Bobby Moynihan
00:00Hi, I am Mark Malkoff and welcome to Inside Late Night, presented by late-nighter.com.Today's guest is Bobby Moynihan, best known for his nine seasons on Saturday Night Live.We discuss his time on SNL, some of his favorite sketches, and so much more.Now it is time to go inside late night.Bobby Moynihan, thanks for talking with us.Hi, how are you? Thanks for having me.You're one of the nicest people I've met from the show. Everybody from Phil Hartman when I was a kid going to the show, you know, famous asshole, Phil Hartman. I'm just kidding. I don't know if I've told this story on the podcast, but like I would have, I didn't realize how inappropriate it was in high school to have Phil Hartman do impressions for me. But every single time I asked him to do one, he would do it for me. Same with Dana Carvey. And it was one of those things. I know people probably ask you to do drunk uncle sometimes, but.I didn't realize that I would I'm sure if I was in high school I would have asked you to do it but I have to do say that and I've heard that from so many other people about how kind you are especially to the fans oh that's very nice thank you that's nice to hear idiot no I'm just kidding you did a hundred and ninety three Saturday night live episodes and like the thing I love about you is you are one of the biggest fans of the show like there's some people that go in that like the show
01:30somewhat, and it's a happy accident they get on. But a year or two before you got on, you werecamping out for standby tickets. Yeah, I got this jersey for Christmas a couple years before Igot us and now, and now I have it signed by everybody that did it. Did you get that sign at the 40th?Where did you get that sign? I carried it with me for 10 years in a plastic bag, and any timeI thought to ask somebody I would. You're not smart, man. Oh, man. Man, it's crazy. So when you weredoing the standbys. Do you remember what shows they were for it? And you never got in when youwould camp out. No. No, I think I only did it like two or three times. Once I just went and sawKeenan and got my picture with Keenan and left. And that was like a couple months before I got
02:12the show. That's amazing. You got a picture with Tina as well, you told me, correct? Yeah. A lot of thosepeople. I was a huge fan. Amazing. And then you're in there. So I know that you didn't get in to see the showbefore you were a cast member, but at what point did Bill Hader let you come to the writer's room?That was like, I auditioned, I thought it went really well, I thought I was starting on theBrian Williams episode, I was told, I was told, I was, we'll start you with Brian, that's whathe said. And I was just like, what, what does that mean, Lauren? What does that mean? Who's Brian?And now realizing he meant Brian Williams, but that didn't happen, then the writer's strike happened.and I don't remember anymore.
02:56I've told, I've, like, told the story a hundred times, and I'm not even positive ifI'm right anymore.I think Bill took me, all I remember was Bill brought me, and I was in the writer's room.Chevy Chase did something on update?Maybe Seth Rogen was hosting?I remember when Chevy did his thing.Yeah, it was like the political thing with Hillary Clinton.It was that episode.
03:20It was that episode.The writer's room, I've only been in a couple times, but there's.Really, I mean, it's a monitor.The curtains are closed, so you can't even see 8-H.Yeah.But there is that energy that's really fun during that show.Fun is not the right word for it.What would you say it was, the writer's room?
03:38I mean, you go down for me.Usually, they'll take you down for music if you were a guest.It's either palpable joy or palpable, like, defeat.There's no in between.A little bit of both.I want to get this right, because I know,I've been looking at old newspaper articles from the Terrytown Daily News,and it's like 13-year-old Bobby Moynihan, Wizard of Oz is the Scarecrow.
04:05Quote, the scenes and costumes are great.That was 13.And then you're doing, My Fair Lady, you're playing Doolittle.So you're doing all this theater, and at the same time,most kids are probably listening to Guns and Roses on their Walkman.You're listening to audio from SNL, correct?Yeah, I taped. I definitely taped the audio of the 25th anniversary, just like taped it on a tape recorder and listened to it all the time. But like I didn't know S&L sketches. I knew them like in their forms of the montage from the 25th anniversary. So like I wouldn't know full sketches or I would say a catchphrase that went directly into another catchphrase that went directly into another catchphrase from a different sketch because I just knew like that'swhere it started was just listening to that over and over again. Yeah, that 25th. And then it was
04:57such a strange time when you got on the show because they were doing the elections. They're doingThursdays. So you'd find yourself with Bill Murray who opened that big, um, or no, he opened the 25th,rather. He opened the 25th anniversary. But you find yourself with Murray. What was that like?Insane. Um, uh, there was a lot of weird stuff like that at SNL. I mean, my, my most vivid memory ofBill Murray, if I'm being honest, was the night, just one night, he showed up.I just remember walking down the hallway at one point earlier on in the night.And he had Leslie Jones up against a wall and was like, you're a Ghostbuster now.And he was like giving her like a Ghostbuster speech.
05:36And I went like, what the heck is happening?And then maybe three hours later, I walked into, I think it was Tim Robinson and Zach'soffice and Jayand Bill, Jay Farrow and Bill Murrayjust fully wrestling, fully wrestlingon the floor.Bill had said something to Jayabout him
06:00needing to loosen up andthen the next thing I know they were fullywrestlingon the floor.I know Jay Moore and Chris Farleyhad a wrestling thing on 17.I read about that, yeah.How did Murray do? I mean,
06:16He's much older.Yeah, he had a couple beers in him.He was holding tough, but, uh, but Jay is a jacked younger man.I want to get this story right.So when, when you find out that Lauren called you that you got SNL after 14 months to auditions,you were sleeping?Yeah.And you moved back across the, across from your parents home, right?
06:38I did.I think was it after 9-11 and then like I lost, I was working at the South,Street Seaport. I was a bartender at the South Street Seaport. That's what at Unos, right? Famously, you worked at Umo's. Yeah. Yeah. Your Mark character, Mark Payne, yeah. Yeah. And it had shut down because of 9-11. Like, it was just like there was rats everywhere. So they shut the restaurant down. So I moved back to Westchester and I was working at the restaurant I worked at when I was like in college, I guess. And I think, I don't, everything melted, has melted together into one. Yeah, but I was.at home. I was at home in my childhood bed, in my children's bed. I was a little hungover. I neverdrink. I very rarely drink. And I had a couple. I had heard that, I remember hearing thatBernie Brilstein had passed away, Lauren's agent. So I assumed I just wasn't going to hear anything.I think my agent just called me and told me. Bernie Brilstein passed away so you probably won'thear anything so like you can relax. And I think that night I had like,
07:46like a glass of wine and passed out,I woke up at one in the afternoon to the phone ringingand it was Lauren and I was like, hey.And he was like, well, from what I remember,he said something along the lines of America's going to love you this season.Well, you sound tired.It was a disaster.And at this point, do you still have a picture of Lauren on your bedroom wall?
08:12I think I, no, I think at that point I had probably moved on.to, it was probably like, no, it was probably something else. I had probably, I changed a lot.It was probably, I'm guessing, no matter what, there was a Michael Keaton as Batman poster,probably still there now. Actually, I don't know, because we sold the apartment.Remember saying that in the theater when it came out of so exciting. So after that,is it, then you run across the street to tell your mom and you, you're in your boxers?I did. I ran across the street. My mom worked at the town hall across the street from myapartment building and I ran across the street and I was like I got it I got it and I said but I didn't
08:51like run inside I sat on the bench outside and called it was just I didn't I don't I don't evenit's all a blur one of your friends somebody that you knew for for 20 years wrote a column shortlyafter Chris Serrico who said he knew you in school and said that how do you know all this stuff youdo you do I do a lot of research yeah you do there's a newspaperarticle. This was from 2008, August 25th. He wrote that Lauren called himself to give you the newsand that Bobby told me he spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a nearby park bench in totaldisbelief. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I just sat on a bench. Like, I just sat there going like, what?And you put on pants because when you went across the street, you didn't have pants on, correct?
09:35Because you were so excited. I just ran. I just ran across the street. No, I totally, totally get that.But when you did that sketch with Sigourney Weber, what was it, rice and fire?What was it?Yeah.Yeah, fire and rice.That's a crazy one because like that one was that one I remember because it was like the real, the first time you get that horror story at S&L where you're like, I got nothing.I got nothing this week.I'm tired.
10:02I love Sigourney Weaver.I wish I could be in the show with her.But like, fuck, I don't know what I'm doing here.Like, you know, it was a really like crazy week.And I remember going in.And I'm like, I have nothing.And I just went with a dumb joke.I was like, she's beautiful.
10:17She's absolutely beautiful.And I remember seeing her in a dress somewhere.And I remember thinking the fabulous Baker Boys, that movie where the woman sings on the piano.So five seconds before I walked in the room, I was like, okay, what if she's a lady lying on the piano?But like, she's afraid of heights or something.But it's not, I don't know.I just had nothing.I just want to interject.
10:37This was a fake pitch, essentially.100%not even fake pitchjust like I saw her in a dress onceand yeahyes it was a yes I wentwe're a team called fireand rice and you're lying on the piano
10:53but you're afraid of heights so you're afraidyou can't stop talking about how high upyou are and it was just a dumb jokeit was just like maybe I'll get a laughon someone being afraid of heightson top of a piano and likeunfortunately the room laughedand Sigourney
11:09went like, oh, I love that. I want to sing.I want, and she, like, in the pitch meeting said, I want to sing, uh, I got the world on astring. And I was like, I guess I'm writing this. And that was that. But like, that's sometimesthe best because that that's one of my favorite things I ever got on the show. And she calls youin her dressing room because it's one of those things that she's like, we're doing it.The host has a lot of input. So she pushed for it. It wasn't getting in the show and she pushedfor it. But yeah, that definitely happens. I know that we're going all over the place, but tell me,about when you when you told lord michael's you were leaving the show i just would imagine you would
11:44be knocking on his office on the 17th floor and just um you have this all rehearsed in in your headbut you took a different approach i read what was that i don't know what what did you readi have um an article um a newspaper article that you said that you never had emailed lordmichael before but you emailed him at 2a m and you're like does he check his email and he emailed you backfive minutes later saying let's talk in the morning. Don't worry. Everything's cool. You got to New York.You met with him. It was perfect. You said he's the best. I owe him every day. Yeah, that's probablysomewhere around what happened from what I remember. Yeah, I don't remember it being a giganticdeal. I don't remember it. I think there were other people. I think a lot of S&L has to do with
12:30timing. And I think like the timing of me leaving was not horrible.for everyone, you know, like sometimes nine seasons. I mean, yeah. Well, they also had people.They had good people, you know, not to toot my own horn, but like, you know, like, it's like when youlose a Kristen in the middle of a season, it's scary. I wasn't as important as Kristen. So I don'tthink it was as, uh, uh, but just at just on a purely technical point of view, it's a baseball,if it's a baseball team, you need Kristen. Yeah, I mean, I have to say that in terms of like goingthrough your history when one day you're showing, I know you're a father and stuff showing your kidsthat some of the stuff that you got to do. One of the funniest things I saw was you and
13:14Duane Johnson doing those promos back and forth. And I read a book with Duane Johnson's writer,I think is Brian Gwartz saying that they were internally some of the people, the writers werehesitant to do the sketch and they had to really push for it. Is that true? Is that your recollection?Because it killed. Yeah. Well, I think why was because it was the Rock's idea. It was the Rock'ssketch. He brought that sketch and a lot of comedy writersdon't love it when that happens. And also,by the way, they're rarely great when hosts bringin sketches. Sometimes they're not what you wish them to be.
13:50And you have to be polite and be like, good idea. Well, I think that's, I think no matterwhat you have to be polite, even if it's good. So like, it's a hard thing.But, you know, The Rock and hisbuddy Hiram, they, they, they, he's, he's,been writing for him since he was in WWF. So it was a WWF promo that they always joked about doing waslike, what if we always did one where we just said real shit? And it's just like that was a hilariouspremise. I remember nothing correctly because I was terrified for 10 years. But I thinkRob Klein was put on that to help. And I think like, so he was there also. But like it was
14:30the Rock's idea from what I remember. And that's one of my favorite things I ever got to be on inthe show. That sketch annihilated. You did an interview with USA Today in 2013, mentioning that you wouldtake from time to time props from SNL. What do you have? I mean, I just started cleaning my room.I just, right? Just in hands reach. These are waiting Garth's drumsticks from the,Garth's drumsticks from the 40th, that I just drunkenly stole. Yeah, I just walked around on the 40thstealing shit because I was drunk and I don't drink off.That sketch killed.I mean, that's a very hard thing.
15:08There was later in the show, and the writing was just so good in their performances.It was great.I sat front row for every one of those rehearsals.I couldn't believe it.It was Wayne's World.It was nuts.I mean, like, growing up on it, and then you get on the show, and then it's just like,what's happening?
15:21I'm sitting next to Bob and Marty Culp while watching Wayne's World.Like, it's nuts.I have a picture of me sitting next to AnaGas Dyer and that outfit with Wayne.Like, it's nuts.It's crazy.As a fan, it was like.Like, face cam.Your whole life is just so interest in your trajectory and how long everything took.
15:41And then the day before you get SNL, you do ASCAT at UCB.And Robin Williams, he shows up.And you're just, everyone's like, what is going on?And he's going to be the, he was the monologue person?No.Did he do?No, he performed.He just wanted to work out with you guys and just do improv, correct?
15:59Yeah, he did it a couple times.It wasn't like, that wasn't the only time.He'd done it a bunch.But I just, the only time I got to do it with him was just happened to be the night before I started SNL.And you might be the only one that he pitches a prank.He doesn't even know you really.And he finds out that you're going to be on SNL and your day, first days is tomorrow.He had a thought and he went with it and I was genuinely terrified.
16:25Genuinely terrified like, oh no, no, I don't want this to happen.I do not want Lorne Michael's first image of me is bringing Robin Willis.in in my clothes. I was like, please, please, Robin Williams, no. You're one of probablythough, I mean, you made the right decision, but do you think he would have done it? I think he was100% serious. And in retrospect, if I'm being honest with myself, I'm, I'm thinking maybe he sawthe terror in my eyes and went like, I'm going to back off a little bit. But he gave me hisnumber. He never called. But like, if I followed up on it in any way,or have been like, let's do this.
17:05Or I think, yes, I think he would have done it in a second.I think he was 100% serious and looking for fun.It's amazing that you have these stories.You're on Seth Myers, and it's really fun to see you go on these shows with people that you know.You told Seth, and he understood this.You said every time you go back to that building, you get in the elevator and you have anxiety.Do you think that will ever go away?And why do you think is it just that that happens every time?
17:31I mean, I spent 10 years in that elevator, taking that elevator up and down, panicking for 12 million different reasons or being the happiest I've ever been in my life for 12 different reasons.You know, one week at S&L, you're, you're, you had the best show ever and you're on a mechanical bowl with Tom Hanks at the after party.And the next week, you're not in the show and you feel like you're the unfunniest person in the world.And then it all starts over again the next week.It's insane.Hank's did the mechanical bull the one that's it's like a couple blocks from Rockefeller right it's I know I forget the names of all the places it doesn't matter but highs are highs and the lows are lows but it's just yeah it's that it's just it's just insanity it's like I remember the first two summers after S&L like feeling physically different and I was kind of like what's wrong like why do why do I feel this way and I think it's because my adrenaline had just been pumping for nine months every single week is likedo or die, and then all of a sudden you have your life back. And then it's not. And you're justlike, what just happened? I just went through like nine months of intense overstimulation, I think.
18:41And then like it just, yeah, it was the greatest thing in the world, but it makes you old,quick. One of my, one of my friends, Dan Pasternak, I think you know Dan Pasternak. He was at the Jude Lawepisode and he got to, he got to witness you say live from New York at Saturday night. And I knowyou've done an interviewer saying that was that that right there was one of the biggest momentsof your life when did you know did you know you were going to be doing that like a dressrehearsal did you do because sometimes they changed the order around did you know you weregoing to be doing that and what was that like you have the cue card did wally give you the cue cardit's right there it's right behind the computer um um i love this you have it in your room right now
19:21I mean, yeah, my office is just a shrine to,uh, it's just all,I love this stuff that I have collected through the years from these jobs.Oh, man.Um, that's the, uh, up there, that's the Kylo Ren mask that Matt.It's signed by Adam Driver.It says, uh, from your friend Matt.And that's the one he used.
19:42That's, but he had his, like, they had official Lucas one probably, uh, yeah,they had like an official Lucas film like the one they, they used to take pictures.like not the not the wasn't screen used it was like the one that they use for specifically for photographs and theythey brought that down for us to use uh for that but we had I had this mask uh just in case and hesigned it I think he put it on at one point but he signed it I have the R2D2 signed by yeah I kepteverything I love that you did this um you have on the 40th you have that photo with George LucasYeah, that was the 40th.Yeah, he was there.
20:24And then I saw that you got to meet Mark Hamill knew who you were in Carrie Fisher and prettymuch everybody, which is for a Star Wars person, unbelievable.What was the first talk show you ever went on?Was it Fallon?Technically Conan, but it was like the bits.It was like I was doing bits.I wasn't the guest.That was before you got SNL, correct?
20:41Yes.I don't know.Maybe Fallon, maybe.Gosh, I don't remember.I don't know anymore.It's a long time.Yeah. I'm guessing it was Fallon because, like, I think he had just gotten, maybe it wasn't even the Tonight Show yet.I think it was still late night. You did the show a bunch of times. I know you did each show a bunch of times. Okay.
21:04They would just, they would just come upstairs and be like, you got five minutes. You want to play Flip Cup with Chris Hemsworth?Like, I think I did that once. They would just call us and bring us downstairs and we would be in bits.I think I played Flip Cup with Chris Hemsworth or something like that.I don't remember.Put that on your resume.Yeah.He also broke my ribs in the middle of a live S&L.What?
21:26What happened?That Marvel sketch, there's a sketch where he's Thor and the whole joke, it was when he hostedand it was like the Avengers, I think, maybe it was Avengers.And the whole joke was it was like a newscaster interviewing Thor afterwards and he was goingcrazy.And during Dress, he high-fived me and the whole joke was I went flying.because he's very strong. He's Thor.Of course. And there was a mat on the ground and I went flying and landed on the
21:56mat. And in between dress and air, they cut like a giant chunk out of this sketch.So the guy holding the mat just didn't know. So the guy's holding the mat and he's holding it upagainst his chest and he thinks he's got like 10 cards before he's got to put the mat down.And Chris Hemsworth raises his hand. I high five it. I go flying.I throw myself because I assume the mat's going to be there and it's not.And I just hit the concrete on the floor of the studio and just crack and just crack tworibs right here.Did you go to the doctor right after that or did you wait until the act before it was over?
22:35I didn't go.I was terrified of being fired.I stood up and went, I stood up and I physically couldn't breathe.And you could see me in the sketch like trying to finish.And like, and then the second the sketch was over, Jenna, the state.manager didn't know what to do. So she threw me a towel and I couldn't even grab it. It justhit me in the face and fell to the ground. It was like the saddest moment of my life. And I just walked,I just walked away, went in my dressing room and was like, just keep your mouth shut. You don't know what.
23:08I didn't know it was broken yet. And I was just like, don't cause problems. Get the show done and gohome. And like Monday, I was like, every time I breathed, I was like, yeah, I got broken ribs.Don't tell me you went to the after party with broken ribs.I don't remember.Maybe I did.I definitely went on and did the next show with two broken ribs.I have like a notch right here because there's nothing you can do.So I just didn't do anything.
23:34I probably like freshly had health insurance and didn't know.I was like I didn't.I just didn't go.I remember going to Devlin Corrigan, who was a UCB improv guy and he used to be a doctor.And I was like, what do I do?And he was like, take a lot of ab, though.I was like,was like, was it your first or second audition at SNL
23:55that you had to wait for four hours in a dressing room?Maybe both.I mean, like, what do you do during that time?There was a lot of waiting.Are you just going over your audition for four hours?Or what are you doing?I don't know what other people did,but I, because of Conan,
24:12because of doing the Conan bits,I knew ahead of timethat if you turned on the TV pressed inputand went to a certain like input channelyou could see what was happening in the studios.It's up a live feed.I just watched everybody's auditionand then went like, oh, they were great.
24:32Oh, oh no, they were awesome.I'm screwed.Yeah, like, which I think was a terrible ideabecause the guy that went before me,the guy that went before me was amazingand I still can't believe he didn't get it.I think you're the only one that knew that going inthat got to do that.
24:45What an advantage, I think.Yeah, it definitely felt like a secret, a cheat code of some kind.If I didn't have, I would have just been sitting there panicking.I have a quote from Lauren Michael somewhere.I don't know if I can find it or whatever saying that you've knocked it out of the parkwith your second audition.I'm sure your first one is well.I have never heard him talk about an audition like that.
25:08Maybe Christian Whig, maybe one or two other people.But I have a quote from a newspaper article on you that he said, you knocked it out ofthe part. Did you feel that that way, your second time? Yeah, 100%. I felt like the first time I didwhat I was supposed to do and the second time I showed them who I was, if that makes sense.Like I came in, I did three characters and three impressions and I'm terrible at impressions. And thenthe second one I went like, here's something I did when I was a kid. I used to pull up alongsidepeople when I was a kid when we were driving, me and my friends and we would just say, like, wewould ask him to roll down the window and then we would go, hey, I'm sorry, do you know how to get to
25:47Arbolato drive? And they would go no. And we would go, oh, okay, all you got to do is you got to gostraight three blocks. You're going to see a Best Buy. And then we would just start giving them directionsuntil they got confused or drove away. And I did that at my second audition. Like, I just,I think I was just more me, if that makes sense. Was that Nathan Lane that you did that one forthe hamburger society? Probably. That sounds, no. Actually, I might have done that in my first one,because I was trying to, like, sound like Nathan Lane.Like, I, I just wanted to say, uh, something familiar, something peculiar,something for everyone, eat a hamburger tonight.
26:22I said Nathan Lane for the National Hamburger Society.And then I sang that and that was it.It was 13 characters.Was that your second audition that you did like really the big ones?Smart man.Yeah.I just did like a bunch of dumb shit.I literally, I saw somebody on the subway on the way over, try and get in the subway and
26:40then get super, super mad at people for not holding the door for him. And I just did that.Like, I, I just did that at my audition. Like, I was, I think in my mind, I just thought, like,well, I didn't get it the first time. So I'm, why not just can go crazy? I don't, I don't,I don't know what happened. I don't remember any of it. I'm so confused. He said it not. Youknocked it out of the par. Well, that, that, that's crazy. I, I never heard that or saw that, but like,that um i should send you the um i'll send your um publicist or whoever i'll send you um something to getto you a newspaper article yeah that's crazy so many times these little surprises come at s nl andyou were working for hours i think maybe a quote said you said 17 hours writing a sketch about
27:22this crazy suit salesman it's going nowhere and then colin jos just comes in at 5 30 in the morningsays i have to write an update piece do you have any ideas and just off the top of your head whatyou say? Uh, I think that was the day we wrote it was either, well, both drunk uncle andAnthony Crispino, both of those were like, um, I'm not positive. I don't remember whichone it was, maybe drunk uncle, it sounds like, but like I got, I was getting married and I wentto go get a suit. And the guy who like waited on me was seven feet tall. He looked likeHollywood for mannequin. Like he had like hair that like came to a point.he was a character and he had a big letter like Laverne from Laverne and Shirley like all of his suits and
28:11everything was monogramed and everything and I just thought he was absolutely hilarious and I spentlike 20 hours writing this sketch and I was like this is going to be my next big S&L characterbreakout character I hope this is the one and then yeah I was leaving I remember I was leavingfor both of them drunk uncle I was he was like you got anything for update I got to write anupdate and I was like, um, I think I went to my office and I looked up, there was like a sheetof all the, like when we get hired, you have to write down all the character, your preexistingcharacters and stuff. I guess like for like merchandising reasons or I don't know, whatever.Yeah, I've seen Mike Myers list of the, and Kevin Neely's list of that they brought in, um,
28:55that preexistent. And yeah, you just lie. You just make up a bunch of stuff in hopes that it'll get onone day. And I wrote, I think I wrote drunk uncle Mike.for no, like, I don't even know what it meant.And, uh, uh, Colin was like, I got to write something.I was like, I do this like drunk guy to make Chris Getherd laugh.Like I just pretend I'm drunk.And what if it was like a drunk uncle or like, you know, like a guy, you know,one of those lovable types that everyone goes like, ah, he means well, but he's a fucking idiot.
29:20Like, and I think that was it.Like he went, I'll write something up and we pitched a couple jokes on it.And, and then like the next morning, I definitely remember, uh, the suit salesman bombing and going,oof, well, at least I got that dumb drunk thing in the second half and then cut to me holdingmy funco pop of drunk uncle and crying every night.And signing them.I've seen pictures online, people to Facebook, people going to the, went to the show and stuff,and you're signing those funco things, which is amazing.
29:52I wanted to ask, your Instagram is really fun.Everyone follow Bobby on Instagram, but I was-You're the first and only person to ever say that, I think.I was going to say on your last episode, so you're there for good nights.You have no idea what's going to happen.No, I was mad.I was mad.Why?
30:11You were sick as well, right?I was super sick.Did you feel better by Aaron?No, I was very sad.I was, I was very sad.But the good nights especially, I remember being a little angry at first because I have this weird thing.or I had this weird thingwhen I was there
30:32which was when everybody leftI would casually walk back to the backof the band and say goodbye to the bandbut that was justdecoy not that I didn't love the bandI have a problemI have like a neurosisand I had to be the last person offstage
30:53I don't know whyI justwhen people exitthe stage physically. I always stepped off the stage last. I don't know why. It was just a weird,weird. A lot of performers have those things. Dave Letterman is one of those people. Oh, I got,I got hundreds of them. I don't know, you know, it's whatever. But like, it just an athlete. Athleteshave them. Yeah. Yeah. And it was my last one. And I remember thinking, oh, my gosh, I'm going to stepoff this stage for the last time. And I don't know if I'll ever get back on here again. And it was pretty
31:22crazy. And then I see out of the corner of my eye, I see Tom Hanks whispering to,Alec Baldwin and I could just tell that they were planning something because they were lookingat me and I was like what what's happening because you don't the last thing you want is is Tom Hanksand Alec Baldwin conspiring against you and the next thing I knew they were lifting me up andcarrying me off stage and I remember my first thought was can put me down put me down I don'twant to be I want to walk off this stage I have to be the last person off this stage so likeI was livid at first.And then the second they put me down,
32:02I was like,I just got carried off stage by Tom Hanks,Alec Baldwin,J. Farrow, and Keenan Thompson.It doesn't get better than that.And I cried like a baby and went like,well,that was better.
32:12That was much better.It's a Rudy moment.It's such some,it's totally like from Rudy.Who gets that?We all did.Vanessa,Sashir,
32:20we all did.We all,and we all deserved it.Yes.Were you in your dressing room the first time you heard DonPardo say your name and then you started bawling?yeah that was or where were you dressing room my dressing room upstairs so and he says your name and you justI mean I get that I yeah to hear that from him yeah thinking about it now gets me choked up it's nuts a lot of
32:41I was good I was good for a couple years and now it's the 50th and a lot of emotions are coming up again and it's crazyoh yeah it's going to be fun I've heard some inside stuff um about what's going to be going on and stuffI think it's going to be so so much fun absolutely insane fans are going to be very happyHow often did people come up to you and mention the Jester and Timber like Beyonce to you?Is that like the thing that you get the most or drunk uncle or both?No, I don't leave the house, so I don't get it that often.No, that's funny.It's funny, I randomly hear single ladies in the wild and like it's more like that.
33:22Like I'm reminded of it when I hear it.But like, no, I don't get I don't get hounded a lot for that.kind of stuff. My favorite is every once in a while I'll just be walking around and someone willscream, rest in peace, ask Dan, and it makes me very happy. And I just. So people, if you see him onthis. Move on. I have to say, though, the Beyonce Timberlake thing that would make national news.I mean, it was all over and online. It was crazy. You almost, even though it was your idea,for a moment, you said they might have been testing you. They were going to take you out of thesketch? Yeah, it was a very, I think.
33:58that was like my first real introduction to what S&L was actually like, and I didn't know it untilyears later, which is like the new kid on the show, having no idea what it takes to get asketch produced at that place, went, hey, I have this silly idea. Keenan Thompson showed me thevideo in his dressing room, showed me the music video, or he was watching it. And I walked in and Isaid, what is this? And he showed me the Beyonce music video. And I saw the girls inleotards. And I literally was like, I guess fat guy and a leotard would be funny. What if likeBeyonce's here? What if I was one of the backup dancers? What if me and Keenan were like thebackup dancers in leotards? That's what I thought. It would be funny to see guys in leotards.
34:44And Keatum, I think Keen was like, I ain't getting in a leotard. And like, and then like,we just came up with that idea. I asked John Lutz to help me write it. And like, from what I remember,he very kindly said yesbut I think like in retrospectwas probably like oh Bobbythis is insane she's never going to do thislike you can't like you know like the realityof it all and we wrote it
35:10and uh you know Beyonce is not atthe read through so Kristenreadtze's part at the read throughand it did fine it did very funnyit got the reaction of like wow this would be greatif Beyonce was in itbut she never had done a sketch atthat point, right? She had been... Well, I mean, she had been in Austin Powers, but like, she had
35:30not... Yeah. So at what point, who tells you you have to go to Beyonce's dressing room?Well, no, that was it. It didn't get picked. It didn't get picked. It didn't make it into the show.And then I think it was like Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday. It all melts together. All Iremember was getting a phone call from Andy. And even that was like, what? And Andy was like,hey, Justin Timberlake is in town.He's on his way to the studio.Are you cool if I ask him to be in this sketch?And I was like, yeah.
36:06And then it was like, if he's in this sketch,maybe Beyonce will do it.And I was like, okay, I get that.And then the next thing I know, Andy was knocking on my door.We went down to wardrobe and Justin Timberlake put on a leotard.and, like, went and knocked on Beyonce's door and was like, you're doing this sketch.And she was like, okay.And, like, that's how it happened.
36:30But then the next thing I know, I'm in a room with Beyonce and all of her people andwe're talking about the sketch.And all I remember was she was super nice.She was like super, super nice.And a woman in her crew who, I'm sorry if she hears this and she is offended,did not seem like the most necessary member of the crew.There was a lot of people doing a lot of stuff,and she was doing a lot of sitting on the couch going like,
37:00you ever meet this guy?She just kept through the whole pitch,through the whole pitch going,wouldn't it be funny if I was in the background eating a bagel?And you have to take that you...Well, no.Well, this is the problem.I was like, yes.
37:13I was like, that's genius.You just want to get the sketch on.No, no, I genuinely.was on her side. I was like, because I think stuff like that is weird. I was like, a woman eating a bagel in the background for no reason. Yes. When that is the wrong decision. And she just kept trying. And it didn't happen. And I, but that was it. I didn't know any better. I was so young and so new that I was like, of course you can eat a bagel in the background. And then like a couple writers who had been there for a while were like, you shut your mouth. Like, like, you. Like, like, you.you know, like I didn't know any better.I learned a lot that week about mounting a gigantic thing like that and how hard it isand how many people are involved that make it come together.And you make one tiny decision about something and that changes 15 people's jobs for the next 20 hours.
38:08And like, I learned a lot of lessons on that.But yeah, it was like the fact that it happened is insane because all of the things that had to fall into place.It's like the universe, everything coming together.That was it. I remember that Monday, seeing it in Entertainment Weekly and being like, it's less than a week ago.Less than a week ago, I walked into Keenan's office and had this idea. And now I'm looking at it in 10 feet away in a magazine. It was confusing.Where were you in the building when Stephen Spielberg came up to you to said that he was a fan of yours and drunk uncle?So, you know, when they go through the studio, there's like the side doors over near Don Pardo's booth.And then there's wardrobe, like the wardrobe area.
38:53And then there's the TVs right across from the wardrobe area.Right there.I was standing right there.He also, that's also the same place, same exact spot where there was some sketch on that had the end of the sketch, the out, was just like some plastic dinosaurs fighting and it was really shitty looking.And he just tapped me on the shoulder and leaned in and went, mine were better.to have those moments.Yeah, yeah, he's hilarious.Yeah, it's crazy.
39:25Yeah, he came up to me and told me they were talking,they were doing drunk uncle impressions at the dinner table on Thanksgiving.And I was like, okay.Steven Spielberg.What is the best prop you own from Lost?I know you own a lot from Lost.What is your favorite piece?Boy, um, I have.
39:44Don't you have the fish machine?Yeah, that's in a storage unit currently.Maybe this, that Jorge gave me is Mr. Cluck's costume.Oh, man, yes.I have a bunch of props from Lost, but like-You have Dharma beer, I know.That figure in the middle is a Bobby Moynihan Dharma Initiative action figure thatDamon Lindelof made for me.
40:07I was just a fan of the show.I really liked it.No, that show is one of my favorite, absolutely.And I know, like, you meet JJ Abrams when he comes over there.He's a really nice guy.I've met him too and stuff, but it's like...Yeah, the best.Your phone rings, and it says on the other line,
40:21do you want to be in a Pixar movie and you just say yes?And that is basically what happens with Monsters University.That's, it's that simple.Yeah, it was for that.Dan Scanlan, the director,I think like he had seen some sketch or something on SNL.I don't know why.I hope I'm right.
40:40These are all memories that are coming back to me.I think it was the...Andy's digital shortwhere it was likethe jammy shuffle I thinkit's like we were all kidsin pajamas I was like a kid showbut then so all of a sudden
40:54everyone had knivesit was it was a weekI think it was called the jammy shuffleand I remember him sayinglike I heard you just saythis one line in there and I thought it was funnyand I thought it would be greenfor this character and I was like well thank you
41:06yeah that was my first Pixar movieis a parent that's great that you have thatlast question is there a favoritelate night appearance that you hadYou've been on so many shows.Andy Cohen, I know you went on Fallon, you've been on Seth.Was there something that stands out?I mean, probably Letterman just because I still can't believe that happened.
41:23Like, I can't believe I got to be on Letterman.Letterman and Stern, Letterman and Stern were the two where I was like, huh?I met you right after you did Stern.It was like 2013 or whenever it was, and I was talking to you about it.And the thing about Stern and a lot of other people I know that have gone on,You forget that you're being recorded when you're talking to that guy. Is that true?Yeah. Well, it's Howard is just, that was like, I don't think I was regularly going to a therapist at that point. And I remember thinking like, why do I feel so good? Why is he making? And like, I think he's just been through so much therapy that he has become a therapist in ways. Like, he knew how to make me feel nice. He knew what to ask, when to ask. And then the second he was bored, he knew like, okay, let's get into it. Or the second I looked like I was ready, he was like, so what was your point?father an alcoholic? And I was like, yeah, Jesus. Like, it was, it was, I wasn't expecting to be
42:19so taken by him, uh, and kind of in his control, if you will. He's very good at what he does andhe led that entire conversation. It was fantastic. And a lot of times people go on, they don'texpect to be talking about those things. How, what was your Dave appearance like? I love thatyou got on that show. It's not easy. Well, that's a difference. Howard's a fan. And Howard,like I felt like he cared you know like I felt like you know whatever and letterman was just like I was I remember feeling from start to finish like just don't fuck up like I think the first thing he said something to me he said he said something like you're a young man are you and I said like I'm 11 years old today or so I just made some joke out of panic and he said pretty good beard for an 11 year old or something but but I remember like I could physicallysee his body relaxed.Like he, like, it was almost like he went like, oh, okay, this guy's not uptight.He's, he answered me back and he doesn't seem completely terrified.
43:20And like, it was almost like I felt like he accepted me a tiny bit.And it, but it definitely, uh, I definitely felt like I was interviewing for a job in comedy.And what's his name was backstage?Biff Henderson.Yeah, I almost said, Bud Biff, Bud Mellman, Larry Bud Millman.I wish he was back.Yeah, I wish it was Bud Millman.Both of them are great.
43:39And Biff is just telling you where to go and where to stand and you want to go like, can I get a picture with you? And like, and you realize he's just doing his job. Bobby, I don't, I want to get you out of here. Bobby, thank you for doing this. How did this go? Is this okay? And I really appreciate your time.You've put me out terribly. This was a horrible. I never want to return. No doubt. This is amazing. It's good to talk to you. Thanks. I really, really appreciate it.Same here, ma'am.Thanks for listening. Please subscribe so you never.miss an episode on Apple Podcasts, please rate it and leave a review. Be sure to go tolate-nighter.com for all your late-night TV news, and you can find my podcast atlate-nighter.com forward slash podcasts. Have a wonderful week, and I'll see you next Tuesday.We're going to be.
44:40I'm going to be.I'm going to be.I'm going to be.I'm not going to be.I'm going to be.I'm going to be.I'm going to be.I'm going to be.
44:54I'm going toI'm going toandandmyandyou knowI'm
45:06andWe're going to be.I'm going to be.Oh.Oh.You know,I'm going to be.I'm going to
45:16bea lot ofThank you.
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