Speaker 1: My favorite experiences with fans is when they think we've
Speaker 1: gone to school together or something. That's my favorite. Like
Speaker 1: I had one where a woman said we know each
Speaker 1: other and I said dewey, and she goes, we went
Speaker 1: to school thegither and I was like, I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't think we did, and she went, yes we did.
Speaker 1: And it was like that thing of like why am
Speaker 1: I being awkward about it? And where did you go
Speaker 1: to school? And she said some school and I went,
Speaker 1: I did not go to that school and she went,
Speaker 1: yes you did, and like I was like okay, and
Speaker 1: then I left and I could see that either someone else,
Speaker 1: someone else has been like you don't know that person.
Speaker 1: You just thought that it was at the Airport bookshop.
Speaker 1: And then through the window you saw them being like silence,
Speaker 1: being like, oh god, it was great. Oh. I'm John
Speaker 1: Krasinski and I played Jim Helpert on The Office. Hi,
Speaker 1: I'm Craig Robinson and I played Darryl on The Office.
Speaker 1: Hi everyb and welcome back to Off the Beat, a
Speaker 1: very special episode of Off the Beat. I am your host,
Speaker 1: Brian baum Gartner. Now this is a pretty special week. Right,
Speaker 1: It's October, We're we're nearing all hollows eve, if you will.
Speaker 1: But also this week, many many many moons ago, two
Speaker 1: of my absolute favorite people on the planet. We're born
Speaker 1: John Krasinski, who you know Jim Halpert from the Office,
Speaker 1: and Craig Robinson, who played everybody's favorite warehouse foreman Darryl Philban.
Speaker 1: This year, well, I I have decided to put myself
Speaker 1: in charge of the party planning committee. That's right, somebody
Speaker 1: had to pick up the mantle. And I thought that
Speaker 1: a great way to celebrate my friends would be to
Speaker 1: go into the archives and revisit some of my conversations
Speaker 1: with them. So that's why I'm gonna do. And you listeners,
Speaker 1: you're in for a treat because these guys and our conversations,
Speaker 1: they were pretty they were pretty great. First, we're gonna
Speaker 1: go to John. Now you may not know this, but
Speaker 1: John and I we don't live so close together anymore.
Speaker 1: So I traveled all the way across the country to
Speaker 1: New York City to meet him and to have this conversation.
Speaker 1: And I have to say, from the moment that I
Speaker 1: saw him, it was like zero time had passed. Now
Speaker 1: these days, we've been in touch quite a lot because,
Speaker 1: as you know we're in football season and the office
Speaker 1: Fantasy Football league is it. It's eighteenth year. We're in
Speaker 1: full swing, almost halfway through the season. I need to
Speaker 1: update you. J K and I are tied. We're both
Speaker 1: three and three. I have a few more points. I'm
Speaker 1: in fourth, He's in fifth. It's a race to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: But worth noting Rain dead last twelfth place, and I
Speaker 1: always need to bring up Rain's position, especially when he
Speaker 1: is failing this year very very hard. Happy birthday, John,
Speaker 1: I hope you all enjoy this best of off the
Speaker 1: beat here. He is my pal, John Krasinski. Bubble and Squeak.
Speaker 1: I love it. Bubble and squeak on Bubble and Squeaker
Speaker 1: cookie every month, left over from the night before. He
Speaker 1: body just never Thanks for choosing to kill floor to
Speaker 1: record this. Hey, what do you mean the little scariest darst?
Speaker 1: I actually agree. I got out and looked I right
Speaker 1: and was like, where I think I'm in the wrong spot? Oh,
Speaker 1: what's up are you doing? Dude? What's your hats? Um?
Speaker 1: How are you? By the way, just so you know
Speaker 1: this is not Rebecca. I just want to teach you
Speaker 1: about things when you were like found a place in Tribeca.
Speaker 1: I didn't say that. I said this is this is horrible.
Speaker 1: We're recording this on the Statland. It's literally horrible to
Speaker 1: get here. I ended up getting out of my car
Speaker 1: and walked because I'm still taking you in. I'm just
Speaker 1: drinking you in. You have not changed. It's really frustrating
Speaker 1: what everyone says that I really feel like I have. No,
Speaker 1: you haven't. I certainly am. You have a lot. I'm elderly.
Speaker 1: Why would you say that I feel elderly? Else I
Speaker 1: can't even say elderly. What's with the intense beer though? Um?
Speaker 1: It started with laziness and then turned into winter, so
Speaker 1: it's just insulation. Really, gotta be honest. My wife I
Speaker 1: was gonna shave it, and she went, don't do that,
Speaker 1: so she liked it. Hello, Um, I can't you know
Speaker 1: I love No, I like it. No, I'm saying I
Speaker 1: love it here here in New York just too cold.
Speaker 1: We've moved on from the beard. Okay, well you talked
Speaker 1: about winter. I thought that was a seamless transition. Get
Speaker 1: ready for a lot of those I love it here.
Speaker 1: You should move here. It's really cold and it's literally
Speaker 1: the opposite of what you want. There's not a lot
Speaker 1: of golf. You've really done the post office thing, right,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that. What do you mean, just you know,
Speaker 1: show ends. You just become this like golfing extraordinaire. Like
Speaker 1: people don't know that I was over in Monte Carlo, Monica, Monica, Monica,
Speaker 1: one of those ms. Yeah, that's Carlo and Monico. I
Speaker 1: think it's kind of the same thing. I'm not clear of.
Speaker 1: All I know is that I heard that you were there.
Speaker 1: I texted you and you said, I'm going, oh my god,
Speaker 1: this is great. I'm about to golf on a cliff
Speaker 1: overlooking like nice or something. It was like cool, man,
Speaker 1: sorry about your life. Um, look at that you had notes?
Speaker 1: Is so official? No, no, I mean this is let's
Speaker 1: get back to it. You've now gotten everybody almost other
Speaker 1: than Steve basically, Uh yeah, Mike, sure, I'm gonna start
Speaker 1: making this noise. I'm sure I'm gonna get that note
Speaker 1: pretty soon. Yep, that's a nod in the back. Alison Jones.
Speaker 1: Did you get Phillis? Yep? And I got them together
Speaker 1: as Ah, that's awesome. Alison knew Phillis did not. Man, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they were like mystics. They knew what was happening before
Speaker 1: we did. In the casting process. They knew they were
Speaker 1: cooking something. But you started in New York, I did, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so you just it was like what an open call
Speaker 1: or you got called into I got, wow, the elderly
Speaker 1: thing's taken it. I got I had just gotten a manager.
Speaker 1: I had gone out to l A to shoot this
Speaker 1: pilot and then they immediately didn't pick it up. And
Speaker 1: before I left l A, my manager said you should
Speaker 1: meet this person, Alison Jones. So I went by and
Speaker 1: met her and wanted her to adopt me. And then
Speaker 1: she said, you should pay attention to this thing coming
Speaker 1: out soon and it's called The Office and you should
Speaker 1: you should come in for it. And I said, oh,
Speaker 1: that's really nice. So I got back to New York
Speaker 1: and about three weeks later my manager called and said,
Speaker 1: they want you to come in for the show called
Speaker 1: The Office. And I was like, Alison Jones pro and
Speaker 1: they said they want you to come in for the
Speaker 1: role of Dwight. And at that point I had seen
Speaker 1: and fallen in love with the British show. I was
Speaker 1: down at Virgin Records. Remember that I was down at
Speaker 1: Virgin Records and Union Square buying the like black DVD
Speaker 1: case with this special edition and just binge watching that thing.
Speaker 1: And that's what made me so nervous, so that I
Speaker 1: actually said, I don't know where I got I was
Speaker 1: still waiting tables, and I don't know where I got
Speaker 1: the confidence to go, yeah, no, I don't want to
Speaker 1: go in for Dwight. Let me know when they're doing
Speaker 1: the Tim character. And they basically said like, how dare you?
Speaker 1: Who are you? And my manager did say he was
Speaker 1: like wow, that didn't go great. They were very upset,
Speaker 1: and then, very luckily for me, like four three four
Speaker 1: weeks later, they still hadn't found a gym, and then
Speaker 1: they were like, now you can come in for Jim
Speaker 1: and I was like okay, and then I went in
Speaker 1: trying to remember I guess I did one just with
Speaker 1: the casting people. It was totally terrified, because not only
Speaker 1: was I excited about the prospect of getting the part,
Speaker 1: but I was also very nervous, Oh my god, I
Speaker 1: don't want to be on one of those shows that
Speaker 1: because I was such a TV nerd, and I remember
Speaker 1: like Arrest of Development was coming out around then and
Speaker 1: that was really good and smart, and I was like,
Speaker 1: oh no, we're going to take a really good, smart
Speaker 1: show and kill it. And while I was waiting in
Speaker 1: the waiting room, six gyms that looked identical to me
Speaker 1: had gone in and done their audition and left, and
Speaker 1: we're like high fiving each other, and I was the
Speaker 1: last one, and right at that exact moment, they were like,
Speaker 1: we're gonna take a lunch break for an hour, and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, maybe see one more and we
Speaker 1: get one more in and I sat there very nervous,
Speaker 1: and everybody left. It was at thirty rock, and then
Speaker 1: they came back with sandwiches and salads and someone sat
Speaker 1: down across from me with a salad and said, you
Speaker 1: know you're nervous, and I said, no, you know, you
Speaker 1: either get these things or you don't. But I'm terrified
Speaker 1: for the person creating a show, because I mean, I
Speaker 1: I just feel like Americans have such a track record
Speaker 1: of taking brilliant shows and ruining them. And he goes,
Speaker 1: I'll try not to. My name is Greg Daniels. I'm
Speaker 1: the executive ucer. And then I called my manager and said,
Speaker 1: I'm going to leave now. There's no way I can
Speaker 1: go into this room. And he was like you have to,
Speaker 1: you have to go in, and you know, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: And I went in and I remember opening the door
Speaker 1: to a rorious laughter, and it was not laughter with me,
Speaker 1: it was definitely laughter at me. And Greg was running
Speaker 1: the room and very sweetly but just like this is
Speaker 1: the guy who ruined his own life, and everybody was
Speaker 1: like laughing, and it, weirdly was this bizarre blessing because
Speaker 1: because they were already laughing, I felt like I was
Speaker 1: already in my audition when I walked in, So I
Speaker 1: just kept going and read some lines and they laughed.
Speaker 1: And then later I remember Greg saying, I'll never forget that.
Speaker 1: You told me that it really helped your audition because
Speaker 1: you were really honest, and I remember I, that's the
Speaker 1: vibe that I want on this show, someone who will
Speaker 1: be honest and make sure that we're all doing good work.
Speaker 1: And I was like totally. So now I go into
Speaker 1: every audition for anything just being like, so this movie
Speaker 1: sucks all right, hasn't worked since. But but the weirdest
Speaker 1: thing was I came and I didn't know this that
Speaker 1: there's a dynamic between New York actors and l A actors.
Speaker 1: Did you know this, it's like sharks and sets, Like
Speaker 1: the New York actors go first because they flew in
Speaker 1: for it. And I remember Jim Gaffigan was on my
Speaker 1: plane auditioning for Steve's part, and we were all in
Speaker 1: this room doing auditions, and I remember I got really
Speaker 1: nervous because we had been auditioning for like two hours,
Speaker 1: and then they like slowly were letting New York people go.
Speaker 1: And then I watched all the l A people come
Speaker 1: in and was just completely judging myself on them. Man,
Speaker 1: I'm having like a an acid flashback. But two people
Speaker 1: walked in that really blew my brain out. One was
Speaker 1: bj Novak, who I hadn't seen really since high school.
Speaker 1: We went to high school together, right, so you knew him,
Speaker 1: and he walked in. He walked Yeah. I mean, imagine
Speaker 1: like somebody from your high school walking into a bizarre scenario.
Speaker 1: Already you're in some weird bizarro world auditioning to be
Speaker 1: doing something pretend for the rest of your life, and
Speaker 1: then that person walks in. It was an acid trip
Speaker 1: and I was like hey, And then I got more
Speaker 1: nervous because he acted and directed and everything in high school,
Speaker 1: like he was already in and I was barely an actor.
Speaker 1: I mean I wasn't an actor. I was a waiter.
Speaker 1: And I was like, what part are you going out for?
Speaker 1: And he was like, Oh, we're going I'm doing this
Speaker 1: part called Ryan It's like and I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're not going for gym? Then I might say, other
Speaker 1: shot at this, and then I was like cool man,
Speaker 1: that's awesome, and was super like giving myself a fist pump.
Speaker 1: And then I know it sounds like a like a
Speaker 1: fairy tale, but it's true. I remember Jenni Fisher walking
Speaker 1: in and as soon as she crossed the threshold on
Speaker 1: the door, I was like, well, that's it, Like that
Speaker 1: is exactly who should play Pam. And then what happened
Speaker 1: was I watched her go in with all the other
Speaker 1: gyms and I was like, oh no, because like I
Speaker 1: saw that they were just lining up the gyms with her,
Speaker 1: and I was like, see, she's it's the tipping point.
Speaker 1: She's it. And I remember saying to myself alone in
Speaker 1: a corner, Uh, if I don't go in with her,
Speaker 1: I know I don't have it. I know I don't
Speaker 1: have it. And I never went in with her. And
Speaker 1: then four hours after they had like go of all
Speaker 1: the New York guys. I was sitting there and stood
Speaker 1: up and walked on set while they were in the
Speaker 1: middle of someone's audition, and I was like, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna leave now. I think you forgot to let
Speaker 1: me go home. And from behind a door like a
Speaker 1: fake wall, they were like all right, and then like
Speaker 1: Greg came out and they're like, just give us thirty
Speaker 1: more minutes, and I was like, and I was so insecure,
Speaker 1: and then I turned around. I waited another fifteen twenty minutes,
Speaker 1: and they were like one more, just come on in.
Speaker 1: And I walked in and I saw that it was Jenna,
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh my god, if I'm auditioning
Speaker 1: with her, I'm back. You have a shot. And we
Speaker 1: did a scene together that was awesome, and I remember
Speaker 1: having so much fun with it. I think it was
Speaker 1: at the copier. I think I think it was one
Speaker 1: at the desk and one at the copier, and we
Speaker 1: just had to improv about stuff. And then we were
Speaker 1: walking out and I turned to her and I was like,
Speaker 1: just so you know you're gonna get the part. I
Speaker 1: know you're gonna get the part, and she was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I said the same thing about you.
Speaker 1: As soon as I saw you. I was like, that's
Speaker 1: Jim and it was really weird and I was like
Speaker 1: all right, And again I don't know why this happened,
Speaker 1: but when I got the part, which was amazing, I
Speaker 1: legit jumped on a couch did and think that that
Speaker 1: was real? And the only question I asked my manager
Speaker 1: at the time was did Jennificer get it? It was
Speaker 1: like I didn't even get fully happy until I knew
Speaker 1: that she was doing the part because I was like,
Speaker 1: if she's the part, then again, it's just that one
Speaker 1: more step where like this might be good. It's so
Speaker 1: interesting because that a four hour story and that was
Speaker 1: really good. But what it um, it's interesting. I had
Speaker 1: never heard this before. Greg said she was she was
Speaker 1: it from the beginning. Yeah, it's weird, right like and
Speaker 1: look is just so perfect for it. But then also
Speaker 1: like I don't know, man, they were selling in her
Speaker 1: delivery how like I don't know what the word is,
Speaker 1: like demure or something. And she was so good. I
Speaker 1: remember being so nervous when I was auditioning with her
Speaker 1: because I was like, she was so subdued and under
Speaker 1: where I was like, oh my god, I'm I'm like,
Speaker 1: she's doing like physical comedy bits compared to you. So
Speaker 1: I just went super submerged and was like by the
Speaker 1: end just being like like barely talking. So so does
Speaker 1: she help you? Oh? For sure? Because again I knew
Speaker 1: that my chance, my only chance, was with her, And
Speaker 1: as soon as I started acting with her, I was like, dude,
Speaker 1: this is the one. Don't blow this. So talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about you're a fan of the British show.
Speaker 1: We start work on a ratings are not good, but
Speaker 1: are you feeling good about what we were doing? Oh
Speaker 1: my god, yeah, I think you know, shooting the pilot,
Speaker 1: we were all a little nervous, right, I think so
Speaker 1: we all felt like, oh my god, we're gonna be
Speaker 1: judged on the actual British script. At least that's what
Speaker 1: I felt. But I was just so happy to be there.
Speaker 1: I knew the group was working really well. I knew
Speaker 1: the show like our like you said, the world was
Speaker 1: really good, the vibe was really good, all the actors
Speaker 1: were incredible, and I gotta be honest, it was probably
Speaker 1: one of the reasons why I was able to keep
Speaker 1: a level head because I didn't care if the show
Speaker 1: did well or not, because I asked, what's his name?
Speaker 1: Oh my god, um, the executive that came every Friday,
Speaker 1: and that like, super handsome dude. I'm gonna remember his name.
Speaker 1: He was so nice. No, no, no, he's super handsome
Speaker 1: as well. No, Jeff Engl, I gotta I gotta take
Speaker 1: a nap after pulling that. Jeff was the nicest guy.
Speaker 1: But don't you remember he would come down super nice,
Speaker 1: dressed well, handsome ass guy and I'd be like, what's up,
Speaker 1: Jap And he's like, oh, great, I love this episode.
Speaker 1: This will be the last one. And I was like oh,
Speaker 1: and he's like, yeah, it's just not getting the ratings
Speaker 1: and the and the network doesn't get it. I love it,
Speaker 1: but this is gonna be the last one. He said
Speaker 1: that every week of the first season, those first six
Speaker 1: are six totalt just every week, and so on the
Speaker 1: like fifth week, I said to him, can you make
Speaker 1: me a DVD so I can give it to my
Speaker 1: mom so she at least knows that what I was
Speaker 1: doing out here was real and that I wasn't like
Speaker 1: living under a bridge I'm And he said, yes, I
Speaker 1: still have that DVD that he wrote hand wrote on
Speaker 1: it the Office episodes one through six, So that's kind
Speaker 1: of all I cared about, was like, I definitely want
Speaker 1: to show my friends because this will be one of
Speaker 1: those things that's brilliant but canceled. And I want to
Speaker 1: show my mom and I want her to know that
Speaker 1: I'm okay. But I'll tell you I do know when
Speaker 1: it changed for me was I used to go to
Speaker 1: this same dinner every morning with my buddy Danny, and
Speaker 1: on a Wednesday, because we used to air on Tuesdays.
Speaker 1: I think that at that time, I walked it on
Speaker 1: a Wednesday morning and the same diner, same people. We're
Speaker 1: now looking up and be like, that's that's to do
Speaker 1: from that show and it was sexual Harassment had aired
Speaker 1: the night before. I at least that was my moment
Speaker 1: that I've really knew something had changed, like people were
Speaker 1: watching and it started. It was weird because I was
Speaker 1: really happy about it, obviously, but I was also a
Speaker 1: little freaked out because that's sort of like secret club
Speaker 1: that we had was no longer secret. Obviously, it was
Speaker 1: great that the secret cove was not secret, but it
Speaker 1: was like a big transition for me. I remember that
Speaker 1: it took me a while too that people knew who
Speaker 1: I was was very weird. I also remember this moment
Speaker 1: I was walking here in New York and I was
Speaker 1: walking through and this guy put his hand up real
Speaker 1: fast in my face and I thought I was getting assaulted.
Speaker 1: And he was like, you're on my iPod, dude, And
Speaker 1: I was like, what is an iPod? What are you
Speaker 1: showing me? And there was my dumb face on his
Speaker 1: whatever was like an inch by an inch or two
Speaker 1: video iPod, big dial, big dial. That was trippy for me. Interesting.
Speaker 1: And then the third and final thing was when we
Speaker 1: got parodied on SNL. Remember Fred Armison did a weekend
Speaker 1: update piece. He was pretending to be Steve Jobs or
Speaker 1: was he talking about Steve Jobs. I think he was
Speaker 1: pretending to be Steve Jobs. And he kept saying iPod
Speaker 1: and he was going iPod the office at Apple, the office, iPod,
Speaker 1: iPod the office. And I remember that laughing really hard
Speaker 1: because I loved everything Fred did, but I was also like,
Speaker 1: whoa if we're being parodied on S and L, this
Speaker 1: is big, I think for me. The first Christmas episode
Speaker 1: that we did, that's kind of when the video iPod
Speaker 1: came out, there was a deal with Apple as you
Speaker 1: as you reference that we were going to be on there,
Speaker 1: and that's when we were in. Our second season was
Speaker 1: like six episodes, four episodessodes one more zero confidence. And
Speaker 1: then I remember Greg saying it all, you know. I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people get to say, you know,
Speaker 1: we owe it all to our fans, but I think
Speaker 1: we might be the only show who actually owes it
Speaker 1: all to our fans. Because Greg told me that when
Speaker 1: people started paying for shows that they could watch for
Speaker 1: free on their TV, then they had to pick up
Speaker 1: the show. And I remember being like what that was
Speaker 1: just so mind blowing to me. Yeah. One of the
Speaker 1: things that we've been talking about are like comedy duos, right,
Speaker 1: And we talked about the ensemble, and it is like
Speaker 1: the greater ensemble, but also like the pairings, like the
Speaker 1: accountants Michael and Dwight, Dwight and Jim, you know, and
Speaker 1: and how all of those things the smaller groups work together.
Speaker 1: That's when I think the show became stratospheric, is when
Speaker 1: you guys started having real storylines, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Like I remember when like Creed had a big storyline
Speaker 1: for the first time, and I was like, this is it, man,
Speaker 1: This is like painting pictures with the four primary colors
Speaker 1: or using everything you have in the palette, and how
Speaker 1: much more beautiful. I remember feeling that the show is
Speaker 1: like genuinely lifting off because like everyone, you know, all
Speaker 1: those bullpen scenes got so much funnier when everybody was involved,
Speaker 1: like Diversity Day, Diversity that which was the second episode,
Speaker 1: but it's crazy. That's when I knew that we were
Speaker 1: doing something different than the British. I might have even
Speaker 1: said it's a rain or Jenna. I was like, whoa.
Speaker 1: Like the fact that we're being this sort of on
Speaker 1: the edge and it's so funny and making such a
Speaker 1: great social commentary using Steve as the the sort of
Speaker 1: boob character. It was so next level like that. That's
Speaker 1: when I realized, like, oh, if I wasn't on this show,
Speaker 1: I would be obsessed with this show. I remember when
Speaker 1: Larry Wilmore said my name is Mr Brown, he goes,
Speaker 1: I'm not calling you that. I lost my mind. That
Speaker 1: joke was so good. That was b J wrote that right, yea,
Speaker 1: so good. But you um the Gem and Dwight stuff
Speaker 1: and specifically what everybody talks about are the pranks and
Speaker 1: the two of you guys working together. Why do you
Speaker 1: think you two worked so well together. I don't know
Speaker 1: either the characters or the you know, the actors, you
Speaker 1: and Rain well. I mean, I think obviously there's some
Speaker 1: version of the old adage of polar opposites are always great.
Speaker 1: You know. Whatever happens when you put two polar opposite
Speaker 1: characters together is sort of magical because it's the odd couple,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And I think that the
Speaker 1: beauty of our show that I really remember being so
Speaker 1: special is when pretty early on, they would allow Rain's
Speaker 1: character to have heart and he felt bad for him
Speaker 1: at times, and then he totally not make you feel
Speaker 1: bad for him because he'd be doing crazy stuff. But
Speaker 1: I remember that that really helped me with the pranks
Speaker 1: because it wasn't just being mean to him because pranks
Speaker 1: are easy, you know what I mean. I think pranks
Speaker 1: are kind of the easiest form of jokes. I don't
Speaker 1: mean on our show, I'm saying, like doing a prank
Speaker 1: to someone because it's fishing a barrel kind of you know.
Speaker 1: But I think that what the writers did so well
Speaker 1: was make those pranks kind of loving and like brotherly,
Speaker 1: Like there was a brother aspect to it that I
Speaker 1: think made them so great because I wasn't being mean.
Speaker 1: I was doing something that I he kind of got
Speaker 1: to kick out of two. I don't know that that's
Speaker 1: my theory on it, but I think that he was
Speaker 1: everything I didn't want to be, or so I thought.
Speaker 1: We were in the scenes together coming from two totally
Speaker 1: different places, and that's what was so cool, like the
Speaker 1: weird explosive thing, and it was one of those things
Speaker 1: where you know, I think that when you put yourself
Speaker 1: as an audience member and you're like, I think this
Speaker 1: is funny. I knew this is what I would want
Speaker 1: to see, is me trying to tell him something and
Speaker 1: him being annoying. Or the best is when we teamed up,
Speaker 1: when we did when we did stuff together and we
Speaker 1: were a team, that was great. That stuff was amazing,
Speaker 1: like those those talking heads where we do together. Don't
Speaker 1: think I was professional once in those because when I
Speaker 1: sat in a chair next to him, that weird energy
Speaker 1: radiated off of him and I just started laughing. I'm
Speaker 1: a crier laugher, and I had like that high pitched
Speaker 1: girl laughter. That's what made rain so good. Is he
Speaker 1: he was able to remember. We always used to laugh
Speaker 1: because he had this look on his face that he'd
Speaker 1: give to me that would make me break every time.
Speaker 1: And by the way, it's like his face didn't even move,
Speaker 1: but like some energy came out and I would laugh
Speaker 1: every time. He would do this like really funny, kind
Speaker 1: of like dumb face at me, and I would laugh
Speaker 1: every time, and it's funny. It's almost like he, of
Speaker 1: all people, made the lines feel like improv. Him and
Speaker 1: Steve I think made the lines feel the most like
Speaker 1: they were improving. You know, you're a part of my
Speaker 1: favorite moment of shooting ever. People always asked me, what's
Speaker 1: the hardest you ever laughed on set? Without a doubt,
Speaker 1: it's when you sat on his lap. When you sat
Speaker 1: on his lap and his improv with you. I think
Speaker 1: you can see it on the out takes, right. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it's the funniest. And by the way, to your point again,
Speaker 1: you're right they always went to you for a button
Speaker 1: because any time they went to me for a button
Speaker 1: and Steve was doing improv, I was not there physically not.
Speaker 1: I remember Matt Soon going just just let me know,
Speaker 1: are you gonna be there? And I was like no,
Speaker 1: because I would laugh so hard that I had to
Speaker 1: walk off set into the diving they office and I
Speaker 1: was just the most unprofessional and they would you were
Speaker 1: doing such good work, and he said something about like
Speaker 1: attaching balloons to you or something, and they whipped to
Speaker 1: me and I was like, dude, don't do it. I'm
Speaker 1: only going to fail you. And that was one of
Speaker 1: the only times that I just literally gave up on
Speaker 1: doing my job. And then he pretended that his legs
Speaker 1: were asleep. Yeah, but his voice changed when you sat
Speaker 1: on his lap. Well, that's that's the thing that I
Speaker 1: always that I always say to people was and it
Speaker 1: was right in my ear. It was right in my ear.
Speaker 1: And he I would go, kill what would you like
Speaker 1: a little and it was like this inhalation of air. Jeez,
Speaker 1: I didn't know you were going to ask me that.
Speaker 1: And he goes, well, thank quicker like that. And remember
Speaker 1: when he started banging his head on the glass. Oh,
Speaker 1: that whole improv And I remember, God bless Steve. He
Speaker 1: used to get so frustrated, not really, but like I know,
Speaker 1: I was a pain in the aster room because I
Speaker 1: would laughed so hard, and some of them He'd be
Speaker 1: doing the most genius stuff and I'd be in a
Speaker 1: two shot with him ruining the take and he was like,
Speaker 1: come on, man, maybe don't laugh on this one. So
Speaker 1: nice about it. But also it was like I'd like
Speaker 1: to go home. And yeah, The Office was constructed in
Speaker 1: the opposite way than most comedies, or certainly television comedies,
Speaker 1: where typically the leads are the young lovers and then
Speaker 1: you've got a crazy uncle or the crazy boss that
Speaker 1: that is back in the corner. No, um, this show
Speaker 1: was the reverse, which which is which? Which was putting
Speaker 1: and specifically the moments and examining like why Jim and Pam,
Speaker 1: like why that relationship became so important to people and
Speaker 1: so charged? Was people weren't watching a half hour of it.
Speaker 1: They were just stealing a moment from the corner, which
Speaker 1: makes you like I want to lean forward. And the
Speaker 1: other thing was there's an idea that when you generalize,
Speaker 1: it becomes more universal, right, like this is generally who
Speaker 1: this guy is from this midwestern town. But the amount
Speaker 1: of specificity and reality both in those moments between Jim
Speaker 1: and Dwight and Jim and Pam. The opposite is true
Speaker 1: that the more specific you get that the characters become
Speaker 1: infinitely more real and therefore universal and relatable. To me,
Speaker 1: that idea is is interesting. No, I think it's I
Speaker 1: think it's really true, and I think that's sort of
Speaker 1: the magic trick of the show is. And I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know the specifics of why it's so huge now.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's mind blowing to me. A four year
Speaker 1: old came up to me at the airport and was like,
Speaker 1: it's my favorite show and I was like, do you
Speaker 1: get any of it? And they're like, yeah, like it
Speaker 1: totally universal, like you said. But I also think that
Speaker 1: the stakes were set up so wonderfully because that's real life, right.
Speaker 1: I think when you're in love with someone, especially someone
Speaker 1: at work, you very much look forward to those interactions
Speaker 1: at work. But that means that when you go home,
Speaker 1: in your home life with your friends or whatever else
Speaker 1: you're doing, you will not see that person. So you
Speaker 1: are sort of, I don't know, tantalized by the idea
Speaker 1: that like, when I get that moment, I'll savor it.
Speaker 1: And I think that's real life, and that's what we
Speaker 1: did in the show. I particularly, I'm thinking right now
Speaker 1: about the relationship with Roy you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It's like it's like lighting a fuse that might blow
Speaker 1: six weeks from now, but it was a very specific fuse. Right,
Speaker 1: So the first time you saw me and David together,
Speaker 1: people were like, oh, okay, so you just told me
Speaker 1: that this is a potentially explosive thing, and then we
Speaker 1: didn't go into it. You'd reference him a couple of times,
Speaker 1: and it was very specific references. And she said that
Speaker 1: he brought me to the game and left me at
Speaker 1: the arena, like things like that, where you're just slowly
Speaker 1: leading the breadcrumbs back to the trigger, and then by
Speaker 1: the time he comes in and pushes me, you're so
Speaker 1: invested in that. Not in a television way. I think
Speaker 1: in like a like these people are my friends, oh right,
Speaker 1: my friend, as much as I love them together, is
Speaker 1: trying to go after a girl who's taken. That's real
Speaker 1: life steaks rather than TV steaks. And I think that's
Speaker 1: what made it like the first time that we accidentally
Speaker 1: kissed at Dundees and like that's real life, whereas a
Speaker 1: regular television show would have a big, huge kiss scene
Speaker 1: like they finally got together, and it was I remember
Speaker 1: reading that script and being like man, that is so
Speaker 1: smart that have the audience be like did they just
Speaker 1: kiss and it's and not give them what they thought
Speaker 1: they want. It was so because that's how I felt.
Speaker 1: I felt like, oh my god, I thought we were
Speaker 1: gonna do some huge kissing and instead she just did
Speaker 1: it at Dundeees and you're like, oh my god. And
Speaker 1: of course I would have stewed on that for months
Speaker 1: and been like, was that that count? Was she just drunk?
Speaker 1: Rather than if it was a big kiss scene where
Speaker 1: I took her out back and like, you know, made
Speaker 1: some huge overture, you'd be like, oh good, I'm being
Speaker 1: entertained by this moment. But I don't feel anything. I'm
Speaker 1: not connected. I don't know if any of that made sense. No,
Speaker 1: that's so smart. I think I um. I think people
Speaker 1: see themselves in the show, and it's a combination I
Speaker 1: would imagine of every character. You know. I don't think
Speaker 1: you look at one character and you go like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm Michael. I hope you're not Michael. But it's more like, oh, man,
Speaker 1: I have a co worker that loves cats, and I
Speaker 1: have a coworker that drives me insane. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's it, and certainly people have bosses that are crazy, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's what you were talking about, I think is so true.
Speaker 1: I had a conversation with Greg where traditional sitcoms there's
Speaker 1: a rhythm, there's a rhythm to the joke, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's totally on the beat. And I think that in
Speaker 1: the relationship between Jim and Pam, everything happened off of
Speaker 1: the beat, not at the time you expected, right from
Speaker 1: way early, like right like in terms of like the progression.
Speaker 1: But then also what Greg talked about a little bit
Speaker 1: was once it got to a certain point that he
Speaker 1: was like, well, we need to get them together, Like
Speaker 1: I'm not going to create artificial impediments that make everybody
Speaker 1: go like come on, because I think he had brought
Speaker 1: this audience in to a very seemingly realistic relationship. So
Speaker 1: if you started doing weird things that felt fake, then
Speaker 1: people wouldn't relate to it anymore. I'm saying, like, I
Speaker 1: love I can admit on this podcast. I was never
Speaker 1: like a casting No, I wasn't really great with dating,
Speaker 1: and I feel and I think that's what's so great
Speaker 1: about the show is how do you go about that? Like,
Speaker 1: how do you start a relationship with someone who's already
Speaker 1: with someone. It's a great place to start and then
Speaker 1: just you know, slowly, you know. I remember also how
Speaker 1: bold it was that when you thought you would do something,
Speaker 1: you know, like proposed to her, he would write an
Speaker 1: entire episode where you're like, oh man, and at the end,
Speaker 1: this is gonna be the proposal because again in TV,
Speaker 1: you know that, like the big scenes are coming, and
Speaker 1: he wouldn't do it. And then when I did propose,
Speaker 1: I love that talking head where I was like, I've
Speaker 1: been planning on this forever, like I love that, you know. Um.
Speaker 1: I've said to people that nothing shut down production like
Speaker 1: an important gem and pan moment, like when there were
Speaker 1: moments between the two down. No, I mean like shut
Speaker 1: it down right right, like like like you're blushing right now.
Speaker 1: But it's I mean like Casino Night and not and
Speaker 1: not just one, two different moments in Casino Night, because
Speaker 1: the relationship was so important to the two of you
Speaker 1: and getting it right totally. I remember those two moments
Speaker 1: very well. I remember the parking lot. Yeah, it's funny
Speaker 1: now that you say that, Yeah, which must have been
Speaker 1: frustrating for you. Oh you'd be like, oh please, just
Speaker 1: get me out of here before they filmed this, or
Speaker 1: it's going to be seven hours. Yeah, well we were
Speaker 1: in there that seven hours. But again I had never
Speaker 1: experienced anything else, so that was weird for me. Was
Speaker 1: I remember like there was an energy around those moments.
Speaker 1: I remember. I remember so many different things, but I
Speaker 1: remember that parking lot scene. I remember not knowing where
Speaker 1: Matt was and Ken wouldn't tell me and he was like,
Speaker 1: don't worry about it, just do the scene or whatever,
Speaker 1: you know, and I thought that was cool. And then
Speaker 1: certainly I remember the like the big moment, the big
Speaker 1: kiss that was shut down, like that was nobody was
Speaker 1: on set, nobody was around the craft service table. But
Speaker 1: I didn't know that was happening. So I walked on,
Speaker 1: you know, ready to joke with folks, and they were
Speaker 1: like not wanting to make eye contact with me, and
Speaker 1: I was like, what happened? I feel like I said
Speaker 1: something to you, like I was going on. I know.
Speaker 1: I kind of remember that too, And then it made
Speaker 1: me more nervous because then they were like, all right, now,
Speaker 1: maybe you should go out the door and whenever you're
Speaker 1: ready come in, And I was like, what's happening? There
Speaker 1: is no I'm gonna call action and they're like, no, man,
Speaker 1: well do you remember that night. I remember that night.
Speaker 1: I remember because you were so frustrated you were still there. No,
Speaker 1: I just I remember it being so big. I think
Speaker 1: the thing that I am most proud of artistically he
Speaker 1: is not blowing your top in that moment in the
Speaker 1: shot in the show was every single shot where the
Speaker 1: camera was positioned. Just the discussion about are the cameras
Speaker 1: in the room? Are the characters aware the cameras in
Speaker 1: the room? How does that change behavior based on the
Speaker 1: fact that the cameras are in the room or if
Speaker 1: they think that they're alone. And I think that at
Speaker 1: that moment, specifically at the end of Casino Night, you
Speaker 1: see the slats in the blinds and them shooting and
Speaker 1: catching you guys, that there are such an intimacy. You know.
Speaker 1: It's like Randall and Matt were to my favorite people
Speaker 1: on Earth and I couldn't see them, and like, I
Speaker 1: don't even think I got to see the set before
Speaker 1: I went up, you know what I mean. Like it
Speaker 1: was also weird, and I'm sure for a better actor
Speaker 1: you'd think like, oh, that's what you need, right, And
Speaker 1: so I was like, I am a terrible actor because
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm nervous, and maybe that was the intention,
Speaker 1: but I was like, I don't even know. Remember, Randall
Speaker 1: wasn't anywhere, and usually I was like what are we doing?
Speaker 1: Like what? Which? What? What? How? Where do you want
Speaker 1: me to be whenever? And it was really weird. I
Speaker 1: was so freaked out. And I remember I was on
Speaker 1: set for a while before Jenna got onto because Jenna
Speaker 1: was taking her moment, which is fine, but again I
Speaker 1: was so not knowing of that world that I didn't
Speaker 1: know that I could take thirty minutes in my trailer
Speaker 1: to prepare. Mentally, I was like, mentally, what's happened? And
Speaker 1: then I got so much more scared, and I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, then you start to think like, oh god,
Speaker 1: I didn't do my homework and she's doing your homework. Right.
Speaker 1: Were you on board with the trajectory of Jim and
Speaker 1: Pam's relationship, like just in terms of the timing, did
Speaker 1: you have concerns about it happening to soon? No, it
Speaker 1: sounds like a hallmark version of Greg, But I truly
Speaker 1: and Greg I trusted. I could tell that he had
Speaker 1: a beat on it. He was always so nice to
Speaker 1: involve Jenna, and I remember that he would tell you
Speaker 1: kind of when things were going to happen, and he
Speaker 1: would remind you in scenes, you know, don't worry. This
Speaker 1: isn't the moment that's going to lead to this, that'll
Speaker 1: happened later, like he he had it all tracked out. Also,
Speaker 1: we were what in season five or six by the
Speaker 1: time that I was in that motel with that other
Speaker 1: girl and stuff like that, And that's the only time
Speaker 1: I remember putting whatever, put my foot down, not really,
Speaker 1: but I remember I got that was the only time
Speaker 1: I was very much against because he was saying, you're
Speaker 1: going to actually make out with her in this scene.
Speaker 1: And that was the episode I directed. Yes, that's right,
Speaker 1: but the bed bugs and I don't remember. It may
Speaker 1: have been an earlier version about you guys making out,
Speaker 1: but I remember that was the only time we had
Speaker 1: like a it was like a bad, negative moment. But
Speaker 1: I remember being in a room and it was like
Speaker 1: I remember finding myself kind of saying things that I
Speaker 1: never thought i'd say before, like I'm not going to
Speaker 1: shoot it. Remember Paul Lieberstein was in the room. He
Speaker 1: was like, no, you you will do it in an
Speaker 1: aggressive way. But it was like he saw the benefit
Speaker 1: of doing it. And I remember saying to Greg, there's
Speaker 1: a threshold with which you can push our audience. They
Speaker 1: are so dedicated, We have shown such great respect to them.
Speaker 1: There's a level of messing with them that you've done,
Speaker 1: like in a great way. I mean like you've messed
Speaker 1: with them by the whole kiss happening too early. And
Speaker 1: I think there's a moment where if you push them
Speaker 1: too far, they'll never come back. And I think that
Speaker 1: if you show Jim to be cheating, they'll never come back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I what did you think? That's right? You directed
Speaker 1: what what was your feeling? Well, my recollection, well, it
Speaker 1: was never that you were going to make out, but
Speaker 1: it was about there was what was the line? How
Speaker 1: far can we go? I was supposed to kiss her
Speaker 1: in that bathroom. I remember that's what they were pitching,
Speaker 1: and I was like, I don't know that that's going
Speaker 1: to go well for us. Yeah, but even just you
Speaker 1: being in a room with her, you know, how would
Speaker 1: you behave even if you didn't think the cameras were there,
Speaker 1: Because the cameras were shooting from outside and they weren't
Speaker 1: in the room except when Dwight came in. Um. Anyway,
Speaker 1: the whole point is the passion for which you fought,
Speaker 1: and Jenna fought and Greg like that everybody was collaboratively.
Speaker 1: That it wasn't a negative fight. It was a big
Speaker 1: conversation because again it was so important to everybody. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but also I had trusted Greg up to that point,
Speaker 1: and it was really hard for me to say, I
Speaker 1: think we're actually making the wrong decision. Right. Um, you
Speaker 1: obviously wildly successful when people approach you. Now, what percentage
Speaker 1: of it is about the office? Oh? Large majority. Again,
Speaker 1: I think it's the difference between fans who feel like
Speaker 1: they're a part of something and fans who have watched something.
Speaker 1: I think there's very few things that I watched when
Speaker 1: I was a kid that I felt so connected to.
Speaker 1: It was more like, oh, I like the movie ET,
Speaker 1: But there were very few things that I felt like,
Speaker 1: if I ever saw that person, we shared a life
Speaker 1: moment together. Had I ever met Chris Farley, I would
Speaker 1: have said that because I watched Tommy Boy so many
Speaker 1: times that he didn't know he was my best friend,
Speaker 1: but he was my best friend. So I think that
Speaker 1: thing is like I shared so much in my life
Speaker 1: with that show. That's why I think that people, you know,
Speaker 1: people have seen other things, which is great. Certainly recently,
Speaker 1: like I think quiet place in Jack Ryan people are
Speaker 1: coming up a lot more. But I I think our
Speaker 1: fans see me and instead of going up to an
Speaker 1: actor to get a picture or something, they're actually seeing
Speaker 1: a friend of theirs. Is my point, My long meandering
Speaker 1: point is no one looks at Jack Ryan. And I
Speaker 1: was like, oh my god, my buddy, Jack Ryant, Oh
Speaker 1: my god, you're an actor. I didn't realize they do
Speaker 1: think that with Jim and I've had My favorite experiences
Speaker 1: with fans is when they think we've gone to school
Speaker 1: together or something. That's my favorite. Like I I had
Speaker 1: one where a woman said we know each other and
Speaker 1: I said Doe, and she goes, we went to school
Speaker 1: together and I was like, I don't. I don't think
Speaker 1: we did, and she went, yes we did. And it
Speaker 1: was like that thing of like why am I being
Speaker 1: awkward about it? And where did you go to school?
Speaker 1: And she said some school and I went, I did
Speaker 1: not go to that school and she went, yes you did,
Speaker 1: and like I was like okay, and then I left
Speaker 1: and I could see that either else someone else has
Speaker 1: been like, you don't know that person. You just thought
Speaker 1: that it was at the airport bookshop and then through
Speaker 1: the window you saw them being like silence, being like,
Speaker 1: oh no, God, it was great. But I think that
Speaker 1: that's such a credit to the show that you don't
Speaker 1: just like the show, you actually think you know those people. Um,
Speaker 1: what are you most thankful for? Oh? My god, everything?
Speaker 1: I mean, are you asking me as a person? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, without sounding hyperball, it's it is my everything.
Speaker 1: I mean, that show changed my entire life. Was twenty
Speaker 1: three when it started, so I hadn't even really formed
Speaker 1: an identity of who I was. And so that show,
Speaker 1: not only from a rear perspective, where I've had more
Speaker 1: opportunity than I ever would have dreamt of having for
Speaker 1: one day, I have for an entire lifetime, is all
Speaker 1: due to that show. I never would be doing any
Speaker 1: other thing that you've seen me do, writing, directing, acting,
Speaker 1: and something else if it wasn't for that show. But
Speaker 1: as a person, I think it sort of gave me
Speaker 1: this very quintessential building block that I got to stand
Speaker 1: on to build the rest of my life. Yeah, you're
Speaker 1: you're about to say, that's all crack of ship? What what? What?
Speaker 1: What would you say? I think it's very similar. I
Speaker 1: think I was processing what you were saying that because
Speaker 1: of the people who were working on it, not just
Speaker 1: the actors, but the writers who are like all showrunners
Speaker 1: now from the early season, you know, extremely successful, fun
Speaker 1: good shows. It's but also our crew. Like you said,
Speaker 1: like you know again in a very probably lame, cliche
Speaker 1: hallmark way, like I don't know that as a person
Speaker 1: I would be able to have the luxury forget you know,
Speaker 1: success or finance or anything. It's the luxury of being
Speaker 1: who I wanted to be. I didn't know who I
Speaker 1: wanted to be. And because of such a warm environment
Speaker 1: where if everyone had a color, people were splashing their
Speaker 1: experience and their colors all over me, I got exposed
Speaker 1: to everything I wanted to be and then got to
Speaker 1: choose to move forward with my life in a way
Speaker 1: that I not only didn't know existed, but that I
Speaker 1: could sustain. Like that you could, you could do fantastic
Speaker 1: fun stuff every day for ten years of your life.
Speaker 1: And genuinely, I've been asked, I'm sure you get asked
Speaker 1: all the time, what year. Were you guys all over it?
Speaker 1: Like when were you guys like we're over it? And
Speaker 1: I genuinely am trying not to look back with revisionist history.
Speaker 1: I don't remember one moment where I was like, such
Speaker 1: a job, Yeah, writing, acting, directing. Is there one you prefer?
Speaker 1: That's a good question. I don't know. I think yeah.
Speaker 1: I think acting was always I think because it was
Speaker 1: the first, there's something I really love about it. I
Speaker 1: think that there's elements to acting being more fun because
Speaker 1: you don't have the weight of responsibility of any kind
Speaker 1: like turning into script. You have the responsibility. I hope
Speaker 1: this doesn't suck, and directing you of all the responsibilities,
Speaker 1: which can be terrifying. But by the way, you don't
Speaker 1: want to suck being an actor either. But I don't know.
Speaker 1: I guess that it's once you've gone to you know,
Speaker 1: the whole behind the camera idea and you see how
Speaker 1: the sausage is made, you realize how I think writing
Speaker 1: and directing made me a better actor, and vice versa.
Speaker 1: You know everybody. I remember always getting awards, people would
Speaker 1: always be like in thanks to the crew and whatever,
Speaker 1: and we had the greatest crew of all time and
Speaker 1: I think that that taught me to look back on
Speaker 1: all the things I loved movies and television, whatever, and
Speaker 1: realized that for every moment you remember watching and loving,
Speaker 1: there were three to six people who made that moment
Speaker 1: exactly happen at that exact time, and it was magic,
Speaker 1: from props to camera to set design anyway, that kind
Speaker 1: of thing. I don't know if that answered anything. No.
Speaker 1: I think so like people always ask how did I
Speaker 1: get into directing or writing, and it's like, because I
Speaker 1: went to the best film school ever, which was the Office,
Speaker 1: and you learn what's good. I think my taste level
Speaker 1: became solidified on that show, like I see what's possible
Speaker 1: now and everything I do. Um. I've said this before
Speaker 1: that I never would have directed and rewritten A Quiet
Speaker 1: Place if it wasn't for Greg, because I remember him
Speaker 1: saying to me one day, don't look at this as
Speaker 1: a comedy. Just be in the moment, right you You
Speaker 1: your character doesn't know he's funny. We get to we
Speaker 1: get to decide, right, So we're not making a comedy.
Speaker 1: We're just telling the best story we can. And if
Speaker 1: you end up laughing, great, If you cry at a
Speaker 1: moment with Pam great, but just tell the best story.
Speaker 1: So when I got offered Quiet Place, I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know anything about horror. And I remember actually
Speaker 1: sitting down before I wrote the script and said, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to make a horror movie. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: make a genre movie. I'm gonna tell the best story
Speaker 1: I can about this family. And if you end up
Speaker 1: getting scared at moments, that is on you, because it's
Speaker 1: only my job is only to tell you the most
Speaker 1: concise and strong story I can, and then every emotional
Speaker 1: thing that you feel is coming from you and how
Speaker 1: you're experiencing it. And I remember I never would have
Speaker 1: had the guts to do that, because I would have
Speaker 1: said the same thing I said to Greg that day,
Speaker 1: which is like, I don't to mess this up. I
Speaker 1: want to make sure I'm really funny in this scene
Speaker 1: for you, and he was like, no, no, I don't
Speaker 1: want you to be funny. I want you to tell
Speaker 1: the best story and let other people decide whether the
Speaker 1: scene is funny. And I was like, mind blowing stuff.
Speaker 1: That is very, very smart. But The Quiet Place isn't
Speaker 1: a comedy. No, you should see it before we do
Speaker 1: an interview shoot. Thanks Bud, You're welcome. Is it over? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean, do you have anything else you want to say?
Speaker 1: I mean we feel like we covered a lot of topics,
Speaker 1: We covered a lot of ground. I don't know what
Speaker 1: I said. Um, John, I love you so much and
Speaker 1: I appreciate you coming and talking to me. This is great.
Speaker 1: But also it's just so good to see you. It's
Speaker 1: so good to see you. I feel like I just
Speaker 1: went to a therapy session. You did, you did great.
Speaker 1: Which you don't cut yourself out of this, you you,
Speaker 1: You'll get my bill. Um. We still have headphones on,
Speaker 1: which allows me to do this. I don't want to
Speaker 1: slip round. I don't want your slippery. I don't want
Speaker 1: your slipping around in my brain or ear. Um are
Speaker 1: we done? Can I please get out of here? All right? Ali? Guys, dude,
Speaker 1: thank you, welcome, thank you, Welcome back everybody. I hope
Speaker 1: you enjoyed that. But now it's time to celebrate the
Speaker 1: real birthday boy, Mr Craig Robinson. That's right today, October
Speaker 1: Craig entered this world. Well not today, but some years ago,
Speaker 1: fifty years ago. In fact, Craig was born. Craig and
Speaker 1: I we've been friends for over seventeen years now, and
Speaker 1: we've had, we've had, we've had some pretty good times.
Speaker 1: You know, you have never truly lived until you have
Speaker 1: spent a very late night listening to Craig Robinson play
Speaker 1: any song you could possibly name on his keyboard. That's right,
Speaker 1: any song you can name, Craig can play. And if
Speaker 1: he doesn't know the song, this is not a joke.
Speaker 1: You just hum a little bit of the song for
Speaker 1: him and he starts playing it and it's usually better
Speaker 1: than the original. He is absolute fact. He is a
Speaker 1: musical genius. Okay, I've done enough talking especially nicely about Craig.
Speaker 1: The time has come here. He is my friend and yours,
Speaker 1: Mr Craig Robinson. So what's up? How you doing so?
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm good. It's been so long since I
Speaker 1: saw you? How long? I mean a couple of years.
Speaker 1: It's been a few what's new in your life? I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm doing this right now. I'm on the road a
Speaker 1: lot you Oh yeah, yeah, is this thing on? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's probably on. We start already. We'll not really tell
Speaker 1: the truth, man, I mean, it's it's recording. But I'm
Speaker 1: just interested in saying what's up? Okay? Um, check check,
Speaker 1: check check. Are you checking your sound? Yeah? Are you
Speaker 1: a sound expert? Well, you're a musician, so yeah. I
Speaker 1: mean I don't know if it's going loud or so there.
Speaker 1: Did I ever tell you the story? This is before
Speaker 1: I think we had done the pilot only and I
Speaker 1: hadn't been in l a very long. I ever tell
Speaker 1: you going the mbar story for real? I went to
Speaker 1: the m Bar and they used to do like an
Speaker 1: open mic night, and somebody was like, oh, go to
Speaker 1: the m Bar. I think I knew somebody who was
Speaker 1: like a server there, and I remember it was David
Speaker 1: Cross was there, and Sarah Silverman some other people and
Speaker 1: you you were so far and away the funniest thing
Speaker 1: that night. Well you had a guy with Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think me and Jerry did. Yeah. Yeah. How many shows
Speaker 1: you do a year? I mean how many cities? Oh shows,
Speaker 1: shows are like, you know, five sometimes seven a weekend,
Speaker 1: So I probably do thirty plus weeks. Are you jesus
Speaker 1: if I'm not filming myself. So you're the hardest working
Speaker 1: man in show business, not by um. You incorporate music
Speaker 1: a lot into your stand up. Do you think that
Speaker 1: Darryl being a musician on the show. Did that come
Speaker 1: from you? Do you think the writers wrote that? Yeah?
Speaker 1: They they We were like a towel being rung up.
Speaker 1: They got whatever whatever they knew we could do, they
Speaker 1: got it out of us, right, absolutely. Yeah, you started
Speaker 1: pretty early. I mean I remember that Christmas episode. You
Speaker 1: and I think we were DJA in the corner and
Speaker 1: then gradually you start. Yeah, we had like what do
Speaker 1: you call those little balls that with the lights and
Speaker 1: uh disc disco ball? Obviously, I mean for people who
Speaker 1: don't know, music comes very easy to you. Yes, I
Speaker 1: have seen people hum you tunes and you start playing
Speaker 1: well trained here is it trained or is it natural?
Speaker 1: I mean both. You have to sit down and like
Speaker 1: there's time I was sitting, like play a song in
Speaker 1: this breakdown note for no each chord we want to
Speaker 1: play again. We want to play again until I get
Speaker 1: and go through the whole song. And it Once you
Speaker 1: do that, you know sometimes you start you know, see
Speaker 1: patterns and you know, see what's going on in the song.
Speaker 1: So that's how you learned. Do you read music? Yeah,
Speaker 1: but how you do not like I can hear me.
Speaker 1: It takes me a while to read some music, but
Speaker 1: I can hear pretty good. You hear better than anyone
Speaker 1: I've ever seen. Okay, no, I'm just saying I'm trying.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but you trained yourself to do that.
Speaker 1: I think people think about it as being sort of
Speaker 1: a natural gift, but no, it's definitely a gift. But
Speaker 1: it's it's you know, it's a gift. You have to
Speaker 1: work for it. It's like you gotta know you had
Speaker 1: the talent to do it and then just developed that, right.
Speaker 1: I remember later on they kept pairing me with you
Speaker 1: and Ed Helms in musical situations. Z Kevin and the Zitz.
Speaker 1: It was Kevin and the Zitz, and I remember we
Speaker 1: would you know, we never had time to read the
Speaker 1: episodes before we did them, and we would read the
Speaker 1: episodes and they would be like song, song, song, and
Speaker 1: I don't know if you knew this. I would go
Speaker 1: to them and I would be like, okay, when is rehearsals?
Speaker 1: When is rehearsal? And then I would come to you
Speaker 1: and I'd be like all right, you guys, can we
Speaker 1: And you'd be like yeah, yeah, no, we're good, We're good,
Speaker 1: and Ed be the same way, like as like, no,
Speaker 1: that's fine, No, I got it. And I was like no, no, no, guys,
Speaker 1: I don't have it. I don't know what the hell
Speaker 1: I'm doing. Um there's a quote that has been attributed
Speaker 1: to you which that you basically started doing music because
Speaker 1: it's there were so many funny people in Chicago that
Speaker 1: you wanted to do something that was different in a way.
Speaker 1: Is that true? Not exactly? Okay, Um, I just you know,
Speaker 1: it's my thing. And I had the song that I
Speaker 1: did in college that transferred over to the stage. I
Speaker 1: would like play, you know, piano, the same singing to
Speaker 1: a girl on the phone, you know, singing a nice
Speaker 1: and like talking to her, singing to a little bit.
Speaker 1: You know, it's romantic, and I hit up with it.
Speaker 1: Can I had some booty right, and then I was like, okay, him,
Speaker 1: listen to see if she's laughing, and watched, so she's laughing. Okay,
Speaker 1: we're good. But so then I did that like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, some open mic kind of thing. But it
Speaker 1: wasn't the open mic. It was like, you know, actors
Speaker 1: in the room on a Friday night, like you know,
Speaker 1: and then you just did what you do. So then
Speaker 1: once you started doing comedy, I went up and did
Speaker 1: this show and uh, it didn't go too well. I
Speaker 1: was just think, all heckless heaven. It's in Chicago, and
Speaker 1: you get eight minutes to perform the first three minutes,
Speaker 1: nobody gets to mess with you. From the third minute
Speaker 1: on if people wanted to hecker you. There are three
Speaker 1: people in the audience who have rubber chickens. If you've
Speaker 1: got all three rubber chickens, you had to get off stage.
Speaker 1: And then uh, three people have score cards. So I
Speaker 1: got two rubber chickens the first night and before I
Speaker 1: get to there like I'm not getting a third chicken.
Speaker 1: It's good night. Then the next week I came back
Speaker 1: with my keyboard. That was all she wrote. You did
Speaker 1: the song that ends with your buddy getting the phone. Um,
Speaker 1: somebody's sucking my lady. Somebody's sucking my lady. Yeah, somebody's Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's what you saw. That's what I saw at
Speaker 1: m bar. That's what got me. They got me in
Speaker 1: front of Apple Town to get me in front of
Speaker 1: Greg Daniels. Yeah. When I did my audition for the Office,
Speaker 1: Great Games, was like, doesn't get any funny into that.
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, now audition, like oh, what like
Speaker 1: seems like a big voted confidence. Right, I'm thinking like, oh, man,
Speaker 1: now wait because they had seen it, they all you
Speaker 1: at a club, well and not at the club, but
Speaker 1: you know, like you gotta see this guy or you know,
Speaker 1: you know right right right right? Um. I feel like Darryl,
Speaker 1: you know, even from the beginning, had kind of a
Speaker 1: gem thing with the camera, like it felt like you
Speaker 1: were on the same page, Like you would do the
Speaker 1: looks to the camera like did you just see that idiot.
Speaker 1: I don't get a lot of camera looks untill later,
Speaker 1: but people do say, yeah, see me as a voice
Speaker 1: of reason in all the insanity. Yeah, Ben Silverman says
Speaker 1: that you're the smartest person who worked at Dunner Mifflin. Well, no,
Speaker 1: not you, but Darryl right right, right right. I can
Speaker 1: see that. Yeah, Daryl was just trying to you know,
Speaker 1: be honest, make an honest buck, and I couldn't believe
Speaker 1: a lot of things that was going around him. And
Speaker 1: you know, he knew he had to keep the piece
Speaker 1: and knew he had to uh keep his job. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I don't I don't think he ever thought I'm
Speaker 1: smart than these cats. He just you know, just like
Speaker 1: would you belat these cats? You know, but it felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, they showed a lot that the warehouse maybe
Speaker 1: was run more efficiently than the regular office. Like you
Speaker 1: were you were good. Yeah. Um. Darryl's relationship with Michael
Speaker 1: in the show, it was a very like he kept
Speaker 1: coming to you for advice, particularly on black culture. It
Speaker 1: was a very very funny dynamic. What was your experience
Speaker 1: working with Steve? He's the greatest. The way he could
Speaker 1: turn it comedy button off and on like a falsett.
Speaker 1: It was just genius to me. Whenever I had seen
Speaker 1: with him moment and I was like titilation was holy know,
Speaker 1: very exciting. And I learned from him, stole from him
Speaker 1: all of that. Yeah, it's funny that you said. You
Speaker 1: said that because I thought you were going to say
Speaker 1: something else, which I think is also true. Is part
Speaker 1: of his genius is how he turns so quick even
Speaker 1: within a scene, you know what I mean, Like he
Speaker 1: is he is fighting down one path and something may
Speaker 1: happen and he just turns it like that and he's like,
Speaker 1: you know, ultimate scene partner two. He listens and reacts two,
Speaker 1: you know what's going on. Like we had a scene
Speaker 1: I didn't even really notice until it aired, it was
Speaker 1: a negotiation. It might be my favorite episode just because
Speaker 1: the work I did with Steve and being able to
Speaker 1: play with him like that. It was the scene where
Speaker 1: he's like, I'm not going to speak first, decline to
Speaker 1: speak first. So we did a couple of takes and
Speaker 1: it was fine. Uh, and then he did his next
Speaker 1: take and he's making these faces and if you look closely,
Speaker 1: you can see Meet started to crack a smile on that.
Speaker 1: But it was just like, without even speaking, he could,
Speaker 1: you know, pull us out of you. The laughter is like, oh,
Speaker 1: he's about to get me. But also in that episode
Speaker 1: when I was saying, uh, where he listens and you know,
Speaker 1: like the perfect improvisation partner, you're listening and take it
Speaker 1: to the next level. So we're talking about, you know,
Speaker 1: getting raged from Jane. I said, make it happen, Captain,
Speaker 1: he said, I will, Sergeant. My god, amazing. H Have
Speaker 1: you ever seen Greg going to his own like what?
Speaker 1: So we were doing this show, that's what in the
Speaker 1: office was ms Robinson Robinson. Yeah, So we had the pitch,
Speaker 1: like the big pitch was like later on the the
Speaker 1: day and uh, and cast Key was there. Tracy shout
Speaker 1: out Tracy and she had to move. She was like, great,
Speaker 1: we gotta go. And Greg went into this feverish, fierce
Speaker 1: like you saw his brain work and he started writing
Speaker 1: and banging in and it was it was like watching
Speaker 1: Michaelangelo paint or something. It was it was like, Oh,
Speaker 1: this is happening right now in front of me, dude,
Speaker 1: is incredible. Salute Greg Daniels. Yeah. When when he was
Speaker 1: doing it, going into his writing mode and cast Key
Speaker 1: was trying to sell Greg we go, he almost like
Speaker 1: you know, like he was typing. It was. It was
Speaker 1: it was amazing brow. He was just he like he
Speaker 1: had an idea, he had I swear it was like
Speaker 1: watching Harry Potter or something. It was. It was magic.
Speaker 1: It was like a world wind around him. And he
Speaker 1: almost barked at her, which she trying to get it
Speaker 1: to go. Yeah. See the smartest comedy person you know. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm to say absolutely, I do love working with Greg.
Speaker 1: I mean, he couldn't be a nicer guy, you know,
Speaker 1: and then smartest dude in every room. Yeah, what are
Speaker 1: you what are you most thankful for? For the office? Um?
Speaker 1: You know, when you meet people, it's it's this uh
Speaker 1: genuine like like it feels like you you have friends everywhere,
Speaker 1: and that's, uh, that's a big part of my life
Speaker 1: because you know, these friends come out, they support my
Speaker 1: shows and what have you. And it's a lot of
Speaker 1: like the deeper goals. You know, people had these stories
Speaker 1: of you know, my mother had cancer and you know,
Speaker 1: we watched The Office and you know, we got through this,
Speaker 1: and it'll be these incredible, heart wrenching stories about our family.
Speaker 1: We don't talk, but we bond over the Office, you know,
Speaker 1: thank you. Asking me, he was like, why why the
Speaker 1: hell is the show still relevant? And I think that's
Speaker 1: that's a big part of it. People really connect through
Speaker 1: the show with family members or whoever. Right, why do
Speaker 1: you think it resonates? I mean, here was my impression
Speaker 1: anyway that people are like, oh the Office, Yeah, people
Speaker 1: can relate because sixty million people work in offices around
Speaker 1: the country. So of course, now like it's young people
Speaker 1: who are really into it. Soldiers for sure, man, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: and the young people like starting it and people are like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm on my nice nice time around watching it or
Speaker 1: we watched it you know three times a four times.
Speaker 1: You know, it's a phenomenon. I don't know how to
Speaker 1: put my finger on it. I think that awkwardness. You know,
Speaker 1: it's got everything that humor, awkward, it's got heart. You
Speaker 1: fell in love with people, you know, it's a beautiful.
Speaker 1: So yeah, alright, guys, do we need anything else from
Speaker 1: Mr Robinson here? No predictors? Good, thanks buddy, You're welcome, sir, dude.
Speaker 1: It's been so crazy. I've seen everyone, John, John, I Rain.
Speaker 1: I'm sure this is the most born interview. I'm suck
Speaker 1: at these things. That's good, John Craig. I have to
Speaker 1: leave you with these four parting words. It is your birthday,
Speaker 1: so powerful, I know, but in all serious this happy birthday, guys.
Speaker 1: I am so glad that our paths crossed all those
Speaker 1: many years ago. And to all of you out there listening,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining me. We'll be back
Speaker 1: next week with a brand new episode. I promise you
Speaker 1: it will be magical. That was a hint. We'll see
Speaker 1: you next week. Off the Beat is hosted an executive
Speaker 1: produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Langley,
Speaker 1: our producers Our Diego Tapia, Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and
Speaker 1: Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary and
Speaker 1: our intern is Sammy Katz. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak,
Speaker 1: performed by my great friend Greed Bratton,