Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade - The Phil Hartman Tribute Episode (Part 2)

Episode Date: September 27, 2023

The great Phil Hartman would have just turned 75. Join Dana and David, along with several special guests as we celebrate the comedy, life, and legacy of Phil Hartman. Guests include Will Ferrell, Mike Myers, Bill Hader, Conan O'Brien, Cheri Oteri, Alec Baldwin, Robert Smigel, and Jon Lovitz. 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

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It's amazing what real food can do. Get 50% off your first order at the farmersdog.com slash no magic 50. Okay. We're part two because we just heard part one of Phil Harman. And we had the part two coming up. This is a continuation with even more special guests. And we had a lot of people who wanted to talk to Phil that either couldn't get to the groundlings or we couldn't fit that many people on the stage.

So there's some great SNL cast members and people associated with SNL. They talk about Phil Hartman's brilliant. Let's talk about Phil. We're gonna meander around and just crack each other up. So overall, it's just a lot of fun. Yeah, we let it go off on a lot of different tangents. There's some interesting stuff around a one particular show called The Simpsons.

Maybe you've heard of that. David, talk about that a lot also. Okay, guys, here you go. William Farrell is our guest today. Yeah. Or should it be be Willie Willie Farrell as Lauren Michaels would call him. Willie Farrell is always good. Will anything this week? Didn't he say you were in the top two recently? He's in the top two. Did I say what did he say top three? He told me he told me all the time.

I have to put you in the top three, at which order I don't know. That's good, though. That's still pretty good. He goes, you're in the top, he told me, goes, you're in the top three chunks of 30. Yeah, you're in the lower 30% quadrant. 30 30% quad. Let's, you know, there's Danny, there's Eddie, there's, there's the usual suspects of Mike, you know, maybe you would did John died and that sort of pushed him toward the top. Hey, talk about Will being in the top three. Sorry, Phil. Phil Hartman is our focus of this episode. And he, what was his latest

ranking, but it was definitely might have been top five. I don't know. He's up there for sure. Yes. You know, I, you guys are so, it's so cool that you're doing this only because my wife and I recently, and I think it was, I think it was with our kids and a couple of their buddies were referencing Phil Hartman. And they had no idea who it was. And we were like, wait, wait, you guys don't know Phil Hartman. And so anyway, it just, it just dawned on me that he's, he's one of the greatest ever to the show that because of the circumstances of what happened to him, I don't know if the comedy world still knows, you know, how impactful he was.

And just what a legacy has, but he's still kind of unknown. That's why we did this. And it's because of you and Bill Hader, or Sheri Oteri, a lot of people just mentioned their admiration for Phil as one of the best sketch players in the history of Saturday Night Live. Well, it's right because the insanity of what happened and how crazy and out of the blue was overshadowed

a little bit, and then it was sort of hard to talk about. And then he was just hard to talk about. So sort of all, it was a tough situation, but I think time has gone by where it comes up so much now that it's time to give him some props and just remind everyone. Yeah, and we did, because I lived around the corner,

we were friends with Bren and Phil and their kids and we reached out to his daughter, Bergen. And she gave her a blessing. She went to the live show of people who have listened to that episode. At the groundlings, which by the way, I'd never been on that stage, but I'd been at a show or two.

What an incredible room to do, it's comedy. But she was there. Yeah, so it's that place is pretty pretty special place and Just did I mean so many great memories even just doing because you do a lot of your the class work up on that stage too And it's just you know what it's 99 seats and it's just audiences right there and, yeah, so many great relationships were made, you know, at that school for me.

And you'd look up on the wall and you'd see the photos of Lovitz and Hartman and Lorraine Newman. Hello. We're here and all these people. But it's what I was trying to think of the chronology of like my exposure to Phil, but I remember I remember kind of taking a break from even watching SNL and it wasn't until college when my roommate at the time was like you've got to watch he had done a Wayne's World sketch for his Communications class and I was like What is this What are you doing is like oh you don't know Wayne's world? I'm like no I haven't watched a show and a walk and so I

Started watching and it was it was really two things that brought me back To watching the show. It was you and Mike Dana doing Wayne's world that was like, you know, in epiphany in terms of, oh my god, the show's back. Who are these guys and these characters? And then the second thing that brought me back, obviously, it was a very strong cast, but then this guy Phil Hartman and I just I just was like, God, this guy is like so solid and everything. He's he's really funny. But then he'll

do something like the anal retentive chef, which is so precise and is like, I mean, if you read that on paper, I don't know, maybe that got laughs in the room, but it's like, it's so technically done, but the fact that he is clung in the pocket with this really quiet premise and the audience just, he just brings them along in such a way. And the other thing I remember watching was, was Bill Clinton at the McDonald's. Yeah. Don't worry how hard that is with props and going from, I think he uses like every part of the set and he is having to take a bite.

Take a bite and you use it as an analogy that he's a warlord and a to Mogadishu and this guy. At one point starts choking. I think Schneider hands him like his coat and the help him. And but I was like, God, that he was just so funny, but also so technically gifted. But and I just remember thinking, oh, that's, you know, if I ever could be on a show like that, I'd love to be that guy. You did very, very well. No, wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa.

No, Phil, Phil or you are people like you with that kind of range. It's like, what couldn't Phil do? I mean, he could throw anything out of it. Yeah. Well, for you guys, so when he was, was he, was he like a, was he like a quarterback of the show and like a raw, raw way? Or was he, did he just kind of keep to himself? And he was just so good that the, the writers just knew they could always go to him for every type of sketch. He, he was friendly and accessible, but he also was kind of private and he had a lot of hobbies that were more important to the sketch comedy.

I'd never seen it like that. He was very organized about his bits and he could, you know, talk to you like about Evan Root motorboats for half hour and then say rehearsal, go up, do some accent, some character, some physical piece of comedy, played super broad or very realistic film feature film type acting. So I, he was interesting that way, had no apparent ego about it. He just was great at it. But he'd rather be flying his plane or on a boat. I mean, he just was really.

Will is like that. I think I don't know. Will, I do think that you're, because a lot of your characters a really it was like that. I think I don't know will I do think that you're because a lot of your characters a little out there and crazy. Are you are you asking about my antique coin collection? Um no do you actually have one or is that because my brother did I have three older brothers and then my brother Scott and I went in there one time and ravaged his coin collection. And bought some job breakers at the Shmell. I fucking killed it.

And it made the local paper. It was some dimes, FDR dimes that were rare. We were, I was nine. I apologize now to Brad. That's the guy who Garth is based on. Beautiful. If you killed to take a run of my 1916D Mercury dime and beautifully

uncirculated condition, I'd fucking knock you out. That was worth 125 when I was in eighth grade folks. So what was interesting is you and Bill Hader, the co-compensate of SNL 2, extremely amazingly different cool cats on SNL, both referenced Phil Hartman as being like, extremely amazingly different, cool cats on SNL. Both referenced Phil Hartman as being like, oh, Phil, you know, it fills the man. And so that's also another reason we did the show.

We thought, you know, he's spanning generations. I think my reverence for him affected me. I think I think I told this story when we did the show at Largo, but I'll tell you again, when he came to host, we're all there on Tuesday night, and he's going in from office to office, and listening to all the pitches. I think it was in the office with a couple other writers. And they were kind of, you know, doing all the talking. And I was a part of their pitch, but I didn't really have anything to add. They already, they pretty much said what the idea was, in addition to being incredibly intimidated by being in the room with Phil Hartman, that he

then just called it out. And he's like, what's up with a feral kid? I've got you, and it's Phil Hartman doing a impression of Phil Hartman. Yeah, of course, that didn't... I just went, yeah, well, you know, what they said. And I was just like, God, he just must think I'm an idiot. But he's he did student. You know, he's such a nice guy. Yeah, he had that voice or that persona he would he would put on sometimes to when he

wanted to lighten up the room. Hey, fellas, make sure you're right. It's funny. It was a little little 40s like him and love it. Had that connection. Could we play something right now? Let's play that Greg. This sketch, we're going to play you.

We're going to surprise our guests. You were in and I never saw it until we could go and I fucking cracked up and put up the volume, please. This is just a piece of it's just a piece. Last week you were told to set it side at least five hours a day observing human behavior. If you didn't do it at your loss. If you did congratulations try to talk to me. Yes Bobby I spent five and a half hours watching a homeless lady. Shut up, get up. What are you working on? I'm working on my weakness which you said last week was voice addiction

So I thought I could sing a whole new world from Disney's Aladdin good Alan Mankin good friend of mine. You got music? No good go I can open your eyes Take you wonder by wonder Stop! Who are you? I'm Aladdin. I don't know. Are you? I am.

No, you're not. You're Troy. I'm Troy. Look at this. Look at this. This is something. This is something. This is something. Kelly, something. This is something.

Kelly, who is he? Aladdin. Troy. Aladdin. Shut up, you're not listening. Brian, who is he? Sorry. Good. Aladdin.

No, Troy. Good. Oh, my God. So there you go. That's, he was, that's fill in the pocket and playing it almost like he's in a movie. He's so committed and so real. What was he, the other interesting thing about Phil was, I don't think he came to comedy until a little late, because I think he had a whole career as like a graphic design artist

and everything like that. Between voiceovers and graphic design, he actually was one of the first groundlings that had a house, and he invited love us to his house. And he didn't really wanna get famous according to John, he was very conflicted about that. He liked his life, and it had to be kind of pulled along.

When I got there, Phil was just gonna be a writer. And John kept saying to Lauren and everybody, no, no, he's, because he was, he was a famous at the groundlands i mean after 11 years he was just dominant you know it's interesting how many came aboard after Lorraine Newman the first groundland yeah and then it was john levit's and then it was fill in 86 and then it's like so many people, you know, Sheryl Terrier, Chris Kitan, you, I don't know, it's just like Lorraine came the other night.

Yeah. She had the show. Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's great. She left early. I heard she left when I started to talk about. Yeah, exactly. She thought it was a tribute to David Spade. And when she found out it was Phil, she quietly went out of side door because of how much I was talking. She's like, what is this actually about? I was like, yeah, it's, uh, here we go.

Hey, there we go. Uh, well, let's let, well, let's let we'll go, but I just, we wanted to thank Will for coming on. I don't know if there's anything you want to add, but I had to show you that sketch. We fucking cracked up. We saw it the other day. This is something, and they had the rhythm away.

It goes right back. Is that, I don't want to, I don't want to, well, I don't want to, you know, to eat my own horn here. But I think Molly and Chris and I wrote that sketch. Whoa,

because oh yeah, he was a guest host. That was when he's hosting, right? Because it was based on different people acting teachers you met. Yeah. Everyone, exactly. So someone really did that. This is something.

This is nothing. This is something. I think that was all Katan. Yeah. Came up with this whole thing of just, it just gibberish, that of course an acting coach would throw at you. Right.

And all the ego stuff was so funny, get up, get up, get up. And also just everyone was his friend. And then there's the next little run on his friends all did B level guess parts on like Knight Rider, you know, he has their credits as if they're a really big deal. Yeah, I just remember any acting coach I ever had in a group setting could not help themselves from talking about their projects. A Pringles commercial was his show his range. And that's one time I one time it was some some class where one of the one of the

cute one of the students was like, could you please give us an excerpt from your one man show? I can't. I can't please. I was like, what are you doing? And then sure enough, this guy goes on for five minutes of like from his work man show. About you guys writing that, that makes sense because Phil is a great writer. He wrote Peewee's big adventure with, with, but he was in so many things. And when you write something, you're kind of the de facto producer of that sketch. He just didn't have the time because he was in like nine things. Because he's only one of his parents sailing after read through. But you guys must have been thrilled when he started

bursting that on the day. Well, it was just one of those things where it's like, oh, he's doing it exactly the way we pictured. He'd do it. Yeah. And he looks ridiculous. He looks ridiculous. It's got that little beer, but anyway.

Well, thanks. Thanks. One of the greats. Yeah. Hi, guys. Here's another All-Star cast member, and a good friend of mine, Mike Myers, who was very happy as a Canadian,

to come and talk about Phil Hartman. Here's Mike, a fellow Canadian. Oh, fuck. It's sort of a feeling in that building that you might get fired to just wash it, or, no matter how well it's going. I watch the show, I'm gonna get fired, that's what I feel like.

I feel like if life is a boss that I could get fired at any time. So, it's true. Or sort of nicked. But anyway, we're joined by Mike Myers. Hello. Hold for a pause. Yes. Who did a nice run?

Mike, how long was your run with Phil? Was it your whole time there? I was there for five of the seers that I was there. He left in my last year at Bullief. He was in So I Married an Axe Murder, which was fun, and just brilliant in it. And he did what Phil always did with anything, which is make it better than written.

Yes. He always brought stuff off the page and and he was also very If you were one of the more experienced Ivy League writers Or if you were a dumb kid from Toronto He sold your sketch, you know me and always made it better than written. Yeah, I never would never walk through no no He always tried to make something funny. He was always prepared. He's the most prepared performer I've ever met in my life Yeah, so I saw him

He had a binder with with color coding like how musicians have notes He would go a little bit of trotten hasten plus a little bit of this and you know Color-c. I caught him. Oh, it's great. I caught him. That's great. The other thing too, he had the best instrument of any comedic actor I've ever met.

His voice and his body was unbelievable. And Peter Sellers like in my opinion, and Alex Gennest like, and just one of those, I thought he was a very good writer and I thought he was one of the best interpreters of things written and that cool reader of my life. Yeah. So it's unnatural.

You know, to your point about Alec Guin, because we were talking about that the other day, little birdie told me, Phil had this move where he could make his eyes kind of go dead and he would go very, he did it in, so I married an ax murderer and the Alcatraz scene. And if anybody out there wants to see first-class film acting, comic acting, it's such a brilliant move. And Alec Guinness could make his eyes

go kind of dead. I don't even know, I don't know what that is, but when Phil used it, he could control. Yeah, complete control. Complete control. I think what you're talking about Dana before earlier, you're talking about how Farley was about explosion. And not having any limits on yourself. Phil was almost the in-verson opposite. He was all about control. And you know, they always talk about if great comedy acting is great dramatic acting. It's just 99.99% how it is in life with 0.001% commentary. That's how I just felt about Phil. Just the little like the dead eyes is an example of just a little bit of exaggeration. Yes. That's the the finer of the comedy acting, you know what I mean?

Is how small the exaggeration can be. It makes it so funny too, because if you're an absurd sketch like I was doing church chat with him I'm in the dress and everything he comes out of this is a Saddam Hussein and uh he's playing it like it's drama I mean it's there's no winking no naughty not it's just flat real and cut and intimidating and scary and so That just makes the whole sketch lifts up the sketch to have someone playMurderer, I didn't have a blow to his little speech of, you know, he scooped out his eyes and pissed in his ocular cavities.

And I didn't have a blow to it, you know what I mean? And then Phil, on camera, during the take goes, this way to the cafeteria. Right after that. Yeah, right after the move. Yeah, just after you. Hop-putting.

Yes. I think when you're a newer comic or a new comic actor, an easy way to do is go, you take the lines and you put a big spin on them, put a lot of English to make it funny, and quotes. And the more you are in it and you watch people, when they do the microscopically tiniest things, that's the most fun after a while to see. I think he was so perfect at that. Yeah. Yeah. Super, super small, super controlled, super faithful. And he was also super nice to me. I mean, that's the other thing too, you know. Yeah, because you came in, we, Phil and I came in and you were there, like maybe a season later or season and a half later. Right. And you were welcome in, in different

ways by different cast members, but Phil, I'm sure it was because you know, however, the new kids has a new kid in town, whatever that eagle song is. You were fantastic. You took me under your wing. You told me, you basically gave me the relative real estate of this where you want to be home based, this where you're about, you know what I mean? And Phil, the same. Phil was very generous. Conan was super generous. Yeah, it seemed absurd to me to be upset with the person who's getting their break. Like they didn't plan it. If you needed to want it to be upset, just talk to I didn't plan it. If you needed to want it to be upset, just talk to Lauren or something,

but you were just someone who crushed all the way through your early acting second city, and then Martin Short said, hey, there is this guy, and then you got on the show, and pretty quickly, by the end of the first season, you had a bunch of hits.

I mean, a bunch of big, big sketches. Well, thanks. And that was a bunch of hits. I mean, a bunch of big, big sketches. Well, thanks. And that was a lot of like the crew were very supportive and you were insanely supportive and Phil. And so, I got to know Phil. Also, too, he didn't, towards the end, when I was there, he didn't write so much. And I was always struggling for material.

I was like, I'm dry, I'm dry, I'm dry. And like I said, this a lot of times, but then I'd go into his room and he was doing a different hobby, you know? Right. So one was looking at yachts, you got a model or something. Yeah.

Yeah. And then it was diamonds. And he had like a jeweler's loop and he goes, the three C's or whatever it is, cut. Oh, fire. Yeah. And then the last diamonds and he had like a jeweler's loop and he goes the three C's or whatever it is cut. Oh, fire. And then the last time I saw him, he was putting a ship in a bottle. Oh, funny.

He said, just hold on, Mike. And it was the last thing of pulling the mast up. And he had these losses. And he's just saying, I'm going to go, how do you have such time? I'm sitting here. I'm pulling my hair out. I think I'm being fired. I've got no material.

And then at Rethru because he's such a great comedy actor, he had a stack of scenes that he was in. And I had the three that I had written, you know what I mean? Right. And people put him in 42 of the 44 sketches. Yes. So he's always got something to do. And I was like, I got all the time in the world.

Yeah, he was, I was he a hobbyist, scuba diving, sailboat, and there's just. Tropical islands, that was the other one. Mike, do you ever think about buying a tropical island? No, I can safely say I've ever think about buying a tropical island? I can safely say I've never thought about buying a tropical island. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone's sweating over there, over their yellow notepad riding on I walk by his. He's like, Spade, come in. Sit down. Yeah. Hey. And like everything's relaxed. I'm like, sorry, I'm freaking out. The show is in two days. I'm free. You know, one character he did. I think he did in his audition,

but he really like could look like John Wayne. He had just a kind of he had like he had a handsome man face and he could leverage it when he wanted to when he played. I don't know, Hanson Frons, he played a sad sack camera brilliantly, but when he wanted to be the handsome guy, he could really go for that. And his John Wayne was, he really looked like, he just looked like. It was Trout and Heston. Oh, it's Heston. Yeah, there's no one. He was Trout and Heston, you know?

Just the chin up and the wide mouth and kind of gapping for air. Oh, I can't do it, but it was so perfect. Yeah. I mean, him as Ed McMahon is a great memory to just just Minus German guy for the fake Sitzies are German, you know, the yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it How about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception?

Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip perception?? Yeah, but then he do John Wayne German, which is it how about Floek in my dip? That's two things that you can't just pull out your bag like that. I know. It's amazing how effortless it was for him or it seemed to be. But he was a hard worker too. I mean, he prepared.

He did. He did. He always came to be the first one of the re-through table. And he would make his little notes. And I had the joy of sitting next to him. And I had the option of moving closer to the host as I was there longer, but I stayed right next to Phil because I learned almost everything about cold reading and about preparing.

I never had nearly what he had to prepare, but he was so generous to me, and so it was all about the work for Phil, you know what I mean? And then when it wasn't about the work, he literally had no time for show business whatsoever. It was literally like lobbies and Mike, you be a bean on a cat and a ran. It was always like a dude. It's not a big mic. If you ever made a bean bag. Yes. I have a pair of sailed, Mike. I can't think. Have you ever made a bean bag? Yes. Have you ever ever made a bean bag? Have you ever ever made a bean bag?

Have you ever ever made a bean bag? Have you ever ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag?

Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag?

Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Have you ever made a bean bag? Do you know that one Dana that was the first season. Yeah, I was in it as Jimmy Stewart That was like Reagan being the bumbling daughter in sweet old man and then the guest leaves and then there's a switch and then he's this brilliant He's speaking foreign languages. It was yeah, it closed the door. He's the smartest guy for a fill that was her that was the first season I'm frozen caveman lawyer is as a prime example of like, you know, so his caveman makes no nods whatsoever to grunting and, you know, me like fire. Yeah, speaks perfectly. Articulate bourgeois. He's been a lawyer. Some of those lines are like, you know, I'm

a caveman. You know, he goes back to that. Then he goes, simple, simple, I was chipped out of the ice and he goes, but I do feel my clients deserve 20 million impunitive damages and also another five million for it. He goes right back into being a lawyer. Oh, playing is frightened me. These are brutal. Oh, that's right.

I said, I, Jack candy the writer. It was, yeah. Yeah. I said, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, and he played it obviously flat real. Again, played it dramatically actually. And also you've felt a lot of empathy for the character. The more people are around and think about that sketch, it's kind of become shinier and brighter. Yeah. It's been in quite like it. Well, and then there was a series of, course somebody has a can you hear the plane? Somebody next to me has a really cut. Oh, oh, a drop. Oh, a drop. Okay.

Can you hear it? You must be able to hear it. I don't you heard it. Yeah. Yeah, Kim Jong-un is his neighbor He has a lot of toys you must be lighting up his rockets. I pissed off the. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Kim Jong-un is his neighbor. He has a lot of toys. He must be. Lighting up his rockets. I pissed off the wrong man. Yeah.

The, uh, Phil's, the breadth of his work, the, the, the variety of things that he could do. Mm-hmm. Um, he was just, you know, it is damning him with fame praise and not correct to say he was a utility player. He was the most versatile comedy performer I've ever seen. And like I said, I put his versatility up there with Peter Sellers and God. Christopher guest you know, I mean You know, right. Yeah, the family of detailed Control restrained but sharp as attack performers Yeah, you could go up to him and before we through there. Can Can you do a Russian accent? He's like, what part of Russia?

Yes, exactly. I'm like, I didn't know there was more than that. What I'm doing is more roster of street. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's nice. Good Lord.

And he could be explosive too for, you know, somewhat reserved, you know, a scientist really off stage in many ways or just an explorer of life. But when he wanted to do a character that just went out, when he needed that gear, he could do that too. Which was a solid part. Well, I'm about taking over in the Sinatra group, how he just would take over. Exactly.

But it's either one day's Eggman, bless you. I think somebody's cutting grass out there. Oh, one day's Eggman cutting grass out there. One day's Eggman and the other day's explosive in the Sinatra group. He ran that whole sketch and immediately after the Sinatra group you're like, well, that's going to be one for the best of. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

And I felt that way about the McLaughlin group too, which is brilliant. Yeah. The first one. And then it accelerated with putting Frank Sinatra was in there was this inspired and then having Phil play Frank Sinatra and Jan Plane, Shanado Connor. Because we all know Shanado apology. I think that's one thing to, you know, I don't know, they were a bit of a duo in those first five years. Jan and Phil did a lot of things together because it was male, female stuff. It was restaurant dating. It was game show hosts for Phil or father.

So I'm just giving some sugar to the great Jan Hooks right now. Jan, what a home run hitter. She was another those two together. I'm just giving some sugar to the great Jan Hooks right now. Jan, what a home run hitter she was. Another those two together. So in my very first sketch in the cold opening, game show psychic, he fills a game show host and Jan was this kind of daughtering character midwestern person. So yeah, can you imagine like you're with those two pros

and you're very first sketch. So it was like, oh, this is really cooking. Everybody's on point, you know. And that's what I felt like for the first two years. I felt like I Randers and yeah, but truthfully told, which you made, you like the star, well, basketball or whatever, the star, you know, it's a little bit of a reversal and not yeah, or Canadian like you had you had that European influence and you had your stuff was really fresh. It really brought a whole new vibe to the show and it you've melded completely with all of us.

I thought, you know, a low-thrower of the Hill people, sprockets, I get low-thrower. Low-thrower, they're the people. I don't know. Middle-aged man. I think I may have mentioned low-thrower, I got nothing from anybody on the street

for low-thrower ever, except with people, nothing ever. Except Hill people. Except for the people that worked in Central Park. So really, we go for a walk on Sunday after the show on Saturday through Central Park and it'd be, oh my God, it's Lothalaw. And I thought I was so close. Yeah, I love Lothalaw. I was like, I might be in park right now.

What is that? Yeah, thank you. And for people who want to look it up, Lothar was a... And middle-earthian person. And with the character I would do when I played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid, and now my kid is thoroughly into Dungeons and Dragons. It does. He do Lothar as he plays it.

No, they don't do voices, which I was like, well, why? Why do Dungeons and Dragons if you're not going to have to act to do a character? Yeah. But Lothar was I was trying to understand modern psychology centuries ago. And he would do it in a rudimentary kind of language about men and women's relationships. Yes. I found it very funny. Thank you. I do not know what this woman

I always love like whenever I barbecue anything that is bones. I always go come let us talk of the hunch Yeah, that's right The double creature. Yeah. It's a They must have talked like that in 15th century wherever ultimately without contraction. I gave myself off for us very articulate. Oh boy. Well, you've given me so much. I don't know. I think you've we've covered love them and we love them. We miss them. We miss them. I saw them as a as a hero and a mentor and a very good friend and very he raised the bar for everybody when was possible.

And yeah, I would have loved to see what he would be working on now, you know. I sometimes think when live streaming came in, especially the amount of work he would have gotten if he wanted to take it because of his range, you could have put him in any of these shows. Plug and play. He could have worked non-stop. Yeah, non-stop if he chose to. He could be in the crown. Of course, you could too, if you wanted to.

But I feel that he could have also directed because he had such a... He's an artist. Yeah, he had such a, was an artist. I mean, a visual art. Yeah. Because he came from drawings, well, he thought in pictures, you know what I mean? Yeah.

Which is, you know, that's one of my favorite, you know, people always, you know, who was a big influence on me. And I always go, you know, Buster Keaton as much as Chaplin, as much as Peter Sellers, you know what I mean? Because I love picture comedy too, you know what I mean? And so did Phil.

And you can see it in Peeby's big adventure as well. Which Phil Ferdora. Yeah. It is always magical when you, especially when there was no sound with Buster Keaton, but when there is sound, but a scene chooses just to go to it, maybe some music or whatever, and then everything plays out non-verbaly.

It's never underestimate that as a cinematic tool. You know, yeah, I was a great quote that Lauren Michaels always had, which is you always want the movie to still work as a story and as a comedy, even if you didn't buy the headset on the plane. And you're looking over somebody's shoulder to what they're watching. And I mean, yeah, my phrase for it was funny with the sound off. Yeah, exactly. And I think Phil would have been a great director, you know, of comedy. Phil would have been a great director, you know, of comedy.

Oh yeah, I think. Well, just watching, you know, the whole family, one of the great things of having three kids under the age of 12 is I'm able to show them movies that my wife Kelly and I love. That's so much fun. You show the Breakfast Club, okay. We just saw breakfast club on Saturday. Molly Ringwald. Judd. Is that the maleo? Yeah. Anthony Michael home. Yeah. Yeah. And Ali Shidi. It's spectacular. It's so long. It's a framing. You know, she steals stuff.

And it's just how they had a locked-off frame and then she just had entered in the back and still something like just to know good framing, you know what I mean. But not know it then when you're watching and then now you look at it with different eyes and you go, you know, this was designed, this wasn't an idea. That was smart, yeah. This was somebody who knew that there was an extra laugh in there just in how it was shot And I think Phil had that kind of brain, you know me. Yeah, it's see it in Peewee's Big adventure, which is a masterpiece of Comedy staging, you know how When Peewee is the the guy in the you know Paul Rubens is the playing himself as a

Bellboy. Yes, the Beijing mr. Erman. Yes, a cowboy, and a virgin, a virgin, a virgin. Yes. Yes. And generally, kind of keeping it wider and moving masters and letting stuff happen in the frame. A lot of what they call, um, uh, Fred Astaire's, Fred Astaire's shot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Head to toe and just follow it. And let Fred dance, right? Yeah. Let it all happen in his rhythm. Yeah. And Kubrick did a lot of that with Peter Sellers, the supposedly Kubrick got a Frenipad, went to the base of the camera. And just lie on it and just kind of let Peter Sellers do his thing.

And all his job was to make sure that he had some kind of coverage. And Kubrick's smile on his face. Yeah. I watched, you know, sometimes at night, you go to sleep. So it's like, okay, YouTube can't comes up and it's the, the scene from Dr. Strange love. Yeah, Peter Sellers, almost better than Dr. Strange love. It is his vacuous, almost a feminine president.

Yeah, Merkett. Yeah. Paddham and then George C Scott, who apparently Kubrick gave him carpets. Okay, go way too big because he, you know, and then it ended up, you know, being, you know, just startlingly brilliant to watch that. And I think Phil, Phil could have done the president or that. Yeah, yeah, totally he could have played five parts and something Brilliant. Yeah. Yeah Good Lord Good Lord You know, well, did drawings Simon here. We are still loving him. So yeah, Simon likes drawings Phil could have done Simon He could have done church

but yeah, we were just so lucky to all find each other at that time in our lives and there was a lot of great chemistry and during those years with Phil as sort of, again, we're probably bringing this up a lot. Nick named the glue. They're not saying blue. They're saying glue. They're saying that's what the announcer says in the arena. Yeah. It's like who you get who you're going to call. Phil Harman, if you need that, that, that.

But he meshed beautifully with us in different ways, you and I and Kevin Neeland and Kevin is brilliant. So we had a lot of, we're all just a little bit different. Yeah. I always say that Kevin was the George Hassan of our cast. She didn't write that. She didn't write a ton of songs. When the songs he did do where, you know, here comes the son and

something, you know, me. Yeah. The sketch is he did right. We're just awesome. So I don't know. Well, the one that someone is gonna be on this show of honoring Phil Hartman and his brilliance, I mentioned Kevin Neelan's waiter without a pad

that I think went to dress. We'll talk about that. We'll talk about that. Yeah, waiter without a pad, but I don't know if it went to air, but it was one of those things. Oh, it did. Okay. Waited without a pad is a is a I use it in my life when I'm trying to explain Yeah, I'm still kept going on. Yeah, yeah guy, please come on

Yeah, I'm still kept going now. You know? Yeah. Guy, please, come on. He's like, okay, spaghetti for the lady, and cream dick and cheese, he's like, hey, fella, that's not even close to what we ordered. You could just maybe grab a pen, and he goes, no, no, no, I got it.

And he goes, it's a, and he goes, sss, sss, sss, sss, sss, Kevin's trying to guess what they're with us. It's so good. Yeah. Yeah. This next young man went to the same community college as I did, Bill Hader in Scottsdale.

And he was a big admirer of Phil, along with many others. And I don't think he ever got to meet Phil, but he had a lot to say about it. I have to apologize to Bill because Bill, when I saw you, you don't remember I saw you at this dinner the other night. Harold, I remember. at this dinner the other night. I heard him. You would never remember. I was at the dinner, I was sitting a couple of times with you.

But anyway, I had hurt my hand a couple days before, and so I went to shake hands, and I forgot. And so when I shook hands with people, I go like this. And it hurt every time. And Bill was really nice, because I think he could sense my weakness just for any air. So he didn't totally crunch me with his strong hand, because I felt so weird not shaking hands,

and I knew it was gonna hurt. So I'd go, hey, and then I go, there it is, because it's hard to give that lefty one. It looks a little weird. Lefty fist bump. I know, it turned into fist bump, but everyone gets a little jarred.

So, and then here comes Malaney, that motherfucker. He saw me weak, and he came came and he crunched all the bones as hard as he could, and he didn't know what he was doing, but of course, he gave me that kung fu grip, and then, and that's when I went to the doctor and the next day and I go, something's definitely wrong. And then he x-rated and he goes, yeah, you broke, you'd be able to have a broken bone.

That's what hurts so much. Oh, you broke a bone? You broke a bone? I don't know if it's from Bill Bove and Malaney. have a broken bone. That's what hurts so much. Oh, you broke a bone? You broke a bone? I don't know. From Bill, but in Malaney, or a broken hand? That's the clickbait story. But I think it was broken when I got there.

Well, I remember that Bill used to call him baby Hercules as like a little side reference, you know. And so I guess he has superhuman grip strength. He doesn't know that John. Yeah. Really strong. comes off like a square ball I remember about that dinner was Shining up and it was a birthday dinner that John was having and we mean David Lifted each other and we both were like oh, we saw there's like

20 people there and we both had the same thought which is like Are we paying for this like there and we both had the same thought which is like, are we paying for this? Like, because John will birthday for himself. And you're like, of course, you're paying for your own dinner. Like, I don't, we can't let him pay for his own dinner. But yeah, there's a lot of people here. Like, are we all pitching in and then, and then of course Nick Croll was one was like, I'll ask him, John, we're not paying for this, right? John's like, I'll pay for it, don't worry. Yeah, before he did that, I saw Sarah of Sourman scooping extra potatoes, like a relax over there until we figure this out.

Comedians, our starving artist, I surprised Lauren didn't pick it up. I know. Oh yeah, Lauren, Bill, and we'll get to this in a second. I thought the Lauren name tag was a joke. I thought it was like, oh, look, yeah, Lauren Bill and we'll get to this this like I thought the Lauren Name tag was a joke. I thought it was like oh look. It's Lauren. He's not here But we saw we save a place for him and then Lauren Michael shut up and we were all like I got it was like warm All right, it made straight nope Everyone got quiet for a little bit, right? I feel like they get quiet. And those, you know, what are we? Is there a part of us that is still trying

to impress Lauren? Are we still kind of on him? Sure. You were funnier than David. David was funnier than Marin. Yeah. And yeah, well, it was a thing where you go over and sit with them. And it is like I picked up the conglass conversation I had, you know, five years, you know, two years. Like I sit down. He's like, and Charlie Chaplin's house in Sweden is. I said, I don't think you're up day. It played, but it didn't land. It got air, but it didn't stick it. Is he's the best summer upper of that? Yeah, I got it.

Just gets it down to five or six words. Did he have anything postberry? You'll you'll go that Kubrick route. You go to the Kubrick. Now he never mentioned that. He's usually very sweet. He's like, how are your kids? That was that.

You got everything in the school. I saw him scribbling and it said, Pat Naswalt, two quips, and he circled him. And he said, I can nickroll his blanking and then it put, glad I didn't hire him. This dinner proved it. I made the right call.

Ishine question. This is his second audition and it's going just as well. Yeah. It's very sweet. Very quiet. I did. He was sitting next to Lauren and I just thought I'm turned to Lauren. He was trying to think of something to say. And he picked up his name tag and I heard him just say I believe we get to take these home

Who was that I get that? Damn man, he's very funny. He's a voice on a Bob's burger He's a piece of a Bob's burger. He's a piece of pickle. He's a pickle. I thought it would have been five people at Koi, five people at Koi. That's why I thought I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was great. Yeah. He has always fun and he brought his kid. And Eddie used the nicest guy in the world. Yeah. Really smart guy. I like Eddie. I was diametrically the first person from Lauren.

So there's really nothing I could do. Except, trudge down there. There's no chair next to him. So I got a lean over. Hey Lauren, didn't even do bits about the name tag. He goes, mm, one guy did. Yeah. Okay.

Well, then I'll go back. Yeah. It's like the table read. I was, I don't know where you guys said the table read, but where I was at the table read was where you were at. It's like you were right across. I'm in. Oh, when you were doing your sketch and it was dying, you could see him out of focus

beyond losing patients. Sad dad. Cooking sad or looking over his glasses like, you're fucking mind. Why? Why are you putting me through any bails on the exposition? Oh, yeah, that's a word. So I'm just saying to be a good, but it's in verb, she didn't get.

So, and this big, big, and a bit of tin burp, tin, tin. And he leaves the room with a tear in his eye. All right. On the box. And he's bumper. And he's like, you know, you're going to do the crispy damn tea. So I'm going to take this to the burger room. Well, that you'd walk still.

And you're like, well, shit, wait, where am I? I did. You think Mr. Pupi, Dan? What are you talking about? Funny little Pupi had just a little more. Funny little Pupi. Would have to say that, exquisite. He'd have to say funny little Pupi had literally 20 times. Funny little Pupi had chitched out.

Oh, funny little Pupi had just sad. Funny little Pupi had just sad. Funny little Pupi had, I had that catch phrase. I got the got the got the got the go. And Jan, the great Jan Hooks was Mrs. I had that catchphrase. I got to got to go and Jan, the great Jan Hooks was fun. Mrs. Funny little poopy head. And I'm going with him. And Lauren, I don't know if he ever know. Maybe he'll know now if he hears this. I'm trying to pull a fast one. I mean, did you ever do a gag one? Did you ever do one just for fun and re-through bill where you knew it was just to make it. No, I think it was always just fun when you would get,

you know, you would turn the page and it was just tons of dialogue. I would just start laughing because I could feel Lawrence and patients. He really plows ahead. He doesn't skip around. Especially if someone brought in a film piece that was a former writer, like Smigel or someone writing a thing, you know, and it would be like a big tape that was mostly like visual, you know, just hearing him do that. But me and Keenan Thompson used to do that. It was always lorne, like in a shower and he couldn't get out and the shower was filling up with water and he starts to drown. It's him and that voice being like, you know, starting the shower and

he's washing himself. And then like the water is bracing. And then one was him with a hang glider on a hang glider talking like that. But like that was our impression of Warren. It wasn't like him speaking where it is, his reed through voice, his reed through voice. And it was just gibberish, that's hysterical. Yeah, I thought it was a good function key,

did you all leave it? What key? I do like when he gets excited after a bomb, what you just did, where it's sketch bombs, and then it's a pause, and people are turning their pages, and he goes, uh, Hanukkah song.

And we call it an update desk. Got him sound with a guitar. Trying to get the energy back. Yeah, I guess if he goes, maybe this one will work. Yeah. Did you guys ever have a host? Say, what is this? I'm not into that.

I'm John. In the middle? In the middle. I'm John. And I don't, he he was like I'm doing this I can't do this I can't do this these people are friends you know The driver. 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, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no one of the people you probably looked at. You and also Will Farrell, specifically mentioned Phil in our various interviews. So that was kind of interesting.

That's why we decided to do this because Phil, you know, is just sort of, well, he was very low key individual, whatever, but his record on that show was so brilliant. And people like to talk about it. So. Yeah, I was, he was definitely, when I got the show, and you know, you you

look at, you know, you know, it is kind of like an eight team thing, and especially when I came in, we had a huge cast. And so it was kind of like where, you know, it's the eight team, like, what do we not have here? Do we not have like a dynamite person, you know, it's the A team like, what do we not have here? Do we not have like a dynamite person? You know, who can, you know, build a bridge? I don't know. It's like you needed like your own special. Yeah. You're shortstop, you're catcher.

Exactly. What are you going to play? What am I going to play? You're the dad? What are you? The game show host. And then, and then, yeah, and then you said, you look at so heart man, and I just thought, well, I could,

you know, I've always really had a, I was always just very much attracted to his kind of, that he could do it all, you know, that he really could do the game show host and he was so committed as the game show host. He wasn't trying, there was no, there was no winking or anything. It was all so committed. You know, and I was like, oh, the reason this other stuff is so funny is because he's

so committed to being straight. And that makes everybody funny, you know what I mean? So I always just appreciated that about him. And I was like, oh, I could, if I did that, then I'll maybe be that guy, just whatever you put me in, I'll just commit like that that we hard-mended. Yeah, even in motivational speaker, which is like the most bananas character,

he plays the dad and he reacts. He's the only one not laughing. He's the only one just staring straight ahead going, you know, we hired a motivational speaker. He's been he's the only one not laughing, he's the only one just staring straight ahead going, you know, we hired a motivational speaker, he's been down in the basement, he didn't coffee beans for the last three hours. Yeah, this is so strange. Yeah, we've always encouraged the right.

You know, it'll take for granted. Oh yeah, that would encourage him to write, you know? Like, doesn't notice the craziness around him. Yeah, it doesn't work if he's, you know, like doesn't notice the craziness around him. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't work if he's, you know, he's the base, you know. Yeah. He's like, but then when he was funny, then when you see something like, unprozen K-Man lawyer was the one that kind of blew my mind because I was, I mean, he really and truly just does not give a shit if anybody else finds it's funny. Yeah.

and truly just does not give a shit. Anybody else finds this funny. Yeah. That's all I felt as a kid, because it was so, and Jack Candy wrote that, right? Yeah, yeah. And it was like, this is so strange. I found it so insanely funny,

but as those my favorite kind of comedy were, it was like, this is just for us. I find this funny, if you're on board or you're not. And that he was so permitted to it. Yeah. So there was no like, you know, breaking or anything, you know, which I was, no, we, you know, guilty of,

but it was like, you was just so solid, you know. You know, Bill, to be on shows with, when I was new in Dane, it was Dane and Phil were closer, but Phil was so nice. And then if you're in a sketch with them or something, you wouldn't dare think about breaking in front of such a pro. You know what I mean?

You know that was looked down upon. You're like, don't you come in and fuck this sketch up. That's really the professionalism around there where we were like, that's why I know and wanted to break, as Lauren was against it. And then you knew the cast was like, no, we take this, we want these things to work as is. Yeah. Or not.

And like, unphrozen was, he had a lot of dialogue and shit, but I think he loved that so much. I like that it was one of those that was so weird and a jack handy and it sort of crossed over to the mainstream where they liked it too. Yeah, it really was. Was he always incredibly prepared? Yes. I'd be prepared for things. Because you, Dana, you two, you guys had a lot of heavy lifting.

I go, I would sit and watch the SNL. When I was there, we got the server, we could go back and watch old sketches. Oh, whoa. And we could watch old dress rehearsals and things like that. Wow. And so I was cool. It was cool. They can go through all that stuff and I would go,

I'd gain it. And no, Hartman had so much heavy lifting in those shelves. Man, especially the cold opens and everything. And I'm just like, what was the preparation like for that? Well, Phil was very meticulous. He had a beautiful binder. He would be in a lot of sketches because he was so versatile and great. And so, and he was always super prepared. And I think that a thing that's come up is that he was just a great actor. And he would play that baseline and play it so real, whether it's anger or whatever.

and he would play that baseline and play it so real, whether it's anger or whatever. I just wanna say one thing, personally about unfrozen caveman lawyer, when I was on the sound stage when that started, and I remember thinking to myself, this is so funny, I'm kinda numb. I can't laugh now, but I'll laugh later, because just the whole idea of it and Phil being so serious.

You know, some things are so funny. You just go, you go quiet. I can't. This is too fun. You're taking it all in. You're like, wow, what is this thing? Is this what I think it is? Are they really doing this?

Yeah. And your ways confuse me in front of you. Yeah. But a simple caveman. Yeah. The way that this caveman was using it, the caveman to curry favor from a dream that he was full of shit,

because I wanna jump out of my BMW and run out of wood, whatever. Like what is this? Oh yeah, I like her, goes or whatever. Yeah, sometimes at toward the end of the sketch, she goes, because again, I'm a caveman, the world, friends. He can feel the ice.

I'm just talking down to the jury. Yeah, God. And then they're masters in my house. No, no. What do you know? That one might last 20 million. Yeah. In punitive damages.

He knows those words. Did Bill was Jack Handy ever sending in sketches when you were there? No, but he was kind of a... Jack Handy was a legend obviously for deep thoughts and everything, but he was the guy that like when Downey or Al Franken or someone would come to the show, they would say, oh god, Jack Handy did this sketch. The one they always talked about was giant business man. We're Phil was a giant. Remember this. He's inside a house. He's inside a house, that's what Jack can't even catch. So he's in a little dollhouse, in an apartment, and people next door, or it's like a punk band

or something, they're playing, and he goes down the hallway. He's huge, and he knocks on the door with his finger, and he's like, excuse me, could you keep your noise down? And it's a punk guy who ever was, and it was like, no, and if you're your noise down? And it's, you know, punk guy whoever it was. And it was like, no, if you're not gonna door again, I'll kick your ass and chuck him. And then he goes back to his apartment. And he picks up a tiny telephone.

And he goes action program. And that was the sketch. That was it. So him being a giant and being a business man, had nothing to do with any. Yeah, that's downy. And yeah, that was just like, like, like, how Frank and I were like, oh my God, he would do these things that were just like, we never thought that you could do that, you know.

Oh, how about this? This guy, this writer, Matt Piedmont, just out of the blue, he's text me a straight. And he just says, uh, because he listened to the podcast and he goes hey have you done Jack Andy yet and I said no we're trying to find him in the woods or whatever and he goes do you remember Harvey Kitelle show when he did an insane idiot and his collection of descending sized deer heads. One of the greatest sketches ever deer head I think about one next one tomorrow. I really think so. I tell. I tell.

I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell.

I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell.

I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell. I tell's like, here's a deer I killed. And here's a small deer. There's another deer I killed. It's not as big as that deer. And then here's, and then I get the point where it's like, this is the hamster that cut its head off and I put antlers. It's the same.

Cut it off. And this is the toy deer that I just cut the head off. And then the ending is like a microscope. And of course, Downey's better on sketch was it goes, now can you get your camera in there? Can you bring the camera? See that little, it's like a petri dish. It's like you see a little dot over in the corner.

That's a deer. And I think with the right technology, I can cut its head off. LAUGHTER Well, I need to freshen up. And he goes over to the bar and then, yeah, big crumbly bin her letters and part of his voice. This has been an insane idiot. And is descending collection of beer. This has been a insane idiot.

I'm going to have to look at that after we finish this. That's a Harvey Payton episode is pretty amazing. It's like very funny. That's the Kevin Neillin is the bathroom attendant. Is that it? I think that. And then there's a one route. There's subway announcers and they're just like, pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in.

I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna live in.

I'm gonna live in like I'm gonna talk about just that professionalism and the ease and what she did, everything. You just seem so confident, you know, and so kind of. Yeah. It was okay to be, you know, those thinkless parts where you're the game show host, which I played a ton of those, where you're having to kind of you're facilitating everybody and your your rhythm is kind of driving the sketch. Like if you're slowing down, then everything's going to

start to slow down. So you have to kind of keep it at a certain pace and it's hard and you're facilitating everybody else that that can be fun, you know? And then you can actually make that funny by having the right attitude and still service it, you know what I mean? It just taught me, it was like, oh, that's how sketches supposed to work. Everybody can't be at a 10, you know? Everybody can't be insane, you know?

And then once, after, and then those things, like as people get to know you, then like I would have writers like John Malanian, Simon Rich, America Sawyer and these people start writing for me, the game show host, but he had like a weird personality, you know, but you couldn't do that out of the gate. I've, I mourn with Tomi that he's like, they got to get to know you first. And then know it's something different. Then you can start messing with the thing, but you gotta like come in in a way where they like you and they come to you and then you can start messing with it.

And I feel like Phil Hartman kind of did that. Cause to me, he was always, you know, the straight guy. And then so that's why when like, Umphrozen came in lawyer or Ani Lee retended chefs or, you know, or when he played peer graves, you know, and he goes, oh, right, you know, that stuff. Like, that was unbelievable. Played Andy Griffith, we found out yesterday. I forgot about Andy Griffith. Making that block. During his Rich Cracker phase or something?

That's what Smigel said. His Rich Cracker. Like, mm, you're on good. I don't know what I was going to do. I'm going to make it into a mat lock. Because that way he was like, yeah. Yeah, I don't know, did this squad about going? Yeah.

Yeah, I know. I was like to catch a catfish down it. I was like to get a package down there. Got the baby cream. Yeah. How? You got these? Yeah. Yeah.

And SNL, there were people last thought. The office was insane. Like Smigel's office, the amount of chaos. And then Phil's office was meticulous with different stations of fly-vacishing equipment, color-coding oil-painting. and then Phil's office was meticulous with different stations of Flyve's machine equipment color Cody oil painting and he liked everything Did all these albums polko and He he was a pilot he had boats he had he a scuba diving equipment. I mean he was He's a blues player, you know, he was an album fisherman.

So all that stuff like the comedy was just one aspect of it and was the... I remember Tom Hanks telling me that he remembered the film at Table Reads when like under the table would have like a fly fishing magazine. Yes. It's so easy for him. Looking down. So non-stressed about being in 80 sketches. Yeah, that's why. The calm me down, I mean, I would come out to 8H with nerves and when I saw Phil in his costume, you know, finally we're going for this, it would definitely be a calm me to effect.

Which was he, you never see him get nervous or was he always just cool as a cucumber? I never, never saw him. Never saw him about nervous. I was like you, which is very well, you know, but I was like, like, I was very nervous and you'd see those people. For me, it was always like Amy Poler or Fred, Pedal Armies and could literally be sitting around and a chat with somebody and then go,

oh, hold on. And then do kill on a sketch and go, right, then go, yes, anyway, whatever I was saying. I'm not going to do that. Losing my mind was so, was he ever, how was he, I don't know if you can use it in the show, but I'm just curious. How was he with a week host? Like a couple of hours. I'm bringing it was he.

What do you, what do you, what do you, wow, that's a good question. Do you know what I mean? Or what was, you know what I mean? You know, like I don't like names, but I remember you have a host and it's like not working. You, you can get frustrated and pull back or you can, all right, we got

a leg. Yeah, I don't think that was in Phil's. Phil was just an immensely likable person in generous. I don't think that we would have that gear. I think I would see him just wanting to give the host confidence during rehearsal. And that's great. And you know, the other person, don't worry if you drop a line. You know, I think that's the way I would see him

not getting frustrated because his interests were so vast. And he also was doing his star's hair night life. But he was a fisherman. I don't know, pilot. I mean, we would go to Van Aize Airport and put headphones on and just listen to the tower. Wow, really? Yeah, just listen to the traffic. Because I said, I'd look, I'm too, I can't go fly with

you in the single engine plane. He got it, but love it. We don't do, we don't do bits. Um, yeah, if you, in, in certain situations, yeah, he would, he would definitely get it, get, we once, I said this before but we were once a dinner You know, it's Kassar and I live weird things happen me and him with Neil Young and a few other people So I said let's make Neil Young. Let's make him laugh as a soft Let's go crazy and Phil was doing it was it was the early 90s or something and Phil's doing a

Japanese pilot and stuff like that was you know I just and we got we got Neil Young just helpless. So Phil would have that gear sometimes. I watched his audition to, I found his audition before I auditioned at the ground link, and it was awesome. I haven't seen that. His audition is pretty, he says,

I can do any accident, any accident at all. Just tell him, and I go, and I could, I can do any accent, any accent at all. Just tell him to go, and I could, or, I forget what it was, but he says I can do, uh, he does German. He goes like, for any accent, and then someone says, oh, French, and he goes, I don't do this thing. He didn't do that.

So. Well, he'd been at groundlings 11 years, and he had turned down the show and said, he didn't want to be famous, and he had a pretty good life as a visual artist and doing some voice over work. He owned a house, you know, we just found this out. He was like, did you feel like when you started a show and he came on, he was like, like an adult?

Yeah. I was like, oh shit, we have an adult on the car. Yeah, I came on with him and my very first sketch was with him and Jan Hooks. So it was a right away. Was it happy? No, it was, we were doing a game show psyche. It was a game show. And I was a psychic. So I would answer before he asked the question, you know, and Phil, oh, you know,

I'd say red balloon. Well, let me get asked the question, you know, and Phil, oh, you know, I'd say red balloon. Well, let me get to the question first. And then a red balloon would appear. And so that was I'd never done sketch comedy. So being with Phil and Jan, they just lifted me up because I was just crazy nervous. You know, but Phil never, Phil was just, I don't know, that's, he's unique in that way, his calmness. And then he could just score, play the elevator man, do whatever, yeah. Yeah.

No ego, no really overt ego or a competitiveness anywhere lurking in his nature. How is he when you guys showed up, like when the new day, like when you and Sandler and Barley and the guys were were coming, was it really? Yeah, it was friendly and supportive. It was more, Dana was like an older brother and Phil was like a dad.

Oh really? It was more fun, Phil, I gave him his room because he also wasn't in the writing room. Like mostly I would see the smuggles and conans and Greg Daniels, those guys around because everyone's writing all the time So there's drifting around Phil was like it was a job you go home Come back you didn't stay up and right was did you call if he did write like if he wrote mace or maybe he helped on

He did write sometimes and most of the time I didn't see him until you know readers than a He did write sometimes, and most of the time, I didn't see him until, you know, readers and rehearsal, but he couldn't have been friendly or he was very light, you know, and it was good to go to him because he wasn't so stressed about like we were also tight energy. And he was like, Hey, hey, fellas. He would do that. He put that person on sometimes for fun. I'm sure you'll come up with something terrific, fellas.

This is Phil Hopman saying good night, you know. Honestly. But he also did all his business when, you know, we first started making a little extra money. He had it in a briefcase and he was incorporated. He did all his taxes and stuff. It's all in here. You know, he could open it up.

Yes. And he was just extremely organized and hard working about, you know, memorizing things and knowing where he was going. So maybe that calmed him down a lot. I mean, he's probably the first guy I knew that had a house. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, Dan said that. It's so true. It's like, I knew guys that owned cars, but I didn't, don't think I, anyway, friend's own a house. Yeah. He was kind of my friend. He's seen? That's like a rich thing that I didn't have yet. No one had that. Yeah, yeah, that's funny hearing that he didn't.

He just must have been like the perfect guy to like all you guys, but it's just like, oh, like a bring him in there. Like when you're writing, it's like, oh, we just have this this guy who it will can do anything and be totally fine playing the, you know, the straight guy, the dad. He's walking by you by the piano in the writers room and read through day and he's breezing and you're like, Hey, fill your Russian mind. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, got that one. The meany was he was famous. He was a rock star. According to John Loveitz and I'm sure it's true at the groundlings. Yeah. Yeah. Just, just infamous, just as the guy, the go-to guy. But just a generous, nice person, you know, just a sweet, sweet person.

That's all I've heard from every time. He was like when I first got there that was, you know, he's just like, you just, you go into SNL and you see all you guys pictures up in the wall, up on 17. It's like everybody who's been on the show. And you're like, Jesus. It's like, that is weird. It's so terrifying.

You know, it's like, and I feel like it's so probably put on the wall as you walk to the table read and or you work to your offices. So it's fun. Just so you know. Constantly reminded. How's it going? This is on your, this is the lineage. You got to keep going. And I'm seeing you guys and still and you know, don't worry and job will lose you. Dan Acroid. Dan Acroid and Ryan Newman and Jim, Jim Curtin, all these feet and you know, don't worry. And John pollution. Dan Acroix. Dan Acroix and Warren Newman and Jim Curtin, all these p, you know, Jan Hooks and everybody. And you're just like, oh, yeah.

Well, like, how do you do this? And so I, yeah, man, I just think that's so cool that he was so chill. You know, I would try to, I would ask everybody, I was like, oh, that was like kind of the first, I'd talk to my mic shoemaker. I'd be like, oh, when did you start here? And when I do the math, I'm like,

oh, it was so hard to make, you know? Well, it's game and did it a bit on your show, Dana. And I was talking to him about it. And yeah, it was just for you. Yeah, we miss him and he's just a brilliant, brilliant guy. And it's fun to be around someone who just loves hobbies. His passion. It's very healthy. You're never bored if you have a hobby.

You know, and you'd go out to his boat. He had a sailboat and a Boston whaler motorboat. And you're just driving down there with him. And then once he got on his boat, he didn't really, you didn't really interact with him. He's just looking at the time not. No, I'm not. And I haven't said this, but it was just sort of a weird thing. We went on a sailboat. In first time, I'm on a sailboat.

So he's showing me how we're doing it. It's like, I don't know, maybe a 15 footer, it's just the two of us. And it was stunning, stunning day day in LA just crystal blue skies and we went around this buoy and the seals are there And it's it's like the great Gatsby or something and then we look and there's these plumes of smoke rising from LA What the hell is this so we come in, it was the Rodney King verdict. Oh, oh my God. So then we, it was just one of those strange things that we shared, you know, trying to get back to the valley, get home, you know, but I had no hobbies when he said he goes, so we got a week off coming up.

What are you going to be doing? I go grinding my teeth. I don't know. Freaking the fuck out. Oh, I'm coming back. Yeah, we crossing my fingers. I can make mouthpieces for you. I've got a little workshop in my garage.

Take care of TMG. I'm a simple sketch player. What are you, a medium? You meant bruh. I'm just balsa wood. I forgot. Mace. Mace was the bad man. Mace, right? Bad, bad, bad, bad. Bad, bad I forgot. Me, me, me was the bad man.

Mace, right? I'm a bad, bad, bad, bad man. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, Thank you like. Quote today at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust progressive. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, comparison rates not available in all states or situations, price is very based on how you buy. Next up is Shari O'Terry. It was also an all-star ground lane and she was excited to come on and talk about her admiration for the great Phil Hartman. Here she is.

I'm sure people have told you that you're the one you're of we've done like a hundred of them as far as a reaction. Yeah. That's called number one. No, no, no, I did not know that till Greg said to me You know you were in the top three. I'm just saying from my wife and other people when we bring up Oh, what was your and oh, sure, oh Terry. I mean, yeah, yeah, I would say number one I don't know so pressure on you today. It's a little you know, it's you don't have to do it But it's kind of nice to be number one. I mean, it's pretty. I mean, I'm blown away by that. I mean, I was so hesitant. I said not really for a while.

I was really hesitant and it ended up being so fun and so for us too. And I'm like, where we went with it. I would have never guessed in a million years. I was all you. It's just you put out all that fun energy. So it's just, it's makes it easy, you know. Wow. It really pays to be alone a lot. You remember David, David Spade? Look at his hair. It's perfect today. I know my face is still beat up. But the hair looks good.

The hair looks good. The hair never lets you down, you know. You know what, Dana, I was thinking, if you looked at, we're talking to Mike Myers, and if you looked at all our backdrops, you couldn't tell anyone has any money. Mike's playing, Mike's shitty, all white boring. I know. I got to screw scoos it up. We used to tease a guy in high school who had really young hair

I can't explain it but he had like 10-year-old boy hair So we did a song young hair get out of my head You you belong in a cradle bed. You better run here You're much too young hair. Sorry. I'm not a singer. Share you Yeah, yeah, it's like some classic. Yeah, girl. Get out of my mind. Yeah, that's it. I love for you. It's way up. I love for you.

But around girl. You're much too young, girl. You're much too young, girl. Oh, that's all your girlfriends, even. No, Sherry, a lot of those old songs were like, you're 16. You're kind of a little young for me. I'm a better fool. I'm a better violin, you're mine.

She's 17, and you know what I mean? What do you mean? Just 17, you know what I mean? You guys know in the song, I'm 17, you're like, I know what you're an adult singing it, we don't like it. No, he has original lyric was, she was just 17, a real beauty queen. And then Lenin was the one said, you know what I mean.

So that's how they work together. Just like Sherry worked together with all her bandmates. Sherry, Terry. Remember you did the cheerleaders with Wilton? Do you remember that? Sherry, you don't remember that. Do you remember that cheerleaders? Oh my gosh.

If I could tell you every time I was in the gynecologist's office and they said to me, I think to do a cheer. It was like, I'm gonna need my legs to hit the floor for this. And he goes, I'm gonna operate you like a puppet. Yeah. Disgusting. Disgusting, I don't know where this podcast is off the rails right now. We are so outside

the lanes, ladies and gentlemen. This is the F-95 live. We're going to try to get Sherry out of her shell today. Oh, Sherry O' Terry. Was that intentional? Whoever named you? Sherry O' Terry. No, you know it was always pronounced sherry oteri my i pronounce it sherry oteri i never say oteri oteri oh i've been saying oteri from everyone does too late sherry oteri yeah as soon as i move to l a you know people said oteri because why wouldn't it be pronounced that way if sherry is e r i

it's so busy yeah Yeah, is ERI. But I never said, oh, Terry, but then when I got SNL, and I remember I first, when I first got there, Don Parto walked down the hallway and I couldn't believe how tall he was. And he came up and I loved that he introduced himself with that voice. He said, you wouldn't know.

And he said, Sherry and I love that he introduced himself with that voice. I said, you wouldn't know. And he said, Jerry, I'm Don Pardo. And he goes, how would you like me to pronounce your name? I like the rhyme that rolls up the tone. And did he, did he do it? Did he say it? Yes. Yes. She wrote it by himself.

Jerry will tell you. Yeah. You know, my dad was a little disappointed, I think, you know, but, you know, it wasn't Yeah. Share real time. Share real time. Yeah. You know, my dad was a little disappointed, I think, you know, but, you know, it wasn't that much of a difference for me to correct anybody. I, you know what I mean? Yeah. But yeah, the rhyme was nice, but that didn't happen till I moved L.A.

I like it. Sherry, you were so wonderful on the show, but we were calling you again because Phil Hartman who I don't uh, we don't even think you knew well because it was a different time But you are someone I think was probably either influenced or oh my gosh He to me was like a dramatic did it come in. I'm on the top. I'm on the top. I'm on the top. Yeah.

A barker over there. I've got, but I remembered when I first walked into the groundlands ever in the early 90s, and everybody's headshots were on the wall, and the first two headshots I saw were Phil Hartman and Paul Rubens. Oh. And what's so funny is that we're doing this for Phil because I've been inundated on my Facebook of pictures of Paul and Phil because I'm going to

Paul's funeral on Sunday, but there's been so many photos of them when they first started the groundlings and there's a lot of them with Phil and Paul and I'm telling you, they're just so young and just looking at it, like they're all laying all over the floor and in someone's dingy apartment, like broke

but having the time of their lives, you know, and I just remember myself being in that position when you just went to people's houses, like, you know, studio apartments, and you're just fucking around and writing and being creative and the pictures of them being so young, where it just made my eyes tear up. It was just like, it was just beautiful. And those two were the first ones that I saw. And I just, it and I became friends with Paul

when we did Ellie McFeel together. And I just, you know, talked to him about Philbin, you know, Captain Carl. Captain Carl, I remember that. Yeah, and how it went from ground links to Pewdiepie's play help and then at that time, they were both, at the height of their success, I would say. But Phil knew our love for, I feel like he was born in the raw era.

You know, oh yeah. Him and John love it. It's the two of them. Yes. Yes. They could go. They could go 40s so, so easily, you know, I, yes. And he was just so solid in every way. I mean, it was, I think it was Jan Hope suit just said that he he was the blue to the to the cast at that time. Sure. Yeah. And Jan was the other glue. My God. Jan was another. Yeah. I mean, she's a song hero. I'm not gonna say unsung because

everyone knows. If you're Jan, it's unreal. It's just. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I would say Jan and Nora. I mean, they both had care. I mean, of course, the Swini sisters, swini sisters and it's a packed, you know, she had the talk show that cracked me up. Yeah. Um, but oh god, I got to meet Jen and that was really exciting. But um, and then I just was thinking about between all the voices he did on the Simpsons. You had news radio. You, I mean, and then what he did on SNL between like Frankenstein and like Ed McMahon and but the funniest thing that I love that he did was, oh, two thing was I love that he did was, oh, two things, was the caveman unprozen caveman lawyer. How you thought, how we thought I'm going to put a pair of lawyers within the Andertown

and it just, Jack Candy, Jack Candy. We haven't done this yet on our special show, but would you like to hear a clip from Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer? Yeah, let's hear it. Like 30 seconds. All right, Greg, cue that up and we'll, that'll be fun to hear. Sir, could you give me another drink? I'm sorry, sir, but the Chief Stewart says

you've already had enough. But you don't understand, I need this drink. I'm a caveman, and I'm frightened by your strange flying machine. So get me another do-it-some-water pranks. We got a lot of clips. But yeah, I had seen that one him playing the colloider wasted on an airplane. I mean, he was so like, what's the word? Um, he just was so like sarcastic and it just cracked me up with, and I loved his Ed McMahon.

Um, that stupid laugh that he did as Ed McMahon. He was so condescending as the caveman. It like a condescending caveman. Yeah. He was like, what in the world did we? Written perfectly and played perfectly. Written perfectly. And um, but my favorite was how we did Frank Sinatra as such a dick.

It made me laugh so hard. Like I wanted more sketches with him being psyched, Frank Sinatra. So when he hosted the show, as a no one I was on, I was so excited. And so I was a little shocked because I was pretty excited. And I just thought he was such a row. And so Molly and I were doing like up with Andy Miller and Debbie Reynolds. Yeah, yeah.

And it was like, oh my gosh, we got to do this with him as Frank Sinatra. It was so funny. He was just like that, like just a jade dick. Um, let's Frank. And um, it's talking down to you as Dames or something. Yeah, I'm broad as Dames or something. Yeah, I'm broad-damed and everything. But like, I mean, we held our own.

We held our own, but it was, you know, but it was just so funny. And I remember when we first wrote, like, a Lauren called me in his office and he goes, Sherry, what demographic are you going for? Because it was, for people don't know, it was two song and dance people, obviously famous, famous people from musicals in the 40s and 50s. And I truly didn't like, I've just started television. I'm not even thinking of a demographic.

What's my demo of this sketch? Yes, and I go when he said any series, any way for me to respond. I don't know. I didn't think about that. Yeah, well no one knows who in Miller and Debbie Reynolds is. who in Miller and Debbie Reynolds is. And then I go, and I said, well, maybe it, I think even if they don't know who they are, they still might think it's funny. And then he was just crying, he just said, hmm, and then we did it. And it was like, it was great. Oh, I think I even told you guys this before, but I think the second time we did it It was built coming on and I'm like, oh my god

We can have him do thanks in a truck and it was he was so awesome. I mean Just nice polite where'd you see him? So you had a pitch at to him is it is a tricky because you know you look up to to the guy and where did you meet him in that Monday meeting or where do you meet him? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, a lot of times I think I would, I was never great in the pitch meetings.

I would, I would never try to get a laugh in the pitch meeting. It was already. Oh, you save it? No, it was just too, too, too, too You know what I could say? What I was gonna do? And next, you know? I see. Yeah, I never tried to make it funny. I think I might have just said, we're thinking of doing a leg up with Phyllis Frank.

That's Frank's daughter. Okay. All right. Chris Parnell. Oh, right. Because Lauren goes around the room and he goes, that's it. Sherry, okay. Chris Parno, man. Oh. Right? Because Lauren goes around the room and he goes, that's it, Sherry, okay. Chris Parno, maybe a leg up. Holly, I guess you're in on leg up, anything else? Hmm.

Yeah, it was like, please, next. Next. Get off me, yeah. Get off me. Because the host is staring you, Lauren's staring you in every fucking person that remembers 30 people going, that's it. I didn't even care.

Truly, I didn't care. I just, I just wanted to be done with me. But, um, and then he did, what else did I love? And he did the anal retentive chef. Like, you know, I mean, I mean, in all the sensing characters, it's like I would have loved his career. You know, because there was so fun. There was so many things that he could do. And he was doing, you know, animated voiceovers. He had that amazing voice. Like Chris Parnell had that kind of voice that radio voice and then

you don't answer yeah and of course and then he goes to news radio yeah you know I mean what a varied of you know a career that he had he just there was anything that he could do and yet he was kind of like low key. Yeah, very low key. He was brilliant, but low key and then he would suddenly just date you'd see him on on eight age and I think he played Barbara Bush or something you'd see when it's ridiculous outfit, you know, and then he would just crush it and then kind of go back to his, you know, magazines about motorbots. So yeah, somebody said to me, it was Darryl, maybe not the Darryl copies anybody. Darryl has his own, you know, but he copied, you know, Clinton, maybe a little bit from Phil. And I go, yeah, just like I copied Ross Perot from Dana. And you know, we know where I got Ross pro from Ross Perot.

Yes, I know you did. I can't claim it. I mean, I just lifted it from you. You did all the work. Can a finish one time? That's all I have left 30 years later. That's it. James Brown as Ross Perot. Can a finish one time. But you did it great. I thought, you know, I never had any sort of they. That's it. It's James Brown as Ross Brown. Can I finish one time?

But you did it great. I thought, you know, I never had any sort of, they can't build because I did. I don't even think even with George Persenier, I mean, anybody's available to do an impression of. You can't say that. Well, I know. Like to me sometimes, it's a part,

what I liked about what you did, you always did a take on somebody. You didn't worry so much about doing them exactly. And when someone does a take on somebody their own unique take on them, it's funnier to me. Sherry, you're probably a kindred spirit that at some point I am trying to muse myself within reason. So when I would extenuate some of these people, it just would make me laugh

inside that the audience is hearing and accepting that this is what this person is. So. You know, I totally, it was like, that's what I did with Barbara Walters. I was just kind of like, how can I have a different take on her? You know, and just studying, studying, studying her.

And then once you, the audience accepts it, and you can go off from there. Once the audience buys it, you know, I mean, I think you'll do who was adorable and brilliant. She had her own take, Bob, a wall wall, but yours was what yours is kind of extraordinary because you recently did it on one of those New Year's Eve shows and it was so out of the blue. I was just clicking around and there you were. Could you just do 10 seconds of it just for me? Can you just do one hour? Could you do a one-woman show right now? We're recording.

You're so liquid. No, no, I'll tell you a story. I was all ready to do Barbara, this path New Year's Eve, promoting her own podcast. From Stature to the Street, brought to you by doclax hot interview soft stool See that take of those rhythms. There's something about them teased out from her, you know You sound like her though. You do sound like oh I wrote the whole thing and we had pictures in the back because what she was doing is she was going to have,

you know, people from rappers and all that. It's like she was gonna have her podcasts. And then she was going to compare the rappers to who they were like in her day, you know? Like Takashi 6'9. Oh, and I say something about a Spanish rebel was, you know, agreed. Trendy Lopez.

Okay. Trendy Lopez. Like truly, I was, you know, we'll go from Lizzo Eliza from, I've had them all paired up. Yeah. Like who would be the older equivalent? I say it worked too. It was, yeah, and like I did from styles, Harry Styles and Sadaka.

Yeah. I mean, so I did this whole thing. And I had the pictures up and the both of them next to whoever I was pairing up with each other. And so I rehearsed it the night before New Year's Eve. I was at CNN. And then I went downstairs to meet my friend for dinner. And I had the wig, the outfit, the whole look.

And they said, Sherry, it was really loud in the restaurant. She just passed. And I went, oh, what? And I said, wow. What? Who? Sherry, I'm telling you, it was five minutes later. I go down and meet my friend and Barbara just passed. And I just weld up. It didn't feel real. And I'm like, I was in such a shock. You know, that the timing and everything. And I thought I knew that she was up there and everything, but I just loved being able to, because if she was younger, there wasn't any news medium that she would not have grown

her hat into. And so I could see her doing a podcast. Yeah, of course. You know what I mean? Absolutely. Yeah. She was driven, driven, driven. Oh, yeah. I mean, she kept up with, you know, and so I went home.

I went to my hotel and I couldn't sleep, you know, and I thought, and I just, from a stream of consciousness, I just started writing. And they called me it like, one in the morning and said, we want you to say something. And I said, it's funny because I've just been writing. And so I go, why don't you just take what you want from what I wrote and then, you know. And so I sent what I wrote and then, you know, and so I sent what I wrote to them and they go, uh, Sherry, we're going to, I want you to say exactly what you wrote and I go,

yeah, but this is just more personal. It's got no background information because everybody's going to have her background information. It's the personal thing that not everybody is gonna have. And you have a personal connection to her. And so I did, and I thought to myself, I'm so lucky, like in a way that I had this platform to at least say what she meant to me. And then my social media was like, everybody was reaching out to me saying that

I was the first person they thought. And I thought to myself, me, you know, like, I guess that's the reference or whatever because of SNL, mostly, you know, I mean, no, completely because it was SNL. But like, it made me feel like her daughter in a way. You know, people were worried about me and saying they're sorry to me to express their own grief. Yeah, you know, yeah, five

minutes after I rehearsed it. And oh my god, I'm so sad that I never got the chance to do it. But I should have just done the whole thing on your show. Yeah, why We just saw it all snippet And a one and a two and a three no pressure Terry with snippets. That's a great story. Wow. I mean, I mean, I've Poignant stories It's interesting how you get connected to sometimes when you do impressions of people and then they pass and you know people want to talk to you. Yeah and so many people you know they're grieving it's and it was their

think of you. It was their yeah I mean I grew up you know she was in my my whole television watching from ever since I was a kid and doing her as an adult like that it's crazy and being able to interview her as her on her last view show was one of the highlights of my career. Wow. Sherry she interviewed me did I tell you that? Did she? I have a picture of me and her because she did a spin-off show called The Nine Most Uninteresting People of 2006. No, it was one of those interesting shows. I made some cut.

She interviewed like seven people, you know what I mean? And because I remember I was out of town, they made me fly in for it. And I have a picture. And then she wrote, I told her that my mom loved your blah blah and then she wrote my mom a note. She just stopped what she was doing and wrote my mom a note about me because she just interviewed me and then she said, give this to your mother. Oh my God. That's sweet.

That is so sweet like the teacher, David did good. Yeah, that was what she was. You got a sticker, you got a barber wolf. This guy is going to make it. My mom's like, he already made it. She's like, Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know who he is. Related. I don't know what he does. But I see potential. Anyway, Sherry, we will jump off in a second. But is there anything else you want to add Dana? Anything you? Me personally? No, I just I couldn't agree more with everything

Sherry said about. I love that you saw Phil. You got to work with them. Yeah. Oh, it was like show with them. Yeah, from the first day, walking into the first time ever at the groundlings and seeing his picture and then seeing a masonel and then doing a sketch with him on that now, it was like, wow, this has come full circle. Yeah.

My journey with Phil, he really was inspiring. Up next is Conan O'Brien. We all know and love and Conan worked a film in the show and he also worked them a lot on the Simpsons, which we get into. Conan, you're part of your resume, writer for two years on The Simpsons. And so since we're doing this tribute to the great Phil

Hartman, he also did a lot of voices. Yep. Do you interact with him? Yeah, we, I wrote an episode, the monorail episode, and I wrote a part for this smooth talking kind of music man salesman, and I called him a Lyle Langley. And it was just always written kind of as a fill role because Phil did a lot of great voices on the Simpsons. And so it was fun because I went to the Simpsons after I was at SNL. So I worked for a bunch of years with Phil and you guys at SNL. Then I move on to the Simpsons and I write this episode, but there was a chance to kind of reconnect professionally with Phil, which was a really cool thing. And one of the things I like about that episode is Phil is obviously great. He's fantastic. And he played a character also called Troy McCluer on the Simpsons. He's just beloved. Yes. He played a few great characters, but I was very fortunate because I wrote this

part for him and he could do it. And he, of course, was amazing as he always was. And what's nice about that episode is it just bounces around in the universe. Those Simpsons episodes just rock it around the world. So it doesn't matter where I go, there's all these people that have, they're like, oh yeah, I guess you did some stuff in late night, but man, Simpsons do, you know, and so it resonates with them. I'm not familiar with that episode.

So would you say music man was Phil kind of talk singing as well? Yes, yes, yes. There's a part where basically as the music man tried to sell, the episode starts out as kind of a music man parody. And then the second half of it is a Irwin Allen disaster movie parody. And but the first part is Lyle Langley shows up in town and he's a guy who's,

the town has come into some money and they're trying to figure out how to spend it. And of course, Marge wants to spend it sensibly. And then, this guy stands up, who's wearing a straw boater and it's Phil. And it's Phil doing his, you know, Phil was so good at smooth characters. Yeah.

So good at kind of saying, hey, I'm glad I could help you out here. I'm lying. And you know, and then he basically tells them, what you guys want is a monorail, which I loved. Monorails were just always felt so stupid and silly to me. Like this fake promise of the future that doesn't really accomplish much. It's just a trolley in the sky. And so anyway, he sings a talk sings a song about the about the monorail and you know, it, you know, and it's, and of course, Phil did it beautifully and it was really fun and it's just nice that it's out there. And then a nice come about all these years later

was the Simpsons did a big reunion show. I don't know if it was their 30th or must have been their 30th. And they had a big show at the Hollywood Bowl and Matt Graining and James El Brooks asked me and the Simpsons writer said, hey Conan would you come back and sing the Montereyl song at the Hollywood Bowl with the Hollywood Game Benz Choir. And the answer to that is yes. Well, I remember that event. Yeah, I didn't go to. I remember that was huge.

That was really fun. It was really fun. And it was one of those moments where you just, you get to take your long thin spoon and pick the whipped cream and the cherry off the top of the Sunday. It's just perfect because not a lot of work. Just come in, we did it twice. We did two shows. You get a nice score and it's just, it's the fucking Hollywood bowl.

And it was very nice to just, because obviously, I did it was just a channel fill as best I could. Did you dress up like the his image character? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They got me the suit, the while I'm in the suit and the hat and I have a great photo.

They sent me of me holding my hat in the air full song and dance, you know, Jimmy Cagney and Yankee Doodle Dandy with the Hollywood gay men's choir behind me. And it's a it's a prized possession because it looks like Wow, Conan had a very successful career in Vodville So that makes me happy but Yeah, it's yeah, I have to say you know, I'm happy you guys are talking about Phil, but he is one of those people that All these years later, it's still surreal to me that he's not with us because he's, I

don't know, he's such an indelible character, you know, such an indelible person. And it's, and so he's one of those people that I think, like, no, no, still here, he's still here. He's, you know, that's, yeah, I haven't seen him for a while. I just haven't seen him for a while, but he's here. Because I do think if you're talking about a utility player, a guy who could do everything, I think we'd all agree that Phil Hartman was kind of the ultimate utility player for SNL.

He could just be everything. Do you know what I mean? He could be, you know, he could be, it's crazy. I'm trying to think of who else in that cast could be the father, the grandfather, the punk kid. The boy friend, you know, the young man, you cannot, and he used to, The game show host. The game show host, the upper crust cat. The upper crust cat. I mean, it's just you can't name anything he couldn't be. And within different sketches,

he would, you know, in one episode, he'd be like, the father greeting the young punk at the door. Come on in, son, and I'm gonna talk to you. And then he's the young punk at the door in a on in son and I'm going to talk to you. And then he's the young punk at the door and a leather jacket in the next sketch that's, you know, that's three minutes

later. It's, I'm hard pressed to think of anyone else who could do that. You know, Kona, when you do this, the Simpson's going back there for one second. If you write it, I don't know how it works there, but do you say, can we reach out to Phil for this? That's important to me. Or is that out of your hands? You know, I think it was so obvious that it was Phil. And I probably, you know, there's a good chance I wrote, Lyle Langley, you know, Think Phil Hartman, but Phil Hartman, they had him on speed dial,

so that wasn't a big issue. The thing that was funny about that episode is I wrote a cameo in it for George to K and George to K, because the second half, all these celebrities get invited on the monorail, which has been cheaply made and it's bound to self-destruct and go haywire. And yeah, and so I wanted George to Kay, who I was obsessed with, and George to Kay said, no, I mean, it's the Simpsons, and it's the Simpsons, let me point out, the Simpsons in like 1991. And he said, no, and we said, I'm sorry, I don't understand.

He said, it makes fun of public transportation. And I'm on, oh my, I'm on, oh my, I'm on the, oh my, I'm on the, I'm on the, I'm sorry, I don't understand. He said, it makes fun of public transportation. And I'm on, oh my, I'm on, oh my, I'm on the, I'm on the, I'm on the transportation, I'm on the transportation board here in San Francisco. And we can't be mocking the concept of mass transport. And so I thought, what the hell? And so then, Al Jean told the bookers to reach out to someone else. So they came back and they said, Leonard Nimoy will do it. And I said, what? That's fantastic.

He out ranks. He out ranks too, though. This is incredible. This is incredible. Donnie passed as well. Yeah, so I got to go to a recording studio and there was. Moe and he did it and said one of my favorite exchanges, which is at the end, when after there's all this carnage and everything, there's just a close-up of Leonard D. Moe and he says, well, my work here is done.

And Barney, the drunk, goes, you didn't do anything. And Leonard D. Moe says, did not. And then beams out. And it's just so stupid. Sounds like love. That's where Bernie would talk to him like that. Yeah. Did not. Barney should look up to him. You're right. Well, Barney was intoxicated. That's right. I forgot. We all do things when we're drunk that we regret. Yeah, I'm sure you read it that one. And we were talking to Alec Baldwin about, you were there for, you were Green Hillie, that was a funny one I always talk about.

Oh yeah. Remind me about Green Hillie. Yeah, Alec's first show and he, the music would swell up and he kissed someone and then someone else comes in and barges in as his wife comes in and says, what are you doing? Then he kisses her, the music comes up and then Phil comes in and breaks them up and tries to fight them. Phil, Phil, great Gatsby. Yeah.

Yeah. Put up your dukes. Is this it? Was this a Jack Handy? Do you think or a Jim Downey? It sounds like that. I don't think it was quite enough to be a Jack handy, but then he kisses, I think Nora and then Phil says,

that's my wife's, sir. And then they turn around, they go to Fist of Cuffs and then they gazing through their eyes, then they kiss. Yeah, nice. And then a dog is outside, don't you? Rough. Ha, ha, ha, but it really goes for it. No, that's actually Alec, but Phil, an Alec, I remember that one. And it is funny.

There was one. Do you remember? I don't think I was there. I don't think you were Conan. And Dana, you would left 30 years. It was, what? It was when he played an acting coach and he goes this is something this is nothing This is something this is nothing. He was an acting coach for like I wasn't there. Yeah, it was will

Fairly hosted. Oh was oh, yeah, when he went back. Yeah, he was I just saw that this weekend I was like god damn almost everything he says and that whole thing is a joke. It's all funny I don't know if you had this experience, but my thing was people ask me about Phil, and I always say, if you saw him on the show, that's who he was, because he didn't, at least I never penetrated the philix exterior. And my biggest memory of Phil was,

I'd be with Odin Kirk and Smigel, and Greg Daniels and we'd be working on something and Phil would come rushing in and he'd see us and he'd go, keep him flying boys, keep him flying. And you're like a big thumbs up. And I think if I had said to Phil, I think I'm having a nervous breakdown and I'm really worried about my health, I need someone to Phil, I think I'm having a nervous breakdown and I'm really worried about my health.

I need someone to talk to you. Hit him said, well, you just keep him fine there. I know. I could never crack through that guy, but he was, I think it just made him laugh. He's underlings. Hey, fellas. Yeah, he was. Hey, fellas.

You're walking the writers room and there's no one there. You know, yeah, it's underlings. Hey, fellas. Yeah, he was. Hey, fellas. You're walking that writer's room and there's no one there and he goes, he's reading, you know, Fisherman Weekly and then he goes, David Spade letting everyone know who's boss. Yeah.

Then he goes back to his magazine. I go, oh. I remember I went skiing once. It was one of those weird occasions where I forget what, why this happened, but I'm with a couple of other writers and we decided to go skiing and some small hill like outside New York City like tiny hill, but we're desperate to go skiing and

I forget what happened, but I think one of the writers wiped out and we were standing around the writer Trying to say like hey you okay. He's like yeah, yeah, am I right? I just got to find my other ski. And just then this guy comes down the mountain with perfect form, perfect form, and skis right up to us, and he's like, hey, fellas, what's happening? And it was Phil. And of course, he was an amazing skier.

And an amazing, I mean, he was one of those guys that you touched on, David, who fly fishing, boating, parasailing. I don't think you could name anything that he hadn't done. You know, those weird, yeah, those weird things were like a propeller is pushing you along. And there's like a kite pulling you. And yeah, exactly. I think I'll have got one of the, I've got four of those fantastic.. Well, keep in five boys and then take off. Do you want a higher plane on the dinner break? Yeah, exactly. So did he have a ski suit on that was very, look very together like one

color. Yeah, it was, he was immaculate. Of course, we were all, you know, I grew up in Massachusetts. So I was skiing in my jeans, probably with long underwear underneath it. And, you know, wearing a t-shirt that I probably had in high school and he's, he's just, I had never seen anyone look because people don't look like that in New England. Maybe they do now, but, but I had never seen it growing up. Everyone just looked like shin when they were skiing and there was a rope pole. And then here comes this guy who looks like he's in the Olympics and I have fellas. All right. You know, and I think if we had said, well, it's Robert Smigel, he wiped out and we think he's dead. Well, that sounds rough. Keep him flying, boy.

It's got a broken femur. I'm going to use that 2023. Keep them flying. Yeah. It really means nothing as far as it means. Very positive. Very positive. Keep on keeping on. Yeah. So, Troy McCleur was, that was the one I think most people know.

Yeah. And I know the monorail was, I guess, a one off of just one of the most memorable ones. It was, you know, Troy McCleur was great. What was he, what was Troy McCleur? Troyaclura was great And then he was trying to clear. Primaclura was always doing weatherman. Hi. No, Tramaclura was always a spokesperson So whenever they showed any kind of film or whenever there was a commercial It would be like hi. I'm Troy McClure If you want to learn how to you know, and then he would always he would list his

Acting credits, you know, you've probably would always, he would list his acting credits, you know, you've probably known me from and then three jokes, or maybe you see me in two jokes, and he was fantastic, it was great. It was a great running character, and then, you know, they did the right thing when Phil died, they retired, Troy McClure, because obviously it's animation,

they could have tried to get someone else to do it, because it was such a great go-to. But of course, that wasn't, it wouldn't have sat right with anybody. So, you know, when I just said, was he a weatherman? A Simpson's guy shot me like a sniper, a fan through that. Yeah, yeah. Oh my God. I mean, my son, my son, who is 17, knows every Simpson's episode by heart. And it's funny because when he started watching them as a much younger kid,

he had no idea I had anything to do with it. And then he was working his way through the episodes and then he got to mine. And I saw just for the first time a half glimmer of respect from my son, which quickly disappeared. But anyway, the important thing is that he, he knows all the episodes and loves Troy McCluer and knows all those. He's not the kind of guy that memorizes, but he just absolutely loves Troy McCluur and is very happy when he shows up in a simpsa's episode and loves that joke rhythm because it was always, hi, I'm trying to, Troy McCleur, you probably know me from and then it was just hilarious joke

bucket. It's always fun to say hi and then your name. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly immediately and get to the jokes. Yeah. No, it's, it's also great, especially if you've said something else first. Like, this looks like a real, you know, this looks like a real problem.

Then see the camera. Hi. I'm trying to, you know, wow, that was nasty. Hey, I'm exactly. We should not do that. Curiosity, I mean, I don't, I probably know the answer, but to work with Phil or just work on SNL and then go to the Simpsons, was it like a lot easier, more difficult or what was the big-

Different. I would say less was funny because eventually I found it to be less stressful. I mean, I love SNL. It was like, you know, just really the defining time of my youth, but I, as you guys know, it's also terrifying. And it can, there's a lot of pressure. And one of the things that I appreciated about the Simpsons was, everybody's working together. that I appreciated about the Simpsons was everybody's working together. We were all, at SNL, everyone's writing different sketches and trying to get them

onto limited real estate. And then suddenly at, and what was nice is later in the week, people would all come together and help to improve all the sketches. But early in the week, you really, there was no way around it. You're fighting for a square inch of land in a very small country. I'm taking that too far, but let's say Israel. And so it's going. Keep going.

And let's just say you want to be near the sea, but that's the West Bank. No, but so what gets tricky is that, you know, that can get... Sometimes you can feel other people's elbows, and I'm sure I threw a few elbows too, and what happens when you go to a show that's putting out 20 episodes a year and everybody's working together on the scripts? I mean, I wrote the Monterey episode and then all the writers came together

and just did all this punch up on it to make it so much better. And I thought, and it felt like all the oars are going, everyone's pulling the oars in the same direction because if somebody cracks it, if somebody comes up with the answer, we all get to go home early. So, so in that way,, the Simpsons terrified me because it was such a crazily powerful

writing room, but eventually I started to see the advantages of that kind of work, which is individually you don't feel as much personal fear, you know. If I was there, I'd be crazy and Dana and I'd walk by his office and go, you know, I was thinking about a monorail thing I was working on like a couple weeks ago. Just to get in your head and be like, well, I didn't steal it.

I'm like, no, no, I'm just saying, you might have heard something just similar in lines. Yeah, mind games. Yeah, gamesmanship. But yeah, also if you crack an episode like if you, and this is a last one buggy about this, but if you crack an episode in the Simpsons and everybody likes it,

then it's such a great victory because then everyone's like, oh, I get what you're doing, I get that idea. We all agree it's funny. And now let's pile in and fix it. I mean, it's great, right? That's, you know, you pitch the ideas. And if the idea gets chosen,

then eventually you get to write up a first draft and then everybody jumps in. But man, when everybody jumps in and you have all that horsepower behind you making the show just better and better and better, it's a delight, it's a real delight. All right, let's let him go, Dana. He did a good job. All right, I love you guys.

And let's hang out soon at one of those meals where we just make fun of each other. Let's go to our favorite kind of Japanese style place. We'll see you in the text chain right now. All right, go on a fight. Peace out. Thank you. Oh, man.

Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man.

Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, like magic. But there's no magic involved.

It's simply real meat and vegetables with all the nutrients dogs need instead of highly processed pellets. No tricks, just smarter, healthier pet food delivered and packed portioned for your dog. It's amazing what real food can do. Get 50% off your first order at thefarmerstog.com slash nomagic50. Up next is Alec ball one who spoke about fill heartman when he was our guest on flying the wall and so we invited him to be on here he is so we're gonna do this like every six weeks where we get to yeah

back consultant my my featured guest you are really you're the yeah well yeah I mean it's no I just keep coming back. You like a land job. We have to have you underneath. It's flying the wall with us and then you're just underneath. Featuring, featuring Alec Ballon. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait happening? Lamb shop, Sherry Lewis, 1965. I know that show. Old reference lost on younger viewers. Then a TV movie once, and I come to work the second day, and everybody's huddled up the producer, the director.

They were all upset, and they all seemed pretty grim in a circle. And I walk up and I go, what's going on, fellas? And the star was this veteran, veteran actor who wore a lot of makeup. He wore like, you know, three, four pounds of makeup every day, he had like a lot of makeup on. And I said, fellas, what's the matter? It was when we looked at the Daily's, the director said, he says, Jim's got on more makeup than Dorothy Malone.

So even I don't know if I'm going to do it. Speaking of that worry makeup, I always felt that Hartman, I'm going to jerk the wheel this way now. Hartman, sure. It's Johnny Shegway, ladies and gentlemen. It's Johnny Shegway. Hartman, this is a true but you always got to sense it. He was like, I'm not going to worry. You make about this conjure a cave, man.

I'll just make myself look like a cave man. Like altered states. He go into a deprivation tank and come out and look like a like a cave man. That's like when he did Charlton Heston. He just completely became Charlie guys fell as ad. We've been here, but I can't do it but he became he became Chuck Heston that was part of his bag of tricks the chameleon the every man the glue and you mentioned him a few weeks ago you brought him up spontaneously when we were, we did our- Well, he was, you know, the better, I wouldn't say the better, but a distinct

of group of people, not just SNL veterans and alums, but other people in the comedy world, they're good actors as well. You know, they're not just stand-up talent and improv talent and sketch comedy talent where- Easy, easy. Yeah, I was going to say because those people are fucking back. They're fucking god awful. But you got you got to cut around them. It's like you know, there's the Emmy for editing right there when you have those people on board.

But but the heart, you know, Harman was a good actor. He was like, he would play off of you. He'd let what you say affect him. Whereas I work with some comedy people where they're just staring at you. Why me? I wait to know. They're waiting. They're waiting.

They're ready. They're like, they're winding up a pitch to deliver their next line. They're like a glaze and they're eyes. I see. They're just like, are you done with your line? Are you done with your line? No, you don't. No, to self do not have a glaze looking your eyes when doing satellite life.

But yeah, I mean, I'm just thinking the other day, but since you hosted many times with Phil because Phil could do anything, you must have done many, many sketches with Phil Harbin. Right? I did a bunch. I did a bunch, yeah. He was a, and he, he was, it was like weird guys who they would go moment to

moment with you. Meadows would do that. Meadows was really good moment to moment. Like he was waiting, like he let things you say affect him. Whereas not just, this is nothing to do with that Chanel or comedy comedy performers, but there's actors I've worked with who are, you know, whatever your line is, they just immunize themselves against whatever you're going to say. They don't really let it affect them. They're like, they're super tough.

Right. Yeah. Thank you. Would you ever consider, is the actor studio still around? I mean, because you'd be a good host to that. I am the co-president that the actor studio with Ellen Burston and Pacino. I knew something was going on with the actor.

Here you are. Somebody in your research gave you that you tea, that was tea that's a little too salty. I don't know, that was no research. That was just intuiting the way you talked about acting just now. But basically to go full circle, the thing about Phil is that he was a great actor and a brilliant sketch player. He could do both. And we can play a clip.

If I mentioned some of these, they're just kind of these sketches. A few members. Frank Sinatra, Frank and Stein. You and he played lovers in a sketch. Oh, oh, if you remember Frank Sinatra, Frankenstein. You and he played lovers in a sketch. I don't know if it's just more. Green Hillie, Green Hillie. Oh, is that Green Hillie? That's where I kissed the dog of the, I sticked my tongue of the dog's mouth.

Alex, didn't you get an Emmy for that show? I got an Emmy for Green Hillie, so. For that sketch. I'm exactly, it's for Green Hill. For that sketch. I'm exactly, I'm my Emmy. It's for Green Hilly. No. I remember I would use Green Hilly as a reference because that was my third show.

I think I've told you this. But I was new and you came in and just fucking clean the clock. Your every sketch was pretty funny in that show. And I didn't know how good I had it because some host coming in, you know, shows are uneven, but that one, it was Green Hilly, and the music comes up, and then you kiss them,

and then you get, and the music comes up, and then you kiss someone else. You also did the soap opera that guy that couldn't say the words, right? Yeah, so you have Kanker of the East of Lace. Yeah, exactly. We've said Kanker for three years. No, Kanker.

Should we look at Green Hilly? I think we have it. Do you have the clip from Green Hilly? of the esophagus. Yeah, exactly. We've said Kangaroo for three years. No, I can't. Should we look at Greenhilly? I think we have it. Do you have the clip from Greenhilly? Just as I thought. Okay. It seems no one seems. Prepare to defend yourself, Mr. Cherrywood, if that's your real name.

Oh, help! Someone please help! Help! Oh, no, it's creepy. Here's the music. It's creepy. Oh! Wow!

I'll be going now. It just kissed. He goes, I must figure. I must figure. Wow. My favorite though is when he's in the courtroom. When he's in the courtroom. Yeah.

And he says, and he says, you know, I was, I fell into a jerk of that. You're way is a strange. You're well as my friend. I mean, I see that. I put a simple cave. I say that line to the state, like a waitress will come up and I say, can I have some ice and she doesn't bring the ice and I'm like, you're way is a strange. You know, now when you worked with him, were you like pals with him? And you got to hang out with him?

Or was he one of these people that went home and he was private? He hanged? Yeah, he hung out a lot. Him and yeah, we were all friends, him and his wife, friend and my wife and love it. And we lived close to each other after the show and in Sino, we bought houses like two blocks away.

I came in with Phil. My first show is with Phil and Jan Hux, you imagine. I never done sketch comedy and suddenly I'm in this sketch with them. Phil was private. He had so many other hobbies and interest. He was not interested in celebrity or show business per se. And in Trissy was not interested in celebrity or show business per se, but just when you look back on it, because he was sort of quiet about it, and then you look back on it. That's why we want to do the show. And you look at these sketches and the range of him. And also, we have talked about how he would play things so, so real. And if you were kind of that, it would carry the sketch, you know, and I don't think we

had a better actor on the show than he was as a just playing the straight man when he wanted to, you know. He was just also a really warm guy. There's people I worked with who, I mean, this is very rare, but they have certain insecurities. So when you're around them, the whole dynamic is what I call log rolling. I mean, I'm like, you're going to go in the water. They're just more clever than you ever could imagine. And they're very shy or awkward. Or they're just not program that way. I went to go to that. Remember that old card game. I I'm wondering I'm assuming either one of you but Norby Walters card game in West Hollywood

Norby. Yeah, did you play at Norby's? I think George Siegel used to play in that Yeah, exactly he was there and I got invited to Norby's and for people who don't know Norby Walters was in the music business And he had an apartment like a penthouse on top of a building near like Holloway, like near Barney's Bienery in that area, right in that ridge off of Sonsa. And he and his wife, you come in and they literally, it was like, you can only buy a hundred dollars worth of chips once you were out of the hundred, you were out, it was over. This was not about spending money. Also, he had no alcohol.

He had like, velvita cheese, Coca-Cola, and he had like, jujubees, he had like, you know, like, he had like, candy. And he had like, exactly. It was like, M-M-N-M's, it was like flight attendants walking around like you're on Southwest Airlines. And he had nothing, you know what I mean, and the famous people that would come to this game, it was unbelievable. You know, Harvey Korman would come and Tim Conway and all these amazing people. One time I go and Don Adams comes. Don Adams. And I'm completely freaked out because here's Don Adams who I've never, in a million years,

I thought I would ever run into. He's in a white jumpsuit. I mean, a China white. Because here's Don Adams who I've never in a million years with thought I would ever run into. He's in a white jumpsuit. I mean, a China white, not a cream. It's like his whitest spades wall. Seriously, his jumpsuit is white. And like he's in some FBI forensic team is coming to detox the crime scene. And he's sitting there and he doesn't say anything the entire time.

He doesn't say anything. He takes his cards and he gestures for his cards. So I'm assuming that at some point someone's going to go for it. I mean, and it's got to be done well. And I'm not that funny quite frankly, but I just went for it. And I was my turn to turn off my cards and I was like, no, I have three of a kind. And he looked at me with this look in his eyes like, okay, okay, that's okay. I knew it was coming. I wasn't sure it was going to be you, but okay, that's okay. And Max Wellsmart for our younger audience. Max Wellsmart, and it's like this guy you meet

who are people in the comedy world who are just dead serious. Do you see that? Have you seen that? Sure. Oh yeah, or even extract the comedy out. I would say that Phil had, I don't know, no ego in a sense. And like he was happy to,

there was no sense of competition even in a friendly way. It was just, he was just Phil. I mean, very secure about what he was doing. Is that how you found it? With Phil? Yeah, no, he was just, he was, I always find that I'm thrilled when somebody is that talented and they're that gregarious and they're warm and they're fun, you know what I mean?

Because a lot of people who I've met with, who is an inverse proportion, but the more talented and witty and good writers they are and clever they are, not just doing, you know, bits and stuff, but they're really very bright and talented. They're very shy and they're very awkward and they're not very social, you know. Phil was the amazing, he was charming, it was really charming. And he, you know, because when I would, when you meet people on a movie set or a TV show, meet the crew the first day. So your brain is taking in all this stuff and you're meeting 20 people at once. And so you hate having to go, hey you, and how are you guys?

You know, Phil knew every crew member. Hey Bob, hey Steve, even when they were changing in and out, just another gear that he had. And I was like, and treated everyone exactly the same, completely, just no more. You know what was sweet is when I was newer Dana, that first year or two, I knew a little bit about stand-up, which I

was a stand-up. That's where I got hired. But to write a sketch is a whole different muscle and a whole new ballgame that is so complicated. I would have to go up to someone like, you know, even Alec, if he came. We didn't have a racking to go up to Big Star or to go to the other cast members. I remember Phil was always very gracious. I'd go in and I wrote this thing and you would play this guy and he goes, sounds great he go tell me about it and he goes all right will go get him sound i'll give my best he was never condescending never like just staring you going yeah yeah right what do i gotta do in this he was upbeat and made me feel like it had a shot whether it's good or bad you know and that I always remember that it was very sweet of him i did i wrote him one

You know, and that I always remembered that it was very sweet of him. I did I wrote him one one of these receptionist sketches And he actually got a big lap and then afterwards he goes, hey thanks for that, you know like it was all me It was very very sweet and just like pat on the back and kept you going knowing you were all the new people probably freaking out He was It was a sweetie. I remember the amount obviously everybody knows that he had this horrible ending, but it's like, kind of when I heard that, I was really just so sick and I thought that just make, that doesn't make sense. But, he was really, listen, I'm not saying this to butter you up. I mean, both of you are people who are like incredibly funny, you've had great careers in television and films, I mean, my son, Spain is gonna throw up and I say this,

but my kids wanted to watch Tommy Boy the other day. No, and they're in there. And they're in there, and they're spayed. It's a great movie, spades playing a straight man there. And I thought, oh, look at Spade. He could have had a real serious active if we're playing lawyers and bankers. And judges and doctors, they're playing lawyers and bankers and judges and doctors.

I'm serious spade. I'm a serious spade. No, serious spade. The thing about Tommy Boy, which I love is only one person could play Farley's part, but a couple of people could have played my part. You just really had to feed the guy. And so I was lucky to be in that one, but I love that your kids have seen it because you always wonder how these things hold up,

you know, you just go, well, it's still pretty funny because it's still goofy, lovable, far away. And there was something pretty magnetic there. Oh, definitely. You've got to still hold up. Anyway, I got to go run and go, I got to go run and get my business here. No, no, no, no, no.

You gave us plenty of time. I had more. Our 10 more. Okay, thank you, Alex. Thanks for doing this. Up next, Robert Smigel, hour ten thank you okay thank you allic thanks for doing this up next robert smuggle one of the uh... all star great writers from starting live and many other things uh... who wrote for fill who worked on the sanature group the uh... million other sketches with fill

and he is chirping in we're here with the great robertel, a friend of the podcast who's graduate. That's the friend of the podcast. So mean when we ask for favors, he comes on. And so to remind our fans that might be listening, Robert extraordinary writer wrote on the show from 86 till just last fall. And no, he wrote 86 years.

Fingers crossed the strike and it's gonna get bad. Robert told me something a while back because we actually talked not on the podcast or we're not recorded. But it was an observation just about and it makes sound self-congratulatory. But when Phil Hartman came to the show, I happened to be tagging along. I got there too and so did Jan Hooks. And we were in the cold opening as my first sketch. Actually, the first sketch, the cold opening was Madonna. She was. It was previous year was all a dream. That's right. She was the cold opening. It was coming off that very rocky year with

all these brilliant actors who weren't necessarily sketch comics. So so Robert, so you this first time you'd seen Phil Hartman perform, right? You knew he came from Grandlings, but well, I mean, I saw his audition and your audition and I think they're probably the two most confident auditions. I must have faked it. I don't know. Wow. Dana, David, have you seen their auditions? No, I just like that. I forgot you had a hand in hiring. So you got to... No, I didn't have a hand in hiring. I barely got back on that year. That was the year I was almost fired. That was after my first year. Oh, okay. And yes, if not for like Dennis Miller and Love It's and Whitney pushing for me, I

was not Robert Smigel yet. He was just Robert. And he wanted me, he wanted to do an Eric Gommie sketch with Robin Leach. That was their first pitch to me. I think it was a really funny idea. But so I'm just interested. So it's your second season. You see Phil, Phil are the...

Second season and I... Well, Phil and Dana and Jan and Kevin and Victoria, but you and Phil and Jan were like the three sketch comedy pros that we never had before. Even though I'd never done sketch comedy. Even though you'd never done it, and Jan was not a groundwork. No, she came from the deep south.

She's from the deep south. But you guys were just so expert. Like you did the first sketch of the show after the monologue, which was called game show psychic and It was as if we were suddenly in a different show Jim Downey said the audience feels safe Was the way he put it Like he'd they just know that the sketches are in the hands of people who know exactly What they're doing it was your first show. All it is.

Your first show for being nervous, yeah. It's kind of, yeah, I'm sure you were faking it on some level, Dana. And I know God knows Jan was, you know, barely wanted to get a stage that made me. But when we are out there with those two, which I happened to after that with church chat, they came out and did these brilliant things

and filled it, Jimmy Swaggerd. But I think I was probably coming off them like jam was a laugh button with their character and Phil was just So in the pocket as the game show host So you sort of ride the wave of the people you're with but you know, yeah, yeah, so Phil was always in the pocket I mean that was the thing about him is that he just became the characters like you know. He just had that approach where he just approached everything as. Like almost the way a serious actor would approach the role you know and um.

And so like you know you came from stand up and you brought this entirely different amazing thing to the show where like the audience is kind of with you, like they can feel you underneath every impression you do having a good time and including them. And Phil was more like, you know, just, um, they just thought he was that guy. He was just that guy, you know, and everything. And it's so funny the way he, you know, he had this incredible range as a, and you know, I mean, like you could do a million voices and but you were always kind of light, you know what I mean,

Dana. I have no idea you're talking about, Dana is left. I do think that for me, there's still, I had a stand-up thing where you had to kill to keep the job. Spade would come in, he'd crush, I have to top him. And so then... There was always like a playful light energy.

Yeah, because that knew and stand up in these rowdy bars at midnight that you had to win them over and make them really happy. And so at least the way I did it. But, uh, yeah, Phil and I were a great combo, uh, along with Kevin, everyone had a different, we, we did have a nice assortment pack when, when we came in with Phil. Yes. But Phil would like just throw himself into every role and he would play Incredibly Cheerful superficial hello Like Peter Graves is one of my favorite sketches and in all those years

At SNL that I was at that's still one of my favorite sketches. I'm sure of it But yeah, the discover sketch where he remember. I remember that. Yeah, he was for anybody who's over 60 like Peter Graves hosted a show called The Scover on DBS and then Phil did. And Phil played this cheerful kind of robotically, you know, clueless Peter Graves and he wrote them himself and it was very deadpan and it was, but then he could turn on a dime and play like the mace character. I'm a bad apple rotten in the core.

The crazy convict running from the police. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like he could be really scary. Yeah. You know, if he had if he had If he had been able to have a long movie career, I'm sure he would have played just Dark heavy roles as well as as he would have played funny roles. Yeah. Alec Baldwin observed that too that he was like just a really good actor um and and yeah, but I'm just gonna jump ahead for a second because probably the sketch where he was the most overtly, besides helmet, where he played the pathetic Hans and Franz punch bag, which

was so great and overtly funny, but he played it flat real almost, it was almost sad even in the context of it. Yes. Just sort of a resigned to doing whatever Hans and Franz will say about him. And another one, and this one, of course, you wrote on a tremendous amount, was him doing Ed McMahon.

Was like the most overt comic character, even though he was playing it real. It was just such a great take on it. So talk to Ed, his ad. Yeah, his ad, that was actually closer to a caricature than almost anything. That's what I thought it was the most overtly funny thing he's ever did. Because he only had like three words to say in the old set. Yes, you are correct. So I think he had so little to work with

on one level that he he let himself he permitted himself to play a little bit. A little funny. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it was it was actually a funny rover, versatile because your Johnny Carson was probably as in the pocket, as you've ever been in terms of striking, in terms of sticking to the integrity of Johnny Carson's delivery. I couldn't agree more. That was the first time I was in a character. I wasn't trying to get laughs.

And I knew it was so funny how sincere and earnest Johnny was in that role. When he was a talk show, those you don't know and you're listening to, and then I would set it up kind of real and straight and maybe the nerds at home would be laughing at that. And then he would, he would release all the comic tension in the sketch. Yeah. Yeah.

So it was a wonderful. Any energy he was like in spades famous. One of my favorite spades sketches was the receptionist where he came in as Jesus Christ, and he couldn't get past the receptionist. And you are. And Phil was just so perfectly placid. Yeah. You know, sincere calm. Sincere and calm. And then like I said on a dime, he could be incredibly dark. One of the most successful sketches I ever wrote for Phil Phil and I had by I wrote I mean like other writers helped me down

He franken Meyer, so it was the Reagan sketch where he was the Reagan mastermind behind the scenes. Yeah, who's a parody of the way everybody else was playing Reagan as you know The senile dottering thing. It just ain't felt so easy that I thought it'd be funny to. And it was just a perfect use of fill. It turned out because he had that range where he's just, he played charming dottering Reagan at the beginning of the sketch. And then he gets really dark and serious running the show. Yeah. Speaking for the language is and all that stuff he could do. Dialect.

Yeah, just rattling off. Well, it's a minute. So do you know Jimmy? Yeah. You were Jimmy Stewart and then he had to play a different energy where he's trying to like get you out of the room. Yeah. Right?

Yeah. And Jimmy was a perfect foil for that because he was so, so slow. And so, you know, I take it as a way to slow. Yeah. Completely clueless. Yeah. And Reagan's just like, yes, well, Jimmy, I think we, I just have some things to do. I got a thing.

And then he finally snaps on you. And then Stuart gets mad at him, doesn't he? Yeah. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. You have to change. Jimmy, don't make me have to kill you. Like he says, he's a good boy. Don't make me have to kill you.

You've changed, got you, have changed. I'm leaving him. So yeah, God makes me miss feel so much when we talk. Michael, in one of those, when you said the receptionist, I remember, I think there was a line where Jesus is not getting mad that he can't get in but he's a little frustrated So for Phil who's playing it almost nothing he gets a laugh off of just quietly going listen friend You can tell he's only getting point. Yeah, it's like as angry as Jesus can prevent himself to be

Yeah, that was a fantastic Tiny He got a huge laugh. He got a big way. Yeah, that's how you can tell you're like you're giving him something and he gets every ounce out of it Every possible laugh it could get that was amazing. That was an amazing moment Yeah, yeah, yeah, the thing about Phil too is like you know I tend to be getting French eyes probably luckily in some of yours, McLaughlin Group. I guess we did a couple times. And then he, I'm leading to Phil, which really was, is the McLaughlin Group?

Because the turn of Sinatra. Oh, the Sinatra Group. Yeah, always. Yeah, I mean, we had done the McLaughlin Group just a few months earlier, I think. And it was like one of my favorite things I've ever shown in the film is. No, it was. It was it was again, so far the point means that Conan or Bob helped me with it, but but but then yeah, I just thought it would be funny like the Turner's had written for

Frank or Phil as Frank Sinatra. They wrote a really funny thing between you as George Michael, I believe. Yes. It was inspired. Remember Frank Sinatra wrote an editorial in the LA Times or something lecturing George Michael about how he's blowing it? Oh, look at my butt. Yeah. And then it turned into the Turner's Road, a really funny back and forth between the two

of you. Oh, okay. And then I wrote this, I had the idea for the Sinatra group and I wrote it with Terry Turner and Downey. And yeah, again, and that was interesting about that is that Phil, the Sinatra family didn't like it, I guess. Oh, well, what was the classic line? I got chunks of guys bigger. I got chunks of guys like you and my stool

Yeah, yeah, he was threatening Billy I Everyone was funny. Sting is Billy. I don't was a Jan Hoax a shenanad. Yeah, and a shenanad Yeah, yeah, and it was the other one. Steven Edie were Mike Myers and Victoria Chris rock was Luther Campbell and oh that's right. Sinatra just kept saying I can't understand the word. Pops and whistles. Yeah, it's all pops and buzzes from the yeah, right. The occasional reason.

Clicking sound. Yeah. Yeah, but but my God. Yeah, he just he was just like a freight train in that scene. Oh my God. Yeah. And then yeah, he could just go from that to, and have you had on like Jack Handy? Cause he wrote so many great things for him.

Well, we've talked a lot about unfrozen caveman lawyer, which is fun to talk about. And of course, that quintessential Jack Handy. It's quintessential fill too. And that's super silly. It's kind of, I'm, I'm but a kid man. Your way that is. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my God. No one else could have played that part. Honestly. Like in the whole world, I don't think anyone else could have finished. No, that is kind of one of

his frequencies. That kind of guy that that tone. Yeah. not quite Charles. He that was Bella. He's a little hot. Yeah, that kind of like, yeah, like fake fake friendly phony guy. He did it. You know where he was really funny in that, just one of the funniest insanely stupid movies ever is Jingle all the way. The Schwarzenegger movies. Sinbad. Yeah. Oh, no.

You've seen Phil. Phil is so funny in that. He just plays sort of a creepy phony neighbor. And, but yeah, unfrazen caveman lawyer. Also, the Simpsons, he plays that a lot. Oh, Troy McClure. Yeah. That was like one of his, when he auditioned or when he did his he did a comedy album

before he was on Saturday night live. What was it called? Flat TV and he played. He had a few kind of characters like that there like spokesman. He loved playing the the phone. He kind of spokesman. You know, he did. He had fake commercials and there his brother once approached me. We were going to try to animate his, you know, his comedy album, but never got that done. We were going to. It's another thing I'm never going to do. Oh, the two sammies. Oh, boy.

Don't get me started. We didn't know we were good enough about. But enough about, but, but yeah, he, yeah. And then he could step in and just grab an impression and make it work like Andy Griffith, I was just thinking about, do you remember that one, Dana? Where it's like urban burns in with all core and personal show. I remember that one. Yeah, I remember Conan, I think our great first, they must have had the idea.

It was about people who play lawyers on TV, all representing some guy, but they're just actors and they're incapable of doing anything but carrying the gravitas of being a lawyer without knowing anything. And Phil had like a cameo as Andy Griffith. And it's just, it's just unbelievably funny for like literally 15 seconds. Just it was the Andy Griffith of the Rich Cracker era. That anti-cracker. The good cracker. Yeah.

Good cracker. Good cracker. Yeah. Oh my God. He did. I remember a Clinton one. Remember the Clinton one where he was walking. He's walking and he's kind of fat and he's in McDonald's and it's me. Yeah. McDonald everybody. It was maybe that's the classic Clinton sketch where he keeps taking food from everybody as he's as he's as he's glad handing everybody. That was

Franken and Dave Mandel wrote that but it was yeah, that was that was Dave Mandel, or that, but it was, yeah, that was, that was the peak of his Clinton. But I remember the first time he did Clinton, the audience went insane. It was like he was, he was, again, because he could capture that kind of fake, you know, smart man quality. Yeah. Yeah. Like he just started to pay like, you know, kind of stuff.

He was like the last guy in a, in a debate sketch and he came on his Clinton and the audience just lit up right away. He had the, you know, the smile going and almost before he spoke, he had captured the essence of how people perceive Clinton at that time. He also played Donald Trump. He was like the first guy also played Donald Trump. People forget. He was like the first guy who played Donald Trump. He did it on your church chat, I remember. He did it numerous times. His Jimmy Swagger was really funny

because it was the story of the week. And Jimmy Swagger, yeah, go ahead. No, no, he played a lot of evangelists. Well, the year of church chat, just a character I had, whatever Rosie Schuster and I, she came up with, let's put it in a talk show. But we, and then all these religious scandals. Like Jim Baker.

Yeah, Jim Baker with, and Jimmy Swaggerd. Yeah. And he plates it on Moussain on there, which was John Goodman dressed as the church lays over. There are two of us. And then we beat the hell out of him. There's like a five minute fight scene with like God, but he played it so real and so straight. Yeah. Was this during this was during the Iraq war?

Must have been like the first one. Or even the beginning of it. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Wow. And we talked about how we could make his eyes go dead when he was playing sort of a villain. He like, Alec Guinness, is that the actor?

Right. Oh yeah. Just the, if Phil could make his eyes go dead, which was fascinating to watch, but. There's so many one-off sketches, because you tend to remember franchises, like coffee talk or whatever, Wayne's world. And then Phil had so many one-off sketches with me.

One what he was hosting, I don't know, and it was an acting teacher. This is something, this is nothing. Oh, this is when he hosted. Yes. And that was his own character. That was a character he created. And I understand that it's,

Courtney John Lovitz, it's literally exactly based on some acting, where he's dropping all these third rate credits about this guy. Yes, yes. Was on Maddox for two seasons, and you know what I remember that. Yeah, it totally killed. I was like, where was this character all these years?

Yeah, I was like, what are you killed now? Cause Phil always wanted to have, like he had this kind of, I remember he took a lot of pride in the fact that he had a lot of one-offs and that he could step into anything and that he approached the show as an actor. But there was, I remember like the rare times where he had a hit with Korean character like the anal, retentive chef. Yes. Another thing, Bonnie and Tara created. He would get really excited.

Yeah. And Mace, he put Mace through a couple of times, right? He Mace. And then when Frozen came out, Laura became like, that's huge. What about the big one? The big one. What about the big one? What about the big one?

What about the big one? What about the big one? What about the big one? What about the big one? What about the big one? What about the big one? What about the big one? What about the big one? What about the big one? and created that toward the end. Because we were always in those, because it was always young guys. And so, it's sad to see. Yeah. That was a great one. I wrote one that he absolutely killed in,

and then I never brought it back, which was the Matthew Modine drill sergeant. Remember that guy? Oh, yeah. He saw that. Yeah. Who couldn't remember. He didn't know how to give mean nicknames to people.

Like, it was like a parody ofnames to people like. Yeah. It was like a parody of full metal jacket. And uh, yeah, you're, uh, you're called, uh, you know, Mr. Smiling laugh and joking around. Yeah. Mr. Talking after that guy guy, you know, got more and more awkward and ridiculous. He just, he just played it so brilliant, played it scary. Yeah. Because he could play it scary. But then he just, he just played it so brilliant. Played it scary. Yeah. Because he could play it scary, but then he understood exactly how to be awkward with it as he was stumbling.

And what about this one? What about this one? This, the color there. What? Phil Donhue. Oh my God. Yeah. Phil Donhue, so great.

Boy did he murder with that one? Murderer. Yeah, right away. Like that was another one that was, was that even in his audition?, did he murder with that one? Murder. Yeah, right away. Like that was another one that was, was that even in his audition or did he just learn that when he? I don't remember it in his audition, but, you know? I don't think it was. I think he just learned it.

It's the funniest impression to exaggerate it and just get the, that's what it was. Oh my God, you're right. Yeah, yeah. That was another one where he's thinking that you know what you're doing all the time. You know, it's that. Yeah. You come home from work and you put your stuff down and you're thinking, I'm the greatest guy. And he said it was funny no matter what? Unbelievable. And yet he would never, then I remember that the one time, did he ever break more than once?

The more than Frankenstein. Frankenstein. That's the only time I remember anyone breaking. We were terrified of breaking. That's true. You guys are allowed to break back then. No, we weren't. The fear of being fired, but Phil did break. It wasn't the ending like it is on some of the basic, yeah. It's insurance now. It's an insurance policy now then we break and go to commercial Imagine Lauren reading that in the state Horatio breaks time for a break Kept to G. E. Smith Rachel suppresses a lot.

Jimmy can't stop. Giglene go to camera too. Oh, man, we're just like calling out these heads. But it's fun. Totally. Bade, how did you, did you ever feel like, did you ever have moments with Phil where you got to know him that well? You know, uh...

You were such a different generation. Yeah. He was super friendly, uh... Yeah, yeah. It's funny because people say SNL is so tough, which it is, but no one's not really friendly. You know, everyone's sort of just in their own world surviving. Right.

So it's taken as everyone's so icy and cold, but Phil was just, you know, Phil wasn't always writing, and so a lot of the problem with most people wrote, so they're locked in the room, stressed trying to write them out. So that's taken as like, you guys, nobody wants to play kickball?

So with Phil, you walk by and he's reading something and he's like, hey, what's going on in spades world? So and his office was the studious. It was beautifully. Yeah. I would minute this week. You was one of the most relaxed people in the staff on the staff, writer or performer,

because he partly because he never was, I mean, the show always needed him. He was always in like seven sketches every week. He was almost like a host every week. You know, that's why I don't know if I came up with it or you or Jan Hooks, but at some point, he was nicknamed the glue for this very reason because he was so essential to the show every show. I am thinking it was, it wasn't Farley, Farley just said it the most I think you're the glue I don't know who came up with it, but Jan had her own language with Phil they were like you know like love

It's was like his little brother probably his love. love it's going to be at the age right now? That was him that just called. He's going to be there. He's got to be there. And the other person who I wish could be there is Jan because nobody had that. She had such a connection with them. They were like, they were almost like comedy twins, you know, they had like who had their own language.

You know, they had nick, I think of it because they had their own nicknames for each other. She would like cinnamon and sandy. He would, hello, sandy. Hello, cinnamon. It was like, yeah, when Jan comes up on, on this particular podcast, we, you know, we love to throw her some light too, because she was such a brilliant, um, yeah. Oh, without a doubt. And yeah, but the two of them were really like they just partnered up in so many. Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire might I say might you you might they were a thing and think about think about saying that think about saying that you might it feels good when I said and I think of them in a sketch together, writing a wave together and in sync, both giving and taking.

They were like Nancy Reagan in Phil and she played Nancy and they were Hillary and Bill. And they did, but they did so many other things. And like on church chat, she was always like the woman that he was that the evangelist was, uh, was screwing over. It never got louder than when she did the Tammy fake baker that week. Oh my god. Oh, yeah. Bigger laughs that I'd ever heard. Yeah. That was, that was amazing. That was amazing. Two of them. Oh, you know what they called themselves Clydesdale's. That's what I remember. Yeah, because they were like, or maybe that was probably, it sounds like a gen nickname because she was like, they're the show ponies

and then me and filler, the Clydesdale's who like are, are like carrying the load kind of thing. When I say that to women, they get offended at that compliment. Hey, by the way, Dana, love it. It's is here. I got to jump off and love it. All right. Yeah, yeah, stall him. I'll be there in a few minutes. Obviously.

I'll say goodbye, Ligel. Thanks for talking. You got it, bud. After review, the call on the ice is a whole new season of NHL action with Skip. Every order earns you a shot at winning one of over 200,000 prizes, including NHL Shop.ca and Skip Gif Gires, Skip Game Time Tires, and the Grand Prize, a trip for two to the 2024 Rogers NHL All-Star Game in Toronto.

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He begged to be on. We didn't have any room, but we said all right. That's a lie. No, it's John Lovitz, of course, and who is probably the closest with Phil. He, John, felt he couldn't come to the live show because he would get too emotional. And so he came on with us and we let it bounce all over the place. We have a lot of Phil, but it goes a lot of different places. Here's John. Our guest today is actor, comedian,

is extraordinary. Sing John, love it. It's Anna great singer, probably the best singer of a cast member on Sailor Night Live. Is anyone else sing like you, John? Jan Hux. Jan Kupel. And a Gat.

Well, the women, yeah, I was going for the men though. I say, I see it was a professional singer. Oh, Anna, yeah, she goes on bad luck. She has an album. She has an album. She's a great singer. Oh, he did opera man with you. So maybe we didn't use.

Yeah, but he can belt it. Yeah, he's got a great voice. Yeah, he's a rocker. You, so all I have is chopping broccoli. Great drumming. Chicha. Oh, that's right singing. So fill was in that sketch I watched it the other night because I look at my sketches late at night. Yeah sure you're right. Yeah that sketch if he did that move a lot where he's listening

to music and he's just kind of like moving his head. It was a very fun. So it was the most absurd. It was a good shot by, I guess Paul Miller or the director. Anyway, who was the director over to John? Paul, my first year was Paul. My first year, well, I was on the year before you in 85. It was Dave. No.

Oh, Dave, Dave Wilson. Dave Wilson, yeah, but that first year, I think Davey came back, called him Davey, but I think it was Paul. It was here two years in the imposter, I think, the next year. Yeah, yeah. But anyway, Phil had this incredibly funny take, and that was the end of the first show that I did with Phil. We came in together, you know?

I remember when Phil and I met you for the first time at a new real estate in Grey's offices. Yeah. And you were very nice and then we didn't know. I didn't know you at all. Not that it's Phil, but we met you and then you left and then Phil and I said, or maybe we let but we said, oh, I hope that guy gets the show. He's so nice. You're welcome. Did I do any characters?

No, you were just so nice and Phil and I just liked you right away. Well, the way I remember, you know, the three of us became great friends. We really were the three musketeers and with Dennis, a quartet of musketeers, Kevin, but Phil just for our listeners. So John is an alumni, an illustrious alumni from the groundlings, along with a lot of people, and you knew Phil from the groundlings, and you knew how brilliantly he was. Yeah, when I got to the groundlings,

there was four people in the company that were like the stars. We thought of them as stars. It was Phil and Tim Stack. And then the women were dressed McNeill does a lot of voices on Simpsons forever. And Lynn Stewart, who was in Peewee's playhouse, Miss Yvonne. Paul Rubens was a Peewee Hermann. He invented Peewee Hermann at the ground links.

Nice on there in 81. And then I went back five years later. So, but when I got back in, he was already big in movies and Phil was like the king of the groundlings and everybody looked up to him. He was the only guy in the group. He had a house. He had a new car. He had a job.

The rest of us were dead for a walk. Was he doing voice over or can you just talk about his father? He was a graphic artist. His brother, John, was a music manager of the group, America, a horse with no name. And I asked John, how did Phil do this? He said, well, I just went to him and said, I need an album cover for America's greatest hits

and Phil drew this something, he goes, you mean something like this? And John looked at it and said something like this, this. And that's the cover. He was a graphic designer. I don't know what his training he was, I'm gonna bring those to the end. They're online.

Yeah, we still on Nash logo, that's still. And he got it all for, his brother was managing all these groups, Polka, Falco. So he could, he was just, and he do voiceover stuff too, commercial, someone sent me something recently where he was doing commercials for somebody, doing voices. Yeah, he could just do it. He was, he got in the groundlings, he was at a birthday party there, and there was an

intermission in the show. And all the actors backstage, and they hear all this laughter coming from the theater during intermission. And they go, what's going on? And they walk out and fills on stage, entertaining everybody. And they just said, you wanna be in the group?

He's like, sure. I mean, he was, you know, he was like that. He was, one time at SNOS walked to his office, I go, what are you doing? He was, I'm reading the magazine about fly fishing. Yeah. Oh, then three weeks later, I walked to his office, I go, what are you doing? He goes, I'm reading the magazine about fly fishing. Oh, then three weeks later, I walk in his office, what are you doing? He goes, I'm making flies. Three weeks later, he's got a full kit making flies that you fish with. And making them perfect. And I go, and he would just immerse himself in something for us. I want to move on to the next thing.

I'm gutting a Lunker bass. Want to help? I don't feel we have a show in an hour. Folks, look up Lunker bass. Making Antelope jerky. I forgot you were here. Grab a machete. He would skin a bear, Ethel.

He would skin a bear in the mountains and make coats out of it. With little kind of kind of mediums. But I wanted. He could. He could do that. He would skin a bearer in the mountains and make coats out of it with little Mediums if you want it good. He could do that. No, I know he became a pilot I flew with him a lot to a then he bought a plane and I flew them to Catalina Couple of times and well one time I did one time I flew the I forget where but anyway He became whatever he was doing So when we got in this plane, he starts talking to the tower and the radio and he sounded like a pilot from United Airlines. His whole demeanor changed.

It wasn't a fail talking to you. It was a pilot. This is not a problem. Yeah, just like he's American too. And when we got on his boat, he was like a Mr. Se, it just disappeared. He got in the fictitious into his boat stuff. He was surfing in his 20s,

so if he talked about serving the... Oh yeah, man, that's good. All right. Just, he became the character. Tom Maxwell is the director of the growling. He said, when time fell drove up to the growlings and he was wearing a truck and a cowboy outfit. He was just like a complete cowboy.

He's just, he has a truck. He just got in. And then he just started talking talking like cowboy. What you fell to fix in the day. I used to go to his house and he would play he played guitar, right? So one time he was imitating a black blues player, but a guy that was like in his 80s and just it was just hysterical, you know, and he's just playing. What do you want in funny boys? Can we go back to that origin thing and let me be back to whatever you want, David? Because it leads to a clip.

I have a method of my madness. But, you have a son? I think an audio clip goes back to that origin of coming to Sarah Live and meeting Phil and Jan and yourself and everybody in those weeks before me. Weeks before we would go downtown, we go, what was the club, the bottom line? We went down there and saw Buster Point Dexter.

So it was very otherworldly. And then you and Phil had this connection where Dino Mine on our producer, you guys would go back and forth with the gangster 40s voices. Hey, you don't hear, yeah. Well, what, yeah, that was forever. You guys would go for hours. Well, I was like 18 and I remember I'd watch these old movies

and I'd say to my mom, I go, why do they talk like that? So I'd like, hi Charlie, how you doing? Good to see you. What's going on? Nothing, then you. You know, the phone ring. I'm pretty good. How are you?

I'm the phone ring. Hello. And I thought it was so funny. What is it? And then in the groundlings in 1984, the Olympics was in Los Angeles. So they had an Olympic art festival and they funded, gave money to nine equity waiver theaters, meaning is 99 seats or less. So if you're in the actors union, you could perform in a theater that had 99 seats or less. So anyway, they gave money to nine of these

and the growlings was one and they picked, and they gave money to do a show, but I had to have the theme of the Olympics in it. So they picked Phil, he did a character, Chick Hazard, which was a satire, like Humphrey Bogart, Sam Spade and Phil at Marlowe's. They were like, slur those legs, they went up like a monkey boy looking for coconuts.

Is that so they picked that and I got to understudy it. And that's how I got, he had recommended me. So I was so grateful. I was like, I remember the first time I met him, he's walking on the hallway with like looking like Humphrey Bogger with the trench coat and had, and he goes, hi, John. I go, I go, no, no, I saw him. I go, hey Phil, I'm John Lovjez.

Yeah, John, I know who you are. I go, you do. Oh, yeah. I go, well,, I'm John Lips. Yeah, John. I know who you are. I go, you do. Oh, yeah I go, well, thanks for recommending me to understudy this party. Oh, yeah, I think you'll be fantastic And he was such a big star there in my head. I remember thinking oh my god Phil Hartman spoke to me like I didn't know him at all. He was like a legend there You know what I mean? Just it would be like, you know, like Kenan Thompson on SNS and on you. He's been there 20 years. You get the show. Mm-hmm. Oh my god. There's Kenan. He was like a host. It was like that when hosts talk to you. Yes. Huge.

You free that house. I go, I want to see your house. And he had me over the other house in the valley. And he said, you know, you're the first person from the groundlingslings I've ever had over to my house. I'm like, what? You're kidding. You've never had anyone over. He goes, no, I why? Because I'm very private, you know, this is a good thing. When he got SNL, he turned it down because I don't want to be famous. I like my life. I kept wanting to recommend him. And Lauren said, my second year, he said, we want to know people you work well with,

or Diana Miner said that's pretty good. So I recommended Phil and Tim and Lynn and Tress. And Lauren said, well, John, how long has Phil been in the groundlings? And I said 10 years, and he still hasn't made it. There must be a reason why. I said, yeah, I guess. Because I was saying, I said, Lauren, look at it. If you think I'm good, I go, you love Phil. He's a genius. You know, I looked, he was nine years older and you became like my big brother and I looked up to him and kind of how you dated looked up to me when you got the show. I'm nervous right now. Yeah, me too. I know you both. Do you mind if I call you dad? No, I just want to say about you. I don't blame you for being nervous. You're only human. You know,

but I'm sitting on John's lap. I'm just a person. Yeah, you are. There's no camera right now, but I'm doing a handstand. Enjoy that John's here on the table. David. Yeah. But when I say I'm just a person I'm joking of course. I'm not just a person. Yeah, so so anyway, so that so the Phil was always doing that 40s things and I loved old movies and I'd done an improv so we would always do it back and forth. We loved old movies and I didn't realize when he auditioned he had his audition. I feel the same days you and Jim Carrey, right? And Jim. So he had the some guy, the Simon one often,

a little of your audition and Jim Carrey, some guy was jumping off a building at NBC in Burbank. But anyway, if you watch our audition, one point, Lauren goes, John, go up there and Phil and I started doing those lines. And I didn't realize how much of them ended up in the sketch. So about three years later, so I said, Phil, we're always doing the 40 things.

Let's write a sketch. So I had the idea that I was the head of a studio and he was a, you know, movie star. I know what I was. I thought we were two pilot. And now the war is over, but he's just gone crazy. He actually, he's gone carried away with his part and I have to fire him. But then we, we wrote the sketch

together. And so let's, let's hear that now, because that was, you guys did it on the one or the other show or maybe the first few shows. What's okay? I don't know. We did it. We would have been there about three years or four years. I said, by the time you did this, yeah, I said, I go, we're always doing it. Let's write a sketch of it. So we wrote it Okay, and Phil the by the way Phil I'm just saying he said to me that this was his favorite sketch of you brought that up, Johnny. I think you should take a rest, too. A permanent one. What do you mean? I'm letting you go.

You mean? Yes, your contract isn't being renewed. But, Harry, I finished, Johnny. Don't miss words! I think you're steeped! Listen, Harry, if you're unhappy with my work, tell me now! You're through! You hear me through!

You'll never work in this town again! Don't leave me hanging by a thread! Let me know what I stand. I think you're the worst actor I've ever seen, and I get 500 letters a day telling me the same. What's the word on the street? I get back to that. Well, that was, you know, but the funniest part with its catch was when he goes,

he goes, I'm, uh, don't leave me hanging. I'm sorry, Harry. He goes, is it the pills? No, the booze, no, the sheep, the goats, no, no. Your wife, no, what? Huh? What? Stop it, get out.

That's funny. Does the sheep, the goats, no, no. What about the one where Dana, I think you're a robbing sort of thing. What? I'm sorry. Oh, David's here too something. What? I'm sorry. Oh, David's here too. I know, I'm sorry.

I'm forced to. I was in the middle of a sentence. Mm. He was, you know, sort of. You know what, David? Sort of one of my lap. What do you want to ask now? Hang on, let me crawl back to my chair.

When he goes, I think Dana was a robbing like a 50s malt shop and he goes, the other man, Johnny. No one's gonna hurt you, and Dana's like, oh, go blow her head off. He's like, the other man, Johnny. No one's gonna, he was like a cop talking you down. Do you remember this? That's not the one that was one where I had a catch phrase. I was Steve Gutenberg show. I tried to land this catch phrase. Why? I oughta pound you.

Yeah, we did a spoof of the movie, The Front Page. Yeah, but that was my catchphrase. And Lauren thought, I think it could catch wrong. Why I want to, I'm married yet. Why I oughta pound you. Holding up a fist. No, it was great though. They talk like that.

And that's sketch one more mission. It feels humor. I don't think it was that funny, but because sorry, Harry, I let you down. You've always been like a father to me. And I went, oh, Johnny, Johnny. Oh, Johnny, Johnny. He thought that was the funniest thing.

He's a dead man. I'm like that. That's funny. By the way, your dog's biting everyone. But he could do, I remember in his audition, you can see it online. He would, you know, could do impression. So he did it at the ground, he did it too, was a German talk show host, Gunter, something in his off-Jerbisch German.

And then he would impersonate Jack Benion German and John Wayne and German and Jack Nicholson and German. And I mean, he could do everything. He did that on his audition, I believe. Yeah. And the weird thing though, when he was on the show, he never did, he really didn't do any of his characters that he did in the groundlings. And I kept saying, why don't you do it?

He only did chick hazard once And that was in a sketch that I Had done was the Eddie Spamosa the gangster. He only did it once. He wouldn't do his characters I go, why don't you do them? He goes now. I'm saving it for my own show and He was supposed to do his own show after SNL, yet a deal. The sketch show? Yeah, the purple. I would forget what it's called. You like the purple something and it has been been time and he was very disappointed.

Like a different network or? No, at NBC, but his own show. Primetime then. Because I heard when I was leaving, or he was, he still was there when you guys left. All right, and then he said, oh yeah. He's been got got three year, maybe like $10 million to deal to stay.

And I was like, what? Jesus. I was like, holy shit. 10 million. You think I remember I asked him once, say that. I said, who do you think is funnier between Dana and David and I? And he said, well, John, you know, I think you know. We just fill our Lauren Phil.

I think you know, and it was me. It was me. I think you know, John. I oughta pound. What? Johnny, what are you saying I just made that up just now? You're the man, Johnny. Hey, fellas, how you doing?

So Phil had this sort of, this persona he would put on sometimes just to kind of lighten things up, that sort of high pitch. What's up, what's going on? That is Simpson's guy. Is that the character from the Simpson? That's kind of that vibe. That's what the me does.

Right, John? The answer is yes. Well, the Simpson's, they hired him a lot. He did a, I don't know. How many characters and they decided, you know, after he passed away, they were gonna like not do those characters anymore because he just did him so great. Tori McClure and a lot of them. But the funny thing is when I started doing the Simpsons after SNL and a lot of the writers there were all from, had been Saturday night live. Who is it, Conan?

Well, Conan was there. My first Daniels. The guys that were there, first John Schwartz welder. I don't think he was there when you guys were there. John Schwartz welder and George Meyer. George Meyer, yeah, and John Viti. And they'd all been on SNL. And the reason is they're all those Harvard, you know,

lamppoon. Right. They're all on Simpsons. They're all on SNL, you know. Al Gena, Mike Reese, who ran the Simpsons for years, and they went to Harvard, Lampoon. So they knew Cone, and Cone was like younger than the four years younger than the L-Ginger board.

Cone was there, yeah. So that's one reason I think they hired it. They knew us, you know, and they go, yeah, but they love Phil there. He was like, you know, a practically a cast member on the Simpsons. John, do you think we should get paid for what you do about the Simpsons too? John and I, like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, Looks like someone sketch got on the show. Do do do do. It's an emphasis. Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do because I remember that Phil was going to come in as a writer and he always had a brief case. He was hired as a writer. Yeah, and I remember you saying to me, you don't understand, he's the greatest. You were really pushing him to then become a cast member. So, was he a

feature player or a... I think he was a feature player. Oh, but I was telling you, so when he got the show, he goes, I got offered, I go, and he goes, I turn it down, I go, why? I don't want to be famous, I like my life, I don't want to do it. And then you go on the opposite. A few ways, yeah, on the opposite. He changed his mind, yeah, I was the opposite. Fame looks pretty good on you, Jenny.

Well, yeah, I wanted to be a performer. And wanted to be famous. So, well, I didn't want to just be famous for me I mean, you know as a comedian They know there's a difference anyway Point is thank you John. He he then said he would yes to the show. Yes, so I called him up Because I wanted the credit and said so Phil you changed your mind. You're gonna do the show I said so did you change your mind because of me because I

I convinced you to believe in yourself and that's why you changed your mind and he said no I'm like oh I really wanted the credit. It's just no I go. Oh all right Well, why did you change your mind and he said Joel, Joel Silver. Well, Joel Silver is a big producer of like lethal weapon. And we'd done a movie that Penny Marshall cast us in a Jumbajack flash, and Joel was producing it. So I remember, I kept saying to Joel, he got to me, he liked, I would do the all movie stuff.

I go, you got to meet my friend Phil, you're gonna love him. We do this thing so we did it and Joel loved it because he loved all movies, you know. So I said, what made you change your mind? He goes, Joe Silver, I go, what did he say? He said, he called me and said, you're crazy to turn this down, you've got to do it. But that's true.

He said, no, everyone's dying to be on the show, dying, it's like the biggest career break of your life. And he turned it down. Down. Yes. And he turned it down. And he turned it down. Down. Yes. And he turned it down. And he turned it down. And he turned it down.

Speaking, we're on John. You know, it's interesting to me. What's interesting to know. This is why you guys look up to me. Immediately you're cheering and meditating me. It's just how I talk. I'm not trying to talk like that. But when I emphasize something,

it comes off like that. Baldur dash. Baldur dash. Jealous. Jealous. I'm not trying to talk like that, but when I emphasize something it comes off like that. Baldur dash. Baldur dash. Jellis. Jellis. Hey, John, I like your glasses. Then you put the glass down and go, Jellis.

Jellis? One time we were doing a show, William Shatton, or was the host. And Danick came, he was the host. Danick came up to me and goes, John, what? I mean, go ahead, Tommy. Well, there was a sketch. I think I was playing Ricardo Montabon from Wrath of Con, of course.

I had a chest playing thing. I was like, gah, gah, gah. But then I think I went on stage and did an off stage thing or I changed something. Well, you had three sketches. Oh, I thought I did three characters and one sketch. I mean, I'm in, Thor-ree, I teased him for a week about that.

John, you remember how many I was in? Tha-ri! Did it lose? Well, we were just laughing. And John did injury as a deed. It was so overtly a competition, a friendly competition. We just made fun of the whole concept. Well, you said we got to talk about it because it's...

It's too... No, that makes sense. So we did, and then one time we almost got, oh, we're deeply due. We got in a, we almost got, we didn't get in a fist fight, but we were really, remember I asked you could I do it? You go, go ahead and then I go, I'll be mad and then I did it and you go, I can't believe you did it.

I go, I asked you, you go, well, I was tired and then we got in a car, big argument. And I mean, really big. Like we almost started punching and just stopped talking. And then an hour later, Dana said, I'm argument. I mean, really big. Like we almost started punching. And then that happens. And then an hour later, Dana said, I'm sorry. I did? Yes. God, I said, that's all right.

I got the syndrome. I was tired. I go, well, that's why I asked you. So I wanted to not have this happen. But did you say sorry? But Jim Downey wrote it. I didn't write it down. But I jumped by that point.

I said sorry in the Hans and Franz character. I said, I'm sorry. No, I shouldn't have. But then some sketch of Jim Downey wrote. And Jim, I said, you the Hans and Franz character. I said I'm sorry. No, I shouldn't. No, some sketch. Jim Downey wrote and Jim. I said, you got to ask Dana. That's his bit. That's what it was like. You know, you come up with a tiny little thing and they go, I'm going to turn it to a sketch and then if someone else took it, you know, it's like comedian stealing your jokes, your pants, you go nuts. I remember, um, get to know me.

I went up Danny DeVito was hosting and, uh, and I said, uh, I go, Hey, Danny, you want to get a, oh, he was hosting and he just done twins it up to a hundred million ago. Danny, you want to get ahead in this business? Get to know me because I was nobody. Right. And he goes, hmm, cute. Cause that was the ahead in this business? Get to know me, because I was nobody. And he goes, hmm, cute. Because that was the joke, like you're get to know me. Yeah, I remember that I'm a nobody character.

And then I just started to write it up. I go, oh, that'll be something to write up. And I go, when am I going to name the character? Well, they said once you're on the show, anything you made up before that you own, but anything after that we own. And they wouldn't pay us as writers, and they go, you're not a writer. I go, but you put my stuff on every week. It was ridiculous.

So I said, well, when I'm going to name the character and I go, oh, I'll name it John Lovements. I'll name it me. And then they can't say if they say anything, I go, you know, you get a movie, get to know me movie, then you get it. So I named it that. That was smart. You should have learned it. You can give us a little bit for people out there. I'll see you in a few minutes.

Give us a little bit of a little. Couple bars. What I would have sounded like all those years ago, and eight age, you are, I'm Phil Donahue and you are something else. Let me tell you, everybody's talking about the liar. And here you are. And you got a sketch called Get. Get to know me.

So go ahead, give us a couple of lines, please. Please. Hello, I'm John Loveitz. Hello, I'm John Loveitz. Do you wanna get ahead in life? Then I have one piece of advice for you. Get to know me. Get to know my likes, my dislikes.

What makes me tick? What makes me me? Where's my secret freckle? Have I always had this much hair? Why do women call me the anchor? Get to know me. Now here's the letter I recently received. Dear John, before I got to know you, I was nothing. No, I know, but I was trying to be a performer. Couldn't get hired at all. Then I got to know you and today they call me

Dana Carvey. Get to know you and today they call me Dana Carvey Get to know me Did you use my name in that sketch? No, just made that up. What is it? I do this once a lot of time before I got to know you. I was nothing nowhere nobody I was short with black hair look like everybody else then I got to know you well I'm still short and my hair is still black, but today they call me Japan. Japan. Japan?

What does that mean? It's short and black. I'm taking credit for the whole country. I think I say Alpuchino. Dear John, before I got to know you, I was nothing, no one. Nobody. I had crooked teeth and...

It's not where all these things come back. Nobody looked back. Do my hair is still, my teeth, I got my teeth fixed and my hair is straight. And today they call me Queen Elizabeth Saturn. Now, you got to do that in your standup. John is a great standup. It's funny, you have plays all over the country.

You should do that in your standup. I've seen you cut out all the rest and do that. You son of a bitch. You son of a bitch. You know what I always say? You've got to do it. And I would say that to each other. You son of a bitch. You know what I'm gonna do. You've got a new film. I would say that to each other. You son of a bitch bastard.

No, with that stuff, you know, then you can have a solid four minutes if you do that twice. But you do that. And John, can you do just for, for, because it's fun to wind people up. Master Thadsman. Remember when we were playing Vegas and someone mentioned it and you did this little solo quay, you did a little, yes. Can you do that or is that hard? I must all start you I must a thiz behead. I got now from the diaries is the greatest act of all time. I must a thizbian. Thank you. And then there was the time. And I

had the keen insight to realize, Shylock should be played as a dainn, and Hamlet as a Hebrew. The theatrical community of London was so dumbfounded by what is now, they well known fact. They begged me to perform my version of the melancholy Jew before the queen herself. To be or not to be, oh, what a question. Well, you can imagine the response. But for those of you

who can't hear tears, Massachusetts has been this is Lawrence Olivier teach me to act. This is John Gilgurth teach me to act. This is Prince Philip. Go fight yourself. And so I did. I talk them all Olivier Gilgurth Guinness O'Too, Schwarzenegger. Oh yes. All those muscles he has. Acting by God the Man's stick. So, no, you got two bits for your stand-up. You should do, get to know my- Dude, you try doing that stuff

when I started doing stand-up and it didn't work. It will work now, John, because so much more comfortable. No, but I do, I do, you do it like these are from Sarah at Live. You set it up. Well, I could, but what I've more. No, but I do. I do. No, you do it like these are from Sarah live. You said it out. But what I've done made me a lot really works. And I think you would agree. I said, I go, I'm John Lovitz. You know, I just saw my friend David Spade the other day and I saw a standup act.

And I think it went something like this. And I do my best. I just hold. And then I do the same thing with you, Dana. And what did you have to the standing emotion? I go, I saw my friend Dana act and then I do the same thing with you Dana. And what did you have to this? I go I saw my friend Dana Carter the other day. So I stand back. He was really good.

And I figured when something like this, you can just do your act. Saves a lot of time writing a whole lot of it. I do it. Sorry. You used to know me. You used to know me. And that name uh, I'm Dana Gane.

You used to know me. Is it too close to get to know me. You used to know me, but not Neymar. I'm De Nagane. You used to know me. Is it too close to get to know me? I used to have a character, temple woman. Temple woman? That's, is that kind of like church? I don't see any resemblance. What is in that special?

What do you mean? She's in temple, you're a lady. This is a one. What's her catchphrase? What's her catchphrase? Is it not unusual? Mine is. Isn't that something?

Fail? What an idiot. Oh my stomach is. That's bad, Shell. I think Jerry farted. Then you did something. I thought it was like the liar, but the Fiber? The Fiber. Yeah, the Fiber.

Fiber McGee. I had a dog fought my face. Yeah, that's the platform. Oh, then you, David. I remember I did a sketch fought my face. Yeah, that's the platform. Oh, then you, David. I remember I did a sketch. The richest Mr. Cambie, the richest man in the world, but he was an idiot.

I go, well, I'm off to Safari. Goodbye, everybody. Goodbye. That was the Lord. And Lord was like, you can't just say goodbye, everybody. Goodbye. It was a whole character. Yeah, I saw Conan, if you're listening,

he goes, he's just saying a catchphrase. He was desperate for a catchphrase. No, Conan, there was a whole character behind it. It was the richest man in the world, and he's an idiot. There was a character. And I had a line when I, they go, I go, oh, Phil was in that sketch.

They go, they go, what do we do while you're gone? I go, and I had a Kit Kat, but I go, by Kit Kat. So then Phil and Whitney Brown are sitting there, go, can you believe we work for this? Now Phil gets on the phone for Geo's. Yeah, buy Kit Kat. And then when he goes,

can you believe we work for this? It is. Such a moron. And the phone rings Phil goes, I know, he's so idiot. What? Hello. What?

Oh, you're kidding. Whitney goes, what? And Phil goes, Kit Kat just went up 300 million. Then I come back in. And everybody, I forgot, I wall it. Right, and then they go, Kit Kat just went up 300 million. I go, oh, you see, by what you love, you can't go wrong. Well, Lauren thought that was the funniest thing he died with that.

He died laughing. And he goes, you can't just say goodbye, we're ready, goodbye. The next year, a man named David Spade. Oh, boy, I know it's coming. Does this get where he's on it since his bye bye bye. Wait a minute, goodbye everybody. I'm not saying you took it from the airplane.

Phone, I go, buy all my joy. 300 million. No, I'm not saying you took it from me. I'm not saying that at all. Buy a hundred thousand dollars. I'm saying that let you do that. But he, Lauren, he wouldn't let me do a good buy. Lauren goes here my savior.

Everything about that is great. John did this week, Whiskey Bid. Yeah, that's true. And he's saying goodbye. Of all the sketches with the goodbye word in it, it's in the top five. So that is Evelyn Quinn's. And bye bye.

At the end of it, the character that tells a ribble dream. Rrrrri tree with John Bowman is sadly passed away wrote in Christine's and they wrote a great sketch. What did he sound like? Hellio. He sounds a little bit like the other guy. He comes to the wheels of a ribble tree. He was a definite 1940s.

Yeah, same guy as Mr. Cambie. He's a Eric Blower, this actor. I'd see you on the X-O. No, he was a higher pitch. He was in a lot of Like Fred Astaire movies. Hello, the end of I go. We'll be back next week with another, you know, Tams of ribble G. Goodbye everybody. Goodbye. He's got a stockman in there. And they said the whole control Both was cheering him because I finally got it in because you got it. You know, so mad. I'll get it on the area He's a jolly. It didn't help me with the show, you know, remember I'd always say I'd always talk back to Lauren

You were fine. I would say everyone would say their ideas on a Monday. I go wait wait wait What I go what are your ideas and Danny would look me I couldn't believe it how back to learn No Jesus Christ. What about you Lauren. What do you got? Um, right. Let's do a good show because it's better to do a good show than a bunch of. They wouldn't give us credit as writers. I could just put my name on there to help.

Nope. I got a credit. Only one time. Loop. When I was voted the most racist comedian of 1986 because of Ching-Chang. Right. And they said, satellite, I released a statement,

Dana Carvey is Ching Chang. So I got over shift. I got nominated for the vote. All of a sudden. Yeah, and then you guys said, you got the race. How does it race? It's a real guy that you met that had a pet store.

Yeah. And he was Asian in that time. So it was no stereotypical thing in it. Well, John, acting is considered racist if you play a character that you're not. So I could, I could, you'd have one, I could play one part once. You can't just, you can't just play a fact. Oh, I'm not. And then anything else is, you know, you're not that right, right. You just have to play yourself.

You'll go, you're not really this. You're not really that. I go, well, I'm not not I'm not really any of the people You can't just play a buffoon the rest of your life. You have to mix it up right I have to wait what what what how dare you? You know this has been a great time Well, I'm sorry David David's day that you're upset that I'm so much better at golf than you Oh, yeah, What are people? Wayne Grews keeps bouncing.

David L Hartman that you know. What would you like people to know about your friends? He has a little heart in your final moments. What would you say? He had a huge heart that they don't know. Well, as Phil was kind of a servant, as he was kind of as talented as he was, he was equally modest and you know, he was, he loved to laugh.

You and I made him laugh like cry laugh. He loved that and he was a fan of people. He was not competitive at all. No, I had no, but he was the best. You know, he was just, uh, I would say, well, they never some do improv when he was the best. He was just, well, they never some do improv. When he was in the groundlings, and then I remember I got in the company. So the first half of the show was sketches

and then the second half was all improv. So Tom Maxwell was the artistic director, so he'd like to say, John, you and so and so I'll get on stage, you and so and so. So then there'd be, he'd like to say, John, you and so and so I'll get on stage, you and so and so. So then there'd be a, he'd go, okay, Phil, Phil and someone else and someone else on stage. And the rest of us were sitting, you sit on the floor at the, at the base of the stage, you know, waiting to be called up. And so whenever he would call Phil, we was, it was real improv. Second city I was there once,

they get suggestions and they go backstage for 45 minutes and write it out. Oh. I go, that's not in, probably you have to just go. So they'd say, where are they? They're in a department store, this and this. Lights out, come up, go. Yeah.

And everybody would be talking and Phil wouldn't say anything. But we were all waiting, We knew he was gonna say something that you would never imagine, and it would be hysterical. So we're all waiting and you just see Phil, as he's just thinking, and you could see he's getting like, I don't know why, just angry, or an angrier, and then all of a sudden he'd go, yeah, well, I think that that that that that that that that a block.

And he would just explode in anger. And like the point where his face was beat red, you can see the vein in his forehead and just screaming. And it was just hysterical. And it was just, and we'd all be on the floor dying laughing. We go like, what's he gonna say? What's he gonna say? Cause this, the improv would start and he's not saying anything.

And we're all just going, man, he's it's coming any second now and then just like something like you never Imagine he was just the best improviser and Tim stack was in the company was great The best guy besides Phil and I said but Tim I go wasn't feel like amazing. He goes oh he was on another level There's the dog He goes, oh, he was on another level. There's the dog. Yeah, the dog. We all decided to make Neil Young laugh. Was it Phil?

I know that Phil and I remember we were at dinner with Neil Young for some reason. And I said, let's make, let's like, I was Neil Young. I remember being at a Phil was doing like a Japanese pilot. He was doing, you know, could do all these voices and characters. And we got Neil Young just helpless.

Come on, fellas. Was he laughing? Yeah, laughing his ass off. I'm helpless. Helpless. We couldn't invite everyone, it was just 100 people. The animal that was in our studio, we apologize for the behavior in the audio time.

I'm going to go to Jerry, just chewed Heather's leg off. Jerry wasn't getting enough attention and decided to take revenge He's now outside in a plastic punishment David and Dana are two human beings with their own podcast and yet They're jealous of my 12 year old 15 pound dog Jerry here's John's Jerry brother. I mean a third of you are sure that is the two wild together This is my imitation of you two We're interviewing John love.itz, pinch me, pinch me.

Does anybody remember my impression of you? I would do all the time when we tease each other at SNL. I go quick impression of you. What's going on? What are we doing? I don't know what I'm scared. What's going on? What a burn.

I'd say it's my best impression. What a burn. Yeah, it's my best impression right back to the show. I think we need all that Greg. All right, John, I got to go. Let's just see yourself out. Yes, and I will see myself to your... John Lovitz, coming to... All right, let's just say it. He's at the Tropicana.

He's in a residency there, watch for him. In Las Vegas, in the Tropicana. He's in a residency there watch for him in Las Vegas factory at the In the Tropicana hotel Las Vegas, Nevada once a month. Oh, and I'm on a game show now With the bar and all in company. Yes Funny you should ask That's an email it's like Hollywood squares, but it's just there's no tick-tack toe under six to me. Already told you this. No, that's the name of the show.

Aren't those on in the middle of the night? Like on, right? That's the name of the show. Yeah, like three in the afternoon and two in the morning. Two in the morning for insomniacs. It's a funny show though. It's fun. They shoot a great comic.

So Whitney Cummings on there. Tiffany Haddish, how you man, Dale, Louis Anderson. God bless shoot a very comic. So Whitney Cummings on there, Tiffany Haddish, how he manned Dale, Louis Anderson, God bless them was on it. Scott Satin and Sally passed away, created the show Byron Allen. And great to me produces it. He wanted to guard Dale.

Oh yeah, yeah. Everybody put you to, from Molly and Mike or something. You turn it down. All right, I'm gonna leave, so everyone give me about 20 steps. John Lovis has been our thanks for coming on, John. John, thank you so much.

I'm glad you're here to help. I'm glad you're here to help. I'm glad you're here to help. I'm glad you're here to help. John Lovis has been our thanks for coming on, John. John, thank you so much. I'm glad you're here to help. John, thank you so much.

I'm glad you're here to help. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much.

John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. 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 Corkrin of Cadence 13 and Charlie Feinen of Brillstein Entertainment. The shows lead producers Greg Holtman with production and engineering support from Serena Regan and Chris Bezel of Cadence 13. engineering sport from Serena Regan and Chris Bezlov, Cadence 13.