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RE-RELEASE - Amy Poehler

October 09, 2025 / 01:00:19

This episode features Amy Poehler discussing her experiences on Saturday Night Live, her podcast, and her career in comedy. Key topics include her time on SNL, working with Christopher Walken, and the evolution of female comedians.

Amy Poehler shares stories about her early days on SNL, highlighting the supportive environment created by fellow cast members like Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph. She reflects on how the show adapted to the post-9/11 landscape and the challenges of balancing comedy with serious issues.

The conversation touches on memorable sketches, including her portrayal of political figures and the dynamics of performing live. Poehler discusses the importance of having fun while performing and the pressure comedians face to deliver laughs.

Throughout the episode, Poehler emphasizes the camaraderie among comedians and the joy of collaborating with friends. She also shares her thoughts on the challenges of aging in the entertainment industry and the importance of staying active and healthy.

The episode concludes with a lighthearted discussion about the differences between comedians and musicians, as well as the unique experiences of performing in various venues.

TL;DR

Amy Poehler discusses her SNL experiences, female comedians' evolution, and the importance of fun in performance.

Video

00:00:00
Okay, we got one of the SNO greats, Amy Polar, who has her own podcast on now. And uh
00:00:06
so we were going to give everyone a chance to listen to this one again. Uh great, hilarious Amy. Everybody
00:00:11
knows, everybody loves her. Um she has some fantastic stories of course about SNL among other ones. But Christopher
00:00:18
Walkin, who we all crack up about, she tell she's just Amy Polar. I mean,
00:00:24
she's so charming and fun and funny and really one of those came during that age when
00:00:30
women cast members kind of took over SNL Tina with Maya Tina
00:00:36
Wig and and Kate and everybody and we're we're going to Rachel Dret. But anyway, Amy is a gem and is so much fun to talk
00:00:43
to. I would listen to this if I were you. And she didn't come on for a long time. We were so excited to
00:00:48
finally get her and uh it turned out to be such a good one. So, here it is for
00:00:53
you to listen to Amy Polar.
00:00:58
I love your glasses. A Those are cool. Yeah, they're kind of 60s or something.
00:01:05
Something hip. Yeah, I get them off um Amazon. Mhm. Is that Now I got to I got to use my
00:01:11
reader. My readers. My cheaters. Got your cheaters. Give me them cheaters. Look at Dana. Watch him go.
00:01:17
This would this change the vibe of the interview? It makes you It makes you feel more like
00:01:23
conservative, like you're going to drop some politics. Really? Sunglasses? Really? Yeah.
00:01:29
Interesting. H Would you agree, David? Yeah, I think I think there's a vibe. Are you guys forming an alliance?
00:01:35
I know we are. It's a little early, but I get it. You over overlapped. Or did you overlap?
00:01:42
I wish. I wish. No, I mean, but David hosted Oh, yeah. That's right.
00:01:47
Wait, can we We can talk about SNL, right? Yeah. Yeah, cuz we're not It's already been on. Um, but Amy did a funny one. I
00:01:54
just thought of this, Amy. Oh, you and my stunt double. Yes, we did a sketch where I played
00:02:00
David stunt double because we could probably be brother and sister. Like, we have similar features.
00:02:06
So, I played your stunt double. Um, and then that's all I remember of the of the
00:02:11
premise. No, the I think it was someone played The Rock and I was like The Rock's buddy in a buddy comedy and then
00:02:18
when we got to like climbing on a building, they brought in Chris and I think Chris and that was you, which I
00:02:25
thought would be a boy and it was you and you're like, "Hey, we're going to do this. We're all good." And I'm like, I and Seth, I think, was the director.
00:02:32
That's right. I'm just remembering as I go and I'm like, "Hey, is it is it weird that I you
00:02:37
know, I'm a guy and it's" and he's like, "No, it's all equal and it's just stunt people." And I'm like, "Right." And I'm
00:02:43
not loving it. And then when she gets on, she goes, "Oh no, a rock. It's so
00:02:48
scary." I'm like, "I don't think she should talk if she's my You just keep you keep like crying and acting like
00:02:54
you're me." And I'm like, "That's not what I'd say." And no one has any problem with it. No. And I think when I when I put on
00:03:00
that wig and I think we looked a lot. It was pretty close. Yeah, it was pretty close. I'm going to say,
00:03:06
"Yeah, Dana, you blew it. You missed out." British, Irish, uh, Scandinavian,
00:03:11
German, French, Irish, British, Irish, all the way.
00:03:18
Mostly Irish. Mostly Irish. My brother lives in Sweden, so sometimes I people
00:03:24
assume there's some Scandinavian, but no, none that we can find. Lots of Norway, lots of Scottish, and
00:03:30
lots of Irish. I'm British, American, and Southwest. I'm airlines. Have you guys done the
00:03:38
Have you done the 23 and me? Have you done any of that stuff? Terrified. Uh my son did and he had a
00:03:45
disproportionate amount of Neanderthal. So I don't know what. Maybe that maybe
00:03:50
that explains something. I don't know. Well, it's not he's half Neanderthal.
00:03:56
And um my wife's half Dutch. There was no Dutch. No, no. His grandfather was
00:04:02
100% Dutch. And there's no Dutch. and a lot of caveman.
00:04:07
Anyway, welcome. We're This is We're gonna do this for the rest of the podcast. It's about genealogy today.
00:04:13
By the way, love your podcast. I've listened to almost every episode. You know, probably every single person
00:04:18
on the podcast. That's crazy. So great uh that I get getting a chance to do it. I'm so grateful.
00:04:24
You you made my day. I love it. And you know, we all we SNL, like you've said many times, is kind of
00:04:31
the it's like you were in um very specific like special forces and you all
00:04:37
just want to kind of share stories about the nightmares that you continue to have about it 20 years.
00:04:43
It's all poor poor rich people. It is funny. We're like special ops. We say war and then people say don't say that.
00:04:49
So we changed I know I you're right. I should we change it to SWAT team. I said it once here. It's like the
00:04:55
Marine and I and I backed off a bit in 10 seconds. I said, "Please don't write me any letters because it's fun to say
00:05:01
that." I did not mean to equivocate it in that way. I would just say if someone is is
00:05:07
unknown, maybe in an improv group like yourself and is suddenly on national TV and then we all as an audience we, oh,
00:05:15
what's her name? Amy Polar. Oh, she's getting really good. It's like a reality
00:05:20
show. Oh, she's really confident now. Oh, she's right. You know, lots of opinions. Yeah,
00:05:26
lots of opinions. Yeah, message boards. Like, I started when message boards came out. So, it wasn't
00:05:33
it wasn't um there wasn't any Twitter or anything yet, but it was these message
00:05:38
boards that used to spring up like the next day. And also, I started around
00:05:43
when I 2001 to remember to came into play. So, it was like, oo, I could
00:05:49
fast forward SNL for the first time. Like that was what a gift.
00:05:54
What a gift. What a million dollar idea. Um I I'm not so sure that's a good
00:06:00
thing. Amy, I talked to you rather have them to like watch the show as opposed to
00:06:07
go for a pause, but that's you record it and then you never you like never really watch it.
00:06:14
[Music] Everyone has a Lauren. you might as well do your 10 seconds of Lauren because you
00:06:20
have to have a Lauren. Oh my god, I I love My Lauren is not great. But yes, it's very No, there is no there's no
00:06:28
um um my Lauren is a little more paternal, which is like when he comes on the floor right before a sketch and goes
00:06:35
like, "Do you like these wine glasses or these, you know, is this does this table
00:06:40
look right for you?" And you're just so nervous. You're about to do a sketch in a restaurant. You're like, "What?"
00:06:47
Are you happy with the wine glasses or Okay. Okay. You're like, you mean on the table in
00:06:52
the sketch? Yeah. Yeah. They're like five, four. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:58
My first season, I don't know if he did that later. It was a glass of Chardonnay and he would be outside because then he
00:07:04
went under the bleachers. Well, that was for the dress show mostly, but during the live show, you you're so [ __ ] terrified. And
00:07:11
Lawrence wine with a glass of wine acting. So, like there's not a live TV show going on. It was just amazing to
00:07:18
watch him try to by osmosis calm us down, I guess, you know.
00:07:23
Well, it's really Oh, sorry. Go ahead. I was saying I'm waiting to get pushed out on update in that chair. I'm in the
00:07:29
dark and he's like, "Do you know who's winning the Yankees?" I'm like, "Right now?" I don't know. I
00:07:34
got I I have to look at the cards. It's a mind trick. the nonsec order to distract you from the the chair turns
00:07:41
and there's 10 million people watching you. Go ahead, Amy. Thoughts? No, I was going to say when you guys
00:07:47
talk about your experiences at the show too on on on your on this podcast, it kind of feels like the before times
00:07:54
because my first show was two weeks after 911. So for like the first three
00:08:02
years or so at the show, you know, the Chardonnay was gone. It was very much
00:08:07
like serious business to keep comedy afloat. You know, it was very like will
00:08:12
we ever laugh again and how can we do comedy and you know New York is under
00:08:18
attack and it was all this like how do we make fun of politics like it was just this like slow build back to get to
00:08:27
Palin and Hillary by the end of that run but it took so long to even you know so
00:08:34
I can just remember starting that job and being like my dream job I was 30 years old I started I was like, "Here we
00:08:41
go." And then then all that happened and it was like, "Will we ever laugh again?" That was
00:08:47
basically the headline. It's true. And it was like And it was like, "Could we though just a little bit cuz I'm cuz
00:08:53
I'm here now." Yeah. You know, it was it was intense. Yeah. I tr I I've been dreaming and
00:09:00
working toward this for my whole life. Could I do something funny? How could you do such a stupid sketch
00:09:05
when what's going on in the world? And you're like, "Oh, well, this is the idea is to get away from." But it went on to your point, it went on
00:09:11
for a long time of the idea when will the next attack come and where really are we? It wasn't an awesome
00:09:21
period. I don't know when it un finally we kind of I guess 2004.
00:09:26
It felt like 2003, 2004, but don't forget, you know, there was like anthrax in the building when we were there. It
00:09:33
was like, you know, it was w wild. But I think it felt around
00:09:39
200 I I had one year of overlap with Will Frell and
00:09:44
he did a sketch uh I guess it must have been 2001 2002 um like about a guy who
00:09:50
was really patriotic and he was wearing like oh yeah and the hot tub he was he was wearing a speedo
00:09:56
he's going to work I think D I think it was Matt Piedmont might have wrote yeah I think you're right and uh he wears he has a he's very
00:10:04
patriot yeah yeah that was a big It's very Will the way he wore the speedo, the way he spled his legs. I mean, he is
00:10:11
he's brave or whatever you want to call it. He's just out there. But so that was
00:10:16
really broke the seal a little bit. Yeah. And he had, you know, we had stopped doing any Bush stuff any we had
00:10:23
we didn't do any politics during that time. Interesting. But that was like a big a
00:10:28
big silly stupid you know guy in a speedo sketch and the audience really
00:10:33
loved it and you were like okay maybe maybe this is going to be okay maybe. So
00:10:39
but we did a bunch of dumb pop culture stuff because you know it was like Britney Spears snake trainer was like a
00:10:47
character I was trying to get on because because no one wanted to talk about news
00:10:54
politics. So it wasn't it was weird but you kind of appreciate the big silly ones more even later on big dumb
00:11:01
whatever word you want to apply to them broad really just balls out funny where you get sort of you want to get that I
00:11:08
love Lucy kind of roll of a laugh if you you know I got it with the dog on I it wasn't me it was
00:11:14
that sketch Massive Headmoon Harry just unleashed a whole I love Lucy type of
00:11:20
laughter because I was fighting with a dog over a fake fake head, big brains.
00:11:26
But it seems like, you know, just as an overview here for a second, you came on the scene and then by the time you left,
00:11:31
you were just as good as anyone had had ever done that show. I mean, you I I believe, and I say this to people with
00:11:38
all sincerity, I mean, like the thing you did with Maya, the the Long Island
00:11:43
ladies, you you were both brilliant and you were just so in the pocket of that
00:11:49
character rhythmically. Like, I watched the immersion of that. It was Oh, it was just beautiful to watch that sketch. I
00:11:56
mean Oh, thanks Dana. That means a lot. Um that sketch that felt like we could have only done it when we were like seniors.
00:12:03
Like we were we were relaxed enough to do it. Um we wrote that with Emily Spivey, the
00:12:09
great Emily Spivey. Yeah, we hear about her a lot. Yeah, you should have her on this. She would be an incredible guest. And yeah,
00:12:16
we improvised a lot of that. Like it was just a lot of overlappingy. the cards were kind of loose and we kind of knew
00:12:22
what we were gonna say but not really and I don't think we would have been able to do that in the first couple of years. I know I wouldn't have I would
00:12:29
have been too resilient. Yeah, that's what I mean that I I find that a lot. There's maybe Eddie Murphy
00:12:34
the most extreme the other way like as confident in day one apparently and then there's
00:12:40
people have a a pretty quick runup but then somebody just goes and goes and then the audience discovers you and then
00:12:45
it's you know could you I I mean I don't but you don't have to do that character for five seconds but if you what would
00:12:50
she say to David and I right now I mean well like she's you know it's a very important time because it's sweater weather like sweater weather's coming
00:12:56
it's very very she's going she's having a lot of hot flashes and she enjoys the nip in the air but we we based those two
00:13:03
ladies. We based those ladies off of ladies that were in really one woman who
00:13:08
was in the hair department, Jodie Manuso, who was running the hair department. She was like Long Island
00:13:14
like uh or Staten Island, I forget. Sorry, Jod if I forget. And she had like she was very like and like gave it to
00:13:20
you straight and just like come sit talk, let's talk like she just had this chatty fun energy that was kind of
00:13:27
flirty, very maternal. And Maya and I used to just talk uh with her like that
00:13:33
and talk like her. And mine was my lady had a little bit just because I'm not
00:13:38
particularly great with accents. My lady probably fell into like a little Boston at times just because that's my
00:13:44
hometown. But so we played Betty and Jod and they were just it was almost like those women that happened to have a TV
00:13:51
show but they weren't they were just chatting anyway. So we had a lot of fun where we would just the camera would
00:13:58
just come up on us and we were already in conversation and the camera would pull away and we were still talking. So
00:14:03
that was the kind of vibe it was it was um being a wasp from California and then when I started going
00:14:10
to New York and meeting characters in New York and they were recognizable in that sense of come sit
00:14:16
have coffee please how are you it's very it's warm it's extroverted everything is
00:14:22
out in the open I feel spilus this and that but you guys just nailed it beautifully I don't know it just
00:14:28
I see I just saw it on Instagram Amy like you know how they pull up old sketches they just they start traveling
00:14:33
around because it is sweater weather. So they I saw I saw clips of that and uh
00:14:39
it's kind of fun when things live on or they make a meme or something pops out. Oh, it's the best. It's it's so cool.
00:14:47
And then you go, "Oh, something mattered. Something I did in the old days somewhere, you know?"
00:14:52
Totally. People ask me this sometimes, like, "What kind of compliments do you like to get?" And I always say specific ones,
00:14:59
you know, I like that line and that thing. And so when you're out and about in the world, just what what do people
00:15:05
come up and say to you? May maybe they talk about some of your movies or certain sketches or
00:15:10
It's funny, you know, you can kind of tell like the millennials love Parks and Wreck. Like that was their show.
00:15:17
Um, and that's a show that like a lot of teenagers discovered during the
00:15:23
pandemic. So there's a lot of millennial and Gen Z love for Parks and Wreck. The Gen Xers and above know me more from SNL
00:15:31
um or you know more like movie or like hosting stuff. Um
00:15:36
Golden Globes. Yeah. Like they kind of know that more I think. But or like maybe they saw Mean
00:15:41
Girls 25 years ago or something. But Oh, right. But it kind of feels like I get a lot of
00:15:47
nice women. That's like my demo is nice. You know, Tina and I are on tour right
00:15:53
now and we're having a blast and like we it's just like the nicest women in the audience
00:15:59
just um coming with their friends or their daughters, you know. So, I get a
00:16:05
lot of just like friendly women. So, I'm lucky that I don't get, you know, occasionally and I get and I get
00:16:11
mistaken all the time for other women, whether it's Tina or Drach or like I,
00:16:17
you know, they kind of mush us all together, which is which is fine with me because But that happens sometimes, too. But
00:16:24
it's okay. Well, my wife is not a comedy fanatic or anything, but she uh I told her that you
00:16:30
and Tina were doing a show, and she goes, "Oh, I I would see that show."
00:16:35
Yeah, exactly. We're make we're doing that show for your wife. I think that um Well, she's a nice woman. I go back to that. But so she's a
00:16:42
nice woman. It's you know the Golden Globes kind of cemented it and we all we saw you do an update. You know this Tina and you guys
00:16:49
have this connection I assume really truly really good friends and have the chemistry of Steve Martin and Martin
00:16:55
Short. Um, and so seeing that, it's like, well, this is gonna be fun because
00:17:00
when I think of you two, even though you did satirical jokes on Golden Globes, it was still always fun.
00:17:06
Yeah. Just I I think that's a good brand to have. You're going to have fun. It's underrated.
00:17:12
I think you're right. I think I don't know. I I am in no way an expert in hosting things, but one thing I did
00:17:17
learn really quick was from SNL, too, like if you don't look like you're relaxed or having fun, the audience gets
00:17:23
very stressed. Yeah. They're worried about it. I when I see hosts and they're either
00:17:30
nervous or stressed or even like come in
00:17:36
angry like I don't know why I'm here. Like that kind of thing. It's like, oh
00:17:42
no, I get so stressed cuz you are hosting a party. You're supposed to look like you're having fun. Like it's a
00:17:48
party. Like who cares? It's an award show. Who cares? you you Maya. Was it you, Maya, and Tina? Was that at the
00:17:54
Academy Awards? They We didn't host it. We just like opened it because I Yeah, that was a good trick of like less
00:18:00
pressure. They're not the host, but you're on longer than you should be and you're just joke machine and then everyone's
00:18:07
like, "Fuck, where are these? Let's Why aren't they here the whole time?" It's so great. Yeah. You don't have a month of leadup like
00:18:13
what are you gonna do? What's so funny? Because you know those hosting gigs are a lot of work. They're hard.
00:18:20
There are a lot of jokes to write and get through and then also you can get
00:18:26
you can you know now they like are kind of you can fall into traps and you can people
00:18:32
can get mad. Yeah. And so you're like oh my god forget it then someone always has a problem with it no
00:18:38
matter what. I know it's okay. It's like when Billy Bob Thornton got his Emmy I think he goes uh I'm not going to say anything
00:18:45
because you can get in trouble. I'm I'm substituting Bill Clinton as Billy Bob Thor. I apologize. I'm not going to say
00:18:52
anything because you can get in trouble for saying something these days. He just walked off, you know, but to the fun part, you might find this funny in a way
00:18:59
because John Love it. I was the one who kept saying, "John, you got to do standup." So, I was kind of I'm no expert, but I'm coaching him a little
00:19:05
bit. I go, "John, the one thing you always have to remember right before you go out, because you can forget, just say
00:19:11
to yourself, have fun." And he goes, "I did it. I tried it. And then I started
00:19:16
having more fun and then I was getting bigger laughs, you know, John. Yeah. So, it's it's an amazing thing, but
00:19:23
sometimes you go, "What is going on? I'm not having fun. What I for I forgot to have fun."
00:19:28
It's the hardest. I think it's actually like the last piece. It's the hardest piece to learn because you're pushing or
00:19:34
you're nervous or your head's somewhere else and then it Yeah. And then when you actually relax,
00:19:40
the audience just relaxes with you. I mean, I learned a lot from Will Frell
00:19:45
that way and because I would watch him perform and he had this like mischievous
00:19:51
quality where he him and the audience were in on it together, you know? It was kind of like this this beused quality of
00:19:58
like, can you believe we're all here doing this stupid thing? And it would,
00:20:04
you know, it just like the minute they see you sweat, it it it's it gets so
00:20:10
stressful. they tighten up. Good. This goes to therapy or something, but try not to try, try not to push, try
00:20:17
not to be desperate, try not to rush it. Um, take your time, but be in the
00:20:23
pocket. And of course, when that voice goes silent, then you know, you and Tina are just on a roll.
00:20:29
Well, what do you guys do when let's this rarely probably happens for you
00:20:34
anymore, but like let's say you're trying new material and it's not working. What do you do? Do you pull back? Do you
00:20:42
pull back in that moment or do you pu like do you push? Because I'll tell you
00:20:47
that what I have to work on is pulling back too hard and like getting sleepy.
00:20:55
Your joke isn't working and you go to sleep. I go to sleep. I go right to sleep.
00:21:00
You you recoil. I I you know it's funny when I when something doesn't work
00:21:05
there's I had it happen on the road recently where the whole show is going well and one joke doesn't click and I go
00:21:12
I had to stop and go literally no one bought that not one person and it wasn't a couple of you everyone said no sale
00:21:20
and I feel like you're wrong on this one and I'm going to get I give you one freebie. Yeah. And then they don't know what to make of
00:21:26
that. They're like what? Well, you're mad at us. But it's like joke mad. When something doesn't work in a regular set
00:21:31
or if you're doing a set on TV, what happens to me is you get spooked like a horse because my brain goes, "What
00:21:38
happened?" And I can't think of my next joke because I'm It's preoccupied with
00:21:43
what do I do? Why? Wait, should I even do the next one? Why? What did it just
00:21:48
Did I say it wrong? And then you're like, that throws you. If you take one extra second,
00:21:55
they think something's up. It's got to be just so smooth like a play. Boom, boom, boom. I know. I I have a bit in my act. I
00:22:02
won't even say the bit, but whatever. It's sort of like twothirds of the way like you're trying to bring it to the
00:22:07
barn, you know, and the last two times it's not landing. And I know Jerry
00:22:14
Seinfeld, who's this Van Goali about this, check the setup, you know? Yeah. If if the setup is
00:22:23
God, you know, I did this for Steve Marvin. Jerry's going to do a live album
00:22:28
on vinyl and it's gonna he's going to see a picture of him on the cover and it's called paper clips. Why? Um just
00:22:35
like that joke, Jerry, we love him. He's brilliant. But I um I think sometimes you when you first say it in a joke and
00:22:42
you're kind of connected to it or a bit and then you can get a little bored and you maybe drop just even part of the
00:22:48
setup or stuff like that. Can I cuz you're doing Are you actually out there solo in your show with Tina as well?
00:22:54
Yeah, we do some sketch, we do standup, we do um do you do update stuff together? We do update. We do
00:23:01
Yeah. Oh, great. So, what's your first line, ladies and gentlemen? Here to do some standup for our show is Amy Polar.
00:23:09
No way. I'm not doing Are you out of your mind? I am not doing I thought your first line would be would
00:23:16
be you'd say what you'd say what's up and then the name of the town. What's up Chicago?
00:23:22
What's up Denver? Yeah, that's a good first line. Here's my opener. I'd be I'd go like
00:23:28
this. Hey guys, Tina will be out in a minute. Just cuz Oh my god, it's funny that you say that.
00:23:33
I'm like, I'm going to do a little stand up while Tina gets her IV drip. There you go.
00:23:39
Well, I think we Dane and I were talking before we brought you on because we're both on the road here and there and
00:23:46
there's so many things about the road that are so tricky and icy that you know
00:23:53
it is true something about like the the show is the fun part obviously and it's
00:23:58
so hard just to get to their city. You just want to get high five like I got here. I'm in the theater. Get in the
00:24:04
hotel and I don't I feel like [ __ ] but here I go. Let's do this. Because you almost never feel great and you're almost never
00:24:10
like, well, that was easy. It's like this is problem problem and then the hotel and getting there and what's
00:24:16
backstage. There's so many interesting questions uh we were thinking of with you guys. When do you go on?
00:24:21
Oh, I I know. It's so fun because you're right. Every different theater and space
00:24:27
has like a vibe and it has like the guy that's in charge
00:24:32
like the one that character. Yeah. There's always the character. It's like, "Oh, I can't answer that. You have
00:24:38
to talk to Dan about that." And you're like, "Okay, where's Dan?" Like it's always around and Dan doesn't come in. Dan
00:24:45
Dan zooms in from home. My guy's usually named Dan as well. I don't know if he travels a lot.
00:24:50
Do you do a sound check? We do. We have to have a lot of You have stuff going on. You you got a montage of
00:24:56
greatest hits or whatever and you've got whatever. You have a piano player and stuff like that or No, we have some recorded music stuff,
00:25:02
but we don't have a live Yeah. And you sing together. Live piano player. But it's What's that?
00:25:07
Do you sing a song together? Maybe. You have a good voice, Dana. Have you heard her sing at the beginning of the
00:25:13
podcast? Tonight before I go to sleep, I'm going to try to figure out what can't Amy Polar do.
00:25:24
[Music] What do you do to relax your giant brain?
00:25:31
Well, I I really like um the the water. Like that calms me down a lot. Like swimming and in a pool. Ocean water.
00:25:39
Ocean lake and swimming. I like Can you swim? No, I can't. Okay,
00:25:45
but I mean I I I go to a hotel pool and I go freestyle and I go the length of
00:25:50
the pool and I'm completely wiped out and you know I'm like sprinting but I don't know it and it's there is a whole
00:25:56
technique to it but you you've learned it right how to actually I think if I need to get regulated my
00:26:01
nervous system water does help me whether even if it's a bath or just like getting in some water but before a show
00:26:09
you know I'm kind of used to it's it's funny when I would do shows as an improviser and like sketch comedian with
00:26:16
standups. I was always surprised that there wasn't a lot of chitchat, you know, there was there standups were just
00:26:23
kind of trying like walking around talking or with their headphones like thinking about their set and really
00:26:29
really and frankly trying to remember it which is half the battle. Very true. And and you and with improv and sketch,
00:26:38
you know, it's like you want to just like keep doing bits up until you go on stage. It's like you want to just like
00:26:44
make a connection with the people you're performing with. And so I kind of tend to like want to just
00:26:50
chitchat and talk and and not overthink things. Um but now that I'm older, like
00:26:56
sometimes I just want to like do some like light stre light stretching. Just some light stretching so I don't
00:27:03
pull a hammy. Oh, definitely. You can't go hi and then your arms like Oh, sorry. You know, I I
00:27:09
mean, I try to do a wide squat and make sure because I might get in that position or move around, stretch your
00:27:15
calves. Yeah. Have you ever had any a physical thing or cut yourself on stage? Oh my god. Yes. I just Well, I'm just
00:27:21
getting over this thing. I talk about it on stage. I'm just getting over this thing which is it's so embarrassing. It sounds like a It sounds like a It sounds
00:27:28
like a bad cocktail, but I had this thing this year called Frozen Shoulder. Know all about it?
00:27:34
Yes. I bet your wife like was it your wife that went through it?
00:27:39
No, no, it was our mutual manager I think. Okay. Had a frozen shoulder. Yeah.
00:27:45
Yeah. I feel What does it do? It's the weirdest thing. It comes out of nowhere and it's like from my
00:27:51
anecdotally I find it's mostly women of my age. But it's just like inflammation
00:27:57
and suddenly you just like can't lift your arm all the way up. Okay. And so it's this, it just feels
00:28:03
like you're like, you just feel really [ __ ] old. You just are like, "Oh, [ __ ] hell. What is this?" And it'll
00:28:10
take about a year and you're just like, "What? A year?" And it's proven to be about a year.
00:28:17
So yeah, it it sucked. And they're just making up names for old things. Frozen shoulder sounds good. And
00:28:24
you're like, "Well, is it a real thing or I'm just falling apart?" It's a real real thing.
00:28:30
I was doing a podcast with David. I never even said this before. We're doing what we we've done a few live and then
00:28:36
my uh I think it was my left foot. My toes spled out in a spasm and we're and
00:28:44
we're I was in massive pain, but I just was riding it out. Just riding it out.
00:28:49
We're interviewing someone. Spade, take it. And I'm like And it doesn't happen to me all the time. They just the toes
00:28:56
went out and got really angry. As soon as it was over, I just walked around. It was fine. But we have to we're supposed
00:29:03
to do all this freaking stuff all day long. Pulling and stretching and Pilates, all this stuff to keep us
00:29:09
together, you know? So, I did and I know and I was so much younger when I was on SNL and I think
00:29:14
about how much I just partied and just walked like I didn't do
00:29:20
I didn't worry about any of it. I just wasn't even thinking about any of it. I wasn't thinking about collagen. I wasn't
00:29:27
thinking about water. Nothing. Nope. Wasn't even thinking about water. Did we know how do we do we I know I
00:29:34
look You see picture yourself because you're in show bish and go damn I I did
00:29:40
I know how cute I was. Did we know how young we were or just is
00:29:45
it all wasted on young? Who said that? Cole porter. I don't know. I didn't have a glass of water during
00:29:50
SNL. I was there six years. You never know. That just wasn't the thing that everyone I didn't know what carbs were. I ate
00:29:56
[ __ ] pasta every day. Wall-ally and Joseph. I ate pizza. And I always felt shitty. I never put anything together.
00:30:02
I'm like, "What is it? What is it? I don't have the Rubik's cube to figure this out. All is carbs, no water, and
00:30:08
diet coke." And my body is so sore, Amy, when I every day it's like my shoulders
00:30:15
going. I open a car door. They're like, "What?" I'm like, "I do this every day." And it's like, "Oh, what are you doing?"
00:30:20
Like it's it forgets overnight I'm doing basic things. I know. Um well, you know what I you
00:30:27
know what has helped me with this? And I know this is probably like people listening are like, "Oh my god, be quiet. How old are you guys?"
00:30:33
Yeah. But you know what I've been doing is I've been doing cold dips ch and it
00:30:38
changed changed the game. Yes. I do cold dips and it changed the game
00:30:45
because that's a big deal. Now, do you do it in a in a bathtub with ice in it? You do it. You do take the or is it in a
00:30:51
pool or a lake or where are you getting? I have a like I have a cold dip tub. Okay. A cold dip tub. Okay.
00:30:57
Like a tub that I keep cold. So, and I have a like a sauna little hot sauna. Uh
00:31:03
so I do 15 minutes of the sauna and then I plunge in the cold dip and it helps a
00:31:09
lot. David inflammation. Yes. I think you and Tina should do 10
00:31:16
minutes in a cold plunge doing update on stage. Just bring out the ice. That's a I would love that. I think our
00:31:22
endorphins would be flying sponsors. Yeah, I'm at an undisclosed location, but I
00:31:27
have a pool for the first time in a long time and don't heat it. I like it as
00:31:32
cold as I can get it now for that very reason. wake up. You know, it's amazing if you get into a
00:31:38
cold lake because I I always look at it as a lake that's really too warm. How you really suffer for about 10 seconds,
00:31:46
but if you're moving all of a sudden you're like, "Ah, it's fine." Yeah. That's the thing about getting older is like forced austerities. Like,
00:31:52
what can I do to myself that a doctor is not telling me to do, but that I can do to torture myself? Like, I have the
00:31:59
privilege of cold dipping or like I only eat apples after 5:00 p.m. And it's like, why? is like just that's what I'm
00:32:05
doing now. Like that's it just sounds it's got to it's got to be good. I know.
00:32:10
I'm trying something. Yeah. Well, it's it's it's always nice. You have get a blood test and stuff and
00:32:16
you're wondering, well, did they find something? The doctor's talking to you like it's fine. It's good. Everything's
00:32:21
okay. So, my guy my guy looks at my blood test. I sit there and he goes
00:32:28
and he goes like this. Don't love that. You know the worst
00:32:33
thing your worst thing about you hear from a doctor. I went to a dentist cuz I had a tooth thing. This is what we're going to talk about the rest of
00:32:40
and the guy comes in and he actually said he actually said wow when he looked at my mouth.
00:32:46
He said wow. I said wow. What do you mean? Wow. Wow. What? Wow. Wow. What? [ __ ]
00:32:53
He said it like Oh, he said it like walking. He said it like walking. Wow. Wow.
00:32:58
Wow. Yeah. Three. Oh, I just said someone, "Were you in a walking family?
00:33:05
I never saw that." I said to my friend, I go, "Look at this ridiculous." Oh, you all were walking in the sketch, right?
00:33:10
Yes. And that was so fun cuz, you know, I think I I um
00:33:15
I benefited from low expectations. I don't think anyone expects me to pull out a good walk-in, but I was playing a
00:33:21
little kid, like a little girl who was who was doing a walk-in. And I had had I
00:33:27
had had a friend who had told me a story about walk about Christopher Walkin and that you know he was he went to uh he
00:33:34
was on set one time and he was like you know are there any ghosts here like you know this place is spook he kept saying
00:33:40
it's spooky which was was such a a funny word to say so I got to say ghosts and
00:33:48
spooky and that was yeah that was enough to Did he care at all? He he was one of the
00:33:56
most interesting hosts um because he was really he's a really you know no
00:34:02
surprise eccentric dude. So he was really comfortable with silence. So, you
00:34:08
know, most people when you're just waiting around to run the scene again, you're just st sitting on the floor like you chitchat like, but he would want to
00:34:16
just sit quietly be between each, you know. So,
00:34:22
he he might have been the longest I've ever gone, seated next to someone and not talking,
00:34:28
like five, six, seven minutes. It would just be me and him and we wouldn't talk.
00:34:33
And it became like a a contest in my own mind to see how long we could go. And he was he was fine with it. He was fine
00:34:40
with it. Can everyone shut up. Yeah. He was super super talented and
00:34:47
very very I swear he's so interesting. He's riveting. The first sketch I don't know what it
00:34:52
was. I maybe I church chat or something. Anyway, they we were did it all. We rehearsed it, but on air he never looked
00:34:58
at me. He just looked straight at the qards and read it and it worked. Yeah.
00:35:04
And and it was funnier, you know. So I think I heard I heard a rumor that he takes out I don't know if this is true, but
00:35:10
that he takes out all the all the punctuation in his scripts. Wouldn't surprise me cuz his rhythm is
00:35:17
so specific that might get him out of his get out of his rhythm. Don't like to
00:35:23
pause in ways like that. I mean John Love again, my friend John, he's the
00:35:29
kind of guy goes, "Is it you? Are you are you making up that dialect? Is that
00:35:34
the way you really talk? And he said walk and just started laughing. You're making it up, right?
00:35:40
Oh, that's funny. Oh, that's funny. Yeah. He seemed like he had a good sense of humor about himself.
00:35:45
Yeah. And who knows, you know, there's certain actors who just extenduate their rhythms as they become film stars over
00:35:51
the years, like Aluccino when he feels like it. Um Yeah. And Walkan too. He was in that Woody
00:35:57
Allen movie as the psycho driver. It was in the 70s. First time I saw him. Yeah.
00:36:02
You know, and he goes, "Sometimes I like to turn the car. I think of turning into the headlights." And he goes, "Well, I I
00:36:09
wouldn't on this trip. Maybe put a pin in that." And we, you know, it's like a crazy just uh when as
00:36:15
soon as you drop me off, you can indulge your piccadillos if you want to go into the get some rhubab and, you know,
00:36:22
grind. Um, but yeah, he's just one of the thrills of doing Saturday Night Live
00:36:28
is just doing sketch comedy with someone like Christopher Walkin. And you know, seeing him in the Deer
00:36:33
Hunter, I just feel like, you know, growing up in the 70s, like I just saw every movie way too young. I was I saw
00:36:39
so many limelight images. You saw that at what? Oh. Oh, I can't even imagine. I think I was
00:36:44
seven maybe. God. And it was like I learned about Yeah. I learned about Vietnam. I learned about
00:36:50
prisoners of war. I learned about um uh you know Russian Russian roulette. I
00:36:57
learned it all from Christopher Walkin and it was like you know and then I went to first grade like that's
00:37:02
I got I'm heading first grade guys. I'm tired. I was at the deer hunter last night that they were getting slapped in the
00:37:08
face in Vietnam. I'm going to the exorcist and they're forced to play Russian roulette and they would slap them and
00:37:14
say mow and slap them. And I don't know what that word meant in Vietnamese, but
00:37:19
it's one of the most riveting, darkest scenes in film history. I'm trying to think. I saw the reefers
00:37:26
with Steve McQueen when I was I saw Bonnie and Clyde when I was like 11. It's a little tamer.
00:37:32
Little tamer, but there was a sex scene. It was a little, you know, so but yeah, you've seen those 70s badass movies as a
00:37:39
little girl. We and you know I was the generation that got like HBO and MTV
00:37:44
like in our house and no one was paying attention. So suddenly you just there were movies on that you should not I
00:37:51
should not have been watching. It's just that yeah no one knows just the next movie on and and everyone's gone. You're like oh what's this? Oh uh
00:37:58
the Omen. Yep. The Omen. Let's see what this is about. Oh this might be fun. Hope hopefully I
00:38:04
hope you both didn't see this movie cuz it stayed with me and disturbed me very
00:38:09
much. And I think it's Dustin Hoffman. I know it's Dustin Hoffman. It's the first Straw Dogs. Look it up, kids. I don't
00:38:16
even want to talk about [ __ ] Love It sent me that the other day. Are you Is that crazy? He sent me a preview. Watch this movie.
00:38:23
Straw Dogs with Dustin Hoffman. Yes. Is that Is that brilliant? But it is
00:38:29
dark. Well, I was just watching Midnight Cowboy the other day. They had a showing of it in New York and I was like, I love
00:38:36
Midnight Cowboy. I love Dustin Hoffman and that and I love John Voy. And then I'm like, oh my god, I forgot this giant
00:38:41
horrible, you know, assault scene. There's so many, you know, there's so much assault
00:38:47
in that movie, like flashbacks of what happens to John Void's character
00:38:52
and girlfriend. And I just like I forget with 70s movies you'd just be cruising along and then there'd be like a really
00:38:58
violent scene that you're just oh no. And when now I'm the mother of teenagers and I like oh you should watch this
00:39:04
movie and then there's just this scene that's always oh I forgot this scene was in this movie. It's brutal.
00:39:11
I even got I got scared at Tommy uh Dana. I was young and my brother took me. Oh,
00:39:18
and and the gypsy acid queen. And then she threw like acid in the guy's face and there's fire at the beginning and it
00:39:24
burned his face and I was like and I go I have a stomach ache and I went to the lobby and then I never came
00:39:30
back cuz I got scared. They go, "What's up?" I go, "No, I'm fine. I just have some stuff to do out here. Literally nothing
00:39:37
to do." What's the first Have you showed a movie to your to your kids where it blew their
00:39:42
mind? It was kind of satisfying because at one point I don't remember how old they were. Just my example, I put on
00:39:47
jaws for them and maybe they were sort of 12, 14, whatever. Okay, see you later kids. So I
00:39:54
come back 10 minutes later and they're they're not moving. They're not bl they're just staring. Whoa. They just hit them at the right, you
00:40:01
know, like, oh man, this is amazing. So yeah, that was my Yeah, that's I mean I have two boys.
00:40:07
They really like a lot of sci-fi, you know, action adventure stuff, but they I
00:40:14
remember when they were really young, I Willy Wonka was the first one that I I was like, I think you're going to love
00:40:20
this. And they loved it. And I felt really and and as far as comedy, like it it you
00:40:26
know what you don't love what your mom likes. Like your mom is lame. Like you
00:40:31
don't want to like what your mom likes. But so I almost had to let them discover
00:40:38
SNL on their own and they're at the age now they're 13 and 15 where they're they're at that
00:40:45
age where they're like I wonder what SNL is going to do about this. Like that's what you know and you know definitely
00:40:50
their favorite anchors are Jo and Chay and of course they of course and they just don't want
00:40:56
to watch they barely want to watch stuff I'm in. It's like it's embarrassing. Like it's their mom. Like, right. Do they
00:41:02
Who wants to watch their mom on TV? Have you recommended comedies that they give the thumbs down like that you grew
00:41:07
up with? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There's been so many things where I'm like that's funny now. That is You should watch that. That's
00:41:13
funny. Oh, that's funny. Mom, you got to check this out. This is really funny, Mom.
00:41:20
Yeah. And I'm always like, "Turn that off. That that guy is you." But um I remember the Simpsons was a first
00:41:27
crossover where we could all watch it and they were kind of learning how to structure a joke and and they and you
00:41:34
know I was laughing too but um yeah it's always that that group on SNL for
00:41:40
example when you're 12 or 13 and you know not to make you feel old Dana but that was you for me which
00:41:46
me too. Me too. I don't I feel terrific. I'm the I'm the youngest I've ever been
00:41:53
at this particular range. Your toes Your toes are not spasming at all. Everything is fine. No, no. Nothing is spasm during And if
00:41:59
they were spasming, I would cover for it. I would just get kind of quiet on the zoom.
00:42:04
Slunk down a little bit. I'd be like in the frame come like this and Amy would go to herself. Is he
00:42:10
spasming right now? Yeah. Is he uh No, I feel I feel good. I do a
00:42:16
lot of counter measures for aging. I hydrate a lot. Oh, congrats.
00:42:24
[Music] You know, Dana, sometimes I think, you know, cuz we all write and uh we all
00:42:31
write comedy and write this and whatever, and sometimes, not just obviously comedies, but I'll watch a
00:42:36
show and I'll be like, "This is so [ __ ] complicated. I am not even in the same
00:42:41
uh genre. I I'm not a writer because the fact they have so many levels to these things and I go, "What is this dog [ __ ]
00:42:48
I write? Why am I called a writer? This is ridicul. I shouldn't even be in the guild." Well, we just do bite-size silly stuff
00:42:54
every Comedians don't really get awards. They don't generally don't win Oscars and we
00:43:01
have the American Comedy Awards anymore or Well, but you know what I you guys will be the right people to talk the right
00:43:06
people to talk to about this. What irritates me so much though is that once a year at least there's like someone
00:43:13
that we would all consider genuinely funny who gives a performance that's really good, you know, good acting performance
00:43:19
and people are always like wow and I'm like are you do you like I think
00:43:24
acting and comedy are so combined. They're so close, you know, like you one must be a
00:43:31
good actor to sell a bit, tell a joke to like there's I'm just I'm always
00:43:36
surprised that people are surprised that funny people can be good actors. Um, you
00:43:42
know, so rarely are good actors funny, but right, but funny people are often very good
00:43:49
actors. And I always think it's just I I think it I don't think they get I don't
00:43:54
think people get I don't think funny people it's such a rare commodity but if we were if comedy was outlawed I would love
00:44:01
to do drama or do do kind of realistic acting but it's this is what I do best I
00:44:07
guess it's just a rare rare thing and good comedy performances don't really get the old Oscars and stuff you
00:44:12
see like somebody not saying us just saying other people that are great at it and they do a great performance it's not
00:44:18
even considered I know. It's crazy. There's a reason they say, "Well, who said this? Dying is easy. Comedy is
00:44:25
hard." I know. That was like from the vaudeville or something. Is tough.
00:44:31
That's why I'm jealous of musicians because when musicians have to play an event, they just get up there and they
00:44:37
play their song. Like they play the song everybody wants that they they play the same song over and over again that
00:44:42
everybody wants them to play. And when you're when you're going up there trying to do something funny, people are like, "Give us something new. We don't want to
00:44:50
hear your usual stuff." Yeah. I'm like, "How about this? It's old." You can't repeat your bits. And then you
00:44:56
have to create rapport. And oh, it sucks. I always want to plug in a guitar
00:45:02
and oh my god, after every line, you're judged. If they don't laugh, even people
00:45:07
that aren't listening are like, "I guess it's not going well." But with musicians, here it is. Applause. Here's
00:45:12
the next one. applause, but there's no like I guess we did good. Do they yell out for you? Do you guys
00:45:19
yell out for you, David? Or does do they yell out your hits or they or they yell stuff? I get sort of a
00:45:25
sometimes a rowdier crowd. Uh D I mean T What's Amy? Uh Dana and I have done
00:45:31
corporates. Have you and Tina ever done a corporate? Oh yeah, I used to do Yes. Yes. And
00:45:37
there I mean and I used to I used to do a lot of we used to do a lot of corporate stuff for Second City back in the day
00:45:43
like you know and this was before anyone you know knew our names but we would have to go
00:45:48
we would get paid you know to like to to do jokes about you know oh John
00:45:54
Miller yeah vice President John Miller like he's got crazy hair and he loves cra you know wearing kooky ties and
00:46:00
everyone would be like that's me I'm John Miller and you just have to do all these like specific jokes
00:46:05
so hard. It's so hard. I work with him. That's true. It's so him. You're doing that.
00:46:11
He's got three balls and beats his wife. Say something about it.
00:46:16
I go in and my act. I don't know what to say. And then and then one guy laughs in the back. Yeah. And then everyone else
00:46:22
like, "Was that true? What?" It's one guy sets you up. Yeah. And then the meet and greet. I'm
00:46:27
sure you've had this, but I don't know if it's like alpha male stuff, but you're kind I'm this little guy and I was sort of the star of the show, but in
00:46:33
the meet and greet, I had these guys just really kind of [ __ ] whailing on my hand. I mean,
00:46:39
and maybe they've had a couple cocktails. I'm like, I'm like I had at one point then I got tennis elbows, more more ailments. So, I
00:46:46
had to do the fist bump or I had to kind of wave and they're like, I want to put my mitts in twine with your mitt and
00:46:52
squeeze, you know, and I'll show you who's boss. I'm like, you're boss. We don't even have to do this.
00:46:58
I go, I have frozen hand and Dana has frozen elbow and Amy has frozen shoulder.
00:47:03
But at least my screen hasn't frozen. So Amy, so you're going to therapy and
00:47:08
stuff. I mean, for first of all, just career-wise, I mean, do you have any bug? Are you you're going to try to do a
00:47:13
dramatic film or you're you're directing? You directed Wine Country, you're writing, you're producing [ __ ] I
00:47:20
mean, what doesn't she do? Whoops. Yeah. Don't be scared. New glasses. Don't run away from it.
00:47:27
She doesn't pay her taxes. Um, no. Um,
00:47:33
you just do a lot. You do a lot. Yeah. I have this production company called Paperkite. So, we produce a lot
00:47:38
of TV and film. I love I like doing a lot of different things. That's why um,
00:47:44
you know, and trying to stay uh, uh, trying to stay doing a lot of different
00:47:49
things because I find this business is very I mean, the strike is a perfect example of it. like it's really fickle.
00:47:55
It's really you have to stay you have to know how to pivot. So like I like acting and stuff and writing stuff and
00:48:01
directing stuff and and um so I try to kind of do you know whatever is the the
00:48:07
next thing I try to do is is different from what I just did. And but I haven't done I I've been more into writing and
00:48:14
directing than performing lately. And the tour has been really fun because it's gotten me back into being excited.
00:48:20
And this podcast has been fun because I just get to play like a character, but actually doing TV or doing movies like
00:48:27
it's so hard. It's so much time, so hard being on set. It's just takes up, as you
00:48:32
guys know, it just takes up your life. Movies are the hardest are such a chunk beginning, middle, end of your day.
00:48:38
And you know, um I I feel lucky like
00:48:44
had a show that I love that I couldn't imagine going to do something else right away. Then, you know, suddenly I'm
00:48:51
looking at whatever it is, like six, seven years later. But, so, yeah, I'm
00:48:57
just kind of doing whatever feels right to do next. And I'm so lucky, like you brought up Wine Country. I have such a
00:49:03
group of ladies. It's kind of like you guys. It's you guys with grown-ups. Like, it's just like I want to just keep
00:49:09
doing stuff with the women I love and they're so funny and they're so much fun. I mean, there's no better joy than
00:49:15
doing stuff with your friends. Like, that's success. And you, who was it? I like that. You know, I love I love this phrase. It's
00:49:21
been used a few times in this podcast. A murderer's row is such a funny, but it was a murderer's row on wine country.
00:49:29
You know, obviously my Rachel uh Anna.
00:49:35
Yes, we had a murderer's row in that movie. Paul, Emily Spivey, Anna Gastire, Rachel Drach, Tina Fay, Maya Rudolph.
00:49:41
But then when I was at SNL, I was lucky. I was in this group of um Will Forte,
00:49:47
Fred Armison, Bill her, Andy Samberg, Seth Meyers, like Christian Wig, that
00:49:52
all happened in my years too. Keenan Thompson, like it was just so that was
00:49:57
they were so talented. People were so so good and talented. And then when I look at those cast photos of who I got and
00:50:05
and also the beginnings and endings of my time there my endings it was like you know Will Frell um Chris Parnell and
00:50:13
then and that was the beginning and then when I was leaving you know Kate McKinnon was coming in and like all
00:50:19
these people were coming in that were so that's the cool thing is you just if you're lucky you get some overlap with
00:50:26
people that you just love and that's the best. I had one year with Will and got to watch him. Uh, one last
00:50:33
question from me and then Dana, whatever he wants. But you you you did Hillary and then was it Kate did it after you?
00:50:40
Yes. Yeah. And Anna, I think Anna Guesser did it before me maybe did
00:50:45
Hillary before me. Yeah, there was a bunch of them. And And I did it when um
00:50:52
when Downey was writing a lot of them. And then and then um
00:50:58
Yeah. And then we did when Palin that was like first she was running against
00:51:03
Barack you know for the to to win the thingy there and then Barack won the thingy
00:51:08
what what you call it nomination nomination. Yeah. Well first he won the nomination right. He beat Hillary and then Palin
00:51:15
showed up. So it was so fun to be able to do those two characters together because you don't get a lot of like
00:51:22
female politicians getting to even do scenes together half the time. Yeah.
00:51:28
So, that was super super fun to do and it it felt like it was everybody was
00:51:33
paying attention to that election. It was very, you know, I played Dennis I played Dennis Cusinich
00:51:39
one time and everyone was like, "Ah, look him up. Look him up if you don't know who he is."
00:51:44
Dennis Cusinich. Well, then it became a lot which I, you know, we asked Keenan this question and I've referred it a
00:51:51
couple times, you know, about great casts or great cast members and
00:51:56
and he just said the V MVP basically is the women of since the 90 late 90s and
00:52:03
we have Jan Hooks and Norah down our gener there's been so many dominant women and
00:52:08
even in later years now the women play the male politicians there all the rules are so that's that's kind of Cool. It's
00:52:16
progress, I suppose, for for for women. I mean, I I was very very lucky to be
00:52:21
dropped into that show at a time when Tina was the head writer and Molly and Sherry and Anna had just
00:52:28
left like they had just done so much great work and yeah, I mean, I just kept going. Just kept going.
00:52:34
Yeah. I I think that wasn't always the case. there were, you know, it everyone has their version of their experience
00:52:40
there. And I think there were stretches when women did not feel heard,
00:52:45
supported, um, encouraged, and I'm sure there still are places and stretches now
00:52:52
where like everyone has a completely different experience about their time there, but I felt like I lucked out in
00:53:00
that there were these like just killers that were there crushing that. I felt I
00:53:06
was part of that group and I, you know, I felt very lifted up by them. So, I was
00:53:12
very lucky. It feels like it's been wiped out. If there was ever, you know, some dude in
00:53:17
the 70s, you know, women aren't funny. Not Lauren, but somebody, you know, like women aren't as funny as why after Lucio Ball and
00:53:25
others, they would say that Carol Bernette, but it seems now it's like to me anyway being a baby boomer, it's
00:53:32
obliterated. This is a funny person. I don't think I'm watching a woman. I just go
00:53:37
they're funny. They're funny. So, I guess I'm calling it progress a little bit at least for and I would even I would even say to
00:53:44
expand it less about gender like I find the more talented you are the less most
00:53:49
unless you're Yeah. You're just not you're not uh that insecure. Like the funniest people I know love other funny
00:53:56
people. They that's what they love. They get drawn to other people's work regardless of
00:54:02
gender. Yeah. they don't care. But if it's it's people that like have their own stuff, they're working out and here
00:54:08
we are back to therapy. Dr. Sheila would be able to get these people in and talk
00:54:13
and say like, "I know you don't laugh at this person, but really what's the thing
00:54:19
about yourself that you're not not laughing at? What's they're not laughing at? What's part
00:54:25
about you that isn't funny that you're mad at the women that are funny? What are you mad about?" But I I I do
00:54:31
think, you know, kind of dovetailing back into the quas marine analogy or a
00:54:36
spree decor, but when you see somebody who makes you laugh or me personally who does this and knows how hard it is or
00:54:43
just some whimsical luck that something hits you and the rhythms are right and it works and then watching other people
00:54:48
do it and then really in your own mind going, "Well, they're doing it. They're doing it I think better than me." you
00:54:54
know, it's like and you kind of connect to them and if you meet them socially
00:54:59
places, there's a frequency there or a shortcut. It's a it's a great way of
00:55:04
communicating and sense of humor um is a good thing if you can have it, you know,
00:55:11
in friends and relationships. It just cuts across and anywhere I would be in
00:55:16
the world if a few comedians walked in, if it was any social awkward thing, uh
00:55:21
even if I knew him or didn't know him, I would instantly be a lot more comfortable. Yeah. At parties I go up I even those
00:55:28
big Oscar type you just zoom right over to the comedian. Anybody in the comedy world sort of gravitates together. Feel
00:55:34
like your own little group. Totally. It feel absolutely feel like you're part I mean I I really mean it.
00:55:40
Like I'm feel honored to be in a group um that you guys feel like you're in
00:55:46
too. I mean I feel like I would zoom right to you and Tina if I saw you out. I'd be like guys save save
00:55:51
me. What's going on? I'm saving this for them but I am a licensed therapist. I just it's a casual thing I got. And why do you feel that
00:55:59
way about your peers? Amy, why do you feel the need to ask? Yeah. Yeah.
00:56:05
Check. She's been practicing. My therapist helped me. The one thing she said was she basically says life is
00:56:13
a [ __ ] show. Don't get involved in this idea that these people are living these dream lives on Instagram or whatever.
00:56:19
It's all made up to to to live is to suffer and to embrace it. You're like, "Oh, cool. Okay, it's all right."
00:56:26
It's kind of like where we were talking about about SNL. You have to kind of believe that no one's really thinking
00:56:31
about you. Everyone's kind of thinking about themselves. And if you take the pressure off of yourself that
00:56:36
everybody's thinking about you, then you can have a good time. But most people are just thinking about themselves. You
00:56:41
know, life is hard and everyone's in their own head. It's the entire audience. Yeah. No one. And you know that we all know that we we
00:56:48
watch really successful people who kind of get what would you know be the platonic version of all the stuff
00:56:55
everyone would want and they're still just not happy. So happy is a is an elusive kind of
00:57:02
concept, you know, because going for content at this point if you're striving because it's not well
00:57:10
another cliche. So is it about the shiny things and the money or people talking to you at an airport? It ultimately it
00:57:17
is but landing the bit, right? I mean for me anyway. Well, David's different. He's coming up. Listen, coming up with
00:57:24
ideas or something that makes me laugh is like one of the last joys of like it's still something
00:57:31
works in your brain. You're like, oh, this is code of a joke or an angle and you go,
00:57:37
[ __ ] that. Little things like that are really mean a lot, you know? Yes, agree. And hopefully we can still
00:57:43
do it when we're like not able to stand up anymore, lift our shoulders. We'll do sit down.
00:57:51
You guys will do sit down. No matter what they say, if use it or lose it is a is a concept, you know. I
00:57:56
think the more you I mean I think trying to memorize your act like say you have kind of a new act. I was shooting a
00:58:02
special and just the the exhaustion of your brain it must be some kind of workout to
00:58:07
keep you articulate. Um or all things being equal because
00:58:12
you'll stay more fluid longer and doing this. You know when we started reading ads I was dyslexic or something.
00:58:19
Remember David in the early days I was like I couldn't really read them and now I've liquefied my ancient brain and now
00:58:25
I can I heard Amy doing her ads and I'm like this is liquid IV. I go I'm drinking one
00:58:32
now. I go this is this is similar but thank you Amy. Uh very nice of you to
00:58:38
take the time. We love it and we love we love talking to you and the the best part of this podcast we just
00:58:44
get to spend like a you know a focused hour getting to know you in 20 whatever
00:58:50
it is 23. It's a very boring time in America. Nothing's going on.
00:58:56
So it's good that we we can figure out something to talk about. Yeah. Um but anyway, well we'll see. I love
00:59:03
this is what I use because someone did it to me. see you around campus as if show business is a high school or
00:59:09
something. A that's cute. I love that. Hey guys, if you're loving this podcast,
00:59:14
which you are, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app, give us a review, fivestar rating, and maybe even
00:59:21
share an episode that you've loved with a friend. If you're watching this episode on YouTube, please subscribe. We're on
00:59:27
video now. Fly on the Wall is presented by Odyssey, an executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Heather
00:59:34
Santoro, and Greg Holtzman, Mattie Sprung Kaiser, and Leah Reese Dennis of
00:59:39
Odyssey. Our senior producer is Greg Holtzman, and the show is produced and edited by Phil Sweet Tech. Booking by
00:59:46
Cultivated Entertainment. Special thanks to Patrick Fogerty, Evan Cox, Mora
00:59:52
Curran, Melissa Wester, Hillary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Colin Gainner, Shan
00:59:59
Cherry, Kurt Courtourtney, and Lauren Vieiraa. Reach out with us any questions to be asked and answered on the show.
01:00:06
You can email us at fly onthealla.com. That's audacy.com.

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Episode Highlights

  • Amy Poehler's Podcast
    Amy Poehler shares hilarious stories from her SNL days and more.
    “Everybody knows, everybody loves her.”
    @ 00m 11s
    October 09, 2025
  • Comedy After 9/11
    Amy discusses the challenges of making comedy in a post-9/11 world.
    “Will we ever laugh again?”
    @ 08m 47s
    October 09, 2025
  • The Long Island Ladies Sketch
    Amy and Maya's iconic sketch showcases their brilliant chemistry and character work.
    “It was beautiful to watch that sketch.”
    @ 11m 56s
    October 09, 2025
  • The Challenges of Touring
    Traveling for shows can be a real struggle, filled with unexpected problems.
    “You just want to get high five like I got here.”
    @ 23m 58s
    October 09, 2025
  • Frozen Shoulder Experience
    Discussing the painful reality of frozen shoulder and its impact on daily life.
    “I just feel really [ __ ] old.”
    @ 27m 51s
    October 09, 2025
  • Cold Dipping Benefits
    Cold plunges have become a game changer for health and recovery.
    “I think you and Tina should do 10 minutes in a cold plunge doing update on stage.”
    @ 31m 16s
    October 09, 2025
  • Childhood Movie Memories
    Reflecting on how intense movies shaped childhood experiences and understanding of life.
    “I learned about Vietnam. I learned about prisoners of war.”
    @ 36m 50s
    October 09, 2025
  • The Pressure of Performance
    Comedians face intense pressure to deliver new material and create rapport with audiences.
    “After every line, you're judged. If they don't laugh...”
    @ 45m 02s
    October 09, 2025
  • Navigating the Industry
    The entertainment industry is fickle, requiring constant adaptation and pivoting.
    “You have to stay... know how to pivot.”
    @ 47m 44s
    October 09, 2025
  • The Joy of Collaboration
    Working with friends in comedy brings unparalleled joy and success.
    “There's no better joy than doing stuff with your friends.”
    @ 49m 15s
    October 09, 2025

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • SNL Memories01:54
  • Comedy Challenges08:47
  • Long Island Ladies11:43
  • Touring Struggles24:10
  • Frozen Shoulder27:51
  • Childhood Movies36:50
  • Women in Comedy52:03
  • Life Lessons56:13

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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