Speaker 1: Improv still terrifies me to this day. I was doing
Speaker 1: it for the that the skill, to to learn this skill,
Speaker 1: to be comfortable, for confidence and for like you know,
Speaker 1: and also for the community. I made a lot of
Speaker 1: great friends there and we then branched out and did
Speaker 1: other things. As you know. Yeah, you you you said
Speaker 1: it terrifies you do you. There's no there's no lines, Brian.
Speaker 1: You gotta you gotta make them up. Yes, and that's terrifying.
Speaker 1: It's stupid. Shakespeare's got all planned out for you. Hi.
Speaker 1: My name is Rob Quadrey, and I am a gentleman.
Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome back to a brand spanking new
Speaker 1: episode of Off the B. As always, this is your host,
Speaker 1: Brian Baumgartner. Now, as you just heard today, I'm bringing
Speaker 1: on a very exciting guest, the incredible, the hilarious, my
Speaker 1: friend and yours, Rob Cordrey. Maybe you know him as
Speaker 1: Lou from Hot Tub Time Machine, or from his time
Speaker 1: playing Dr Blake Clowns on Children's Hospital, or maybe even
Speaker 1: from his latest conquest as the host of top Gear America.
Speaker 1: Whatever it is, you know him because he's been on
Speaker 1: just about every movie ever made. That's right, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a man who came up during what some
Speaker 1: could argue is the most exciting times in the history
Speaker 1: of comedy, the birth of U c. B, The Upright
Speaker 1: Citizens Brigade, and then on The Daily Show with John Stewart.
Speaker 1: He took everything that he learned the air to go off,
Speaker 1: to adapt and to create true greatness. And that's what
Speaker 1: he continues to do to this day. So, yeah, he's
Speaker 1: a he's a pretty cool guy. And also he's a
Speaker 1: good guy. I mean, he said it himself. The man
Speaker 1: is a gentleman. So now that that is out of
Speaker 1: the way, it's time to bring Rob on. I am
Speaker 1: so excited to share this conversation with you, Rob Cordry. Everybody,
Speaker 1: Bubble and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and Squeak on,
Speaker 1: Bubble and Squeaker, cooking it every month, lift over from
Speaker 1: the nut before. What's up, Rob? What's going on right?
Speaker 1: How are you? Man? I'm so good. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for coming to talk to me. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: thanks for having me. Where where are you right now?
Speaker 1: I'm I'm in my office, my home office. Yeah, my
Speaker 1: my illegal garage conversion. Perfect. Well, as long as you
Speaker 1: don't sell, there's nothing illegal about it. Yeah, I guess. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right. So I guess I'm stuck here. I am.
Speaker 1: I'm coming to you. This is the first first time
Speaker 1: on the road from Atlanta, Georgia, in a hotel that
Speaker 1: very bizarre pome it's pomegranate. It looks weirdly both sexual
Speaker 1: and kind of grotesque. Yeah, that's an odd hotel art
Speaker 1: behind you. Yeah, it's it's pomegrand It's like an intense
Speaker 1: close up on pomegranate seeds. Yeah, but do you think
Speaker 1: the artist was really like it's a metaphor somehow. I
Speaker 1: don't know if that artist was thinking pomegranate seeds. It's
Speaker 1: probably something to do with Genitalia. Okay, Yeah, you're probably right.
Speaker 1: It's that old Georgia o'key thing. I am in Georgia.
Speaker 1: So there you go. Thank you, thanks for talking to me.
Speaker 1: I am such a huge fan of you and yours.
Speaker 1: I want to start going back to the beginning with you.
Speaker 1: You grew up in uh in Massachusetts, Waymouth. Actually, you
Speaker 1: know it's so funny is that I've never heard anybody
Speaker 1: pronounce it like that. But it's the most obvious pronunciation,
Speaker 1: isn't it. I guess yeah, No, it's yeah, it's Weymouth.
Speaker 1: Nothing in Massachusetts is pronounced like it's spelled. For instance,
Speaker 1: the city right smack in the middle of Massachusetts w
Speaker 1: O R C E S T e R looks like
Speaker 1: Worcester or something. It's whist. What of course, it's describe
Speaker 1: your town three words or five? Uh, chip on shoulder,
Speaker 1: got it? Okay, that's clear, and I now know exactly
Speaker 1: what your town was like. Yeah, were you were always
Speaker 1: interested in the arts? Um? Yes, and no. I guess
Speaker 1: abstract lee, I wasn't necessarily interested in the I would.
Speaker 1: I love to draw, I love to write, but I
Speaker 1: never I would never, as a kid, say that meant
Speaker 1: I was interested in the arts. Does that make any sense?
Speaker 1: I guess maybe that. I think that's that sort of
Speaker 1: blue collar Boston upbringing, whereas like no one does the odds. Dude,
Speaker 1: you know they have for fairies and fruitcakes and so
Speaker 1: so I guess I was like, um yeah, very sensitive kid,
Speaker 1: but but uh. It took a while for me to
Speaker 1: realize that. I Like, I watched some home movies of
Speaker 1: myself and I was like, God, I was way more
Speaker 1: quiet and anxious looking than I remember being. Yeah it was,
Speaker 1: you asked me about what was my upbringing, like right
Speaker 1: or town? Yeah? Well yeah, like like in terms of
Speaker 1: the arts and the arts, Yeah yeah, so that, I
Speaker 1: guess um lends itself, that sensitivity lends itself to broadly
Speaker 1: preferring the arts over something like sports or pipe fitting.
Speaker 1: Right right. I have read that you described yourself as
Speaker 1: as a class clown. Now was that about performing or
Speaker 1: was that about coping? Or coping? For sure? It was totally.
Speaker 1: Any talent I have now, especially in comedy, has to
Speaker 1: do with avoiding fights. It was kind of like I was, Um.
Speaker 1: I worked in this restaurant in New York and this
Speaker 1: bus boy had just gotten out a prison, and and
Speaker 1: we became friendly, and after a while he told me
Speaker 1: I would do good in prison. It was like, you
Speaker 1: do good in prison? I was like, you know what,
Speaker 1: what not? Are you kidding me? I was really a
Speaker 1: lot prettier back then, and and and he said, no,
Speaker 1: you're funny, And I was like, oh my god, Well
Speaker 1: that's how I got through childhood. Everybody in my town
Speaker 1: was like their fathers were from Southey, and you know,
Speaker 1: their cousins beat the crap out of them because they
Speaker 1: weren't from Southie anymore. They were from Weymouth and and
Speaker 1: and then they just transferred that onto everybody else and
Speaker 1: it was a tough it was a it was it
Speaker 1: was a scary town. It was I remember it being scary.
Speaker 1: I that said, you know, it was a good child
Speaker 1: though it overall? Right, you you became an eagle scout. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it. That's impressive. Well, thank you. I um, it
Speaker 1: was yeah. I mean, I don't know what else to
Speaker 1: say about it. Yeah, you just did that. That was
Speaker 1: the thing you did. Thank you very much. I did it.
Speaker 1: When when uh you you you ended up going to
Speaker 1: you mask? When did you start to think that theater
Speaker 1: was something that you were interested in doing? Well? I
Speaker 1: never got along with the guys in high school that
Speaker 1: used to do theater. They were in a class above me.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, speaking of fights, I got
Speaker 1: into a fight with one of them at a party
Speaker 1: over a girl. And so it was I I just
Speaker 1: didn't want to be part of that whole thing. Although
Speaker 1: I thought I could do that, you know, just instinctively
Speaker 1: thought I could do it. And then when they graduated
Speaker 1: senior year, I ended up doing two plays, the only
Speaker 1: two plays that were offered basically in my high school
Speaker 1: and and then when I went to college, I didn't
Speaker 1: do anything my freshman year. I just I guess I
Speaker 1: had considered that sort of a lark. And uh then
Speaker 1: my I had a roommate first semester sophomore year named Cutter.
Speaker 1: He was we were very like minded, and uh, he
Speaker 1: signed me up for a play. He just signed me
Speaker 1: up for an audition, and and we both and you know,
Speaker 1: so I was like, oh man, so I went in
Speaker 1: and did the audition. We both ended up getting it, okay.
Speaker 1: So that that was so it's it's really like not
Speaker 1: of my doing that. I ended up here today. It's Cutter.
Speaker 1: It's Cutter. Yeah did he did? He pursue it later on? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's still doing it now. He's say he's a pretty
Speaker 1: successful voice actor, and you know he shows up on
Speaker 1: TV and films sometimes too and does his does his
Speaker 1: stuff rights. I believe is this John Cutter? You know,
Speaker 1: his name's uh Cutter, Garsia, Cutter, Garcia. We'll shout out
Speaker 1: to Cutter guarenas Cutter. Yeah, I read this. This is
Speaker 1: so interesting to me because no joke. I don't know
Speaker 1: how old you are, but I feel I had a
Speaker 1: weird attachment to this movie as well. I read that
Speaker 1: a big influence of yours was the movie Arthur. Yeah,
Speaker 1: why how and why Yeah? My wife bought that for
Speaker 1: me for my birthday when you're just because she liked
Speaker 1: she enjoyed watching me watch it. Um how indeed, right, Um,
Speaker 1: I guess it was because I grew up in that era, uh,
Speaker 1: when HBO was in its infancy, you know, and and
Speaker 1: there were in those days if you had HBO, and
Speaker 1: there was just that HBO at one point, and they
Speaker 1: would just play certain movies on a loop. And you know,
Speaker 1: Arthur was one of them. And Arthur two on the
Speaker 1: Rocks on the Rock doesn't hold up as well and
Speaker 1: it does not let Yeah, but so that you know,
Speaker 1: like Silver Streak, I remember being a big like having
Speaker 1: a big moment on it. Yeah and yeah, and but
Speaker 1: Arthur was just the best one of of of all
Speaker 1: of them, at least that I can remember. And so
Speaker 1: I just I got in the college and and uh,
Speaker 1: I had another roommate who had it on VHS and
Speaker 1: we just watched it over and over and over again,
Speaker 1: and then that just it just stuck with me. It's
Speaker 1: it's something that it's that one movie I can probably
Speaker 1: quote verbatim. Wow, Yeah, did you ever meet Dudley Moore? No,
Speaker 1: I don't know if i'd want to. I don't know
Speaker 1: what i'd say to a guy like that. I usually
Speaker 1: blow it with guys like that. I really I make
Speaker 1: an ass out. Oh classically, Yeah, what what do you mean? Like,
Speaker 1: you get awkward if you if you really love them
Speaker 1: or respect them. Yeah, And I don't even know I'm
Speaker 1: doing yet. Like at the Daily Show, Stephen King was
Speaker 1: the guest, and I was like, you know, I never
Speaker 1: went and bothered the guests, but but he was such
Speaker 1: an inspiration influence on me. I'd read all his books.
Speaker 1: I still think he's one of the greatest American storytellers.
Speaker 1: And I said to him, I said, I just wanted
Speaker 1: to say what a big fan I am. And he went, oh,
Speaker 1: thank you. Hey, yeah, you're from Boston, right, go Red
Speaker 1: Sox like and so I was like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: we were. It's it's terrible when they give you an inch.
Speaker 1: And I went, anyway, yeah, I know you've got to prepare.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm just your biggest fan. And I said, as
Speaker 1: I said it in a way that he must have thought,
Speaker 1: I was like quoting misery or something in that annoying
Speaker 1: way that in that annoying way fans do, and he
Speaker 1: just kind of like his smile just kind of went away,
Speaker 1: and he went, well, just don't cut off my feet,
Speaker 1: and then he turned around slowly he turned his back
Speaker 1: on me. Oh no, that is the mildest weird fails
Speaker 1: I've had with celebrities. I don't know. That is pretty bad, right,
Speaker 1: that's pretty that's pretty bad as you're saying it, realizing
Speaker 1: you're quoting one of the famous lines of him. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: I had no idea. I wasn't I wouldn't do that.
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess some sense. So Cutter gets you
Speaker 1: into the plays, you start doing the plays, then you
Speaker 1: you get cast in an off Broadway production of The
Speaker 1: Manchurian Candidate. So are you at this point you're interested
Speaker 1: in theater, right? Acting? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I I
Speaker 1: went you know when when I in in college. Once
Speaker 1: I got that one play, I was off and running
Speaker 1: and I joined the theater department. I had a second
Speaker 1: major in theater. And then at the I remember with
Speaker 1: my I had one of an acting teacher you probably
Speaker 1: had when everybody does one of those gurus that you
Speaker 1: never forget. And his name was Ed Golden, and he
Speaker 1: said to me, he called it. Right before we graduated,
Speaker 1: he had a little conference, personal conference with all his students,
Speaker 1: and he said to me, Um, and I'm by the way,
Speaker 1: doing a perfect imitations spot on Ed Golden. So do
Speaker 1: you think, um, you want to do this, uh for
Speaker 1: a living? And I went, uh, yeah, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: I think so. And he goes, mm hmmm, yeah you can.
Speaker 1: It's just like a matter of factly gave me permission
Speaker 1: to live. Yeah. And I went to New York the
Speaker 1: day after I graduated. Wow. Yeah. And you well, so
Speaker 1: you start working odd jobs. You were a security guard
Speaker 1: at the met Yeah, very odd jobs. What was the
Speaker 1: what was the oddest job you had? I was passing out,
Speaker 1: probably passing out menus for a Mexican restaurant in Hell's Kitchen.
Speaker 1: I hate those I hate that people. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't hate the people who do that job. I don't
Speaker 1: hate the people that do that job. I find it
Speaker 1: so awkward. But it's so weird because the guy it
Speaker 1: was a daily every day for the first for a
Speaker 1: couple of hours in the morning, and he, the owner,
Speaker 1: would look at me and and he wasn't Mexican, so
Speaker 1: I don't know what his acts sent was that I'm
Speaker 1: just doing an appropriation. He said, just every time you
Speaker 1: give out the flyer, say good Mexican food. So he
Speaker 1: had to hit a fire go good Mexican food. And
Speaker 1: I would. I learned that thing where you if you
Speaker 1: take one flyer and you smack it on the rest
Speaker 1: of him, it's like and it gets people's attention. M Yeah.
Speaker 1: After about a week or two doing that, I just
Speaker 1: would throw them away and go sleep in Central Park. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Let me be clear, I don't hate the people who
Speaker 1: do that job. I hate that job being done. I
Speaker 1: hate that job. Yeah, I hate that job being done
Speaker 1: to me though, as someone walking along the street. God
Speaker 1: blessed Los Angeles because we have a very specific version
Speaker 1: of that, which is wonderful. That the sign spinners, Yes,
Speaker 1: the sign spinners. I don't know if that exists anywhere else.
Speaker 1: Do you know, I never thought about it before. It does,
Speaker 1: I've never seen it anywhere else. It's because you're driving,
Speaker 1: so you yeah, and in New York if you if
Speaker 1: you spun the sign, you would hit fourteen people. Here
Speaker 1: it's it's your virtual handing of the menu because it's
Speaker 1: you're in a car, but nobody can read the side,
Speaker 1: which is the best part. You know, I know, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: It's ridiculous. So then, as I said, you could cast
Speaker 1: in an off Broadway production of The Manchurian Candidate. You
Speaker 1: then go on tour with the National Shakespeare Company. So
Speaker 1: at this moment you are as you are a serious actor. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I did. A Manchurian Candidate was probably the only play
Speaker 1: I did in New York that wasn't Shakespeare. Okay. I
Speaker 1: fancied myself quite a Shakespearean thespian. I mean too, by
Speaker 1: the way, I don't Yes, I was at the Gut
Speaker 1: three many times. Didn't many uh Shakespearean productions myself. I
Speaker 1: now get made fun of it because people think when
Speaker 1: I say it, they think that I'm trying to take
Speaker 1: myself seriously. No, it's just a I did place that
Speaker 1: were written by Shakespeare. Yeah, man, and by the day
Speaker 1: Shakespeare in his day. I used to teach a little
Speaker 1: course along with that National Shakespeare Shakespeare Company job about
Speaker 1: Shakespeare and uh and and two students. And the thing
Speaker 1: about Shakespeare is that he was like the Michael Bay
Speaker 1: of his day. This was schlocky, right, It was not
Speaker 1: upper crust stuff. This was for the ground blazes, the
Speaker 1: like rabble, and you know it was. That's why he
Speaker 1: repeats things over and over again, because no one's gonna
Speaker 1: hear it the first time. They were all beating each
Speaker 1: other up and drinking. But yeah, so I I it's
Speaker 1: funny when people think of it as as so highbrow,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, I mean the stories are fairly just
Speaker 1: universal and simple, and the comedy is not highbrow at all.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, he like coined so many dirty phrases.
Speaker 1: And you know, Hamlet, I believe, I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's the first, you know, it couldn't be, but he
Speaker 1: he references like, I'm I'll refrain from saying the actual
Speaker 1: word because it offends so many people. But the C
Speaker 1: word he he says, yeah. Hamlet says um to Ophelia, Ma, lady,
Speaker 1: melee in your lap and she says, no, my lord,
Speaker 1: and he says, no, I meant my head in your lap.
Speaker 1: Did you think I meant country matters? It's Shakespeare popping
Speaker 1: off the sea word got popping it off. That's because
Speaker 1: that's what he meant. Did you think I meant country matters. Yes,
Speaker 1: what was it like being on the road touring? Man,
Speaker 1: it was awesome. I was twenty four and twenty five
Speaker 1: years old. I was there doing it for about a year.
Speaker 1: There was a fifteen past van and another van that
Speaker 1: two people were in with all the sets and we
Speaker 1: we did the crappiest Shakespeare ever. But you know it
Speaker 1: was not a great brutal proud of it. Oh well
Speaker 1: I was at the time. I thought we were changing theater,
Speaker 1: but it was. But you know that I've made I
Speaker 1: made friends that i've I still have to this day.
Speaker 1: And it was such and I got to see the
Speaker 1: country really for the first time. Um, it was pretty awesome.
Speaker 1: And also just doing something like that for that long,
Speaker 1: doing two plays for that long was an education as well,
Speaker 1: in an acting education, like how you keep it going,
Speaker 1: how you you know, get up and do it each
Speaker 1: night and make it fresh and blah blah blah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I did. You know, it's interesting. I don't think I've
Speaker 1: talked to anybody about that before, but I did. I
Speaker 1: did a production for a year, toured it. A couple
Speaker 1: of places, had a residency, like and you know, you
Speaker 1: didn't exactly say this, so I don't want to put
Speaker 1: words in your mouth, but the the idea of making
Speaker 1: it like the first time, right, like having to after
Speaker 1: you've done it too hundred times that old you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's like an obvious old time stereotypical direct
Speaker 1: like say it like it's the first time or whatever,
Speaker 1: but like actually having to do that so much, I
Speaker 1: think in a weird way. Even when you start talking
Speaker 1: about film and television and you're you're not doing it
Speaker 1: two hundred times over the course of a year, but
Speaker 1: sometimes you're doing it twenty five times in the span
Speaker 1: of an hour. And that idea of having to do that,
Speaker 1: I I never really was thinking about that, But that
Speaker 1: is a really good lesson, right, Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 1: And uh and you know it's sometimes it starts off
Speaker 1: just being luck when I was, you know, like, oh tonight,
Speaker 1: I'm for some reason more into it than I was
Speaker 1: last night, you know, And that's when I started. That's
Speaker 1: when you start to think about it, the mechanics of it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you get back to New York. Now at this point
Speaker 1: you're a serious Shakespearean actor, and then you get involved
Speaker 1: with what was at the time this little improv group
Speaker 1: you see b upright Citizens Brigade. How did you how
Speaker 1: did you discover this group? And why as a serious
Speaker 1: actor did you did you pursue wanting to do stuff
Speaker 1: with them? That's a good question. Uh, you know, I,
Speaker 1: first of all, I mean I realized the one thing
Speaker 1: I wasn't doing well, the one thing I wasn't taught
Speaker 1: in college it was just seemed to be a crapshoot,
Speaker 1: was auditioning. And so I learned how to audition by
Speaker 1: I taught myself by just going out over and over
Speaker 1: and over again, and I, you know, got my ten thousand.
Speaker 1: I was auditioning for everything in backstage, and one of
Speaker 1: them just happened to be a sketch group. You know,
Speaker 1: I I I'd be a performance artist in Berlin right
Speaker 1: now if if it worked out a different way. I
Speaker 1: just happened to be a sketch group. And then then
Speaker 1: that when I got into the sort of comedy scene
Speaker 1: and or at least got a view of it, because
Speaker 1: we were pretty outside this sketch group. The u c
Speaker 1: B were just starting to gain prominence. They were just
Speaker 1: starting to teach classes, they were starting their takeover. I
Speaker 1: believe they had taught one class of students and I
Speaker 1: and I thought I was under the impression that it
Speaker 1: was Andy Richter's sketch group. Okay, so I went and
Speaker 1: saw an ascat which is there was their weekly show,
Speaker 1: and uh Andy Richter happened to be performing. So I
Speaker 1: don't know when I stopped believing it was this, but um,
Speaker 1: you know, then I got in. I got into a
Speaker 1: class at the very It's the only thing I've gotten
Speaker 1: in on the ground floor of you know, when they
Speaker 1: were the four original UCB guys are still teaching classes
Speaker 1: in a five story walk up ballet studio and in Manhattan,
Speaker 1: and I just stuck away that I loved it. I
Speaker 1: was terrified of it, you know, improv. Improv still terrifies
Speaker 1: me to this day. I was doing it for the
Speaker 1: that the skill, to to learn this skill, to be comfortable,
Speaker 1: for confidence, and for like you know, and also for
Speaker 1: the community. I made a lot of great friends there
Speaker 1: and we then branched out and did other things. As
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, you you you said it. It terrifies you,
Speaker 1: do you. There's no there's no lines, Brian, you gotta
Speaker 1: you gotta make them up, yes, And that's terrifying. It's stupid.
Speaker 1: Shakespeare's got all planned out for you, right, you just
Speaker 1: follow the map and you're gonna get and you're gonna
Speaker 1: get there. That's right. Yeah, you know, it's it's interesting.
Speaker 1: So I have, by the way, zero improv training, and
Speaker 1: it sounds like much like you, I stayed on the
Speaker 1: serious theater tracked longer. But I you know, so I
Speaker 1: was doing comedy, I was doing dramatic role I was
Speaker 1: doing different stuff. I never did improv. I never Yeah,
Speaker 1: I never studied it. I didn't take the classes. And
Speaker 1: I don't know if that maybe for me is why
Speaker 1: I don't find it as challenging somehow. Oh, yes, that
Speaker 1: is exactly why, Because you don't you haven't been in
Speaker 1: a position where you've had to think about it too much. Right.
Speaker 1: But now I feel like because people are saying, like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna you know, we're gonna improv, I don't have
Speaker 1: I don't I'm like, okay, now, that's fine. I also
Speaker 1: want to set it's a little bit more different, right,
Speaker 1: because it's really just like you're just trying to find something.
Speaker 1: And and also you sometimes go in with a couple
Speaker 1: of things. You've got a couple of ideas which you
Speaker 1: would never do, and don't try to act like you
Speaker 1: know me, come on by everybody knows you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna improvise this, and I'm going to improvise that.
Speaker 1: But even like going in, you just that's kind of easy,
Speaker 1: like just because you're just playing the scene that that
Speaker 1: is written. Actually that's a different version. Yes, Actually that's
Speaker 1: a really good point because because it's it is for
Speaker 1: me and I do you know, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: say I write a book on my character or you know,
Speaker 1: have a fully developed history or whatever, but I begin
Speaker 1: to understand who that character is. And once you know,
Speaker 1: if you're given a situation which is improv but along
Speaker 1: with that, given a character who has the certain characteristic,
Speaker 1: it all begins to fill in much. Do you know
Speaker 1: what the scene is about. You've already memorized the lines
Speaker 1: the actual scene, so you know what the scene is about,
Speaker 1: you know what the game is. So basically you're just
Speaker 1: you're just subbing in things or or adding jokes that
Speaker 1: the writers might have missed. You're just trying to make
Speaker 1: it a little bit better, you know, and usually it no,
Speaker 1: it's not as good. But sometimes when when you start
Speaker 1: working with those guys. You also created your own sketch
Speaker 1: comedy group, The Naked Babies. You spent a couple of
Speaker 1: years with Third Rail Comedy. I mean, at this point,
Speaker 1: do you feel like and that's kind of a weird question,
Speaker 1: but do you feel like your your career, your focus
Speaker 1: is now fully changed to this? Y? Yeah? Um, I
Speaker 1: still had there is still this part of me that
Speaker 1: wanted that, well, maybe I'll go back to the theater someday.
Speaker 1: But but I'm doing comedy now. This is I have
Speaker 1: found what I do best. I have I have once
Speaker 1: again lucked into this sort of uh have found the
Speaker 1: end of the maze. But you know, nowadays, like I
Speaker 1: was always, I always still harbored a dream that I
Speaker 1: would be on Broadway someday. Now that it's maybe even
Speaker 1: a possibility, I could probably, you know, if I made
Speaker 1: myself you know it really worked at it. But I don't, boy,
Speaker 1: oh boy, I would dread that. It's so hard. Who's
Speaker 1: got time for Broadway? It's like it's so much work.
Speaker 1: It's so much work. It's it's you know, And that
Speaker 1: was what it was for me. I mean, the the
Speaker 1: eight shows a week you have off on Monday, nobody
Speaker 1: has Monday off, Like, what do you know that the
Speaker 1: life is is very is very difficult. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: two thousand one, you got what you hoped would be
Speaker 1: your first big break. This is what I was told
Speaker 1: old a commercial with Karen Top. What do you remember
Speaker 1: about that? Yeah, I don't know. It was definitely my
Speaker 1: first big on you know, television network commercial. And so
Speaker 1: by break, I guess it was a break in terms
Speaker 1: of just cash, Like this thing was going to go
Speaker 1: out there and I was going to be able to
Speaker 1: quit my one of my day jobs and and live
Speaker 1: as an actor, actually be an actor and make money
Speaker 1: at it. So I did this and it was a
Speaker 1: care and yeah, I did this call a t T
Speaker 1: commercial in which and then about a month later, nine
Speaker 1: eleven happened. So it ran for about a week. Nine
Speaker 1: eleven happened, and they pulled the commercial because in the commercial,
Speaker 1: Carrot Top hijacks a tour bus in New York. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that went away. Okay, it didn't end up being
Speaker 1: what you would hope. So I guess what your next
Speaker 1: question is, I'll answer, yes, I am a victim of
Speaker 1: nine eleven. Oh oh no, that's that's too soon, Rob.
Speaker 1: I don't know it's definitely off, definitely tasteless. You get
Speaker 1: an audition for The Daily Show in two thousand and two.
Speaker 1: Were you a fan of the show, huge fan? I
Speaker 1: used to watch it. I was a huge fan from
Speaker 1: the Craig Killborn days too. Okay, yes, you know, and
Speaker 1: I got that show. I got it. I understood it.
Speaker 1: And so when I got this audition, and it was
Speaker 1: through a friend, I just kind of looked into that
Speaker 1: audition as well, and I was like, I can I know,
Speaker 1: I can do this, I can do this well. And
Speaker 1: I worked my ass off on that audition. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: you like, did you feel like you started to create
Speaker 1: that character that you were going to be even when
Speaker 1: you know no, See, that's the thing everybody and I
Speaker 1: love that that people watching the show have an impression
Speaker 1: that we go in there with a character in mind,
Speaker 1: you know, because Colbert, I guess did to the to
Speaker 1: the extent that he was copying Stone Phillips at the point.
Speaker 1: But we it's really just like I I was my character,
Speaker 1: if I could call it, that was everybody's character. Newscaster,
Speaker 1: it was, it was newsman, it was on the spot,
Speaker 1: Johnny on the spot, and uh I had and if
Speaker 1: anything I was imitating Colbert, right, you know, people would
Speaker 1: come to me like Jason Jones and Nate Cordream. My
Speaker 1: brother got cast on the show, and they both came
Speaker 1: to me separately and said, how did you choose your character?
Speaker 1: How did you how did you decide what your character
Speaker 1: is going to be? And I was like, dude, don't don't.
Speaker 1: You're thinking too hard about this. Just copy Colbert and
Speaker 1: then it'll happen. I still have to this day. This
Speaker 1: is not about you. I don't know why I'm saying that.
Speaker 1: I still have the I won't close it because I
Speaker 1: want to be able to find it again when I'm
Speaker 1: talking to somebody about it. But the responsible drinking thing
Speaker 1: with Correll and him from back in the day, I
Speaker 1: still have that. So I have the Daily Show Responsible Drinking,
Speaker 1: and I think that's what it's called. It's it's yeah,
Speaker 1: Steve really goes and drinks. Oh I have seen that.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, that's so interesting that you bring up
Speaker 1: Colbert because I think that you know wanta if I
Speaker 1: may say, based on me not being an expert at all,
Speaker 1: but I feel like it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: You're I don't know, I don't even know how you
Speaker 1: would describe what he's doing. But it is in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways the same characteristic dimwitted naivete with expert
Speaker 1: put on the top or something like that. That's exactly right.
Speaker 1: What we thought of ourselves, yes, is the the dumbest
Speaker 1: guys in the room who thought they were the smartest.
Speaker 1: So that's exactly what you said, basically, Um, yeah, we
Speaker 1: we thought we knew everything and we knew nothing. What
Speaker 1: was it like working on the show? Positive? It was great.
Speaker 1: I mean it was great. It was so funny. I
Speaker 1: remember it was a job. You know, we went in
Speaker 1: every day and it was a lot of work. But
Speaker 1: I remember one day I shared an office with Ed
Speaker 1: Helms and m who your buddy? Your buddy? I shared
Speaker 1: an office with Ed and he we were both like
Speaker 1: complaining about something about you know, I got stuck in
Speaker 1: Montreal and doing this this field piece, and John gave
Speaker 1: us a lot of notes We've got to go through
Speaker 1: it all again and write a whole new thing and
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. And then you know, Ed stopped us
Speaker 1: and stopped. He goes, you know what, We're gonna look
Speaker 1: back on this experience. He had the foresight just to
Speaker 1: think this way, and thank God for him. He said,
Speaker 1: you're we're gonna both look back on this experience and
Speaker 1: we're not gonna remember this stupid stuff of being stressed
Speaker 1: out about notes or whatever. We're we're only gonna remember
Speaker 1: the positive, the wonderful, you know experience that it was
Speaker 1: and it and it really He's so right. That was
Speaker 1: the one time Ed Helms was the one time yeah
Speaker 1: wrong about everything very wrong in his life. How did
Speaker 1: Jon Stewart influence your comedy or your perspective? God, it's
Speaker 1: so hard to describe succinctly because he's not teaching when
Speaker 1: he's doing notes and stuff. He's it's at first very confusing.
Speaker 1: His notes are sometimes abstract and you really have to
Speaker 1: think about them. And but I realized the result, you
Speaker 1: get the result that he approves. You then realize how
Speaker 1: to basically and in a John way, construct a joke.
Speaker 1: And constructing a joke is something after five years of
Speaker 1: comedy I had never thought about and actual joke construction,
Speaker 1: it being a mechanical thing. And you know, I would say,
Speaker 1: John never went out and you know, set out to
Speaker 1: teach us that. But that's I think what I learned.
Speaker 1: Mhm what. I don't think I've ever talked to add
Speaker 1: about this. And and then I went to high school together.
Speaker 1: By the way, I knew that. I knew that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's crazy. Were you watching the news as a part
Speaker 1: of your job when you're Brian Bright? Yeah, I at
Speaker 1: one point was in so deep. I had two I
Speaker 1: was watching two c spans at once, C Span one
Speaker 1: and c Span two, which, by the way, John Stewart
Speaker 1: himself calls the security camera of news. Like that's that's
Speaker 1: how deep I was. You had to I mean, you
Speaker 1: just had to be up on everything, and you don't
Speaker 1: want to get a script to be like, what is
Speaker 1: what is the debt canceling? What is all this about?
Speaker 1: You know? And to also write your help write your pieces.
Speaker 1: It's it's a imperative. And also you get into it.
Speaker 1: You want to watch the news. That ended when I
Speaker 1: left the Daily Show. You love the Daily Show. You
Speaker 1: were no longer scouring Fox News and see it in
Speaker 1: an MSNBC. It ruined it for me too, because you know,
Speaker 1: people think that The Daily Show is like a satire
Speaker 1: of politics, but it's more a satire of the media itself,
Speaker 1: of news itself. And that's right. I just I can't.
Speaker 1: I con still to this day of a hard time
Speaker 1: watching twenty four hour news. They they've they're doing a
Speaker 1: lot better than they used to do. Like Jake Tapper,
Speaker 1: I think it's fantastic. And he he actually said to
Speaker 1: me in two thousand four, he said, I, God, I
Speaker 1: wish we could do what you guys do. And I
Speaker 1: was like, I said what I said say when whenever
Speaker 1: a news payer and said that to me, which was always,
Speaker 1: I said, you can you can't? You just do it? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what? And now he now they do. They
Speaker 1: show like those videos where they'll show us somebody saying
Speaker 1: one thing and then contradicting themselves in the next cut.
Speaker 1: And you know, if if the Daily Show has had
Speaker 1: any influence on anything, I guess it's that little thing
Speaker 1: still unwatchable. I've talked to add about this. I've talked
Speaker 1: to Wriggle a few other people. When you left, why
Speaker 1: did you? Why did you leave? Oh? I left because
Speaker 1: I got cast in a show seth McFarland's first live
Speaker 1: action sitcom. Okay, which, sure thing right, I'm already counting
Speaker 1: my money. I'm buying a golden helicopter with that money,
Speaker 1: and and uh so, I just I moved my family.
Speaker 1: That's why I often moved to l A. You had, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you had that. You should have looked. You should have
Speaker 1: listened to Ed. Ed chose the show that it just
Speaker 1: won the Emmy a month before he started. He knew
Speaker 1: that was gonna be around for a while. I did. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was a good move. Yeah, I guess I missed.
Speaker 1: Ed didn't tell me that there was a sign up
Speaker 1: sheet for the office. I would love to have been that.
Speaker 1: I did audition for Parks and reg did I did, Yeah,
Speaker 1: auditioned for Nick Offerman's character. And uh so glad I
Speaker 1: didn't get it, are you? Oh yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: did a pretty good audition too. But I'm so glad
Speaker 1: because he made that iconic roronic. He crushed that. Um So,
Speaker 1: what I heard, you moved to l A. The SETH
Speaker 1: McFarland show doesn't doesn't go and then then then the
Speaker 1: writers strike. It happens. Um but I am not to
Speaker 1: bring that up again. That was a difficult time for everybody.
Speaker 1: But I heard that you decided to use this opportunity
Speaker 1: to be very productive and you adopted the g t
Speaker 1: D system getting things done. Talk to me a little
Speaker 1: about that, yeah, or sort of a modified way at
Speaker 1: g t D. It was at one for the more
Speaker 1: modern age. I spent my time because I had nothing
Speaker 1: to do work wise, I spent my time learning how
Speaker 1: to be more productive, okay, And I was just looking
Speaker 1: just googling methods of of that, just product literally googling productivity.
Speaker 1: And eventually I found and I would do this for
Speaker 1: eight hours a day. I eventually discovered this guy named
Speaker 1: Merlin Mann who was a sort of tech guy who
Speaker 1: had adopted g t D and sort of like modified
Speaker 1: it for a more modern tech world old and his stuff. Really,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I just spoke to me. I'm a
Speaker 1: list guy, okay, I like making lists. Uh. You know
Speaker 1: that feeling when you've when you have a lot to
Speaker 1: do and so you write it all down and then
Speaker 1: you feel like you've done something. Yeah already. I love that.
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of that thing. And that's what
Speaker 1: gt D foster is essentially, I mean, okay, yeah, fascinating.
Speaker 1: I wish that I did it more when I get
Speaker 1: incredibly I don't know that I do it for efficiency, really,
Speaker 1: I will do it when I get completely and totally overwhelmed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like right now, I'm in the span of I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think this is like my fifth
Speaker 1: city in like the last two and a half weeks,
Speaker 1: and suddenly trying to pack. And then you know, you're
Speaker 1: laying in bed at night and you're like, what's the
Speaker 1: weather in it in November? And I'm like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: and it just becomes like literally like check the weather, weather,
Speaker 1: do I need sweater? Like all of that stuff. My
Speaker 1: point is, I do feel really good when I make
Speaker 1: the list and then I start crossing the stuff off. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The other thing about all that, I'm sorry, did I interrupt?
Speaker 1: You know? The other thing about all that is that
Speaker 1: it was for creativity as well. It was g t D.
Speaker 1: The whole idea behind that system was too basically ways
Speaker 1: in which you can get everything out of your head
Speaker 1: and onto something physical to be to be organized later
Speaker 1: at a later date. But everything is just out of
Speaker 1: your head. So you know, if you when you have
Speaker 1: that thing, you're walking out the door and you're like,
Speaker 1: oh god, I gotta remember to do that thing with
Speaker 1: so and so now, and then no matter how slow
Speaker 1: steaks that thing with so and so is it's stressing
Speaker 1: your brain right to have it in there, to just
Speaker 1: write it down, have an inbox of meaning a note book,
Speaker 1: you know, phone to like write down and get it
Speaker 1: out of your head. It frees and it freed up
Speaker 1: my mind for ideas and creativity. I felt creative in
Speaker 1: a time where I was not doing anything creative right,
Speaker 1: and it was It definitely changed my life. Well, you
Speaker 1: might have just changed mind because I at one, it
Speaker 1: makes a hell of a lot of sense to me.
Speaker 1: And two, I know what happened. I know the end
Speaker 1: of the story. Your mind got uh free to be
Speaker 1: creative and you create a brilliant web series way ahead
Speaker 1: of its time, Children's Hospital. Now, for those of you
Speaker 1: listening now, web series then it was not the same
Speaker 1: as now. We weren't. We didn't. We didn't have all
Speaker 1: of the Mary had options and choices and platforms that
Speaker 1: are available. Now, what what made you decide to launch
Speaker 1: the show in the way that you did, which was
Speaker 1: essentially independently online. Well, because you know the type of
Speaker 1: show that it was, and I which I describe it
Speaker 1: as sort of just like a joke machine gun. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's just so many jokes a minute
Speaker 1: that you can only handle about fifteen minutes of this,
Speaker 1: So it was a shorter show. And I just didn't
Speaker 1: I couldn't picture that show being on television. I just
Speaker 1: couldn't picture it. So, you know, this was at a
Speaker 1: time when due to the writer's strike, all these studios
Speaker 1: were launching, uh, these web series studios, these arms of
Speaker 1: their you know, and and Warner Brothers had one. And
Speaker 1: so we pitched it. I pitched it to a friend
Speaker 1: and and got David Wayne involved, and we we went
Speaker 1: to Warner Brothers and and they wanted to do it.
Speaker 1: So we just did a ten episode season one. But
Speaker 1: I wanted to look like it was a TV show, right,
Speaker 1: you know from the beginning, Yes, yes, you brought in
Speaker 1: a bunch of your old pals from UCB. Described the
Speaker 1: writer's room to me and trying to create a show
Speaker 1: that was machine gun jokes. The writer's room looked a
Speaker 1: lot like my office here that you're looking at right now.
Speaker 1: This was just me. It was just the writers was
Speaker 1: just yeah, yeah, it was just And we didn't get
Speaker 1: a writer's room of formal writers room until season six,
Speaker 1: around season I think probably the second season, which was
Speaker 1: on Adult Swim, sort of the Internet of television. We
Speaker 1: started farming out episodes two people that we liked, funny
Speaker 1: people that are funny writers and actors, and and then
Speaker 1: we would sort of rewrite them and and do that.
Speaker 1: We that was our writer's room was kind of virtual,
Speaker 1: but it was never It wasn't a group of people
Speaker 1: together in a room until season six, okay, because season
Speaker 1: five killed me. Okay, Speaking of Adult Swim, what was
Speaker 1: what were your feelings? What was that like when, even
Speaker 1: though you call it the Internet of the networks or
Speaker 1: whatever you said, when when Adults Swim wanted to put
Speaker 1: it onto television? Oh, it's great, man, uh I yeah,
Speaker 1: I had no. I never intended it to be on television.
Speaker 1: I never, you know. But I also wasn't against it.
Speaker 1: I just never. I wasn't thinking about it. And I
Speaker 1: don't remember whether they came to us or whether John,
Speaker 1: my producing partner, had at and the College, my executive producer,
Speaker 1: had the idea and just had a conversation with somebody
Speaker 1: and decided we was anyway, we ended up pitching it
Speaker 1: to Comedy Central and Adult Swim, and Adult Swim was
Speaker 1: just very obviously a better fit for this show. We
Speaker 1: was already sort of an adult swim show right during
Speaker 1: its its lifespan, incredibly inventive. You did a bunch of
Speaker 1: of conceptual things. I am told that in addition to
Speaker 1: the movie Arthur, another huge influence for you early on
Speaker 1: was Twin Peaks. Do you think Twin Peaks inspired Oh? Yeah, yeah?
Speaker 1: Answers yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's say. And and
Speaker 1: to that end, I wanted I, in my head, was
Speaker 1: creating this whole mythology around Children's Hospital in the way
Speaker 1: that David Lynch and Mark Frost do with Twin Peaks.
Speaker 1: I wanted there to be a reason why everything was
Speaker 1: wrong here in this place, in this why things didn't
Speaker 1: work like the life we lead here, uh, in in
Speaker 1: normal life. Right. And of course you know it was
Speaker 1: too much. It's too it's it's I was thinking about
Speaker 1: it a little too much. But I did manage to
Speaker 1: do it in certain regards. But I mostly it still
Speaker 1: exists just in my head, the mythology, uh, the universe
Speaker 1: of Children's Hospital. But you know, we we did definitely
Speaker 1: expand it with the behind the scenes characters. Every every
Speaker 1: season we did an episode of Newsreaders. They they would
Speaker 1: like a sixty minutes that would do a show I
Speaker 1: do an episode on the actors involved with the show
Speaker 1: Children's Hospital, the longest running hospital show of all time,
Speaker 1: and so we already we sort of just expanded it
Speaker 1: out that way, and then later on with Medical Police.
Speaker 1: You uh, you said that your goal on the show
Speaker 1: was to write the perfect joke. Yeah, did you ever
Speaker 1: do that? No? I don't know. I don't know what
Speaker 1: was the what was the closest. Oh god, it's so
Speaker 1: hard because it's like I said, there was just so many,
Speaker 1: I mean, good or bad. There was just a quantity
Speaker 1: of jokes. H I can't I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Can I get to you? You can get back to me.
Speaker 1: You take Home for Emma. No, it's not a perfect joke. Sorry,
Speaker 1: go ahead, you uh you take Home for Emmy words.
Speaker 1: It becomes a huge success in in Hollywood, whatever that
Speaker 1: means and beyond. Were you surprised by the reaction to
Speaker 1: the show. Oh yeah, I mean this is the stupidest
Speaker 1: show on TV. People were calling it smart. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: still think that's ridiculous. But yeah, I mean awards, I
Speaker 1: mean that's bonkers. This was like a thing to do
Speaker 1: while the writers were striking, and you couldn't do anything
Speaker 1: except for my series. Yeah, I don't. Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: still to this day. Obviously, I'm getting tongue tied because
Speaker 1: I can't really wrap my head around it. As the
Speaker 1: show is continuing, your film career starts taking off. Notably,
Speaker 1: I don't know if that even means anything, but it
Speaker 1: does because I'm gonna ask you two questions about it.
Speaker 1: Notably the hot Tub time Machine movie. I'm told this
Speaker 1: movie was written for you. Oh uh, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure. I never heard that. I know that
Speaker 1: it was written. It was a joke with the writing.
Speaker 1: The movie itself was a bit. Yeah. The guys um
Speaker 1: all actually all the producers of Karate Kid, the TV show,
Speaker 1: the Netflix show. They all went to college together and
Speaker 1: one of them is the writer of Hot Tub and
Speaker 1: they used to joke about pitching a show or a
Speaker 1: TV movie called hot Tub time Machine. You know. They
Speaker 1: were like, because it's ridiculous, I didn't dumb idea. And
Speaker 1: then one of them actually did it. He just he
Speaker 1: was like, let's just keep this bit going. What was it?
Speaker 1: What was it like working with Craig Robinson, so good man.
Speaker 1: I just talked to him the other day he's the
Speaker 1: sweetest guy. You know, he's Uh. It was his birthday
Speaker 1: last week and I texted him and that he said,
Speaker 1: thanks man, And the second thing out of his mouth was,
Speaker 1: how are the kids like he? He's just such a sweet,
Speaker 1: sweet guy. And by the way, my key, I told
Speaker 1: my kids that they're thrilled. Thrilled I was. They were like,
Speaker 1: I met Craig. I was like, yeah, you were like
Speaker 1: a tiny person. But you've yeah, you've met Craig a
Speaker 1: couple of times. And they're like, I met somebody from
Speaker 1: the office. Yeah, yeah, you met at Helen's too. I'm sure,
Speaker 1: but right, oh, he doesn't count. Um. You also then
Speaker 1: get cast on HBO's Ballers. Is this part of the
Speaker 1: reason you decided to end Children's Hospital? You got there
Speaker 1: was so much going on for you that even the
Speaker 1: g t D system couldn't couldn't no no, because you
Speaker 1: know them, I wrote a lot of Children's Hospital on
Speaker 1: the road from different places. Uh. We were able to
Speaker 1: put that show together from you know, different places with
Speaker 1: just Google docs. It's the best thing ever invented. But
Speaker 1: I know, I we sort of structured that show. This
Speaker 1: show was like a summer camp that all our famous
Speaker 1: funny friends could come and do and it's not we
Speaker 1: don't we We would love it if they had, you know,
Speaker 1: made it a priority, but we never said, like we
Speaker 1: we understand that this can't be your This is not
Speaker 1: a money maker for you. This is this is something
Speaker 1: you do for fun. Let's create an environment full of
Speaker 1: funny people that that love each other. You know. That
Speaker 1: was my m O and and so. But then that
Speaker 1: went for me too, like I was wasn't able to
Speaker 1: do other stuff. The thing was is that I got tired.
Speaker 1: I did I didn't see an end to it, and
Speaker 1: I sort of subscribed to the seinfeld I idea. The
Speaker 1: Seinfeldian idea that Seinfeldian, I guess is now a philosophy.
Speaker 1: We can say that that you know you want something,
Speaker 1: you don't know it, but you do want something to
Speaker 1: end before it's run its course in a way you don't.
Speaker 1: You don't want it to peter out. And that show
Speaker 1: is so important to me that that that was sort
Speaker 1: of my philosophy is that like we've we've done it,
Speaker 1: I want to do right now for for a span
Speaker 1: of time, I just want to be an actor. I
Speaker 1: love writing and and producing, but but I just want
Speaker 1: to want to do that for a little bit and
Speaker 1: uh not have to worry about going home from set
Speaker 1: on Ballers and writing the whole episode of Children's Hospital. Um,
Speaker 1: so yeah, that that was really it. I mean, just
Speaker 1: get out while it's still hot. How was I want
Speaker 1: to talk about Ballers just a little bit. You played
Speaker 1: the financial manager for Sports Stars. I am a huge
Speaker 1: Now are you a sports fan? I'm a football fan.
Speaker 1: I'm a football fan. I'm a fair weather baseball fan.
Speaker 1: What was it like working with the Rock and working
Speaker 1: on that show with obviously featured so many I know,
Speaker 1: it's so crazy. It's so crazy because football is my sport,
Speaker 1: and uh people I would run it, you know, like
Speaker 1: Victor Cruz and and Terrell Suggs, Like we're on the
Speaker 1: show almost as much as a regular cast member. And
Speaker 1: it was just to become familiar with guys like that
Speaker 1: was amazing. And I hate them so much because they're good, right,
Speaker 1: Like Sugs is like he's a better improviser than I am.
Speaker 1: He just doesn't know what cut means. It just keeps going.
Speaker 1: It keeps going. Yeah, even even as you're having lunch,
Speaker 1: it's just the same. Yeah, it's going. Did you feel
Speaker 1: like this was a step in a new direction for
Speaker 1: you in your career. I wasn't sure at the time
Speaker 1: when I was doing it, because it was sort of
Speaker 1: it was a half hour show, so I guess I
Speaker 1: thought of it as a comedy on the outset because
Speaker 1: I was also sort of the comic relief. So I
Speaker 1: was in my work little world. I was doing a comedy.
Speaker 1: But it did, you know it. I realized gradually that
Speaker 1: if this was a different thing for me, yeah, fun
Speaker 1: to do that, super fun, very challenging the because it
Speaker 1: was a different world I had worked for so long
Speaker 1: in worlds that I created or where it was. It
Speaker 1: felt sort of insular and I knew everybody, and it
Speaker 1: was comedic and this was this was like the Hollywood
Speaker 1: machine man and uh very very uh educational and and
Speaker 1: getting it watched the rock work and watch how he
Speaker 1: gets things done. Is was awesome, And yeah it was.
Speaker 1: It was a great thing, very very difficult, but in
Speaker 1: the best way. Yeah, your energy on that show and
Speaker 1: what you brought to that show. I just always really
Speaker 1: really admired and yeah, I just I I loved it.
Speaker 1: I was a fan of the show. I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I've worked myself in in in sports and various capacities
Speaker 1: as well. And I just thought, yeah, I thought you
Speaker 1: were spectacular and and and seeing you begin to turn
Speaker 1: as the show did, it was awesome. So yeah, there
Speaker 1: you go, Thank you very much. That's the only thing
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed playing that character, you know, because the
Speaker 1: sky was the limit. They let me do what I
Speaker 1: will go anywhere. Yeah, I think I did that improvised.
Speaker 1: I improvised that I had tried crack. I think it's
Speaker 1: in the show. I don't remember where they kept that.
Speaker 1: Why not? Why not? Um? Recently I hear you this
Speaker 1: is a this is a very big thing for you.
Speaker 1: I would be so far out of my element. I
Speaker 1: was told for years you planted your love of cars
Speaker 1: in interviews and now as one of the hosts of
Speaker 1: Top Gear America. Was this a conscious strategy you have
Speaker 1: or you just love cars? Yeah? I mean this was
Speaker 1: a conscious strategy in that I wanted to I wanted
Speaker 1: to be one of those guys, one of those actors
Speaker 1: that car companies sent cars to for a weekend. Okay,
Speaker 1: I wanted to get a Ferrari dropped off at my
Speaker 1: house four days, Uh, you know, for with no obligation,
Speaker 1: and and so I that's exactly I made it. I
Speaker 1: made a very conscious, conscious effort to mention my love
Speaker 1: of cars in the media, and it happened once. But
Speaker 1: it was it stupid. It was a lame car, you know.
Speaker 1: It was a I don't remember it was this one
Speaker 1: of those electric cars. By the way, I love cameras.
Speaker 1: That was not I would just sponsored my cameras. No, no,
Speaker 1: I don't know. But if we ever need that sponsorship,
Speaker 1: I don't Nissan. Nissan Maxima is a far better car.
Speaker 1: Ultima is a far better car. But anyway, all right,
Speaker 1: we could I could go off testing the limits of
Speaker 1: these cars. Has been fun for you and myself, man,
Speaker 1: because I would I feel just as out of my element.
Speaker 1: I was cast as the one of the three guys.
Speaker 1: I'm the I'm the guy sort of the audience, the
Speaker 1: voice of the audience. I'm the enthusiast. I've never I
Speaker 1: had never driven on a track before. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I didn't know about the mechanics of cars or I
Speaker 1: wasn't an encyclopedia of automobiles. But you know, I sort
Speaker 1: of rounded out the group in that way. So it
Speaker 1: was it added a fun dynamic, but it was also
Speaker 1: to the show. But I was terrified all the time there.
Speaker 1: We did some crazy stuff, Dude, I can't, I can't.
Speaker 1: I did the you know what do you call it?
Speaker 1: You know, started the NASCAR thing one time and rode
Speaker 1: in the in the pace car terrifying. Was it her
Speaker 1: made the pace car? How fast did it go? I
Speaker 1: don't know, but he said, you want to go, you
Speaker 1: want to open it up a little bit. And I
Speaker 1: just remember hearing the crowd going crazy as you're going
Speaker 1: around the engine right and the engine it's so loud
Speaker 1: you can't even stand that. I want that I play.
Speaker 1: I could play that to go to sleep to that
Speaker 1: engine noise. Love it, love it, dude. I am such
Speaker 1: a big fan of yours. I so appreciate uh you
Speaker 1: spending some time with me. Is there anything else you
Speaker 1: want listeners to be looking out for? Um? No, top
Speaker 1: Gear is still I believe it's running right now, right now,
Speaker 1: both seasons on the Motor Trend app, probably on the
Speaker 1: Motor Trend network, but it's not. That's not available everywhere.
Speaker 1: We're working right now to get better, get more money,
Speaker 1: to broaden, to expand it a little bit. But what
Speaker 1: am I No, I'm not doing a thing. You got anything,
Speaker 1: I'll do it. Yeah, job in Atlanta, I'll do it.
Speaker 1: Tell them I'll do it. I can't talk about it.
Speaker 1: Come on, man, I can't talk about it all right.
Speaker 1: Have you ever ever heard the phrase material breach of contract?
Speaker 1: I love that band. You're doing a video for material
Speaker 1: breaching contract. Yeah, thank you so much, Rob. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Whatever you do next, I'm in. I'm full in on you. Well.
Speaker 1: I you are such a lovely guy. Um, thank you
Speaker 1: for letting me do this, and thank you for having
Speaker 1: this podcast. I love. These are my favorite kinds of podcast.
Speaker 1: It's just we're just this is just talking I I
Speaker 1: and you're very good at it, so so um, thanks
Speaker 1: for having me stop it. I appreciate it. And uh
Speaker 1: and we'll do it again. Um. No, I'm not available, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll be in Atlanta. You can't tell you why. Thanks Rob. Wow,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining me today. That was incredible.
Speaker 1: I I'm going to spend the next couple of days
Speaker 1: thinking about what little morsels i'd like to feed the media.
Speaker 1: Not a bad idea, my friend, not bad at all,
Speaker 1: And my listeners, thank you for joining me. On this
Speaker 1: beautiful Tuesday or whatever day you're listening. Time is weird
Speaker 1: in the world of podcasts. Am I right, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be back next week with another fantastic conversation. Let's see.
Speaker 1: Do I have any hints for you? How about they
Speaker 1: have been both royalty and a teenage heartthrop m m, yes,
Speaker 1: We'll see you next week. Off the Beat is hosted
Speaker 1: and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive
Speaker 1: producer Langley. Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers
Speaker 1: are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily carr Are. Talent
Speaker 1: producer is Ryan Papa Zachary At. Our intern is Sammy Cats.
Speaker 1: Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one
Speaker 1: and only Creed Bratton,