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Laraine Newman | Full Episode | Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade

October 07, 2022 / 01:01:13

This episode features Lorraine Newman, a former cast member of Saturday Night Live, discussing her experiences on the show, her career, and her influences. Topics include the evolution of comedy, memorable sketches, and her interactions with iconic figures.

Newman shares her journey from the Groundlings to SNL, highlighting the camaraderie among cast members and the pressure of live performances. She recalls working with legends like John Belushi and Gilda Radner, emphasizing their unique contributions to the show.

She also reflects on the challenges of writing sketches and the importance of collaboration between writers and performers. Newman discusses her iconic characters, including the Coneheads, and the creative process behind them.

The conversation touches on the impact of SNL on comedy and culture, as well as Newman's personal experiences with various hosts and guest stars over the years.

Throughout the episode, Newman shares anecdotes about her career and the evolution of comedy, providing a nostalgic look at the early days of SNL.

TL;DR

Lorraine Newman discusses her SNL experiences, iconic characters, and the evolution of comedy in this engaging episode.

Video

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beer
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that's the next one here's good ready
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here's Birds right
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what about something
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that's you waking up in the morning
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[Laughter]
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so I do the hand so it gives a sense of
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okay sure and I shouldn't even bring
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this out here because you don't deserve
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it there's a bird flying away
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thank you here's an old-fashioned dial
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phone for you ancient
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okay
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bring bring hello yes oh what's that I
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tried to beat it louder can you do this
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sound
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like Predator it's just sort of a
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no okay can you do this sound can you do
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this
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uh can you do an octopus watch
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laughs
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can you do Anthony Hopkins and uh as
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Hannibal Lecter
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I I can spell them God I once did Garth
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you can tell him Garth I did go I played
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Gars and and Anthony Hopkins played
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Hannibal Lecter and we would entertain
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the crew on a movie we did together I
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can smell you goth I can smell Wayne
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other guard let me be like oh hey man
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hey you guys
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it's all you got to do is the jaw I'm
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gonna Kristen wig at the 40th goes why
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does he hold his mouth that way she
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seemed a little upset from a woman in
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his 100 characters I'm a lap machine I
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do voices and effects to make people
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happy Dana Dana who is married you were
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married in 1950 57 1957 I got married
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and no I met her at 19 when she was 19.
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I raised her as one of my own that's
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nice that's what Elvis did with me hey
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Priscilla uh you're 14. you gotta wait
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four more years from Berlin when she was
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20. she wasn't sexy anymore okay it's
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like a burger damn sandwich Lorraine
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Newman is on the show today and uh yes I
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knew him in one of the OG's from SNL
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um very lucky I would say to hit that
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lightning time of being on the show that
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just blew the [ __ ] up and she has a a
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true adorableness level like there's
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something very sweet about her she's
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cute you know when you're in college
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stuff you'd like to all the all the
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women I don't know if women understand
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how much men find smart funny women
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attractive David yeah you're the
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bachelor Tina Fey have a crush on Tina
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there's a lot of girls out there that
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just got that smart funny thing and uh
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they don't even need to be Robin
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Williams they just they have a clever
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thing about them sort of charismatic
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deal that I like now and that being said
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I don't understand where are we going
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she is one of the original oh yeah
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members of the original cast the rock
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stars of the from 1975 on Lauren
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Michaels Cadre of
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funsters Cadre Cadre of funsters that's
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another podcast work with Belushi
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Aykroyd Garrett Morris Chevy Chase like
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what a fun Jane Curtin mixed bag kill
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the right people she was a conehead for
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crying out loud that's really what I'm
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going for she's a conehead and I did the
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Conan's movie and I didn't get to wear a
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cone and what you know what did you when
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did you first get that hey wait a minute
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their heads look like cones and that's
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why they're called Coneheads when did
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you realize that um one second in um did
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anyone take long so let me give you a
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quiz Pop Quiz if their heads were oblong
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shaped what would they be called oblong
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heads yes okay if they're how about this
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did you know that Arby's is because of
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roast beef RB
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nope you did not well no slow down by
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three quarters RB
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Rhythm and RB RB RB roast beef that's
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why it's called Arby's oh got it okay
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I didn't know toe goes was because it's
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to go I didn't know that do you know
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Jack in the Box is called that because
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the owner jacked off in a box
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I didn't know that
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no but I did jack off in a box once
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let's look at a clip my mother's maiden
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name was McDonald's all those late
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nights is that weird all right we better
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get to uh Lorraine Newman I adore her
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she's so funny and so Charming
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um I did a benefit once she was there
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brought her daughter daughter's a big
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star too but on the show don't say what
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one I won't say which one her daughter
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was like 10 and I was up there and I was
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kind of at the latter stages of my teen
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idolness and so later on Lorraine I ran
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into her at the West Side a comedy club
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in Santa Monica and she goes you were my
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daughter's first sort of crush
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on a an adult figure and uh that was
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kind of flattering all right we got that
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story in you guys here's Lorraine Newman
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that's my best story
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[Music]
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you know what I'll give Lorraine a
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compliment right off the bat right ready
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everyone loves Lorraine Lorraine look
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you have a great voice and
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um not that I'm flirting but when you
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when women say what or people say what
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do you like about women one of my weird
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things is not that weird but aside from
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the basics oh I like this this that all
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guys like a voice is very interesting
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because it's very unique on every person
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and even as you get older people
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recognize your voice like they know mine
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from The Emperor's New Groove which was
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a cartoon movie I did a long time ago
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and so when I'm in 7-Eleven people no
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attention no touchy everybody in my
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family all my kids know that reference
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oh they know that you ever think did you
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ever think no but I was telling that
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whole story just to get to see if that
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they knew my movie
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um but uh no but you have a recognizable
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voice David do you have a recognizable
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and she has a good voice that's uh right
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Lorraine has a very seductive uh smooth
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uh feminine voice you know where it
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really came in handy e Buzz Miller
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weren't you the the girlfriend or
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something Christy Christina a character
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that I never understood why anybody
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thought that was funny I never ever
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thought that character was funny I just
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was like you know well they gave me the
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part I'm gonna do the best I can and uh
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they even made this kind of peace
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that that gave me those
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boobs with the you know the little
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bullet nipples because it was actually a
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rubber piece that went you know under
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the leotard it's a weird meaning and
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they probably don't have any more
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uh who knows yeah well okay Lorraine
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when you do when you do a part like that
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I think SNL people want to and we can
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talk about anything but on the SNL tip
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when Dana and I have been in that in
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that mix and it's probably similar when
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you were there but is that Danny Aykroyd
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is writing something up or someone else
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they walk by knocking your door and go
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hey do you want to be in this thing
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we're writing it up it's Tuesday night
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where you play is that kind of how it
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goes
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the way that it went with you is exactly
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the way it went with us I remember
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listening to Andy Samberg on a radio
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show and he talked about the schedule
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like Monday meet meet the host pitch
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some ideas Lauren says work on that
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everybody works until Wednesday yeah
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she'll read through you know the whole
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thing choosing what you know build the
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sets I mean and you guys didn't have
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they probably ironed out a lot of the
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problems you probably had a little
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rougher as far as oh yeah yeah well we
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didn't we we didn't have word process we
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didn't have I wasn't there during uh
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being online and stuff so I did go back
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to host at one point Bill Hader and John
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Mulaney were there and they're like oh
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we'll we'll click up this sketch that
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you did from dress that was cut in 1987
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so they have everything in a database
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and I I you know when you never know
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what's going to land with people so I
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had done a sitcom with Mickey Rooney and
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is the freakiest person ever you know
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hysterical I have a Mickey Rooney story
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I just took Mickey's lines or some
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sketch Bonnie and Terry Turner were
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doing old-fashioned movie stars so I
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just told them stuff Mickey had said I
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was the number one star in the world you
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hear me bang the world so I just did
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Mickey's lines and I had prosthetic
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makeup so I go there
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and Bill Hader and John Mulaney they
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just go our favorite thing you've ever
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done is Mickey Rooney so
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just one of those things well that's a
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great impression of him what what is the
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language code on this show oh you can
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tell everyone what the [ __ ] dude
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what were you saying so I did a movie
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that um I had had nightmares that had
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been released and I would wake up
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sweating
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um and it was called uh revenge of the
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Red Baron and it was the kind of thing
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where I said to my agent just ask for
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this amount of money they'll never
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agreed to it and be over well they
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agreed to it and it was a Roger it was a
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Roger Corman movie okay and I'm thinking
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well you know Catherine Bigelow started
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with Roger Kerman but no this was some
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schlepper that had been cutting his
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movies for 20 years but Toby Maguire
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played my son
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um Clifty young was in it and a lot of
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it was written by Mike McDonald from the
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Groundlings in Mad TV okay so it would
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be good and there were some Groundlings
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in it and so I thought you know kind of
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safe Mickey Rooney would say those
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things you know I was the biggest star
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and then as he's as he's hitching his
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trousers he when I was having my single
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and he was in my peripheral vision he
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would spit in his hand and make
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masturbatory gestures and then squirt
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the spit out of his hand like it was
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semen talk about in a picture thank you
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thank you yes yeah can you imagine I
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thought I was the only one that did that
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on sets that's always I know we
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shouldn't speak ill of the Dead no not
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at all he was just the most bitter
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person it was so funny he had a 38
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revolver with him and he would pull it
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out out sometimes this script is Kaka
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and he's kind of waving it around he uh
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she's reliving in her head I would go to
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work it would be Rockefeller Center on
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the sixth floor six years before I got
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on the eighth floor and I'd hear him
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down the hallway
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you know Judy Garland never owned her
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car
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and then he would get really close to
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your face because they pumped her so
00:10:48
full of drugs that killed her he would
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talk until the air there was no more air
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left and
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um once you've worked with Mickey I mean
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Nathan and I had so many stories about
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working with Mickey but yeah he could be
00:11:01
crude he said he had an idea of her show
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where every character's name was a swear
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word and he would act it out for like 20
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minutes hello Mrs [ __ ] I'm Mr [ __ ] how
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are you [ __ ] and it went on for
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like 20 minutes I could get that sold
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well I actually saw him say to an actor
00:11:20
um have you accepted Jesus Christ as
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your personal savior hey would you look
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at the tits on that one you know I was
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like right
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you know and he was phoning it in he was
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in Sugar Babies on Broadway doing the
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sitcom so we'd have to act to this guy
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who's like 30 years old but was five
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feet tall all week long we rehearse with
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him and Mickey would have giant cue
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cards he was just and he would always
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had cash because he'd been broke for
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decades and sugar babies he was making
00:11:47
money and on the sitcom so he'd pull out
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like five thousand dollars and put it
00:11:50
right up to your face and go think I can
00:11:52
afford lunch oh my God there's too many
00:11:56
stories we don't want to make it all
00:11:58
serious what were you doing on the sixth
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floor for four years I was doing a
00:12:04
really long story short I was doing uh
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stand up in San Francisco
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NBC people came up I had kind of this uh
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uh innocent uh Timmy Lassie look going
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on I was kind of funny whatever so I got
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to deal with NBC a holding deal fifty
00:12:22
thousand dollars up front against things
00:12:24
I would be doing I was on the Marie
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Osmond variety show as a wow as a sketch
00:12:29
player for like a day uh but anyway uh
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then all of a sudden I got a call from
00:12:33
NBC you're gonna play Mickey Rooney's
00:12:35
grandson on a sitcom in New York and
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Nathan Lane had auditioned in La we flew
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back out on a 747 George Burns was
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playing cards anyway everything was good
00:12:46
and it was in Rockefeller Center on the
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sixth floor and then I would go up to
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the eighth floor on Thursdays watching
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them run through the thing Joe Piscopo
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and Eddie Murphy and going oh man I want
00:13:00
to be up here but I was cast as a
00:13:02
straight man for many years because I
00:13:03
just had I had no confidence I had no I
00:13:06
had ambition but I had no real
00:13:08
confidence which kind of comes full
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circle a little bit to your story when
00:13:12
I'm watching Saturday Night Live from 75
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to 80 uh you're you were the Beatles you
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were you were rock stars you were more
00:13:21
than comedians because you were the
00:13:22
first and I was so in awe of the show
00:13:25
the idea that I would be on it and I
00:13:27
don't know how you felt because you get
00:13:29
on and the show's not the show yet it's
00:13:31
still maybe it'll get canceled yeah so
00:13:33
can you just talk a little bit about
00:13:34
that very very bare beginning were you
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there for the first show of the 75
00:13:38
season you're there and who's with you
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is everyone there Chevy everybody's
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there um and the last uh like you know
00:13:48
the 11th hour it was between Billy and
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Chevy
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yeah which killed me because I had never
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um seen Billy except I I he was one of
00:13:59
the first people I met my first friend
00:14:01
was Gilda Radner
00:14:03
and she took me up to uh a recording
00:14:06
session for a National Lampoon album the
00:14:09
one that's called that's not funny
00:14:11
that's sick so I'm on that album but I
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meet Harold Ramis and Chris guest and
00:14:17
Randall Murray and Bill Murray and so I
00:14:21
got a sense of what Billy had and then I
00:14:24
saw his audition I'm thinking oh boy you
00:14:26
know and then they chose Chevy wait they
00:14:29
were they couldn't fit they couldn't
00:14:31
have both of them and that's that's what
00:14:33
I thought that's what I had hoped but
00:14:35
they had Belushi and Aykroyd yes already
00:14:37
yeah they felt like well now they have
00:14:39
32 cast members that they could
00:14:42
how many was it with you guys seven so
00:14:45
explosive I mean I really want to talk
00:14:47
through this a lot but just for a second
00:14:49
I I just because of everyone's uh love
00:14:52
of Gilda Radner and your whole cast but
00:14:55
what but she just seems so likable I
00:14:57
mean was she just really fun and just a
00:14:59
genuine I mean all of you and Jane you
00:15:03
know know I don't know there's just a
00:15:04
likability of that whole cast but to
00:15:06
speak to Gilda for a second well um she
00:15:09
was a really good person that's nice and
00:15:12
uh she was the person that you know made
00:15:15
a fuss over your birthday
00:15:17
and just
00:15:19
um very sweet you know she and I found
00:15:21
ourselves in some pickles which I talk
00:15:23
about in my book oh and what is the name
00:15:26
of the book maybe we'll get a big
00:15:28
following here may you live in
00:15:29
interesting times and
00:15:32
um you know one was that when we did the
00:15:35
New Orleans live from New Orleans
00:15:37
special technology you know for doing
00:15:40
green screen and shifting from one set
00:15:44
to another was like a minute old and
00:15:46
everything that could have gone wrong
00:15:48
did but the days before during the
00:15:51
rehearsal process Gilda and I were put
00:15:54
into a room in a building at a part of
00:15:55
town we did not know where we were we
00:15:57
were scared to go out because we were
00:15:59
literally getting mobbed and we were in
00:16:03
this room with nothing but chairs and a
00:16:05
trash can with one of those Lids that
00:16:07
used to step on a pedal and the lid goes
00:16:09
up
00:16:10
they've forgot about us for four hours
00:16:14
we're in this room for four hours and
00:16:17
Gilda turned that trash can into a
00:16:19
puppet because that's the kind of person
00:16:22
she was you know nice and uh God there's
00:16:25
just so many times that she and I for
00:16:28
some reason you know but we also just um
00:16:32
you know would have breakfast together
00:16:33
before we went into work and
00:16:36
that's you know I think it comes across
00:16:39
and I I don't know if Lauren honed this
00:16:41
later or you think about there's the
00:16:44
funny part there's a likability part and
00:16:47
then there's the Charisma and finally
00:16:48
there's how might they work together you
00:16:51
know uh well they you know kind of like
00:16:53
a sitcom you know you have this this key
00:16:55
piece this piece this piece but I think
00:16:57
everyone who's gone through that you
00:17:00
never lose
00:17:01
a certain kind of bond with your cast
00:17:04
especially Unknown People not famous at
00:17:07
all no money at all going on this
00:17:10
television show and I was 10 years later
00:17:12
in 86 but you don't you still feel that
00:17:15
as pre decor with with your original
00:17:17
cast if you run into danak reuter
00:17:19
whoever or you know it's an
00:17:21
extraordinary experience as you know it
00:17:24
is an extraordinary experience and I
00:17:25
always liken it to a Lifeboat where you
00:17:29
know you all survive something
00:17:31
some of us didn't but you all survived
00:17:34
something that was very extraordinary I
00:17:36
was I was on Dennis Miller's show a
00:17:39
couple weeks ago and we talked about the
00:17:42
very same thing and I he mentioned the
00:17:45
movie The Right Stuff which I think of
00:17:48
this scene every time people ask about
00:17:50
the camaraderie of the cast and the
00:17:53
closeness where they're backstage I
00:17:55
think Lyndon Johnson is introducing them
00:17:58
many times yes that scene where they're
00:18:00
backstage and they're all just kind of
00:18:02
looking at one another like I guess we
00:18:04
we did this thing that nobody else has
00:18:06
ever done yeah you know and obviously
00:18:09
I'm not comparing our show space
00:18:12
exploration but you know it was the same
00:18:16
feeling well I would say you know uh
00:18:19
without that analogy but in terms of
00:18:22
Show Business uh especially as the show
00:18:25
grew live I remember just doing a cold
00:18:28
opening and one as the president or
00:18:30
whatever
00:18:30
and just the whole weight of the show is
00:18:32
on you and then there's that Joe disco
00:18:34
fight disco five seconds and you're just
00:18:39
you're like floating and then you're
00:18:41
then your card and hoping that you're
00:18:43
articulating that is a lot of pressure
00:18:45
you know I think in in Show Business I
00:18:48
don't know if there's any more anything
00:18:49
that currently exists live like that and
00:18:52
they won't came from that background I'm
00:18:54
sorry what did you say about uh
00:18:55
everything I say is important so
00:18:57
everyone has to listen closely
00:18:59
um I was just saying that when Dana and
00:19:03
I were on
00:19:04
there was a chance you could get famous
00:19:06
or being just being on it you would get
00:19:08
a little bump in Fame even if you
00:19:10
suddenly didn't click or whatever but
00:19:12
with you guys you seem like a very sweet
00:19:15
woman and Gilda and all those people
00:19:18
together and not knowing that it's such
00:19:20
a Whopper and and getting the biggest
00:19:22
hit out of it that anyone's gotten must
00:19:25
message your head like you were saying
00:19:27
just walk in the street or getting
00:19:28
breakfast and you feel like do I deserve
00:19:31
this or why what's going on here and why
00:19:34
are so many people thinking this is so
00:19:36
great even though you think it's fun but
00:19:38
I think it I don't think anyone can prep
00:19:40
for that
00:19:41
well you kind of I mean since you're
00:19:43
part of this era it really when you
00:19:45
think about
00:19:46
um the evolution of Comedy from Laugh-In
00:19:49
and Lauren used to say it's [ __ ]
00:19:51
Carol Burnett I'm sure he loves Carol
00:19:53
Burnett but he but he had a thing about
00:19:55
breaking in scenes when we were there
00:19:57
didn't want you to break yeah but the
00:19:59
rock and roll George Carlin Richard
00:20:01
Pryor thing had started and then it all
00:20:04
of a sudden this sketch show manifests
00:20:06
itself with this kind of post 1960s
00:20:09
early 70s comedy sensibility right what
00:20:12
was alt comedy that's what I've come to
00:20:14
realize is that yes you had your show of
00:20:16
shows in Carol Burnett and you know
00:20:19
laughing but those were really
00:20:21
mainstream and written by actors writers
00:20:24
that were not our age did not have our
00:20:26
references or sensibility and this was
00:20:29
truly uh an amalgam of a bunch of really
00:20:33
great minds like Michael O'Donoghue and
00:20:36
Herb sergeant and you know Franklin and
00:20:38
Davis and all these amazing people whose
00:20:41
tone and style had never been seen
00:20:44
before and then you also have the
00:20:47
references that we all came with I mean
00:20:49
you know I came with these characters
00:20:51
that I had done at the Groundlings and
00:20:53
so you act you know you talk about the
00:20:55
format that's exactly what I came from
00:20:57
as doing a sketch running off stage in
00:21:00
the dark changing my costume coming back
00:21:02
in the dark lights come up and you go I
00:21:05
mean that's what I came from and that's
00:21:07
you know Jane came from the proposition
00:21:09
you know uh Gilda came from Second City
00:21:12
in the Lampoon show so you know we all
00:21:16
had that background
00:21:20
[Music]
00:21:21
did you um were you the first or one of
00:21:25
the first on television to do the valley
00:21:27
girl voice kind of or it it feels like I
00:21:31
mean because that is still around and
00:21:34
it's it's organic you're welcome uh yeah
00:21:37
how did you how did you hatch that where
00:21:40
did that come from that was in your
00:21:41
early growling time I had always noticed
00:21:44
even in high school that the people from
00:21:45
the valley spoke differently and my twin
00:21:48
brother was a surfer he still is
00:21:50
actually and um so I'd go to the beach
00:21:54
with him every once in a while and you
00:21:56
know there was this whole thing about
00:21:57
the valley Surfers versus the Malibu
00:21:59
Surfers and the West Side Surfers and
00:22:01
you know but I did my ear picked up
00:22:04
because I'd always loved dialects I'd
00:22:06
always picked up on them there was you
00:22:08
know when I was four years old there was
00:22:10
an Orange Julius stand in in Westwood
00:22:12
Village run by this Scottish couple who
00:22:14
would say things to me like would you
00:22:16
like your hot dog steamed or grilled and
00:22:19
I would just you know grab onto that
00:22:22
kind of you were doing that at age four
00:22:24
I wasn't doing it I was noticing it yeah
00:22:26
you know but then I was I did start
00:22:29
doing dialects very young but uh that
00:22:32
was yeah I started hearing that Valley
00:22:34
accent and realizing that it was a very
00:22:37
unique accent
00:22:39
so many people have used it I mean it's
00:22:42
just yeah
00:22:44
were you I I'm I'm familiarized me with
00:22:47
your take on it did you do the thing oh
00:22:49
my God or how did you process it that
00:22:51
became later I don't know who did that
00:22:53
but no I think that uh Moon Unit did oh
00:22:56
my God okay
00:22:57
um but
00:22:59
um you know I break down that dialect in
00:23:03
my book and um which is called you
00:23:06
should have an interesting life may you
00:23:09
live an interesting time now you live an
00:23:10
interesting life right now on everywhere
00:23:12
books are sold Ray Newman audible
00:23:15
um and uh you know contractions like
00:23:18
wouldn't shouldn't or couldn't would
00:23:20
become one shouldn't and couldn't you
00:23:24
know and ing endings were e-en so I'm
00:23:26
going there and things like that it's
00:23:29
just and then there was also words like
00:23:32
bitching and super that came before you
00:23:35
know like in my monologue uh in The
00:23:38
Godfather group there for sketch I said
00:23:40
you know I had to get super reflective
00:23:43
you know it was that that was the
00:23:46
language and the dialect that I kind of
00:23:48
that was great oh yeah that is still
00:23:51
around that was like super reflective
00:23:53
can do that again I had to get super
00:23:55
reflective God even that like voice
00:23:59
grainy
00:24:00
um that that's out there too with every
00:24:02
girl in The Bachelor but yes Lorraine
00:24:05
what is underneath that I just want to
00:24:07
know for a second the process I mean
00:24:08
like
00:24:09
someone who talks like that is it is it
00:24:11
an elitism or is it uh trying to be cool
00:24:14
or what what is kind of behind someone
00:24:16
who would
00:24:18
change their voice like I'm just
00:24:20
thinking out loud like I don't think
00:24:21
people change their voice to it I don't
00:24:23
think they change their voice to it I
00:24:25
think that it becomes ubiquitous yeah
00:24:28
and there's a is there a charm to them
00:24:30
sexuality to it is I'm just wondering
00:24:32
why where it came from but anyway we may
00:24:34
never figure that out exactly it doesn't
00:24:36
charm me one [ __ ] bit but does the
00:24:39
stoner dude the male version was like
00:24:41
most likely what you're talking about
00:24:43
man this is crazy dude if she does that
00:24:46
then everything even moon it's all sort
00:24:49
of a spin-off of that ground laying the
00:24:51
groundwork like you know someone doing
00:24:53
Lauren the first time or Christopher
00:24:55
Walken and everyone's kind of doing that
00:24:57
version but you're laying everyone's
00:25:00
like oh that's a thing now so they're
00:25:02
kind of playing off that one and
00:25:04
building on it
00:25:08
he loved that character he absolutely
00:25:11
loved it and wanted to do something with
00:25:13
it and it just never happened and he's
00:25:15
also he was from Cucamonga he was from
00:25:18
the valley so he absolutely you know I
00:25:22
did him once on the show and Michael
00:25:25
Michael Thomas did such a great job with
00:25:27
my makeup and I came out of the room and
00:25:29
Eric Clapton was in the hallway sorry
00:25:31
folks name dropping but that's what
00:25:32
Saturday Michael Thomas he was my guy
00:25:36
brilliant funny so [ __ ] funny vampire
00:25:40
teeth for me Diddy oh Michael Thomas for
00:25:43
everyone listening was one of the
00:25:45
quintessential brilliant makeup artists
00:25:48
and he could move so fast and do little
00:25:50
things and you'd sit in the chair and
00:25:52
you'd get more and more into character
00:25:53
and he would keep doing stuff and then
00:25:54
he had such a funny ear I was doing a
00:25:57
show a few years later and I was asked
00:25:59
to do all these classic Impressions like
00:26:01
Groucho Marx it was a Easter special I
00:26:03
was rich little and I didn't really have
00:26:05
of him and so he he taught me Jack Benny
00:26:08
and then I would go out and do Jack
00:26:09
Benny and he said that's how you do
00:26:11
Groucho so he also had an ear and he
00:26:13
loved monsters but God Rest his soul
00:26:14
yeah loved him loved him so glad you had
00:26:17
a connection with him he was such a
00:26:19
great you did you start the Groundlings
00:26:21
or you were part of the founding people
00:26:23
yeah one of the founding members that's
00:26:26
great that's so cool
00:26:28
yeah who knew so SNL is like the
00:26:31
Groundlings but suddenly when you leave
00:26:34
everyone has seen it it's so funny you
00:26:36
can do a a sketch walk in your room and
00:26:38
someone could text you and say great one
00:26:40
I was in Oklahoma I just saw it you're
00:26:42
like
00:26:43
such a mind blower yeah there's a
00:26:46
there's a thing going on in the
00:26:47
growlings now where people would stay in
00:26:49
the main company and they just wouldn't
00:26:51
leave and even though it's like you know
00:26:53
they're on series television now they
00:26:55
just don't leave so that what they
00:26:57
started to do to get them to leave was
00:26:59
to do a retrospective and a celebration
00:27:01
to just
00:27:05
and I always marveled at the technology
00:27:07
because they had the the you know
00:27:10
ability to film their sketches and we
00:27:13
did our 40th anniversary the the people
00:27:17
from the 1970s we just did straight
00:27:19
improv because there was no we had never
00:27:22
filmed any of our sketches but later on
00:27:25
of course everybody had you know early
00:27:27
Melissa McCarthy early Kristen Wiig
00:27:29
early Maya Rudolph you know it was just
00:27:32
great stuff to see
00:27:34
I wish that when I was there and it was
00:27:36
sort of with all of us
00:27:38
if you missed a sketch then you waited
00:27:42
for the rerun six months later and if
00:27:44
the uh if you missed it again you might
00:27:46
have been in the best of in the summer
00:27:48
but that's a long shot and now I don't
00:27:51
get to see the show as much so if Monday
00:27:54
on Yahoo News or wherever you are on
00:27:56
your computer sometimes it just says yes
00:27:57
here's a sketch from and they give you
00:27:59
the best one and then you go oh the show
00:28:02
is pretty funny still even though who
00:28:04
knows how much of the show it's always
00:28:05
like hit and miss but you that keeps it
00:28:08
alive I think that's a big part of why
00:28:09
it's still out there and still killing
00:28:11
it well now it's uh 1.6 billion YouTube
00:28:14
hits last year for their season which is
00:28:17
extraordinary and then now it's now it I
00:28:20
don't know if it still is but peacock I
00:28:22
think you can watch it live at 8 30 on
00:28:23
the west coast so uh it's it's evolved
00:28:26
in so many ways the interesting part
00:28:28
about you and Gilda and and Jane being
00:28:32
the first women and there's all these
00:28:34
you know the the society has evolved and
00:28:38
we were talking to Ana gasteyer who's
00:28:40
another great performer uh and just the
00:28:43
idea that how many women have emerged in
00:28:46
such a big way in the last 20 years is
00:28:49
some of the ones you were mentioning but
00:28:51
it was three on your cast Then There
00:28:53
Were there was those intermediate casts
00:28:54
I know Julie Louise Dreyfus was on we
00:28:57
had
00:28:58
um Jan Hooks Nora Dunn and Victoria
00:29:00
Jackson oh yeah Jim hooks we she's
00:29:04
Supernatural
00:29:05
Jan Hooks
00:29:08
so unbelievably funny yeah just just
00:29:12
balls out funny oh God and and uh funny
00:29:17
off stage we had so many laughs we would
00:29:19
just get you know when you get so tired
00:29:21
in a stressful job like that you get
00:29:23
laughed laugh laughing fits oh yeah like
00:29:26
like your little kids I remember one
00:29:28
time Phil had a suit on the late great
00:29:30
Phil Hartman and we called them the glue
00:29:32
because he was like our Danny Aykroyd or
00:29:34
something yeah what do you what do you
00:29:36
need this week you know and he didn't
00:29:38
even it was effortless for Phil but Jan
00:29:40
and I just saw his his tie or something
00:29:43
we've just it's like we were stoned we
00:29:44
were so tired
00:29:47
it is you're just so weak you can't not
00:29:51
laugh I have a question about Lorraine
00:29:54
about you know we had in our run Chris
00:29:57
Farley you guys had John Belushi and Jen
00:30:00
Chris looked up to John so much
00:30:03
um
00:30:03
because they were sort of you know
00:30:05
bigger guys and physic very very
00:30:07
physical I remember even in in wardrobe
00:30:11
he would find pants for a sketch and
00:30:13
he'd look at it and it would say Belushi
00:30:15
they still had them God and he'd wear
00:30:17
them and then he'd wear his pants over
00:30:19
those because he wanted to have anything
00:30:22
and at one point I said Chris you're as
00:30:25
good as Belushi I mean I hate to sound
00:30:27
like Blasphemous but I go we we all love
00:30:30
Belushi and I go Chris you're at the
00:30:32
point where we go down the street it
00:30:33
it's you're so good that I would put you
00:30:36
in the same
00:30:37
here
00:30:42
's the thing that I have to say about
00:30:44
all of that because when I hear people
00:30:46
say your cast was the best cast I say no
00:30:50
the cast that was on when you were an
00:30:52
adolescent is the best because they've
00:30:55
always had great casts always always had
00:30:59
great casts and great writers and you
00:31:02
know I mean guys your years had
00:31:05
you guys and the people around you there
00:31:09
have always been great casts and people
00:31:11
that don't even know ours they said
00:31:13
we're bad and then later they say we're
00:31:15
good it's so funny that when we're there
00:31:16
they're like you missed the good people
00:31:18
they were just here you guys suck and
00:31:20
then later Saturday Night Live dead
00:31:23
to the left that that never ended long
00:31:27
goes Saturday night dead it's gonna get
00:31:30
every year it'll be a headline
00:31:32
that's a good impression I cannot Dana
00:31:34
do it he's the guy the problem uh with
00:31:37
uh the critics they're they're like
00:31:39
really into their own thing it's that
00:31:41
thing of like you know you have to be
00:31:43
um really light on your feet it'd be
00:31:45
nice if this sketch was like uh you know
00:31:47
funny would be a good thing we love
00:31:50
Lawrence sarcasm did he overcome saying
00:31:53
things like absolutely or no no no no no
00:31:56
no no no no no no no no no
00:31:58
we definitely have no no no no don't
00:32:00
misunderstand me mostly would be exactly
00:32:02
if you were telling him something
00:32:04
exactly well you know he was always the
00:32:07
same but uh now that we we have data now
00:32:10
we have almost 50 years of this show
00:32:12
it's hard to imagine another human
00:32:15
individual
00:32:17
navigating it like Lauren he was so good
00:32:19
with the network and all that part of it
00:32:22
he was very good with the hosts and he
00:32:24
also is I think because he's a a very
00:32:27
very smart guy he could get all those
00:32:30
ivy league guys to come in and respect
00:32:32
him you know the Harvard guys because I
00:32:35
went to San Francisco State but everyone
00:32:36
you know they would all giggle when I
00:32:37
would mispronounce a word and read
00:32:39
through and I go you [ __ ] I'll get
00:32:41
you on the step that was intimidating I
00:32:43
don't know if that you guys you guys had
00:32:44
great writers Lorraine but it got it got
00:32:46
very harvardy when I was there from
00:32:49
Scottsdale Community College and I could
00:32:50
just tell it was very clear I was in
00:32:52
over my head and it takes a while
00:32:55
to to to figure out like I don't know if
00:32:58
you wrote but yeah I think you did but
00:32:59
how to write a sketch or how to fit in
00:33:01
with these guys and just get to the
00:33:02
level
00:33:03
I just want to go and read through and
00:33:05
say I don't want everyone to go what the
00:33:07
[ __ ] who wrote this I just wanted to be
00:33:09
like oh we're not doing it but it's sort
00:33:11
of mixed into the bunch you know because
00:33:14
sometimes I I would write something
00:33:16
and I didn't know how to write and I
00:33:17
just got that yellow pad and
00:33:19
they would be like that's eight pages
00:33:21
too long I'm like well no one is talking
00:33:23
to me oh my God no one tells you
00:33:26
anything was that the same when you were
00:33:28
there in the 70s we have to you have to
00:33:29
learn it yourself or ask other cast
00:33:31
members absolutely yeah nobody tells you
00:33:33
anything and
00:33:35
um I didn't quite get that it would be
00:33:37
good if I were to align myself with a
00:33:40
writer who could really get me but yeah
00:33:43
fortunately it worked out that way
00:33:44
anyway and O'Donoghue and Schiller and
00:33:47
and Rosie Schuster they really wrote
00:33:50
beautifully for me and you know I
00:33:53
brought us some of the material that I
00:33:54
had done to the Groundlings I brought
00:33:56
there but that was basically how it
00:33:58
worked because I did not know how I the
00:34:01
things I did in the Groundlings were
00:34:03
what we now call in ones or down lefts
00:34:06
which were just character monologues
00:34:07
yeah I am a shitty improviser shitty you
00:34:12
know uh so you know I don't know
00:34:15
improvise on Saturday Night Live but you
00:34:17
don't improvise yeah people think but
00:34:19
but backstage you do you know just for a
00:34:22
second Rosie Schuster came back Lauren's
00:34:25
ex-wife one of them and she was assigned
00:34:28
to me I just done this character in my
00:34:30
stand-up I didn't do it all day long I
00:34:32
never wore a dress was this church lady
00:34:33
person oh my God we we sat for a couple
00:34:37
weeks
00:34:37
you know making the talk show out of it
00:34:39
and she was the one who said ah Church
00:34:42
chat you know and she was very very good
00:34:45
oh yeah yeah writer yeah really
00:34:48
beautiful yeah so that Lauren loves that
00:34:51
when the writers in the cast get
00:34:52
together and I actually talked to a
00:34:54
young cast member recently wanted to
00:34:56
talk to me I won't say you know who it
00:34:59
was who's currently on the show and
00:35:01
struggling a little bit with the process
00:35:03
I said well
00:35:04
five whatever your rhythm of your
00:35:06
character is you know collect your your
00:35:07
hooks or or what what makes it funny and
00:35:10
crunchy to you seek out a writer that
00:35:13
has influence and and maybe would want
00:35:16
so at the ground floor but while the
00:35:18
sketch is being written your rhythms are
00:35:20
being integrated don't wait where
00:35:21
they've written jokes and you're trying
00:35:23
to put your character into it exactly
00:35:25
make sure you do it together so it
00:35:26
sounds like you had that with Michael
00:35:28
Donahue and Rosie and all the rest yeah
00:35:31
that's one Lauren loves that thing too
00:35:33
it's it's like it's like the Congress
00:35:35
and the Senate are getting along or
00:35:37
something once he doesn't want one side
00:35:38
to dominate too much yeah well Conan
00:35:41
O'Brien talks about not knowing how to
00:35:43
write a sketch and how he really started
00:35:45
out by just like
00:35:47
telling somebody's stories and people
00:35:50
say yeah you should write that as a
00:35:51
sketch yeah but you know the idea that
00:35:54
any any writer would come there not
00:35:56
knowing how to write a sketch well I
00:35:58
audition should be on the show and then
00:36:00
they say we're me and Rob Schneider and
00:36:02
they go you're hired but you're they
00:36:04
liked your stand-up but they like the
00:36:06
writing of it so which is not which is
00:36:09
good and bad news because they go he
00:36:10
wants to be a writer performer and then
00:36:11
they go oh maybe Chevy was I don't know
00:36:14
who was but he was just hired as a
00:36:16
writer Chevy was just a real writer yes
00:36:19
Simon Garrett and Chevy were hired as
00:36:22
writers
00:36:23
oh I did not know that that's cool how
00:36:27
long till Billy came home was it three
00:36:28
years no uh actually it was uh right
00:36:32
away yeah because Chevy did like one and
00:36:35
a half season oh yeah yeah whatever he
00:36:37
was on the cover of time or whatever he
00:36:39
was he just blew up from the show yeah
00:36:42
and then he always regretted leaving you
00:36:44
know when he would come back and host he
00:36:46
talked about wishing he'd stayed longer
00:36:47
sure for sure I mean it's hard once you
00:36:50
leave it you can never go back you know
00:36:52
once you what once you leave SNL you're
00:36:55
never gonna do I thought you said once
00:36:57
you Diva you never come back oh funny
00:37:01
nuts
00:37:03
that's better than what I just said so I
00:37:06
did say that Lorraine what's your Diva
00:37:08
but once you leave you can't go back to
00:37:10
that experientially and it it haunts
00:37:13
your whole career life in some ways
00:37:15
because it's New York it's it's the
00:37:17
grease pain it's there's a horse in the
00:37:18
show and someone's juggling and it's all
00:37:20
chaotic and weird and there's just
00:37:22
nothing quite like that intensity
00:37:25
of how hard it is and you go I could do
00:37:29
that and then you leave I'm sure it's
00:37:31
Chevy after years like and he sees the
00:37:33
show stays huge and even huge and you're
00:37:36
like [ __ ] that was fun I was in that I
00:37:37
was in the mix yeah that's the thing is
00:37:40
sketch comedy is so fun yeah you know I
00:37:44
mean when I when I was back for the 40th
00:37:46
just doing sketches all right so goddamn
00:37:50
fun oh yeah it's just and the people you
00:37:52
get to work with are always super sharp
00:37:54
funny yes you get to look around and go
00:37:57
goddammit all these people are great and
00:37:59
then you then they go on to do great
00:38:00
things and you go [ __ ] everyone was good
00:38:02
I was not wrong it feels like it's more
00:38:05
pressure now but you guys to do when did
00:38:07
you for yourself Lorraine so you're on
00:38:09
the show and the show's not the show yet
00:38:11
but you're becoming rock stars when did
00:38:14
you know I think the audience starts to
00:38:15
discover and they discovered Chevy first
00:38:18
probably because he was on update and
00:38:19
had an in one at home base it was like
00:38:21
very potent Chevy but when do you feel
00:38:24
like when did you personally get
00:38:26
comfortable you feel like were you
00:38:28
comfortable right away I took me I feel
00:38:30
like 60 shows 60 to get I I'd say I was
00:38:35
better after the third season fourth
00:38:37
season I mean to be really having fun to
00:38:40
go back full circle to like just
00:38:42
enjoying it because everything is
00:38:43
picking in wigs and going and then the
00:38:45
cards and changing to get relaxed how
00:38:48
did you feel you had a breakthrough with
00:38:50
a certain character I mean was it the
00:38:51
Coneheads or any sketch you remember
00:38:53
where I've got this we're we're winning
00:38:55
we're a winning team we're rock stars or
00:38:58
maybe it was immediate for you guys no I
00:39:00
was very young and I was very
00:39:02
inexperienced you're like 21 or
00:39:04
something no I was 23 but I was a very
00:39:06
young 20 years
00:39:07
I was a young 23. that's what I have to
00:39:10
say about that but um I was very
00:39:13
inexperienced and I did not have a lot
00:39:16
of confidence and so um I can't say that
00:39:20
I ever got to a place where I felt
00:39:22
comfortable
00:39:23
um when I was when I I was doing
00:39:26
something either that I wrote or that I
00:39:29
really had an offended 34 and felt like
00:39:31
I could score with those were great
00:39:33
times I mean Marilyn Miller wrote this
00:39:35
Barbra Streisand song for me and I was
00:39:38
just thinking about it the other day
00:39:39
because someone was talking about uh I
00:39:42
think it was the documentary on Mr
00:39:44
Kelly's and that Barbra Streisand does
00:39:46
the intro on that and I was thinking you
00:39:49
know
00:39:50
um it was a complicated song I was the
00:39:53
only one who could sing a little bit
00:39:55
better than everybody else of the girls
00:39:58
and I just remember afterwards uh that
00:40:02
kind of explosive Applause when it was
00:40:04
over and as I'm bowing and my legs are
00:40:07
shaking you know it was such a great
00:40:10
moment and experience to have but I
00:40:14
didn't have a lot of those you know yeah
00:40:16
did you like singing did you sit with
00:40:19
someone we had Cheryl
00:40:21
oh sure Mark Shaman we had Cheryl and
00:40:24
Mark Shaman and Mark Shaman worked on
00:40:26
the show he did while I was there for a
00:40:28
couple years then he went off and did
00:40:30
movies but he was there with Cheryl I
00:40:33
didn't know that this is just for people
00:40:36
listening we you know you if there's a
00:40:38
musical number it's so much fun to sit
00:40:40
down let's just say Cheryl was so
00:40:42
wonderful and she could just play or
00:40:45
anything and you had a song you wanted
00:40:47
to do I think she said she did Black
00:40:49
Magic Woman is that Santana I don't know
00:40:52
who did that she played the chords
00:40:54
backwards for the church chat theme oh
00:40:58
my God how brilliant but she would help
00:41:00
you with notes and no you were going to
00:41:02
harmonize we're playing Cowboys and
00:41:04
we're harmonizing Woody Harrelson and
00:41:05
she would help you and I'll speak to the
00:41:08
you I want to hear your experiences I
00:41:09
had one freaky thing of I was in a booth
00:41:12
with Willie Nelson he had his old guitar
00:41:15
and then he was learning uh a song Maybe
00:41:19
I didn't you know learn it in real time
00:41:22
oh wow you have those kinds of moments
00:41:25
you in terms of the movies the the hosts
00:41:27
that came along in those five years who
00:41:30
what does anyone stick out or
00:41:32
oh the host the host because you're then
00:41:35
you're meeting like you had the monster
00:41:37
stars come through it's unreal
00:41:39
Richard
00:41:41
Pryor I had met Richard Pryor when I was
00:41:43
14 because he was friends with my sister
00:41:45
oh and he was playing the Troubadour
00:41:48
guys the Troubadour he was playing the
00:41:50
Troubadour
00:41:51
yeah yeah so I met him when I was 14 so
00:41:55
when he came to host the show I was like
00:41:57
ah I'm Tracy Newman's little sister do
00:42:01
you remember me yeah and he was so great
00:42:04
to me he was just he was sweet always
00:42:07
like there are three people who are my
00:42:09
main influences Eve Arden Madeleine Khan
00:42:12
and Richard Pryor those are like the
00:42:15
Holy Trinity for me Madeline Collins and
00:42:17
other monsters did she come host
00:42:19
twice oh how great so yeah so they that
00:42:23
how so that that's the exact example of
00:42:25
what happens during Saturday Night Live
00:42:27
so you have this Mentor who doesn't know
00:42:29
and then you're now you're in a sketch
00:42:31
with them I know it's it's all surreal
00:42:33
right you know what about Lorraine did I
00:42:36
read that um
00:42:37
you were stopped I mean this is where
00:42:39
your career just hits a Zenith when you
00:42:41
got stopped by John and Yoko is that
00:42:43
true yeah I was uh I was coming from a
00:42:47
photo session with Francisco scavolo
00:42:50
Jesus
00:42:52
for the urethra with jewelrybug and I'm
00:42:58
walking through the lobby of 30 Rock and
00:43:00
through my peripheral vision I see these
00:43:02
two forms and they come into Focus John
00:43:05
and Yoko
00:43:06
and as they pass in Front of Me John
00:43:09
goes hi Lorraine you know not a high
00:43:13
high Lorraine you know wow and I was
00:43:17
like Lou Costello in those Series
00:43:23
yeah yeah that's exactly what I was like
00:43:28
you know there were so many
00:43:30
intersections that happened to have my
00:43:33
casts with different people and Paul
00:43:34
McCartney and so forth but yeah I was
00:43:36
always Bittersweet I would love love to
00:43:38
have met John oh my God yeah Christopher
00:43:42
Lee was the person that I was very
00:43:44
excited to meet I had lobbied for him to
00:43:47
be a host for three years but it wasn't
00:43:50
until he was in a James Bond movie that
00:43:52
he put him in and God was he a great
00:43:55
host
00:43:56
of course he immediately said I do not
00:43:58
want to do Dracula
00:44:01
wow yeah
00:44:04
yeah I'm going to play Coco the clown I
00:44:08
don't want to do directly it's not
00:44:10
something right and I was just saying
00:44:11
that because when Stephen hosted I think
00:44:14
I got a bad rap of being quoted and
00:44:16
sometimes these stories that that's our
00:44:19
worst host but the truth is I did like
00:44:22
Steven Seagal and I liked his movies and
00:44:24
I was just trying I was I was saying he
00:44:27
was sort of known to others as a bad
00:44:29
host he wouldn't roll with a flow and I
00:44:31
think both of you know that the best
00:44:33
thing to do with your host is to just
00:44:34
put your hands up and go what do you
00:44:35
want me to do and if you're a
00:44:36
Christopher Lee we'll make a track that
00:44:39
we won't make you look like an [ __ ]
00:44:40
this will be a funny version people like
00:44:41
it and he wouldn't do any karate
00:44:44
a monologue and we wanted to do kung fu
00:44:47
fighting and or something stupid and he
00:44:50
and he just was latching on to wanting
00:44:52
to be cool and and I got what he was
00:44:54
saying he's like that's I have an image
00:44:56
and it was just too hard to to trust us
00:44:59
and talk him out of that that's all he
00:45:01
wasn't a bad guy to me well I I didn't
00:45:03
mean to imply that he was difficult he
00:45:05
was absolutely great sure but a lot of
00:45:08
people don't want to do that yeah that's
00:45:10
what I'm saying a lot a lot of people
00:45:12
just say
00:45:13
they get on there or the music we had
00:45:16
that a lot the music doesn't want to do
00:45:17
their hit song if you want to go you get
00:45:19
two songs you could do whatever you want
00:45:21
on the second one but the first one can
00:45:24
you please do your hit you know it's
00:45:27
kind of want to go when a when a host
00:45:28
comes in like you know there's an
00:45:30
athlete or we had a we had George
00:45:32
Steinbrenner a billionaire owns the New
00:45:34
York Yankees so George stembrier so he's
00:45:37
got kind of you know he's a billionaire
00:45:38
he's George and and uh Al Franken
00:45:41
pitched him something to the effect in
00:45:44
the sketch he would be on all fours in a
00:45:47
diaper with a dog collar it's funny
00:45:52
just you're like apple he's not gonna do
00:45:56
that
00:45:57
well I think it's really funny remember
00:45:58
Conan was saying at dinner the other
00:46:00
night we saw Conan he was saying he he
00:46:02
was he and Bob Odenkirk had to go pitch
00:46:05
to George scheinbrenner and he and he
00:46:07
[ __ ] hated it and said I'm not doing
00:46:08
that [ __ ] get out of here and they leave
00:46:10
and Lauren goes give it another try what
00:46:13
go back again
00:46:14
oh my God I did a sketch once it was
00:46:18
during Matthew
00:46:20
um Broderick married to uh Sarah Jessica
00:46:22
Parker Matthew Broderick so we were all
00:46:26
bare chested in diapers in the sketch
00:46:28
and so and this so the sketch bombs I
00:46:33
mean it really bombs I mean it's dead
00:46:35
quiet and then you have to walk off
00:46:37
there's no it's too busy no one puts a
00:46:39
rope you're walking through eight eights
00:46:41
through the audience with a big diaper
00:46:43
on it and sketched it just [ __ ] itself
00:46:46
and then I looked at an audience member
00:46:49
did a little like hey how you doing a
00:46:50
little wave and they looked away
00:46:55
[Music]
00:47:08
your next lines coming like we should
00:47:11
end it right now it's going nowhere
00:47:15
kills a dress and then on air you're
00:47:18
like what happened I know that's the
00:47:21
worst well that's the Alchemy of the
00:47:23
show you know [ __ ] well it's sometimes
00:47:26
the dress show is so hot and you're like
00:47:29
uh I don't like this yeah because then
00:47:31
the air show is not so hot and a lot of
00:47:33
invited guests and then all of a sudden
00:47:35
the same and it's a half the laugh and
00:47:38
then you've gotten spoiled with the
00:47:39
dress show but sometimes the air
00:47:41
audience was the best so you never knew
00:47:43
but it was a high wire Act
00:47:47
[Music]
00:47:48
Lorraine I don't keep you forever but do
00:47:50
you ever do you ever get mad and say
00:47:52
Maps
00:47:54
say what
00:47:56
what are you saying Coneheads Maps
00:48:03
um I've been saying it wrong I've been
00:48:05
saying it wrong every time I stub my toe
00:48:07
that's all right I was in Coneheads I
00:48:10
was in the Coneheads really yeah I
00:48:12
played that's great that's right I
00:48:14
played you were in the call I wasn't in
00:48:16
that one but I I just it was almost jury
00:48:19
duty it was everybody it was Ellen
00:48:22
Degeneres Phil Sinbad Schneider sounds
00:48:26
too big I was too big at the time and I
00:48:28
had a beach house and I didn't really
00:48:31
um I was turning down a lot of things
00:48:33
I'm just processing this idea of when it
00:48:37
came out the idea that the character's
00:48:40
name was what the character was so the
00:48:42
coneds had Coneheads so I always loved
00:48:46
that and that's why I said the church
00:48:48
lady is the church lady you know or
00:48:50
people were talking to people
00:48:51
he plays like a church lady
00:48:54
right it well didn't did that I mean did
00:48:57
Carol Burnett and uh Flip Wilson or
00:48:59
whatever did they do that because that
00:49:01
was the first time I saw it it's a
00:49:03
certain knowing dry silliness that the
00:49:06
character's name is what the character
00:49:08
is that pre-date SNL but I love that
00:49:11
about it no I don't know I don't know
00:49:14
Dana I don't know what happened with
00:49:17
Flip Wilson
00:49:18
exactly
00:49:20
I love all those variety shows
00:49:23
Lorraine do you laugh when you when
00:49:25
you're going to do Coneheads in
00:49:27
rehearsal does it kill at the table or
00:49:29
it where is there any weirdness along
00:49:31
the week going what if this just does
00:49:33
not work
00:49:34
I adored Danny's writing I absolutely
00:49:38
adored it and he could do no wrong as
00:49:42
far as I was concerned even if it was
00:49:44
like something really subtle and tasty
00:49:47
that I knew the audience would not get
00:49:49
that was fine that is fun too because
00:49:52
you know some of those sketches you're
00:49:54
like I don't care how it does I love it
00:49:55
we need to do it and Lauren's good at
00:49:58
keeping stuff like that on he's like
00:50:00
yeah I don't care if it doesn't work
00:50:01
this is what we this represents us
00:50:03
that's a good Jack Handy used to write a
00:50:06
lot of really weird ones and we all love
00:50:07
to read through and he goes that's part
00:50:09
of the magic of the show is that that
00:50:11
sensibility is allowed even if it
00:50:13
doesn't kill and yeah Dan Aykroyd would
00:50:16
write these long he would talk really
00:50:18
super fast and have all this language
00:50:20
coming out God damn you know and you'd
00:50:23
have to just figure out later what he
00:50:24
was saying but the coneds was silly and
00:50:26
it was I mean
00:50:28
how many times did you think you did
00:50:29
that did it seemed like it was on a lot
00:50:31
gosh I I do not know I just know that
00:50:34
the one time that we did an extended
00:50:37
version where we filmed us going back to
00:50:39
remulac
00:50:40
yeah we uh we had never been in the
00:50:44
cones longer than the length of a sketch
00:50:46
but this was like a whole day and the
00:50:49
spirit gum [ __ ] started to burn ah you
00:50:54
know this is where it was anchored here
00:50:56
yeah oh my God and so you know Jane and
00:51:02
Danny were in the front seat and they
00:51:03
just started smoking weed
00:51:05
and I was in the back seat and we are on
00:51:08
a location or something yes we were
00:51:10
shooting on locations oh I'd be
00:51:12
terrified I'll improvised too because
00:51:14
you know we didn't get permits we went
00:51:16
to a gas station
00:51:20
the the gasoline but you know it was
00:51:23
like gorilla because she had got no
00:51:26
permits or anything like that and you're
00:51:27
in your outfit you're a giant head and
00:51:29
everything walking around I got a
00:51:30
question when you do Coneheads uh did
00:51:33
you have to do it either cold open or
00:51:35
after update because there's so much it
00:51:37
was always at the top of the show when I
00:51:39
did Gap girls it was so much work they
00:51:41
could only put it first
00:51:43
or after update because that's the
00:51:45
biggest chunk you have update and music
00:51:46
and that's like 12 minutes or something
00:51:48
and did you get stoned that day then
00:51:51
no idea
00:51:53
I've never I
00:51:55
never was able to perform hi I mean I
00:51:59
tried it with a couple beers once I
00:52:00
worked
00:52:02
giant Stone once didn't work I don't
00:52:04
know heroin is good for doing
00:52:06
sketchbooks
00:52:08
is what makes James Woods it's the math
00:52:12
is what informs his choices Marcy please
00:52:15
more popcorn anyway
00:52:17
um you know that thing that you said
00:52:18
about Lauren is very astute because that
00:52:21
is what causes an audience to come to
00:52:23
you yeah you know it's like you you
00:52:25
don't write for them you let them come
00:52:28
you write for us yeah and you let them
00:52:31
come to you and some things like like
00:52:33
cheeseburger cheeseburger one of those
00:52:35
like they that might not work the first
00:52:37
time there's a lot of sketches that
00:52:38
might not work and then by the time it
00:52:39
comes on you don't realize they really
00:52:40
did like it they had to watch it and
00:52:42
think about it and then their friends
00:52:44
talk about it and you go that is good it
00:52:46
gets it's kind of hooky or even if it's
00:52:48
not a catchphrase just a smart bit and
00:52:50
then you go oh [ __ ] that's bigger but
00:52:51
also that was active and high energy and
00:52:54
I've said this before but for me
00:52:55
personally when I was doing Johnny
00:52:57
Carson on the show and sort of a new way
00:52:59
great impression by the way thank you my
00:53:02
kind of my favorite thing because I did
00:53:06
I thought I enjoyed it so much and I had
00:53:08
Phil of course there
00:53:11
um that the
00:53:15
draftser yeah
00:53:18
you're watching a television and that's
00:53:22
how you're seeing the pictures we are
00:53:23
not actively in your living room you
00:53:25
know the eye how Johnny would include
00:53:27
everyone in the country in on stuff and
00:53:29
I didn't care and I was in my sixth
00:53:31
season or something but I wasn't
00:53:33
thinking whether it was going to get a
00:53:35
laugh because I intrinsically knew it
00:53:36
was so [ __ ] it was almost too funny
00:53:38
some things that I'll watch sometimes
00:53:41
are so funny that I know I'm gonna I
00:53:43
can't even laugh as hard as I wanna
00:53:45
laugh I'm gonna laugh later because you
00:53:47
want to hear it I want to hear it and it
00:53:49
hits you so hard but the rock and roll
00:53:51
sketches are easier it was or you look
00:53:54
at an old sketch like even from
00:53:55
Lorraine's seasons and you go
00:53:58
I didn't even really get that back then
00:54:00
like how funny it was like I was too
00:54:02
young and now you look back you go holy
00:54:03
[ __ ] that's so well done or smarter
00:54:06
because I was just like looking for the
00:54:08
easy jokes I'm younger you know and then
00:54:10
it then you get older and you start to
00:54:12
like different stuff but you go back and
00:54:14
go oh [ __ ] that was so good yeah that's
00:54:16
an interesting point I've experienced
00:54:18
that too yeah did you go on update a lot
00:54:21
and do characters
00:54:23
um I I did it a couple of times uh when
00:54:27
um
00:54:30
when Sid Vicious murdered his girlfriend
00:54:33
there's a hilarious topic go ahead I
00:54:36
went down there's his mother I went home
00:54:38
that's his mother saying that he was a
00:54:40
good boy you know and uh I think Brian
00:54:44
was Sid Vicious you know and he just had
00:54:48
the wig on it and he just looked
00:54:49
completely mad you know and I was just
00:54:52
going on I did my best you know I did my
00:54:55
best
00:54:56
I don't know I don't know we've had a
00:54:59
great time here oh my God
00:55:02
then of course I did the the the
00:55:05
reporter you know Lorraine Newman the
00:55:07
report which was kind of in that sort of
00:55:10
reporter dialect in a sense the language
00:55:12
of breaking news right now this is the
00:55:15
whole that kind of thing yeah chubby I'm
00:55:17
standing here you know I I always had
00:55:21
heard you know I I heard that song and
00:55:24
you know you know what I'm talking about
00:55:26
Dana the song that they do do that that
00:55:29
is a newscaster
00:55:37
oh God
00:55:41
you know it's it is a song I did it in
00:55:44
stand up and I don't know if I got it
00:55:46
from Robert Klein but it was a newsman
00:55:47
ordering dinner with his wife if I can
00:55:49
remember it was like a surprise kind of
00:55:51
my wife tonight he's at a restaurant two
00:55:53
Labs of steak medium rare and a couple
00:55:55
of black coffee instead of the
00:55:57
traditional cream and sugar I'll have my
00:55:59
coffee you did I must have done on a
00:56:02
talk show or something I could have done
00:56:03
it on a talk show or or stand up that's
00:56:06
a great bit uh I love I love I'm like
00:56:09
you I love all voices I love all
00:56:10
dialects and I so enjoy when I see uh
00:56:15
people do them on Saturday Night Live uh
00:56:17
the new Young cast member does a trump
00:56:19
that is so brilliant oh my God so and I
00:56:23
just that's like so funny and so
00:56:25
brilliant I I you know I I have to like
00:56:27
watch it later almost because he's doing
00:56:30
so many hooks excuse me and the people
00:56:31
who can a lot of people they're saying
00:56:33
many and he's doing all this great too
00:56:35
his Biden is just
00:56:37
huge stuff we can do this we can do it
00:56:41
now here's the deal my father lost his
00:56:43
job not kidding around here we can in
00:56:45
fact do better we can we're surprised
00:56:48
I'm I'm out of my mind
00:56:51
let me smell your hair Biden is an
00:56:53
interesting one you know the evolution
00:56:54
of doing a president is that the country
00:56:58
still has to get used to Biden the kind
00:57:01
of defensive guy is come out a little
00:57:03
bit angry and then befuddled all the
00:57:06
different flavors he has but we're still
00:57:08
discovering him the whisper thing and
00:57:10
then he goes kind of loud yeah and sort
00:57:12
of my dad would do that when he was 90.
00:57:14
it was kind of a patronizing whisper
00:57:16
because I know what I'm doing oh man
00:57:19
that's right we can do this
00:57:22
and number one the one part number two
00:57:25
with the guy said number three come on
00:57:27
folks remember he's always admonishing
00:57:29
us for not understanding
00:57:31
there's like a really really interesting
00:57:34
new cast members
00:57:36
yeah uh Chloe fine yeah she's a growling
00:57:39
she's a friend of my daughter Hannah's
00:57:41
I'm telling me about her for years so I
00:57:44
watched your daughter today she's she's
00:57:46
really really funny and talented I just
00:57:49
saw her on Colbert because I knew I was
00:57:51
going to be talking to you and she
00:57:53
reminds me of you there's a drill dry
00:57:55
yeah I mean there's uh just uh uh why
00:57:58
would you say this her stuff is very
00:57:59
smart you know thank you yes we're we're
00:58:03
just you know beside ourselves
00:58:06
um uh I I she she belongs there I mean
00:58:08
she's going to she is having a career
00:58:10
she's on Hacks now and she's just really
00:58:13
good and so I can't imagine what that
00:58:16
must feel like
00:58:18
to have a dog have someone have success
00:58:20
because you oh you look at her mom and
00:58:22
now you're the daughter and following a
00:58:24
big act to follow and she's doing great
00:58:27
well her Talent is completely different
00:58:29
than mine and my older child's Talent is
00:58:32
also there also they started doing
00:58:34
stand-up when they were 15. and they're
00:58:37
all they're on loss of spookies Julio's
00:58:39
show
00:58:41
um and uh they both their talent is
00:58:44
completely different than mine and that
00:58:46
is exciting to watch but you know my
00:58:49
only contribution really was when this
00:58:51
is so inappropriate but when I was
00:58:54
driving when I was driving them to
00:58:56
school I mean this is like grade school
00:58:58
I would play the scalar brothers and
00:59:01
Maria Bamford and Pat Oswald you know
00:59:04
yeah I mean
00:59:07
needed to be entertained damn it you
00:59:10
know I was not going to listen to radio
00:59:12
[ __ ] Disney
00:59:13
another second you know so you gave him
00:59:16
some good stand-ups wow yeah but your
00:59:19
daughter when she came on Colbert the
00:59:20
first time this is Hannah she did kind
00:59:23
of like a little story about her mom and
00:59:27
dad and sperm donors and stuff and it
00:59:29
was very very sketched that's why it
00:59:31
wasn't traditional stand up that's why
00:59:33
it reminded me of yes it's very
00:59:36
different and I saw her set at Dynasty
00:59:38
typewriter this last Sunday and it was
00:59:41
pretty much new material and
00:59:44
40 minutes set and it was so good and so
00:59:47
interesting and it's like how the hell
00:59:49
did you come up with that stuff
00:59:51
you know interesting wow well that's a a
00:59:53
great way to close the podcast because
00:59:55
that's good that's like this gigantic
00:59:57
Perfect full circle yeah talking about
01:00:00
that and you know the apple does not
01:00:03
fall very far from the tree you'll find
01:00:06
uh but anyway that's very sweet Lorraine
01:00:09
I'm so happy I think I met one of your
01:00:11
daughters or both of them at that Al
01:00:13
Franken thing we did it was probably
01:00:16
Hannah probably Hannah yeah she's you
01:00:19
know whatever just a sweet little girl
01:00:21
but now she's oh that's cool
01:00:24
um well I've really enjoyed this a lot
01:00:26
so fun you guys I really did and uh
01:00:29
thank you for having me too and good
01:00:31
luck with it I know it's it's a really
01:00:33
fun thing to do
01:00:36
check in next week where our guests will
01:00:38
be Ellen Cleghorn
01:00:40
[Music]
01:00:42
fly on the wall has been a presentation
01:00:44
of cadence 13. please listen then rate
01:00:47
review and follow all episodes executive
01:00:50
produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade
01:00:52
Chris Corcoran of cadence 13 and Charlie
01:00:55
feinen of brillstein entertainment
01:00:56
production and Engineering led by Greg
01:00:58
Holtzman Richard cook Serena Regan and
01:01:02
Chris Basil of cadence 13.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 70
    Most iconic
  • 70
    Best performance
  • 70
    Most iconic moment
  • 65
    Best overall

Episode Highlights

  • The Charm of Lorraine Newman
    Lorraine Newman, a beloved original cast member of SNL, brings a unique charm and humor.
    “Everyone loves Lorraine!”
    @ 05m 13s
    October 07, 2022
  • Mickey Rooney Stories
    Hilarious and outrageous tales from working with the legendary Mickey Rooney.
    “He had a 38 revolver with him and he would pull it out sometimes.”
    @ 10m 21s
    October 07, 2022
  • The Valley Girl Voice
    Exploring the origins of the iconic Valley Girl voice and its lasting impact.
    “I started hearing that Valley accent and realizing it was a very unique accent.”
    @ 22m 39s
    October 07, 2022
  • The Groundlings Connection
    Reflecting on the founding of The Groundlings and its influence on comedy.
    “I was one of the founding members.”
    @ 26m 23s
    October 07, 2022
  • Sketch Comedy Evolution
    Discussing the evolution of SNL and its impact on comedy today.
    “Now it's 1.6 billion YouTube hits last year for their season.”
    @ 28m 14s
    October 07, 2022
  • Musical Moments with Cheryl
    Lorraine shares fond memories of working with Cheryl and her musical genius.
    “Oh my God, how brilliant!”
    @ 40m 58s
    October 07, 2022
  • Meeting John Lennon
    Lorraine recalls a surreal moment when John Lennon recognized her in 30 Rock.
    “Hi Lorraine!”
    @ 43m 09s
    October 07, 2022
  • The Alchemy of Live Shows
    Lorraine discusses the unpredictable nature of live performances on SNL.
    “That’s the Alchemy of the show.”
    @ 47m 23s
    October 07, 2022
  • Next Week's Guest
    Check in next week where our guests will be Ellen Cleghorn.
    @ 01h 00m 36s
    October 07, 2022
  • Production Team
    Fly on the Wall has been produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade.
    @ 01h 00m 42s
    October 07, 2022

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Birds and Laughter00:12
  • Mickey Rooney Tales08:22
  • Valley Girl Origins21:41
  • Groundlings Founding26:23
  • SNL's Evolution28:14
  • Explosive Applause40:02
  • Upcoming Guest1:00:36
  • Production Credits1:00:42

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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