Tim Meadows
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I'm Dana and this is David and up next, we're very excited. Our guest is Tim Meadows. Enjoy.

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, you get your own pool, you get 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.

Tim Meadows. Everyone loves Tim Meadows. Dana, Tim Meadows is an old buddy. I just immediately interrupted you. Tim Meadows is an old buddy of both of ours. He did SNL. He really is. I interrupted back. Tim Meadows. It's like tennis. Go ahead. I'm going to be quiet. I'm going to zip my trap.

He's a great guy, good looking. That matters in show business, unfortunately. And he has done a ton. He's got to be rich because he's always working at all times on many things. I knew him. We had a great time during SNL. We talked about that. He and I bought a...

I bought a motorcycle that was Chris Farley's recently online and I didn't know who I'm bidding against, but I finally bought it. And then I got a text from Tim saying, dude, you just outbid me. So we're online bidding against the world. I just thought Farley's old Harley from Chicago. I remember this.

shoot, I'd like to have, it'd be cool to just have my living room or, you know, whatever. And then he goes, hey, I don't have anything of Chris's. And I said, oh, I was bidding against you? And he said, can I have it? And I said, I mean, I said, just pay me what I pay, you can have it. Because he doesn't have anything of Chris's and he's from Chicago. And they were really, really tight. Also, Dana, the Oscars now...

We discussed the Oscars a little bit last week, but before Tim is on, we have to say that we taped him a little bit before the Oscars. So if he doesn't comment on it, that's not his fault. It's just that's the way it shook out. Right. So don't be at home going, shut up, Brian. I'm just going to comment on it. Just keep listening. Don't be one of those. Let me comment. Let me comment. Dana, what would you have done? Just be honest.

Well, you know, I mean, Ed O'Neill, who will be on our podcast soon, said you just always take the big man off his feet. So I would have just aimed for beneath the knees and just got the person off the feet. Yeah. You know, I think back, I think I'd be if it's Will Smith, he's that big.

I go, the first one's a freebie. And then he walks back up the stairs and I go, and he hits me again. I go, the second one, I'm willing to look the other way. And then toward the end of the Oscars, he's still beating me up. I go, on the fifth one. But I think what Chris should have done when he's coming up the stairs, that's when you make your move because you've got the upper hand. Like, have you ever seen fights at stadiums? The guy in the upper seats always wins because he's got the weight coming down on the guy.

So I think that's the way you got to do it. I would have channeled the deer hunter that if he slapped me, I would have said, please may I have another? I just would have said, ow, ow. But I'm such a colossal pussy. Like I just tried to picture that scenario, Dana. I was like, I'm picturing, let's say I'm at the Razzies one day and I'm hosting. And then Corey Feldman comes.

walks up. And do I knock the fedora off his head? I mean, what do I do? I'm just playing this a million times in my head. Maybe comedians should take a beating. You know, life beats us down. Maybe just, see Martin's joke doesn't land, whack. Yeah, choke him out. Go put him in a sleeper? Put him in a sleeper. I don't know. Yeah.

It's different from last week's talk about it. I know. We can't talk about it forever. Will Smith, to me, nice enough guy. And I think when you have an image that you have to guard, when you're getting to the stratosphere of stardom,

The Rock, Brady, Tom Brady, Will Smith. Like everything isn't overly calculated, but everyone's telling you, say the right thing here, do the right thing. You know what I mean? They kind of have to play to the world now. Like I have to keep everyone happy and be this big star. And when you deviate from that in such a huge way, because people, I think in this day and age, especially the last couple of years, really appreciate authenticity and sort of celebrities and behind the scenes. And are you being, are you like a real person?

And when you come out like that and do something so out of the blue, out of character, you almost question everything and you go, wait, what is going on here? I think that's, I think it's tough for Will Smith. I don't think he's a horrible guy. This thing happened. I'm not a counselor. I'm not that kind of guy. So I would just say it'll, it'll fix itself at some point between him and rock. But, uh,

That's all. I have no more opinions. Well, it's like Vin Diesel in the Fast and the Furious, you know, where they're going across the canyon with the car upside down and the passenger goes, was this the plan? He goes, this was always the plan. And you just wonder when Will was getting out of the limo, the limo driver's pretty familiar. Hey, have a good night tonight. You know, don't punch anyone on the stage. I mean, somebody snapped.

And you can always tell when somebody snaps. That means it's not the plan. Just like, boom. It was not the plan. Whatever was buried underneath went, yo! Yeah. And listen, Chris is one of our best friends and you love him. So we'll stay out of it. Love Chris. I guess we're already in it. But I will tell you, I went to an Oscar party just to lighten the mood. Yeah, lighten it up a little bit.

Before we get to Timmy. And the funny thing, Dana, is there's a Vanity Fair party. And the interesting thing is you have, you get told if you're going, and then you get told if you have a plus one and when you get to go.

That's always, you're always measured in Hollywood of how you're doing. It's so crazy. I didn't even notice it because I had gone a few times and I was going with Rock probably or someone that had an invite. So I didn't need to bring anyone. And then I was informed, oh, I don't have a plus one. I go, that's such an odd thing to get an invite to go somewhere alone. And then the next year I was invited at midnight.

Because you get slots. Really? Every half hour. Wow. So I got midnight and no plus one. I must have had a horrible year because it's too thirsty to try to stay awake and set your alarm and then go at midnight. Hey, everyone, you're like a salmon. Everyone's pouring out to go to Gaio's series party after. And you're like, no, I'm here. So-

I got, this year I got 930 and a plus one, which is pretty good. But there's some years I said, oh, maybe I'll try to go to the Vanity Fair. And they go, we tried. And I'm like, oh, gross. You have to ask? And they're like, yeah, it's just so crazy this year. I go, oh, I can't even go. They go, yeah, it's so bad, dude. I know. My invite said drop by next week. Yes.

You said you can drive by and beep if you go really fast. No, when I went to the Oscars pre-pandemic with Mike Myers, we went to the Oscars, presented. We were at the Oscar party and they said, we're going to the Vanity Fair party. I didn't have an invite. So I wasn't going to go over there and go, could I get in? You know.

Oh, you didn't even go. You could have gone. What am I going to do? Do Garth? I'll do Garth to get in. I'd like to get in now. They go, there's no Dana Carvey. And then you mess up your hair and slowly turn and go, is there a Garth? No, it's like from the movie, I'd like to get by now. And I'd have a little amateur stun gun for Wayne's World fans. I'd like to, excuse me. I'd like to get by now. And then I would just shock the guy.

Yeah, we went to, and then we went to a party after. I was with Theo Vaughn, the comedian, and I brought that goat roper with me. And then we went to a guy who's serious. That's where Rock was. So we saw him. We saw a bunch of people. He's just sitting on a patio with like Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, who's super cool. And so we just went out there and bullshit with him. But he seemed all right. I don't want to talk too much about that. But I think Rock is going to be fine, land on his feet. And I would imagine he would want this just to blow over. Because you don't want...

people think one thing when you're doing stand-up you just want to do your act and you don't want to keep yelling out something you know or trying to get you because there's really not that much funny to say about it and it almost gets too serious so it's better to just buzz through your jokes what we've learned uh in recent times as a society is that stories go ballistic and then they fade away all of a sudden it'll just be behind us and they just wait for that time you know

Yeah. I mean, I have to say, I watched the Grammys last night and it was everything, the Oscars. The Oscars had great hosts and Chris was great, but obviously it had that debacle. But the Grammys was amazing. Like, all the music was brilliant. I mean, it really was impressive. You know, it's one funny thing, and this is not taking away from Trevor Noah because he's a cool dude. I saw him actually there the other night. He, uh,

He's hosting, but what do you do? You're the next guy to host. So the jokes are kind of tepid only because you don't want to cause a national worldwide ruckus. So he's like, hey, Billie Eilish. Is Eilish really your last name? No, it probably is. Actually, it's a really good name. It fits you and you're a great singer and everything's going well. Anyway, let's look at this table. I'm like, are these jokes? I think he's just giving compliments because you can't do a joke anymore. You know what I mean? He's probably so scared.

That someone's going to get offended on Twitter with their fingers up going, you said the wrong thing, dude, and we're going to dig 19 years into your past. I laughed my ass off. I was at home. He said, hey, folks, how you doing? I don't know what the way he said it or something. I was like, that is funny. What's up? Good stuff. Good stuff. All right. Let's get on to Tim. Great dude. This is longer than Tim's episode. So I think. Yeah. I'm sorry. We don't have time for Tim Meadows tonight. He's been bumped off his own podcast.

You know, Dana, I think we have a connection. We've been friends for a long time. And for this episode of Fly on the Wall, we've partnered with eHarmony, which isn't us. eHarmony 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. Yeah.

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, uh,

It just makes us happy. You don't want to be watching The Godfather and the person next to you goes, this movie sucks. 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.

Watch 2001 Space Odyssey. Too much of this movie is in outer space. I don't like it. When do they land? When do they land? Why is that stupid red light acting so silly? Who's friends with a robot? We know dating isn't easy. That's why we partnered with eHarmony because dating is different on eHarmony. They want you to find someone who gets you, someone you can be comfortable with.

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.

So get started today with a compatibility quiz. So you can find some and you can be yourself with. Get Who Gets You on eHarmony. Sign up today. You mean the one where we had a guy do Trump and I did Biden?

Yeah. The reason I said yes to that, because I knew I don't have any natural discipline, but I knew if I said yes to that, I would actually look at Biden a little bit and get some hooks. But in the writing of it, it's what I call a hot oven politically, Biden.

You don't want to ding him too much because I had this line of like, do you think there's a crisis at the border? There's no crisis at the border. How do you know? Because it says so on the piece of paper. Who gave that to you? The man. Who's the man? The guy comes in. You know the drill. Come on. Number one, the guy comes in. Number two, the two part. Number three. Come on, people.

I love how he gets mad at you because you don't understand what he's saying. But yeah, I did do that. And that was kind of flat because if you're doing an impression and you don't get to do your rhythm...

Then you're just stuck in jokes and then it deflates the balloon. It has to be a marriage of the rhythm and the top of the bop. But, you know, with ladies, man, I'd like to jump ahead. No, sorry. I want to know about this first. The thing that I love about it, though, is that it now gives everyone a hook into doing

Yeah. To doing Biden, like a normal guy on the street now can do that rhythm and do Biden to his friends. And I think that's that's huge. You know, that's that's a trick. You're right, Timmy. Once you get a hook and I would do Lorne based on.

Dana's Lorne or whoever. I don't... Everyone, it spread like locusts. I don't think anybody doesn't do Lorne from the history of Saturday Night Live. I wonder if they did it in the old days because once you hear it, it's so...

Funny just to talk like him. It's so funny. For my personal history, but maybe I misremembered it when I got there in 86, no one was doing it. It seems remarkable. Smigel has a good ear. Yeah. The hook that I finally told Lorne was him on Wednesday at the board kind of doing the sketches back and forth, picking the show, and he would say, I still have no fucking first act.

And that was, and then he would hold a card that Whitney Brown had, it was anyone, the pig and the goat, anyone? We didn't,

We didn't think it was very good, Lorne. I thought it was breathtaking. Shit, I was not privy to that meeting. But that's where I got from that. I still have no fucking first act, and that's where it came from. And then I think Smigel was bouncing off me, and then everybody did it. But, you know, whatever. I don't have to be the originator. I don't have to be God. I wonder if, like, the original cast had, like, a different version of Lorne than what you had, because you definitely had, like, the superior...

you know, mentor guy who was in charge of it all. And like, I wonder if he was like that when he first started with those guys, you know, like if their impression is like a quicker, like wittier version of that. I do know that the first year Lauren was like this guys, we got a big show tonight. Let's try to get it going. Yeah.

And then by year five, yeah, lifetime limousine. You know, Paul and I, sometimes we go and we just buy socks. Really. I mean, he had a car. He had Eugene. He had a driver. I mean, he was an adult. Want to come by 88 for dinner? Remember 88? Never underestimate the value of lasagna. I asked him where I should live and he goes, I go, my rent's kind of high, like $900.

David, I think it's where you live is important. He always does your name first. I would pay and I'm like, well, you're not paying me enough to, okay, I'll get it. I go, I have to pay it every month. And he's like, oh, I didn't know. I don't know how that works.

My rent was like $22,000 a year. And I think I was probably netting about $35,000 for a season. And happy to be there. The exposure alone. But anyway. I was going to say he had told me at one time, it's better. He was like, it's better to live in a place you can't afford because it makes you work harder to keep it. Oh, I didn't hear that one.

Oh, that's funny. That's a good one. I'll do anything to keep these countertops. I will not let go of this fucking marble. I will do another show called Tina. Marcy, the book of Lorne, page three. What do I say here? I don't know, Lorne. I'm going to fly now. You don't fly, Marcy. Stop it. See, you guys get me going. Tim is a great audience. Tim is good. And a great comedian. When you go into Lorne's office and I go on the board and I go...

And I look for my update and I look over to where the cemetery on the left, where it's not in the show. It's everything that got cut. You wonder if it even got moved, if it was even a debate. It's just exactly in perfect line where it was. And I go, I'm not in the show this week. And then I look over and he goes,

Lifesaver? Or popcorn. I would look at, I had the same experience. I would see church chat in the first act, then a Wayne's World, then Hans and Franz after updating. I'll fucking kill you. It's an emotionally violent place for the best of us. But I just want to, because we're podcasting, just very quickly explain it to people who don't understand. We go to a read-through in a little room. Well, it's like 50 people. We read sketches for hours,

Each sketch gets a 3x5 card With the name It would be Church Lady or Gap Girls, whatever Or would they say Leon Phelps Or Leon Phelps, I don't know And then they're on a giant bulletin board And then it's sectioned off First act, second act, third act And so then he starts putting them up And you see your sketch go up

And then someone would say something, he'd be pulling away from the wall and then he'd place it where the no sketch, not getting on the show area. And sometimes people go, I like David's, and he'd go back over. Anyway, I just want to set that scene for somebody who's driving. You want to put your job on the line for receptionist?

But the one thing I liked about Lorne in retrospect, he was like a coach I had in high school because I think he loves sports metaphors. And so to get a true compliment from Lorne was really special. He was not one to pass them out. Dana, is this ever going to work? You know, that'd be, you know. Yeah. It'd be really nice if it would be like, you know, really, really funny. That would be a good thing. I was like Rudy. So funny.

You were like Rudy the entire time. Yeah. You were not. You became the bad boys of Saturday Night Live. I thought that was funny when you got you and Schneider and you were like the bad boys. And the true bad boy of that cast was Tim. Tim? Yeah.

I've hung out with Tim a little bit and heard some of his stories. And there's a street side to Tim. It's not any ego. It's not braggadocio. He has a side of him. I don't know if it's Detroit or something, but Tim can go, yeah, you will want him on your side in a fight. Tim, were you in on going down to beat up the guy from the New Yorker or whatever?

Only if someone fucked with him. Tim's not trying to pick a fight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I grew up in Detroit, so I kind of just don't. I have very low tolerance for when I'm getting bullshit from people. I don't know what happened when I told you about Dana, but yeah. Something at a baseball game with your son? Maybe it was a professional game? Oh, no, a basketball game. Basketball game. Yeah, Bulls game.

Yeah, yeah. We were pulling out of this parking lot and it was kind of crowded. Should I tell this story? I don't know. It's not a funny story. This I want to hear. You have to. This will be fascinating. We have three and a half more hours. Just tell it. Yeah. Go ahead. This is the last time. No, really, this is great stuff, Tim. I love it. I was pulling out after a Bulls game in this parking lot and my son and his friend, we just saw the game.

and it was crowded and we were all trying to move through the parking lot and then this guy just like would not let me through and like

I was like, okay, whatever. And then he pulled up next to me and he told my son to roll his window down. And my son said, he wants me to roll my window down. And I was like, no, don't roll your window. And then I was like, no, roll it down. So he rolls it down. And the guy goes, hey, you think you're special? You just get to move in and out of here like you want to? We're all trying to get out. And I go, well, first of all, don't you tell my son to roll the fucking window down.

And yeah, I am special. You can ask anybody in this fucking parking lot. Everybody knows me, motherfucker. And he was like, yeah, you're special, huh? I was like, yeah. You want to get out of the car? We can get out of this car right now. We can go at it, motherfucker. And my friend, myself and his friend were sitting there just looking at me like, what the fuck is going on? You know, I was I I could not believe this guy was talking to me like that in front of my kids. First, yeah.

And the second, like he was telling me, like he had the right to get out in front of me. Like we're all trying to get out of here, you know? I like that. I know. You don't even fight the special part, which he was hoping you would. You go, I don't think I'm special. He goes, yeah, you do. You go, I do think I'm special. He goes, oh, okay.

He took it away from him. He's like, what did I do now? The first day I met Lovitz, I had almost the exact same verbatim exchange. I was Tim and John was the other. Just come on, motherfucker. Let's go right now. The reason I like that story is because I avoid conflict. Like we were talking to Chris Rock and he talked about how tiny he was in high school. So I want, like when I was 14-

Went to high school. I was out for D basketball, which is like, you know, there was D, C, junior varsity, varsity. So D, it's not a joke, but our center was 5'3". He controlled the paint. But my point is this. I'm not kidding. It was midget basketball. So I was 5'1". Midget basketball. I was – can't say that. Little people. I was 5'1", 92 pounds at age 14. And you were –

Were you big? Probably small. I had my girl spurt, if you call it a girl spurt, like probably in like 11th grade. I think I got, I went from like five, seven to five, 10 or whatever, like in my height. And then, but when I was a kid, I loved sports and I could play sports everywhere.

well in my neighborhood like with my friends and shit like i could play quarterback i could like i was good you know and then we played little league football and everybody else it was like grown men showed up little league football like these guys were like 6-1 fucking 220 bearded 14 year old and the coach at one point i was a scrub and i accepted the fact i played like defensive back

And I was like, I was a scrub and I accepted the fact that I was a scrub. But one time the coach, they didn't, they ran out of tackling dummies.

For real? So you became the tackling dummy? He put me in the middle of two other tackling dummies, and they ran blocking drills around me. Fuck that. That's how much of a scrub I was, man. Now, when you say scrub in this context, I think I know what you mean, but what is a scrub in that context? It means like not second string, not third string. Oh, yeah.

Oh, even practice squad. Yeah. Yeah. You're like, you look, you, you get to hang out. Like my, my best friend was a good running back. So it was like, okay, well he's friends with this dude. So we'll, we won't cut him cause he plays hard and he also let us use him as a practice dummy.

I love flag football, man. I loved. I was a running back, flag football. And I was really good, believe it or not, last time. And as soon as tackle football came in, it was forget this. It's over. Forget it. I was pretty fast, too, pretty much a runner. But I'm from Detroit also, but I'm also a colossal pussy. So you just never know. I thought you were a Phoenix guy. I was born in Bloomfield Hills. Oh, okay.

And then that's in Detroit, I guess. Oh, I didn't know that. For four years. Yeah, south side of Detroit. And then I said, let's move it out when I was four. And my dad said he had a job in Arizona. Get the wagon train going. We were four, six, and eight. And my dad was sort of here and there, like jumping around. And he goes, I got a job in Scottsdale. So we all moved to Phoenix. And then he goes, I don't have a job.

And then he left. And then he left. And he left my mom. And we're like, I go later. I said, can't you just divorce her in Michigan where she has friends? He's like, too easy, too predictable.

Geez, he's kind of fast on his feet. I see where you got your wit. I mean, and no remorse. Well, we were, well, in my day, well, first of all, I had three older brothers beating the shit out of me, plus the dad. So I was pounded night and day, which made me have a lot of anger, but it would come out verbally. And in grade school, I got the big kid, Steve Lee, to be my best friend, and he was my enforcer.

And I actually had a club called The Great Club in fifth grade. Jesus. It had a moniker. What a weirdo. It was Dave Marquez, Steve Lee, and me. And everyone wanted to be in The Great Club. We say, how do we get in The Great Club? I go, you got to be great. That was fifth grade. So, Tim. Stupidest club. I've been asking. I want to, before we get into SNL and Groundlings or Second City, I've been curious about, because I want to paint a picture of you in your formative years, I call them.

Like from age three or four to 12 and influences, the things I'm interested in are movies or theater or music.

what was influencing your eventual career choice. And also just for fun, if you got a bike that was really special to you or toy that you remember or, you know, so anyway, you don't have to answer. It could do it. You could punt on this one or just... No, no, no. What was your first movie that you remember seeing that affected you or TV show? Well, I think, you know, like when I was younger, Jerry Lewis...

Yeah. And was hysterical to me. And my cousin. Nutty professor on TV. Yeah. Your cousin Vinny? Even some of the black and white. Even some of the like black and white stuff that he did, we used to just laugh at, you know? Yeah. But I think like the one movie that like,

was like influential where it was like, whoa, I like this movie and what these people are doing was blazing saddles. Oh, yes. Saw it. Yeah. And then I went to visit my brother in college. So I was like probably 16 and he was at Eastern Michigan and he was an usher in this movie theater to make money. And so just to give me something to do, he was like, just come hang out and watch this movie. You got to see it is really fun. Yeah.

and uh that was in the theater though it was it was in the theater yeah and i sat there and watched it all day i watched every show really yeah yeah i went with them in like in the morning and stayed until it was over with i fucking loved it i couldn't believe what i was seeing i still think that about it you know it's like wow and cleavon little was the star

And then I did a sitcom with Mickey Rooney in New York in 1981, my first job. And Cleavon Little came on as a guest star. And I was starstruck. But Scatman Carruthers and, you know, Mickey Rooney probably never saw Blazing Saddles. But I kept wanting to talk to Cleavon about that film. You kissed his ass. I kissed his ass. I was trying to get stuff out of him, see if I could get a job. Tell me if you guys laughed when I went and saw Accidentally –

My brother took me to Life of Brian and I thought it was so funny and it came out of nowhere. I was like, I didn't really get it. It was English, but it was still silly and funny. And I started to get into it going, this one's pretty funny too. And I had no expectations. So, you know, the other ones I like Animal House and all that shit. But when I saw that, I was like, oh, I'm such an exquisite palate. Yeah.

I understand all the European comedies too. And what about people on TV? Like, you know, for me it was seen, you know, geez, uh, laughing or, or flip Wilson or Carol Burnett or the Smothers Brothers. Yeah. Yeah. And you guys in bleeding into the seventies, uh, you know, there was Steve Martin going on TV and, uh, you know, um,

This whole counterculture started to happen with Carlin becoming a hippie and Pryor, and there was all that movement in 75 with the beginning of SNL. Full circles. See, I did that. I thought this was talking about stuff. I bring it right back.

I thought you were going to go into a commercial or something. I don't even know if we have commercials. We're going to have so many ads. We have to have special things where Dave and I go into a chamber and just read for hours. No. It's all Dollar Shave and Manscaped. Those are our only two sponsors. Dollar Shave and Manscaped. Timmy gets into a good story. We go into a split screen and we do a commercial while he's on mute.

And then we go, come back, and Timmy goes, and that's what happened. Hey, you're not supposed to tell him that. No, don't tell him. Don't give away what we're going to do. But were you like an animal house, that kind of thing? Or were you Monty Python? Or were you Saturday Night Live? Or all of the above? Yeah.

All of the above. I totally, I like, I read like National Lampoon magazine. Oh, right, right, right. I forgot about that. Yeah. And it was when you would buy them back then, like, especially where I grew up, but I always felt like they had, they had them by mistake in my store. Cause it was like, they had nothing else like that, but they would sell them near the Playboy magazine because they thought they were like, cause they had nudity. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Cartoon nudity, right? Drawings. And also like photos because they had this thing called photo funnies. Wow. And they would show titty in it. Yeah, I call them whack-off funnies. Titty, you mean bosoms or breasts? But titty has a playfulness to it. I don't know if it's offensive, but it's kind of like titty. Here's me looking through Lampoon. Photo funny. Yeah.

So what? I don't even look at the joke. Boobs. Boobs. I'll worry about the comedic purposes later. I want to go back to his childhood. What was your favorite meal? Macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, pizza as a kid. Lane cuisine. What was a special treat or a special dessert in your house?

Special treat, I would have to say, well, I mean, of those choices, I would say macaroni and cheese. Always works. Pizza rolls?

My earliest memory is like waking up from a nap and smelling chicken being fried in the kitchen. Sounds like the beginning of a sitcom song. Or some kind of Tennessee Williams play. I love Good Times, by the way. Did you laugh at J.J. Walker? I thought Good Times was hilarious.

You know what? I thought J.J. Walker was a hack. We could cut anything you want. As a kid, you really hack. No, I thought he was funny. I liked him better on the show than when I saw him doing stand up when I was younger. Yeah, he was funnier on the show.

I had a bone to pick with him, but finish your thought. I had a problem with JJ. Not really, but I'm playing the Westwood Comedy Store. I'm coming down from San Francisco because George Schlatter saw me up there. I had a good set. I was so green. I was in college. I didn't know anything. I bought a corduroy suit with a corduroy vest. And then I got invited to do a spot at the Westwood Comedy Store. I had a girlfriend at the time with me there.

I went up and bombed like, you know, epic. I didn't know how to get out of, I did my Star Trek bit, everything. I'm drenched in sweat, dead silence. I go over, I'm in a booth. I sit next to the girlfriend at the time and she scooched away. Whoa. And then they said, get JJ Walker. He, I think he's going to walk the audience. So JJ went up on stage, turned to me and said, watch how it's done young man.

Which I don't really blame. I'm not really mad at him at all. But that was, you said J.J. Walker. I got a little triggered. So I'm just going to take five minutes. Sort of, I'm going to take a cool bath. This happens a lot in the podcast and I'll be right back. Everyone triggers Dana, everything.

Everything triggers me. That's probably the only time someone said, get me Jim J.J. Walker. That was the last time. He's going to walk the room. He walked the room. You don't want to walk the room. Get me Jim J.J. Walker. You know, on Cameo, if he says dynamite, it's $5 more. Right. Is it worth it? Well,

It's worth it, I feel. I don't know. I have a character because I wanted to be like Larry the Cable Guy. I think he has that great get her done. I have a character. I'll just do one line. It's new, but it's intentionally bad. Red Redneckie, the redneck comedian. Okay. I'm Red Redneckie, the redneck comedian. I married my sister only because mama turned me down. Come and get some. It's a come and get some. Mama said, Red, what do you want to do? I found it.

You found it Mama said Red What do you want to do What do you want to do With your life I said I just want to live in a shack And drink beer all day Mama said Don't dream so big Cause you always end up disappointed Come and get some There it is Come and get some I got catchphrases I just don't have the platform Dude where's read through I don't have the platform

Did you workshop the catchphrase? That's pretty good. Come and get some. Well, I have this other podcast called Fantastic. My son named it, but I kind of hatched it on that. We almost call it come and get some. It's surprisingly, it's positive. It's like life. Come and get some. You know, even though what he's saying has no relationship to it. So, you know, out the creative process, whatever. Here's another one, Tim. Ready? This is fantastic.

it's a little undercooked but it's for uh it would be for read through uh I say like a joke like I used to say bless you when people sneeze now I say oh fuck we're all gonna die rack em rack em is a good one laughing

Because, you know, when you play pool and you hit the eight point, you go, rock them. Yeah. So we got rock them, we got come against them. So with Timothy Meadows, now there's this section where you've been influenced, you're dreaming.

You're like 18, 19. When do you first kind of said to yourself, I'm going to try this? Or was it a slow process? Yeah. When does it cross your mind to do comedy for real? For real. I was in college at Wayne State University. That checks out. Yeah.

I did a Wikipedia dive. Yes. I said, it's Wayne. Look me up. Yeah. We come prepared on this podcast. I know for sure, Tim. Is this? Yeah. Yeah. So you're in a radio and television program like I was in. You're not in theater at that point, right? Right.

Or both? You were doing both. Yeah. No, I was doing both. And I was into radio. And I'll tell you a little side story. Howard Stern was doing his radio show in New York when I was in college. And it was one of those things where it was like, can you...

do something funny like this guy is doing you know yeah and so i it was like the one way i thought okay i could like sneak being funny into being a radio dj um yeah and so yeah i tried to do that a little bit in college but then i and so that i did too by the way yeah

Yeah. But that was what I kind of wanted. I was like, oh, I can maybe try to be funny, you know, because I was funny around my culture friends and stuff. I was like the funny dude. Everybody else was like cool or athletic or smart or whatever. Chicks like funny. And most people that are funny with their friends get that wake up call when they try it and then they realize they're not.

You know, like most people that go and stand up amateur night and they're like, I'm the funniest guy at the office. You know, when Pat goes into the coffee room and everyone goes, and so then they go, I'll just keep it at the office because you don't know my references, but that's where you're breaking through. You're doing it. And then you've got a little nugget of something that keeps you around and they keep you around too. So what did you do? I mean, with this thought, where did it evolve to where you got on stage to get laughs?

Well, I took these improv classes because I read a story about this teacher in Detroit who had studied under Del Close. The Del Close. Yeah.

And I knew Dale Close's name from being a fan of National Lampoon Radio and all that shit. And SNL. All that shit. So I was like, oh. So I was like, oh, this is like I had a reference to something that, you know, not a lot of people had a reference to. Yeah. So I took classes with this guy, Jonathan Round. And then we I took his class.

He was the first person to kind of go, you're doing something good or whatever. And then he put me into his improv group, basically. And this is in Chicago? In Detroit. Detroit still. Okay. Yeah. Del Close? Yeah.

No, this was Jonathan Rahn. Okay. He studied under Del Close. Oh, okay. Del Close is a famous Second City teacher. Improv director. Yeah, considered brilliant at his job. And where is he stationed in Chicago? He was. Jonathan Rahn was in Detroit.

Detroit, but the main Del close. So you sort of like went from JV to meet with the real guy. Yeah. Yeah. Cause what happened was, I mean, it's, it's a long, it's, I mean, you can Google it and read, I don't know. This is your show. Um,

how do I, I mean, I just want to just tell us how you're feeling. Like besides the logistics, what are you feeling? Are you, I mean, like you're excited. I think someone, someone said you're good. Someone said you're funny. It's huge. Yes. Yes. And I was, and so I told, I was telling my friends, my real friends about it. Like I took these classes and I get on stage and we make stuff up and I'm really funny, you know, and like they like it and stuff. And,

And then my friends even started to come and see the shows and stuff. And they validated. They were like, you're good. So it's going up now. It's like, whoa. Yeah. And so there was points on stage working with the people that I was working with because we were doing long form improv and we were doing short things and games and singing and making up stuff on stage. And there was nothing like that in Detroit. So people will come and see it because...

because there was no other game in town it was only us yeah so we have recurring audiences of people that would come and see our show and though and that was where the spark came for me it's like you guys know like being up on stage and feeling like you cannot do anything wrong you make the right well by the way words you make the right improv like oh you just nothing like it

And so by the way, everyone, everyone understands kind of, I'm sorry to interrupt him, but that, that comedy is hard to do standup, but improv is so fucking hard. And, and people, I think they get it, but that whose line is anyway, doesn't convey how hard it is to think that fast. I did it for fun with some comedians and I was like, what the fuck is going on? I'm pretty fast, but I go, it's a whole different muscle. You have to learn.

And if you're good at that, you have to be proud because it's hard as shit.

You do get – it is like being an athlete, right? That you get acclimated, your brain gets kind of fluid. You know, Robin Williams used to come up – I'd be doing stand-up in San Francisco in the late 70s. He was on Mork & Mindy. And he would just come up on stage and start riffing with me. And he was like triple time, you know. But it does make you start to pick up, wake you up. So go ahead. Your experience though. You became known as –

Chocolate Thunder in Chicago. Was that your nickname? No. That's a basketball player. Who was that? Dawkins or Daryl Dawkins? Daryl Dawkins. Yeah. 76. I was called the Alabaster Assassin. I was called Casper the Fruitcake. Yeah.

I thought only Lorne called you that. Can you get Casper the fruitcake in here? Because they used to say, you're Lorne's boy. I'm like, he doesn't put me on. I wish he'd hate me. And then I'd be on every week. Which one's better? You were in his office every week with a single tear coming down. Lorne doesn't like complainers. No, I made that up. So we're starting to develop a banter. I yelled at Downey once. What a mistake.

Jim Downey, the famous head writer, you yelled at him? He's one of the smartest people I've ever met. Timmy, in that improv, was there a thing you were known for or a hook or did you start to develop like, well, give that to Timmy. Tim's really good at this or was it just the entire structure of all the different things?

In the beginning, I think I was really good at introducing comedic ideas. And then and I was also really good at supporting other ideas and adding to it, you know, without taking away from the person doing it. And so I think people really got the people trusted me on stage.

Because I didn't abandon scenes even if they were failing. Right. Or undercut or all the different childish Shakespearean. Well, if you're a good, that's good team player shit when you can see improv. And when they come to SNL, I think they're pretty good at that because they're just been doing it. And stand-ups, they always said had a little harder time sharing the spotlight. But you sort of figured out, like, I don't talk at this part. Well, people do.

I think this blob over here says something and then back to me. Have you ever had people say to you, oh boy, you guys must go crazy on that Saturday Night Live. Just like saying whatever comes up. They think it's all improv. There's no improvisation on Saturday Night Live. You do all the improvisation backstage in writers rooms and riffing. And then up there you're locked in unless you're in one room.

Which when we get to your ladies man character, you had a lot of time with a lock shot. So you could be a little playful. You could take something in the moment, but not when they're cutting around, you know? Or when someone else is involved, you don't want to throw them off. So let's just for, we're going to take a 20 minute break and start. And then I'm going to press record.

Yeah, we should start soon. Oh, whoops. No, it's going. We got a recording. So this, how many years between this and then you getting on SNL, you know, how many years were you in the trenches? And was SNL your big-

I just get to Chicago. Just get to Chicago. And get into the improv scene there because Dale Close is actually there teaching. So I started taking his classes and I start to get put on a team. Our team becomes the best team at the club.

We're like the second best Herald team in the city, which means nothing to you guys, but it was like a thing in the improv community. That's a big deal. We were called Grime and Punishment. And then...

I was taking classes in Second City. Crime and Punishment? Crime and Punishment. Crime and Punishment? Come and get some. I was in the Coconut Kids for a while. We didn't go very far. Sorry. Go ahead. Hey, was that with Favreau? I didn't know Favreau did improv, to be honest. Yeah, Favreau was there during that time, too. Oh, okay. But yeah, so I was doing that, and I was taking classes in Second City. This teacher that I had named Jeff Machowski said,

I want you to audition for the touring company. I auditioned for the touring company, got hired with a whole bunch of people that are now famous people like Amy Sedaris, Jane Lynch. Like who else got hired? Like Stephen Colbert got hired that year. Stephen Colbert? How did he end up doing it?

Let me text him. I'll see if I can get him. On speed dial. So did Farley come around? When did Farley appear? Or Mike Myers? Farley came after my first year touring. He was like the next year he was auditioning. And I met Farley like doing improv over at ImprovOlympic when I wasn't on the road touring.

And so I got to improvise with him and his team. What's touring mean? Do you literally tour? Yeah, you tour with the best of Second City show. In a bus or cars? You go all over. You play theaters all over the country. Oh, really? You rent a van. They drive you. You do a tour of colleges and small theaters. I didn't know that. And you learn the old classic music.

and you learn a bunch of different ones. And then as you go along, you change your running order depending on where you are or whatever. And so you get this library of Second City sketches that you learn. And so, and I didn't do theater. So I had no, it was my only training of like, I got to do this.

I got to learn this and now say it on stage and then repeat it the next night as if it's a fresh idea, you know? Yeah. So Second City was really the theater training that I got. I never did any play. I never did anything else. Me neither. It was just stand-up. How much money were you making? How old are you at this point? How much money can you make doing this? Were you just barely able to, you know?

No, like when I was touring, you know, it was pretty decent. I think I was probably making, I'd say for the whole year, like $17,000 or something like that. Okay, so after tax would be maybe $9,000. I don't care. So you're making a modest but efficient living. Yeah. But I was also doing commercials in Chicago. So it was another like lucrative thing.

And I actually did, I was modeling. I did some modeling work when I was in Chicago. I am not surprised. What? You had the looks. You got the looks. The ladies man is the ladies man. You're living your best life at this moment. You're young. You're touring. You're making money. You're modeling. I mean, you know, I mean, it's very exciting. There's only that one time of your life.

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Everything was dependent on my looks. That's, that was the only problem. Lauren said it is extremely good looking. It might get in the way. Um, we have a new good looking cast members. So write them into those sketches. Put him in a loose suit. He's very, very built. We put him in a loose. He's built. Um,

We don't want to ever show his legs. He's always taking his shirt off. Please stop it. When do you get on a call to get on SNL? Do they audition everyone at Second City and then they pluck? Well, they came out and saw Mike Myers like a couple years before they saw me. And I knew Mike back then when he was dating. Robin? Robin. Yeah.

And then, uh, Oh, that's far back. Yeah. And then, um, okay. They kept coming. And so after that, they started coming out to see Farley. Um,

How are you? I was in the cast with Farley. We did three reviews together with that cast. Odenkirk was there. All the names we keep hearing. Odenkirk. Fuck. So they got you, Odenkirk, and Farley out of there? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. For the show. So what year did you come on? Was it...

90 or was far 80 90 February of 91 I believe it was and you ended up staying 10 years

According to Wikipedia. Which was a record at the time. Fucking A. Did you make good money at the end or not really in your head? I think I made decent money at the time. You know, yeah, I think I made decent money. I don't think I was like, but again, just like when I started, I had other things going on when I was leaving SNL. So, you know, I had money coming in from other sources. Yeah, you work nonstop.

I was also selling crack at the end of my career. Just to keep a straight vibe. I gave up a lot of good customers at 30 Rock. You gave up a lot of good customers to do SNL? That's horrible. You got to get back there. Tim, you walked into, which I call, I think, kind of one of the most intense times of SNL because you had the leftovers of

With Phil Hartman and myself and Mike Myers and so forth. And then you had Sandler and yourself and Rock and Spade and Schneider. So it was intense. So when I came in, it was like four regular cast members or something. So you came into like a big... So it took you time, I'm assuming, to get the necessary time in front of the audience for them to discover you.

And you to get that level of confidence, right? Here was the hurdle when I first started on the show. First of all, you know, to both of you guys, you were, I mean,

I was fans. You know, I was a fan. And I was a fan of both of you. Like, I'd seen both of you guys on the show. I'd seen David Duke stand up. I was a huge fan. And a huge fan of the show. So coming into that cast, man, I swear to God, the first two or three episodes

I was just like, it was like a dream. Yeah. I was like, how, how, what, what is happening? And I swear to God, I thought they were going to come into the meeting one night, one day and say,

That dude over there is not supposed to be here. He sold records in Chicago about three years ago. He's not supposed to be in here pitching ideas. You're almost happy just watching. You're like, I can't believe I'm on 8-H just this close to watching the show. I guess I'm supposed to be on it. I have no idea how, but it's fun just to be here. I one time went nine shows without...

Being on anything but maybe one update. And I thought it was...

And then my dad goes, who told you it was fair? That's the first time he's seen him. That's the first time he saw him since he left you in Phoenix. Like 20 years later. Who told you it was fair? And then he got in his car and he drove away. Yeah, life's not fair. Wasn't I supposed to stick around? I go, yeah. And he goes, that didn't work out too well. Yeah, and guess what? That nickname, Cupcake Fruitcake, whatever it is, Casper Fruitcake, get a new moniker, kid. Yeah.

Hey, Lauren, good luck with that little puss. I bailed.

So you get on and then you're around all these people and the show is really cooking and we had just all kinds of stuff happening. Wayne's World was happening, you know, and Toots is the cat. So how did you find your place? What was your first little inroad of a character or a sketch that you did where you landed it, felt great? Or do you remember the moment where you felt like, I can do this, I'm going to be great on this?

My third show was Alec Baldwin. Great comedian. I forgot who the musical guest was that year, but I wrote a sketch called Cyrano with me and Alec and Jan. And it was like...

My surprise, it was the first time I had something. It was only my third show. And Shoemaker or whoever moved it up in the run through for read through. It was like the second or third piece.

And I was like, holy shit. The placement there is very important too. I didn't even know that for a long time. That's nice. The first 10 sketches get the most attention. Well, everyone wilts after two hours. You're wilting. So the first hour is very prime for that place. And also you're like, you're basically following like, usually it'll be a smigel sketch or like the first couple are like strong,

Here's the monologue. Here's this. And so you get a feel for like, oh, the show is going to go like this. And so they put you up that high. And so my, Lauren started to read the stage directions and which was, you know, Tim is dressed as Cyrano and he has a six inch wide nose. And then he fucking belly laughed at the stage direction.

And then he looked down at Downey at the end of the table and Downey was laughing too. And they like looked at each other and sort of like nodded. Oh, nice. He kept reading. And then we did the whole sketch. And the joke of the sketch was that I was Cyrano. I spoke for Alec Baldwin. I gave him love advice while Jan was his, the woman he was trying to court. But

But I talked like Barry White and I hid behind a bush. How did he talk? What did he sound like? What would he say? I mean, he just talked basically like this. Hey, baby. Yeah, you got to bend over and let me see that love you got. You know, whatever it was. I remember the line. I love it. And then Odenkirk gave me a good out, which was because we were doing it like it was like we were doing it. It flowed. It was funny. And then Odenkirk said,

you should be sitting in a chair at the end while they're making love, sort of bored and just reading the paper and talking to her very sexually. And so it's them like kissing and you pan out and you just see me going, yeah, baby, yeah, I love you. Yeah.

God, the out is so important on those things. It's a hilarious... Oh! Yeah, I'm still in Bobo. Odin Kirk... Oh, hey. Odin Kirk gave me that the night, you know, Tuesday, that Tuesday night when I was writing because I wrote it by myself. Oh. And I also remember this is another fun experience, like interesting experience was that when I...

This happened a couple of times when I got something in past read-through where it was like being considered for the show and they would bring you in and ask you questions. Remember those moments? Oh, yeah. Oh, they go, they come back, Tim, can you come in? And you go, oh, everyone goes, fuck. Lauren would like to see you in his office. It's always someone with a slight Peter Lorre. Lauren would like to see you and talk to you in his office.

They're eating Wally and Joseph's. I go in there and he says, he goes, he asked me who helped me write it. And it just had my name in Odinkirk. And I said, you know, he goes, who else? Was there anybody else?

And I go, no, I wrote it. I wrote it by myself. And Bob gave me the out, you know, and he goes, OK, OK, good. Thank you. And then he let me out. And then another time I got a sketch on. He was I wrote it by myself and he brought me in. And he goes, like, who helped you write the sketch? I'm like, Tim, who sent you this? I wrote it by myself. And he goes, do you know? He was like, do you mind if Tom Davis watches it and works with you on it?

That's what he was getting at. He likes to pair. He loves the writer with the comedian. Well, because the audience should know that you're on stage doing it. And if you wrote it, someone has to be in the booth kind of directing and saying, which is hard because it's really your eyes and ears what you would want. So they're just trying to, they need someone more experienced. Yeah. I think that's really what it was too. It was like, I think he just wanted to know like,

you know, if I had talked to anybody about the sketch that I might want to have them come in and help me with it. And if not, then he was going to sign somebody. And I remember one time Tom Davis was like, you know, he was like, who wants to help him? I was like, oh, who wants to help Timmy with this sketch? And Tom is like, I'll do it. I'll do it. That burnout. Yeah.

What about one time Lorne brought me in and he goes, David, who helped you read the cue cards? And I go, I read them. That's all. Dana. He goes, I guess he can read, Franken. Could you do something with Casper Cupcake? Because I don't know if it's going to happen. Casper, the unlikable cupcake. I know you're the alabaster assassin and it's a wonderful thing, but could you please, Marcy! Marcy!

By the way, I have to give Timmy, it's hard to write a sketch. And maybe because you were in Second City, you're better at it. But it took me, I wrote a sketch for Lovitz called The Puffer Fish where he got, he was a scientist, but he got mad. He turned into a puffer fish. He'd pop out, you know? That's perfect for John. And it was, and he goes, yeah, write it. You know, because I was like, it was like my first four

uh shows before we went to summer i got i got picked up for four and then it was over just to see if i had any game which we found out i did not and so i go john he goes that's a great idea and i go it is it wasn't that good he goes right he gave me no help because i probably had seven sets it was probably 28 pages and uh

I think Schumacher went, is this your piece of shit? I go, yeah. And he goes, can we chop it down to about 20? I mean, I didn't know. And he goes, I think there's too many sets. I'm like, well, if anyone would tell me anything, all I'm used to is writing standup. So I don't know what I'm doing wrong. And they go, well, there's too much to fix here, but good luck with it. It's a hopeless cause, but we appreciate that you put pen to paper.

And Dennis goes, Spud, if you and Schneider don't get anything on in these four shows, I think it's curtains. Christ sakes. I mean, they'll send you back on a greyhound out of here, okay? You're not even going to be flying southwest. Can you write me some update jokes? I mean, get off your ass. You got nothing on the show. Maybe slip under my door if you don't want to talk to me. Yeah.

All right. One time I told Dennis I had turned down this commercial for a lot of money. Christ sakes, Carvey, this business will eat you up and spit you out. Nobody cares, okay? It's all about securing rectangular greenbacks.

He was right. And I regretted not doing that commercial. You'd get the new writers. Write me some update jokes before you get too in the mix here. I remember my first week on this show, too, watching Dennis Miller in the rewrite room on a Thursday night. Come.

come into the room so funny fucking tear everybody uh fucking ass new fucking hole yeah that's hilarious room yes an insult to every fucking writer and actor that was in the room he spared me too because i think he even went you're new i'm not gonna fucking uh

I'll give you a pass today, Ticket. I know. But you guys, I saw him do that once and everyone was laughing so hard. Farley almost just fell down. They're not buying the fat guy thing. Okay, Chrissy. Fat guy falls down. Anything else? Rock, you're no Eddie. Did he say to Chris Rock, you're no Eddie? I mean, it's like,

He goes, I think he goes, Rock, you're the angry black guy. Meadows, you're not even angry. You're just a black guy. You're the nice one. Where's that going to get you? Then he goes, Spade, nothing. He looks around. Schneider, copy machine. Now it's over. You're flatlining. They're not buying the dooba dooba guy. Whatever. This guy tells some jokes. What are you doing up there? All right. You're embarrassing your family.

Okay? We all get taken down. You're embarrassing your entire neighborhood. Okay? And then he would walk out of the room, man. Yeah, because he didn't have to be at the meeting. Then he'd have a mouthwash spray and he'd be like in a suit. You know, the cat and I are going to go catch the king and I downtown at the Orpheum. Okay?

And his hair was all squashed. We're all sweaty and greased up. We got staples in our head. We got stay till midnight. Do the rethrow. You're going to hit Orso with Al Baldwin. Yeah. Christ sakes. The risotto, Kirby, to die for. Oh, wait. I had a question for fucking Timmy. Well, I want to get to a lot of things. Oh, okay. Like if you on the new SNL, you were there longer than me, but obviously it's evolving. But-

You played someone like Erykah Badu in Sentinel. Now, would you present day be able to play a female? Ooh, that's a good question, man. They definitely do women playing men. They do women playing men all the time now. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think it was. I don't think I would do it if it's an impression. I think if it was a character like me just being a woman, you know what I mean?

Yeah, like the coffee talk lady. Yeah. I don't even know what it's like. I don't even know what it's like now. You know what I mean? Like, what do people... I don't know the rules. Yeah. It's just, yeah. Like, I just started back doing stand up like a few weeks ago, man. And I'm telling you, it's been fun, but it's just been like, what the fuck? Like...

I'm guessing myself before I say things. Yeah, it's scary. You say the wrong thing, it's over. Right. There's so many big words and little words for everybody. And figures of speech, you don't know if that's going to be a problem. I mean, even in 2015, when I look back what I was doing, I'm doing Chinese accents. I'm doing all kinds. I've just distilled it. Now I can do Russian.

And I could do French, British, but that's about it. You know, I just had the table. You know, I was doing Indian accents. I was doing the cook my cardiology. Oh, we know. That stuff. And I just think I'm killing, you know, I mean, there were no rules and then it just shifted. So I lost 70% of my act in 45 days. But have you seen that movies...

The only bad guys allowed now are Russians or a made up Russian country or aliens. That's why superhero movies do good. Oh, this crazy planet.

Of Asians. Asian aliens. No, no, no. Let me tell you. What do you want? What I want to do to you is I want to kill you. See, that is just a general accent, right? General over there. It's Eastern European. It could be Romania. What do you want? I kill you now with the gun. Good luck. Good luck, mister. You don't even have to be good at the accent. No, just something like this. It's better if you're not. They can't pin it anywhere. Yeah, right.

I'm going to kill you. Someday I will kill you, but not now, because I want you to think about me putting bullet in your head. At some point in future, you hear footsteps. You look outside. Maybe you have snow cone. One eye, you're blind. Bullet come from other side. Lights out.

But I love you. It's a real snow cone. So I want to get to Tim's. This is a. Dana, you kill me, man. Well, you're making me funnier today, Tim, because you're such a great audience. He's a good audience. Sometimes these podcasts are pretty grim. We've done a few of them. They get pretty grim. I'll tell you that much.

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So, Tim, throughout your years on SNL, he does Coneheads, It's Pat, Wayne's World 2. Yeah. So you're in the movies. You do Benchwarmers, which is one of those fun. In Mean Girls, you were hysterical as the principal. And then, I don't want to jump over anything, but then, of course, you have this, one of the few sketches that becomes a feature film. And what I noticed was,

Your evolution. I left the show or maybe it hosted. I came back or I watched it and I saw you on Ladies Man. I don't know which episode it was, but I just saw this like.

like the confidence in the, in the audience loving you, it just went like that just snapped. I mean, it went to another level. I was like, Whoa. So what, how did that evolve? And when did you go, I'm onto a killer, a killer reoccurring character, which is so fun on SNL. And who brings up a movie? I, I, um,

I did. I mean, I think I got more comfortable naturally as the seasons went on. Me too, by the way. That season where David and I and Normie were still there, you know, that year. Yeah. I think that was the year. Yeah, that like crossover year. Five, six, like that, 95. Yeah. My sixth. Yeah. That was the year that I kind of felt like, okay, yeah.

I already know how to show words. I know how to write. I just got to be more comfortable and have more fun on camera. I mean, I just started to relax really. And then ladies, man, just, it was just a, that was an easy character for me to, to, to do because I had been doing it for a long time, but I didn't tell people about it. Cause I used to do it to make fake phone phone calls. I used to use it as a voice, you know? And so, um,

I told a couple of writers about it and they came up with the ladies man idea and they would ask me questions and I would just answer you doing that voice about relationship questions or problems or whatever.

And then it just clicked, man. I was like, even when I do it now, if I feel like doing it or people talk to me or interviews, like it is like, you know, like with any of the things you do is like, you just know that person, you know how the character talks, you know what it would say. It's musical. The, the, the way it's a Cavazier, it's, it's very hypnotic and musical, you know? And, and so it was operating on a lot of different levels as far as just entertainment and funny. And so it,

The minute we did it, we knew...

that people liked it i mean it got laughs and then just we got letters it was like the only time i really got like you know like a lot of fan mail oh go by that mailbox yeah yeah and so that was dana had a lot of they liked it um and then the whole thing of the movie came up with lauren lauren brought it brought up asses uh me and uh uh parker uh no i wrote it with

Harper Steele, who is and Dennis McNicholas. So they created the character. And then, yeah, Lauren asks if we'd be interested in writing a script. First of all, that was it. He was like, do you think you can make this into a movie? And

The three of us were like, not really. You know what I mean? That's funny. We think that it would be fun, but we were like, we didn't think it was like a big enough hit that we would make it should be a movie. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like just business wise, we were like, well, and then he told us to think it over. And then the three of us talked about it.

And we started just coming up with like, well, what if we did this? We haven't told a backstory. We haven't told what his life is like or what his work life is like or put him on an adventure or anything like that. And then we said, yeah, OK, we'll try it. And then we wrote a script. We had a read through story.

They liked it. And then they were like, we'll give you the minimum amount of money to make it. And then it was paramount. Yeah. Yeah. The Lawrence deal. Yeah. Lauren had a deal. Paramount. So, yeah. So, I mean, that was how it was. And it was really a great experience. You know, it,

I don't regret that movie at all. Like people still to this day know the character, they know the movie, like when I'm traveling or whatever. And people like it. I mean, nobody ever is like, you know, I think that character was disgusting or whatever, you know? And it just travels, you know, it just travels. You know what the thing is,

Yeah, Dana, like I was saying to you about the Biden impression is that it's something that people can do. Like you gave them a hook. Yeah, right. And it's the same way. Like people know it and it gives them a hook into a way to

to talk or to do the character. That's like the funnest thing to get on SNL. You get one of those. Uh, rhythmic catchphrase. This made me laugh to me. And I don't know where this came from, but it was on the Wikipedia page about Leon Phelps, the ladies man. And it said the describing the character, he believed he was the living definition of what women search for in a man. And that's the classic cocky idiot. Like he was so fucking confident about,

That no woman could ever resist him. And the confidence he had is always really fun to watch just a crazy confident character who is kind of clueless in a way about his own. So the character, yeah, I can see that being kind of have a following as people see it over time. You know, you know that, and that, that attitude is a lot. I would like to say I was like stove from, you know, or like,

I think of Bill Murray and doing a Caddy shack, like that attitude of like,

He's superior to everybody in the movie. Yes. He's the smartest guy in the movie. Yeah. And so when he's his, you trust his riffing, you know, you know, it's going to get you somewhere. And I feel, I kind of have that attitude when I'm doing Leon Phelps, like he's as smart as doing the room. Can't make any mistakes.

Doesn't doesn't know if he's offending you, doesn't care if he's offending you. That's why, you know, it's so much fun to play a character like that because it's hard to go through life actually like that, you know? Yes. But one thing that I don't know, this sort of dovetails, but I remember we were doing a benefit for Robert Smigel for autism.

and kind of sharing a dressing room. And we just got to start talking about stand-up as a baseline for a career. And I always tell everyone, I told Lovitz, anybody who's a Second City improv player who's funny, who wants to put together an act, they have all the tools to do it because they already, if you can score an SNL, you can do it. So I don't know if you began, but then you develop yourself as a stand-up comic and you've been doing it pretty consistently since.

here and there. And we did that crazy show in Laughlin, Nevada. Oh man. Just as far as the circumstances, that's a movie in itself. But David, it's five in the afternoon or something in an empty stadium with high winds and bright sun in your face.

Outside. Outside. It sucks always. And daytime is a killer. Yeah. It may have been dust, but it was- And the laughs just go straight up in the air. Yeah. And when there's bright out, you don't even look any- you look anywhere but the stage. And I hate seeing the people because as many laughs as you get, you always connect eyes with someone going-

Yeah. And you're like, are you even listening to what, and you think you're killing and you always find someone that goes, oh no, you're not. For me, I all, in my head, Tim is over in the, in the, on the wings and I'm up there. I'm going, I am so awkward. I'm so bad right now. I don't even care. This is the worst that I've ever done. And I look over and I see Tim,

And it just kept thinking, what does he think? I don't want to bomb in front of this SNL guy. I know, horrible. Knows how to do this. But it was just one of those nights you just get the check and we walked away.

Yeah, you gave me a ride back to the city too. I love, we had a great time. Because we don't get to spend that much time together where it's like we had a couple hours to just talk and stuff and chill. So that was the highlight of that for me. Oh, totally. I was so thrilled that you took the ride with me because I love comedians. I love talking to them. And part of the reason...

We're doing this is because too many years go by because we're all just busy doing shit and you never hang out. Even if you went to a dinner at a restaurant, they're playing loud music. It's still, you know, you just want to like, I know a lot more about you right now than I did. And I knew a lot, man. I knew a lot. Marcy! Marcy!

Marcy Klein, we'd love to have her as a guest. So you've just gone on. Your resume is huge. You work. You're doing stuff. I always see your name popping up. You're doing this series. You're doing this. You're doing that. So how are you feeling now? Just coming back to stand-up now? Yeah, I'm just coming back to doing it now. I've done a couple gigs. We love it. We've got it in Catan and Finesse Mitchell. Hello.

Yeah. We did a tour a few years ago with Spade and Rob and Sandler took us out, which was really fun. Yeah, I could imagine. Highlight. Playing for that crowd. Yeah.

highlight understatement i also was and it was fun to see every i mean everybody's so good and i i was the least experienced of everybody on that tour so it was really fun for me to like i came out first like after schneider you know introduced the gig and seeing it and so it was you know i'd come out and i had a lot of um

goodwill from the audience, you know? So I felt comfortable and stuff. And then... They were excited to see Zoldy go on. Yeah, man. It was just so much fun to, like, watch everybody and, you know, rest in peace, Norm. I...

enjoyed watching him just do his shit every night. He always did something different. He was one of a kind and so brilliant. It does seem that it comes down to, at least for me, like it took me, I'd say 80, 80 to a hundred shows to get where you were talking about relaxed, having fun in a situation that should, you shouldn't be allowed to do that and live performance and stand up too. It's so much, um,

uh just internally enjoying it and being relaxed and not needy and also just clarity uh you know i've been doing some open mics with my kids and stuff and most open micers they just the audience just misses it like what are you trying to say so just the clarity of the setup and then actually they can see you're enjoying yourself but the main thing is you know try not to try is very difficult but once you get confident doing it then it becomes electrifyingly fun when you're kind of like yeah

I got this folks. You know, I noticed the SNL thing, but let me ask you guys this and you can cut it out if you want, but like when you, how do you, how do you get into, like, I know writing new material, like, do you take ideas that you have and then just expand on them on stage? Or do you like completely think out the idea before you get on stage and do it? David, I'll let you take that one. Um,

I do. I think what I want to say, and I hope I have enough of a germ and maybe an out, but it's always undercooked. And then I do it. And then I trim out the fat. Sometimes I'll tape it.

We type it out and then I'll look at it and go, I don't need that. I don't need that. And then it gets a little tighter. And once it actually gets into my act on a consistent basis, I try to rip on it, but I sort of have to get it to memorize the way it works. And then I can screw around with it. But, but finding it is tough and you almost have to tape because you say one thing you like and the rest of my act, I'm trying to remember that one line that

to remember and I just - if I don't tape it or anything and I hate listening to myself so it's a real horrible. Yeah, the only thing I could add to that is what I told Lovitz is just don't be in a hurry to get through a bit. Like say you have a bit now that works, whatever the topic, there's always more and just stay there. You know, I always try to remind myself sometimes don't be in a hurry, just stay there. And the other thing I like to do is find a 20-seater

I don't know what the number is, but I'd say 20-seater. And then just bring up your yellow pad and

With just ideas you've had And tell the audience you're doing that I call it podcast standing Here's an idea I had I don't even know if this is funny And then you're automatically there on your side That seems to be a really good way to develop material Once you're out there in front of a packed house and everything It's way too late Something will work But a 20 seater Where you just got the yellow pad They know you're just fucking around Right You know I think of lines all the time And then George Carlin always said write everything down

Because writing happens when you're going to a movie or you're hanging out or you're having a- It's not when you're trying to write. And just write every single tiny thing down. That would be the method I use. I'm sure you use variations of what David and I just said. Yeah.

I do that too. I like, I'll write notes down and then I go back and look at it and think about, well, what was the original thought that made me laugh that I wrote this down? Yeah. And the thing I've been doing now, like I'm going to, I'm in Chicago, so I'm going to try to do some open mics tonight. I'm going to do Zany's tomorrow. What I've been trying to do is like,

Colin gave me this advice, which is couching it, the new shit between two bits that I already know works. And then, like you were saying, Dana, give yourself time in that bit. Like, okay, here's the new thing I'm working on.

It's probably going to die. I don't know what it is, but even if it fails and I got this other thing that'll get you back. You could look at Chappelle, even Chappelle five years ago or whatever. He was never in a hurry to get through things. And when you're young and kind of scared, you just want to roll right through it. As I've gotten older, more confident, I go, I'm just going to sit with this idea now.

And not when the – I call it the second voice that's giving you a real-time report card.

When that just shut that up and it's all tied into the same thing, having fun and confidence. I'd say confidence and where it comes from, how it happens is somewhat mysterious. But when you have it, the idea is I'm Ted Meadows. Get the fuck out of my way. It goes back to the Detroit guy. I'm coming on stage for you motherfuckers. And guess what? I'm the shit. I'm fucking funny and I'm really smart.

I may be kind of too handsome for a stand-up. Don't let that get in your way, you bitches. But that's the thing tonight when you go, just, I'm Tim Meadows, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, Dana, you're the best, man. Thanks, David. Thank you. Timmy, it's great talking to you. I miss you. I will see you soon. And thanks for blabbing with us.

Hey, what's up, flies? What's up, fleas? What's up, people that listen? We want to hear from you and your dumb questions. Questions, ask us anything. Anything you want. You can email us at flyonthewallatcadence13.com. This is Hello David and Dana. My name is Rob and I'm from Belgium. Belgium. Nice. We are blowing up in Belgium, Dana. Love your waffles.

I can't step foot in Bulgaria. We're too big. Okay. Big fan of the podcast. Question is, both of you, what do you consider to be the other's most under and overrated impression? That's from Robin Ritson. I'd say your most underrated is Michael J. Fox from Casualties of War. Oh, yeah. That's your most underrated.

Yeah, I'm not a big impression guy, and so this question is probably more for you, but Michael J. Fox I had a lot of pride in, and I think it helped me get on SNL. I tricked them into thinking I was like Rich Little because I had one impression. I also did Tom Petty, but on the show you get a lot of –

You get assigned. You're Dave Perner from Soul Asylum. I did Kurt Cobain, did Brad Pitt. There's a bunch of those where you get assigned every week. So they're not that great, but they're just more looks, you know, and then Dana would get really into them. So if I said Dana's, I would say I like pretty much all his. I don't think any of them are really overrated. I do like when you do a Ross Perot or a George Bush where you're

It's something I don't even know if they really said. Maybe they said it once and you run with it. Like there's a Ross Perot where you go, let me tell you one time. What does he say? Something like that. Can I finish one time? That's like a James Brown influence. Yeah, that's right. Can I finish one time? So maybe...

You know, when I was just doing a walk-in impression for Dana a little bit ago, I said, I talk about a mouse and I go, he's smart, the smart, you know? So if you can find one little tiny thing that sounds like him, that's fun. But Dana's are all underrated and they're all good. And he finds these little one lines and little hooks. So that's the hard part. Even if Trump or any of these guys didn't say that or not going to do it kind of got

with George Bush. It's such a great hook and it sounds like the person that the actual person almost needs to say those things now to sound like them because it's so famous. It's more famous than the actual person. Yeah, and there's two ways to look at an impression, like abject accuracy, like, oh my God, it's like a tape recorder. That's perfect. And then there's something that's more of an abstraction and funny and takes liberties and so...

Maybe I just get bored, but I do like to extend them and make them into one sound like Trump. Well, that's why it works. But that's how it works, especially in SNL, because crowds are waiting for something. And if you do just a perfect impression, it doesn't always pay off. I think it's always nice when a host comes in and they have something secret in their grab bag and they can do an impression. So you write a whole sketch around it when they get to theirs.

it's always shocking they can do one and it gets a big applause. It still is. It's almost like magic to me, though, when someone like Frank Caliendo can sound exactly like Morgan Freeman, like eerily. So I love impressions of all stripes.

Fly on the Wall has been a presentation of Cadence 13. Please listen, then rate, review, and follow all episodes. Executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Chris Corcoran of Cadence 13, and Charlie Finan of Brillstein Entertainment. Production and engineering led by Greg Holtzman, Richard Cook, Serena Regan, and Chris Basil of Cadence 13.