Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Side Dish: More with Chris Perfetti

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

More of my interview with 'Abbott Elementary’ star Chris Perfetti. Chris tells me what it’s like getting recognized more often after Abbott, and we share experiences working on short-lived television shows. This episode was recorded at Roberta's in Studio City, CA.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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That's wildalaskan.com slash JTF for $35 off your first order. Thanks to Wild Alaskan Company for sponsoring this episode. Hi, it's Jesse. So here's a little side dish from this week's episode of Dinner's on Me with Chris Perfetti, who you might know is Jacob Hill on the hit ABC comedy, Abbott Elementary. We caught up over pizza and pasta at Roberta's in Studio City, and Roberta's was a place where Chris clearly felt right at home, which is understandable because Chris lives in Brooklyn

and Roberta's originally launched in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It has since become a Los Angeles institution as well. It was an easy setting for a reunion of sorts since Chris and I were actually castmates years ago in The Tempest when we did Shakespeare in the Park, and we had plenty to catch up on. Okay, let's get to the conversation. I'm starving.

Are you? Yeah, I am. What's this? I don't know. It's like Tom. It's like Tom Daly went into your closet and like found your jersey. I wish Tom Daly was in my closet. I love it.

I'm just going where they tell me to go. It's so cute. I do what they say. Did someone put you in this? Yeah. Cute. Thanks. Are you like on a past day?

We get it. You do theater. Yeah. I mean, yeah. I knew you were going to say that. And I agree you were going to get on to that. Go there. All right.

Not only this, but like when I was, when I was working at the national, I went to the gift shop, because it's like, I want a national t-shirt. Yeah. And they were all, like, cheesy, like, for, like, you know, the civilians. And I was like, no. I want one that, like, here's what we're going to do. It's what we're going to do. Because, like, all the staff had these, like, really just, like, simple t-shirts.

And I was like, I want that. Yeah. And so they had to, like, go into their, like, the department that, like, you know, like, PR or whatever. Like our HR and like what you know they had to find the shirts that they get to people when they're hired for the national Yeah Like this is like what the crew guys were. Yeah, this is cool. Yeah, that's way cooler than It's like when we worked at the Delacourt I always wanted the shirts that the ushers wore I didn't want the ones that We're on sale for the public. Yeah, with the crazy graphic that's like yeah

You know Like a Shakespeare head with flames coming out of it saying love and light and it's like because it's You know, winter's tail and Hamlets to No, it's too much. No, it's too much. My aunt lived in Chicago for a while, and she begged me every break, like Easter break, winter break, to come visit her. And I was in, like, high school. I had no interest in going to visit my aunt on, you know, time off from school.

And finally, I was like, if you take me to the Steppenwolf Theater and you buy me a sweatshirt and we'll come visit you in Chicago. Merch. My golly, she did it. I mean, I've never actually seen anything at Steppenwolf. I've seen them, those productions when they come into New York. Yeah, yeah, yeah, which they frequently do. But they frequently do. You've worked at Steffield, right?

Yeah. Yeah. And Micah's play was in Steppenwolf. Yeah. That's on now, right? Yeah. I hear it's great, by the way. Have you seen that?

Are you going to get to see it? I want to. I'm going to see it on Thursday. Oh, good. I hope I can see it. I hope you can, too. I think it's going to be around for a minute. So, I mean, they're supposed to go through February.

Okay. Do you have, I'm sure you'll be back there before then? I'm in New York almost every week for different things. Every weekend? Yeah, for short little things. Oh my God, that's a lot of, it's a lot of back and forth, but I have to do it because of the kids. I would just stay there if I didn't have children. Yeah.

Like you're coming back here because they're here, you mean you're not going there for them. No, they're here. They got a show. Yeah, yeah, they, yeah, no. They're here. They're staying here. Yeah. Did you see at my birthday party, which is last time I saw you.

I saw it all. You saw it all. Did you see when my son Sully fell and Joshua Jackson scooped him up and like held him? I heard when your son fell because it was like only a kid's skull on the ground makes that sound. It's like a sound that shouldn't exist in the world. It's so scary. Yeah, and he scooped him up. And did you know that he ended up then peevee up?

been peeing on Joshua Jackson. As he was handing him back to Justin, he like, back, or so he left a huge wet spot on Josh's shirt. Yeah, it's terrifying. If I felt like that, I would have pissed myself too. Yeah.

I mean, it takes honestly less than that. I know. Oh, my God. The best part of it was, like, so many people came out to me afterwards was like, well, I'm going to fall next. If this is what's happening.

If Josh is picking as, like, how long has to pee on him. Yeah. Yeah. There's also, like, don't you remember as a kid, I feel like I saw him, it's so scary, obviously. But then when everybody else is flocking to you and, like, making a big thing of it, it kind of scares you. Yeah. It's like, oh, something that's not supposed to happen happened. Yeah.

I feel like that was what was going on too. Oh, yeah. No, for sure, for sure. Did Abbott Elementary do the big Halloween? I haven't caught up. Did they do a holiday episode? Yeah, this is our third in a row. We did give the people what they want.

Listen, I mean, the modern family Halloween episodes we always do so well. Did you guys do one every year? I think we did about, we did six over the 11 years. Wow. Or maybe seven. But the first one we did was a big hit. And so we kind of realized that we needed to do something like that.

as often as possible. But also not every year. You know, like withholding, also withholding them. Yeah. I don't know why, but like it just sort of, I think because we, I mean, we have fewer characters than you guys did. Like you had a lot, that would be a lot to stay invested

in what each of those people were. Right. For Halloween each year. Yeah. But for some reason it's felt like, like something we got to show up for that. And like Ava Fest, there are these these like benchmarks,

these like touchstones that I feel like the show just wants to revisit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Halloween is definitely one of them. But also like, I mean, I just was hit, I took my kids to school for their Halloween costume parade. Yeah.

And, you know, Halloween in schools is like a thing. And like watch, you know, seeing like the staff and the faculty get involved and like, I don't know, it's, it wasn't like that when I was a kid, but it's certainly, that's like the culture we're in now. I think everyone like has really embraced Halloween. And I, um,

I, um, I had a Zoom meeting, uh, before this, this costume parade. And, um, so I was,

I was getting on the meeting and Justin and, uh, and Sully and I were all in the car because we was at back at school. And so we were just killing times. Like, let me just hop on this Zoom really quick. And I hop on the Zoom and, um, and, um,

and I, and, and, uh, and I get on the zoom and like, the guy, he's like, I caught him in, like, the middle of some speech.

He was talking about pornography. And Justin's like, we're going to go ahead and hang outside. And he ended up going out. I missed half the Halloween costume parade. But, like, the costumes were so creative. There's this one kid who was, he had just like a long-sleep black shirt on and a knit cap. And he was holding the Mona Lisa. What are you going to do?

You know? He was like, one of the Louvre burglars. Yeah. Another kid was like a vending machine. He has no idea what the Louvre is. No, no, no, no, yeah, yeah. It was a vending machine? Amazing.

Yeah, they're kind of like, they are, I think particularly with Halloween, they're kind of like the secret weapon, because you can just dress kids as funny things, and that's like a joke in and of itself. You don't even have to have any dialogue about it. It's like bonus jokes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, like, it was like a Bob Ross.

Like, some kids, like, out. As like, you know. You're alive when Bob Ross was. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I love it so much. Now for a quick break, but don't go away.

When we come back, Chris tells me what it's like getting recognized more often after Abbott Elementary. And we share experiences working on short-lived television shows or shows that never even saw the light of day. Okay, be right back. Hey, Sal. Hank? What's going on? We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvite.

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Yes. Did we expect her to open up about divorce, rediscovering herself, joining housewives as a zero prep, and what it feels like to finally feel like her again? No. It is vulnerable, iconic, hilarious, and one of our favorite conversations ever. The Real Housewives have officially entered the chat. Listen now. And we're back with more dinners on me. How do you do with people recognizing you on a higher level now?

I mean, has that been tricky for you? It is. I feel like I've definitely got like one eye open to it now. And I feel a little more self-conscious, obviously, than I did. I don't walk to the bodega with, like, a tank top and sweatpants off. anymore. But I'm still buying my own apples. You know, I'm still riding the subway.

It's truly beguiling how much you get recognized in New York, even with glasses and a hat and a mask on on the train. People are like, I'm so sorry to do this to you, but it's like, how did you know who I am? Well, I mean, because I have a, I love New York so much, and I love taking public transportation. These are all the things I still do. And I love riding a city bike actually in New York.

Yeah, same. I'm really into that right now. But I remember having a very, in this first years of modern family, when I would go back to New York. And you know, you're just, it's just by the nature of the city. You have more people around you. And there's nowhere to really go. And here in L.A. you're in your cars.

And, like, maybe someone at a stoplight waves to you or something. But that's kind of the extent of it, unless you're like, you know, in a very crowded area. or our mall. But in New York, there's no, there's no respite from that. Like, you, you're always around people. And I had a really tricky time finding comfort in this city that I love so much. Yeah. It was a very hard, it was hard for me to reintegrate and, like, redefine my relationship with the city. And the thing is, I didn't want to redefine it. I wanted to still enjoy the city in the same ways that I always had. But I was dealing also with people.

knowing who I was and not having the anonymity that I felt so secure having. And it was tricky. And I feel like I've, I think a lot of just took time and me like kind of realizing it doesn't matter, you know? And who cares if someone's like looking at me from across the street and taking photos? But like, yeah, it's something I just had to sort of come to grips with. but it was a hard, it was a hard transition for me. Oh, yeah, it sucks. I mean, it's, I mean, for the most part, people are, like, so generous

and so honestly graceful and cool and it feels great to meet somebody who wants to tell you how much they like you. But, yeah, it definitely feels like a new layer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And like a champagne problem, but a problem nonetheless. Yeah, yeah. You said Tyler's directed, right? Do you think you would want to direct any of them?

I'm not sure. I mean, there's something really, there's definitely, like, creative license to be taken, and there's, I'm sure I would so enjoy, like, having done something like 80 episodes now, like, putting my take on that, having my fun with it, my spin. But it's also in a way so kind of formulaic that my brain just doesn't really work like that. Like I would much rather write an episode than direct an episode. So I might do that.

I've got a couple. That'd be incredible. A couple dozies up my sleeve. Yeah. Um, well, I'm sure it would be... Are they Jacob-centric? I'm sure, of course. Of course they are.

What a famous. It's like the capsule episode that just follows Jacob, but it's like one long shot. Don't you guys want the week off? Yeah, come on, right? It's incredible. Yeah. I love that. Was, um, I feel like that's reminding me.

I remember you talking about, um, that job that you, had before modern family, the TV show that... Right. Was it the one about the hotel? The class? The class.

Yeah. Yeah, the class. Was that kind of your first... TV thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I remember you talking about that

because I also had a TV, a first TV job that went up in flames. Like... Well, you guys got to do a season at least, I think. We did a full season. Yeah. Yeah. What was yours?

Was it the John Malcovic thing? No, no. I did go up in flames, but I can do you one better, which is we shot my first TV job ever was a comedy for NBC, and they canceled it before we aired. Oh. So we shot a show. It got picked up.

It got picked up. It got filmed. And then they were like... How many did you film? Actually, we're good. Oh. I can't remember if it was like five or six, but we were well on our way. And I was like, oh my God, that's heartbreaking. It was so many, so many years ago now, but I just remember being like, yeah, life,

life changes forever from here on out. Jeez, that is like a real dose of reality with like. Yeah, yeah, the roller coaster of it all. Who was in it? What was it about? It was, it took place at a satellite radio station. It was a workplace comedy. It was a great idea. But not according to NBC.

Oh my God. It's crazy that they bought episodes and just never aired them. Yeah. I mean, this was before streaming. This was before like, um. Right. And so. How old were you when that happened?

You know, like pilot season was a thing. And, And there was just much, I think there was a lot more turnover. You could kill your darlings in a way that you can't now. And things are in development, I feel like, for so much longer now. I was not long out of school. I was probably 23. Yeah.

But I remember, I was thinking of that because I remember you talking about the class. And it's crazy that you, like, had such a big job like that. Yeah. And then that wasn't even the big job. Like, the big job came after that big job. 100%. I remember when it got canceled, I was like, well, that was it. That was my TV opportunity.

How do you get bigger than that? It's a great ensemble directed by James Burroughs for CBS. And, you know, we shot 19 episodes. And, like, it was critically, like, it did pretty well. It's a bit of a classic, if you ask me. Cool. But, yeah, I was like, well, that's it. I think there's no higher honor than being a call.

Oh, class. Right? Now for a quick break, but don't go away. I tell Chris about my very first time visiting New York City, and we get into who really has the best pizza, New York or L.A.? Okay, be right back. On game day, pain can hit hard and fast, like the headache you get when your favorite team and your fantasy team both lose.

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I was never really a huge pizza, pizza guy. Even all these years living in New York, I don't crave it, I don't care for it. And hot take, L.A. has some of the best pizza I've ever. head. When I was in New York this last summer, I was there for like two months and someone was like, have you had pizza yet? Like, my, because I had a lot of friends who were in town. Like, a lot of the cast was, um, was coming in just for the play. It's like that was like, they would have pizza every single night because it's like New York pizza's something you got to have while you're there. And I, I hadn't had any of it. And I, and then for like two weeks I had pizza almost every other day,

like after, after my play. Yeah. I went to Joe's. I went. It's a bleaker pizza. Yeah. I mean, it's so good there. I remember somebody telling me there's something like, there's, like the number of businesses that are registered as pizzerias in the five boroughs is, is like it would shock you. It's astronomical.

There's like thousands of pizza places in New York, I think. I'm pretty sure. I mean, I don't, I don't, it's, it's funny because, like, my friend Todd, he, He was staying at a friend's house in, um, in like the Grand Marcy Park area. And there was a 7-Eleven across the street. And there was literally like four pizza places around there. And he went to get pizza every night at 7-Eleven. And...

You have to stop being friends with this person. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But, uh... That's hilarious. But it's funny because, like, you're right. Because there were so many pizzerias right around there.

I was like, why are you, why are you going to the 7-Eleven? And he's like, it's because he needs. it because he's from L.A. He's like, I know that 7-Eleven has pizza that I like. Yeah, I know what I'm going to get when I go there. And I like it. That is on the roller right next to the hot dogs that are also on the roller. You know, I can get a slushy, the roller. Or things go to die. Yikers. Have you been to a 7-Eleven in Japan? No. It's a totally different experience.

I mean, I feel like everything in Japan. I've never been to Japan, but my friends who have Dan Levy goes to Japan a lot. And he's like, it's the, I mean, he loves it so much. Yeah. And he just says the, the, um, they got a lot figured out over there. The attention to detail with service is incredible there. But he says, like, every version of, you know, what we have here that they have is, like,

so much better. Yeah. Why is the 7-Eleven better? Um, they just have all this incredible fresh food. And it's, like, high quality. It's, yeah, it just has a very different function in society than the 7-Eleven's in the states. Fresh produce at 7-Eleven.

Wait, so you were in, so you were in Albuquerque and you moved to New York when you were 17. Holy shit. I mean, I celebrated my 18th birthday, like a month after I moved to New York. So I was just about to turn 18. Yeah. And I had come to New York the year before, or two years before, with my local community theater.

And it was me and basically all of the. they were older women, but all women, like, but you know, like blue hairs and me. And that was my first time being exposed to New York. And I had always wanted, I knew that I wanted to go just because I knew that's where Broadway was and like where if you want to become a professional theater actor,

that's where you would go. But I had no realistic, like, relationship with the city. just had this idea in my head. And I went to New York with this group of local women from the community theater.

And we had tickets to go see cats and band the opera. And what else was like the guys and dolls and just like all the hits. And Radio City Music Hall tour. You know, it was like six days and we had like two things a day.

And like and we stayed at the hotel Edson in the middle of Times Square. Oh my God. I mean, I was just like immersed in like Times Square, you know, Hell's Kitchen. And that's like was my exposure to New York. I like wandered up to New York to Central Park once,

but that's probably the farthest I went. So like for me, New York was just that like, you know, the Coca-Cola sign on like 47th Street. Theater District. Theater District. Yeah. And I got myself a ticket to go see falsettos. Like I turned down one of my tickets for one of the other shows.

It was like, I just didn't show up, and I went to the TKTS booth and got a ticket for falsettos, and that was the first Broadway show I ever saw. That was a little side dish from my conversation with Chris Perfetti. If you haven't heard our full conversation yet, make sure to check it out on Dinner's On Me. This episode of Dinners on Me was recorded at Roberta's in Studio City, California. Next week on Dinners On Me, you know her from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, and so many more things. It's Mary Elizabeth Ellen. We'll get into her and our husband Charlie Day's humble beginnings, raising a teenager in Hollywood, and working with acclaimed director, Paul Thomas Anderson.

Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Bear engineered this episode. Hans Dale She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison.

Special thanks to Tamika Balance Kalasni and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.