Good Hang with Amy Poehler - Tina Fey

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Tina Fey knows you have to kill every time. Amy hangs with her comedy wife, talking about being a workaholic, going on tour together, and the joys of watching Pat Battle on NBC. Host: Amy Poehler Guests: Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Zarna Garg, Rachel Dratch, and Fred Armisen Executive Producers: Bill Simmons, Amy Poehler, and Jenna Weiss-Berman For Paper Kite Productions: Executive producer Jenna Weiss-Berman, coordinator Sam Green, supervising producer Joel Lovell For The Ringer: Supervising producers Juliet Litman, Sean Fennessey, and Mallory Rubin; Video producers Jack Wilson and Belle Roman; Audio producer Kaya McMullen, Video editor Drew van Steenbergen, booker Kat Spillane Original Music: Amy Miles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, everyone. This is Amy Poehler. This is the first episode of my podcast. Thank you for being here. I like to be five or six years late to any trend. It only gets better from here. Or it only goes down from here. I don't know. We'll see. I just want to make it clear. I am not an expert. I'm not a therapist. I'm not here to change your life. I don't care if you get any better. I don't have advice for you. I just want us to have fun and lighten up a little. And I don't know. I want us to feel like there. There's a way to have laughs amid all of the craziness that is life. So if you're listening to this while you're working out or folding laundry or maybe you're sitting in your car, avoiding your kids, maybe you're listening to this, I don't know, in-laws basement next to the Bowflex machine and it's Christmas and you're questioning the choices you've made in life. whatever it is this is a show here to have fun and make you laugh and I'm not here to judge okay so my guest today is Tina Faye Tina is my wife really in life she is my comedy partner in many ways and she has um you know I talk about it in the podcast a little bit but she has been along this journey with me we've really experienced a lot of things together at the same time in life. Sometimes I feel like Tina and I are kind of a group with two members, and we've had a

lot of parallel things happen at the same time, kids and TV shows and career, and we're lucky enough to still like each other and want to tour together. So we're going to talk and hang out, and like any good hang, you want to make sure that anyone's invited. So without further ado, Here are some of my favorite people, Seth Myers, Fred Armisen, Rachel Dratch, and Zarnagarg, a great stand-up and friend who's been joining Tina and I on the road and see if they have any questions for Tina, anything they think I should ask her. And honestly, I just want to check in and see if they think this is a good idea. This episode is presented by the Toyota Grand Highlander. Life's journey brings constant change filled with exciting surprises, new chapters, and grand challenges. and the Toyota Grand Highlander is more than a vehicle,

it's your partner in embracing all life throws at you. Blinked and the kids have grown up, the third row can fit three adults. From daily routines to life-changing adventures, the Toyota Grand Highlander is up for every grand challenge. Learn more at Toyota.com slash Grand Highlander. Toyota, let's go places. wait dratches zoom is in the dark

dratch is in a haunted new england attic it's very dratch to join and then carry her laptop into every room in her own i'm planting it now drash is putting her headphones on it away it's a 30% chance she strangles herself i know this is a very typical dratch entry Dratch's headphones look like You know when you were trying to untangle Christmas lights? Yeah, I didn't even know this kind of cord could tangle like that.

I'm holding up everything. No, no, this is what Amy wanted. Just the sound of untangling headphones is great for like a first podcast and stuff. All right, ready to rock. Maybe I should reintroduce everybody since we're all on Mike here. Zarnagarg, Seth Myers, Fred Armisen, Rachel Dratch. Welcome to Goodhang. for being.

It's great to be here. It's been a great hang so far. It's an honor. I mean, everything that's happened before the video has been great. I mean, it feels like it's been real smooth. That's on me. That's on me. You can hear this microphone okay?

Does this sound all right? Check, check. Can we just go down the line and have everyone to clap? We really need you guys to clap. Oh, I didn't hear us Arna. Okay. Okay, okay. We really need to get this clap right.

guys. Okay, Seth, it's not picking up my door. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. The door fell right. Amy, this is the episode. This is it. 100% Zarn. I don't think it's very unfair that Dratch is using this time

to record an episode of background, with Rachel Dredge. Dredge, who is at the door? That's the question. I ordered food. I haven't heard an old-timey doorbell like that. Wait, wait, one more, one more thing. The batteries are out of my hearing.

So I actually do my phone. I'm going to my voice about it, but I don't need to have a microphone, right? Dratch, we're probably going to edit you out of this. This is the most embarrassing Piscese. Also, Dratch, if you ordered from a second restaurant, you should tell us now. I didn't do a bang-bang. Already, it's been a good hang. I'm ready.

I'm ready. And you all. And you all know Tina really well. So I guess my question to you is, what would you want to hear her talk about on this podcast or any podcast? She doesn't do a lot of them. Her dad was really good at caricatures.

So are there any other artistic talents that she got from her dad? Because Tina's good at caricatures too, like drawing. But how do you put that into like a question for her? I guess it's more like, um, did she get that from her dad? Like how much, like, I remember him being really funny in his own way, too.

Yeah. So. She is an intimidating presence, Tina. Like, you know, people are nervous around her. I was nervous around her when I first met her. I wonder if she ever gets asked, like, like, she's intimidating in the way that a man would be to me. But I wonder if she ever gets asked, like, the girl questions. Like, what dress are you going to wear?

That's interesting. Is that something he deals with at all? Or do people just go? to her like, oh no, this is not a Tina big question. Do you want me to ask her the dress question? Ask her the dress question, set. I'll ask her. Ask her. And can you do it? Can you

whisper it in like a phone call late at night? Can you say, what dress you're going to wear? Hey, Zarna wants to know. I know you guys, your time is limited, so I won't keep you much longer. But just before

we go, you are all doing tons of podcasts. hosting them in them like what what advice do you have for me as I launch what I just know from knowing you that like whenever you ask people questions in real life you really are interested and you're just on like the cliff of like giving a hint as to what your opinion is just not too much but just enough so it like it's really it just draws you in so there's no advice. I'm just like, every time you ask me a question, I'm like, ooh, I think Amy's really asking me a question. Is it, is it, that sounds kind of leading the witness a

little bit? No, no, no, no, no. It's more like, um, this is going to be a fun conversation. So, for example, this is not a real thing, but you be like, so you really like landing in London? Like, that's like a good airport to land in. And I'm like, oh, something's, this is about to be a conversation about what you don't like about. I also think you're very good at not letting, sometimes you help turn people away from the negative narrative that they might want to lay out to you. So you're really good friend and that you listen

and I think you can tell when people just need to like unburden themselves or something. But I feel like more than maybe anyone else I know, you're very good at saying, can I invite you to look at this a different way? May I offer you some feedback? Not even feedback. It's more like I just,

I you know it's not like this is how you should but like you're telling me something and I see how you're seeing it but like can I just ask you to maybe see it this way where you won't be as hard on yourself and you won't be as sad about it I don't I feel like you've always been very good that way thanks but you know you don't you have like a regular voice that you're not using right now do you want to do your real voice oh yeah I'll do my real voice okay hey guys that oh it's so it was so hard to do my other voice that's it hurts it hurts you It hurts, right? Yeah, it hurts. It hurts. Anyway, it's so great you guys are doing this today. I love you, and I have to go. I'm so sorry. Go, go.

I love you. Thank you for doing this, Seth. I have to go to. Everyone's got to go. It means the world that you guys did this. Thank you for letting me, like, start. This is like the ground floor. Thanks for being there for me with this and so many other things.

I can't wait to see you all in person very soon. I really love you guys. Thanks so much for doing it. I love you. Thank you all. Bye. guys. Bye. Thank you. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Uber Eats is delivering game day deals because you can't watch eight hours of basketball a day on an empty stomach. I love to

watch TV on my couch and then never get back up. And so once I'm down, it's hard to stand. And I definitely don't want to drive and get food. So Uber Eats delivers my food to me. And then I shuffle over to my door in my pajamas and I grab the food. So whatever you're craving, Uber Eats has deals on all your game day favorites. You never have to miss a single buzzer-beater. Get game day deals on all your favorites.

Only on Uber Eats. Order now. All right, we're going to officially start. And begin. And we need everyone to clap. Personality on. It's not working. We just need a clap. We need you to clap. And then count backwards from 10. 10.

Tina, thank you for being on the first official podcast that I've ever done for Good Hang. It is my absolute pleasure. I really, really appreciate it, buddy. You have done many things for me over the years, including getting most of the jobs that I, helping me get most of the jobs that I have and the career that I have. But this means the most. This means the most? Okay, great.

But I am kind of nervous. Why? Well, I mean, I guess it's funny to tell you. talk to your friends that you've known for so long and then interview them, I guess. But we should probably, I guess we should probably picture this as, like, I'm going to picture that there's a room full of, like, I'm going to picture like there's an audience. Okay. And not just Jenna.

Yeah, because it's the only way I can get off. No, I'm just kidding. I have to step on your neck and talk to it. You know what else? Sometimes when I hear things like this back, I go, oh, why was my voice so nasal and annoying? So should we just take a little minutes, just let's warm up our voices. Oh, do you remember the character that Keenan did on S&L where he was a guy saying, Just Fix It.

Remember he was like a New Yorker that just kept going, fix it? No, I don't remember that. I remember him saying, let me hold that baby. Do you remember that character? Did that air? I don't know. It was a really funny. It was almost like a premise for a short story where he was just like a sweet old man in a train station.

And then somebody was a young host was there with her baby. and she was like chatting with him and he just goes let me hold that baby and it was her dilemma was like I don't actually know this man like should I let him hold my baby like what if he runs away what if he smashes it like a basketball into the ground let me hold that baby okay but you don't do a lot I'm very I'm very selective you are my podcast work I appreciate that and you were so good on Bowen and Matt's oh my gosh thank you it was so funny thank you that is one podcast that I do listen to and enjoy that and draft anything dratch says um those guys are funny but I felt a lot of pressure I went in there I going knowing like you have to do that one minute thing at the

end and I I um something I think about a lot and I fall short of it constantly but a million years ago I was a writer still at S&L and I remember Steve Martin came to do something on the show he wasn't hosting but he came the show and he had just he had just been on Letterman the night before and I said oh hi how you doing I said oh my gosh you were so funny letterman last night and he just very matter-of-factly said oh well you have to kill every time and that has haunted me every day since and he's right and it's like oh right like if you're a beautiful actress from I don't know like Melrose place no just whatever like you're just a beautiful actress you can go on and be like I went to the store once but

if you're a comedy person you have to kill every time yeah oh god have you ever i mean i i think i know the answer to this but i feel like i've never got really gotten a job from an audition ever oh you feel like you've gone into an audition for something and nailed it and been like i got it no no never because again i'm not really so interesting on paper like i remember going to commercial auditions in Chicago and we had friends at that time Chicago was a thriving town for commercials I don't know if it still is but there were you know huge ad agencies were based there and they would shoot things in Chicago and a lot of people that we worked with at Second City would get a lot of work that would pay for their whole year you know I did a little

bit of voiceover work I had a pager remember you'd have a pager be like guys my pageers blown up I might have a voiceover audition downtown I got to go There was a casting director in Chicago, who shall not be named, who was a commercial casting director. And I had kind of wonky teeth. So it was this kind of thing where we'd go out for this, remember the term bite and smile? Yes. So you'd pretend a bite into a hamburger, and then you'd like, you'd smile. Yeah.

Yeah, and it could change your life. You could pay for like three years of your low rent. Yeah. and I knew right away that with my teeth I was never going to get a bite and smile like there's no way a brand would be associated with my teeth and this casting director just to get to know people would ask them

what's your most embarrassing moment to get you to? And I had a full like I got probably nervous in that moment but I was like no thank you I didn't want to tell her my most embarrassing moment because by the way that's insane like that's that's one of the that's a tiny micro version of when we try to explain the 90s to younger people of like how so many things you're like oh that lady would literally be fired and tried in front of a jury for asking you that in the workplace um i had a bite and smile type thing where it was a McDonald's audition um and uh everything always was like okay so take you know two trains and a thing and get way out to wherever this audition is and

then you get there and it was for some new kind of happy or drive-thru meal whatever and I went all the way to the thing and I got there and I realized as we were going into the session like oh this this commercial is for a person pulling into a drive-through and I have this you know scar on the left side of my face that's way faded now but it was much more prominent then I was like similar to the tea thing I was like guess who's not going to book this pulling up to the drive-thru with my short hair with the perm on top and a big scar and uh and so I just remember in the thing being up like pulling into the chair like scooting like I'm in the drive-thru being like I'll have the fish fillet meal and my scar will have an orange soda and then just leaving

you were like you're not going to reject me I'm going to reject you I'm going to reject you it's like what are we doing here I traveled 45 minutes each way I mean we talk about work a lot in when we're together I think we work together really well what is your relationship to work and has it changed I I think it has changed I am a work based person Like, that's, if I were an animal, I would be like a carriage horse, I think. You know, they say like, oh, no, these, some, or like some kinds of dogs, like, no, they want to work or they'll go insane. So I am that kind of animal, I think. But I also, I have just recently, really recently found that I have, because I went through such a stretch for so many decades where it was like, you go to work for 12 to 13 hours and then you come home.

home and you try to be with your family until they go to sleep and then you're like then you've got to do your homework and i've only in the last year or two had windows of time we're like i don't have homework tonight i can just be a person in this world and maybe like watch a program do you feel like you can actually enjoy it in that moment i can't although it's still you know if i think any other writer would say this too that the only the closest i can get to joy and peace is like the 36 hours after I've turned something in because that's the only time and you're like I did it I really I don't have any homework but I'm still a very good good carriage horse because I did my work yes and then after like 36 hours it creeps back in of like okay I'm going to get

notes back or I'm yeah go to get the head to the next thing I will say though I did go back to work this fall uh on a set for the first time in a long time and it was actually and I and I worked hard to build it to be a really healthy set and really like humane hours and it was nice to be among other humans and making something. I also was extremely purposeful about bringing together people who I believed were good people who would not make any trouble for me. Yes. And it really made a difference. I feel like that's success. Success. That's a luxury.

Is getting to be, to realize I only, if I can, want to work with people who I know will not think that chaos is how to be creative. It's how to be creative. And you know, I think as so many TikTok stories

we won't go into which ones, but people are like hearing about movie sets and being like, that's crazy what's happening there. I was like, that's not that crazy. Like that's pretty, like movie. especially are about just people going crazy and acting out and then one or two people trying to harvest a series of photographs of those people that can be assembled into a film. But it's mostly poorly behaved crazy people being indulged by various parties. And we have seen and worked at places and this is no, you know, big scoop. Like SNL is one of them where people come in with their

system of how they like to work and they're like people when they're nervous or insecure are often not at their best and the way they act is wild because they're nervous or insecure yeah people get insecurity makes people behave wildly i even have learned to realize that we talk about relationship to work that i have now learned that i get very very grouchy and nervous when something has to be written because it is like having a stomach flu and you're like it's the sick you feel before you either eject it one way or the other it's like and it's got to come out one end grouchy until it comes out and i can at least see that pattern but doesn't prevent it from happening but i'm like okay here's what's happening i feel that way

about when i'm in a situation where i don't feel like there's a strong leader like i'm being directed by someone who doesn't quite know yeah what they're doing or there's but there's no one telling us what to do. Like, there's no one in control. I have that grouchiness where I feel like I'm going to, I'm either going to have to take over here or I'm going to have to, like, you know, check out. Yeah.

And I've been in a couple projects where, like, week one. I'm like, oh, no. Like, we don't have a captain. Like, this ship is going down. And you can see months ahead. Yep. How do you, yeah. I don't know, how do you, you just kind of,

I guess you just watch funny videos in your trailer? Yeah, I think the one way is, yeah, you shut down. And the other way is you try to clumsily take over and make people uncomfortable. Yeah. Those are the only two options. They really are. I know. But like, hold on.

I'm going to take a lip balm break. Do it up. Because I need, my lips are dry. This is brought to you by lip balm. The concept of lip balm. The lip balm foundation. Promoting all lip bombs everywhere. I mean, I guess this is friendship is letting your friend use the.

I know about this because I have a middle schooler. I love Lenege. I mean, the question is, like, how well do you have to know someone to let them stick their finger in their lip-in? I'm not trying to do that. Okay, you don't want to? I don't want to. Well, I'll think about that all day. I'm afraid it will wipe off what little colors.

But you're not a germapho. I'm not a germaphobe, and I think it's a real unattractive quality in someone else when they're like a germaphove. Especially in a man. In a man, it is such a disgusting. Steel breaker. Like a man who's worried about, like, I don't shake hands. It's like, you're a man. Shake hands and then go wash your hands, you freak.

Yeah, you're the one with poop on your hands. Like, who said anything about poop on their hands until you did? I don't know. But we know a couple of people that are germaphobes. We have to watch out. That's the thing we have to watch out for in our 50s is the thing that was like our cute eccentricity becomes our genuine. mental illness the thing that's like you know how they don't like to drive yeah well well I was I got my license had expired and during the pandemic you were like you it was before the pandemic you were

like you got to get your license back to me you're like you're like you can't be one of those older ladies that doesn't drive I'm like you're right you're right you're right I do know I love to drive you you you do you're good of driving and you love it and your name of your car is my car is named Karen because she's a white Subaru. And I said this before, which is I feel like Amy came this close to being a Karen. Yes. Like that, yeah, because as you've said, like a lot of the actual worst Karen's were, in fact, named Amy in real life. The woman that called the guy that was birdwatching was named Amy at the same time Amy Coney

Barrett was up and running or getting up and running. There was a lot going on with Amy's. We missed it by an inch. Yeah. it's a real yeah but is there anything you feel like you see me doing that you should like I should be careful about warn you about that's a good question I think that is what women do for each other is they say like hey you know like you know the pills that you take for your flying you shouldn't take them when you're not flying when you're not flying oh my chair made a fart sound that wasn't

me um uh no i feel like i know what i what um you should tell me about which is the the especially coming out of the pandemic yeah my mumbling talking yeah you're mumbling and sometimes and i when i'm thinking really fast like it really is um even i'm like wow what's going on there like i have to work to fully form my words what do you think is going on there i think i stayed home a lot in the pandemic and muttered to myself and i hope that's it and not, it's not a precursor to some kind of mental decline. It was like her muttering started when she was 53. And then she became one of the Crum brothers from the movie Crum.

Everyone paused the podcast, go watch Crum real quick. But I'm trying to think if there, I don't. Well, I know that I, like, I play this game with my friends. This would be a fun game to play together, which is like, what is the version of you? That's like your biggest fear you will turn into. I know mine exactly. Okay, what is it? how do I say this without saying it?

Mm-hmm. I want to write it down and show it to you. By the way, I have my computer here, you know, because that's what people do with podcasts, is they have their computer. Because you're playing Candy Crush the whole time. And you have one window open with porn. I wish we could do the whole podcast

where I say really, like, the wrong information about everything, and then I pretend to look it up and I verify it in front of you. Oh, also I wish I was just smoking weed the whole time. What if I just start lit up a joint? okay okay how do i articulate that i would say there's a certain type of strident older showbiz yes that's like listen to me honey i don't give a fuck and i'm like oh god but that's so not you you're a mutterer i'm a mutterer so it's not but there's also something about the look of it that's as often as i say like I'm going to cut my hair.

And my friend Guy has been doing my hair for 30 years. He's like, no. No, you may not. Well, you have the best hair in the business. People should know this. Let's get grandma. This is all Tina's hair. This is all my hair.

Thank you. And much like skinny people who are mad about Ozenpik, in the early 2000s, when all these bitches started wearing tracks, I was like, what? You could just have what I have? This is all I have. It is a most. incredible real hair. Thank you so much. We just did this, I just did this show called The Four Seasons that's coming out in May. And there's a scene, it's based on this old movie with Alan Alda and Carol Burnett. And there's a scene in the old movie where Carol Burnett is very angrily brushing her short hair, which is so, it's like the most 1981 thing ever. Like, first of all, we know, like, you don't vigorously brush short hair. It's going to look terrible. But she's in the scene, she's fighting and she's brushing her hair. And I put the, that's just a little bit of that in.

the in the show. I put myself in the eye. And I kept saying, Coleman Domingo was directing that episode. And I kept saying like, Coleman, I'll tell you what, a lot of these movie stars, they can act better than me, but they can't brush their hair on camera because they're all wearing fucking wigs. And they're all wearing, and so I was like, insisted in the edit that a couple shots of me brushing my hair stayed in. And then I went to the mix. And I was like, oh, did you turn down the sound of my hair brushing? Turn it back up. and that's that's what producing is that's all that's producing is it's insanity and narcissism and it's like turn up my hair turn up the sound of the brush going through my hair and people go we don't

need it and you go we do need it we do need it but you have incredible hair I feel like you should have a hair campaign and also I always I'm pushing you to have a glasses line why do you not have a glasses I don't have a glasses line because I have to say you hate money I do kind of hate money i'm as we know i'm terrible with i'm terrible with money only in that i'm like you are not terrible no i'm not terrible i don't waste money but i don't get excited about money if like if i if i'm safe and my i have enough money to live i i have a problem with rich people having a side hustle yeah you mean like a podcast or something no that's is you're doing work i'm saying if you if you sold like um where would my line be for you where would i draw the line yeah i know what you mean like if i had a if i had a

Rose. If you Yeah. If you already have like $200 million and you're like also I need you to But Tina, that is, this is where you have to learn from Gen Z. I'm sorry, and we have to. They don't care. They don't judge it. They don't judge it.

Well, get, you should stop because this is the thing that you have to have a million, you have to have glasses. Yeah. Well, I have my line of children's medications. And I told you, that's so treacherous. No, guys, by the way, one time, a million years ago, I remember seeing, and I won't name this actress, but someone

could figure it out, I remember seeing an 80s actress promoting her line of homeopathic children's medications. I was like, why on this earth would I trust an actress for pediatric medications to give to my child? You're saying you worry about turning into a woman as you get older, as you get older, that is like a strident, opinionated, here's how it works, babe, kind of person. Yeah, and just fighting everybody. Yeah. And just.

Because I just think as an exercise, it's fun to think about our personalities, like the thing that got us here that are here sitting in front, like you and I are lucky enough to have a lot of years behind us, hopefully more years in front of us, in working, getting to try all this different stuff. We're at a point in our lives where we get to, we're like in this juicy middle where we have either parents who have passed away

or aging parents. We have kids who are like coming into their own. We're right in the middle of life. Let's be honest, we're more two-thirds than middle, but we like to say we're middle. Although I'm going to live to 100. God forbid. Wait, you don't want to live to 100? No.

Unless there's some amazing. There will be. Okay. Like new lungs, there'll be a whole thing. Money only can fix your 80s and 90s so much. That is the thing. We've hung around a lot of wealthy, older people, and the thing that they cannot get over is that they're going to die.

Yeah, like that's the thing they can't believe. But who's your guy? Who do I call? Yeah, and it's like, no one, you call God. Yeah, you call him on the phone and say. Yeah, but sorry, I, and he says welcome to hell. He says welcome to him. God says welcome to hell.

Okay. But do you want to talk about four seasons for a second, by the way? Sure. It is coming out. And Coleman Domingo is a prince on this earth. An angel on this earth. God. So talented.

So beautiful. Gorgeous. Inside and out. Like a beautiful human being. Yes. So we're doing this show The Four Seasons on Netflix. I'm very excited about it. It is based on this 1981 movie that was written and directed by

Alan Alda, another angel on this earth. Can I tell people that I said hello to Alan Alda at your house recently? Alan Alda came to my house. That was pretty cool. Alan and Arlene Alda. It was a real, his lovely wife. Momentous occurrence. I mean, Alan Alder was huge in our lives.

He remains huge, yeah. And he's such a big deal. You can't even imagine what a giant. Do you remember the Super Emmy? No. One year, one year they gave out a Super Emmy. So it was like, you could call a Super Emmy? It was called a Super Emmy?

It was called a Super Emmy, and he's the only person that ever got it because it was, like, they won, like, best show, best directing, best script, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the Super Emmy goes to Al and Alda for Matt. And everyone was like, okay, that's enough of the Super Emmy. They only did it once. I think they only did it once. And was it bigger than a regular Emmy? You have to have, you should have him on the podcast. He has a great podcast.

He has, I have listened to his podcast. It's one of the few that have penetrated my fortress. That's what she said. I would love to talk about it because it was a true. truly joyous experience top to bottom. Like one of the things I'm most proud about of this whole thing was that so many people, actors and crew came up to me and were like, this is the most pleasant job we've ever had.

And it was, like I said, it was built as intentionally as possible to be all good souls. And it's Coleman, a beautiful Italian actor named Marco Calvani, Steve Correll, Will Forte, Carrie Kinney Silver and Erica Henningson. And it's basically that little ensemble is pretty much, that's it. Very few day players, very few, like no real, very few guest stars. And so it was a really cozy environment. And it's a very, very gentle program that I am kind of just can't wait to see if people are interested in a gentle, a good hang.

It hopefully is the TV equivalent of a good hang because it's just, you know, there's some story, but there's no zombies. there's no mysteries great that's exactly truly what we're trying to do here because I can my nervous system cannot take me my nervous system cannot take it compared to the rest of the world yes and also I feel like there's this weird sometimes I mean you are the exact you're the example of of of not doing this I think you like everything you make is hard jokes and hard comedy and always really really funny but a lot of times women specifically are asked to like be like nurturing caretakers in spaces like be teachers and and and and and and when we were thinking about this podcast it was like I I all the guys get to just like goof around have fun and

it'd be like straight comedy escapism and our stuff has to be I don't know about menopause which also is important yeah this is I mean For the people who want 100 jokes per minute, this is a departure. These characters are funny, but it's all completely human scale. Ooh, I love that. So again, we shall see. And I feel like it is just a little science experiment where people might be like, no. But TV doesn't really, like there's no TV anymore, right?

It's all just like articles about TV. Right. It's just, it's listicles. It's AI generated listicles. It's TikTok about TV shows that aren't on. So what is the thing that you do? go to escape what is like the video that you watch the person that you watch what is making you laugh i have a couple things that i like to watch one of the things i like to watch is and again i'm

going to keep referencing tic-tok i am not a public account you will don't find me don't look for me right if anyone's pretending to be you they're fake it's fake yeah um but i like to watch videos of people either doing or learning or trying to teach bianca's homecoming dance break so either someone who can do it or I love it when it's a person who you don't expect them to be able to do it and then they do it like they're holding like a laundry basket yeah so they're just like yeah they're a mom in their in their laundry room and then they do it um I have tried to watch tutorials to try to do I'm not a great dancer and I I know that if I was given from now to the end of my life I could not learn the first 16 counts of that dance yeah but I love watching people do it and then the other day I was watching a whole bunch of people doing it and it took me one guy was like

a really beautiful ripped guy and like shorts no shirt doing it and I was like oh this is a new layer of this and then the algorithm was like oh you you watch that so you just want to see videos that are just like hashtag rugby build and it was just like oh yeah guys with a rugby build and I was like I think I do want to watch it yeah Paul Meskell started that like he's the ultimate famous rugby bill and then have you seen in rugby where the they have to pick each other up with their wrestle each other underwear like no so in rugby there's a move where they the men to get the other one taller you know like to basically it's almost like if you're if you're hoisting somebody up yeah they grab basically their shorts and underwear so weird and then they

that's how they get it up and there's videos and I'm not saying that my algorithm has necessarily taken up on this but I have seen them enough to now I do get them where men grab each other by the waist it's very feminine it's actually like it almost like balletic yes it looks like a lift yeah but they grab each other and lift each other up and then their penis their tics are right in the line of their face but it's totally fine. I mean, it's fine either way. Of course it is.

I just mean it, everyone's happy. There's no, everyone's doing exactly what they want to do. Yeah. And these are in slow motion. Yes. Yeah, I wasn't mad about that change in my algorithm. And, okay, so another thing that I really do, the only other television program that truly brings me joy is my weekend local news in the morning.

Wow. I love, and by the way, they know this and they're probably like, stop talking about us. It's getting weird. Who are your anchors? I love NBC4, Pat Battle, Gus Rosendale. It is, I find to be the most truly informative, nice program on the whole week. Here's what you get, Amy. You get your news.

You get your national news briefly. You get your local news. Mostly local, right? Okay. Then you get produce peat. Oh, I love produce Pete. Nice old Italian man. comes out, tells you what's in season, what to make with it. Incredible. Then it used to be

more frequently before the pandemic, before the pandemic, he used to be in person. Bill's books, nice gentleman named Bill, come tells you what he read, what he liked about it, what he recommends that you read. Before the pandemic, they also then used to sometimes be like, here are some animals that are up for adoption. I feel like that's gone away. But that's it. And then the weather and the traffic and Pat Battle and Gus, I believe they're friends. They have a wonderful rapport. You don't know what their deal is? I mean, I don't think they're more than friends if that's what you're implying. I would never. But I feel like they like being co-workers. What a great name to Pat Battle. Pat Battle. Have I, listen, one time it was like a

hurricane or something, a blizzard. Pat Battle went out on the street. In her hometown. She went out where she lives in New Jersey and she was helping people push their cars. That's cool. That is what America should be. Okay? It's Pat, it's Gus, it's Proto's Pete, it's Bill's books, we help our neighbors. That's the America I want to live in. If you've got Battle in the last name, you've got to push somebody's car. Listen, have I invited Pat Battle to events?

100%. Like too many times. Does she show up? Yes, we have a good time? Great. So you've met Pat Battle. I've met Pat Battle. And what was that like?

Did Sparks fly? I mean, she was, like, thought it was pretty funny that I keep bothering her and I'm obsessed with her. But Pat Battles in an episode of Thirty Rock. Oh, really? As herself? Yeah, we did one episode where Liz Lemon gets invited to, like, a women in media luncheon. And then, of course, like, the gag is that they can't, they have a big screen and they can't figure out to get to work. And then all women are all like, turn it on and off again.

But it's like, it was like Pat Battle. Gail King, a couple other news ladies, and Andrea Martin played, like, the lady who was running it, and she, her character has a breakdown in the middle of the thing, and she's talking about how her husband left her. And she's like, I just remember she had some line where she was like, I put it, my Andrea Martin impression, get ready. Okay. I put a sweater on a body pillow, and I took it for a canoe ride. Like everyone, all the women lose their minds at the women in media luncheon. Tina, that makes total sense to me that that is your, like, fun.

That makes me feel nice. And I'm also, I'm drinking coffee. I'm with Jeff. It's morning. Yeah. Everything hasn't gone to shit yet. And then the weekend plans are all possible. But the news, but that's a new, but the news is local.

Listen, it's local. It is local. It is local. But even the local is beautiful. Oh, everything's on fire. Yeah. But then it's also like, there's a food festival on City Island. That kind of stuff.

It's like, check out these artichokes. He's like, Betty's going to make the squash pie called muttsa goots. Speaking of Betty, people should know that that's what I call you. That's my nickname for you. You called me that in front of Colin Jost the other day, and he seemed very delighted. I can't believe he didn't know that. Well, we're right now. He's not thinking about us enough.

No. He doesn't know what we call each other. Jost, who talk about an arc. Jost, when we met Jost. Did you say a narc or an arc? N-ar. Okay. Talk about a narque.

What a narc. I was smoking weed and Jost called the police, and I was like, fucking nark. No, talk about having an arc. Baby Jost, as we used to call him. We met him. We went up to the Harvard Lampoon. Oh, see, that's where we met him?

That's, I think, where I met him. Did you meet him? I have a terrible memory. I remember I hated every minute being at the Harvard Lampoon. I hated it. What a bunch of dorks. Maybe we should just tell the story. So the Harvard Lampoon invites you up and they kind of roast you.

they invite you to come up and then you go there and then a bunch of like snively little worms yeah like by the way like try to roast you and they're not good no they're not good at but you and I of many times and over the years many times they've had this moment where we returned to each other and loved or hated something at the same time and this was definitely an example where we both were like we're not we don't like this and they make you go through this kind of initiation and I mean I wasn't in a sorority in No, me neither. And I don't get it.

So, but they made you go through a whole thing and then they brought us into a big, giant room, and they kind of roasted us. Yeah. And we had, we had, I think we had a lot of fun in how much we, like, did not engage, didn't like it. And, but, but baby Joast was there. He was a baby, okay. I don't remember him. We didn't get a Jost roast, but. No, he was, he was always a, but he went on to, um.

I don't remember any of the actual. people that roasted us. I remember the face of one guy. And has he gone on to work in comedy? I don't believe he has. Since then, you know why, because you and I both have like blue collar I guess, rage? What would you call it? Like, or at worst, chip on our shoulder

at best, maybe. You're not better than me. Yeah. I remember having two more Harvard experiences and both involved what I felt like, like, like, like sniveling guys roasting me because um uh one was uh the uh hasty pudding where you really do kind of you know you know what you're getting into and they kind of come out and roast you yeah why isn't everyone just like no nerds thanks no thanks why does anyone go i don't know but i really did my homework on that one and i had really good jokes that i was proud of oh that's

and I really crushed them. And then I was asked to give, like, one of those speeches at Harvard and one of the kids, I mean, I've gotten this more than once, and I hope this isn't awkward for you, for me to say it in front of you. But definitely, like, people like to say, like, you're the poor man's Tina Fey. Oh, God. I know. And so, but this kid said it right before I went up, so I gave him the finger,

which everyone was shocked about. And I don't know who is the right. I mean, I mean, I did it, I guess. But I go, fuck you. And again, I was like, you're on a dais, Amy. Like, this is a, this is, but then fuck Harvard. Yeah, fuck Harvard. Yeah.

I mean, those fucking assholes. But, but I'm just, but thank you for inviting me. It was a real honor. Don't lose my number forever. Go fuck yourselves. Yeah, definitely is the kind of thing where, like, people go to award shows and they get mad that they're getting the awards. It's like, if you really, if you really don't like it, don't go.

Don't go. But I did go and was happy to give a speech. Okay. Lastly, just to kind of get started on this podcast, I had, on Zoom, I had Dratch, Seth, and Fred, and Zarnah. And they all got into Zoom and I said, I'm interviewing Tina. What should I ask her? Oh, my gosh. And it was great because everyone was very excited and, of course, I just want you to know the most hilarious thing was Dratch could not get her laptop to turn on or her headphones to work.

And then while we were recording, the doorbell rang. and her dog started barking because she had ordered food. So there wasn't much content that we can use. So were there questions from that? But the one question, there were a couple questions, which is what makes you laugh? We went into that. What makes me laugh? We didn't really get into that.

We watched for comfort. The thing that made me laugh the hardest most recently was this clip of Bobby Moynihan from, they did these really great SNL documentaries, and it was a documentary about auditioning for SNL. and it was people, you were in it, you were great in it, and they talked to people about the process of auditioning, and then they show them their audition back. And people get emotional, people, you know, they've never seen it,

or like, oh my gosh, this is from 50 years ago or whatever. And they showed, made Bobby watch his audition back, and he's doing a character that's in his audition, that's just beyond inappropriate. And he's watching it, and he's watching it, and he goes, oh, no. And then he just goes, oh, Bobby. And the way he says, oh, Bobby, the way he calls himself by name is so gentle and so, it made me laugh so hard.

And I think it should be the TikTok sound that people play. Like when you have to, you have to see a piece of comedy that you're like, okay, we realize now that that's not okay. You just show the content and just hear the voice of Bobby going, oh, Bobby. And that's how you apologize for problematic content in the past. You just put the, oh, Bobby sound over it, and it means I see it. I'm sorry, let's all move forward. I know better now. I know better now.

I do better now. I'm an ally who makes mistakes. Oh, Bobby. Oh, Bobby. Oh, Bobby. That really made me a lot. I couldn't stop watching it. You can make that, get that audio.

You should trademark that audio and make merch. And then the other thing that Zarnah had, Zarner was like, you never get asked, Tina never gets asked girly questions, which is so funny. I mean, do you feel like you don't get asked girly questions? I don't know. I know. Like, what's my skin care routine? Yeah. Nothing.

I mean. Do nothing, nothing, nothing, and then expensive lasers. Fred wanted to know. Fred's like, oh, also by the way, you know, Fred does a great Tina impression. No! You've never seen it. No, I've never seen it. What do you mean?

I feel like he's done it to you. He does a thing where he's like a mumble, but when he comes up, the thing about Fred Armisen, his impressions are never, like they never make you feel bad. Yes, at least in my experience, like they just feel like they're kind, which is hard to do. But he comes up with like a script. You've seen this. Maybe, I don't know. The physicality.

It's more physicality than anything else where he comes up with a script and he goes, hey, buddy, I'm just one. And you're giving a thought with the script, holding the script to your body and you can't hear what you're saying. Just like, just like what percentage Tina Belcher am I? Well, remember shy Ronnie, Andy Sandberg's character on that? Maybe there's a little shy Ronnie. Anyway, Fred wanted to know, last question, maybe we can talk about this before you go, is your dad, like, a really good artist, really good at caricatures. Do you have any of that artistic ability?

I wish I had more. I think both my daughters have it. I do in the summer, I go to Fire Island in the summer, and I like to paint portraits in my free time, and they are terrible. and they're like they're getting slightly better but not not at a rate um that would impress like they they're terrible um but i look because it's the only thing i want to paint is to i want to try to capture people's faces people like that i love and um uh i should take some classes because of course the problem is i don't draw the head right and then they come out like

sometimes i kind of like how wonky they come out but um uh no i think Of the four people in my immediate family, I am the least talented at art. My daughters are very talented. Jeff is very, can draw and paint. But can I just quickly, my favorite, the story of when my dad, who loved coming up to visit SNL, it was like Fred's one of his first few shows, and my dad was coming up and visiting, and he was like standing in 8H while we were getting ready to rehearse update at that like 5 o'clock time. And Fred was in a costume for some other sketch.

she was in a tuxedo and my dad had not met him yet and he just came up to my dad in a tuxedo and just came up to my dad in character just going this is rainbow room i'm i look for a rainbow room see i can't tell the story because i can't it shouldn't be doing this accent but fred i guess can do it we'll get a robot to do that i get a robot to do it but it was so funny and your dad was like i don't love it oh he loved it and he used to paint little portraits little characters of fred as like ferricito as prints and he would mail them to me and I would give them to Fred and I think Fred still has one which is I think what what made him think of that question no way he was Fred's biggest fan oh Don Faye has great taste

like he was a great artist cool guy and really cool guy and um coming back around if if fred has Don Faye originals I have um in my children's bedrooms I have paintings done by barbara jost Colin jose scrim mother that's awesome that's cool so it's back to jo's uh if you are listening to this when it comes out tina and i are going to be on the road yes look for us at a at a theatrical venue near you we have a bunch of dates and all over the u.s and it's been so fun and we're going to have our buddies out there with us is it tina amy tina amy dot com Tina and amy you would think I would know I think so I think so I think it is tina and amy dot com I think so um go check it out check out our dates come see us and um hopefully um we'll continue to work together for another 30 years I hope so me too

I love you. I love you too. Thank you. So, you know, that's our first episode of Good Hang. Thank you, Tina, for coming. I did actually learn. I did learn that she learned things that I didn't know after 30 years, that she obviously is in an emotional affair with her local newscasters, and that's a problem. And I should let her husband know. We are at a point in the show, the end of the show, where we're going to do something called the polar plunge, which is really simply I'm going to talk about stuff that makes me laugh and like where we're finding joy and lightness these days.

And so to add to that before we go, I just want to say that check out my favorite sketch on SNL, the one that I returned to over and over again during COVID, during tough times in my life. When I was feeling especially down, the first Debbie Downer, the Lindsay Lohan episode, when they're at Disneyland, that sketch to me is the perfect example

of how a good laugh can completely change your day, your week, your life. And why it is so funny to me is that the great Rachel Dratch, whose comedic stylings and physical comedy we experienced at the beginning of this episode when she couldn't get her headphones on, when Rachel is trying to stick the landing

and get those jokes out, and we know that it's going to be followed by the sound effect and the audience has this moment where we're all in it together that moment is still thrilling to watch so do yourself a favor because yes rachel cracks up and you know when people crack up it can be funny or sometimes it can be annoying or whatever and you know i grew up with carol burnett and like loved watching the play that they all had and how they were all trying to kind of get each other to laugh but what's so funny about debby downer in that scene and why I truly watch it for a serotonin boost

is because Rachel knows what's coming and she tries her best to keep a straight face and that she's like bursting like a silent film star and anyway that's what's making me laugh today you've been listening to Good Hang the executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons Jenna Weiss Berman and me Amy Poehler The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite.

For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Katz-Belaine, Kaya McMullen, and Alea Zanaris. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.