Jason Sudeikis
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Yes, I have actually stayed at Airbnbs from time to time. And truth be told, I do really like them. I'm being totally honest right now that I've had great experiences with them. Yeah. I mean, you can have your look at you go get your own place, get your own pool, your own living room. You're not going to walk in an elevator. You're not going to see people when you're walking around in your undergarments. Yeah.

Yes. And if you don't understand what we're talking about, you should go online. What we're saying is you have a house with a kitchen and a bathroom and it's just for you, tailored for you. You liked your Airbnb over a hotel. Yes. And I do think I've had relatives stay nearby and sometimes it's very nice for them to do an Airbnb and have a little house and they're not underfoot. The last thing you want is your house guest to say, excuse me, um,

Where would I find a towel? That's a toughie when it's because they're naked. Well, it's like the 1800 time you say on the towel rack. Yeah. Thank you. I was going to look there. People don't even think hotels sometimes just go, hey, I'll go there. I'll get an Airbnb. So you won't regret it.

Here's what I want to say just to our fans right now. I'll get over here a little bit. Okay, we're going. Hey, we're really... Talk to us. Hi, this is Dana. We're in a two-shot. I just want to lean in and kind of talk directly to the fans. You want me to lean out? We... No, you're part of the deal. I mean, you're definitely my partner. I just want to thank you all for listening to this thing because I got a fuck ton of bills in my life. And I got what you call a big nut. And I'm not talking factually. Anyway...

So I thank you for listening. And I know you're usually driving and doing something else, but I don't, I have no anger about that. I'm just glad you're listening. And I hope it brings you a smile. David, would you like to address your fans? Yeah. I'll lean out. I hope it brings more than that. I'd hate to go. I listened to that hour and a half shit and I got one smile out of it. What are you reading the comments? You never can read the comments. I do.

I wish I could be like Ja Morant, not care. I care about the comments. I know. Well, don't start waving anything around in my face. Dude, I should wave a gun during these. I will take a vow right now that if you wave a weapon, I will not take a video with my phone and post it. Because you're my friend that's trying to help me in my life. You want to steer me the right way. But we would have Stephen Smith talking about us if I wave a gun. David Spade.

He was a good guy. I used to like him. The gun. Carvey should have wrestled it away. You cannot have this person do five rebounds in a half and expect to go to the championships.

I think the guy, I've been watching him. Stephen, if you're watching, got to come on your show. I kind of think that is a giant brain. Yeah. He's done some long riffs and I don't know. We know someone here in our studio knows him. But if that stuff is extemporaneous after the half and what he's coming up with, I'm a fan. David?

Jason Sudeikis. Jason Sudeikis. Is a guy who has trouble spelling his last name. I'm calling you Davey Segway. He's an all-time great cast member. And then, of course, we did do a deep dive into Ted Lasso, which is such a lightning in a bottle and incredible show. David? We did a deep dive. I watched the pilot. I watched every episode and then gave you the cliff notes. So we met somewhere in the middle.

I was like, so far it seems like soccer's involved. This is me texting David. Yeah, it's in England. No, he's great. I've heard about Ted Lasso for the last three years, and he's always good on the show. He was super cool. We did it in here, in my pad. We had a blast. He's just a fun dude. He likes to talk, didn't dodge. We just blabbed about everything, and he was a crack up, man. I had a good time that day.

I would say that he, you know, that was the first time like doing this podcast. You get to like sit with someone directly for well over an hour and get to know him. So I really got to know him. And he is, he's a wise, he's an old soul. Sorry, I hate that cliche. But he says some really wise stuff and philosophical stuff, maybe coming from Kansas' own Jason. Incredibly humble, regular guy.

And, um, I was fascinated how Ted Lasso came about and the origins of it and where it went and how much of his personality and the genius of, of a lot of moments in that show, uh, that you just don't see coming. Yeah. So hard to put together a show that works so hard to get it to be universal hit like that. And, uh,

They did. They put the secret sauce together. It's very, that's a huge accomplishment. We talked about everything you could think of, Dana. You know what you said once? You said something nice. You said you have an old face. And I said, an old soul? Old face? No, it was an old voice. Oh. No, I said you had a, he has a very cool voice. I've told you you had a cool voice, but you never take me seriously. I get texts later. Did you mean that about the cool voice? Dana, tell me again. Look at this. I used to do this with my pen. Can you see that?

The shitty camera. Look at this. Then I go like this. Take that teacher. You know what I like? Oswald. David, I like when older guys go out with a young woman and they say it's not because she's young. She's an old soul. So she's an old soul who happens to have a great ass. Great ass. I don't care. I don't care about the fact that she's 19 with an incredible ass. I'm attracted to her. She's brought out of high school. It has nothing to do with that. I'm 91. Hello. Hello.

I'm Horned Dog Billy. Jason. We're going to get letters. No, we're fine. We're getting letters. Jason Sudeikis. Yeah, we better start it. We're going to enjoy this. It's a very mellow conversation, very informative and real, just about how people like Jason get to be Jason. And this is a really interesting journey. I would listen if I were you. Don't pause it. I'm talking to the people in the car. They're like, I just got to go into work now.

You know, it's good that no one works anymore. No, because no one works. You ever heard of this? Yeah. Fun employment. Instead of unemployment, put an F on it. Fun employment. It's like you kind of quit your job and you just travel the world. You ever thought of doing that? I'm soft quitting this podcast. I'd stop talking. That's a good one. Soft quitting. Should we end on that? I like a soft opening of a restaurant.

When I pull my wiener out, they go, this is a soft opening. Wiener? Where are you from? 1968? Wiener? You call it a cock? Wiener! I don't like when girls use medical terms. Jason Sudeikis! Do you know David has adult candy bars all throughout the house? And one in the elevator. Sorry, inside baseball. I got stuck in the elevator once. Well, he's... There's an elevator here? Yeah, he has an elevator. Yeah.

It's time you learned. He only gets paid scale plus a million. So you did Joe Biden in the early days. Him 2012. Yeah. Where he's kind of a... Way in 08. I mean, I did him in the... I mean, the first time I did him was like when...

some Christmas episode of maybe 2007 or something like that. Like, and I forgot. And then when Obama picked Biden as his running mate, Fred Armisen texted me saying, congrats. I was like, well, for what? Because Biden, I go, I play Biden. He goes, yeah, I played SpongeBob SquarePants. Like it was like a, yeah, it was a Halloween sketch. And I was like, oh, right. I was like, I guess that means I could do it. Oh, you had, you already had it locked in. I mean, unintentionally. Yeah. I mean, and then, and then I got to do it and be, you know,

Who was the magician that went on after the Beatles on Ed Sullivan? Basically, I lived that existence playing Joe Biden in the vice presidential debates against Tina Fey's Sarah Palin. Exactly. They look alike. They sound alike. It'll blow your mind. Yeah. And just everybody was clamoring for it. And she crushed it. And yeah, I had fun runs written by Jim Downey and Seth. But yeah.

Everybody was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, there we go. Here we go. Well, fine. He was full sunglass Corvette guy. He was at Alpha at that point compared to, you know, he's older now. So it was a different take on it. Paternal, very grand paternal. That's all I got. That's kind of close. I don't know. Good Lord.

So we have Jason here today. Kansas' own. Kansas' own. Now, you play basketball. Mm-hmm. The only thing I ask, I'll ask this first. Go ahead. Could you touch the rim? I could. Could you dunk a baseball? I could dunk a baseball, yes. I've probably dunked a basketball 10 times in my life. Shut up. Really? Never during...

a game with a referee. I was just talking about this yesterday. Any witnesses? There's basketball going on right now. You know, a lot of basketball. So I'm just, yeah. So you're six, two or six, one, six, one. What's your wingspan? Oh, probably six, one, probably nothing, nothing spectacular. So you had a pretty good vertical to get a basketball. It was also adrenaline. I also had a lot of friends that could jump. And so it was a little bit of peer pressure that way too, where it's just, come on, just shut up and do it. But I do remember if I dunked 10 times, six of them,

Six of those times were one day after playing basketball, like in between junior, senior year, you know. No, no, sophomore, junior year, like during summer. That's unreal, dude. My dad put up a nine-foot hoop and it fucked all the kids because we were awesome on the nine-foot hoop. Such a great feeling. And then we'd go to high school. What the hell is it doing? Air ball after air ball. Yeah, exactly. I can get the net. I can dunk on the net. Nine foot is awesome. No, it was a...

It's less of a big deal now. I feel like, you know, shooting threes off the dribble is what it's all about now because of, you know, Steph Curry and whatnot. But back in, you know, back when I was playing, dunking was the biggest deal in the world. I mean, that's, I was the test market for those strength shoes, you know, that they, you know. Really? That would kind of create. Yeah. I mean, I had a pair for the legit reason. I would jump rope them all the time. A lot of, a lot of time spent on that. But yeah. You know, when they do it now.

They go past half court. It's like one step, two steps, shoot it. And you go, Jesus, how do you guard? You don't even know what's happening. He changed everything. It's just one, two, boom. And then they make it 90% of the time. Yeah. I'm Caitlin Clark on the women's college circuit too. I mean, it's all over the place, all over the world. Yeah, just shooting. You play Sandler? Adam and I have played, I think we may have played once or twice, but not enough to have

a scouting report. I hear he's good. I know. He gets into it. He's competitive too. Oh yeah. Yeah. What are you doing? It's all fun and games till the game starts. Exactly. Yeah.

Like, get open. You don't talk to me like that. Jesus. Happy Gilmore. I'm not. He was checked a call sheet. I go, all right. You are not triggering financing out here, buddy. We are all the same. No, but no, he plays. He's played in a game with my buddy, Sam Jones, that I've played in a few times and buddy Brad Morris. But yeah, I haven't played maybe once or twice. I mean, probably the best.

The most fun I'd had playing in the, was hearing the stories of Gary Shandling's game, then getting invited to go play in that with Sarah Silver. Oh, you did? Yeah, and before he passed. And then a huge thing was when Gary was like, hey, you can come without Sarah if you want. Oh.

- Oh, that's a big deal. - It's a lovely, like a lovely sort of, 'cause I'd read about that game forever. - Oh yeah, Gary Shandling's house. - Yeah, absolutely. - Sarah, you, I mean, who were the regulars? - Oh my gosh, I mean, McKay was there. - Jimmy Miller. - Jimmy was there a couple of times. - Kevin Neeson. - I used to go in the early, not early, early days, but there was a run there when I went and I was no good and I sort of got pushed in the background.

Yeah. Not the emails anymore. You need to be a Muggsy Bogues out there. I was like, you know, distraction, whatever they call it. Yeah, I just want you out there like on the side, just like, you know. We need a new guy. We need five to keep it even. You go out there and run around circles. Or a Spud Webb. I would have been a Spud Webb.

But no, I got out of that quickly. I was D basketball in high school and our center was literally 5'3". He controlled the paint. That was when they had D basketball. Five foot tall, 91 pounds as a freshman. What about you? Were you always a bearded stud in high school? No, no, no. It was a beard of acne like any of us, right? I don't think I could grow a beard until about an hour before I got here. How did you get rid of the acne? Because I had it bad too and I bought all the products. Yeah.

And then once I said, fuck it, I'm not going to put anything on it. And then within two months it went away. Isn't that something? Did you do that? It was a little bit like it just kind of went away. Like a lot of things that have affected me or have fallen on me as almost maybe psychosomatic things, whether it be patches and growing –

a beard or, or back pain. Like so much of it I think is, is yeah, where you're at mentally. And there's so much attention put on that. And my mom, bless her heart, was always really more worried about it than I was. Like, cause I, cause I'm not looking at my face all day, you know, we're looking at our eyes. And so she was, she was really adamant. Yes. She had me going through all this stuff, going to like a dermatologist. And I think it did exacerbate the

problem. I put Stridex medicated pads. And every time I, and I realized later, it took me about a year to go, it's just making it worse. Yeah, it just hurts. Stridex fucking dries you out. And I didn't know it as a kid. And then the oil comes gushing in and then you know what's going to happen. Exactly. Yeah. But I have a handful of, you know, playing, you know, um,

pseudo dermatologist you know scars from trying to like get rid of things you know preemptively versus just taking learning the patience of just like letting it be how the mind controls let's just not get laid this year let's just ride it out take it easy were you in high school were you like captain of the team or you were kind of a

A funny guy with your friends? What was your lane? Funny guy. Like, I was the point guard. So, like, kind of a de facto, you know, captain in the sense that you're coming down. Varsity starter? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's big. As a junior. Yeah. Okay. So, you were good. I was decent. Good player. For my area and, like, my skill level. Yeah. I wasn't too shabby. But, yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I definitely – I mean, a lot of what we do on Ted Lasso is my experience of what it's like in locker rooms. You know, people joking around. We were a very fun group of guys. I have very thoughtful friends, guys that I'm still, you know, very close with and friends with to this day. And we just – yeah, we joked around a lot. Much of the chagrin I think of our, you know, our, you know, very athletic-minded alpha guys.

head coach who was lovely and playful as well, but more playful when we were listening and winning. We had the same situation with a cross-country track distance running coach.

Blood, gut, and hair, real ex-Marine, all that stuff. So were you kind of the funny guy on the team? Because I was with a lot of guys who had great sense of humor, and I think I kind of developed as a comedian in high school sports running. Oh, 100%. Because they would laugh at everything I said. Yeah, and also, like, I always grew up...

around and gravitate towards funny people. Like I had funny friends and they were funny in different ways. So like my friend Chris was more of like, Oh, what if this happened? And then another guy is like more like wordplay. And then another guy is like a guy who do character voices with another guy is the guy that we would do fake radio shows with. Or then when I got a video camera in sixth grade, the guy that you'd make fake talk shows with, you know, and, you know, doing both of your guys stuff, you know, being like an SNL,

you know, fanatic at that point, especially before you start going out on weekends, you know, on Saturdays and having a friend that can drive. Like, you know, we did, I did that all the time with, with all these different groups. And then my sisters did singing and dancing at like a,

And so I was around all those type of like more overt theater folks, you know, the people that wanted to do musicals that did, you know, summer stock, you know, in Kansas City. This is Kansas. And Kansas doesn't have a big comedy scene, right? It's just more, it was a theater improv situation. It had, theater...

Yeah. I mean, they had stand-up clubs. I assume you all did like Stanford's and so on. They must have clubs in Kansas City. Yeah. And coming through there. I know I saw Dennis Miller do stand-up right before my senior year. Me and my dad went to go see him in KC. Hilarious. Stanford and Sons. Yeah. Brilliant. But yeah, I mean, my focus was mostly monologue.

mom taking us to go see touring companies going to see my sisters do stuff during the summer and then there was a place called comedy sports that was like sketch or mostly you know all improv kind of like whose line is it anyway you know like short form that's hard actually i just love that and it is hard and if that's what you'd learn doing you know like yeah just constantly jumping through hoops people setting you up to fail like the audience and it's all baked into it you develop a little bit of a thing so fast improv is so fucking hard and uh stand-up is hard but it's

at least you can get a head start, you know, and think about it. Yeah. Cause now when you're in high school, there's a point where you go, I actually think I could maybe do this as a living. I didn't really think that when I was doing standup, I just did it one day and just said, I'll never do this for a living. I just want to try it. Yeah. No, it wasn't until moving to Chicago. I think I want to do this for a living at that point that I moved after, after I stopped playing basketball in college and stuff like I was just like, okay, quit doing that. Started doing comedy sports, working at a grocery store, living in my parents' basement. And then

I was like, I'm going to move to Chicago. I'm going to move to Chicago. You know, my folks were from there. My grandmother lived up there. I lived with her. My Uncle George and Aunt Bernadette had done Second City. You know, George went, I think, I assume that. So you had a place to land? I had a place to live for a while. George went. George went is your father. George went is your son. He's my son. He's weird. It's a genetic thing. I'll talk you through it. It makes sense.

I brought an iPad to explain things visually. But yeah, like that was when I made the decision. Like, oh, I want to try this. All the rest of it was just about having fun. It was just wanting to do something that I saw and having the opportunity to do it. I assume it's the same. Did you have stage fright?

Or were you pretty comfortable? No. Stage fright, no. I'd get antsy. I'd get excited. You know, I try to explain what anxious is to like my kids. I say it's excited plus nervous. So I was definitely anxious. But I think there was something about happiness.

an athlete's mentality towards it all. And it's something I still say today and something, again, we've used on the Ted Lasso show. There's no defense in the arts. There's nobody trying to actively, for the most part, when you're doing it, stop you from doing it. Yeah, just your own apathy, your cynicism, your ego, your baggage. I tell my sense, there's no getting your feelings hurt in show business.

Yeah. It's like no crying in baseball. Yeah, yeah. It's a monolith. It's not against you. It's not stacked against you. No. It's just a thing. Yeah. How are you going to respond to it? It was made to make you feel better. Did you, I just want to insert this because I've always been, noticed your voice and

Did you get some voiceover offers early in in Chicago with your voice? No, never, never. It seems like you have a very good tenor. He just noticed it was sexy a minute ago. Well, hey, look, I have a wife. I think that might just be morning voice. It is very sexy, but no, no, no. It might be deeper right now just because of, you know.

It seems like a good voice. Ford Motor. Sure, sure. Yeah, like Arnett has a GMC. Oh, Arnett's got it. I could never. Yeah, I did a voiceover thing for Applebee's like a few years. Sweet. Which was nice because they're headquartered back home and stuff. How did that sound? Did you put on a voice voice? Not really. It's just like, see you tomorrow. Applebee's.

Feel like a pot pie. Yeah. All the spaghetti you can eat. Tired of blooming onions? Then come to Applebee's. Stick of breadsticks. Fish sticks. But I do, I remember, you know, and it was a big teacher, a big influence in my life. She comes up all the time, but this woman, Sally Shipley, who taught speech and debate, had one of her students, she also taught radio TV, and one of her students was like, oh,

we should do this thing. You know, you should get to do a voiceover is Jason Sudeikis. He has a nice voice. Okay. And I was like, I was like, I do. Yeah. I don't, yeah, I didn't, I didn't know anything about that. And so I don't have a voice. I have, I don't have a face either. I say this, I'm like an invisible person, but you can put stuff on me or give me a voice. The silver screen. You're just, you, you are, I'm just invisible. I'm a totally neutral person. Whoever you want to be. Yeah. Yeah. You can put a nose on me, whatever. Give me an accent. It's a blessing and a curse, isn't it? You know, uh,

I'm so tempted to talk about Ted Lasso. Do not. They told us, do not. Oh, for real? I figured, oh, they said 45 minutes in.

He doesn't want to promote Ted Lasso. It says right here. No Lasso. Working at Banana Republic. Great. Perfect. And we want to spend an hour on how to fold. And he's an insane pinball person. Have you been to the pinball place in Vegas? The pinball museum off the strip there? Fucking monster right by the airport. It's unreal. Yeah, it really is. They write pinball big enough. You know where it is. And I went in. Yeah. Bing, bing, bong, bong, bing, bong, bing, bong, bing. Free game. It goes like this.

Pre-game. But I did it. I went through there and- Got all the effects. It's a good place to meet kids. I'm kidding. So, no, I went in there. I felt weird because I'm like, it's mostly adults. I go, who's weirder? You know, I'm in here. But I played Galaxia. Pew!

Asteroids. Asteroids. You don't find them everywhere, Dana. No. You don't go to Shakey's anymore, do you? Guys, I'm from the 50s. I mean, we had a pinball machine at the lake. It was the Devil's Game back then. It was gambling. It was bad news. Don't put your quarters in there. Well, Guppy would... The guy who ran the...

Where's Guppy been? Mercantile in Lake Ronan, Montana. He was the king of that pinball machine out on the deck and there were goats and we'd challenge him and I loved him. Anyway. I fell in love with it, you know, like well after the fact throughout, it's always been there because growing up, you know, I was born in 75 so arcades were big as a kid and dad taking us to go to those things and I would play, you know, like, you know, Dig Dug or any of the other games, Tron, whatnot, and then he'd always go over to these pinball machines and that was the first time I saw a dude like

you know, cradle the ball where it wasn't just luck. It wasn't, it wasn't just slapping it up there. I was kind of, Oh, then kind of got away from it. Then the felt one of the fellows that owns and created this theater called boom, Chicago and Amsterdam, uh, as a big pinball, uh, you know, fanatic and knows a lot about the history and, and, and just how the games were made and the designers. And he had one and kind of taught me and Brendan Hunt, who plays coach beard on the lasso taught us kind of the, you know, the more nuanced version of that. And then 10 years went by and then I bumped into one again. And whenever like,

Especially when you're with someone and you go do films and you're spoken for, like to go out on the town can be like laborious, especially as you, like people knew me from SNL. So me and my friend Chip, who I work with, we would go find a place. I found an app that was just like. Oh, really? Yeah, where you found out where the pinball machines were.

And it's so great because it gives you a reason to go out, give you a focus on something. It's not just having a beer. Like, you know, we're not like, you know, yeah, and to focus on. And also as people maybe start to join us, you could kind of just include them. It was always, we'd always rent a pinball machine to wherever we were shooting a movie just to kind of learn and give ourselves something to do. Oh, that's like a Sandler movie.

It is, right? Yeah, it feels like that. I think we've hatched a little PG-13 on Netflix here, boys. Jerry's Deli in the Valley was a big place to hang out. I think it's still there, but maybe it's not. Jerry's is old. Yeah, but they had... So that was the old days of Sandler, Drake, Sather, Schneider. They had pinball in there. Funhouse, a game called Funhouse. Yeah, I love that game. And we would...

Just hours. Just because there's nothing with stand-ups in the day. Yeah. Bored over us. Go bomb at night. Come back in. It's practical. It's physical. It's a quarter. It's not that bad. You get 10 bucks if you can ride it out. And if you have a good game, it lasts 15 minutes and then you're sort of competing against folks. Oh, you hate when someone's got a long ball. Yeah. I'll come back. And then you do. You hear that knock.

That's a good one. It's very close to what it is. So you lived above a Burger King. Yeah. Yes. So this is, when is this? This is my first. Was there places above Burger Kings? It must have been in New York. It was absolutely in New York. On 46th Street between 5th and 6th. It was the first place. It was the only place I looked at. I moved in. They had me at the Paramount. It was supposed to be two weeks. Is that where you were for SNL? Yes. That's what I did too. I go, really? Something's wrong with my room. It's terrible.

Two feet by three feet. I went down to the front desk and they go, so you got a king suite? I go, no.

This is my whole room? I had no fucking idea what was going on. I had to sleep in the fetal position. It was so small. But literally, you couldn't stretch out? No, you could absolutely touch the wall either side. But this was at the Paramount. This was the room, the hotel that they put you in. And they don't count on you bringing a suitcase. Because when you go in, they go, I want to go in or the suitcase can go in. But you both can't go in. It's honestly, there's a stand on your bed. It's so funny. But I was there, yeah. I was supposed to be there two weeks. I ended up extending it like six somehow.

and went to an internet cafe, looked up a place on Craigslist. My sister Kristen had already lived there for a few years, so I had her come to look at the place. And I could see the 30 Rock out the back, out the blinds. So that was why I was here. I figured I was going to get let go within...

at least whatever the writers minimum, it's burned in all of us. I know. We're just, we all sound like fire me. Why would they hire you as a writer? They, they, did they see you perform, but then also liked your writing and said, let's just try them. That's the impression I get. Yeah. I never asked. I mean, but that was the impression I got. I mean, it was a little bit like, like I would have said, like, you know, I was kidding about, you know, Sandler wanting you around the game. You always hear that Lauren, like he just wants funny people around. So even though I auditioned for it and I auditioned the year after, um,

Tracy had left and it was your Keenan got hired a fellow named Finesse Mitchell and yeah I had a decent audition I had one piece in there where I play a senator who offends black people and then he when he goes to apologize to them he then offends Jewish people and then he offends 2003 it was based on Rick Santorum like

he was like, he compared homosexuality to bestiality. And then in his apology, like just doubled down on it. It was like, what is going on? And so I did that, but it was nonpartisan. And so they liked, you know, the writing of that. Cause it was, it was, you know, taken. I like the thought behind it. Yeah. Steve Higgins was, was more vocal about, about why I got hired. Maybe you could give it to someone else. Steve Higgins was the champion for you. Yeah. Him and Tina and Tina, who I knew her and her husband from my second city days. Um,

And so, yeah. So then it was just a matter of going out there. I go into that building, walk upstairs. I was like, Chris, how is this? She goes, it's nice. Like, it's clean. Like, I go, and I don't have a good sense of smell. Oh, that's right. Any sense of smell. So, like, I was like, does it smell like burgers? She goes, you can kind of smell the fries, but it's gone by this floor. Because it was like, I think, like three or four floors walk up. And the reason why I was on top of the Burger King is because a fellow named Lou, our landlord, owned, was a, you know,

franchise guy and he built these things around the top of it I still thought we were doing SNL but so SNL sounds a little like tater tots I always go to Burger King just a key you know

If I pick you up, just come down. What was your... We always ask cast members, like, Lorne Michaels is this enigmatic... Of course. We've been doing Lorne, if you haven't noticed. His mind's a little soft. Please. Everybody does it. But your relation with him, how did it evolve? Were you standoffish at first? No, he was always...

Really like like night nice to me I think he wanted me to get out of my own way while on his watch You know a little bit like like I would say that you know the part of him that that what that hires people because he sees something in them or someone that he sees something and says that you know you should go after the this person's got something Like

I think he's seen all of us or our archetypes like a dozen times over at this point. So he kind of is like, okay, I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you Billy Murray advice, you know, attach you to someone. I mean, I don't know. I've never asked him, but that's what it felt like a little bit. Like, cause he was auditioning, you know, who to, you know, you know, like,

But he was always supportive. He was always someone that I felt I could go up and speak to. I remember after that first audition, talking to Horatio and Maya Rudolph. Horatio, I knew from Second City. Maya, who I just met, but it was lovely. I went down to go downstairs and go, they're not going to laugh. No one's going to do anything. Don't worry about it. And I went down and did it. And after I got done with my studio audition, the first one, Lauren came over and shook my hand. And I did not know what to make of it. Would not know what to make of it. Where it doesn't...

Yeah, I still don't know what to make of it. He came over and shook your hand. He stood up, walked over. Now, I walked forward and I was told that no one's going to laugh. People did laugh a little bit. It was only like five people. And then he's not going to say anything. And then he got up and did the opposite of that. I was like, I didn't go upstairs and try to make sense of it. I probably haven't really spoken much about it because it didn't.

I was like, now, I don't know if I didn't. I didn't walk out, go back to my dressing room, which was, you know, Daryl Hammond's dressing room, I believe, at the time. And he may have just walked out behind me and gone to the John. You know what I mean? Like, so I don't know. Give me a piggyback ride. But it is there. See how he will cast it sort of almost like a sitcom in a way. You know, you'll be Bill Murray and.

Yeah. Bill Hader will be sort of the young Dick Phil. Were you like a Phil type or no? No, I don't know if I was. I feel like he wanted me to be. The thing that really helped like sort of pushed me over the edge because I wrote for those first two seasons was –

Like I wrote when you came back to host once, and I was on the cast when you came back to host once. But in those first two years, there was a sketch that we did when Tom Brady hosted, and I basically did like this, like the same dancing that I do in that What Up With That sketch. The exact same thing. We wanted to talk about that. But I did that dancing because Beck was performing that week, and he had a guy that was doing the dancing.

uh, like, like kind of like, you know, off to the side. And so I just made the choice to do this. And then it made a bunch of people laugh. And I remember Tina, uh,

telling me that during dress rehearsal, when that sketch was going on, he kind of looked at the screen and goes, Dan Aykroyd, Dan Aykroyd. Oh, that move? And then we had the show Saturday, the sketch made it on, as did the other sketch that me and my buddy Joe Kelly wrote for our man Tom Brady. And then two weeks went by, and during that break, they hired me into the cast. So it was kind of like...

Well, it's such a specific dance and it always makes you laugh. Even if you... I watch it again and I'm laughing every time because it's so specific and you're playing it so earnest and so clueless. So, and what's up with that? You can't take your eyes off you. And Kenan talked about how much you...

made that sketch, you know? I mean, that's very sweet of him, I would argue. Because you didn't have a line, you're just, what did he call it? It's like a bicycle thing, and then he would do the side hip thing. The running man is pretty athletic. And you look so stupid. Yeah. And your wig, and also, I think in the Ted Lasso clip, where they say, it looks like you're in the middle of all the guys, and then it's a bit like the first show. Yeah. So it's a hilarious dance. It's very specific. What's up with that? It's just funny anyway. It's just funny, and it was such a joy. I mean, what were the, like,

When people ask me my favorite sketches from there, that one is always top three. And not necessarily because of the effort I put into it or the way people respond to it, which is always lovely. But just it was the one that we did, my generation, where when they'd start to build the set, people would start to get hyped.

And then it found that spot after update. So they'd tear away the update thing. Then they'd start putting up that and the people in the crowd. And we were all in it. Everyone was in it. Everyone was in some weird. And you'd always have like Robert De Niro there or somebody like, you know, like some weird cameo, you know, Bill dressed as Lindsay Buckingham. We knew exactly where it was going to go. We're just slotting in all these things.

And it was great to get a cameo. It's great when people even cast want to be in it or a host comes in and says, I want to be in that. Yeah.

That's the best. And so for people who don't know, what's up with that? Keenan was a game show, a show, a talk show host. And then he never got to asking anyone any questions. It was these long musical interludes. Long intro. Do you have background singers or anything? Yeah, yeah. And then you dancing. And also athletically, did you get out? I mean, you did it for a long period of time. That would wipe me out. It was more of a magic trick. I would do it for a little bit of time and then we'd...

I jump in to frame. Like that was the thing that, I mean, the thing I always look at is I've been doing that dancing since I was like on basketball teams, like from the early nineties. That's just watching UMTV raps with Fab Five Freddy and Kid and Play and House Party and all those movies. And, um,

And yet it was the same thing that made my 15-year-old friends laugh. The things that I delighted in were me learning the edge of frame and how to make it look like I'm dropping in off of something or taking a long exit roundabout thing, doing a Sherman Helmsley walk off.

And just trying to tickle Keane and trying to make him laugh and just milk up as much screen time as possible just to make Kenny Among in the booth laugh. And you were doing it different on air. You were trying to switch up little things. Yeah, we had a good spry group of people, my generation, that at some point –

You realize that if we make the boss laugh by making each other laugh, he'll love it. In a sketch, it's funny with the sound off. Like there's no real joke. Once the melee starts and the party and the dancing and all this stuff, you can just, the audience can really just laugh. Oh, it's great. Because they're not listening for any, you know. Yeah, yeah. Which is another one I wanted to bring up that you did with Kenan was the scared straight.

Yeah. And he gave you kudos too as his partner in crime, you know, going, Hey, Hey, come on. I mean, that, that thing is really classic. So fun. Cause we'd always get a, you know, the host would have something fun to do, but then, you know, Bill and Andy were in there and Bobby Moynihan is who I picture for the third, for the third and just, and Keenan,

When you get Bill and Andy cooking and laughing and then Bobby, too. Bobby's so funny. And then, yeah, Keenan would come in there just hollering at whoever I'm trying to think. I like hollering. And were you writing on the show with four other people at that time? Did you come up with this with Keenan or alone? No, that was probably him. I'm guessing Brian Tucker, maybe somebody else, Rob Klein potentially. But, no, a lot of times I was just, you know, like –

And those two instances were just, I was merely a muse. And who did you connect with as a writer? Did you have someone you wrote with more regularly or would come to you with stuff? Yeah. Well, I mean, those first two years, yeah.

I really was felt imposter syndrome of like as a writer only because I had only recently discovered like what I did, what I like writing for myself. But, but again, that virtue of having funny friends, it was like one of those things. And there are two, there are two, you know, sort of,

commandments, if you will, or like a piece of advice that Tina gave. One was like, you know, don't write anything that you feel like you can do yourself, you know, because it'll drive you crazy, especially if you did audition for the show. And I did it once and she was 100% right. I wrote a Dr. Phil thing for Jeff Richards magazine.

um, like later in my first season because I just wasn't getting anything on. So I was like, well, write something that I know. And Jeff and I worked on it really well. And it, and it didn't, it didn't, it didn't go super great at the, at the read through. And I remember it's being unnaturally upset, like where it's just like, well, you mean you know how to play it? You're like, that's my thing. Yeah. But, but, but when you, when you give it, when you hand it over, it's like,

I'm okay. I was, I was okay doing that, but, but, but I, but I, but people, it's like, it's like the, it's like people weren't hot on, on Jeff at that point in that room. And, and, and he was doing it well. It was just, it just like didn't get over that hump, that Wednesday hump. It's a tough room. God, I think when they hire you as a writer, I think Dana, it's like a little scammed. First of all, it's a little cheaper. It makes you work harder. Yeah, sure. I didn't

want to be a writer. I didn't know how to be a writer. I was from Arizona. I just barely had 25 minutes of standup and Rob Schneider and I, we got the call together and he goes, Hey, it's great news. We're hired as a writer performers. And I go, no, no, that's great. That's what Chevy Chase or someone was. I go, I don't know how to fucking write. And I don't know how to write for other people. I barely knew how to write for myself. So you get in there and they would say, you know, write for Dana, write for Mike Myers, write for whoever. And I'm like,

it's so hard. And also I barely have ideas myself and then you give them away and it's kills you inside. Cause I know. And it's, and for me, what, what, what eventually happened was I did start, I started pairing up with like Fred, Fred and I hit it off. And, and, you know, Fred's just a lovely fun guy. And, and what I couldn't, what I couldn't do was make up something for these guys, like on a blank page at that point. But what I could do is listen to what they did, do bad impressions of it, let my brain click into that and help with rewrites. Like the rewrite table was, I,

I loved, I still love it. I'd sit at any show's rewrite table. Like, you know, that's my ball back career. It's fun to help someone else's. Your ego's out of the way and you're just like, oh, how about this? To get one line in, to get anything in. It's the best. And you feel like you're in the game. You're like, if I can compete, just be me.

Yeah. Even with these guys are in the mix. Absolutely. Like, like I, like that I'm not taking up space here that I, that I do belong here. I have, I've worth being here. They haven't, they haven't wasted the other time. I told Dana this when he was there. I think when I, there was a sketch where he's played receptionist. I wanted to do it. I hadn't been on much and, and I was sort of teetering on every summer and they'd go, I don't know if we're going to keep them, you know? And I'm like, God damn, you know, how can I work any harder? Maybe I'm just not good enough. And then I, that one,

I got on and then David Bowie was musical guest. So I said, ask him if he wants to be at the end and I won't know who he is. And then he said yes. And then he wanted to call me and then he asked if he could be my part and switch.

And I said no, and it was so hard, but I go, I have nothing. I mean, and it made me think what you said about, you just want to get on. So even like one of your good sketches, you might just give to someone that you brought in just to get on to stay and then worry about it later. Like, okay, I gave one away, but I don't even know if that one was any good. You just go-

I want to do it. And he's like, oh yeah, okay. And I was like, oh my God. And I have to, I get to talk to David Bowie and then I get to go sideways with him right away. He's like, yeah, okay, go fuck yourself. Good luck with your shit. I had that. I had a different angle on that with Robin Williams, who I adored and was a really good friend, but.

He really wanted to do church chat, and this was in the early days. This was my golden ticket, and I was very careful. And I thought if Robin got so excited, it would be like, oh, look, no tits, you know, that kind of stuff. I was just afraid of it. And he even called me Saturday morning, like,

At like 10 a.m. To be in it? To play? To be in it, to be a guest. I would really like to play, you know. It was heartbreaking, but, you know, we got past that. It wasn't – but it was – in those days, your thing was very precious. You know, I wanted to keep it –

Quasi real in a sense. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, happens. Not like quote unquote sell out by giving it over to the show. I mean, again, I'm using this metaphorically. It's not selling out at all. Well, that was a lucky thing because the cast, I had Phil and Jan and people in it. And it was a lucky thing. I didn't know home base and then have the cast come and go and the host. So, Lorne loved it. Yeah. Because I didn't have to score. Did you come in with characters? Not really. No, I did like...

No, not really. Did you write them down? I mean, was that a thing? Yeah, I mean, I did like three characters and like seven impressions that first audition. And it was mostly that Senator sketch that I had mentioned. And from what I heard, like when you get to that point, like how the heck did I get here? You know, like in three years, once you sort of know you're there. How did that make it, whatever you did, you mean? Yeah, yeah, exactly. And it was as much like the banter in between, like dealing with like whether the piece played well or didn't, you know. But I was...

Yeah, dubbed, you know, being funny. So they just wanted me at the table because it did feel weird getting, you know, being an actor. I mean, I called my manager over at Brillstein, Jeff, and I was just like, maybe I fucked up. I think I should just stay at acting. No, you're in showbiz now. I'm in showbiz. And he would say, you know, you, Sandler, Chevy Chase, Tina, you know, obviously at that point. Like, I'll start as writers. It's like, you know, and I'll do sketches, you know, questions. Anything. It was great. You know, and yet...

It really took that relationship with Lauren and to the one thing that I learned there that I feel like I would encourage folks to do is like go talk to a person that can, that can, as, as, as if you can, if you have the opportunity to find audience with the person that can actually change the situation, do that versus talking to everyone to the left and right. Yeah. You know, and, and, and, and Lauren was always open to that with, with me. And, you know, I think that, yeah.

When did Two A-Holes come in? Because that was one fairly early on. That was Chris and I's first season. Yeah, so that really, you popped when I saw that. Yeah, I mean, that was this magic Christmas episode that Jack Black hosted. Neil Young was the musical guest. We had our new sort of generation was pretty intact there. Like I had come in at the end, last three episodes of the season prior. Bill and Andy got hired over the summer. And then Kristen got hired about.

like five, six weeks into the season. And then Fred, a little later. Well, Fred had already been there. Fred and Forte had already been there. Yeah. So that was, that was a, you know, a very fertile time on SNL. Yeah. The cast was. But that specific episode was that they did Lazy Sunday, the digital episode.

uh, the only island guys. We did two a holes. Will Forte did spelling, the spelling bee sketch that he had submitted probably six times in the, in the couple years, which was a groundlings trunk piece that he had that just everybody loved. It just never got over the hump. But Jack black, who is the, who was the host of my very first episode as a writer that I got a piece on, like, he was just like this lucky charm for, for, for me specifically. But I, but I feel for a lot of folks, cause he would just, he was one of those hosts that would just support the piece and,

Like in a holes, he's straight up just a

straight man. And just, and that was Chris and I, we were writing together every single week and we were just tired and we're just chewing gum and just started talking like that. Hey babe, hey babe. And you know, and just how do we make this guy's life a nightmare? How would you describe that to people who are listening? It may not have seen it. It's like two cocky young people, self involved. Yeah. Two self involved people making a business transaction as difficult as possible for the person trying to help. Yeah.

And you had a rhythm of, oh, babe. Yeah. There was a thing. Yeah, it was like chewing gum. Yeah. Hey, babe, what are you doing? What do you want to do? Yeah. We want to go to Hogwarts. You know, and then Kristen was just like this kind of like vapid, like almost like a Paris Hilton type, but, you know, just vocal fry and just, I want to go in there. I'm tired. Sometimes at three in the morning you go, is this even funny? Oh, 100%. You're just like, are we delirious? This is fucking funny. But also it's U2, which is already...

you're halfway there because people want you. You know, at that point. I mean, maybe you weren't even that. Still emerging, I think. I mean, she was off to the races because Chris had so many good characters. I mean, the Groundlings folks like blew up.

always consistently blew doors off of us Second City folks. Did they really? Yeah, I think, like in regards to characters, you know what I mean? Like, I mean, that's what I love about the, I'd say that, you know, Farrell and McKay are like bird magic, like just like platonic soulmates that were like the Hatfields and McCoys who then came together with these two sensibilities of these two amazing sketch, you know, American like comedy theaters and then boom, like, you know, we're off to the races once they decide to like

just, you know, harmonize with each other. We had more stand-ups back when we were young. You did, yeah. A lot of us were stand-ups. Didn't have real theater up in San Francisco. There was no groundlings. I would have been in it in a second.

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That's $50 off with CodeFly at BlueNile.com. BlueNile.com. I wonder what it's like to be in the groundlings today. Right. You know, because it's obviously such a feeder system and now the Hall of Fame.

With Lovitz and Phil and going, you know, must be very nerve wracking. Cause if you get in that and you're in the main company, people, you're, you have a chance, you know, I would assume so. But I think it's like, especially being out here. Cause that was one thing about second city in Chicago is that you, you, you weren't, it was just about trying to do that. Well, like navigate like that. You, you want to be a good improviser. You want to be a good writer. You want to be a good actor, but like, but you know, you wanted people to,

you know, do a good job for the piece, but it wasn't, you weren't thinking beyond like the building you were in, in a lot of places, you know, because I think it's because it's in Chicago, even though it has that same, you know, alumni, you know, plus what, 20 more years. And you're kind of famous just doing it in second city, right? I mean, that's a big deal already. Yeah. And you're getting paid for it, which I don't know. I don't think groundlings gets paid. I don't know what, if things have changed over the past few years, but can we talk about a few more of your really cool sketches? You know, I mean the commitment, uh,

I mean, I watched the, I don't know if David saw it, but the potato chip with Will Forte and the way you play, that you both played, it was such full on sincerity and drama. And then when you started to break, I just thought, no wonder he's so good at Ted Lasso. Yeah.

Like, yeah, you see the seeds of it. Sure, sure. It's comedy. Yeah. But I really felt bad for the way you played it that you, first you were super defiant. You didn't need the potato chip. It's a complete theater of the absurd. Oh, absolutely. With such commitment. I mean, Will Forte is a freak that way. He's on there. And then the way you,

decided to give it up and then the way you saw it, I mean, you must have known that was, because that's such a weird sketch that it must, people who like it must really mention it to you, right? 100%. That's one of those sketches I'd be curious to know from both of you. What's the one that people can come up to you and you know, like, oh, we would have been friends as kids if you had

If you like that, then we're like friends for life. People say, what up with that? That's great. People dress up like that character for Halloween. But I would say potato chip and main justice are two that if people come up to me, I love potato chip. Then I'm just like instantly have a soul connection with that person. Do you have one like that? Skinheads from Maine. Yeah.

I love we both have a Maine sketch. I did it on the variety show with Colbert. It was just a flight of fancy of a Petrich Farm kind of voice being a skinhead. You know, the weather's the only thing that the Jews don't control. You know, it was that level of... That's funny. What are you with in there, Clem? He goes, I hate stick for beating Spaniards. And so it was skinheads for Maine. So people at an airport come up, hey man, our friends and I was...

mention that. Yeah. Because we're skinheads. Exactly. Yeah. Thanks for making us palatable. Thanks for repping us. What about you, David? It would be bye-bye. Bye-bye. No. We did bye-bye twice. The second one bombed miserably. It's a very catchy catchphrase. It's a catchy one. Yeah. I can't believe it was only twice. That's what we did and then we went away for I went to Los Angeles the next day and this flight attendant said it. And then from then on I probably honestly heard it

maybe every day of my life for about 10 years. Because when you go off a plane, if they say anything like that, your head goes to your sketch. Absolutely. Oh yeah. And then that's the easiest thing to say. And then they were told not to say that anymore. And then they show the sketch because my friend's wife worked for American. They show them and say, this is what they think of us. So we have to change our, I'm like, geez, we've ruined everything. We say good morrow. Now we say good morrow. We say get fucked, get fucked, get fucked. I mean, they still hate you. Sorry about the leg room. Sorry about the leg room. Sorry about the leg room. Sorry, we're charging for bags. Yeah, exactly.

No, it is. It bought me some street cred with sometimes they come by and like you're on the Southwest and they give you like a thimble of water and then they come by and they go, hey, and they wink and they give me like

a two gallon jug and I go, oh my God. And then the person's actually, can I get another water? I'm like, I'm waterlogged. I've had too much. I'm holding it like a baby. And then I get fucked. I have too much water. That's mean. I know. They get mad at me. No. What about this main justice guy? That's another really, I mean, it's the same character, you know, the,

I noticed, but it's such a fun, how do you describe that sort of gag? I mean, he's like got a little goatee. He's like Colonel Sanders or something. Yeah, like what's funny, and this is one of those things that I love, like one of the lessons, like showbiz lessons that can almost extend into life lessons at SNL is the potato chip sketch

Was was done when I was I was going through a divorce I was like, you know, like not sleeping well like being pulled every which way John Solomon and Will Forte who were writing buddies went to UCLA together, etc And you know created all this stuff since last man earth and what not they write potato chip and the reason they write that thing is because I had done a sketch a few weeks earlier the first time we did

I went up with that actually when Gerard Butler hosted and I had just seen Cool Hand Luke and I was kind of like, oh, it'd be funny to do a Cool Hand Luke sketch, but Cool Hand Luke tries to get out of eating the eggs by just being like, are these free range? Yeah.

eggs. Like, it's like, he says, I bet I can eat 58. And then I wrote myself as like the George candy part. So I'm doing, you know, doing all that cow boss here. Cool. Now, you know, doing all that. And it did well, but it didn't get picked. So, so you, you, and that's the beauty of like Wednesdays is like, that's when you write one for them, one for you and you do something. And then your friends, you know, like hear things or your coworkers here at that, Oh, Jason can do this voice. And so then they write potato chip and write me in that, in that,

voice. And so that, and so it comes from that. And so they're just right from this really crazy, silly place, which is literally just me doing a bad George Kennedy from loud, bombastic, cocky, high energy is fun to do in that studio. And, and just picturing an outfit, you know, whatever, you know, again, one of those great things that I think Kristen is such a perfect example that the ground, these folks had, like they could see these characters that could just be transferred on the television with, with like wigs and just like the slight, like just a couple of, you know, props and, and,

and wardrobe and boom, off they went. So then with Main Justice, there was an idea that I had had first year for Horatio Sands and it was more like Texas Justice.

And then it's just like, then we just like added some layer of absurdity to it. We just make it main. And I mean, I've told this story before, but like Lauren and Seth hated it because there's no logic whatsoever. It's not really a main accent. It's not main. It makes them like, why are they talking like this? What is going on? Why are you talking about, you know, crawdads up in Maine and not.

Lobster, all this stuff. And myself and Mike O'Brien, who was my office mate and a good friend, we wrote together a lot. And I'm trying to think who else was in there. Oh, I think Rob Klein as well, who was a Harvard kid, you know, like, so like, you know, super clever and silly. We were just like, you, what are you talking about? What was the logic behind Toontz is the driving cat. You made us this way.

You ruined us. It's your fault. I blame you, Dad. So that's why two-thirds of that sketch, we just go through the list. We're like Bobby Moyan's character. It's like, what the hell is going on? And then I just go through just exposition. Like, oh, maybe this happened at the Hooker and Katrina. Maybe there's a time of war. You know, like whatever. It's just this weird sub-story of where does this guy go? And then we just push on through. But yeah, that's one of those ones that you just, you know, I think it was probably from

the one, yeah, the Kool and Luke, but then also being a fan of Harry Connick Jr. Like in, like when New Orleans folks would, you know, get real, real comfy and just start talking. Real comfy. Yeah. Yeah. Did you, when you were just Kool and Luke, what were the things that blew your mind as a kid? Like with movies or TV and stuff? Oh yeah, yeah. That inspired you? Was Kool and Luke one of them? No. I mean, the first one that comes to mind is Beverly Hills Cop. Beverly Hills Cop.

Beverly, seeing Beverly Hills Cop in the theater. Yeah. All of it. Yeah. Do you guys have to pay for the rights for that? Well, no, then we just laid out on it. We could do six notes. You could do six notes and then we're like, fuck. You can do it for the repeat. Marcy, get Tina, Jason. Anyway. But that was a big one.

I mean, SNL was huge. Like, you know, that was certainly. When were you in high school? When was SNL? Yeah, 94. Was it like 94? I know. I know. Yeah. But I would say. Okay. Up until sophomore year until my friend Matt Bale got his driver's license. Somehow you got a car and then you're out. And then you're out every Saturday night. What were you doing? I mean, Jesus. You're on 1130. Like bowling. I mean, I probably didn't do too much. I don't know.

What the fuck were you doing? 1030 in Kansas City. Oh, we were on 1030. Yeah, super. Yeah. Yeah, I know.

Damn. In Arizona, it's like on 930. Do you want me to do any of my sketches you may have missed? I mean, poor boy. Well, there's a map. No, I got to ask him about Sessma. Where's it on Peacock now? Everything's on Peacock. Do they have to name the network? It's a swear word. Please. Peacock. You can't really put on an art piece. Peacock. We're the Millers. Horrible Bosses. Stop me if you're in any of these. Horrible Bosses 2. Yeah, we were told...

Who were you told by? You can do whatever you like. About the age group of, you know, when you're a certain age. I know. We'll just do this. I love looking at the ones, like Dick Fuel crime scene. Well, I thought that guy was fucking awesome. I did too. I thought that was so fun. That character. Dick Fuel. It's just me doing like a bad Stallone. Or Vin Diesel. I'm doing Vin Diesel. So you've got a really good bald cap on. Like a super short crew cut. Yeah.

You're coming in. What was his name? Yeah, he's supposed to take a hit from Jeremy Renner. Yeah, and he flinches. Yeah, he's just a stunt guy, and he just flinches every time. Yeah, that's funny. And he fights back. It's so silly. But yeah, I did that for the MTV Movie Awards when I hosted. That's fine. You can look at this if you want. Okay, so crime scene is one of my favorites. We did that with Charlie Day. Yes. Okay, so now- That was-

Another great one. But that's written by Joe Kelly, who's one of the co-creators, one of my dear friends, who co-created Ted Lasso. That was a scene that he wrote for a sketch show after he didn't get asked back. He had a killer year at SNL. Didn't come back. Went on to go do great work at How I Met Your Mother, a handful of other sitcoms. He co-created Detroiters, et cetera. That was a scene that I saw him do in the sketch show. It was all about cops and magicians.

right? So he does this thing and I'm like, this is a humdinger. Like I just love the writing of it. It's so clever. And so like, it reminded me of like in that space of like the audition sketch from like Mr. Show or, you know, the, the dead parrot sketch, you know, Monty Python, you know, like one of those, like where, where it's just like the writing is just super clever. And, and those are,

two of the all-time greatest sketches. And just very quickly, it was like he's kind of doing sort of a quasi-Colombo investigating a murder. Yep. And then he doesn't relate to anything you mentioned. No, not baseball. He doesn't know what baseball is. He doesn't know what World War II is. Excuse me. I never watch television. Exactly. Yeah. And so, yeah, he's just like this cop who's just kind of a TV snob. Very Monty Python. I mean, 100%. Yeah.

And so then when Charlie hosted, I asked Joe if we could do it. He's like, absolutely. Charlie and I were doing it. I was going to play the part Charlie was playing. And then Charlie was like, what if we switched? I was like, yeah, let's do that. Because Charlie and I had done Horrible Bosses 1 and 2. I'd been on It's Always Sunny. I think he's as smart and lovely and funny as they come. He's funny. And so I was just like, and trust his instinct and his gut like crazy. I was just like, yeah, let's do that. And that sketch, I love the pieces. And it's just...

One of those things that is similar to like doing the George C. Scott or I'm sorry, George Kennedy voice is like just because you do it like there and it dies, like doesn't mean it's dead. Like just because it dies doesn't mean it's dead. Like it can come back around and find some other place or inspire some other some other thing that then fine.

Finds the right host and the right timing. Right home. Same thing with Cowbell. Until Walken came in. Yeah. Yeah, because then they do it a few times. They did it and it just never landed. Someone said they did it as the host. Who was we talking to? They said they did it and they said it didn't work. It didn't work. And then they- Got a fever. Yeah.

You just need crazy walking. I mean, you can't. It's one of the greatest rhythms for a thing. And then Will, who can lower his IQ, which we said in like five seconds. So Calvary does this thing with his eyes where he's really stupid and so committed. So funny. So the two together, it's a magic sketch. But this one I watched. God damn, that was funny. Yeah, that's Joe Kelly and Charlie Day and me just trying to get in where I fit in.

Damn. Dan, I want to ask about Horrible Bosses because- Well, we should because people on our staff were mentioning- I saw it. I love Horrible Bosses. I saw Horrible Bosses too and also The Millers. That one was another smash. Can you have Aniston in both of them? Yeah, she's in all three. What is she like? I've seen all these movies. Wait, she's in them?

I don't remember one thing. You go to her parties and you don't even know what film she's fanning? Because he cares about her as a person. No, I like- You're going to get disinvited. I like thinking, did she need coaxing to be super dirty? And I think that was the Horrible Bosses one. Yeah. Or is she like just ready to just break it out and be funny? Well, she played a stripper in the Millers and then the- She's very funny in both. Yeah, she's- I didn't get the impression she needed to be coaxed into it at all. So she reads Horrible Bosses where she's filthy. You know that one, Dana? Yeah.

Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's spraying crotches. Yeah. She talks dirty. And after, not too far from friends after that, right? It was pretty, at least she was like America's sweetheart. 2013. Or no, that was like 2010. Yeah. Yeah. So she, same years, grownups. You remember that? Throwing a wig on, you know, putting a wig on too. I mean, that was definitely her being, you know, I,

I would assume her having fun with the assumption that people make. Yeah. I mean, it was kind of, you know, the second one, I really liked the second one. It was, it was like our homage. I mean, I think the world, like I said, of Charlie and of Jason Bateman and of their partners, like it's such a fun group to, to roll with and do even press together. And we, golly, if I could,

if I could like have one thing, one do over, I would have put out that horrible bosses to movie, maybe more in the summer. Cause they, they did it. Warner brothers, new line released it from what I understand as like counter programming for, um,

Thanksgiving. And it was like, you know, because that's usually we put out Oscar movies and like family movies. And it's like, it's like, and they just, I think they miscalculated, you know, people wanting to go see a movie with their grandparents where Rachel from friends is wearing a cock ring like around her, around her neck. Like,

She's riding a Sibian for most of the movies. Somebody somewhere had that idea in a room. Everyone's like, yes! Let's do that. Plenty of those sappy dog movies. We'll go with the cock ring around the neck. I'd love to be on the side. They're just doing a scene. They're like, one more. Jennifer, maybe say, yeah, eat your pussy. Okay, rolling. And she's like, wait, what am I doing? Just to get the yell out, bark out alternative jokes. Yeah, that's how all those movies work, though. They just...

run-in jokes. That's the fun ones when you do comedies like that. I love it. It's funny people. I want us to keep doing it almost like the Marx Brothers. The next movie we're going to do is a prison break movie. Just keep doing genres, but as the three, these three goofy middle-aged dudes and just going through it. When it works like that. What's your attitude? I mean, I hear people say this a lot. They don't make comedies like that anymore or like Tropic Thunder or just

It feels like we're in a different place with comedy films. Sure, hard R. Balls out, funny, R-rated comedies. I guess they're out there. I don't know. I'm going to shut in. I didn't watch all of Ted Lasso. I think sometimes they, from the top, you get down. I don't know if I do that. You can do it, but you start to lose jokes. Even in specials, it never was. You censor yourself. Stand-up, they start cutting stuff. They start saying, and you're like, oh, because it used to be just

say whatever and live or die by it. If you're going to get in trouble, it's you. And now they blame Netflix or Amazon and that makes them nervous. So it's just hard to get out

do whatever you want. Podcasts, we're not really dirty. Dana's filthy, but we're not really dirty. Loves working blue. So you can't, so, but this is one of the last places, if you want, you can sort of say whatever you want. There's not really a boss. Yeah. And we have editing capabilities. So if you said kill all, whatever. No, we're going to take 90% of this out. We'll have to be more specific. We're going to start in one minute. We're going to start. Dude, I did one. This is such a good, this is our best warmup. I told Dana, I did one the other day and I was,

doing my fucking gross bits ahoy. I was like, bah, bah, bah, bits, bah, bits. I walked in coming in hot. It was about five minutes and they go, that's great. All right, let's roll tape. And I go, you're fucking joking. And then they're like,

We're here with David. I go, you guys, it was rolling. Everyone's fun. Always rolling productions. You want to shoot the rehearsal. Hit the button and let her rip. We covered George Wendt. We did a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We did a little bit of Wendt. Oh, you did Hall Pass. I did do Hall Pass. Dana! With Owen Wilson. Hey, how's it going? I think we should go there. I knew a guy who had a real Hall Pass with his wife. Like, literally. Yeah.

band? I don't know if he ever paid it off, but it was like they both married as virgins together and she said, you got one. So when this movie came out, I go, damn, they made a movie about that. Yeah, yeah. It's a good title. Good idea. I've been a hall pass for a couple people. Have you? Starting to get it, Dan?

Starting to get it. That's my catchphrase. I was in Vegas at the meet and greet. I say that to Lovitz all the time. Starting to get it. Yours is Come and Get Some. Come and Get Some. Oh, yeah. Should I do a couple of those for him? Yeah, go ahead. I tried to come up with the worst hacky redneck comedian. So he's called Red Rednecky the Redneck Comedian. I married my sister only because mama took me down. Come and Get Some. Got it.

Kind of a catchphrase. I asked my mom what's for dinner. She said roadkill. I said, what kind? She says, I got to take a drive. Come and get some. It's all trickles, right? It's in the jokes. And you're like, oh, is that after the joke? Come and get some. I got mine is rack on. It's your cigar pull. It burns. It's hard to come up with a catchphrase. Absolutely. Come and get some. I had to look it up. I couldn't have been the first one to say, come and get some. I remember, who's the guy that would do shucky ducky, quack quack?

It was on Def Comedy. Oh, a block comic? Yeah. Shucky Ducky? It might have been called Shucky Ducky. Oh, it might have been his name. Yeah, Shucky Ducky. I think Louisiana. Well, there's millionaire influencers that just have a catchphrase. I like hot sauce. They have a catch filter. It's a meme in a coffee cup. I don't know. I'm not a grumpy old man. I swear to God, I'm not. I like with his movies, I just say what movies he's in. You were in Hall Pass? Correct. Yep.

Okay, what else? I was in like most of it. I did like Hall Pass. Masterminds. Masterminds, yeah. John Zahn was in that. It's a cartoon one. No, that was with Kristen Wiig and Galifianakis and Owen Wilson again. I played a little...

like a hitman. And it showed up there for a couple weeks. Hired gun. You know, you come in, you screw together your sniper rifle. And then you went back and hosted. Was that kind of cool? It was. Yeah, yeah. I'd been asked prior, but the timing was off. And it was... I went back and played, you know, Biden a couple times. Oh, you did? Yeah, that's right. But at that point, I'd never... I hadn't had the chance to host. And yeah, there's perfect timing. Yeah, it was nice. I mean, it's...

it's a surreal experience. The one thing that was different was that it was post COVID. So like, you know, the table read was, which I loved, you know, like Wednesday was like,

like a little theater show for everybody, you know? Oh yeah. 55 sketches. I just loved it. And, and just the marathon. It's insane. It's insane. Just the BO in that room alone. Everyone's so nervous. Yeah. And, and also, and also everyone there has seen the best of the best of the best, like at least a third of that room has been there from the get go. So they're just kind of like, okay, yeah, we saw this. We've seen this a hundred times over. But, but regardless of all that, the, the, the opportunity,

for the first time ever, like, yeah, because we, during my time, there's a, between 45 and 55 sketches, like when, when working there, the 10 years I was there, I'd probably on a good week be in,

12 to 17 of those sketches. So the most time you're watching, reading. And read through. And read through. So then to show up and go back and to be in 95% of the sketches. Cold read over 50 sketches. Yeah. Over four hours. Sickening. I loved it. I've tried to read them. You know, you make little notes, you try to do it and then just give it your all. There's no way you could do it all. Are you a good reader? I'm...

I'm like a cold reader and stuff. Some people are exceptional and then some people are good. I mean, if you're okay with it. I am okay with it. Yeah. I, and it, it did make, and sometimes I say to anybody that is currently working in SNL or ever, or ever did like, or will like, if you get really good at doing SNL, you go, you then need to find, you need to then leave,

like during the off weeks or the summers go go play with other people that don't do SNL and you'll be you'll be like you'll feel like you know Daniel LaRusso like the karate kid where it's like oh I didn't know I learned how to do this you're faster because you're in this all-star team yeah whose perspective you're thinking of a joke after the joke bunker mentality into your relationships seems like you have a you seem to have a lot of wisdom around SNL like what would you say to a cast member who just got hired

And you had 30 seconds with them. Yeah. Like, I would say enjoy the process of creation and destruction on a weekly basis. Just enjoy it. Like, make shit, eat shit, et cetera, repeat. And don't judge yourself for when it sticks or when it doesn't. Because, like, I've never said just because it dies doesn't mean it's dead. I've never said that before, but that makes total sense to me. Oh, yeah. And there's timing. Where is the –

set in the studio who are you following what sketch are you following yeah and what's the vibe of that audience the most sometimes that I can just tell when I'm doing stand-up that there's a dead spot and I see a open mic coming up I go no chance yeah five minutes ago probably would have rode away right now it's just dead so there's a lot of whimsy yeah yeah I bet um

You know, Jerry Miner, who is a friend and was a guy that I looked up to, you know, when he was at Second City, when he was on one of the stages there, he came back to guest write. And I asked him the same question. What would you, you know, if you had to do it all over again, his time there, I think he was there for like maybe two, three seasons. He was, I had more fun. If you could, the sooner you can make SNL your recess versus your school, the better. It's easier said than done. It's so hard. It's so hard. But that, but, and yet if like, yeah.

If you're able to do that. Well, I feel like it builds like you're, unless you're a savant, like certain people, just immediate, but you're trying to fight nerves. Try not to try. Try not to be too funny. Get the card. Here's the guest. Look around. Land the laugh. Be there. And then the audience, eventually you land enough, the audience kind of see, you can feel the vibe. They're liking to see you. And then you get more confident.

And they like you more. And then I can see this happen with Cecily Strong. We were watching her evolution on the show. And you can't rush it, but it's nerve-wracking. Warren tried to expedite in a kind way. He asked me to do the warm-up before the show, like probably after my...

first or second year in the cast. And I, again, never done standup. What would you do? Yeah. I would just, I would just do like, like old school jokes, you know, raise your hand if you've never been to a TV taping before. All right. But another show of hands, who's at a TV taping for the very first time? A lot of the same people, you know, you know, stuff like that. My son mentioned you yesterday because he was at that show.

And he goes, oh, we're going to interview him. He goes, oh man, he's a really good standup. Oh no, no, no. Cause that's all he saw you coming out. Yeah. That, that, I mean, that was Lauren just wanting the audience to have a better sense of who I was before. Yeah. Before you get out there. Yeah. And he would, and he would be, you know, Norm used to do it, but like Norma would say, so I'm going to be in this sketch. I'm going to come out when I come out, really, really let them have it. Let me, let them hear it. You know, just, just, just,

Yeah, you know, it'd be great if you could like stand up and apply, right? That'd be better than anything. Lauren's like, Norm, let them not like you ahead of time and then go do your update where they're going to hate you. Don't you love when Lauren always uses the one name? Chevy did it. Danny did it that way. Billy liked it. There's only one Lauren. I love it.

Towards the end there, like on Tuesdays was the host dinners. Did you guys have those? Oh, yeah. I loved them because it was a little bit like the part of me that wouldn't do homework and then would try to talk about current affairs or current events before we started talking about Beowulf. I didn't read Beowulf, but I can talk about TWA. You know how to have a four-hour boozy dinner and then go back and write the show? I did it to avoid writing when they go, we're trying to gather people. You want to go, Spade? I'm like, yeah, I'll go.

I loved it just to see Lorne, like, get loose. And I learned through repetition. So hearing stories that he may have told before, like, it didn't bother me at all. I just kind of, like, play as Ed McMahon or just, like, or just... I was always... Like, I loved when you came back to host. You... I feel... I felt...

I always had fun making Lorne like my straight man. Like during pitch meetings on Mondays, I would, I would, I have, for years, since even Chicago, I still carry him, like these little tiny notebooks. And I just sit there with this little notebook and it would be like, all right, Jason,

And I'd go, hey, Lauren, you still need, you ran out of karaoke last night without paying. You owe me a hundred bucks. He's like, I'll get you. Okay. You said that like, you know, like whatever. And then, you know, whomever, you know, Ludacris or Ben Affleck doesn't know what my relationship is with this guy who's an icon. And it's just me like, you know, just giving him guff. But he always, like, we would always laugh about it. It was always like respectful. It was never me like, you know, being a dick to him. But it's just, just kind of like,

acting like he was just one of the bros, one of the guys. Yeah, yeah. Hosting is scary. One time I went back and I got sick during dress and I had to lay down and Marcy, I don't know if you were there when Marcy was there, she was, of course, dramatic anyway, and then freaking out, pounding on my door. I was in that little dressing room off of 8H, the host and the music are right there. So I was in there laying on the ground and I threw up and then it was mid-dress, toward the end of dress and I missed...

two sketches and I just went in and then they go so those got cut yeah the writers are like fucking awesome and then awesome dude it's already got a stink on it if we try to bring it back next week for Michael Keaton a little bit of bar flex yeah a little bar and then I I got up I mean hero is a strong word but I got up and I did the show but um

No, you're wrong. People are whispering. I was fluke. I went out there and did a real C plus episode. I hosted twice. I don't know if anyone was better, if you can consider that. I remember Adam was in my monologue once and then he, Waterboy opened and he had to fly back to LA and I was, and Lauren goes, just do standup. I'm like, it's not that fucking, I never even go on anymore. So I had to go.

do cold stand-up of like, dogs are funny. Do you know he made me do, or he made me, he asked me to do the warm-up for the fucking 40th anniversary. Oh, sick. He asked me to, because I had done it for eight years, that one that I was telling you. And again, just straight up, just being goofy, you know, I mean, Don Pardo would introduce me and here's Jason Zadai, and I go, give it up for Don Pardo, the man, the myth, the legend, the only person in this building that was quoted in the Bible, you know, just doing old jokes. God said, let there be light. He flipped the switch. You know, like the corniest, hackiest person

Whatever, but just having fun, right? But the audience is all cast. That's what I said to him. Like he has Eric Kenner, who was a buddy, a producer on the show, was a writer guy that we wrote together all the time. And I was like, what are you doing? Like Sarah Silverman's in the house, you know, Chappelle, Spade. I name checked. I was like, these guys would all kill. Like why me? Would you just do it? You know? And so I do it.

And it is, I eat so much shit. I like, it's not good. No one's listening. It's like 10 minutes before it's live. And you're looking out there. And what I've said is like, it looked like the gatefold of like Sergeant Peppers, the cover, which is everyone. Every person was famous. Every person was famous. And then famous on top of famous was talking to famous. At some point I was like, you know, said to Keith Richards, who was talking to Jack Nicholson, you know, Keith, Jack, I think if you guys sit down, people will start to follow.

long and it's just nothing. And I'm like, so I'm not bummed. I'm just laughing about, I look out in the crowd. Galifianakis is crying with laughter about how much shit I'm eating. Born then comes up to me, says, says, uh, you know, do you want me to like off mic? Do you want me to introduce you? Settle them down. I was like, yes, please. I go, yeah, man, like that'll help. And he starts to go up to the mic. I go, hold on. Let me introduce you. I go,

Ladies and gentlemen, really quick, let's give it up for the man. None of us would be here without him. The one and only, please put your hands together for Mr. Dick Ebersole. And I make that joke. And as I do that, Bill Murray walks right in front of me, looks up at me, and gives me a little thumbs up. Like, I like burning the boss. And I was like, that's why you say yes to this gig. I'll take that. And so Bill Murray says, you know, everybody quiets down a little bit. And then I got about 30 seconds to just say, hey, everybody have fun tonight. You know, like before they got loud again before the real show started. That was just mayhem. I didn't have a dressing room. I think I was just...

Hanging out in the hallway or something? My mouth gets dry just thinking about it right now. She's stargazing. Everybody we turn into is like somebody, somebody. I got to meet Eddie Murphy that night. It was like a to-do. Chappelle asked me, where can I smoke a cigarette? Yeah. I wasn't sure. Go to the stairwell. I don't think you can. What about a vape? He goes, I don't like them. Yeah. Well, all right. I know. But it was wild. Bradley Cooper, can I get a picture with you? Sure. It's something else. For one night. I know. All right. Let's talk about Ted Lasso. Yeah. Ted Lasso.

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which isn't us. E harmony is a dating app to find someone you can be yourself with. We are not dating. I want to clarify that, but the connection is what you want in a dating partner. Um, just someone like if you found someone that listened to this podcast, that's somewhat of a connection. And then you sort of build on that. You want someone with some common ground. Yeah, it's not it. Look, if you want to connect romantically over, you know, super fly or fly on the wall, um,

It just makes us happy. You don't want to be watching The Godfather and the person next to you goes, this movie sucks. You want to- So dumb. Yeah. You want to connect on all issues and harmonize in life. Similar sensibility, similar sense of humor, and similar sense of sense. I don't like when they watch The Godfather and they're like, everyone in this movie is so old. I'm like, they're 40.

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Yeah. I mean, the whole idea is you're going to take a compatibility quiz, helps your personality come out in your profile, which makes all the profiles on eHarmony way more interesting and fun to read. So I think this is the goal of dating sites, and I think eHarmony does it great. It's just finding somebody you're compatible with.

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video. As a commercial, yeah. Very well. There was a guy with a beard in that and then who made that call? I mean, there you go. Is it the same guy? It is the same guy? Yeah. Because I was watching this morning going, I don't know if they brought him over. No, no. Your guy's chemistry and pattern. Yeah, we're pals from way back when. I'll just set the table, David.

So I hear about Ted Lasso. Everyone's talking about Ted Lasso. I'm watching stuff. So eventually my wife and I get to Ted Lasso. Like everyone else are like, holy shit. It's sort of mandatory at this point. Yeah. And then it became like, this is lightning in a bottle. And you've heard everything. And you actually, you can talk to it, but you've heard from famous people, right? That just had to tell you what they thought. Can you-

I mean, you want to mention them or no, just famous. I mean, the ones that stick out were like, you know, finding out that Brad Pitt liked the show, finding out that, you know, Frank Oz writing a lovely letter, you know, at the Emmys last year, sitting next to, you know, Brian Cox and his wife. And, and, and, you know, we were at a table with some of the succession folks and then him being like, love the show. Like just, if you get it, you know, it's,

It works on so many different levels. It's very, the pop culture patter, how fast you all do it around the room. Talking about Julie Andrews movies. It's all thrown away. Julie Andrews sent Brett Goldstein a very nice headshot. Proclaiming her own appreciation for him. So, yeah, another example. And then you've got the

Roy Kent guys all these cocksuckers were gonna kill so it's like it. It's it's it's almost like Andy Griffith at times It's so earnest and sincere. Yeah, and then the likeability factor of Ted Lasso You know the country bumpkins that doesn't know he's doing he's smarter than everyone. He has no ego When the guy tried to take you down that actor would be Muhammad Muhammad Yeah, and then you did your press conference and turned it so what I?

So you do the NBC thing and I watched it again and you're a fish out of water. So then you guys get in a room, they get the order. Yeah. And so when did you know like, hey, holy shit, we got a real hook for this now? Because you cast all these other characters. Yeah. How does that come together? I mean, it's like-

It starts and stops. Because we did the first commercial in 2013. The second one in 2014 we got to do because the one in 2013 was well-received. So it's sort of well-received just by your friends. They hear it. Yeah, but we also hear about it from the football. Because it was made to bridge the gap between American football fans and fans.

soccer fans and, and Brendan who plays coach beard and Joe Kelly, who was one of the creators of the commercial. Uh, and we're all friends and we're kind of like Goldilocks. I know nothing. Joe knows a little bit about both and Brendan knows a lot about both, but mostly in more importantly, soccer. And so we, we, we tried to do that, uh, with the first commercial and it, and it hits like this weird Venn diagram of football fans, like it's soccer fans, like comedy folks like it and the advertising, you know, like the business people, uh, like it.

And so we get to do a second one. They don't want to give us the same budget. Meaning they don't want to fly us out to the UK. That's okay. All right. We'll make the commercial about how Ted got hired and fired in three days and loved, fell in love with soccer, fell in love with the UK. And so that's where like all the enthusiasm and like, like, like, like not the egolessness that, you know, to a lot of degrees, you know, came out. So then in 2015, uh,

Joe and Brennan and I meet in Brooklyn. My partner at the time was like, you know, what do you, you guys all really enjoy doing that. You should do something. I was like, yeah, but what? So we sit out for a week and we're like, is it another commercial? Is it a movie? Is it, is it this? And we, and we sort of modeled it after the British office, you know, six episodes, one season, six episodes, second season, then like an hour and a half special for the third season. And we just, we just, just all these story ideas and characters just dumped out of us in a

If that was a week, we worked on three projects that week. I'd say four out of those seven days were just dedicated, and we just filled up these pages. Then it goes away for a couple years. Olivia and I have kids. A couple years? A couple years, yeah. We didn't do anything with it because kids, Joe and three other buddies created a show called Detroiters with Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson and our buddies at Canon. And that was on Comedy Central, so that was taking all of Joe's focus. I was doing little things with Forte and Vogue.

movies here and there. And then Bill Lawrence approaches me about doing a project. We talk about that. That doesn't quite, you know, you know, we don't end up doing that, but he's like, if you have any ideas and I have like this stack of like 50 pages, like a, you know, first draft rough draft of a pilot, but then all these different breakdowns of episodes and ideas and whatnot. And,

you want to take a look at this? I sent it to him. She gave it to Bill. Yeah. I gave it to Bill. Bill. And so that's, so to answer your question, it's when someone that knows that much about television looks at and goes, Oh, there's something here. Oh yeah. You guys, you guys could do this. Probably 90% there with that. To a certain degree. Yeah. I mean, a lot of it, but not that Bill's influence wasn't immense and super duper helpful and really was the gas that got this sort of pre like this old jalopy. Showrunners are big, big in this town. Like they, they almost are more important than the idea or the stars. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's, it's, it's,

And he provided all that. So he really got us moving. And I look back through the text recently, kind of remind myself of our own origin story. And it really took a good calendar year for just business. He had other things going on. We had other things going on. And navigating the deals with... I mean, it was NBC on the rights. Warner Brothers is where Bill's deal was. A show for Apple. And that's...

And that was once Apple came on because we pitched it to everyone, but Apple was the only one to say, we'll take it. We'll take a shot at it. And then, you know, then all the deal making after that. It takes a while. So other places, you went in with a pitch and they said, no, thank you. Yeah. Netflix passed, you know, Amazon passed. I mean, it makes like, I get it. Well, until you see it. Yeah. No one believes until you see it. But you did have...

Proof of concept. All you need is one. But the commercials are pretty broad and I understood that. Right. All that can't sustain. And yet we tried, we did do our darndest to pitch the tone of what it was. And yet, yeah, nobody was, nobody was buying. And I don't begrudge anybody really. No, no. Tim Cook. Yeah. Timmy Cook. Yeah.

How did you write the British characters, though? Like, the woman who plays Rebecca is so good. I mean, all the British people are so good. How did you put yourself in how they would react to the Americans? Because they're so well-written, too. A little bit was good fortune of Brennan, Joe, and I all getting to work in Europe. You know, even though we did theater, you know, for varying degrees. Like, Brennan, like, off and on for five years. Joe, off and on for, like, two, three years. Me, off and on for a year. Yeah.

Like we're just writing archetypes, you know, and just of like the American, you know, whatever spirit, you know, and the assumptions being made. And we'd made jokes about all those stereotypes and assumptions while at Boom Chicago, you know, taking the piss out of ourselves. So we kind of had that to a certain degree. And I mean Brits are like, you know, in a fun way, you know.

One other thing that I feel like I learned when doing stuff at Boom Chicago is how – that we're more similar than we like to think, regardless of flag or, you know, age or race, gender. All those things, those complicated, amazing things that make the human jambalaya. Like, at the end of the day, you know, we like salt. We like sweet. We like, you know – Yeah, we're Americans. Yeah. But, I mean, even across –

everywhere. So, so if there's, if there's an archetype of someone that is too positive, we, I think any of us will assume like, oh, they're not, they're a nightmare or, or something bad's going to happen. And he just sort of played against those, those things, you know, 75 years or however many years of sitcoms, you know, have us thinking that these things are supposed to go this way. These things are supposed to go that way. And, and we just try to like twist them or just turn them just a little tiny bit, like nothing,

Again, nothing that we thought was. So you don't see everything coming. You know, some people are smart. I think they see everything coming. And then you go, oh, it's a little not what you think. Yeah. Exactly. And I remember feeling that way when watching the documentary about Mr. Rogers being like, oh boy, here comes the dark turn at minute 50. And then it doesn't. And then you're like, okay, they're going to wait until an hour and 10 minutes in. Then it doesn't. You're just like, oh, he was just a decent man who was trying to make a difference.

In children's lives and also adults? Oh, wow. So there's people like that. House aversive. That's cool. Yeah, right? Yeah. What do I do about that? I mean, obviously, like Ted Lasso, the first season, there's a lot of failure. Yeah. And the way, and then just the fun of watching how he navigates it. Yeah. And how he encourages other people to do it. Like for me, it also...

it always reminded me of like highway to heaven or, you know, touched by an angel, like this idea of like, like that this person would come in and, and, you know, sort of act this way and people go, what the hell's going on here? Right. And then, you know, like just, uh,

subconsciously, I didn't realize at the time, but a big thing was about his egolessness. Like if you don't... No ego. No ego. If you don't put any... If you just play it without any of that. He's not trying to get over on people. He's not trying to trick anybody. And it's still 100% consistent regardless of people thinking that it's...

you know, different than that now than it was then. It's like, it's, that's. I talked to someone the other day who went on some psychedelic trips with ayahuasca and or mushrooms or whatever. And it was really all about getting rid of the ego. Yeah. Because once the ego goes away, then something has changed this person. So it's interesting. You mentioned,

Ted has no ego. Yeah, that book, How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan was a big influence on me. And the times that I had done, you know, mushrooms, you know, in my Amsterdam days. Oh, the Amsterdam episode, I saw that a couple weeks ago. That is high art. Oh, yeah. No, that's something you have to see. That episode, you got to watch more than once. Yeah, thank you. But the whole show has so many levels to it. It can be...

slapstick, it can be funny and silly and then it can be very real. It's like when you're playing darts, you, Ted. Yeah, sure. And you go, something about, I'm just curious. Yeah, be curious, not judgmental, yeah. Did people mention that to you? A handful, yeah. People have asked me to write that on their arms and they get a tattoo. And it's not his and I don't even know if it's Walt Whitman's. I mean, we say it's Walt Whitman's because it's sort of

It sounds like it. Yeah, your character's casually always quoting Robert Frost, but it's always thrown away. Yeah, trying to be. Yeah, because he's not too... And so do you shepherd it like a sketch in a way? I know you have your three other...

partners by the way there is so many producer credits on the on the show it's amazing i don't know i just watch the show wait am i a producer i don't know you're on it you might be you might be after this you're co-executive but do you you treat it like so you're probably someone else is technically directing but you're going to be you're just going to be an overriding creative force in it just like shepherding a sketch yeah i mean the way i can it's it's a little bit like

it's a big old cookout. Everybody brings a dish and I just sort of help put things on the plate. But the sensibility has to stay wherever you want it to be. Well, if you, I'm sure something sounds false, you can stay and say, I don't, this doesn't feel like it. Yeah, yeah. That's been afforded to me from the get-go. And do you, it's done now, right? So you miss, you're going to miss it, I'm sure. I will, yeah. I mean, we're still, you know, like I still watch cuts for like, you know, music,

stuff or something like that. But for the most part, yeah, but all the editing's done, all the writing's done. And now, yeah, we have the final four episodes being rolled out and then we'll, you know, a handful of press here and there, which is a joy to do because we all get along, actually. In the editing bay, is that what they call it? Yeah, yeah. So it's sort of, there's so many choices in there. And so I would assume coming from all those years of sketch comedy and other things,

And you may have people that are on the same sensibility, but sometimes you'll know, or I assume you're going to know, oh, we have to go to that reaction shot a little sooner to get the laugh. Yes. So there's all that mathematics in there. And so this show is landing it so consistently. That stuff's hard to do. I would assume it's either a few people that are right on the same frequency or one person that says, guys, I think we should do it this way. Yeah. But there's a reason why it's so brilliant. I mean, I think it's an...

just the best idea winning and the others a certain level of harmony in it and it is something that I learned in that same Karate Kid way that I was talking about with with SNL where you know by the time by the time you were there and by the time you were there mm-hmm 20 you know 15 years later all those same people were still there building those sets making those props building those wigs you know and they're all great at it they've done 10,000 hours times you know just our three generations much less the two prior and then yeah four cents or whatever and like

I was like, okay, I'm going to, my sketch got picked. I'm going to go into that room with the heads of each department and just let them know what the sketch is about from my perspective without pontificating, without, without, you know, being condescending and just let these geniuses do whatever they want to do with it. And then you just, we have done that.

With this show, like where you and if you leave a little space for the people to create behind the camera and in the office and in marketing, whatever, to lean into the show, the same the same space and grace, we want to afford the audience as well. I think a lot of people get, you know, feel more ownership. Yeah, they're good in their job and you let them do their job. And if you hire good people.

I like to not worry about some things. I like to kick at someone and say, you know what, you're doing way more than I do. And you come in there and try to boss me on. It's nothing like someone handing you some great material. Something good and you get the credit basically. And I get the, Robert Spiegel was that for me and Bonnie Terry Turner. You know, in terms of, it's such a difficult word, art or whatever. It seems like there was some, and you can talk to this or not, an autobiographical tinges in the third season based on you potentially, your private life experience.

You can speak to that or not, but I couldn't help but notice. And I thought it was so wonderfully done. Because I've been on the road at times with my sons and stuff like that. Yeah. Those are very poignant scenes. Thank you. Yeah. What's interesting is that my relationship to my life, like I'm...

It wasn't there from the very get-go. Like even when the initial idea of doing a show is like, well, why would he go there? Because a guy like my age would have most likely have a child, at least one child and probably be in a relationship. If he's not, there must be a reason why. And so that's why the pilot ends the way a pilot. I mean, like literally the second it was thinking about it in the long form of a television show, I was like, I knew that that was the ending of the pilot. It was going to be okay. So –

So none of that was autobiographical. And then his life sort of marched on. The only thing that, that, that in my life that helped inform the playing of things and maybe even the, the, um,

the the notion of a story point when breaking the episodes was being a father and so what that's like to be away from from your child because you know Otis and Daisy were you know the season two and season three were in London so I wasn't away from them you know with with you know the way we we split our time uh with our children it's a week on week off so um but I was always you know they don't do overtime in the UK so I was home I was able to be home for real yeah yeah so like

They literally afford you the opportunity to make a living. I know, right? Yeah. And so I didn't have to – but, you know, luckily I've never had a parent take their own life. So you just kind of like have to do the acting thing of like empathize with someone that has gone through that or has been forced to go through that based on the decisions. And so, yeah, it's –

I understand people conflating the two. Oh, no. It's a good answer that it's not maybe people are reading in a bit much. Well, it's a place to go anyway. Yeah. It's what would naturally happen in these things. Because so much of it for me is like what happens when –

If you haven't broken up with someone you haven't been broken up with, then there's a whole bunch of music out there for you once you do. There's a whole bunch of movies and TV too, whether you're on either side of that thing. And boy, you think you like songs now. They're going to get you through things and make you want to jump off a roof and think you can fly or the opposite. It's a compliment to your acting too, you know.

When you have that little soccer field, the Lego set. Yeah, yeah. You're missing your, you know, or just the little references to FaceTime or my son's here right now. There's where his flight is. All that detail. Yeah. I mean, that's just also having friends that, you know, go through all these things. And just, yeah, just keeping those things in your head, heart, and soul and letting them bang around there. Then at some point when they come out, they come out. You know, I think about, watch the...

it's not usually conscious. Like I watched the audio commentary for Godfather. I think it was either one or two just recently. And it was talking about how he made Godfather one and then everybody loved it. And he's like, do Godfather two. He's like, I don't have a Godfather two. He's like, I don't, he goes, but I forget the line that the studio had to have for us. Like you found out the formula for Coca-Cola and you won't make any more bottles. Like it's such a great line.

And he had this – separately, he had this idea about a father and son story where you show the father and son contemporaneously when they're at the same age. And then that like –

came down, he remembered that and that became Godfather too, you know? And so it was like these things going on in the world and life, you know, are one thing, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's their time to show up. You know, Christopher Walken hasn't, hasn't showed up to say the lines yet, you know? And so you're kind of like, all right, well here, here it is all at this time. And so is it because one of our Lord isms that we remember is he said to me once,

Never leave a hit. No. So with Ted Lasso, is it in your mind? Is it done now? This story is done. It sounds like such a political answer, but it's the truth. It's like we only conceived these three. Then this thing became this big old thing. I mean, how much content is the three seasons? If you think of it as a movie. Oh, gosh. I mean, it's 10 episodes, 12 episodes, 12 episodes. But this season is probably twice as long as –

the first season. The episodes are just, you know, just longer. There's more. Yeah. It could go back to being an NBC promo. Yeah, exactly. You know what I think you could do? The bell curve. The natural. The Doppler effect. I know what, you know what, this is some of Flight of, sorry, I'm interrupting. I'm cross-talking. Cross-talking.

Tarantino wrote a book after Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which I loved so much. It feels like Ted Lasso, if there ain't going to be more television, that that character, people would want to hear. Have you thought of that? 100%. Oh, good. We've thought about – Writing a novel about him. Whether it's that, whether it's –

doing podcasts about the episodes to sort of, you know, offer those audio commentaries, which I was, you know, so lucky to grow up in a day and age of DVDs just to sort of talk through things and themes and the people that have, you know, expressed interest in the show and also explain the show in a much more cerebral way than I ever would have, you know, been able to, you know, explain it to anybody.

Um, and even, even when they're off or wrong, you know, it's, it's still interesting, but, but yeah, I mean, there, you know, there's opportunities I think for, for spinoffs, the way people have, have gravitated and cared for these characters and seen themselves or their friends or their family in these characters in these situations is, is, you know, we were hoping people would do that. We didn't expect it to be. When was, uh, when did you kind of go, holy shit.

halfway through the first season or when you won all the 18 Emmy nominations? At some point, you went. Even winning the Emmy or even the nomination for the Emmys didn't... I think it... I don't know, man. It came out during quarantine, so we didn't know because I'm not too active online and less so then. I just...

A guy would drive by the house and I'm taking out the garbage and honk, hey, I love the show. Oh, right. And it's a little bit the same way I felt SNL days. You know, you walk around on Sunday and people are like, great show last night. You're like, oh, right. People watch the show. Someone's watching. You know what I mean? It's terrifying. You can get a feel for what works and what doesn't sometimes just out in the real world. Yeah. Oh, 100%. Yeah. And it's usually very different. And then you're getting like slaughtered with it. You go, oh, shit, something's.

then an Emmy nomination. Yeah. Then Apple probably tells you it's doing well. They might not say exactly how, but it's doing well. That was the, that was a big difference. That was, that probably is from a business side of things, understanding that they have access to metrics and information that they don't share was, was it premiered on a Friday. We had already started our writer's room for season two, like, you know, just kind of just in case, just in case, uh,

Then Monday calls the heads of Apple call and say, hey, so we'd love to pick you up for a second season. Then two weeks after that, we'd love to add, can you do two more episodes for a second? Then two weeks after that, we'd love to get you for a third season. And you're like, something has changed. They know something that I don't know in the inner sanctum. Yeah. But that anecdotal thing of walking around, like, became more clear later.

Because season two, we were in lockdown up there in London. So we started going to things later. Yes, we were winning these awards, but then you feel like, oh, is that just inside the bottle or the bowl in the showbiz box?

and, uh, which is lovely and flattering. And, and also a little something you keep, I don't know about you guys, but I keep a little bit like, well, you're going to kill do season four. It'll crush. Yeah. You don't want to, you don't want to spook the muses. And so by the, by the time we're going back there to do this, this past third season, all of 2022 and getting to take, you know, the kids to like football matches and stuff and have people calling us coaches and being excited to see us. And like that, that,

I would say a little, you know. And hearing Brad Pitt loved it. Yeah, exactly. That's always nice. Miss Piggy and Yoda. Come on. No matter what you do, Dana, like you've done it, we've done it. You hear from the streets, like I could tell you the top movies that they like, the top TV, because it's just in order. You just hear this one the most, this one the most. And they probably only really like probably 40 of my movies. Like really, really love. I like them all. You know, Rosetta Stone, the most trusted language learning program.

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I want to ask you a question. So this is, so you're, you come off. Why did I add that? I don't know. We have editing capability. Get rid of anything I say. This is what's curious to me is because I came off like a rocket. I've never had anything because of this 30 years later, I'm having a little bit of a moment in Hollywood, nothing that anyone would know about, but I'm getting more things coming at me.

So you come off SNL, you're doing all these movies, Pandemicus, whatever, you do this. And now here you are. You're the belle of the ball. Hollywood loves you. So now you're wiser, more mature. What's coming at you? Like movies, would you do a potato chip commercial if the problem was right? 100% with Forte and Solomon, yeah. You got to dance with the ones that brought you. I couldn't do it alone. You know right now that you have this heat and that the audience loves you. You're in this moment.

And so I just wondered how, because now it's happening a second time. Here it is again. Yeah, it doesn't feel like it from the inside. Maybe that's my own just sort of like... Are things coming at you though? To a degree, but like there's a little bit of like, what are you going to do? Or you could get things off the ground. What do we do? What do we do with it? With the TV show, it'd be probably scary to go do one right away. Like you want to sit for a second. Yeah, unless it was a complete, you know, about face. I mean, there's a few...

ideas out there. Like I was, I was really, really wanted to do this, uh, this play on Broadway with, uh, um, but, but just with, with family, it's, it's tough. It's tough to, I'm still trying to navigate those real life things. And also just where, where, where my, you know, head, heart and soul are at. And, and, and,

There's also a great desire to get a little bored because I – Take your time. Yeah. I would say if anybody was advising, I would say just don't be in a hurry. This thing is still landing. People are discovering it today. I tell anyone who hasn't seen it, start. Yeah. And I believe in that wholeheartedly. I –

What I truly love is seeing the way all these great people behind the scenes, in front of the camera, the way that their lives have changed from it in a way that I was afforded an early glimpse of that with being hired by SNL. That changes the way folks that maybe weren't supportive of a child taking a path in the arts, mine were luckily, but it changes the game there where it's like my son...

- Just works out less and less. Just anything on a, especially if one of their first things is a hit, like it's also scary because some people like, we used to talk about when you go on Friends and you're a young actor and you're on Friends and you don't, as much as you tell yourself, you don't know how hard it is after that. Like it can't be like this all the time. You know, everyone treats you like a certain way.

on anything that does well you look back it's always going to be ups and downs so yeah it's kind of like what you bring to it like I like I know we worked just as hard on you know any of those movies that you that you named as I did on this I was charged with more responsibility and being like you know like from the writing side producing side being the final like tube for you know decision making and you know tone cop and whatnot that's

That's all lovely, but at the end of the day, what I'm putting out there and what I want to put out into the world and how I go about trying to do that, been doing that from any of these sketches, from the sketches that weren't on SNL that I did with all my buddies back in Kansas City up to now. I think if it's coming from you, or your very tight friends, as long as that's coming from that area, then it's probably going to be good. Unless it's

I don't know if Quentin Tarantino or whoever your favorite director, Scorsese, but in lieu of anything else, if it's coming from you, it feels, it feels authentic. And all I've done is added to the people that I want to make laugh and, and be proud of, of what I'm doing and then how I'm going about doing it. So it is those guys that I played basketball with, you know, those guys from my, you know, quote unquote cross cross country team. But then, but then I acquired everything from my, you know, uh,

uh, days of improv in Kansas city, Chicago, boom. And so it's just like this, that same, that same gatefold, that same, you know, that I saw on the 40th, like I have that many people, you know, behind me and they're not looking over me being like correcting my work or making me second guess. They're just encouraging me. And, and, and you just want to kind of be able to look back there metaphorically and be like, yeah, have them, you know, doing that nod of just like, yeah, do it. Yeah. That's good. Doing that. Keep being, you know, be,

you just want to be proud of you. You know, you want to, and you also want to feel getting to come through sketch and improv in a whole community like Chicago could have happened to 10 dozen of the people that I got to work with, you know, just different time. You know what I mean? Yeah. That, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that,

I don't know. There's so much whimsy to this game. And it's there before the grace of God go I. I mean, you have to stay humble and go... I love Paul Newman for that. He was my favorite celebrity. Because one day they would go, oh, you've raised 500 million from your spaghetti sauce. He goes, I wish I'd kept the money. He didn't want to be put on a pedestal. And the other thing...

How did you do it? How did you, I could give you a thousand answers. Just plain dumb luck. Yeah. So just those two things. You asked about movies that were huge influence. It's not a, not a comedy by any means, but a big one that shows up in Ted Lasso all the time was Color of Money. Like, and you know, in 1986, so like between my age of nine and 11, I watched these movies that I'd go to theaters with my dad. Things are R rated, you know, like movies are everything. They like,

Everything. That the mental, excuse me, the male mentoring in that movie, like of, you know, Color Man and Tom Cruise. And Tom Cruise after, you know, ladies and gentlemen, you know, Top Gun, Tom Cruise, you know, well after Risky Business and All the Right Moves and all that. But like now he's like a bonafide, like, and he's incredible. That's when you don't hear enough about Color Man. He was a killer. It's because Scorsese has so many good ones. Yeah, I guess. But Color Man, I like...

Like, I love that movie. I was talking about that. Ed Norton and I saw him recently. We were talking about the movie. And I thought I was going to get laid into when he started talking about Scorsese because that guy knows. The guy's done the thing and forgot more about movies than I'll ever know. Yeah. Like, and he brings up Color of Money. I go, I was so ready to geek out. That's my favorite Scorsese movie. And a lot of it has to do with the way I saw it, but then also those performances. I recommend people to see that movie. And then if you love it, then go back and watch The Hustler as like a prequel. Yeah.

Jackie Gleason. Is that Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman? Yeah, where he plays Fast Eddie Felson, the same character. Same guy that wrote the novel, Walter Tevis, who wrote both books. I like pool hall movies. I do too. I like Rackham. We were going to call this podcast Rackham. That's good. For real? You have to do a pun sign. You go, Rackham, Rackham. That's a really good. That's heavy. A transition with the sound of the balls. Rackham.

Because there's a mystique to people that can play the piano really well as adults that you've never seen them play piano, that are really good at Jeopardy and pool. If someone's good at pool, especially if they didn't grow up with money, they didn't grow up with a table in there, how do you get good at pool? The way they do the chalk and the way it goes perfectly on their hands. The math of it, the beauty of it, the sound. It's so complicated for them.

It is. But, you know, the dramatic movies affected me in 2001. I wasn't everything watching John the Winner's and stuff. Those things, I don't, I wouldn't say, could I do that? It was just like, just blew my mind. Yeah. As art, and the Beatles, of course, Pink Floyd. Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton movies, like, where they're just, where they're funny 15% of the time.

of the movie, but it's like they're carrying this dramatic narrative. Mr. Mom. Mr. Mom is incredible. Mr. Mom is a fun thing to get to. I love that. Mr. Mom was a fucking. Keaton has just a magic as an actor. Yeah. You know. Gung Ho, I love that. That was a movie my uncle George. Gung Ho. That was great. I have a Gung Ho poster that my aunt Nancy gave me in my basement. But again, Michael Keaton was so. Oh, he's great.

I mean, him and Tom Hanks. Like, just, they were these modern versions. Tom Hanks and Big. Yeah. Tom Hanks, what'd you guys think of Punchline? Interesting. I mean, that was your world. We knew someone who trained him, Barry Sobel. Of course, yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought Tom did a great idea. I mean, he did a great job. Yeah. It's such an interesting, like, having, I guess one that we could talk about all together is like, you know, Studio 60. Like, when someone makes a,

a film or television show about your world. Like we're, we're very blessed to have a bunch of the football soccer community having, you know, taken us under their wing and embraced us in a way that again, we weren't, you know, jockeying for, but the fact that we got it authentically and organically, like really, really floats our boat. Yeah. We're very, very pleased about that. It's hard to make a movie about standup, you know, and I think distance running, there's never been chariots of fire, not really. The,

difficult to capture that. I think usually there is the meltdown and then the mic feeds back and the comedian has a meltdown. Which of course Tom Hanks is a brilliant actor, played it perfectly. But I've never seen that in a comedy. Well they also have locker rooms at the Embraer. Where the comedian turns and then there's a squeak. Wasn't there a locker room? Yes there was, yeah. I think he went to a locker room dressed up as like a nun or something. What he did for the show? Yep.

it did it as well as anyone's done it but it's hard to do it like if someone they talk about doing a dramatic show about a sketch show yeah like studio 60 when they did I love the pilot and then studio 60 yeah it's just tough tough to capture that that was all I watched yeah it is it's very it is what are the movies you revisit now Pulp Fiction is a big one like I think Die Hard is perfect early Quentin what did you say the second one Die Hard I think

I think movies you can watch again. Like my wife and I, it's, you know, we watch a lot of Redford. Yeah, yeah. All the President's Men. Yeah, of course. Three Days of Condor. Which Cassidy Sundance can't I show to my sons six months ago? Unreal. Unreal. This is awesome. Yeah. It's really fun. You have all that ahead of you. How old are your kids? Otis is nine, Daisy is seven. Yeah. So you're, is he asked for Save it Private Ryan yet? Not yet. Not yet. No, no. But,

But I do show them. I mean, I remember my dad taking me to see Beverly Hills Cop in the theater. I saw that movie in the theaters with my dad, not supposed to F words all over the place. You never forget that and never forget it. And it made me like I wanted to be Eddie Murphy so bad.

So bad. So bad. Like, you know, and more so than like Chevy Chase and Fletch. I loved Chevy Chase, but Axel Foley really like knocked my socks off in a way that still does when I rewatch it. And they're coming out with a new one, right? I guess, but, you know, we'll see what happens. Yeah. But at least we got the...

I loved Animal House. Animal House was my R-rated one. They showed the girls T-I-T-S. I know, it's heavy duty. And it was pretty great. What does that mean? In the middle of the movie, I go, I have a boner. It was so illicit and so nasty.

And Monty Python. Monty Python was huge. That was pretty young when we stuck in there. Clockwork Orange. Yeah. That scared me. Saw The Longest Day when I was seven in the theater. Jesus. The black and white World War II film. Yeah. Shousey, but I don't know. The ship's come up. I was a little broken German there. Did you see The Fablemans? The Spielberg one? I haven't watched it yet. I watched it on the plane ride. What do you think? I loved it. Really? Yeah. It is Spielberg.

Why am I shocked? Spielberg telling, you know, autobiographical like his story, but just his love of movies and, and having children that are falling, you know, in love with storytelling and getting to see their mom and dad do it. And, and, and, um, you know, so much I feel of, of, and I understand the laments of over nepotism, but so much of it is, is seeing someone do it and see them enjoying it or seeing the way people enjoy them. I, you know, nothing that I've,

purchased or have been given on a plane will move Otis towards wanting to be do what I do for a living more than him probably seeing people give me as many high fives as they do when I go to when we go to a soccer game when they're happy to see when people are happy to see you being polite and again because of the themes of this show they're like yeah I mean it's something that we

I mean, how often have we had the opportunity for people that work in comedy to have people tell them, take them aside and be like, I discovered this. I watched this when I was going through this. That helped me. That's the thing. It's like if you were famous, I'd want to pick on Porky's. But it's something like that. Sure. Like a hard-R weirdo movie that everyone loved. But with Lasso, TL. TL, yeah. Teddy. With Teddy, you –

you know, the people aren't going to be emotional about it because it touches everything. Yeah, Hannah gets that a lot who played the woman who plays Rebecca, just the amount of women that come up to her and just say, you are playing me. Yeah, she is a force of nature, obviously. So the thing I was going to say earlier about the writers, you know, we let all the Brits anglicize things. Every now and then do we push back where it's just like car park versus parking lot or saying tie instead of draw. And,

Some of those things drive people crazy, and I understand that. But that's just, you know, this is the phrase that I would always use just so folks in Kansas can get it. So you're trying to like to get too much in the weeds of like the politics. You don't want to lose. Yeah. Because I think if your dominating emotion is confusion, then you're that much further away from either being happy or sad. You talk like Ted Lasso sometimes. Say that again. Or vice versa. If your dominant emotions are. I like your. Confusion. If your dominating emotion is confusion.

If your dominant emotion is confusion, you're that much further away from making

making it, if the audience is confused, then they don't know whether to laugh or cry at a given moment. So, yeah, you kind of try to give them breadcrumbs. That's me during Tenet. And that's nice. Exactly. Juno, at most, my dominant emotion was anger. Juno Temple. Yes, ma'am. Is great. Just got to go through the list. Well, no, I just, I like all these two actresses, especially are great. Obviously, Britt Goldstein, just the way he stands all the time. Oh, yeah. You know. Like a gunslinger. Yeah, he's,

He's just funny. He's a funny, funny voice. I'm sure someone's going to do him on SNL. I know. I'm surprised they haven't yet. I'm really surprised. He's such a funny character. But that's all him. It's fun to hear him talk about it because it's him doing Bill Sykes in his mind from Oliver. He's just trying to be Bill Sykes. And so, yeah, when I'm doing rewrites or when you're breaking stories, just like the same thing at the rewrite table at SNL, just doing bad impressions of all these –

very specific, you know, authentic people. I'm just, you know, talking like this with Rebecca and doing like that. And I'm doing bad. I can't do any of these accents. Right, but you're just hearing them. You're just hearing the rhythm and the cadence of it and, you know, trying to draw from what they're, you know, what you... And when did you decide... Sorry, one more question. One last one. When did you decide that you would use...

R-rated language. Was that pretty early on? Yeah, that was early on. Because you kind of use it, you don't lean on it, but all of a sudden it's like, these fucking coke shakas, mostly from him. Yeah. But that's an interesting dynamic. I 100% didn't want to use it myself. I didn't want him to be, you know, all those movies that you, you know, I sort of got, and I mean, I was making these choices, you know, for the reasons I made them, you know, the movies that I was doing and the characters I was playing, a lot of them were CADs, you know, guys on the make, you know, like trying to get, you know,

and whatnot. Like Dick Fuel. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Like, he just wanted respect. You know, he just wants respect and a paycheck and a good lunch. But like, but then,

So I knew that Leon for me, I didn't want to be bawdy and I didn't want to, I didn't want him to swear. If he did, it was only, you know, I think he's done it once every season. Um, and, but everybody else, it's like, yeah, that's just the world, you know, as, as it is. And so we just wanted to, it just works. Yeah. Apple never fought it. They didn't want us to use the C word. Um, um, so we, we, there was a monologue around in England more. I mean, it's,

And that was the whole premise. It was like, you know, we were even ready to beep it, you know, but it was May. The woman who owns the bar uses it very casually and in reference to Ted. The C word. Yeah. And just Ted and Beard's reaction to, whoa, hey. You know, she's like, what? What's the big deal? You know, and just her going, no, you can use it in a bunch of different ways. And she goes through a bunch of different ways. You know, it reminds me a lot of like when we, it ended up not being able to use it because Apple was like, nah, you know, we can't use the C word. I was like, all right.

was, remember Schneider's stand-up bit from days gone by of the word dude? Yeah. Is that great, that idea of... I like that you remember that. Oh, yeah, yeah. That was it. You were on that special too, I think, right? Is that all the young comedians? Yeah. That thing got a lot of play. You're in a closet with a knife. Dude? Yeah. Talented. Yeah. Rob has some really good rhythms. Oh, no more. I mean, come on. Didn't know it was B-Y-O-T. I didn't say it on the ticket. Bye, Rob. Bye.

No, that's my joke. Calm down. He's doing me at the U2 concert. Oh, what is it? Bono's yelling. No war. No war. I'm saying no more. You're saying no more. What are you saying? War? Sorry. I don't know. I don't even know who the fuck is singing. I'm supposed to read his lips. Am I booging you? Am I booging you? Am I booging you? Didn't mean to boog you.

That's a bad bottom. What's your brain candy? When do you want to calm down? What do you do? Take a walk? Do you watch the best of David Spade? Yep, still. Do any other one? If you don't, you do now. I do. I mean, I'll play the last few years has been pinball was one for a while, but those are tougher to move around, right? So playing video games, like playing Fortnite with friends and just turning my brain off and just focusing on that. And then a thing that I got into over the last, I mean, I'd always been into it, but over the last...

you know, six years basically, was like magic, like just shuffling cards. Like just, I just find it very meditative and a lot of times when in situations where I have to do as much, you know, listening and thinking as I do talking, I'll usually have a deck of cards on me because it'll keep me from

you know, pulling out my beer, you know, practice shuffling. Yeah. Yeah. Or just, or just kind of like, you know, doing like little sleight of hand moves. And I don't really perform magic for anyone. I just, I just, I'll do it for like friends after a couple of beers or like my kids, if there's just like a deck laying around, but I've never been one to be, Hey, you want to see a trick? Um,

Um, I don't know, actually. I haven't been relaxed in 30 years. See, I envy that. I wish I could. I know before I, before I die, I know I will dedicate more time to like trying to play the piano. I've done it throughout my life and then something always, but it's just that desire to want to run before I can even crawl. Yeah. It's so hard. Piano's tough. You know, I have an electric piano too. I'm just banging on it all the time, but I don't.

But the guitar, if you get nylon strings, get a small guitar, just learn. Because it doesn't rip up your fingers. Yeah, before you get the calluses. So you get a clear note rather than it's all mushy. Learn five chords, G, C, D, E minor, and then you can play 100 songs. Already lost me.

No, but it's really simple. It's mostly the right hand. Is Smoke on the Water still the go-to one or is that too old? That age is so hard to spend. I don't even know what it is. No, that's a deep purple, isn't it? I'm young. Don't act like you don't know what Smoke on the Water is. Don't make me the old guy. You probably know what it's about too. I'll be young and old. Yeah.

I would do Come, Nirvana. Come and get some? Come, come and get some. Come as you are. I mean, I've always loved Nirvana. I was right in the sweet spot. Yeah, well, me too. And I was older, but still thought they were brand new. But I listened to them a ton before doing this season.

for one reason or another and I got and Otis was learning you know playing guitar him and Daisy take these like lessons do this thing out here called Kid Row it's lovely it's like School of Rock but they just call it a different name when you're young you learn so much better and I bought a I'm left handed

even though I don't play guitar, but I would play air guitar left-handed. You'd be like McCartney then. Yeah, exactly, or Kurt Cobain. So I bought a guitar, and Otis and I took a lesson together. He was already better than me, and I was slowing him down. And I'm just like, even playing Smells Like Teen Spirit, so hard, so difficult. And then even if you play the simple version of it, like it hurt my fingers. I couldn't, like drums are a much more natural fit for me. I have better limb separation. You could also get a maple neck Strat guitar.

That's a bird. David, this is an inside face. It's a Stratocaster. The nylon strings was a mind blower here because I was like, oh, yeah. But you can hear also with very lightweight strings on an electric guitar. You could play bar chords with that. But it's still hard. Yes. It's like... Teddy, it's impossible. Even people that just do it noodling around make it look so...

Easy. It's, look, well, next time we hang out, I'll show you. I'll show you just a D chord and then a bar, just bar three notes. I'll bring a pinball machine. And then you'll be like, I'll take a nap. We have a little farm up north, and I want a room with pinball machines in it. It's worth at least having one. As a kid, they were huge. I've not played it in a while, but, and a pool table. Jason Sudeikis was our guest today, and he, in summation-

It's the left brain. Lived at Burger King. He's one of Kansas' favorites. He had a very small room at the Paramount Hotel. A small room. We don't normally sum up. His next thing is going to be something with low pressure. He might remake The Godfather or something. Our guest has been Jason Sudeikis. You were great. I saw your car was murdered out, by the way. Not bad, you know? Yeah, not bad, guy. I wanted to look at you like a Batmobile. It was.

- It looks cool. - SNL All-Star, Movie Star, and now a Global Live Streaming Star. I don't know. It sounds like a good- - That's a new one. - I said star three times. It sounds like a nice resume. I just wish you all the best and take your time and have fun. And I'm one of those people that was really affected by this show and just love it. Just really affects me. - I was affected by COVID. - It also makes me laugh. - By COVID, you were. - David, we're gonna work on you. - David's work in progress. - No, I'm not. Look at, I took notes.

No one works harder than David. All right, thank you, Justin. What's your name? Justin Theroux has been our Jason guest. Oh, Justin was last. No, Billy Sudeikis was here today. Neil Sudeikis. Ted Wirt, Liso. I think Bill Sudeikis was. Wasn't he like a baseball player? Sudeikis, is that Greek or what's that? Lithuanian. Litha who? Litha what? Litha who? I go away, I stand quietly. Yeah, Lith, Lithuanian, Lithuanian. But yeah. I'm throwing this away. You're your own pastor.

Yeah, you didn't finish that. I dated a girl in Hall Pass. No, that's not your Hall Pass. The girls that come up to you at the end of the show. You dated. He likes the other story better. Oh, in Vegas, the girls, they go, you're my Hall Pass. You get the meet and greet, and I go, first of all, they're all nervous. They're hands drenched like a shamwell. And then I go, and they go, I'm your Hall Pass. You're my Hall Pass. I go, oh, and they go,

That's where I get, I go, no, I know what it is. I'm a hard pass on my side. You're a hard pass. You're my hard pass. Yeah, you're my hard pass. I saw you in the back. I go, that's my hard pass. Because I'm a gentleman. It's not you, it's me. This has been a podcast presentation of Cadence 13. Please listen, then rate, review, and follow all episodes. Available now for free wherever you get your podcasts. No joke, folks.

Fly on the Wall has been a presentation of Cadence 13, executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Chris Corcoran of Cadence 13, and Charlie Finan of Brillstein Entertainment. The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman with production and engineering support from Serena Regan and Chris Basil of Cadence 13. Save on Cox Internet when you add Cox Mobile and get fiber-powered internet at home and unbeatable 5G reliability on the go. So whether you're playing a game at home... Yes, go! ...or attending one live...

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