WEBVTT - David Koechner 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:08.520 High Gang. My name is David Keckner. I'm Todd Packer 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:19.360 from the Office the pac Man. What's up, my nerds? Well, 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:24.160 hello again, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Office 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:27.920 Deep Dive. Buckle up, It's gonna be a bumpy ride today, 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.280 that's all I'll tell you. I am, as always, your host, 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.280 Brian baum Gartner, and I've got some exciting news. As 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:39.720 you know, I am soon going to be transitioning into 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:43.560 my new podcast, Off the Beat, which is going to 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.280 take what we do here at the Office Deep Dive 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:50.360 and expand it to more of your favorite guests and shows. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.000 So we will still be talking to folks associated with 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.880 the Office, but so much more. And so today you're 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:00.319 gonna get a little sneak peek of what you can 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:04.559 expect in Off the Beat as we bring in a 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.800 very special guest, one of my good friends and one 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:13.240 of the funniest guys that I know, David Keckner. Now 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.640 you may know him as Todd Packer from the Office, 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.240 the pac Man himself. But today we're gonna go deep, 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.920 that's what she said. We're gonna go into his full career, 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:27.679 starting with his early days at Second City and Improv 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:32.640 Olympic to SNL, where he got his start alongside Will Ferrell, 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.399 his move out to l A, which led to his 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:40.600 big break as champ Kind on Anchorman, and well the 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:45.760 longstanding friendship he's had with both Steve Carrell and Nancy 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.680 Walls Correll, which is how he landed his guest starring 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.640 role on the Office as the man we all understandably 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.760 love to hate. So let's dive in right now. The 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:00.800 man who brought everyone in the old at the Office 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:06.520 down is here today to lift us up. David Keckner. Everybody, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:15.160 Bubble and squeak. I love it, Bubble and squeak on 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:21.760 Bubble and squeaker, cooking at every month left over from 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:39.320 the nabby. Hey, well, what do I see but doubleb 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:45.240 He's looking at me. How are you, buddy? Always I'm great. 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.200 Always with the hat I need I need lessons from 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.440 you in hat wear. Well, you know, it's just it's 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:55.480 the sun for me. I'm fair. Yeah, So for me, 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:58.720 it's it's more like, um, it's not necessarily fashioned. It's 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.839 a necessity of I gotta keep the sun off. No, 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:05.160 but I do that. But I just wear baseball hats 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:08.120 and I go into hat stores to try to find 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.760 something just a little bit more fashionable. I can't. I 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:14.800 don't know. It's my head shape or something. See how 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:19.679 I have a small head too, so um, but it's 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.440 really Brian, I gotta say, I've always thought this. It's 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.840 all a decision about I can wear that. Really, I 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.520 just need to have confidence. That's that's what I think. 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:33.040 You just go yep, I can wear that, and then 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:35.240 you do because you can wear for for us, it's 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:41.360 the larger forehead, the superior forehead that we have. But 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:43.840 it's for me it's the ears I gotta watch out for, 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.560 you know, yah, because the ball cap doesn't do those. 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:51.680 So baby, do you sunscreen? I do, sure, Okay, yeah, 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.520 I don't religiously sunscreen, so I gotta that's my This 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:59.880 is the lazy sunscreen for me, lazy sunscreen, but fast 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.680 in a ball way more fashionable as well. Well. Thank 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.600 you for saying so. And you're right, Yeah, I am right. 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:10.680 I'm right, Dave. You are one of the funniest people 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:15.119 I've ever met. Um that that almost goes with without sad. 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:19.479 Let's stop there. That was the episode and I am 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:24.480 now fully stated I want to go back with you 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.600 because there's a lot about your life that I don't know. 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:31.480 I know obviously, Well we'll talk about the chiefs later 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:35.400 on in Kansas City. But you were born in Tipton, Missouri, 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:38.560 and I assume your family was in in farming, right 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:43.000 your dad manufactured chicken turkey coops. Turkey coops. I always 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:47.159 start with saying he manufactured livestock trailers, so then people 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:49.520 get at least a vision of it's on a trailer. 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:52.280 Then I add coops to it so they know it's 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.160 on a trailer. Because every time I say it, people go, oh, 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:59.080 for like something in your backyard, Like, well, um, that's condescending, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:03.040 and you're also ignorant and not interested because it seems 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:05.200 to me like when they go over your backyard, I've 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.520 never seen a turkey coop in someone's backyard. I've seen 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:12.160 chicken coops, but to me, like, oh, like your backyard, Like, oh, 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:13.680 so you don't want to hear the rest of the story, 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.640 That's what I take away from it. Um, so, no, 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.240 they were. There were forty foot trailers and uh large 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:24.920 racks that are built for transferring turkeys from the farm 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:29.159 to the processing plant, so from their home to uh 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:37.880 their death. Yes, theirs. So my dad as a manufactur 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.560 he built a lot of different other farm influments like hey, 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:44.400 bail forks, pharaohing crates, which is another thing that's too 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:47.240 long to get into, gas barrel stands, picnic table frames. 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.160 But the biggest part of the business was turkey coops. 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.760 And yeah, so from Tipton it's right dead center Missouri 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.359 and from north southeast west it's like right in the 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.960 middle on Highway fifty between Jefferson City, the State cap 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.800 Role and Saidelia, which is where the Missouri State Fair 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.640 was held every year. That is a very special place 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:09.240 in my heart. And so yeah, that's where I grew up. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.800 Town to two thousand people. Wow, And now, when did 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.440 you start thinking about being a performer? And I'm gonna 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:18.680 get I'm gonna use the word performer generally now because 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:20.560 I want to talk about that a little bit later, 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.200 about what you consider yourself. But when did you start thinking, oh, 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:26.760 this may be something that I want to do. Well, 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.080 I've said this before. I'm one of six kids, and 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.920 so when I was ten, I have a distinct memory 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:34.880 of walking around the west side of my house by 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:39.680 myself being very contemplative and thinking I gotta get out 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:41.560 of here. I have to. I have to live in 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:43.960 a city. I I don't know where I'm gonna go. 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:46.200 I'm gonna miss my family and friends, but I know 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:49.520 I've got to go. And then when I was thirteen, 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.960 was the first year for Saturday at Live, and I 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.600 knew my parents wouldn't let me watch it because they 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.920 wouldn't let me watch like laugh In or a lot 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.279 of shows, you know, like A Room two twenty two 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.800 or stuff like that was too racy. But they leased 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:05.560 to go out dancing every weekend to the local Farmers 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.080 and Sportsmen's Club, and I had to babysit my three 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.880 younger siblings, and I knew they were gonna be there, 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.480 so I didn't say anything. I didn't ask permission because 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:16.320 I knew they would have said no, So I didn't 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:18.840 say anything so I didn't have to lie. I just 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:21.720 wouldn't mention it because I don't know if you remember, 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.280 you're a little bit younger than me, but they would do. 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:28.040 They were doing some live commercials promoting Saturday Life. I 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.600 was like, this is brand news. This is a live show, 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.280 and it's comedy. It looks like something that I've never 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.320 seen before and so my parents were gone and so 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:38.960 sn L let's see it aired at ten thirty in 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.760 the Midwest, and I remember watching it, and through that 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.440 first year, I was like, I want to do that. 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:49.240 I want to be on that show. Now. Then you don't. 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.440 You don't tell people because you're in a small town. 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:57.440 Small small towns don't really embrace dreams. And again, this 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.200 is before the internet. So I had no I the 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:06.760 that's the title of your new book. Yeah, I like 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:12.800 you said new book, as if I've written many. Uh, 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.119 But so that was in my head and I didn't 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.240 tell people. I didn't tell anyone. And again, there's no 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:24.080 performance opportunity or stage opportunity in Tipton. None except once 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.360 a year there was the high school play, and you 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:29.440 couldn't do that into your junior so there was no opportunity. 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.400 This is pre internet. There's not a ton of books. 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.000 I'd never met an actor. I didn't know how it worked. 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.760 So that's that's that's when I knew, though. You just 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:41.040 you've watched SNL and you were like, I want to 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:45.640 do that, that's what I want to do. Yeow. So 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:48.240 what was your process then, of of leaving Tipton. I 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:50.720 know you went to Chicago. How did you decide that 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.360 was the place or go about getting there? Well, I 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:57.160 went to college first, and I was a political science major. Again, 0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:59.880 that's surprising to me. That's the most surprising thing you've 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:04.240 so far. Really, that's funny. The thing was. The thing 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:11.360 is because I'm very uh, I didn't even have a 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.520 thought that I should be a theater major. That didn't 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.559 come up. I thought, you go to college for something 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:22.040 that is dedicated to a pursuit a career, a profession. 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:24.680 So I thought, well, I'm going to be in politics. 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.560 And I really, looking back on it, I think that 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.760 was my desire to seek a stage. But I also 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:34.559 had this altruistic streak where I thought a politician their 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.640 job was to help people. So I did that for 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:40.120 three years, and then I started realizing that this isn't 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:44.280 no one's talking about the you know, how you use 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:49.040 power or or the process or politics to really help people. 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.160 It was just about this machinations of things going on. 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:54.199 The third year was kind of getting the more dry 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:58.640 aspects of politics and the administrative end of it, and 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:01.160 I remember thinking, well, shoot, I've met so many bright 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.640 people in this pursuit and I thought, well, the people 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:08.360 in politics are either from a political family, or they 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:12.720 are very wealthy, or they're the smartest person in any 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.240 room they walk into. And I was none of those things. 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.600 So I just quit going to my classes because I 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.160 remember thinking, I don't want to be a lawyer. I 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:23.120 don't want to just work for a senator, and that 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:25.640 doesn't seem like these people are really committed to just 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:28.560 helping people. So I quit going to all my classes. 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.600 So as you know, if that happens, you're what they 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.680 call academically ineligible, which is my way of punting. It 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:39.960 really was. And my dad said, well, Dave, I don't 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:41.400 know what you want to do, but I don't think 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:43.520 you want to go to school. And for me that 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.360 was a relief. I didn't there was no punishment, but 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:48.680 for him as a relief because it's like, Okay, this 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:52.000 kid's off my doll I don't. So he sold me 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.520 the car I was driving. It was a god, what 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.760 year was that thing? It was a nineteen probably a 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:04.520 nineteen seven D seven Plymouth Grand Fury. Uh. He sold 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.080 me that car for four hundred dollars, and then I 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.600 was there in Clymie, Missouri. I was working three different 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:11.440 jobs just to make it, you know, paying for your 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:13.640 rent and all that stuff. And then a buddy of 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.439 mine and I. By this point, Brian, I had read 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.520 a bunch of books about Saturday Live, like there's a 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.160 smaller book called Backstage at Saturday Night Live. Then I 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.640 was starting to read books about Second City, and I'd 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.760 read the book about John Belushi Wired, and everything that 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:29.400 kept coming up was like, oh, they're all from a 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.120 Second City. So a buddy of mine and I we 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:36.160 drove up to Chicago and we saw a show at 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.280 Second City and I was like, oh my god, oh 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:40.640 my god, you know, sitting there in the whole time's 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:42.640 like God, this is what I want, This is what 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:45.920 I want. And then on the way out, so actually 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:48.240 on that second level, they're the big, big room at 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.760 Second City. Go downstairs and there's a big poster and 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:54.800 it was advertising classes. I was like, oh my god, 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.680 that's oh that's how that's how they do it. And 0:11:57.720 --> 0:11:59.960 I had a match book and a golf pencil, because 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.960 back then you would fill out a piece of paper 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.480 for your mainly address. They wanted people's just like now 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:09.760 they want your information. And so I surreptitiously wrote down 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:13.840 the number for classes on that matchbook. Because I'm from Tipton, 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.840 I expected someone to tap on my shoulder and say, 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:19.600 what are you writing that down for? You can't do that. 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:22.080 That's the kind of narrative you come from a small town, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.480 like you don't, don't you have? You can't do that. 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.839 And so then I went back to Columbia, Missouri, and 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.800 I called and I found out that they taught very 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:32.920 different levels of classes. And then I saved my money 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.000 so that summer I came up and took a two 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.160 week concentrated course for the what was called Players Workshop. 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.040 And then I went home and like, that's it, I'm 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:43.440 doing this. Went home. It took another year to save 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:46.760 money and come back. And then I moved to Chicago 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.280 when I was twenty four. Wow, and and did you 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.120 because I know you worked at Improv Olympic as well, 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:56.400 were you doing both of those things simultaneously or Once 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.800 I got to town, I made the mistake of thinking 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:03.440 I had to be in restaurant management to uh to 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:06.600 afford living in Chicago, which I didn't realize. I made 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:08.720 less money there than I would have if I was 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:11.240 waiting tables. It took six months there so I just 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:15.200 kept all these things that happened happened for a reason, 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.360 Like I didn't move to Chicago to l twenty four 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.079 and I didn't start right away. And then when I 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.240 was ready to start and I quit working as a 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.600 restaurant manager, I got a job waiting tables and I 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.719 opened up the Chicago Tribune. In the Sunday section had 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.560 an article about Dell Close and Sharna helping from the 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.640 Improv Olympic and about what they were doing, and they 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:37.240 were going to have their own television show, and I like, 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.880 this is the place to go. So I started first 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.560 at the Improv Olympic, which was a blessing, Like all 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:44.520 these things lined up and sent me to the right 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:46.920 direction every time. And it was a delay in a sense, 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:49.840 but it is the right time because at that point, 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:52.760 all these other people were moving to town and starting classes, 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:55.680 and they had all been fans of Saray life the 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.200 same relative age that I had been. And we're all 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.720 happened to be there, but everybody one to be good. 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.079 It wasn't about being famous or successful. Is about you 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:06.360 wanted to go there and do this thing and create that, 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.600 then find a way to do that magic you had 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:12.120 been witnessing and be part of that type of thing, 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.240 and it just so happens. So I started the Probablympic first, 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.559 and then I started taking classes at Second City simultaneously, 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.400 so I was taken both classes. So about that time 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:26.000 I was probably doing at least four nights of classes 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:28.520 a week, and then within a year then I would 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.800 be doing four nights of classes and or performance every 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.880 week for my entire time in Chicago. And then years 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:39.240 later you read the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:42.160 they talked about the ten thousand hours theory and I 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.280 looked back like, oh wow, I did it. I put 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.240 that time in and that's the thing, right. So that's 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.920 how that's how it happened. And for people who don't 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:53.880 know Dell Close, this is a legendary comedy teacher in 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:58.280 Chicago who was there at the same time with you. Well, 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.040 when I was there, Chris far and I started. Actually 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.800 Chris Farley started I think six months later than me, 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:10.720 but Chris Farley, Pat Finn, Pete Hallney, Neil Flynn, Mike Coleman. Then, 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.760 uh so this is at Second City that it's Dave Razowski, 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:19.000 Dave Pasquasy, a lot of these people are legends that 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.520 you might not be household names, but trust me, these 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:26.160 are legendary and prop performers. Timmadows was there, Joel Murray 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.480 was there, and then over the Second City side at 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:33.520 the same time was Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell, Richard Kind 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.760 had Jeff left town. But the list of the people 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.960 that I ended up working with in Chicago is a 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.760 who's who of people who eventually became amazing. So then 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:48.200 just behind me was Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:53.600 Matt Walsh, Tina Faye, Rachel Dratch, Ratio Sayings, Adam McKay, 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:57.120 and other other names. Now these are writers John Glazer, 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:02.760 Brian McCann, Bryan Stack, Vandorff. The list goes on and on, 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:06.960 and Tommy, Andy Richter. It just goes on, and you 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:10.640 realize that this was just happened to be an amazing time. 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:12.880 And before I left town, I got Saturday Live after 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.360 a couple of years, after many years working there. But 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.800 um I met with a guy named Bernie Sillens is 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.880 one of the persons that started Second City Night, and 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:25.240 he and I had lunch and he said he had 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.360 never seen such a confluence of talent as had been 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:31.240 there in this past ten years, and I look at 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.720 it now and like that has never happened again, Like 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.080 this group of people that all came through at this 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.560 particular time in history, and all of them made a 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:46.920 big impact in show business or in media. I guess, well, 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.880 you were there. I know Nancy Walls was also there. Sorry, 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.040 I forgot to mention. Nancy and I were on Saturday 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.520 Live together. Nancy Nancy Corrells been dating. Yeah, she'd been 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.760 dating Steve Carrell. So Nancy and I actually were in 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.320 the same company at Second City and then we both 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:04.960 got hired on Saturday at Live at the same time, 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.479 and then we both got let go from Saturday Night 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.800 Live at the same time. Nancy and Steve got married 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.600 this summer, she and I got hired, and uh, I 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:15.520 was at their wedding and we were out there, you know, 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.040 and Steve audition for ESNL. I mean that can be 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:23.359 to be believed, like they didn't recognize like Steve Carell's specialness. Um, 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:25.320 I guess I guess had to say thank god because 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.880 then I probably wouldn't have gotten hired. But so, yeah, 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:30.720 they got married right before we started doing SNL that 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:33.280 first season, Nancy and I and then I think Steve 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.480 was doing a play. He'd been at Second City for 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:38.159 a long time and I was a huge fan of 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.159 his back then. And he then went and did a 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:44.600 play at the Goodman called Picasso at the Lapino Gil 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.360 which was a Step Martin play, and then he ended 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:49.960 up I think, doing it at a Broadway theater in 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:52.800 New York, so they were there at the same time. 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:57.520 Too interesting. I didn't know did he play Einstein? Remember, 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:01.399 I don't know, never saw the play. Yeah, how arrogant 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.000 is that? I didn't think, oh shit, you know, it's 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.000 one of those things. Back then, I probably would have 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.880 said he's done something stupid, like I'd like to see 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.399 her play in such a way that meant like fuck you, 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:13.440 you know what I mean that I would have thought, 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.359 you want to kind of see my play. Oh how 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:18.200 good of you to come down to see my play. 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.640 But you know, you're busy thinking about yourself and doing 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.080 a million other things. But I never did get it. 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:25.960 I didn't have a chance to see it in Chicago 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:27.800 and then in New York. I forget when the run was, 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:29.560 but I didn't. I didn't get a chance to see it. 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:50.800 Were you still at Second City when you auditioned for 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.520 S and L. Yeah? Yeah, so that was why you 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:57.120 left Second Yeah. That. I always thought to myself, I'm 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.160 not going to go to New York or Los Angeles 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:03.119 without a job. Like I would see people leave Chicago 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.120 and go to l A. But I always thought to myself, 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.280 go when a job takes you there. And I was 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.280 fortunate enough that a job took me away. Yeah. Tell 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:16.400 me about that audition experience. I've heard so many amazing stories. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.800 Did you audition for Lauren? Yeah, I tell you, I 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:24.399 had um It's weird and it sounds arrogant, but I 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:26.879 knew I was going to get it because when I 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.840 was thirteen, as I told you, I decided I'm going 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.960 to be on that show. And it wasn't a feeling 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:38.160 of hubris or ego. It was just kind of this knowing, well, 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:40.800 I'm going to be on that show. And so when 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:43.680 I got asked to audition, I kind of heard other 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:46.560 people had talked and some of the scouts had come through, 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:49.239 and I knew they really liked me. And I had 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.199 heard from other people that Lauren really thought highly of me. 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:55.720 So this is before I went out to audition, so 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.879 I really I felt at ease. And so my first audition, 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:03.280 you had to come in with a an original character, 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.840 and then you had to do a political impression, and 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:10.200 then you had to do a celebrity impression. So I 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.800 did Pat Buchanan because he's got a grave, gravelly voice 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.680 like I do. Pat Buchanan is this right wing commentator 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:20.600 on on back then it was CNN because there wasn't 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:23.160 Fox News yet, but he was a right wing guy 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:25.119 who was one of the first guys talking about building 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:28.879 a wall. And then I did Jack Lemon and Jim 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:31.560 Carey doing a Buddy movie and they were arguing about 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:37.040 whose trailer was bigger, and Brian I improvised the entire 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:39.960 thing just off the top of your head. YEP. I 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:42.399 had some thoughts, you know how you think because I 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:45.960 was I was at the I OH. There's such a 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:49.440 purity to improvisation, Like you don't decide what you're doing 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:52.439 ahead of time. Now that is a blessing and a curse. 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.600 And you never repeat yourself at the I OH, Like 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:58.280 if you did the same character week after week, people 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:00.800 look like, what what are you doing? That's kind of 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:05.679 like cheating. So after the first audition, which I just improvised, 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:09.600 I wrote the second audition. The second audition, can't remember exactly. 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.879 It may have been just go do your characters, or 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:16.080 it may have been do the political impression and whatever 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:18.280 characters you want to do. I remember I didn't have 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:21.320 to do celebrities anymore, so I think I may have 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:24.720 done Pat Buchanan again. And then i'd written this little 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:27.880 piece which is almost a one man show of just characters, 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:30.640 because I love to do characters back in Chicago too, 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:32.920 and so I had all these little things I was 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:35.040 going to do. It is almost like they blended together. 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.919 And it's studio eight h there's no audience and no 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:41.919 one's laughing, and there's no warmth, and it's a bit cold, 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:45.399 and there's cameras. Now I didn't know, and thankfully I 0:21:45.400 --> 0:21:50.080 didn't know. The cameras are a live feed. There's people 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:54.440 all over NBC, all over the building, watching all over 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:57.320 the building and on the West coast. You don't know 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:01.119 that you have a very large audience of people. You 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:03.399 don't know that until later, and thankfully you don't know, 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:07.600 because that would have probably been more anxiety inducing than 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:11.080 anything else. But again, that doesn't exist unless you let 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:13.359 it come into your head. And I had this sense 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:16.280 of calm and peace that I knew, I knew what 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:20.119 I was doing, and I in myself, I knew that 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:23.520 what I was gonna do was gonna be satisfactory to me, 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:26.119 and that this is what I have, and there was 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:28.600 no worry to it, and I did it and I 0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:31.439 felt very good about it. I don't remember if there 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:34.040 was a laugh at all, because no one gives it up. 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:38.040 And then you wait another week or two, and then 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:41.080