Episode 126 - A.D. Miles / Bobby Tisdale
Guest:Lock the gates!
Marc:Are we doing this?
Marc:Really?
Marc:Wait for it.
Marc:Are we doing this?
Marc:Wait for it.
Marc:Pow!
Marc:What the fuck?
Marc:And it's also, eh, what the fuck?
Marc:What's wrong with me?
Marc:It's time for WTF!
Guest:What the fuck?
Guest:With Marc Maron.
Marc:Okay, let's do this.
Marc:How are you, what the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck nicks?
Marc:What the fuckineers?
Marc:What the fuckanots?
Marc:Whatever the fuck you want to call yourself.
Marc:I'm glad you're here.
Marc:I am Mark Maron.
Marc:This is WTF.
Marc:On the show today, A.D.
Marc:Miles.
Marc:I caught up with A.D.
Marc:Miles, who is the head writer for the Jimmy Fallon Show.
Marc:He's also been around for a bit and...
Marc:You know, he did some things with the state.
Marc:He did some things, you know, on his own as a standup and sketch performer.
Marc:But now he's the head writer of The Jimmy Fallon Show.
Marc:And I caught up with him backstage at the Eugene Merman Comedy Fest in Brooklyn a while back.
Marc:We're going to we're going to talk to 80 Miles.
Marc:And then towards the end of that is a special appearance by Bobby Tisdale, a writer on The Jimmy Fallon Show, but also a good friend of 80 Miles.
Marc:So it was sort of a surprise encounter, a little improvisational work there on behalf of the two of them that didn't expect this to happen.
Marc:but first let's talk about thanksgiving because today is thanksgiving as you download this as you listen to this i am probably in a panic trying to organize a thanksgiving dinner for upwards of 20 people and as i do that i'm not only worrying about what i'm cooking but i'm probably trying
Marc:To make it as impressive as possible.
Marc:See, in my mind, the control freak nature of preparing food on some level, this is for me that I really take full control as much as I can of the kitchen on Thanksgiving dinner.
Marc:And this is to be giving and to and to to feed people and to to enjoy that process.
Marc:But it is also to make it all about me.
Marc:And that is not really the nature or the the essence of Thanksgiving.
Marc:Thanksgiving for me is Mark making it all about Mark and presenting all this food so they will say good things to Mark and make him feel like it's Mark's day.
Marc:But it isn't Mark's day.
Marc:It's Thanksgiving.
Marc:Now, historically, you know the story, give or take Indians, pilgrims.
Marc:meal, which eventually led to the killing of most of the Indians.
Marc:But that was a little farther down the pike.
Marc:But nonetheless, I mean, if you were to put it historically, it didn't turn out well for the Indians.
Marc:And we learned of the bounty and how to live off the land a bit there.
Marc:But we certainly exploited that and took advantage of the situation.
Marc:Let's talk about Thanksgiving in the way of gratitude, thankfulness.
Marc:These are emotions and behaviors that are somewhat alien to me.
Marc:But I find that if I try to engage in them, that I feel better.
Marc:But it's sort of frightening.
Marc:As you know from listening to this podcast for a while, I've been through my share of shit.
Marc:Certainly no different than anyone else's shit.
Marc:You know, sometimes...
Marc:I'm a lot better off than than a lot of other people.
Marc:And we've all had our problems.
Marc:But a lot of times for me, it's just impossible for me to take a minute and be thankful for anything because I'm too busy worrying about the future.
Marc:I'm too busy wondering where I'm going to get my next thing.
Marc:Is everything going to work out?
Marc:Am I ever going to make a living?
Marc:Am I going to fuck up my relationship?
Marc:Am I going to get cancer?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know, is this is this turkey going to be too dry?
Marc:It can be very simple.
Marc:But if your brain is wired like mine, all you're doing is thinking about what's next or how you're going to get fucked or what's going to happen or why isn't it better for you?
Marc:Where I think if we take this moment, this is an old trick and look around and try to figure out at least the few things.
Marc:At the very least, we can all find a few things that we're grateful for and that we're thankful for.
Marc:I'm trying to figure out mine right now because it is Thanksgiving.
Marc:And I know a lot of you are with your family, which is a problem for most of us.
Marc:Those of you who it's not a problem for and are just excited as hell to be around your family.
Marc:Well, you're gifted.
Marc:Just know that, you know, on one level, I'm fortunate.
Marc:Both my parents are alive.
Marc:I'm also fortunate that they don't live in the same house together.
Marc:I'm also fortunate that they live far enough away that I don't have to see them constantly.
Marc:I'm also fortunate that they're both somewhat selfish and are fairly preoccupied with their own lives and not, you know, pushing themselves into mine.
Marc:But there are some days where they drive me nuts.
Marc:But so now we're all spending the day with these families that we have.
Marc:If you're fortunate, maybe you're not.
Marc:But is there a way that we can be grateful for the fact that we have this family?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Is there anything?
Marc:That's on you to decide.
Marc:As annoying as my family gets, I'm really going to try to look at this day as something great in the sense that they're all here.
Marc:We're all crazy.
Marc:But this is what I have.
Marc:This is the hand I've been dealt.
Marc:These are the people that made me.
Marc:These are the people that surround me in my life on this level.
Marc:Is there something good about it?
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Because without them, I would not be me.
Marc:And a lot of times I don't want to be me, but I've learned how not to blame them.
Marc:Does that make any sense?
Marc:What else do I have to be grateful for?
Marc:Well, this podcast.
Marc:I guess that's really one I want to get to on some levels.
Marc:I want to thank all of you listeners for enjoying the show, for turning my life around.
Marc:I could not...
Marc:Be where I am now without you guys.
Marc:And literally a little over a year ago, I didn't know what the fuck I was going to do.
Marc:I was at the end of my rope.
Marc:I was poorly managed.
Marc:I couldn't get work as a comedian.
Marc:I just lost a job.
Marc:I'd gone through a divorce.
Marc:Literally, I was sitting around thinking, I know I'm going to have to kill myself.
Marc:I just don't know when I'm going to do it.
Marc:It might be sooner than later.
Marc:I'm not sure, but I don't see any other way out of this because there was so much pride involved in how I was feeling in that I felt like a complete failure and I was at the end of my rope and I didn't know what to do next.
Marc:Granted, some of that may have been self-pity, but out of pure will and desperation, Brendan and I created this podcast and we're...
Marc:I'm thrilled that you like it, and I'm thrilled that I like it, and I'm thrilled that it's getting out there because I guess what I'm saying is I'm grateful to all of you on this day of Thanksgiving because I don't know what the fuck would have happened if this didn't happen.
Marc:Also, I'm happy and grateful to be alive.
Marc:And I rarely take, you know, a few minutes to really realize that because I'm too much.
Marc:I'm just festering with everything.
Marc:I, you know, I'm constantly on the computer.
Marc:I'm constantly running around.
Marc:I'm constantly shoving shit in my mouth because I'm compulsive.
Marc:I'm constantly, you know, making tension and difficulties with the woman I'm seeing.
Marc:I'm constantly, you know, you know,
Marc:in and out of resentment towards people because of what I think should happen.
Marc:And I've decided, and I don't know if it really holds, but I've decided that the absolute opposite of gratitude is malignant entitlement.
Marc:Where's mine?
Marc:How come?
Marc:When is it going to happen?
Marc:This sucks.
Marc:I deserve more.
Marc:Poor me.
Marc:Blah, blah, blah.
Marc:And believe me, I feel those things.
Marc:All I know is that, and you guys have been there for this, and you have helped me through this, is that over the last year or so, since I've been doing this show, I've seen tangible changes in my life and in my disposition about things.
Marc:And I believe that they're better.
Marc:Don't worry, I'm not happy, but I do have some sense of contentment and appreciation, occasionally.
Marc:And the definition of grateful is...
Marc:One, there's the first definition.
Marc:A, appreciative of benefits received.
Marc:B, expressing gratitude.
Marc:That's what I'm doing right now.
Marc:Thank you.
Marc:And two, affording pleasure or contentment.
Marc:That's the first definition under two.
Marc:And B, pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated.
Marc:Those, I think, are open to interpretation because certainly I can feel pleased by reason of comfort supply or discomfort alleviated by completely inappropriate things and compulsive behavior.
Marc:So I think that's a little broad.
Marc:But certainly the first definition is I do appreciate you all listening and supporting the show.
Marc:And I am grateful for that.
Marc:Now, just know, as you're listening to this, I'm probably arguing with my mother.
Marc:about what she thinks I should cook or shouldn't cook briefly.
Marc:I'm probably screaming about the poor quality of the knives in her kitchen.
Marc:And I'm probably fairly irritated with her boyfriend, John, who is bouncing around the room right now, complaining and talking a lot about God knows what.
Marc:And all of this, mind you, will be to a bebop or jazz soundtrack, which John plays constantly.
Marc:And there's nothing more exciting, I think, really, than just an improvisational bebop soundtrack to, you know, petty arguments about food and, you know, whether or not we should set up lights.
Marc:Is it too buggy outside?
Marc:You know, what are we going to put the stuffing in?
Marc:All of that.
Marc:Why the hell are these knives like this?
Marc:So, Brendan, if you could, can we get a nice sort of bebop, backdrop, riff, no vocals, and let's lay down some of that improvisational arguing that I'm going to do right now.
Marc:Mom!
Marc:Mom!
Marc:You didn't get the fucking knives sharpened at all?
Marc:Have you even used these knives since last year?
Marc:Mom, where's that thing that I put the stuffing in?
Marc:Mom, where's the fucking meat thermometer I bought last year?
Marc:Did you throw it away?
Marc:Mom, mom, don't throw away the butter.
Marc:I know you're afraid of it, but don't throw away the butter.
Marc:It's for everybody else.
Marc:It's not all about you.
Marc:It's about me this year.
Marc:No, it's about thankfulness.
Marc:What the, John, just look, don't worry about it.
Marc:Don't worry about it.
Marc:Don't worry, I'm on top of it.
Marc:Jessica, Jessica, are you cutting those onions?
Marc:Are they done yet?
Marc:Are they done yet?
Marc:Because I want to mix it.
Marc:God damn it.
Marc:God damn it.
Marc:All right, you think the turkey's done?
Marc:Do you think the turkey's done?
Marc:The thing popped up.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Can we trust the thing?
Marc:I don't want to cut into this and see blood.
Marc:That'll fuck everything up.
Marc:Let's just leave it in for a few more minutes.
Marc:Oh, fuck.
Marc:Then what if it's going to be... What if it's dry?
Marc:Then everything's fucking ruined.
Marc:Oh, those sweet potatoes are good.
Marc:Oh, these are fucking excellent.
Marc:It's like eating a dessert with the main... Oh, this is excellent.
Marc:Oh, this turkey came out perfectly.
Marc:Oh, look at that.
Marc:Everything's almost gone.
Marc:Oh, I'm full.
Marc:It's just sweet for a day.
Marc:Happy Thanksgiving.
Marc:This is the big payoff for me, A.D.
Marc:Miles, head writer of The Jimmy Fallon Show, who I knew as a child.
Guest:Yep.
Marc:Doing stand-up puppetry.
Oh.
Guest:Yeah, I did a little puppetry in the beginning because I wanted to make money.
Guest:And then I was like, well.
Marc:I can't even remember when I first started seeing you, but you had round glasses.
Marc:Your hair was curlier.
Marc:I had curlier hair.
Marc:I had rounder glasses.
Marc:You were 12.
Marc:Yep.
Marc:And you were hanging around the alternative comedy places.
Marc:trying to get laid yeah with bobby tisdale zach alpha noodles yeah who was the who was the other parts of your crew there was a crew he is oh my god way back there was uh there was uh uh portnoy michael portnoy i used to get in some good arguments with him i remember yeah oh yeah on stage those are my favorite things really yeah maron's great when he ruins everything yeah when he goes up there and tells him
Guest:Stop putting your dick in a fucking pill bottle.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Did I do that?
Marc:I said that.
Marc:I remember that night.
Marc:Do you remember that night?
Guest:I do remember that night.
Marc:That was fucking nuts.
Guest:It was like the zenith of like you guys' back and forth.
Guest:And it was those perfect things where the audience can't quite tell where the bit is and where the real hostility begins.
Guest:And it's like awesome.
Marc:I'll let the cat out of the bag.
Marc:It was always real hostility in the moment.
Guest:I kind of figured that it really was real hostility.
Marc:Entertaining.
Guest:I didn't give a shit.
Marc:Did you live with Zach or no?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That was at Luna Lounge, which was on Ludlow at the time.
Guest:You lived upstairs or something.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We lived two doors down and up on 161 Ludlow, I think it was.
Guest:We lived on the top floor.
Guest:Zach, who was a magnet for all humanity, would have rooftop
Guest:parties right afterwards and uh it's funny because i remember like i mean at the time like we thought bobby and i were doing two-man stand-up together and like we thought luna lounge was like oh my god if we can kill there well then we're rich yeah yeah we were really excited about it and i remember the very first time we performed there we did one of our old bits and we were in our apartment and practicing it yeah and getting really ready and looking at each other and just going like don't fuck this up man it's big if we fuck up luna lounge we're done yeah
Guest:And we went down, and I definitely wouldn't say that we killed, but we didn't fuck up too badly.
Guest:And we didn't get rich.
Guest:It was a little disappointing.
Marc:Well, now you're doing all right, but that was 20 years ago.
Guest:Yeah, it only takes 20 years.
Guest:That's what I'd like to tell everyone listening, that you just keep doing it for 20 years, making nothing, and then one day you'll make a sort of decent living.
Marc:I'm trying to think, what the fuck, what year was that really?
Marc:95, it was like 15 years ago.
Marc:Are you wearing the same Red Wings I am?
Guest:uh i might be actually yeah i got these old zappos where are they red wings they are red wings they're the exact same shoes we're in the exact same shoes but it looks like you've had years longer so now i'm seeing the future of my shoe yeah on your feet all the scuffs give it character it did it so it breaks in did yours look exactly like mine yeah it's one of those aggravating boots that looks sort of annoyingly broken the day you buy them which kind of makes me feel like they're really not
Guest:They're not.
Guest:No, they're very nice and like whatever, but I tried to buy them and I went to a bunch of different stores because I saw them in a GQ magazine.
Guest:How long have you had those?
Guest:I've had them for about a year.
Marc:I bought several Red Wings.
Marc:I've talked about it on the podcast.
Marc:I bought a bunch because I decided that I would be loyal to them.
Marc:It's a solid boot.
Marc:A solid boot, solid company, year guarantee.
Marc:Made USA, I think.
Marc:Yeah, I went to the factory.
Marc:Oh, wow.
Marc:And that's where the dream ended for me.
Marc:I did not get the attention I wanted.
Guest:You walked in thinking I'm getting an endorsement deal?
Marc:I'm in the club.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Look what I'm doing here, guys.
Marc:I kind of did get an endorsement deal.
Marc:A fan of the show set me up with Boots.
Marc:How many pairs of boots did you get?
Marc:I got three.
Marc:You got three pairs of boots for $0.
Marc:Well, no, no, no, no.
Marc:Only one pair.
Marc:Give me a discount.
Marc:10% off.
Marc:I can't remember how many.
Marc:I think he sent me one pair for free, and then I had made a mistake with a pair.
Marc:This is old.
Marc:That's fucking great, though, man.
Marc:My listeners know all about this.
Guest:I would love a pair of free boots.
Guest:Yeah, it's the best.
Guest:You can exchange comedy for a free pair of boots.
Guest:I've never gotten anything like that.
Marc:Well, that's the world of entertainment that I'm living in, the world of barter.
Marc:Yeah, barter.
Marc:It's barter.
Marc:People, they get the podcast for free, and they say, let's bring Mark a cake.
Marc:Last night, I did a live podcast.
Marc:I got a pie, a zucchini bread, a bag of chocolates.
Marc:So on some level, my fans are trying to kill me, but in a very nice way.
Guest:Trying to give you a heart attack.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So where did it start?
Marc:Now, you hung out with David Wayne.
Marc:You hung out with Zach.
Guest:Yeah, that's kind of where it started for me.
Guest:I was a prop master on the state.
Guest:were you really yeah i was on the crew and uh are you serious absolutely yeah and i that's kind of where i got to know those guys a little bit and then always you know of course wanted to be a writer and a performer and so i and i was never one of those crew members that was like hey man i got a great idea for a sketch because i didn't know when that was yeah but i got to be good friends with joe latruglia on david wayne and sort of started hanging out with him a little bit after the show and then um and i wanted to perform and i'd been doing luna lounge and stuff so when i started doing uh what was this the fez show um
Marc:Stella Stella yeah that's when I started actually performing with those guys and kind of like I feel like that's where I kind of first really started I guess and was it was it in the short films and stuff yeah doing all those short Stella shorts yeah yeah so you started sort of an actor because you never did like regular stand-up per se no I was never and I would never cast myself as a regular like really good tonight we're backstage at the you
Marc:Eugene Merman Comedy Festival.
Marc:80 Miles just got on stage and told jokes very close to my heart.
Marc:Second wife jokes.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Guest:There's nothing better.
Guest:It's like such a cliche, but misery is the best form.
Marc:But are you fine... Is that joke you said true, though?
Guest:Which one?
Marc:That... Because I'm sort of dealing with that shit right now where...
Guest:uh you think that the problems aren't necessarily yours or that 100 absolutely true like i cannot like i was married to a woman who i'm still really good friends with any miles and um and we split you know and i and i remember thinking like oh my god if i'm married with somebody again i'm not gonna make those mistakes again and
Guest:you know i'm not going to end up with someone who doesn't get me yeah and then you find yourself having the exact same arguments and the same complaints and the other person's still looking at you like you're a fucking idiot and you're like oh that's really me i'm the obsessive compulsive weirdo has to have everything a certain way i don't get me yeah it's so frustrating because then you're like then you feel panicky because you're thinking like i'm doomed there's no one that can i'm gonna fuck this one up too yeah so probably are you gonna fuck this one up
Guest:I probably will.
Guest:I hope that I won't, but I probably will.
Marc:Are you doing anything about it?
Marc:Or are you just kind of riding it out?
Marc:I mean, are you seeing a marriage counselor?
Guest:Are you?
Guest:No, but I would.
Guest:Do it now, dude.
Guest:Do it now in the beginning.
Guest:Prophylactic marriage counseling.
Guest:Absolutely.
Guest:Yeah, I've not gone, but I think it's probably a good idea.
Guest:I'm telling you, man.
Guest:Because I know that there's lots of issues that get buried, and that's what happens.
Guest:It's like...
Guest:All the little things you start talking about early on and you don't address them.
Guest:And then sooner or later, you're screaming at each other about a fucking stain on a pillowcase.
Marc:That's right.
Marc:And it's a pattern.
Guest:That sounds weird.
Guest:I shouldn't have said stain on a pillowcase.
Guest:It is a little weird, but I don't know how you live.
Guest:I don't know what you're up to.
Marc:Sounds kind of exciting.
Guest:Fucking blood on a pillowcase and then you're fucking screaming at each other about it.
Marc:And then you're getting divorced again.
Marc:I mean, what the fuck?
Marc:Another stunt that went wrong.
Marc:Why can't she do it right?
Marc:When I say bite the capsule, wait till you're off the bed.
Yeah.
Guest:Thank God, you've been staring at us.
Marc:Yeah, I know that trick.
Marc:Yeah, it's like, I'm not really hitting you.
Marc:Stop crying.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:It's all been an act.
Guest:The second marriage is very illuminating as to how much of what you perceived were their problems or your relationship's problems are really yours.
Guest:It's very terrifying.
Marc:Because by the time you need, if you wait to get some sort of help until you need it, nine times out of ten, I think it's too late.
Guest:yeah you know what i mean i remember amy and i went to uh marriage counseling at the very end and uh it was just like a band-aid on a gushing wound yeah yeah there's nothing you can do because the resentment's built up yep you're like you're yeah you're pouting yeah yeah oh god good friends now though it all worked out
Guest:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's amazing.
Marc:Because I couldn't imagine ever being friends with my ex-wife.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's different for everyone.
Guest:You haven't seen her, have you?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:She's backstage.
Guest:Oh, no.
Guest:No.
Guest:The last person I made out with before I got married to my second wife.
Marc:Well, God bless you.
Marc:Because that means you're fucking up her new marriage.
Marc:And power to you.
Guest:so uh now what so that alignment with being a prop guy on the state you know led to uh you you had a part in uh was it hot wet hot american summer ground zero for me and a bunch of other folks yeah that's unbelievable when what year was that that was uh 2000 we made the movie in the spring of 99 and it came out in 2000
Marc:So you're like a secret member of that crew.
Marc:A little bit.
Guest:And you were in role models as well?
Guest:I was in role models.
Guest:That was the last movie I did before I got my current job.
Marc:A lot of people might confuse you with that guy, Chris Daly.
Marc:Is that his name?
Marc:Andy Daly.
Marc:Andy Daly.
Guest:Does that happen?
Guest:It happens every once in a while.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We look similar.
Marc:People come up to you and go, God, you're great on that, what is it?
Marc:Eastbound and Down.
Marc:Eastbound and Down.
Guest:I've never actually gotten that.
Guest:I would love it.
Guest:I would take the compliment.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I would just absorb it.
Marc:You knew him too though, right?
Marc:Oh yeah, of course.
Marc:I know him.
Marc:He's a great dude.
Marc:But you guys were all, he was part of that crew too, kind of, wasn't he?
Guest:Uh, yeah.
Guest:He was like a, more from the UCB side of things, you know, but it's like, yeah, but it's like a, you know, different cult.
Marc:The Luna.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's sort of, we're a performance artist in standup comics.
Marc:We're not improv pussies.
Marc:I didn't buy into that.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, no fucking way.
Guest:Yeah, he's part of the UCB scene, but great dude.
Guest:We look a lot alike.
Guest:Me and Chris Gethard also, very similar.
Marc:Which one's him?
Guest:He's on that show now called Big Lake on Comedy Central.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:So now you're like the head writer.
Marc:This is one of those things where I don't really resent you.
Marc:Which is good.
Guest:Sounds definitely like you resent me.
Marc:No, I don't.
Guest:Whenever you have to say, first off, that I don't resent you.
Guest:Sometimes I just apologize to people.
Guest:No, I don't resent you.
Guest:First, I want to apologize about it.
Marc:But there's some part of me where I still keep people in my mind as to where we were.
Marc:In my mind, somehow or another, you're still that guy 15 years ago.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I don't know why that happens.
Guest:And the opposite is true.
Guest:All the people that I remember like at the beginning thinking like, Oh my God, those guys are fucking legends.
Guest:And I still think of them that way.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's crazy that like that, all those relationships stick with you their whole time.
Marc:So yeah, it's weird.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And then, and then you realize like, wow, he's still a legend, but legends don't always fare so well necessarily.
Marc:You can't pay your rent with legend, legend a lot of times.
Marc:You don't got to tell me I'm backstage at a festival interviewing you.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I'm getting 50 bucks.
Marc:Not even.
Marc:I'll pay you 50.
Marc:All right, great.
Marc:Now or later?
Marc:Well, I don't, sure.
Marc:I mean, do you want to do it now?
Marc:Like a prostitute?
Marc:I mean, I would rather have it now just to make sure I get it.
Guest:Okay, we'll do it later.
Marc:But so, like writing for this, the one thing I know about myself, and I've talked about this with other people, and the reason why I can't resent people is that I'm not sure I can do what you do.
Marc:You know, I, you know, most of my energy goes into being me.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Like, you know, like how do I manage this machine, you know, and keep it surviving?
Marc:Uh, but to organizing, I don't even know what the task of a head writer is.
Marc:How did you get the job to begin with?
Guest:You know, I think it was a, a, an alignment of the stars, a
Guest:really you know because i had uh i'd always sort of like i'd been a writer and a performer and i directed a bunch of stuff um up to this point and that i got the job and so i sort of have always been a guy who wore a lot of hats and i love production and i love all aspects of it the acting side the writing side and all of it and um in a weird way that's kind of like the perfect description of of a head writer at least in the context that i've gotten the job where they really wanted somebody that kind of knew about all these different things
Guest:And they also, when I say the stars aligned, is that these guys didn't want anyone that had any experience, I think, because this job is so grueling that I think it tends to jade people a little bit.
Guest:And so they didn't want somebody coming in and going like, oh, yeah, I'll run your show.
Guest:I've done this thing a million times.
Guest:Yeah, they wanted somebody that they could wear down and create one of those guys.
Marc:A little bit.
Marc:They wanted fresh meat.
Marc:They wanted fresh meat.
Marc:They wanted to make one of those guys.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:So I'm in the process of becoming a jaded asshole.
Guest:I've probably got about another decade or so.
Guest:But like...
Guest:Yeah, so that was, and it was just a perfect time where I was, you know, I just turned, like, I was 39.
Guest:I was, like, ready to do something more substantial.
Guest:And they were looking for that kind of person.
Guest:And also just the luck of the draw as far as, like, vibe.
Guest:And, you know, you just go in and meet them.
Marc:But you didn't know Jimmy before?
Guest:I'd met him a couple of times.
Guest:But really, that's it?
Guest:Yeah, that was it.
Guest:You know, we weren't friends that are, like, I didn't know him that well.
Marc:Were you at the end of your rope when you were getting the job?
Marc:Were you actually, have you ever been in that place where it's, like, how the fuck am I going to sustain this?
Guest:A little bit.
Guest:I have to say there was a point where I was out in L.A.
Guest:and role models had just come out.
Guest:And there's a weird thing that like, you know, you're in a movie, right?
Guest:And you've got a pretty good part in a giant movie or giant, but from my standards, you know, like it's a pretty good movie.
Marc:It's funny.
Marc:It's pretty good.
Guest:And it was like the hit of that summer.
Guest:One of the hits of that summer.
Guest:And that was a David Wayne movie.
Guest:Yeah, David Wayne directed that, and it was all the same guys.
Guest:Ken Marino and David Wayne wrote it.
Guest:And there was a feeling of like, oh, wow, I've arrived.
Guest:This is the thing.
Guest:I've gotten to this point.
Guest:And the only thing that changes is that you get auditions where you sort of recognize everyone in the room, but you're still doing the same grind.
Guest:You're still in L.A., driving across town to get a three-line part in a movie that's going to pay you like 10 grand.
Marc:Just because you know everybody.
Guest:doesn't mean doesn't mean shit that they're gonna be like oh you're here frustrating here's your movie yeah exactly i was like i thought oh now i just i wait to sort of just field the offers yeah you know like well send me some scripts i'll see if i'm interested because you can buy into the whole thing your agent sends you a thing and pending your interest it's like then they always put at the end of the fucking line it's like i got my interest yeah my interest is i've got fucking bills to pay yeah and i got no job so i'm interested what's the fucking job i don't care what it is i gotta suck somebody's dick
Guest:on screen not not to get the job but on screen's fine either yeah so but anyway it's like you know so it's like uh it's it was a very it's an eye-opening experience because what i realized that was that i had i had graduated to a different level of of hell basically it was like the same grind that you were doing before only you were at a slightly different level which didn't really make any difference other than the people in the room are a little bit more recognizable
Marc:Right.
Marc:And they treat you like a friend because you are kind of friends.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, great.
Guest:And there's like but you realize that there's 10 other of you who have all done the same amount of shit.
Marc:You're right.
Guest:And they're all just as funny, you know, and it's like you're still buying a lottery ticket with your life.
Guest:And it's a little disheartening.
Guest:And I was like, I remember always thinking like.
Guest:if I ever just wanted to give up, I guess I would just get a day job.
Guest:Did you picture anything?
Marc:What was your plan B?
Guest:My plan B, which is so stupid, which is a movie in itself, is that I always imagined that I'd be a professor.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:Yeah, me too.
Guest:That's some default.
Guest:That's a thing that you get to do when you fail at everything else is that universities would be like, oh, please, come put on a corduroy jacket with elbow patches and teach kids.
Guest:Did you have a specific discipline or just a general professor?
Guest:Yeah, I was going to be probably like a screenwriting professor or like a creative type who would tell kids how to make TV or whatever.
Marc:The funny thing about that is it's like you basically created a character, a professor for yourself.
Marc:You didn't see the curriculum or anything.
Marc:No, no, no.
Marc:I'm standing in front of a group of kids.
Guest:And they're admiring me and thinking like, this guy's doing so much.
Guest:And I'm like, I'm a professor and I'm like an old MG.
Marc:The cool professor.
Guest:A very cool professor.
Guest:Yeah, smoke pot every once in a while with the kids.
Guest:Don't tell anybody, but I'll get in trouble.
Guest:But yeah, so that would be the kind of thing that I always thought that I would fall back on.
Marc:And the other weird thing about being in that situation where you come up with a bunch of guys.
Marc:I came up with a bunch of guys, but I was always sort of like a lone guy.
Marc:By the way, Reggie Watts is on stage, so that background music is the fabulous Reggie Watts.
Marc:Destroying.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know, he is just someone who's very dicey, doesn't always do well.
Marc:Yeah, but he's protected by a wall of sound and noises and hair.
Guest:There's a lot of hair.
Guest:He's very unpredictable, one set from the next.
Guest:You never know if people are going to like it or not.
Guest:He destroys every time he's on stage.
Guest:It's very frustrating.
Marc:But the thing, well, he's a one-man band.
Marc:He's amazing.
Guest:He's a magician and a comedian.
Marc:Thank God for technology, because if it was, say, like 90 years ago, he'd be hitting a bass drum with one.
Marc:Sure, right.
Marc:He'd be exhausted.
Marc:And he'd be playing guitar and squeaking a horn.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:Yeah, it's much easier for those type of acts now.
Marc:Good point.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But no, the sadder thing about that, about coming up with a crew, is that then when you go on the audition and you don't get it, then two days later, you're hanging out with those guys.
Marc:And you're with the guy that got, so there's always weird.
Guest:The perfect example is, I remember, it was either, it was before Role Models, I think, but I just moved to L.A.,
Guest:And I went in and I, and I auditioned for, uh, super bad.
Guest:And it was the part that Joe Latruglio ultimately ended up getting.
Guest:And we're really good friends.
Guest:And, uh, and I did the audition and the director was in the room and I remember walking out and they were laughing and I'm, and I just come on, maybe it was, I can't remember exactly when it was, but I just come off of something where I kind of felt like, you know, what do we got here?
Guest:What's this audition all about?
Guest:Come on, let's do this.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I did the audition and they laughed and I walked out just going like, Oh,
Guest:another one in the bag yeah yeah clear my schedule you know let's go ahead and start making plans i probably won't be around for this where's my trailer and joe was walking in and i just kind of remember looking at him and just talking to him a little bit sort of condescending sort of going like you know it's like hey good luck man yeah yeah i'm sure you'll do all right
Guest:It's kind of already done, but yeah, give me your best shot.
Guest:I killed in there, man.
Guest:And then I didn't hear anything for like a week, and I was like, ah, they're casting a lot of stuff.
Guest:Sure, sure, a lot of stuff.
Guest:And then Joe and I talked a lot, and I remember going like, yeah, I'm still waiting to hear about the Superbad thing.
Guest:He goes, Superbad?
Guest:He's like, what part?
Guest:And I was like, ah, the part about the weird, the guy in the back of the car, and he goes,
Guest:oh i got i got that oh and i was like oh congratulations for you that awful sound that comes into your voice when you're trying to congratulate someone that you really like yeah your heart just entered your throat
Guest:And now you realize you have to chew on it.
Guest:The one thing I hate the most about the acting world is the weird thing that happens where you have all these friends that are basically you're competing against and you do want them to succeed, but you always want to succeed a little bit more than they are.
Marc:Right, sure.
Guest:It's much easier when you're a little bit ahead.
Marc:Well, it's so crazy because everyone's looking for the same validation.
Marc:It's a fucking long shot.
Marc:And we're all such fucking like, you know, me, me, me.
Marc:And then when you're confronted with that, are you guys friends still?
Marc:absolutely we're best of friends and he got it and he destroyed it and it was a great great thing for him and you know congratulations Joe Jesus Christ can we move on to something else sure man we're going to move right on to the Fallon show so you go in you meet with Jimmy and I'll be honest with you and I'm not bullshitting you is that I like the show great and I'll watch it
Marc:I don't watch much, but if I'm sitting there watching it because... It's a daily show.
Marc:Well, no, because I had done Conan so much, and I've watched Letterman since I was a kid.
Marc:I don't watch The Tonight Show.
Marc:I don't really watch Ferguson that much.
Marc:I grew up with Letterman, and I love Letterman.
Marc:I used to do Conan a lot.
Marc:But it's a very hard thing to reinvent something like that.
Guest:Absolutely.
Marc:It's the weirdest thing in the world.
Marc:And coming off of Conan sensibility, he's very high-minded and a strange...
Marc:uh absurd uh writer but jimmy's like this completely different person and and the reason that i like writing i i like watching it is that he genuinely seems like he's having fun and and and not many people do even with ferguson he's sort of obsequious and you know his charm is very menacing and he you know he's he's all about like these mugs and everything he pretends like he's having a good time and he may well be but he still looks like he's working very hard yeah
Marc:Whereas Jimmy's just sort of like, you know, let's have a party.
Marc:And I don't mind that at all, and I like it.
Marc:I like the way the set looks, and I like the fact that you do long fucking film bits, dude.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:But they work.
Guest:I shouldn't say more than we get you.
Guest:We're chewing it, but we...
Guest:We raised the bar really high out of the out of the gate with his audience.
Marc:Yeah, but his audience seems to be like they seem so excited about him.
Marc:And that it seems like the way that you think in that whole, you know, the school of thought of doing, you know, these longer version sketches and things and him being able to really play all these different characters and do impressions.
Marc:I mean, it seems like you've really created a different space there.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And how much what kind of group think went into that?
Guest:That was, I mean, I don't want to say that we ever sat down and sort of devised some great plan.
Guest:We just started sort of doing what we all wanted to do.
Guest:And, you know, I love making, you know, parodies of genres and things like that.
Guest:It's very close to my heart.
Guest:And we have a lot of good writers who are very into that sort of thing as well.
Guest:Amy Olzels and Mike Dicenzio, who did the late thing.
Guest:But, yeah, they're...
Guest:We just kind of started... I know we also have this very... The real ace in the hole for us is a guy named Michael Blyden, who's our sort of writer-director, our house director, who is a true magician.
Guest:I mean, he just takes, you know, basically the most minimal production values and makes them look like millions of dollars and sort of lets us get away with doing these sort of long-form pieces that look...
Guest:like the actual television show, even though we're shooting them after we finish our real job.
Guest:We go have a little dinner, and from 7 to midnight, we're filming another television show that looks like another television show, even though it's really just one of our writers with a video camera.
Guest:A lot of talented lighting and crew guys as well, but skeletal operation that allows us to do this sort of thing.
Guest:It's like...
Marc:And he's just a real technical wizard?
Guest:He's a technical wizard with also an artist's brain, which is an unbelievable, like, you just don't see that very often.
Guest:And he's allowed us sort of this opportunity to do these sorts of things.
Guest:And that is probably the one thing that we've done that I don't think other late-night shows have done before, and it's sort of allowed us to...
Marc:sometimes you do episodic stuff right yeah we do cereals and it's very hard to carve out territory and the late night world has been on for 50 years like what do you do that hasn't been done a million times but if anything that's the one slot where you have a little more freedom because the expectations are different that you know good ratings at 12 30 you know average out over the years i mean there's only so much you're going to get at that of that market because there's only it's a very little market yeah a lot of people sleeping in front of their television that's right
Marc:But now, I don't think I've talked to anybody specifically about what the task of a head writer is.
Marc:And that, I don't know if people realize that you have doctor's hours.
Marc:I mean, you don't fucking, you don't sleep.
Guest:You don't sleep.
Marc:You're living at NBC.
Guest:You live at NBC.
Guest:There's always something to do.
Guest:If it's not something to do, it's actually the show.
Guest:It's an appearance that Jimmy has.
Guest:Or, you know, you're...
Marc:Well, you've got to write for him if he's going out on the road or an event or anything.
Marc:You write for Jimmy Fallon.
Guest:Yeah, you write for Jimmy Fallon.
Guest:It's like if he's going off to do something, you want him to be great.
Marc:He's dedicating a building.
Marc:People will watch that and they'll say, let's watch the show as well.
Marc:And also the web presence is huge, which is new.
Guest:Yeah, it's kind of a new thing.
Guest:You have to actually think about it.
Guest:Do you have a separate guy?
Guest:We have an Emmy-winning, I will say, an Emmy-winning internet site that's an internet site.
Marc:Really?
Marc:They give Emmys for internet?
Marc:I sound like I'm 90 years old.
Guest:They do, yeah.
Guest:And we've won it two years in a row.
Guest:And we have a very talented blogging department.
Guest:Do you have to oversee that as well as head writer?
Guest:No, no.
Guest:That's not my department.
Marc:That's a whole different world.
Marc:Whole different world.
Guest:Thank fucking God, right?
Guest:But they take clips from the show and they show up.
Guest:They also come up with their own material.
Marc:So what's a day look like?
Marc:I mean, how does it work?
Guest:We go in at about 9.30 in the morning.
Guest:We have a meeting in the morning, which is sort of like all the writers get together.
Guest:Monologue and sketch?
Guest:Mostly just the sketch writers.
Guest:Monologue, they're pretty much just trained on whatever the headlines are.
Marc:So monologue, they sit in their little cubicles and they have newspapers stacked up.
Marc:Pretty much.
Marc:And they're just hammering out jokes.
Guest:They're hammering out jokes.
Guest:And that is one of the most strange and most admirable qualities.
Guest:I mean, a monologue writer writes about, at minimum, writes 60 jokes a day.
Guest:Now, I don't know if I've written 60 jokes ever.
Guest:I mean, it is remarkable.
Marc:And most of them are comics, right?
Marc:Yep, comics.
Guest:Who is it, Morgan Murphy?
Guest:Morgan Murphy.
Guest:We have Eric Legend.
Guest:We have John Reinman, David Angelo.
Guest:Janine DiTulio right now is an old Conan writer.
Marc:Yeah, I started stand-up with her.
Guest:yeah and um and and jeremy bronson is our head monologue writer and uh and they're just newshounds and they're like uh just joke machine joke machines which is it sounds in a weird way it sounds diminutive to say like you're a joke machine but like it is it is a skill that i i hold in high regard but as but as a head writer you know that shit's taken care of they're gonna be that machine they're gonna be that machine and all i gotta do is sort of just look at the raw jokes and whittle it down and then show jimmy and then
Marc:Jimmy yeah so you decide you do the first pass on the monologue yeah Jeremy our head monologue writer is a first pass I'll do a little pass I mean if you got like five people writing 50 or 60 jokes it's 300 jokes now in terms of the monologue you know because I guess part of the the skill of being a head writer and a writer for a specific personality I mean what what do you know that Jimmy will or won't do
Marc:Like, what are red flags?
Guest:Red flags.
Guest:I mean, you know, nasty, scatological, like easy shit, you know.
Guest:I mean, like literally easy shit?
Guest:Kind of, a little bit.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, it's like, you know, the things that comedians tend to sort of... No poop jokes.
Guest:Yeah, poop jokes.
Guest:I mean, not to say, no one's above a poop joke.
Guest:We'll do a poop joke.
Marc:Hey, look, a smart poop joke.
Marc:I just started.
Marc:I find it very thrilling.
Marc:It took me my entire career to actually come around and realize, why not do a little poop?
Marc:Come on.
Marc:Everybody poops.
Marc:Everybody poops.
Guest:Scatological is a fine field to work in, but it's weird.
Guest:You come up with certain rules for things that you won't do, and then you immediately break them when you find a good joke that breaks the rules.
Marc:Do you find yourself in a position where you're sitting there with Jimmy over a joke, and do you ever comfort him and push him to do a joke?
Guest:very rarely i mean i would say that we have over the last we've done now like 330 shows which sounds like to me it sounds like a lot but in the world of late night it's nothing it's like it's a infancy but like we have hammered out a sort of a working rapport where i i kind of feel like i don't my job basically is he's got so much to think about he's got like uh segment producers that are briefing him on all the guests he's got to like
Marc:he's got to like learn all about in order to interview them I don't know if a lot of people realize that but when you see a guest sit down on panel that stuff has gone over oh my god it's a huge deal there's a whole person who's produced that whole thing yeah when I I mean I used to work with Frank Smiley all the time when I did Conan that you know they you do a pre-interview yeah they find what'll work then Jimmy's got to be up to speed so he can make it look like relatively natural so he's got to learn all of that for each guest not only for today's show but for tomorrow's show right he's got to watch movies and television shows so he has some sort of working vocabulary about what the hell he's talking about yeah
Guest:And in the middle of that, he's got to learn a monologue and he's got to learn a song or a sketch or whatever we're doing.
Guest:It's an enormous amount of material to have to sort of process every day.
Marc:Do you ever get a moment where you realize, like, does it feel disposable to you?
Marc:Like, do you realize, like, you know, when you say 311 shows, I mean, that's a lot of shows.
Marc:And I just know from doing this.
Guest:Comedy by the pound, for sure.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Absolutely.
Marc:You can't get too attached.
Guest:No, you can't get too attached.
Guest:You don't get too precious about it.
Guest:I mean, it's that's probably if I take away anything from this experience, it'll be that like I think leading up to this point, I would I would noodle over a word on a joke or a screenplay.
Guest:As an individual performer.
Guest:To a point that was completely destructive.
Guest:It didn't help my process or the end product at all.
Guest:What I've learned from this is that that's ridiculous.
Guest:You just churn through it.
Guest:It's a horrible analogy, but if you make a thousand pots, you're going to make an amazing pot, where if you spend your whole life making one, it may or may not be that great.
Marc:Right, right.
Marc:And you're putting a lot into that one pot.
Guest:We make a lot of pots.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Now, what I understand about Jimmy is that he wants to make sure that he remains a nice fellow, that he doesn't want to be misunderstood or attack anybody.
Guest:Yeah, and you know what's funny?
Guest:I don't think that that's that strategic on his level.
Marc:It's who he is.
Guest:Yeah, it's kind of who he is.
Guest:I mean, he genuinely is like a, you know, I guess his persona and who he comes across as is that he's a very likable, fun, you know, goofy sort of dude.
Guest:And of course, the most common question that I get is like, hey,
Guest:is jimmy as nice in person and i mean he really is i mean he really is that's kind of who he is he like pretty much i will say that like one of the great joys of the job because it is so grueling and we work you know 14 hour days pretty much every day they buy you lunch is that what you're gonna say yeah and it's just like every day at one o'clock it's like you know some days it's a burrito yeah some days it's a piece of pizza do you get to choose though sometimes
Guest:No, they rotate it.
Guest:But, you know, it's a good variety.
Marc:You know, I mean, it's like Chinese food every once in a while.
Guest:And then, like, once a month, they'll get, like, you know, like, you know, it's like a Ted Steaks or something.
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:Yeah, it's like a piece of meat.
Marc:Yeah, the good stuff.
Guest:And it's like, yeah, it's really, I mean, you know, you kind of pat yourself, not pat yourself on the back, pinch yourself a little bit about, like, oh, my God, is this happening?
Guest:Am I dreaming or have I arrived?
Guest:I did not order this burrito, and yet I'm eating it.
Guest:So...
Guest:What were you going to say before I interrupted you?
Guest:You said one of the great things about... Oh, one of the great things about it is that on a daily basis, I would say at least once, and we're so tired and I'm so crabby a lot of the times about just how grueling it is.
Guest:at least once and most of the times two or three times during the day I have a belly laugh about something and it may be nothing related to the show it may not be something that actually ends up in front of TV a lot of times it is about like you know we're coming up with something but a lot of times it's us you know just going off the rails or whatever but like at least two or three times a day I laugh my ass off and that's fucking great it's great I mean I don't know how many people have a job where you know that's going to happen every day it's pretty awesome
Marc:yeah and you can and you're working with brilliant people so like you never know what the comedy is going to be i mean i've just learned how to laugh again recently and you know as as performers uh well i i went through a long time i didn't laugh couldn't laugh yeah there's no it wasn't that's your thing though for a long time was that you're the you're the angry miserable guy yeah on stage and it was just like yeah
Guest:And you'd do that thing where you would sit on the stool and you'd do that long 20-second thing where the audience would be like, is he fucking tuning out or what the fuck?
Guest:And you'd be like, fuck, man.
Guest:And then you'd launch into some other thing about you're bleeding out of your butt or something.
Marc:Oh, did I do that one?
Marc:Shit, I should bring that one back.
Marc:I forgot about that joke.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Guest:It's so good, though, because it's riveting stuff.
Marc:You're always on the edge of your seat.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:It could be a little funnier.
Marc:You guys do punch up for me.
Marc:Like you think you could find time if, if I just emailed, you know, it's a, absolutely weird.
Guest:There's lots of times during the day where we're sitting around with some of the jokes you're throwing away today.
Guest:We've got all this energy, all this comedy going and we're like, Oh, Jimmy's done with the show.
Guest:But what can we, man's got some stuff we could work on.
Guest:Get the stool out.
Guest:Let's see if we can rebuild there.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:That'd be great if you could help me out with that.
Guest:Anytime.
Marc:So then, okay, so you get to work and you have a 9.30 meeting with the sketch writers.
Guest:Yeah, we go over the news and look at what's in the news and see if there's anything we can make fun of or do a day of peace, which doesn't happen that often, but every once in a while something will present itself.
Guest:And then it's weird.
Guest:The life of the head writer is really just a litany of meetings.
Guest:It's management.
Guest:It's pretty much management.
Guest:A lot of it's very unglamorous, administrative kind of shit.
Marc:But is it really administrative?
Marc:It's more like sort of like it's really making sure the thing runs properly and that everything, the slots are filled.
Guest:Yep, absolutely.
Guest:And if there's any weird thing along the day that presents itself a fire or something falls apart, then you've got to be ready with the next thing to fill in the slot.
Marc:Have there been crises?
Guest:oh my god are you kidding it's like what really uh really it's like yeah you you have a bit and i mean especially in the early days when all of us were getting to know each other and we didn't really have a voice really of the show yet um there'd be plenty of days where we would have an idea and and it was just very obvious through rehearsal that this was a piece of bullshit and like everybody was like we got to get out of this and so
Guest:how do you feel it?
Marc:You mean you're already in the middle of it and you're, you're trying to make it work and you're like, and you're just like, this, this is dumb.
Guest:This is like, you know, and you've got people wearing wigs and dancing.
Marc:Oh my God.
Guest:I've been in some of those wigs.
Guest:I mean, there's like a couple of things I've been a part of where I'm just like, it's very sweaty.
Guest:and um so yeah those are the crises but like you know it's just where jokes fall apart and and i think now we've got a pretty good machine where we've learned through crisis uh that that you know you always have to have something as a backup but when you're first starting you're you're close to the bone it's like you know what you've got is what you've got and if it falls apart then you don't have anything and so sometimes you just shove it out the door anyway and just fuck it and just say fuck it yeah you know
Marc:So you write the sketches, you crunch the stuff, you make sure the monologue's coming in, and Jimmy's doing... I would imagine the comedy stuff is, what, secondary to him making sure he understands what the guest interviews are like in any given day, or what?
Guest:You know, I don't know.
Guest:Maybe it's because I'm in charge of comedy, so I see it from my perspective, but I think it might be... I just mean in times of the way he allots his time.
Guest:It's pretty evenly distributed.
Marc:Oh, yeah?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:During the day, there's a creative meeting, which is where we talk about the comedy sketches.
Guest:There's usually two a show.
Guest:There's also a monologue meeting, which is strictly devoted to monologue.
Guest:And then there's a meeting for segment producers, which is about who's on the show.
Guest:So if anything, I feel like the comedy probably gets more than its fair share of its daily time.
Marc:And just like a personal question.
Marc:Now, the Rolling Stones week.
Marc:Now, was that a partnership deal or is that something Jimmy wanted to do?
Marc:Because, I mean, I love seeing Keith and Mick, but the way... I'm just wondering, did they buy the show for a week?
Guest:No, they didn't buy the show.
Guest:I think that that was born out of the relationship maybe that Lauren has with...
Guest:with uh with the stones yeah and uh and then jimmy obviously he's a huge stones fan he's a music uh musicophile is that a word right something like that uh audiophile uh he's an encyclopedic knowledge of music he seemed very excited he's very excited very you know and he's actually uh friends with mick which is really weird just you know like can't imagine what that's like for him to do a show and at the end of the day be like oh i'm having drinks with uh mick jagger the rolling stones wow
Marc:That must be amazing.
Guest:Yeah, it's kind of weird.
Guest:And just by proximity, I had been in the room a couple of times with Mick and Keith.
Guest:And, you know, we were kind of like, I can touch you if I want to.
Guest:And I probably shouldn't, but I'm going to.
Guest:I'm going to poke you on the elbow.
Guest:I'm poking Keith Richards.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:And he feels nothing.
Marc:He's not reacting.
Guest:I have to poke him harder.
Guest:So, yeah, I mean, I think that was born out of that.
Marc:How much of a presence does Warren have in the day-to-day?
Guest:um he comes down i'd say pretty frequently he usually comes down we have a little meeting right before the show where we uh go over the monologue but is it like he's coming no you know what honestly no it's not i mean i don't know lauren other than my experience on this show and so whatever um sort of legend he has or you know good or bad or whatever my experience is strictly limited to this and
Guest:It's always been extremely pleasant.
Guest:He's a very cool dude, and he's very laid back.
Marc:I realize you have to be diplomatic, and I appreciate your candor.
Guest:And I appreciate the fact that you know that I had to be diplomatic, but I will say that I'm not really being that diplomatic.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:Again, I appreciate your...
Marc:No, no, no.
Guest:But he usually comes into the dressing room while we're doing monologues sometimes, and he'll have a suggestion for a joke, and he's been doing it for 30 years, and a lot of times he's right.
Guest:Wait, let's clarify.
Marc:Is he always right?
Guest:A lot of times he's right.
Guest:You know what?
Guest:100% of the time he's right.
Guest:That's the way it is.
Guest:That's the way you do it.
Guest:But it is interesting because for me, it is still one of those things where you're like, what am I fucking doing here?
Guest:I'm at 30 Rock.
Guest:I'm in a room.
Guest:I'm knee to knee with Lauren Michaels talking about a joke that's going to be on TV in eight minutes.
Guest:I mean, it's ridiculous.
Guest:It's exciting, right?
Guest:I don't know what I'm doing.
Guest:And you're managing it.
Guest:Yeah, and it's an exciting thing, and I still get kind of a thrill from it.
Marc:Where'd you go to college?
Marc:I went to NC State.
Marc:That's where I met in Zach.
Marc:You went to college with Zach?
Guest:Zach Galifianakis and I went to college together at NC State.
Guest:We became friends there.
Guest:I waited on Zach Galifianakis when I was working at Bendigan's, and that's how we met.
Marc:And he wasn't doing comedy?
Guest:no no we weren't doing comedy you were just in college we were just in college and uh i was in the weeds i had way too many tables and uh zach was there as his girlfriend and they were making fun of me because i was getting very stressed out and i thought it was kind of funny that they were making fun of me as opposed to being supportive
Guest:And then I saw him on campus when we became buds.
Marc:Really?
Marc:So you busted your balls and you're like, that guy's all right.
Marc:He busted my balls and I was like, that guy's pretty cool.
Marc:Did you do comedy in college with him?
Guest:No, no, I didn't do college until I moved to New York.
Guest:I mean, I didn't do college until I moved to New York.
Guest:I didn't do comedy until I moved to New York.
Guest:And it's just a coincidence that both of you started doing comedy where...
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:um and then we were you know i'd always been a funny dude class clown kind of bullshit or whatever but like when we moved to new york it's like uh zach was the first one to start sniffing it out and started with hamburger harry's and it was sloven and alan were there yeah and oh that stand-up show yeah time square right everybody was doing open mics yeah time square and i was like doing open mics and i was just like
Guest:and i didn't and i didn't want to do it but he was doing it and i was like well i'm not gonna i'm not gonna get love behind so i'm gonna do it and then of course you get you either get bitten or you don't get bitten yeah first time you do it and you know the first time you get a real laugh yeah you're done yeah you know if you're gonna do it forever if you get if you're hooked you're hooked yeah and uh and so i started doing it and then he was definitely the one that kept doing it the most and kept graduating to the next level which you know i think
Marc:He went the strict stand-up route.
Marc:Yeah, he really did.
Marc:He was a stand-up.
Marc:And he did club comedy.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And I'm one of those people that I feel like you're, as a human being, you're either motivated by fear or desire.
Guest:I feel like the truly great people are motivated by desire because they want something and they go for it.
Guest:And I'm more motivated by fear.
Guest:And I was more afraid of being left behind than wanting something.
Guest:So I would be like, well, he's doing it, I'm doing it.
Guest:that's interesting because i think i you know i am motivated by fear but i feed my fear desire well they're kind of two sides if you're if you're a buddhist i don't know if you are but like i'll do it they're two sides of the same thing yeah fear is uh the the fear of not getting what you desire and desire is the not wanting to be uh afraid of not getting what you desire fuck man i'm gonna have god i just fried your fucking mind yeah hold on a minute if you guys need to rewind now
Marc:Rewind.
Marc:Go ahead.
Marc:Yeah, rewind, because I'm going to rewind it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Fuck, I don't even know what just happened in here.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Guest:I'm kidding.
Guest:I just got my douchebag badge.
Guest:No, you didn't.
Marc:No, I actually think about that kind of shit.
Marc:I mean, I will think about that kind of stuff.
Marc:Well, a couple of things before we go.
Marc:Congratulations.
Guest:Thanks, man.
Guest:Hang on.
Guest:I love my job.
Guest:I'm having a great time.
Guest:I can't believe I still get to do comedy.
Guest:It's awesome.
Marc:And alongside of that, don't fuck up your marriage.
Guest:I'm not going to fuck up marriage number two.
Marc:Go get some counseling.
Marc:Get some tools.
Marc:Figure out how to stop those cycles.
Marc:Yeah, I will.
Marc:Seriously.
Guest:She's always right.
Guest:That's one approach.
Guest:Pantry organization is secondary to other stuff.
Marc:Forget about it.
Marc:Well, there are deeper resentments that will evolve over time.
Guest:They usually present themselves over the placement of a fruit bowl somewhere.
Marc:Yeah, wherever the pantry organization control issue comes from,
Marc:It's a well of things.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:It goes much, much deeper.
Marc:Yeah, so we don't need to get into that because I don't think you're prepared.
Marc:I'm not prepared.
Marc:All right.
Guest:And also this is being recorded.
Marc:80 miles.
Marc:Thanks, buddy.
Guest:Thanks, man.
Marc:A little redhead
Marc:yeah yeah i mean but you guys were a team and now he's a the head writer and uh you know i and and i is now when that happens to appear i mean you happy for him i mean oh yeah i mean absolutely yeah he did totally deserves it yeah but i mean but you know are you guys still pretty tight yeah i mean because yeah i mean a lot of people yeah yeah i mean as much as you can i mean he's technically my boss so you're working over there
Guest:Yeah, I work there now.
Guest:Holy shit.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I had no idea.
Guest:Yeah, he's my boss.
Guest:But you were kind of the funnier one, am I?
Guest:Ah.
Guest:No, I was... Miles was a straight man when we were working together, and I was more of the crazy... I got... No, I don't want to say that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I definitely held my own.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I think... But he couldn't have existed without you at some point.
Guest:No, well...
Guest:Yes and no.
Guest:Yeah, right.
Guest:But we were equal at one point, but now it's kind of weird that he's superior to me, which is kind of weird.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It's fine.
Marc:It doesn't bother you, though.
Marc:Well, somebody's got to do the job.
Marc:Right, right.
Marc:And you guys, you're okay?
Guest:Yeah, as good as I guess you can be in that situation.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Are you happy he gave you a job?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:totally yeah yeah but he always he's always like i got you this job yeah yeah it's cool you're working you're working for me and that's fun jimmy's great isn't he yeah it's kind of dickish though right no no it's not it's it's a great no it's a great job and yeah somebody had to hire me yeah but it's kind of weird because we were at one point super equal and now he's at least five levels ahead of me oh shit hey there hey buddy we're just talking about you yeah hey you're doing the podcast
Guest:i know look at this office isn't it amazing it's pretty cool it's great awesome so 80 miles just uh just walked in and uh we were just talking about you and i you know because i remember when you guys used to do uh you'd do comedy together yeah yeah yeah you're working together yeah yeah it was weird like we started as a two-man thing like you know i was sort of like the uh the punchline guy yeah yeah i got most of the laughs and yeah and bobby was sort of like sort of like the he'd lay the bedrock you know
Guest:the audience sort of warmed up and I'd come in and slam at home yeah yeah that's way as way he was more yeah no I guess that's yeah and it's like you know and then it's like we you know it's like we sort of we went different paths for a little while you know and then sort of I came back I kind of kind of went on and became like a yeah I got like a head writer tight you know and then and he was like
Guest:you know and then yeah yeah doing comedy and stuff oh no yeah i kept plugging away yeah plugging away and then it's like one day i just like yeah what are you doing these days and he's like yeah and then um anyway so anyway listen i love working with my old friend oh no it's fun we have it's really fun it's like the old days where i'm sometimes sometimes
Guest:Not all the time.
Guest:Well, most of the time.
Guest:Well, no.
Guest:It's like hanging around the office.
Guest:Honestly, I'm very happy because I'm out of debt now thanks to you.
Guest:I appreciate it.
Guest:That's good.
Guest:But you're sort of in debt now thanks to me.
Guest:To you.
Guest:Yeah, to me.
Guest:You remind me constantly.
Guest:One debt or another, yeah.
Guest:You constantly remind me.
Guest:But we get along for the most part.
Marc:It's been great.
Marc:Oh my God, we get along great.
Marc:I'm glad you guys.
Marc:I mean, it's rare that a friendship can withstand what you guys did.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I'm glad you guys are good.
Marc:Fucking tight as ever, man.
Guest:Yep.
Guest:We're good.
Guest:We're good.
Guest:We're good.
Guest:But let's talk about Jimmy's really good.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Jimmy's really talented.
Guest:Is he?
Guest:You have a good time over there?
Guest:Super talented.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I feel like Jimmy hired me, not really Miles, because I did have to do a writing packet.
Guest:Jimmy would never have known.
Guest:If I hadn't brought you up, he would never have known.
Guest:I know Zach, too.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Galifianakis and stuff.
Guest:That's not the thing.
Guest:We grew up together.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well.
Guest:And he could have probably sent something in too.
Guest:In the end, in the end, we're happy.
Guest:In the end, we're happy.
Guest:We're paying our bills.
Guest:We both have jobs.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:All that matters.
Guest:Happy for him.
Guest:Happy for him.
Guest:Happy for me.
Guest:He just got married for the third time.
Guest:Second time.
Guest:Second time.
Guest:Thanks.
Guest:Almost seems like three.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But it's.
Guest:Here we are.
Guest:Great.
Guest:Oh, I got to host a show.
Guest:I got to host.
Guest:I got to go, guys.
Guest:Mark, I love your office.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I love your office.
Guest:Shake hand noise right here.
Guest:Shake hand noise right here.
Guest:Miles is going to go hang out with Jimmy.
Guest:Oh, by the way, I wasn't invited to that.
Marc:Okay, that's our show.
Marc:I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving meal.
Marc:Or if it hasn't happened yet, I hope that this has given you the opportunity to distance yourself from your family with your headphones for just a little while before you have to get into the Thanksgiving meal.
Marc:And again, I'm completely and utterly...
Marc:humbled and grateful by your support and your listenership and thank you for all the gifts i i love all of them i know that when i go on the road i will always have cookies and thank you for the cds for the t-shirts for the coffee for the uh for some of the the comic books someone sent me a walkman cassette player because i mentioned i might need that i i couldn't be more thrilled uh by the response to this show
Marc:Go to WTFPod.com for all your WTFPod needs.
Marc:You can get JustCoffee.co up there.
Marc:If you get the WTF blend, I get a little kickback on that.
Marc:PunchlineMagazine.com for all your up-to-the-minute stand-up comedy and comedy-related business needs, gossip, this, that, and the other thing.
Marc:Also, please kick in a few shekels if you can at WTF Pod and the donate button.
Marc:We are listening to the supported show and appreciate your support.
Marc:And get on that mailing list.
Marc:Because if you're not on the mailing list, you missed my stuffing recipe.
Marc:I truly love all of you.
Marc:Except those of you who just listened to hate me.
Marc:But you know what?
Marc:Because I'm grateful today, I love you guys too.
Marc:Happy Thanksgiving.
you