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Tina Fey Tina Fey yes Tina Fey one thing I remember about her just a quirky little aside
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I was on Oprah the one and only time with Tina Fey Chevy Chase Jane Curtin and Tracy Morgan
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and uh one thing I remember they go Chevy's kind of weird they asked me to try to really be animated on the show
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like just be funny rather than be interviewed because they thought Chevy was kind of quiet or weird oh they
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wanted you to amp yeah yeah amp it up because we're scared you know but anyway
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I remember uh Tina just uh telling me afterwards she was going to the airport on a Regional Jet and you know because
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when you when you do Saturday live Lorne Michaels always had the Paramount jet yeah but she never went on it because
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she said it was like a flying car scar scared the [ __ ] out of her the Paramount
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shot yeah oh yeah I got on that thing I know because sometimes they're so small it's
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like an MRI with wings you just lay there like what you don't want to hear because you
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can hear stuff you don't hear a commercial jet and I feel like commercial all the time sorry first
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world problem but is that if there's something wrong you hear it so I've been
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in a private jet just two guys up front look like they're 26 right out of film
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so I'm sorry Aviation school and then all of a sudden here pull up pull up I've heard that pull up pull up you know
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have you heard this traffic traffic traffic traffic traffic pull up pull up get out it was just way sense memory of
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being in high school getting busy with a woman she says pull out pull out pull out that was a joke that was all that
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way oh no no that was an ad-lib it's got a half smile we have editing capability
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um I was just saying it's so lovely smart quick on her feet we do voice text
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sometimes always just casually very funny without trying so she's talking to
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her reeks of of intelligence yeah uh and I just did an animated show with her called Mulligan and voiced a character
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and she was on the zooms a lot so she's really funny has great voices and and of
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course her Sarah Palin moment historically as a match between a person and a character was you know maybe the
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top political match I did Perot but I needed a nose and ears and stuff but she was like and
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now you look exactly like Perot by the way there's a really good script out for a Perot movie or series on live
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streaming from a really good writer that they want me to do but I don't have time
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I go I I go they go why not I go well I got this podcast was spayed cut to Spade
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running to the audition can I finish one time did the King James Brown at the end getting it finished one
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time all right Tina Fey left Tina Fey the one and only the lovely Tina Fey enjoy our
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conversation thank you [Music] what are you watching what are you and Jeff watching when the kids go to sleep
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if they do uh what's your show do you have a show that you share together they
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do if they do is the operative uh right they're teenagers right so you never
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know my older one's 16 I'm gonna try one here and uh my little one's ten and
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she's just like we're up right we're up forever but uh forever we're doing this you're like no no Great
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British Bake Off is what I'm watching right now well I will tell you what I've been
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watching with my kid is I've been watching baking it if you like Great British Bake Off check out baking it
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start uh hosted by Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg oh really and do they have contestants that win or lose like
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there's a reality show yeah it's a reality show Amy puller produces it it's
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really sweet it's sweet natured like Great British Bake Off like nobody's
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mean or sneaky I feel like I need some big one and um I like that too because uh I've seen Great British Bake Off boy
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boy who I wish I'd make fun um Paul Hollywood so we've entered the face like you're talking about Andy and
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Maya doing that that all careers have at least five things they're doing simultaneously there's no more ever
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unless you're Tom Cruise Cena [Music] like we did one of your side projects we
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might as well promote it Mulligan a cartoon that was really fun for me to do with Robert Carlock and Sam means and
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Tina and it'll be on maybe in 2022 later I think yeah animation takes a long time
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it turns out yeah I'm gonna jump in on the uh British Bake Off I'm a little behind because I've got
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a lag um that's always good for a podcast I had an idea for a for real I pitched a
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show where you cook with celebrities it's so dumb it's been on but like the
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good title was is this thing on is this thing about the oven like is the oven on
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yeah is the oven on oh it's for people that are on the road that don't know how
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to cook and they teach them so that's a good idea yeah right so when I interviewed Kevin Hart for something I
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made a joke about his uh weightlifting workout show and I go are you are you working out and he goes no and I go
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you're not in the workout room whatever yeah and he goes and then someone off
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camera goes remember you have a YouTube show about workout he goes oh no no no no yeah yeah yeah no I do I work out I
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do that he probably knocked out six episodes in a row a year and a half ago yeah this is a show well we're doing
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this podcast but this is also called uh remember when and it's a sideshow that
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I'm actually producing and you're on two shows at once right now so okay this is
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uh you know it's turning into that do you have remember a Star Trek fan Little Star Trek back when there were
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fewer choices back on TV but I don't super know it but now that you get to pick well occasionally they would this
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will dovetail to you occasionally they have an episode where William T Kirk is has to testify on a trial and then the
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robot voice says all his awards for being such a great and your your thing sounds like that Faye has won nine prime
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time Emmy Awards three Golden Globe awards five Screen Actor Guild Awards seven Writers Guild Awards three
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producer and finally they go enough enough and then of course Mark Twain that was a clever way of putting for the
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audience who's never heard of me couching you Mark Twain look-alike contest yeah okay
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I wrote that I scribbled that one down crippled that one down School yep kind of did a mic drop by the
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time you came around and got the Mark Twain award it's like the the resume was
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so fat and then you pulled up your socks and did a broad oh my God you're just going
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right now it's done it's all done everything I have a question about the
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Mark Twain award when you win Awards let's get serious now yeah I'm moving no
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you don't have to um when you I'll ask Dan when you win Awards welcome to the empty chair no she what
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happens is is it more stressful when you win an award it's fun to win but do you have to have a funny speech and
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how hard is that because you keep winning stuff and it's like [ __ ] I gotta
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make a funny speech every time I do think you you um I'm gonna put makeup on
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while we talk and you tell me if it helps of course it's a tutorial don't
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worry we're never using this oh I turn off my picture you can turn off your picture so you don't know I
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want to see this [ __ ] [ __ ] oh god well that looks like a really nice it's a smoother
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by the way it's not helping anyway um the best thing about winning about winning an awards is leaving the
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auditorium right because then you when you win and then you leave and you go to The Press Room and you're gone and then
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the worst thing about not winning is remaining in the auditorium but um you do you do have to try to have a
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funny speech guys I'm just putting a little bass yeah you're turning into a
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different person she's putting all this really transitions I want to get some
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something on here do you like it when you come out of the limo and they start screaming and you go on the red carpet
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and there's all those mics and Tina Tina Tina I know this first world problem so
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we're just saying these are experientially I mean I broke out in sweat when I was
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nominated the first time I was sitting Lauren was behind me and I thought I might have to go up there and I
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literally broke out in a complete soaking sweat of nerves I didn't win thank god
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um and what Nickelodeon show was that slime um like Steve Martin had stopped by oh
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he wasn't posing he was like there to see Lauren and I was a writer and he had
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just made me nervous so think of that's like super nervous and then um had just
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been on Letterman the night before or something and I was like oh hey you were so funny on Letterman and he said to me
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um well you know you have to kill every time and that was like the most chilling
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like that like he's like well yeah you just have to kill every time and I was
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like you do or can you just speak can you just be friendly no you can't you kind of have to after I came off SNL
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like a rocket then I had my Wilderness years so I would go on talk shows and I was feeling so small and insecure like
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all my confidence melted in like a weekend for no logical reason but then I had to
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like come out you know I emulated Martin Short where you come out no matter what's going on like you're a star yeah
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because I otherwise I would and I had to sit up one time I sat back on Letterman
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it's just the souffle went down I had to be in performance mode but yeah I would
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think what you or you wouldn't have to do that but I'm kind of like a monkey
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puppet I gotta get the biscuit you know I think anyone in anyone who they associate with comedy is like what do
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you got like you can't just go on there and be like a an actress with shiny legs
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like you have to you have to bring something right was it for you guys was doing Letterman as terrifying for you
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guys as it was for me like I was just so terrified absolutely he's right up our
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alley I think that's the problem is like he's so he was so the one when I was
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watching it it was sort of a different form of Comedy from loving Carson to yeah to going let him is a whole
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different vibe and then if you know if I could make him laugh just that that was
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the scary part probably for all of us you just it's so gross you just want to
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make it it felt like David could see right through you and I do think that he laughed a lot
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at not what I was saying but at the concept that I was trying to land a laugh I don't think you care what my joke was
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but he loved the idea of a comedian and what I would say to myself for what I said a second ago when I was in the
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wings looking and seeing him there in the audience I would say to myself don't
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give this show too much respect just to get me back to even you know because David didn't want that either but your
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appearances are you know always seem seemingly very well received and then you did the famous thing you took your
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dress off like that's just like one of those whoa indelible like okay no one's
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ever done that Googling that um that was I I yeah I tried to go out with a bang um when it wasn't your last was it his
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last Letterman I sort of said like um to him because I was trying to think I was
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very very honored to be asked to be a guest in that late run of the show um and felt huge pressure and I thought
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well maybe I could do a bit where it was sort of true as I you know he was the last one that was scary right because
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like everyone else now every time I'm like I'm not scared of Jimmy I'm not
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scared of Steph but you know right they're not even younger I'm never on
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Kimmel because I'm never there like um and so I just sort of did a bit about
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how like yeah this is this kind of like lady dress with the tight thing in the heels like I'm only doing that for you
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I'm not I will never do that again I'm just like I'm not gonna dress up for
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Jimmy it's like dressing up for my brother so this is my last dress all sexy I could dress up and gave it to him
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and I had like a thousand girdles under it it was it was not like a very more situation
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but a lot of space did you get a lot of response from anybody on that one I mean it kind of
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was something for people would talk about I assume um I think he didn't mind it right he
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didn't mind it I think the bit went over and then you know I saw like Amy Sedaris
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the next day or something she was like oh that was good whether she mentioned what I hate what I hate is one a friend
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gives you a report card for doing something on a show and then they switch mid word like you know they're going for
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great and then they dive to good hey that was great good I mean I had a great and then
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when they switched just tell me I suck but don't in the middle lean it out yeah
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that was amazing like this I saw you and let him announcement they go is that hard looks hard and I go why does it
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look hard this one they go hey you look like you look like you were having fun you look like it was a lot of fun out
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there you know what Tina I I feel like a non-visual makeup tutorial might be the
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future but it might not it might be my future she's putting on blush and some
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Rouge that's it um one time at a charity thing a long time ago but when Jimmy and I were still
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doing Weekend Update that's how long ago it was Jimmy Jimmy it was one of Michael's benefit shows
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and Jimmy and I went out and did some bit and we we did really badly like it really bombed and I remember we came off
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and Adam Sandler who I don't really know but I really love um it was up next and he just looked at
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us and he was like he couldn't because we bombed and he's looking good hustle good Hustle
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and it's one of my favorite things ever because it was just like the nicest possible thing you could say it was like
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you tried well you didn't let the flag touch the ground I mean you don't want
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to want to turn on the audience or get pouty or let them know this is really awful unless you do break the fourth
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wall I think Letterman likes Knowing You Came loaded at least you're trying I
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don't think he likes me walking there with nothing and go uh you know if you
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ever I don't think it's a dirty secret that I didn't know when I watched talk
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shows that there was some prep I just thought oh you just got there and be funny everyone's pretty good at it and
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then they go oh here's a 45 minute call of every funny thing that's happened in
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your life and then we will Whittle it down to six yes and they always Whittle out the ones I like and they go we're
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gonna we push that one to the end but I feel like that's a good one if we go uh
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40 minutes and I go well that's my favorite one they go um actually in Letterman he used to talk with my dad I
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have a deadbeat dad and he goes his name is PeeWee and he just thought he's so
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interested in it so then he goes hey because one time Peewee came and he goes I hear your Dad's here and I go yeah
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because I always talked about what a load he was you know because he only buzzed around when I got famous so I go
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yeah he's here and he goes he's in the Green Room yeah and they cut to him and
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they have a show girl sitting next to him he's hired a showgirl to sit next to him
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like an extra and then he puts his hand on her leg and she's like hey and I was
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like don't make up stuff where they have people walking around so of course they've put this pretty girl
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and then uh he's like hey and then he uh next time I come on they go come back
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and they go okay you're on about five minutes you have all your uh garbage you're gonna do and I go yeah and they
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go yeah I got a new dog and all this stupid [ __ ] and they go oh yeah he wants to ask you about pee with your dad I go
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yeah I don't have anything on that this time remember I sent you the stuff they
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go yeah he's going to start with that yeah and I go well so then I got they're
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like I see Biff over there going let's go I go what do I say so I just bought
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my dad I bought him a condo because he always comes up with investment ideas so he goes Davey I got a great investment
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for you I think I'm gonna let you buy me a condo and I go I don't know I go I go
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that's an investment for me and he goes yeah hey they're not making any more
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condos I go I think that's land and he goes no it's condos yeah well with that
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kind of pitch my Dad forgot mine I thought later was land and I got tricked by the time I dad was in his 80s he
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couldn't remember my name and I've got four siblings and he goes hey have you
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seen money and they go money you mean Dana Who the hell's Dana I need some money for money anyway we're not bitter
00:16:33
Tina but anyway my point is this how do your relatives handle your success from mousy schoolgirl to mousy star
00:16:43
yeah no Tina I have a real question when you're the head writer I'm reading this
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yeah when you're the head writer is it just a lot of hiding it's uh you can't hide because everybody
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wants to ask you everything yeah on Tuesday nights usually if you had one thing you wanted to write yourself you
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actually had an idea and you'd have to hide from people to try to write something but like I think being the
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head writer is just about like embracing shame and just being like okay this thing that I would never pick I'm gonna
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try to help it and then I'm gonna get you I'm gonna get you all done about it
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and then my friends are gonna be like good job on that thing like it wasn't me
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you let that turn the whole show is on your shoulders yeah well Downey used to hide from us all the time he'd lock the
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door and then I go I'd knock and then he goes do you want to go eat and I go sure
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I'll do anything just to get in the same room and then we go eat and he wants to
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talk about anything but the show and then you get back and then he locks it again I'm like knocking and I see
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Schneider cut in front of me I'm next if you gotta hold it Downey at 10 45 literally the show's at 11 30. yeah we
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got a Hans and fronts we need some holes plugged at 10 45 Downey turns into a genius for 10 minutes he just gives you
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a lot because there's no more procrastinating but he's brilliant I mean it really takes it to the wire when
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by the time I got there Downey's presence was mostly like a locked office full of abandoned unopened Christmas
00:18:06
nine years of Christmas presents that either were given to him or were supposed to go to his own family I don't
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know I didn't know him yeah well if you don't know him that way yeah if you get a few
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minutes I mean I don't I want to talk about you but if you got a few minutes
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with Downey it was worth it because 2 30 in the morning goes I would probably take the ending this way and then you go
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oh yeah yeah and then that's all you needed and then you go but there's something really funny about there's
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something something really funny about he'd always say that there's something
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really funny about it hold up the page I always when I came back they always said
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well you'll do a church lady and I it's not like my favorite thing I've ever
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done but it blew up because of whatever reason you know and so I think when I first guess hosted
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with you and either you're a writer head writer you were assigned to work on
00:18:51
Church chat with me and then like eight years later I did another church you'll
00:18:56
do Church chat this week you know Lawrence like and then I I did a whole thing with Seth another church chat so I
00:19:03
don't want to say which one's my favorite but you guys I mean it's great
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probably well he would do the character a lot he would write as doing the impression of the character wow yeah
00:19:13
then he'd crack like a you know kind of a Molson light and he'd be like relaxed
00:19:19
who I remember who were your who do you remember who were the character guests on the church chat that when when
00:19:26
at that time boy and that would be a tough one I mean I remember doing George Bush Senior was another one that would
00:19:34
come out of the box for a while and then will as Junior and will six four two thirty I'm five eight one fifty and I he
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had to sit on my lap yes and that was really interesting yeah because and I had really huge lifts so I could look as
00:19:51
tall but anyway [Music] there's two lanes with you obviously the Rider and the performer yeah which is
00:20:03
you're very unique in that way I think so these are the ones that I looked up
00:20:08
that I remember and then I looked them up today and you can comment on them just as a performer or whatever you were
00:20:14
in the writing realm whatever jumps out at you okay were you just a performer or
00:20:19
you're in the writing because it feels like there's a lot of your signature
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kind of thing okay meet meet my future wife meet my future wife miso yeah so that was an idea that we brought in
00:20:30
that's what I got to mostly just be a performer on that Amy and I were hosting
00:20:34
and a guy uh I know this guy Andrew breedus was like I have this idea for a sketch and I was like let's get you paid
00:20:39
for that sketch my friend and so it's [ __ ] unreal yeah and then and forgive
00:20:44
me I have to look up he who actually wrote it up was two writers at the show so that one was like a real gift but Amy
00:20:52
and I did bring a lot of ideas but yeah they oh gosh I feel so bad that I can't
00:20:56
remember if it was dude that was airtight that one is like beginning middle end and then at the ending it's
00:21:02
really tough to get a Twist at the end with the yeah yeah I didn't write it and
00:21:07
I really really hope that people just think I did for the rest of my life assume your fingerprints are on it okay
00:21:16
mom's jeans mom jeans I did right I did I got it I thought so [ __ ] it because
00:21:22
that was there's a J crew in the um Lobby of Rockefeller Center it was one of those things where like I was writing
00:21:28
that I had to go somewhere I had to go down and buy like a pair of jeans in the building it sounds like a story about me
00:21:34
pooping my pants it's not but I had to go and get a pair of jeans and I bought
00:21:37
these really uh terrible genes and that was it then we just I sat and did that and I remember Jim senior only filmed it
00:21:45
and then he was like we got to take the song out and I was like no no I think the song is I think the jingle is
00:21:49
important Jim it was perfect and my wife and I used your smelly used to when I'm not even
00:21:54
mom jeans but we see the moms sometimes and I I would as a joke say she's closed
00:21:59
for business like in other words her relationship is asexual at this point and so and I saw a lot of those Highway
00:22:07
Six jeans but that that was just like a perfect hysterical thing all right now you know jeans are just funny hang on
00:22:13
Dana jeans are such a funny area I don't know why but like we did Bad Idea jeans
00:22:18
you know I think you were in that I was just gonna say by the way that I say bad
00:22:22
idea jeans all the time when you see her a bad idea I do too bad idea of jeans and then of course I tried
00:22:28
to show it to my teenager and you can't show anything from like even Beyond like
00:22:33
last year that's now because it's always something that's like gen Z's like
00:22:36
that's not okay I'm like I know that's not okay but it's so funny it's so funny
00:22:41
bad idea jeans we did three three legged jeans that was with senorelli too we were always out
00:22:48
commercial shoots are fun when they aired but they're not fun to because it ruins your week you're like okay Monday
00:22:53
you have a six a.m like what they do so much they do them on Friday oh really all day into the night on Friday
00:23:02
that's right the poor host does not know what they're getting [ __ ] into that's
00:23:05
for sure yeah they they yank them every which way I can't believe they can handle it even as a host when I went
00:23:10
back it was so much harder than I thought I go oh I know this I didn't know I knew nothing I I've only been in
00:23:16
three sketches Max my whole career so I go I was in 13 I was an up your nickname
00:23:21
is three max I know but that's not why um but I had to be update I had to be
00:23:28
cold I didn't like do you what's the difference what's the difference for you
00:23:33
Tina when you were a cast member and then you come back and you hosted me to me I found it absolutely exhausting but
00:23:38
what did you yeah it's nothing and you I for me it was like oh all the same behaviors that you swear you're not
00:23:45
gonna do as a host you you immediately are like super worried about the monologue and like kind of like like you
00:23:52
get you get way more nervous than like especially the first time I did like just nervous and like yeah like really
00:23:59
keyed up about the monologue really tired like it's uh you know all the things that well you're you're a writer
00:24:05
and if you go in there like I write Dana rights so when you're a regular host
00:24:09
it's horrible enough but when you're eyeballing the writing going ah this one
00:24:12
I know isn't there yet and you're like it's got through but this one needs the
00:24:17
most work and you're out there on the air show going all right we never even
00:24:19
looked at it this is just the way it is you can't get to put out a fires you like that one I
00:24:25
feel like we should tighten the middle or can I you say that um but then you're
00:24:29
like uh they're like 30 seconds yeah but you have that long dinner you go to as
00:24:34
well so and when you normally be working on that Tuesday night dinner that's like
00:24:37
four hours I really gotta go Marcy they want you or Lauren once you go to or so I go oh I was gonna he wants
00:24:44
you to go I'm all right so Tina go ahead the Shoemaker would tell me they tell me
00:24:48
to go to Warsaw and then I go you get to have dinner with the host which is fun but you lose three years of your life
00:24:53
because you can't ride to stay longer yeah the other thing when you host you
00:24:57
go back is if you've been a writer there when you sit in that Monday pitch meeting and you can tell like it's all
00:25:02
live all fake pitches and I'm just like don't peek on Monday yeah oh you go you're giving me this
00:25:10
[ __ ] [ __ ] I know that the [ __ ] secrets yeah can you remember a fake pitch I told you
00:25:19
Tina right now yeah what do you got caveman afraid of caves JB Smoove pitched the same fake pitch
00:25:26
for like two years and he killed with it every week oh I'm sure well then it
00:25:31
became a running thing right yeah it was a pitch for it's a all-day cigarette I
00:25:35
will refrain from imitating JB it was an all-day cigarette this long you smoking
00:25:40
all day in the ash the Ash gets like this it's so hard even dude you're like
00:25:44
how do we even do that but everyone just laughs funny idea did they still do this
00:25:47
thing where they go uh like let's say it was um you know Paul Rudd and then they
00:25:52
go Paul Rudd's here and then everyone goes next week Sharon Stone yayner times they don't do that anymore
00:26:01
that is meaner because the host right away goes what the [ __ ] oh yeah and that was I was just the host
00:26:14
so that was um oh boy I can see her face it was a woman writer and curly hair I'm sketching her but brownie husband
00:26:25
and you go with her without nuts I mean it was actually long for a commercial parody but it was funny it was like two
00:26:31
minutes but when you shoot on the Torso so the people if they haven't seen it
00:26:36
it's a giant brownie little man and Tina's basically just it's her sexual
00:26:41
partner or whatever and then when it the single when chocolate comes out and you're just like diving into them so you
00:26:48
had to were you someplace else was that methody or is it just like I I feel like
00:26:53
one of the few Specialties I have as an actor is on camera eating like a lot of people avoid it and I'm I'll tear into
00:27:00
some food on camera people don't know how hard it is to take Nicholson was the
00:27:05
best at eating yeah there was a bit this is on a gas iron Rachel Dratch have this fake Hallmark
00:27:11
Christmas movie out right now in Comedy Central and one of my favorite bits in it is there's a um it's really funny the
00:27:17
actress who's playing like the pretty Ingenuity it has like a chicken leg and
00:27:21
she just keeps going like this like not eating it and it really made me laugh because that's all you do when you see
00:27:26
the camera usually it's just like just go to Great Lakes to never eat it but yes brownie husband is based on
00:27:32
those kind of commercials where it would be this like a decadent chocolate dessert was like Geared for lonely women
00:27:37
would be like a you know like a hot chocolate bowl for one they're like okay
00:27:43
is the best word oh I oh wait let me see oh yeah when when um I was thinking of my friend's daughter has this guy and I
00:27:51
was thinking if you were starting now obviously we'd all be writing for memes
00:27:56
but if we were starting now my my friends thought I know I brought this up because Instagram and everything she
00:28:02
said oh I'm dating this guy and he's so funny and so I was like oh good give a
00:28:06
funny guy a break because you know I'm not a real looker it you know and we'll
00:28:10
talk about in the comments but she she said he's so funny it's a character and
00:28:14
then he showed me he she showed me three Instagram memes and I go well he's a middle man I hate
00:28:21
to break it to you but he finds a funny one and then he sends it to you and she is right and I go he doesn't write he's
00:28:28
just Instagram you know and then she goes I know but it's funny I go uh I'm
00:28:32
not kidding to her you could like him anyway it's okay he found a funny one and he liked it and
00:28:38
laughed and then yeah that's fine that's fine right and that's a that's a start
00:28:42
so let me ask you a question about times they are a change in basically uh yeah so you do Sarah Palin which is an
00:28:49
explosive connection between the way you looked and sounded in the writing and the moment
00:28:54
uh I had Ross Perot 20 years before yeah a lot of people Dana yeah he did have a
00:29:02
lot of some landed some didn't but we won't talk about that no I mean you
00:29:05
can't finish one time um but then so Sarah Palin comes to the show to visit you've done her yeah and I
00:29:14
think back then in those days it was like you made it funny there wasn't you
00:29:18
weren't teaching us in a way I mean just speak to it like between two thousand
00:29:24
yeah and now as far as the sensitivity to that so she came and then McCain came with his wife so go ahead yeah yeah the
00:29:31
whole the whole climate of the real world is so much uglier and so much more um polarized right so yeah that all
00:29:40
seems gentler now like doing those and you know we and Seth and Amy and I wrote a lot of those and other wrote step
00:29:50
writers too but Stephanie and I especially we just like have you know hand done it because we we did what we
00:29:56
really went to Great Lengths to make sure that it didn't seem just like aggro
00:30:01
and it didn't seem unfair right yeah I don't I do not envy anybody who had to
00:30:06
ride out the last you know it was like the last the end of an era where it was like when I was there it was all just
00:30:13
goofy and fun about any present I really didn't know about politics to be honest
00:30:16
I look super smart but I don't I know anything look incredibly brilliant I look so smart I have a crew neck on
00:30:21
people can't see this but but but it was like an easy fun like oh we're making
00:30:25
fun of this guy I was like I knew they were Republican or Democrat kind of I didn't even care and all the jokes made
00:30:30
sense but they go Downy and Franken are good political writers I wasn't and then
00:30:34
fine I'll do my goofy [ __ ] and then we get on and then Sarah Palin felt like
00:30:38
right at the end of where it started getting really wrong the iPhone came in and then shortly after that Facebook and
00:30:44
everything so everything right you would say you're friendly with Sarah Palin I would guess right you're
00:30:50
talking to Dana no I feel like yeah I feel like I'm we're not friends but like if I saw her at uh
00:30:59
something she didn't storm out there was no yeah there was no she made she talked
00:31:04
like a little smack afterwards I think I think she had that maybe oh really because people got to her and said why
00:31:10
would you let him read it to her face and forgetting that it'll get picked up
00:31:13
but no if I saw her like on the street I would say hello to her and I think she would say hello to me I don't think I
00:31:20
saw it she was behind me in the Press line at the 40th okay so it you know it's this idea that
00:31:29
you're doing someone that you hate and publicly everyone knows you hate the person you're doing I don't hate her by
00:31:35
the way that's I don't hate it I don't think I've ever done anyone I
00:31:40
hate well I did Adolf Hitler once on the show and I made him you don't even know
00:31:44
him well it was mean here's one that just died I always thought it was funny
00:31:49
that only time we see Hitler he's screaming so Jan Hooks and I were in bed I'm Hitler and she's real quiet wake up
00:31:57
baby got paid off and then I just sat up in bed and started screaming silence cut so anyway but I've never
00:32:06
done anyone I hated like right now I kind of play around with Biden but it's
00:32:11
it's it's sensitive uh very sensitive uh how you'd use him as Source material
00:32:17
without it uh polarizing or making people angry or making fun of some of what people perceive like Al Franken
00:32:24
said maybe he's lost his fastball stuff like that that's interesting I think it's silly
00:32:29
it's better I think yeah come on it's a deal this is just America here's
00:32:38
a deal I'm not kidding no joke I'm not kidding around I like when he yells he
00:32:42
gets really mad and then he whispers because we need pipes because we're gonna get them we know how to get them
00:32:49
come on now come again reduction so I I think he's a funny character I feel as
00:32:55
long as it's funny and kind of abstracted and silly maybe I can get away with it but I don't know yeah I
00:33:00
feel like what you do though Dana what makes you so great at is because you get at the person like the core person and
00:33:06
like what like what's funny about them as a person as opposed to like people who if you're writing from
00:33:12
channeling your rage about their policy or how or how much you hate them it comes out sour have you seen this the
00:33:19
new guy that's doing Trump now I think it's amazing brilliant Beyond like next
00:33:25
level yeah and I always thought that there was a thousand rhythms that Trump is one of the weirdest voice patterns of
00:33:34
anyone yeah James Austin he has three names anyway James Austin Johnson he's
00:33:40
amazing amazing like that is like yeah and they have a funny hook with him now too where they do bullet points of his
00:33:46
nonsense which is a great game or it's like he's talking he's rambling but they
00:33:51
put bullet points up like it's making sense yeah it's a Scooby-Doo and many
00:33:54
people and then you see it switch you know we're doing you know Gina Greenacres a tremendous show everyone
00:34:00
she wanted to be in the city you know and it goes on to start and it's really
00:34:04
good it satirizes Trump in the way you're we were just talking about that it's funny and you don't feel like
00:34:10
you're trying to be taught anything you don't know for sure we're just laying it
00:34:15
out you and I think when an audience sees you this and they recognize they're just
00:34:20
so full of joy you know like yeah Trump does do that and then leave it to yourself too so that's a perfect may be
00:34:26
easier it's also maybe easier to to do that now because he's out of office you
00:34:32
know like everything seems so high stakes and stressful I couldn't do Obama and I um until he got out of office I
00:34:39
could tell the audience would tighten up and then once he got out of office I could do it as a white man you know just
00:34:46
just something I like to do and I love the I love the rhythm of Obama I like the wig steps up this kind of matter of
00:34:53
fact thing he does and I just do it all the time now [Music] I talked about this a little bit with
00:35:03
Anna cast iron stuff and the evolution of women on the show and one thing was Hillary was a a big presence and then
00:35:11
Sarah so you and Amy did those two women who were at the top of the political ticket you know but I was just gonna
00:35:17
name some of your your band mates and just think about this evolving thing and then who they have now but in your team
00:35:23
obviously Amy Poehler who you YouTube connect so effortlessly Molly Shannon Supernatural funny anagostire yeah so
00:35:32
talented shario Terry ball of energy my Rudolph Kristen Wiig later on a little bit when you're hosting Rachel Dratch
00:35:40
and there's others but it's just like Monsters you know and and then the
00:35:44
writers like Emily Spivey and Paula Pell and where naso and Cindy caponera there
00:35:48
are a lot of strong strong and Anna got started thought that it sort of reflected the the culture changing as
00:35:56
well how the women have really emerged in a more profound way at least you know know we had Jan Hooks or there were
00:36:04
other great women on the show of course but then this this great Christian was as good as anybody and and of course
00:36:09
Gilda Lorraine Newman they always were women around and then it just seems like this wave came can you speak to that
00:36:16
Tina sure um or your friends one of the greatest joys of my life was that we were able to
00:36:23
have Jan on 30 Rock who played Jane krakowski's mother and um she was so funny
00:36:32
um God dang it she was so funny everyone just go rewatch that real quick pause the podcast but uh yeah like so when we
00:36:39
got there it was it was different like it did change and I think you know we also like when I was there our director
00:36:45
was a woman Beth McCarthy Miller and um Jenna you know restana the stage manager
00:36:52
like ever there were just more women around the table so things you know how like things play at that table or they
00:36:58
don't and there were more women in other departments and so like there'd be stuff
00:37:01
that we would laugh at like I always talk about how Paula wrote this commercial called Kotex classic that um
00:37:11
it was like like fashion is like we're doing a classic and it was just like those big gigantic 1950s maxi pads that
00:37:18
like maybe they're just like really bulky like under the pants and like it didn't play before the wreath because
00:37:24
like the guys just didn't know it wasn't like anyone purposely being like we're
00:37:28
gonna keep him down it was just like oh this is playing differently you know um so I think like all this inclusion
00:37:33
stuff was like yeah you got to do it in every department and so it's not just
00:37:36
like one poor actor like trying to represent for everyone from their entire universe
00:37:42
um here's let me ask you guys a question because I've theorized about this and I
00:37:46
you were there at the time that I'm thinking about so you you know Bo and yang right who's on their Network I
00:37:52
think is so funny have you seen the bit he did where he played the iceberg from Titanic yes yes hysterical I saw him
00:37:59
with the outfit on and then they talked about it it's a really funny update feature he comes out out and he's like
00:38:05
the iceberg from the Titanic and he's there he's there to like talk about his
00:38:08
album and they're like well let's talk about the Titanic or whatever yeah
00:38:11
that's hilarious he just did this whole thing that I think is like actually sort
00:38:16
of finding this like new comedy of like we're looking at the world from a different perspective and he's like
00:38:21
listen I was in the ocean you came to where I live you hit me like you're just like it was just
00:38:28
hilarious but I was saying that like it was so funny and I was like I don't know
00:38:32
if Bowen could have gotten that on I don't know if Bowen could have gotten in
00:38:38
the room with like norm and Downey and gotten that on you know when I would watch some of
00:38:53
these European stand ups you know it was they had bits about the Renaissance and
00:38:57
all this different way of looking at stuff it seems reminiscent of that it seems very but if you if you have some
00:39:03
game like you were talking about the women it you can sniff out someone has any chop after a few weeks of like the so if
00:39:10
all the women you've mentioned are really good which they are I think that matters it's just getting them in front
00:39:17
of people so if they get the opportunity and they did and then they were great and then the writers you're saying I
00:39:23
don't know all the writers but the unsung heroes that are propping up the show with great writing yeah that's
00:39:28
that's unreal too you can tell I think that it's a Natural Evolution like if I
00:39:32
went on when I do the church lay on there I feel like I'm really doing you know kind of uh Vaudeville or something
00:39:38
I mean it's so ham visited came from my stand-up in the early 80s and so I don't
00:39:43
think that would be in fashion you know times do change there's a yeah that's a
00:39:48
dry it's a really interesting observation I guess it is true though that like people who have the share
00:39:55
balls to do it and like it is it is evolution and it is survival of the fittest and so like if you could get
00:40:01
that up at the table yeah maybe they recognize I mean the weird to the bit but like that just sounds I don't even
00:40:07
know anything just you tell me right there it's such a interesting idea and then I'm I think he performed it very
00:40:13
well yeah we were wanting to talk to him too because just his experience coming on and and actually not just like oh
00:40:19
we're gonna we have an Asian American it's like no bring someone on and they
00:40:22
and they're good and they blow up and you're like oh are we missing out yeah
00:40:26
what's going on here he's sounds like one is really popping out it's funny
00:40:31
rhythms yep hey you were an improv group right yeah can I tell you guys a nightmare that I'm
00:40:39
experiencing right now which is I got asked to do there's this show on Broadway right now
00:40:45
called freestyle Love Supreme and it's it's uh lin-manuel Miranda it's a big
00:40:51
hit it's really cool I saw it everyone loves it and it's all like improvised
00:40:55
rap and music and they were asked me to be a guest at it I'm gonna be a guest
00:40:59
there on Thursday night and I kept I kept making sure they know like I think like oh I'll be a guest like I'll be
00:41:05
like a manologist like an asshat like like they know that I do not improvise music right and my manager's like yeah
00:41:13
yeah so anyway I'm just for the next couple days I just keep having like recurring day mares that I don't know I
00:41:19
can't improvise music y'all are they gonna ask you to do a freestyle rap like
00:41:23
in a battle I ca I can't can't do that right well yes you can let me let me
00:41:28
know I want you to play freeze tag Tom Cruise no no lose gotta get some booze what you gonna
00:41:37
do is you can practice you have to practice with with your daughters they'll love
00:41:43
you for it just oh my God here's when I tell a story about a blender and then they make up
00:42:01
[ __ ] please how about you go give me a word and you say blender and then they do everything you know what you're gonna
00:42:06
do and you don't even know it yet because your instincts are so good and I'm out you're gonna get out there and
00:42:11
try to start rapping and then you're gonna deconstruct it into this nerdy person who can't really do it and you're
00:42:19
gonna get Triple the laughs maybe I shouldn't have put that scene in your head
00:42:23
check check the papers Friday morning don't you feel like when you agree to stuff like a podcast like when the day
00:42:31
comes and you look at your calendar you're like really all right I mean there's just so much you can do how did
00:42:37
you get roped into this I just they asked me and I said yes of course I love those guys
00:42:43
um did you think you'd be able to talk at some point honestly this is pretty this is a pretty
00:42:50
good back and forth for podcasts sometimes it's worse Lauren always said this phrase to me look there's a lot of
00:42:55
good will so that would apply to you when you get on that stage that only lasts for like the first 30 seconds I
00:43:02
know that only makes me nervous I mean I call him once I was hosting I called him
00:43:05
he goes it's really it's sort of a Victory lap I go really I mean like a 12 minute cold open and be like
00:43:19
well that was all the Goodwill now Jesus Christ and everyone's like out of it
00:43:24
already hasn't even started warm down so Tina what what's question have you never
00:43:29
been asked that you want to be asked what question have I never been asked one word Robert Carlock one word Robert
00:43:37
Carlock uh one word one two words two words genius yes he does have a sort of a Yankee Doodle
00:43:45
Dandy kind of sweater um yeah when you were a little kid this I asked this to everybody because I like
00:43:55
I just like picturing you a little at 10 or something what was your favorite toy
00:44:00
or a toy you can remember or a bicycle from your as a child that was like a cool thing or a cool gift that you got
00:44:06
uh well I I'll sh well this you will to see this but on the thing but I'll tell
00:44:11
you about it and then I'll show you guys I have a dollhouse Fisher Price dollhouse that my parents got me when I
00:44:16
was a kid and I my dad like wrapped up every part of it and kept it really nice and then a few years ago I tried to give
00:44:23
it to my daughters when they were smaller and they you know have a much more privileged life than I have and
00:44:29
they I found it like in a corner under a bunch of other toys and I was like the [ __ ] I'm taking it back and so now I
00:44:34
keep it here at my office and I'll show it to you okay the camera's squishing
00:44:38
around here on piano we saw a window of money in the corners adorable looks like a bag of some kind
00:44:46
of illicit substance oh look yeah it's cool it's open air look at this guy it
00:44:51
looks like Leonard Nimoy so weird oh God that's a splitting there I think I could
00:44:55
be played by Will Ferrell that is it's like a Will Ferrell call it's like a
00:44:59
little Will Ferrell doll look at how cute is that like like visual relaxation when you look at that does it yeah
00:45:07
look at that 70s couch that it came with wow we're looking at that roof I think
00:45:12
my sister had this I that looks so familiar yeah it's the basic you know and um it's not Barbie or anything
00:45:19
Fisher Price and it's awesome yeah and so that is my favorite toy and I still
00:45:23
have it wow I like that you like that I like you more thanks that's kind of that's kind of hip that that's it I had
00:45:30
a question wish I had an office oh I was gonna say my daughter I made her watch Mean Girls and uh even
00:45:39
though she was a little it's a little early she was 12. no that's fine and I
00:45:43
go eat I thought you know you it's a little rough but she's also I'm not
00:45:47
thinking like I just wanted to see something that really cracked me up and she'd probably like and then but she
00:45:52
hasn't been to high school and had Mean Girls I don't know but I'm sure there's
00:45:55
some version of it along the way and now she loves it and then her mom goes oh she keeps playing it and I'm like I love
00:46:02
it because Mean Girls sort of just keeps keeps kicking it's on Broadway always on
00:46:06
it was on Broadway it's on tour it's on tour now it's on tour now yeah but Tina
00:46:13
has so many things Dana like when people ask me there's like three things that go
00:46:18
to yeah and Tina has I I can't imagine what the top three on the street they
00:46:22
know you from you know why people know me from is uh a movie that I did with Amy called Baby Mama people are always
00:46:29
like baby I [ __ ] love that's it yeah that's it date night was a killer too ah
00:46:35
that was nice but he Baby Mama is just had that hooky thing of like you and her together was really smart and really fun
00:46:43
do you guys when you get out there and you have that you just look at each other and kind of start internally
00:46:47
laughing or something I mean it seems like there's such a there's a really top
00:46:51
with YouTube we go back to Chicago like we toured Second City together we were on the
00:46:58
Improv team together we really really go way back so we just to have a real ease
00:47:04
working with each other like if we have to host something and we're just like
00:47:07
figuring out the jokes or whatever it's just um shorthand shorthand is great
00:47:11
yeah like you do you have people that you feel that way about well I have this theory that if you meet for anybody or
00:47:19
your person in my life but Tina you also had uh Jimmy on update and you did great
00:47:25
and then you have Amy is it is it that it was that a scary Switcheroo or probably easy
00:47:30
oh um it was I remember it was a it was in a kind of classic Lauren way too he sort of was leaving it up to me to pick
00:47:37
what to do no decision after Fallon okay after Jimmy left and I tested with people and I did stuff and then and I
00:47:45
had that thing where I felt like I was like oh I think I'm supposed to want to
00:47:48
do it by myself like if I was if I really but I didn't want to do it by myself uh because that's not really a
00:47:55
lot of stand up but it's not my thing and so it was really it's like it's
00:47:59
comfortable fun with someone it's more fun with someone when the jokes flail
00:48:03
and you have someone to play off of and way more fun and so it was like the week
00:48:08
of we finally decided and then people so I always make a big deal like it's the
00:48:13
first time they had two women doing updates so it was another first for the show first time had writer first time
00:48:19
this I just wanna I don't want much more time we have but I wanted to talk how
00:48:24
much fun I had working with your husband on uh and he's very patient because I'm
00:48:29
horrible at click tracks and my characters singing in this cartoon Mulligan click and I would miss it and
00:48:35
he would go oh he's gonna work at that we could do that we can do this and I
00:48:38
remember working with Cheryl Hardwick as well yeah the person is the music person
00:48:42
who can just kind of play any genre any style so anyway I had a lot of fun with him on the zoom coaching me he's the
00:48:50
best Jeff Richmond is the best and yeah I'm so patient with like comedy writers
00:48:55
writing lyrics and comedians singing like just infinite patients yeah it was nice when we got to do that Broadway
00:49:02
show he was all the music for it because it was like oh it's people that can
00:49:05
really sing comedians yeah you know one time I was doing looping on black sheep that old movie oh
00:49:14
a couple people remember thank you yeah so we were doing looping and uh I left and Chris was coming in he's like they
00:49:23
do beeps and [ __ ] yeah so um anyway he goes I left after two hours I go what I
00:49:31
thought you're supposed to do four he goes I couldn't get it you didn't get
00:49:34
any he goes two hours he goes It goes beep beep beep then you're supposed to I
00:49:39
don't even I don't know what the [ __ ] they're talking about go yeah I know
00:49:42
it's pretty simple he was a pure performer he wasn't yeah Ryan he wants to change the lines and
00:49:50
just do it different and just do a better performance and it's it's just
00:49:53
looping is a very tough you know dirty yeah so uh real quick the girls sketch where you played the kind of Eastern
00:50:01
European woman is hysterical oh yes I think sethra these are just compliments I think Seth wrote that yeah that was
00:50:09
great what about Bush twins I think I wrote that okay so so for the young people out there that want to get
00:50:17
into comedy writer want to see you know look these things in her name Hit YouTube they're on YouTube crack you
00:50:22
know um well do you have anything else David no she's great she's got a chunk people
00:50:29
to meet and play places to go well I love you guys you're my favorite when I
00:50:33
was a kid when I was a teenager watching the show I had to catch on both of you that's okay America's sweetheart once
00:50:40
you call that at one point or the thinking man sex him or something not a thing not a thing you still do your
00:50:48
philly accent around the house or no um I do it all the time Han me and my friends we go down the shore we just
00:50:54
Dana can you do that accent because I date I try to teach it to Jimmy and he kind of couldn't do it and I was like we
00:51:00
found his Achilles heel because he can do everything can you do it I would have to study it I'd have to know I need a
00:51:05
source track because I would go all over East Coast you know wada wada which what
00:51:10
are you guys doing but see I would just be a mayor of Hollywood Brooklyn real quickly then yeah let me think
00:51:16
um all right leave me alone sick I'm going down I'm going down the street
00:51:19
we're gonna get hoagies and like then we're just gonna go like sit somewhere
00:51:22
and like smoke somewhere in some smoke yeah it's very specific it's very easy to go Michael
00:51:28
Kane without I'm gonna sit somewhere and smoke you know were you excited about
00:51:31
mayor of Easton I was I also I was like I guess uh my phone was broken for a married town I guess so
00:51:38
yeah she killed it she killed that because that is a really hard dialect and she she crushed it to think about
00:51:45
that and your lines and then you got to do your lines right and you want to do the acting why you need to do them yeah
00:51:49
I did a New Hampshire ones and they go that sounded a little boss and I'm like
00:51:52
listen guys the people watching my movie will be four to seven years old yeah just relax Farm Fresh and Flaky
00:52:00
turnovers um petrich Farm you could give them one word but I I'm not I mean you know Daryl
00:52:07
Hammond there's people of incredible ears I really need to listen or hang out
00:52:11
with someone a lot you know we'll check back Daryl yeah Daryl is amazing let's
00:52:16
let Tina finish her makeup my favorite part of the day is going to sleep I like to go to sleep yeah without any
00:52:22
medication at all just nothing because I have to take a melatonin gummy maybe a over-the-counter melatonin
00:52:30
okay I gotcha yeah yeah I'll tell you I'll say I'll give you my melatonin guy I'll text you
00:52:38
do you think if I say it enough I'll get a free CVS like a free single gummy dude
00:52:44
I went to a weed store and the guy goes here man he's like hey you know because
00:52:48
I was the guy was floundering and he goes hey Spade I'm the owner listen and
00:52:52
hey Jimmy grab him some fentanyl crab cakes and get him some uh you know some PCP candy corns I go no no no I'm okay
00:52:59
but he gave me a little gummy of weed and then I took it and he goes don't eat
00:53:03
the whole thing it's a [ __ ] inch of food dude he goes just eat the ear I go
00:53:07
I don't know that's why I have a vodka soda I know what I'm getting my wife and
00:53:12
I tried a gummy bear of marijuana because it was instead of Ambien let's sleep God and we hallucinated all night
00:53:18
long the entire house was going up and down I couldn't walk it's terrible so be
00:53:23
careful baby boomers no we were really foolish we were doing it for my mother-in-law it was 90. we thought
00:53:29
we'll experiment with him because her friends at church she's very Catholic
00:53:32
are all taking a little bit of cannabis for sleep and that's why we did it but
00:53:36
you had the wrong stuff you had the well too much no tolerance I didn't know you
00:53:42
know I hadn't smoked pot since 1982. anyway we're halfway done let's take a
00:53:47
little break and come back take a little break and do the real house Tina thanks
00:53:51
for thanks for doing doing this it's so fun to see you and now if we see you
00:53:55
we'll go hey we feel like we know each other even better [Music] hey coming up next we got Conan O'Brien
00:54:03
our old buddy [Music] flying the wall has been a presentation of cadence 13. please listen then rate
00:54:11
review and follow all episodes executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade
00:54:16
Chris Corcoran of cadence 13 and Charlie finan of brillstein entertainment production and Engineering led by Greg
00:54:22
Holtzman Richard cook Sabrina Regan and Chris Basil of cadence 13.