Episode 399 - Kristen Schaal
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: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 Mark Maron.
Marc:Alright, let's do this.
Marc:How are you, what the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fuckineers?
Marc:What the fuckadelics?
Marc:What the fucksticks?
Marc:I don't know if that's a good one.
Marc:I am Mark Maron.
Marc:This is WTF.
Marc:How are you?
Marc:How is it going?
Marc:I'm up early here.
Marc:I'm going to Buffalo for tonight's show.
Marc:So if you're in Buffalo or the surrounding area, I will be at Helium Comedy Club.
Marc:If you'd like to do that, I'll be there Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Marc:I think I'm going to rent a car.
Marc:That's a big choice sometimes when I go on the road is I could take the cab to the hotel and then have whatever, whoever, whatever is going to happen unfold and be stranded at that hotel.
Marc:Or I can rent a car and usually in a bigger city or a smaller city.
Marc:I mean, it's not that much money.
Marc:And then I can leave.
Marc:It's nice to know you can leave the hotel and not be stranded.
Marc:That's part of having a job where you spend a lot of time on the road is that panic of being stranded on Hotel Island with nothing to do with but wander around the hotel or sit in your room.
Marc:Or perhaps if you're in a discipline mode, you could find yourself alone there in the hotel exercise room.
Marc:There's a proud moment.
Marc:You're doing what you got to do, but you don't realize exactly what you look like until you walk by somebody in a hotel exercise room and see that existential sadness of that vignette.
Marc:Someone on the treadmill in a small hotel exercise room
Marc:There's no other way to look at it other than like, well, there's something poignant and tragic about what's happening in there.
Marc:But if you're that guy in that treadmill, you're like, fuck this, man.
Marc:I'm getting it done.
Marc:I'm not going to let the road kill me.
Marc:I'm not just going to lay in my room and eat Subway sandwiches or Chipotle burritos and masturbate on my downtime.
Marc:No, sir.
No.
Marc:I'm going to go down to that one treadmill exercise room.
Marc:Going to bring my towel.
Marc:And I'm going to do the business.
Marc:I'm going to put my 30 to 40 minutes in.
Marc:And hope that fucking TV works that they have suspended over that old machine.
Marc:I wonder if I could do this.
Marc:I know a lot of people listen to this show on a treadmill.
Marc:Could I do this show on a treadmill?
Marc:Kristen Schaal is on the show today.
Marc:Kristen Schaal, who I've known for years.
Marc:I finally get to talk to you.
Marc:What a sweet person who I think you would when you hear her story, you would think, of course, of course, that's where she comes from.
Marc:Of course, that makes sense.
Marc:I've got to reconcile the difference between time in my head and time in real life.
Marc:Things have already happened and are happening very quickly in my head, but nothing is changing outside here.
Marc:I have a curtain rod that I haven't put up in a year.
Marc:There's shit around the house I haven't done in a year.
Marc:But in my head, it's like, I'm going to get to it.
Marc:I'm going to get to the gym.
Marc:Nope, it's not happening.
Marc:I process it all in my head.
Marc:Same with the aging thing.
Marc:Whatever I'm thinking or whatever I'm feeling, the pace of time is different inside my mind than it is in reality.
Marc:There's something about the time in my head versus reality.
Marc:Here's what I'm talking about.
Marc:There's a lot of things I want to do.
Marc:There's a lot of things I want to get done.
Marc:These are practical things.
Marc:These are just household things.
Marc:These are relationship things.
Marc:These are emotional things.
Marc:But there seems to be this wall.
Marc:There seems to be this place where I just stop.
Marc:I hit it.
Marc:It's sort of like I want to be capable of trust, intimacy, caring in a way that I haven't experienced before.
Marc:But I have a little fear.
Marc:What's that fear?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:I'm just stuck.
Marc:I'm a little stuck.
Marc:I want to fix my house.
Marc:I want to put that curtain rod up.
Marc:I want to clean that thing up.
Marc:I want to go to the gym.
Marc:Why am I stuck?
Marc:What do I got to do to get through this invisible fucking wall?
Marc:No matter how much I grow or no matter how much my mind changes about things or no matter how capable I become, I keep hitting this sort of invisible, like, why can't I just open my heart or take the action or do what's necessary to get through this weird invisible wall?
Marc:fucking wall.
Marc:And then one day a guy who looks a lot like me just kicks me in the ass and I go flying through it and I stay on the other side of that thing for as long as I can.
Marc:That day is coming on a couple of levels.
Marc:I'll let you know how that goes.
Marc:Gonna be on Letterman next week.
Marc:I'm gonna be doing panel on Letterman and I gotta figure out a story.
Marc:What am I talking about?
Marc:Some guy just gave me a guitar pick made out of records.
Marc:And I like it.
Marc:That seems to make some sense to me.
Marc:I got a vinyl guitar pick.
Marc:Just me in a room with my vinyl.
Marc:Perhaps I'll have a video screen there.
Marc:On Monday, the 400th episode of WTF with a guest that I've been trying to get for years and a guy I've been a fan of for years who came to my garage and I was actually incredibly nervous.
Marc:More so than probably ever, which was weird because it turned out to be one of the most relaxing interviews I've ever had.
Marc:And he was shirtless, and that's all I'm going to give you.
Marc:Right now, let's talk to Kristen Schaal, the amazing comedic actress.
Marc:Do you want to wear headphones?
Guest:Are you going to wear them?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Is that good?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:How's that?
Marc:Can you move that closer, you think?
Guest:You want me to?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:How's that?
Marc:Do you feel good about it?
Guest:I feel good about it.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:I feel nervous because I don't talk to you that much.
Guest:And now we're talking, but with all kinds of equipment.
Marc:I know, but do you have people that you actually talk to a lot?
Marc:I mean, do you have people that you sit down and talk to for an hour?
Marc:I mean, is there time for that in our lives?
Guest:Not anymore.
Guest:And I don't like talking on the phone.
Marc:Really?
Marc:No one does anymore, it seems.
Marc:What is it?
Marc:That is the first 100 episodes of WTF on a DVD.
Guest:But there's no artwork on it.
Marc:There is if you hold it to the light right.
Marc:It's in there, I think.
Guest:Oh.
Marc:Isn't there?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:There's a lot of interesting artwork in the black.
Marc:In the darkness, there are things.
Guest:I see what you're going for.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:What's going on there?
Marc:No, seriously, though, who do you talk to?
Marc:I know you're friends with Kurt Braunler and you guys do comedy together, but do you say, hey, Kurt, I need to talk to you for an hour?
Guest:Not for an hour, but if I have anything on my mind, I will call Kurt.
Guest:I've got a great thing where I just like anything, especially career-wise, I just be like, this is awful, right?
Guest:And he'll always be on my side about it.
Marc:And what about the husband?
Marc:You don't talk to him at all?
Guest:No, I always talk to him, too.
Marc:But he's just sort of there.
Guest:He's always there.
Marc:Yeah, and that gets tiring.
Guest:But it's nice to have someone outside of the husband, too.
Marc:Of the horrible situation.
Guest:Oh, man.
Guest:I wish it could be.
Guest:Who's this?
Guest:Jessica.
Guest:I didn't know you had a girlfriend.
Marc:I got a girlfriend.
Marc:Yeah, I've had her for ... She's been around for a while, a few years.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Mm-hmm.
Guest:And when did you guys move in together?
Yeah.
Marc:That's what, I don't know, I think that was like six months ago.
Marc:It's unclear.
Marc:You know, dates are not for me.
Marc:You know, I know that we've been together about three years.
Marc:I've known him for about three years and we've been together a couple years.
Marc:How long have you been married?
Marc:You just got married, right?
Guest:September.
Marc:So that's fresh.
Guest:It is fresh.
Guest:But we've been together for five years.
Marc:Five years?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And what kind of wedding?
Marc:It was... Was it silly?
Guest:It was a little silly.
Guest:We had two llamas in our bridal party.
Marc:A little silly?
Marc:You had two llamas?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:You mean the animal?
Guest:Yeah, because we got married in Colorado at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, and there's llamas everywhere.
Marc:The Stanley Hotel?
Guest:Mm-hmm, where Stephen King wrote The Shining.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yes.
Marc:So you had llamas and you got married at a haunted at the Overlook.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Did you see that documentary, Room 236?
Marc:No.
Guest:You should watch it.
Marc:Why?
Marc:What is it?
Guest:It's just some crazy fans who think that Stanley Kubrick, who is a very brilliant genius filmmaker, but they think that he left all sorts of codes in The Shining about whether or not we actually landed on the moon and just all these crazy things.
Guest:And it's...
Guest:It's just cool because the narration of the interviews with people is done as a voiceover.
Guest:So you never get to see who's talking, which I think was smart.
Guest:And then also it's just like, it's fun that people think they can find little Easter eggs and things.
Guest:You know, it's nice that people are like.
Marc:Did you buy it?
Guest:I rented it on Apple.
Marc:But did you buy the premise?
Marc:I mean, were you like, huh, maybe this is like, that's sort of the purpose.
Marc:I mean, challenging your own perception.
Yeah.
Guest:No.
Marc:Did anything weird happen outside of llamas?
Marc:Did you stay the night or the week there when you got married?
Guest:Yeah, I was hoping that we would have some sort of free entertainment and our guests would get terrorized by ghosts.
Marc:Yeah, by twins, twin girls?
Guest:No twin girls showed up.
Marc:No blood out of the elevators?
Guest:Nope, just a bunch of elk blocking the doorway.
Marc:So it wasn't snowed in yet?
Guest:Not yet.
Marc:Oh, so wait, okay, so you grew up in Colorado, is that right?
Guest:Yes.
Marc:I knew that because I read it.
Guest:Yeah, did you do your research about me?
Marc:Not much, not much.
Guest:Are you recording now?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, God.
Marc:What happened?
Marc:You didn't know we were recording?
Guest:No, I knew.
Guest:I just don't double check.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You wanted to make sure we got all that, all those gems.
Guest:I'm really nervous about your, I told people I was going to do your podcast and we've been trying to podcast for years.
Marc:Me and you.
Marc:And it just never worked.
Marc:With live ones and then you couldn't show up.
Guest:I did one live one at Comics.
Marc:Yeah, that was a long time ago.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So much has changed.
Marc:You're married now.
Guest:You've got a living girlfriend.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Do you think you're going to marry her?
Marc:Probably.
Marc:I mean, what else are you going to do?
Guest:She's cute.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:She's like a Lisa Loeb.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:She's cute.
Marc:She's younger than me.
Marc:She wants a baby.
Marc:I think maybe all those things might happen.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You can have a baby.
Marc:Do you want to have a baby?
Guest:Do you want to have a baby?
Marc:do you want a baby i kind yeah i think i'm ready i mean i gotta do it now so i'm not a hundred yep yep and you got young sperm like before your sperm gets like crotchety is that what's gonna happen people are already scaring me about my sperm here i thought that you know sperms just you know they stay fresh there's a turnover that the machine that makes the sperm doesn't go bad oh yeah but it does you've heard things
Guest:Well, okay, I haven't really dug into it, but there is some studies that say that perhaps autism could be linked to the age of the male.
Guest:But there's all kinds of studies.
Guest:Did you know I just read some studies that if you ingest semen on a daily basis, it'll reduce your risk of breast cancer?
Marc:So how's that going for you?
Guest:I'm going to get going on it.
Okay.
Guest:I was like, who did that study?
Marc:Good news for the husband.
Marc:That sounds like you could actually get into a situation where giving oral sex would become annoying.
Marc:Jesus, honey, nod.
Guest:How many times do we have to- I want to live!
Marc:But Colorado, like what part?
Marc:I grew up in New Mexico.
Marc:That's close, kind of, but Colorado's a little whiter and a little norther.
Guest:Yeah, I love Santa Fe and Taos.
Guest:But yeah, right by Boulder, so it's a town called Longmont, which is like 15 minutes outside of Boulder.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And yeah, everybody's still there.
Marc:Yeah, your mom, your dad, other siblings.
Guest:And then a brother.
Marc:A brother?
Guest:Uh-huh.
Marc:They're all there just hanging out?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Same house?
Yeah.
Guest:Yep.
Guest:Yep.
Marc:Your brother's in the same house.
Guest:No, he's in Boulder now.
Marc:He moved away.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He moved 15 minutes away.
Marc:Does he have a wife and children?
Guest:He doesn't.
Guest:He had a wife.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He has two kids, two boys.
Marc:So you're an aunt.
Marc:I am an aunt.
Marc:And they love you because you're silly.
Guest:Yeah, I hope so.
Guest:I hope so.
Marc:How old are they?
Guest:Nine and 21.
Marc:Wow, big difference.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Sounds like an interesting story.
Guest:Is it?
Guest:It's pretty good.
Marc:What kind of environment did you grow up in?
Marc:What was the family business?
Marc:What was going on?
Marc:What's going on there?
Guest:Well, my dad is and still is a carpenter.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:He built shit?
Guest:Yeah, he built our house.
Guest:He built our church.
Yeah.
Marc:He built the house you live in now?
Guest:Yeah, the house they live in in Colorado.
Marc:Oh, okay.
Marc:And he built a church?
Guest:Uh-huh, the church.
Marc:Next to the house or further down the street?
Guest:Five minutes away, yeah.
Marc:What kind of church?
Guest:Lutheran.
Marc:Yeah, Lutheran.
Marc:So what do you come from, Scandinavian peoples?
Marc:German.
Marc:German?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Huh.
Guest:Half German.
Marc:Half German, half what?
Guest:You know, I haven't gotten the full story.
Marc:How could you not know?
Guest:I know.
Guest:It drives me nuts, right?
Guest:It's like my mom was like, well, you know, she started trying to piece it together, but there's not a lot of communication going on, I guess, on her side of the family.
Guest:So apparently, I guess I could find out.
Guest:You could go online and find that stuff out.
Marc:Yeah, I see commercials for that thing.
Marc:Me too.
Guest:I love, because that's the thing, a lot of people think that I'm Jewish, and I love that.
Guest:Like, I even got interviewed for Hebe magazine years ago.
Guest:They're in my studio apartment in New York, and they're, like, taking my picture and asking me questions.
Guest:They're like, so, something about Christmas.
Guest:And I was like, yeah, at Christmas.
Guest:And they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So they had no idea.
Marc:They just made an assumption.
Guest:They made an assumption.
Guest:I got in as an honorary hebe.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Did they have to kind of contextualize it like that?
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Did they admit to thinking you were Jewish?
Guest:I think so.
Marc:You would have to.
Guest:But I like to imagine that maybe there is some Jewish clan that came in, you know.
Marc:Somewhere?
Guest:Back in the day.
Marc:I hope so.
Guest:Secretly, just secretly had an affair.
Marc:Secret Jew.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Someone had sex with a Jew somewhere.
Marc:But is your husband Jewish?
Guest:Nope.
Guest:He's half Scottish, half Swedish.
Marc:So you're just keeping us out.
Marc:That's what's happening.
Guest:You know, I'm the one who feels like the minority in this club, to be honest.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah, it's all Jews.
Guest:And you guys have your great, you can make fun of each other all the time.
Guest:And I had to just like wait till it's over and laugh along with you.
Guest:I cannot chime in.
Marc:Your comedy partner, he's not a Jew.
Marc:I think you surround yourself with non-Jews on purpose.
Marc:I think you're insulating yourself in a non-Jewish environment.
Guest:Well, I'm talking to you.
Marc:I know, but it took a long time.
Marc:There's nothing to be afraid of.
Marc:What do you think is going to happen here?
Marc:I'm just trying to figure out.
Marc:All right, so your dad's a carpenter?
Guest:Yes.
Marc:Does he build tables and cabinets?
Guest:He can install cabinets.
Guest:He doesn't do furniture.
Guest:He does houses.
Guest:He works alone.
Guest:He's his own business.
Marc:So he builds a house from scratch by himself with no Mexican help.
Guest:He has one guy named Enrique.
Marc:There you go.
Guest:Who left him recently.
Guest:So now he is alone.
Guest:But yeah, he only works with like another guy.
Marc:For the whole house?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's crazy.
Marc:How long does it take him to build a house?
Guest:You know, like, I don't know.
Guest:Maybe like three weeks.
Guest:He also bids.
Marc:Three weeks.
Guest:He's the lowest bidder.
Marc:He just likes to work.
Guest:He's just like an honest guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so everybody wants.
Guest:So he's always working.
Guest:so you grew up just like on a do you have a big chunk of land we have a farm yeah a farm yeah he built a farmhouse he had yeah there's a barn if you see it it's not as impressive if you imagine like a real farm because it was more of like a hobby farm because he was mostly got money making um buildings that's what's really nice about my dad too is that if you we drive around long lot and stuff and he can like point to buildings and be like i built that i built that it's his town it's his
Guest:Town, yeah, and I used to be really, there's one point when I was older where I got nervous for him because I was like, man, this is really tough on your body.
Guest:I wish you could be a pencil pusher, get an office job.
Marc:So you don't beat yourself up too much.
Guest:And he's already had two shoulder surgeries and a knee replacement.
Marc:You know why he's had those?
Marc:Because he lives it alone.
Marc:I know, I know.
Guest:But it is nice to have a parent who just loves what they do.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Completely content in their work and likes to make things.
Marc:Well, and also it's nice to have someone around the house that can do shit.
Guest:Well, that's the thing.
Guest:That's the catch is that he didn't really like to bring his work home with him that often.
Guest:So things would take time to get fixed.
Guest:And he built our house.
Guest:But like I remember being in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade, which is like sheetrock walls in my bedroom.
Guest:And like, no, he just like did not want to deal with it.
Marc:Because he was busy building a house for somebody else.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:The house is still not done.
Guest:There's still pieces of it that are unfinished.
Marc:Well, did you have animals on the farm?
Marc:Was it a functioning farm?
Guest:Yeah, we had cows that we would, the cows would come, and they would all be female cows, and then we would rent a bull, and the bull would impregnate them, and then they'd have calves.
Marc:You'd have a bull that you'd bark?
Guest:Come in just for like a couple hours.
Marc:You'd have a bull come bang your cows.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:And then you'd wait it out.
Guest:Wait it out.
Marc:And have some calves.
Guest:Cute calves would like suck on your whole hand with their tongues.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah, it feels amazing.
Guest:You know like sandpaper, but it's like your whole hand's enveloped in it.
Marc:What'd you do with these cows?
Guest:Well, so then they would grow up and then we'd sell them all back for profit to a slaughterhouse who would then feed them corn and make them taste delicious.
Marc:Yeah, but you never got attached to, there was no old yeller story or something like, that's my cow.
Guest:Yeah, I would name the cows.
Marc:That's a no-no, right?
Marc:And I would sing to them.
Guest:When they'd come for hay, I would sing like dinner theater.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Do you remember what songs?
Marc:Like Cole Porter?
Marc:What are we talking?
Guest:I would make them up most likely.
Marc:You'd make up dinner theater songs for cows?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:This was probably your first comedy show, I'd imagine.
Guest:It was.
Guest:It was.
Marc:Yep.
Marc:Did you really?
Marc:Come on.
Guest:I did, actually.
Marc:You sang to the cows and you named them.
Marc:So was there crying?
Marc:Did you understand the agricultural food chain at that age?
Marc:Did someone have to explain to you that these cows are going to be fattened up and killed for food?
Guest:Well, I learned it because one cow named Bella had a hoof disease and she got shot.
Guest:My dad shot her.
Guest:And then I came home one day and the whole freezer in our basement was just stuffed with unmarked butcher meat.
Guest:The meat from the butcher.
Guest:And it was Bella.
Guest:And I was like, ah.
Guest:And we had to eat her all winter.
Guest:And she just didn't taste good because she wasn't corn fed.
Guest:So she was hay fed.
Guest:And it's not delicious.
Guest:It's like stringy and unflavorful.
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So you kind of know the meat racket.
Marc:You know it makes a good steak.
Guest:I know it makes a good stake.
Guest:I don't, uh, after being around cows and this will probably disappoint a lot of animal rights activists and vegetarians, but I, cows are so stupid.
Guest:Um, they would just like get lost, you know, they would like get lost in a hole in the fence and then they like could just don't know how to get back in.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And when I would sing to them, they're just like blank stares, like just like eating hay, like just like no personality, not a dent.
Guest:Like, oh, they're soft and furry when they're young.
Guest:They're perfectly like gentle creatures and they're walking sacks of meat in my mind.
Guest:Like, they are there to be eaten.
Guest:And I, you know, there probably is some, like, aliens somewhere that are, like, smarter than us that are probably looking at me like a walking sack of meat.
Guest:And that's fair.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know?
Marc:Right.
Marc:I get it.
Marc:So, yeah, it's like, yeah, they're just, they are dumb.
Marc:And it is, it's sort of astounding how stupid they are when you, like, drive by them.
Marc:I mean, I didn't grow up with them.
Marc:But any time I've spent with a cow, they're just, like, nothing there.
Marc:They're just this.
Guest:Oh, my God.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But is that just the nature of that animal?
Marc:I don't know.
Guest:They have four stomachs.
Guest:I mean, they really are just about processing.
Guest:I mean, you know, for an animal, I mean, there's lots of stories with cows that are real sweet.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And they're smiling cow pictures.
Marc:Like on the cheese.
Marc:You know the cheese that you get in the East Coast?
Marc:What is that?
Marc:What kind of cheese is that with the cow with the thing in his nose?
Marc:And he started smiling.
Marc:You know the little cheeses?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Oh, bell?
Marc:Yeah, maybe.
Guest:Bell cheese?
Marc:It's close.
Marc:Blue bell?
Marc:Maybe.
Marc:Maybe.
Marc:I just remember it.
Marc:But, all right, so did your dad shoot this cow right in front of you?
No!
Guest:God, no.
Marc:Come here, kid.
Marc:I want you to learn something about life.
Guest:No, it happened while I was gone.
Marc:I didn't know you could eat a cow with hoof disease, hoof and mouth disease.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:No, I don't know if it was a hoof disease, but something was wrong with her hoof and she couldn't walk.
Guest:She couldn't walk to get her water.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Well, then she deserves it.
Guest:Yeah, I guess so.
Guest:Don't make me feel sorry for them.
Guest:that that dumb cow who can't walk she deserves to be food bella does i think in general the animals all let me down because i didn't have friends around nearby so i tried to make them my friends and they really like could not yeah meet my standards no i mean i it's you're an intelligent person that requires you know some attention thank you yeah look at
Guest:not gonna get it from a cat but uh so what'd your mom do what'd she do in this small town situation where your dad built a church uh she had a few jobs she was worked for the risk management at our at the school for the school district so sort of like hr oh i would say yeah um and then she did another job a secretary job for the city are these fun people your parents
Guest:Yeah, they're fun.
Guest:They're nice.
Guest:You know, when you come over to dinner at our house, they're going to chat.
Guest:The conversation is going to be easy and nice.
Marc:They're polite people.
Guest:Yeah, they're polite and they're fun.
Guest:I'd say they're pretty fun.
Marc:Well, the Lutheran thing, was that a thing?
Marc:Did you grow up with the thing?
Guest:Oh, definitely.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:Oh, yeah, I was confirmed and baptized.
Marc:What makes it different than other flavors?
Marc:Because, I mean, my only reference for Lutheran is Garrison Keillor and his show.
Marc:What is it?
Guest:The Prairie Home Companion.
Marc:Yeah, to me, I just listened to him make jokes about Lutherans, and I'm like... Oh, yeah, the chosen frozen.
Marc:Yeah, they're all sort of quiet, passive-aggressive people that are a little bit defeated in their disposition, but pleasant.
Guest:It's true, yes, it is true.
Guest:It's like the church, our church wasn't very big and it was, sometimes it would grow and sometimes it wouldn't.
Guest:There was this sort of like, get the message out there, but it wasn't like, we're going door to door, y'all.
Guest:It was just like, it is a quiet religion in that way.
Marc:But it was relatively lenient, right?
Marc:It wasn't crazy.
Marc:Was there hellfire and brimstone and scary stuff?
Guest:Not really.
Guest:I remember there was a point like when I was a teenager and I was dating, my first boyfriend didn't have religion and he was into like Wicca.
Guest:He was into Wicca stuff.
Guest:And I remember there was, and also there was no Jewish people that I knew either.
Guest:But this was the first person I knew that was not, you know.
Marc:Sure, Wicca, Jewish.
Marc:Yeah, I know.
Guest:No, but I mean, yeah, sorry.
Guest:I just wanted to make that.
Guest:Anyways, the pastor is telling the usual sermon about getting the message out and having everyone, you know, accept Jesus into their lives.
Guest:And then sort of like, to me, I was baffled that Jesus wouldn't like this boyfriend I had just because he didn't believe in Jesus.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I remember I like kind of confronted him about it when you like leave the church and shake everybody's hand.
Guest:Because I just feel like there's I felt that and I still feel that there is something fundamentally wrong with pretending that we know what Jesus thinks, you know, that Jesus is judging these people like this.
Guest:I just know it.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And that even though your message is that he loves everybody.
Marc:Right.
Marc:It's conditional and it's not supposed to be.
Guest:It's not conditional.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:He loves everybody unless they don't believe in him.
Guest:Right.
Marc:That doesn't work.
Guest:Because you got a whole like half of the world.
Marc:Sure, sure, sure.
Marc:That's the business of religion.
Marc:You got to get these guys in.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So that's good.
Marc:Yeah, Jesus, you're on team Jesus.
Guest:I'm on team Jesus.
Guest:I think that, I just don't think that Jesus judges people the way man does.
Marc:Did you ask your boyfriend?
Marc:He's better than a man.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, he should be.
Marc:He should be.
Marc:He's the son of God and we have high expectations out of him.
Marc:He took a pretty big hit for everybody.
Guest:He sure did.
Guest:Don't you forget it, Mr. Marin.
Marc:I'm a Jew, it's not on me.
Marc:Is it though?
Marc:You guys can do it.
Marc:No, it's not.
Marc:That's a myth.
Marc:The Romans did it.
Marc:I'm not saying we weren't there.
Marc:But did you say anything to the Wicca guy?
Marc:What form of Wicca?
Marc:He wasn't really into it.
Guest:He just didn't have a religion at all.
Marc:Did he have dreads?
Guest:No, no.
Guest:He was a cool guy.
Guest:He was into indie music and culture and stuff.
Guest:And he dated a girl before that was into Wicca.
Guest:So he was like, yeah, I think Wicca's pretty cool.
Marc:Easily influenced.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It sounds like you could have got him into the church if you would have set your mind to it.
Guest:I guess.
Guest:I think I don't.
Guest:What were you in high school?
Guest:Too much pressure.
Guest:I was a senior in high school.
Marc:Okay, so you're in this, I'm going to call it small town Colorado.
Guest:Okay.
Marc:Isn't it?
Guest:It is pretty.
Guest:It's a suburb.
Marc:A suburb of Boulder.
Guest:It's pretty small.
Guest:There's two high schools.
Marc:Oh, that's big.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Not really.
Marc:Me.
Marc:How many kids in your high school?
Guest:I don't know.
Marc:Estimate.
Marc:Like your graduating class.
Marc:Like from my graduating class.
Marc:Did you know everybody?
Guest:I did.
Guest:I would say there was probably like between one and 200 people.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:In the whole high school?
Guest:In our graduating class.
Marc:That's pretty small.
Marc:I think.
Marc:That's pretty small.
Marc:So like what was your thing in high school?
Marc:Like what were you dancing to?
Guest:What was I, The Cure, 100%.
Guest:Oh, I went to their show twice.
Guest:I went to, there's a place on the hill in Boulder.
Guest:I don't know if it's still there called Ground Zero and they would have goth night and I would go.
Guest:The Cure t-shirts, Robert Smith posters.
Guest:Loved The Cure.
Marc:Died your hair black?
Guest:Never really, no.
Guest:I didn't really like the color black.
Guest:I liked colors, and I still do, but I loved the music.
Marc:So were you an unusual goth?
Marc:Were you the exception?
Guest:I really did not have any black to wear to Ground Zero.
Guest:It was awful.
Guest:They were like plaid pants.
Marc:Yeah, but I always thought goth was sort of for sad people.
Marc:You don't strike me as somebody who was ever sad, Kristen Schaal.
Marc:Unless you're lying.
Marc:No.
Guest:Unless his personality is all fraud.
Guest:No, I don't think The Cure is sad.
Guest:That's the thing.
Guest:If you really listen to it.
Guest:Well, I didn't like all of Goth.
Guest:I just really loved The Cure and I really loved Tori Amos.
Guest:And those were my two favorites.
Marc:Tori Amos.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I still love Tori Amos.
Guest:You do?
Guest:Passionately.
Marc:I don't think she'd be happy about your views on cows.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:How do you know?
Marc:You know her?
Marc:No.
Guest:Get her on the podcast.
Marc:Who's the other one?
Marc:Who do I confuse her with?
Marc:Sarah McLaughlin.
Guest:Oh, Sarah McLaughlin.
Guest:No.
Marc:She would not enjoy it.
Guest:No, I've pissed off a lot of people on this podcast.
Marc:No, of course not.
Marc:Of course not.
Marc:But Tori Amos.
Marc:Yeah, you like her still?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:And what did you do in high school?
Marc:What was it?
Marc:What were you doing?
Marc:Were you like a nerd girl?
Marc:Were you like part of the stage people?
Marc:Were you at theater?
Marc:Were you doing musicals?
Guest:What I did was I did forensics, which is speech.
Guest:Forensics?
Guest:Yeah, like where you go around and you do little, you can do debates.
Guest:You could do oratory or you can do humorous interpretation.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Did you do debates?
Guest:No, I just took cuts, like eight minute cuts of plays and acted them out competitively.
Marc:So that was your way of sort of doing the drama thing without doing the drama thing?
Guest:No, you didn't do the drama thing.
Guest:I mean, that was, like, hard.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:You had to play all the characters.
Marc:In the oratory?
Guest:In the interpretation.
Marc:Oh.
Marc:So it was sort of dramatic.
Guest:But did you make it... I did humorous interpretation.
Marc:Uh-huh.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Like, what was an example of that?
Guest:Like, I would take, like, a Charles Bush play.
Guest:Like, uh...
Guest:what's, what's one of the things like psycho beach party or, um, and, and what you would do is you would just take a cut of it, like the scene and then you would just act it all out yourself.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And do all the characters.
Marc:So you're going for the laugh early on.
Marc:You knew you had the gift.
Um,
Guest:Yeah, I mean, people just kept laughing at me.
Marc:But was there ever a point, like, when you decided to do, to be a funny person, were you always funny or were you, like, doing it to sort of, like, deflect anything?
Marc:Were you always, did people always like you?
Marc:Or was there at some point where they were like, you're stupid?
Guest:I mean, I would say I was bullied in junior high.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But that's okay.
Guest:And then I've survived.
Guest:I was told I was ugly in junior high by everybody.
Marc:You were what?
Guest:Not by everybody.
Guest:Ugly, just ugly.
Guest:Like, ugh.
Guest:They were just like on the bus.
Guest:This girl would just stare at me on the bus and be like, you're ugly.
Guest:And I was just like, okay.
Guest:And then I'd be in English class and there's like a kid behind me.
Guest:He's like, hey, blowfish.
Guest:I was like, okay.
Guest:and i was afraid i'd get beat up too there's like a gang of girls that were older than me and just like bad girls like i think like had like some problems at home yeah we're looking back on it but i was just like they might beat me up yeah just for being you just yeah like i remember i wore like a polka dot skirt one day and a dick tracy t-shirt and they were like don't ever wear like okay
Guest:But then junior high ended and high school was much better.
Guest:And I, yeah, high school was great.
Guest:And I decided that I wanted to get, my senior year, I wanted to get in the yearbook as many times as possible.
Guest:So I joined all the groups.
Guest:So I can have my picture in each of those.
Guest:Like art club, peer mediation, newspaper.
Guest:What else?
Guest:Tennis.
Guest:I think I did tennis plays.
Guest:I got nominated to homecoming royalty.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:What's peer mediation?
Guest:Peer mediation is when you, if there's a fight, you can just go and I have the skills.
Guest:I'm like, let's sit down and let's talk about this guy.
Guest:It's like, no, no, when you say that he's an asshole, you say you feel like he's being mean.
Guest:I tell them how to talk to each other.
Marc:Did you actually do any of that?
Guest:I did a couple, yeah.
Marc:Is there a task force?
Marc:Are you called to duty?
Guest:Well, I was.
Guest:At school, if there was a problem, I could go in and I could help people out.
Marc:How many people were in peer mediation?
Marc:I've never heard of this.
Guest:I don't know, maybe like 15 of us.
Guest:I'll have to look at my yearbook.
Marc:So was this something, is that a regular thing?
Marc:I've never heard of that.
Marc:So you guys, like, you know, if there was a fight, you know, they'd be like, is there anyone from peer remediation here to handle this?
Marc:That guy has a knife.
Marc:That kind of thing?
Guest:No, I mean, if there was a weapon involved, then- You'd have the authority.
Guest:Yeah, and I think maybe they were understaffed at school.
Guest:I don't know why we had to do their job.
Marc:Invented this club.
Guest:Well, maybe they thought student to student, they might open up more than if an adult stepped in.
Marc:Yeah, so what'd you do for the paper?
Marc:Did you write some articles?
Guest:I did.
Guest:I would write reviews on albums.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:Funny music reviews on albums.
Marc:Cure albums?
Marc:All Cure albums?
Guest:I don't remember.
Guest:I think I must have written just a review on Garbage because Garbage came out at that time.
Guest:I don't remember, but hopefully I have them.
Marc:Garbage the album or Garbage in general?
Guest:Garbage the album.
Marc:Oh, okay.
Guest:Garbage the band.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And how about, okay, so, all right, homecoming royalty.
Marc:What is that?
Marc:So you're one of the side people?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:There was king and queen that you didn't like.
Marc:Yeah, I didn't.
Guest:You didn't like them, right?
Guest:No, they were nice.
Ugh.
So then-
Marc:She's so diplomatic.
Marc:And then there'd be all the other people, the other couples.
Marc:And you were in the other couples?
Guest:Kind of, yeah.
Guest:So the band thought it would be... I was friends with the band, even though I can't play an instrument.
Marc:The band people or the band at homecoming?
Guest:The band people.
Marc:They need help.
Marc:They need a different kind of mediation, right?
Guest:They needed somebody... No, they were talented with their instruments, and they were a lot of fun.
Guest:So I'd always sit with the band during football games.
Guest:And so they all decided to vote for me for...
Guest:almost as a joke, but then it worked.
Guest:I got nominated.
Guest:But in any case, I couldn't get a date for Homecoming, even though I was on the royalty.
Guest:I asked everybody, and they're just like, no.
Guest:And I finally got convinced one kid to take me, and I could tell he wasn't into it.
Guest:But I was like, I gotta have a date.
Guest:I gotta be there.
Marc:Who was that kid?
Guest:Gene.
Marc:Gene.
Marc:Gene?
Guest:Gene.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:Gene Martinez.
Marc:He helped you out?
Guest:Yeah, I did be a fave.
Guest:Thanks, Gene.
Marc:How did that night go?
Guest:It was okay.
Guest:It was okay.
Guest:He was my friend, so.
Marc:He's dressed up?
Guest:Yeah, he did.
Guest:I dressed up.
Guest:He dressed up.
Guest:I was into ska.
Guest:I loved ska.
Marc:This is after The Cure or around the same time?
Guest:The Cure never went away, but I just love like, was it Skink and Pickle?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You know, Body Body Bostos and all those guys.
Marc:Did you do the ska dance?
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:You could do it?
Guest:I was a badass.
Guest:Rude girl.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Of course.
Guest:It's easy.
Guest:It's easy dancing.
Marc:I can do it.
Marc:Yeah?
Marc:Yeah, I think so.
Marc:What is it?
Marc:Skanking?
Marc:It's skanking, yeah.
Guest:It's really just like kicking your legs and your arms in a rhythmic movement.
Marc:But there's a groove to it.
Guest:Yeah, you got to have an attitude about it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Did you cut your hair in a way for ska?
Guest:No, no.
Marc:Never did?
Guest:Oh, you just kept it long and in a bun.
Guest:Always.
Always.
Guest:Because it was always stringy, and I didn't know how to style it.
Marc:When did you lose the bun?
Guest:I lost it in college, sophomore year.
Marc:Okay, so you leave high school.
Guest:This is a lot about me.
Marc:That's what it's all about.
Guest:That's what it's all about.
Guest:This is a podcast.
Marc:This is serious.
Guest:This is serious.
Guest:You're going to bare my soul any second now, and I am so scared.
Guest:I'm scared.
Guest:What are you talking about?
Guest:No, I'm just kidding.
Marc:I don't have magic.
Marc:It sounds like your soul is pretty sweet.
Marc:I can't find anything.
Marc:I'm not looking for anything.
Marc:I was hoping there was some horrible, dark anger, but it seems like you buffered from that somehow.
Guest:Yeah, well...
Guest:Yeah, I guess I was.
Guest:I mean, my parents had a great marriage.
Marc:You had the Jesus thing going?
Guest:They definitely used him as a backup.
Guest:Yeah, they were like, he's a third party in this relationship.
Marc:Did you use him as a backup?
Marc:Was it in your head?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:I prayed to Jesus every night.
Marc:You did?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Mostly in junior high.
Guest:Please don't let me get beat up.
Guest:And he did it.
Guest:He pulled through, man.
Yeah.
Marc:I think prayer can be pretty powerful.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Because you've got to kneel down.
Marc:It's kind of vulnerable.
Guest:You don't have to kneel down.
Guest:You can do it while you're walking to the store.
Marc:No, I know that.
Marc:But I'm assuming that before bed, if you're going to say prayers, either you're laying in your bed or you're going to take a break.
Marc:Sure, I can say a prayer right now.
Marc:God help me get through this interview with Christa Shaw.
Guest:Oh, no.
Marc:It's really tricky.
Guest:It is tricky.
Marc:She's masking all of her.
Marc:I'm smoking mirrors over here.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:It's all a bunch of bullshit.
Marc:She's manipulating me.
Marc:She's filler-bustering me.
Marc:So, all right, so you go to college where?
Guest:I went to CU for a year and then I transferred to Northwestern.
Marc:Northwestern, Chicago.
Marc:Uh-huh.
Marc:So when you went to college at CU, when did, like, because, you know, you're a unique comedy talent.
Marc:What did you go to college for?
Guest:I went to college to be an actress.
Yeah.
Marc:Right from the beginning?
Guest:Yes.
Marc:Okay, so you're studying that already.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But you didn't do it in high school other than the oratory business.
Guest:And plays.
Guest:I did a couple plays.
Marc:So you did do the drama thing in high school.
Marc:Yeah, I did.
Marc:You did hang out with the theater kids.
Guest:Mm-hmm.
Marc:Did you sing?
Guest:No, I can't sing.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Not well.
Guest:Not enough to be paid.
Marc:No, but it sounds like you'd have one of those cute, quirky voices that is very in demand in musicals.
Guest:I wish, man.
Guest:I know.
Guest:I would not be here.
Guest:I would be on Broadway right now, just turn after turn.
Marc:Was that the dream?
Guest:I think so.
Guest:I would have loved that.
Guest:I would have loved to have been able to sing.
Marc:When you start to do acting, because I thought about it and I took acting classes in college, but how did you see your career going when you said, I'm going to be an actor?
Marc:How did you picture yourself?
Guest:I'm going to be an actor.
Guest:I guess I pictured myself looking really beautiful with dim lighting and just being like, don't walk out that door.
Guest:Like, I remember looking at my mirror when I was little, like, when I was, like, in junior high, and I remember just, like, trying so hard to, like, make this look like I could be in a movie.
Guest:And it was, like, if I, like, squinted and, like, put my head down really low.
Guest:So I had a lot of problems, too, because I had major jaw surgery in junior high.
Guest:From what?
Guest:Because my bite was so bad that they're, like, you're going to lose all your teeth.
Marc:So they did that thing where they broke your jaw and realigned it?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You went for that?
Guest:yeah I mean I was in braces for seven years and they're just like listen you you're in trouble and we gotta fix this now and then and then they're like and also we noticed you have a really tiny chin we can fix that for you the same people yeah and I was like mortified I was like
Guest:no like i don't want anyone to know that i've a had this thing and like that i went and got plastic surgery so i said no and looking back on it i really should have just said yes because i'd never see those people again yeah yeah yeah well no one's gonna hold that against you but what do you mean but what would they would have done put a plastic one in there
Guest:I think so.
Guest:I think they would have put some sort of piece and then screwed it to the tip.
Marc:Oh, your jaw.
Guest:And so that I'd have like a nice full chin, you know, to like catch my spaghetti on and stuff.
Marc:But the braces thing, I had braces and I had a jaw problem, but I didn't go for it.
Marc:They said that, they offered that to me, the sort of breaking and realigning because my teeth don't meet.
Marc:And I was like, I can't handle the pressure of having my teeth wired shut for fucking what, six months?
Marc:It was a few months.
Marc:In high school or junior high?
Marc:How old were you?
Guest:I was probably 15, 14 or 15.
Marc:Like right in the middle of the most difficult time in your life to fucking adjust and be a person among people with all these bullies around.
Marc:You got to walk around and eating through a straw.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Having on a liquid diet.
Yeah.
Guest:Not cool.
Guest:Not fun.
Guest:And then I found out like my parents are always like, I think because your teeth keep moving through that time, too.
Guest:So they think that the doctor sort of jumped the gun because he wanted to buy a boat.
Marc:I think that's true about orthodontics or whatever it is.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And about dentistry in general, because you just go into the dentist for a cleaning.
Marc:I went for a cleaning once and they were like, we've laid out the five year plan for your mouth.
Marc:And I'm like, look, I don't know how many years I got left.
Marc:I don't need to do anything dramatic.
Marc:But I think it is sort of a racket.
Marc:I guess I'm happy I didn't get that thing.
Marc:But maybe they were right.
Marc:Because you don't want them to wear wrong.
Marc:Because I've had some problems.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, my dad's teeth are really bad, and I got his mouth.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Okay, so you get braces, and then they break your jaw, and you're wired shut.
Guest:Yeah, like I got screws, permanent screws in my face.
Marc:Did you have that?
Guest:Wow, I didn't want to tell anybody that.
Guest:Oh, well.
Marc:There you go.
Marc:There's the dark secret.
Marc:There you go, Erica.
Marc:We got it.
Marc:We got it.
Marc:Kristen Shaw has screws in her face.
Guest:Oh, well.
Marc:Do you really?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Why?
Guest:Because they broke my jaw and moved it and screwed it so that my teeth matched, even though they still aren't great.
Marc:I thought that your jaw just sort of healed back up, but no.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Marc:Did you have to wear the strap-on retainer and all that?
Guest:I had to wear headgear, yes.
Marc:You had to wear headgear.
Marc:Of course you did.
Marc:Why should things be easy for you?
Guest:No, I had to do it.
Guest:I had braces for seven years.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:All that food stuck in there and rubber bands.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And tightening.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And headgear.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So when I saw myself as an actress in the movies...
Guest:it was without headgear yeah it was without headgear and it was dim light it was like smoky and i yeah i would just like just look in the mirror and i'd put my chin and like sort of you know look in and be like you know don't walk out that door yeah yeah so you're being sexy you were an ingenue try yeah i didn't know there was any other role right so you were gunning for that wait like when you went to college you're like i just want to act
Guest:Yeah, I know.
Guest:It's silly.
Guest:I just knew I wanted to act.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And what kind of place were you in?
Marc:How'd you get cast?
Marc:I mean, well, why'd you switch to Northwestern after Colorado, first of all?
Guest:Well, I wanted Northwestern first, but they turned me down because my grades weren't the best.
Guest:or it was just I got rejected so then I went to see you and I was like 15 minutes away from my house and I had a great time but I was just like I got to yeah I had fun there but you were right near home I was right near home where's the adventure yeah exactly so then I got my TPA up really high and I reapplied to Northwestern
Marc:And they've got a good program for theater, right?
Guest:They got a good program.
Guest:But the thing is, is there wasn't any room in the theater department, so they accepted me in the performance studies department.
Marc:How does that mean?
Guest:Exactly.
Marc:Is that like peer mediation?
Guest:No, but it's like adapting novels.
Guest:You know, like Mary Zimmerman was our professor.
Marc:Yeah, I don't know who that is.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:Okay.
Marc:You can explain it to me.
Marc:I like to learn.
Guest:She did Metamorphosis, which is on Broadway.
Guest:It's just taking stories in other forms and turning it into theater.
Marc:So you had to write?
Guest:You had to write essays and perform adaptions of short stories.
Guest:It turned out to be more of what I actually do, but I was so mad being there because I just wanted to take acting class.
Marc:When did you get to do that finally?
Guest:Well, I just sat in on an acting teacher's class every day for three months until she felt sorry for me and let me in.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:At Northwestern?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So you stayed in that program the whole time, the adaptation program?
Guest:Yeah, but I got all the benefits of the theater department.
Marc:Really?
Guest:I broke the system.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So did you act in plays in college?
Guest:Yep.
Marc:What'd you do?
Marc:Anything serious?
Guest:Oh, I know.
Guest:I did Moliere.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:As the wet nurse.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Not really.
Guest:And then I did lots of comedy.
Guest:Lots of comedy.
Guest:And I took classes at Second City.
Guest:And as a team at ImprovOlympic, I'd go into Chicago.
Guest:While you were in college?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So that's where it started then.
Marc:You're a Chicago person.
Guest:Yeah, I'd like to think so.
Guest:I didn't hang out.
Guest:I would go take the classes or go do the I.O.
Guest:show, and then I would immediately go back to Evanston and study.
Guest:So I never really got to hang out with people.
Guest:But Jack McBrayer, I remember being a sub-coach once for my team, which was fun.
Marc:Who?
Guest:Jack McBrayer.
Marc:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:So you got to work with him a lot?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I should know that, right?
Marc:I'm sorry.
Marc:Nope.
Marc:So let's talk about where it went after college, because I watched your stand-up special.
Guest:Okay.
Marc:Last night.
Guest:You did?
Guest:You watched it?
Marc:I did.
Guest:Oh, thanks.
Marc:I know you wanted me to watch it.
Marc:I did want you to watch it.
Marc:I didn't know about all the 30 Rocks.
Marc:See, I don't really do the research, but I'm glad they teamed you up with him.
Marc:That's a good casting.
Guest:It was cool.
Guest:I got to work with cool people.
Marc:so that was really nice it's a good show but like when did you when you graduated college when did you start when did you start realizing that you could do these comedic performances because i saw you early on and it was sort of like you know you were you were doing you know theatrical things that were definitely orchestrated bits that would go on for like 10 minutes one of them had to do a cake i think um is that right yes and i'm not being condescending i'm not either
Marc:But you're being it was very specific type of performance.
Marc:It wasn't necessarily stand up.
Marc:It wasn't improv.
Marc:It wasn't sketch.
Marc:It was somewhere in between, you know, performance art and, you know, theater.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Kind of.
Guest:I think so.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So when when when did you start doing that type of work?
Guest:Well, I probably started in New York.
Guest:So that's what I'm saying.
Guest:I think I said this on your last podcast.
Guest:So I moved to New York after college and I was so, it was so awful there.
Marc:Like how?
Guest:Like I couldn't get an apartment.
Guest:I couldn't, like I was like sleeping on friends and friends' apartments and couldn't find anything I could afford.
Guest:I couldn't find a job.
Guest:And it was just a really tough first, like kind of like three months there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:into the city and then i found eating it at the luna lounge and i went and i went and it was seven dollars and you get a free drink and the first show there it was like yeah i had all of new york telling me to like go fuck myself and then i walked into this one show and i was like oh i'm supposed to be here yeah like okay i am supposed to be so is that 94 it was in 2000
Marc:So it's like towards the end of eating.
Guest:It was towards the end, unfortunately.
Marc:So like what was that show that made you feel so comfortable?
Guest:Well, it's like you were there and I remember you, I don't know, it was just I liked that comedy.
Guest:I liked that you get a free drink if you paid $7 because money was like an issue for me.
Marc:But there was a lot of stuff going on there.
Marc:Like it was a very sort of, by that point, it was pretty well established and pretty popular and it was groovy people.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And it was like the space was really intimate and tight
Marc:and there was all kinds of people going on, whether they be UCB people or people who were doing full characters or people who were doing standup.
Marc:It was like the full range of shit.
Guest:Right.
Marc:So that saved you.
Guest:It saved me, yeah.
Guest:And I went every Monday for two years and I would never talk to anybody.
Guest:I just sat and watched the show and left.
Marc:I'm trying to remember if you were one of those people that we'd see and be like, who's that?
Marc:Probably not.
Marc:She's here again.
Guest:No, because I didn't make a fuss.
Marc:No, I know, but you might have just been like one of those people that showed up every week.
Guest:Yeah, I didn't bring anybody because I didn't have any friends who were interested in stand-up.
Marc:So you came alone to Luna for two years every Monday and you were not performing.
Guest:No.
Marc:Where were you working?
Guest:I was working at, I got a job at Planet Hollywood in Times Square.
Marc:Oh my God.
Marc:This is like such a nightmare kind of Midwest.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Kind of like I'm going to the big city to do something and you end up in some weird occupational prison.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was bad.
Marc:You were waiting tables at Planet Hollywood?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Did you have to wear swag or what do they call it?
No.
Marc:Flare.
Marc:Flare.
Guest:No, you just had to wear the Planet Hollywood t-shirt.
Guest:But it was just attracting tourists who weren't interested in exploring anything else.
Marc:Right.
Guest:And they wouldn't let us put a gratuity on, so you had to hope that they read some sort of...
Guest:about our tipping system before they came in.
Guest:A lot of them didn't.
Guest:Except for, I don't know if this is racist, but this is the compliment that every table I had from an Asian country always tipped very well.
Guest:And I was so happy whenever I got seated with them because I just knew they would take care of me.
Marc:I don't think it's racist when you say a good thing.
Guest:I know, I know.
Marc:That's an interesting question, though.
Guest:I know, right?
Marc:I don't mean to stereotype at all.
Marc:Is it racist to say that all Asians are good tippers?
Guest:They're really respectful of cultures.
Guest:But anyways, yeah, it was bad.
Guest:And yeah, so that's how I, and I remember I finally, I did a, first started doing stand-up at Collective Unconscious and also at Surf Reality.
Guest:Reverend Jen and Faceboy.
Marc:So that's where you started.
Guest:That's where I started.
Marc:So that was so that was yeah, that was the type of comedy that was happening.
Guest:Yeah, it was great because I knew that I had a place to put up a bit every week.
Guest:And towards the end, because I would actually work on it, write new things.
Guest:I kind of because, you know, they draw everyone puts their name into a hat and you draw them out.
Guest:And people could, you could be there till 4 a.m.
Guest:before you got your spot.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But sometimes Spaceboy, I could tell, would, like, kind of draw me early.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:That's sweet.
Guest:Unless he's a sweetie.
Marc:Because you were gifted.
Guest:Well, because I was, I wanted to, some people use that time as almost like therapy.
Guest:Like, just like, I remember a guy would get up and, like, be like, my dad's a dick and let me just finally call him and tell him.
Guest:And he, like,
Guest:put the phone up to the bike and like called dad in front of everybody and it was just like.
Marc:Well, that was it because that whole tradition of certainly that room was like directly tied to performance art.
Marc:It wasn't necessarily about standup.
Guest:It wasn't, yeah.
Marc:It was about taking these risks and making it awkward.
Marc:But I imagine that you were doing pretty well sketched out stuff, right?
Guest:Yeah, I was doing a lot of sketch stuff.
Guest:That was the thing that I thought was interesting.
Guest:And I'd read a lot of books and watched a lot of things about Andy Kaufman, too.
Guest:It's just like taking the stage and...
Guest:and making it different.
Guest:So, like, what if there's a character that wanders onto the stage and thinks that, you know, it's a poetry slam by accident or just, like, a different environment and, like, what she could do with it.
Marc:Right.
Marc:So you were impressed with Andy?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:When did you first see his stuff?
Guest:I read about his stuff in college, and then when I moved to New York, I went to the Museum of Television and Radio and watched all his stuff.
Marc:Back when you could do that.
Marc:Back when you needed to do that.
Marc:As a member.
Marc:Yeah, wasn't that great?
Marc:Go sit in the booths and then pick your things.
Marc:You got like four things, I think, at a time, right, that you could watch?
Marc:Yep.
Marc:And you just sit there in your little booth and go time travel.
Guest:I know.
Guest:Yeah, I watched a lot of vaudeville stuff, too.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah, I watched a lot of Gracie and Alan, and this was great.
Marc:So real early television.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So you watched a lot of those old, very broad comedic characters.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I said Gracie and Alan was so poetic.
Guest:They were great.
Guest:It was like a play.
Guest:And he would step off the set, down off the set.
Guest:And George Burns would just do a monologue about Gracie.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's cool.
Marc:And she'd come out.
Marc:She was sort of dingy, but always had the good laughs.
Guest:Right.
Marc:And George was the straight, kind of almost cranky guy.
Guest:Yeah, but he was the father figure.
Marc:Were they some of your favorites, those two?
Guest:I love them, I love Nichols and Mae.
Guest:Those were my favorite.
Guest:I didn't find any Fanny Price, so I probably, I didn't see any recorded.
Marc:Do people compare you to her?
Guest:I guess like old people.
Guest:No, nobody does.
Guest:And I bring up Fanny Bryce all the time to Blake Stairs.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Because, I mean, I think that there's a sort of similarity there.
Guest:Yeah, I think so.
Guest:I mean, I don't do a ton of different foreign accents and make fun of people's race.
Marc:And she does music, though.
Guest:She did it early on, yeah.
Guest:Kurt got me a record called Baby Snooks.
Marc:Oh, yeah?
Guest:Where it's just like violent.
Guest:Like the dad just like beats her.
Guest:Shut up, Baby Snooks.
Marc:And it's a Fanny Bryce riff?
Guest:Uh-huh, yeah.
Marc:But I guess she was a lot of personality.
Guest:Yes, big personality.
Marc:And so the Andy Kaufman stuff, what'd you watch?
Guest:I watched a special.
Marc:The Carnegie Hall special?
Guest:Yep, I watched that.
Guest:I think I was able to see his TV special too.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And then like SNL spots.
Marc:So that was sort of like the direction you were going with your stage performance.
Guest:Yeah, that was the inspiration.
Marc:And that's sort of like, I think that when you started, when did you put together your first sort of full show?
Guest:My first full show, probably at the beginning, I did something at the Manhattan Theater Company called Huzzah.
Guest:Huzzah and Bird.
Guest:And that was just like a series of sketches.
Marc:Just you?
Guest:Just me.
Guest:And I remember I finally got some stuff on tape, too, after working at Surf Reality and Collective Unconsciousness and then getting together together.
Guest:like a half hour show and then i was able to tape it and then finally get a tape to jeff stinger so after two years he could see a tape and i could finally do some spots at eating it i think i did three or four spots at eating it i don't remember seeing you there maybe i was gone already you might have been gone i remember i i did the last show at eating it actually um was that before or after 9-11
Marc:I feel like, because I left in 2001, maybe it was still going for, I can't remember when it stopped.
Marc:I don't think I was in town when it ended though.
Guest:I think it was after 9-11.
Marc:Yeah, so it was like, so it probably closed shop in like 2002.
Marc:Did that guy who's writing the book call you?
Marc:Nope.
Marc:Some guy's writing a book on that.
Guest:I heard.
Marc:You did.
Guest:I heard he's writing a book.
Guest:He's a young kid, so he wasn't there.
Guest:It's funny to hear him ask questions.
Marc:Columbia.
Marc:He's at Columbia.
Marc:I get calls from him once a week.
Marc:Hey, can I ask you a couple more things?
Marc:I feel like I'm helping him shape it.
Guest:It's like, you should write that book.
Marc:Yeah, but I don't know.
Marc:There was a lot of camps of thought down there.
Marc:How did your career take off?
Guest:I just kept doing stuff.
Guest:And then I just kept going up to different rooms.
Marc:But they loved you, and didn't you do the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and all that stuff?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I think my career really took off when I got together with Kurt and we formed the Hot Tub Show.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah, because I remember going to like, I would go to, what's that show?
Guest:Invite Them Up.
Guest:And I couldn't, I didn't know Holly.
Guest:You know, I didn't know Eugene that well.
Guest:And I just would go and watch the shows and just be like,
Guest:God, I would love to go up in this room.
Guest:And so I would wait.
Guest:And then we started the show.
Guest:And I remember I would just wait till the end of the show, hang out, and then catch Demetri Martin on his way out and just be like, hey, man, I have a show.
Guest:Hey, Eugene, I have a show.
Guest:And then Eugene does my show.
Guest:And then he's like, do you want to come do my show?
Guest:And then after that, you're inviting other people with shows to do your show.
Guest:And now you're getting invited to their shows.
Marc:So you guys were at the, that was the beginning of all that.
Marc:That after Luna sort of shut down, right, Eugene and Bobby did invite them up, right?
Marc:And that was at that bar, what was it called?
Guest:It was called.
Marc:Had some, the Casbah or something weird like that.
Guest:Invite them up at the, oh my God.
Marc:yeah i can't remember it was on 11th street i remember yeah um yeah and it had that that stage it was elevated a little bit in the corner yeah it was perfect because it was separated from the bar right there's nothing worse than doing a show with a bar right next to the stage because by the time all that stuff really started to take off all the post luna stuff i was out here already and i would go back and people be like you want to do my show there's this other show happening i'm like how many fucking shows are there
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:And then Liam McEnany was doing his show.
Marc:And then that just sort of, but I guess you guys were sort of at the beginning of that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Really.
Guest:Yeah, we were riding that wave.
Guest:It was great.
Marc:It was like, it was the post Luna explosion of alternative comedy shows.
Guest:Yes, yes.
Guest:And I would say that it was definitely inspired by Luna for sure.
Marc:Right, but there were so many of them, and that sort of became it.
Marc:I think that sort of defined... Rafifi.
Marc:That's it, Rafifi.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:That's the club.
Guest:Yeah, because Rafifi could invite them up on Wednesdays, and then it would do another Nick Kroll and Jesse Klein show on Thursday.
Guest:And every night of the week, someone was doing a show somewhere in the East Village.
Marc:So that's really what happened.
Marc:See, I missed all that.
Marc:I'm like the old generation.
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, you are.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:That's true.
Guest:You went to LA, I guess.
Marc:Yeah, I did.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Once Luna shut down, I left, and all you kids started doing your little shows everywhere and getting famous.
Guest:And getting famous.
Guest:And we had a big, a huge coup, too, because...
Guest:I don't even know, David Cross has always been helpful, and he did Hot Tub.
Marc:Where was Hot Tub?
Guest:It was at the People's Improv Theater.
Guest:That was our first venue.
Marc:The Pit?
Guest:The Pit.
Marc:That's not an easy room.
Guest:Yeah, it was pretty nice.
Marc:It's weird.
Marc:It's like there's a tiered sort of... There was, yeah.
Guest:Well, it's different.
Guest:They moved, but the old pit was like... Yeah, it was like a little gladiator.
Marc:A little bit.
Marc:It was small.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, but there was a curtain.
Guest:That's the thing.
Guest:If you want to do something other than stand-up and you can make entrances and exits without going through the audience, it's exciting.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But I think that's also like, you know, an indication of that whole generation of comedic performers.
Marc:You guys all built relationships.
Marc:I mean, you do Bob's Burgers.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And you do, you know, you do a lot of, you know, the Flight of the Concourse.
Marc:I mean, it seemed like that crew, you know, sort of integrated itself into a lot of the television and stuff we see now.
Marc:Because you all kind of knew each other.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And everybody was sort of hanging around.
Guest:Yeah, it's really fun.
Guest:It's just fun to know that a peer group after 15 years can actually make some money.
Marc:Yeah, well, I mean, that's the way it works.
Marc:Yeah, it is, isn't it?
Marc:Yeah, because at that time, there are people who want to direct things or write things or produce things, and they're all hanging around, too.
Marc:That's what people forget.
Marc:It's not just comics that all of a sudden group together.
Marc:There's a whole generation of creative people that are in a scene and that have ideas.
Marc:Yes.
Guest:I know.
Guest:That's why when Eugene said this, it's so true.
Guest:It's like when people are like, hey, man, I'm starting out in comedy.
Guest:Like, what do I do?
Guest:What's your advice?
Guest:It is the best advice, but they hate it.
Guest:He's like, 10 years.
Guest:I keep working really hard for 10 years.
Guest:But it's true.
Marc:So when you did The Fringe and you got all the accolades over there, because I would think that they would be like, I didn't have a good time at The Fringe, but I would think that they would have just been like, oh my God, we love you.
Marc:Did that happen?
Guest:Yeah, it was great because Maria Bamford sort of paved the way for me because she was in that, because Demetri Martin was in this Wildman room that no longer exists in Edinburgh, then Maria, and both of them killed him.
Guest:So they were excited to get another American in there who did quirky things.
Guest:So I had it easy.
Guest:And it was a nice room.
Guest:I'd been working on my stuff for a while, so some of my best stuff.
Guest:It was really fun.
Guest:It was magical.
Marc:And now do you work over there frequently in the UK?
Guest:Yeah, no, I did.
Guest:I noticed I was going back and forth quite a bit.
Guest:And then it's just a point where I was like, I need to sort of stay focused in one place.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:And when did all the acting roles really start to pick up?
Marc:Because you seem to appear in every sort of comedic vehicle of any kind available.
Guest:That's not true.
Marc:You're a type.
Marc:You're a thing.
Marc:You're Kristen Schaal.
Marc:You bring a certain energy.
Guest:Well.
Marc:I'm casting right now.
Marc:Are you?
Marc:We want that energy.
Guest:Oh, you do?
Marc:We want that Kristen Schaal.
Guest:That's funny because there has been, I've heard there's been breakdowns where they ask for a Kristen Schaal type, but they don't ask me to audition.
Marc:Well, what do you think that type is?
Guest:Um, I don't know.
Guest:I, I, I would hate to give it a type.
Guest:I would hope I could be more than one type.
Guest:That's the problem.
Guest:I think like doing fly the concords and playing like the stalker character and stuff.
Guest:It's like, she's manic and a little crazy coming out of that sweet face and voice, you know, which is good.
Guest:Like I like that I can do that, but.
Marc:You're still holding out for that ingenue part?
Guest:No.
Marc:Where you can look down.
Guest:The ingenue part's incredibly boring, I've realized.
Guest:But yeah, I guess so.
Marc:When did that all start to happen?
Marc:Oh, right.
Marc:Do you feel like you're typecast at all?
Marc:Or do you approach everything differently?
Marc:I mean, because the part on Fly the Conchords is very specific.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But then you show up in other things where you're not nuts.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But you're just full of a childlike wonder.
Yeah.
Guest:I think I started, Fly the Conchords blew all the doors off.
Guest:Like all of a sudden I could, because I couldn't get auditions for anything.
Guest:And then all of a sudden I could.
Marc:Because you were defined, because you were like, she does a thing.
Guest:Oh, no, because no one knew who I was, and you can't get work unless they know who you are.
Marc:But I think they're hiring you for you, that you're a comedic personality.
Marc:You have your specific comedic personality.
Marc:I'm not going to say what the attributes are, but I mean, they know like Christian Schaal could do this.
Guest:I can do that, and I want my reputation to be that I will do and try everything.
Guest:When I come to a set or a job, like whatever the joke is, I always think it's a good idea instead of like reading it and being like, this isn't funny.
Guest:I'm not going to try it.
Guest:I think it's good to just like try it and make it work.
Guest:And if it doesn't work, then you do it.
Guest:But I've seen, I've witnessed a lot of actresses just be like, I'm going to try this.
Guest:I'm not funny.
Marc:Well, have you ever had a situation where you got yourself in over your head or it didn't work out or you're like trying something and it was like, no, you can't do it.
Guest:Not yet.
Marc:So are you happy with your special?
Guest:Yeah, I am happy with it.
Guest:It was received incredibly mixed.
Guest:I just heard that Comedy Central is not happy with the fact that not a lot of people watched it.
Guest:But they aired it on a Monday night at midnight.
Guest:But also, it's a weird special.
Marc:It is weird.
Guest:And I'm grateful that they let me do it.
Marc:Yeah, did you self-produce it?
Guest:No, they produced it, Comedy Central.
Marc:Now, was that something you were looking to do, or did they say you wanna do it?
Guest:Oh no, I pitched it to them.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I pitched it to them, it took a little over a year, if not two years, to convince them, because I wanted to do it live at first.
Guest:And they said no, of course.
Marc:I think it was shot really well, and there was a lot of close-ups that I really liked.
Marc:I liked the way that, who shot that?
Guest:Well, John Lee shot the behind-the-scenes stuff, and then their guys shot the regular stuff.
Marc:So you were part of a series that they were doing of one hour at the Fillmore.
Marc:I performed at the Fillmore.
Marc:So you basically, it's sort of like, what do you want your set to look like?
Marc:That's how they mix it up.
Marc:So you come with this sort of conceptual idea to do straight up what you do, sketches and stand-up pieces, and then it just breaks apart in the second half.
Marc:and like it was weird because watching it I got some laughs and I found it very compelling when this stage was empty yeah me too
Marc:Like, it's just something like it's something you see on B-roll, you know, like like, you know, like before the act starts, there's just sort of that weird because the space is cool.
Marc:The film more.
Marc:But when you walk off stage and then you just let it sit there and that that shot in and of itself that, you know, you've left the stage and then you just let it sit there for a while.
Marc:I'm like, that's great.
Marc:I'd like to see about 10 more minutes of that.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, me too.
Marc:And then Kurt does his thing.
Marc:At first, though, the device where you keep fucking up the word... Airplane.
Marc:Yeah, and then you get frustrated, and then you act all that out, and then you just fucking lose it.
Marc:And then you come out, and Kurt comes out, and he does the bad crowd work.
Marc:My question is...
Marc:In doing that, like in knowing that, I could feel that you were honoring yourself and also honoring that tradition of Kaufman and calling out the audience on their expectations and using them a little bit.
Marc:I mean, you had to direct them a bit, the audience.
Guest:No, not till the end.
Marc:When you told them to leave.
Guest:Yes, that was the only time.
Guest:So all those reactions are real.
Marc:Okay, so when you split that first time, when you fucked it up, and you just let them sit there, that was real.
Marc:How'd that feel?
Guest:Great.
Guest:It felt great.
Guest:So that was the thing.
Guest:I wanted to, because Comedy Central does these specials for decades, right?
Guest:And they're so iconic.
Guest:But nobody's ever tried to turn one on its head.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I was like, let me turn one on its head.
Guest:Let me stage a live bomb.
Guest:Let me show, let me pull the curtains back and show how delicate comedy is.
Guest:When it's done well, it only takes just a tiny thing to make it break apart.
Guest:And also, yeah, let me play with people's expectations.
Guest:And then when they wouldn't let me do it live, I rethought it again.
Guest:So I was like, okay, well,
Guest:they're obviously gonna know that it's staged.
Guest:It's gonna be clear.
Marc:When you go out the second time.
Guest:Yeah, so I'm like, well, let me figure out just that moment where it does look real, and I just wanted people at home to be watching it and to have a second where they would just be like,
Guest:Did I just see that?
Marc:Right.
Guest:Does that happen?
Marc:Like, what was that?
Marc:There was definitely some of that.
Marc:And, but, but more than that, you know, at the end where, you know, I'd seen you and Kurt do the, the, the horse before, and it was annoying then.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And, and, but not, but that's what you want.
Marc:Right.
Marc:I'm not misreading that, that there, that the repetition of it is, you know, it's either going to become hilarious or it's going to become a, you know, profoundly awkward.
Right.
Guest:yes yes definitely that's what we yeah that's what's great about that bit and we also wanted to make sure we recorded that bit a lot you know forever and put it away forever but uh but yeah there was like a sweet there was a sweet moment i was hosting hot tub when it aired so i would uh just between acts i would check like the twitter feed yeah and you know people would just be like ah taints you know yeah you know
Guest:oh your grandma's eye uh you know and then all of a sudden it just went it just got quiet and nobody was tweeting anything because the bomb was happening and it was like such a great moment because at the second half yeah yeah the second half because you didn't bomb you did your job the first half you know you you just you just um you decided to to have a you know to not bomb
Marc:The first half.
Guest:Yeah, I wanted to give him some comedy.
Marc:And then you wanted to turn it on its head in the second half.
Guest:Yeah, which is the opposite of what Kaufman did.
Guest:Kaufman would always start bad if you looked at Foreign Man, and then he would turn into this incredible Elvis impersonator.
Guest:I did it the other way, for better or for worse.
Guest:But yeah, it was just a really sweet moment where I just knew people were having to process something that they hadn't seen before on TV.
Marc:Well, yeah, because after, you know, the payoff of the Kristen Shaw as a horse, the very last shot, did you get that from 2001?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And the, you know, that whole thing is just weird.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, it's totally weird.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But it's also a callback to the first joke.
Marc:No, I get it.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Oh, sure.
Marc:Yeah, no, I got it.
Guest:Did you see the horse?
Guest:No, I don't think people saw the horse.
Guest:There is a real horse in the opening.
Marc:There is?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Where?
Yeah.
Marc:when i walk through the doors it's only there for like half a second you had a horse come in and you only shot it for a half a second yeah yeah because i just wanted to plant tiny tiny clues throughout oh so you're doing the shining thing i guess i was a little bit but yeah that so that now i gotta go look for the horse i didn't i didn't register the horse how do i not register a horse is it really that hard to notice
Guest:I don't know, I was surprised more people didn't notice.
Marc:So do you go to comment boards, do you go?
Guest:I looked online for a little bit, and I was genuinely surprised.
Guest:A lot of people, this is the thing.
Guest:You want to make something like this because there's going to be people out there.
Guest:And John Lee said this too.
Guest:If I was in high school and this came on, I'd be like, that's awesome.
Guest:I've never seen that before.
Guest:And there's going to be some people that are like, that's cool and it's so weird.
Guest:I like that.
Guest:And they'd be like, or even like, ah, that's cool, but she didn't do it well.
Guest:right oh great well do you have a better way to do something you know like off the wall let's see it like i want to like i want to inspire that in people and then some people thought it just hated everything about it and that's fine you know that is like it is going to be a divisive show either way no yeah um so but i was surprised people some people didn't know that it was staged after even after the little girl was on stage
Marc:Now, she's a comic, right?
Guest:She's an actress, yeah.
Marc:Oh, she's an actress.
Marc:She's never done stand-up?
Guest:No, no.
Marc:I thought she was one of those kind of freakish.
Guest:She could be.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:So who gave her that tagline?
Guest:I gave her the tagline.
Guest:And Rich Blomquist and my husband and Kurt wrote a lot of her jokes.
Guest:Most of her jokes, yeah.
Marc:Now, she was great.
Guest:She was great.
Guest:Yeah, she was really good.
Marc:Yeah, I like that.
Marc:That whole second half is very, it's jarring.
Marc:And it's jarring in that way that that type of comedy is supposed to be.
Marc:I liked it.
Guest:Good, yeah.
Guest:And you and a few, and maybe like, you know, a hundred other people.
Guest:But that's like, I didn't mean to alienate all the people.
Marc:But you knew.
Guest:well i knew it yeah i knew it would not be uh uh yeah so but you know people could hate the special if it was basic stand-up so it's like they're gonna hate on it no matter what they're gonna love it no matter what people online are generally haters i know but that's the only like connection that's the only thing you have isn't it no no really i just go out and take a poll
Marc:I think that the people that support you when they feel compelled will email you.
Guest:That's okay.
Guest:I don't need that.
Guest:I feel good about it and I'm glad I got to talk about it with you.
Marc:Well, thank you for coming.
Guest:Thanks for having me.
Guest:I'm glad we could get together.
Marc:I think we had a nice talk.
Guest:I do too.
Guest:I feel less, you know, you're very disarming.
Marc:I am?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:My eye's watering because I use this lotion on my face.
Marc:I have sunblock in it.
Marc:I'll rub my eye and now it's watering.
Marc:I'm not crying because you're leaving.
Guest:Yeah, you are.
Marc:Okay.
Okay.
Marc:That's it, my friends.
Marc:Wasn't Kristen amazing?
Marc:Isn't she a sweetheart?
Marc:Isn't she hilarious?
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Answer, check, check, check, yes.
Marc:Go to WTFPod.com for all your WTFPod needs.
Marc:Get that premium app.
Marc:Get all the episodes.
Marc:Come Monday, you'll be able to get 350 that you can't get for free.
Marc:Unless you're one of those assholes who finds things for free and justifies it.
Marc:Rationalizes it.
Marc:Says, you know, I can't get it otherwise.
Marc:I get it.
Marc:I get it.
Marc:All right, I got to go to Buffalo.
Marc:I got to pack.
Marc:I got to take my... The pants are a little big to be comfortable.
Marc:You know, I'm not complaining.
Marc:I know some of you are like, shut up, you're not fat.
Marc:But, you know, what do you know about me and what I consider fat?
Marc:Boomer lives!