July 21, 2025 • 50 mins
Will Forte talks about almost being a financial advisor, his checkered writing career, SNL MacGruber, Nebraska, The Groundlings, Last Man on Earth, having kids late, seeing shrinks, frats, & Val Kilmner being the weirdest roommate of all time.
Bio: Will Forte is a comedian, actor, writer, and improviser best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and his starring role in The Last Man on Earth. Born in Alameda County, California, Forte studied History at UCLA before briefly working as a financial broker. He shifted to comedy in the late '90s, joining the Groundlings and writing for shows like The Jenny McCarthy Show and That '70s Show. His pilot about two clueless brothers led to The Brothers Solomon (2007), which he wrote and starred in. Forte joined Saturday Night Live in 2002, quickly earning a reputation for absurd and surreal comedy. He co-wrote and starred in the cult film MacGruber (2010) before leaving SNL to pursue broader roles. He appeared in comedies like 30 Rock, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, and That’s My Boy, while also branching into drama with Run and Jump and Alexander Payne’s Nebraska (2013), earning critical praise. From 2015 to 2018, he created and starred in the acclaimed sitcom The Last Man on Earth. He later portrayed Douglas Kenney in A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018) and appeared in hit films like Booksmart and Good Boys (2019). More recently, he has starred in Netflix’s Bodkin, Four Seasons, and the upcoming Coyote vs. Acme.
Bio: Will Forte is a comedian, actor, writer, and improviser best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and his starring role in The Last Man on Earth. Born in Alameda County, California, Forte studied History at UCLA before briefly working as a financial broker. He shifted to comedy in the late '90s, joining the Groundlings and writing for shows like The Jenny McCarthy Show and That '70s Show. His pilot about two clueless brothers led to The Brothers Solomon (2007), which he wrote and starred in. Forte joined Saturday Night Live in 2002, quickly earning a reputation for absurd and surreal comedy. He co-wrote and starred in the cult film MacGruber (2010) before leaving SNL to pursue broader roles. He appeared in comedies like 30 Rock, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, and That’s My Boy, while also branching into drama with Run and Jump and Alexander Payne’s Nebraska (2013), earning critical praise. From 2015 to 2018, he created and starred in the acclaimed sitcom The Last Man on Earth. He later portrayed Douglas Kenney in A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018) and appeared in hit films like Booksmart and Good Boys (2019). More recently, he has starred in Netflix’s Bodkin, Four Seasons, and the upcoming Coyote vs. Acme.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Straw Media. Hello, I'm Will Forte. And don't be alone
with j Cogan. Although he's not really alone here, there
are other people in the room, so I'm not as
scared because I know that there are people who will
jump in and save me if they have to.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Don't be alone with JJ Cogan. Hi, don't be alone
with Ja Coganites. It is me Jake Cogan, and you
are here with me on. Don't be alone with Ja Cogan.
I'm so glad you're here. I'm excited to have you. Please,
I'm excited to hear from you. Please write to me
at dbawjk at gmail dot com with all your questions
(00:40):
and suggestions, and subscribe to the show when you can.
All it is is cooking a button, no harm, cost
you nothing, But I need subscribers and I want you
to be a subscriber. You listen. You know you like
this show. Everybody likes the show. I get so many compliments,
but people just say I don't subscribe. Well, it should subscribe.
It's easy, and if you subscribe enough, I can afford
(01:02):
to buy my third home. And that's really what's important,
isn't it. Also, we have a spectacular show tonight. I
assume we all listen at night. That's the only time
to listen to. Don't be along with Ja Cogan is
at night. We have a great guest. Will Forte is
here to talk about his life, his comedy, his weird,
(01:22):
weird road to becoming a comedy star. And he's met
a lot of resistance and had a lot of resilience.
He started out in the financial world, left that bravely
to go to come to Los Angeles and try to
make his way through show business. He started out as
a writer, He got fired from some gigs. Other gigs
he did even he did better at Then he took
(01:45):
a chance and left a really successful show to go
audition for SNL and he got that. And we all
know the history. He's been up and he's been down.
He's had movies released that didn't do well, but that
are classics, like mcgruver. He's had TV shows that got
canceled but they're fantastic, Like Last Man on Earth. I mean,
he is a font of knowledge, wisdom and humor and
(02:06):
also just one of the nicest guys on Earth. And
you'll hear about that if you listen, you'll just hear
the goodness in his heart, he's adorable, he's sweet, and
you're gonna be thrilled to get to know him as
I am getting to know him. And so here we are,
ladies and gentlemen, mister will fort today, don't be alone
with so Will. We're rolling, We're wrote welcome, I'm ready
(02:40):
performance face so Will. Thank you for being here. It's
a pleasure to have you. And I just want to
say that I'm a an inordinate fan of your work.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And I say that to every guest, every single guest,
whether I mean it or not, Sore, I'm a fan
of the I tell everybody else Forte's work. It's unbelievable.
You hold a very sort of unique space in comedy.
I think because you don't look immediately ridiculous, you.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Know, thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You know you don't look immediately ridiculous, but but you
are willing to play very ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And I'm impressed with that that thing. Particularly a friend
of mine, Dan Pasternak, told me to watch the Potato
Chip sketch on staray Line.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Oh man, that's that's one of my favorites. Got to
do that with John Solomon, And I wrote that and
Jason Sedeikis came in and then added some nice touches
just as an actor in it. I mean some of
some of the great jokes in there from him.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So now I think the audience should pause this show
and then go watch online the Potato Chip sketch to
know what we're talking about. But just so you know,
it takes place at NASA. There's some kind of NASA thing,
but everybody has a strange Southern accent, as though it's
a Tennessee Williams play or some some sort of old
civil war.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
It's a lot of stuff mixed into one. It's funny
because we we there's like a seven minute version of
that in the dress rehearsal. We did a super long
when they made us cut it down for air. So
I've always wanted to get get a hold of the
There's so much stupid stuff in the dress rehearsal that
I think people would like if they like that sketch, but.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
It's it's so oddly formal and antibellin. Yeah, I just think,
where did so? Where did that come from? Where did I?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
That was just one of those ones where I was
walking around the streets in New York one day and
I just started talking about in that weird voice that
that my character does. You know, I don't want them,
but the gypsy just put that on a voice memo
and then cut to six in the morning, six thirty
(05:01):
in the morning, the day that you're supposed to turn
in stuff. I hadn't written anything yet. John Solomon and
I were supposed to write something, but he was working
with somebody else and it went way long. So he
comes in and we're like, why don't we just try
to write this and make this into something? And it
just started crazy and just went crazier and crazier and
(05:21):
went all over the place. Probably it might surprise you
and it might not surprise you. I think it probably
took an hour and a half to write because we
just we were we were not filtering anything. We just
kind of went nuts and had fun. And it felt
like where I wanted to go exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
It felt like it was all fun, Like the fact
that it was a NASA made no sense at all,
Like there's no no particular point to it other than
the formality with which people are reading each other.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Right up the thing. And then it was like started
it now, So I guess right. I mean that was
I think immediate. That was the first thing and just yeah,
it was.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
How was how was the fiftieth experience? Going back for that?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
It was so fun? I it just was. And I
the fortieth was really fun, right, And that was a
year I got to be in that movie Nebraska. And
what a fun experience it was to get to do everything,
all these things that I never thought I'd get to
(06:24):
do in my life, go to Can, go to the
Oscars like that was a huge deal. Sure, And going
to the fortieth anniversary was a couple of months after that,
maybe even a month. And it was that experience that
the fortieth was so much cooler than the Oscars. I'm
(06:45):
sure it's because the Oscars, I felt like I had
no business feeling that stranger. Yeah, and I feel like
part of the SNL family, so I felt like, oh,
this is kind of you know, I felt a part
of that experience. Well, the fiftieth was even cooler than
this eperience. I never thought anything would top.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, and it.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Was just wall to wall with special experiences.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Well, will I've had you on the show, because the
show don't be along with Jake Cogan, it's all about
people solving my problems.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Let me fix you.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yes, exactly. So you have gone through many changes in
your life in terms of like you first started going
into you we're working as an investing right did you
start out in.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yes, But I was not very far along. I was
a cold caller for this guy, Brett Satchelov at Smith
Barney Shearson, and he had gotten to the point where
he said, hey, I would like to put you through
the Series seven test, which is what you got, the
test you got to take before you can be a
(07:50):
legit handler of finances. And that was where I had
to make that decision like, oh am I gonna is
And I know that if I had done that, there's
no way I would have done anything else because I
would have felt beholden to him, because that's you know,
a move like that, where somebody puts you through the classes,
(08:12):
Like you know, I would honor that person by by
trying your best to make that work and that thing
that wasn't right for me for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Until you're arrested, Yes, exactly. But and then you came
to LA and you've did a lot of things. You
were a writer on shows before you were a performer.
I was told that you were fired from David Letterman show.
Is that right or something?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
I was? I was right.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
So you've been through a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And a lot of ups and down, ups and downs.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
And that's the point I have. I don't know that
I have the resilience that you do. Every it seems
like you've bounced back from anything that has been either
a change or or a perceived bump in the road.
You bounce back bigger and better than ever. And so like,
how do you do it? And what's your advice for
a guy like me who's like timid and shy and can't.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I'll tell you I have a lot of that in me.
And so when I first tried to get an agent,
I went to college with this guy Matt Rice, right,
I know, a big agent at Uta. He was the
guy I knew from college who was an agent. And
(09:26):
so I wrote some stuff I was writing with this
woman and London at the time Hutchinson.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
But like, we gave our stuff to Matt and if
he had said, no, I don't like it, I would
have just thought, oh, you're right. I shouldn't have been
I shouldn't have even tried to be a writer, and
I would have probably been working as a financial consultant,
you know. But but I just got lucky that this
(09:54):
one guy that I knew not only liked the stuff
that we gave him, but was in the early years
of this he was gonna be this guy. He was
one of the great agents in town.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
You grabbed onto him at the beginning, yeah, and rode
the waves.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
He was the guy I knew. I mean, if he
was like the crappiest agent in town, that would have
been my agent. But I just got lucky that he
was amazing. So these downtimes, you know, I get fired
from Letterman, I'm I called him. I'm like, well, I
guess that's it. I guess my career is over, and
he's And he's the one who says, oh no, don't
worry about that, you know, just the fact that you
(10:34):
have that as a credit, as a big deal and
people will will take a chance on you. So that
so I didn't know that I was. I really it was.
It was tough when I got fired because a he's
a hero of my Letterman's one of my all time heroes,
comedy heroes. So that I felt like a real disappointment there.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Well, he didn't walk into your office and fire you personally,
he didn't walk He didn't take you by the scruff
of the neck and throw you out of out of
the studio.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
No, he did not. He did not. He didn't stop
them from firing either that I know of, unless they secretly. No, no, no,
I love him. I'm so thrilled to have gotten a
chance to be a part of that show because it's
meant so so much of my life and everything works
out the way it's supposed to do. Write so so yeah,
so I came out of there somehow got a job
(11:25):
on a sitcom, The Army Show was I think that
was the next thing I did, and then that led
to more and more with Dave Higgins. Sure, yeah, that
was a great caste.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
That was a great cast. So yeah, so you're working
on these TV shows and then and that got to
that seventy show at some point, Yes, were you performing
at the Groundings at the same time you're doing that
kind of stuff or did the ground would.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Before like basically just be writing and then you'd have
like a two month hiatus period and so I would
sometimes do a groundling show during that period. And then
uh yeah, one particular hiatus period, I said I'm going
to do this Groundling show and that was I got
lucky that that was the show that Lauren Michaels came to, right,
(12:10):
And and then well this is an interesting story that
some people know. But so I got the audition and
I was right away shitting my pants like oh my,
because I mean the heart of it is that I
had already taken this one dream of mine, which was
(12:31):
to work at the Letterman show, right, and it just
exploded and I sucked at it, and I was like,
this is going to be the same thing, Like, am
I going to just explode this other dream? So to me,
it made more sense in my head to like not
even it just made no sense because it's like you're like, oh,
(12:52):
I'll keep this dream alive by not exploding it, but
then that means you would never attain it. So it's
it was just so.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You know, Robertnette is not at the corner of every dream. Well.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
The other thing though, what I ended up, well, long
story short, finally they convinced me because I was saying, oh,
I'm I'm I'm under contracted at seventy show. I can't
come do it, and they finally convinced me to go
and at least auditions. So I did it and I
got the job, and then I turned it down and
(13:27):
I just you know, all my friends thought, oh, what
a punk rock decision, and it was more just like
this scared, yeah kid, that's terrified.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
That was a terrible decision. It worked out, but who
who tells that? No, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
I was just terrified. So they came back the year later,
after I had been at seventy show. I meant part
of the deal was the seventy Show was an amazing
show to write on the hours. You know, writing hours
can be horrendous, and this was like to four thirty
every day, just a bunch of really sweet, nice people
(14:05):
who were really funny. We were having a blast making
a show that I thought was really fun and good. Right,
and then I think they had just been picked up
for two seasons too, which most of the stuff I
had worked on was like thirteen and out, thirteen and out,
So I just thought, I gotta be smart. I'm not
gonna I'm gonna shock at S and L and.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Those shows I worked on are picked up like four
days at a time. They just took it like the
film Monday, We'll tell you Thursday if you're picked up
for another four days.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Well, one one thing I will say Mark Brazil, who
was the creator of seventy show, he pulled me aside
and he said, hey, go freaking do this, you dumb ass, right, like,
you will have a job here if it doesn't work
out there, you got this job here. And really like
there was no he took away all the fear. Yeah,
(14:54):
like I was still terrified of the show. But he's
a good guy, great he was. He was a great
boss and a lot of in a lot of ways.
That was the thing that kind of pushed me over.
My girlfriend at the time was very supportive also Amy
and she uh, you know, so it was it was
a lot of a lot of people pushed me in
the right direction.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Don't be alone. Going to sonatelife is a little daunting
because it's you know, it's sound a life, and it's
it's it's it's very competitive, it's difficult, it's not you know,
Parnell was fired and came back like there's things that
happened to really really funny. There's nobody funnier than Chris Parnell.
(15:48):
And even he got underrated. Yeah, performer of.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
All time, like he is so he is so, so
very good.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
But just shows you how competitive it is, how difficult
it is, and kind of that's that's how they like it.
They're they like people sort of warring a little bit
to make the show. And so yeah, I can understand
why it doesn't immediately think I got to get there automatically.
But I'm glad you did. It's very very funny work amazing.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Too, man. I Well, it was a good lesson for
me too, like to just do it, don't don't be afraid,
don't don't worry about money stuff, That stuff all works
itself out, and just you know, try to do stuff
that sounds scary.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah, because it's.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It is terrifying at first, but you get past that
part and then it becomes really fun.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
And it only took about six years for me to
get over the fear.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Well, I mean that's that's quick for a lot of people.
Six years isn't bad. That's good. I think the groundlings
and growing up in LA and trying to be concerned
about comedy makes me a little bit tougher skinned about
that stuff. What I'm not tougher skinned about is failure
is failure on a career level or career like big
(17:02):
shows that have made it. Like I made a movie
called The Wrong Guy, which is.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Which I have seen okay now that never came out,
never came out right.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Never came out. And so I have movie is so.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Good it remember, very funny movie.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
And I tried to bond with you on the strike
line talking about mcgrub which was released and was fantastic,
but has the same spirit. It's it's, it's it has
it has the same let's make jokes, let's be funny
spirit and uh and and people have found it. People
have found the Wrong Guy. Some people have found it.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Where can they find it?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Like it's it's available for free on YouTube and it's
also on DVDs and other places. But it's we we
we've played it at the comedy festivals and we played
it at other places. People there's a small tight knit
group of people who you know, uh, cultish cultishly like
the movie.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
But which is fun so good. But I.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Wrote it with Dave Foley and Dave Higgins from the
Army and it was directed by David Steinberg and who's
very funny and stars Dave Foley and Dave Higgins, and
it's it's it's great. But I only mentioned it not
to build myself up. But if you want to go
watch it and write me family, that's fine. It is,
but it's to say that mcgruber is so funny and
(18:21):
so sharp and every beat of it is there to
make you laugh. I mean, there's just it's just magical
in that how silly and funny very much.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I mean, that was a that was a movie we loved.
It was a good lesson because I had it. It's
so different when you I had been in a situation
before where I didn't get to I'm kind of a
control freaking and when stump something is out of your
control and you change it around a little bit to
(18:56):
try to make it more palatable to a your audience.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Or to get through the gauntlet of working with people
in the studios or whatever else. Sometimes you have to
make compromises.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
And this was one where like we were able to
because a lot of this is due to Lauren like
just surrounding us like a like a pop up ear
and just letting us do whatever we wanted to do.
So so we got to make the exact movie we
wanted to make, and it's it bombed just as hard
as the other one I'm talking about, But it's so
much easier to take when you're when you know that
(19:29):
that you stood behind every every decision that was made.
I mean obviously there were budgetary things.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Is not funny, though, so proud of a failure, like
I am. I have that experience. I'm like, so proud
of the wrong guy and it is complete and abject failure.
It made no money, but it is, but that's at.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Least at least ours was out there. And then like
now you can see it somewhere on a I don't
even know where you could see it right now. The plus,
yeah you could is that I think so. And but
like how frustrating to know that for you you gotta
you know, hand out a TVD copy.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
There's subscribe it to people. I stopped them on the
street and just describe the movie to people. They get
tired of it, it's fine. Uh well, it's.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Like you know, and and I thought I was going
to have that experience with Kyotie versus acme.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yes, And then.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
We just got the news recently that that you know,
this was entertainment bought it, and so, but I know
that pain of just that frustration of knowing that that
you made this really good movie and and that people
can't see it.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
When I first of.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
All, when so I feel, I feel you're frustrated.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
When you did Nebraska, were you did you feel capable
of doing traumatic work?
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Oh? Man, I was terrified. Uh. I did get to
go to Ireland right before and do a fully dramatic
movie of this tiny Irish movie called Run and Jump.
It was basically a bunch of Irish people and and
(21:14):
me Sharon Horgan was played a role in it in
Maxine Peak is fantastic in it. Who's British? But yeah,
so I didn't have to do an accent, but it
was It was a really wonderful way to have this
experience of getting used to acting like that because it's
(21:36):
it's it's it's scary. I didn't know if I could
do it. And this Steph Green, who directed that movie
somehow reached out to me and said I think you
could do this, And I was like, I don't you
really do and She's like, yeah, come do it. And
it was like Ireland basically my agent said, look, why
(21:57):
don't you try it out. You know, if it turns
out really bad and you suck at it, nobody will
probably see it.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
I'm like, you're right now, we'll get to go over
to Ireland and check that out. So I did it,
and that was a very valuable experience to go into it.
It was Steph's first feature, I think, so it was.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
She's Fighting her Way.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, exactly. So it was a really pleasant thing. She's
awesome and it was and I really was proud of
how that movie turned out, and and kind of came
back maybe for five or six weeks, and then went
to Nebraska and was still terrified. You know, I'm such
a fan of Alexander Paynes and obviously Bruce Dern.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Is there a more intimidating actor than Bruce Dern. I
don't think. I can't think of one. I mean, I'm
sure he's nice in person, but he's had so many
roles where he's been the villain or the heavy and
that that look, that dead eyed stare that he has.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
I'll tell you he was almost instantly just lovable support.
He so quickly put me at ease.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
You know, he killed John Wayne in the movie.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, only person ever did killed John Wayne Right, Yeah, no,
it was great because you know, Alexander is super busy
doing everything. He was fantastic to me also, But like
I am, just pretty much every day I'm right next
to Bruce Dern for just hours and hours. A lot
(23:29):
of times we're stuck in a car together, and he
just could not have been a better teacher and a
better a better uh partner in these scenes.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
So you guys have fight rules etiquette because you're in
the car together. I don't know, long long road trips
kind of require.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
I learned about on set farting etiquette pretty early on
from a bad experience. I'm not even going to bring
it up, but I did. I did take a chance
and and was met with some some thumbs downs.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Last Man on Earth was spectacular.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
It was incredible. And I know, uh, secondhand, that you
almost killed yourself making that thing like that. You've you
ran yourself ragged, didn't sleep, didn't need like you you
you didn't you try to write the show, start the show,
show run the show in the way the show runners do.
(24:27):
But it's too much for one person, and you managed
to somehow at least do it for a little while.
How did you do it.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I don't know. I mean it really was too it
was too much. It was I I would I could
never do it again. That version of it, like like mcgruber,
was a different situation because you're just making eight. I'm
talking the TV series, not the You're you're making eight,
so you can write everything beforehand, then film everything. Everything
(24:55):
is compartmentalized, so you're doing it. But there you're you're
on this schedule. You've got to pump out. You know,
they have the air dates, so you're we probably got
four episodes written by the time we start shooting in
eighteen episode order, so like then by the time you're shooting,
you got to keep writing, pushing forward with that. And
(25:17):
then after like two weeks you start editing too, so
you're writing, acting and editing, and then the sound mixes
come and the spotting sessions, and it's just it's right, NonStop.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Time suck. Yeah, giganticize. If I could just advise you
to go back in time and have ten scripts ready
instead of four, that would really I think it would
have helped you. They really would have helped you.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Well, I mean every season I would have this hopeful Yeah,
I'd go in with optimism that, oh, we learned so
many lessons from however many we had done up to
that point, which is true, right, But then you're also like,
you still need to try to do shows that are
(26:04):
different than the other ones we've done. So you learned
these lessons, but then you're it doesn't matter anyway. So
it just took you know, You're you're taking longer to
try to find new ways to go, and it's just
it's it's same old thing. But but I look back now,
I'm you know, I was always proud of the show
(26:24):
and delighted by the experience, but but it was when
it was canceled, I was. I hate saying it, but
I was.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
I was.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
I needed it to be canceled. I was just physically
and mentally down. I started drinking too much. I was
like that that using that as a crutch, right, and
so I needed a break from that, and I was
able to kind of break that cycle. But but I
don't think I would have broken that site.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
It's easy to make an excuse when you're that pressured
to do whatever you need to do to sort of survive,
but don't realize sometimes the thing that you're using to
relieve the pressure is also the thing that's causing more
pressure in other ways. Yeah, oh yeah, it's a it's
a drag.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Well that wouldn't drink like during the show.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
No, no, But I mean it's like, let's talk for
a moment about Val Kilmner, your roommate. So you were
you were roommates with him while you were making mcgroober.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
No, so, so mcgroober happened. We somehow talked him into
being in mcgru right. Okay, he had a place in
this beautiful place which I actually never went to. But
Yorma and I think John Solomon definitely, Yorma and his
wife Maury went to his place in New Mexico about
two years after the movie. Uh, he was going to
(27:44):
sell his place and he was living in Malibu at
a place he was renting, and he had a dispute
with his landlord. So we said, I need to find
a new place. Can I stay with you while I'm looking?
For get how he phrased it. It sounded like this
was a party on a Saturday. It sounded like he'd
(28:05):
be with me till Tuesday, right or Wednesday. Well, he
showed up on Monday, and then his assistant assistant showed
up a couple hours later with two enormous stuffel bats
with books, just a books. So I'm like, I don't
(28:25):
think might be here. I mean, I don't know why that.
There was just something very final about sure, very you know,
that's a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
You're dragging a library with you, You're going to stay
for a while. Yeah, And it.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Was a delight, you know, it was it was. It
wasn't two and a half months straight. It'd be a
lot of like I'd have to go out of town
and and you know, then I'd be back and we'd
you know, be there for four or five days together,
and then he went to San Francisco for a couple
of days for some kind of job, and then he'd
come back. It was but it was really fun to.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Rules like Val, you gotta do the dishes, I'll take
out the trash, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
I do remember he was, I mean, he was a
great roommate. It was always fun to have him around.
He's just the most interesting person. He's so his personality
is he's he can be. He's so smart and funny
and kind of cocky in this fun way, like like
(29:26):
like playful cocky like pretending to be cocky almost but
then silly at the same time, like I uh, I
just was. I remember he came in one time and
he just had a like a he was wearing his
boxers on his head, and it was just like really
and he just had a normal conversation with his boxers
(29:48):
on his head, and there's no winking. He's like just
really commits to these bits. He's just really funny. And
then out of nowhere sometimes he'll just launch into a
bit and I have a couple that all you know
on my phone that I just treasured. There's he was
so funny and I still can't believe that, well that
A that we got to talk him into doing the
(30:10):
movie at all, B that somehow we maintained a friendship
and uh, you know, to get to have that experience
as being roommates.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
And I read somewhere where you thought about maybe doing
the Great Race together, the Amazing Race. Amazing, Yeah, he was.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
He I was going, I love the Amazing Race. I
haven't been following it recently, but I went through a
stretch where where I was super into it and he
came back and was like, you know, basically, you know
this is your reality TV it's going to rock your brain.
And I said we should.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
It's pretty good. Check it out.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
And so he sat down and actually was pretty enthralled,
and we just at some point said we got to
do this right, We've got to be a I think
he even pitched it to me and so I it
sounded it made all the sense of the world, sure
at that moment. And then we called our agents and
(31:11):
they were like, Nope, no way, and I still don't
know why. I called them back and I said and
I said, yeah, I asked you guys, and he said, oh,
you totally should have done it. I'm like, why didn't
you say that fifteen years I'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Why your agents didn't want you unblocked that time whatever
that time was, so that you couldn't earn good movie
TV money they wanted. They didn't want you to be
on game show. Don't be alone with all? Right, Well,
(31:55):
now we have to move on to question time. Okay,
this is question time.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
This question.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
The first question is can he play a musical instrument?
Speaker 1 (32:10):
I am a bad guitarist and even worse bass player. Fantastic,
that's it. I've always wanted to learn to play the drums.
I have a saxophone. I want to learn. There are
a bunch of I want to play every instrument, and
I've settled for being a bad.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
It seems like you should be if your bad guitars.
Shused to be a better bassist, like the bass seems
should be easier.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
The only reason I'm have any bass experience at all
is because I had a friend in high school who
asked me to be a part of a band and
I found out later that it was so I played
the bass because he said there was this amazing guitarist
Brian Norman, and then my friend Scott was singing sky
(32:53):
Jet on the drums. We played three shows. We played
once at the Roxbury where Rod Stewart was in the audience.
That was very exciting. Our other show was Matthew Perry's
I think his twenty first birthday. We just played like
three songs. I think he was twenty one. I can't remember.
Those guys were buddies with him, so I got to,
(33:14):
you know, fun to see him every once in a
while back in the day. Yeah, I used to play
poker with him. Oh but anyway, so we played three shows.
Forget what the third one was and then then my
buddies had to inform me that that the band was
breaking up. And then a week later a new band formed.
There was everybody with a new bassist who was good
(33:38):
at base right and also had a big car. The
band was basically playing the suburban exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
The band was called new Bassist. Yeah, I'd like to
him talking about playing Doug Kenny and how he approached
the role. He was so funny and heartbreaking in that movie.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Thank you very much. That was a scary thing, and
I'll tell you why it was. There's no real footage
of him other than than the Animal Animal House where
he's playing a voice and and I think they might
have they might have found some audio, but there was
(34:13):
no video that anybody could see. So I felt weird
because I was basically making a guess of what he
was like, which I don't think it was super important
that I that I, you know, got his vocal affectations down.
But the thing that I couldn't get over for a
while was that all the people who did know him
(34:34):
were my comedy heroes. So I'm like, I had this
pressure of not wanting to let all these people down
who did know him. I just wanted to convey his
spirit without knowing what it was. So I did get
to talk to some of his friends who who told
me what he was like, and that that helped.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Timothy writes, Since Christopher Nolan is a self professed Macgoober,
a self professed fan of Macgroober, do you sometimes fantasy
and imagine yourself as the star of a Tenant inception
or Memento style movie?
Speaker 1 (35:05):
That would be an amazing Yes, I mean yes, Okay,
I'm going to manifest it. You know, I was gonna
say I don't know, but like, why not say yes,
Chris Nolan try to manifest it.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Listens to this podcast weekly. He's a subscriber, so he'll
hear this. So Chris Nolan, he's here.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Look it was. It was a thrill to hear that
that he had even seen the movie, let alone liked it.
So so you know, that's enough. That's enough Christopher Nolan
connection to me. If anything else comes it is all gravy.
But you do not want to be in something that
(35:44):
he does. He's great, one of the best there.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Is that guy, writes. Last Man on Earth ended with
a pretty big cliffhanger where a number of people were
alive in an underground bunker. How would that have been
resolved in a new season?
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Okay, so the people who came out of the ground,
they would have been living in a they were living
in a bunker that was kind of like kristin Wiggs bunker,
except it was a little more high tech. There were
more people, and they had scientists who were down there
with them who could have told told them, studied the virus,
(36:20):
known when it was dormant. So they're finally told by
these scientists, hey, it's safe to go back up up there.
So when they get up there, they see the seven
of us walking around, and they're freaked out because we
represent a huge threat to their lives. So that was
them swarming around us. They would have put us into
(36:41):
like some kind of glass encased zoo. Yeah exactly, and
then we would have whatever famous person we could get
to do it. We would have had be the leader
of that group coming up talking to us. We're trying
to talk them into letting us out because clearly we're
still alive, so we you can't be a threat to them.
I'm going to say, Tom Hanks, I mean, yes, that'd
(37:05):
be fantastic. So yes, eventually we wear them down. They
let us out. But just because we are immune does
not mean that we're not carriers. We infect them with
the virus and it just rips through them like wildfire
and then accept somehow. The famous person who's the leader
(37:27):
is Tom Hanks. Yeah, would would survive if we could
talk to them, just taken around for a while. Now,
how we would have ended the whole series? God knows
that was That was one of the benefits of being canceled,
having that. I mean, imagine the pressure.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Everything ends, everything ends, so you don't just have to
worry episode by episode, season by season. That sounds good, Uh,
Ask him the libra of Legend Rights. Ask him if
Kia offered him a brand deal and if he would
have the power to turn it down. Why would Kia?
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Because there's a forte Okay, they I talked, I have
talked about this, My wife has talked about this, but
I it's a it feels like a personal affront that
they have not even made. I mean, I'd probably do
it for a very very little amount of money, because
it's it's just a kind of natural thing. Can I
advise you to Michael said, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Wait for the money. You have kids.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Wait for the money, but I mean I have driven
a Kia Forte before. Uh.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Steve Stolier asked, how did he select Al Hurtz fancy
pants for that bizarre pantomime dance on SNL And I'm
trying to remember what that was, but I can think
of Casino Royale.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Casino Royale was the first one. Well here's an interesting one,
just so so I want people to know this, The
very first version of that sketch was the one with
Peyton Manning. So John Lutz, the awesome John Lutz, came
in with this song Casino Royale by herbal Pert and
it's just like amazing. And I had this idea of
(39:04):
a coach using a song or something to motivate that.
So so like we're like, oh, this works perfectly, and
then we wrote it together. The dance wasn't even a
part of it at first. As I'm about to go
turn it into the turn in table or you know,
I guess that's after you just you send it over
(39:25):
the computer, I'm about to, you know, turn it in,
and John said, why don't you do a dance? When
you do a dance at the table while this song
is going I'm like, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
And and of course that's the the main sketches.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
I mean, Peyton Manning is so funny and delivers those.
He is fantastic. But but like like thank you Lutz,
imagine not that was that's it. Yeah, So anyway, we
I was, I mean, I've done some recurring stuff, but
I always want to try to do it a little
bit differently, Like you know, mcgroover is always in the
(40:03):
same somebody's always blown up, but we'd always try to
be doing different versions because I just hate it when
it's like the exact same thing. So we had turned
in a version another dance thing which was like a
military thing where it was, you know, there was a
battle that they were going through and and the you know,
(40:24):
the commander was was trying to motivate them right, and
and we thought it was really fun. And then it
turns into another dance which is Al Hurd's Fancy Banks,
which which lets it I think, let's had found that
one again, and then Laurene picked it to go in
the show, but then then said that he wanted us
(40:47):
to change it into a swim coach, which I always
I love Lauren, I'm not Lauren I love you, but
I I think I disagreed that I think that the
swim coach was like and death is similar to the
other coach, and and it, you know, felt felt like
(41:08):
just a little bit too similar to the other one.
So so that's one that I.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
An hour before you came in, I was talking to
James L. Brooks, who was here, so.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I thought, okay, I thought that was him down there.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
So and he is one of my he's one of
my mentor he's one of my heroes. I wrote a
sketch years ago the Tracy Omen Show, and the sketch
was a woman called her best friends over to meet
her new boyfriend, and a new boyfriend is a triloquiz dummy,
and so she's talking about how she's fallen in love
(41:41):
with this person who's just a dummy. And then and
she says, well, and they're they're trying to understand, like
you're crazy, right, I'm not crazy. He says all the
things I want him to say. He talks to me
the way I want to be talked to. He gives
me love the way I want to be loved. And
they said, well, we can't sit and allow you to
be friends with you when you're just throwing your life
(42:03):
away on this insanity. And they storm out and says
and the woman says, well, it's just you and me, babe.
Then the ventriloquis dummy proceeds to break up with her.
He just breaks her heart. And so I love that sketch.
Tracey Amenschow took it and eliminated the ending and just
put a song at the end, and I was like,
the whole point of it, said that the ventrolic is
(42:24):
me to break up with her. That's the whole point
of it. And to this day, I'm burning with anger
against the end of that. I know.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
It's you know, it's it's it's a very personal thing sometimes.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Russ. Oh, Jeff Bouchelle, writer, Jeff Bouchelle, who I know,
asked I know Jeff, Well, he says, please ask him
the meaning of never glurred and Bleebner.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
Oh, yeah, I can't remember. I'm pretty sure that was
just like one of the earliest things I did was
right these this cartoon book and the cartoons. You know,
I was just starting to form myself as a comedian,
and you know, one of the cartoons was just like
(43:11):
nonsense and and man, I forget. I don't know if
it was Bouchelle or somebody that Bouchelle worked with who
like had a real problem with it. Just was really
mad that I did this nonsense thing. It was like, okay,
so I'm the one right problem, Not Bouchelle. I think Bochelle.
I think he just had passed on somebody that.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
Worked in Shell's all right, it's that other guy we hate. Yeah,
that guy's did.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
I don't even hate him. I don't know that guys
where I'm like, I hate that clearly like they were
they were man. But but you know, this was nineteen
ninety five, the very first thing I did, and it's like, oh,
I'm sorry you didn't like it. It's the thing that
Letterman hired me for. So I'm like, okay, I'll maybe
(43:55):
accept my my comedy heroes exactly thought over. I mean,
you know, whatever, you have your opinion. I was very proud,
and you're free to hate whatever. A lot of people
have hated hated on a number of things that I've done.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
JP asks, please list your top five middle aged ball
television actors, in no particular order.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Jim Rash Okay, because Jim sure no I'm kidding. I
mean JP manew I know this is JP.
Speaker 2 (44:30):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
It's like, you know, I can't say anybody is above
Jim Rash because he is. He's great, the best there is.
He's been a guest I JP with Jim Rash out
of respect for JP, because JP is also fantastical, so
it's very good. But Rash, I have what he was
one of the people that I went through the groundlings
together with, and that that guy just is as talented
(44:53):
as it gets.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
Kevin Burston says, for real, though, does he remember the
I Am a tax paying citizen sketch in the Sunday Company?
Speaker 1 (45:01):
How dare you? I certainly do, Kevin Ruff. Do you
know Kevin Ruff?
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah? I think so.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
One of the funniest people around. So we did that
one together. I definitely remember that. It was just the
two of us, you know, screaming at each other with
these crazy wigs on Hi man, tax paying citizen, I
pay you know, it's all about how you pay your taxes,
so you can do whatever, but both of us are
doing the same. Wow, it was just a lot of
(45:31):
how dary.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
I like it? Well, now it's time for listener mail.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Okay, Now it's time for listener.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
Mail from a listener named Wayne. Based on who you
thought you were, at least at the very start, what's
the single most surprising thing in your life? And how
did you manage to get there? What twists and turns
led you there? And why do you think you went
against your nature to get there?
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Wow, that's a big that's a lot.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
It's a big last question, filled with a lot of
twists and turns. Right.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
I always thought that I would have kids when I
was like twenty seven, and yeah, just life changes and turns,
twists and turns. And and then I when I was like,
you know, forty eight, forty nine, I was like, maybe
it just doesn't exist. Maybe it's not what I thought
was out there that I've been searching for. It doesn't exist.
(46:25):
And then all of a sudden, Boyton, it's you know,
it just was met the woman who's now my wife
and had kids after thinking it probably wasn't in the cards,
and it's the it's the best. But I I guess
it's doesn't really answer the question because it's what it
is who I thought I was, but thought it's a
really different timeline. I don't know, you know, I think
(46:48):
that the the older I get, the more I realize
I'm a little weird. Mm hmm, I mean not weird
in a creative way, but weird, like have the most
(47:10):
pleasant things about no, no, no, but like like O C.
D issues, different things, but that I still anybody. I
haven't gone no, I know, but like like things that
that make it hard to live with me in my
you know. So I'm really lucky to have a wife
who puts up with all my ship and it is
(47:30):
just like very patient with me. And I mean I'm
I'm I have good qualities too, but like certainly you know,
every day is not a parade.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
But that's all of us. We're all flawed people.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
I try to be a good person all the time
and you're very Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't.
Speaker 2 (47:51):
You're a very nice person. You you were very nice
about doing the show. You've been very sweet to most people.
I know, You're very very nice. You're known as a
very nice person.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
Well I try to be, but then sometimes you know,
sometimes I'm not. Sometimes I'm you know, you as with everything,
it's like as long as you're always trying and you're
you're but but I do there are things I could
do to make myself a better person, like like going
and seeing a therapist about this stuff. My wife's always like,
(48:21):
go to a therapist, and I just like, what's gone yet,
what STEP's gone into a therapist? Just like busy doing stuff.
Speaker 2 (48:29):
I'm going to go to my therapist tomorrow and talk
about why you don't see a therapist?
Speaker 1 (48:32):
Okay, good?
Speaker 2 (48:33):
Yes, I mean can get an answer back because my
family therapy. Come on, you come out of the womb
and go straight to therapy. That's like the first thing
that happens before the doctor hits you on the back.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
So healthy and it's so good.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
I don't know how helpful it is. Honestly, here's the
Here's the worst it is is that you spend an
hour talking about yourself to somebody. That's the worst that
it is. The best it is you get insight and
and help if you can. Well will thank you for
being a guest on don't be alone with j Coogan.
You're the best and you're very kind to come and
(49:05):
stay up this It must be three in the morning
for you where your gifts came back.
Speaker 1 (49:10):
Actually, you asked me for a coffee order and this
was like the perfect thing that kept me going. But
this has been I feel like we could we could
just keep going for another time.
Speaker 2 (49:19):
I'm gonna have to stop you. No, we're gonna stop.
Speaker 1 (49:22):
Really save it till I've no therapy.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
I've had enough. I'm just telling you I've had.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
This is perfect timing.
Speaker 2 (49:29):
Okay. I want to thank you for being here. I
want to thank you for being here our audience. Please
subscribe to Don't Be Alone with Ja Cogan and write
me at DBA WJK at gmail dot com if you
have any criticisms, suggestions, or questions, and don't you be
alone spend some time with somebody cool like will It
was great. I had a great time. You can have
great time. To see you next time. Bye bye, Don't
(49:52):
be Alone with jj co
Straw Media. Hello, I'm Will Forte. And don't be alone
with j Cogan. Although he's not really alone here, there
are other people in the room, so I'm not as
scared because I know that there are people who will
jump in and save me if they have to.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Don't be alone with JJ Cogan. Hi, don't be alone
with Ja Coganites. It is me Jake Cogan, and you
are here with me on. Don't be alone with Ja Cogan.
I'm so glad you're here. I'm excited to have you. Please,
I'm excited to hear from you. Please write to me
at dbawjk at gmail dot com with all your questions
(00:40):
and suggestions, and subscribe to the show when you can.
All it is is cooking a button, no harm, cost
you nothing, But I need subscribers and I want you
to be a subscriber. You listen. You know you like
this show. Everybody likes the show. I get so many compliments,
but people just say I don't subscribe. Well, it should subscribe.
It's easy, and if you subscribe enough, I can afford
(01:02):
to buy my third home. And that's really what's important,
isn't it. Also, we have a spectacular show tonight. I
assume we all listen at night. That's the only time
to listen to. Don't be along with Ja Cogan is
at night. We have a great guest. Will Forte is
here to talk about his life, his comedy, his weird,
(01:22):
weird road to becoming a comedy star. And he's met
a lot of resistance and had a lot of resilience.
He started out in the financial world, left that bravely
to go to come to Los Angeles and try to
make his way through show business. He started out as
a writer, He got fired from some gigs. Other gigs
he did even he did better at Then he took
(01:45):
a chance and left a really successful show to go
audition for SNL and he got that. And we all
know the history. He's been up and he's been down.
He's had movies released that didn't do well, but that
are classics, like mcgruver. He's had TV shows that got
canceled but they're fantastic, Like Last Man on Earth. I mean,
he is a font of knowledge, wisdom and humor and
(02:06):
also just one of the nicest guys on Earth. And
you'll hear about that if you listen, you'll just hear
the goodness in his heart, he's adorable, he's sweet, and
you're gonna be thrilled to get to know him as
I am getting to know him. And so here we are,
ladies and gentlemen, mister will fort today, don't be alone
with so Will. We're rolling, We're wrote welcome, I'm ready
(02:40):
performance face so Will. Thank you for being here. It's
a pleasure to have you. And I just want to
say that I'm a an inordinate fan of your work.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And I say that to every guest, every single guest,
whether I mean it or not, Sore, I'm a fan
of the I tell everybody else Forte's work. It's unbelievable.
You hold a very sort of unique space in comedy.
I think because you don't look immediately ridiculous, you.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Know, thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You know you don't look immediately ridiculous, but but you
are willing to play very ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And I'm impressed with that that thing. Particularly a friend
of mine, Dan Pasternak, told me to watch the Potato
Chip sketch on staray Line.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Oh man, that's that's one of my favorites. Got to
do that with John Solomon, And I wrote that and
Jason Sedeikis came in and then added some nice touches
just as an actor in it. I mean some of
some of the great jokes in there from him.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So now I think the audience should pause this show
and then go watch online the Potato Chip sketch to
know what we're talking about. But just so you know,
it takes place at NASA. There's some kind of NASA thing,
but everybody has a strange Southern accent, as though it's
a Tennessee Williams play or some some sort of old
civil war.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
It's a lot of stuff mixed into one. It's funny
because we we there's like a seven minute version of
that in the dress rehearsal. We did a super long
when they made us cut it down for air. So
I've always wanted to get get a hold of the
There's so much stupid stuff in the dress rehearsal that
I think people would like if they like that sketch, but.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
It's it's so oddly formal and antibellin. Yeah, I just think,
where did so? Where did that come from? Where did I?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
That was just one of those ones where I was
walking around the streets in New York one day and
I just started talking about in that weird voice that
that my character does. You know, I don't want them,
but the gypsy just put that on a voice memo
and then cut to six in the morning, six thirty
(05:01):
in the morning, the day that you're supposed to turn
in stuff. I hadn't written anything yet. John Solomon and
I were supposed to write something, but he was working
with somebody else and it went way long. So he
comes in and we're like, why don't we just try
to write this and make this into something? And it
just started crazy and just went crazier and crazier and
(05:21):
went all over the place. Probably it might surprise you
and it might not surprise you. I think it probably
took an hour and a half to write because we
just we were we were not filtering anything. We just
kind of went nuts and had fun. And it felt
like where I wanted to go exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
It felt like it was all fun, Like the fact
that it was a NASA made no sense at all,
Like there's no no particular point to it other than
the formality with which people are reading each other.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Right up the thing. And then it was like started
it now, So I guess right. I mean that was
I think immediate. That was the first thing and just yeah,
it was.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
How was how was the fiftieth experience? Going back for that?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
It was so fun? I it just was. And I
the fortieth was really fun, right, And that was a
year I got to be in that movie Nebraska. And
what a fun experience it was to get to do everything,
all these things that I never thought I'd get to
(06:24):
do in my life, go to Can, go to the
Oscars like that was a huge deal. Sure, And going
to the fortieth anniversary was a couple of months after that,
maybe even a month. And it was that experience that
the fortieth was so much cooler than the Oscars. I'm
(06:45):
sure it's because the Oscars, I felt like I had
no business feeling that stranger. Yeah, and I feel like
part of the SNL family, so I felt like, oh,
this is kind of you know, I felt a part
of that experience. Well, the fiftieth was even cooler than
this eperience. I never thought anything would top.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, and it.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Was just wall to wall with special experiences.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Well, will I've had you on the show, because the
show don't be along with Jake Cogan, it's all about
people solving my problems.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Let me fix you.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yes, exactly. So you have gone through many changes in
your life in terms of like you first started going
into you we're working as an investing right did you
start out in.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yes, But I was not very far along. I was
a cold caller for this guy, Brett Satchelov at Smith
Barney Shearson, and he had gotten to the point where
he said, hey, I would like to put you through
the Series seven test, which is what you got, the
test you got to take before you can be a
(07:50):
legit handler of finances. And that was where I had
to make that decision like, oh am I gonna is
And I know that if I had done that, there's
no way I would have done anything else because I
would have felt beholden to him, because that's you know,
a move like that, where somebody puts you through the classes,
(08:12):
Like you know, I would honor that person by by
trying your best to make that work and that thing
that wasn't right for me for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Until you're arrested, Yes, exactly. But and then you came
to LA and you've did a lot of things. You
were a writer on shows before you were a performer.
I was told that you were fired from David Letterman show.
Is that right or something?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
I was? I was right.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
So you've been through a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And a lot of ups and down, ups and downs.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
And that's the point I have. I don't know that
I have the resilience that you do. Every it seems
like you've bounced back from anything that has been either
a change or or a perceived bump in the road.
You bounce back bigger and better than ever. And so like,
how do you do it? And what's your advice for
a guy like me who's like timid and shy and can't.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I'll tell you I have a lot of that in me.
And so when I first tried to get an agent,
I went to college with this guy Matt Rice, right,
I know, a big agent at Uta. He was the
guy I knew from college who was an agent. And
(09:26):
so I wrote some stuff I was writing with this
woman and London at the time Hutchinson.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
But like, we gave our stuff to Matt and if
he had said, no, I don't like it, I would
have just thought, oh, you're right. I shouldn't have been
I shouldn't have even tried to be a writer, and
I would have probably been working as a financial consultant,
you know. But but I just got lucky that this
(09:54):
one guy that I knew not only liked the stuff
that we gave him, but was in the early years
of this he was gonna be this guy. He was
one of the great agents in town.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
You grabbed onto him at the beginning, yeah, and rode
the waves.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
He was the guy I knew. I mean, if he
was like the crappiest agent in town, that would have
been my agent. But I just got lucky that he
was amazing. So these downtimes, you know, I get fired
from Letterman, I'm I called him. I'm like, well, I
guess that's it. I guess my career is over, and
he's And he's the one who says, oh no, don't
worry about that, you know, just the fact that you
(10:34):
have that as a credit, as a big deal and
people will will take a chance on you. So that
so I didn't know that I was. I really it was.
It was tough when I got fired because a he's
a hero of my Letterman's one of my all time heroes,
comedy heroes. So that I felt like a real disappointment there.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Well, he didn't walk into your office and fire you personally,
he didn't walk He didn't take you by the scruff
of the neck and throw you out of out of
the studio.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
No, he did not. He did not. He didn't stop
them from firing either that I know of, unless they secretly. No, no, no,
I love him. I'm so thrilled to have gotten a
chance to be a part of that show because it's
meant so so much of my life and everything works
out the way it's supposed to do. Write so so yeah,
so I came out of there somehow got a job
(11:25):
on a sitcom, The Army Show was I think that
was the next thing I did, and then that led
to more and more with Dave Higgins. Sure, yeah, that
was a great caste.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
That was a great cast. So yeah, so you're working
on these TV shows and then and that got to
that seventy show at some point, Yes, were you performing
at the Groundings at the same time you're doing that
kind of stuff or did the ground would.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Before like basically just be writing and then you'd have
like a two month hiatus period and so I would
sometimes do a groundling show during that period. And then
uh yeah, one particular hiatus period, I said I'm going
to do this Groundling show and that was I got
lucky that that was the show that Lauren Michaels came to, right,
(12:10):
And and then well this is an interesting story that
some people know. But so I got the audition and
I was right away shitting my pants like oh my,
because I mean the heart of it is that I
had already taken this one dream of mine, which was
(12:31):
to work at the Letterman show, right, and it just
exploded and I sucked at it, and I was like,
this is going to be the same thing, Like, am
I going to just explode this other dream? So to me,
it made more sense in my head to like not
even it just made no sense because it's like you're like, oh,
(12:52):
I'll keep this dream alive by not exploding it, but
then that means you would never attain it. So it's
it was just so.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You know, Robertnette is not at the corner of every dream. Well.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
The other thing though, what I ended up, well, long
story short, finally they convinced me because I was saying, oh,
I'm I'm I'm under contracted at seventy show. I can't
come do it, and they finally convinced me to go
and at least auditions. So I did it and I
got the job, and then I turned it down and
(13:27):
I just you know, all my friends thought, oh, what
a punk rock decision, and it was more just like
this scared, yeah kid, that's terrified.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
That was a terrible decision. It worked out, but who
who tells that? No, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
I was just terrified. So they came back the year later,
after I had been at seventy show. I meant part
of the deal was the seventy Show was an amazing
show to write on the hours. You know, writing hours
can be horrendous, and this was like to four thirty
every day, just a bunch of really sweet, nice people
(14:05):
who were really funny. We were having a blast making
a show that I thought was really fun and good. Right,
and then I think they had just been picked up
for two seasons too, which most of the stuff I
had worked on was like thirteen and out, thirteen and out,
So I just thought, I gotta be smart. I'm not
gonna I'm gonna shock at S and L and.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Those shows I worked on are picked up like four
days at a time. They just took it like the
film Monday, We'll tell you Thursday if you're picked up
for another four days.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Well, one one thing I will say Mark Brazil, who
was the creator of seventy show, he pulled me aside
and he said, hey, go freaking do this, you dumb ass, right, like,
you will have a job here if it doesn't work
out there, you got this job here. And really like
there was no he took away all the fear. Yeah,
(14:54):
like I was still terrified of the show. But he's
a good guy, great he was. He was a great
boss and a lot of in a lot of ways.
That was the thing that kind of pushed me over.
My girlfriend at the time was very supportive also Amy
and she uh, you know, so it was it was
a lot of a lot of people pushed me in
the right direction.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Don't be alone. Going to sonatelife is a little daunting
because it's you know, it's sound a life, and it's
it's it's it's very competitive, it's difficult, it's not you know,
Parnell was fired and came back like there's things that
happened to really really funny. There's nobody funnier than Chris Parnell.
(15:48):
And even he got underrated. Yeah, performer of.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
All time, like he is so he is so, so
very good.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
But just shows you how competitive it is, how difficult
it is, and kind of that's that's how they like it.
They're they like people sort of warring a little bit
to make the show. And so yeah, I can understand
why it doesn't immediately think I got to get there automatically.
But I'm glad you did. It's very very funny work amazing.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Too, man. I Well, it was a good lesson for
me too, like to just do it, don't don't be afraid,
don't don't worry about money stuff, That stuff all works
itself out, and just you know, try to do stuff
that sounds scary.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah, because it's.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It is terrifying at first, but you get past that
part and then it becomes really fun.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
And it only took about six years for me to
get over the fear.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Well, I mean that's that's quick for a lot of people.
Six years isn't bad. That's good. I think the groundlings
and growing up in LA and trying to be concerned
about comedy makes me a little bit tougher skinned about
that stuff. What I'm not tougher skinned about is failure
is failure on a career level or career like big
(17:02):
shows that have made it. Like I made a movie
called The Wrong Guy, which is.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Which I have seen okay now that never came out,
never came out right.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Never came out. And so I have movie is so.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Good it remember, very funny movie.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
And I tried to bond with you on the strike
line talking about mcgrub which was released and was fantastic,
but has the same spirit. It's it's, it's it has
it has the same let's make jokes, let's be funny
spirit and uh and and people have found it. People
have found the Wrong Guy. Some people have found it.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Where can they find it?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Like it's it's available for free on YouTube and it's
also on DVDs and other places. But it's we we
we've played it at the comedy festivals and we played
it at other places. People there's a small tight knit
group of people who you know, uh, cultish cultishly like
the movie.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
But which is fun so good. But I.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Wrote it with Dave Foley and Dave Higgins from the
Army and it was directed by David Steinberg and who's
very funny and stars Dave Foley and Dave Higgins, and
it's it's it's great. But I only mentioned it not
to build myself up. But if you want to go
watch it and write me family, that's fine. It is,
but it's to say that mcgruber is so funny and
(18:21):
so sharp and every beat of it is there to
make you laugh. I mean, there's just it's just magical
in that how silly and funny very much.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I mean, that was a that was a movie we loved.
It was a good lesson because I had it. It's
so different when you I had been in a situation
before where I didn't get to I'm kind of a
control freaking and when stump something is out of your
control and you change it around a little bit to
(18:56):
try to make it more palatable to a your audience.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Or to get through the gauntlet of working with people
in the studios or whatever else. Sometimes you have to
make compromises.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
And this was one where like we were able to
because a lot of this is due to Lauren like
just surrounding us like a like a pop up ear
and just letting us do whatever we wanted to do.
So so we got to make the exact movie we
wanted to make, and it's it bombed just as hard
as the other one I'm talking about, But it's so
much easier to take when you're when you know that
(19:29):
that you stood behind every every decision that was made.
I mean obviously there were budgetary things.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Is not funny, though, so proud of a failure, like
I am. I have that experience. I'm like, so proud
of the wrong guy and it is complete and abject failure.
It made no money, but it is, but that's at.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Least at least ours was out there. And then like
now you can see it somewhere on a I don't
even know where you could see it right now. The plus,
yeah you could is that I think so. And but
like how frustrating to know that for you you gotta
you know, hand out a TVD copy.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
There's subscribe it to people. I stopped them on the
street and just describe the movie to people. They get
tired of it, it's fine. Uh well, it's.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Like you know, and and I thought I was going
to have that experience with Kyotie versus acme.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yes, And then.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
We just got the news recently that that you know,
this was entertainment bought it, and so, but I know
that pain of just that frustration of knowing that that
you made this really good movie and and that people
can't see it.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
When I first of.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
All, when so I feel, I feel you're frustrated.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
When you did Nebraska, were you did you feel capable
of doing traumatic work?
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Oh? Man, I was terrified. Uh. I did get to
go to Ireland right before and do a fully dramatic
movie of this tiny Irish movie called Run and Jump.
It was basically a bunch of Irish people and and
(21:14):
me Sharon Horgan was played a role in it in
Maxine Peak is fantastic in it. Who's British? But yeah,
so I didn't have to do an accent, but it
was It was a really wonderful way to have this
experience of getting used to acting like that because it's
(21:36):
it's it's it's scary. I didn't know if I could
do it. And this Steph Green, who directed that movie
somehow reached out to me and said I think you
could do this, And I was like, I don't you
really do and She's like, yeah, come do it. And
it was like Ireland basically my agent said, look, why
(21:57):
don't you try it out. You know, if it turns
out really bad and you suck at it, nobody will
probably see it.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
I'm like, you're right now, we'll get to go over
to Ireland and check that out. So I did it,
and that was a very valuable experience to go into it.
It was Steph's first feature, I think, so it was.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
She's Fighting her Way.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, exactly. So it was a really pleasant thing. She's
awesome and it was and I really was proud of
how that movie turned out, and and kind of came
back maybe for five or six weeks, and then went
to Nebraska and was still terrified. You know, I'm such
a fan of Alexander Paynes and obviously Bruce Dern.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Is there a more intimidating actor than Bruce Dern. I
don't think. I can't think of one. I mean, I'm
sure he's nice in person, but he's had so many
roles where he's been the villain or the heavy and
that that look, that dead eyed stare that he has.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
I'll tell you he was almost instantly just lovable support.
He so quickly put me at ease.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
You know, he killed John Wayne in the movie.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, only person ever did killed John Wayne Right, Yeah, no,
it was great because you know, Alexander is super busy
doing everything. He was fantastic to me also, But like
I am, just pretty much every day I'm right next
to Bruce Dern for just hours and hours. A lot
(23:29):
of times we're stuck in a car together, and he
just could not have been a better teacher and a
better a better uh partner in these scenes.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
So you guys have fight rules etiquette because you're in
the car together. I don't know, long long road trips
kind of require.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
I learned about on set farting etiquette pretty early on
from a bad experience. I'm not even going to bring
it up, but I did. I did take a chance
and and was met with some some thumbs downs.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Last Man on Earth was spectacular.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
It was incredible. And I know, uh, secondhand, that you
almost killed yourself making that thing like that. You've you
ran yourself ragged, didn't sleep, didn't need like you you
you didn't you try to write the show, start the show,
show run the show in the way the show runners do.
(24:27):
But it's too much for one person, and you managed
to somehow at least do it for a little while.
How did you do it.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I don't know. I mean it really was too it
was too much. It was I I would I could
never do it again. That version of it, like like mcgruber,
was a different situation because you're just making eight. I'm
talking the TV series, not the You're you're making eight,
so you can write everything beforehand, then film everything. Everything
(24:55):
is compartmentalized, so you're doing it. But there you're you're
on this schedule. You've got to pump out. You know,
they have the air dates, so you're we probably got
four episodes written by the time we start shooting in
eighteen episode order, so like then by the time you're shooting,
you got to keep writing, pushing forward with that. And
(25:17):
then after like two weeks you start editing too, so
you're writing, acting and editing, and then the sound mixes
come and the spotting sessions, and it's just it's right, NonStop.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Time suck. Yeah, giganticize. If I could just advise you
to go back in time and have ten scripts ready
instead of four, that would really I think it would
have helped you. They really would have helped you.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Well, I mean every season I would have this hopeful Yeah,
I'd go in with optimism that, oh, we learned so
many lessons from however many we had done up to
that point, which is true, right, But then you're also like,
you still need to try to do shows that are
(26:04):
different than the other ones we've done. So you learned
these lessons, but then you're it doesn't matter anyway. So
it just took you know, You're you're taking longer to
try to find new ways to go, and it's just
it's it's same old thing. But but I look back now,
I'm you know, I was always proud of the show
(26:24):
and delighted by the experience, but but it was when
it was canceled, I was. I hate saying it, but
I was.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
I was.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
I needed it to be canceled. I was just physically
and mentally down. I started drinking too much. I was
like that that using that as a crutch, right, and
so I needed a break from that, and I was
able to kind of break that cycle. But but I
don't think I would have broken that site.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
It's easy to make an excuse when you're that pressured
to do whatever you need to do to sort of survive,
but don't realize sometimes the thing that you're using to
relieve the pressure is also the thing that's causing more
pressure in other ways. Yeah, oh yeah, it's a it's
a drag.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Well that wouldn't drink like during the show.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
No, no, But I mean it's like, let's talk for
a moment about Val Kilmner, your roommate. So you were
you were roommates with him while you were making mcgroober.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
No, so, so mcgroober happened. We somehow talked him into
being in mcgru right. Okay, he had a place in
this beautiful place which I actually never went to. But
Yorma and I think John Solomon definitely, Yorma and his
wife Maury went to his place in New Mexico about
two years after the movie. Uh, he was going to
(27:44):
sell his place and he was living in Malibu at
a place he was renting, and he had a dispute
with his landlord. So we said, I need to find
a new place. Can I stay with you while I'm looking?
For get how he phrased it. It sounded like this
was a party on a Saturday. It sounded like he'd
(28:05):
be with me till Tuesday, right or Wednesday. Well, he
showed up on Monday, and then his assistant assistant showed
up a couple hours later with two enormous stuffel bats
with books, just a books. So I'm like, I don't
(28:25):
think might be here. I mean, I don't know why that.
There was just something very final about sure, very you know,
that's a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
You're dragging a library with you, You're going to stay
for a while. Yeah, And it.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Was a delight, you know, it was it was. It
wasn't two and a half months straight. It'd be a
lot of like I'd have to go out of town
and and you know, then I'd be back and we'd
you know, be there for four or five days together,
and then he went to San Francisco for a couple
of days for some kind of job, and then he'd
come back. It was but it was really fun to.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Rules like Val, you gotta do the dishes, I'll take
out the trash, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
I do remember he was, I mean, he was a
great roommate. It was always fun to have him around.
He's just the most interesting person. He's so his personality
is he's he can be. He's so smart and funny
and kind of cocky in this fun way, like like
(29:26):
like playful cocky like pretending to be cocky almost but
then silly at the same time, like I uh, I
just was. I remember he came in one time and
he just had a like a he was wearing his
boxers on his head, and it was just like really
and he just had a normal conversation with his boxers
(29:48):
on his head, and there's no winking. He's like just
really commits to these bits. He's just really funny. And
then out of nowhere sometimes he'll just launch into a
bit and I have a couple that all you know
on my phone that I just treasured. There's he was
so funny and I still can't believe that, well that
A that we got to talk him into doing the
(30:10):
movie at all, B that somehow we maintained a friendship
and uh, you know, to get to have that experience
as being roommates.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
And I read somewhere where you thought about maybe doing
the Great Race together, the Amazing Race. Amazing, Yeah, he was.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
He I was going, I love the Amazing Race. I
haven't been following it recently, but I went through a
stretch where where I was super into it and he
came back and was like, you know, basically, you know
this is your reality TV it's going to rock your brain.
And I said we should.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
It's pretty good. Check it out.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
And so he sat down and actually was pretty enthralled,
and we just at some point said we got to
do this right, We've got to be a I think
he even pitched it to me and so I it
sounded it made all the sense of the world, sure
at that moment. And then we called our agents and
(31:11):
they were like, Nope, no way, and I still don't
know why. I called them back and I said and
I said, yeah, I asked you guys, and he said, oh,
you totally should have done it. I'm like, why didn't
you say that fifteen years I'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Why your agents didn't want you unblocked that time whatever
that time was, so that you couldn't earn good movie
TV money they wanted. They didn't want you to be
on game show. Don't be alone with all? Right, Well,
(31:55):
now we have to move on to question time. Okay,
this is question time.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
This question.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
The first question is can he play a musical instrument?
Speaker 1 (32:10):
I am a bad guitarist and even worse bass player. Fantastic,
that's it. I've always wanted to learn to play the drums.
I have a saxophone. I want to learn. There are
a bunch of I want to play every instrument, and
I've settled for being a bad.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
It seems like you should be if your bad guitars.
Shused to be a better bassist, like the bass seems
should be easier.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
The only reason I'm have any bass experience at all
is because I had a friend in high school who
asked me to be a part of a band and
I found out later that it was so I played
the bass because he said there was this amazing guitarist
Brian Norman, and then my friend Scott was singing sky
(32:53):
Jet on the drums. We played three shows. We played
once at the Roxbury where Rod Stewart was in the audience.
That was very exciting. Our other show was Matthew Perry's
I think his twenty first birthday. We just played like
three songs. I think he was twenty one. I can't remember.
Those guys were buddies with him, so I got to,
(33:14):
you know, fun to see him every once in a
while back in the day. Yeah, I used to play
poker with him. Oh but anyway, so we played three shows.
Forget what the third one was and then then my
buddies had to inform me that that the band was
breaking up. And then a week later a new band formed.
There was everybody with a new bassist who was good
(33:38):
at base right and also had a big car. The
band was basically playing the suburban exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
The band was called new Bassist. Yeah, I'd like to
him talking about playing Doug Kenny and how he approached
the role. He was so funny and heartbreaking in that movie.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Thank you very much. That was a scary thing, and
I'll tell you why it was. There's no real footage
of him other than than the Animal Animal House where
he's playing a voice and and I think they might
have they might have found some audio, but there was
(34:13):
no video that anybody could see. So I felt weird
because I was basically making a guess of what he
was like, which I don't think it was super important
that I that I, you know, got his vocal affectations down.
But the thing that I couldn't get over for a
while was that all the people who did know him
(34:34):
were my comedy heroes. So I'm like, I had this
pressure of not wanting to let all these people down
who did know him. I just wanted to convey his
spirit without knowing what it was. So I did get
to talk to some of his friends who who told
me what he was like, and that that helped.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Timothy writes, Since Christopher Nolan is a self professed Macgoober,
a self professed fan of Macgroober, do you sometimes fantasy
and imagine yourself as the star of a Tenant inception
or Memento style movie?
Speaker 1 (35:05):
That would be an amazing Yes, I mean yes, Okay,
I'm going to manifest it. You know, I was gonna
say I don't know, but like, why not say yes,
Chris Nolan try to manifest it.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Listens to this podcast weekly. He's a subscriber, so he'll
hear this. So Chris Nolan, he's here.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Look it was. It was a thrill to hear that
that he had even seen the movie, let alone liked it.
So so you know, that's enough. That's enough Christopher Nolan
connection to me. If anything else comes it is all gravy.
But you do not want to be in something that
(35:44):
he does. He's great, one of the best there.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Is that guy, writes. Last Man on Earth ended with
a pretty big cliffhanger where a number of people were
alive in an underground bunker. How would that have been
resolved in a new season?
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Okay, so the people who came out of the ground,
they would have been living in a they were living
in a bunker that was kind of like kristin Wiggs bunker,
except it was a little more high tech. There were
more people, and they had scientists who were down there
with them who could have told told them, studied the virus,
(36:20):
known when it was dormant. So they're finally told by
these scientists, hey, it's safe to go back up up there.
So when they get up there, they see the seven
of us walking around, and they're freaked out because we
represent a huge threat to their lives. So that was
them swarming around us. They would have put us into
(36:41):
like some kind of glass encased zoo. Yeah exactly, and
then we would have whatever famous person we could get
to do it. We would have had be the leader
of that group coming up talking to us. We're trying
to talk them into letting us out because clearly we're
still alive, so we you can't be a threat to them.
I'm going to say, Tom Hanks, I mean, yes, that'd
(37:05):
be fantastic. So yes, eventually we wear them down. They
let us out. But just because we are immune does
not mean that we're not carriers. We infect them with
the virus and it just rips through them like wildfire
and then accept somehow. The famous person who's the leader
(37:27):
is Tom Hanks. Yeah, would would survive if we could
talk to them, just taken around for a while. Now,
how we would have ended the whole series? God knows
that was That was one of the benefits of being canceled,
having that. I mean, imagine the pressure.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Everything ends, everything ends, so you don't just have to
worry episode by episode, season by season. That sounds good, Uh,
Ask him the libra of Legend Rights. Ask him if
Kia offered him a brand deal and if he would
have the power to turn it down. Why would Kia?
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Because there's a forte Okay, they I talked, I have
talked about this, My wife has talked about this, but
I it's a it feels like a personal affront that
they have not even made. I mean, I'd probably do
it for a very very little amount of money, because
it's it's just a kind of natural thing. Can I
advise you to Michael said, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Wait for the money. You have kids.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Wait for the money, but I mean I have driven
a Kia Forte before. Uh.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Steve Stolier asked, how did he select Al Hurtz fancy
pants for that bizarre pantomime dance on SNL And I'm
trying to remember what that was, but I can think
of Casino Royale.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Casino Royale was the first one. Well here's an interesting one,
just so so I want people to know this, The
very first version of that sketch was the one with
Peyton Manning. So John Lutz, the awesome John Lutz, came
in with this song Casino Royale by herbal Pert and
it's just like amazing. And I had this idea of
(39:04):
a coach using a song or something to motivate that.
So so like we're like, oh, this works perfectly, and
then we wrote it together. The dance wasn't even a
part of it at first. As I'm about to go
turn it into the turn in table or you know,
I guess that's after you just you send it over
(39:25):
the computer, I'm about to, you know, turn it in,
and John said, why don't you do a dance? When
you do a dance at the table while this song
is going I'm like, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
And and of course that's the the main sketches.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
I mean, Peyton Manning is so funny and delivers those.
He is fantastic. But but like like thank you Lutz,
imagine not that was that's it. Yeah, So anyway, we
I was, I mean, I've done some recurring stuff, but
I always want to try to do it a little
bit differently, Like you know, mcgroover is always in the
(40:03):
same somebody's always blown up, but we'd always try to
be doing different versions because I just hate it when
it's like the exact same thing. So we had turned
in a version another dance thing which was like a
military thing where it was, you know, there was a
battle that they were going through and and the you know,
(40:24):
the commander was was trying to motivate them right, and
and we thought it was really fun. And then it
turns into another dance which is Al Hurd's Fancy Banks,
which which lets it I think, let's had found that
one again, and then Laurene picked it to go in
the show, but then then said that he wanted us
(40:47):
to change it into a swim coach, which I always
I love Lauren, I'm not Lauren I love you, but
I I think I disagreed that I think that the
swim coach was like and death is similar to the
other coach, and and it, you know, felt felt like
(41:08):
just a little bit too similar to the other one.
So so that's one that I.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
An hour before you came in, I was talking to
James L. Brooks, who was here, so.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I thought, okay, I thought that was him down there.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
So and he is one of my he's one of
my mentor he's one of my heroes. I wrote a
sketch years ago the Tracy Omen Show, and the sketch
was a woman called her best friends over to meet
her new boyfriend, and a new boyfriend is a triloquiz dummy,
and so she's talking about how she's fallen in love
(41:41):
with this person who's just a dummy. And then and
she says, well, and they're they're trying to understand, like
you're crazy, right, I'm not crazy. He says all the
things I want him to say. He talks to me
the way I want to be talked to. He gives
me love the way I want to be loved. And
they said, well, we can't sit and allow you to
be friends with you when you're just throwing your life
(42:03):
away on this insanity. And they storm out and says
and the woman says, well, it's just you and me, babe.
Then the ventriloquis dummy proceeds to break up with her.
He just breaks her heart. And so I love that sketch.
Tracey Amenschow took it and eliminated the ending and just
put a song at the end, and I was like,
the whole point of it, said that the ventrolic is
(42:24):
me to break up with her. That's the whole point
of it. And to this day, I'm burning with anger
against the end of that. I know.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
It's you know, it's it's it's a very personal thing sometimes.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Russ. Oh, Jeff Bouchelle, writer, Jeff Bouchelle, who I know,
asked I know Jeff, Well, he says, please ask him
the meaning of never glurred and Bleebner.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
Oh, yeah, I can't remember. I'm pretty sure that was
just like one of the earliest things I did was
right these this cartoon book and the cartoons. You know,
I was just starting to form myself as a comedian,
and you know, one of the cartoons was just like
(43:11):
nonsense and and man, I forget. I don't know if
it was Bouchelle or somebody that Bouchelle worked with who
like had a real problem with it. Just was really
mad that I did this nonsense thing. It was like, okay,
so I'm the one right problem, Not Bouchelle. I think Bochelle.
I think he just had passed on somebody that.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
Worked in Shell's all right, it's that other guy we hate. Yeah,
that guy's did.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
I don't even hate him. I don't know that guys
where I'm like, I hate that clearly like they were
they were man. But but you know, this was nineteen
ninety five, the very first thing I did, and it's like, oh,
I'm sorry you didn't like it. It's the thing that
Letterman hired me for. So I'm like, okay, I'll maybe
(43:55):
accept my my comedy heroes exactly thought over. I mean,
you know, whatever, you have your opinion. I was very proud,
and you're free to hate whatever. A lot of people
have hated hated on a number of things that I've done.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
JP asks, please list your top five middle aged ball
television actors, in no particular order.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Jim Rash Okay, because Jim sure no I'm kidding. I
mean JP manew I know this is JP.
Speaker 2 (44:30):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
It's like, you know, I can't say anybody is above
Jim Rash because he is. He's great, the best there is.
He's been a guest I JP with Jim Rash out
of respect for JP, because JP is also fantastical, so
it's very good. But Rash, I have what he was
one of the people that I went through the groundlings
together with, and that that guy just is as talented
(44:53):
as it gets.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
Kevin Burston says, for real, though, does he remember the
I Am a tax paying citizen sketch in the Sunday Company?
Speaker 1 (45:01):
How dare you? I certainly do, Kevin Ruff. Do you
know Kevin Ruff?
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah? I think so.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
One of the funniest people around. So we did that
one together. I definitely remember that. It was just the
two of us, you know, screaming at each other with
these crazy wigs on Hi man, tax paying citizen, I
pay you know, it's all about how you pay your taxes,
so you can do whatever, but both of us are
doing the same. Wow, it was just a lot of
(45:31):
how dary.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
I like it? Well, now it's time for listener mail.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Okay, Now it's time for listener.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
Mail from a listener named Wayne. Based on who you
thought you were, at least at the very start, what's
the single most surprising thing in your life? And how
did you manage to get there? What twists and turns
led you there? And why do you think you went
against your nature to get there?
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Wow, that's a big that's a lot.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
It's a big last question, filled with a lot of
twists and turns. Right.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
I always thought that I would have kids when I
was like twenty seven, and yeah, just life changes and turns,
twists and turns. And and then I when I was like,
you know, forty eight, forty nine, I was like, maybe
it just doesn't exist. Maybe it's not what I thought
was out there that I've been searching for. It doesn't exist.
(46:25):
And then all of a sudden, Boyton, it's you know,
it just was met the woman who's now my wife
and had kids after thinking it probably wasn't in the cards,
and it's the it's the best. But I I guess
it's doesn't really answer the question because it's what it
is who I thought I was, but thought it's a
really different timeline. I don't know, you know, I think
(46:48):
that the the older I get, the more I realize
I'm a little weird. Mm hmm, I mean not weird
in a creative way, but weird, like have the most
(47:10):
pleasant things about no, no, no, but like like O C.
D issues, different things, but that I still anybody. I
haven't gone no, I know, but like like things that
that make it hard to live with me in my
you know. So I'm really lucky to have a wife
who puts up with all my ship and it is
(47:30):
just like very patient with me. And I mean I'm
I'm I have good qualities too, but like certainly you know,
every day is not a parade.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
But that's all of us. We're all flawed people.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
I try to be a good person all the time
and you're very Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't.
Speaker 2 (47:51):
You're a very nice person. You you were very nice
about doing the show. You've been very sweet to most people.
I know, You're very very nice. You're known as a
very nice person.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
Well I try to be, but then sometimes you know,
sometimes I'm not. Sometimes I'm you know, you as with everything,
it's like as long as you're always trying and you're
you're but but I do there are things I could
do to make myself a better person, like like going
and seeing a therapist about this stuff. My wife's always like,
(48:21):
go to a therapist, and I just like, what's gone yet,
what STEP's gone into a therapist? Just like busy doing stuff.
Speaker 2 (48:29):
I'm going to go to my therapist tomorrow and talk
about why you don't see a therapist?
Speaker 1 (48:32):
Okay, good?
Speaker 2 (48:33):
Yes, I mean can get an answer back because my
family therapy. Come on, you come out of the womb
and go straight to therapy. That's like the first thing
that happens before the doctor hits you on the back.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
So healthy and it's so good.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
I don't know how helpful it is. Honestly, here's the
Here's the worst it is is that you spend an
hour talking about yourself to somebody. That's the worst that
it is. The best it is you get insight and
and help if you can. Well will thank you for
being a guest on don't be alone with j Coogan.
You're the best and you're very kind to come and
(49:05):
stay up this It must be three in the morning
for you where your gifts came back.
Speaker 1 (49:10):
Actually, you asked me for a coffee order and this
was like the perfect thing that kept me going. But
this has been I feel like we could we could
just keep going for another time.
Speaker 2 (49:19):
I'm gonna have to stop you. No, we're gonna stop.
Speaker 1 (49:22):
Really save it till I've no therapy.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
I've had enough. I'm just telling you I've had.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
This is perfect timing.
Speaker 2 (49:29):
Okay. I want to thank you for being here. I
want to thank you for being here our audience. Please
subscribe to Don't Be Alone with Ja Cogan and write
me at DBA WJK at gmail dot com if you
have any criticisms, suggestions, or questions, and don't you be
alone spend some time with somebody cool like will It
was great. I had a great time. You can have
great time. To see you next time. Bye bye, Don't
(49:52):
be Alone with jj co
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