Episode 1001 - Aidy Bryant
Marc:All right, let's do this.
Marc:How are you?
Marc:What the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fucking ears?
Marc:What the fucking delics?
Marc:What's happening?
Marc:I'm Mark Marin.
Marc:This is my podcast WTF.
Marc:Welcome to it.
Marc:How's it going?
Marc:Thank you for all the feedback on the 1000th episode of WTF.
Marc:There's been tremendous amount of feedback, emails, tweets,
Marc:all kind you know i don't have facebook anymore but maybe there's facebook posts but uh but just tremendous feedback and we're so glad you liked it once we posted it i was a little uncomfortable with the raw emotion that i experienced but uh you know i've done that here before so i i was okay with it and uh none of you made fun of me but i'm glad you enjoyed it and if you're just coming on board uh for wtf i will tell you this
Marc:You can listen to all the archives of the show ad free with a Stitcher premium subscription.
Marc:Just go to WTF pod dot com and click on the premium link.
Marc:So, you know, if you if you are new to the show and the thousandth episode moved you and you're like, what about these other nine fifty?
Marc:That's how you can listen to them.
Marc:No ads.
Marc:Not a bad deal.
Marc:I mentioned today on the show, Aidy Bryant is here.
Marc:And it was great.
Marc:I love her.
Marc:I think she's funny.
Marc:I think she's got a very unique sensibility.
Marc:I think there's something very honest about the way she is funny.
Marc:I love her.
Marc:I love her.
Marc:And she's got this great new show on, which it's called Shrill.
Marc:And I watched all of them, and I was excited to watch all of them and talk to her about it.
Marc:But yeah, I'll be talking to her in a few minutes.
Marc:What else do I need to get you up to speed on?
Marc:I feel like I need to get you up to speed on some stuff.
Marc:It's been a while.
Marc:If it sounds slightly different in here, it's because I'm re-emptying my garage space because I need to tear it apart.
Marc:I need to tear it apart.
Marc:It's a sad thing, but I need to get this work up to code in here.
Marc:So I will probably be moving the podcast into the house proper in the upcoming weeks.
Marc:That'll be interesting.
Marc:I mean, I'm going to set up shop in a room.
Marc:It's not going to be like, yeah, it's my house.
Marc:Yeah, we're just going to go hang out on the couch.
Marc:Yeah, I've done podcasts like that before, actually, but it's not going to be quite that.
Marc:But I don't know if you're even going to be perceptive enough to hear the difference.
Marc:But it has been sort of a chore to get everything reemptied.
Marc:So we did the 1,000th episode, and I didn't really tell you what was going on.
Marc:I went to South by Southwest last weekend for the premiere, the movie that I'm in and that Lynn Shelton directed.
Marc:I'm in it with Michaela Watkins, Jillian Bell, John Bass, Toby Huss, Dan Baxdahl.
Marc:Some other people.
Marc:It premiered.
Marc:It premiered at South by Southwest.
Marc:And I was the lead guy.
Marc:I don't know why I didn't really realize that when I shot the movie.
Marc:Maybe I did.
Marc:Maybe it sort of trimmed down in the way it came edited.
Marc:I don't know, but I'm the main guy in the movie.
Marc:So I was the lead in a comedy, an improvised comedy film.
Marc:It was an ensemble cast, but I think...
Marc:Maybe I'm just saying that, but I think it was kind of about me.
Marc:No, it's a very funny movie.
Marc:Here's the thing about this.
Marc:You know, we shot that thing, I think you remember, when I was in Birmingham, Alabama.
Marc:And we shot it inside like a couple weeks.
Marc:And it was hot and it was intense because you're improvising everything.
Marc:I play a pawn shop owner.
Marc:And it's kind of a comedy caper that revolves around an artifact that is brought into my pawn shop by a lesbian couple that if it is what it is could change everyone's entire perception of history.
Marc:I think it's a relevant movie about truth and not truth, about conspiracies and about the things that divide us currently.
Marc:But it's not heavy-handed anyway.
Marc:The story's a little wacky, so don't get alienated.
Marc:But you won't because you can't see it anywhere yet.
Marc:But I think the point of what I'm trying to say here is I've never been to a movie premiere really before.
Marc:of a movie that I'm in because I've really not been in many movies.
Marc:And I had watched the film
Marc:On my computer.
Marc:So there we are in Austin at a big theater.
Marc:It's a premiere.
Marc:It's a packed theater.
Marc:And the movie starts.
Marc:And it's getting laughs from the get-go.
Marc:I mean, real laughs.
Marc:I even laughed.
Marc:Because I'd never seen it before.
Marc:I knew what I did.
Marc:And you don't laugh at home when you're watching something by yourself too often.
Marc:And I was too self-conscious to do that anyways.
Marc:Because I was so preoccupied with my own performance when I was watching it at home on my computer.
Marc:But we're sitting in a theater, me and the cast and Lynn, and the thing's fucking getting big laughs.
Marc:And I've never really felt that before.
Marc:It was pretty great, folks.
Marc:It's a pretty sweet movie, and it's very engaging.
Marc:And it was exciting because I do kind of a heavy monologue in the middle, and I got choked up at me doing a monologue that was making me choke up.
Marc:Yeah, that's weird, right?
Marc:It's got to be some new narcissism.
Marc:I made myself cry by watching me on the screen.
Marc:And the whole experience was good.
Marc:The reviews have been pretty great.
Marc:And we all had fun in Austin.
Marc:I went out to Opie's.
Marc:And I surprisingly did not overdo it.
Marc:But even what I did do hobbled me.
Marc:I was meat hobbled.
Marc:Like I ate a couple of a couple of nice slabs of brisket, about three or four pork ribs.
Marc:The cream corn business they got going over there had some green beans and some butter beans.
Marc:And they got the sides of the white onion, pickles, jalapenos.
Marc:I did that.
Marc:I felt like that was manageable.
Marc:it wasn't and then uh over at opi's in spicewood texas she's got the uh she they added a pecan cobbler are you fucking out of your mind are you kidding me pecan cobbler it's like the it's like pie but better in a little like single serving pecan deep dish pecan cobbler and
Marc:with a scoop of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream on it, and the cobbler is hot.
Marc:So you get it after you've eaten all the meat, and you're just watching that vanilla ice cream melt a little into the little bumpy grooves on the top of the cobbler.
Marc:And you just put that first bite in your mouth, and you almost cry because it's so good.
Marc:God damn it.
Marc:So, yeah, I did that one day.
Marc:And then we did a lot of press.
Marc:We did Leonard Moulton's show.
Marc:Lynn Shelton and myself did the Leonard Moulton podcast.
Marc:And it's kind of interesting to impress with a bunch of wacky people.
Marc:But we had a good time.
Marc:And I'm very proud of the movie.
Marc:And I hope that everybody gets to see it soon.
Marc:Someday, folks, someday you will see sort of trust.
Marc:I promise you.
Marc:And when we do get it planted somewhere, I will play the piece of music that Tal Wilkenfeld and myself composed for the for the movie.
Marc:I want to play that soon.
Marc:Why don't I have that now?
Marc:Why can't I just play that now?
Marc:All the music in the film is by me.
Marc:It just worked out that way.
Marc:Because as you know, if you listen to this show, I've got a few hundred guitar noodles, guitar riffs, little things I do at the end.
Marc:And some of them just fit perfectly because it's down south.
Marc:It's kind of hot.
Marc:And a lot of the things that I play kind of got a swampy blues feel.
Marc:You know, that thing.
Marc:So Lynn was able to kind of layer in a lot of the music that I composed here in the moment for you people.
Marc:That may have sounded just like me sitting in my garage playing by myself, which it was.
Marc:That was exciting.
Marc:It was an exciting, good experience.
Marc:Did I mention I ate pecan cobbler?
Marc:Hot.
Marc:With vanilla Blue Bell ice cream melting on its top.
Marc:Oh, man.
Marc:So, Aidy Bryant.
Marc:Aidy Bryant.
Marc:What a gem.
Marc:She's a gem.
Marc:I really always love her on Saturday Night Live, and she's still on Saturday Night Live.
Marc:It's her seventh season.
Marc:But in her show, her new show, this new show, which is Shrill, that premieres tomorrow, March 15th on Hulu, all the episodes will be up to stream.
Marc:And I did that already because I got special access to them so I could talk to her about it.
Marc:But she's really stretching out a little bit.
Marc:She's really acting.
Marc:The character is tremendous.
Marc:She's bringing everything that she has to it, her humor.
Marc:And there's a depth to it, too.
Marc:There's a real range in this thing.
Marc:And I was proud of her because I love her.
Marc:I think she's great.
Marc:And the show is funny.
Marc:It's touching.
Marc:It's relevant.
Marc:It's...
Marc:It's real shit, you know?
Marc:It really, it's really, it was good.
Marc:It's a good show.
Marc:And I was happy to talk to her.
Marc:So this is me talking to A.D.
Marc:Bryant.
Marc:So, nice glasses.
Guest:Oh, thank you.
Guest:Thank you so much.
Marc:You don't come out here too often, eh?
Guest:I mean, you know, here and there.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:I do.
Guest:Yeah, but I don't know.
Marc:Do you like it?
Guest:I do.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I love it.
Guest:Like, I like to drive and... You didn't drive here.
Marc:I saw that you were driven here.
Guest:Well, that's because I didn't get a car this time around, but...
Marc:You usually rent a car?
Guest:Yeah, I do.
Marc:Yeah, it's fun, right?
Guest:I like it.
Guest:That's like how I grew up driving around.
Marc:Me too.
Guest:Yeah, it's part of it.
Marc:How long have you been in New York?
Guest:Only when I got SNL is when I moved, so seven years.
Marc:It's weird when you grow up driving, and I think you grew up somewhere near me.
Marc:Where'd you grow up?
Guest:Arizona.
Marc:Yeah, I grew up in New Mexico.
Guest:I know, we're desert people.
Marc:Yeah, full-on desert people.
Marc:My brother's in Phoenix.
Guest:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, that's where I'm from.
Marc:My ex-wife's from Phoenix.
Guest:Whoa.
Marc:Yeah, I spent a lot of time in Phoenix.
Guest:You buried some bones in Phoenix.
Marc:Well, yeah, I broke some hearts and pissed off some parents.
Guest:You and me both.
Marc:Were you born there?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:Did you go to Arcadia?
Guest:No.
Marc:Oh.
Marc:No.
Guest:I went to an all-girls Catholic high school that's near there, kind of.
Marc:It's definitely a whole different type of person when you grow up with that in the desert.
Marc:It's nice, right?
Guest:I love it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I love to go back.
Guest:Do you go back to New Mexico, right?
Marc:I do.
Marc:I go back to New Mexico, and I go to Phoenix occasionally to see my bro.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I do shows sometimes in Phoenix.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, but like, so how big is the family?
Guest:I mean, just my brother and my parents.
Marc:That's it?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So it's just the four of yous?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:It was so nice.
Marc:Are you really Irish?
Guest:Kind of, yeah.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:I think my dad's side of the family is way more Irish, and I just like took on all their traits.
Marc:Well, just going by the name.
Marc:I wasn't judging the traits.
Guest:Oh, well, the traits are there too.
Marc:What are the traits?
Guest:I'm 50% potato.
Guest:I'm like bright red all the time.
Guest:If I start drinking, I can't stop.
Guest:Like all those gorgeous, I'm aggressively hard worker until I die.
Marc:You got that too?
Guest:Yeah, where I'm like, I'll stay.
Guest:I'll stay.
Guest:Keep plugging away.
Guest:You guys head home or that kind of thing.
Marc:Oh, so that's the sort of fine line between hard worker and martyr.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:I'm good.
Marc:I'll do all of your work, too.
Guest:My pleasure.
Marc:Absolutely.
Marc:But you're telling me your brother, what, doesn't he got the same thing?
Yeah.
Guest:I feel like he swung the opposite way and now he just is like, I'm going to Madrid for three months and I'm going to run my bank account to zero.
Marc:The searching man.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I wish I had more of that because I was like, I'm going to just, I don't know, grind until I sleep.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But is he older or younger?
Guest:Younger.
Marc:Oh, yeah?
Marc:So in his 20s still or no?
Guest:Yeah, he's 25.
Marc:Oh, so he's got, yeah, I mean, he's just going to go waste a few years.
Guest:Yeah, he's cool.
Marc:He's an off-the-grid guy?
Guest:Yeah, in a very cool way that I am, like, truly the opposite of.
Guest:And I wish, I think we probably are, like, there's a middle ground between us that's a lot healthier.
Marc:But you guys are close?
Guest:Yeah, super close.
Marc:That's nice.
Marc:And your folks are still around and out there?
Guest:Yeah, they're in Phoenix, plugging away.
Marc:What do they do?
Guest:My mom has a store.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:That's like kind of like clothing gift store, but it's very popular in Phoenix.
Guest:Very cool.
Guest:It's been voted like best boutique, like something like 15 years in a row.
Marc:What's it called?
Marc:Let's give it a plug.
Guest:Oh, Francis, baby.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Everybody in Phoenix knows it and they've got to go.
Marc:It's called Francis, baby.
Guest:No, just Francis.
Guest:I was trying to be like, I don't know.
Guest:Give it a nasty.
Marc:No, I liked it.
Marc:It was good.
Guest:Thank you.
Marc:Francis, a boutique.
Marc:How long she had that place?
Guest:I think like almost 12 years, 13 years.
Marc:My mom had a dress store.
Marc:Really?
Marc:For a while.
Guest:Yeah, it's a lot of work.
Marc:What do they sell there?
Guest:Like candles and cool jewelry and like artist stuff.
Marc:Oh, crafts.
Guest:You know.
Marc:Sure, I do.
Marc:So she goes to market.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:And does the thing like out here.
Guest:She does the whole thing, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, and finds stuff for the boutique.
Guest:She's shopping, baby.
Marc:That's nice.
Guest:It's really nice.
Guest:And people really love it there.
Guest:And it was the first kind of cool store in Phoenix, I feel like.
Guest:And then when she opened it, it was next to one record store.
Guest:There was nothing else around.
Guest:And now there's tons of stuff all around there.
Guest:And she organizes all these cool community events.
Guest:And yeah, it's very cool.
Guest:She's cool.
Marc:She sounds like a pretty hip mom.
Guest:Yeah, totally hip mom.
Guest:Very cool mom.
Guest:And then, yeah, my dad was a real estate agent.
Guest:And he did historic homes, like downtown Phoenix.
Marc:Like Frank Lloyd Wright homes?
Guest:Yeah, kind of that stuff, but also these cool, almost like 1940s bungalows that are in downtown Phoenix, weirdly.
Marc:Yeah, downtown Phoenix, is that starting to happen?
Guest:I think it's kind of starting to happen.
Guest:When I lived there, it was not happening.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I go down there.
Marc:I stay down there because there's a new club down there, Stand Up Live.
Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Marc:And like, I never get the feeling that it's happening.
Guest:I think it's trying to happen and it's probably maybe happening in certain patches, but yeah.
Marc:The patches.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:The three stores and that block.
Guest:Totally.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Those are the pioneers.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:They've come and they're going to turn it all around.
Guest:I mean, it happens.
Marc:So what is the funny situation?
Marc:But your parents are like, so they're not like crazy Catholics or anything?
Guest:No, no.
Guest:They're just sort of like nice desert folk.
Marc:But they didn't come from there too, did they?
Guest:Well, my mom is from New Mexico, like you.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah, Tucumcari.
Marc:Tucumcari.
Marc:I know.
Marc:She must be one of the few people from there.
Guest:It is like my entire family is from Tucumcari.
Marc:You go to Tucumcari to visit?
Guest:I have been to Tucumcari multiple times.
Marc:I don't think I've been to Tucumcari.
Guest:And that's fair.
Marc:But it's in some songs, and I think I've driven through it, but I have no picture of it.
Guest:I think in the 70s, when most of my family was living there, it was a lot different, and now it's kind of a truck stop.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:How was it different?
Marc:Was it a hippie truck stop, or was it a bigger town?
Marc:I don't know.
Guest:I think it was just some Americana-like kind of stuff.
Marc:So your grandparents are there?
Guest:No, they're in Arizona now.
Guest:Everybody came down to the big city.
Marc:Yeah, so no one's in Tucumcari.
Marc:No, no.
Marc:And where's your old man from?
Guest:He's from Columbus, Ohio.
Marc:Yeah, it's America, man.
Marc:You got it.
Guest:I'm from the thick of it.
Marc:So you have grandparents and family in Columbus?
Guest:Yeah, a little bit.
Marc:Yeah?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So you go to Ohio occasionally?
Guest:You know, I drop in for a funeral and that kind of thing.
Marc:Yeah, good to see everybody at either the happy thing or the wedding.
Marc:Yes, totally.
Marc:Or the sad thing, the funeral.
Guest:Those are my Ohio memories completely.
Marc:Those are it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, we're here to bury so-and-so.
Marc:We're here because your cousin is getting married.
Guest:100%, yeah.
Marc:So tell me about this Catholic school situation.
Marc:Oh.
Marc:Outfits.
Guest:Oh yeah, the outfits were happening.
Guest:Well, I went to public school my whole life and then the high school that I was supposed to go to was like, I think literally like Arizona schools were rated like 50th in the nation and it was that bad.
Guest:And so we kind of like scraped it together and I went to this very fancy high school where like John McCain's kids went to.
Marc:Like that kind of fancy.
Guest:Yeah, and like not where I had been ever.
Marc:So you were fighting it out in the public schools of Phoenix.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, I mean, not that it was like crazy, but it was it was just like a crazy shift where like my high school had like a right to life club and stuff like that.
Guest:And they would like bus girls to abortion clinics.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:To protest on Fridays and stuff.
Guest:And like, you know, that was not not my scene.
Marc:So so junior high was normal.
Guest:Yeah, totally normal.
Marc:Were you doing any theater?
Guest:I mean, can you even call it theater?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:But yeah, like little pageants or something.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Well, more like skits.
Marc:You did skits in junior high?
Guest:I did theater camps and stuff like that.
Marc:You did?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So that was always your thing, your interest?
Guest:Kind of, yeah.
Guest:But I was always like, this doesn't feel that great.
Guest:I don't know.
Marc:But no one was making you do it.
Guest:I guess, again, it's like that Irish worker.
Guest:I was like, well, I can't be just swimming in the summer.
Guest:I got to do my programs or whatever.
Marc:Yeah, but that was the thing you gravitated towards.
Guest:Yeah, I always liked it, and I could get people to laugh at me and get attention, which, how nice.
Marc:So you've been doing that your whole life?
Guest:I think, I mean, a little bit, yeah.
Marc:No sports, no other sports?
Guest:I mean, I dipped my toe in the pool, but it wasn't, I was always just like the weird, like I actually, I was just talking about this with my friend, how briefly in seventh grade I was on like a very hot softball team that they were like winning the championship and I was just also there.
Guest:And wow, like what a hell that was because everyone was hitting home runs and I was just like bouncing around and being like, when's the cake coming?
Guest:Like I just really shouldn't have been there.
Marc:Oh really?
Marc:But you were there for what, a whole season?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like here and there, I feel like my parents would be like, you should try this or try one of those.
Marc:You didn't hit anything?
Guest:No.
Guest:No.
Marc:No.
Marc:Did you get up to bat?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I had to stand there and watch them throw the balls.
Guest:Like it was not for me.
Marc:So were the other girls mad?
Marc:No.
Guest:I'm sure.
Guest:I'm sure I was not well liked for that.
Marc:Dead weight on the big team.
Guest:One thousand percent.
Guest:But like still got all the trophies and the medals that these young women had earned.
Marc:And he put them.
Marc:Did you hang them in your room?
Guest:I mean, I think I had him in a box or something.
Marc:Did you feel shame about your part in it?
Guest:I just knew I didn't belong there.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:More than shame.
Guest:I was like, I shouldn't have been involved in this at all.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So you didn't show them off proudly saying, yeah, I am a sports person.
Guest:No.
Marc:All right.
Marc:So you go to theater camp and that's where the oddballs are.
Guest:Yeah, a little bit.
Guest:I was like, this feels better than the sports.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:What is it about it?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:I think I've talked to a few people that went to theater camp.
Marc:But it seems like people who, I don't know, there's just people around singing.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Right?
Guest:Yeah, and just being dumb.
Guest:You're just singing and doing weird vocal warm-ups even though you're 14.
Marc:Right.
Marc:But the bully factor is less.
Yeah.
Guest:God, yeah, yeah.
Marc:It seems like a refuge.
Guest:Yeah, I think it's like everybody's trying something there.
Marc:But it's like the kids who at regular high school have to walk with their head down in the halls, go to theater camp, and they open up.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But you were funny, so you probably didn't take that much shit, did you?
Marc:I wasn't, no.
Guest:I made it through school okay.
Guest:I had friends, and I...
Guest:I participated in stuff.
Marc:You weren't like a weirdo.
Guest:No.
Guest:I mean, I was voted most unique in high school, but it was me and two goth girls that were also there, and I was like, oh, this is kind of a burn.
Guest:It's not cool unique.
Guest:It's like, we think you're a freak.
Marc:That was at the Catholic high school?
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:Well, good.
Guest:Yeah, thank God.
Marc:Yeah, you don't want to blend in there.
Guest:Totally.
Marc:So wait, so, okay, so by the time you get to high school, how Catholic was it?
Marc:You had to wear the dress, the skirts.
Marc:Yellow skirts and stuff.
Marc:And it was all girls.
Guest:Sweaters, yeah.
Marc:And nuns?
Guest:Nuns were there.
Marc:But were you brought up with any religion?
Marc:No.
Guest:No, not really.
Marc:They just wanted you to go because it was a good school.
Guest:Yeah, it was just a really good school.
Marc:So you had to suck it up and take a bunch of Jesus?
Guest:Yeah, 100%.
Guest:Yeah, and I would go to Mass and be like, whoa, what is this?
Guest:Everyone's going up and down and all the little sayings and...
Marc:The outfit.
Guest:The whole thing, top to bottom.
Marc:The pageantry.
Guest:I was like, this is wild.
Guest:They had something at my high school called liturgical dance.
Guest:I don't know if you know what that is, but it's like, it's truly like basically, I mean, in my case, it was like 14 year old girls with braces dressed in sort of like ghostly robes, like doing physicalizations of biblical stories, but like danceified.
Guest:What?
Guest:And then watching it, I was like, this is psychotic.
Guest:Like I can't even fathom that this is for worship.
Guest:Like it was.
Marc:It's a thing.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Liturgical dance is a thing.
Marc:Like a tradition, an age old.
Guest:I don't know if that or if it was just like, here's a thing for high school girls to do to pray or something.
Marc:Where's that SNL skit?
Guest:I know.
Marc:The liturgical.
Marc:How is that not?
Guest:There you go.
Marc:Was it gonna happen now?
Marc:Did I just pitch and maybe it'll... I need pitches.
Guest:I need bits.
Guest:I've been there so long.
Guest:I'll take any bits you can give me.
Marc:So was there theater there?
Guest:Yeah, there was theater there.
Guest:But the thing that I was doing more than theater there was like I started doing like a teen improv group.
Marc:So how'd you know about improv?
Marc:Oh, from theater camp.
Guest:Yeah, theater camp.
Marc:You learned improv.
Guest:That's the first thing I saw that I was like, that's my shit.
Marc:What were they doing at seventh grade theater camp?
Guest:Ooh.
Marc:Long form?
Guest:Absolutely not.
Guest:Little like short form riddle games, you know, and that kind of thing.
Marc:But you knew like that's the answer.
Guest:Well, yeah.
Guest:And then also like when I was in high school, I was doing improv in like a teen group where like the ages were like 12 to 17.
Guest:And so, of course, when I was like 17 years old, I was like, I'm fucking good.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like I was like, these are 12 year olds.
Guest:And I'm like, I have a high school education.
Guest:Of course, I was like the star of every show we had.
Guest:And I think it gave me like an inflated sense of my talent or something.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, that's good, though.
Guest:No, it was good.
Guest:It really like it made me like, oh, this is my thing.
Guest:I got to go do this.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:An inflated sense of your talent is necessary.
Marc:In order to nurture that talent into, you have to be delusional in order to kind of have the ambition to pursue this.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:And like as a teen girl, I was like, I don't have any of the stuff for a teen girl like on lock.
Guest:But I was like, but this, I am good.
Marc:And it's a rarefied thing.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:There's not like national teen girl improv competition.
No.
Guest:yeah totally and also like theater I don't know theater always felt like a little self serious to me and like kind of like the people participating it were like actual dorks where like improv dorks I was like at least they're funny you know like I don't know you don't want to be around the actual dorks no I want to be around like the wacky dorks yeah that makes sense to me still friends with any of your high school people
Guest:Yes, to... From the group?
Guest:Yeah, that just like we held each other to make it through and yeah, we're still friends.
Marc:And are they in show business?
Guest:Oh, no, no, not at all.
Marc:They're just people doing their life?
Marc:Yes, of course.
Guest:In Phoenix?
Guest:Yeah, one works for like the State Department and the other is like a painter.
Marc:Oh, that's nice.
Marc:Painter, she stayed with it.
Marc:Yes, totally.
Marc:The creative saddle.
Guest:Absolutely.
Marc:State Department in D.C.?
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:Ah, that must be.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Well, he did work for the State Department, but now he's no longer.
Guest:He's out.
Guest:Yeah, he was out.
Marc:They pushed him out?
Guest:I think that was part of it.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Also, did he want to stay?
Marc:No, no, no.
Marc:They're just trying to gut the State Department altogether, but we don't need to do that.
Guest:No, this is not for us to take on right now.
Marc:I can't take it on at all.
Guest:No.
Marc:So, okay.
Marc:So then you graduate high school and you're an improv wizard and you have an inflated sense of your talent.
Guest:Absolutely.
Marc:You're a genius probably.
Guest:In my mind, yeah.
Marc:An improv genius, an unknown improv genius.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Where do you take that?
Guest:Well, so one of my high school improv coach people that I had was like, there's this place in Chicago called I.O.
Guest:where you can go and take real classes and do this as more of a thing.
Guest:And so I was kind of like, that's where I got to go.
Marc:Chicago?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So you just bypassed college?
Guest:No, I went to college.
Marc:Where?
Guest:In Chicago.
Marc:Ah, but that was the plan.
Guest:That was part of the plan.
Marc:But Northwestern?
Guest:God, no.
Guest:I went to like an artsy school for dummies kind of.
Guest:I mean, I love it, but it's called Columbia College.
Marc:I've heard of Columbia College.
Guest:It's a cool school because they truly let you take classes like in all different arts and disciplines.
Guest:And they really encourage you to like do productions in the city or like do, you know, yeah.
Guest:Whereas like almost all the other Chicago theatery stuff, it's like very like you only work at our school and like conservatory kind of stuff.
Marc:But did you go there because you didn't get good grades?
Guest:No, I got good grades at a fancy school, but I had been like just doing this insanely academic stuff in my high school.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:That was like at a certain point, I was just like, this sucks, you know, and I want to like, yeah, like, I don't want to say an artist, but I was like, I want to I want to be a creative person around creative people.
Guest:And so I went to a school that was really and I'm still friends with a lot of people who are designers and whatever that I met in college.
Guest:And they've worked on things I've worked on.
Guest:And it's been the best.
Marc:That's great.
Marc:Yeah, it was amazing.
Marc:It's nice to know that.
Marc:So you didn't go in going like, I'm going to get a communications degree.
Marc:No.
Marc:You knew I'm going to be this.
Guest:Yeah, I wanted to.
Guest:I didn't know if it would happen.
Marc:I just knew.
Marc:I was like, I want to be smart.
Marc:I don't want to take any business classes, but I'd like to be a smart person.
Marc:Yes, of course.
Marc:Yeah, so I had to get a full liberal arts and just charm my way through it and not remember much of anything except a few poems.
Guest:But that, what a nice thing to know.
Marc:Yeah, and appreciate some movies.
Guest:Great.
Marc:But I don't pretend to know more than I know.
Guest:I feel like you know a lot, though.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, but there's a limit to it.
Marc:Yeah, but I guess that's normal.
Marc:I wish that I had the guts to be more, like I did plays and stuff, but I don't know, like I was always pretty terrified to be on stage in too vulnerable a way.
Marc:That took like years, decades.
Guest:I'm so surprised.
Guest:Just as a fan of your work, I see you as like a vulnerable performer.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But for years, it was just angry.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But there's something like I am very uncomfortable showing anger because I'm like, that's not in my deal.
Marc:You know, why is that?
Guest:I think it's like probably socialized for women in a lot of ways that it's like not pretty or cool or acceptable to be mad.
Marc:Do you ever rage out?
Guest:I'm starting to occasionally rage.
Guest:And it feels so good, because I think it's been pushed down for a long time.
Marc:But it seems like, because I watch your show,
Marc:Oh, no, I watch all of it.
Marc:Oh, I liked it.
Marc:I like you.
Guest:Oh, thank you.
Marc:You're funny.
Marc:And I get I get moved.
Marc:I'm moved by your being.
Guest:Thank you.
Guest:God.
Marc:But but the thing is, like, I just wonder just because of the nature.
Marc:I know that the character on the show is not fundamentally you.
Guest:No, but I helped write it, and it's definitely, there's threads in there that I'm like, yeah, that's me.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, I always wonder, though, because you seem like sort of the people pleaser thing, the martyry kind of like, I'll do it, like that whole thing.
Marc:That to me, I always wonder just how much rage comes from living like that.
Guest:Yeah, so much.
Yeah.
Guest:so, so much.
Guest:But I can smile my way through a lot of anger, which is, that's fucked up.
Marc:Yeah, but what is that?
Marc:What was it that you were growing up with?
Marc:What do you think it comes from?
Guest:I don't know, because I also feel like my parents are both very even-keeled, like never raised their voice at me.
Guest:Liars.
Yeah.
Guest:I mean, it was like if I got in trouble, it was like we sat down, we talked about it.
Guest:It was like, you know, we're disappointed.
Guest:And like that kind of thing hit me deeply, you know, of course.
Marc:The disappointed thing is the worst.
Guest:Yes, it's like in your bones.
Marc:Just yell at me, just yell at me.
Guest:But there is something like sort of that's like,
Guest:Slow down, think about it, talk about it, but it doesn't always maybe allow for you to, like, have that visceral anger, which I feel like only maybe in the last, like, five years have I been like, ooh, what is that in the back of my bones that feels like a fire, you know?
Yeah.
Marc:And wants to say, fuck you.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, good.
Marc:Well, I'm glad that's happening.
Guest:Thank you.
Guest:It feels so good.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But I would think that when you're doing improv, though, you didn't find one that could yell and scream?
Guest:I mean, yeah, I'm sure I did.
Guest:I definitely have.
Guest:And I feel like part of what improv did was like it gave me it put me in the driver's seat a little bit where I was much used to, like, just kind of being like, yes, sir.
Guest:Thank you.
Guest:I will do that.
Guest:And what a joy for me.
Guest:And wow.
Guest:And woo.
Guest:And like.
Guest:And like for improv, it was like, no, I write what I say in the moment.
Guest:And like the audience kind of has to eat it.
Guest:And like I liked that feeling or like, you know, being in control.
Marc:Like it's the best.
Marc:It's also the best to generate like that, because I mean, that's how I generate my stand up where all of a sudden you surprise yourself.
Marc:That came out of my face.
Marc:Totally.
Marc:I just said that.
Marc:Where did that come from?
Guest:Yeah, it is.
Guest:There's such an ease to it when it's easy, and what a nice ride that is.
Marc:So you're at Columbia College, and you're majoring in improv?
Guest:In acting, yeah, because they didn't have a comedy improv sketch major.
Guest:Now I think they do, which is insane to me.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, I think your generation kind of turned the entire structure of the comedy entertainment business around.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Like, you know, it's sort of interesting that Chicago thing.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Like how like for a while there it was all about stand ups.
Marc:And then all of a sudden it was like, no, these people that that work with other people, they're more well adjusted and funnier and they have a little more control over their talent.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, my.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I feel like there's good in both, you know, I mean, and like I I definitely the thing that I think I got out of going to Chicago first rather than maybe going to like New York or L.A.
Guest:is I really did just go there because I loved improv.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I wasn't like angling like, OK, and then I'll get on SNL and whatever.
Guest:I really that was like especially coming from Arizona.
Guest:It was just like that's not part of the dream.
Guest:Like I just want to do this stuff, you know, and and I feel like having like, you know, I was in Chicago seven years where I just did shows every night of the week.
Marc:But you were there like that's including college.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because during college, I would go to school during the day, and then at night, I would go do improv or sketch or whatever.
Marc:So when you studied acting, though, how did that help?
Marc:I mean, were you into it?
Guest:No.
Guest:I didn't like it, really.
Guest:I mean, I never auditioned for a play in college.
Marc:I never did any- How do you major in acting and not-
Guest:Because I was doing shows like out for real audiences in Chicago.
Marc:I know, but isn't that part of you getting a grade?
Guest:Yeah, you would think, but I don't know.
Guest:I made it through.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Were you able to use your nightlife?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:A little bit.
Guest:I mean, like it was really nice that by the time like I finished school, I was occasionally getting paid to perform comedy like, you know, around Chicago or doing touring shows and that kind of thing.
Guest:So I did get like I think like some internship credit or something for like the touring stuff.
Marc:Well, that's good.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:All right, so you go and you're like, how do you first venture out?
Marc:Like, how does that happen?
Marc:Like in Chicago?
Marc:Yeah, from college, you know?
Guest:Well, I was like, you know, in school with a bunch of theater-y people.
Guest:And I was like, I'm going to go take classes at this place at I.O.
Guest:And a couple friends joined me.
Marc:That's ImprovOlympic?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then, so that's kind of where I started and I got on a improv team there when I finished the program.
Guest:But not Second City?
Guest:No, I never really took the classes there or did their, the way you go up their ladder.
Marc:Did you see shows there?
Guest:No.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Weirdly, no.
Guest:I didn't.
Guest:You're an I.O.
Marc:person.
Guest:I was like an improv person.
Guest:I wasn't really doing sketch in that same way.
Guest:And then towards the end of my college time, I started doing shows at the Annoyance Theater, which is a little more sketchy and it's a little more writing stuff.
Marc:With Sedaris?
Yeah.
Guest:uh-huh yeah she so like they started it right who started it well mick napier started here yeah and he like directed amy's one woman show and he like you know he taught many and me included like was a huge teacher of mine and helped me so much i remember him i just talked to amy oh really yeah i just saw her at the airport
Marc:Just now?
Guest:Well, a couple days ago, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, I interviewed her.
Guest:She's wonderful.
Marc:Yeah, she is.
Guest:Truly like no one else like her and a true artist's mind.
Marc:But yeah, she brought up annoyance.
Marc:Yeah, because I knew that crew that did the Exit 57 sketch show, I think were a lot of annoyance people.
Marc:I think they were all from there.
Guest:I mean, the cool thing for me that was cool about The Annoyance was, like, it was very, like, punk rock.
Guest:Like, when I was starting there, it was like, whoa, this is not, like, Second City.
Guest:It's not this, like, polished sketch.
Guest:It's, like, almost veering in the world of performance art.
Guest:Like, purposely trying to be disgusting sometimes and, like...
Marc:What was the angle?
Marc:Did they have a manifesto?
Marc:Was there a method?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:And I would hate to paraphrase, but I would say it was like sort of like take care of yourself and like make the audience eat it a little bit.
Guest:Like just like be bold and like, yeah, push your limits, you know, and like.
Marc:And you start, so you're at I.O.
Marc:doing straight up improv for tourist crowds.
Marc:Old school heralds, like old school improv.
Marc:And that's where you learned all that stuff?
Guest:Uh-huh, which, yeah, and that's where I did a ton of shows.
Guest:It was just like reps, which was really nice.
Marc:You were part of the troupe?
Guest:Yeah, multiple troupes, proudly trooping it, yeah.
Marc:And then how did Annoyance happen?
Guest:And so someone saw me in one of those improv shows and was like, hey, you should come try something here.
Guest:And I did.
Marc:And what's it was like a little theater kind of deal.
Marc:Like, like, where am I?
Marc:What is this?
Guest:Kind of.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like I got I basically they were like, you should come do this like little 20 minute play we're doing.
Guest:And we improvised to write.
Guest:basically so you'll improvise a bunch of scenes and then if you like one you re-improvise it and you use that to write and that's like sort of what the annoyance does is they write like narrative shows through improv and like fine-tuning so that's almost sketch yeah it is it's like it's the start of it for me it was yeah and how long did you spend there
Guest:Um, so at the annoyance I did like, you know, maybe two shows, um, which is not that long, but from doing one of those shows, I got hired by second city, which is like kind of rare.
Marc:What does that mean?
Marc:So you did do second city.
Guest:Well, yeah.
Guest:So but like typically what people do is they'll go through their training program and then they might be in one of their like junior performing groups and then they might get on a touring company and then they'll tour for a couple of years and then they'll, you know, whatever.
Guest:And I sort of weirdly and luckily got to like bypass a lot of those steps and did a show at the annoyance.
Guest:And a director from Second City saw me and then cast me in one of the main, not main stage, but there's two main stages there.
Guest:One is called main stage, one's called ETC, and I was on the ETC stage.
Marc:But there you are.
Marc:You're used to working with a certain group of people.
Marc:It's sort of like now you're in the big time kind of thing.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:This is the big leagues.
Marc:You kind of skip some steps, so you're going over there knowing that some of them are going to resent you.
Guest:Yeah, fully.
Guest:Yeah, truly.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, you know, I think a lot of people also like went to Second City and waited for 10 years and didn't get those jobs.
Guest:And like, you know, it is like it's a it's very highly coveted job.
Guest:So I always felt very appreciative and loved working.
Marc:Did you get any flack?
Guest:I heard like rumblings, but nothing.
Guest:I always felt like I worked really hard and I did a million shows.
Guest:I deserve to be there.
Marc:Yeah, that's good.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Pretty well adjusted.
Guest:I'm trying so hard.
Guest:Thank you.
Marc:Who are some of the people there when you got there?
Marc:Anyone we know?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:I mean, Tim Robinson was there around there.
Guest:Sam Richardson.
Guest:Cecily Strong was around there.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:She's great.
Guest:Yeah, she's great.
Marc:She was there?
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:Yeah, I like her.
Marc:She's funny.
Guest:So funny.
Marc:There are some funny people on this crew.
Marc:So you're doing Second City.
Marc:But at this point, you know after college, you say you didn't know what the trajectory was with improv.
Marc:But by the time I imagine you get to doing improv in Chicago, SNL becomes this thing there.
Guest:It's weird.
Marc:Hanging over it.
Guest:It did eventually for me because I was performing in a show with Vanessa Bayer when she got hired.
Guest:And that, I think, for me was the first time I was like, oh, my God, I'm so what?
Marc:Close to it?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:There's a way that showbiz comes to Chicago and scoops you up and takes you away.
Guest:I could not believe that.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Guest:I had never seen it.
Guest:happened there before and i didn't know anyone so i was just like oh i'm just here kind of plugging away like trying to yeah get good you never really thought about it i just didn't i guess i didn't think that that could happen yeah i don't know yeah i know it sounds stupid now because i know that that's how it works but i was really naive when it came to that stuff uh-huh and you saw her go
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And like she and I like performed together for years in Chicago and we did a show at the annoyance together.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That we like rode and, you know, some of our pals were in.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so when she went, I was like, what?
Marc:You know, this is insane.
Marc:And are you guys still friends?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Super close.
Marc:What's she doing?
Guest:She's she just moved to L.A.
Marc:She did.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:From New York.
Guest:Yeah, she's like working on a ton of stuff.
Guest:She's got cool irons in the fire.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:I just realized I haven't seen her in a while.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I'm actually watching the show occasionally.
Marc:Oh, wow.
Marc:I never thought it would happen again, but it did.
Guest:I'm curious, like why now?
Guest:Or do you think or even?
Marc:Well, it's not even about the politics.
Marc:It just so happens now there's like the cast is so fucking good.
Guest:I think we have a really cool cast.
Marc:Beck Bennett, who's in your show.
Marc:His cameo in your show.
Marc:It's not a cameo.
Marc:There's a little part there.
Marc:It was great.
Marc:He's so great.
Guest:I love him so much.
Marc:Here's the weird thing about SNL, and it's something that Lauren talked to me about.
Marc:Lauren demystified everything for me to my face.
Marc:Because I mythologized the first few seasons of the show, and he's like, look, there's been a lot of great cast, and I don't know that...
Marc:There was a period there where I think like anything else, it's no longer relevant to you.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Because I grew up, I'm old.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So to come back around to it and to see it so repopularized is so amazing.
Guest:It is crazy.
Guest:I mean, even when I got hired, I wasn't watching the show regularly because I was out doing shows.
Guest:I hadn't watched the show in five years.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:But then I do think it kind of comes and goes depending on your age and where you're at.
Marc:But now you can watch it anytime, which is a big difference.
Guest:Yeah, that is a different thing.
Marc:It's like you can, it doesn't matter.
Marc:You know, you don't have to, like back in the day, you're like, I gotta be home at 1130.
Marc:No, I know.
Marc:And when you're 14, it's not a big problem.
Marc:But when you're 19, it is.
Guest:Well, also, I feel like it's drastically changed the way you write for SNL because it is like...
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:Some of those early sketches, if you watch them, they're like incredibly patient and like nine minutes long.
Guest:And like now you rarely will see a sketch more than four minutes.
Guest:And it is like a joke every two seconds, you know, like, or at least they're just like, you know, it's like a machine gun in a way.
Guest:Like there's not a lot of air to breathe.
Guest:And that's like part of what it is now because it's like clips, you know, and stuff.
Marc:Right.
Marc:It's changed everything.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Everything's got to deliver.
Guest:Totally.
Marc:Right up front and keep going.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, so everybody's good.
Marc:That's why I'm watching.
Guest:Okay, good.
Guest:I like that.
Guest:That's great.
Marc:All right, but how does it happen for you?
Marc:So you see Bear just disappear, plucked up by the big time.
Guest:There went my friend.
Guest:And basically, right after that, I got hired by Second City.
Guest:And so what you do there is you write a show with five other people, and you perform that show for six months.
Guest:And so I did one of those.
Guest:And then I did another one of those.
Guest:And I think the second time around, I just like knew more, knew what I was doing more.
Guest:And I sort of like wrote myself better pieces.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then we opened that show.
Guest:And like two nights later, Lorne and all the producers came to see that show.
Guest:Which I think was really lucky for me because they watched a full two hour comedy show that I did with my friends.
Guest:And I didn't have to just like have it all crammed into five minutes.
Marc:Who were they there to see?
Marc:Was it just that they just showed up?
Guest:I think it was sort of like this was right after like Kristen Wiig had left.
Guest:And it was like about to be like Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis and Fred Armisen's last season.
Guest:So they were kind of, I think, being like, OK, we've got to get some new blood in here.
Guest:So they were just scouting generally, you know, like not.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And they came to see our show, yeah.
Guest:And I had, like, a couple, like, big pieces in it that were, like, my thing.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And then they came backstage and, like, said hi and whatever.
Guest:And I just remembered that, like, Lauren was, like, talking to me a lot backstage.
Guest:And I was like, ooh, does that mean, like...
Guest:I'm special.
Guest:Like, do I get the candy?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I felt like a little whatever.
Guest:And then a couple of days later, I was in an antique mall with my parents and I got a phone call that they were like, oh, they want to fly you out to audition five minutes and they want you to write, you know, put it together based on the stuff you did in that show.
Guest:So they want it to be really similar because they want to show kind of the same stuff to the people back at the studio, you know?
Marc:So you're at an antique mall in Phoenix?
Yeah.
Guest:Actually, they had flown to Chicago to see my new show, which had just opened.
Guest:So we were at an antique mall on the north side of Chicago.
Guest:And you were like, nah.
Guest:I fully got off the phone and started going like, mom, mommy.
Guest:Just like a full child.
Marc:Did she go, what's the matter?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:And I was like, they want me on SNL.
Guest:They got to go to New York now.
Guest:Like just couldn't even talk and was totally freaked out.
Marc:Were you able to have the, did you stay at the antique mall or did you have to leave?
Guest:No, I was like, I have to go home and like have diarrhea right now.
Guest:Like I just fully like crumbled in that moment.
Marc:Good.
Marc:All right.
Marc:So you fly out there.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And they put you up.
Guest:Yep.
Marc:And then you go to the studio.
Marc:You go to the, what is it?
Marc:The eighth floor?
Guest:Well, so weirdly, so for this one, it was like all women.
Guest:So they brought in like 15 women or something.
Marc:Did they put you in a room with no windows?
Guest:No, but they had us audition on Jimmy Fallon's set, weirdly.
Guest:So like on the sixth floor.
Guest:And so I did my five minutes and it was fine.
Guest:I got laughs.
Guest:I had been told like expect nothing and then like I did get laughs.
Guest:And so I was like, oh, like I was super relieved and happy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then I left.
Guest:I flew back to Chicago.
Guest:And then they were like, can you fly back to talk to him?
Guest:No.
Guest:To meet like Seth Meyers and the writers and like, yeah, some of the producers and stuff.
Guest:And so I went for just like, I think kind of like a crazy test to just see if I was nuts.
Marc:You know, why do you think why?
Marc:What were the questions?
Guest:Nothing.
Guest:It was just like, where are you from?
Guest:How's it going?
Guest:Are you a normal person who can have a normal conversation?
Guest:Kind of like, you know?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then I flew back to Chicago.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But then I flew back to Chicago and I was like, well, I guess that's it.
Guest:Like, I didn't get it.
Guest:And that's what it is.
Guest:And then like a week later, they were like, we want you to come back out, do another five minutes and new material.
Guest:And can you write it in like two days?
Guest:And I was like, yes, I can.
Guest:And I love to do that.
Marc:Characters?
Guest:Mm-hmm, yeah.
Marc:What'd you come up with in those two days?
Guest:Oh my God.
Guest:Basically, I don't do impressions.
Guest:It's like not my wheelhouse.
Marc:But they want you to do one, huh?
Guest:Yes, so I was just scraping the bottom of the barrel for what I could find.
Guest:So I did an Adele, which she was kind of hot at the time.
Guest:And I did an Ethel Merman, which not topical.
Marc:Did you sing?
Guest:I know we're not I should have but no I didn't um and then yeah I don't know I think that's really it that's those were all the my impressions but I mostly just did like a million characters you know how many of them do you still do almost zero really yeah and I don't know that I've ever done any of them on the show in any capacity yeah huh yeah um is that your choice
Guest:I think there was one piece that I submitted that didn't go.
Guest:But it kind of just doesn't translate.
Guest:It was a piece where I said fuck kind of a lot.
Guest:And then to make it SNL-y, you have to be like, you're bad.
Guest:It just doesn't work in the same way.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Fuck.
Guest:Yeah, it is what it is.
Guest:Yeah, it was kind of like a Dolly Parton style character that was like her all ex-husband band.
Guest:And so, you know, it was like you kind of needed a little fire under there.
Marc:That's still a funny premise.
Guest:Yeah, oh no, totally.
Marc:That was very funny on the show on Shrill, the text, fuck?
Marc:Oh yeah.
Marc:Question mark.
Guest:I mean, it happens.
Marc:Does it?
Guest:I think so.
Marc:That straightforward?
Marc:I like that you use fuck.
Marc:And then later in the season, someone says smash is not my word.
Marc:Are we going to smash?
Marc:I don't think I knew what that meant until maybe a month ago.
Guest:Really?
Marc:I come from the generation of fuck.
Guest:Yeah, of course.
Marc:Not the generation of smash or hangout.
Guest:But I feel like even smash has a little bit of a wink to it in that you know that it's kind of dumb.
Marc:I do, yeah.
Marc:I guess so.
Marc:I think maybe it's dumb, but it's also like it trivializes it in a way.
Marc:Like it's just a thing that we do sometimes.
Guest:Yeah, we smash.
Marc:Yeah, exactly.
Marc:But okay, so then you go back for the second audition.
Guest:Mm hmm.
Guest:Yes.
Marc:And you didn't have to sit down with Lauren in that office.
Marc:No.
Marc:He doesn't seem to do that like he used to.
Guest:Well, so so I went for my second audition.
Guest:I did my thing.
Guest:And this time it was like boys and girls.
Guest:And it was some of the girls who I'd seen before.
Guest:Like Cecily was with me both times.
Guest:And so it was sort of this like narrowed down pool, you know.
Guest:And and so I did that audition.
Guest:I went back to Chicago.
Guest:And then two days later, they were like, can you fly back?
Guest:So I was going back and forth.
Guest:I went back and forth like four times.
Guest:And it was super scary, you know, because I was like, what's happening?
Guest:Is this really going to happen?
Guest:And then the fourth time that I flew back was when I like met with Lorne.
Marc:So you did meet with him?
Guest:Yeah, I did eventually.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But not through that whole like month long journey.
Marc:And you had met him, did you catch up about hanging out at Second City?
Guest:No, I met him, had a lovely little interaction with him backstage at Second City that I was like, okay, I'll live off that for the rest of my life or something.
Guest:And then I went to his office and he kept saying stuff that I was like, did I get it or did I not?
Guest:I couldn't tell.
Marc:Like what?
Guest:He was like, you're very young.
Guest:You have a lot to learn.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so, and I had heard of like people like auditioning and then a couple of years later coming back.
Guest:And so I was like, maybe he's kind of telling me like, go keep working and we'll see you in a couple of years.
Guest:And then he was like, you know, the wigs are a whole nother level, like it takes it up.
Guest:And I'm like, okay.
Marc:He's got, he always asks about the wigs.
Guest:I know it's, I think cause he's, you know, I don't know.
Guest:It's a, it is different.
Marc:Like to wear wigs.
Guest:Yeah, kind of.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But but then at the very end of the meeting, he stood up and was like, but I think you'll do very well here.
Guest:And I still didn't really like know what he meant.
Guest:And I thought he meant like someday you might do very well here or something.
Guest:thing and so he gave me a hug and I was like okay and then I walked out the door and two producers gave me hugs but then I just walked right out of the building into my hotel like no one was like okay you're gonna start on here's your room no nothing and so I just sort of like walked out of the building and I was like I don't
Guest:no like i don't know and then maybe 20 minutes later one of the producers called me and was like did you know you got it okay and i was like oh oh thank you and she was like yeah we could tell you didn't know and and i was like okay yeah i didn't i had no idea that's why i left the building yes i just assumed it was over so
Marc:Did you go back to the building?
Guest:No, I just sat in my hotel room with Timmy Robinson, who also was hired in that moment.
Guest:And we both sort of just it wasn't even like excitement.
Guest:We were just staring at each other like, what's going to happen now?
Guest:Like, what's this?
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:No crying, no yelling.
Marc:Just sort of like, no, we go.
Guest:And like, you know, we couldn't tell anyone like it was it was a secret.
Guest:So you're like.
Marc:Oh, you're not allowed to?
Guest:No, because they release it.
Guest:And so you're kind of like, you have this secret that you want to scream.
Marc:And what year was that?
Guest:2012.
Marc:So you've been there a while.
Guest:This is my seventh season, yeah.
Marc:And you're a powerhouse.
Guest:Oh my God.
Guest:Come on.
Marc:Thank you.
Guest:That's very nice.
Marc:You're on a lot.
Guest:I mean, yeah, I weaseled my way in there.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And how does it work?
Marc:I know how it works kind of, but do you work with certain writers?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know, I mean, when I first started, I would say like my first four seasons.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I wrote almost exclusively with Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, who were head writers there and they have a show now.
Guest:They left the show.
Guest:And so then when they left, I started writing with like a lot.
Guest:more other people.
Guest:And now I kind of like switch it up a lot.
Guest:Kate McKinnon, Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider and I, we wrote a lot together and like really kind of the stuff that I think like kept me my job on the show.
Guest:You know, like we wrote a lot of like all girl music videos and kind of like kind of did what the Lonely Island had done, but like for the ladies.
Guest:Oh, OK.
Marc:Yeah, that was smart.
Guest:I mean, it was, like, really fun, and I feel like it was, like, what helped us kind of, like, find our thing on the show.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And you're just, you're in, so you don't have any sort of, like... I'm not scared anymore.
Guest:Is that what you mean?
Marc:Well, I mean, like, how long do you think you'll stay?
Guest:Oh.
Marc:As long as they'll have you, or?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I don't know about that.
Guest:But I don't know.
Guest:I mean, I've done this other show that's a lot of work.
Guest:Shrill.
Guest:Shrill, yeah.
Marc:And Lauren produced it?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Lauren produced it.
Marc:So how does that work?
Marc:Because like he does that, but it's not it does not always like there are some people from SNL that do shows.
Marc:Usually he's got a piece of it, but sometimes he doesn't.
Marc:But then there's others that like he seems to really, you know, it's a Broadway video show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, it is.
Marc:So how does that work?
Marc:How did that all come together?
Marc:Is that a contractual thing or do you go talk to him?
Guest:No, it's not contractual.
Guest:I guess for me, I can only speak to what happened for me because I think it is different for every person.
Guest:But, you know, I would say basically what happened was the show is based on a book called Shrill, which is a memoir by this woman named Lindy West.
Guest:And I loved the book.
Guest:And so then when I heard that it had been optioned, I really was like, what are they going to make with that?
Guest:Because that is the thing that I've ever read that I was like, this is a lot like my experience, you know.
Guest:And so then, you know, Elizabeth Banks was the one who had optioned it and she was executive producing the show.
Guest:And when I met with them, I was sort of like, look, I want to do this, but I don't want to leave SNL.
Guest:I don't want to.
Guest:And is there a way that I can do both?
Guest:And I would love to have Lauren involved.
Guest:And so then I kind of went to Lauren and was like, look, here's this thing.
Guest:I really love this book.
Guest:This story is important to me and I want to do it.
Guest:And will you help me do it?
Guest:And he was so wonderful and really was like, this is a perfect thing for you.
Guest:And,
Guest:He was sort of like, you know, I think this is how audiences should get to know you better in a lot of ways.
Guest:And so he was so wonderful and supportive and like truly has helped so much.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, it was really nice.
Guest:And so basically I got to do both, like kind of at the same time.
Marc:So Elizabeth Banks is still involved?
Guest:Yeah, she's an executive producer.
Guest:Huh.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Is she in the mix?
Guest:Yeah, she's in the mix.
Guest:She's in the mix.
Marc:She watches.
Marc:She watches.
Guest:She's in the mix.
Marc:I like her.
Marc:I haven't seen her in a while.
Guest:Yeah, she's great.
Marc:Yeah, she is.
Guest:She's like a true trailblazer on that front as far as like, I think a long time ago, she was like, I'm not just going to be an actor, so I'm going to like make shit.
Guest:And she really did it.
Marc:Yeah, she's made some big shit.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, I watched all of them that they gave me.
Marc:There's six I watched.
Guest:Yeah, there's six episodes.
Guest:So you saw the whole dang thing.
Marc:I watched the whole thing.
Marc:But so how you are involved in the writing?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:How many?
Marc:What's the writing crew like?
Marc:How many are there?
Guest:Well, there were basically seven of us in the writer's room, I think.
Guest:Or no, yeah, that's about right, because we co-wrote the first couple scripts.
Marc:And then everyone gets a signed one, and then you kind of bring it back in and ship away?
Guest:Yeah, and then I usually kind of did the last pass, basically.
Marc:And this character Annie, right?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Now, how much of that is, you know, I don't know the book.
Guest:Yeah, that's okay.
Marc:How much of it is like you're, like especially, I mean, the most, the theme of being sort of a doormat-ish kind of person and struggling with self-acceptance and weight, is that a struggle that you feel the same struggle?
Guest:Yeah, I mean, I think I feel differently about it now than, like, maybe where the character is at in this show.
Guest:But certainly, like, when I read Lindy's book, I felt like she sort of, like, verbalized all these things that I had always thought, you know, which was, like, this seems like a fucking scam that's been sold to women in a lot of ways, like the diet culture.
Guest:And, like, I don't want to do it anymore.
Guest:Like, fuck it, you know?
Guest:And just feeling like...
Guest:I just always felt like I don't know how long I can have the only motivating thing in my life be the width of my thighs or the size of my stomach.
Guest:It just felt like such a hollow thing to chase.
Guest:Even from a really young age, I was like, I don't like this.
Guest:What's the point?
Marc:But you always had that issue?
Guest:Well, I just, oh yeah, I was always fat, but I, I, I don't know.
Guest:I just always felt like, yeah, I'm fat, but it doesn't make me a bad person.
Guest:Like, you know, I still have value.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:And, and actually my value isn't my body.
Guest:It's like my brain and my friendship and my, you know, comedy, my talent, my relationships, all these things.
Guest:And, and I don't know, I think I. So the book changed your life.
Guest:Absolutely.
Guest:Well, I definitely related to hitting a breaking point being like, I'm not going to participate in this system and I'm going to try and achieve things beyond like, you know, losing 10 pounds.
Guest:And the second I did that was like shortly after I got hired by Second City.
Guest:And then shortly after that, I was hired by SNL.
Guest:And like, I wonder...
Guest:If I had been obsessing so consciously all the time in the back of your head, like, don't eat this and do this.
Guest:And, you know, you know, like that kind of mindset where you're just tortured by, like, what's going in, what's going out?
Guest:And are you doing this or doing that?
Guest:And I look this and tugging my shirt and, you know, just like the constant.
Marc:Yeah, I have that and I'm not heavy.
Guest:Yes, but I think that's the thing is like, and that's how I felt about this book.
Guest:Am I though?
Guest:No, you're gorgeous.
Guest:You gorgeous body.
Guest:I've been thinking that through this whole interview.
Guest:Look at it.
Guest:I've been going like doing the Coke bottle hands and everything.
Guest:Thank you.
Guest:But you know what I mean.
Guest:It's just like it's a mindset that when you're in it, it's a trap.
Marc:You know, it's a trap because you're never going to win.
Guest:No.
Marc:And like it's never enough.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And even if you get to where you think you want to be, then it's always staying there.
Marc:And then it's just the whole game turns.
Guest:Yes.
Marc:And then your whole thing.
Marc:It's all about, you know, this weird control.
Marc:And it's the worst.
Guest:It's so dark, and I think, just like what you're saying, people of all shapes and sizes have this, like, internal record spinning with this kind of stuff in it.
Marc:You'll never be good enough.
Guest:Yeah, that's what it boils down to, you know?
Guest:And I think...
Guest:But particularly for girls, there's unbelievable amount of pressure.
Guest:And when you've been raised with like, you know, 18 years of like, that's part of being a woman.
Guest:You know, you're just like, there's there does come a point where you're like, am I going to do this?
Marc:Right.
Guest:Am I going to do this for the next 60 years?
Marc:To what end?
Guest:For what?
Guest:For who?
Marc:Yeah, and the show really shows the arc of that realization, which is great.
Marc:It's really touching, and it's well executed, and you can sort of feel it through all the relationships with the character.
Marc:There's that one moment, which I thought was beautiful, because I get choked up because I'm old, and I don't experience my feelings properly.
Marc:So I get choked up when I watch things.
Guest:No, are you kidding me?
Guest:I sob when I watch things.
Marc:And I love it, because I'm alone.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Like if I'm with someone else, my girlfriend or something, and some tears start squirting out, I'll just try not to make the noise.
Guest:I have that on planes when I watch movies where I'm like, ma'am, you have to keep it under control because I want to fully like, you know, like just go there.
Guest:And because I like love to watch and absorb.
Guest:And then I'm like, someone is eating lasagna next to you.
Guest:Like, stop.
Yeah.
Marc:But there's that one moment where, you know, the sort of confident big woman kind of just walks down the street and you sort of start following her.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It was so beautifully conceived and shot.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And, you know, it just it all made sense, you know, with nothing being said.
Marc:It was nice.
Guest:Well, I just think I think now it's a little bit of a different time because there's like the Internet and there's all different kinds of ways to live and you can see like images of all different kinds of people.
Guest:But for me, like in Arizona, where everyone's in a swimsuit year round, like I just felt like there was only one way to be.
Guest:And like, if I'm not that, then what?
Guest:What am I going to be?
Guest:And like, how can I find a purpose?
Guest:Or like, do I not deserve to go after my thing because I don't look like how you're supposed to look or all that stuff?
Guest:I mean, it's like it's kind of basic, but I think.
Marc:But it's torture.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it's incredibly like shameful and painful and embarrassing.
Guest:And there's so much pain.
Marc:pain there.
Marc:Well, it's great that you can draw from it now in a sort of controlled way.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But it's very real.
Marc:Do you know what I mean?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You're not at risk of sort of like crumbling, you know, like you have distance from it because you've made adjustments in your own life and mind.
Marc:But you can go there to let this character be that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I mean, I have to say, like, this was...
Guest:The show is definitely more like acting than I had ever like done prior to it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I can feel that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so I guess I, I feel very lucky that I wasn't playing like a 18th century battle war nurse.
Guest:Like this was something I was like, I know this experience.
Guest:I know how it feels to, to be that person or to have someone say something to you that cuts you to the bone or the, you know, like I know that feeling to take it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And to take it and smile and say, thank you.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You know, like.
Marc:Well, yeah, I thought that was like sort of like with these stories and with the script and in whatever you think you're capable of as a real actor is that when it's there and you've been there.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It comes right back.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:Oh, totally.
Guest:To where I was.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It like shook me a little bit.
Marc:I bet.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I thought that the, like, it's sort of interesting that I think what's great about this show compared to other shows like it, where, you know, a comedic person, you know, builds a show around themselves.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Is that, you know, these are complicated, emotional, psychological issues that, you know, you really kind of, like, the arc of the six episodes, you know, really...
Marc:transforms there there is a transformation with everybody yeah which is really the goal of a good story right a good piece of drama or or not necessarily comedy but this sort of rides a line but like how everybody you have the dude who is you know just fucking you turns into a person
Marc:Yes.
Marc:You know, the you know, your parents have their struggles.
Marc:And so everybody's got this nice arc.
Marc:It isn't one of these sort of like episode by episode.
Marc:This is the comedic persona.
Marc:This is how she behaves in every situation.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And, you know, that's where the funny comes from.
Guest:Right.
Marc:This isn't one of those shows.
Guest:No, I think we've made a real effort to like, I mean, and this this was conscious.
Guest:Like, I feel like so many times when you've seen a fat character in TV, they really are like a little one dimensional or or they're just sort of like their whole thing is like, I'm a fat person.
Guest:I'm a fat person at the store.
Guest:I'm a fat person at the beach.
Guest:I'm a fat person doing this.
Guest:And we tried to make this just a person who has a life who occasionally is reminded that she is fat.
Guest:I think that really works.
Guest:By exterior forces, which is more of how the experience is.
Marc:And what happens because of that is that once the character acknowledges that and you understand that that's what that person is going through, you already really see her as a person by having that self-awareness.
Marc:So when you show up at the dumb party in that glittery dress...
Marc:You know, no one's sitting there going like, oh, look at this fat lady.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You know, it's just sort of like, oh, that person.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:You're not playing it for like, I'm out of fish out of water here.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:There's like some dignity to her.
Marc:Exactly.
Guest:Which I think a lot of times fat characters don't have a lot of dignity.
Guest:They're played as like cartoon characters, you know?
Guest:And I think that's partially because that's comfortable as an audience member to watch a fat person like jump on a man as a joke rather than like have a meaningful like sexual experience with a man because why would a fat woman ever be desired by a man?
Guest:Like, you know, it's a little bit challenging.
Guest:There are challenging ideas that we tried to sort of just like let be normal.
Guest:If that makes sense.
Marc:I think you did, you know, because I can also in the world of comedy and improv there, you know, generally it's a, it's a fat dude and, you know, and that dude, you know, it's almost an archetype that they're expected to behave a certain way that, you know, and it was for years, you just saw it with, you know, Farley, Belushi, John Candy that, you know, they could all act, but, you know, their place in this sort of comedia della arte of improv was like the fat guy is going to be
Guest:Yeah, totally.
Guest:And I think even to see a fat woman, what you often saw was a fat man dressed as a woman.
Marc:Right, right.
Guest:It's like a full joke.
Guest:So I just... And I don't think we're completely breaking new ground.
Guest:In a lot of ways, it's a really traditional TV show.
Guest:She's got a job, a boyfriend, her family, her friends, whatever.
Guest:That's what it is.
Guest:But I do think it's looking at it through this POV that is a little...
Guest:Less often explored with dignity, you know, right that it's still like fun and it can be a light watch in a lot of ways and that it's funny and it's not just like this painful slog about like being a fat woman.
Marc:I think it's relatively new.
Marc:I mean, I think there have been fat women TV characters that had depth before, but but really addressing.
Marc:You know, body shame and body consciousness and the cultural pressure.
Marc:I mean, that seems relatively new to me.
Marc:Like, I don't think you're way past the source point.
Marc:You know, This Is Us does it.
Marc:Mike and Molly sort of does it.
Marc:Totally.
Marc:You know, but, you know, I think it's important.
Marc:Well, good.
Marc:Thank you.
Guest:Good God, thank you.
Marc:And also your foil in the shape of John Cameron Mitchell, who is so close to over the top and just awful.
Marc:The one thing that didn't happen this season was...
Marc:I didn't see him buckle enough.
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:So I imagine we'll see that later.
Guest:Ooh.
Guest:I can only hope.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Are you picked up?
Marc:Are you doing another one?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Oh, you don't know.
Guest:I think they will tell us shortly after it comes out.
Marc:I guess so.
Marc:Yeah, good.
Marc:I hope so.
Marc:How long did it take you to write those?
Marc:Because this waiting for a year thing is bothering me.
Guest:No.
Guest:I mean...
Guest:You know, I have to say, in a lot of ways, we were really lucky was because I was doing SNL at the same time and they knew that I wasn't going to leave.
Guest:There was they could only do it during my summer window.
Guest:So it had to be shot and done by September and written.
Guest:So basically, we got picked up at the end of May.
Guest:We wrote June and July.
Guest:We shot August, September, and now it's out in March.
Guest:I mean, it's that it was really, really wild.
Marc:But it'd be nice if people did a half a year turnaround instead of a year turnaround.
Guest:Oh my God, totally.
Marc:I don't know why, because they're like on Glow, you know, it's like a year.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And like, we've gotten used to waiting a year, but I think it's too long.
Marc:Are they going to drop it all at once?
Marc:Are they going to do it?
Guest:No, it's all at once.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:See, like, that's the thing.
Guest:No, it's like so much work that then is like, it's out there.
Marc:It's like cooking for a day for Thanksgiving.
Marc:And then it's like in an hour, it's just gone.
Guest:I know.
Marc:I don't know if it's... Well, either way, it's great.
Guest:Oh, thanks.
Marc:You did a great job.
Guest:Thanks.
Guest:That means so much coming from you.
Guest:You're so good.
Guest:That's so nice.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:But thank you.
Marc:And thank you for talking to me.
Guest:Oh, my... This is an honor.
Marc:Do you feel good?
Marc:Do you feel satisfied?
Guest:I just, and this is my people pleaser.
Guest:I hope you feel satisfied.
Marc:I do.
Guest:Really?
Marc:Okay.
Marc:I'm glad.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know, I don't know what's going to happen ever.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:I used to be more hung up on, on like, like there were times where the thing about me is like, even if it's not what I think it's going to be, uh, I'll keep people in here for like, for, for, for a long time, just so we have something to work with.
Marc:But this is great.
Guest:But you mean, like, get hung up on, like, the thing you get hung up on being, like, whether you, like, got to the heart of the person or more just, like, did you make an entertaining show or what do you mean?
Marc:Well, yeah, it's not the heart of the person.
Marc:It's just that it's engaged and, you know, we had a conversation.
Marc:And sometimes, you know, you don't know when that's going to really break open and happen.
Marc:But a lot of times there are people that just, you know, don't do that.
Guest:Yeah, yes.
Marc:And then it's sort of like, but even those, they turn out okay.
Marc:Because most of the time, if I'm talking to somebody, I may not have thought it, but a lot of times people have never heard that person talk.
Marc:So even if I'm not, you know what I mean?
Guest:Yes, of course.
Marc:So even if I'm not satisfied or I didn't think it was great, the next thing you know, people are like, that was amazing.
Marc:I've never heard that guy say anything.
Marc:So it works out.
Marc:But you were great.
Guest:Oh, thank you.
Guest:This is the kind of praise I need.
Marc:And I hope you get picked up and have fun at SNL.
Marc:Thank you.
Marc:All right.
Marc:That was me and A.D.
Marc:Bryant.
Marc:I love her.
Marc:Don't you love her?
Marc:How can you not love A.D.
Marc:Bryant?
Marc:The show is shrill.
Marc:It premieres tomorrow, March 15th on Hulu.
Marc:All the episodes will be available to stream.
Marc:And she's also, of course, on Saturday Night Live on NBC.
Marc:It's her seventh season on the show.
Marc:And please go to WTFPod.com slash tour if you could.
Marc:I'd like to get some people out to, well, the Aspen date, March 23rd at the Wheeler Opera House.
Marc:Apparently it's going to, I'm relying on skiers.
Marc:But the UK dates, April 4th at the Lowry.
Marc:The Lowry is in Salford.
Marc:Royal Festival Hall is in London on April 6th.
Marc:The Rep Theatre is in Birmingham.
Marc:April 8th, and Vicar Street in Dublin on April 11th.
Marc:Come out, you guys.
Marc:I know you're scared of Brexit, some of yous, but come out.
Marc:Come out to the show.
Marc:And I'll be in San Diego at the American Comedy Company, April 18th and 19th and 20th.
Marc:Goodnight's Comedy Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, May 16th, May 17th, and May 18th.
Marc:Comedy Club on State, May 23rd.
Marc:That's in Madison, Wisconsin, May 23rd, 24th, and 25th.
Marc:And the Vermont Comedy Club, June 6th, June 7th, and June 8th.
Marc:And Helium Comedy Club in St.
Marc:Louis, Missouri, June 13th, and June 14th, and June 15th.
Marc:A lot of dates tightening up that hour, folks.
Marc:Let me see.
Marc:I haven't picked up the guitar.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Yeah, I can.
Marc:Hold on.
Marc:Let me see what I can...
Guest:Boomer lives!