The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Brendan Hunt

Episode Date: August 11, 2026

"Ted Lasso" star and co-creator Brendan Hunt joins Andy Richter to discuss their shared Chicago origins, doing improv in Amsterdam, his World Cup experiences, and more. Do you want to talk to Andy and his comedian friends live on SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Radio? Tell us your favorite dinner party story (about anything!) or ask a question - leave a voicemail at 855-266-2604 or fill out our Google Form at BIT.LY/CALLANDYRICHTER. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the three questions. I'm your host, Andy Richter, and today I'm talking to Brendan Hunt. He's an actor, writer, and comedian. He's also appeared in films like We're the Millers, horrible bosses, too, and Elio. You can see him in Ted Lassow on Apple TV, which he also co-created. Here's my great conversation with Brandon Hunt. I don't know if it's just from seeing you on T, because that happens to me, too. I'm from Chicago. Yes. We may have, we may have overlapped a little bit there, but. the only time I remember meeting you, meeting you, was going into Largo for the first time, and you just happened to be sitting by the door. Oh. And my girlfriend was visiting from Amsterdam. This is a great. Hello again.

And there was some kind of kerfuffle with my girlfriend's ticket, and then, like, you were just sitting there by yourself, and then we were standing there by ourselves. And she, who was not familiar with American culture particularly, just started talking to you. Like, you were a normal human. I was like, babe, babe, be cool. But it was, you know, we talked for like two minutes about, I'd no idea what, but it's very pleasant. And off we went.

But I don't know if that counts as a meeting per se, but technically, yes, we met the time. I always feel when somebody that, you know, somebody tells me, somebody will tell me, like Dak Shepard told me that he met me once at a bar on Melrose. And I always, and I'm not, I'm, like, I can't even. remember ever being a dick. You know, I mean, I'm unprovoked. You know what I mean? And but I always am like, was I nice?

Like, and I'm thinking, I don't know what that is in me to think like, you're like, like I'm nice. Like I'm never really. In fact, sometimes the people in my life and the people that I'm with have been like, wrap it up. Like, you know, like with somebody's being a pain in the ass, you know, and I'm just like, you know, I just, it's too much energy to be mean. to somebody.

Yeah. You know, I can't do it. I mean, being nice takes energy too, though. Yeah, but less. I don't, that's my parents, you know, look, you want to hear screaming? No. Then be nice. Okay.

You know. That's sort of that condition. You're right. So, well, are you from Chicago proper? Yeah. Because you're about six, six years different. So I, you know, but we went through pretty much the same track except you did the Amsterdam thing.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I did, I like hung out at I.O. a little bit and performed there just and like, you know, the fucking jam and cage matches and was literally about to finally start taking classes there having already taken classes at Second City. I was performing at comedy sports. And I didn't believe in taking classes at two places at the same time. I thought that was antithetical to learning in some way. Oh, really? Yeah. And I was literally about to start at I.O. and then went to Amsterdam. Oh, wow. But you didn't have anything against doing different places.

No, no. Not at all. I didn't either. And I, because I did. And at the time, like, I never did comedy sports. But I sort of, I sort of felt like, I don't know, from what I saw of it and stuff, I kind of felt like, no, I'm already. Like, it seemed more quick hit, you know, like quick hit comedy. And I kind of felt like, no, I think that will come naturally. as you're learning long form, the quick hit stuff, like you'll be able to do that without thinking about it. But I was doing the annoyance and Improv Olympic at the same time.

And it was much more so from the Improv Olympic guys, which Improv Olympic for P, it was, that was the Del Close one, who was like the guru of long form improv. And it was much more like regular dudes. like guys in hockey jerseys named Sean, you know. And no offense, Sean. But they would say to me because the annoyance theater was much more gay, basically. Just way gayer, way druggier, way weirder, way.

And also like, just really loosey-goosey in the comedy. Like there was stuff on that stage where it was like one could come in and go, this is not working and the attitude was, yeah, so what? You know, who cares, we're going to do it anyway. But there were guys that on the I.O. who were like, why are you over there with them? What are you doing over there? And I was like, learning stuff that I don't learn here.

That helps me do well here. You know, it's not me from getting too much in the weeds of Chicago Improm, history. And who cares? But on the one hand, that makes perfect sense just from my understanding of the, you know, with being an outsider and an audience member sometimes at these places. But like, yeah, I.O. under Dell,

was always seen as like the, despite being normal dudes, but also like, analog to like estates. Yes. Like the strictest application of art with an A.

Yes. Whereas the annoyance, which was mostly people who had learned at I.O. to some degree, but they came from, you know,

a company that started with a show called Coad Prison Sluts. Yeah. Yeah. Which was a musical. Yeah. Where the chorus went,

shit, motherfucker. Fuck you, you cuntle your prick. Low job. Suck my dick. Yeah. And got everyone to sing along. It was great fun.

and at one point a dog licks the sandwiches out of a man's crotch or something, as I recall. And it was wildly successful in its tiny little way. It ran for years and years and years. It may even still be for all I know. Oh, gosh.

I would love that. So, yeah, it stands to reason one is to like, we are like this. And the other one is like, fuck everything! Yeah, yeah. Because there's such an incredible value in both. Yeah, no. Yeah, and I also was kind of like,

well, the truth relied. lives somewhere in the middle, you know, because there were shows I did at the, you know, I was part of like an improv group that was basically if you took the class you got on stage and there was something like there was, and I mean, I don't say this to brag, but like there was, there was a person in the group who I don't think was listening in class and did not have a real good facility for improv, but how important is listening in improv, really? but had amazing ballziness and just was every single show. And it was like long form improv.

Every single time was the first person on stage. And it got to the point where people would be backstage and this person will go out. I want to leave it genderless. This person will go out and the entire backstage would look at me. Like there's a grenade and you're the guy that throws himself on them. And then I would go out. And that in itself was like a wonderful training because this person would deny things. Oh, boy.

You know, like you'd, I'd be, say, you know, we've been on the road for hours. And this person would be like, I thought we were at work at a desk typing. Like, no, you know. And I found that like the only way to deal with that was relentless agreement. All right, you want to change it? Let's go with that. You know, just fine, we'll do that. And then that becomes the game, you know, if this person figures it out.

But yeah, there's so much to be learned from everywhere, you know, from everywhere. Were you at annoyance at the time when people would then go to the G-Man across the street? Also known as the Ginger Man. Oh, the Ginger Man. No, you mean not at the annoyance at I.O. No, the annoyance was across from G-Man for a while. I.O. was over there in the corner. The G-Man was by the Metro.

When I was there, the annoyance was always on Broadway. Okay. In that big... That was once before, it did move to Clark eventually. Oh, it did. Oh, they moved out of... Yeah, because that building... It was a building that was originally a livery stable,

and there were rats everywhere, literally everywhere. But they were all wearing saddles. So that was nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They all had funny accents. Oh, no, I see, I was... I was gone by then. We were always just in this weird, shitty clubhouse on Broadway, right?

In sort of the heart of what's known as Boys Town. That's, which is one of the places I grew up, actually, for the longest. Oh, really? Yeah, we moved around a lot, always in the north side, always somehow within walking distance of Wrigley Field, except when I lived with my grandmother. But, yeah, on Stratford, which is off of Broadway, halfway between Belmont, Addison. That's where I live twice.

That's real Chicago, too. Yeah. And that's, and now you must have grown up when that was kind of a shitty neighborhood, too. Well, we're right by the lake there. So that part was always nice. Yeah. But, but I was certainly aware that Boystown was Bois Town was Bois Town. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I don't even mean that. I mean like just because I know when I was a kid and we used to go to Cubs games, like my stepfather was too cheap to pay for parking. So would always park under the L somewhere. And it was just like about a 35% chance that is suburban would be broken into by the 10 weeks. got there. Sure. You take those odds. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, yeah, but it's either that or spend, which I'm sure at the time it was like

$7. He's like, fuck that, you know. But yeah, no, and I remember, and now I just remember it being, and I mean, but I'm a kid, too, the city was scary to me anyway, but I think it just was like, you know, I mean, you know, I remember the burger joint on Clark called Crystal Palace? No. Oh, it was called Crystal Palace. It was this, it was, it was not far from Wrigley, but when I started going there in my, you know, late teens, early 20s, it had, it was like a, you know, it was like a currency exchange. And then it had like plexiglass and cages over everything and everything went through little slot.

I certainly know the genre. Yeah. And I went there once and they had taken it all down like this was, and when I was doing improv and it was a late night place. And I said like, and I'm, and I'm, I'm talking to this old guy working behind a counter who's probably worked there for 20 years. And I was like, oh, you took down the cages. And he went like, yeah, I said, how come? And he went, neighborhood got better. And I said, ah, I kind of liked him. And he looked at me and he was like, I didn't. And I was like, oh, yeah, right.

That's right. You were in a cage. And I thought it was funny. I was on a fun trip with the family. Yeah, yeah. I thought it was funny that you worked in a cage. Getting covered in Greece. But yeah, but I mean that neighborhood, I mean that neighborhood now, I don't even, I go back to Chicago.

I don't know where anything is. Well, yeah, that whole area, I mean, closest to Wrigley Field is now like conspicuously gentrified because when they remodeled the stadium where they did a great job, they decided to clean up the whole neighborhood around it on which they've done too good a job and it's kind of horrible. Yeah. Because they've killed the spirit of it. But yeah, Broadway, you know, get more toward Broadway up and down in those days with definitely an adventure. I mean, Lake, all of Lakeview was like that, because then we lived at, we're going to keep naming neighborhoods in Chicago for a large part of the audience who would not enjoy. You can pause in Google Maps. Yeah, Belmont's Southport was pretty damn scuzzy when I was there for six years in the 80s.

But then Shuba's opened. And it was a beacon of light. This neighborhood is on the ups and then I went to college and never lived there again. Yeah, that was a tavern that had really good live music, like really good bands. Well, what did your folks do? What, you know? My original folks were, when they met, my dad had just gotten back in Vietnam and her mom was still in high school.

And by the time I was two, they were divorced. My dad, from that point on, became a bit of almost literal, like, troubadour. He was an incredible musician. But, you know, he basically had PTSD that he never acknowledged, much less dealt with. And I certainly obviously didn't perceive that yet. He was just, you know, my dad on a pedestal. Would that manifest itself in ways, like, how would it manifest itself in the way that he would be around you, if I may ask? We don't have to talk about this, by the way.

In ways of being around us, he was actually, he was always in, like, in control around us. Like, he was always, you know, he's a very gregarious guy and, like, would do, like, voices and stuff, like, and had, had, like, a very high bar for what he thought was, was comedy. Yeah. Music, too. But for comedy, he was like, Laurel and Hardy,

yes, Abbott and Costello, absolutely not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, all right. I get it. You know? Yeah. Like, he,

he was a musician, a bit of a purist that way. I was, I was by then already, or I became while he was sort of gone, because, yeah, he would, the main way it manifested itself

was in him, in him being not around, yeah, for long chunks of time. And I'd become a beetle fan in his absence. And when we would drive, you know, when he was with us for a little while

and we'd see him every Sunday, and we have a long drive to Oak Lawn, he would surrender to what had become my clear, you know, passion, shall we say, of the Beatles. I mean, listen to breakfast with the Beatles. He wouldn't talk too much shit about the Beatles, but he would talk about George Harrison's solo in Roll over Beethoven, which is like, yeah, okay, all right, I can see that.

And he had particular ire. You mean he liked it or he would dismiss it? No, like he was so mad about it. He had particular ire for Neil Young's one-note guitar solo and Cinnamon Girl. Whenever that way, he would just get so fucking mad about it. Damn near the only time I saw him mad. But I started to piece together then over the years. My dad became a musician, you know, in late 60s in the suburbs.

He was from O'Klawn. And, you know, there was a bit of a thing happening in a very, like, specific subset of white male Chicagoans at that time of, like, trying to prove how not suburban they were and all learning blues music. You know, because like Chicago Blue is great tradition, but also not. He had Zeppelin and Clapton and everybody like the blues were part of it. So he became a really good musician and was running with a bunch of guys. But one of those guys was, oh my God, I suddenly can't remember his name.

We'll insert it later. Kevin, fucking hell. And the lead singer of a radio speed wagon. Oh. Kevin. I always, Cronin. Yeah, yeah. I know it was Cuss something.

I know it was a double K sound. Kevin Cronin was in his crew for a while. They always ride in the solar mount. Yeah. They always drove me fucking crazy. Well. And in Chicago, you fucking had them shoved down your throat, you know. And you went to you of I too, right?

I did. Especially there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's their hotbed. Yeah. Well, he, like, I didn't know that before he would have like, I, again, Iyer for like Neil Young, that one guitar solo and Ario Speedwagon, well, he would just absolutely blanch at Ariel Speedwagon. Yeah. Later realized, like, oh, because you, he would say that they sold out, like they were sellouts.

And like, I could picture that immediately. like, oh yeah, sure, they're like journey. You know, they're not like the authentic bands. Right, right. But also over the years, I've had a more nuanced view of Ariel Speedwagon. I was like, oh, you also could have

just made a few adjustments to your playing and maybe made somewhere between $0 and $800 million whatever Kevin Krona has. Because he became, as he got older, even more of a purest. Like he, he, I saw him perform at weeds. You remember weeds? Actually, it's still there.

I do. One of the only time I saw him play live, as opposed to playing in front of us, which he would do constantly. Yeah. And I didn't know what his set list was going to be. And he had some fairly obscure stuff. Like he would play like really old folk music,

he'd an incredible finger picker. And then he pulls out fucking Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin, which is a ragtime piece for piano. Yeah. And he arranged it for guitar. And it's to this day the most amazing thing I've ever seen anyone do on guitar. He was this incredibly talented guy.

But yeah, he was kind of stuck in this rut of like just trying to prove is authenticity by going further and further away from what people might, you know, want to hear. Yeah, yeah. For those, not watching, I'm making little quotey marks. And not be like that evil Kevin Cronin. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Pretty happy and had a lot of good friends.

Can't you tell my loves a crore? When you're young, the notion of not selling out, I think, is a useful engine. Well described. Yeah. You know. But at a certain point, come on. You know, but you're trying to be successful, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You want to do this for a living, right? I mean, and there is a balance. There is like, yeah, yeah, you don't have to be like a complete fucking gross sellout chill. But you also like, there's something for everybody. You know, people, the people that love REO Speedwagon don't know that they're loving an inferior product. It's making them happy, you know, and it's like how, and I, and there's just some people that never, I mean, you know, there have been, like, writers on shows that I've been who still, as Lauren Michaels once said about a comedy writer, to him, comedy is a jihad. And, and there are

so many jihadist comedy writers that I've known and comedians that are just like, dude, you got to let, you know, I can't stand that fucking, like, yeah, no one can that, you know, but somebody likes them, so relax, you know. And the music, too, music is particularly brutal. I remember once being on vacation down, like down, but, you know, by San Diego at some fancy restaurant and eating dinner and hearing, like, thinking it was maybe piped in music and just hearing, it was somebody playing like kind of classical-ish guitar and just playing the shit out of it, just to the point where like, it's, you know, it's kind of background noise. And then it's, it's, it's, it's,

being, it's so good that I start to hear it and be like, holy shit, who is this? You know, like what? And I think I even like shazammed it. And it's like, I don't know what that is. It's a dude sitting in the bar playing and being ignored and being that good. And I was just like, oh, my God, thank God I'm not good at music. Because this would be so fucking hard to be that good and just be like, yeah, I guess I'll play at the steakhouse. You know, I got to do that, you know.

So I guess it was probably kind of easy for you to then. sort of think about doing something artistic since you just had that kind of I'm not I'm not sure that that that's that that's the chicken or egg all right in there you know I certainly

because my my main parent in my life then was my mom who became a bartender when I was about five years old and again speaking of chicken and eggs I don't know where that makes her also an alcoholic but they followed

in quick union with each other And I've come to think that like the, you know, the entertainer, whatever part is like, is based around, you know, my mom did have an incredible laugh. Like, she, it was, it was fairly dark times for a lot of it. Yeah, yeah. In a, in a Midwestern Catholic way that I'm sure is readily imaginable. And, and, but she had a great laugh. And, like, I have specific memory of, like, the very first time I made her laugh. And the first time I, like, surprised her with a laugh from another room.

And but only, like, literally in the last couple of years, have I been like, oh, yeah, that's, that's why this is all happening. I'm fucking, I've been chasing that, you know, ever since. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because dad's guitar playing, while of incredible acumen, was never something that he was transmuting in a way that could ever suggest a life, you know, or a future. it did it did transmute you know the capacity for excellence it did transmit like like wow you can get really good at something yeah yeah and i'm nowhere near as good at anything as he is at um playing guitar with the possible exception of pub trivia i might be i might be the might be better than him at that the lightning hopkins of pub trivia if you will um but yeah

it's it's all you know and to the degree that like you know the cliche is like you oh oh actors they have an attention deficit. I've always been like, the fuck you, that's not, well, now I'm kind of like, okay, well, technically, maybe yes. Yes, all right. But there's a very specific strain of that that I was unconsciously chasing. Yes, yes. No, that's, yeah, yeah, the short attention span thing is definitely, that's, like, I, you know, I'm good at, I'm good at trivia too and, like, done jeopardy and stuff. And it's like, I know a lot about, about, or I mean, I should say, I know a little about a lot.

Like I have like three inch deep knowledge of a wide array of things, you know, like just. And also too, like you learn how to take tests. And so you learn like, yes. You learn from questions like, well, this is probably Napoleon. Like I'm not sure it's Napoleon, but it's probably Napoleon. And then you go, Napoleon, like, yeah, good job. Yeah, it can be like contextual, like, okay, how deep is this particular kind of place going to go on a question? Yes, yes, being at a school or a bar and like, I don't think they're going further than Napoleon, they sure aren't.

Yeah, yeah. I'm going to go Napoleon on this guy. And that all lends itself to what you, the training that you and I had, you know, and especially like you said, the Improv Olympic, that there was a lot. And Dell really rewarded sort of arcane referential humor, which, you know, that, you know, And there was a time when that was, and there were guys that were really into that. Like, you know, like, I'm going to do a monologue about something Euclid wrote, which is, I mean, even at the time I was like, who fucking cares? You know, like, hooray for you. That's what I'm not laughing, but I'm thinking, man, that guy reads.

And that's really what I pay a two drink minimum for is to think that guy's a reader. But yeah, no, and I, and I'm also with you, you know. not exactly the same but I think that there is something like because I hear people especially stand-ups they talk about kind of they'll come in and when I'll you know and the conversation is kind of I mean the whole point of this is kind of like why are you the way you are and why do you do what you do and there's so many like that first laugh I got in front of an audience and I just am like wow who gives a shit about those people like I'm like I'm mean the first real laugh I got from my grandma.

Yeah. And in an unhappy house, that was like a, oh, the first time I turned on the sunshine. Oh, that? Yeah, I remember that. I had that power the whole time. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and that's, you know, that in and of itself. And then, you know, but it also kind of like, with tons of therapy and stuff, it lends itself to a very beautiful way of living, which is like, yeah, make the sunshine all the time, like have fun all the time, you know. And I'm sure. I mean, I know from Jason and, you know, I know Jason pretty well, but I think, you know, like I can, and from seeing Ted Lassow, that's got to be a fun place to work. Yeah. It really is.

Jason has talked about it a little bit, but like to, it's just good for his health that he gets to be in that character as much as he is, you know, as opposed to playing, I don't know, whatever. We still do vampire TV shows, yeah. Some evil vampire, like every week, like that's got to take a toll on you. Yeah. way you don't want. But yeah, the energy, you know, around making the show is pretty damn positive. I mean, it's still, you know, it's still jaded and grizzled, you know. Right.

You've still got to make the donuts. Yeah. Yeah. And there's, of course, problems that we got to sort out. But in general, it's, you know, feeling pretty fortunate to work there. Yeah. Did you start, like, did you have that feeling when you first started doing improv in Chicago? like this is fun.

Like this is, I want to do this because this is fun. Yeah, in reflection, it's kind of dumb how circuitous, circuitous my route to improv was. I know one very formative thing. You are blocks away from classes, your entire life. And that's the thing. I mean, jump on ahead a little bit, but like, you know how people New Jersey from New Jersey talk about New York?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was New York and I was going to get there. Right, right, right. Well, the inverse is, I think, and this is, I'm embarrassed by this, really, that I was in that. You know, I was inside and, like, kind of like, taking it for granted and just walking on the street and walking past, you know, this improv place and that, you know, blues institution and, like, not really taking advantage of them. Right. I might have if I had been visiting. Yeah.

So I feel bad about that. But, yeah, there was a eighth grade, I think, seventh or eighth grade school trip to go see Second City. The show was called Jean-Paul Sartre and Ringo. And Bonnie Hunt was among the cast. And like, I don't remember much of the show itself, except for, like, one improv game and, like, the feeling I had when I left. And, like, that was fucking incredible what they did. And then by junior year, a comic shop opened up around the corner from my house called Hipcat Comics on Lincoln. I don't even went there. It's actually the one and only time I ever met Del Close was he was in there because he had written an anthology comic book for DC. Oh, wow.

But the proprietors were devotees of I.O. And so they would talk about improv even more. And then I started an improv group at my high school because I'd gone to the Illinois High School Theater Festival. Did we ever do that? It would be in Champaign or in normal every year. One of the other, go back and forth. I did speech team because we didn't really have in our town like the act.

There was no like there were no theater kids. The drama club of the suburbs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Met so many people. who were graded speech team. Like, you must have been great at a speech team. Like, never heard of it. Yeah.

Don't know what, Ellen, why the fuck would you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But I went to a one of those theater festivals. There was an improv, like, clinic, basically. Yeah. In this huge room. And like this incredibly gregarious, benevolent guy would just keep saying,

all right, I need two people. And like, you kind of, you just go up there. But he guided it in such a way that everyone was amazing, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But not only then are you watching stuff that makes you laugh, but then when you get to go up and you, you know, kill the 15-year-old version of killing. Sure. It's like, in retrospect, it can't have been as funny as it felt, you know?

Yeah, yeah. But also, everyone there probably had that feeling because that's what he was trying to do, you know, get that out of people. But that was the day I felt like, oh, okay, I can now, I can't improvise. Yeah. So, yeah, we started the improv class at my high school or improv, pardon me, improv team in my high school. But then I went to college at Illinois State, which is like all acting with a conference. capital A. Like it's all like step and wolf vibes, Steppenwolf history. Oh, is step and wolf people? Is there a connection there?

Most of them met there. Oh. Yeah. And so like a lot of like Sam Shepard and stuff and like improv was not really a thing at all. And then I graduate. I don't even graduate. I leave school early. And someone who I knew at ISU who like assisted on a show I was in, she was an assistant director on a show, she said, Brendan, there's an audition in the paper for for an improv group. You've got to go. I'm like, Tess, I'm not, I'm not doing that. It's called comedy sports. You've got to do it. You're so great.

I'm not going to do that, Tess. Also, she called me at my grandmothers. And I remember realizing that day, like, how do you know my grandmother's phone number? This is creepy. So I hung up, like, good to hear from me, Tess. She called me back two days later. You're like, there's just tomorrow. You got to go.

And like, I guess I just, I can't say no to a woman a million times. I'm like, fine. Right, right. And I go to the addition and get in comedy sports. And then for the run of my then, like, basically four years of time in Chicago before I moved to Amsterdam. I had a little theater company and then I was in comedy sports as well. So every weekend, I'm doing either a play that, you know, Harley Enda was watching or an improv show that Harley Enda one was watching. But the very least, you know, the chops and the reps are

building up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, yeah, then when Boom Chicago comes along, because I don't know if you were still Chicago enough at this point when Boom Chicago started, maybe you were just full out and gone by then, but like Boom Chicago, which was, for those don't know, is this improv and sketch group that's in Amsterdam that was founded by some Chicagoans they used to only hold auditions in Chicago. A lot of cool people have gone through there, Seth Myers, Jordan Peel, just name a couple, but Google it.

And, but you'd hear about it, you know, like, okay, oh, there, boom, Chicago people are coming around again. Oh, yeah, well, no one's going to do improv in Amsterdam. That's ridiculous. I don't think that they were, I don't ever remember anybody ever, so I feel like I might have been gone by that. They started in 94. Yeah, yeah, no, I was.

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, no, I was, yeah. Well, one year they came, and by that point, because I'd gotten married straight out of college, and then pretty soon, predictably divorced, pretty out of college. Sure, as you do. As you do. And I'm in a reasonably dark place, and at that time, they come around again. And another, like, thing I'd heard that I think is actually bad advice, probably in the long run. It's like, every actor should go on every audition they can, which is like, that's, well, who is the time?

But, like, all right, I'll go to your audition, because they asked me to. but within the first five minutes of them giving the spiel about what the Amsterdam thing was and what Boom Chicago was like, oh yeah, okay, great, I want to do this forever. And so, yeah, and then I thought I would go for a year, ended up being five, and that's five years of nothing but sketch and improv without any of that theater

working its way in. It's not leaving me, but I'm not, you know, sharpening those tools. But yeah, a lot of like random things had to come together to end up on a, that road. Well, because I do, because I do want to continue about just Amsterdam life, but sure, do you feel, because I feel like I have a, I have a, I still have an insecurity about acting because I'm not really trained. I'm just, I just got jobs and I did them and I learned on

the job, you know, but I mean, I, I mean, I went to film school and I became a film, professional and I didn't I didn't learn anything and I watched movies in film school and I mean yeah I cut 16 millimeter film with a razor blade and taped it together but I didn't and I edited video you know but like I didn't really learn how to make anything and you just you learn that from getting coffee for people and stuff and so but with acting I like when you say I was doing improv but I wasn't doing acting like is there that big a difference is it like like if you were in the middle of boom Chicago and they were like we want you to come do a play do you feel like it would have really shifted gears that much or would it have just been sort of you don't have to think up the

words right right i mean i would have been able to do it and do it reasonably well because there would have been you know four weeks of rehearsal or something right you know to recalibrate but in terms of like the the context of the material or like the context of like the where the performance is and what the vibe is that performance you know that that that part is a part that just yeah was was gone now of very quiet, very civilized, and at the end we're done as opposed to. And where are you from? You know? Yeah, yeah. Sweden, that sounds crazy. Am I right? That's not a real place. We're taking out of Sweden. Well, now, what may you just stick around? You were just having fun? And are you making a good living? I mean, do you make a pretty decent living? You do you make

Damn near just enough to make acting your job. Yeah, yeah. You don't necessarily need a second job. A lot of us would get a second one anyway. Yeah, yeah. Like, Ike Barrenholz, you know, attended bar for a while at the theater. I gave these boat tours, you know, these tiny boat tours, which meant I had access to the boat, you know, at 3 o'clock in the morning,

which was the best, but. That is nice, yeah. But then by the second year contract, you're making enough that, yeah, okay, now you can just live here, live here. But it, what made me stay. So I was going to go for one year. That was it. on. I was never particularly career focused, but I had a sense that, like, probably can't stay in Amsterdam forever. I'm doing this one year and, you know, go have a think for a while and come back. But the, I underestimated the appeal of performing five nights a week and, you know, for big houses and like the thrill of that and the fun of the company I was in. And, but there was a Dutch concept and we mentioned it on Ted Lassau, but called, you know, Chezellich Hyde. And Chazelich basically, like, is the whole Dutch philosophy of life, you know,

and for someone who had been raised, and I dare say even composed of shame and guilt, you know, here comes Cheselich, which is basically you're now living a land without shame and guilt. Because if there is something that you are thinking about, that you cannot change it by thinking about it, then why are you wasting your time by thinking about it?

And why are you not just hanging out where you are and being in that moment? And that was just such a remover of the clouds of the brain of like, like that can, wait, oh, hold on. Yeah, I'm the one, I'm the one making me think about the thing I did when I was 10 that I, yeah, that I'm sure offended everyone around me, but probably didn't actually, huh. So, yeah, I very consciously at the 11 month mark or so, 11 month mark or so was like, I think I need another year in this to make sure it's like, it's getting in here and isn't just,

yeah, I'm chelicking from here. Yeah. Yeah. And then suddenly two years became five. Wow. And partially because, too, like, boom Chicago was to a degree. And I think, you know, the folks I've mentioned would say this too. It was kind of like famous practice because you're just in your little parish. There's a little tourist square called the Lides Supplying. But it's surrounded by bars. So, like, you get to know all the staff of the other bars and they get to know you.

And like, and so, yeah, you become like a C-minus list celebrity in this one little tiny part of yesterday. But just in the seductive way. You know, just in the like, like, ooh, we got to jump the line at the club because we know the bouncer. Right. You know. And that was, I think, yeah, again, a little bit like seductive. Like, okay, I'm going to do a little bit more of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm going to bleach my hair. Oh, wow. Yeah, why not? Here we go. I can. I'm going to pierce my eyeball. Yeah. Well, did you ever consider, like, like, maybe I'm going to stay here, you know?

Yes. Yeah. But eventually the, the, the, firm realization that that as a non- Dutch speaker, like I could speak a little bit. It's like enough to impress people

who don't and frustrate people who do. But like then you have a hard ceiling of what you're going to be able to do as a career here. I see. Performing wise. And like, Boom, Chicago was fun,

but also like I could tell that I was starting to drive people crazy because like at the five year mark, then I'm kind of like, you know, the old man of the cast almost. Yeah, yeah. And, you know,

which brings with it like, you're really good at this gig, but also you have some standards that are maybe not expressed in the most gentle way. Oh, I see. I see. And yeah, I could tell that, like, I think I'm putting people off a little bit. Yeah. I don't think they're wrong.

Yeah, yeah. So I think it's time. It's time. Let's get out of here. And from there you go, you come back? I should have gone to Chicago. It's not a regret I have, but it's the one, like, biggest, clearest, like, logic dictates. That was idiotic.

Instead, I just go to L.A., kind of blind. Yeah. Because a few boom alums by then, including people who I'd come in with, were now at Mad TV. And so, like, you know, having a proper TV comedy careers. Yeah, yeah. Okay, sure. On or writing, or both?

Both. Okay. Both. A lot of them were on. You know, Nicole Parker, Josh Myers, like Bernholtz, Jordan Peel just gotten on there. And so like, shit, I'll just go to L.A., but I soon found that I, having been here, excuse me, having been in Afghanistan for five years, that when I came back to LA, I wasn't just adjusting to a new country.

I was in a manner speaking, I wasn't just adjusting to a new city. In a manner of speaking, I was adjusting to a new country. Yeah. You know, like, I hadn't driven in five years. Oh, wow. I borrow my friend's car to drive a VHS of an audition I'd filmed to someone, and I have, like, the first car accident I've ever had, you know, ever. And all the Khazelichide, it merely goes out the window.

And I can picture almost exactly where it was. It was in the valley. you know, like coming under the 101, you know, like toward Ventura. Yeah. And it was a green light, and I'm just going, but I didn't know at that point and took me years to process this, too, because I just assumed it was 100% me, that sometimes people still try to make that left turn long after that light has changed. And so, like, I break in time, but I catch her wheel and everything.

And, like, and I'm terrible. I'm like, all the, like, confidence I did. And as somebody else's car, too. Yeah. Oh, my God. My buddy's car. it was the absolute worst. And I run to this lady.

Like, are you okay? Are you okay? Not only she was okay, but she was like sitting back like fucking Selma Diamond at a coffee shop. I can't believe this happens on my way to jury duty. I'm like, oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, don't run red lights then. So L.A. was, you know, didn't happen very quickly for me.

And in retrospect, if I'd gone to Chicago, and like recalibrated to home as opposed to recalibating to somewhere new entirely, that probably would have been a smoother, you know, ingress for my, for my brain and mind and self-worth. But maybe not. Yeah. You know, they got cars there too. You're doing fine.

It worked out fine. It took a long time. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, it's all worked out of fine. How did you meet Jason? Met Jason doing comedy sports. Oh, okay. Because comedy sports, I don't know if you recall.

In Chicago? In Chicago. Oh, okay. But he lived in Kansas City, but there were comedy sports is all over the country at that time. Yes, I know. Starting Milwaukee. It was New York. It was everywhere.

And one day, you know, we're at the turnaround theater. Are there still comedy sports? I don't think it's still a network anymore. But there's still one in Chicago. And actually, they perform at I.O. Oh, do they? Oh, wow. But we're back, you know, behind a little patch of grass behind the turnaround theater doing our zip-zab-zaps.

And suddenly a 83 Volvo rolls up. Station wagon, we have to get out of the way. Like, what the fuck? Who is this? And two tired guys come out. Jason Stakes out of the passenger seat. My buddy had Goodman out of the driver's seat. They had just driven up from Kansas City to do a show.

To do a show. And like, just no one had told any of us. And like, didn't even realize until they started pulling out of their bag, like the same shirts that we were all wearing. Like, what? Who are these guys? Okay. Well, welcome to Chicago. Good luck, Kansas City guys.

history will demonstrate that Jesus and Vegas turned out to be pretty funny So that was the first time meeting him And then some again in Chicago A couple of times And then Did he ever live in Chicago or did just He did? He did

But he oddly never did Second City He did Turco Because you know His uncle is George Went to He's from Beverly And here's the thing We found out So I met Jason

What's that? NinetyEight He eventually comes to Amsterdam a lot Because he was dating And then engaged to KKK Cannon who was out there. Yeah, yeah. He would come for a little bit and then a little bit.

And one time he came for four months and apparently at a rehearsal I was not at, but I found out that night. He's like, oh, Jason's in the cast now. What? Yeah, he told everyone he's in the cast now. Great. Okay, great. And in that four months, that's when I were like proper like hang sort of happened.

Yeah, yeah. But only realized about four years ago, five years ago, and I haven't known each other since 1998, that his mom went to high school with my, aunts. Oh, wow. Because my family was from one part of Beverly and his family was from the other part of Beverly, but the Catholic girl's school in the middle brought both of the men. So yeah. Oh, wow. There was a reunion of the school recently and like, yeah, the one aunt ran into his mom and was like, am I? Are we? And she's like, yeah. Do we have comedy children? Yeah. So like our families

have known each other for half a century and we never realized it. There's so many, so many small world things like like just mind-blowing things that happened to you know that that's like yeah that makes sense yeah yeah that makes sense can't you tell my loves it grows i think too also too in comedy it does kind of make sense like it does kind of like there is a type there is like granted there's it's a wide spectrum of type but it's like yeah no it makes sense you know how do you end because this is an I was unaware of this, but that Ted Lasso is completely inspired from just an ad thing that you guys did together. And how does that happen? It was you guys did Premier League commercial bit and a very funny bit and just a great idea for NBC sports over there, right?

Or was it for here. Because NBC was getting the rights to the Premier League for the first time. I see, I see. Okay. and how does that happen? I get a call from Jason. I've talked about this a little before, but still here goes again,

because it's worth saying, because it tickles me every time. It's the best good news, bad news, phone call I've ever gotten, but I didn't know how good at the time. I had shot a scene on Where the Millers with him, and even when I shot it, and it was my first ever seen in a big movie,

so I was like pretty excited about it. But even shooting it, I was like, this is not important to the story. This does not have a great chance of making the cut. And get a call from Jason, Hey, man, I just, you know, sorry your scene didn't make the movie. And I'm like, oh, well, too bad, but, you know, that makes sense. Right.

But I think I'm going to talk to you about there's this soccer thing. And that turns out to be a thing that will go on to change my life over the course of the next 13 years. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, it was just a commercial NBC approached him. And he said, I'll do it. Can I bring on anybody I want? And they were like, yeah. So he brings me and the great Joe Kelly.

And, yeah, we just write some scenarios and go out there and shoot it. And they let you write the whole thing. And yeah. Pretty much. And was he on it? He must have been on SNL at this point. Yeah, he hasn't for a while. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He was a known entity. Yeah, yeah. Well, because it's really, it's really a funny, like, and I mean, and it just makes perfect sense, you know. And then because it is, it's almost like you got, I mean, people now, especially when they don't want to pay for anything, I hear all people saying like, I'm making a proof of concept, which is just like, oh, it's like, nobody wants to. They're not going to buy your pilot, but they're going to give you like five. grand to bug your friends to shoot something. And it's like you got that proof of concept. Pretty much.

And then was it, you know, how long after the commercial was it? First commercial was 2013. Then we did in 2014 and I did a second one in 2014. And after that, Jason was like, hey, this is fun. I like this character, there's something else here. I don't know if it's another commercial or a movie or what. Yeah, yeah. So in early 2015, him and me and Joe wrote a pilot mapped out a little season.

We were kind of looking at like the UK office as a model, like six and six. a special. And then it sat in Google Docs folder for like two and a half years, maybe four years. You know, Joe and Jason are having great careers. I'm still, you know, hanging on for dear life, you know, trying to get a commercial here and there. And I literally had to have a conversation with myself of, you have to stop thinking about this dead last something. It's just not going to happen. Stop telling people there's a, do you have this in the hopper? Because you don't. Right. And you got to move on.

And, yeah, like two months after that, Jason has lunch with Bill Lawrence and TV mogul, Bill Lawrence. Yes, yes. And then... Way too handsome. That fucking for as successful as he is. Like, he doesn't need to be that handsome. Yeah, those eyes don't need to be that blue. Yeah, he could have like, yeah, he could have a walleye.

Like, would that kill him? He'd still be fucking zillionaire. Come on. So that's like either late 2017 or early 2018. Yeah. Oh, wow. And you were already, like, you were the soccer fan, right? Yeah, but I wasn't until I moved to Amsterdam. Oh, really? That's the thing of it. It's like, if I don't, if I'm not getting divorced or, you know, if I don't go to this random audition, I don't really want to go to, you know, a lot of this maybe doesn't happen because I did not give two shits about soccer. I'm a sports fan. But, like, soccer was just never in my world. Yeah.

Like, no one ever said, like, hey, let's go see the sting. Right. You know, every once. But, yeah, when I was out there, there's no broadband, you know, I can't follow the bears of the bulls anymore. And Michael Jordan just retired anyway. So, like, I open my heart to soccer. Like, I'll give you a shot. Right.

Right. Because it's there. It's there. Yeah. And, yeah, just caught the bug really, really hard. And when I catch the bug about something, I tend to, like, go overboard with it. Yeah. And this was one of those cases.

So, like, not only was I. watching all the games I could. And again, if you're in a tourist square in Europe, you're going to be able to watch a ton of games. Right. Of all the different leagues. Yeah, exactly. And then, but there were these magazines that were like, almost like Rolling Stone style, you know, called 442,

which is still around and one called Total Football, which is not, that would not only have, you know, cloying articles about, you know, whoever's the new winger at Aston Villa, but also like these sort of history things, you know, like the top 25 club teams of all time or the top 50 hard. men of football. And like I just sponged all that out. And you know, with using the pub trivia skills.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Which for the record also comes from mom because mom was one of the first people to have trivial pursuit. Mom had trivial pursuit and we would play that all the time. And learning those answers to that game, which you obviously didn't know most of them at first, but like much like, oh, this must be Napoleon. Eventually you go like, if this is a trivial pursuit and the history question is 1973,

it's war game. right yeah yeah yeah let's move on becoming this football sponge that uh and then at one point jason comes you know one of the times jason comes over he buys a uh uh a saga PlayStation for the green room and it has classic teams on it well i now know about all these classic teams because of all these magazines i've been reading and just started using american analogs for these teams so he can get what they were so like okay 72 amsterdam this is they're like the showtime lakers and this yohan pralf he's like magic johns he's like okay got it and then that literally becomes the basis of the beard, Ted relationship, you know, years later.

Yeah. I actually, this is a fascinating anecdote, so hold on people. Can't wait, my favorite kind of anecdote. I mean, I didn't get to ever do any traveling until I was on late night with Conan O'Brien. And I went on a trip to Amsterdam, I mean, among other places in Europe, but we were in Amsterdam, my ex-wife and I, and I can't remember what even year in the early 90s it was, whether it was 92 or 94. Well, it wouldn't have been 92.

It would have been 94 or 96. I don't know where the World Cup would fall in those. 94 would be the World Cup, but 96 would be the Euros, and that's almost as big as the No, it would have. Then it was 94 and it was World Cup because the Dutch were playing, you know, like it was World Cup. And the entire town was orange, which, at. You know, I didn't, I was like, why is everything orange and was an, oh, World Cup? And I mean, I'm not even sure I was aware of the concept of the World Cup at that point.

But saw two games, I think. And in one of them, we went to, there was a coffee shop, which is, you know, which is the cafes that sell weed. And it was this really nice little, like, low-key one that we had found. And my ex-wife didn't even smoke weed. That was me. But we went there on a date, not intending to watch Holland play somebody. And I helped the owner hang the new TV on the wall so that every, he brought it in. And he was like, and he just asked me like, will you help me hang the TV?

Like, I'm stone, but sure, yeah. And it was just, it was the most fun. Like, it just the feeling of. of it and I've paid attention ever since, you know, like, and I don't, you know, like, I'm not like a big soccer fan. I don't, I'm vaguely aware of it and I can watch it and enjoy it, but it's just something about the importance of it. Yeah. And the fact, and it just makes, it just is, I mean, I'm the same way with the Olympics. Like, I don't give a shit about track and field, but I'll fucking watch it, you know, when the, are there's the entire world is and the pageantry and, you know, different countries against you. When the stakes are at their highest, why would you miss it?

Right, exactly. What a curious inroads you had to being invested in it. Yeah. Everybody celebrating that goal? That's me. That's me. You wouldn't be watching this on this new TV if it weren't for me. But yeah, no, I still, and I still love Amsterdam.

I haven't been to Amsterdam in years, but it's a great town. It's the best. It's so pretty. You know, the weather is not its strongest suit. but you know you're living in it's not just you live in a world without guilt and shame

you're surrounded by people who don't have that bothering them and also their health insurance is not a concern right like just the vibes are are you know you can't duplicate them

in Amsterdam and in summer in particular it's just it's heaven yeah yeah it's a nice place to live well where Ted Lassow now

are you got your I can't remember are you guys done now no oh done done like shooting yeah yeah yeah we've finished shooting in like February.

Oh, okay. The new series comes out two weeks from tomorrow. Yeah. Oh, wow. And are you guys, is it open-ended? I mean, do you guys, do you feel like you want to? Definitely would do more if they'll have us do more. But it does really want.

I mean, doesn't. Well, although streaming is so fucking weird. It's like, it's hard to, you know, plenty of quote-unquote successful streaming things are like, nah, fuck it. Nah, bye. Also, you can't get it anymore. Right, right. We finish after.

It's usually because, oh, your contract's up and you're going to want more money, nah, you know what. Oh, it's such bad timing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Total coincidence. It has nothing to do with the exorbitant sum that we owe you. Yeah, we always saw it was going to be three, so we made three at first. We got lucky enough to have three.

We didn't know anything that was going to happen. Like, we were on a streaming service that didn't exist at the time. Yeah. And, and, but we didn't anticipate how much we would like doing it or how much people would, would dig it as a whole. So, um, we're like, okay, we'll finish our three. We'll take time and we'll think about it. And then, yeah, decided to come on back. This time it's the women's team.

Um, which makes it, you know, that, that new wrinkle sort of makes it interesting enough to come back. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. No, it gives you a whole new thing to be about, you know? And you're, you're doing a podcast. Your life is set for now. It's really, you've like, really like, you design. Kind of really sweet dick for you.

And I imagine you had all kinds, like getting access to World Cup things was not a problem. It was not. It wasn't all for free. But it was, it was, it was, the wheels were greased. Yeah, yeah. Wheels were greased here. But if you want to go see, you know, Egypt to play Argentina. It's a phone call, right? Yeah.

You fucker. Sometimes my phone call is just to someone else to make that phone call. Right, right. I'd call someone else make that a phone call. But yeah, getting into games was really fun. And, like, my, you know, I have a five-year-old now and a two-year-old as well, but the two-year-old, I mean, he's shapeless. Yeah, they're like a wild animal.

What the fuck you're going to do with that thing? So feral. Yeah, yeah. And the five-year-old is not quite caught on to soccer yet. But brought him to a couple of the U.S. games. And, no, one U.S. game and one messy game, Messi versus Switzerland in Kansas City. and like he seemed to care. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Even if he didn't, like, like, you know, and the U.S. lost the game we were actually at, but they lost three to two to Turkey, but like even just to celebrate a couple goals with him, like, you know, and him like caring and he's wearing the shirt, I'm like, okay, please be a core memory, please be a core memory, please be a core memory,

please be worth it. And so we'll see, but that was a, you know, a new wrinkle that was not something I was looking forward to when they first got awarded this six years ago because weren't even thinking about babies then, but yeah, to share it with a kid. is pretty awesome. Yeah.

Well, I just got a knee replacement. And part of my scheduling it was World Cup. You know, like, and I, because I got to, I'd wake up and I would say, Hey, Siri, what World Cup games are on today? And then I would have my day plan because I was icing and, you know, and elevating. Jesus. Siri just, shush. Wow.

It was two days ago, Siri. She heard me. Thank you, Siri. I've heard anecdotally that dudes get their, and I might do this myself someday, get their vasectomies in the middle of March so that they can just vegge out in front of all of March Madness. Oh, really?

Especially that first crazy weekend of March Madness, where six to four teams get down to 16. Oh, wow. Yeah, so guys will get their vasectomies on the Wednesday. And then like, sorry, babe, nothing I can do. Nothing I can do. Watch basketball and ice my balls. Yeah, no, so I knew that I would have a lot of opportunity to watch them.

And my six-year-old started watching it. And she would complain every time. And she refers to any sport as baseball. So she's like, oh, more baseball. And I would say it's soccer. And then she'd be like, are we watching baseball? But she sat and watched it. And she would ask me, who are we rooting for?

And sometimes I was like, I don't know. And that's not a good answer. Yeah. Like she wants it clear cut. Like there's who we're for and who were against. I'm going to be like, all right, fine, Canada. You know, like, we're for Canada, you know. And, but I felt the same, like, she did start to kind of, I felt like just a smidgen of understanding, you know.

Because I still, like, I don't watch soccer enough, but to when the World Cup, I have to reacquaint myself with certain rules and things. You know, like, I forget them because. And there's a couple things might have changed a little bit since last time. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, it was, it's, I love it. It was really fun. I get the same thing with my five-year-old when he does like, you know, finally, because I get the eye roll.

This isn't K-pop Demon Hunters. It's soccer. Fucking. Yeah. Yeah. But he will sometimes like, all right, who do you want to win, Daddy? And sometimes it's very clear. And sometimes I'm like, oh, I just want a good game.

And, and yeah, they're like, ugh. Right, right, right. And the lesson there is, you don't always have to tell the truth to your kids. Right, right. No, absolutely. Oh, my gosh. You learn that real quick. Yeah.

Until the day when they ask you, is Santa real? Oh, boy. Oh, boy, that was a tough one. Where's your little brother? Yeah, yeah. Well, the fourth season of Ted Lassow, it's premiering on August 5th. Turn this off immediately and go turn on Apple TV. And again, it's following the AFC Richmond women's team.

Yes, sir. So that's fun. You know, women's soccer's fucking awesome, too. Yeah. That World Cup is now only a year away. Yep, yep. We got that to look forward. Maybe I'll get something else replaced.

Babe, I got a new dick. Oh, that thing. Well, Brendan Hunt, thank you so much for coming in. Andy Richter, thank you. Yeah, it was great talking to you. And I'll be back next week with more of the three questions. Boohoo. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco production.

It is produced by Sean Doherty and engineered by Rich Garcia. Engineering Support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel, executive produced by Nick Leow, Adam Sacks, and Jeff Ross, talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, with assistance from Maddie Ogden. Research by Alyssa Graal. Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to the three questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts. And do you have a favorite question you always like to ask people? Let us know in the review section. Can't you tell my loves are growing? Can't you feel It ain't you in. Oh, you must be a knowing. This has been a team Coco production.