WEBVTT - INTERVIEWS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE FUNNY 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:06.080 Hello, is there anybody out there, just not if you 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:10.440 can hear me. If so, thank you for finding this podcast. 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:13.160 I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan. I couldn't help myself. 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:15.800 I've been plotting this for a few years. I do 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:20.439 procrastinate sometimes, but finally the time felt right. My wife, 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.840 Jennifer Dempster, is a co executive producer. We've been wanting 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.560 to collaborate on something for a while and the title 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.720 was her idea, who you Got, Because it's a question 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.239 you get a lot in my profession. When I was 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.879 a want to be sportscaster college student, I got the 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.279 chance to hang out with the great John Madden and 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.680 people kept coming up to John, Hey who you got? 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:48.280 John got grumpy. I made a note avoid that question 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.080 to people in the business, but you do get it 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:55.319 often and I don't get grumpy. But now when people say, hey, 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:58.000 foul or who you got, instead of hemming and hawing 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:02.320 or answering Bama or Clemson, I can say I got 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:05.119 a roster of guests that you're going to enjoy. This 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.679 is not a sports pod, but a lot of the 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.840 guests you're gonna know from the sports landscape. Sports storytelling 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.360 is going to be a part. I think of most episodes, 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:19.640 the topics are going to be surprising, intriguing, sometimes inspiring. 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:24.399 The point of any podcast human conversation. We thought we'd 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:28.000 make it the topic for episode one, so we invited 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:33.040 four skilled interviewers and superb storytellers to share some moments 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:37.600 that ranged from the triumphant to the tragic, the edgy 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.280 cringe e as well as the newsworthy. Now all four 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:44.800 of them got rolling. So we debut with a jumbo 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:49.160 double album. I'm not trying to copy Clappton and Derek 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.640 the Dominoes or Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Their debuts were 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.880 both double albums. It just worked out that way. Why 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:58.560 cut out good stuff, so consume it at your leisure. 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:04.320 We've got Willie Geist, Maria Taylor, Rich Eyes, Jeremy Shop. 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:09.239 We had the lead card and we were in traffic. 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:13.120 By the way people look over and go and at 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:15.440 one point that everyone's filling with their phones and what 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:17.960 are you doing this? We're making a movie. It's called 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.920 Willian now and I was like, oh my god, I really. 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.639 I I called my wife as I just need to 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:26.720 tell you what just happened to have it on the record. 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:28.760 Remember it was a little bit of a soliloquy, like 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:30.840 it was like everyone's forcing me to make a comment 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:32.440 on my quarterbacks and I don't have to do it, 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:34.640 and I'm not gonna do it, so quit asking. And 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.120 Maria mariaction was just like I hear you, coach, and 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:39.400 we moved on to the defense or something like I 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:41.600 knew that we're not barking up this tree anymore. He's 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:44.360 gonna join us, We're gonna talk, and he's he's ready 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:48.239 to roll, and he proceeds to call me Rick throughout 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:52.880 the entire interview. Years later, if you get a bunch 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.760 of us in the room, it's brought up the fame junior, 0:02:56.840 --> 0:03:02.200 say how Rick eisen um uh interview on NFL Network. 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:04.240 Here i am, I'm twenty three years old, and I've 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:06.919 got Bob Night in the chair, and I'm I'm I'm 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:08.840 gonna be tough. You know, I'm gonna ask him all 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.280 the hard questions. So he says, I'll never forget the 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:16.800 exact words. You were doing very well up until now, 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.239 but now you're in over your head. And I think 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:23.959 he's I think he punctuates it. I think I don't 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:29.200 don't this is bullshit. This is all bullshit, and he 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:37.760 starts threading the microphone out from under the sweater, really 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.400 flattered to have these four friends and colleagues join me. 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.080 They've got great stories to tell you. But I thought 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.240 an episode one I would kick it off with the story. 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:50.120 By far, the most painful interview I've ever done. You 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:54.000 never saw it. It never aired. It was that awful. 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:58.680 Go back to early Winter X Games in Vermont Stratton Mountain. 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:02.840 You got this young musical artist, not a megastar yet, 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:05.240 but he's about to break very, very big, and he 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.200 was obliged to sit down with us in a casual 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.080 little set in a converted ski lodge before his ex 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:15.520 Games concert. He shows up exactly on time. We aren't 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:19.400 ready get the light, rigs are still being set up, 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.640 we've got crew running around everywhere. We're not even close. 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.440 So I'm the very young host, looking about thirteen in 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.279 the little ski sweater, and I've got to walk over 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:36.120 to a very punctual and very piste off eminem then 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:37.839 break the news to him that he's going to be 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:39.640 made to wait a while to talk to me, a 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:43.880 total stranger about snowboarding. He did not take that news well, 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:48.680 and I can't blame him. That news was totally are bad. 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.240 So trying to smooth things over, I asked him, is 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:59.960 there something I can get you while we wait? The answers, Yeah, 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:04.520 you can get me the name of the mother who 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:09.320 works for me, who booked me on this interview, so 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:17.400 I can fire his mass. I mean, I'm I'm just 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:22.000 yammering and stammering. Well, no, is there anything else we 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:27.640 can get you? Bottla Hennessey And now we could get it. 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.279 This was a converted bar. It was two in the afternoon, 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:35.400 but I wasn't going to judge. Eminem has a hendy. 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:41.520 It does not improve his mood. He felt disrespected. Um, 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.520 we were at fault totally. But finally we'll get the 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.159 lights good to go. We sit down. First question, So 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:55.400 Eminem here he into extreme sports? No, not really, he says, 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.320 I've been assured by a producer that Mr Mathers was 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:04.400 into extreme sports, but that was incorrect. Captain Detroit was not, 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:07.360 in fact a snowboarder. And this goes on like that, 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:10.479 he's got zero connection to these sports. He's got nothing 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.560 to say about him. We're going nowhere. Most he is 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.120 just looking down when he does bring his eyes up. 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:20.839 He's got this look. It says to me, you're getting 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:25.960 nothing from me. I'm in a minute or two into it, 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.359 I'm thinking, thank God, we're not live. I knew this 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.440 would never ever see air. I just pulled the ripcord. 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.080 But you hate to do as an interviewer, but at 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.680 that point we had already crashed. I just quickly politely 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.440 thanked him, let him go off to find his guy 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:43.960 who arranged the interview so he could quote fire his ass. 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.440 I remember thinking, God, I helped this tape is quickly 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:53.000 bulk erased the eminem interview. I'm a huge fans by 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.839 the way, for many years, love his music, but that 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.120 was the most painful interview ever. In the last interview 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:03.080 that he and I have done. Never happened to my 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:08.240 first guest. Willie Geist has storytelling in his blood. His dad, 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:11.080 Bill Geist, still has a wonderful career as a journalist 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:14.760 and an author. Willie's the Pride of Vanderbilt. He started 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:19.520 in sports at CNN, joined Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.600 and Mika Brazinski, has been there for the last thirteen years, 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:25.760 and Willie's become a star co host of the Today 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:29.840 Show anchors Sunday Today with Willie Guys in NBC and 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.200 you can catch us Sunday sit Down podcasts, which are 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:36.160 great fun. Willie Guys, you are so kind to join 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.400 and lend your expertise because you have run the gamut 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:44.200 in terms of interview style, format, the goals. The Sundays 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:46.120 sit downs that you do on Sunday Today with some 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.080 of the most famous people in the world are are 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:54.040 known for being revealing and comfortable and just fun to watch. 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:58.560 The Morning Joe, different goals, different type of backgrap for 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.640 those interviews, So you really have have spanned the spectrum, 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.800 my friend, in terms of interviews. Yeah, it's a good 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.120 balance because Morning Joe, as you say, Monday through Friday, 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:10.360 you are in the You were in the mud, You 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:14.640 were in the weed battling with politicians and partisans and 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.119 everything else. So that Sunday interview is a nice breath 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:19.120 of fresh air. When you just go to a restaurant 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:22.480 or bar and sit for an hour with Bill Murray 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.120 or David Letterman, or go out to l A as 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:26.840 we did a couple of months ago. It feels like 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.960 a lifetime ago now. But with al Pacino and those 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:32.600 are like, you know that your job is Morning Joe 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:34.160 and you gotta get to the news. You gotta get 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:38.520 answers from people. But sort of the luxurious interview is 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.400 that Sunday interview. It feels that way for a viewer. 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.480 We'll get to those in a second. But going back 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.640 to the place for you, Ben since oh seven, I 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:49.360 believe in Morning Joe, where as you said, it's partisans 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.320 who have an agenda there there to use your time 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.400 for their benefit, their politicians. And you know when you're 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:59.360 sitting there that every answer has the potential to make news, 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:03.560 and it being live, there's just no safety net. Have 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.599 you you know, started to sweat through your shirt and 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:08.720 some of those moments because it can be it could 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.079 be stressful, especially in the early days. It can be. 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:15.080 But you know in politics that everyone's coming with an 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:18.080 agenda and you generally know what the agenda is. But 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.600 I enjoy that. And it's as you're good at this too. 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:23.440 It's preparation. You know, you know everything about that person. 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:27.520 You're ready for whatever. You know, choose your own adventure storyline. 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:30.120 They're gonna go down. You can roll with that and 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:32.520 um and as you say, it is live and so 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:34.960 sometimes they surprise you and you're not ready for it, 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:37.000 and that's when the sweat starts to come through your 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.880 shirt as you say I was gonna say, you can prepare. 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:42.840 But then there are just those moments where it takes 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.200 a sudden turn and either something clicks in their head 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.200 that that says this isn't going right, or I'm gonna 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.360 now press my advantage, or they see that you're too 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.240 ready for the expected game plan, so now they're gonna 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.839 deliberately take it in a different direction and sort of 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:02.320 hijack the proceedings. And that is difficult when it is live. 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:06.040 I don't do that many interviews like that, thankfully, but 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:08.320 there's that sense in your head, oh no, no, no, 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.240 you're not gonna take our broadcast and and hijack it 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.599 for your own purposes exactly. And some people are more 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.680 creative and better at that than others. Other people literally 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.160 will come with like a piece of paper and whatever 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.880 question you ask them, they're going to the talking points. 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:26.040 And that's not as fun when the person is a 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:29.360 skilled combatant and it's a little slicker in the way 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.080 they try to circumvent your question. Then you kind of 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.640 try to pull them back. When somebody's just a talking 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.439 point machine, the audience gets nothing out of that. I try, 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.760 and I get nothing out of that. But when someone 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:44.120 is smart and willing to fight you in you know, 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.240 in a in a real way and not in some 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:51.200 theatrical way, and have an actual debate. I mean, it's 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.040 sad to say. It's so much of what you see 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:56.240 on TV does devolve into theater where it's this person's 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.080 on that side, that person is on this side, and 0:10:58.120 --> 0:10:59.760 now it's so the meat in the middle and fight 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.560 when you actually end up having a real conversation with 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.280 someone you may disagree with. To me, those are the 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:09.080 best interviews. Really, guys wants a worthy adversary, is what 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:11.640 I'm hearing from you here. So now I think that 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.920 we're also taught to try to fight and claw to 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.440 make something of it. Even if your internal dialogue says, 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.000 now this isn't going that well, this isn't going like 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.800 I hoped it would for our customers, they're not, as 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:28.400 you said, getting much out of this, and you do 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.199 your best to try to salvage it. But I've been there. 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:33.080 I don't know if you have. There's sometimes you go, 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:36.960 you know what it's it's fourth and twelve. We just 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:39.480 gotta punt here. I'm just gonna cut this short. This 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:42.840 is just going nowhere. It's very clear, it's too awkward, 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.440 it's unproductive, and and we're good goodbye, sir, Thank you 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.920 very much. Yeah, no, that definitely happens. And your instinct 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:51.839 is to push and push and push until you get 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:55.040 that person to commit to an answer or commit to news. 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.920 And at some point it's the law of diminishing returns. 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:02.320 When you've asked the question four times subject immediately is 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:04.720 that your limit? Four you'll go, You'll go four times. 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:06.800 But if you and you're right, and then it gets 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:08.840 weird for the audience. You know, they're like, okay, man, 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:11.400 we wanted the answer too, but we're not getting it. 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:13.560 Let's move along here, or say about it as a person. 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.400 One of the most awkward interviews I've ever given was 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:18.840 actually at Morning Joe. Through no fault of anybody at 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:22.319 the show is but it was an espn PR misstep 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:25.240 where I was the wrong day. They had given me 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:27.240 the wrong day, So I'm out in front of my apartment, 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:29.480 where's the car that the show is supposed to say? 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.199 And it doesn't come It's not an easy subway from 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:34.040 Upper West Side the thirty Rockers, you know, So I 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.080 get there somehow, get through the lobby of thirty rock 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.360 even though I'm not on the list. I'm up there 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:42.840 and just the confused look like why why is Fowler here? 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.280 But he is here? So you threw me in the studio. 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.160 Manka if she could have made me disappear with her eyes, 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:50.680 I mean she she would have. She didn't know why 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:52.640 the football guy was in here. You guys that roll 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:55.040 with it did a great job. I felt terrible because 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.240 I knew how tightly form of that show is. I 0:12:57.240 --> 0:12:59.160 would have liked to just gone away and come back, 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.959 but it's we made a threat, end though, I'm glad 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.360 we did, and trust me, I promise you you know 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:07.160 us whatever we were talking about, we would rather have 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:11.080 talked about what you had to talk with So about 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.480 the schedule income, No, No, that wasn't your fissue at all. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:15.679 I was just I felt terrible about it. I was 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:17.840 impressed how you guys just roll with it and and 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.160 found time in a tight format with much more important 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.079 things to talk about. But you know what it is 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.920 about our shows. It's a three hour show, so it 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.000 is collapsible and expandable, which is it is a great 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.240 advantage that we talked about interviews. If something's going great, 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.800 I mean we've done interviews where it was slotted for 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.600 eight minutes and it goes thirty five minutes, and we 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.200 can do that and we can bump somebody later and 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:42.760 or say can you come back tomorrow, or you know, 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:44.720 skip a segment we're going to do on a different 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.319 topic and do it the next day. So that is 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:51.080 a real underrated advantage of Morning Joe is we are 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.280 it's mostly unscripted. You know, you will read some prompters 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:57.200 to set up the nuts and bolts of the story 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.600 and then they thing goes off for an hour and 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.840 we're just time and it's real and if the conversation 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.360 is going well, we just go with it. And that's 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:08.040 you know, my other life on the Today Show. That 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.720 thing is like you've got hard breaks because of the 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.680 commercial spending and local weather and all these things that 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:15.920 you've got to get it to the second and if 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.120 your conversation is not over, they're going to the commercial 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.040 anyway and then just go to black on you. So 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:23.720 that you feel that if an interview on the Today 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.480 shows slated for five minutes, it's gonna be five minutes, 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:28.960 you know, And on the Morning Job inslated for five 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:33.040 and minute forty five minutes, and that's that's a great luxury. Behalf. 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.600 You're so skilled at kind of sensing the vibe and 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:38.520 setting the right tone for your guests on on the 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.800 Sunday Sit Down to the long form recorded interviews that 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.240 then become your podcasts. Have you ever, at any point, 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:47.680 whether it's in that show or earlier in your career, 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:50.400 made the mistake of sort of misreading the vibe and 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.680 trying to be overly familiar with the interview subject. I 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:55.640 had to do that when I was interviewing these X 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.640 Games athletes who I didn't that wasn't my core culture, 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:00.560 but as hosted the show, they asked me interview him, 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.600 and they would let it be known that although we're 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:06.480 down with this network TV thing, I want you to 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:08.640 know that I'm representing the core culture and I'm a 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.400 little too cool to be interviewed by a guy like you. 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.760 And they weren't wrong, but that that that set up 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.280 the idea that they'll participate, but they're not going to 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.600 really open up and give any good stuff or make 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:21.800 this an entertaining segment for fear that that's going to 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.200 make them look bad with their core group. You ever 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:26.960 try to overstep and feel like you didn't connect with 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:28.760 someone that way. You know what I've found and I've 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.240 learned from it, and I hopefully I'm better at it now. 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:35.080 I think, particularly when somebody's funny, the temptation can be 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.320 to try to be funny with them, you know. And 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:41.280 so I just thought of this while you were talking, 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.120 as we had Larry David on um. He was on 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:47.360 Morning Dods and years ago and he came on and 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.800 he was totally Larry David. He was himself. He had 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.280 a Starbucks and had the lid on it with a 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.920 little hole in the top. And we said, hey, a 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.360 new season of Curve and he goes before we start. 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:00.040 You know, I invented this. I was at tax you 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.280 driver in the late seventies that that comes with the top. 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:05.080 I poked the hole in the top. I was the 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.320 first guy to do that. I get no credit for that. 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:10.800 And he went and it was a genuine it was 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.360 really you know, it wasn't some prepared bit. He looked 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.200 at that and he had like a three minute riff 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.320 about it, and so that I think a lot of 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.880 people fall into this trap is Okay, I'm gonna play 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:23.640 Oh my gosh, I got Larry David here. I want 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:25.200 to play the game with him. I want to play 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.480 curb your enthusiasm. And the truth is, those guys don't 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.040 really want to come and have you try out your 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.320 comedy on them, you know. And so I that was 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:36.520 that's a good let. I mean, you can still be 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.000 funny and clever in your own subtle ways, and they 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:40.960 pick up on that, and I think they responnd well 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.360 to it. But the job if you're I'm doing Sunday today, 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.840 I'm interviewing Jerry Seinfeld on stage at the Beacon, it 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.160 is not for me to prove to Jerry how funny 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:53.400 I am. It's to give him great opportunities to be funny, 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:55.920 which is pretty easy for him to do obviously. And 0:16:56.000 --> 0:17:00.160 so I think that is that's an interesting thought that 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:02.720 takes great restraint, though. I think you have to sort 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.200 of learn that, because if there's someone you really admire 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.040 for their humor, you want to show hey, I got 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:08.399 a sense of humor too, and you do. You have 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:10.159 a great sense of him. You are a funny person 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:12.399 in real life, but to keep that out of the 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.200 interview when it's their show case you have. You had 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.679 David Letterman on a very a nice long form interview, 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.439 and it's hard not to let Dave no, jeez, I 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.720 was there from day one, and I really admire you 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:28.880 and exactly exactly, and I don't they want you to know. 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.800 They want to know that you're prepared for sure, and 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.119 they can smell that if you're not, So always be 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.840 totally prepared. But if you start to step over that 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.520 line of you know, I was raised on you and 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:41.840 you're the greatest, and then they start to go, oh, 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.280 they just take them uncomfortable. You don't want to put 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:46.960 him in that space. And Dave is a perfect example. 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.200 I mean, I'm not People always ask me you get 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.160 star struck in these I don't think. I don't get 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.880 star struck. You get a little more nervous for some 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:57.640 than others. But David Letterman, you're probably the same way 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.639 around the same age was like, he was my introduction 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:04.520 to what was weird comedy and what was possible and this, 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:07.159 you know, this could be mass marketed just being silly 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:11.040 and wild and smart, and so I really obviously looked 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:13.280 up to him, and you do have to suppress that 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.040 a little bit, you know, because you don't want a 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.119 fan boy out when he comes in. He doesn't do 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:19.680 a lot of interviews. No, he sort of stepped out 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:22.000 his you know, his guy stepped out of the ledge 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:23.520 a little bit to say, all right, we're gonna let 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.320 him do this interview. Um. And so you want to 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:29.520 to show that you're ready and that you can't hang 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:31.440 with him a little bit. If he's making fun of you, 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:33.120 you can take it and get it back. I mean, 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.280 his first it was when he had the beard. It 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.240 was early in the beard, and my first question was 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:40.480 what's the deal with the beard? And he, like that, 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:44.440 said what's the deal with your tupe? So like, first 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:46.760 of all, what an honor that David Letterman gave you 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.119 that insult right out of the gate, and he was 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:51.720 still as sharp as he's ever been, and that just 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:54.040 opened the floodgates that I laughed at myself and we 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.320 had a good time. But I think, I think I 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.320 do think about that a lot. And then there are 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:00.800 other people musicians. You don't want to act too cool 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:02.840 and talk about all the people you know, and that 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:06.720 just you know what I mean, Just be prepared, no, no, 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:09.040 everything you can to know about the person, and they'll 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:10.760 be impressed by that. You don't have to try to 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.440 play their game. I think is a good lesson. Yeah, 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:15.639 I know you've learned those lessons and calibrated, because it's 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.280 very obvious that people do fear relaxed and comfortable and Okay, 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.000 this guy is not gonna make it about him and 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.000 I'm not gonna try to parry with me. That the 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.320 interview you did with with Bill Murray, which has been 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:29.000 celebrated a little bit because it was so cool. He 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:31.399 doesn't do many interviews that you've told the story about 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:33.840 trying to reach him on the phone and then he 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:35.680 sort of came to New York. As I've heard the story, 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:39.440 he kind of asked to be on a Sunday said, 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:42.080 kind of volunteered for but he doesn't do at all. 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.880 Did you feel the pressure to make that a thoroughly 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:48.880 enjoyable and comfortably experience for him because it was such 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:52.359 a rare get Yeah, that was a case like Dave, 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.720 where a life sort of preparation with Bill Murray came 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.280 in handy because for people who don't know he doesn't 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:00.800 have a manager of publicist. He has no one liked that, 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.480 and celebrities have these layers of people that you go through. 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.320 He still has, all these years later, a one eight 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:08.679 hundred number that if you want to talk to him 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.000 or get an interview, call and leave a message. This 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:13.560 is a true story. And for Bill Murray and so 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:16.160 our bookers say, Hi, this is so and so from 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.720 Sunday Today, Willie Guys would love to interview. And we 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.639 never heard back, so most people never hear back. And 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:23.680 then he came in to do a live interview on 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:26.719 The Today Show with Savannah I think one morning and 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.520