Come be won over by folksy, Hawaiian-tinged charm!
There are three things that define getting older. Liking whiskey, liking horseradish and liking witty talk radio news and culture-based gameshows, the best of which is Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me on NPR. The show features a wonderful host, Peter Sagal, who may just be the wittiest/funniest man alive, kicking around the week’s topics with a panel of comedians/personalities in a sort of fake gameshow format.
Very entertaining.
And this past weekend, professional innovator Laird Hamilton sat in to answer quiz questions about bad moments in television history.
Before the game, though, Peter Sagal interviewed Laird, first asking, “Is it true that you are the most famous surfer in the world never to enter a surf contest?
Laird responded, “I surfed in a couple when I was a kid when a t-shirt was the prize but I stopped doing it as soon as there was prize money. That kind of changed the equation for me.”
Who knew that? I sure didn’t. Very un-Lance Burkhart.
Next, Peter Sagal asked, “What is your job?”
Laird responded, “I’d say innovator. I like innovation.”
Again, a nice surprise. Innovator.
Then one of the panel comedians (who, truth be told, usually are not very funny) asked, “How do you get paid to surf? Do you surf a wave really good then someone on the beach comes up and hands you a check?”
The audience laughed before Laird shed some light on the issue explaining, “No, you ride a giant wave, someone takes a picture, it goes on the cover of National Geographic, somebody comes and says, ‘We’d love to pay you to get on the cover of National Geographic again.’ And that’s how it goes.”

A perfect answer to a dumb question.
They then all go on commending Laird’s bravery etc. with Peter Sagal asking, at the end, “Do you ever feel like you are in danger, that you’ve pushed it too far or have you moved past that?”
Laird charmingly said, “I feel it all the time. I think, ‘Oh here I am again. I hope I make it out of this one.'”
Maybe the fourth thing that defines getting older is liking Laird Hamilton because he won me right over with his folksy, Hawaiian-tinged charm. Listen for yourself here if you want to be won over too!
Aww thanks for trying Scott but it’s just not the same. Plus you forgot my favorite part where he calls me an imbecilic mongrel after he gushes all over Laird.
Laird will never be a real man until he develops full-blown male pattern baldness.
Ok I just watched an old one, they totally stand the test of time! But oops, Charles Nelson Reilly was in Match Game! But still, Derek would fully be him!
And Jen See is Rosemary Clooney!!!
This brings back such good memories, I think I’m going to YouTube-time machine a 1978 episode right now
“Eight out of ten cats” is the best of said shows.
“8 out of 10 cats does Countown” my secret pleasure. Sean Lock alone is worth a conundrum.
“That’s a challenging wank” would have to be the funniest line ever uttered.
He is a funny cunt is Sean Lock
Yes! And Derek Reilly as, Charles Nelson Reilly!
I think the self promotion aspect is what irks most people
Laird looks like a late night Cinemax softporn male actor lately. He’s the guy who saves the protagonist lady from the sharks (cuz ladies always attracting predators!), and late at night during his shift on the yacht, she has a few glasses of rose and then he gets barrelled for realz! He doesn’t even have to change his name!
And now it is officially time for BeachGrit to become a purveyor of soft core porn. I’ve been struggling with where to go next, The path was right there all along.
…. Then I’d definitely be checking this site on a daily basis. Perhaps more often
PornGrit?
BeachHub?
Sports Illustrated?
All of the above.
Spurts Illustrated!
Laird meets Super Creamer!
girl fights are the best
https://youtu.be/1DQdK6ryOow
Non surfers don’t know him here.
Its just Kelly and Mick.
i heard this on the radio over the weekend. glad you picked it up too. Dare i say it was proto-typical, peak LAIRD. glorious.
Facebook, surely.
For me it’s gin, broccoli and conservative talk back.
Amen there.
I believe you mentioned the E-Lo podcast is this week. I think it prudent we discuss potential questions to be asked.
For instance:
“If a woman on the WSL CT does a Superman Air, should we call it a Wonderwoman Air? Or if being gender fluid a SuperWonderThem Air?”
“If your life was a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?”
“Do you think cats have any regrets?”
It’s gonna be tomorrow’s bit. And I’ll ask them all.
Tell ‘im that I’ll let him crash at my joint if he carries a board over from Hawaii for me.
It’s when you do involuntary grunting putting socks on.
You know you’re old when you say things like, “The police do a fine job, all considered.” And, “That unarmed woman in the yoga pants, well, she had it coming…” etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…
You get told you’re old when you get a bowel screening kit in the mail.
“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25 you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35 you have no brain.”
Though in truth the ABC vote compass has me somewhere out near Naomi Klein giving Noam Chomsky a wristy.
One of my French Girlfriends’ Dads said that most Frenchman were socialists in the heart and Conservatives in the wallet .
When you complain about health issues in the lineup.
When you go to get your hair cut and they start trimming/harvesting your ears because they have become magically ( probably black ) more fertile than your scalp and in doesn’t annoy you ?
I remember overhearing conversations in Scotland which seemed to consist entirely of those sorts of noises.
Completely.
I like Laird. He’s the most famous surfer in the world but no-one’s favourite surfer.
That’s got to count for something!
Lairs is the favourite surfer of surfers who know what’s up. And he is a polite person
You make a strong case.
Or d rong case.
I saw him once taking wave after wave after wave at Hanalei point. ELO style on his Liard SUP. That’s gots to count for something.
TAKE EVERY WAVE.
G-Mac somehow wormed his way into my heart but Laird never.
Ever.
G-Mac?
If I’m giving myself a hip-hop nickname and wearing trucker caps past the age of 50 I hope someone takes me down to the river and shoots me.
Somewhere between the glacier shelving and the Mercedes board he won me over. Cackling with Anderson Cooper on the ski, c’mon. Laird is so serious and helped usher in our surfing apocalypse, while G-Mac helped me learn to laugh at it. Antidepressive.
He certainly makes me laugh, I’ll give him that.
At what point in life does one transition from Hessian bag and rocks to shooting?
Wonderful Athlete , Big Wave Innovator . Handsome Model , Adopted by Surf Star and probably a good person . So far so good but every time I see a needless tow in , a SUP or A God Damned Devil spawned Foil , I find myself to be somewhat peeved ………..? I think the golf thingy ma jig is great though and hope that wonderful creation is tearing up fairways , sand traps and greens all over the world and hope his food business is cleansing colons too .
I really just want to see Laird let loose and embrace his inner youth with a full chest tattoo of a screaming monkey bursting from his heart, followed swiftly by the launch of his brand of Maui Hard Kombucha called Innovater #96708.
I’m tired of his faux-humble attitude, Make Surfing Great Again.
ha! I can only hope Laird is reading right now.
Uh Laird if you’re reading this, your creamer is rotting on all the store shelves over here. #urstillapunk
Could you use it like T-cut to treat your rust?
Rust never sleeps my friend
Especially not in Hawaii.
Bem woulda got the musical reference. Oh how I miss him.
Beeeee-HIIIINNNDDD yooooouuu….
Can you imagine him going full McGregor? Smashing cell phones with his paddle stick?
Glorious
I am probably being a bit tough on the Prophet Laird . It never annoyed me in the slightest that he was getting paid serious coin creating and playing the role of the professional waterman , buzzing around Maui on a jet ski , getting towed into mountains , that shot of him in Tahiti , Stand up Paddling then Foiling . It still doesn’t ,but deep in my non existent soul , I have to ask the question , Is he responsible for the little men , the followers, who stuffed up line ups all over the world trying to emulate his feats of daring and danger, in playful 2ft conditions ?
He thinks so! Blame Laird
Dude, me too I was extremely charmed! Seriously, I was surprised how likeable I felt Laird was after this episode, what w/ all the Laird bashing here. Glad you felt the same way.
based on my limited personal experience, i’d say Laird is the same type of personality as Will Smith. as long as dude doesn’t feel threatened, he’s always ON. never breaks character.
charismatic, always gives the people what they came to see. makes the crew and the below-the-line folks feel special.
Everything I write comes off as ironic, I understand that, but I was not being ironic here.#imwithlaird
When it comes to women and sharks #imwithlaird
Podcast? Podcast!
are we just going to forget that lance burkhart sexually assaulted kiani during that fashion shoot.
#metoo
First off, nothing ruins great King Henry VIII prime rib like horseradish.
Secondly, is Innovator under the Influencer or over seeing the Influencer? Asking for an innovative friend.
Bro you’ve never been to Bully’s in Del Mar….low bar babe!
You left out the 4th thing to getting old….Not giving ashit!
Lards answers are not correct!
Correct answers:
Surfing Contest- couldn’t make the cut!
Getting Paid to Surf: you have to be a poster boy….tattooed with company logos 24-7.
Fear when surfing: like hookers you have to take risk to get money in sponsorship.
But hell political correctness is the modo.