Episode 265 - Michael Cera
Guest:Lock the gates!
Guest:Are we doing this?
Guest:Really?
Guest:Wait for it.
Guest:Are we doing this?
Guest:Wait for it.
Guest:Pow!
Guest:What the fuck?
Guest:WTF?
Guest:And it's also, eh, what the fuck?
Guest:What's wrong with me?
Guest:It's time for WTF?
Guest:What the fuck?
Guest:With Marc Maron.
Marc:all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fucking ears what the fucking indianians i don't even know what that means indiana hey what's going on it's me mark maron thanks for being here this is wtf this is my podcast
Marc:I imagine most of you know that.
Marc:We have a great show today.
Marc:Michael Cera is on the show today from the Scott Pilgrim movie and from Arrested Development and from the Juno movie.
Marc:Nice kid, that Cera.
Marc:Good kid.
Marc:Like that kid.
Marc:A couple of things I want to do before we get going, before we get into that interview, is thank the lovely people of Bloomington, Indiana, for coming out to the Comedy Attic Friday and Saturday.
Marc:I had great shows.
Marc:What a great small club.
Marc:It's great to play an independently owned comedy club that has some personality.
Marc:There's nothing better than a small comedy club, an independently owned comedy club.
Marc:And Jared runs a great place up there.
Marc:It's one of the best comedy clubs in the country.
Marc:And speaking of that...
Marc:I'm going to be at the Ice House in Pasadena, also an independently owned comedy club that's not affiliated with a chain or over franchised.
Marc:I mean, the difference between being at a club that's got some history or being at a club that's got some love in it, as opposed to being at one of these corporate outlet comedy clubs is infinite.
Marc:The show quality is so much better.
Marc:I'm going to be at the Ice House in Pasadena on the 29th.
Marc:That's on Thursday with Eddie Pepitone and Maria Bamford, and it's going to be fucking great.
Marc:It's an 8 o'clock show.
Marc:I'd love you guys to come out if you're in the L.A.
Marc:area.
Marc:If you've never been to the Ice House, it's a great club.
Marc:It's a hot room.
Marc:It's always been a hot room.
Marc:Haven't played there in a long time.
Marc:Looking forward to it.
Marc:Live WTF at the Tiffany Theater, formerly the Steve Allen Theater, Tuesday the 27th.
Marc:It's going to be a good show.
Marc:Got Brent Weinbach, Rory Scovel, Retta, Ron Funches from Portland.
Marc:Got Eddie and Jim, of course, at the end.
Marc:I don't know if there's tickets available for that.
Marc:You can go to WTFPod.com and go to the calendar and get the link.
Marc:You can get the link for all of that.
Marc:What else do I got to tell you?
Marc:Well...
Marc:So Indiana was pretty awesome.
Marc:I you know, every time I go up there, I always freak out a little bit because I think it's where is it exactly?
Marc:Where am I?
Marc:Is what I think.
Marc:And I had that gig booked for weeks.
Marc:I mean, months.
Marc:I was going to play at the comedy attic.
Marc:And of course, the few days before I get there, people are like, well, Friday's fucked.
Marc:No one's going to come to your show on Friday.
Marc:There was a basketball game.
Marc:It's a big, important basketball game.
Marc:You have to understand, in Indiana, in Bloomington, basketball is the primary theater of belief, rivaling only Jesus in its importance.
Marc:And there was a big showdown between the Hoosiers and the Kentucky, what are they, the Wildcats?
Marc:I honestly don't care.
Marc:And I'm not saying that in a condescending way.
Marc:I just really don't.
Marc:I don't know what I don't know what's going on with it.
Marc:But it was insanely important to the people of Indiana.
Marc:And of course, it was during my second show on Friday.
Marc:But I mean, the degree to which they prepared this town, they took down lampposts.
Marc:I mean, I imagine.
Marc:And that was primarily for if there was a celebration.
Marc:Not with people being angry.
Marc:They were concerned that if people were excited, there might be a risk of some of the fans falling out of the sky from lampposts.
Marc:See, to me, I would think that the big threat of a riot would be when a team loses.
Marc:But no, it's when they win.
Marc:It's a celebratory destruction of property.
Marc:Yeah, let's burn this town down.
Marc:Unbelievable.
Marc:So it turns out they lose and the streets were literally quiet.
Marc:It did.
Marc:It was also raining.
Marc:But nonetheless, I think people just went into their homes or into the bars and drank quietly in their defeat.
Marc:There was no turning of cars over.
Marc:There was none of that.
Marc:And in that way, I think that my presence there was necessary.
Marc:I think I was the right comedy.
Marc:I was the right comic for the job on Saturday with a grieving state of Indiana drooping towards the comedy attic, looking for some sort of salve, some sort of spiritual relief from the defeat of their beloved Hoosiers.
Marc:And who better than to do that than the heathen Jew?
Marc:That is me.
Marc:And we had great shows.
Marc:But then I get there.
Marc:I fly in.
Marc:I get up at 3 in the morning to fly the day of the show.
Marc:I get there.
Marc:I got to take a nap.
Marc:Weather's not great.
Marc:I'm a little freaked out that no one's going to come to the second show.
Marc:And I crash out.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:So I'm sleeping there.
Marc:This is a well needed.
Marc:I needed this fucking nap, people.
Marc:So I'm just crashed out.
Marc:And all of a sudden, there's like a banging on the door.
Marc:I'm like, what?
Marc:Guest services.
Marc:I'm like, I'm good.
Marc:I don't need anything.
Marc:Guest services.
Marc:I'm like, what?
Marc:And I get up and I'm like, what?
Marc:What?
Marc:And through the door, the person says, there's a funnel cloud spotted in the area where it's suggesting that guests take shelter.
Marc:If you don't want to leave your room, you can stay in the bathroom.
Marc:That's the safest place.
Marc:And I'm thinking...
Marc:Why are they being polite?
Marc:What is a funnel cloud?
Marc:I mean, if it's a tornado, say it's a tornado.
Marc:I mean, I'm thinking I can sweep through a funnel cloud.
Marc:That sounds kind of cute, actually, a funnel cloud.
Marc:That's not a problem.
Marc:All right, thanks for your help.
Marc:I go back to sweep.
Marc:I tried until it started hailing pinball-sized hailstones.
Marc:So I'm looking forward to this gig for months.
Marc:I get up there.
Marc:There's the most important game of the year.
Marc:There are tornadoes and it starts hailing.
Marc:So, of course, I said, why is this happening to me?
Marc:What have I done to yield this?
Marc:But you know what?
Marc:The shows turned out great.
Marc:It was beautiful because it was people that didn't care about basketball.
Marc:It was good.
Marc:Then the next day in Bloomington, I went to... College towns are pretty cool.
Marc:I'd forgotten what it was like to be at a coffee shop in a college town, like an indigenous coffee shop, like a coffee shop that's been there for years.
Marc:And as you know, college towns always have a pretty healthy cast of freaks that kind of linger around the college, and they just sort of age with the school itself.
Marc:You know, it's not clear whether they went there.
Marc:It's not clear whether they think they're professors.
Marc:It's not clear that whether they think they're students, but some of them are in their 50s or 60s.
Marc:If the coffee shop has been around long enough or the college has been there a long time and just sitting in there.
Marc:It was just reminded me of when I grew up in Albuquerque, just that the weirdos that would hang around the school.
Marc:Because that's where they felt important.
Marc:And I really had these moments where I was sitting there thinking, like, how many days do you have to hang out at a coffee shop before you become like, oh, that guy's here.
Marc:Yeah, you know the one, the guy with the thing, whatever that thing is.
Marc:But it was, you know, I got some writing done, sat there, didn't feel like I was in college, which is rare.
Marc:I actually felt like an old man.
Marc:I felt like one of those freaks lingering around the campus, kind of vampiring off the energy of the excited students doing the big work at a small table.
Marc:I always have this fantasy.
Marc:That's where I would have ended up, in academia.
Marc:I always had a fantasy that I would be a professor, a professor of bullshit.
Marc:I have no idea what I would structure my class around.
Marc:What would the syllabus be like?
Marc:Let's talk about me 101.
Marc:uh a a a survey course in mark marin and then i just kind of every day i just kind of do what i do on the podcast and talk about myself and maybe quiz the students on me at the end of the semester i i couldn't i could only fail people if they didn't care about me
Marc:The music in today's show is provided by our friend Fenn Eichner.
Marc:He has given us music before.
Marc:These latest tracks are from his band Seashell Radio.
Marc:They're on tour throughout March and April, so check them out at seashellradio.com for tour dates and more songs.
Marc:Do you play guitar?
Guest:Yeah, I do play guitar and a little piano, too.
Marc:Did you grow up playing piano?
Guest:No, I started playing piano when I was about 17 or 18.
Marc:That's too late, isn't it?
Guest:Yeah, I can't really play.
Guest:I mean, I have no chance of really becoming, like, you know, I mean, it's amazing when people can just, it's like breathing air.
Marc:Was that a dream, though, for you?
Guest:It is now, but now that it's too late, it's a dream.
Guest:I mean, you have to fucking practice, like,
Guest:I really don't think you can start late in life and have that kind of grasp on it that people who start it too.
Marc:But wouldn't that be a miracle if you were a wonder kind at 30?
Guest:It'd be amazing.
Marc:Like, you know, out of nowhere, you're not a child wonder, you're a 30-year-old wonder.
Guest:That'd be all the more impressive, I think.
Marc:To find a gift like that.
Marc:Like, he's a wizard.
Marc:I wish we'd known when he was younger where we could have made some money off of him.
Marc:And you play guitar too?
Guest:Yeah, that I've played a little longer.
Guest:My dad played when I was growing up, so we had one in the house, and I just started when I was maybe 13 or something.
Guest:What kind of guitar was it?
Guest:Just an acoustic, Yamaha acoustic.
Marc:Right, with the nylon strings or with the steel strings?
Guest:No, he always just has regular nickel-wound strings on it.
Marc:And what were the tunes that dad laid out?
Guest:He's pretty good.
Guest:You know, my dad's got, I think he's got a pretty good musical taste to impart.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:He always played a lot of wings in the house.
Guest:Oh, that's good.
Guest:He had the best of wings.
Guest:So he played like Hell on Wheels and... Yeah, it was more like Uncle Albert and like High, High, High on heavy rotation, you know, just over and over.
Marc:Well, Uncle Albert, that's fairly complicated.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I'd like to hear a guitar version done by your father of Uncle Albert.
Guest:Yeah, oh, that would be nice.
Marc:Did he do that one?
Guest:I don't know if he knows how to play that one.
Guest:I know how to play it though.
Guest:You do?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:There's like several different textures.
Marc:It's like four songs in one.
Marc:It's a small symphony.
Marc:Yeah, it is.
Marc:If you don't recognize the voice, Michael Cera is here in my garage.
Marc:So we're starting.
Marc:We started.
Guest:With the sanding.
Marc:Yeah, I don't care.
Marc:Great, okay.
Marc:That's a windblower.
Marc:Wow, great.
Marc:That's a windblower.
Marc:That's not a sander.
Marc:That's a different sound altogether.
Marc:I can live with a windblower because you kind of know it's going to go up.
Marc:Sometimes we have dogs going on.
Marc:Sometimes there are helicopters.
Marc:You know, that's... LA, man.
Guest:It's the beautiful DIY vibe of the podcast.
Guest:I don't even want to know what that stands for.
Guest:I'm just going to figure it out myself.
Guest:You don't know?
Guest:No, I do.
Guest:I do.
Marc:It means dick in your... No.
Marc:Dick in your.
Marc:Yeah, that's what it means.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Dick in yours.
Marc:Yeah, that's right.
Marc:That's the vibe I'm looking for.
Marc:So, all right.
Marc:So, the piano thing.
Marc:How's the left hand go?
Marc:Are you right-handed?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, I am right-handed.
Marc:That's my big problem, though, is that left hand.
Guest:Yeah, that took a while.
Guest:I mean, at first, I started playing piano because I would try and record songs on my own and want to put piano stuff on, so I had a keyboard, and I would just do it part for part.
Guest:I would do the right-hand part and then just overdub the left-hand part and not ever be able to do them at the same time.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah, and then I just eventually worked out that coordination somehow just by being very easy on myself.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Not putting too much pressure on it, doing it like that at first and then being like, well, maybe I can do this.
Marc:So you actually were more, like, because I remember, I think it's akin to juggling.
Marc:Like, there's a moment where you're just like, I'm doing it.
Marc:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Marc:So you just were easy on yourself as opposed to like, fuck, fuck, fuck.
Guest:But when you scream I do it out loud or when you scream fuck, you tend to throw yourself off musically.
Marc:Right, and especially unless you make that the song where you keep fucking up and going, fuck.
Guest:And you write that into it somehow.
Guest:Write a change around it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Do you ever do that?
Guest:Do I ever just scream, fuck you?
Guest:Sure.
Guest:I mean, if this guy keeps sanding, it's going to get ugly.
Guest:This window opens up, right?
Guest:Sure, man.
Guest:Doesn't he know?
Guest:No, I told him.
Marc:Doesn't he know I drove 15 minutes to get here?
Marc:I explained to him, you know, I don't know if you know who Michael Cera is.
Marc:Don't tell me what he said.
Marc:I listed your movies.
Marc:He's like, oh, no.
Marc:Shit.
Marc:No, it's all right.
Marc:I mean, I'm not sure he's your audience.
Marc:You didn't have like a Google image?
Marc:Well, I didn't.
Marc:I was going to bring him in, but then he showed up.
Marc:But I think he gets it.
Guest:Maybe you've seen me on Conan or something.
Marc:Yeah, maybe.
Marc:Maybe.
Marc:We can go back out there and perhaps stand awkwardly for a few minutes when he's watching.
Marc:Hey, I'm the guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Anything?
Guest:If I make this face.
Yeah.
Marc:That's a great way to try to figure out whether people recognize you or not.
Marc:There's a moment where they're looking at you.
Marc:Anything?
Guest:Nothing?
Guest:Oh, man.
Guest:The worst is when people say, like, where do I know you from?
Guest:And you have to rattle off things you've done.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And then they go, no, it's from that- No, it's Zombieland.
Guest:Right, right.
Guest:They just insist in the-
Marc:no what's worse is where you do that number and you're sitting there going i just got pilgrim or you know the rest of development they're like no the starbucks you go to that starbucks yeah right that i saw you working down at the starbucks yeah yeah right no it's not me no yeah that's uh that's the worst where you just kind of you drop all the names and they're like no that none of those are it people insist that i'm jesse eisenberg a lot of the time really yeah they argue with you
Guest:I mean, they'll just say like, hey man, that new movie looks great.
Guest:Social network, I can't wait to see that.
Guest:And you're like, that's not me.
Guest:One guy in a convenience store one time said to me like, Jesse Eisenberg?
Guest:I was like, no.
Guest:And he goes...
Guest:Michael Cera.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Bing, bing, bing.
Guest:He knew it was one of the two.
Marc:I'm hoping that was the end of it.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:He just said, thanks.
Marc:Yeah, right.
Marc:I just grabbed my three bottles of wine and walked away.
Marc:You're a walking quiz show.
Marc:I just came up with an idea for a TV show.
Marc:Who is it?
Marc:Right.
Marc:Are you in?
Marc:Just help me to understand it a little bit better.
Marc:It was really impulsive.
Marc:I hadn't thought it through.
Marc:It all came out in that moment.
Marc:There was no back story to it.
Marc:So someone goes out on the street.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Hollywood Boulevard, where all the stars... Well, I think maybe you'd have to... Yeah, right.
Marc:Hollywood Boulevard, where all the sad people... On a clear night, all the stars were out.
Marc:Yeah, the costume people were out.
Marc:No, you'd have to set it up where they have to go into an environment.
Marc:Perhaps you have a couple of B-list celebrities, which you're not one of.
Marc:And I'm not condescending them.
Marc:You've got to work.
Guest:Maybe we should end there.
Marc:We're done?
Guest:That's going to be the high point.
Guest:You saying that, I mean, God, I might cry.
Marc:No, no.
Marc:Here's the idea.
Marc:You asked me to flesh it out.
Marc:I'm going to flesh it out.
Marc:This is a pitch.
Marc:So you set up some celebrities perhaps at a target, maybe one or two celebrities.
Marc:Oh, I like that.
Marc:And they're just shopping.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:And then you sort of unleash your contestants.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:And they have to find the celebrity and also- Their celebrity target.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And you can do a cross-promotional-
Marc:right very easily oh and i could probably get uh um you know free clothing there's a lot of stuff i could do maybe a coupon but so they have to identify they have to find the celebrity and then identify them and name them oh man that would be so that sounds very painful for the celebrities well you know i don't know if you've watched tv lately but you know there there are some shows where they're they're open to that degradation yeah well isn't most of it
Guest:Yeah, I think so.
Guest:I mean, if you choose to be an actor, you're kind of subjecting yourself to that, I guess.
Guest:Isn't that television?
Guest:Look at me.
Guest:I don't care if you think I'm a zero.
Guest:Just look at me, please.
Marc:I was watching Network the other night.
Marc:Have you seen Network?
Marc:The movie network from the 70s?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Great.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And every time I see that monologue, not the Ned Beatty one, but one of his sermons where he's like, we're in the boredom killing business.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Right.
Marc:The boredom killing business.
Guest:Turn off your sets.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Turn them off.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:There's no truth here.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Right.
Guest:He's incredible, that actor.
Marc:Yeah, Peter Finch.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I think that's right.
Guest:And he passed away.
Marc:Like before he won the Oscar.
Marc:He got a posthumous Oscar for that.
Marc:He was spectacular.
Guest:Amazing.
Marc:That movie is so fucking darkly funny.
Marc:And there are scenes in that.
Marc:Like every time I watch it, I'm like, I can't believe this movie.
Guest:It's so ahead of its time.
Guest:When the woman is pitching the ideas for the shows.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, those all would be television shows.
Marc:Well, it was really a satire.
Marc:And it became this weird prophecy.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I think prescient is what they say.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It was prescient.
Marc:That's what I say.
Marc:So do you?
Guest:Have you used that word?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Network was prescient.
Marc:Oh, very good.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And this is not the first time you said that.
Guest:Well, no, it is.
Guest:Oh, it is.
Guest:It is the first time I've said that.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:But you have integrated the word prescient.
Guest:No, I do have prescience to use that word, though.
Guest:I appreciate it.
Marc:That word.
Marc:You appreciate prescience?
Marc:Yes.
Guest:Okay.
Marc:I have prescience for it.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:Does that work?
Marc:Does that... Having prescience for prescience?
Marc:I don't think so.
Marc:Now we've gotten into a corner here.
Marc:No, no, no.
Marc:There's no corners here.
Marc:Everything... It's clutter here.
Marc:So... But you are an actor.
Marc:That's what you do.
Marc:You're not a stand-up comic.
Guest:No, I've never done that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And you have no desire...
Guest:no uh i just don't think i am i think that would be really brazen of me or something you know i don't think i appreciate that yeah i think it's true though i mean i you know i would resent you yeah right if you were like all of a sudden decided like i can sell tickets yeah i'll put together 35 minutes and bring four openers i'm good exactly and i'm too afraid you know i'm just it's really too scary are you scared in general
Guest:Sure.
Guest:Yeah, I'll go with you.
Guest:Yeah, I'm scared in general.
Marc:Because there is something tentative about the way you move through the world, I think.
Guest:Yeah, that's well put.
Marc:Your thing is sort of like, maybe not yet.
Guest:I think maybe that might have always been the case, or it might be something I've adopted as a defense mechanism.
Marc:Right, but it's not something you've adopted as a hook.
Marc:It's still an organic part of your personality.
Marc:It's like, no, I'm going to be this guy.
Guest:No, it's definitely not that.
Guest:I don't think you could do that, could you?
Marc:I've seen comics do it.
Marc:Comics make weird decisions.
Guest:Like a neuroses that they wear.
Guest:Right.
Guest:On stage.
Marc:Right, that's my act.
Marc:That's my thing.
Marc:But do you think they then embody that completely?
Marc:Well, some of them.
Guest:Alone at home?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:In the shower?
Marc:Uh-huh.
Marc:i mean picture richard lewis anywhere do you think he's ever just saying like ah i have pictured richard lewis in the shower and it always is it's difficult he's having a hard time yeah he's like oh water i can't you know yeah i think that some people are truly like that and i tend to respect them a great deal and i you know and i think you seem to be true what is the respect what is that can you explain that to me what the respect of it is
Marc:Well, I think that, you know, obviously anyone who does stand-up is doing some amplified version of themselves.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But I think some people do stand-up because it's how they are themselves.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And I think he's one of those guys that everything is very immediate to him.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:The connection with the audience.
Guest:And he wears it.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And, like, because I had him in there.
Marc:He was sitting right where you were sitting.
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:And, like, there was part of me that thought, like, you know, after seeing him recently on TV or maybe in a club, I thought, like, really, he's not resolved any of that stuff.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:it's still this immediate to him and it is and and then you realize like how much do we really change and what do you expect yeah it's his way of experiencing the world yeah and i'm not sure that he i know he owns it but i mean it seems like uh there's a lot going on there yeah yeah so when did you start doing the start acting i started when i was nine really yeah i've been doing it uh 14 years
Guest:You were nine years old.
Guest:I was a kid after.
Marc:And you're Canadian, right?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's all a different thing, isn't it?
Guest:Very different, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, people are nice up there.
Marc:There seems to be less competition.
Guest:Actually, when I was nine, it was fiercely competitive.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Among kids in that age group.
Marc:Did you have like a bet noire?
Marc:Did you have somebody you hated?
Guest:Yeah, there were like three, I would say three guys that you see at every commercial audition.
Guest:I went on probably, realistically, probably upwards of...
Guest:A hundred commercial auditions in two years at nine.
Guest:And I only ever booked two of them.
Guest:The first one I ever went on, the first audition I ever went for.
Marc:For what was that for?
Marc:It was Tim Hortons, which do you know what that is?
Marc:Sure.
Marc:It's like, they have pretty good coffee.
Marc:I mean, it's like Dunkin' Donuts.
Guest:Yeah, it's a Canadian institution, you know.
Marc:No, but it's here now, too.
Marc:I always look forward to it.
Marc:I enjoyed the logo.
Marc:When I see Tim Hortons, I'm like, I'm going to go to Tim Hortons.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And they made one in New York on 34th Street, right across from Macy's.
Marc:And I was sort of like, oh, it's a Tim Hortons.
Marc:It got me.
Marc:I got hooked into it somehow.
Marc:Interesting.
Marc:And their coffee is pretty good.
Marc:It is what it is.
Marc:Well, and it's got kick.
Marc:It's like Dunkin' Donuts.
Marc:You drink a cup, and you're like, damn, man.
Guest:Yeah, and it's a drive-through.
Guest:I mean, in Canada, you just drive through.
Guest:Yeah, and they have donuts and hamburgers, I think, right?
Guest:I don't think they've ever done hamburgers.
Marc:No, but you can get lunch.
Guest:You can get a sandwich, yeah.
Guest:You can get a bread bowl soup.
Marc:A bread bowl, yeah.
Guest:Bring that in your car.
Marc:Sure, and work with that.
Guest:Yeah, eat it from the top to the bottom.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Got to move quick so it doesn't end up in your lap with a mobile bread bowl.
Right.
Guest:And you don't want it to dry out because then it's just a weird sandwich.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:No, it's just something happens bad.
Marc:Right.
Marc:So was your, but wait, now was your mom like a driving stage mom?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Oh, no.
Guest:Oh, no.
Guest:No.
Guest:I mean, driving literally.
Guest:She drove me and I, you know, I couldn't.
Marc:But it was your dream, not theirs?
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Yeah, fortunately.
Marc:Do you remember what inspired you, like a commercial?
Guest:I think Ghostbusters inspired me.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah, I think so.
Guest:I mean, as far as I can, because when I was four, I was saying I want to be an actor.
Marc:Right.
Guest:And I had gotten the chicken pox when I was three years old, and so for that week that I had them- A lot of TV.
Guest:It was all Ghostbusters just over and over, and I had it memorized.
Guest:Yeah, it was just my whole world.
Marc:You'd memorized Ghostbusters at three or four years old?
Marc:Yeah, that was my life.
Marc:Wow.
Wow.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You're not alone in memorizing things.
Guest:Right.
Marc:A lot of comics I've talked to and some directors have memorized shit.
Yeah.
Marc:Like Apatow used to write down the scripts of SNL sketches.
Guest:Oh, so he would- He would transcribe them.
Guest:Intentionally set about- Transcribed.
Guest:No kidding.
Marc:As a young man, he was like, and you've got to assume that people were, someone like him was starting to understand the mathematics of script writing because of this weird compulsion.
Guest:It's like Hunter Thompson.
Guest:Hunter Thompson used to rewrite Hemingway.
Guest:Did he really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because he said he wanted to feel what it would be like to write that great.
Guest:I had no idea.
Marc:That's a good piece of information.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's kind of like, it's like learning from the masters or something.
Guest:that's interesting like he would literally transcribe it entire books yeah entire books yeah yeah oh my god yeah i know it's it's an interesting method of of self-education and you chose ghostbusters not having yeah i mean and i wasn't doing it consciously you know i i just i was just like i liked playing right peter it was so fucking funny it's so amazing yeah and when you're three years old it's really that's like the best you get lost in it yeah
Marc:Are they making another one?
Marc:They are, right?
Guest:I think they are, yeah.
Marc:Are you going to be involved with that?
Guest:Not that I know of, no.
Marc:You should maybe call him.
Marc:Call Harold Ramis, whoever's in charge.
Guest:Yeah, but that would be playing with fire, I think, don't you think?
Guest:When something is so dear to you, and then I don't want to be the thing that goes in- And ruins- Exactly, in the third one.
Marc:The beautiful thing that you have in your heart from when you were a child.
Guest:Right, the thing that literally is responsible for-
Marc:For everything you are.
Guest:My life, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, you don't want to kill that.
Marc:That'd be certain.
Marc:That's another, I think we just wrote a movie.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:About the child actor who loves a certain movie, and then he gets cast in the sequel as an adult, and it's horrendously received, and he ends up destitute and sad.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And then the actor from the original one finds him on the street and says, it's not your fault.
Oh, man.
Yeah.
Guest:That would be incredible.
Guest:I actually met Bill Murray recently.
Guest:Really?
Guest:It was one of the most amazing moments of my life.
Marc:I think it would be amazing for anybody.
Marc:What was that like?
Guest:He was so nice.
Guest:Everyone knows the stories of him being just... He can kind of... Be a little bristly or rough.
Guest:Be really hard on you or accept you.
Guest:I was introduced to him by Jason Schwartzman, who he's got a warmth towards, so maybe that helped the situation.
Guest:He was just really great.
Guest:And I was about to go down to South America to work.
Guest:And he was talking to me about that and wished me luck.
Guest:And it really helped me on this project I went down to do.
Guest:It really stayed with me.
Marc:No kidding.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:How long did you spend it with him?
Marc:Did you have a meal?
Guest:No, it was, I mean, maybe five minutes.
Guest:What was the situation?
Guest:They were shooting.
Guest:They were shooting a movie.
Guest:And I went down to set.
Guest:we're here it was out here yeah okay yeah it was in uh west hollywood schwartzman call you and say he's gonna be yeah and i had some other friends working on it too you guys have sweet dispositions you know do you ever think you're gonna play killer or i would uh i would really like that yeah yeah i think it'd be fun maybe you should pursue that opportunity yeah um it'd be fun if you played a killer and did not change your disposition right that would be the scariest wouldn't it yeah just be really gentle
Marc:nobody sees it coming do it yeah okay so wait now before we get to this movie in south america which uh sounds compelling yeah which is why uh like we were gonna do this interview a few months ago right but then this came up yeah you said uh i thought there was some there was an issue with a bicycle too
Marc:Is that possible that you were going to ride your bike somewhere?
Marc:Maybe I'm making that up.
Marc:Do you ride a bike?
Guest:I do ride a bike, but I don't remember what that would have been.
Guest:Why it would come up?
Guest:Yeah, I don't know.
Guest:I don't know why I brought it up then.
Guest:I have no idea.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Maybe I was having bike troubles and I postponed.
Guest:Maybe I just used that as an excuse.
Marc:I'm shooting a movie, but this really has more to do with my bike.
Yeah.
Guest:Maybe that was the email.
Guest:I got some bike troubles I just can't ignore any longer.
Marc:I can't take on any other... I got to get a guy over here to adjust the spokes.
Guest:It really needs my full attention.
Marc:Yeah, I don't know how long this is going to take.
Guest:I can't get in that headspace right now.
Marc:I'm not with my bike like this.
Guest:I can't be introspective while my bike is in this condition.
Guest:Oh, shit.
Marc:All right, so your mom's driving you to auditions, buffering your disappointment.
Guest:My mom not only did that, but she also...
Guest:Yeah, buffering my disappointment, because really it was a lot of auditions.
Guest:It's brutal.
Guest:Yeah, and there were these three kids that you're like, oh, there's that guy, he's going to get this.
Guest:As soon as you walk in, you just know.
Marc:But did you hate him?
Marc:Did you hate his hair, his dumb face?
Guest:I hated the auditioning.
Guest:I hated the kind of acting.
Guest:You didn't hate the kid?
Guest:No, I mean, he was really good at doing this certain kind of commercial acting.
Guest:And where's that kid now?
Guest:Do you have any idea?
Guest:They're all successful, I think.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Okay.
Guest:Yeah, there's a few of them.
Guest:In Canada?
Guest:Yeah, and some of them have kind of broken through to the States, which is like this monumental challenge when you're growing up doing Canadian work.
Guest:It's not only because it's so competitive, but also because of the work permits, and it's just really complicated.
Marc:I've had problems up there.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I was flagged for a while for no reason.
Guest:Working up there?
Marc:Well, they wouldn't let me in a lot of times.
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:It was a big struggle to get in.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Because- They just knew you would be- But in my paperwork, the paperwork was screwed up.
Marc:I'd gone up to do a festival and they didn't have the proper paperwork in place and I'd driven up from Seattle, so they turned me away.
Marc:So on record, I was sent out of the country.
Guest:What a drag.
Marc:Just for nothing.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But for six years, it's a flag.
Marc:So I got to go through immigration.
Marc:Every time I go in, I got to go sit with the, you know, you never know what you're walking into.
Guest:It really depends on the guy's mood a lot of the time.
Marc:Always.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Like the only way I found out what the hell happened was some bitter customs guy who just had enough.
Marc:Like he was one of these guys like these kids, they don't do it.
Marc:They're not doing it right.
Marc:One of those guys was like, here's what happened.
Marc:Someone chose to flag you because of this reason and no one's going to take it off.
Marc:And it's really up to any individual who's sitting here to put you through whatever.
Marc:I'm like, that's the system.
Guest:Basically saying, I have the power right now.
Marc:Right, right.
Marc:He was easy on me because he wanted to kind of...
Marc:You know, get it out.
Marc:Yeah, right.
Marc:I appreciate that.
Guest:Clarify it.
Marc:But okay, so what, now your parents though, what kind of childhood, what are we looking at?
Marc:Dad, what did he do?
Guest:My dad has worked for Xerox.
Guest:Really?
Guest:For, I don't know, maybe 30 years now.
Marc:What do they do now?
Guest:He's a technician.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:So he does whatever's necessary.
Guest:He fixes his big copy machines and yeah, whatever's necessary.
Guest:He's really amazing at that stuff.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:He just fixes things.
Guest:We have a big screen TV at my parents' house.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It stopped working.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The picture stopped working.
Guest:He just took the circuit board out of it and just took a soldering iron and just fixed it.
Guest:That's amazing.
Guest:I would have just been like, oh my, I need a new TV.
Marc:You'd be driving it over to the store.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:He's amazing at that stuff.
Guest:He's built a bocce court in our backyard.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah, on a whim.
Guest:He just decided that it'd be cool.
Guest:That's the rolling balls?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So you got bocce?
Guest:But he built this beautiful court.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah, he's really impressive.
Marc:So he's a skilled craftsman.
Guest:Yeah, he is.
Marc:And an engineer, electrical engineer.
Guest:He's good with his hands, yeah.
Marc:And it's amazing to have somebody in the house like that.
Guest:Yeah, and he's musical.
Guest:He's an impressive guy.
Marc:So he plays music.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:He can solder.
Marc:And build a bocce court.
Guest:Right.
Guest:See, that's a real man.
Guest:That's what men do.
Guest:I mean, if it was a dating service.
Guest:That would be it.
Guest:Top five, right?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I'll take this guy.
Marc:And what's your mom do?
Marc:Break a lot of things in the house?
Guest:My mom, well, my mom moved down here with me.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:To do Arrested Development.
Guest:I needed a guardian.
Guest:And so she, up to then, she was doing this, she was doing daycare in our house.
Guest:She had her own daycare service.
Marc:Are they together still?
Guest:Yeah, they are.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:And so she stopped doing that to come down with me and live with me for the three years that we did the show.
Guest:How old were you when you started Arrested Development?
Guest:I think 14.
Marc:That's amazing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was, you know, I mean, that's like, it was a huge shift.
Marc:We're going to have to get to that, too, because I had Cross in here the other day, and I've known him for 20 years or so.
Marc:But the weird thing is I had him in here, and because we have such a long history together, I forgot to ask him about Arrested Development at all.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So I know that I've got an hour and a half conversation with Cross, and people are going to listen to it waiting for that.
Marc:I'm like, it's not happening.
Marc:There's a lot to cover with him, though.
Marc:Well, most of it, when I know people 20 years, it's just bullshit, like softball games when we were 20.
Marc:A bone to pick from 20 years ago.
Marc:Definitely.
Marc:Oh, yeah, there's always plenty of those.
Marc:Yeah, right.
Marc:But in terms of what was the first gig you got booked on?
Guest:the first uh aside from like no the commercials i mean oh yeah it was the tim hortons commercial oh that's right and then which was not really acting okay i was just playing with kids all day and we didn't get paid right and uh then my next job was a pillsbury commercial i poked i poked the doughboy you got to poke the doughboy i'm i'm you're a poker of the doughboy yeah you're and he went yeah i had my poker face
Marc:And was there a Doughboy there to poke or was that something they added later?
Guest:No, sadly.
Guest:So they had to, you know, work with me.
Guest:I was a nine-year-old kid.
Guest:Yeah, it was just like an eyeline.
Guest:And, you know, they also had to break the news to me that he didn't exist.
Marc:Oh, that's rough.
Guest:Which sent me into a real downward spiral.
Marc:Did you want to quit acting?
Guest:Yeah, I wanted to just quit childhood.
Guest:I wanted to give up any fantasy.
Guest:The dream was over.
Guest:I was just having this conversation last night that I remember distinctly my mother telling me there was no Santa Claus.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You do?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:How old?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:Maybe 10?
Guest:Uh-huh.
Guest:And then a few months later, brushing my teeth and just stopping and realizing... Wait, there's... So does that mean there's no tooth fairy also?
Guest:There's no Easter, but like it all dawning on me.
Guest:There's no, none of it.
Guest:There's no magic.
Marc:That was a bad morning.
Guest:It just all came crushing down on me.
Marc:Was that a morning teeth brushing or a night teeth brushing?
Marc:It might have been.
Marc:Did you have to go to sleep with the sad realization?
Marc:Yeah, right.
Marc:You didn't even have a date of process?
Yeah.
Guest:I don't even think I spat all the toothpaste out.
Guest:I just, I went into like a zombie.
Marc:Just dripping out of your mouth and just went to bed with toothpaste.
Guest:Just chewing on the pillow.
Marc:Yeah, so the Doughboy must have really cinched all that.
Guest:Right, yeah.
Guest:So then that, and then I did a Canadian television show.
Marc:As a kid.
Guest:As a kid, at 10 years old.
Guest:And then a few movies, like movies of the week, lifetime movies of the week, you know, nothing funny.
Marc:Did you get to work with anybody that was...
Guest:Lorraine Bracco played my mother.
Guest:Vincent D'Onofrio played my father in the Abbie Hoffman movie.
Guest:Oh, I remember that.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Steal this movie.
Marc:Yeah, Janine was in that.
Guest:Yeah, Janine Garofalo was my mom in that.
Guest:Right.
Guest:When I was 10 years old.
Guest:That was really great for me.
Marc:I don't identify you as a kid.
Marc:It's weird.
Marc:Or maybe you're just like forever whatever you are.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:Just this.
Marc:Ageless.
Marc:Yeah, this ageless guy.
Guest:Creature.
Marc:Okay, so that was all before Arrested Development.
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, that was when I was like 10, yeah.
Marc:And how did that come about?
Guest:Just auditioning?
Guest:That was it?
Guest:It was a cold audition?
Guest:Yeah, I was doing these acting classes when I was 8, 9 because a friend of mine was doing it.
Guest:It was just like improv games and stuff where you just start playing games with other kids.
Guest:And I had this really great teacher one year who pulled my mom aside after one of the classes and he said, hey, maybe you guys should consider getting an agent because you could probably make a little money for school or for whatever and...
Guest:He was really encouraging.
Guest:He just said, I think Michael could get some work.
Guest:And this when you were nine?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Eight or nine.
Guest:And I remember walking out of that just feeling so full of... Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, I felt so happy.
Guest:I'm going to be a star, man.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, the possibility of that and just that he believed in me in that way.
Guest:It was really nice.
Marc:And did your mother do that thing?
Marc:It was, do you want to do this?
Marc:I mean, she knew I did.
Guest:I was really excited about it.
Guest:Yeah, I loved doing it.
Guest:And I still do.
Guest:I've always really loved working and getting to play like that.
Marc:So you just went in for an audition for Arrested Development?
Guest:I sent a tape.
Guest:Actually, I had done a show the year before for Fox that nobody has ever seen called The Grubs.
Guest:We did eight episodes.
Guest:It was in front of a studio audience with Randy Quaid.
Guest:It was on TV, right?
Guest:It never aired, no.
Guest:Maybe they showed commercials.
Guest:but uh they show commercials yeah but they killed it yeah i don't know it's really hard to understand we did eight episodes and then they came in and said no more um and they replaced us with this kind of mid-season replacement that also failed you know just um it was just one of those weird things they just i don't know they just felt like it wasn't working huh but that led to me getting arrested development because these casting people at fox knew me and um and mitch herwitz had seen the grubs
Guest:Apparently.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:According to him, he had seen it and he said, I like that kid from the grubs.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then, so yeah, then I sent in a tape for Arrested Development and came in and booked it.
Marc:And then history was made.
Guest:Yeah, although I came so close to not being able to do it because of work permit stuff.
Marc:Oh, not because the other kid from Canada?
Guest:No, it was not that.
Guest:It was like they were shooting the pilot and they had started and the work permit had not come in.
Guest:And so they kept me around and they were like, look, we can keep you around like two, three days.
Guest:We can delay shooting your scenes.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But after like Thursday, we got to hire someone else because we have to shoot this pilot.
Guest:So me and my mom were in the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey and they were shooting in the Marina on a boat.
Guest:There was this yacht sequence in the pilot.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And we're just looking out the window at them on this yacht and sitting in the hotel room and it was terrible.
Guest:Crying?
Guest:Was there crying?
Guest:I mean, it hadn't gotten to that point yet, but I was really sure that- And you didn't go stand on the dock?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:With the long face?
Guest:With the wind blowing in my hair, watching this future be taken away.
Marc:Yeah, on a boat.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Had they brought in another kid?
Guest:I think so.
Guest:I think they had a kid standing by, yeah.
Marc:oh kid standing by yeah that's the name of your book just salivating did you have any was there any sense like uh from the beginning that it was gonna be so you know such a tremendous not not hit in the in the biggest sense of the word but that people were gonna lock into that like did you know you were doing something completely unique or was it just i was so excited about the cast
Marc:Oh, my God.
Guest:So funny, man.
Guest:We did readings where we all auditioned with Jobes, the Will Arnett character.
Guest:And so these five guys came in.
Guest:And it was the first time I'd ever seen- Because they hadn't casted it yet?
Guest:They hadn't cast that.
Guest:And Tony Hale was there as Buster, but he hadn't been cast yet.
Guest:But they had him in there reading.
Guest:And he was like, I don't know if I have this part or not.
Guest:And what he was doing was so funny.
Guest:And then these five guys came in, and they were all funny.
Guest:And Will was the last one.
Guest:And he really just was-
Guest:So different.
Marc:So you were already cast?
Guest:Yeah, I was cast.
Marc:And they were casting other people and they were seeing the chemistry.
Guest:Yeah, and Jason was there and a few other people had been cast.
Guest:But Will coming in was so, it really just changed the whole thing.
Guest:Because other people had been reading the part very differently.
Guest:almost more like, uh, Tobias, like David crosses, like they were very gentle, you know, they're like staging this intervention in the pilot and they would all be kind of condescending.
Guest:And we'll just had this, that attitude that he has right from the start.
Guest:He just brought that in and it was all him.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And we, it was like electrifying.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:In terms of comedic sensibility, I mean, all those dudes are so, you know, high-level comedic actors.
Marc:I mean, did you see yourself as a comedic actor at that time?
Guest:I felt so lucky to be, you know, to get that part.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Even though, I mean, I'm not, you know, my role in the show is kind of, it's grounded in this family element.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But I was just so excited to be on that team, you know, and to...
Marc:But you have a great sort of almost strangely unique and stilted timing around how you do funny.
Guest:Yeah, and I have this strange thrust right from the beginning, which is I'm in love with my cousin.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Which is fun.
Guest:It's a really fun thing.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I mean, it's so weird.
Marc:I just saw her in a movie.
Marc:Yeah, Elia Shokat.
Marc:I saw her in Lie, The Lie, in Joshua Leonard's movie.
Marc:It's an independent film.
Marc:Right, right, right.
Marc:I just went to a screening of that.
Marc:It's a sweet movie.
Marc:I haven't seen it.
Marc:She's got a small part.
Marc:Right.
Marc:I remember her talking about it.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:The movie's really great.
Guest:Yeah, my friend Mark Webber's in that.
Marc:Yeah, where's he from?
Guest:He and I worked together on Scott Pilgrim.
Guest:Oh, that's right.
Guest:He's in that.
Marc:That's a great movie.
Marc:That was a good time, no?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Guest:I love that movie.
Guest:I'm really happy, proud of it.
Guest:But he's amazing.
Guest:He's been around for years and he's just one of those.
Guest:He's one of those guys where you see him and it's like, that's that guy.
Guest:He's always solid and, yeah.
Marc:It's an interesting movie.
Marc:I don't know if it's going to get a big release, but I think it's going to be on Netflix soon, like available.
Marc:I don't know how they're doing it.
Marc:It's very weird how things are released now.
Marc:Have you got movies in the can that you don't know whether they're going to be out?
Guest:Well, this movie in Chile, I really don't know what the future of that movie is going to be.
Marc:But you went to Chile.
Guest:Yeah, but there's no money.
Guest:It was shot in 12 days with a crew of- Do you play Allende?
Yeah.
Guest:no no but i ended my career by doing it but literally like this sander is one of one of the crew you know it was like just a handful of guys that ernie was on the crew yeah ernie it was a really small movie i don't know um you know i think maybe it'll get into some festivals or something what's it about
Guest:it's about uh it's called crystal fairy it's about this woman named crystal fairy who's like this kind of hippie strange woman and she's in santiago and so am i and i'm this american also and we meet and um oh boy it's so funny describing it out loud it's very it's just it's not really uh it's kind of a meandering movie you know there's not a real thrust who directed it this chilean guy named sebastian silva who's amazing
Marc:Did you know of him before you got asked to do this movie?
Guest:Yeah, he did a movie called The Maid a few years ago.
Marc:I remember that.
Guest:Yeah, and so I was in New York one day, and it was freezing.
Guest:It was in January, and I went into a theater to get out of the cold, and it was just starting, this movie.
Marc:A small movie.
Guest:Yeah, very small, and just playing on a handful of screens.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And I saw it.
Guest:It was just starting, and I walked in and just loved it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then got to meet him, and we're doing another movie together this year.
Guest:So it's exciting to work with.
Guest:So you're going to be his guy.
Guest:Well, we're going to do these two films.
Marc:It's like Scorsese and De Niro.
Marc:It's like, this is it.
Guest:That would be fantastic.
Guest:I would love to find a guy like that.
Marc:Were you just in every movie?
Guest:Yeah, where you just really work well together and have a bunch of exciting collaborations together.
Guest:That's such a dream.
Guest:Have you had trouble with directors?
Guest:No, I've had amazing luck with directors.
Guest:Well, I mean, who directed most of the Arrested Developments?
Guest:There were a handful of guys.
Guest:Paul Feig did a lot.
Guest:Greg Mottola.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Jay Chandra Sekar.
Guest:Mm-hmm.
Guest:But TV's a little different.
Marc:But in movies, I'm trying to remember.
Marc:Who directed Scott Pilgrim?
Guest:That was Edgar Wright.
Marc:You know him?
Marc:No, I don't.
Guest:He did Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Guest:Yeah, of course.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:Did this amazing show called Spaced.
Guest:Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Guest:It's a British show, right?
Guest:They do a lot of stuff together.
Guest:i need to watch more those are my favorite you know there's like a handful of british shows that have really had a profound effect on me like which garth merengue's dark place did you ever watch that no for some reason nobody knows that one but it's so i'm not an idiot at least no nobody you know nobody in london even it's called garth merengue's dark place
Marc:And it's British?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And they don't know it in Britain?
Guest:No.
Guest:They just did six episodes.
Marc:Are you sure it exists?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:Yeah, I know.
Guest:I'm pretty... I'm very sure it exists.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Not something you're making up?
Guest:I don't think so.
Guest:I'd be so proud of myself.
Guest:That would be amazing if I could just... What is that?
Marc:What's the impact of that on you?
Guest:Well, it's just so funny.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:And so well done.
Guest:You know, they have such a high standard of quality over there.
Yeah.
Marc:I don't know why I'm wired to... I obviously watch Python a lot, but I didn't keep up with a lot of it because I'm more wired, Jewish, neurotic, kind of manic American, insecurity-driven comedy, and I don't know that I ever... What about The Office, though?
Guest:That's what that is, basically, right?
Guest:No, that's great.
Marc:Pure insecurity.
Marc:That thing, Ricky Gervais...
Marc:in that is just, and I'm not obviously the first to say this, it was something beyond anything I could have.
Marc:I mean, it's like, it's unexplainable.
Guest:Yeah, it's true.
Marc:How amazing he is in that show.
Guest:I just rewatched that.
Guest:I hadn't seen it in years.
Guest:And man, he's just finds these moments
Guest:There's never a false moment with that character.
Guest:Everything he does is something you've seen before.
Marc:The scene where he dances, that to me was beyond anything I could, like where he's like, he's going to show them.
Marc:And he does that thing and the intensity that he puts into it is so vulnerable.
Guest:And then he can't admit how bad it was afterwards.
Guest:Right.
Marc:But there's never been a bigger asshole that you love so much.
Guest:Right.
Marc:And he's not an asshole in the standard asshole way just because he's so self-involved.
Guest:Although he can be.
Guest:There are some moments that I'd forgotten where he gets really viciously ugly.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Mean with other people.
Marc:No, that's true.
Guest:And they kind of brush past it.
Guest:They don't linger on it.
Guest:But there are some moments where he'll insult a woman for her looks or something.
Guest:And it's just like, whoa, you are so insecure.
Marc:But he's still grounded in this delusional self-centeredness.
Marc:He's always sympathetic.
Guest:He's so lonely.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, he's just so, I mean, that's- It's so odd, because I don't, you know, he sort of annoys me in other things, like, you know, publicly.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Jerez does a little bit.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I don't have- Have you ever had him on the show?
Marc:No, I don't know how to get to him.
Marc:Oh.
Marc:But I'd like to, but I think I find him a little- Fascinating.
Marc:I find him a little intimidating on some level, but also I find, I don't know whether he's sort of, you know, kind of a pompous ass or not.
Yeah.
Guest:I know, it's really hard, because that show, he seemed to have this real grasp on humanity, and on someone who's so up their own ass that they can't see themselves.
Marc:And same with extras, too.
Marc:I thought that was very humbling, and I liked a lot of those.
Marc:But when I see him do stand-up or I see him on talk shows, and every publicity shot of him has that same weird look with his mouth open.
Marc:I'm like, I've had enough.
Marc:I mean, I'm annoyed at the billboards, and that affects me.
Marc:Right, yeah, I know what you're saying.
Marc:And I get the feeling that he thinks everything's beneath him, but I'm projecting, and certainly if I had the opportunity to talk to him, I would.
Guest:Yeah, that thing that he's tapping into now, that kind of careless, controversial guy, is not what I really gravitated towards him for in the first place.
Marc:So I don't really have- The necessity to infuse atheism into almost every statement he makes publicly.
Guest:Right, right.
Guest:I mean, you know, but it really, I think re-watching The Office made me re-appreciate him in that because I had kind of forgotten, you know, based on all that stuff he's doing now, I'd forgotten how impressive he is in that.
Marc:Oh, it's so subtle.
Marc:And again, another guy with an amazingly unique comedic timing.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Like it's completely his own.
Guest:And it's so amazing right out the gate how much he goes for it just because that character is someone who wants to be funny.
Guest:So that gives him this free reign as a performer on the show to just do all this.
Marc:To be profoundly unfunny and funny because of it.
Guest:And it's true to the character.
Guest:It's really smart.
Marc:Well, I had this amazing moment with an interview with a British comedian who I think is spectacular.
Guest:Who's that?
Marc:Stuart Lee.
Marc:And I never knew of him until an American comic who spent time there was like, you've got to see this guy.
Marc:Oh, I don't know him.
Marc:And he's completely original and completely unique in his delivery and his timing and a very brilliant guy.
Marc:And that really, like I'm just not, I don't feel like it's xenophobia or anything snobby about my approach to British comedy.
Marc:It's just not in my face.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You know, I have to make choices to go find it.
Marc:Right.
Guest:Well, because there's a lot of bad ones too.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:There's a lot of big.
Marc:Well, that's what I was associated with, men wearing wigs and speaking loudly.
Guest:Right.
Guest:You kind of have to dig for the, it's kind of like over here, you know, if something's good, you have to.
Marc:What about Canadians?
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, Canada has this really strange track record for television and just content.
Guest:It's really odd.
Marc:Do you know the McKinney brothers?
Marc:Do you know the Kids in the Hall guys?
Guest:I don't know the McKinney brothers.
Marc:Well, Mark McKinney and his brother Nick.
Guest:His brothers?
Marc:Yeah, Nick had a sketch show on Comedy Central here for a while.
Marc:But yeah, where the Kids in the Hall?
Guest:Yeah, I mean, Kids in the Hall was amazing.
Guest:Which part of Canada did you grow up in?
Guest:In Toronto.
Guest:Or outside of Toronto.
Marc:That's a good town.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So they were there.
Marc:Did you ever get to see them?
Guest:No, I mean, I don't know when did they end.
Guest:Probably 90s, right?
Marc:You were born when?
Guest:88.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I remember watching them every day.
Guest:It was on every day at 530.
Guest:And it's just such an amazing thing to discover.
Marc:And you never wanted to do sketch.
Guest:I did a little bit of that.
Guest:That never was an ambition of mine just because of the way I kind of stumbled into Arrested Development and that being kind of the first opportunity to do something funny, really.
Marc:Now, when does the movie shoot?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I think hopefully this summer.
Marc:You're in, right?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I just think it's so hypothetical.
Marc:Still?
Guest:Until it happens.
Guest:Well, only because there isn't a script yet.
Guest:But it seems like now everyone kind of believes that it's going to happen.
Marc:Have you all met together?
Marc:Or was everyone just sort of like, what's going to happen, right?
Guest:We did this thing in New York in October for the New Yorker Festival.
Marc:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:And that was the first time we had all been together.
Guest:Yeah, it was a panel, like a reunion thing.
Guest:And that was the first time I'd seen a lot of those people in like six years.
Marc:Tambor, what was... Tambor's amazing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Oh my God, he's the most amazing guy.
Guest:He used to just get changed with his door wide open, the trailer door.
Guest:I've seen him in his underwear.
Marc:I have a feeling that he strikes me as a guy with no personal boundaries whatsoever.
Guest:I think that... I don't think he does have personal boundaries.
Guest:I think he likes to make a game of breaking them down.
Guest:Like the first time I...
Guest:the the first time i introduced him to my mother yeah this is episode two of the show we were doing a table read and he was just walking by and i went jeffrey this is my mother linda and he walks by he goes i don't want to meet your fucking mother and just walks goes away and then like 10 seconds later me and my mom were stunned like about to pack our bags and he comes back and gives her a kiss on the cheek you know he's just like
Guest:He's just like, you just have to be okay with this.
Marc:Well, that's just funny, because if you told that story about anybody else, you'd be like, what the fuck?
Marc:But for some reason with him, you're like, of course he did that.
Marc:It makes sense, yeah.
Marc:Was he always fucking with people like that?
Guest:Yes, and he could just do things like that, just be mean like that, and you just knew it was coming from an okay play.
Marc:But did he probably make up for it, usually?
Guest:He never had to, because he was never really angry, except I did see him have an angry outburst once.
Guest:Really?
Guest:And it was really scary, because everyone thought he was joking at first.
Marc:I bet you it would be scary.
Marc:He seems like a scary guy in some ways.
Marc:He's a big guy, right?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:He's intimidating.
Guest:But in fairness, he was in a very uncomfortable situation where we were doing a bit on when he's found in a hole, like a rabbit hole, like Saddam Hussein, you know, we do that.
Guest:And so he's down there and sand is getting kicked into his eyes.
Guest:So that was kind of starting to get to him.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And then he was like, how many more of these are we going to do?
Guest:And someone laughed and he was like, what the fuck are you laughing at?
Guest:You know, that kind of thing.
Guest:Right, right, right.
Marc:But he could get away with it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, he gets away with it because he has such warmth, I think.
Marc:Well, it's weird to know how long... I believe I'm going to interview him at South by Southwest.
Guest:It'd be amazing.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I never had seen Larry Sanders when we were shooting.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And if I had, I think I really would have been unable to talk to him.
Guest:I just would have been in awe.
Yeah.
Marc:That thing is amazing.
Guest:That's one of my favorite performances.
Guest:I mean, he's so consistent.
Guest:It's unbelievable.
Marc:The whole arc of that series is mind-blowing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And his character.
Marc:It's similar to the Gervais character in a way.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:But I'm not talking in terms of anyone copying anything.
Marc:But I would say that all the characters on Larry Sanders, unlike The Office, is that they're hyper self-aware in some weird way.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:Like there's this bravado to all of them, but then there's this paralyzing, spiraling insecurity to every character on there except for, you know, Rip Torn.
Guest:Yeah, Rip Torn seems pretty solid.
Marc:But even he has his moments, which kind of breaks down.
Guest:Yeah, right.
Marc:The show is his identity.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like there's that moment where the show is ending and he just goes into the workup closet and just cries.
Marc:Oh, God.
Marc:It's really nice.
Marc:Did you watch that recently?
No.
Guest:That show?
Guest:Yeah, the series.
Guest:Yeah, once it all came out on DVD.
Marc:But Tambor was in Injustice for All.
Marc:Injustice for All with Al Pacino.
Marc:Oh, the Al Pacino movie, yeah.
Marc:I mean, he was amazing in that.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:He loses his money.
Guest:He's been around a long time.
Guest:Right.
Marc:And he's very Jewish, right?
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:I don't say that in a bad way.
Guest:I'm Jewish.
Marc:You're not Jewish, are you?
Guest:No, I'm not, no.
Marc:What's your background?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Well, my father is Italian.
Guest:Like Italian-Italian?
Guest:He grew up in Sicily, yeah.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You wouldn't believe it if you saw him.
Marc:See, now he's like an Antonioni character.
Marc:He belongs in a movie like The Bicycle Thief.
Marc:He's fixing things.
Guest:Right.
Guest:He's like this young boy growing up in Italy.
Guest:This doe-eyed little boy.
Guest:And that was the way it was?
Guest:Yeah, I think that's who he was.
Guest:Fixing TVs as a child?
Guest:Maybe bicycles?
Guest:Speaking Italian.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Do you?
Guest:No, no, I would.
Marc:How do you grow up with a man in the house and not pick up a second language?
Guest:I really wish I had.
Guest:All my first cousins are bilingual.
Marc:Oh, you were given a gift and you didn't take it.
Guest:Maybe if my mom were Italian speaking, we would have had the balance in the household.
Marc:Really, but she doesn't like Italians in general?
Guest:She hates Italians, yeah, which is why she married him.
Guest:She's not even racist.
Guest:She's only racist towards Italians.
Marc:It's a strange specific thing.
Marc:And that's what's kept your family together so long.
Guest:Right.
Guest:That's the glue.
Marc:Where's your mom?
Marc:What's her background?
Guest:She grew up in Montreal.
Marc:She's Canadian.
Marc:Does she speak French?
Guest:No.
Marc:So it's a family thing with you guys.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You're surrounded by a second language, but you just refuse to.
Guest:I had no hope of being bilingual.
Guest:Although now I pretty much speak Spanish fluently.
Guest:Is that true?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I studied before going down to South America.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So you have a knack for it?
Guest:Well, I really studied pretty intensely.
Guest:What did you use?
Marc:The Rosetta Stone?
Guest:Berlitz.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah, I went and studied with a woman.
Marc:Oh, okay.
Guest:Because this movie we're going to do this year, I'm going to be speaking Spanish in it.
Marc:The whole movie?
Guest:Not the whole movie, but my character is fluent.
Marc:I wish I could communicate.
Marc:I feel stupid for not knowing a second language.
Marc:There gets a point, especially when you live in L.A., where it's like, I really should, out of respect and out of practicality, know how to speak the language.
Guest:It is nice to break it out now and then.
Marc:Is it?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Do you impress friends and family?
Marc:Sometimes, yeah.
Marc:Let's get back to the Arrested Development movie for a minute.
Marc:It's going to happen.
Marc:It seems like it, yeah.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:I think it is.
Marc:You have no idea what the storyline is.
Guest:No.
Guest:Although, you know, what I think the idea is now is that we're going to do nine episodes before the movie.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:We're going to do nine episodes, one for each character, kind of giving some backstory.
Marc:Oh, just reset.
Guest:Yeah, right, because Mitch figured, you know, if you were to spend five minutes on each character in a movie, just catching them up, that's like, you know, a good hour of the movie already.
Marc:But it's also, you know, spending an episode with the character six years later or whatever, or however long it's been.
Guest:Right, seeing where we're at, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, so that could be interesting, because I would think that with a few of these characters, things have gotten sort of grim.
Guest:Yeah, you would think.
Guest:I think that's what he's planning on doing.
Marc:Yeah, and the whole cast is on board.
Guest:Yeah, absolutely.
Marc:That's great.
Guest:I can't wait.
Marc:Is there a network commitment to it?
Marc:Is Fox going to do it?
Guest:No, I think Netflix is doing the shows.
Guest:That's the way to do it.
Guest:Yeah, it's smart.
Marc:Yeah, goddammit.
Marc:Now, the music thing, is that something you're pursuing actively?
Guest:No, I don't think I'm, I don't, I'm not good enough to pursue it.
Guest:It's just sort of, you know, I mean, have you ever done that?
Guest:Have you ever thought about doing a band?
Marc:I think about it a lot, and I played with a band recently, and I play a lot in here, and I play the records, and I enjoy playing it.
Marc:I'm not bad at it, but when I play with other people, I get nervous, and I fuck it up.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Like, I played recently with them, and it was like, they wanted me to play really loud, and I'm like, really, just, I'm going to be okay back here, and I need more light, I can't see my fingers.
Marc:You know, that kind of... Right.
Right.
Marc:So it didn't go as well as I would have hoped.
Guest:That's something I scream out in the middle of the night for some weird reason.
Guest:I need light.
Guest:I can't see my fingers.
Guest:Where's the light?
Guest:I wake myself up screaming this.
Marc:Yeah, I understand.
Marc:If Santa Claus were still in place, you wouldn't have those problems.
Marc:But I think that was the beginning of a long, horrible night panic for you.
Guest:Yeah, that sent me into this spiral of not knowing what's real.
Guest:Am I real?
Guest:I can't see my... Where are my hands?
Marc:No, you're obviously very professional, and you seem well-grounded for the most part.
Marc:Right.
Marc:You don't seem fucked up.
Marc:Are you fucked up?
Guest:Not today.
Marc:You got something you want to say?
Marc:I'm okay today.
Marc:You need to tell the world something?
Marc:Are you hiding some sort of horrible pain and terror?
Guest:It really depends on the breakfast I have, I think.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It's that simple, though?
Marc:I think today I hit a good note.
Marc:What'd you have for breakfast?
Guest:Just a bowl of cereal, just some coffee.
Guest:Cereal.
Marc:Had some life.
Marc:Good.
Marc:You had life cereal.
Guest:That's your thing?
Guest:Well, I thought we were going to get reflective today, and I just wanted to start early.
Marc:Have we gotten reflective?
Guest:Not as deep as I was preparing myself for.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Because you listen to the show?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Actually, last night, this is maybe very ill-advised, but I was at a party and I was telling some friends of mine I was going to do this show.
Marc:I don't know which one.
Guest:And, yeah, my friend Nick says, oh, you have to listen to the Todd Hansen.
Guest:Oh, boy, yeah.
Guest:Before you go on.
Guest:So I listened to it last night in bed as I'm falling asleep.
Guest:Oh, my God.
Guest:What's going to happen to me tomorrow?
Marc:You had to manufacture some existential grief of some kind.
Guest:I had to work on high to get, I think, just...
Marc:Well, I mean, but it's I mean, it seems like you've had not I mean, to be your age and to have as gifted a life on some level.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I've met people like that before.
Marc:I would assume that and I'm projecting here and I'll just throw it out there.
Marc:I would assume that that the concern would be how do I where do I go from here?
Guest:Right.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And how do I sustain this?
Guest:Yeah, or not sustain it.
Guest:You know, sustaining seems to be the obvious thing, but it's impossible, though.
Guest:I mean, I think if that's your... You know, it's a hard thing to maintain a certain level of success.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Something.
Guest:I find that really hard to... And also, that's never been my... That was never my goal from the outset to maintain a certain level of... Well, you were nine.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right.
Guest:You're just doing it because you like being on set and you like doing the scenes.
Marc:And that has stayed with you.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, that's... But when you're at the level you're at and you have agents and you have relationships with huge filmmakers who are fans of yours and you've done big movies and you're very public...
Marc:I mean, even in the small way that I'm doing this podcast is the biggest thing I've ever done.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And every day I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Guest:Right.
Marc:You know, I'm, you know, I'm thinking like, you know, I'm going to say something.
Marc:Someone's going to realize that, oh my God, this guy just goes through cycles and cycles of panic.
Marc:And what I thought was growth is really, was just an upturn.
Marc:And eventually people, I'm going to exhaust people of my bullshit.
Right.
Marc:It hasn't happened yet though, right?
Marc:No, but I have to assume that, like I said this yesterday, that when you're anxious and full of dread and you have nothing going on, you can only go up from there.
Marc:So that dread, there's a consistency to that that's almost, it feels like home.
Marc:But when you're in the middle of something,
Guest:Do you find that's a cycle?
Guest:That's like, is that like, you know, deep sea diving where you like hold your breath and then you go to the ocean floor and then you're down there again and you just have to go up for air, you know?
Marc:Well, I find now because, you know, I don't have time to really complain because that becomes a real issue is that, you know, are you going to go to that place and talk about it when visibly everything is going okay for you?
Marc:Right.
Marc:And if you do that, you know, how the hell, you know, people are going to be like, well, what the fuck does he want?
Guest:Yeah, absolutely.
Marc:Why can't he accept that things are going okay?
Marc:And then you realize, like, I don't know what I want.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Yeah, no, that's really true.
Guest:I mean, I had a real, you know, I had a moment a few years ago where I was like, do I want to keep doing this?
Guest:Am I perpetuating something that I don't really even... Which is what?
Guest:Perpetuating what?
Yeah.
Guest:uh well i was having a hard time with just being being um typecast as michael cera no being no that was you know i mean i was fine with any of the work element it was just the stuff that was coming with it that i was starting to feel really burdened by like what
Guest:Um, you know, being judged or being, you know, having people kind of have an opinion about you.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Even though you can't say you didn't sign up for it.
Guest:Right.
Guest:But also having this pressure to maintain, you know, to, to, um, keep going down that path, which, you know, which is, seems like the only choice.
Guest:It's like, yeah, why would you stop working now when you're like doing well?
Marc:Right.
Marc:But there's also that, but like, what the fuck are you going to do?
Marc:Right.
Marc:What are you going to get a job at a store?
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:what are you going to do you kind of yeah you kind of and deny who you are when people go hey you're that's the thing yeah you're just saying that guy looks exactly like me that's the thing is that um you can't deny it you know that that's really that was my first reaction because i was like 18 you know i was 18 when this got like that when super bad came out that week it was literally like that week where um walking down the street was just very different all of a sudden right and that was really strange and um
Marc:But good?
Guest:No, no, not good.
Guest:Not good.
Guest:No, I mean, it was it was exciting that the movie was big.
Guest:But I mean, but it's not it's like it's a weird you lose.
Guest:You have this feeling of losing control and not your life isn't your own anymore.
Guest:Right, and getting that back is not really an option.
Guest:So you lose an option that looks a lot more valuable in retrospect.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Your privacy and your anonymity.
Marc:And your control.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Because now, once you're on that level, once you're a game piece in the big board, there's always people going like, well, when's that piece going to be taken off the board?
Guest:Right.
Marc:Like, what happened to that guy?
Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Marc:No one asked for that.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You know, all of a sudden you're, you're, you're elevated to this place.
Guest:Right.
Marc:And all you're hoping for is like, you don't want to be the, whatever happened to that guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it really happens of no do, you know, no device of your own.
Guest:It just happens.
Marc:It's horrible.
Marc:And now given the accessibility people have through social networking that it's just, it's, it's, it's insane in show business specifically that you can just see the arc of,
Marc:of decay i mean you know you have decay and and sort of fading away that that happens yeah and and you always want to have the most dramatic thought about like how they live with themselves now they don't know but a lot of people are just sort of like i'm done i'm living life yeah i save money oh yeah absolutely yeah like there are actors i see on tv where you're like what the fuck has that guy been doing
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:What has he been doing for 20 years?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:How's he been coping?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, just sitting around eating cereal, wondering when the next job is.
Marc:Right.
Marc:But the weird thing is, once you're in trouble, you realize that people get paid pretty well sometimes.
Marc:And if there's a year or two where you're not working, you're all right.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You're not sitting around.
Marc:The day that your Siri stops, all of a sudden, you're like, I got to live outside.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That doesn't happen.
Yeah.
Guest:No, I mean, and the real path of the, you know, the typical child actor that grows up and becomes an adult is like a very unfortunate way.
Guest:It's a really sad story normally.
Marc:Almost always.
Guest:And you can see a handful of, you know, I mean, you can see the path people are on.
Marc:Sure.
Guest:Very clearly.
Guest:You can kind of see where it ends.
Marc:Well, there is that thing, because also what you're playing against is like the freakishness of seeing that child, the beloved child, as an adult.
Guest:Right.
Guest:It's very, it's disconcerting.
Guest:It is.
Guest:Yeah, it is.
Guest:Oh my God, what happened?
Guest:Yeah, all of a sudden they show up.
Guest:What happened to their face?
Guest:It's never comfortable.
Marc:But, you know, you have been in, you know, you've grown up on screen in a way and you still maintain, you know, you've done all your changes.
Marc:I try to soften the blow.
Marc:No, you've done all your changes.
Marc:It's not going to, unless you put on 50 pounds.
Guest:You think I've arrived at where I'm going to?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I've done all my changes.
Guest:I think so.
Guest:This is me in 10 years.
Guest:Yeah, give or take.
Guest:Boy, that would be nice.
Guest:I could really avoid startling people.
Marc:Well, you're lucky because it wasn't like you were 10 and then all of a sudden it's like, what happened to that guy?
Marc:It's like, oh, he's on a show.
Marc:Like, holy shit.
Guest:That's difficult.
Guest:I mean, I know there are some people that have gone through that.
Guest:The kid from Malcolm in the Middle.
Guest:Frankie Munoz?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, where's he at?
Guest:I think he became a race car driver.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:So there's an option?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Don't think I haven't considered it.
Guest:I just don't want people to say he's copying Frank Munoz.
Marc:I like that a child actor actually made enough money and got enough fame to pursue a childhood dream.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Maybe he'd be a fireman.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Or an astronaut.
Marc:Why not?
Marc:Right.
Marc:Why not?
Marc:No, but I understand that.
Marc:So you live with that.
Guest:Yeah, now I kind of like it.
Guest:There was a moment where it took me a few years to just deal with that and figure out how not to fight it, how not to constantly react in a bad way to being recognized.
Guest:It was ugly for a while for me.
Guest:I really couldn't deal with it.
Marc:It's weird when I get recognized.
Marc:I know it's from a podcast, so I'm sort of impressed.
Marc:I'm like, wow, you're like Marc Maron.
Marc:I'm like, holy shit.
Marc:You don't even know what I look like.
Marc:But I do comedy and stuff.
Marc:Because I can see that...
Marc:You're very specific.
Marc:You know, you're who you are.
Marc:So, I mean, I would imagine that the challenge is, and you're saying when you mentioned that, like, how do I get away from that?
Marc:You make different career choices to challenge yourself.
Guest:Well, that's what I like about it is that...
Marc:and challenge the expectation yeah i think i've arrived in a place where people um don't expect anything surprising which um i kind of find exciting you know because you can play off of that it seems like double-edged sword though because then it's like um you know they don't expect anything surprising so on some way i can just keep doing the same thing until people don't like me right right or you can do something surprising right which is the road you're taking
Marc:Or trying to.
Marc:I mean, you know, hoping to.
Marc:And did you find that these recent parts that you're doing in the South American movie that might not get released or whatever?
Marc:Right, yeah.
Marc:Was that different?
Guest:Yeah, it is different.
Guest:It's a different kind of movie, I think.
Guest:You know, what's fun is to find a director who...
Guest:has no has no preconceived notion of what you know what using me means whereas here i feel like there might be a you know if someone's putting me in a movie and putting money into it it's maybe because they're expecting a certain thing no surprises but he doesn't have that yeah so i mean so you know it's nice to work with someone who doesn't really have any kind of doesn't give a shit about your career arc and they're just using you in this way that they think is amusing and
Marc:What are some of the dream parts that you would like to do?
Marc:What kind of movie would you like to be involved with?
Guest:I'd like to do a really weird, a very...
Guest:Like alienating film.
Guest:I think that would be, you know.
Marc:Like a 1970s.
Guest:Like a Michael Haneke movie or something.
Guest:Which ones are his?
Guest:You know, he did like Funny Games and The Piano Teacher.
Guest:The Piano Teacher.
Guest:I think that would be really fun.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, it's amazing.
Guest:Piano Teachers.
Guest:What's that about?
Guest:It's Isabelle Huppert.
Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:French actress.
Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:And she lives with her mother.
Marc:I saw this.
Marc:What does she do?
Marc:She gets involved with a... With a young guy.
Marc:Yeah, right, right, right.
Guest:And then it's just this psychological wrestling match between them.
Guest:Right.
Guest:It's a power struggle.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And then he gets completely on top of her.
Guest:And I mean, the ending is just amazing.
Guest:She comes unhinged somehow, right?
Guest:Yeah, completely.
Guest:She's just, I mean, she's totally crazy.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And just so guarded in the beginning.
Guest:And then she lets her guard down and lets him in.
Guest:And he gets to her and then she just loses her mind.
Marc:So you want to be the Isabelle Huppert character?
Guest:That would be great, yeah, if we could redo that.
Guest:Reverse the roles.
Guest:That would be really fun.
Marc:That would be.
Marc:So you want to do something psychologically menacing.
Marc:The guitar instructor.
Marc:Now, do you have friends outside of Weber?
Marc:Do you hang out with the other comedy guys, like Jonah Hill or any of those dudes?
Guest:Yeah, I hang out with those guys.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Um, no, I haven't seen Jonah in a while.
Guest:He's kind of been working all over the place.
Marc:He's becoming a big star.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He's all over.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:So I haven't seen him in a long time, but, um, we, we became really close when we were doing this super bad promotional tour.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:To the point where, you know, I mean, we were together every day.
Guest:We promoted that movie for like two months.
Marc:I like him because like, you know, it's interesting even that, you know, he sort of grew up in Hollywood and everything there.
Marc:Like, I like that there seems to be a genuine anger at the core of him.
Yeah.
Marc:right that uh that that sort of drives him like i think he's got a real kind of like a vengeance of some kind yeah it's a nice battle he's got a great balance between that and this like exuberant joy yeah yeah but it's there am i making that up they're both there yeah i think they're both there yeah yeah yeah and uh and who else so schwartzman's your buddy
Guest:Schwartzman, yeah.
Marc:Have you been on that show?
Marc:I think they just canceled it, though.
Guest:No, Bored to Death?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:No, I never was.
Marc:Yeah, that's a cute show.
Guest:Yeah, I got into it.
Marc:Ames is interesting.
Guest:Yeah, I thought it was really well done.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Who do you read?
Marc:The Hunter S. Thompson thing, that was a real gif there.
Guest:I didn't know that about you.
Guest:Yeah, I thought that was interesting.
Marc:You seem like an erudite kind of dude.
Guest:Thank you.
Guest:That's a gift.
Guest:Thank you for that.
Guest:I like George Saunders a lot.
Guest:Have you ever had him on the show?
Marc:No, but I have his books, and people have suggested him.
Marc:Oh, he'd be amazing on here.
Marc:His contemporary, Sam Lipsight, who just- I don't know him.
Marc:Oh, he's great.
Marc:Sam Lipsight.
Marc:Yeah, he's great.
Marc:He's a real close friend of mine.
Marc:I wonder if I have an extra copy of anything here.
Guest:Oh, boy.
Marc:He's written, he wrote, he's got a few novels.
Marc:The last novel is called The Ask, and it's great.
Marc:Do you like stuff like 70s style literary dark comedy?
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Heller and, do you ever read, why is that guy's name eluding me now?
Marc:Stanley Elkin.
Marc:No.
Marc:Yeah, he's got a great dark comedic sensibility.
Marc:But Saunders has been recommending me a couple of times.
Marc:He's pretty incredible.
Marc:What is his book?
Guest:Pastor Elliot.
Guest:He's got a few collections.
Guest:And then he's got this essays collection called The Brain Dead Megaphone.
Marc:Yeah, you like him, huh?
Guest:He's great.
Guest:And John Fonte, you ever read John Fonte?
Marc:been given it but i didn't read it oh really l.a writer right yeah sort of a 30s guy influenced bukowski and some other people or maybe or no yes bukowski cited him as his god right right many times yeah i have to read that i've read some james or some uh shelby uh the uh last exit to brooklyn oh i don't know that no uh requiem for a dream okay you know very dark sort of heroine oriented 40s 50s you know
Marc:Isn't it?
Marc:Selby, right?
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:James Selby.
Marc:I hope I'm not fucking that up.
Guest:Right.
Marc:So what happens now?
Marc:Where do you go today?
Guest:Today?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I don't have any plans.
Guest:I kind of booked a day around this.
Guest:I figured I was going to go home and crawl into a ball after this, but it's been gentle.
Guest:What would you think was going to happen?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I thought I was going to learn things about myself that I've been putting aside.
Guest:Now I feel like I haven't done my job.
Guest:No, you...
Marc:No, I... I think we have learned that you have some father issues around learning Italian.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Maybe that's a way of... You envy his ability to solder and you're never going to be able to live up to him.
Guest:Right.
Marc:And your mom's life was built around you for a good portion of your career.
Guest:That's a whole other conversation.
Guest:I mean, that's... Yeah, I mean, she moved out...
Marc:to la with me for three years you know did she have a job the two of us she was just uh working on the show with me i mean taking before that did you take her away from yeah well she was doing this daycare business so you took her away from caring for children yes i i did to to really yeah so you probably had a tremendous impact on the lives of people that have grown to rely and trust your mother for sure sure sure maybe you should reach out to my sisters you know i mean my sisters were you were it yeah so is there any resentment coming to you from the sisters
Guest:It's indirect, but it's there.
Guest:You see it on Twitter occasionally?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's just a Facebook update.
Marc:Negative Facebook updates from your sisters.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:What do they do?
Guest:They're both working in Caledon, Ontario, which is where my family lives now.
Guest:Working around there.
Guest:My older sister went through school, and now she's trying to work as a teacher.
Guest:And my younger sister's in art school.
Marc:And you go back and they're like, oh, here he is.
Guest:It's weird going home.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, it's weird because I was the first to move out.
Guest:My older sister's still at home.
Guest:So when I go back, I'm going back into this dynamic that they're all cemented in.
Guest:Yeah, and that's very...
Guest:very much kind of frozen in time yeah like uh do you get back into the dynamic or do you fight it no i don't get into it i i i don't fight i try not to fight it but i mean i really see it yeah in a removed way yeah it's weird do they treat you differently
Guest:No, but I think anytime I kind of mention, if I call someone on something that maybe I see that they're not used to being pointed out, it never has gone over well.
Marc:Do they say things like, oh, I guess the movie starts chiming in.
Guest:Something like that.
Guest:Something like that, you know.
Guest:who are you you haven't been here who are you you took our mother away that kind of stuff stuff like that yeah yeah no but but you know but hidden yeah it's passive that's what i hear but you know they'll they'll really say like michael i feel some aggression right now oh no not really no i mean that's psychologically aware you know i think i think there's a problem with communication right now i'm feeling hurt and angry
Guest:Yeah, I mean, that's how I try and approach it.
Guest:And then that's normally not really- Oh, no.
Marc:It's not- They want you to dive back into the dynamic.
Guest:Yeah, I think so.
Guest:I think it's kind of a stalemate.
Marc:Well, that's an interesting thing that you're able to transcend that.
Marc:I'm assuming you don't spend a lot of time home.
Guest:No, you know, a few times a year I'm there.
Marc:Right.
Marc:So you- It's like an iceberg.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It's like watching an iceberg slowly change shape, but you're just like, well, it has to eventually- How long do you stay usually?
Yeah.
Guest:You know, two weeks or a few weeks.
Marc:That's usually enough to re-engage.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Within a week, I'm like, you know, we're digging up some stuff.
Guest:Getting our hands dirty.
Marc:Where does it sit now?
Marc:Okay.
Guest:It's good.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, it's, you know, I have a pretty good relationship with all of them.
Guest:It's just, it's strange coming in and bringing that outsider kind of point of view.
Guest:And seeing, you know, just conversations that take place, just being like, whoa, are you listening to that?
Guest:Like, do you hear yourselves?
Guest:It's strange to be talking that way still.
Guest:Oh, you say that.
Guest:You sort of take a higher ground.
Guest:Well, I feel that.
Guest:I don't know.
Marc:Interesting.
Marc:Do you say that?
Guest:It's interesting that you're still saying that.
Guest:It's interesting.
Guest:Yeah, that would not go over.
Guest:It would just all turn on me.
Guest:Oh, my God.
Marc:Well, there must be some envy, I would have to imagine.
Guest:Maybe they, you know...
Guest:I think it's because, you know, I've moved out.
Guest:I'm kind of the only one who's come down here.
Guest:I'm on my own.
Guest:So I don't know.
Guest:Maybe there's this sense of...
Marc:Did they have desire of leaving?
Marc:I mean, I don't know what Canadians think and whether you can speak for all Canadians.
Guest:Well, my older sister is still at home.
Marc:That's rough.
Marc:How old is she?
Guest:She's 26.
Guest:So normally she would have maybe paved the way.
Marc:Right.
Guest:So I kind of paved the way now.
Marc:Right.
Marc:What's the story with your room?
Marc:Is it still?
Guest:It's still the same.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It still has the Ghostbusters bed sheets.
Marc:Good.
Marc:Good.
Marc:You want to be able to go.
Marc:Have you thought about, do you do any writing yourself?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, I did a web show that I wrote and directed with a friend of mine.
Guest:That's been the only thing I've really.
Guest:What was that called?
Guest:Clark and Michael.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And that's the only thing I've written that I've seen all the way through.
Marc:Have you thought about writing this part for yourself?
Marc:Because it sounds like your family is sort of, you know, in a fairly non-menacing, necessarily menacing way that there's a good backdrop for what you want.
Guest:Yeah, I recently, really recently, have written a pilot for kind of a way to vent that, but indirectly.
Marc:Uh-huh.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So you haven't had to make phone calls and say to your sisters, look, it's not you.
Marc:It's a character who's a teacher that lives at home.
Marc:But it's not you.
Guest:I used your name because, I mean, how many names are there that would have sounded realistic?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I'm going to be talking to this character, so I want it to seem real.
Guest:So I want it to come naturally.
Guest:My outbursts, I don't want to be worrying about, wait, what's the character's name?
Marc:But it's not you.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, all right.
Marc:Well, I hope you're not disappointed.
Marc:Maybe we'll have to have a second session or perhaps we can do this weekly.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:If we want to get to these things that I wasn't able to get through.
Guest:Maybe just record every third time or something.
Marc:Yeah, and I'll give you my phone number and make myself available to you.
Guest:Great.
Guest:Oh, I would appreciate it, man.
Marc:You just call me when you can't see your hands and I'll come out here.
Guest:Yeah, but at least we're on the road.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:No, I think we've got a good start and I think we can really, I think we can, I see a possibility for growth.
Guest:Because, you know, I've gone to therapy maybe just twice in my life.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And each time afterwards, I felt like I really didn't say any of the stuff I came here intending to bring up, which is why I kind of stopped going.
Guest:I felt like I'm not good at that.
Guest:I'm not good at getting into it.
Marc:Well, I think that some people over an hour or two, it may not be what you're expecting.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Because the weird thing is that even with this conversation, I would assume that there's not a large number of hour plus conversations with you out in the world.
Marc:Right.
Marc:So even people that have- Recorded, you mean.
Marc:Right.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I don't know how much you talk to people.
Marc:Right, right.
Guest:I mean, do you- This is the longest in weeks, actually.
Guest:You talk to somebody?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Normally, it's like, I'll just take the pepperoni.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Thanks.
Marc:No, no, no.
Marc:No steamed milk.
Marc:No whipped cream.
Marc:No, thank you.
Guest:It comes out really cardboard like that.
Guest:Thank you.
Guest:Oh, thank you.
Guest:That's very good.
Marc:No, but people will listen to this.
Marc:And this is a weird thing I found about this show, that even if, whether or not you felt disappointed or not, people who assume they know who you are or know you based on your characters will never have heard you talk like this.
Marc:Right, right.
Marc:So they're going to be like, oh my God, he's talking like a person.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And he's not.
Guest:He's like a whole person.
Guest:He's got sisters.
Guest:It's really different when you go on Conan, isn't it?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:You just have seven minutes to try and get to the anecdote.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:What did you talk about on Conan the last time we were there?
Guest:A strange incident that happened to me where I ended up chasing a cab and throwing my car keys at it because it had my cell phone in it.
Marc:So then you lost both things?
Guest:No, he stopped.
Marc:You wanted him to hear.
Guest:Yeah, I was chasing him.
Guest:It's a really crazy story.
Guest:I was chasing this cab in downtown L.A.
Guest:Because I had forgotten my phone there in the back seat.
Marc:Isn't that weird?
Marc:You really feel like most of your identity is in the car.
Guest:Yeah, I needed it.
Guest:Especially for that evening, for the things that I was about to go and meet up with a friend that evening, and it would have just thrown the whole thing.
Guest:So I really luckily got it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But, you know, you don't get into deep psychological stuff.
Guest:Although Conan, the few times I've gone on that show, which is maybe out of three.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Each time I've gone, he's said something really personal to me.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:In the break.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's really, it's nice.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's nice that he does that.
Marc:Oh, no, there's a lot going on there, man.
Guest:Yeah, and he doesn't hide it.
Marc:No, no, he's very out there.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Like he'll lean in and be like, how are you doing?
Marc:Exactly, yeah.
Guest:And give you the real stuff, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:I remember when he was about to come out to LA, I did an interview in his old studio.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And in the commercial break, he was like, so how are you doing?
Guest:I was like, good, how about you?
Guest:He was like, I'm terrified.
Guest:I'm about to leave this studio.
Guest:I've been here for like over 15 years.
Guest:I don't know what's going to happen.
Guest:You know, it's like, it's all different.
Guest:It's changing.
Guest:I don't know what's going on.
Guest:And all of a sudden, the cameras come back.
Marc:We're back with Michael Cera.
Yeah.
Marc:It was amazing.
Guest:You're sitting there like, oh my God.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It made me like him so much more.
Marc:No, he's great.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Did you tell a story about getting lost on a hike or something?
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Where was that?
Guest:Yeah, I told that on Letterman.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, you saw that?
Marc:I read about it.
Guest:Oh, you read about it?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, I came very close to being in a very ugly situation in Colorado.
Guest:Did you hike?
Guest:Stuck up on a mountain.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I was up there with friends.
Guest:And the sun went down.
Guest:We were just enjoying it so much.
Guest:The sun was going down.
Guest:And then it was dark.
Guest:And we couldn't find our way back to the car.
Guest:And we were walking around for just a few minutes.
Guest:Do you know Armin Weitzman?
Marc:No.
No.
Guest:He's an L.A.
Guest:comic guy.
Guest:He'd be a great interview for you, man.
Marc:Yeah?
Marc:Why don't I know him?
Guest:I think if you knew him, you'd probably have an appreciation for him.
Marc:I'm going to look him up.
Guest:Yeah, he's doing his own thing.
Guest:He does a bit of stand-up and kind of hosts things at UCB.
Guest:And he's a writer.
Guest:I think he wrote on Sarah Silverman for a while.
Guest:I'm sure I've met him.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he's a fantastic guy.
Guest:So we were up there, and then we eventually were rescued by these hikers.
Guest:And these guys saved us who were hiking in the night.
Guest:No, but you just go, how far away from the car were you?
Guest:Far.
Guest:We were lost.
Guest:Because we had tried finding it and we had just gotten more lost.
Marc:You had no flashlight because you didn't prepare.
Guest:No.
Guest:Yeah, we were really stupid.
Guest:Oh, that's horrifying.
Guest:We were all of a sudden, we were those guys.
Guest:How many people?
Guest:Just three.
Guest:And then when we got to our car, we were like, you know.
Guest:Who led you to the car?
Guest:These guys that were illegally hiking in the night with headlamps and they knew the mountains like the back of their hands.
Guest:And they happened to come across us.
Guest:I mean, it was totally miraculous that they found us.
Marc:You probably would have been all right, but you would have had a minute through the night.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:Because when we got back to our car in the parking lot, we were like, you know, just exhilarating.
Guest:And we were just finally really able to admit to each other how scary it was.
Guest:And we were just like, you know, breathing.
Guest:No, but I mean, we were all close.
Guest:And there was this guy, there was a car in the parking lot with just a cigarette light that we could see burning.
Guest:And this guy is just listening to everything we're saying for like five minutes, not saying anything.
Guest:And then he speaks out.
Guest:He goes, hey, man.
Guest:I just, I have to tell you, I've lived here my whole life.
Guest:You guys are really lucky.
Guest:I've heard stories, man, about there are mountain lions out there.
Guest:They'll get on you.
Guest:They'll drag you off like a rag doll.
Guest:And there's bears out there.
Guest:I've seen it a hundred times.
Guest:Hikers getting lost out there.
Guest:They get ripped apart by bears.
Guest:And we were just like, you know, our jaws are dropping.
Guest:He's like, I heard y'all talk.
Guest:I just thought I'd spice it up a bit.
Yeah.
Guest:it was just amazing it could have been really bad oh god who was that guy who was that guy we never saw his face yeah it was just a cigarette like yeah like deep throat great character by the way yeah go with jesus yeah go with jesus he's with you tonight yeah oh nice yeah
Marc:Did you say that on Letterman?
Marc:Go with Jesus?
Guest:No, I think I admitted that just in case.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Just in case.
Marc:You don't want to put anyone in a position where they have to address Jesus.
Guest:You don't want to be all of a sudden saying Jesus on Letterman.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:Who knows what could happen?
Marc:It's an understanding that everybody has.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, this was a great conversation.
Marc:I felt that we did well.
Guest:Great.
Marc:Do you?
Guest:I'm glad you do.
Guest:Yeah, I do for sure, but I'm glad that you feel that way.
Marc:Yeah, and the thing about therapy is, my point was, it takes a while for someone to start seeing the triggers.
Marc:You've got your own way of hiding whatever problem is in there.
Guest:Bob Weinstein, you know Bob Weinstein?
Guest:Not personally.
Guest:The Weinstein brother?
Guest:Sure.
Guest:He told me I was the most repressed person he's ever met.
Guest:I don't know if it was some psychological game he was playing with me.
Marc:Well, he comes from this sort of aggressive Jew stock.
Guest:Yeah, I mean.
Marc:And I feel that you speak from somewhere in between your heart and mouth.
Marc:That's nice.
Marc:But I don't know if it's repression as much as it is vulnerability.
Marc:So I think he might have, maybe he's right, maybe he's not, but you seem vulnerable.
Marc:There's a dig, I think.
Marc:Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:i i think sometimes people who have lived longer and and fought for things uh and had a lot of failure in their life uh they have a really hard time with people that are okay yeah right because there's part of you that's like you know look at you yeah what the fuck yeah you know there's something gotta be something bad in there right it's just short of give it a few years exactly you date a stripper you ever tried heroin oh can someone get him some heroin
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:No, you can avoid that stuff.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:If you want.
Marc:Right.
Marc:All right, man.
Marc:Good talking to you.
Marc:Thanks, man.
Marc:What a lovely young man that Michael Cera is.
Marc:Am I right?
Marc:I liked him a lot.
Marc:I didn't know how it would go, and I thought it went excellent.
Marc:I was happy to see him.
Marc:Okay, what do we do now?
Marc:We do the WTFPod.com.
Marc:Maybe do a little of this.
Marc:Pow!
Marc:Look out!
Marc:I just shit my pants.
Marc:JustCoffee.coop, available at WTFPod.com.
Marc:A lot of things available at WTFPod.com.
Marc:You can check out my calendar, and please come down to the Ice House in Pasadena this Thursday, March 29th, for myself and Maria Bamford and Eddie Pepitone.
Marc:That is some power psycho shit there.
Marc:That show is a powerful exploration.
Marc:We'll be right back.
Marc:Where is that?
Marc:April 6th and 7th?
Marc:All right.
Marc:La-di-da.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:Go make a donation.
Marc:Pick up an app.
Marc:Check the shit out.
Marc:Look at the episode guide.
Marc:Do what you need to do.
Marc:I don't feel well.
Marc:I just don't fucking... I can feel it in the back of my throat.
Marc:I've been traveling too much.