Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin and you were listening to Here's
Speaker 1: the Thing from iHeart Radio. He was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Speaker 1: His mind is a blank slate. He is the son
Speaker 1: of a pig farmer and one of the most iconic
Speaker 1: characters in sitcom history. He could only have been played
Speaker 1: by my guest today, Jack macbriar. He inhabited the role
Speaker 1: of wide eyed, television obsessed Kenneth the Page on NBC's
Speaker 1: Thirty Rock for seven seasons. Hailing from Macon, Georgia himself,
Speaker 1: macbrair discovered his improv skills at Second City in Chicago.
Speaker 1: He continued to hone his craft with recurring roles on
Speaker 1: Late Night with Conan O'Brien and arrested development before landing
Speaker 1: the part that would change his life. The Emmy nominated
Speaker 1: actor has also voiced countless animated characters, and in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, he created Produce Uston starred in the Apple
Speaker 1: TV series Hello Jack, The Kind Of Show. His latest venture,
Speaker 1: a travel series called Zillow Gone Wild, premiered on HGTV
Speaker 1: just this past May. Playing Jack Donneghey alongside McBriar. Was
Speaker 1: one of the most momentous parts of my career. I
Speaker 1: was curious if thirty Rock had as big of an
Speaker 1: impact on mcbrear's life as it did mine.
Speaker 2: It changed everything for me, would you say so it did?
Speaker 2: Oh for damn sure, yes, sir. That was kind of
Speaker 2: my first break and the fact that it was with you.
Speaker 2: I was just so excited to have a job. But
Speaker 2: then when I realized what the job was, I was like, Oh,
Speaker 2: this is amazing.
Speaker 1: What were you doing just prior to the show, because
Speaker 1: your resume is like the menu at whoa Hop. It's
Speaker 1: like the longest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker 2: With pictures to boot. But I was temping. I was
Speaker 2: in California and I was temping at a place called Teleflora.
Speaker 2: I was rearranging their storage facility. And when you have
Speaker 2: some OCD tendencies like I do, that's a breeze. So
Speaker 2: I was just a hustling boy. Yeah, thirty Rock by far,
Speaker 2: which is crazy. And so this would have started in
Speaker 2: two thousand and six, right, and you are fifteen years
Speaker 2: older than me. Katrina Bowden is fifteen years younger than me,
Speaker 2: and it would have been a few years ago. I
Speaker 2: was reading an article that when we started thirty Rock,
Speaker 2: you were forty eight years old, And when I was
Speaker 2: reading that article, I was forty eight years old. I
Speaker 2: was like, how is this possible?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: Because I mean, like you've always been a grown up
Speaker 2: to me and I still eat cereal for dinner. But
Speaker 2: it is amazing to me just to see how much
Speaker 2: time has passed and how my life has changed, and
Speaker 2: it's great, like I'm really having a good time.
Speaker 1: When you weren't a telefloor right before we did thirty Rock.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, because I booked. I told y'all, how was
Speaker 2: that possible? I don't know, but I mean I've never
Speaker 2: been scared to, you know, hustle and pay the bills
Speaker 2: and everything. I knew that I was gonna get something,
Speaker 2: and I'd had little bites. I was able to do
Speaker 2: Talladega Nights just before thirty Rock. I was doing a
Speaker 2: couple of episodes of Arrested Development just before thirty Rock,
Speaker 2: so I knew I was on the right track. And
Speaker 2: of course, I mean Tina Fey giving me this lifeline
Speaker 2: that really it changed everything.
Speaker 1: Had you known her, because she quite often is accessing
Speaker 1: people that she's known and worked with her she knows
Speaker 1: something about them.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, Absolutely, I started doing the comedy scene in
Speaker 2: Chicago in the nineties nineteen nineties, and Tina Fey's husband,
Speaker 2: Jeff Richmond, was my director at Second City.
Speaker 1: So he was Yes, that was a connection with Jeff
Speaker 1: as absolutely.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Tina was on the main stage when I was
Speaker 2: taking the classes and all that kind of stuff, but
Speaker 2: she very quickly moved on to New York and Saturday
Speaker 2: Night Live. Jeff stayed around for a couple more years,
Speaker 2: and he was my director at Second City, and she
Speaker 2: would come back to visit. I know, I know, and
Speaker 2: it was just it was so fun to and then
Speaker 2: I did move to New York just to give that
Speaker 2: a shot as a poor person. So for three years
Speaker 2: between two thousand and two and two thousand and five,
Speaker 2: I was just just a hustling in New York and
Speaker 2: exploring the UCB scene there, doing bits for Late Night
Speaker 2: with Conan O'Brien, and that paid my bills, and then
Speaker 2: I was able to hang out with all the people
Speaker 2: from SNL that I really knew from Chicago. And so,
Speaker 2: you know, I've always been in Tina and Jeff's life
Speaker 2: for a very long time. And so when the time
Speaker 2: came for her to create thirty right. I'm sure it
Speaker 2: was Jeff, just like nudge and or say, hey, throw
Speaker 2: mcbrear in there, so I'll take that bone.
Speaker 1: Well for me and I wonder to get curious about
Speaker 1: you as well. You know, we did season one. It
Speaker 1: was kind of like introducing ourselves. And we get through
Speaker 1: that first season. Seasons two, three, and four, we win
Speaker 1: every prize in the world. We win everything. We have
Speaker 1: a great time. Then season five comes and I'm thinking,
Speaker 1: I don't think I want to do this anymore. Season five,
Speaker 1: everybody acknowledged was like kind of more neemic, still good,
Speaker 1: but not up to her standards of what she normally achieved.
Speaker 1: Her and Carl Lock and everybody, and this says. The
Speaker 1: season six comes and I'm like, sign me up for
Speaker 1: five more seasons. This is funny again. We have a
Speaker 1: great six season and we stop, and when it was over,
Speaker 1: I was so sad. Oh yeah, what was your last
Speaker 1: scene that you recorded on the show.
Speaker 2: It was the last scene of the series. It was
Speaker 2: me as the president of NBC behind your old desk.
Speaker 2: I know, I know, and I'm being pitched a show
Speaker 2: by Liz Lemon's great granddaughter.
Speaker 3: I know, I know.
Speaker 2: This show was so weird.
Speaker 1: But my gosh, I loved it.
Speaker 2: I loved it. I loved it, And I will say
Speaker 2: to your point, I've never been a person who can
Speaker 2: like watch a series and be like, oh, that season
Speaker 2: was lacking or whatever. Like when people talk about The Simpsons,
Speaker 2: for example, they're like, oh, they should have thrown in
Speaker 2: the towel at season seventeen. I'm like, these are just
Speaker 2: as funny as ones I remember from seven years ago.
Speaker 2: But I understand that some people are, you know, they
Speaker 2: compare them differently, But as far as I can tell,
Speaker 2: it was just all a blast. I was very you know,
Speaker 2: you're catching me at an interesting time because I'm starting
Speaker 2: to realize as a grown ass man, I need to
Speaker 2: reevaluate how I.
Speaker 1: Move in the world.
Speaker 2: Meaning I was tempting at Teleflora before thirty Rocks started,
Speaker 2: and so what I kind of had to do was
Speaker 2: just hold on to money like this, just not let
Speaker 2: go during the course of thirty Rock. And then because
Speaker 2: I was on thirty right, You're able to get other jobs.
Speaker 2: I think once people saw what we were doing and
Speaker 2: what kind of character I could play on thirty Rock,
Speaker 2: you do start getting more opportunities. You were very instrumental
Speaker 2: in guiding me towards voiceover work, and now that is
Speaker 2: my bread and butter. I mean, I know I sound
Speaker 2: like a banjo, but I tell you what I like it.
Speaker 2: I like it a lot. You're great, You're the best
Speaker 2: banjo human best. But because of the opportunities that thirty
Speaker 2: Rock afforded me, I really was just hoping that it
Speaker 2: went on forever. I absolutely understand why Tina and the
Speaker 2: writing crew were just like, well, the story has been
Speaker 2: told after seven seasons, but it was again. It was
Speaker 2: incredibly emotional. I remember I remember walking into your dressing
Speaker 2: room on our last scene together, and I just burst
Speaker 2: into tears. I burst into tears because I just realized
Speaker 2: how special it was and how important the whole job was.
Speaker 2: And not to blow smoke, sir, but I am so
Speaker 2: grateful to you saying yes, because there's a you know,
Speaker 2: we read stories about who all else audition for mister Donneghe,
Speaker 2: and you know, all these other possible casting choices, and
Speaker 2: if you had not said yes to this crazy live
Speaker 2: action cartoon that we did, then like who's to say,
Speaker 2: it might have gone like thirteen episodes and.
Speaker 1: You know the end.
Speaker 2: But no, seven years we got to do that.
Speaker 1: That crazy.
Speaker 2: It was nuts.
Speaker 1: I did the last scene with Tina. We're in this
Speaker 1: little marina, this really cute little marina down in Battery Park.
Speaker 1: It's nighttime. We're shooting at night and it was cold,
Speaker 1: remember it was really cold, and the whole crew was there.
Speaker 1: And it's my last scene in the show. And I'm
Speaker 1: going on and on with this monologue about the German
Speaker 1: Luba for whatever, really funny speech. And as I'm groping
Speaker 1: for what I want to say, she of course interests
Speaker 1: me and says, I love you too, Jack, And I
Speaker 1: couldn't get through it. I couldn't get through I was crying,
Speaker 1: and I thought, this has been such an important part
Speaker 1: of my life. But this was six and a half
Speaker 1: years of my life, and it was such a great group,
Speaker 1: as we all know. You know, I breeze out there.
Speaker 1: I'm doing the reverse commute over the fifty ninth Street bridge,
Speaker 1: hit Silver Cup. We're out there. The only complaint I
Speaker 1: had was there was no restaurants nearby for us to
Speaker 1: order decent food. None. None. We were like the Siberia
Speaker 1: of Queen's there. Really important and economically a piston in
Speaker 1: the engine of Manhattan. Economics, but no good restaurants was
Speaker 1: to order or coffee truck, mud truck, taco truck, ice
Speaker 1: cream truck, a lot of trucks. We ate more fucking
Speaker 1: food off of a truck than I ever thought was possible. Construction, yeah,
Speaker 1: like we're bridge builders or something. But yeah, when that
Speaker 1: was over, I was so sad, and I was so
Speaker 1: blessed by everybody there. Like I really believe, like any
Speaker 1: group it could be sex in the city, the Beatles,
Speaker 1: you name, you remove one person, it's not gonna work.
Speaker 1: It had to be those five people that those five
Speaker 1: people just meshed and the writing more importantly meshed for them.
Speaker 1: And I was so so sad when it was over,
Speaker 1: and it put a curse on me because everywhere I'd
Speaker 1: go people would send me scripts and say, well, here's
Speaker 1: a comedy, here's this, here's this. When I sit there
Speaker 1: and I go, this is more cute than funny. Sure, sure,
Speaker 1: I mean they taught these people taught me what funny, Carlos,
Speaker 1: they taught me what was funny surgical?
Speaker 2: And you are right, I mean, like the choices made
Speaker 2: with the casting and everything, I can't even imagine what
Speaker 2: it was. Another thing that I was so impressed with
Speaker 2: and I learned a great deal from was how strong
Speaker 2: the were at mixing up the dynamics of the characters.
Speaker 2: The fact that Ken at the page could have all
Speaker 2: these scenes with Jack Donneghe, the fact that you know,
Speaker 2: they could pare me with Jane, they could spare me
Speaker 2: with Tracy like and it worked and it was fun
Speaker 2: and it didn't seem weird. Well, I mean it seemed
Speaker 2: weird because the man that show was weird. I mean,
Speaker 2: do you remember you were dressed like Thomas Jefferson's misters?
Speaker 2: I mean there were.
Speaker 1: What was the one I said to you before? First
Speaker 1: of there's too many to count, and not even the
Speaker 1: ones I'm in. I mean the Sandwich Day and all
Speaker 1: you're drinking with Dennihee. I mean that Sandwich Day thing
Speaker 1: is the funniest episode of all. But I mean, I
Speaker 1: I'll never when you sit there and go remember your
Speaker 1: live television when we do these are the live shows.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you about that and the live
Speaker 1: show you go. He was like you, mister Jordan. He
Speaker 1: didn't like to rehearse at all. And then because to
Speaker 1: Joey Montero and I'm doing my bad Dean Martin. You
Speaker 1: know when I come out there and I thought to myself,
Speaker 1: this is the most fun I've ever had in my life.
Speaker 1: Almost fun I ever end of my life. Stupid as
Speaker 1: hell funny.
Speaker 2: It was ridiculous. Oh, in the fact that Kenneth the
Speaker 2: Page is immortal. I was like, Okay, here we go.
Speaker 1: Well, Kenneth the Page was a joke, Like when we
Speaker 1: said when people would say about Tracy, they say this
Speaker 1: about you personally. They were like, when Tracy was on
Speaker 1: the show, and I think it was Tina, it was
Speaker 1: either Tina or Jane turns the other one and says,
Speaker 1: you know, well, he's black. He could be thirty, he
Speaker 1: could be seventy. Like we're trying to guess his age.
Speaker 1: And people say that about you, They're like, Jack mcbaar,
Speaker 1: he could be thirty, you could be ninety. You know,
Speaker 1: you're so youthful.
Speaker 2: Look in my brain, I'm seventeen.
Speaker 1: But god, that show.
Speaker 2: It was ridiculous. You know what's interesting too for me,
Speaker 2: and maybe it's the same for you. I just kind
Speaker 2: of it didn't click for me that. Oh, once we're
Speaker 2: done with the show, it will stream, it will live
Speaker 2: on beyond, you know. Twenty thirteen when we wrapped or whatever.
Speaker 2: And so for me, it's so strange when young people
Speaker 2: recognize me from thirty Rock and are like quoting lines
Speaker 2: and stories. I'm like, it kind of breaks my brain
Speaker 2: a little bit.
Speaker 1: Actor and comedian Jack mcbraer. If you enjoy conversations with
Speaker 1: singular comedians, check out my episode with Caroline Ray. You're
Speaker 1: most comfortable when you're on stage, Probably you really love it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like I always think my stand up
Speaker 3: is a dinner party. I know what I'm gonna make,
Speaker 3: you're my guests. I don't know what's gonna happen. But
Speaker 3: the thing about stand up that amazes me is it's
Speaker 3: only gonna happen in that moment in time. Even if
Speaker 3: we film it, it's never gonna be what it feels
Speaker 3: like live. So I think it's just an exchange of energy.
Speaker 1: To hear more of my conversation with Caroline Ray, go
Speaker 1: to Here's the Thing dot Org. After the break, Jack
Speaker 1: McBriar shares the story of his very first night in
Speaker 1: New York City and visiting the set of Saturday Night Live.
Speaker 1: I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing.
Speaker 1: Anyone who has caught actor Jack mcbrair in one of
Speaker 1: his many roles on Phineas and Ferb big Mouth or
Speaker 1: The Jack and Triumph Show, knows the depth of this talent.
Speaker 1: I wanted to know when McBriar himself first discovered he
Speaker 1: was funny.
Speaker 2: I think when you get that reaction of people laughing
Speaker 2: at you, and it does scratch an itch, you know,
Speaker 2: doing live comedy especially, you get that immediate gratification if
Speaker 2: people laughing. People are laughing, then yo, you're funny. And
Speaker 2: if they're not laughing, you're like, oh, let me learn
Speaker 2: a trade.
Speaker 1: I'm got me go work at Teleflora. I think I
Speaker 1: was so good at it.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, I got people who are vouched for me.
Speaker 2: But when I think about that, I think about opportunities.
Speaker 2: I didn't even start doing school plays till I was
Speaker 2: in tenth grade. We moved to Conyer's Georgia, and so
Speaker 2: for me acting showbiz that wasn't even on the radar.
Speaker 2: When I would watch television, I would love shows like
Speaker 2: Carol Burnett and Friends, and so I think I got
Speaker 2: bit by the bug then of ensemble comedy making each
Speaker 2: other laugh, not having to be the star of anything
Speaker 2: that really appealed to me at a very early age. Again,
Speaker 2: I did not know of opportunities to participate in that,
Speaker 2: so did the plays in high school. Starting in tenth grade,
Speaker 2: realized I wanted to pursue performance, and I always enjoyed
Speaker 2: getting the comic relief roles or whatever, but again I
Speaker 2: didn't know what my options were. Went to college, didn't
Speaker 2: really get to perform there, but then moving to Chicago,
Speaker 2: but you studied what I got a BS in theater management,
Speaker 2: emphasis on the bs.
Speaker 1: Es now, But were your parents encouraging you back then?
Speaker 2: Performance writers are always very supportive, but again if this
Speaker 2: is in the zeitgeist, if they if there's no understanding
Speaker 2: of what it means to be a performer, and there's
Speaker 2: some lean years in there too, but they were being supportive,
Speaker 2: but because they didn't fully understand what it meant, they're
Speaker 2: just like all right. And their three rules were make
Speaker 2: sure you're able to pay your bills, always have insurance,
Speaker 2: and do something that makes you happy. So I was
Speaker 2: able to check those boxes.
Speaker 1: What did they teach? They were both teachers, right.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, Mom was health them pe and dad was
Speaker 2: social studies. And I mean decades.
Speaker 1: It's funny you say that that's the word social study.
Speaker 1: My dad taught studies the term they had use.
Speaker 2: That term right, So in a weird way, I kind
Speaker 2: of just assumed I would be a teacher as well,
Speaker 2: that I would have been a good teacher. But I
Speaker 2: am so glad that I was, like, I let curiosity
Speaker 2: get the best of me and be like, I wonder
Speaker 2: what it would be like to try this. I wonder
Speaker 2: what it would be like to move to a different city.
Speaker 2: So I'm so glad I trusted my gut there and
Speaker 2: just went for it.
Speaker 1: Now, would you say that like many people who they
Speaker 1: take a swing at an acting career, at an on
Speaker 1: camera or on stage career, and then they're convinced that
Speaker 1: it's going to be too much of an uphill road,
Speaker 1: so they access some other part of the business. They
Speaker 1: want to get into sets and wardrobe and editing or
Speaker 1: camera or directing or writing anything that's not acting and
Speaker 1: not performing. Did you feel that the theater administration was
Speaker 1: you saw yourself doing something that was just your setting
Speaker 1: your sights on something not performing.
Speaker 2: Honestly, in hindsight, I think I was straddling the fence
Speaker 2: at that point. I was like, there's no way I
Speaker 2: can make a career out of acting. So let me
Speaker 2: get some business courses in here as well, so that
Speaker 2: I can go and be a business person or you know,
Speaker 2: just have a fallback essentially. And I don't regret doing that.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not gonna lie. Having some of that
Speaker 2: business background, and especially with like accounting and finance economics,
Speaker 2: that has been immensely helpful for me as a grown up,
Speaker 2: no matter what career or want to chose it. But
Speaker 2: I'm very grateful that I chose it as an actor,
Speaker 2: because I mean, I can balance the checkbook real good
Speaker 2: and just have an understanding. Now, if we want to
Speaker 2: dig deeper, I do have to wonder if I need
Speaker 2: to look at some maybe d programming on my relationship
Speaker 2: with money or planning for the future or anything like that.
Speaker 2: But I think that's just a human thing and it
Speaker 2: wouldn't matter if I was acting or not.
Speaker 1: But I think people rarely or certainly not enough to
Speaker 1: look at performers, especially ones who work a lot and
Speaker 1: have been successful and understand them as people and say
Speaker 1: that if you grow up with tremendous economic insecurity, once
Speaker 1: you come into this business, if you succeed, you don't
Speaker 1: just make a lot of money, you make it fast. Yes,
Speaker 1: Like one day I'm standing there and a guy goes,
Speaker 1: we're gonna make a test deal with you to do
Speaker 1: this TV show. They're gonna get twelve five an episode
Speaker 1: and twenty five for the pilot. And I'm like, my
Speaker 1: Gomer pilot. I will do my Goomer. I'm like, god,
Speaker 1: y'all gonna pay me two thousand, five hundred for the
Speaker 1: and two two fifty for the show and the Like,
Speaker 1: my agent literally on the phonecals, no, you Maron, We're
Speaker 1: gonna pay you twenty five thousand for the pilot and
Speaker 1: twelve thousand five dred an episode. I'm not going all sudden.
Speaker 1: The phone booth I'm in haint hint no phones back
Speaker 1: then is the early eighties. The phone booth I'm in
Speaker 1: near Culver Studios is starts spinning. The room is spinning.
Speaker 2: Yes, I mean it was a shift of gears and
Speaker 2: I just had. You know, it took me a while
Speaker 2: to find my legs. Even with that, I am very
Speaker 2: grateful that I did not get thirty Rock until I
Speaker 2: was thirty three years old, because at that point I
Speaker 2: knew who I was, I knew what things I needed.
Speaker 2: I am not a car guy. I still drive my
Speaker 2: two thousand and four Hundai Accent, So I did not
Speaker 2: go out and buy a Ferrari or anything like that.
Speaker 2: I knew that I wanted a house and I've always always,
Speaker 2: always wanted a swimming pool.
Speaker 1: Do you have a house now, sir?
Speaker 2: Look this is my house. It is my dream house, not.
Speaker 1: The house thirty Rock built.
Speaker 2: When I give the tour, I'm like, well, Tina Fey,
Speaker 2: wont me this exactly? You know that they gave me
Speaker 2: a page uniform for a rap gift, no swear to go.
Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? They said to me, if you
Speaker 1: could take one prop with you, pick one thing you wanted.
Speaker 1: It's a memento of the show. And I still have
Speaker 1: it on my desk and my office, which is there
Speaker 1: was a glass a glass globe of the world mounted
Speaker 1: on a stand like a glass stand. They said, you know,
Speaker 1: ge innovator of nineteen you know ninety nine whatever to
Speaker 1: Jack's period was. And then I have this award I
Speaker 1: was given. It's small, it's like the size of like
Speaker 1: a like I how tall. It was like a coke gift.
Speaker 1: And then they gave it to me and I still
Speaker 1: cherish to tell you.
Speaker 2: Fe also gave me the snow globe that Kenneth holds
Speaker 2: at the very very end of the series that has
Speaker 2: a little tiny thirty rock inside the snow globe, and
Speaker 2: I have it.
Speaker 1: But I'll never forget. When we were contemplating, my ex
Speaker 1: wife was going to come on the show and play
Speaker 1: your stepmother. And she comes to New York to visit you,
Speaker 1: and your father has died down in Stone Mountain and
Speaker 1: your father is dead, and your mother comes up at
Speaker 1: your stepmother and it's my ex wife, Kim Basin, and
Speaker 1: she's gonna come and do the show. And we fall
Speaker 1: in love and get married, and you become quasi illegally
Speaker 1: my step son. I'm your step father, and then I
Speaker 1: make you the president of NBC, of NBC Entertainment. And
Speaker 1: I was almost swallowing my tongue and gagging on this idea.
Speaker 1: It was the funniest. And it was always things they'd
Speaker 1: say to me that I sit there and go, you
Speaker 1: can't be serious, We can't do that. Oh. I was
Speaker 1: always looking at car locking and he'd hand me the
Speaker 1: script on Wednesday before the read through. I'm in the makeup,
Speaker 1: dur In the morning reading the script and I'd say,
Speaker 1: are you out of your fucking mind? We can't do this.
Speaker 1: And he always said the same phrase, he goes, it's
Speaker 1: a big swing, it's a big swing, but we believe
Speaker 1: in you. We know you can make it. I was like,
Speaker 1: you little bastards, I mean, and they always had these
Speaker 1: insane I did well. They didn't do it, obviously, but oh,
Speaker 1: I was dreaming of being.
Speaker 2: Stuff you imagined. Now, mister Baldock, you certainly don't remember this.
Speaker 2: I actually met you before thirty Rock.
Speaker 1: The year was two by buying Flowers.
Speaker 2: L seventh, two thousand and one, you were the host
Speaker 2: of Saturday Night Live with musical guest Coldplay and Tina
Speaker 2: Fey Rachel Jets. They were like, showing me it was
Speaker 2: my first night in New York City. It was that
Speaker 2: was the first time I'd ever visited, and they were like,
Speaker 2: I got to go to the after party and they
Speaker 2: brought me over and I got to meet you very
Speaker 2: very briefly, and they introduced me to Chris Martin from Coldplay.
Speaker 2: And now all these years later, I'm like friends with
Speaker 2: the both of y'all. I know, I can't get over
Speaker 2: I can't.
Speaker 1: Get it is. It is for me that is the magic.
Speaker 1: The people you get to meet.
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 1: I mean I say to people, I like, you know,
Speaker 1: thirty rocks to me, which is perfect. But that idea
Speaker 1: that to go in to work with her and be
Speaker 1: the beneficiary of all her great talents. It was really
Speaker 1: like the highlight of my life. Now, when you go
Speaker 1: to Second City, what's that experience like for you? Was
Speaker 1: there a competitive nature to that? Do you go into
Speaker 1: there and you're like, God, that guy's funny and she's funny,
Speaker 1: and you're you want to keep up with them? Well?
Speaker 2: Good question. One thing that really drew me to improvisation
Speaker 2: was the collaboration and the ensemble part of it, and
Speaker 2: really the basic tenets of make your partner look better
Speaker 2: than you do, and that really aligned with what I
Speaker 2: liked doing and what I feel that I was good
Speaker 2: at doing. So Yes, in terms of competition, you have
Speaker 2: to audition and you might get cast and you might not.
Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2: At the end of the day, you do have to
Speaker 2: make people laugh, but I appreciated not having to, you know,
Speaker 2: it was not so cutthroat, and I made some of
Speaker 2: the most incredible friends and I learned so much from
Speaker 2: watching people who were better than me, and I think,
Speaker 2: I do have to admit I think, in my heart
Speaker 2: of hearts, I knew that I could succeed at this.
Speaker 2: I knew I could get some traction, but it was
Speaker 2: such a I remember when I decided to focus on
Speaker 2: Second City. It really was a revelatory experience. I was
Speaker 2: sitting in the audience, it was my first time being
Speaker 2: at this theater, even no and what it was seeing
Speaker 2: the show, seeing Adam McKay, Rachel Dretch, all these phenomenal performers,
Speaker 2: and then it was just like the heavens opened up
Speaker 2: and I was like, this is what.
Speaker 1: I want to do.
Speaker 2: They are doing exactly what I want to do, and
Speaker 2: this is their job, and these people are dying like
Speaker 2: it's amazing.
Speaker 1: It was so fun. I went to UCB to do
Speaker 1: the live episode of thirty Rock. We had the strike
Speaker 1: and we go there and because we weren't doing the
Speaker 1: episode due to the strike, we did it live at
Speaker 1: UCB and eighty Falco role the Congressional The congresswoman who
Speaker 1: I was in love with was played by Paula Paula
Speaker 1: Pelle and she walks up to me. Paula Pell who.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's another person in this business I
Speaker 1: worship more as much, maybe like Paula Pell. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: she's the one that wrote all the Tony Bennett sketches,
Speaker 1: you know, hold that thought about blah blah blah. We
Speaker 1: do this spot for you know, lamasille, nail fungus, whatever
Speaker 1: it was. And we do and she goes. You know,
Speaker 1: I dated a woman once who was one one thousand
Speaker 1: gorgeous until it took a shoe shop and her toe
Speaker 1: nails looked like a bunch of barbecue fridos. I mean,
Speaker 1: Paula Pelle wrote this. No clippers contain those poker chips.
Speaker 1: Paula Pelle, Paula Pell, she made me cry. We do
Speaker 1: UCB and she's playing EDI's role, and she walks up
Speaker 1: and she wraps her thigh around my body and starts
Speaker 1: humping me. Oh yeah, slow, like almost imperceptibly. She's the
Speaker 1: funniest fucking woman, like one of the ten I've ever met.
Speaker 2: In my life, and nice and generous with a laugh.
Speaker 2: She's sweet as she's the best. She's the best.
Speaker 1: But when we did the show live, I thought to myself,
Speaker 1: I could never last with these people. You must have
Speaker 1: loved every minute I did. I did. How long were
Speaker 1: you there.
Speaker 2: At Second City? I was there for about seven years,
Speaker 2: did three resident stages, the first one directed by Jeff Richmond,
Speaker 2: and then when I did move to New York, for
Speaker 2: those three years I was able to do ucb Amy
Speaker 2: Poehler was in town. All the SNL gang would come
Speaker 2: for the Sunday night Asscat show.
Speaker 1: It really fell Asscat.
Speaker 2: That's it, sir, Yes, sir, I.
Speaker 1: Want to go do ascast they asked to do, Like
Speaker 1: I would just play say one line. Yeah, they had
Speaker 1: me come on stage and say some something that would
Speaker 1: launch the show.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, you would. You would give like a monologue
Speaker 2: that would inspire the improvisation that would happen after that.
Speaker 2: But fella, I tell you what my whole thing. You know,
Speaker 2: it's so interesting when people are just like, oh, I
Speaker 2: could never do improv. I And for me, improv is
Speaker 2: like breathing. But my argument is, like everybody's doing improv
Speaker 2: all the time. I mean, we're not giving the script
Speaker 2: to like go around and like say lines all day.
Speaker 2: So for me, it's just the interaction with the other
Speaker 2: people on stage, the supporting that. Yes, anding it's just
Speaker 2: I mean baked within me. But I do understand how
Speaker 2: some people would be reticent to do so. But I
Speaker 2: can totally vouch that anybody can do improv.
Speaker 1: Two quick things they want to ask you. One is
Speaker 1: thirty Rock was a show that was adorned with guest stars.
Speaker 1: We had so many famous people come on that was
Speaker 1: just ridiculous. And was it one you had a special
Speaker 1: feeling for that? I mean, I'm sure there's many, but
Speaker 1: what's what's one that's stands out in your mind? So many?
Speaker 2: You know, I became such good friends with John Hamm
Speaker 2: because of his time on thirty Rock, But I do
Speaker 2: have to say one that was just I still to
Speaker 2: this day can't get over it. Tim Conway, who joined
Speaker 2: us for the episode I believe it was called Subway Hero,
Speaker 2: and all of my scenes were with him, and he
Speaker 2: was my comedy hero growing up, so watching Carol Burnette
Speaker 2: and friends, watching him, watching him and Don Nott's do
Speaker 2: their two person movies, and.
Speaker 1: Marvin Corman on all of them, all of them. I
Speaker 1: loved Harvey Korman.
Speaker 2: God bless but so to be able to meet my
Speaker 2: comedy hero, and he lived up to all of my
Speaker 2: hopes and expectations, and we got to become friends. After that,
Speaker 2: I would go and have lunch with him and his family,
Speaker 2: like it was the best. It was the best when
Speaker 2: you meet your hero and they absolutely live up to expectations.
Speaker 1: So you'd say that Conway, where's your family?
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, among your yes, just because again, like when
Speaker 2: I take that stick back, I can't believe what we
Speaker 2: were able to do and who we were able to
Speaker 2: play with and Tim Conway, what a joy. We had
Speaker 2: so many fun people come here. I can't believe. Catherine
Speaker 2: O'Hara played my mom. Katherine O'Hara, You.
Speaker 1: Know, I was always knocked out. I worshiped Carrie Fisher.
Speaker 1: She came on the show. I loved Carrie. I mean
Speaker 1: there were people on her episodes a great episode and
Speaker 1: there were people that came out. But of course, even
Speaker 1: though she wasn't a guest star, she was more of
Speaker 1: us recurring character. Everybody's eclipsed by Elaine, who played my mother.
Speaker 1: When I was doing those scenes with Elaine, oh I was.
Speaker 1: I just couldn't help it, and she was, and she
Speaker 1: taught me so much.
Speaker 2: She did.
Speaker 1: You could tell she was completely contrived and completely fake.
Speaker 1: She would pretend to blow a line at the end
Speaker 1: of the take. She was buying herself rehearsal time. She
Speaker 1: do take one, take two, flub the line, Take three,
Speaker 1: flip the line, Take four, flub the line. Take five,
Speaker 1: get more of the line. Take six, git almost the
Speaker 1: whole line. Then by seven she was warmed up, and
Speaker 1: then she'd just go like she was skeet shooting. She'd
Speaker 1: be like pol and she shoot all the clays out
Speaker 1: of the sky. She nailed.
Speaker 2: He mailed it. My first interaction with miss Stritch was
Speaker 2: I think one of her first episodes. She came down
Speaker 2: and so we put her in a guest dressing room
Speaker 2: that was just down the hall from mine, and so
Speaker 2: here I am sitting in my page uniform, and she
Speaker 2: hated to get some ice. She's like, this sofa needs
Speaker 2: to come out of my dressing room. I'm like, and
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what. Instead of trying to explain to
Speaker 2: her like, oh, madam, I'm an actor, I was just like, Okay,
Speaker 2: this is a costume about me and Vanessa Hoffman.
Speaker 1: We're in Queen's Actually we're not in Manhattan. On Rockefelle Plaza.
Speaker 2: Me and little Vanessa Hoffman were lugging this giant sofa
Speaker 2: out of her dressing room just because it was easier
Speaker 2: that way.
Speaker 1: She thought you were the help well actor and comedian
Speaker 1: Jack mcbraar. If you're enjoying this conversation, tell a friend
Speaker 1: and be sure to follow Here's the Thing on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. When
Speaker 1: we come back, Jack McBriar shares the inspiration for his
Speaker 1: new show Zillow Gone Wild. I'm atc Baldwin and you're
Speaker 1: listening to Here's the Thing. In addition to his memorable
Speaker 1: television work, Jack mcbrair is also a thespian. He performed
Speaker 1: in the Broadway hit Waitress in London's West End and
Speaker 1: in the Gershwin musical Crazy for You at Lincoln Center.
Speaker 1: I was curious if McBriar had any traditional theater training
Speaker 1: or background.
Speaker 2: High school theater really didn't do it in college, No,
Speaker 2: I mean Second City was live performance and it was,
Speaker 2: you know, eight shows a week. But that was the
Speaker 2: easy stuff. When I sometimes I just say yes to
Speaker 2: things to see what it is like and to kind
Speaker 2: of scare myself. So saying yes to that one night
Speaker 2: only performance of Crazy for you was terrifying, but we
Speaker 2: did it and it was really fun saying yes to
Speaker 2: six months in London on the West End doing Waitress.
Speaker 2: It was terrifying, but I said yes, and I did it,
Speaker 2: and I'm just I'm proud of myself.
Speaker 1: Go over over there were you had you already done
Speaker 1: thirty Rock when you do Waitress?
Speaker 2: Uh? Yes, I believe Crazy for You is twenty seventeen
Speaker 2: and then Waitress was twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: So you went there just a few years ago, and like,
Speaker 1: how did you? I mean, I mean, I'm always terrified
Speaker 1: of this, of performing over there. I'm like, how did
Speaker 1: you go over with a British audience? Oh gosh?
Speaker 2: Everybody was super kind. Now, what was interesting is it
Speaker 2: was a musical and I mean, I can sort of
Speaker 2: carry a tune, but I am not a singer. Our
Speaker 2: star was like Katherine McPhee, who is a singer. But
Speaker 2: the good news was as the comic relief, I had more,
Speaker 2: you know, of the power songs. But i tell you what,
Speaker 2: Like those reviews were just like, well, not the strongest singer,
Speaker 2: he's definitely delightfully funny, and I'm like, I'll take it.
Speaker 1: Yes, a basket of chim and when you did thirty Rock.
Speaker 1: I'm curious when anything you do with improv you have
Speaker 1: more of a somewhat of an influence and a contribution
Speaker 1: to this in terms of the text and the material,
Speaker 1: when you were doing thirty Rock or anything you've done,
Speaker 1: if people come to you and asked you for your
Speaker 1: input into the material or you just take the script
Speaker 1: on thirty Ruck and do it as written, they never
Speaker 1: asked you what your thoughts were about the material.
Speaker 2: It was rare that they would ever ask me what
Speaker 2: I thought on thirty Rock. And the good news was,
Speaker 2: you know, the cripts were pretty fantastic. Now, with that
Speaker 2: being said, I don't bring nothing to the table. And
Speaker 2: there were a few times where you know, it was
Speaker 2: just like really and it was so rare, but I'll
Speaker 2: never forget. There was one time they made Kenneth speak
Speaker 2: gibberish and I was like, well, as they say in
Speaker 2: Stone Mountain, old gig to see sell people. And I
Speaker 2: will never forget it was Carlock Matt Hubbard, maybe both
Speaker 2: of them said no, no, it's sea salt gone pee.
Speaker 2: Paul on the like, oh wait are these real words? No? No,
Speaker 2: I was like mm hmm, okay, So just having to
Speaker 2: get gibberish down correctly. But at the same time it
Speaker 2: was just like if you trust those scripts, then who care,
Speaker 2: like just say the words cash the check taking that
Speaker 2: you know? It is interesting because again you were the
Speaker 2: one who's like Jack, you should think about voice acting.
Speaker 2: And now what I have learned in the years that
Speaker 2: I've been able to do it is, I guess in
Speaker 2: the voice acting world, I have what's called a signature voice,
Speaker 2: meaning like, when you hire me, this is what you're
Speaker 2: gonna get. And so even though I've been able to
Speaker 2: do all sorts of different characters, they all kind of
Speaker 2: sound alike as opposed to it well, and I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm okay with it. But you know those actors who
Speaker 2: work on the Simpsons who do like twelve different voices
Speaker 2: and stuff. I just don't have that skill set. So
Speaker 2: I am very deferential. Like I am very I give
Speaker 2: all accolades to people who are just better trained at
Speaker 2: voice acting than me.
Speaker 1: Now thirty Rock was over, and you wouldn't did describe this?
Speaker 1: What is the children's show you did?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: The preschool show that I was able to do for Apple,
Speaker 2: Hello Jack, the Kindness show.
Speaker 1: Whose idea was that it was mine, and why did
Speaker 1: you want to go in that direction?
Speaker 2: Well, it was another like revelatory kind of thing. I
Speaker 2: had just reached a point. So this would have been
Speaker 2: maybe in like twenty seventeen, where I have never been
Speaker 2: very politically active or even really politically aware, because the
Speaker 2: sad reason is I didn't have to be. And in
Speaker 2: twenty seventeen, I think I just started paying more attention
Speaker 2: to the state of the world and how people were
Speaker 2: behaving towards each other. And it hurt my heart. It
Speaker 2: surprised me, and it disappointed me, and I was confused.
Speaker 1: I was like, I.
Speaker 2: Thought human beings, I thought grown ups knew how to
Speaker 2: treat each other with compassion and this kind of thing.
Speaker 2: And so as I felt my heart breaking, I was like, well,
Speaker 2: but what can I do about it? And I'm start
Speaker 2: writing checks to every organization that I think can benefit
Speaker 2: from it. But then I was like, but what can
Speaker 2: Jack mcbrair do with his very limited skill? And so
Speaker 2: I thought about it, and I was like, you know,
Speaker 2: everybody's treating each other so rudely, and these are like
Speaker 2: lessons that we should have learned as children, like on
Speaker 2: mister Rogers neighborhood. And then I was like, Oh, I
Speaker 2: want to do a show very much like mister Rogers
Speaker 2: Neighborhood that teaches messages of kindness and compassion and listening
Speaker 2: and patient, you know, like just all the good things.
Speaker 2: And where'd you shoot that beautiful Seami Valley, California?
Speaker 1: Have you been? My God? That brings out the best
Speaker 1: in all of us? Doesn't some one of the greatest
Speaker 1: shows in history.
Speaker 2: It was a joy. It was definitely a labor of love.
Speaker 2: It was a great deal of work because it was
Speaker 2: live action, it was preschool. The curriculum for preschool is
Speaker 2: very exacting, and I wanted to do it correctly. So
Speaker 2: the good news is I surrounded myself with a lot
Speaker 2: of experts and consultants and professionals who knew what they
Speaker 2: were talking about, and we did it. And I'm very
Speaker 2: proud we got, you know how many episodes? Let's see,
Speaker 2: I think we did eighteen total over two seasons, with
Speaker 2: a tremendous cast of young actors. And that was a
Speaker 2: whole new thing for me, working with like six year
Speaker 2: old children who knew their lines better than me. And
Speaker 2: I'm very proud of what I was able to do.
Speaker 2: I'm curious to see what the next thing is, because
Speaker 2: now that this has been opened up to me again,
Speaker 2: you're catching me at an interesting time where I'm like,
Speaker 2: what am I doing? What am I supposed to be doing?
Speaker 2: What is my raison etra? What is my purpose? And
Speaker 2: it's not scary. It doesn't give me anxiety or make
Speaker 2: me feel desperate or anything. It really is just that
Speaker 2: curiosity like what can I be doing?
Speaker 1: Now? Well you're doing Are you doing Zillo Goes Wild now?
Speaker 1: Or that's done?
Speaker 2: I'm doing Zillo Gone Wild?
Speaker 1: So you're doing that now?
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, which is a very fun and easy travel
Speaker 2: show on HGTV. And what I do love about that
Speaker 2: is I just get to go into these strangers' homes
Speaker 2: and they give me a tool or of their incredibly
Speaker 2: weird and wild homes and it's so fun. So I
Speaker 2: like it really makes me think, like, Okay, is my superpower?
Speaker 2: Just making people feel comfortable? Is my superpower? Just that
Speaker 2: I make friends pretty quickly and pretty easily. And if so,
Speaker 2: I love it. What can I do with that?
Speaker 1: You know? But you are doing it?
Speaker 2: Well, I am doing it, But like, what more can
Speaker 2: I do? Like? Am I supposed to run for office?
Speaker 2: Am I gonna be a diplomat, Like I'm not saying
Speaker 2: like quit anything that I'm doing. What else can I
Speaker 2: do that will scratch the curiosity.
Speaker 1: Your warmth and your kindness? So I wonder sometimes do
Speaker 1: people come up to you in public? They must come
Speaker 1: to you all the time, and do they want the
Speaker 1: relationship with Kenneth the Page to go another step further
Speaker 1: now that they've met you? Can we go have lunch together?
Speaker 1: Can we go have a coffee to gother? Do you
Speaker 1: find people that are really really drawn to you that way?
Speaker 2: I mean, like, I'm not hard to talk to. I
Speaker 2: can make friends with wallpaper, but I like that.
Speaker 1: In the airport they're like, you're gonna miss your flight
Speaker 1: because they won't shut up, which they love you, I
Speaker 1: would suspect.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's not far from the truth.
Speaker 1: That's you get a very warm response from people in
Speaker 1: what you Deserve because you really really brought such an
Speaker 1: essential ingredient to that show. Now, my last question, yes,
Speaker 1: is you're on thirty Rock about Somebody. But these shows
Speaker 1: you've done subsequently were your creation? Do you like doing
Speaker 1: that you see yourself doing more of that or was
Speaker 1: it more work than you envisioned?
Speaker 2: No? No, you know, depending on the project, it can
Speaker 2: be a great deal of work, but also it depends
Speaker 2: on where my heart is for that. So I am
Speaker 2: so grateful for the chance to be a co creator
Speaker 2: on a show, EP on a show, but I definitely
Speaker 2: want to continue to do that. The most important aspect
Speaker 2: of that to me, though, is the collaboration with people
Speaker 2: that I like, I trust are talented. That has been
Speaker 2: the most amazing gift to me about this crazy business
Speaker 2: that we've chosen. Meeting these people who have such diverse
Speaker 2: talents and you're able to create something together that is
Speaker 2: so special to me, and that is very mean to me.
Speaker 2: I don't need to be the solo artist. I don't
Speaker 2: need to be the star. I like working with other people,
Speaker 2: and I want to keep creating things that people enjoy,
Speaker 2: enjoy with comfort, laugh at, can have kids watch.
Speaker 1: I like all of that. All right. Let me just
Speaker 1: say that I'm so happy for you. And when the
Speaker 1: show's over, you went out there, you got your house,
Speaker 1: you got your pool. It's all coming together for you,
Speaker 1: your vision of show business success, which I love because
Speaker 1: if I had it to do over again, I would
Speaker 1: have enjoyed myself more sure. My love to you. My
Speaker 1: deep love to you.
Speaker 2: This was a delight.
Speaker 1: As Jack mcbrair and I were wrapping up, my producers
Speaker 1: brought on a special guest, Kevin Brown, who thirty Rock
Speaker 1: fans will recognize as dot Com Tracy Jordan's bodyguard and
Speaker 1: right hand man. Brown surprised us at the end of
Speaker 1: the taping, dressed head to toe in a graduation gown.
Speaker 1: All no way, Kevin, where'd you graduate from? Is your
Speaker 1: graduation time?
Speaker 4: It's today, and it's from City College and it's a
Speaker 4: master's degree.
Speaker 2: Buddy, congratulations Kevin, you a master's and what well, I
Speaker 2: just say Black studies, but it's called Study of the Americas.
Speaker 1: I like Black studies better.
Speaker 4: I'm a Black study scholar. I'm an adjunct professor at
Speaker 4: Hunter College and I'm still do a stand up comedy.
Speaker 1: My god, how wonderful, Kevin.
Speaker 2: Oh, I miss you, buddy.
Speaker 1: Good for you.
Speaker 4: I promised my mother in eighty eight when I was
Speaker 4: dropping out, that I go back one day with no
Speaker 4: intentions of going back. So twenty twenty one, she sadly
Speaker 4: passed away. But I realized I didn't honor that promise
Speaker 4: to her, and it became the most important decision I
Speaker 4: haven't made in my life.
Speaker 1: I have to go back.
Speaker 4: So I went back and got my bachelor's in twenty
Speaker 4: twenty one, and then I got my master's and it
Speaker 4: took about two years. I think it was from twenty
Speaker 4: twenty two to today, buddy. The timing of connecting with
Speaker 4: you guys because I miss you, guys, Kevin. My classmates
Speaker 4: ask me about you guys all the time. But it's
Speaker 4: great to see you.
Speaker 2: You two, you too, Bunny, congratulations, Pal, Well, my love
Speaker 2: to you both.
Speaker 1: Good to see you. Listen, Kevin, sincerely, congratulations. You should
Speaker 1: be very proud of yourself. That's an amazing achievement.
Speaker 4: Well, I tell you, it's a pleasure to see you guys.
Speaker 1: Jac you are hilarious. You stole the many scenes from
Speaker 1: all of us. See that's the second person that said
Speaker 1: the same thing. You stole those scenes, you bastard.
Speaker 2: I'll read the lines and smile. Omit, that's all I got.
Speaker 1: My thanks to my friend, the one and only Jack mcbraar.
Speaker 1: Here's the Thing is recorded at CDM Studios. This episode
Speaker 1: was produced by Kathleen Russo, Zach MacNeice, and Maureen Hoban.
Speaker 1: Our engineer is Frank Imperial. Our social media manager is
Speaker 1: Danielle Gingrich. I'm Alec Baldwin. Here's the thing is brought
Speaker 1: to you by iHeart Radio