The Three Questions with Andy Richter - David Cross

Episode Date: April 21, 2020

Comedian and actor David Cross talks with Andy Richter about overcoming family instability growing up, laying the groundwork for the alt-comedy sketch scene with Mr. Show and beyond, and his favorite banner story to come out of Arrested Development. Plus, David gives thoughts on fatherhood, settling down, and putting together his next stand-up special.

Hey, David Cross. Hi, Ian. How are you? I'm good. Thank you for being on my podcast. Yeah, considering. We're all hunkered down. You're welcome.

Now, is this Visual Podcasters? Is there such a thing or we are? Well, the visual podcast, I believe, is what's known as a television show. And this is definitely not a television show. So even even though we're doing this via Zoom, this will just be audio. Yes. Yeah. So you can you can do whatever. You don't have to worry about your carefully crafted look. So I should put my clothes back on. No, no, no, no. Leave them on. I actually I recorded my first in-home podcast yesterday and I did not. I was in my bedroom as I am now. But the bed looked like uh there had been a wrestling match on it which there

hadn't um but I actually did I did make it for you today so um all right uh if I I mean this may annoy you may be frustrating can I ask you to mess it up a little bit oh yeah well no and I'm not going to do that because no one's going to see the video it would just be for you and uh you cleaned it just for me i know i did well i know because i would prefer to at the end they do like at the end they'll make us sort of like stop and do a freeze frame that they'll use as the promotional photo for this oh i see you know you don't you don't want to deal with all the photoshop i don't i have i don't have children i want i don't want them to know that i'm a slob uh might be a bit

late for that i know i know well where are you are you uh upstate are you yeah i'm upstate uh i am in uh a little town where i've had a house for going on 13 years now. And it's, you know, I'm very, very lucky and privileged to have it, to be able to get out of the city. And, yeah, we're in week three of the self-quarantining. Yeah. Did you, what did it take for you guys to finally, like, hunker down? What did it take for you guys to finally like hunker down? Like, because I know I, for me, it seemed like, I mean, and it's not because of Trump or anything. It's just like, yeah, I mean, how serious is this?

What should I be doing? Should I? And then it really did. I think, I think the NBA like canceling games was, and not that I'm even a big sports fan. I just was like, oh shit, basketball games are canceled. Well, it was. This seems like maybe I should stay indoors.

I don't know if there was a specific thing. um and the uh exponentially increasing urgency of uh the edicts to to stay indoors to you know socially distance all that stuff and i've got a three-year-old so yeah even if you know i felt a little immortal three weeks ago and now i don't feel that way. And, um, you know, it's, uh, also I live, uh, you know, in, in New York and it's very densely packed there. And, um, and I, I, I guess it was, obviously it was, you know, this, uh, as I said, this is going into week three. So this started a little over two weeks ago. So whatever that date was, whatever it was happening know this uh as i said this is going into week three so this started a little over two weeks ago yeah so whatever that date was whatever was happening we're we're like okay this is serious yeah yeah yeah i think i think it was like a thursday for me that i just was like all right i gotta stay home but even then it's it's hard you know because i mean my kids are

my kids are home they're obviously my son had come home from college. He in New York City for spring break. And they have since told him, like, don't come back. And and it's hard, you know, because they're out. They live with my ex-wife in a different house and they live here with me in this house. And it's, you know, it's sort of like, lab let's get off let's get off the covid 19 stuff all right you know um let's get to uh how long you you have a place in new york city how long have you lived there uh well i i've been living in new york since early 2001 yeah Yeah. And I was in the East Village for,

jeez, 11 years, I want to say. And then I was in, I moved to Brooklyn and I was in Dumbo for a little bit, which I really didn't care for. And then right before my daughter was born, literally nine days, I bought my dream home. I got a brownstone in Brooklyn, and it's pretty amazing.

But, yeah, I'm not in the traditional, you know, Woodstock kind of Hudson, Rhinebeck area. It's still pretty woodsy over there though right oh yeah no i'm in the middle of the woods it's great it's beautiful it's like i mean as i was saying before i've been up here i'm going on my 13th year here and uh um it's it's it's just absolutely, I mean, it's half the price, if not more, you know, two-thirds of the price or a third of the price of, you know, those places up there. It's really cheap around here. I got a lot of land. It's beautiful. It's, you know, and everybody here is really cool, neighbors, and very peaceful, and I quite like it. It's not like does it get kind of conservative out there in the country or no?

It does, but it's, you know. Everyone is willing to have a conversation. I, you know, I've been in bars where it can get a little heated, uh, but everyone listens to each other. I mean, there's some, you know, there's some dramatically different opinions on things. Uh, and there's definitely, you know, you don't have to go, you're not going to travel for more than a couple of minutes without seeing a big, you know, Trump sign or Trump, huge flag and some of these places. But, uh, I, I mean, you know, going back to, to Bush, uh, I mean, I've, I've, you can always have a conversation. It's like,

it's people don't jump down each other's throat. It's not like Twitter, you know? Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh, um, you can have a a you know a real conversation as i said it gets heated sometimes and and especially if you know you're you're sitting at a bar and then there's all of a sudden within the conversation as it naturally flows and then there's people joining in and there's like four people who feel this way and then four people who feel differently then it can get a little heated but it's never gotten like ugly or anything like that. And all the time I've been up here and, um, and it's, it's great, you know, I mean, uh, uh, you know, I'm used to it, you know, I grew up in Georgia and, uh, have had my opinions, uh, and been kind of that my, my philosophy and, uh, approach, uh,

you know, since I was a preteen and, uh, you know, so it's, I'm used to having those conversations. Um, but you forget when you're in New York city or LA, you don't really have, you taught, you tend to talk to people with, uh, who are like-minded yeah yeah um so it's it's uh it's a reminder of you know uh what i grew up with and you know how you can you don't have to be an asshole when you're talking if i'm yeah i'm gonna stand up and it's a monologue yeah i can sort of afford to air my views that way. But in a dialogue, you know, nobody wants to do that. Yeah, right, exactly. And it is, you know, it also when you're, it does,

it is helpful, I think, to go out to places where, because you're absolutely right, in New York City and Los Angeles, like it's surprising when I am around, like I remember, and it was shortly after Trump was elected and I was recording something that was like a kid's cartoon or something at a recording studio. And I was another actor in the waiting room

and we were talking about Trump and I was talking very frankly about my low opinion of him. And I sensed this tension from all the people around me. And then I found out later that it's the studio where Scott Baio records his podcast, his right wing podcast. So I was kind of like, oh, it's this studio is full of Republicans, which is just it's so strange out here to, you know, to come across that. But yeah, it is, you know, to come across that. But yeah, it is, you know,

being a Republican back then when he was first elected was a little different. Yeah, a little bit still. I mean, I would say, I mean, the Republicans that are are backing him now are I mean, have just made a, you know, complete 180. Not all of them, of course, but I mean, have just made a, you know, complete 180. Not all of them, of course, but I mean, there have been so many people that he's put off. And it's just so somebody who's backing him at this stage is, I think, different than somebody, than the people who were backing him initially. Yeah. Yeah. There's plenty of time to get buyer's remorse about him. Yeah.

Yeah. There's a demonstrable, you know, especially now. Yeah. So you say you grew up now, you grew up in Georgia, right? So you say you grew up now you grew up in Georgia, right? Yeah, I the longer answer is I was born in Georgia and then I moved around constantly when I was a kid. I'd be in a different place every year. Play lived in a couple of three places in Florida, two places in Connecticut, three places in New York, and then moved back to Georgia when I was nine and stayed there until I was 19. Why, why, why so transient? Why such like a transient? Uh, my father just got fired a lot. Oh, really? Uh, yeah, he would, or he'd like, you know, quit in a huff. Uh, uh, but mostly he was about getting, he was, he, my dad was just, uh, uh, not a great guy and, uh, um, and, and wildly irresponsible and, and

vain and selfish. And, uh, um, you know, nothing was ever his fault. He's Trump. He's basically like Trump without money. Very charming, very, really charming guy. Very funny, very affable and extroverted. And, you know, it just like a like poor, poor, poor man's scam artist was with zero, you know, intellect. Yeah. artists with, with zero, you know, uh, intellect. Um, and, uh, so, so there was a lot of, um, but as I said, every single year we'd be in someplace new. What kind of jobs? Um, he was, he was selling, um, uh, I think when I was like, when I was born in the first couple of years, he worked for a women's bathing suit company. He was a salesman. Ooh, la la.

Yeah. And I remember it was coal of California. And then he got into, what was he doing? Then he got into, what brought us out of Florida? It was, uh, um, oh, then he had a, he, he and another guy started their own business, uh, selling women's clothing, like a store, you know, an actual brick and mortar place store. And, um, and then, uh, I remember he, they had this contest, right. Where it was like, sign up for a raffle. And, you, and then, uh, I remember he, they had this contest, right. Where it was like, sign up for a raffle. And, you know, if you come in and you buy $50 worth of stuff, you sign up for a trip to Bermuda. Well, shockingly, um, he and his partner won that trip to Bermuda and, um,

and for real, and then that thing got shut down and then we had to move again. And then he started getting into. I mean, there were some places where he just didn't have a job and he was looking. And I don't even know why we how or why we ended up in Syracuse, New York and what we were doing there. And then we lived with my grandma for a little while when he had no job. we lived with my grandma for a little while when he had no job. I was like six months there. And then, and then we moved to Roswell, Georgia, because he was going to work at a, he got work at a, as a manager,

chef guy at a country club. And that didn't last too long. And then, uh, and then we got evicted from the apartment we were in. And then, so we were kind of, my sisters and I were split up for a little bit and then, you know, they were crashing at some friends and I was crashing with another friend. I don't know where my mom and dad ended up crashing for a little bit. But then we got into an apartment complex and then my dad left. Are you the youngest? I'm the oldest. You're the oldest. Okay.

Yeah. Two sisters. Wow. It's amazing. It's I'm always amazed by people. That in during all of that instability, like, oh, yeah, let's have two more kids. You know what I mean? Like, it's. Well, I mean, you know, the thing is, you know, hindsight is 2020.

You know, the thing is, you know, hindsight is 20-20. Yeah, that's true. My mom had a pretty bad relationship with her mom. Both my grandparents, the grandfathers died before I was born. But her mom told her that, you know, my grandma was harsh, man. She was cold. She was cold. And their relationship was not a fun thing to watch. And I just like belittled my mom through her life. And, you know, my mom, you know, my grandmother said, this guy's a loser. He's he's he's he's full of shit, et cetera, et cetera. And my mom was just, um, you know, swept off her feet by him. And he's this, he was like, my mom, you know, uh, was very plain looking and, um, intellectual

and didn't, did not very social. And, um, you know, the in sweeps, this guy who's, uh, he's from England, he's from Leeds and he would play, I would watch him play up his accent he was he was everything she was not and he was really and you believed him you just bought his and you bought his hope and optimism and enthusiasm even though you knew it was you know and and there were uh increasingly different examples of how he's full of shit and how he, you know, is completely irresponsible. And, you know, I think for the three kids and, and, uh, you know, my sister was a honeymoon baby. And then there was maybe, I don't know, maybe two, a year and a half to two years in between her and, uh, our other sister. And, and, you know, so it was pretty quick popping them out pretty quick. And, uh, um, and, you know, you just believe it. It's,

there's a Stockholm syndrome quality to it. You just, you, you believe it cause you have to believe it. My mom had no, you know, she had a, uh, she was an English teacher. She had no skills beside that. And and and, you know, wanted to leave my dad several times. I only learned this, you know, fairly recently and just couldn't. And she she was she's not the strongest person. And and then, you know, sort of a mixed blessing when he did leave. I mean, we were had no money and in debt. And I remember my mom having to get a camera. What she got first, like a gasoline credit card, like a Sitco or a Sunoco

card and had to pay, use that to then get a Sears card, buy things and then pay that off to build her credit up. And this, and it took a long time just to get an actual card. I mean, we're talking years. And meanwhile, she saddled with all this debt. She has three kids, no money. And, and also three kids who were, you know, kind of miserable. I didn't want to be in Roswell and stuck in this shithole apartment complex. And yeah. Well, that was, that's actually, that's something that I wanted to ask is like, how do you know, like, is there a, is this kind of instability? Does it wear on you as a child? Like, are you like, how, what, what does it do to you? Or, or is it just, you know, cause kids can be so malleable that they can just kind of get used to anything. It's both.

Seemingly. I mean, there are definitely pros and cons to it. And the cons being, you know, it's difficult to walk into a new school every year. You're the new kid. And especially, I shouldn't say especially, but clearly and in a marked way when I moved back to Georgia, all of a sudden, you know, I was a weirdo because I was one of maybe, I don't know, five Jews, and there were maybe two black kids, maybe two Hispanic, I don't think any Asians. It was kind of a rural suburb where I was, and I was just different. I was physically different.

My whole essence was different, and not not, not in a, uh, not in a, in an interesting way to those kids. I got picked on a lot. I got, I got bullied a bunch and, and sometimes by, uh, uh, people would say, you know, my dad told me to hit, this is a true thing. A guy, you know, said, my dad told me to hit you, uh uh and tell you you're a dirty jew and and uh not that that happened all the time but yeah enough but it happened yeah the fact that it happened once is enough to be like oh man that'll make an impact like uh like dimes and pennies thrown at me uh when i was out of p.e i was like walking the field because i had been punished for something so it that was a punishment was you know instead of playing you

had to walk in a in a perimeter you know just in circles and uh uh kids throwing pennies and dimes in me uh going pick it up jew pick it up jew like just weird shit that I'd never had confronted. Um, and, and then I went, you know, so the, that doesn't really answer your question though, about the, the instability is, you know, uh, it's, I feel like I'm equipped to deal with instability now. And, uh, um, uh, and I can, to deal with instability now. And, uh, um, uh, and I can, I can deal with that stuff. Uh, um, uh, should it present itself? Um, but you know, outside of that, I don't see too many positives, but, um, and the negatives being, you know, you just don't, you don't have, many positives but um and the negatives being you know you just don't you don't have like i was always jealous of people who had friends that they grew up with like this is my friend from when i was five and we you know grew up down the street and i don't have any of that you know um i mean my oldest friends go go back to when i was like a teenager, you know, in Georgia.

I still have some, but, you know, I don't have those kind of childhood memories of like. Yeah, those connections. Yeah. Do you, was there a period in your life where stability was actually kind of like hard for you to take? Like you got so used to instability that... The Spanish-American War taught me a lot of life lessons. So you've learned the skill of diversion by comedy. That's quite a survival skill.

Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. Was there a say that again ask me no no do you think like was it hard like after going through this childhood where it's it's so unstable and there's so much change and there's so little you have control over as you got into your young adulthood was it hard for you to handle situations where there's stability? Did you look for instability? I didn't have it. I mean, I, I think that was, you know, that's one of the, the, the negative parts of being, uh, uh, that having that lifestyle instilled in you is that I, it,

I was, it turned out out I was more irresponsible than I thought I would be, especially when I left and I couldn't wait to get out of Atlanta, couldn't wait to leave home. And I spent a year after I graduated starting to do standup and where I worked at Pizza Hut and Domino's and just trying to make some money to move and go to Boston, which I eventually did. And while it was easy to, I was comfortable and used to the instability and crashing on different couches and, you know, having a, you know, moving in with this set of friends and sleeping in the back, you know, behind the, you know, behind the, uh, you know, behind the kitchen or whatever. Um, it was easy to do, but, but because it was easy and I was, and I was comfortable

with it, I didn't really have a lot of drive or ambition to not do it, you know, to, to find stability and, uh, you know, my relationships were unstable as well and um um so again you know blessing or curse i mean i i it was easy to do and i was comfortable with it whereas some people might uh it might make them despondent but it also i just never had that thing until much later where i was like i'm gonna i'm, I'm going to quit being poor, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Now what, what was it about Boston? Was it standup in particular? Like, was it, is there enough of a scene there? And you knew, I guess it's a two part question. Like, how did you know it was going to be standup for you? And then, and then was the,

and was Boston then a natural extension of that urge? Yeah. Well, uh, uh, as a kid, there were like, there were only two things I really wanted to do. And one was, uh, be a film director, whatever that meant to me. And when I was, you know, 15, 16, um, and, and then the other was standup. and I was, uh, you know, which is something I owe to my dad. He, he turned me on to a lot of comedy and I, um, you know, uh, I really gravitated towards, uh, those other weirdos in, in our, in a, in the classroom and the school and you know we uh would have our inside jokes and we were all nerdy and uh our thing as opposed to like sci-fi dungeon dungeons and dragons or whatever um our thing was comedy and um and i you know whereas whereas some kids would be getting, you know, Journey or Foreigner or Fleetwood Mac, I'd be getting, you know, Richard Pryor or George Carlin or Steve Martin records.

You know, that's that's a lot of what I was, you know, interested in. And then Boston was out of practicality, basically, because I had I wanted to go to NYU or a college of Boston. And I applied. Actually, initially, I wanted to go to UGA where all my friends were like everyone I knew went uh went to uga and i wasn't accepted there and that and then i drove up and had a meeting with the dean of admissions this guy named mo phelps and that turned into a mr show sketch uh when i was describing the story to bob he's like we gotta do something about that and bob played mo phelps and there's a direct quote from him in the mr show sketch but um which was so i didn't And there's a direct quote from him in the Mr. Show sketch. Which was? So I didn't get.

What was the direct quote? Okay, I'm going to paraphrase it a little bit. Because if you watch it, but this is to the best of my memory. He asked me what I wanted to major in. I said acting. And he said, acting? What's acting? You just get up on, get up on stage, jump up and down and yell and scream a lot. That was the team of admissions.

The team of admissions. Acting and just this like old, old school Southern, you know, bald with a, you know, polyester short sleeve shirt and a tie choking him and waddles. And, and just like just deep Southern accent. Just like what? Acting. Well, what's acting, but getting up and down, getting up on stage, jumping up and down, yelling, screaming a lot. And yeah. Lawrence Olivier. That was pretty much all he did. Oh yeah. No the it's stanislavski i mean if you're gonna you want to you know reduce stanislavski yeah

one of the one of the one of the things that really makes meryl streep great is her vertical leap is the job you know she's really got the jumping part down. Yeah. Yeah. And then I got accepted to Emerson College in Boston before I graduated. And when I went to my graduation, I kind of fucked around a little bit. And the, uh, the principal, Mr. Rudolph wouldn't release my transcripts. I officially have not, um, officially haven't graduated from high school, uh, and wouldn't release my transcripts unless I did like whatever it was, 500 hours community service or something. And then, uh, I was like, F that. Um that and ended up going to Emerson because I was already accepted.

And then I got a Pell Grant and a little bit of a scholarship. And then I ran out of money almost immediately. But I stayed there and and, you know, made it friends that are lifelong friends that I I'm still very close with. And, you know, and that whole scene is that, you know, what would become like known as the alternative scene before there was a name for it started burgeoning in Boston. It was happening in San Francisco at the same time across the, across America on the other coast. But, you know,

Boston really had a really, it was a very creative time and very exciting. While you're starting out in Boston, you're doing stand-up. I mean, is there any kind of trajectory that you have? Or are you just kind of so used to living in the moment that it just kind of was like oh yeah just keep doing this zero trajectory i i um all the um really cool things i've done have been somebody else's idea for me to do them um uh the the only thing that i kind of was proactive about was submitting my stuff via Janine Garofalo to the Ben Stiller show, which changed my life. And I've just been sort of like, yeah, cool. Just happy to, you know, do get up on stage and, you know, get my get my cash under the table and, you know, then go out drinking, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Going to see bands.

And that was that was a lot of my life in Boston. And I'm sure I'm over romanticizing it, but was, you know, probably maybe the happiest period of my life. Did you, was it from there that you went to LA? I mean, you know, yeah. Cause it does seem like I was in, if you're that happy in Boston, LA, I mean, you know, LA, especially if you're kind of into what was, you know, then or whatever at any time an alternative scene i mean was was la sort of a daunting move for you well uh i fought it a bit and i um

i remember very vividly uh i was in this apartment that was uh uh i think it was like a fourth floor walk up it was by the projects i was right outside kendall square in cambridge and um and we didn't have uh we had roaches and we didn't have uh good heat and we would have to open up the stove and turn that on the oven for heat in the winter. And I remember being in sweatpants and like three layers. And, and I remember very vividly just saying, I'm sick of being poor. And that alludes to something I said earlier.

I just was like, I'm done being poor. I'm done. It's just something I said earlier. Yeah, yeah. I just was like, I'm done being poor. I'm done. And I had kind of an unhealthy attitude about L.A. and about show business and this bullshit and, you know, all this annoying stuff.

But I took the job. I'm so happy I did. You know, basically, Ben and Judd really changed my life. I mean, I have to, there are different people throughout my life that, you know, altered it in a very positive way. But, you know, Ben and Judd hiring me just changed my life for the better and um and you know uh obviously from there is where i met bob odenkirk and then we started doing stuff together and um that those sketches we turned you, that turned into in living color, which is one of the most successful sketch shows. And we gave a voice to a marginalized community and, and to all your sketch, at least all your siblings, all your various, what's cross weigh-ins, right? It's cross dash weigh-ins. It's a hyphenated name. There's no dash. It just runs right into. Yeah, it's a hyphenated name. There's no dash. It just runs right into Cressway.

And had you been writing sketches before you got the job on the Stiller show or were you mainly thinking? Yeah, I had a I had a group of which is another thing that, again, wasn't my idea. It was actually Mark Maron was very instrumental in this and in getting uh this thing together helping me get this thing together and uh this thing called what became called cross comedy which was uh sketches mixed with it was it was an entire show that started from emanated from a uh you know open mic night, you know, which I would host. And then we, me and, and a number of people, some, some, you might know, some, you might not like John Ennis, who was on this show and John Benjamin, Sam Cedar,

Lauren Dabrowski, Jonathan Groff, tons of, tons of really cool, talented people. And we had a core group and you know we would come up with the entirety of the show and then we we would like one of us would be hosting we'd have plants in the audience that would be in planted in line to come in and would you know heckle and was all set up and then the whole show would devolve into this thing that eventually had videos and sketches and but people didn't know it was a sketch show until you know we had been doing it for like a year at least oh wow um yeah and like thematic shows and weird crazy shit we'd have a fake telethon once a year there's all kinds of stuff and now we have a uh and a thing where we would you know host quote unquote the oscars and

just all kinds of really cool, interesting things that would always start one way and then just completely devolve. And you, you see some of that stuff, what we were doing in Mr. Show with the transitions and things like that. But so the, yeah, those were, those were all, you know, shows that had sketches and, you know, character monologues and things like that. And so you were, you were whole ideas. Yeah. So you, you were thinking that way anyway,

you were not just, you know, like you were, you were doing standup, but you were also thinking as an ensemble player too. So. Oh yeah. And, and, um, you know, I, I also loved Python and I loved SNL and I just loved that kind of thing. Yeah. You know, even, you know, when I was younger. And so when you get to L.A. and you're on a television show, does that kind of skepticism about L.A. and kind of the jive aspects of show business dissipate quickly? Or, I mean, are you so busy that you don't have time to think about it? Well, some cliches were dispelled and some cliches were, you know, reinforced. Reinforced, yeah.

And, you know, once you get to know a person or a scene or, you know, it's not just this two-dimensional thing. And there are real people involved and, uh, um, and again, you, you find like-minded people of most, most of the people by far that I know who are out in LA, uh, came from somewhere else, you know? Um, and you know, they're like-minded and, and you, you know, there's a, uh, an amazing comedy community out there currently. And there always has been since I went out there and, and, uh, you know, the alternative clubs really started to blossom and, um,

uh, you know, again, a very, very creative, nurturing scene out there, which, you know, Mr. Show was kind of a small part of yeah was uh i mean mr show it meant a lot to uh well i'll i don't want to say i mean it to be sort of make it catchier it like it meant a lot to a few people, you know, like it wasn't a huge success, but the people that it was touched, the people that had touched it really touched. And yeah, we were the velvet underground of sketch. Well, kind of, I mean, you know, I mean, that might seem a little grandiose, but not really, you know,

when you think about it. And I mean, and it was such a fertile place for so many talented people, too. Yeah. And and, you know, we were we were I like to think very democratic and, you know, in our approach to how the show was put together and hearing from people and giving people time and space and listening to the ideas. And, you know, it was it spoke to people who were like me when I was, you know, in Roswell, Georgia, not having a very good time. Georgia, not having a very good time, but I had this, uh, there was this thing called, you know, comedy that, you know, I could, I could escape to. And it, when it meant something to me and I saw the importance in it, um, and, uh, resonated with me. So, um, you know, I'm, I'm happy to be able to do that for other people. When, when you were doing it, was it, was it hard? Like, did, was it,

was there a feeling of like, it's hard to get traction here? Like we're doing, we're doing something that's good and funny and that we're proud of. And can't we get, why can't we get more people to see it? I mean, yes and no. We kind of, I think there's not a whole lot you can do once you've done the thing, you've turned it in, and, you know, marketing says, here's our ideas for it. And you go, okay, I hope that works. is for it and you go okay i i hope that works and you know we certainly got a lot of great press and and like uh you know a number of of things there it was uh um it was it was not you know wildly successful um with people but uh the critics loved it, you know? Yeah.

And also championed it. And I don't think we would have gone an extra, you know, we went four seasons and I don't think we would have gone four if it hadn't been, you know, people at HBO, like Dennis Miller and Bill Maher and Gary Shandling specifically all saying, you know, to, to those guys, like, you gotta, you gotta keep these guys on the air. It's great. And they were very, very, very, uh, you know, helpful with that. And, um, that's nice. Yeah. Yeah. It was, you know, they, it was, it was a critical darling. And at some point, you know, you go.

You know, it's also a business, you know, it's like it's it's why it's why Arrested Development in part didn't continue at Fox because it's a business. And at some point you have diminishing returns and they they didn't foresee DVDs being so big. And I think if Arrested had been one year later, started one year later, it would still be on the air. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah. And with HBO, we were on their Friday midnight comedy block

and then for season four, which we busted our ass on, they moved us to Monday at midnight and we were like, well, that's it. Yeah, yeah. We don't go any further than that. Yeah, you are really at the sort of just at the

mercy of these people that you go into especially when you're young, you go into the situation thinking like, well, these people know what they're doing. I mean, they're important grownups. And five minutes ago, I could barely figure out how to write a rent check. So they must know what they're doing. And then you realize, oh, no, they don't know any more than, you know, they're just it's a guess you know the yeah and i'm specifically talking about marketing now it's a it's a crapshoot and you know it's uh you can only have one number one movie you can only have 10 top 10 shows you know i mean it's there's always going to be stuff on the back end and stuff and

you you give it a shot and we there were no stars that you could hang uh in front of people it was bob and i and you know nobody knew who the fuck we were or or cared and you know it was also a very uh you know insular community you know and and and also people don't like being told, hey, there's this really cool thing on. If you don't like it, you're not cool or whatever the attitude might be. Right. You know, I'm yeah, I've always tried to be sympathetic to the people that try and sell things like, you know, shows that I was on that didn't do particularly well and feel like well fuck i don't know how i'd advertise that and yeah there have been things that i've been on that are like no that that's as big as it should be you know like that like that's never going to be it's not going to be you know some tim allen vehicle the thing that I'm in, it's going to be smaller, you know? Yes. And there are, you know, you, you have, uh, uh, you know,

maybe not on the networks, but in, uh, uh, other platforms, you, in other media, you have, you have, uh, the rewards aren't as great, but you have more autonomy and, and we got to do what we wanted to do on Mr. Show. And, uh, um, but you know, I can't, I wouldn't trade that in for anything. And, uh, um, you know, it, it just, uh, they couldn't figure out how to make it cost effective. Yeah. Yeah.

Which is saying a lot because I mean, we, we didn't cost anything. Yeah, yeah. Which is saying a lot because, I mean, we didn't get any money. It didn't cost anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean, we were always in awe of what Troy Miller, the director,

was able to, how he could make something look for $5,000 budget and, you know, shoot a, he was pretty amazing at that. Yeah. How long between Mr. Show and Arrested?

Well, Mr. Show's last year was 98 and Arrested was, I want to say 2004. Yeah, yeah. Maybe. Yeah. Something like that. I'm not sure exactly, but I think that's about right. Well, no, I think no. Arrested would have been about 2001, 2002, just based on. I had moved to New York in 2001. And then I had just started a relationship with this girl. We ended up going out for a while. But I remember shooting the pilot because I was going to be Tobias was and it was why in part why I was attracted. That role was because I told her, but I don't even want to read the script. I'm not moving back to L.A.

It took me forever to get out of there. And then I finally did, and I don't want to leave New York. And then I shot the pilot, in part because Tobias was just going to be reoccurring initially. shot the pilot in part because tobias was just going to be reoccurring initially um uh and i remember shooting the pilot and then uh calling my my then girlfriend on that little um second floor where the beverly connection is across the beverly center there's a plantation i used to go to and uh being on that bridge, a little connector thing and calling her and going, hey, so I think I'm going to have to do this show. It's pretty amazing. I mean, it's an amazing it's going to be great.

And just having that conversation with her. Yeah. Yeah. And and how I mean, so you knew right away like that, that what that show was going to be and what it was going right away, right away. I mean, yeah, it was. Yeah, right away. Yeah. I mean, again, like I just, you know, I had to tell this girl in New York that, you know, we were starting this relationship. Like, I think I have to move to LA for nine months a year. Yeah. Yeah. Now we, um, you didn't,

at least initially, did you, you didn't really write for them. You didn't really contribute. Oh, I never wrote for them. Uh, no, I never wrote. I was, I mean, I have suggestions sometimes. And, uh, in the beginning there was uh uh improv was um tacitly encouraged and at least for me and uh and then very quickly though i mean very quickly just there was no room for it yeah yeah even if you the script started getting getting very dense, and the cutting was a little more manic because Fox was continuing to cut the show down so they could have 30 more seconds of advertising dollars,

you know, and that happened every year. And so we'd have like 30 seconds left, 30 seconds left. And then meanwhile, the scripts were getting longer and denser. And, I mean, I can point to a handful of things that I improvise. But after certainly after the first year, I don't think you're going to see much. Yeah. Just because there's no room. Was that the was that the first time that you had the experience in just acting in something that you felt like was so within your wheelhouse? Like, you know, like, you know what I mean? Because there's. Oh, yeah.

so within your wheelhouse, like, you know, like, you know what I mean? Cause there's so, yeah. Yeah. Cause from my perspective, there's so many times if I'm going to act on something, it's very rare that I feel like this is an expression of me. Like I could have been in on the writing of this, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I, I mean, after, you know, after Mr. Show, he ended up doing like all these, I think we repeated maybe three characters on that show, maybe, you know, and there was, I know Senator Tinkerbell pops up a couple times, which was by design. That was a rule we had, and Ronnie Dobbs is in there a couple times and did the movie and stuff. DeLong Prey Dannon? Did DeLong Prey Dannon reoccur?

I don't think so. I still, every time I drive down DeLong Prey, I think, oh, DeLong Prey Dannon. Like, I know exactly that name. Well, that was my street. I lived on that street. So that's why I quite like this. DeLong Prey Dannon. So that's why. Uncle Andre Dannen. Such an excellent name.

Yeah. Yeah, I think she only makes it in once. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, it was the first thing that I could like really, you know, get my hooks into and kind of create this character that you could explore and find new things to do with. And and actually became a little bit more than a two dimensional sketch character, you know. So that was the first opportunity I had to do that. And now how because that show when it's forgive me if if I, if I don't remember, but I feel like it opened, it started kind of splashy.

Like, like it was getting some attention and it was getting, you know, well received. Yeah. Fox was, you know, it was a big studio and they had a lot, they, you know, put a, put a nice rollout, uh, in front of it. And it did, it did not do well with the numbers, uh, never did. Um, but we were critically successful and, and, you know, the worst thing for Fox, uh, I, I think in my, in my opinion regarding Arrested Development was the fact that it won a couple Emmys. Yeah.

And they were kind of forced to, you know, pick it up. And they were forced to pick it up a third time. But they, you know, it was not one of their favorite shows for sure. Yeah. it was not one of their favorite shows for sure yeah yeah i mean i at the at the time i was making uh when you guys were shooting that i was working on the show quintuplets and i was and you did uh you did arrested you know i did i did yeah that was like and i've explained this to people that part of having um the love of mitch hurwitz and and the gang there, Jim Vallely and the different writers that were there. Like part of having them love you and want to work with you is having to be humiliated by them.

Like that their love is a love that's very sort of like, like they knew, like I was on the show Quintuplets, sort of like, like they knew, like I was on the show quintuplets, which was a show that I didn't have any input in really that was not within my comedic wheelhouse. It was, it was Fox. It was just, it was like, I mean, I used to come over to you guys' show and, and I think that's Mitch would know this. Cause I would come over and hang out and be like, I wish I was on a show like this rather than this show that I'm on where I'm father of five teenagers.

And they're all just it's all just like it was like a dirty family comedy, like just like a Fox dirty family comedy, kids saying dirty stuff. And so like they did one little bit in an early episode where i just i was myself and i threw down a sandwich or something i just remember being mad and and throwing a sandwich on the ground and it was like during a break in quintuplets they're like can you come over here for an hour and be angry and throw a sandwich down or something and uh and that's your thing that's the andy richter oh that's like the. That's the Andy Richter. Oh, absolutely. That's like the classic Andy Richter sandwich throw down.

Exactly. It's like, in fact, the NFL, they didn't start spiking the ball, and still they saw me throwing sandwiches on the ground. They're like, what if we did that but with a football? But then they wrote this. So initially they did it, but they would do it with a sandwich, right? The NFL, they get in the end zones either you know they run it in or somebody who catch the ball then immediately they would hand the ball off there'd be a guy on the side give

them a sandwich and then they'd throw the sandwich down and that was they just thought this is one move too many why not exactly spike the football exactly and then they'd be they'd have to have a specific sandwich cleanup crew which is like if you just the football. Exactly. And then they'd have to have a specific sandwich cleanup crew, which is like, if you just, the football is not going to, you know, get mustard on the ground.

And I said, just get raccoons, just have three or four raccoons in each part of the end zone. Right. Exactly. And by the time they'll clear everything off, by the time you can go to kickoff, it's stupid.

Or a prop sandwich that's made out of rubber or something, you know, like, why does it have to be yeah i think people might people might have revolted against that you're probably right i think yeah well but anyway back to mitch uh they wrote me into the show i was really excited to be part of an episode but they had to make me quintuplets like because i was on a show quintuplets that that was like they had to remind me like oh yeah that i think it's a stroke of genius my friend

you're not sorry you're not so crazy about and it also was like it was also seemed to be like some sort of like dumb dumb synergy like somebody at the network would be like, well, if you're going to be in this other show, because you're on another show called quintuplets, you can be quintuplets on this show. And it's like, Hey, you can shit on the idea of the, I think it's great. I think it's brilliant. And then you got to be the asshole brother. I remember you got to be the tough guy asshole.

I did. I did. And I mean, so, and it and it too well to this day people still like it's always like when i something i'll do something and people say are you sure that was you and not one of your brothers one of your quintuplet brothers so but um i mean i loved that show and i and i remember from having done because mitch actually he said this, it was very kind of him to say this. It was similar to what you said. If Arrested had been on a little bit later, I had done Andy Richter Controls the Universe and had done two, it was a mid-season two years in a row.

And I think I was on, I don't know if I was on, the second season was on when you guys started or whether you guys started shortly after that, but Mitch had at one of the first television critics association things said that without you, like that, without the sort of like with gay, without Gail Berman,

who was a president of the programming at the time, without her protecting them, that they could have been Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Because he said people at press conferences would say, this show is interesting, this show is different, this show is weird, but you just had one like that with Andy Richter Controls the Universe and you didn't support it. Why should we get into this show when you're just going to cancel it like you did

that other show great question yeah and and apparently it kind of forced them like you said that and some emmys kind of forced them to be like oh no no no we'll we're gonna stick by it we're gonna don't worry we'll be with you and. And I remember talking to Jim Vallely after you guys won the Emmy. It was like the last Emmy you guys won because I, again, was working on quintuplets. I drove into work, and there's a big banner across where the guard gate was. Oh, that's one of my favorite stories ever. Well, you tell it. You tell it.

It's – so, you know, Fox had a number of shows that won Emmys. I don't know what their big winner might have been that year. But we won a couple, I believe. And there was this, when you come into the gate, just for your listeners who don't know, Fox Studios is huge. It's massive. And, you know, as you come into the main gate, you know, all these huge hangers where you shoot things, movies,

and with these huge murals that are, you know, several stories high. Like there's a Star Wars one. And there's, you know, and all the the and then there's the New York set. You know, New York Street set is is just to your left. You come in. It's just this magical thing. Yeah, it's it's movie making hits you in the face. Yeah, it's movie making immediately. And there's this banner that they and I am not exaggerating.

It really felt like someone was like, ah, shit, can you go down to the 99 cent store and get some decorations? You know, it's, it's, it's, you know, it's Jerry's birthday, but you know, whatever it was this, the, the strings, the rope, whatever that attached the banner were about five times longer than the actual banner, which was a really small vinyl thing that they had made up that just said, congratulations, arrested development on your Emmys. And it was,

I mean, it was, I'm going to, I don't know, but I'm going to say it was about probably seven feet tall and maybe 15 feet across. Yeah. Like that. The actual things that connected to the other buildings were way,

way, way like they didn't have a true band. Like you go to these other places and they have these massive, you know, congratulations, you know, Simpsons, a banner,

a banner that would have filled that space would probably have been about a hundred feet wide. Probably, you know the Simpsons a banner a banner that would have filled that space would probably have been about a hundred feet wide probably you know and this one is yeah it's like yeah what you'd see outside a taco stand you know yes but but uh and it looked so ridiculous and small and strange and like just like this afterthought uh and it was just like are you kidding wow um you know because there are other shows that you know they just have these huge banners for all their other things that won emmys yeah well i remember talking to jim valile too because the day that i saw it what what night was arrested on was it on monday night i don't remember because i think it was on monday when i saw it because the emmys are on sunday and i saw the banner and then i and

then that night the show was on and it like it did a dismal rating and the next day the banner was gone it was like you got one day a banner and then the ratings were shitty and fuck it put that banner away that would have been great to get that banner i wonder if somebody still has that or if it just like went straight into the trash i don't know i wish i wish because it was also just uh um there's nothing special about it was just the words and like the little monopoly houses and the font the arrest development font yeah and was just tiny. It was above the security hut, you know? Yeah, yeah. I'm glad somebody else noticed that besides us.

Yeah, no, I loved it. Can't you tell my loves are growing? Well, I want to make sure we get done on time, but I also want to talk about Todd Margaret. I want to hear a little bit about that show, because that show was so funny and so unique, and you had to go to England to do it. Mm-hmm, yeah. Well, thank you, first of all. But briefly, that was yet another thing that wasn't really my idea. I was in London doing stand-up,

and I was doing a two-week residency at the 100 Club, and these two women came up to me after a set, and, you know, would you be interested in doing a co-production and i was it was the end of the night i was pretty drunk already and uh um and you know having a really good time and um and they they were like uh you know would you be interested in doing a co-production of uh states and english co-production and you know come doing a comedy showproduction of States and English co-production and, you know, come doing a comedy show. I was like, yeah, sure. And they gave me a card and then I didn't call them or anything. And, and then it was like three days later, I was like, oh yeah, those ladies, those ladies

asked about doing a show. Maybe that'd be a cool idea. And so I got in touch with them and we met at a pub and talked a while. And and then the way that I came up with the idea was I knew I couldn't do a good English accent, certainly not for the run of a show. And I knew I had to be, you know, an American, uh, who is in England, uh, for whatever reason. And then, um, I don't know how I came up with a, you know, initial idea, but, um, eventually I did. Uh, but I had those, I had those kind of parameters that I had to work within, like, it's going to have to be me being a guy from America with an American accent. And then, yeah, I got to work on this crazy show. That's another one that was, you know,

there's not a lot of people who were, meh, it's okay about it. People either really love it or they really hate it. Yeah. And the only reason we got to do a third series, which was years later, especially because, you know, the show ends in a very, I won't spoil it for people who might want to check it out, but in a very conclusive way that you can't have a third series. Yeah. want to check it out but in a very conclusive way that you can't have a third series yeah uh after the second series um was because of netflix because it didn't do very well initially it was on ifc numbers weren't good um you know creative critically it was kind of so-so um and then

it went on netflix and got this huge audience like we we never expected and then you know IFC was like hey uh let's do another one and I was in the middle of doing completely other projects and uh different projects and in the middle of them I was like I how do I even I mean how can you do a third series there's no way to do it everybody ends up in this particular situation and um and then one of the writers mark chapel i wrote it with sean pie and mark chapel um had this like i said look i'll i'll reach out to the other guys i don't know how you do it i'm not i'm not that interested in you know finding out and then uh like an hour later mark chapel emailed me back going hey what about if this

happens and this happens and it was just such a brilliant idea that i was like oh shit now i got to go back to england for another nine months um but i really i think i i you have to get past the first episode which is not very good the the first episode is is tough for me to watch. It's a mess. You also have to buy into the fact that he's the world's dumbest guy. He truly is the dumbest man on the planet. He's really stupid.

But I think it would be an interesting thing to see all 18 episodes back to back to back because of the story. There's no reset. Everything happens the next day or right when you leave off. You pick up right where it left off. And you see in the very first show, the very first thing you see, this guy who's kind of beat up on the dock and this ridiculous list of crimes,

you know, terrorism and all kinds of stuff. And you're like that guy. And then it goes two weeks earlier. And so everything leads up to that point. And then to go the series three, which is completely different. And I, I, it'd be, I haven't watched them in forever. So it'd be an interesting exercise to watch them all kind of all together, especially as you get into series three, which is so crazy different, but then loops around, you know, because it makes this huge Mobius strip loop.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, people should watch it it's on netflix now it still is on all three seasons i think i don't think it's on netflix anymore but if you go i mean you can find it on streaming somewhere yeah amazon probably has amazon probably has it or ifc maybe yeah yeah i don't know I would imagine IFC because it was a Channel 4 co-pro until the first season was, and then season two and season three are just IFC. So I would imagine IFC, I don't know, however it works. But the first episode is tough to watch. It's not very good.

I will say that. But it gets a lot better. You're a hell of a salesman. Let me just say that. Listen, this restaurant's great, but the appetizers are shit. Just so you know. I want to talk about fatherhood because, you know, you kind of have come late to fatherhood. And I want to know, like, what your attitude about it was throughout your life. And was it something you thought you'd do? And I mean, I imagine you like it.

Oh, I love it. I mean, I mean, first of all, I have a great partner. My my wife is. I was thinking about this today. Just I'm so lucky to have her as a partner in this whole thing. And, you know, and not just as a mother, but as a wife, too, you know, and. But she's really she's a brilliant human being, you know, so that that that helps. I wouldn't go that far. I wouldn't. Oh far. Oh, all right, all right, all right.

I mean, I'm trying to be nice. No, he's amazing. And, you know, as I'm sure so many other people are aware of, you know, being locked up in a tight space with your wife and three-year-old can be trying. And, you know, as I said, we're only into week three, so we'll see where we are in week 11. But I love this kid. She's awesome. And I like every cliche is true and a cliche for a reason.

Did you think you were going to, did you think you were going to be a dad? I mean, I, I harbored hope that it would, uh, I wasn't, I wouldn't say I was optimistic and I didn't try to make it happen except for, uh, earlier than, uh, no, I wouldn't say we tried, but, um, uh, I did, I definitely did once I got, um, you know, I settled down into a relationship with Amber and, um, and, you know, I, I was where I was before I met Amber was, I was, you know, a bit of a mess.

Where I was before I met Amber was, I was, you know, a bit of a mess. I mean, I wanted to be, but maybe not as severe as it was. But, you know, I was very ready to say goodbye to that part of my life and that lifestyle. And to, I guess what, you know, it has a negative connotation with the idea of settling down. Yeah. But I was happy to do that. And then having a kid just made total sense. I was anxious about whether, and I've talked about this once before, but I was always in the back of my mind, and it's sometimes right smack dab in the front of my mind like a blinding light, of my mind, it's sometimes right smack dab in the front of my mind, like a blinding light,

was this idea of, do I have the genetically, do I have the thing that my dad had? And I've never understood it. I never understood how you can have three kids and then just leave. I mean, I don't mean leave. I mean, you're there one day, you're not there the next and you're disconnected and you're, uh, like, um, I, I just was very worried that that would, and could be a thing that I would somehow look at this kid at some point and go, yeah, I don't love you. I don't love, I don't love you. I don't love you. I'm, I really got to do what's right

for me, you know? And, um, and, uh, so that's always in the back of my mind. And, um, and I talked to my sister too about it and she's had those same feelings. Um, uh, know is there is there is something in your dna that makes you like that and uh it's almost seems like i don't believe there is yeah it seems like i mean the way you describe it it's almost like am i a werewolf like you know like if the if a full moon comes will i you know destroy everyone around me but i don't you know i mean the the short answer is you're not a narcissistic sociopath you know no i yeah but there's but i am self-absorbed and i am everything is viewed through a lens of me you know, and, uh, um, and I don't know. It's just, it's, is it still something you worry about?

I mean, I don't worry about it like I used to by any stretch. And I don't think, I don't think that I'm going to suddenly you know or even gradually get to that point it's but it's you know it's a it's there in the back yeah you know yeah do i do i is that do i have that capability would i ever do that would i find a a justification for it you know even if i make it up and it's not real to other people what i find a justification we're going i can't deal with this i can't work this way you know and then just i i truly don't imagine that yeah i don't think so either i mean you don't because there is kind of a there's a there's a

i don't know there's like it's like it it almost kind of borders on evil the ability to not care about about people like that like to be able to just completely unplug from your concern or or from empathy and i don't think you know you don't strike me as somebody that has that like you might no you know you know, you might be, you might be selfish, but you, you know, you are aware of what you're doing and,

and the, the path that you're cutting through life, you know? Right. Yeah. Again, I don't, I don't think that,

uh, it's just, you know, it's just there. Yeah. But I, I'm not, I there. But I don't feel a strong concern. Yeah. It's your legacy. It's your legacy.

To be worried about cutting loose and leaving. No, I mean, I think it's. Thanks, Obama. It's, you know, I think, like, I i mean my dad wasn't real present and i always is you know and i've always kind of i think before i became a dad i was like oh shit do i even know how to do this really i mean because i didn't have like a you know i didn't have like a a constant kind of father you know father figure to just kind of imprint on me which i you know you just kind of father, you know, father figure to just kind of imprint on me, which, you know, you just kind of assume that you're going to know how to dad because you were dadded, you know,

you're going to know how to father because you were fathered. And I didn't really, you know, and I've said it before, I kind of think I just ended up doing my version of mothering, you know, like I didn't, like I didn't understand the difference between dad and mom. So I just kind of, you know, like my fathering involves a lot of cooking and talking about feelings, which I don't think is traditional

fathering techniques, you know. Well, but our generation, it is. Yeah, I guess it is. So, you know, but yeah generation it is yeah i guess it is so yeah you know but but yeah that's a good thing that seems yeah you know getting outside of the the stereotypes and the archetype of you know the dad is uh reserved and strict and right but gotta please him you know it's good yeah yeah well and i think i think yeah i think we're just kind of more towards healthier attitude about parenting, where it's kind of like there isn't so much mothering and fathering as there is just parenting. And that we all like everybody's everybody's got to change a diaper and everybody's got to, you know, cook a dinner now and then.

Yeah. So, well, the second part of the three questions aspect of this thing is where are you going? And, you know, do you have a question, too? Yeah. Well, we're not going to talk for that long. The first one is the long one. The second two are easy. All right. What is it?

Where are you going? The question. Like, what do you what are you looking like? What is there out there that you haven't done that you want to do is or is it just kind of continuing on and and raising a kid and being a husband i mean uh it's uh it's raising a kid and and uh for sure and uh um i there are certain things that I've wanted to do that I I'm going to have to be more proactive. And I'm not sure if I, you know, I think now that I have a kid, it's be both easier and harder eventually. But they're like, I want to I want to climb Machu Picchu and I want to go stay in a nice hotel and see the Northern Lights. And those things that I've wanted to do since I was like, you know, 20, um, yeah, maybe now I'll do

them since I'm getting older and I have a kid and I can bring her along. Um, uh, as far as like, uh, career wise, I mean, I, I'm just going to write when I can, when, when a idea hits me, I, I write it up and I, uh, or I try to sell it and then write it up and, um, uh, probably continue to try to create things that allow me to stay in New York. Um, and, uh, and more than anything, more than any of those other things, I'm in the middle of, uh, writing a script that I'm going to turn in as soon as it's done to a, uh, a production company that I sold this idea to, um, or they approached me about this idea and I, you know, whatever, but, uh, um, so I owe that script. then um i'm really really really really looking forward

to getting another hour together and going out on the road as as hard as it can be um uh i really i just keep coming back to stand up is like the thing that i love doing the most yeah and i really like performing live i like touring um it's just it's simple you know i mean you just go on stage and talk you know and you don't need a bunch of you have to wait for people to get back from vacation to say oh okay you can write another version of this you know yeah it's it's uh you know i it's just up to getting the hour together and that's also one of the most enjoyable processes of uh you know i i get on my bike or i walk down a one of a handful places in brooklyn where i do these shows and i record them and then i transcribe them and i start building up material and then I have the material and then I book the shows and I go out on the road and do them.

You know, it's yeah, I'm not dependent upon anyone else to sign off on anything or to tell me whether that joke can stay or not. And then just performing live is just I just I love it. And and I've got I know it's corny and everybody says this, but I've just, I've got some fucking awesome fans and I, you know, when I'm away from that feeling, uh, I miss that. And I miss, you know, doing those shows and interacting with them. And, you know, it's just, it's just cannot be replicated in any other way. Yeah. Um, all right. See, that was the second question. Now it's the third question. What have you learned? You like is there is there sort of a point to to being David Cross that you'd like to to let people know?

Well, I've learned this may come as a surprise to some people, but I've learned, and unfortunately too late, to be nicer, to be more, you know i think there are a lot of people who um you know find me off-putting uh or have found me off-putting and i'm uh um and uh obnoxious or um you know uh you mean just like too like opinionated without a lot of room and too easy to judge kind of thing? I think so, yeah. But that mixed with obnoxiousness in the way that I present things and condescending in ways that I don't intend. But look, that's how it's coming off, and that's what it is. And also, in part with that, to not be so...

To be better about being in a social setting with fans and not be so... social setting with fans and not be so, um, uh, I'm trying to be a better, be better, uh, human being, uh, um, and a noble pursuit. Uh, and just, and it, and it took me, you know, I would just, a lot of it is just awkward and I feel awkward and I feel not, uh, you know, there's, it's, itness. I feel awkward and I feel not, you know. Anyway, we're getting into an area that I'm not sure I want to get into. But, you know, it's been a problem of mine for a while. I cover up my awkwardness in different ways and my uncomfortable in certain settings or discomfort in certain settings.

And I'm trying to be better at that. And I have gotten better. I think even on the last tour, I was definitely way more friendly and amenable to fans and stuff like that. Whereas I just don't take a compliment well. It's very awkward, and I come off as a dick sometimes. And I get it. I'm trying to be better at that. i'm trying to be better at that and learning to be better at that um is that in one part and you you must know this is that you know having a little kid you are going to have uh well not currently but uh if things were normal, you would have three, four, five, six, seven exchanges a day with strangers, a lot of chit chat and and I just stuff that I don't wouldn't care to be in that conversation.

But you have to be and you have to be nice and, you know, because of that. And that's also, you know, helping me to be better at that. Just to be truly engaging and not like, whatever. Does that make any sense? It makes absolute sense. And yeah, it's because it's, yeah, as you get older, it does kind of matter. It does. You know, it just saying I was saying earlier about being being in this small town. And as I said, this is I've had this place.

It's going on 13 years now. And I have a lot of good friends up here and a lot of friends that, you know, I in other situations, they wouldn't be my friends. I wouldn't be their friends. And and we have a lot of disagreements about things. But that has helped me as well. Not be so not have this shield up, you know. You know, and as I said before, like, you know, you can have real conversations with people that where I think, you know, 10 years ago, they would have dismissed me out of hand and I would have dismissed them out of hand. Oh, this guy's one of these kind of guys. And that's been very helpful. You know, I think I'm in both ways, you know, or both sides of the street.

It's mutually beneficial. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I mean, I think you're a pretty great guy. I mean, you know. Well, thank you. Yeah, you're welcome.

And I'm going to let you go get back to your wife and your kid. And I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. And I hope to see you sometime within the next, you know, seven or eight years that we can all leave our perspective bunkers. Yeah, we'll take planes again. Yeah, yeah. But anyway, thanks a lot, David. All right. Thank you, Andy. You're welcome.

And thank you all out there for listening uh we will get back at you next time on the three questions the three questions with andy richter is a team coco and earwolf production it's produced by me kevin bartelt executive produced by adam sacks and jeff ross at team coco and chris bannon and Colin Anderson at Earwolf. Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, associate produced by Jen Samples and Galit Zahayek, and engineered by Will Becton. And if you haven't already, make sure to rate and review The Three Questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts. This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf.