of nails me to the wall on my performances and and i think it makes me a better actor, for sure.

Jeff Dwoskin 20:23

It's good to have that to bounce off of, I do want to say I speak for everyone, you have a wonderful forehead,

Erin Cummings 20:32

though, because it takes up you know, a good four third of my face. So if it wasn't good, then I'd be in trouble. But I like it.

Jeff Dwoskin 20:42

It's just jealousy. Because you have to be pretty enough to carry a forehead and you do so it's well, that is just jealousy.

Erin Cummings 20:49

Now I'm blushing. Now. I

Jeff Dwoskin 20:52

make fun of my forehead. So that's how I feel. That's

Erin Cummings 20:57

exactly.

Jeff Dwoskin 20:58

Oh, so you mentioned mins for Detroit. Yes. That's how we met back in 2014. And so I just want everyone to know that Erin Cummings has a heart of gold. And when she was starring in Detroit 187 formed this amazing, amazing charity in Detroit, because you fell in love with Detroit, right?

Erin Cummings 21:19

I fell so in love with Detroit, I was actually my, when I found out that I was moving to Detroit to do Detroit 187. My mom said, Oh, you have family in Detroit, you should call them you know, the thing that moms do is like, I don't know those people. I'm not going to call some random strangers and force myself into their family. And so instead, my mom just gave them my phone number. And they called me and forced me into their family on their own, which was actually great. Dr. George and Joyce bloom, who live in Bloomfield Hills. Dr. George bloom is a pediatrician, which it's crazy. The number of people that I've spoken to that are like, Oh my god, he was my pediatrician. And now he's my kid's pediatrician. I mean, I know so many people that either had George or his son, Bobby, or now even his granddaughter, Natalie bloom, because they all three work at the same pediatrics office. Anyway, they, my apartment wasn't ready when I first moved to Detroit. So they let me live with them for three weeks. And for three weeks, I had all of my meals with George and Joyce, who are who were at that point in their 70s. And all of their friends who were all septuagenarians, who grew up in Detroit, when it was, you know, the Paris of the Midwest. So my first introduction to Detroit, even though it was in 2010. And it was in a period of, I guess, transition, I really saw the city through their eyes, and not only how beautiful it was, but how beautiful it could be, again, in so many ways, you know, I looked at areas that some would see blight, and I would see the remnants of the architecture that you know, were so stunning, and some of these buildings that were boarded up at the time, and go, Wow, you can see the marble underneath that and what that must have looked like how gorgeous and then as time went on, and these buildings became resurrected and restored, I was it was really beautiful to be able to not just go to Detroit, and fall in love with the city and the people but to also through the seven years that I was running, you know, mittens for Detroit, that I was operating as the founder and the president really able to see so much of the city as it continued to grow and, and that was that was awesome. So and a lot of my friends that I'm still very close to me Grace kiros, who's the third generation owner of American Coney Island is one of my best friends. She was a bridesmaid in our wedding. And in fact, we we got married in South Bend Indiana at the on the campus of Notre Dame. My husband is a is a Notre Dame graduate and we served Coney dogs as our midnight snack for everybody. You know, as people were leaving the reception, you know, there's always like a hamburger truck or something. Right. Right. And so we had so Grace was out there and her bridesmaids dress out. So like a fucking boss. So, yeah, we the and in fact, one of my first one of our first trips away was my husband, my now husband when we were just dating at the time, came to Detroit with me and went to a Tigers game and went to SLOs went to the DA and we just did we just did the big tour of Detroit state at the MGM. It was It was great. So Detroit will not only have a special place in my heart, but it's actually got a special place in are, you know in our family?

Jeff Dwoskin 25:01

That's awesome. I know you mentioned American Coney and I'm embarrassed to say I'm not embarrassed but like I'm a Lafayette County. And like, you know, like I because I think I grew up well, just to explain anyone listening in Detroit. There's Lafayette Coney Island in American Coney Island. I believe that they're the same family but at some point they split. They literally share a wall in Detroit. So anyone in Michigan is either hardcore Lafayette or hardcore American Coney Island. Coney Island is a hotdog with mustard, onions and chili. Do you know everyone that was one thing growing up in Detroit moving out like even my cousins in Cleveland, it didn't know what a Coney dog was.

Erin Cummings 25:41

Nobody outside of Detroit knows what a Coney dog is. Well, can I can I give you can I give your listeners a little bit of the history of the entire Coney experience? Yeah. So Grace's grandfather, who came over from Greece. And so he had a very, very, very long first and last name with lots and lots of consonants. And I can't pronounce either his his last name. It was like Kira snuffleupagus or something like that. Sorry. All the Greek listeners are cursing My name right now. I love you guys. So he came over from Greece. And he was in New York. And you know, it was this American dream has to come. He couldn't get work in New York and heard that there was a lot of work to be found in Detroit. So he went to Detroit wasn't able to get a job. But he was able to get enough money together to serve to get a Coney cart. So he was selling for sorry, hot dog cart. So he was selling hot dogs out of his cart. And he called it and his dream when he came to America was to go to Coney Island, or like thinking maybe he went to Coney Island when he first got to America and was like, Oh my God, this place is amazing. And so when he got to Detroit, he decided per his American dream to call his cart, his hot dog cart, American Coney Island. And that's how the term Coney Island came around. And he served his hot dogs with chili, as you said mustard and chopped sweet onions, those were the three ingredients that came on it. And as he continued to work, he continued to make more and more money. And then he eventually was able to buy a piece of the or rent a piece of the property that's right there, right there on Lafayette at the you know, in campus martius where the plot where the the restaurant still stands. And then the more money that he made the he was eventually able to expand into that point. So it now extends into the point the very tip, which is why it has a sort of triangular shape. And then he reached out to his brother who was in Greece and he said, hey, I've got a good thing going over here. Why don't you come out. And I'll you know, I'll hook you up with the spot right next door to ours and you can have your own county place. So then his brother came out and then as time went on, the two brothers passed their hot dog places down to their two sons who were obviously cousins. Then when they decided to pass it down. Grace's father who was the second generation owner, pass it down to her. But then her uncle instead of passing it down to one of his children, he sold it off to people that have nothing to do with the family. And they're not even Greek and they're just like random Hey, we want to buy Lafayette Coney Island American still uses the same hot dog casings that were created for them by Dearborn sausage that they've been using in perpetuity and they also have the exact same chili recipe I don't know what's going on over at Lafayette but it is not the same. I am diehard American so i will i mean if you want to have you know roaches crawling through now I'm just kidding I'm kidding. But yeah I part of my love for for for Grace's My sister is also vehemently fighting to the death anyone who tries to say that Lafayette is better but I say it in jest. I'm just glad that people are going downtown and eating. I think

Jeff Dwoskin 29:04

I may give American another chance for you Erin and for grace. I didn't know your version of the story way better than the one I thought.

Erin Cummings 29:16

Were also what's really fun is that Grace has grace. My mom is such a huge fan of the coneys that my grace will send my mom her Kony kits, which is such a great thing to send any you know Detroiters or Michiganders who are living away from the state now, you can just go and you can order a Coney kit and that's what we do sometimes. And anytime that my husband is getting a hankering for a Coney, then I'll just call it grace and be like, hey, I need a kit kit. She just sends it right over. It's great. I do

Jeff Dwoskin 29:47

think Lafayette doesn't use the hot dog that they used to anymore so I think I think even the differentiation between the two because that was the difference was the casing right? So I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna try American when we would go down. I know some of my family would eat there because they had salads and Lafayette salads. So that was that was part of it. So sometimes we'd split there was one show at a camera which Food Wars one it was where they actually did it in Detroit right there. Lafayette versus American and I do believe and I'm sure grace could tell you this, they won.

Erin Cummings 30:19

They did. They actually had a few different Food Wars shows and American won both times. And of course, that they, they always do the thing where they're like the two families and graces, like, you know, they do that for the TV show. But like, the other people that own it are actually the families but they'll you know, so yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 30:38

to be honest, and I'm sure I like or felt better. Like I liked Lafayette better because I actually liked it better. I think maybe I think if you're like it's like godfather one or two, it's whichever one you're indoctrinated.

Erin Cummings 30:48

Exactly whichever one you get introduced to first and you have those memories. Like if you grew up as a kid that like after Tigers games, you know, your parents brought you to Lafayette to get a Coney like, obviously, that's going to have that, you know, emotion, that sentimental resonance that Americans just not going to have. And like for me, I've never had a Coney at Lafayette because, you know, Grace was one of my first friends. She helped me start mittens for Detroit. If it weren't for her. I wouldn't even have started Windsor Detroit probably or wouldn't, wouldn't have gotten as far as I did. And so for me, it was just like, it was never a question. So yeah, we all have our ways of getting introduced. But it's it's fun that it's even a conversation to be had. Because I'll meet people out here in LA that are Detroit people. And inevitably they'll go American or Lafayette and then it just becomes this whole conversation that you know, true. It's so true. Yeah, it's a nice, it's a nice connector.

Jeff Dwoskin 31:43

It's our thing. It's our thing. The main difference I think between the two is like laughing hands dirty.

Erin Cummings 31:51

That's what I was about to make the roach joke, but I didn't because I didn't want to. I didn't want to go to a little bit. But that is what I've heard is that Lafayette is like if you want to go if you just want to get down and dirty, dark darkly lit, dirty floors. Grease, you know, dripping from the windows.

Jeff Dwoskin 32:08

Yeah, I'm sure that sanitary it's just but it's not. It's not like when you walk in the American it's, it's clean, like a restaurant would be clean. Right? Yeah. Is it diner? It's a hardcore diet. Exactly.

Erin Cummings 32:19

And I and there, there is a certain appeal to that. I mean, I remember when I was in college, I was on the dance team. And there was there was this place that was the definition of a greasy spoon. And they were only open for breakfast and lunch because they catered to like this super, super blue collar like, you know, guys that were working out on the roads. It was not the kind of place that you go for dinner. And it was definitely the kind of place where if you were one french fry away from a heart attack, you have been at this place a significant number of times and there was this girl Marsha, and she loved that place. I mean, she was country you talk about country, those girls country and I could all she would come to practice. And we'd be like half an hour into it. I mean, like Marsha, and I think it was like Billy Bob's or something like that. It was or baba It was one of those kind of places. I mean, like Marsha, did you get a bonus today? Because she would start sweating and I could smell like the onion rings seeping out of her pores. It was so but it was good. It was real good.

Jeff Dwoskin 33:21

That's how my wife feels when I eat Mediterranean. I have to come home and I eat too much garlic. Yes. I'm like I'm sleeping alone for at least a couple days.

Erin Cummings 33:29

I did a television show for AMC. It only lasted one season it was starring David Schwimmer. And Jim Sturgis, and it was called feed the beast. It was about these two guys, one being an ex con who decide to open the first high end restaurant in the Bronx, and just all the exploits that they get into. And I remember we were doing a table read. And one of the characters said something to the effect of you want to open a high end restaurant in the Bronx, that makes about as much sense as opening a high end restaurant in Detroit. And I was like, ooh, I don't know about that. And so I did. I went to the director, and this was in 2016. And so I went to the writer, actually, I obviously wasn't gonna call him out in front of everybody. But I, I went to the writer privately afterwards. And I said, I understand what you're trying to say in this. But I don't think that Detroit is a good example. Because what's going on in Detroit right now is that Detroit is actually having this massive surge in, in wonderful restaurants. And there are there are some really high end restaurants in Detroit. And if you go to, you know, the London chop house, or like one of the many places that had opened, even just in the last few years at that time, I said, you know, just do a little bit of reading and you'll see that Detroit is proud, like, you're gonna look like you don't know what you're talking about. If you say that and So he came back to me the next day. And he said, I'm so glad that you put that on my radar because you're right, we would have looked like such idiots if we had said that. And so they used some other. I don't know, like Pittsburgh or something like that, which I don't know anything about the Pittsburgh food scene. So maybe Pittsburgh has a thriving food food scene as well. And I'm just not in tune with it. But I was very proud of myself for being able to save Detroit from once again being a punch line of somebodies ill conceived joke.

Jeff Dwoskin 35:28

On behalf of all of Detroit. We thank you.

Erin Cummings 35:34

So yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 35:35

so all right. Well, it's let's talk about mittens for Detroit. Tell it tell everyone what it is exactly the organization because it's still going strong. Now, I know you stepped away a couple years ago and handed over the reins, but it was it's still going. So tell me tell everyone this amazing thing that you started.

Erin Cummings 35:50

So it was in October of 2010. I was actually handing out candy with my cousin who is her name is Kathy moss, and she is a pediatric nurse in Southfield. And we were handing out Halloween candy. And these two young girls came to the door and one of the girls was crying and shivering and clutching a bare hand and Mike and Kathy said, Oh, are you crying because you're cold? And, you know, my, I'm ashamed to say it now. But you know, at the time, I was like, Oh, don't ask questions, don't get involved in our business, you know, that kind of thing that I think is just way too prevalent in our American Society of like, not really wanting to be the person that stands up and speaks up. And that was most certainly me. And that moment of, you know, don't get involved. And girls like, Yes, it is. And Kathy said, Well, why don't you guys come in and get warm, invited the girls and their mom inside and the mom, you know, wasn't that the girl didn't have a glove, it's that her glove had, you know, fallen apart or whatever or something was going on with the lining, the mom was trying to get it fixed. And the end, Cathy got a spare pair of gloves, put them on the girl's hand and you know, kind of rub your hands together and gave her a hug and a piece of candy. And instantly I saw this family go from being distraught and upset and cold and just having a really terrible Halloween to being able to go out and enjoy the rest of their evening with warm hands and, and happiness and also to make a connection with a stranger and to know that they're kind people willing to do really what wasn't even that big of a deal. And I was crying, I was so moved. And Cathy goes What the hell is wrong with you, I just gave her a spare pair of gloves. I said, but that's the thing. It was so simple and so beautiful. And I want to do more of that. I want to get gloves and give them to people who need them. That was kind of just this nagging thing that kept just kept gnawing at me. And the next day, I just started calling people and saying I have this idea. But I have no idea how I don't know, I don't even know how I begin how I would even start to do it. And you know, a lot of people have their own visions and their own ideas. And ultimately, I put together this band of people who were like, well, I can help build a website. And I can do PR and I can do you know, I can help you get boxes and you can put a collection box in my store. And by the time I by the time I left in February of 2011, we had collected and given out almost 10,000 pairs of gloves. Then when Detroit would even got canceled. I had the I had a decision to make of Okay, well, I'm now unemployed. And you know, I don't have a reason to be in Detroit or coming back to Detroit other than the friendships that I've made and the family that I had discovered and technically almost been adopted by and I. But I also knew that there was a big problem, especially at that time where there's this sort of savior complex of Hollywood where people will come in and they'll fall in love with an area and then they'll go, Oh, I want to help out while I'm here. And then they leave and they kind of forget that, you know, there's those problems still exist. And the problem. Obviously I wasn't in any way capable of or attempting to fix Detroit's problems. I don't want it to come off like that. But I did know that what we were doing was good. And I knew that what we were doing was appreciated not just by the people who were receiving the gloves, but also by people who were able to feel like they were in some small way making a difference. And I was that remember this was 2010. And so the we were we were in the midst of the great recession and people didn't necessarily have a lot of disposable income to create the kind of big changes that they maybe wanted to but they wanted to feel some sense of like of altruism and to be able to help people in some way. And really, I looked at it as I'm just being a conduit of goodwill, I'm giving people a cost, a low cost, but very rewarding way of being able to provide an essential need in a really hard time. And I don't think that anyone should suffer with freezing to death, or even, you know, children coming to school and having their hands so crippled by the cold, because they don't have a pair of gloves that it takes half an hour before they have the ability to grip a pencil, or people who were unfortunately, you know, in transition, and don't currently have a stable living space that they should, in addition to the indignities that go with that, also, be at risk of frostbite or, or being unable to, to function, because they're so focused on the cold of their hands, you know, or a family that is looking to try to figure out, hey, what are we going to spend the little amount of money that we have on Are we going to spend it on groceries, or we're going to spend it on food, and you know, they shouldn't have to worry about gloves, that's such a simple thing. And to me, it seems like just a no brainer. And also, the reason why we said only new gloves, new unused gloves with tags on them, or handmade gloves, like knit, or whatever upcycle gloves, is because there's something really valuable about being able to have something that is new and is all your own. And for families who live either in poverty or near poverty, that is a luxury that a lot of those children just don't have. And we take for granted the the process of buying something new, taking the tag off throwing it away, and, you know, putting it on, but if every piece of clothing you've ever worn in your life has been worn by someone else before you, that is a beautiful process. And and it was really so rewarding to visit centers where I'd get to work with some of our senior members of society or little kids who don't even know which fingers go in which holes yet, or going to Michigan veterans foundation and meeting some of the veterans and talking about their service and finding out maybe that, you know, somebody was stationed in the same place that my dad was stationed. And when he was in the Air Force, there were so many really rewarding experiences that I had, and it not only gave me a chance to get to know, you know, certain members of the,

how I say this, you know, the hoi polloi of Detroit, but also getting to see members of the Detroit community that had fallen on hard times and to, to see the pride that they had in their city, that spirit of Detroit, of always picking themselves up and continuing to move forward for another day and the and the deep appreciation for for the kindness and the simplicity of just seeing another person and it really changed a lot. You know, like I said, I'm, like I said earlier, that I was embarrassed that I am embarrassed, that there was a time that I didn't want to get involved and just sort of let you know Mind your own business kind of attitude. And, and i a lot of that changed my entire feelings of the homeless, homelessness epidemic, the mental health issues that also plague communities that are in poverty, a lot of the racial barriers to success that people suffer and the indignities that go along with those. And so many of the in justices, you know, we, it's I learned a lot about poverty, I learned a lot about so many of the privileges that I am incredibly blessed to have. And I also learned that because of those privileges, because of the opportunity that I have, I realized that if you are someone who is fortunate enough that through whatever form it takes, whether it's entertainment, or sports or comedy is also part of entertainment, of course or politics know if you have a platform that allows your voice to be heard, you have a societal obligation to use that voice to amplify the voices of those who are not being heard. And when I was in Detroit, I had the luxury of being on a TV show that was about Detroit. So everywhere we went, people would listen to what we had to say. And so I was like if people are going to be listening, I want to make sure that I'm not saying something stupid. I want to make sure that I'm telling people about the Michigan veterans Foundation. or Latino Family Services, the Ruth Ellis center for gang, LGBTQ teens, your Covenant House of Michigan, you talking about these organizations that are really doing great work. I mean, all I was doing was getting mittens, you know, these people are every single day working to provide for people that just need a little help. So it's definitely something that, you know, I'm proud of I, you know, unfortunately, I'm no longer in any way connected or involved with the organization, which is sad. But you know, there were circumstances at the time I was going through cancer treatment, and I saw the organization going in a direction that it was, was just not the way that I envisioned the organization. And it ultimately came down to me having to focus on what was important for my mental health, as well as my physical health while I was going through through treatments. So I hope that the organization continues, and I hope I mean, I left with with them, I said, you guys have my blessing to keep moving forward. But unfortunately, I just don't have the, I don't have the strength to keep doing this in the way that I would want to. So but you know, it opened the door for me to be able to come back home and for me to now work with cancer organizations here in Los Angeles. So I've been on the board of an organization called cancer free generation, which is a young professionals arm of our Cancer Research Foundation, and we we raise money for researchers who are doing early stage cancer research. And that has been incredibly fulfilling. And, you know, I feel like every chapter moves into another chapter, and it all sort of worked out exactly the way that it was supposed to.

Jeff Dwoskin 46:57

You have such a big heart, and it's Yeah, you don't you made such a big difference. Such a big difference. And it does continue. And I think i think that i think when you when you said like, well, your first reaction was to not do something, I think that's what sets people apart. It's everyone has that feeling I think, at first, but it's the people that make a real difference are the ones that push through that and do something anyway. And and really give their time, which you did, which is amazing.

Erin Cummings 47:25

Well, and speaking of giving other time, as did you, you know, when we called and said, Hey, we're doing this comedy show, and, you know, I'm, I'm sure that you probably make a lot of money, but we don't have a lot of money to give you you were like, I don't care. I'll do it. When can I be there and and I think that when someone such as yourself is willing to give your talent. That's also such an incredible thing because we reached out to a lot of comedians and there were a lot of people that we would have loved to have come but there was a there were certain people that just attached a price tag to it that regardless of what was benefiting they weren't really interested so I thank you so much for seeing the value of what mittens for Detroit was doing and and for volunteering your time.

Jeff Dwoskin 48:11

Well, thank you. But I do remember I had to two asks, I asked for a signed copy of your movie bitch slap. And I asked you to follow me on Twitter, which apparently in 2014 was very important to me. And

Erin Cummings 48:26

2014 I was like yeah, get those Twitter followers up. I understand.

Jeff Dwoskin 48:30

So I did as much as I gave. I did have some demands that came with it. And you did you you. You gave me both. I have my sign copy image slap right here.

Erin Cummings 48:41

I'm gonna I'm gonna I think I'm pretty sure I'm following you because I see your stuff. There you are. Yes. There you are. You follow me? Oh my God, why am I not following you?

Jeff Dwoskin 48:53

Oh my god.

Erin Cummings 48:58

I know that I was following you at one point. I know I was. Well I know that we're friends on Facebook. I know that.

Jeff Dwoskin 49:04

Yeah, we're best pals is if you beat the cancer.

Erin Cummings 49:07

I like to think that my doctors beat the cancer but so far I don't have any reason to think that I still have it. So I will I'm taking it one day at a time like an alcoholic so far I don't have cancer and I will hopefully keep it that way.

Jeff Dwoskin 49:24

Well, God bless you. I hope it stays that way. The the one question that I do ask everyone in just to kind of get it back to Erin Cummings actress is like what are the three? Must watch? I think if you tell people you gotta check these out me, like what are they?

Erin Cummings 49:43

Well, I would say right now only because it's so timely. And because we want to promote the stuff that's happening right now is I guess the most recent must watch would be Episode Two of the recent season of Lucifer, the one that just came out Recently, so that's a season five, Episode Two, I play a researcher who is working on sending people to Mars. And she has some insecurity issues. So that was an interesting character for me to get to play. And also, like my Instagram following has jumped up a notch from all of the loose of fans out there, which was pretty cool. And LESLEY ANN Brandt, who plays maze for any of the Lusa fans out there that might be listening. She's one of my best friends. We were, we weren't we didn't work together on Spartacus. We were in the same season of Spartacus, but we didn't have any scenes together, I played Sara, the wife of Spartacus, she played navia, who was lucretius slave. And even though we didn't have any scenes together, we became fast friends. And thankfully at a time well before Instagram, we got into quite a few high jinks in New Zealand. So she and she and I are still very good friends and our husbands have become good friends. And so we hang out with each other quite a bit. And we thought that it was gonna be the last season of of Lucifer, so she was like, I need you to be on the show. And thankfully, the casting director had cast me in another project before so it was kind of an easy sell, thankfully. So I would say first of all, Lucifer for sure. Anyone who is a fan of Grindhouse style films and has a nice sense of humor, which you Jeff definitely do, I would recommend one of your favorites, bitch slap. Make sure to watch it with tongue planted firmly in cheek, we are in on all the jokes. Trust me, we get it. We're laughing along with you. It is supposed to be ridiculous, bordering on the absurd, we get it. And that's why we did it. And then I'm trying to think, you know, I would say for the third one, it's a it's kind of a there's an episode that I did of a TV show called cold case, it was on CBS like 10 years ago, 1515 years ago, I want to say I shot the episode in twin in 2008. And I think it was one of their last seasons. And I played a pinup model who gets murdered. But in the episode, like the way that cold case work, unlike CSI, or some of the other crime, who done it things, if you are the victim, you are essentially the star of that episode, because they do an entire backstory, and half the episode is them trying to solve this cold case that was never solved. And the other half of the story is actually the telling of how the crime happened. And the story of the person involved in the crime. And that was if you can find it the pinup girl episode of cold case, you actually see me falling in love with acting, it was my first big guest star. And I just remember the unbelievable joy that I had waking up every morning and getting to go on to the lot at Warner Brothers and put on the beautiful costumes and getting, you know, getting put in the wig and the period makeup. And it was just it was just a dream. It was it was exactly what I imagined that Hollywood actresses get to do. And it was just wonderful. It was absolutely wonderful. And I love watching it because I see myself just in pure unbuild unadulterated joy. As an actor.

Jeff Dwoskin 53:41

That's awesome that you can look back and just see that happening. Yeah,

Erin Cummings 53:45

yeah. And I and I like sharing that with people because it's just, it's fun. It's a fun one. Yeah, it's a it's a really good episode. And I think that it's a good display of little Erin Cummings showing off and

Jeff Dwoskin 53:59

speaking of sharing with people, tell everyone your twitter and instagram handles. Oh yes.

Erin Cummings 54:05

I would love for people to come visit me on Twitter and Instagram at Erin L Cummings. Er i n L is in Linn Cummings with an S. My Instagram is a little bit more of a shameless self promotion. I really never know what to put on Instagram. It's like, I just feel like it's so awkward. And I'm not very good at selfies. So I try to post like once every three or four days, but I'm just terrible. I feel like I need I need to I need to hire someone to take proper pictures because otherwise, I have 800 selfies just to find one that's decent. And then my Twitter um, I am unfortunately highly political. I'm trying not to be but it's just so hard these days. So if you go on my Twitter and you don't like what I have to say, feel free to just not follow me but I'm trying not to engage in drama on Twitter anymore. I'm like stop feeding the trolls. Stop it.

Jeff Dwoskin 54:59

I love your Twitter and we're politically minded. So that's probably why.

Erin Cummings 55:04

Exactly, yeah, I tend to get a little heated sometimes. So, and but I'm also like, you know what if I see something on Twitter that somebody posts that I don't agree with, like, I'm not gonna go after them. I'll just unfollow them. And it's so simple, like, Why do you bother arguing? Like, we're not going to have a proper argument I'll have I would love to sit down and have coffee with someone who disagrees with me, as long as they're willing to not escalate it to name calling and insanity. But if someone can just sit down and have an intelligent conversation with me, and they disagree with me, I'm all for that. But I'm, I'm there's no sense in trying to argue with someone in 180 characters. It's just um, you know, we're never going to be able, I'm never going to be able to explain fully my opinion, although I think that there was one there was one time actually though, it was one time somebody said, Well, why do you think they said it? And I kind of argued my point, and the person just came back and said, You know what, you make a lot of valid points and I can see I was like, wait, what you can see, that's something that can happen on Twitter. I never knew you found

Jeff Dwoskin 56:09

a unicorn Erin, you found a unicorn.

Erin Cummings 56:11

If you are not if you are willing to unfollow me if you don't like what I have to say and not try to argue with me. Please come and follow me on at Erin L. Cummings. And and if you have something nice to say, please do that as well. Because everybody likes to say everybody likes to hear nice things, and I will certainly respond to that.

Jeff Dwoskin 56:30

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for hanging out with me. I can't thank you enough. It was great catching up.

Erin Cummings 56:35

Yeah, it was really nice. And and I would love to make this a regular catch up every you know, how many years has it been? So we seem to everything so into in 2026. I look forward to chatting again.

Jeff Dwoskin 56:48

I'm writing down on my calendar right now. 2026 call Erin Cummings. All right. Yeah, so much.

Erin Cummings 56:57

Thank you. This has been really great. And I and I'm now that I'm officially following you. Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed that I wasn't officially before. I hope that when all of this COVID craziness is over that your talents can bring you out to Los Angeles. And I will gather up all of my friends and we will come and support you. And the next time that I'm in Detroit or in the Michigan area. I will look up when you're going to be on stage and I'll come and support you then too. Because I think you are I think you are quite hilarious.

Jeff Dwoskin 57:26

Thank you, Erin. And when you're in Detroit, we'll also grab an American Coney.

Erin Cummings 57:30

Yes, we will.

Jeff Dwoskin 57:33

We'll see you then then. All right. Thanks. Yeah, thanks. All right. Well, how fun was that? That was so cool. And hope you're really really hungry right now for Coney dog. Straight from Detroit. If you don't know we're talking about Google and I'm not talking about a hot dog with chili folks. Get the real deal. All right. Well, that conversation got me really hungry so I found a hashtag from hashtag roundup you know we love them. You know we love them here called make a movie of foodie. With our friend Bree wander it's a Friday game on hashtag Roundup, check out hashtag roundup on twitter at hashtag Roundup. Also download the hashtag roundup app get notified anytime a fun game starts and one of your tweets might no bomb the Jeff Dwoskin show. How exciting would that be? All right, well, let's take a look at hashtag make a movie of foodie. This is a movie food mashup game. All the tweets are going to be at Jeff Dwoskin SHOW YOU CAN retweet them yourself. You can follow those tweeters, and they'll also be in the show notes so you can check out these funny folks. All right, here we go. Add hashtag make a movie of foodie. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Bake to the future that saute your old virgin diets another day. That's the classic James Bond movie coming out soon. The Count of Monte Cristo Yes. eats pray, eat love, eat. Catch a Tory if you can the classic Leo DiCaprio movie by Steven Spielberg. Raging Bull on fine do the right thing. 50 shades of gravy. No sharp shooter II for Old Men, reservoir hot dogs. 12 Angry Men. Alright, that's what you call food and movie mash up. There you go. join in on the fun and hashtag Roundup. And thank you for joining us for Episode 22. The episode that brought you Erin Cummings, the history of Coney dogs and so much more. Follow us Subscribe, Like tell your friends all about the Jeff Dwoskin show. We want to be world famous. Thank you very much and we'll see you next week.

Announcer 59:53

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Jeff Dwoskin show with your host Jeff Dwoskin go repeat everything you want. And sound like a genius catch us online at the Jeff Dwoskin show.com or follow us on Twitter at Jeff Dwoskin show and we'll see you next time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai