Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade - Justin Theroux

Episode Date: May 24, 2023

Breakdancing, Tropic Thunder, and White House Plumbers with Justin Theroux. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whether you're doing a dance to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into Warrior I in the break room before your shift, whether you're running on your Peloton tread at your mom's house while she watches the baby, or counting your breaths on the subway. Peloton is for all of us, wherever we are whenever we need it, download the free Peloton app today. Peloton app available through free tier or paid subscription starting at 12.99 per month. Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da He has a really cool fashion sense. He just has a, he's just cool. He is unintentionally enigmatic. Like he's just been around all these great things,

but he doesn't, he's not at every premiere, you know, or anything, he just keeps kind of a low profile. Low thirst level. He's not out there as cool friends. I think when I was out there about two summers ago, we went for a walk in Washington Park to see everyone on drugs in the summer. And I think Gigi had a birthday party that night.

He was going to. He's like, oh, you wouldn't wanna go, but there's this big birthday party. I go, yeah, that would be horrible. I think I'll just go to Chili's with my friends. Did you go? Mm-hmm. Dana, I go, yeah, that would be horrible. I think I'll just go to Chili's with my friends. Did you go? Mm-hmm. Dana, I don't jump when you say frog.

Do you understand? I'm very unpredictable. Well, G.D. Hadid called me. What's up with space? Why were you there? No, I don't go anywhere. I'm a shut in.

You know that. Anyway, I cornered my hair for no reason. I didn't go. I just went to Alpac. But Justin Thoreau, Ben Stiller told me, because we're friends, that he's kind of the man behind the scenes that's influenced a lot of comedy in the last 25 years. And especially Tropic Thunder, which to me is probably the most brilliant along with hangover and and will Farrell and Kermann. Those are the mean of three tenths of the last 20 years.

And since the knots into the teens, those are the ones. So we break down Tropic Thunder and talk about how it's problematic in 2023 and whether it should be or not and about Brooks and movies. And that's what I wanted to ask about. You know, I met him. We didn't talk with this. I think I met him at Jennifer's when we were watching, we'd watched the Bachelor and do goofy stuff like that.

But I think he was there, and I think they were just about to get married, and I wanted to take him off guard of the beginning and go, okay, here we go, Justin's our first question. What are your thoughts on Jennifer Anderson, you have one hour? What a great beginning to make him move. Wait, this isn't gonna be about that. But he did get pop broads, you have one hour. What a great beginning of making them. Wait, this isn't gonna be about that.

But he did get pop rods. That's a hassle. We didn't even get an L. That's just my thoughts on it. It's always hard to be in a situation like that. And then they're always up Jennifer's ass. And she's very good about it. But man, she gets hown it out there.

Well, the line in the sand for me is like, say you go out in your celebrity and maybe it's at the restaurant that's in there, but at your house, they're outside the gate. Yeah, wherever it is, 24, so wherever you go, that is a gilded cage. That's a tough one. Yeah, I mean, I fought through them to get over to your place today. I dream about having it.

Anyway, this is Justin and he's in White House plumbers. White House plumbers with Woody Harleson. We talk about their friendship and that movie and him playing G Gordon Litty. That's out now. Well, here he is Justin, and you'll get to know him. I just choked and almost died. Nobody cares.

No one rushed me to save me. It's fucking people. You're off the charts for energy today. I am. Yeah. That's because I had chia pudding. Papa. And and some like it. You know, my first end up it was Papa getting kicked in the groin. That's Papa. I can kill the nuts. Oh, you say groin or nuts. Groin, not in the crotch, I think. This is in me in college. Here's my, I'll do a follow-do in a mind.

Here's my first joke. I got a new car. Well, it's not my new, it's an O.D. UPS truck. I got a second park wherever I want. Got so you could, whatever you want. Park wherever I want to. Because UPS trucks used to just park. Oh, yeah.

My camera's like Amazon. I Can't walk you through all of them guys. It was a 10 out of 10. That is not in your current set. No, I might come back. I just wanted best of Welcome welcome to the podcast ladies Ladies and gentlemen, our guest today, you are. He's a real, let me tell you something. First of all, Dana, to get, get off on the right foot. This is, this is not some sort of puff piece, like smartness. Oh, yeah. Your precious, precious scar. I'm about once a week and just tear me to shreds. And I saw Jason Baton a couple nights ago. And I said, it's a really terrible feeling because you can't, I can't punch back.

And you know, like there's no, I can't, they're, they're on the air. They got the fucking bandwidth. You know, they got three against one. Jason, Jason wasn't even at dinner. I don't know what happened. Hey, I was there very early. I could have gone, hey, come on, you guys. I just, that was a horrible Sean Hayesze. No, they're they're very nice.

They're great. Justin remember it when I was on. Remember I'm sure you watched it on her times. He said, I saw a spade and then he doesn't say where he goes. We were at both at a seafood restaurant and he talks when I go, do you mean coy? And he goes, yeah, and I go, isn't that a sushi? Who the fuck calls it a seafood right? It's one of my favorite. I left so hard at that. Good. So I was just on the bed.

Now whenever people are like, what should we get? I'm like, let's go get seafood. The Japanese seafood. It's hard to, you got to identify with the restaurant is. So what's up today, man? How are you? I'm good. I'm good.

New York City. I speak to Sean Hedges, I just saw this play the other night, which was fabulous. Good night, Oscar. It's so good. I'm plugging him now. Who's in it?

Who's in good night, Oscar? What's the story line? It's a, oh God. It's about Oscar Levant, sort of famous pianist, humorist, or a raccontour, and it sort of picks place on the evening that he has to appear in a Jack Car show. The best play I ever saw.

I have a car show. I'm not a theater, but I, my wife, I mentioned her twice now, fallen in love with a theater in recent times, now they were old. But we saw the Freeman in London and it blew my mind as a play. You know, theaters, one of the things, there's nothing better when you see a good play. And there's also nothing worse than when you're watching a bad one. And so it always makes you

feel like that, you know, there's, you're spinning a gun with, you know, two bullets in the chamber, you know, you think, oh, God. Now, when you go last night or whenever to see Sean and you know ahead, it's probably going to be horrible, do you do any prep work? No, I, no, I, I, I was a big group going, you know, like the smart list guys all went. Obviously, it was a opening night.

It was a big fanfare. And, you know, it was like a real who's who of people and of funny people too. I did see that. I just saw you on that. I was looking and I know that smartness has a they Dana they redid a hummer and they put smart ness all over it and they drive that around the country. So to let them know they go it's the three guys and they pop out like the tank out of the top you know They are the cool the cool kids and if it was high school of life as high school They are definitely the cool kids at chimney corners. They're great though. They're all like whatever that chemistry is

Is very funny which I would also argue you guys have as well Um on your podcast. They're very very likable um and smart. I just watched Justin in the Watergate show. It's called What Justin. I'm going to be your wife. It's called The White House. White House plumbers. Yep. Close enough.

And he's on that and it's going to be on what? HBO. May 1st. We're just getting right to the plot. No, I'm just going to say this because I just saw it and you look a lot like the guy in it, the plays G Gordon Litty. And I watched one last night and I started one this morning.

So I got a feel, I don't know where it goes, but I would say it looked like A, a lot of fun, B, it looks super fucking cool, looks shot cool. And who is a director on that? Is it Dave Mandel? Dave Mandel from... At the FSNL writer. Yeah, old SNL writer.

That Dave Mandel? Yeah, that Dave Mandel. Dave Mandel from Veepe. Yeah. And SNL? Did you swap the cameo within the first two minutes of White House plumbers? Is that, was he coming to your office?

Or Woody's office? He comes in the office. He comes in the office. Yeah. Which is Jim Downey, who we're talking about. He's sweet enough to come in and do a cameo. And we all got to bend his ear about early SNL days. Oh, he is the greatest talker ever.

So much thought you could just sit there and listen to him. I mean, I'm sure to you guys, he was sort of, I guess, more intimidating, but, you know, like the thing when someone's, I mean, I'm sure to you guys he was sort of I guess more intimidating, but You know when some you know that the thing when someone's I guess kind of your was he your boss or no? I mean, he's a writer. No, he was head writer when I first got there and That's not really Dana's boss. That's my boss wasn't but I Was I was more I was scared of Lauren in a way like most people are Jim was pretty He was he was pretty approachable, but I'd be more nervous about him now, but yeah, when he came on our podcast, he called

me the day before, and I was driving, we talked for an hour and a half, and I said, you've just done the podcast. Now we have to do it tomorrow because he, no one could talk like him. But yeah, I just wanted to, overall, researching you you're like you're you're you're kind of do everything you're very Light on your feet you do a lot of voices. You do a lot of characters. You do a lot of comedy. You do a lot of drama I Don't I just want you to comment on that. I don't want to go like was this your career plan? But you do do a lot of stuff. James. You do a lot of stuff. Tripping upstairs.

I mean, obviously lucky to a large extent. But I kind of, I don't know. I owe a lot of it to sort of just having a short attention span and that I can't, when I do one thing for too long, I get kind of bored. And I think, oh, I don't want to do that again. I don't want to do this again. And then I just sort of, and I think, oh, I don't want to do that again. I don't want to do this again. And then I just sort of, and I'm, I guess, patient enough that I can, I can go without doing something. If I don't, if there's nothing I really, that's perking my interest, you know.

So I'm not one of those people that feels like, oh, I have to be working all the time, just to be doing something. So I'll go for stretches without work, but, you know, sometimes cooking something up in the lab, so writing something, or I'll do just an animated thing, or I don't know, it's weird. It's not, it's been a very bizarre kind of like, I guess career, but it sort of just, it sort of has a bit of career.

Well, it's a little bit of, if the word gets out kind of like what can he do, well, could he write our script? Yeah, could he direct sure? Will he produce maybe? Can he play an Irishman with a good accent? Can he? That's the best.

You know, can he write Tropic Thunder and then write, you know, being a Mulholland, dry or whatever that, David Lynch film. So it is like, it's hard to pin you down. It's great not to be pinned down. I think that's the best. I mean, I can career ever. A virtue and it leads to some more interesting choices sometimes to kind of not be able to be typecast and certain or just seen in certain ways, you know, in certain lights.

I guess. That's a gift though, because there's very like even in the comedy world, some people go, oh, why don't you do like, even in the comedy world, some people go, oh, why didn't you do that comedy movie? I go, first of all, if they want a comedian, they start with these top five, no matter if they're right for the script or not, they just go out to them. And then after that, if they want this kind of comedy, they go to me. If they want this 2% different from that kind, they go, because people go, oh, you should do stuff like Sandler.

But that's a gift. You're doing a lot of different things, and that's not always up to the actor. Yeah, I mean, it's gotten better. I mean, as we all know, when you first start out, you'll take anything. You just need to be seeing how things are made. So I started out and I did like, I was an extra on like, maybe the worst soap opera in New York's history. You know, like, and a lot of people did it. You know, you get the extra work.

And I was a half hour so called loving. Good call. I remember loving. Dude, it was kind of like a lot of young people. So it wasn't like, you know, so the whole thing. But it was, and I was an extra on it. And then they gave me a plate of drug dealer and they gave me a couple lines. But it was really, you was an extra on it. And then they gave me a played a drug dealer and they gave me a couple of lines.

But it was really, you know, that was more just, and it's also hilarious because, you know, those soaps are usually written by, you know, guys who are much older and, you know, they're trying to write, like, cool druglingo. So I had, like, lines that were like, you know, like, oh, let's get, let's give them this stuff and they'll get a really good buzz on. You know, like, you got to scratch them in the letters from like, you know, a kite, you know, like, oh, let's get, let's give him this stuff. He'll get a really good buzz on, you know, like,

you got the scratches in the letters. I'm like, you know, a kite, you know, whatever. So it's like no drug dealer in the world. It was funny. I was actually doing it with this other actor. I learned a big lesson. We thought, oh, this is so terrible. So let's kind of send it up and make it fun.

You know, like, let's just, so that when we watch it, you know, a week later when it airs, airs, we can all have a giggle. And so we sort of did it sort of bad. Like, hey, this stuff's gonna get you higher than the guy, this stuff's really good. Bumble, bumble, bumble. Then we watched it like a week later and we were mortified because the writing didn't look bad.

Like the other actors didn't look bad. The other actors didn't look bad. We looked fucking terrible. And it was because we weren't understanding the medium of it. If you're gonna try and be funny, do it in the medium that you're supposed to be funny in, not on a daytime, so far. I just thought that one's gonna think that it's a sketch show. You never know what they're gonna like though sometimes. like, oh, you guys are awesome, or get out.

We ever fired some merrily from a show. I've like get out. Like we have not been fired. Just immediately showing up. How many times have you been fired as the real question? I've never been fired. I've been fired, you know, really fired. In fact, it's getting fired.

I was, what does that look like? I was in it. I was in it. I was in it. I was surprised they let me get in the costume and go in the fake helicopter with James Ferrentino. And then they said, hey, come down here and a hundred crew. And this is in the 80s. And they said, yeah, we're going to let you go. So I had to walk in front of everyone like the old TV show. Shame. Shame. Shame. Shame. God. I've been on shows.

That are things that people have been fired off of, and it's always kind of like to call them afterwards, but they, hey, that was fucking not cool, man. That was fucking. You always have to take their side, you know. What the fuck was that? That was nuts. Even though you were the one lobbying to get them off. You were horrible.

You fucking goddamn. Well, James Ferrentino was high as a kite, literally coped up and straight vodka. We were up in the fake chopper, and he got a smile when they started approaching the chopper. So I kind of felt like, I think Jimmy kind of said, I think the kids got to go. But I sucked, and I was so happy to get out of there.

I did it to make money, and that's never a good reason. I thought, why are you getting a top? I was the worst decision when you think, like, this is smart for my career, or this will be good money. Like every time I've done that, I'd make it terrible. I usually ruin it. Can you share when you might have done that?

No, no. No, I mean, it's, because you don't want to appear ungrateful, you know, because you're also, yeah, I got you. You know, you're also happy to be working sometimes, you know, but it usually doesn't pan out. I have learned that lesson, which is, you know, it has to have, I have to be wanting that lesson, which is, you know, it has to have,

I have to be wanting to lean into it creatively, you know, and find it enjoyable. It seems like if you, have you been through a period or is this sort of so-called the most offers you're getting right now, or was there a period's hotter? It seems like you just have this very even trajectory. It's kind of, I just kind of bump along, you know,

like I don't, I don't, in a good way, I don't think I've ever had that like overnight anything, you know, like there's no been, like, there's no moment where I've ever been like, hotter than ever. It's just kind of like I've just been sort of slow and steady trying to win the race, you know. I've been, obviously, a lot of friends of mine

and you know, have had that thing where all of a sudden Hollywood's wand taps them on the head and the next day they're fucking everywhere and you think, holy shit. And I can't even, I don't think my nervous system would be able to handle that kind of a thing, you know, anything. I see you have a trophy. Look at Dana, he's got a trophy behind him. What do you think that's for? What? I don't see what. Yeah. That's boxing. I can't see. Cheerleading is. Oh, cheerleading. Pretty close, David. I'm not. I'm. Oh, last place. Last place. No way. I won't say a year or a

hoarder, but you have a lot of stuff going on. Yeah. In my office, if I put the camera around, it wouldn't look this terrible. If I'm a complete mess, I'm just at a room somewhere that's nice and tidy. Can I ask you just for a second? Because one thing is about your physicality, like you can really look good. You and David have that in common. You can look over your shirt off.

And then I heard you were a break dancer, and my son was a break dancer. So he had a few questions for you. So when you were 10, how many years did you do it? Like a couple of years or? I did it, I was really young and I did it. I really loved hip-hop and I really loved break dancing and I did it. I wanna say for, I mean, you never stop really, do you?

But I was, it's probably hardcore and writ for like Two or three years maybe okay. I have such an appreciation for it I mean it really is floor gymnastics power moves it teaches you out of usual body. It's it's He asked what did you did you do? Were you more of a top rock or footwork guy? I was I was a pretty decent popper, sort of, popper and lockin. And then, and then I was good at floor work. You know, I was, you know, I could definitely, that's backspin, headspin, headspins a little, and then I could win, I tried to, I attempted a win mill, like a year ago and boy did that

not go well. It's, you know, even to just do a little floor work is really exhausting. What's the phrase? What's your best of frees? Yeah. Oh, I could do a frees up, you know, on, you know, sort of up on my, you know, legs up,

you know, sort of, legs up, you hold it. Yeah. Because that what it is, you spin and start. Describe break dancing on a, on a podcast. Yeah. I would freeze it. I would freeze it. I would freeze it.

I would freeze it. I would freeze it. I would freeze it. I would freeze it. I would freeze it, I would freeze it. I was just wearing my cheeks. I was on the floor, my arms were sort of up like this, and then my leg was bent. You're just holding a pose on the floor that takes a lot of strength. And did you have a crew name? You want Sergeant Pop and the Bionic Breakers. Sergeant Pop and the Bionic Breakers. Bionic Breakers, I think I read for that.

That's all I got. But I do think that physicality stays with you. I mean, I was a runner in high school distance runner and I still like to get that feeling of working really hard, cardio vascularly. So it's- Have you tried sprinting recently? Because that's hard.

Recently. I still could make a case. I don't know if they do it with CGI, but I would say Tom Cruise sprinting in Mission Impossible in his mid-50s. That's a lot of good take after take. If that's real, his hip flexors, a lot of stuff has to be working to sprint after 50.

I had this sort of delusional and still kind of do all I'm snapping out of it a little bit. This sort of delusional when I'd watch like sports Like like the Olympics for example like someone on like those rings or what are they called the You know or the paul I would sort of always watch and go like I could do that I mean it like if I was like set up in an ideal Situation training camp diet. All the rest of I could do that and then you know like barb or like swimming I could do that. And then, you know, like, or like swimming,

I'd be like, I could do that, you know, I mean, or football or baseball, you know, I just, I had this like in my head, like, I know that I bet I could do that, you know. I did gymnastics in high school and I did the horse, I did the rings and I did the four and I did the parallel bars. Oh yeah.

Why do you think I'm such a fucking piece of machinery? Could you do the iron cross on the ring? Well, that's the fake thing. They do a CGI. I just wanted you to get context. I could do I could do where I'm on my like an L sit on the ground not a V but an L you know you're on your fingertips stick your legs out. I could do a idea. I was best on the parallel bars and then um, Pommelhorse was tougher. Could you do that thing on the Pommelhorse

where you could sort of go, and then you had legs a little bit. Like dead mump at legs. Yeah, because I was all obviously upper body strength, but my legs were puny and weak. And then I also did, oh, the parallel bars they did the best on, the rings are very hard

because you have to sort of dislocate when you flip around. And it's very hard to do the first one you get trust that you're going to ruin your shoulders for life. And then, uh, dated my coach, but no, I have a quick question about your break dancing, which I'm just going to the phones. The question is, do you carry a slab of cardboard? We did, yeah, we did. That's a cool must. That, and here's what I remember my break dancing is, we always had a slab of cardboard with sort of duct tape together,

because you have to, you know, you try and find like something like a refrigerator cardboard thing. Yeah, big, big, big. And then I remember walking around endlessly with a huge radio and the enormous amount of money it would cost to buy those fucking D batteries. Oh, the batteries, like any of them, you know, that went in the back. Yeah, they take like 40, yeah. And you got to go get a pack and it's like so much money. And then you play for like two hours and it's like so much money and

many Plays like two hours and all of a sudden the tape starts slowing down when the battery's going I said I hit pop PIP Yeah, I'm so I know that whole song Yeah, so anyway, can we talk about it for a few minutes about how you became, who you are, like your childhood, just a little bit,

because I don't know where you came from. I know your mom. It was actually a part of it. Well, no, it wasn't a big part of it. I got on the way to begin. I got arrested when I was a real kid for vandalizing cars. And part of my sentence, because they obviously can't send a 12 year old

or 13 year old to the flammar. My sentence was that I had to do this summer program in Washington DC, which was break dancing. So. You were sentenced to break dancing. I love it. Sentence tool. It was like a move of dance, you know.

But no, it was like, it was like a weird thing. I did these summer programs. Like, I mean, I felt like I was always a weird thing. I did these like summer programs like I'm NFL like I was always in like summer program for summer school or summer were you in trouble more Was that a one-off or were you kind of in trouble with the law a little bit? I was a juvenile delinquent too for a while But not I wasn't like a juvenile delinquent like you know like any high criminal activity It was more just kind of um I was extremely hyperactive and unfocused,

so that would always inevitably lead to trouble. Like I would just do things impulsively, like a lot of young boys do, where you just do something stupid, you know, like I remember I threw a rock through a cab window once, like I mean, but it wasn't like I was like, I'm gonna fucking throw this rock through a camera. It was like, oh, there's a rock. Now I'm holding the rock. What would happen if I threw this, and before that, thought it'd finished,

it was already through a window. You know what I mean? Like it was that kind of hyperactivity, I guess. Impulse control, I guess, boys, brains. ADD used to be called ants in your pants. Ants in your pants. Yeah, así. Eso es el aspecto de la diagnoses. y las opciones personalizadas para mejorar el contenido de tus corrios electrónicos, segmentar tu público, entre muchas cosas más adivina menos y vende más con Intuitimale Sim,

la marca número 1 en Emilio y Marketing y Automatización. Empieza hoy mismo en MailSimple.com, más saben de a tus públicos de marcas competidoras en número globales de clientes en 2021-2022. I'm Thomas Rider, who is a lawyer. He was a, he was a, a Vietnam veteran and then went into law when he got back and my mom was a writer for The Washington Post, a columnist or an essay, I should say, from both the White and Post and The New York Times. Was she writing during Watergate? She wasn't. She was started writing in the 80s, you know, writing during Watergate? She wasn't.

She was started writing in the 80s, you know, but she did take me into the, you know, that big sort of enormous, you know, that was famous from all the Presidents, that big war room. She was in one of those floors. Oh, those are cool. Yeah. All the bar rooms. This one I was really little. She would, yeah, she's like stuffed me under the desk and it was six trillion ball type

writers and, you know, that Amazonath of cigarette smoke. So another thing that Flynn Filler told me, I can't remember his real name, that you're a great illustrator and I know you studied visual arts and stuff, just another kind of thing you can do. So you, when did that start? And I'd started in when I was really little, I had a, I loved, I loved drawing. So I went to, I ended up going to college for both visual art and drama. So I graduated as a double major. And when I got to New York, I actually was doing better with the visual art stuff, like, uh, uh, meaning like I wasn't doing like, you know, I wasn't like a painter in the, you know, I wasn't like doing landscapes or anything.

I would do like big sort of murals graffiti type stuff. I worked in a bunch of clubs and, you know, I would do graffiti wall and nice. Did you ever, yeah, you like basket out then sort of like and yeah, it was the more sort of like an anime sort of graffiti style sort of a hip-hop pop-up-up-up, you know, like Phil Hartman had had that. I just read that. He was designed album covers and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So it's great. It's great. Yeah.

I know. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did.

You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. I do that's right about that. At one point. I just jump in with some nonsense and everyone else is quiet. Well, I know what I said. So cool. Do you still, they would call it in the old days,

doodle, just when you're talking or trying to come up with some, do you do little drawings and stuff? I do little sketches in the margins or something or of something if I'm reading, but I also just sort of keep a loose sketchbook. I don't do it that much, but I do like to occasionally, when I remind myself,

if I'm not working, I'll just be like, oh yeah, let's draw something. Do you still own a 64 pack of Creole, that big cinder block with a balcony in it? No, I haven't got, gone damn color the rainbow with Creole. So much because you can't see it as always. They've always line out of them. No, I hate every ad. God damn color the rainbow with clear hands so much because you can't get a soul line out of them.

Well, it's just not like a medium I like. They, you know, they just, even when I was little, they frustrated me. I wanted like a black pen, or I wanted a really fresh magic marker. It did not want a fucking crush one. Fresh right out of the box before the ink starts to run out. Yeah, you don't want to dry it. Magic one.

Yeah, listen to this guy. I had up crayons with a sharpener on the back, so. Oh, wait, do you think, you know, Watergate, you're just saying someone said it? I did. You know, do you think kids today know that if something bad happens, like if there's a scandal at Disney and they call it Disney gate Like even they say gate about everything that they think they know it comes from Watergate. I don't think so

They probably think it comes from you know It's just a thing to say they don't know what it means. It's a weird it's a weird thing to actually catch on something gate Because Watergate was one word, wasn't it? Was it a building? Watergate hotel. The Watergate hotel in offices. Like it was just a building. It's a condo. That shitty little building never knew how famous it was going to get. Never. If it didn't, it shouldn't. It was famous. It is sort of a landmark in Washington. I don't know anything. I'm just talking on the way. I mean, it's kind of a landmark in Washington. Oh, I don't know anything.

I'm just talking out of my mind. So then again, I mean, as far as your own ambition is so. So then you're going to become a Broadway actor, but you did study in college a bit, but you're an illustrator, and then you just audition and started getting work, or just struggling. Yeah, we all struggled just like everybody else. I, you know, it's a good, it's fun to reminisce about

because I came up with a great, there were other actors that are now, we all know, and we were all sort of in that group, and we all sort of started to happen or things started going well at different times. But New York was, I think, different than LA. You know, LA, I feel like, I could be wrong. You know, but LA always, like whenever, the couple of times I did go to audition out there,

I would always, it felt really competitive and not good and not like everyone didn't want everyone to do well in New York, because a lot of times we're auditioning for theater, things that, you know, it felt like supportive, like you could see a friend in an audition and be like, hey, great job. Or hope you could do, you know, like it felt like, it didn't feel competitive, you know,

where it was. LA was impressive and it is dark and weird. I mean, auditioning there, it just was not fun. Yeah, you're driving. You go park in the structure. I mean, just the amount of effort that it took to go to an audition in Los Angeles, you know, it was an all day affair sometimes.

And but do you remember, you had to go pick up the script like in the Valley the day before and then bring the whole script home, read it and then go back to audition for three lines in the script. Yeah, terrible. Or they wouldn't even give you that. They just give you some pages. You know, I'm sorry.

I'm not supposed to do this. And it's this is pre-self-ones, right? Cause I would get lost and I'd start crying. I just pull over and go, I'm supposed to do this. And this is pre-cell phones, right? Cause I would get lost and I'd start crying. I just pull over and go, I'm fucked. My appointment is in 10 minutes. I'm in Culver City. I'm in Sky, yeah. And you'd look for a pay phone.

It was a nightmare. Pre-hearsers, Lizzy. Yeah, it was terrible. Where's Indy? What were you doing? It felt like, you know, dropping off something at the dry cleaners, then you hit your audition,

then you go to the grocery store. You know, it felt like an end more than a, and in a weird way, you can kind of get more of them done here in New York. But it would always felt weird because it always be like, they wanna put you on tape for everyone in LA. I just always envisioned this enormous plane

that just had tapes dumping off the back of it, just into nothing else. You would never hear back from anything, just like that. Never, just never. You know, I was so humiliating. I even, they said, you'd be good for commercial, like I wasn't like clicking in any other area. So they go, you've got a great look for commercials.

You have blonde hair. I was like, I've got a pretty sweet body. You know, so they were like, and I look young. So I go, still my gymnast stuff was going on a little bit at that point. And then I get this SBV, Sutton Barthom, a Venerable Disease, we called it. And it was a commercial agent.

And they would send me out. You know, God love them twice a day. So I'd go to the Valley when it's 100 degrees wearing a suit, then go in the trunk and get shorts, drive over and you're in college and this one and you're, and I went up for one year and I didn't not get one nothing. So, how did I fucking ever make it out of that? It was like, I'm mad at you. Talk about anxiety and sadness. Like, I did a lot of fucking, I was just a sore back then. I

didn't have it. I was like, you remember those like, just walking around. of the amount of names to storm back then. I would have had it. I was like, do you remember those conditions? You'd go on where it, like it would be for a commercial and you'd, and they wouldn't want to tell you what the product was or they wouldn't want to tell you what the concept was. And then you go into a room and there'd be like a beach ball, a pool noodle,

you know, a funny pair of glasses and they'd be like, just do something. And you'd be like, oh, no clown. Get a room, jump around clown. They go, we're not going to tell you what is like, go fuck yourself. No, I didn't. I said, okay, what is it?

I jump on the beach. Oh, yeah. The worst one I ever went on was actually for thin red line. And it was, although I didn't notice it. Oh, it wasn't. But it was, and I knew it was a Terence Malik movie and it was awarding. And it was the worst audition I've ever had in my life because they didn't, of course

there was no script, of course there was no character, there was no whatever. And I go to this office building on 68th Street or something wherever it was. And it wasn't with him obviously. It was like with some, you know, the second assistant to the casting director. And then they sort of flick on the camera and they're like, okay, just pretend you're in war. And I was like, what? And like, they were like, you can dump over the chairs or pretend you're in a foxhole or whatever. And I was like, I mean, like, what the hell am I supposed to put? Like, so that like kind of, you just

look around on the stage, not pretending you're in war shooting, but I don't have any lines. There's nothing I can say. And I'm not pretending you're in war shooting, but I don't have any lines. There's nothing I can say and I'm not gonna So what did you do? I'm just basically kind of rolled around on the floor for about three minutes And then and then I don't think I can do this But that's one of those ones you're like you really just feel like a monkey on a string You're like, you know, you have to at least give me something tell me what I'm supposed to do in this Right, just give me an angle. You're scared and more. These people are coming and you gotta tell your friends to get to them.

I know what you mean, set up. David would have done it. He would have hauled out his Michael Jackson. You guys would have been greater. They serge. No, I would. I would. I don't know about this.

I don't know about this missile serge. I don't know. He's a missile serge. I don't know. He's back there. It can all be. No, there was no missiles, guys. I don't know. I's back there. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Michael did Fox, like, you got to give me a minute on this. Here's like, he was, he was the nice guy in the movie and they were all

casual things of war. Of course. Great movie. It's so funny that I would even remember that movie, let alone base my whole stand-up routine. It's, it's always a winner. So, just, did you, I mean, when did you know you could, you had an ear like you could do accents and voices?

Were you asked and then just learned I can learn it or because it seems like you'd have a pretty English family so I can I can kind of do a couple English accents. Which ones? Oh, I don't like it. I'm terrible. I mean, there's the sort of the, you know, the clips sort of upper class English, then there's sort of the, mean, Barnett are always doing bits on, um, on the, sort of the guy Richie actually, you know, job or a stated job. You know, the job, we're going to say the job. You know, it's like, yeah, the super working class, but, you know, I got one.

I got the top ends in me, substance. Exactly. Come on. Let's just got to my whole audition. Thank you. I'll round about it. I'll round it. I like in your audition for the war, you're rolling around like an idiot and then you just go, yeah, I'm not good.

You cut them off from firing you, you go, I'm not into it. I'm not into it. Tell Terrence, I'm not good. It's a no-go, but hit me on the next one. So the next time they asked you to do something like that, you just tapped out. No, they knew all around. They were just going,

well, I need some pages or something. You do, you can't, okay. It's kind of like handing someone a crayon and saying, hey, can you paint the cysteine chapel? And you're like, no, I don't want to lay up a crayon. No, it's actually easier because they go, just paint something. Oh, here's a wave. At least you can like, no, I just want to have a cramp. No, it's actually easier because they go just paint something.

Well, here's a wave. At least you can make up something, but if it's just a random war, you're like, it might happen for the war. I'm a scary and war. Yeah, that matters. War to a huge world. No, it doesn't.

Yeah, to me. And when you see, oh yeah, go ahead. Get a good try. I just wonder where you, when you first wrote a film and and it was chopped up with Ben. I mean, get out of town. It's not where the applause button. Well, I mean, it was a long road, but it was, you know, Ben used to be in Ben became friends.

I was doing a play on Broadway with his then girlfriend and and we and I was a huge Ben Stiller show fan. Sure. Just like it was hilarious, Boba. So he came to the show and or opening night or it was kind of hanging around the theater a couple times. And I was sort of quoting his show back to him. And we ended up sort of becoming friends and found out that we had a very similar sense of humor.

And he would, and he was just sort of blowing up at the time doing, you know, with like something about Mary and, and, you know, as fuck, he's right in the pocket. Yeah, that was the moment that he was like, really exploding and people yelling at him on the street. But when he would come to do, to New York to do, like, you know, Letterman or Conan or whatever, he would do these like really elaborate like, you know, Letterman or Conan or whatever. He would do these like really elaborate bits, you know, you know, like he'd really work on these, you know, sort of, sort of, segments.

Talk show bits, yeah. Yeah. And so I would sort of like help, we just sort of sit around and come up with bits for him to do, you know, or he would say something like he would go on Letterman, I remember one he did where he said, yeah, I don't really want to talk about the movie I'm promoting. I just, you know, I had to take a break and I've been in France and I've been painting and Letterman's like, oh, he's painting. I was like, yeah, just a little sort of ramshack place in the South of France and I pay

this prostitute, I paint her and, you know, every night, blah, blah, and Letterman, oh, that's good. And then the reveal was that he would hold up these these these artwork that was just done in pasta with watercolors and like like a prostitute like made out of fusilli. So we'd work out stupid bits like that. So when you talk about doing TT. What's that? We need to just just under. Yeah. And we so then he he had the original sort of idea for it, which was it was was, let me talk about Thin Red Line, it was that period of time when it felt like everyone was going to

do a war movie, like, you know, like Oliver Stone was doing a war movie. And Stanley Cooper was doing it. It was so many Vietnam movies in a row. And the press at the time for them was very sort of serious, you know, and all the actors when they would get interviewed would be like, uh, sentence, like, you know, they said, you know, when we shot, you know, Oliver wanted us to be in war, you know, and let me take it with war, you know, we kind of, and we may not know. And so he had a, the original sort of joke, sort of if it was the one line pitch to me was,

let's do a movie about a bunch of actors that come back to LA after making a war move and they all have PTSD from the movie. So that was sort of the original idea. And then I said it was like, well, what if we just, and also Blair Witch was really popular at the time. I said, what if it's like that they go to do a war movie But then they get caught up in a real war and that was sort of that was the sort of the kernel

It's like both moment. Yeah, yeah That's great and then everything and then you get good people because But yeah, okay, so you get good people because Bet you know, he's doing well. It's a funny idea. Yeah, with a script, it took a long, it was years of writing that script because I was working at that point and doing, I think I was doing six feet under or something. He was obviously on Fuego. We would sort of pass the script back and forth.

We'd write like a funny scene that had no place to go. Like it was a funny, here's an idea that's funny. Like the first scene in the movie where he's, got his hands blown off and it's the guy going, like, come on, you can make it. He's like, do you feel my legs? And he's, stop it. So I wrote that scene and that just made us laugh.

And I don't know, we just sort of tossed it around. And then gradually a script started to formulate, take shape. It was Monipython S that first thing, because you have real violence, or you know, the two nights and you start cutting the arms off and legs off. But in terms of Ben playing that so serious. No, man, you know, that's, we have like a million- That's like a real inspired lines for that, you know, and the, the, the, the,

the joke in that scene is that he's this action star, obviously, and that he can't cry. And he's, he's working across from, you know, Lawrence, Olivia, essentially, and, and it frustrates the other, actually, like, can't even, can't even get the tears going. Like, the book's up with my man. You know, like, um,

and so that's a rubber down. It's a rubber down. Yeah. You know, so that's when we sort of pan out to reveal that this is the shooting of a movie, et cetera. Yeah. It's obviously, as you know, just such a huge comedy.

There's never been anything quite like it. I don't think I'd never seen a comedy like that. It's also like a huge, I mean, without any jokes, it was a huge movie, meaning just as far as like visual, I mean, a fact to shoot. Yeah, it was yet explosive. It was as big as any war movie.

You know, we, I mean, as far as the look, I mean, Ben's such, I mean, he's obviously, you know, does get the credit, you know, but he's often not credited enough, I think, with how great a director he is. He is like a real camera mover. Who knows how to... Where was it?

Oh yeah. Where is your shit? Hawaii. Oh, is that... Yeah, I'm wondering. No, we didn't do that. We didn't need the authentic back. Hawaii.

We needed to see a couple of trees. Rainforest. Rainforest. Cast happy. There's two. There's a thing about a movie in companies. Probably dramas too. It's just these. I have whatever you call them word packages that just are transcendent that are

funnier as time goes on. You know, and I think one of them that's less controversial would be the Tom Cruise Les Grossman. I want you to take one step back and literally fuck your face or your own face. Yeah. Which one was it? I'm not sure. But that's the, that's the kind of thing. And again, like money, Python, I don't know where that influence came from. But those type of lines, that nonsensical thing, I assume it wasn't a guy alone in a room, are you together at that point where you're kind of riffing what that character say? Our character came out of, you know, we wanted Tom to be in the movie very badly, and it was kind of,

he was like, well, I read the script and there's, he's like, there's no studio presence. Like, why don't we create like a studio character? You know, and I just had a really bad experience working for Harvey Weinstein. And so, I'm on a movie that I directed. And I thought, shocker. And so, I'm going to wrap that guy. That's not going to.

Go ahead. And I just wanted to like, I just wanted to, I wanted to somehow memorialize that bad experience. And so that's how I got that character, you know. Wow. And it's even funnier. It's even funnier. Just that like ray, I remember Joel Silver one time,

he came up to me and he goes, Hey, was that character based on me? And I go, no, he goes, damn it. Yeah. I wanted it to be based on, oh funny. Well, the Popeye forearms in the hands and the hammer. The Tom Cruise, which you know, everyone loved the new top gun. I mean, he gets shinier and brighter.

When I look back and I see him now, and I look at him in that movie, when he's doing the dance slap and they ask at the end, it's like, the guy is really funny. He's so funny. And he's so committed, you know, yeah. And I remember kind of, because he has some really hard charging lines in that movie. Yeah. You could say a control shit. You see that all, like, oh, getting in these lines, he's going to say, Tom Cruz is going to say this. Like, yeah, before, we'd seen him in any of the tests and the hair and makeup and stuff like that.

What was I saying the line, what were the ones that were the most scary or you really couldn't use? It was too far. No, you can't. You know, we had sort of like, Ben's a really smart director. We, you know, if we were to sort of pile the script up

in all the pages that were written, it would probably look like a phone book or a three phone book stacked on top of each other. Ben is really good at, we would always sort of shoot like sort of, you know, an A, B and C category of jokes within the scene and then alternate, it's alternate, it's alternate, we had sort of these alternate scripts that we would go, okay, now we're one where you say this. And so in the edit, you know, when we could, you know, when Ben was sort of testing alternate scripts that we would go, okay, now we're going to do one where you say this. And so in the edit, you know, when Ben was sort of testing the movie, he was able to see, you know, oh, this, this, you know, went a little too far. Let's dial it back.

And, you know, I think it'd be something simple, just like too many F-bombs in a row or something. Yeah. And so, you know, and so he could, but he could ride the edit, ride the cut of the movie, And so he could ride the edit, ride the cut of the movie to sort of find the sweet spot because we would have shot all different, very slight variations of every scene, you know? Yeah, and I think that, you know, obviously a lot of movies have a lot of people involved and it's nice to have one, you know, creative vision

with other people with almost exact same sensibilities. That's how a great movie has to get made, has to be just everyone's on the same page. creative vision with other people with almost exact same sensibilities. That's how a great movie has to get made, has to be just everyone's on the same page. Yeah, someone, me and Ben, I think we're the real guardians of that. I think we both, and by the time we shot that, we were both, we had been with it for so long that we intuitively knew

exactly what anything would want it to be if it had to change on the day. It was a real kind of like, you know, great collaboration. It was sort of a real sort of mini-Lendon McCartney thing that was happening on the making of that, you know. Well, the way everything got in. It's great. The way everything got in and there's no one blocking your shit. Like the studio, Downey, everyone saying, we're all in on this.

We're all going to do everything. I don't care if it's offensive. And it's so funny. And then even Tom Cruise took his credit finding a spot to be in, you know, not getting out of it saying, no, we'll find something and then doing it. And then I'm sure if you throw him lines, he laughs and just does another take and says, oh, yeah, that's funny. Let's try that and then when it all comes together and everyone's shocked to see him

Especially in a movie that's already good and was what he playing his assistant. What's what he in there? What's that? Was what you know my name McConaughey? No McConaughey. Yeah, yeah, yeah, heck Those two different people The same person, okay, it's unbelievable. Did you guys did crews break a lot when he said lines like go fuck your own face? He did. I mean, he's not breaking joy to himself. I, you know, I remember, and then I remember, you know, sorry, first then you give him these outrageous lines. And then Tom Cruise knows how to sell a fucking line. You know, I mean, that guy is super. Now, he's playing it like it's a straight-up drama.

I mean, he's not really winking or leaning in or doing anything. He's just playing it like as if he was in, you know, one of his other movies. When, whenever, Tropic Thunder comes up, you know, I get a lot of, you know, why you couldn't make that movie today. And I kind of, it bums me out, because I'm like, I think you can make that movie today. It wouldn't look exactly like that movie, but, you know, I remember kind of taking it hard when, when people, you know, as you would, when, when people are, you know, trying to boycott something that you think is, is actually on your side or on their side.

And I remember I lucked out a couple of years later after the fact having a drink with Mel Brooks and kind of moaning about it a little bit. And he just sort of stopped me and he just went, nope. You look, you have to just make sure that joke is aimed perfectly at the person who's the idiot. And that's your job is to obviously we're not trying to make jokes about anybody except for Hollywood actors in that movie, and Egos and studios and that kind of stuff. So the minute

you're sort of, he was basically, he gave me some comfort around, you know, because his movies are so brilliant and, you know, you could equally say, like, you can't make those movies say, but yes, you can, you know, you can make, you know, his jokes, it's weird. Everyone, I think, you see a metal Brooks movie, you don't think, oh, well, you know, that's really uncool that he would break that. You know what a horrible person he's batting for, you know what I mean. Yeah, right. You know, obviously you're talking about Blazing Saddles,

which, you know, Richard Pryor wrote a lot of it with him. And obviously all the racist people in the movie are idiots. And Cleve On Little is the smartest guy in town. And there's some very, very naughty words in that movie and crazy things are said in that movie. But, but, you know, again, I don't know. Well, we talked to Bill Burr about his standup because he'll, he'll write outside the line sometimes.

And he says for himself, intention matters. Like, what? Absolutely. Yeah. Are you going after a disenfranchised section of the population, or you satirizing more privileged people if you want, or wherever the target is? So I think, I'm still recovering that you got to hang out with Mel Brooks and talk to him for an hour. For a minute, I'm not, it's not like we have this alone going in the West village and we're lounging around smoking. I like that Steve Spielberg, Steve said he wishes he didn't take the guns out of ET. I just read that too.

Yeah. Yeah. I thought that was interesting that he would say that. Yeah. It's a weird thing. You know, like, you know, they people, it's just censorship is a weird thing. You know, like, and it and people are genuinely, you know, like, you know, they people, it's just censorship is a weird thing, you know, like, and it, and people are genuinely, I think, afraid to write things and perform things and do

things, you know, because no one wants to get their head chopped off, you know, sure. Sure. You don't want comedy to turn into the same five jokes that everyone's allowed to use. And then so when you go outside and try to break some ground, I guess there will be more pushback than normal, but as long as it doesn't ruin your life, but the intention again, you're trying to be funny, you're trying to be this and no one's out to get someone. Yeah, there's, in actually, I was watching this Oscar Levant play with Sean Hayes that I was watching the other day. Let us all the other day. He has some great lines, Oscar Levant has some great lines where he says, there's no such thing as a sincere joke.

You can't bring the house down with a wholesome gag. It's something has to be dangerous about it. And catch people off guard and the element of surprise and it's not what you think they're gonna say. And it just fun, I mean, we know, we're all in the same. But nature is not respectful, you know what I mean? Nor should it be, you know. What about the Zoolander?

You did Zoolander, you worked on that with Ben? I worked on two with Ben. Evil, evil, evil DJ. You and I, and I was the evil DJ. And both make up and have fun. Was that that's that look like fun. And that guy was break dancing that you had that's actually I was did you break. Yeah, I had the break dance fight with Owen Wilson and that with a little Hansel. That's the big act three fight scene between

me and Hansel. Oh, it's always great. Did you go and Woody? What he is in your new show? Did you go when he did it's our life? I did. I went there and saw that. So I did. That was fun. Yeah, it was. Well, it was a good thing. He, he's, he's a, him and Owen Wilson, the people, I met, there's such a cool kind of, I don't know,

Texas frequency to them. There's something about it. It's so funny. When you do, I would actually like to hear your take on this, Dana. There is a version where you can impersonate Woody Owen and McConaughey probably all at the same time. Yeah, there's something they should all hang out together. I think they do. Yeah, no, you

were fine. I don't care. She's not even mad at you. Then like, I mean, these were slipping them more of a stoner kind of like, that's what I don't like about. What do you think? I don't think the person is. What is like, he's so, he's so, he's really cute, you know, I was looking at him,

I was like, he still has those dimples and there's something just incredibly likable about him. I think you two are great in that. This is foils for each other. We're kind of like, you know, it's, you know, in life and in this show, you know, we're very much, it's a very sort of odd couple relationship, you know, you know, feel it's gonna ask or, you know, like,

and it's just he's, he is a very kind of, I mean, in the show he's more sort of uptight gruff, whatever. But yeah, set, you know, Howard Hunt, Howard Hunt from the CIA. Yeah, yeah. We just, we laughed a lot. He's a very fun guy to work with. He's, he's very sort of infectious, and he's very, very, very laid back in a way that I wish I could be, you know.

And so he's one of those guys that can jump to set like 12 minutes late and 15 minutes late, they're like, oh, hey, why is everyone, oh, okay. There's no judgment about it. He's like, oh, he's already here. Okay, cool. Yeah, he was like that even on SNL back in the 90s. There was almost like, what am I supposed to do? It's all kind of thrown away and then he just lands it perfectly.

And he's great. He doesn't have, I feel like he has no cortisol in his system whatsoever. I can't just, it's just great for him. He, we had a running gag when he hosted, when I was a cast member and I was just kidding with him

because I liked him immediately. And the running gag was, you could never be depressed what he the rest of your life because you know me, you actually know me. And so that became a ride. He sent me a frame photo with that phrase on it.

You know me. You know me. How could you ever be sad? Just think of it. Just all that guy that he's so great. So I know that Justin has a favor. We'll let you go in a second, Justin. You have a favor.

Do you love after hours? Staying even more after hours after hours? Oh, mm-hmm. It's a good thing, dude. Good for a good thing. Good for a good thing. Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Fyfer, am I crazy? No, not Jeff Goldblum, you know what I'm saying?

It's him, Catherine O'Hara. Oh God, it's such a great cast. It's, where says he's one sort of comedy, I guess. Or in a second. Who's Michelle Fyferin? What are you talking about? She was in Scarface. No, Scarface.

After hours. After hours. After hours, but I think I'm. I'm sorry. Michelle Fyferin was amazing. He was hanging up on me. I started knowing what it was, because I knew what's the one with Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Fiverr? Where they go all night, isn't it? What's the

one with Michelle? Do you know if I'm, is that even a movie? Are those people? Dangerous liaisons. No, that was John Malkovich. I'm just guessing. I wanted to know what's on Justin's favorite film list. You know, or, you know, I always hate that bet. You're favorite or films you revisit or films that stayed with you. Young Frankenstein, if we're talking about Mel Brooks is definitely a lot of kids. Yeah.

I stole a big bit from Young Frankenstein for a topic vendor, actually. I mean, that's still dead. Well, it was influenced. was, it was, it was influenced. The Beatles were influenced. Yeah, there's the scene where Jack Black gets tied to the room with the monster? He said, don't let me out. No matter what I say. So it's in the same universe that Joe.

And then of course he goes in there and he's immediately pleading. Like, what? It's all in Vaudeville. It's all in Vaudeville. At some points, everything has been down. Cape Fear. Yeah.

Cape Fear. So a recent cast, that was a movie. Sarah Sherman from SNL said she watches that all the time to cheer up The the second the second one I think was the second one she meant not the Mitch and one but that movie is so good It really is do you remember in a Ben Stiller show he did that He did that sort of fake I guess fake trailer where it's Eddie Monster and Cape Fear. Yes. Yeah, he is the Eddie Monster of all time.

That's why that show, because he had left SNL, he talked about it here and then he suddenly I was at that Emmy Awards and then he was so shocked that he won best show, but it was another show that stands the test of time. I know. He was a, he was a, he was a, he was a, he was a, he was a, he was like, group of writers, performers, Bob Odenkirk. I mean, Jesus, his man said, he did that Charles Manson, it's so hilarious. I don't know.

It's so funny. Come on. Like, I'm Bob Odenkirk. I'm Bob Odenkirk. I'm Bob Odenkirk. So good. Oh, you're so good. Uh, so as far as SNL, should we cover that for a second?

Yeah. I was texting with David. Yes, I would never be on SNL. So I don't know what to, uh, you know, you want to see podcasts, but I, you know, massive, massive, you know, I haven't said it at the top day. And David already knows I'm a huge fan of him, but also likewise, you know, well, that was, we heard that you liked our podcast. At least I threw David or something like week three. So I immediately, yeah, you were really, really happy as being a super fan of yours. And then like, he likes our podcast. I mean, it is, like, SNL, I mean, it must be a curse to be an SNL cast member because

I'm sure you get you know Bumbarded with questions you know about every aspect of it. What's it like working live? What's the most scary thing? And then of course probably the worst thing, which is like you know You should do knew it and make a great SNL bit. You know it'd be great on SNL You know Dana. I have one funny sketch idea and I want to go host and just do one sketch and leave. I could handle that. Host will just do a guest spot. Just do a guest spot. I knew it wouldn't make any sense because it's not too long.

No, I said just do a guest spot. I don't want to. Just do a walk on it. So there's a lot of those walk-ons now where it's like, oh, look, there's Fred Armason, he's not a member of the cast, he's not hosting. He's just walking around. I'm a demon here.

He's playing this character over here. I'll be Christopher walk on. You know, I saw a great walk in sketch where he's watering plants. He's a guard in talking to the plants. I might be lying again. Yeah, and he goes, they're cactuses and he goes, cactuses are intimidating.

So I put googly eyes on him. He's going to skin each egg. If it's googly eyes on him, then he keeps saying googly eyes. And it's hysterical. Perfect. Googley eyes. Perfect for for walking. You were on SNL with Kyle Mooney. He was doing some stuff.

It just called me up, but it said, Hey, can you just do it? It was a walk. It was technically a walk on it was nothing, meaning cool. But this is the only thing we're going to air of the whole podcast. So that's it. Hi, Dana. What's your mind? I think Justin Thrill really wants to host a show. That'd be terrific. I'll reach out to people. That's the last time.

I definitely don't want to host a show. That to be is absolutely scary. Really? I get so scared by that. I mean, I'm going to be more. And then I even like when I, you know, Amy Poler used to always be like, come to, you know, UCB, you know, when she was doing it here in New York. And it would make me anxious.

I loved it, but it felt like watching Trapi's work with NoNet, and it just made me so anxious. I much prefer kind of being able to go away, learn lines, really rehearse, and then just come out like that. It's so seeded your pants. The idea to like, on a Monday, you're kind of like, hey, what's the idea? And then by Tuesday, you're kind of flushing it out Wednesday.

Like, let's read it. And then by Saturday. No, it's crazy. It shouldn't exist in some ways. Do you ask Woody? Did he need any help with writing and he punch ups on monologue or anything? No, I saw him on Wednesday and he's like,

I'm just going to go well. But he was like out partying. He's like, it's going to be good. No, I saw him on Wednesday and he's like, I'm gonna go well, but he was like out partying. He's like, he's gonna be good, right? No, he's gonna be good. No, no, I guess I did a little punch up when he went on, sort of did a walk on a zoo and her, but yeah, I don't know, to me it's like, but then when you see people who are genuinely relaxed

doing it, because you can kind of tell people who are Unrela- not relaxed doing it, you know, not that their hands are shaking or anything like that, but it's normal But like it feels hard when you see him you go He had this kind of um, you know plant your leg say the line beautifully confidence that was so just like Nice to like great to watch and then obviously you guys you know like you're delivering on you know probably with minutes and you know there was just a kind of like when you can tell people are a having fun and be at least a peer like they're not nervous. Phil was like he was like we hear Dan Acroid was like he almost was it, he was like, we hear Dan Acroid was.

Like he almost was, well, he obviously was a pro and he was in so many things. He had this binder and he was, he could memorize, he could read the cards really well. But then in between scenes, he'd be reading a book about Evan Roode, outboard motor, schematics. So, how's that? How can you, I don't know, I would just be in such a state of distress, I think that, I don't know. You don't have to do it. I totally get you.

I mean, it's hard to host it. If I host it, and there's a sketch somewhere you could do it, Irish guy or British guy, I'll try to bring you in. Just for one thing. Just for one thing. Yeah. If we need a guy to lay on the floor and act like he's in the army. Yeah, exactly. We're gonna do a whole sketch about that. one thing. If we need a guy to lay on the floor and act like he's in the army. Yeah.

Exactly. We're going to do all the sketch about that. I'm not playing worse nightmare. It's improvised. We go, we don't we're not going to tell you what the sketches. Not going to tell you what the sketches just give me a beach ball of pool noodle and just send me out there. Yeah. Well, aside from his new show, he also owns Ray's bar and I want to thank you for coming down today and talking to us Justin. Thank you for having. And I will see you on my next trip. When are you coming to New York, David? It's all a pretty top secret, but you know, I'll call you in some other channels. Send me the file. There's only one other thing. Besides leftovers, which I think is a brilliant show, mosquito

coast, all the stuff you've done. You have such a cool career. And then you did this thing with Norman Lear, where you did those live. It was all in the family and stuff. That I thought was going to be a train wreck, but it really landed beautifully. Yeah, it was great. And it actually, you know, it's become sort of an annual thing. I mean, talk about, I mean, I really can't take credit

for that show. That was an idea that I had where, that I imparted to Kimmel, who then turned it into this sort of, you know, Super Bowl winning football team of talent, you know. You got a lot to pick from if you keep doing, you can keep doing partridge family, happy days, whatever you want.

Well, I mean, we can, yeah, you can go, we can keep going. But I mean, I play Fonzie. Everyone's like, everyone every day is like, why aren't you playing Fonzie? It's a Chachi. Chachi. My mind is already down as Chachi.

That was good. Chachi was cool. Chachi loves Joni or what was that show? It's great. What about Ralph Mouth? Just calm. Ralph Mouth, then do you remember the beginning of Happy Days, and then I'll let you go? Uh huh.

He takes the salt off. No, he has the salt, they put the salt shake your top back on, but they put it really loose, and he pours it on his fries, and it all goes over it, and he just looks back to camera keeps chewing his gum. I'm like, he didn't even give a reaction. I thought it was genius. He didn't even go, whoa.

I love that that's like your brand out. Like, and it's like, and that's what I'm trying to do. I can do that. I poured out of it. He's my guy. Yeah, that's my Uda Hagen. That was your moment that you would have liked. Like, I can do this.

Yeah, I go, oh, dude, nothing, I can do that. What was your early comedy, not to prolong this, but I'm, since we were, I'm gonna have a great time. Was I on a weird early, just to break that down from the back? You're early in slowest besides me. Like, I have a thing.

My earliest comedy memories are, Mel Brooks, but also my dad making me, to stay up to watch SNL with him, you know, Baluciac, right? Yeah, yeah, Gilla Red. 100% same thing, life of Brian early on animal house. Holy grail. Holy grail, all those are unreal. And then getting an Eddie Murphy trading places

and those kind of things. All those old movies, they were just funny catty shack, all Bill Murray, and then I end of Ghostbusters. All the things, just all my guys I liked I'd fall into whatever movie they were in Cracked me up made me laugh Steve Martin albums He usually takes a song Second Steve Martin takes is I've never I've met him once but not in any meaningful way

But takes his comedy very like he's a master of, or he's sort of a student of the science of the comedy and the bit, like which I admire, because he has a laugh. There's something, I mean, the jerk, obviously. When he came out and deconstructed the idea of a comedian with his guy in the white suit, I'm a wild and crazy guy,

I'm sure some out influenced me humbly saying that because he didn't really have jokes He did two minutes on just his character asking for a blue spot Yeah, I get a blue spot and the commitment of it, you know That was sort of this brilliant new move and then there were all mums was around Richard prior was around Obviously George Carlin. Yeah, and it kept going to canison and on and on but I Love comedians. I mean, Dave, you're not so, I always, when I've ever seen you perform live or on Teleon Netflix

or whatever, it's like you have that ease that's just so, I guess dry, but it's also so fucking funny. The way it's this, there's a musicality to it, like where you sort of drop in these little, and then, you know, that you sort of like go to sort of, and I don't know how you do it. It's a magic trick to me, so I don't really want to know how you do it, but very much.

I appreciate it. We just found a little extra time. What's that? We just found a little extra time to talk to you. Now we have no. No, David does have an incredible, like, throw away, casual thing and little phrases. And there's, I see Neelan in him and Dennis Miller and Ed Buddy's his own man, but.

They were really, they were so, pretty special. Yeah, I have to go out there and scream and dance around. They do voices. Yeah. And David's so low-fi and it's very cool. I admire that too, because I just like, Richard Pryor says, and David's so low-fi and it's very cool. I admire that too, because I just like, Richard Pryor says, if your bomb

and just start pushing energy, I was doing it last night. He is throwing out there. I was having a slow patch, so I started talking a lot louder and moving a lot more. I go, total John Bane. You're slowing down. There's not even any jokes in there. It's just all energy.

No, it's always. What's up, I'm people that come on. You know, whatever, just energy because so if their energy is going down and you reflect it, then the souffle just collapses. But you just push that. Well, they used to say, Jadana Don Rickles, he used to go, look at Ed over there. He's like, I want a cookie and you go, these aren't really jokes. But if they're set in the form of a delivery and, oh, no, Rickles was the greatest because he just sounds like a joke. Ed does another show star.

Put him in the corner and get him a cookie. Yeah, I took him on the show. Yeah, see you know what he's happy. And just all rhythm and you go, I think that was a joke. And Dennis Miller used to, one time he said, I sometimes will throw in a word even, I don't know what it means. I just make it up. And just because it sounds like with the rhythm, that's the funny part.

And then when laughs, then they go, I didn't even get that one. I don't even, but it just, you know, it sounds funny. All right, Justin, I's the funny part. And everyone laughs and then they go, I didn't even get that one, I don't even, but it just, you know, it sounds funny. All right, Justin, I'm gonna go, so you guys stay on for another 10 minutes while I dry long. We're gonna talk about you, David. On your day of the year.

Thank you, Justin, you're a good dude. Justin is so great to meet you and I'd love to see you in New York. David and I will come out together. Please come when the, when the, when the, the club comes in. So the White House plumbers. It's on White House plumbers.

They made Monday, May 1st, HBO, or on Max or whatever. Or HBO Max Woody Harrelson has Howard Hunt. And of course, Justin Thoreau is lean ahead of him. Litty, a very gentle, kind of boring character. I mean, that was the bit. He lit himself on fire. He ate a rat. I mean, that must have been his, he lit himself on fire, he ate a rat. I mean, this guy is something,

so that's gonna be awesome for you. So anyway, anybody got anything else? Something else, I'm already. Greg and Nat, Heather S. Don't read who else is on the set of other ass deals. The producers that are on this do. This has been a podcast presentation of Kaden's 13. Don't read who else is on the side of the screen. Other asses. This has been a podcast presentation of Cadence 13. Please listen, then rate, review, and follow all episodes.

Available now for free wherever you get your podcast. No joke, folks. Flying the Wall has been a presentation of Cadence 13, executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Chris Corqurin of Cadence XIII and Charlie Feinen of Brillstein Entertainment. The show's lead producers Greg Holtman with production and engineering sport from Serena Regan and Chris Bezel of Cadence XIII.