00:00:00
Garrett Morris Dana is first season SNL
00:00:06
standout. You might not remember him
00:00:08
because you're just a young pup, but
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>> Garrett Morris was I was very excited to
00:00:13
have Garrett on because
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>> to have his perspective
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of being in that whirlwind of the first
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season.
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>> Yeah, that first five years is sort of
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the story of SNL. He was he just came to
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play. He was full of t energy and fun
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>> laughing
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>> and I don't know if it's okay to say so
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so it's like that or whatever. So I
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think he might have smoked marijuana for
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a bit until he
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>> but he was really really funny and full
00:00:42
of a lot of
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>> yeah happy to be there um like talking
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and those are the best guests because
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they come ready to play and they just
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want to screw around and
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>> we did learn a lot but we also learned a
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lot that's all we want to do.
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>> Him and Chvy did some things together.
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Chvy wrote for him and yeah
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>> he did the interpretive guy was yelling
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if you remember that from the 70s but
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impaired newscaster. Yeah.
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>> But it's really fun interview with with
00:01:08
Garrett. I would listen to this.
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>> Here he is. Garrett Morris.
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>> Garrett, you uh my last name is Spade.
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>> You already screwed it up by having
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exconvict on your show. Okay.
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>> Whoa. Let's get down to it.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Did you serve time? That's it's my only
00:01:29
question.
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>> I'm not lying. I'm not lying. I actually
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spent a year and a half at what is known
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as Great Meadows Correctional
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Facilities. I was a teacher.
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>> Oh, I was at the Tim Meadows
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Correctional Facility. Uh, no, Garrett,
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you were a teacher in there. You, too.
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>> Uh, go ahead. Go ahead, Garrett. Let's
00:01:51
hear about that.
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>> Anyway, I I in like 196869,
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I was a school teacher. I taught at PS71
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over on the east side and I also taught
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um they had a program for teaching
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convicts and I was a part of it. They
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gave us a um a folkswagen, right?
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>> Folks, you guys say it's really folks
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vag.
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Anyway, and I didn't know I was driving
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along the drug drug um thing and I used
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to get c called on all the time by the
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cops. Okay.
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>> Wait, wait. You were running drugs in
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the Volkswagen and then you got pulled
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over.
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>> And you were also teaching kids
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and running drugs. I don't get
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>> I was teaching those murderers drama.
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>> Oh, okay.
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>> Yes.
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>> You have quite a resume. I looked it up.
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>> Oh my god. It's it's it's vast.
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>> You know, Garrett, I have to tell
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Garrett something just so we we have
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some common ground here. Uh Garrett, I
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was in Arizona, you know, running the
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harsh streets of Scottsdale. And when I
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was about, you know, 18, 19, I was
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trying to flirt with this girl, leaving
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a SAPE party at Arizona State.
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>> And I got pulled over immediately and
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they cuffed me and said, "You have to go
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to jail." I don't think Dana I didn't
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tell you this. Uh so I go I go to jail
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and I say hey any reason for the jail
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you know uh I I didn't even ask uh cuz I
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just felt I'm pretty guilty about a lot
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of things and they said yeah you've
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gotten too many tickets speeding tickets
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and we have a warrant for arrest and I
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realized they didn't. So a couple hours
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in I go can I see those? And they showed
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me copies and it was my brother's
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signature saying he was me because he
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got pulled over so much he would have
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had to go to jail. She goes, "No, no, I
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don't have my license. I'm David." And
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so then he signed them all and then he
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still didn't pay him. And then I spent
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the night in the clink and I had to have
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another comedian come bail me out.
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>> Oh wow.
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>> Chevy Chase bailed you out.
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>> You still brother?
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>> I still speak with my brother
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unfortunately. But he know I'm such a
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[ __ ] I I would never really give him
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any trouble about it and I didn't.
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>> Is he out Is he out of jail?
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>> No, I was the one out. He never went. I
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had to do the time for him.
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>> I I had three older brothers that would
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stuff pan uh stolen items down my pants
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cuz I was nine and they were 11, 12, 13,
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and they were all juvenile delinquents.
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We fought, we smoked, we stole, but they
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would stuff them down my pants cuz I
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look so little and so innocent and I'd
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walk out. But yeah, I I stole a lot of
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stuff when I was nine. I'm just putting
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it out there right now. I would I stole
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10 yo-yos in one day.
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>> I've had I've had three weekends in the
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tank myself. Okay.
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>> See, we're all not soft. We're all from
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the [ __ ] streets. Let's Let's get
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that out of the way. Yeah. Got it.
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>> You know, so I I'm not innocent at all.
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But one time it was because a traffic
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cop broke the law and use a slim gym
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right to go into my car and he looked
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under the mat in the front seat and
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found a bag of marijuana which is
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illegal cop. Okay.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Anyway, I go to the empire to get my car
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and I see about four or five cops
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standing around my car. I'm not stupid.
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So I wait, right? and they wait and
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about 30 minutes. Guess what? I say,
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"Okay, let's go get my car." So, I go to
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the car and I don't go in and they come
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and they say, "Open this back door." I
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said, "No, I'm not opening it."
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>> Oh my god.
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>> They open it, right? And then I was
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doing my karate thing, right? So, I had
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a ye in the back.
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>> Yeah.
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>> And they said, "Open that bag." I said,
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"No, sir." They opened it and they had
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put the grass in the bag.
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>> Oh my god.
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>> They all framed and Yeah. They
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handcuffed me. But anyway, I go I go
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downtown and I'm I'm I'm being booked.
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And sure enough, there was a cop there
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who was him. He says to me, "See John
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Yanuki." Now, way back there, John Yani
00:06:00
was a very progressive Italian uh lawyer
00:06:04
who was hooked up, right? He was helping
00:06:07
out. Sure enough, I went over there.
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John, figure out what it was about. He
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said, "This see me Monday. A coming
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Monday, John whispers something in the
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judge's ear and the judge says, "Garrett
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Morris." I raised my hand, said, "Get
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out of here. I don't want to see you."
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And he
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>> All right.
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>> He whispered, "You were framed." Right.
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That's crazy.
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>> Well, the c the lawyer probably told him
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how the cop got the grave.
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>> Yeah. No body cams back then.
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>> Yeah. How you been doing, man? How you
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been doing?
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>> I'm doing good. Me me and Dana have been
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uh having fun. Look at my hair looks
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good today. You know film something this
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week.
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>> Are you Are you and Dana an item?
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>> Oh, an item.
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>> An item.
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>> I just Are you breaking a story?
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>> Listen, Garrett. What happens on Flying
00:07:01
the Wall stays and fly on the wall? Am I
00:07:03
cancelled now? That's that can't do
00:07:05
anymore. We'll
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>> I'm leading the cancel. Yeah. Dana and I
00:07:09
are old buddies and we sort of emerge in
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the same person over time.
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>> I must say you do look like you came
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from the same mama. You do?
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>> Yeah.
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>> Same tribe. Irish. Irish. Scottish.
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Norwegian.
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>> Yeah.
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>> What's your tribe? German.
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>> Really?
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>> I'm Scottish Norwegian.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Well, I'm pan Cambodian, Nigerian, West
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Africa. And by the way, ancestry.com
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says I have a little bit of Finnish in
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me. Can you believe that?
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>> That's interesting. It's down deep.
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Yeah. I can't prize.
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By the way, tomorrow's my birthday.
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>> Tomorrow's your birthday. I read that
00:07:48
your birthday's coming up. Is it the
00:07:49
first? Is that what it is?
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>> Tomorrow. So, February 1st. Yes.
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>> Okay. We'll delete this because this is
00:07:54
going to be airing in 2027.
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>> Uh, no, we don't we don't know when.
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>> No, we're
00:08:01
>> All right. What's your secret? I have to
00:08:03
ask. What are you What are you drinking?
00:08:05
Is that
00:08:05
>> this here is green tea? Okay,
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>> that's it. That's the
00:08:10
>> active glucco tea. It helps to reduce
00:08:13
your glucose um count. So
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>> blood sugar stuff.
00:08:16
>> Yeah. Yeah. I I have a I'm type two
00:08:20
diabetes.
00:08:20
>> Your energy uh doesn't match your birth
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certificate. It's huge. I mean, you're
00:08:25
just like on fire. You're just
00:08:26
energetic.
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>> I I can't tell you on here, man. This is
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recorded by cops. Okay.
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Okay.
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>> Yeah, they're always monitoring this.
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>> I will say, Garrett, you are um you have
00:08:43
sort of a uh very bright uh light and
00:08:46
energy about you and a fun thing about
00:08:48
you. And I see why in comedy you do well
00:08:51
because you always bring it. You're very
00:08:53
vocal. You got a strong voice. You just
00:08:55
have a fun vibe. And I think that's
00:08:57
>> positive. Yeah.
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>> People want to work with you.
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>> So when it comes to comedy, this is what
00:09:01
I say. I am an actor who was in a comedy
00:09:05
show many many years ago and I have been
00:09:08
suffering ever since.
00:09:11
>> Now why have you been suffering? So are
00:09:12
we?
00:09:13
>> BECAUSE EVERYWHERE I GO PEOPLE want me
00:09:15
to be funny and as my ex-wife would tell
00:09:17
you well she used to tell me all the
00:09:20
time in word you ain't funny.
00:09:24
>> Fill in the blanks. I got it.
00:09:26
>> Yeah. Yeah. Uh, well, I think you're
00:09:29
funny. And uh, you know, a lot of people
00:09:30
have a funny vibe about them. Like
00:09:32
people say the when I date girls, I go,
00:09:36
"What do you look for?" And I go, "I
00:09:37
like a girl that's funny, but I don't
00:09:39
mean she needs to be Robin Williams."
00:09:41
Some girls just have like a charm and
00:09:42
fun thing about them and that's funny to
00:09:45
me and it's a lightness and fun. They
00:09:47
don't have to be like, you know, Henny
00:09:49
Youngman yada. So, I like that. I go,
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I'll take care of that part.
00:09:53
>> Take my leg.
00:09:54
>> Exactly.
00:09:55
But by the way, Dana Garrett has worked
00:09:58
with Prior and all these huge, huge
00:10:01
stars, which I look over and I can't
00:10:03
believe how cool it is.
00:10:04
>> I got to work with Richard Prior, but I
00:10:06
want to hear your story first.
00:10:08
Don't want up them yet.
00:10:09
>> I have a a nice Richard story.
00:10:11
>> I have a great Richard Prior story.
00:10:13
Okay,
00:10:14
>> I want to hear yours.
00:10:15
>> When Richard and I were coat fiends,
00:10:21
>> that's the title. Dana's story doesn't
00:10:22
start like that.
00:10:25
Right.
00:10:26
>> But Richard brought his own group
00:10:29
because he had heard that I was Lauren.
00:10:33
>> Nobody had heard about me except people
00:10:36
on East Coast.
00:10:37
>> So Richard brought his own writers.
00:10:39
>> Nobody knew. I got this job which 75 was
00:10:43
a pretty good job for a black guy to
00:10:44
get. They're thinking I'm Lawren Lauren
00:10:48
uh help me.
00:10:51
>> Lauren Michaels.
00:10:52
>> Lauren Michaels. Lawn Michaels in word.
00:10:54
Can I say one of the things? Lawn
00:10:56
>> like you were his main man. You can you
00:10:58
can say anything you want as far as I'm
00:11:00
concerned.
00:11:02
>> Thought that was going on that Richard
00:11:04
had gotten that Lord had gotten some
00:11:06
guys who knew. Well, at the time I got
00:11:09
to Saturday Night Live. I'd already been
00:11:12
in New York for like 17 years. I had
00:11:15
written two plays.
00:11:16
>> Two plays. Yeah, I read that.
00:11:18
>> I've been at least 15 off Broadway and
00:11:20
Broadway shows. Uh, and so I had paid my
00:11:24
dues, right? And they didn't know that.
00:11:26
So when Richard came, he brought his own
00:11:29
group
00:11:30
>> and he didn't use me and I was really
00:11:32
hurt by that because until this day,
00:11:35
Richard is my favorite monologueist of
00:11:37
all time. Right. Yeah.
00:11:39
>> And at that time I was really very hurt
00:11:41
because I wanted to work for him. So he
00:11:43
did the show, didn't use me, but later
00:11:45
on when I went to California, he was
00:11:47
doing a movie called Critical Condition,
00:11:51
and I got a call from my agent saying,
00:11:53
"Richard Prior wants you to be in the
00:11:55
show, be in the movie, and he never said
00:11:59
anything." I assume that was his way of
00:12:02
saying, "Hey,
00:12:03
>> you know, I'm sorry." or something like,
00:12:06
"I like you." Yeah,
00:12:07
>> that was that was
00:12:08
>> very sweet, sensitive.
00:12:10
>> Well, you know, a lot of hosts do that.
00:12:11
I mean, a lot of hosts still bring in
00:12:12
writers just because they get scared
00:12:14
like maybe Paul Mooney was with Richard.
00:12:16
I don't know who he was with
00:12:17
>> back. He was a force of nature. Paul
00:12:20
Mooney, I used to do stand up with him
00:12:22
in the late 70s and I would go, why is
00:12:24
this guy in this little club? I mean, he
00:12:26
was so charismatic and so good-looking
00:12:29
and so funny. It was like just
00:12:31
everything.
00:12:32
>> I love Mooney. I'm sure he was behind
00:12:35
Richard doing what he did because he was
00:12:37
rich.
00:12:39
>> But he to this day I see because much of
00:12:41
what Richard did was Paul Mooney,
00:12:44
>> right?
00:12:44
>> And the thing Okay, go ahead. I what do
00:12:47
you think you know when you the idea of
00:12:49
a manologist you know I I think of that
00:12:52
more voiceorientated but I think that
00:12:54
with Richard from what when I first saw
00:12:56
him on the Ed Sullivan show he mimed for
00:12:59
two minutes a guy reaching under his
00:13:02
underarm to see if he had bo and it was
00:13:04
like just a silent movie you know so
00:13:06
Richard had that capacity to paint a
00:13:08
picture
00:13:09
>> instantly and he could do just a
00:13:11
straight monologue so I don't know
00:13:13
>> he could tell stories like
00:13:15
>> yeah and play all the
00:13:16
Yeah, you could talk when you talk about
00:13:18
Mudbone, you wouldn't be laughing for
00:13:20
like two, three minutes
00:13:22
>> till he got to the punch line.
00:13:24
>> Yeah.
00:13:24
>> But you was so engaged in Mudbone till
00:13:26
this time till this day again. How did
00:13:29
you say the word? I said monologue. You
00:13:31
say it again.
00:13:32
>> A monologist.
00:13:34
>> Anyway, I sometimes I have trouble with
00:13:36
English.
00:13:37
>> I knew I want to tell my Richard Prior
00:13:40
little story here.
00:13:41
>> Tell me kind of. So, I'm working at the
00:13:43
Holiday as a waiter.
00:13:45
>> Yeah. And it was near the Circle Star
00:13:46
Theater up near San Francisco. Richard's
00:13:48
headlining there. So Richard's in the
00:13:50
restaurant. So I got to go serve Richard
00:13:53
and I was really nervous. So I I brought
00:13:56
him a a a Denver omelette. Okay. And
00:14:00
then later on I came back and I I uh
00:14:03
took the plate and he looked up at me
00:14:05
and said, quote, "Whoever made that
00:14:07
omelette can suck my dick."
00:14:11
And I never knew if it was a positive or
00:14:15
negative review.
00:14:17
>> 12 years later, I'm in a movie with
00:14:20
Richard Prior, which I'll tell you
00:14:21
about. We're at lunch, and I just wanted
00:14:24
to know what he meant that day, but I
00:14:26
didn't want to bring it up. He probably
00:14:27
probably wouldn't remember. So, I look
00:14:28
at him. I take a bite of my
00:14:30
cheeseburger, and I said, "This cheese
00:14:32
uh this uh this cheeseburger is really,
00:14:35
really, really uh good." And he goes,
00:14:37
"Wow, well, you must want to suck
00:14:39
somebody's dick." No, I can't. I got the
00:14:41
headline. He got I got it wrong.
00:14:44
>> He that he uses that suck dick metaphor
00:14:48
a lot. Guess what he
00:14:49
>> Oh, okay. So, it wasn't just me. Yeah.
00:14:51
>> One of the funniest jokes I ever heard
00:14:53
was when he said, "This [ __ ] was so
00:14:56
fine I want to suck her daddy's dick."
00:15:01
>> I like that one. Yeah.
00:15:08
I just want to say I just had a root
00:15:09
canal and a crown put in and I'm kind of
00:15:11
spaced out. So the end of the joke went
00:15:13
like this, you know.
00:15:15
>> Okay, do it again.
00:15:15
>> Um he goes, um um I like Wait a minute.
00:15:20
I'm so I'm so stone from the dentist.
00:15:22
>> The punch line. The punch line.
00:15:25
>> You do it again.
00:15:26
>> I said
00:15:29
no. I can't I really can't remember.
00:15:30
>> I think you said this cheeseburger can
00:15:32
suck my dick. Did you?
00:15:33
>> No. No. It was Yeah. with it was a
00:15:35
reverse that I I got the the information
00:15:38
by setting a trap, you know. Oh, and I I
00:15:42
I will get to it before this podcast's
00:15:43
over, but I am so high right now.
00:15:46
>> I mean, I'm I'm just like I'm very
00:15:49
>> What kind of What kind of marijuana?
00:15:52
>> Marijuana? No, it was dental stuff.
00:15:54
>> Okay. Okay.
00:15:54
>> But if I if I do smoke marijuana,
00:15:58
my brand is my brand is Sledgehammer.
00:16:01
That's my brand of cannabis.
00:16:03
>> Oh. Thank God.
00:16:05
>> Your brand of cannabis is what?
00:16:07
>> Sledgehammer.
00:16:09
>> Sledgehammer
00:16:10
>> from the Peter Gabriel collection.
00:16:13
>> Yeah, I like that name. It sounds cool.
00:16:16
>> Shovel to the face.
00:16:17
>> No, I will be smoking a joint. Okay.
00:16:20
>> Hey, Garrett, I have a question for you.
00:16:21
You can smoke a joint right now while I
00:16:23
ask you if you want.
00:16:24
>> Um, now Garrett, when you
00:16:25
>> Okay, bring me a joint.
00:16:27
>> Oh, boy. Uh, uh, so when you come on
00:16:29
SNL, it must be like the dirty dozen. So
00:16:32
you guys all get together. You don't you
00:16:34
probably don't know each other, right?
00:16:37
>> And then you are thrown together and
00:16:39
you're sort of like, "Okay, let's see
00:16:42
what works, what doesn't work." And you
00:16:43
were Oh, you were a writer. You were a
00:16:45
writer at the beginning, right?
00:16:47
>> Yes, I was. Yes.
00:16:48
>> Okay. So, you weren't on I don't think
00:16:49
you were on camera till later. I think
00:16:51
that was a a decision that was made
00:16:53
later. Correct.
00:16:54
>> I actually was on camera the first show
00:16:58
of this. Let me tell Can I
00:16:59
>> Yeah.
00:17:00
>> You're in the middle of a story. I don't
00:17:01
want to cut you off.
00:17:02
>> No way. It's about you. About you.
00:17:05
>> I was a playwright, right? So, I brought
00:17:08
Lauren my play. He read it and liked it
00:17:11
because there's a couple funny things in
00:17:13
it. He hired me. I didn't know that just
00:17:17
because you write a play that's about
00:17:18
two hours doesn't mean you can write 30
00:17:22
minutes, 30 seconds.
00:17:23
>> Yeah. A little tiny sketch. Yeah, for
00:17:25
sure.
00:17:25
>> It took me about four or five months to
00:17:28
realize I couldn't do it. And and I was
00:17:31
feeling really pissed off myself till
00:17:33
finally I realized I had an idea because
00:17:37
in my play, the Black Panther group that
00:17:41
I have is called the Young Lions makes a
00:17:44
joke about how when they're collecting
00:17:47
money at fundraising, they want to raise
00:17:49
a lot of money when they have white
00:17:52
guilty white liberals in the audience.
00:17:55
>> I love them.
00:17:57
>> Right. So I have to tell that idea. I'm
00:18:00
going to call his name to Schiller. Who
00:18:03
do you remember?
00:18:04
>> Oh, Tom Schiller. Oh, Tommy Schill.
00:18:06
Yeah.
00:18:06
>> Right.
00:18:08
Goes over to uh the studio and tells it
00:18:12
to another guy whose name I will not
00:18:14
call.
00:18:15
>> That guy then writes it down as his
00:18:18
idea.
00:18:19
>> Whoa. Wait a minute.
00:18:21
>> Right. when I come over it's written
00:18:23
down and he's not even giving me credit
00:18:26
for even contributing. Right. So anyway
00:18:30
anyway what happened now I don't am I
00:18:34
tell I'll tell you the whole story.
00:18:35
Anyway
00:18:36
>> yeah anyway what happened was it became
00:18:40
a thing called a white guilt relief
00:18:42
fund.
00:18:43
>> Yes. I remember the sketch
00:18:45
>> right.
00:18:45
>> Yeah.
00:18:46
>> And I don't know I when I start off to
00:18:49
help me because I'm I'm 85. I may be on
00:18:52
track.
00:18:52
>> You would ask white people for donations
00:18:54
out of guilt and make them an honorary
00:18:56
negro. You'd send them a plaque or
00:18:59
>> right. Anyway,
00:19:02
that was the only thing that I did that
00:19:04
I thought was worthwhile. And this guy
00:19:07
who at that time was a second in command
00:19:09
to and beats. Right
00:19:11
>> now, here's what happened was I was so
00:19:14
mad. I was so angry about that. Yeah.
00:19:17
>> Took me a couple of weeks to stew over
00:19:19
that. And I was going to make a serious
00:19:21
mistake. I was going to come in this
00:19:24
particular day and let him know what's
00:19:26
for. And even if it meant physically
00:19:28
confronting him, I was going to do that.
00:19:30
Although I knew he was a wrestling
00:19:32
champ.
00:19:34
>> Now you think I know who it is.
00:19:36
>> Wrestling champ from Harvard. I knew
00:19:38
>> I think I know who it is.
00:19:41
>> I didn't care. I didn't care. I said if
00:19:43
I'll get a couple of licks in
00:19:45
>> Yeah. after he whips my ass, he's still
00:19:47
going to remember me, right? Yeah.
00:19:49
>> So, I get off to the elevator and
00:19:51
somebody's there says, "Garrett, Lauren
00:19:55
wants to see you in the green room." I
00:19:58
go to the green room and sure enough,
00:20:00
John and Gilda and Jane had told Lauren
00:20:04
Michaels, "Look, you've got got Garrett
00:20:06
bringing in black actors. He's one
00:20:08
himself and here's a movie he's done."
00:20:11
Then we're looking at [ __ ] High.
00:20:12
>> Oh, [ __ ] High,
00:20:13
>> right? So Lon looked at [ __ ] High. He
00:20:16
auditioned me with Gilda and I was
00:20:19
totally counter punched because Gilda is
00:20:21
like Gilda was to this day that her she
00:20:26
how she improvised. You didn't even know
00:20:27
she's doing it, right?
00:20:29
>> And I counter punched throughout that.
00:20:31
It was our setup was I was a taxi driver
00:20:34
from JFK with her as my my uh passenger
00:20:38
and I was cheating the hell out of her
00:20:39
all the way. Right. And so anyway,
00:20:42
that's how I became a member of the
00:20:44
group. So I was there the first the
00:20:47
first time we did it from the beginning.
00:20:50
But I didn't start off that way. No.
00:20:51
>> Wow. But how about you turn your anger
00:20:53
and you had to switch gears and
00:20:56
>> I I look I I look I'm a Buddhist so I
00:20:59
don't believe in necessarily in a
00:21:01
personal god but somebody really was in
00:21:04
the works who stopped that because I was
00:21:06
going to make a serious serious mistake.
00:21:09
Listen, Franken Franken's got some
00:21:11
ground game, too.
00:21:12
>> Would you have go-to moves, Garrett? I
00:21:14
mean, how as a fighter, would you do the
00:21:16
kind of, hey, let's be friends and then
00:21:17
headbutt or would you work the body or
00:21:20
what would be your kind of go-to moves?
00:21:24
>> I would have gone to the sus first
00:21:26
because that would have brought him
00:21:27
down,
00:21:27
>> then I would have kicked him in the
00:21:29
chin. Boom. He's going to get up mad as
00:21:31
hell and do some kind of a hold and
00:21:33
break my neck. Okay.
00:21:35
>> But, okay. Look, if you're short like I
00:21:38
am and don't weigh much, you got to go
00:21:40
for what you know.
00:21:41
>> Yeah, you got to get away. You You hit
00:21:42
fast and then you move. But be scrappy.
00:21:45
>> There was no way to get one in.
00:21:47
>> There was no way I could have won that
00:21:48
fight.
00:21:48
>> Yeah. No, I know the dude and he would
00:21:51
he's very tough when he gets in the
00:21:52
ground game. I would say
00:21:54
>> I listen I got mad at him too, but I
00:21:56
didn't I I didn't think of fighting
00:21:58
>> decision. Hey, before we go on, can I
00:22:00
just do the Richard Prior joke? We can
00:22:02
cut it out, but it really bugged me. We
00:22:04
need it. We need it.
00:22:05
>> All right. I'm so sorry about the
00:22:06
dentist, but here it is. I waited. I'll
00:22:08
set it up real fast. When gave Rich
00:22:10
Prior a Denver omelet at the holiday in.
00:22:12
I brought got the ta the plate up and he
00:22:15
said, "Whoever made that omelette can
00:22:16
suck my dick." 12 years later, true
00:22:19
story, in a movie, wanted to know what
00:22:20
he meant by suck my dick. Was it
00:22:22
positive or negative? I'm having lunch
00:22:24
with him. I take a I take a bite of the
00:22:26
cheeseburger. I look at Richard and I
00:22:28
say, "Well, whoever made this
00:22:30
cheeseburger can suck my dick." And
00:22:32
Richard said, "You must love that
00:22:34
cheeseburger."
00:22:35
That's how you do it. Boom. Dana,
00:22:39
>> I'm making Garrett happy. That's what I
00:22:41
love. I never knew I would say suck my
00:22:43
dick on this podcast. Now I've said it
00:22:45
seven times. That's a mic drop.
00:22:48
>> Reminds me, ladies and gentlemen, what
00:22:50
do you have
00:22:52
>> if you have
00:22:54
a potato with a penis?
00:22:58
>> Excuse me? Uh, a patinis.
00:23:02
>> That's a Yeah,
00:23:04
>> you have a dictator, stupid.
00:23:08
>> Oh my god.
00:23:08
>> Why do you have to add the stupid part?
00:23:10
>> Yeah, stupid.
00:23:12
>> It's just It's a pretty good joke.
00:23:14
>> No, cuz you didn't know what it was.
00:23:16
Stupid.
00:23:17
>> Stupid. I like the stupid at the end.
00:23:19
Was hilarious. That could have been a
00:23:20
guy character. So So you were part of
00:23:23
that original lexicon. I mean, who was
00:23:25
your hangout friend of the cast? These
00:23:27
are just basic SNL questions.
00:23:29
>> Who' you gravitate to?
00:23:31
>> Was it Gilda or just everybody or did
00:23:34
you have people
00:23:35
>> Gilda, Jane, uh, and Chevy? Uh, but I
00:23:38
didn't do what I should have done
00:23:40
because I should have also after the
00:23:42
show. After the show at the first couple
00:23:45
of years, it was you go downtown to this
00:23:47
bar. I think of Willie.
00:23:49
>> Oh, yeah. You have the party.
00:23:51
>> Yeah. That's equal to that golf game
00:23:54
that people talk about where you form
00:23:56
alliances, right? So, I didn't do that.
00:24:00
So, I really had a lot of people not
00:24:03
liking me, thinking I was stuck up and
00:24:04
all that.
00:24:05
>> Well, yeah. Why didn't you go? I'm now I
00:24:07
want to know
00:24:07
>> because I even to this day am introvert
00:24:12
working against that. All right. I've
00:24:15
really gotten over it to a lot lot large
00:24:17
extent. But also, I had at that time,
00:24:22
>> okay, do you want to really know the
00:24:23
real truth?
00:24:24
>> Go ahead.
00:24:24
>> I would have had probably a couple of
00:24:25
girls at home waiting with some cocaine
00:24:28
so we can do what we're going to do.
00:24:30
>> So, it was either the girls in the
00:24:32
cocaine or having Lauren tell his story
00:24:35
about how we met.
00:24:38
I think it
00:24:40
>> Well, listen, that's a tough one, Dana,
00:24:42
because his story sounds great, like all
00:24:44
that fun stuff, but then you look back
00:24:47
and you realize you've got such huge
00:24:49
talented cool people that you get to cuz
00:24:51
I was going to say, Garrett, did you
00:24:53
have an official afterparty? It sounds
00:24:55
like you didn't, but we had Dana was on
00:24:57
and then I was on with him for a while
00:24:59
and we had they would walk around with a
00:25:01
ticket, a secret, you know, during the
00:25:02
show. Remember this, Dana? and they'd
00:25:04
hand you it and you put it in your
00:25:06
wardrobe or something and you go,
00:25:07
"Here's where the party is. Don't tell
00:25:08
anyone." And it was during the live
00:25:09
show. So you go, "Okay." And then after
00:25:11
the show, you'd go straight there, but
00:25:13
they didn't want everyone to find out
00:25:14
about it. And so we'd have a designated
00:25:17
spot every Saturday and we'd go there.
00:25:20
Sort of the same thing. You just go
00:25:21
there and get all [ __ ] up with
00:25:22
everybody.
00:25:22
>> But you see, I'm sure that the reason
00:25:25
why that didn't happen to me is because
00:25:26
at first I set up not going in the first
00:25:29
place,
00:25:30
>> right? So when that started happening,
00:25:32
people probably said, "Well, you know,
00:25:34
[ __ ] him." You know, he doesn't Well,
00:25:36
you had some responsibilities. But I
00:25:38
remember when I first got on SNL, Lauren
00:25:40
was telling me about, you know, Chvy and
00:25:42
Danny and everybody and Garrett. He
00:25:43
said, "Garrett, you only do that again.
00:25:45
Do that again."
00:25:47
>> Chevy and Danny and, you know, Eddie and
00:25:49
all the people and Paul, you know, you
00:25:52
could never get Garrett to the party
00:25:53
unless you brought some cocaine and some
00:25:55
hookers.
00:25:56
>> I go, "Really?"
00:25:57
>> Right. I'm sure.
00:25:58
>> Right. I'm sure that
00:26:00
>> I'm sure they would have said that and
00:26:02
they would have been correct.
00:26:03
>> It's good bait.
00:26:04
>> Well, the thing about it was coming in '
00:26:06
86, you guys were bad asses. Like to me,
00:26:10
that original cast, you guys were Oh, a
00:26:13
little Oh, a little bit of a Okay, let's
00:26:16
Little Powerflower. Let's
00:26:17
>> Oh, you're going to blow your nose.
00:26:18
Powerfly.
00:26:19
>> Yeah. a little
00:26:22
gentleman joined us um been on Saturday
00:26:24
Night Live from the original Cash Young
00:26:27
man named uh Garrett Morris. Can we
00:26:29
come? But we thought of you guys as
00:26:30
badass pirates. You would fight. There
00:26:33
were drugs, you know, Chevy and and Bill
00:26:35
Murray would fight and Blue She was like
00:26:38
a badass. And then we got in and people
00:26:40
were having like Amstill lights. We'd
00:26:42
have a Bud Light at the party with me
00:26:43
and Phil and just look around.
00:26:44
>> Yeah. We didn't party as we didn't
00:26:46
belong. Well, can I say something about
00:26:48
John?
00:26:50
>> Yeah.
00:26:51
>> John,
00:26:53
when he and I were both into the cocaine
00:26:56
thing.
00:26:57
>> Yeah.
00:26:57
>> He already talked to me unless he needed
00:26:59
cocaine.
00:27:01
>> And I get a knock on the door.
00:27:04
>> Hey, buddy.
00:27:05
>> Come in and I put my, you know, tin foil
00:27:08
down there. And you know what he would
00:27:10
do?
00:27:11
>> Do 10 of them.
00:27:12
>> By the time he got through, I had none
00:27:14
left. So he would just go in, get a
00:27:17
straw on his nose, go down on the desk.
00:27:19
You were about to snort the coke and he
00:27:21
would snort all of it.
00:27:22
>> Oh my god. He would leave a little bit
00:27:25
at a little bit at the end. God.
00:27:27
>> Oh, nice guy.
00:27:29
>> A brilliantly talented man, but boy,
00:27:32
>> I had mineral water and Norah Dun would
00:27:34
come in and JUST CHUG IT.
00:27:37
>> I'M KIDDING. NO, but what was it about
00:27:40
like I tried cocaine. I've talked about
00:27:42
it. I just like you're say you're you're
00:27:44
fighting being introverted like when I
00:27:46
did cocaine within 30 seconds I was very
00:27:49
sad. I I just made me it made me very
00:27:53
anxious and very paranoid. I only tried
00:27:56
it twice and I one time I did some
00:27:59
cocaine drove to the comedy club and I
00:28:02
couldn't go in the club because I knew
00:28:03
they all hated me in there and then I
00:28:05
just drove back home. So, how how did it
00:28:08
But I knew people that cocaine spoke to
00:28:10
them, that eventually they had it in a
00:28:12
little thing and they just sniff it all
00:28:14
day.
00:28:14
>> Yeah.
00:28:15
>> Um, so what what did it do to you? I
00:28:17
mean, did you
00:28:18
>> Coca Cocaine uh did the opposite to me.
00:28:21
It livened me up.
00:28:22
>> Yeah.
00:28:22
>> Mhm.
00:28:23
>> Uh
00:28:24
>> Oh. Because you were an introvert, so it
00:28:25
kind of opened you up a little.
00:28:26
>> But then you need more cocaine, right?
00:28:28
You're losing the high. You got to get
00:28:29
more, right?
00:28:30
>> That's the trouble.
00:28:31
>> That's the trouble because the thing
00:28:32
that first high, you never get it again,
00:28:34
Dana. Uh, you never get it again, David.
00:28:37
Okay.
00:28:37
>> Yeah.
00:28:38
>> After that, you're striving to get that
00:28:40
first high.
00:28:42
>> So, even if you're on for like 35 years,
00:28:44
which I was,
00:28:46
>> 35 years.
00:28:47
>> Yeah. You definitely you get never get
00:28:49
that again. Then you start smoking it,
00:28:52
>> right? And you get that
00:28:55
>> and then smoking it, you're coming down.
00:28:57
So, you keep coming down. You never get
00:28:59
that first high again. Okay.
00:29:00
>> So, doesn't make you stop chasing it. I
00:29:03
was there. I did it for a while. Well,
00:29:04
Lynn Bias is one for Do you remember Lyn
00:29:06
Bias?
00:29:07
>> Oh, yeah. What a mess. Yeah.
00:29:09
>> And he when that happened to him, I
00:29:11
started thinking, Garrett, you're way
00:29:12
older than this guy. You're way older.
00:29:15
And you know, something's going, you
00:29:17
know, you're lucky that didn't that
00:29:19
didn't happen to you.
00:29:20
>> You know, Garrett, I was I was in it
00:29:22
during Lenbias. Lenbias, for the for the
00:29:24
listeners, is a basketball player that
00:29:27
got recruited by the Celtics, I think.
00:29:29
Yes.
00:29:29
>> And I think he died
00:29:31
>> after draft night or something from
00:29:32
doing too much cocaine. I think before
00:29:34
he played and that was the first time I
00:29:36
think I knew you could die from just
00:29:38
doing straight cocaine. Like I had heard
00:29:40
that.
00:29:40
>> Excuse me. Excuse me.
00:29:42
>> Oh, he's he dropped his joint. His house
00:29:44
is on fire.
00:29:44
>> No, he's actually
00:29:46
>> Oh. Oh. Is it okay to say that we think
00:29:49
our friend Garrett Morris
00:29:51
uh is enjoying some fine cannabis?
00:29:54
>> Sativa. Sativa.
00:29:55
>> Sativa.
00:29:56
>> Oh. Oh. So that's like what does that
00:29:57
do? It evens your energy out or what?
00:30:01
It's a T is a kind of marijuana that
00:30:03
lets you stay awake.
00:30:05
>> Oh, it's upper. Okay.
00:30:06
>> Yeah, it's an upper. Uh if you get
00:30:09
hybrid, it's in between. If you get
00:30:11
indica, you're going to go to sleep.
00:30:13
>> So, a lot of times when I'm working,
00:30:15
I'll either do it without folking or
00:30:18
with this, you know.
00:30:20
>> Well, I worked with Scatman Kurthers
00:30:22
once in Rockefeller Center. Yeah.
00:30:24
>> I envy you. Okay.
00:30:26
>> Oh. Yeah, those cat man,
00:30:29
>> angel from heaven, sweetest guy.
00:30:32
>> Oh, wow.
00:30:33
>> And always was he'd go in the bathroom
00:30:35
and you'd hear him and he he'd be
00:30:37
smoking weed, you know. And uh
00:30:39
>> so one night, it was the one anniversary
00:30:42
of John Lennin's uh death. And my
00:30:45
brother was visiting the show. It was a
00:30:46
sitcom with Mickey Rooney, another crazy
00:30:48
man. And Scatman gave us a joint. He
00:30:51
rolled it in front of us and he had both
00:30:54
ends were closed off. He did it without
00:30:55
even looking, you know. And so then we
00:30:58
tried it and it was terrible. It was
00:31:01
really weak. So the next break I brought
00:31:03
back some Colombian pot from Santa Cruz.
00:31:07
Purple hair.
00:31:08
>> I did. And the next day in the elevator,
00:31:10
now Scatman was from the 30s when it was
00:31:12
elicit. He in the elevator people
00:31:14
around. He says to me, quote, "The music
00:31:16
was good. Might I get a pound
00:31:21
of your weed?" So after the show was
00:31:23
over, my brother and I got a huge bag of
00:31:25
pot, grocery bag of pot, drove it down
00:31:27
to Van Ice where Scatman lived. Brought
00:31:30
him the pot, played banjo, kept in touch
00:31:33
with him. No, his guitar. He had a
00:31:34
ukulele. Ste going strong.
00:31:38
>> We've never met like a a character like
00:31:41
Scatman, you know. You see that man
00:31:43
there? He said he points to the janitor.
00:31:45
He goes, "That man's an artist. That man
00:31:48
is an artist." You know, he was just
00:31:50
taking us all these different places.
00:31:52
But what a
00:31:53
>> he did. He was in Blues Brothers, Dana.
00:31:54
And that's the only reason I knew who he
00:31:56
was. I was young and I saw I think he
00:31:57
was in Blues Brothers. He sang Manny the
00:31:59
Moocher. Is that what I'm thinking?
00:32:01
>> Did you see?
00:32:02
>> I know was in it, right?
00:32:04
>> Yeah.
00:32:04
>> He was in He was in The Shining.
00:32:06
>> Oh, I don't Oh, yeah. Oh, that was him,
00:32:08
Jack.
00:32:08
>> Jack Nicholson.
00:32:10
>> You know what? I have never seen that.
00:32:13
>> It's scary.
00:32:14
I love my man, but I hate um
00:32:18
>> scary movies.
00:32:19
>> Yeah, I hate scary movies.
00:32:20
>> Yeah, so do I, dude. I'm with you.
00:32:22
>> I can't.
00:32:23
>> Well, you said that Jack brought in a
00:32:24
suitcase of pot into London.
00:32:26
>> Yeah, by pot you mean cocaine.
00:32:29
>> No, this was cannabis. And he goes and
00:32:32
they go and Jack goes, I'm not going to
00:32:35
sell it. It's just for my personal use.
00:32:38
>> And they let him through.
00:32:40
>> Really?
00:32:40
>> Yeah.
00:32:42
>> Cuz he's a monster. Uh, shoot. I uh I
00:32:45
have another thing. Did you have any
00:32:46
favorite sketches back then, Garrett,
00:32:48
when you were there that first year?
00:32:50
>> Uh, the uh Colossal uh president.
00:32:54
>> What was that?
00:32:54
>> Colossal President.
00:32:56
>> Yeah. There was this uh thing at the 12
00:32:59
mile island or something like that.
00:33:01
>> Mhm.
00:33:02
>> Where the uh nuclear thing?
00:33:04
>> Oh, four mile island.
00:33:04
>> Three mile. Three mile.
00:33:06
>> Three mile. I knew it was
00:33:08
>> 5k. Yeah.
00:33:09
>> Everybody's big. Uh, and I I'm the uh
00:33:12
wife of um the president and he's big
00:33:16
and I'm big, you know. Um, another one
00:33:19
that was my favorite, not for any other
00:33:21
reason, but I really think about it as a
00:33:23
way in which somebody didn't get the
00:33:25
message. It was with um uh OJ Simp.
00:33:29
>> Oh.
00:33:30
>> Where he was a mandingo who goes around
00:33:33
all raping all the uh black slaves,
00:33:37
female slaves. And at the end I'm
00:33:40
supposed to kiss. We're supposed to
00:33:41
kiss.
00:33:42
>> I don't want to kiss him. David
00:33:44
>> a sketch.
00:33:45
>> Simon is to kiss. YOU KNOW LIKE THIS TO
00:33:49
KISS HIM AND HE BACKS AWAY AS IF I
00:33:52
REALLY want to.
00:33:53
>> Ah, you were just acting right. You do.
00:33:56
>> Oh man.
00:33:57
>> Another one is uh something that Alan
00:33:59
Swell did. Uh the um um um baseball um
00:34:04
>> very very good.
00:34:05
>> Chico Chico baseball been very very good
00:34:07
for me. Yeah,
00:34:08
>> actually Chico is really um Brian Doll
00:34:12
Murray's original concept which he and
00:34:16
his brother came up with. Then u Allan
00:34:19
enlarged on it, right? So we would do a
00:34:22
piece like that all the time and also I
00:34:25
can't uh throw out um something that uh
00:34:27
Chevy came up with for me which is hard
00:34:30
to hear.
00:34:31
>> Yeah. Which became kind of a
00:34:33
>> a runner.
00:34:35
Are you sure?
00:34:36
>> Yeah. And Bell's a big writer there.
00:34:38
Yeah, he was good, right?
00:34:39
>> Oh, I think he I love him. I love
00:34:40
Swbell.
00:34:41
>> Yeah. Yeah, he's great.
00:34:48
>> But Garrett, now when you did um in the
00:34:51
beginning, Oh, first of all, now that
00:34:52
that one uh I don't know when Prior
00:34:54
hosted or what year was when they that
00:34:56
sketch with Chevy. I think it must have
00:34:57
been the first year. Wasn't Chevy only
00:34:59
one year?
00:35:00
>> Yeah,
00:35:00
>> Chevy. No, Chevy came in after a year
00:35:03
and a half.
00:35:05
Oh, no. I thought he left. I'm sorry. No
00:35:09
was in after. You're right. He was in
00:35:11
like a year. Right. And then Bill Murray
00:35:13
came in. Right.
00:35:14
>> Right. And
00:35:15
>> and Chevy blew up. What was that like
00:35:18
when one cast member was like, wasn't he
00:35:20
on the cover of Time or something? I
00:35:21
mean, it just went.
00:35:22
>> Was he on the cover of Time? I didn't
00:35:24
know.
00:35:24
>> Or Newsweek. I mean, I know that Chvy
00:35:26
just got so much
00:35:28
>> I say right on. He with Fletch. That was
00:35:30
the name of Fletch.
00:35:31
>> Yeah. He did a lot of movies. Yeah.
00:35:33
I thought, however, he waited he should
00:35:36
have waited a little longer.
00:35:37
>> Of I I agree. He wishes he'd never left.
00:35:40
He He wishes he'd stayed at least five
00:35:42
years,
00:35:43
>> right? Just like the guy who was on that
00:35:45
uh cop show uh who later on did a CSI.
00:35:49
>> David Caruso.
00:35:50
>> Yeah, he left too soon.
00:35:52
>> You know, that happens. And I get I sort
00:35:54
of get it, but Chvy was a tall greatl
00:35:57
looking guy and he's a and he was really
00:35:58
good in comedy and then he was a movie
00:36:00
star. Like I don't even know what that
00:36:02
would be like. But to leave when you
00:36:04
know it's the best show, it's the
00:36:06
coolest show. Like you guys I know Chvy
00:36:08
blew up, but all you guys were huge the
00:36:10
Beatles. I mean every
00:36:12
>> Rebel I mean there just was nothing like
00:36:14
it. I mean I was in college and when it
00:36:16
when it came on and I saw all you guys
00:36:18
>> made me feel old fellas. Okay.
00:36:21
>> When I was old all the time you were
00:36:24
what how old were you when
00:36:25
>> I was being born in the hospital and it
00:36:27
was on TV and I was like this looks
00:36:29
pretty funny. Oh my god.
00:36:32
>> I was born in 1988, but I
00:36:36
>> when when I when I got into Saturday
00:36:39
Night Live, I had been in New York about
00:36:42
17 years, right? And you were 38.
00:36:44
>> When I was asked to join uh Saturday
00:36:47
Night Live,
00:36:49
uh all those other excuse [ __ ]
00:36:51
had just got out of high school and
00:36:54
college. I was about 10 years away from
00:36:56
a AA RP. Okay. He didn't you you did not
00:37:00
look older than anyone. You didn't stand
00:37:01
out as like
00:37:02
>> Phil Hartman I think was 38.
00:37:04
>> I was 39 years old.
00:37:06
>> Oh yeah.
00:37:07
>> Yeah.
00:37:08
>> Now Garrett this uh Dana I just want to
00:37:10
ask him which I everyone might know this
00:37:12
but Chevy does there's some sketches
00:37:15
people remember you know and one of them
00:37:16
is Chevy interviewing Richard Prior when
00:37:18
he was there for a job. And who and who
00:37:21
wrote that?
00:37:21
>> Huh?
00:37:22
>> Who who wrote that one?
00:37:24
>> I think Chevy and Richard together.
00:37:27
>> Oh cool. Yeah, that
00:37:28
>> Yeah,
00:37:29
>> that's like I mean when you look back on
00:37:32
what you guys did comedically
00:37:35
>> classic that's a classic
00:37:36
>> and then what you could what we call it
00:37:39
now sounds what we can get away with now
00:37:41
you know it's just very different at the
00:37:45
time even at the time it was incendiary
00:37:47
but now it would be like go to a test
00:37:50
pattern right just get cancelled
00:37:52
>> I mean Lauren did he did at the right
00:37:54
time cuz in about 10 is we got into what
00:37:58
we into now, right? Which is where
00:38:01
>> which is a softening.
00:38:02
>> Yeah. You I mean with all due respect to
00:38:05
the brilliant cast that Saturday life
00:38:07
had always had, you can't really write
00:38:10
for them the way they wrote for us uh
00:38:13
then. I mean, you know, and I I hate
00:38:16
that. I hate that.
00:38:18
>> It's a real It's a Rubik's cube. You got
00:38:19
to really you really have to cleverly
00:38:22
get clever stuff in because you can't
00:38:24
it's almost like you're pulling from the
00:38:26
same eight jokes that everyone's allowed
00:38:27
to use now, right?
00:38:28
>> And that won't make people mad. But you
00:38:30
guys, I think the first five I think
00:38:32
you're on for five years that at least
00:38:35
the standards and practices didn't even
00:38:37
know what to say no to. They were like,
00:38:39
"This is so ridiculous." Like they had
00:38:41
to learn and go, "Oh, wait, wait. We
00:38:42
don't like that. We're getting a lot of
00:38:43
complaints about that. We have to stop
00:38:45
that." But it was like playing
00:38:46
whack-a-ole because every week you think
00:38:48
of a new way to offend people and that
00:38:50
was the greatest part of it.
00:38:51
>> Well, no, no one cared initially and
00:38:53
then the show became a smash. At what
00:38:55
point? I mean, two years in you guys
00:38:57
just blew up. But initially probably
00:38:59
they didn't. No one's watching.
00:39:01
>> We had a lot of people who who were we
00:39:03
thought were progressive. Okay. Look, in
00:39:06
my opinion, the true progressive.
00:39:08
>> Yeah.
00:39:09
>> Without any sign of racism whatsoever.
00:39:12
But I thought,
00:39:13
>> so he's like, so he's like me.
00:39:15
>> I thought, for instance, that Michael
00:39:17
O'Donn
00:39:20
would be the same way. Michael
00:39:22
O'Donnell, with all due respect, was an
00:39:25
absolute racist [ __ ]
00:39:28
>> You got to add [ __ ] to that
00:39:30
because it just thought
00:39:33
show there was a skit that was going to
00:39:36
have a black doctor, right? Have a do,
00:39:39
not a black doctor. And I wasn't in it
00:39:41
at all. So I said, "Hey, Michael, why
00:39:43
don't we have the doctor be black?" You
00:39:45
know what he tells me? Well, Gary, uh,
00:39:48
the audience might be thrown by a black
00:39:50
doctor. Now, this is 1975, right? And
00:39:53
I'm from New Orleans, where from the
00:39:56
time I was 12 years old, I was
00:39:57
surrounded not only by hordes of black
00:40:02
medical doctors, but black PhDs as well.
00:40:06
And I'm wondering how a guy whose name
00:40:08
is associated with National Lampoon
00:40:11
doesn't [ __ ] know this.
00:40:13
>> Did he not see Guess Who's Coming to
00:40:16
Dinner with Sydney Poier, which I saw in
00:40:18
the theater at age eight? And I it
00:40:22
infected me the rest of my life. And I
00:40:23
got to do a lot of benefits with Cedar
00:40:25
uh Sydney Poier. And uh
00:40:27
>> he's he's another real gentleman. Sorry,
00:40:29
I'm still a little high slurring, but
00:40:31
>> Well, that's tough cuz yeah, you're
00:40:32
lighting the show. You say, "Hey, can I
00:40:34
get thrown into a sketch?" and he said,
00:40:35
"No, this one's not right for you." And
00:40:37
it's like, "Oh boy,
00:40:38
>> you can't be a black doctor. What are
00:40:39
you talking about?" You know, we're
00:40:41
talking about 558. I remember being
00:40:44
almost how you walk by a person just
00:40:47
walk by and you
00:40:50
I'm on 72nd Street and he's coming
00:40:52
towards me and I from like a half a
00:40:54
block away. I say that's [ __ ] Sydney
00:40:56
Quartier, right?
00:40:58
>> And just pass him
00:41:01
like that. And to this day, I remember
00:41:03
that day, you know. Oh yeah, he was so
00:41:05
eloquent. I remember I did a bunch of
00:41:07
benefits for Cedar Sinai and he was
00:41:09
always there and then one time I got off
00:41:11
stage and I was walking to the audience,
00:41:13
he stopped me and I was able to do my
00:41:16
Yeah. And he he gave me some praise and
00:41:18
I did my I said they call me Mr. Tibs
00:41:22
from the
00:41:23
>> and he laughed so hard. It was Rod
00:41:25
Stiger, I think. But yeah, for me there
00:41:28
were so many brilliant uh movies in the
00:41:30
60s and 70s and just a lot of my heroes
00:41:32
were black. I mean, just Jimmyi Hendris.
00:41:35
My brother came in 1966. He came home.
00:41:37
He was 13. He said, "I just saw the best
00:41:39
guitar player in the world." I said,
00:41:41
"What's his name?" He goes, "Jimmy
00:41:42
Hendris." But we didn't, we weren't, we
00:41:45
were kind of progressive in our own way
00:41:46
back then because we just wanted to see
00:41:48
Jimmy. We didn't think, you know, and I
00:41:51
went to the first integrated a very,
00:41:53
very well integrated high school with
00:41:55
busing in 1969. So,
00:41:57
>> talking about Jimmyi Hendricks, you know
00:41:58
what he did when he came back from
00:42:00
England where he had already become
00:42:02
famous? He got on the corner of 125th
00:42:05
Street and 7th 7th Avenue and played the
00:42:08
guitar for like 18 hours or so
00:42:12
>> just to introduce people to him.
00:42:15
>> Oh my.
00:42:16
>> He was really something else. He was
00:42:17
>> No. Like Neil Young has said about him,
00:42:19
no one's ever played the guitar like
00:42:20
Jimmyi Hendris.
00:42:21
>> Did Jimmyi Hendrickx was never he did he
00:42:24
die before Esnell or he's somebody they
00:42:25
would have on?
00:42:26
>> He was one of those caught up in with
00:42:28
you know
00:42:29
>> Yeah, he died. He was like 27, right?
00:42:31
27. 27. Yeah. 27. Um, you know, Janice
00:42:35
Joplin around the same age.
00:42:37
>> Oh, man.
00:42:38
>> Kurt.
00:42:39
>> I hate it when she I hate it when that
00:42:40
happened to Janice. I I loved her ass,
00:42:42
man. I mean, you know what I mean?
00:42:45
>> Yeah.
00:42:46
>> Well, again, you know, there are there's
00:42:48
just certain talents like Janice's
00:42:50
singing and there's a word I use a lot,
00:42:53
supernatural.
00:42:55
>> WELL, I MEAN, THAT SCREAMING, the
00:42:57
intensity of it was just crazy. WITH ALL
00:43:00
DUE RESPECT, ESPECIALLY COMING out of a
00:43:02
white woman. Okay.
00:43:04
>> Sure.
00:43:05
>> Damn.
00:43:06
>> Yeah. She has such a talent and then it
00:43:08
almost like they burn out quickly
00:43:11
because it's so much talent and so that
00:43:14
voice was so cool and everything and you
00:43:15
you hope it's around forever. But
00:43:17
>> yeah. Yeah. Well, it's also just the
00:43:19
accidental playing with fire, you know,
00:43:21
Jim Morrison. Once you start playing
00:43:23
with opioids and mixing that stuff in,
00:43:26
uh, you know, of course, you know, John
00:43:29
Belushi, you know, it's it wasn't
00:43:31
intentional. Uh, but you're playing with
00:43:33
fire. It's it's just
00:43:34
>> matter of fact, that's another thing
00:43:35
that started me to straighten up.
00:43:39
>> Yeah. John's death.
00:43:40
>> Was John during when you were on SNL?
00:43:42
When was it? I can't He was 33.
00:43:43
>> Like 83, I think. Right. It was after
00:43:45
SNL when he he died. And the thing is
00:43:48
John and I didn't really hang.
00:43:50
>> Only when he needed cocaine did he?
00:43:52
>> Yeah. Right. Yeah. Sure.
00:43:53
>> Yes. So what how did that affect you?
00:43:55
That did that get you off cocaine or you
00:43:57
just started to slow down or what
00:43:59
happened?
00:43:59
>> Slow down and by the time I came here
00:44:04
here I was it's not something you could
00:44:06
just stop. U but by 2005
00:44:11
uh I went to AA alcohol anonymous.
00:44:14
>> Yeah. and they do something that
00:44:17
accessories you, they will call your
00:44:19
ass, okay?
00:44:21
>> And they will sponsor you over and over.
00:44:23
And so through that, I really uh I've
00:44:26
succeeded in getting rid of it. Okay?
00:44:29
>> Much different with cigarettes, which I
00:44:32
still am struggling with. But uh I'm
00:44:35
glad that it's 2005. It's been not 2022.
00:44:41
>> Yeah. Here we are
00:44:42
>> off since that what 17 years 16. Yeah.
00:44:44
Yeah.
00:44:45
>> Well, the body has a remarkable healing
00:44:47
apparatus on once you give it a break,
00:44:49
you know. So,
00:44:50
>> you're did do you have a lot of people
00:44:52
who lived a long time in your family
00:44:54
tree?
00:44:55
>> Matter of fact, my grandfather lived in
00:44:57
'92.
00:44:58
>> Okay.
00:44:58
>> So, so you got someity there.
00:45:01
>> My grandmother got I'm sure got cancer
00:45:05
when she was in her 50s.
00:45:07
>> Pass. My mother lived to 80
00:45:09
>> but uh she didn't take care of herself.
00:45:11
Okay. So there's a couple, you know,
00:45:14
either I'm gonna
00:45:16
look at my grandfather and, you know,
00:45:19
stay for a minute.
00:45:20
>> How do you deal with stress? Are you
00:45:21
really Buddhist? Are you really zen? Are
00:45:24
you are you relaxed in your brain all
00:45:25
the time, guys?
00:45:26
>> All the respect. I know you guys hear
00:45:28
Buddhism and you think Zen Zen not is
00:45:32
not is only one part of Buddhist. There
00:45:35
are 300, right?
00:45:36
>> Over 300,000 Buddhists worldwide. And
00:45:39
two of them are like me. They chant
00:45:42
which is not the same thing as the Zen
00:45:46
Buddhist. Okay.
00:45:47
>> Right. So you chant,
00:45:48
>> they meditate.
00:45:54
>> No, it's
00:45:57
[ __ ] it up.
00:45:59
>> Let me hear it.
00:46:02
which means
00:46:04
dedicated to the mystic law of cause and
00:46:06
effect which means you don't believe in
00:46:09
a personal god but you do regard the law
00:46:12
as being in the place that most other
00:46:15
religions place god it is the most
00:46:18
sacred right
00:46:19
>> well I I did transcendental meditation
00:46:21
and my m mantra is
00:46:22
>> do I I'm a TM practitioner too
00:46:27
>> yeah my my mantra dominite which I found
00:46:29
out later was Native American for drop
00:46:31
your shorts. We don't have much time.
00:46:33
>> Are you telling people your mantra?
00:46:35
>> No, I was kidding. I'm just joking. I
00:46:37
would never tell you my mantra.
00:46:38
>> I like Yeah, don't tell him.
00:46:40
>> My mantra is Garrett.
00:46:42
Garrett, listen.
00:46:45
>> Garrett, after SNL, first of all,
00:46:46
there's too many cool people there. You
00:46:48
had you had Danny Akroyd, who we did I
00:46:50
did two movies with, three actually.
00:46:52
Great guy. Uh
00:46:53
>> beautiful guy. Yes,
00:46:54
>> he was beautiful dude. seem like uh did
00:46:56
did you hang with anyone after the the
00:46:59
following years me you stay in touch or
00:47:01
just see him when you see him kind of
00:47:02
thing?
00:47:03
>> So I saw him when I saw him um when Jane
00:47:05
was out here doing two rock pieces dog
00:47:07
on the phone.
00:47:08
>> Oh that's right. Jane was on a second
00:47:11
rock from the sun third rock from the
00:47:13
sun. Right.
00:47:13
>> And now I had big quadrant relationship
00:47:15
with Lorraine
00:47:16
>> because her daughter Hannah who is very
00:47:21
very talented. Did you see her in hacks?
00:47:24
Oh, hacks. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:47:26
>> He is a dynamite actor and also a very
00:47:30
fine comedian. She did my show
00:47:33
>> uh last year.
00:47:35
>> Yeah.
00:47:36
>> Garrett, you who was your headwriter
00:47:37
when you started? Was it Anne Beats?
00:47:39
>> Anne Beats was. Yes,
00:47:41
>> she was. See, they had a girl headwriter
00:47:43
back then, which is probably
00:47:44
>> Yeah. Right. That was unusual.
00:47:45
>> More rare than a black doctor.
00:47:46
>> And that other guy we talked we didn't
00:47:48
mention that was the uh assistant
00:47:51
headwriter.
00:47:54
I know who you're talking about.
00:47:57
>> And look, I was very sorry about what
00:47:58
happened to him because I think that I'm
00:48:01
not going to call their names. They
00:48:04
backed him up when that thing happened.
00:48:06
>> They should have backed him up and not
00:48:08
let him go the way he did.
00:48:11
>> Uh was a lot of politics. I know what
00:48:13
you're talking about. A lot of politics.
00:48:14
>> What he did was not He didn't have to
00:48:17
leave because of that. Yeah, I tend to
00:48:20
agree.
00:48:20
>> It was a purge that had to happen, but
00:48:22
it it some people got swept up into it
00:48:25
that maybe in a more reasonable time
00:48:27
would have Yeah.
00:48:28
>> Yeah. He's done been treated like that
00:48:30
at all.
00:48:30
>> Yeah, I agree.
00:48:31
>> Yeah.
00:48:32
>> Geez. I wonder if I'm canled right now.
00:48:34
Do you think we could be cancelled?
00:48:35
>> Cancelled because you agreed.
00:48:37
>> We said suck my dick. I said Sydney Pier
00:48:40
black man.
00:48:41
>> First of all, he says with all due
00:48:42
respect to us and then he says with all
00:48:44
due respect, [ __ ] other people.
00:48:45
So it really did lost a little bit. a
00:48:47
white [ __ ] from from Mor. So,
00:48:50
I'm I'm just happy the rest of the day.
00:48:52
Like my day is a home run now cuz Do you
00:48:55
have any kids?
00:48:57
>> I've got two sons and they're in show
00:48:58
business.
00:48:59
>> Mother every day.
00:49:01
>> Oh,
00:49:04
you are a [ __ ]
00:49:05
>> Yeah, I guess so. I mean, he got you on
00:49:07
a technicality. D
00:49:09
>> [ __ ] is just a great word
00:49:11
because of the rhythm of it.
00:49:12
[ __ ]
00:49:14
>> You know, it's a great word. I mean do
00:49:16
gosh darn it that's not doesn't get
00:49:18
>> in my community gentlemen we
00:49:20
>> you say it better
00:49:22
>> he's a bad [ __ ] meaning you Dana
00:49:24
meaning a great guy
00:49:27
>> yeah I like that
00:49:28
>> I say of like oh Rachel Maddo I say
00:49:31
she's a bad [ __ ] right
00:49:34
>> rather than a [ __ ]
00:49:36
>> RIGHT SHE'S A BAD [ __ ] YOU although I
00:49:38
don't look in the news anymore because
00:49:40
it depresses me
00:49:41
>> no no no it's it's to it's designed to
00:49:44
get us all angry Agree.
00:49:45
>> When I was Rachel all the time and
00:49:48
what's the other lady? Um Joy Reed,
00:49:52
>> you know.
00:49:52
>> Joy Reed. Yeah.
00:49:53
>> Yeah. You know, I remember I remember
00:49:57
you know.
00:49:57
>> Yeah.
00:49:58
>> Brian. Yeah. So Williams was my thing
00:50:02
until
00:50:04
>> until the news just started bringing me
00:50:06
down.
00:50:12
>> Yeah. Before I uh before I uh we let you
00:50:15
go,
00:50:15
>> bust me out.
00:50:16
>> Do you still sing? Dana said you're a
00:50:19
good singer.
00:50:19
>> I used to sing high seas. Now I sing low
00:50:22
seas. I sing the blues now. I don't sing
00:50:26
uh you know.
00:50:26
>> Oh, you doing any Albert King or who you
00:50:29
singing?
00:50:30
>> Muddy Waters and stuff like that.
00:50:31
>> Muddy Waters.
00:50:32
>> Yes.
00:50:33
>> My favorite blues singer is Muddy
00:50:35
Waters.
00:50:36
>> Oh, I loved Albert King. Blues
00:50:38
>> King was great. Albert King was great.
00:50:40
>> That baby. That baby in its baby head, a
00:50:42
baby bed all fussing up. He's got the
00:50:44
blues. He got the good oldfashioned
00:50:46
country blues. Remember Albert? Wasn't
00:50:49
he magic? And of course, Muddy Waters. I
00:50:51
mean, you know, he's that's another guy
00:50:52
just
00:50:54
>> Yes.
00:50:56
>> Lay it honest. Don't be shy. But you
00:50:59
sang with the Harry Belly Harry
00:51:00
Bellafonte singer. I was with him for
00:51:03
like nine years as a my first job in the
00:51:07
was as a singer arranger with uh
00:51:10
>> Yeah, that's amazing.
00:51:12
>> The Bellafante Singers
00:51:14
>> the Bellafante Singers.
00:51:16
>> Yeah, there's a 12 member group that he
00:51:18
managed, right? He s periodically but
00:51:22
they used to sang without him. So we
00:51:24
>> Who sang that thing? You put the lime in
00:51:26
the coconut, you put a
00:51:29
>> That was Harry. Okay,
00:51:31
>> that was Harry Bellfani.
00:51:32
>> Yeah.
00:51:33
>> And then it became a commercial too for
00:51:35
some product.
00:51:41
>> Home.
00:51:42
>> What about seven up?
00:51:43
>> You have that raspy blues now. You can
00:51:45
you can get laid with that.
00:51:47
>> 85. That's all day.
00:51:50
>> 85. Still alive. 86.
00:51:53
87. You're in heaven. 88. Don't be late.
00:51:56
89. Won't you be mine? 90. Holy heaven,
00:52:00
honey.
00:52:01
>> Was this your SNL audition? That was a
00:52:03
good one.
00:52:08
>> I know.
00:52:09
>> I've had dinner with him.
00:52:11
>> Uh, well, Garrett, thank you for coming
00:52:13
on.
00:52:14
>> This has been a delight. You're so much
00:52:16
fun. I feel happier hanging out with you
00:52:18
for this hour.
00:52:19
>> Thank you so much, fellas, for even
00:52:21
thinking about this old guy.
00:52:23
>> Yeah, you're good, dude. And it's, you
00:52:25
know, we all got a job because of you
00:52:27
and the squad up there. Oh my god. I'm
00:52:29
Lauren and everyone I just want to say
00:52:31
100 episodes on Jamie Fox here on the
00:52:33
Martin show
00:52:35
talented men. Okay.
00:52:37
>> Thank you.
00:52:38
>> Extremely talented. And that's how you
00:52:40
got your [ __ ] job.
00:52:41
>> We do the best we can. You're terrific.
00:52:43
You're tremendous. Excuse me. Many
00:52:45
people are who's better than Garen
00:52:47
Morris. Nobody listen. Many people are
00:52:49
saying never better. Nobody's ever done
00:52:51
it like him. Come on. Let's get real,
00:52:53
folks. No joke. I'm not kidding around.
00:52:55
Garren Morris. Here's the deal. Come on.
00:52:58
We can do better. We will do better.
00:53:01
>> You got Trump and Biden at the end.
00:53:03
>> I love your impression, by the way.
00:53:05
>> I love your man. I love
00:53:07
>> Thank you, brother.
00:53:08
>> Can we hang out sometime? Can you my
00:53:12
>> You got my number.
00:53:13
>> All right, Garrett. Miss you, bud.
00:53:15
>> No, let me thank you guys for this. I
00:53:17
appreciate it.
00:53:19
>> We really I just really enjoyed this. I
00:53:20
know I'm a little I'm a little fuzzy and
00:53:22
my words aren't coming out as well as
00:53:24
they normally do, but because of the
00:53:26
dental work, but I got the prior joke
00:53:28
out. I completed it and that made my
00:53:30
day.
00:53:30
>> It was a three-parter.
00:53:32
>> Yeah.
00:53:32
>> Now, I'm going to pack myself an ice,
00:53:34
get a B12 shot, and get a crack a Coors
00:53:37
Light.
00:53:38
>> We don't want to end the show with the
00:53:40
words suck my dick. Okay.
00:53:42
>> No. No. What would be the substitution?
00:53:46
Um, so, uh, instead of saying, "Suck my
00:53:49
dick."
00:53:50
>> Yes.
00:53:50
>> You kind of say, "How about a hand job,
00:53:52
dear?" I guess that's a little more
00:53:54
benign, maybe not so, uh, dramatic.
00:53:57
>> I got one. Good night, [ __ ]
00:54:03
Hey guys, if you're loving this podcast,
00:54:05
which you are, be sure to click follow
00:54:08
on your favorite podcast app. Give us a
00:54:10
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00:54:14
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00:54:16
episode on YouTube, please subscribe.
00:54:18
We're on video now.
00:54:20
>> Fly on the Wall is presented by Odyssey,
00:54:22
an executive produced by Danny Carvey
00:54:24
and David Spade, Heather Santoro, and
00:54:26
Greg Holtzman, Mattie Sprung Kaiser, and
00:54:29
Leah Reese Dennis of Odyssey. Our senior
00:54:31
producer is Greg Holtzman and the show
00:54:33
is produced and edited by Phil Sweet
00:54:36
Tech. Booking by Cultivated
00:54:38
Entertainment.
00:54:38
>> Special thanks to Patrick Fogerty, Evan
00:54:41
Cox, Mora Curran, Melissa Wester,
00:54:46
Hillary Shuff, Eric Donnelly, Colin
00:54:49
Gainner, Shawn Cherry, Kurt Kourtney,
00:54:52
and Lauren Vieiraa. Reach out with us
00:54:54
any questions to be asked and answered
00:54:56
on the show. You can email us at
00:54:58
flyinthewala.com.
00:55:01
That's audacy.com.
