The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Fred Armisen

Episode Date: June 13, 2023

The “deeply intellectual” Fred Armisen joins Andy Richter to discuss his unconventional path to Saturday Night Live, the joys of coal mining, the secret to a good Portlandia sketch, his future in medical equipment design (seriously!), and much more.

Hello everyone, it's Andy Richter and this is my podcast, Three Questions, in case you're just tuning in for the first time. And if you are, what took you so long? This is the place to be on the internet dial if there is such a thing. And I'm very excited because I have a delightful, funny friend in today who has graced us with his presence. Mr. Fred Armisen, right? That's exactly right. Armisen.

Armisen. Yeah. No, it's Fred Armisen, everybody. Hi. Armisen would have been fine. Armisen, right? That's exactly right. Armisen. Armisen. Yeah. No, it's Fred Armisen, everybody. Hi. Armisen would have been fine. Armisen? That would have worked for me. Armisen, yeah.

You should just start halfway through, like, I've been letting it go all these years, but it's been bugging me. Just so everyone knows, it's supposed to be Armisen. Armisen. I feel like there's somebody that did that, and I can't remember. As a bit or as a real thing? No, as a real thing. Somebody who's just said years into being famous, it's actually this.

Yeah, yeah. I can't remember who it was. Wait, your name is Ferry Dunn? That was my original name. Right. That was my dad's name. Which is F-E-R-E-Y-D-U-N. Yes, Ferry Dunn. And that was his name. That was my dad's name. Which is F-E-R-E-Y-D-U-N. Yes, Ferry Dunn.

And that was his name and then we were always called Fred everywhere we went when I was a kid. And you know, so then we just changed it. Just because we were

explaining it too much. We were just saying, the real name is Ferry Dunn. What is the derivation of that name? That's a Persian name. A Persian name. Oh, okay.

And the guy that my grandmother was dating at the time, when she got pregnant, he named my dad. Because he was Persian. He's from Iran. Sure. This is in Germany. And then he said, how about Faridun? Do you think Faridun was the father? No, he was not the father.

Oh, wow. He was not. She got pregnant from... Sex. From sex. From sitting in a big puddle of semen. On the bus. They had lots of semen buses in Germany at the time.

They called it the auto-jizz. It just happens um now i want to make up a better story that story was so good yours i'm like i can't my brain went to trying to top it and i can't top that one but she just i mean no no she got uh uh there was a gentleman named masami Kuni, a Japanese man, who was on tour, and he's the one. He's my grandfather. Wow. Yes. Touring. And see, you have such a great family story,

with international intrigue. That's a good one. And then surprises, which PBS already covered. They covered that. Yeah, yeah. But he was, yeah. And he was a choreographer, a dancer. And he was in Germany. Made my grandmother pregnant.

Right. Tearing through the women. Yeah. Yeah. Traveled through Europe. Saying, you got any Persians around here? And they're like, sure. And then that's what happened.

Wow. That was my dad. And then he later found out. And he was kind of like a star among the Axis powers. Was he not? Yeah. Wow. Because, yeah, he was Japanese and he was entertaining the troops in Germany.

And then, so the PBS thing you're referring to, I found out later that he wasn't even Japanese. He was Korean. Right. But a lot of Koreans changed their nationality because there was racism against them. Right. Because I saw you when you were on, is it Henry Louis Gates? Yeah, that's the one, yeah. Yeah, on that show.

But I just love that in The Axis Powers, there's a Japanese modern dancer that's a male who's entertaining the troops. It's wild. Can you imagine? I guess there's like Fred Astaire or something, but I don't feel like the troops would want to see like, oh, you know. I really wondered about the same thing. Or where, when we think of the German army, where is the time for any entertainment?

I don't picture them like hey we got some downtime and let's go to this this thing but there's a it's a japanese dancer yeah oh a male japanese yes yes yes oh my goodness oh great my god let's let's rouse he's on tomorrow let's let's see if we can come back for it and he he was really welcome. I know it's so... I'm trying to think of what the equivalent would be for our troops. Who are some of our allies? Yeah. Well, I guess you could pick a Russian, like Nijinsky.

Like if Nijinsky was a ballet dancer. Yes. And then it would be like, hey, we want to go see Nijinsky. Right, right, right. Or like, I don't want to go see Nijinsky. Right, right, right, right. Or like, I don't know, like a French cellist. Sure, sure. You know, like, come on, boys. Yeah.

We're going to watch some cello getting sawed. I know. And money, there was money behind it. So somebody hired him. Like, look, thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much for dancing. Here you go.

Yeah, yeah. Is there any footage of his dancing that exists anywhere? Yes. I went to his sort of library in Tokyo. He has like a little dance studio. And sure enough, they had video of him. Wow. Yeah.

And what was the dancing like? Was it kind of, you know, Martha Graham-ish? Yeah, sort of like avant-garde, kind of modern. But then there were these pictures of him in his dancing days as different characters. So he would do these performances where he'd have like, you know,

big fake beard or just all kinds of like costumes and stuff. So he was a pretty artsy guy. Wow. And it was all solo? Yes. Yeah.

Yeah, all solo. Wow. Yeah. It's so, it's so great and weird yeah yeah and also that he chose to do that in the 40s you know it must have been a real passion that he was like this is what i want to do yeah i feel like the 60s would have been easier right absolutely yeah well was it was it does your grandmother did she say it was hard being a single mother in Germany at the time?

She kind of had her parents take care of my dad. Oh, I see. So I think it was tough. And then, you know, after the Nazis fell, I don't know any other way to put it. Right. Everyone sort of wasn't German anymore. So she went to Spain. But she's Persian. No, no, she's German. Oh, she's German. Yeah So she went to Spain. Her husband.

But she's Persian. No, no, she's German. Oh, she's German. Oh, okay. Yeah, the guy she was seeing was Persian. I see, I see. I'm sorry. It's so confusing.

I'm sorry. So the Persian is just sort of a wild card. Wild card. Wow. Just a dude. Yeah, yeah. A friendly dude. But probably gets you seated well at a, you know.

Oh, yes. A kebab restaurant. Hello. Yeah, yeah. A Faridun. Oh, right this way, sir. Please. Why didn't you say so?

Yes, yes. But yeah, I think they all went to Spain and sort of were Spanish from then on. Right, right. And then how did they end up here? My dad went to school in Mississippi. Yeah, because it's, you know. Yeah. Where else would you want to go of course

in 1963 or whatever right and then where is it uh hot and miserable yes mississippi oh okay i'll go there yes yeah no offense mississippi no we love you yeah yeah um so many that's that's where my mom uh went to school you know southern mississippi so So they met there. And where's your mom from originally? Venezuela. Venezuela, okay. And she's full-blooded Venezuelan. Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. You are just like a melting pot. This is, yeah. When I was a kid, I just wanted to be like everybody else. Yeah. So even the name, I was like,

oh, I just want to be called Fred. Yeah. I just wanted to be like as American as possible. It's only when you're older that you have some pride about it. Right. But I just want to be called Fred. Yeah. I just wanted to be like as American as possible. It's only when you're older that you have some pride about it. Right. But I just wanted to fit in. Did you feel like your dad was like very German?

No. Because I have a German dad and he hates it, but he's pretty, I think he's pretty German. He, yeah, you know what? He wrote things down a lot. There were a lot of numbers. There's a lot of numbers. There's a lot of writing down. There's that sort of sense of organization that I'm going to say is like a German trait. Yeah.

And as I get to know my German side of my family, it's just how it is. Yeah. The sense of organization. Yes. He had a kid, my dad. I have an older half-brother who's German, who lives in Germany. Oh, wow. And his name is Fabrizio.

And yeah, I didn't get to meet him until I was older. But anyway, he's very German. I remember I went to go visit him. And I was getting, first of all, he was showing us some photos. And I remember kind of thumbing through them. And he was nervous about me disorganizing them. He was a little bit like, you'll get them out of order. No, no, no, no, no, yeah.

Oh, wow. And I remember taking a cup from his cupboard and he was like, no, that is a teacup. So it was a teacup. And we were getting coffee. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's it. I mean, it's not a terrible trait.

Right, right, right. No, yeah. I thought more of the angry. Like, was there a lot of free-floating anger in the household? Oh, weird. Anger. I see Germans as like a sort of like, it's like a quiet sort of like, no, we are not angry. Yeah, yeah.

It comes out in some of the things they say, but there's not outward rage. Yeah, yeah. in some of the things they say, but there's not outward rage. Yeah, yeah. In my band days, I remember when we would get interviewed by Germans, they would say kind of mean things, but in a very polite tone. Yes, yes. Like a lawyer, like an LA lawyer. Your band is not so good.

You played here, and there's not many people here. That really happened. They would point out, you know. So, is it hard to not be good and to be unsuccessful?

But it was absolutely. Those two things together. I mean, that's what we call a whammy. Yeah. So there's, well,

I don't know if that's anger or what that is, but that seems to be the case right wow well now you grew up in long island oh wait your dad is german yeah well my dad richter is a german name yeah yeah there's uh uh my dad one time because he taught russian or that was his job he taught the Russian language, which he learned in the army. He'd started out in music school, and then he knew he was going to get drafted. So he joined the army, and they put him in language.

He tested high for language aptitude. The language school is in Monterey, California. Wait, but was he raised in the United States? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay, so he's of German descent. Of German descent. But it was, yeah, but like it's, you know, like his father was German and, you know,

but he was one, he would take, he was taking a group of students. He used to do it every summer, take a group of students to the Soviet Union to study the language and one time they were coming back and they were sort of in between you know that like in between where you don't have to go through customs you know like that in between part in like frankfurt or something like that yeah and he was walking down this chute towards the next plane and he said there was like a

uh luftanza uh flight attendant that was going, your boarding card, please. Your boarding card, please. Your board. And then my dad came and she went, your boarding card, bitte. I just looked at his face. She knew. And knew. Ear.

And chairman. And he was so pissed about it. He was really legitimately pissed. He didn't have a good relationship with his father, so he didn't like. But did he have German pride? Was he sort of like, did you have like. No, if anything, German like. Shame.

Shame. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. De shame. You grew up in Chicago, right? I grew up outside of Chicago. Yeah.

All right. There's a big German community there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. No.

When I was, when I was younger, there were German bars that like supposed, I mean, like I never witnessed it, but like they'd have big Hitler's birthday parties. No way. In these German bars. Like a friend of mine once had a friend of his worked at it as a bartender in one of these, and they're like little german tavern type places and he came to open up the day and i think hitler hitler's birthday is in april very close to conan's by the way um and on lincoln i think in chicago aren't there's all those german oh yes yes restaurants and taverns yes it goes through there it's less so now i mean it's less so now but yeah there used to be still really big and kind of still kind of German neighborhoods, kind of at the tail end of when I lived there.

But yeah, a friend of mine came in the day after Hitler's birthday to open up the bar and there were still some old, like really old men in the back of the bar. And when he opened the door and like exposed them to sunlight, like cockroaches, one of them turned around all drunk and went, Heil Hitler. Whoa. Yeah. Fun stuff. Yeah. Chicago. Chicago.

Oh, Chicago. But yeah, but my Germans are all from central Illinois, which was very – it had coal mining for a while. They had strip mining. So they had a bunch of German and French coal miners that came over to mine coal in central Illinois until the coal was pretty much all gone. And then they were left because I'm also French. My grandmother is French. was pretty much all gone and then they were left because i'm also french my grandmother's french so that's so weird that there were germans and french people who were like we're going to illinois yeah yeah and no offense to illinois but all of that stuff i how did they end up in these places the

one that always makes me that it's always amazing to me is everywhere you go in the world yeah like whether it and i mean i've i've had the opportunity to travel a good amount but like you go to rome you go to new zealand you go to you know alaska yeah and there's a chinese restaurant yes with chinese people like recently from china working there yeah and i it's like they're a placement agency like that's like making sure that the chinese restaurants all over the world yeah and that they pick these places they're like this is where you want to be i mean that's a hard move rome makes sense but like the middle of iowa for me if i was going to if i was trying to go to another country yeah stick to the coast right exactly, exactly. To where I'm from.

Just in case. Yeah. Just in case you got a bug out quick. Where would we go? What if things went really south here? Right. I wonder where, if we had to. But see, like, say you had, say like something happens and you have to, like, life is untenable here.

Yeah, yeah. For you. Yeah. And your family. Yeah. So you got to move to, let's just say China. Yes. What do you know about China? Zero.

I would go biggest city. Like whatever the biggest city is, just get me there. So at least there's lots of stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or, but I mean, but there's's also I think so much of what happens is well my uncle right is in

you know and they have a job yeah there's a they have you know mining right exactly

or yeah or you know my uncle opened a dry cleaner yeah you know yeah I would love to do mining mining

oh I would love it I love Mining? I would love it I love holes Just chipping away at things and being in the dark Tink, tink, tink, tink, tink And like all the fear The things we're going to cave in I just never got the opportunity To mine

You could still You know Is there amateur mining? Is there a thing where you could go you know i could do is there amateur mining is there a thing where like you could go into malibu somewhere and just start chipping away into some you have a backyard just start digging there and see what you come up with with more than just shovels i'm talking like yeah build a tram like get in there and like where it's dangerous. Right, right. Where like the air is different. I have to have oxygen brought down. And where little wooden carts can go for miles and miles and miles at top speed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And being chased. Yes, yeah. And then there's like, is it soot? What's all over my face? That'd be dirt or coal dust. Coal dust. That's usually coal dust when you see that, yeah.

When you air this, just can you edit? So we said coal dust. Coal dust. That's usually coal dust when you see that, yeah. When you air this, just, can you edit? Sure. We said coal dust all the way through so they didn't see me. We don't edit this at all. Oh, you have to. This is actually going right to the internet. I'm going to sound so dumb. I just want, yeah, I just want everyone to know that I'm.

You're real smart. Deeply intellectual. Yeah, yeah. Deeply. We can put that in like the. Yes. Deeply intellectual Fred Armisen on today's poo-poo town.

I'm talking in like I'm using dumb phrasing but really my brain is more like a steel trap. It's like the New Yorker. I can talk like one of those articles. One of those articles.

Fancy pants. Can't you tell my love's a crow? Now, you are from, you ended up, the family ended up in Long Island. Yes. My dad got a job at IBM in upstate New York. And what did he do there? What kind of stuff? Or was it like one of those things where, I don't know what my dad does? It's more like that.

Where I'm like, it would change once in a while. And then I still kind of don't understand. Right, right. I still am that way about business and money. I am too. I'm like, I don't. I'm a consultant. Okay.

Who isn't? Yeah. People give you money and you tell them what you think about stuff. Sounds pretty good. And even the cliche language they use for business people in movies and TV, that actually makes sense to me. Yeah. Like, when is it due?

When is the report due? The Johnson file. Yeah, yeah. But that's as far as I can get with it. Yeah. Then I think later he did sort of internal audits for IBM. But we lived on Long Island. That's where we grew up. Yeah. And what was later he did sort of internal audits for IBM. But we lived on Long Island. That's where we grew up.

Yeah. And what was that like for you? I got to say, I really liked it. Because Long Island is not just one place. You know, I mean, there's four areas. There's like the fanciest areas in the world. This was right in the middle. In the middle.

And it's very, it was a suburb of New York. It is a suburb of New York, Valley Stream. Yeah. Half an hour out of the city. And, but even though it's suburban, it's very New York in the way it sounds. Yeah. Like real New York accent, more than I think Manhattan. Thick New York accents.

And I, I gotta say, I had a great time. I love my friends. We got to get into great music. Yeah. And my school, Valley Stream Central, was really nice. Yeah. And I got to say, I really enjoyed it. Did you take advantage of the city much as a young?

Like how young are we talking about? 13 or 14. Oh, wow. Maybe 14. Like you and your friends going in by yourself? Yeah, we take the Long Island Railroad that's so we were so terrified

of the city when I was I mean I didn't what was it for you then Chicago Chicago yeah and then where were you but I was

we were like 60 miles out but I mean that's further out yeah it's further out but you could still like have your mom drop you off on a train and

yeah go to the city which we would do for Cubs games and White Sox games and then school trips to museums. But mostly it was just like, oh, I don't know. I don't want to go to the city. I mean, we had a little city nearby us, Aurora. Oh, yeah, I know Aurora.

Yeah, and that was not like my grandmother was uptight about going to Auroraora that's so funny yeah just you know scared white people uh i think maybe because we were closer to it like it was less scary yeah we were right by queens yeah and uh we'd go in anyway for christmas and stuff you know we'd go into we would do city yeah and stuff that we'd have uh eat uh they had a giant christmas tree at marshall fields department store oh and every year uh my aunt would take me i know marshall fields that's yeah that's still going right it's a macy's now macy's bought it but it's still a big old beautiful yeah build that building is fancy old apartment store yeah but yeah we used to go in and take the line on railroad and uh go to shows once in a

while and we'd save up like 30 and that was like a million dollars like whoa yeah buy stuff and um but it wasn't that far what neighbors neighborhoods were you hanging out in once you got to the city oh that's very specific it was like penn station take the subway down to west fourth street so just greenwich village just greenwich village yeah yeah uh and back then it was very you know you do not go to the lower east side that i'm not saying that's my wisdom that was like yeah remember don't go anywhere lower than whatever second avenue right so we just stuck to that yeah also why did we listen that's so weird that we were teenagers and we're like we're not supposed to go like yeah why did we listen to that but we did we just were like we'll stay in the west

village get records and and go home yeah and so music was like when you you started out in music before you started out in comedy oh yeah right yeah and then you started playing in bands oh yeah maybe when i was like 16 or so. Yeah. We'd play in bands and we being me and my friends. Yeah. Punk or? Yeah, oh yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Punk all the way. We were way into like The Clash and the Doug Kennedys and bands like that. And did you just play drums? Yes, I just played drums. Yeah. Like little by little later I would start playing guitar just for me and my life. Right.

But drums were my instrument. Yeah. Also, my parents got me drums. That does decide it. It does. Well, it's also like, sometimes I like to pretend like, and then I fought my way through trying to be a drummer. And it's like, it was very more supported than I pretend that it is. Were you known as a, you must've been known as a funny person too.

I mean, or. I think that like my, like with my friends, we were all funny. Yeah. And I really think that. Well,

where are those losers now though? I mean, they're not on this podcast. Well, you know, George Carlin was one of my boys. What? You know,

he was hilarious. That must've been weird. There's an age difference. Who's George Carlin in that 13-year-old film? I was actually first going to try to think of someone really young to really throw it off, you know. Pete Davidson. Yeah, like he was, but I don't know why George Carlin popped into my head. Oh, and we should mention George Carlin is a well-known comedian.

Yes. From Days of Yore. Yeah. Yeah. So look him up. No, but, you know, I really do feel like it was the group of us

were all funny in our own different ways. And did you have any drive to be a comedian too? Or was it just about music? You know what's weird? There was like a weird thing where like

the bands that I liked did have that element yeah so I was really into Devo yeah yeah and Talking Heads and there was something

whatever that's called like an irony an irony yeah there's something there's something humorous about it

it's not dead serious yes in its own way so and also Keith Moon. I remember seeing pictures of him in costumes and stuff. So there was something about that that I kind of really wanted to be. Yeah.

And I watched SNL all the time. Yeah. So I would watch the bands on there, but I was also just watching all those different casts. Yeah. I used to love SNL so much. Yeah, yeah. And so that mixture, whatever that is, you know,

I guess Swan Letterman, I remember. Mm-hmm. There was something about them, just the way that, you know, when they had like a sort of banter between like, you know, a guest who's been on a bunch of times. Yeah. That I really liked. No, there was something about Letterman that.

Yeah. That, because you and I are about the same age. I think so. We're both born in 66, right? Oh, yeah. Wow. Yeah, yeah. I'm October 28th.

Hey, I'm December 4th. Oh, nice. Hey. You're a little younger than me. Yeah. Now I feel really. That's so funny. Like an authority figure over you.

Letterman presented like a kind of a sensibility that i didn't even know was mine you know what i mean yes when you're a kid and you put on this show and it and i mean i remember it being like that she was weird and then watching it and being like oh it is and i like it yeah whatever this world is to me it speaks to me, yeah. And that goes, not just the bits, but also like the guests, like Crispin Glover or David Byrne. Yeah, or who was that?

That old man that was like a mystic. The angry priest? Yeah, the angry old man. The father, oh, what was it? That's funny that we thought of the same guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean. He kind of had like a Klaus Kinski kind of Charles Kinski vibe to him.

Father, yeah, you're right. And when you'd hear he was on, it would be like, oh, good. Yeah. No, brother. That was it, Brother Theodore. Brother Theodore. It was Brother Theodore, yeah. Let me do another take while I remember it right away.

And then just, and I'm Letterman and Brother Theodore. Oh, my God, Brother Theodore, yeah. Let me do another take while I remember it right away. And then just, and I'm Letterman and Brother Theodore. Oh, my God, Brother Theodore. He, I mean. He's always right in the front of my mind. Right in the front. I say his name before I even know who it is. The name came first. Yeah.

And it was also, you know, you'd get Pee Wee Herman. That's right. You know, it would come on. And I think. Like, they're not promoting anything. It was just,they were just on. Right, right. Like, Pee Wee Herman, too, would do—like, I remember so distinctly him doing a very kind of Harry Dog, Norm MacDonald kind of long, long joke about an armless guy that was a bell ringer who would ring the bell by smacking his face into

it on a running start. And one time he missed and falls off the bell tower. And somebody goes, they gather around and people go, you know, oh my God, who is it? Who is it? And the person holding the guy looks up and goes like, I don't know know his name but his face rings a bell and he took like seven minutes of network television time to tell that joke yeah and it was one of the most delightful things i had ever experienced you know yeah just and and even like then when i got to do a show like that the time there were times when we would waste the audience's time and it was just the best you know there's like well you did the literal thing of wasting people's time the frankenstein thing oh yeah yeah yeah exactly yes yes that's right

yeah like i remember i can people will uh there's there's one of my favorite and we we played there's like a bit where a guy comes in and glues conan's mug and then dies and then there's a funeral for him and then there's like a long they put together a rock video tribute to him that's like him being taken to valhalla. It's like metal music video. And I just, somebody, just when they showed it at rehearsal and we did the bit, I was just like, it's so long. I just kept giggling going, it's so long. Time was different then. Yeah.

I think you measured time, experienced it differently. Yeah, yeah. God, the remotes you guys would do. Yeah. God, I love those. Yeah, it was fun. It would do. Yeah. God, I love those. Yeah, it was fun. It was a weird thing to do. Did you ever do any work like, well, I know that you kind of got started doing kind of prank videos, didn't you?

Yeah. Yeah. And this is while you're playing in bands, right? It was at the end of it. Oh, really? Because I was kind of going nowhere with being in bands. Yeah. By nowhere, I love my band.

We, you know, had a great time. But other bands would get really famous. I see. So. Wait, did you ever go to college? I don't know that. School of Visual Arts. School of Visual Arts.

I didn't finish, but I went for three years. I see. And you just decided this is not going to happen. For the band. But bands, yeah. Yeah. It was just, you know, it just ran its course. And how old are you at this time?

29 or 30. Oh, wow. Just, yeah, a little older than people getting into comedy. And then I just started making these videos with bands where I was interviewing them as different characters. Yeah. And that sort of made the rounds. And I worked at Lounge Axe.

Uh-huh. And so I would do karaoke night there as different characters, hosting it. So, yeah, very quickly, my life just started. It just became evident that I should be doing comedy. You switched tracks, yeah. Yeah. Was it a calculated thing, or were you just kind of following the fun? Following the fun following the fun yeah and following like uh open doors opportunities just the things that would be

invited to do hey will you host this variety yeah show downtown or something that kind of thing or like uh making little videos and stuff and then i started doing some prank videos for, for HBO. Yeah. Um, but the first time I was ever on like TV, TV was on Conan. Yeah. We were, we talked about that a little bit before and I, yeah.

Paula Davis who books this podcast. Yeah. Um, she brought, did she see one of your videos? Is that how that. She saw me, um, live somewhere i think

it was in it could have been chicago uh because i started doing characters on stage and touring with them yeah or just going to different cities and and then um would you just would you someone book you or would you yeah yeah sort of like or maybe i'd show my video and do it but uh it was like if there was like a lineup of different comedians. I mean, someone would say, hey, Fred, I got some things lined up for you, like a manager type. Or you would just. It was more, I can remember Zach Galifianakis got me onto a couple things. I see.

He had seen me in LA at Largo. Yeah. And then, yeah, Paula was the first person to just put me on. Yeah. And what was that? It was a self-defense expert based on a real Chicago guy who would go on Oprah

and he would say, you know, he would teach people how to hold a bag. Yeah, yeah. I can come right up to you and just take your bag while you're holding it like that.

Right. Then he did one with cars where people would be driving and he'd open their car door and like, well, did you leave it unlocked? I mean, it was set up, but it was still like sure to alarm people.

Yeah. Like you're being complacent. So I just did a guy like that. Yeah. Yeah. You know how to like a fake gas kind of. Yeah. Yeah.

Like a fake, you know, things. Yeah. Defend yourself. And that's what I did on Conan. And I mean, I'll never forget it because that's the first time I had like cameras on me, you know, with red lights on. Yeah. And I remember thinking in the moment that i loved it i was like ah this is exactly where i want to be oh wow i love this and you didn't know that before no wow i was sort of you know on my

way into it and then once it happened i loved it it's just like, you know, the length of time of doing a set on Conan, everything about it was like nice and short. Yeah. All of that stuff. I know. I have such a bad attention span. I am not a, I can't do long things. Like the notion of being a stand-up comedian, like a, that involves homework,

you know, like you have to go home and like, wait, I have to write like a term paper, but it's jokes. No, thank you. And then to come up with a half an hour or an hour.

Yeah. Or an hour of stuff. Then that you like, like, no, no, no, I don't,

I, I'm not interested in myself enough to think like, what could, do I have to say for a half an hour? Like, no, no. No. I don't, I'm not interested in myself enough to think, like, what do I have to say for a half an hour? Yeah. Like, five minutes of me is enough, you know? Same goes for writing movies. I don't know how people do it. Yeah. Just the, yeah, the whole nine dollars.

And my gut is so long. I know, I know. I have, I wrote one feature-length script and kind of felt like, okay. Yeah. Yeah. And it just sits in a drawer somewhere because it's profoundly racist. Oh, right. Yeah.

Really. It was different back then. You want to wait until the times turn again. Yeah. It was different in 2002. Yeah. Yeah. No, but yeah, the short part of it, the shortness of it is, and it's kind of like, and then working for Conan, then coming back to work for Conan for 11 years, like, I'm almost kind of ruined with full, you know, like longer type things.

Oh, totally. I just got so used to a being employed all the time. Yeah. And so I, you know, like the hustle aspect is kind of lost. Yeah. And then, but also too, like, like, you know, the notion of like coming, pitching something and developing something. I'm like, oh, can I just think of it on the drive to work

and put it on TV that night? Yes, and then it airs that night. Yeah, it's so much better. It kind of has an ending, kind of doesn't have an ending. Right, right. And that's all, you know, it's like it wasn't, because especially too, I find in the more drawn out the process that I have to sit with one of my ideas,

the less good it becomes. Yeah. It's like I get so bored with my own thing. Yeah. I don't even care. Why don't you just do it? Yeah. The whole thing becomes like a chore.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But we're not complaining about work. Everyone out there, we love our jobs. I love. Oh, my God.

We love doing it. There's just some things that. I love work. Show business. Oh, my God. We love doing it. There's just some things that. I love work. Show business. It's all. You know what? Everything about it is appealing, as the song says. Yeah.

That's one of my favorite things. Everything about it. There's no business like show business. Everything about it is appealing. Everything about it. No. No. That's so wrong

you know also it's like steel milling everything about it is appealing the manufacturer of steel

doesn't involve any deaths you know there's nothing that uh like everything about it everything about it yeah yeah

I'm trying to think if there is I wonder you know ice cream yeah everything about it is appealing

no sex is maybe well not everything how about. Ice cream. Yeah. Everything about it is good. No? Sex is maybe. Well, not everything. Well, how about orgasms? Just the orgasm part. Well, what about, you know. The mess? The mess.

Or, you know, the embarrassment when you were a teenager. Right, right, right. So, no, not everything about it is appealing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You know? Yeah, especially when you're shamed for it. What did you do?

Yeah, or you don't have a system. That's right. Right? When you're a teenager, you're just like, I don't know. Yeah. It happened. I don't know. For you to start in, because it's a fairly unique start.

Your start in comedy is fairly unique. Yeah. And it happened – like, I don't – honestly, I can't think of anybody else that kind of, you know, was doing one other thing and then just kind of started. And then – because it happened pretty fast that you were getting to do stuff on a professional level. that you were getting to do stuff on a professional level. And I wonder if just kind of falling into it sideways helped you kind of not feel like it was undoable. Definitely. Yeah.

It felt so accidental that the pressure was off because I didn't have designs on being a comedian. So I think it even helped my audition at SNL. Yeah. It was also insane that I was drumming so recently before that audition. That the whole thing, it seemed preposterous. Yeah. The whole thing. I was like, this is crazy.

Yeah. So I didn't have the feeling of like, this is my moment. Get it together. Yeah. The whole thing. I was like, this is crazy. Yeah. So I didn't have that feeling of like, this is my moment. Get it together. Yeah. You know, this is it.

I can't wait to call my mom to tell her, you know, none of that. Yeah. Like, this is insane. Oh my God,

I got to meet Lorne Michaels. It was more of that. Yeah, yeah. Can't believe I'm in the studio. This is what the studio looks like. And I think that helped to relax everything.

After you got the job on SNL, would those moments come back? Like, would you have those moments like, oh, God, I got to put up now, you know? It was a combo. So, like, there was a little bit of like, let me rein this in and try to. But the attitude of uh this is new to me i still have it sometimes yeah because every new uh opportunity or job or whatever it is it always it always seems a little crazy to me yeah in a good way yeah but uh so it still sticks i mean i'm no longer like wow i was just playing drums yesterday

but there is an element of i just some of the stuff is just so nothing i could have imagined yeah yeah so it is and it is i think too as you do it because it also it just makes sense for if you if you you know if you get on snl with a kind of a feeling of like, wow, I can't believe this is happening. You might as well keep trying to keep that going rather than say like, okay, now it's time to be a serious buckled down comedy guy. Totally. Yeah. And especially since I don't come from, I don't know how punchlines work. It's like some comedians do.

Right. Like the rhythm of. All the rules. All the rules and stuff. So, but I think that, yeah, that helped me throughout being there. And then there's like quick lessons you just learn. Yeah. Just from being around all these people who do know the rules.

Right. And I don't need to tell you this, but you just, you know, things down and just cutting things down to the bone without any ego or preciousness. Yeah, yeah. That was the main thing. Yeah. Yeah, the lack of ego is very, very important when you're churning out comedy. Yeah. You got to let go there there's a friend of mine who

wrote on the conan show said once pitch it once if it's turned down and you really believe in it pitch it again and then and then if you still really really really feel like they're missing out you can pitch it a third time after that it's dead yeah and there are some there have been some writers that have been through that place yeah that would be like write a bit and then have their heart broken yeah and it's it's like oh honey don't do that no no all of these children are going to die you know yeah it's a waste of yeah there'd be you know because we do produce bits and it's hard like i would never have had the nerve to be able to look at a produced bit that and then go nah it doesn't work or it's not good enough yeah and then we'll you know and both and especially like

before the internet where it just would kind of get tossed away. But I had Conan and Robert Smigel who had been on SNL and who understood the brutality. Yeah. The necessary brutality of the process. Yeah. And I quickly could get on board with that and be like, oh, all right. You know, like something. Because also too, my thing with comedy is nobody's the expert. No.

You just, for the sake of efficiency, pick one person in the room to decide it's going to be this way. Yeah. Because everybody, in terms of like, is this funny? Yeah. It's like. Yeah. If it's not funny, it might work in some other weird way. Yeah, yeah.

Or it just might be for another. Like, you know, it's funny, but it's not for this show and that kind of thing. And then you do it on your friend's show or whatever, some stage thing somewhere, and then that gets exercised or whatever. You have, I mean, you do so many different things, especially now. I mean you do so many different things especially now like you're you still kind of you still are technically the musical director yeah for Seth Meyers's show yes our flag means death you're on Rona Who Lives by the River which is an upcoming series um and you're still you you still do uh the documentary now yeah yeah you do so many different things. And what I have always loved about you is that there is a, like, A, you're always having fun.

Like, I never, ever sense that you aren't having fun. Even if the thing isn't working the best, you know, like SNL bits that weren't working the best. You can tell that you're having fun. You're in the moment. But it doesn't really matter that much. Yeah. That's how I feel about it. And is that something that you came to?

Or is that because I believe in that so much. Yeah. That it, like, you can't, it can't matter too much. I don't know about drama, but in comedy. That's different. Yeah. In comedy, it can't matter too much. I don't know about drama, but in comedy. That's different. Yeah, in comedy, it can't matter too much. No. Because there's something temporary about it.

Absolutely. Which is great. Absolutely. And I also kind of believe in the – by the way, thank you for saying that. Sure. Side note, on one of the projects, Portlandia, we had you on. I was on that one yes but that's no longer that's so yeah yeah because you had enough of that fucking brownstein woman right yeah yeah

done bye see you later go slater kenny somewhere else yeah what do i look like yeah what do you think you can just hop from music to comedy yeah what do you think this is how dare she we're gonna erase all those Portlandia tapes we're gonna we're gonna erase them from people's minds yeah

yeah I mean and I was gonna get well I have more specific Portlandia questions oh yeah yeah yeah but um uh

yeah kind of feeling like there was there was that that disposition of like I think I it's from being that disposition of like I think I it's from being in music of like

for that long that kind of got me prepared for that Joe Strummer once said I promise you this is not something I can always say it every this is something that I think

but I don't really talk about that much is he said that like an album should feel a little bit like a newspaper or a band should feel like a newspaper where you do this. Just like it can keep moving and it's okay that it moves past it.

So it's less precious. Yes. Well, I definitely think that about comedy. I mean, I look at things that I remember as being absolutely hilarious and watching them. And it's,

it isn't even necessarily that, Oh, I know where this is going. Yeah. It's just like, no, it's just. Worked at the time. Yeah. The magic is kind of worn off.

And then there's other things that last forever. But I think comedy more than any other thing. Yeah. Has a shelf life. Yeah. It's like, you know. Which is great. Yeah.

It's great that it's like that. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. That's great that it's like that. Absolutely. You mentioned Portlandia. Yeah.

Was it a daunting idea to go from SNL to – I mean, you started Portlandia while you were still on SNL. Yeah, I was still there. But to go do your own sketch comedy. It was low pressure as well. Oh, really? Because it was IFC. It was like a little channel that, so it was a little bit like having a sort of

YouTube show or something. It's the equivalent of that. And then also that it was with Carrie. So because she's my old friend, it felt like, oh, let's just do this for fun and we'll get to hang out in Portland all summer. Yeah. So it didn't have, it wasn't like leaving SNL and now I have to do another NBC show. It wasn't that.

That's like pressure. Was she already living there? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Still does. Did you have to convince her to do a comedy show? Or was she up for it? Oh, no, no.

The project itself was both of us. Oh, I see. I was friends with her. And as I got to know her, we're like, we should work on something together. And then the idea of a band just seems so cliche. And like, yeah, we put out a record. And just something about it was like not interesting for either of us yeah but we thought like what about portland because that's

where i would visit her yeah what can we do with being here and then it just we started doing the feminist bookstore and a couple other sketches and then that immediately we're like this is something we can do yeah yeah and also i mean that town is a really beautiful fun yeah awesome town but also really ripe for yeah getting having a little bit of the air taken out of it you know and it was like it was also my experience in different even in parts of LA. Yeah. And then Silver Lake. Sure.

Or Brooklyn. Sure. This thing was happening already. It's an epicenter of it. But that's an epicenter. That's where it was devoid of other cities around it. Of course, Brooklyn had Manhattan. But there's something about Portland that was very sort of like an island of that.

And it's also the way we were living. I was attracted to that stuff anyway. Yeah, yeah. Those cool bookstores and stuff. How much of it was, I mean, was there some of the stuff that you kind of poked fun at about it that had a real kind of like, oh, come on, as opposed to like, I love this and it could take some gentle prodding. I mean, was there some of it that was really. Oh, you mean like reactions from other people? No, no.

I mean, you're feeling about, you know, like like pickling things. Yeah. Were you really like it's fun that people are pickling things or was there an aspect of come on enough with the pickling? No. It was more like in the writer's room. Uh huh. Anything that resonated.

I see. They're like, oh, what can we do? I just feel like I'm seeing pickling a lot. Like it's just jars of it. Artisanal pickles. So let's just write the sketch. The very first sketch was put a bird on it. And that was Carrie's idea where she's like, I noticed that any shop, even like chain stores,

will have something with a bird on it to make it look a little more, you know, I don't know. Retro. Retro and homey. And so it was anything that resonated. So it was less of, oh, we're sick of this, and more like, oh, I think that is something that's happening in there. I mean, that's a better way to do it too because it is,

I mean, the way I suggest it is like, it's already kind of dead. You're already kind of looking back on something that's kind of grown beyond its, you know,

its necessary size. Like, Target is a good place to see, like, you'll see things in Target. That's when you know it's sort of jumped over to you.

It's done. Like those light bulbs, you know, they're very like, you know those new artisanal light bulbs you see where you see that? when you know it's sort of jumped over to like those light bulbs you know they're very like you know those new artisanal light bulbs yeah we used to have tons of yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah fuck those light bulbs yeah um we've been talking for quite a while and it's been really fun and i uh no but there's a couple there's like four more things we can do to make it longer what do you like what well let's go over

my contributions to the writing I actually have a pen out I'm getting ready to write this shit down let's do 50 minutes on Big Mouth

sure sure sure I'll get a voice on there you know what we haven't said a fucking word about Ukraine no we haven't brought that up oh boy you know there's a war there there's a I think of it as a war We haven't said a fucking word about Ukraine. No, we haven't brought that up. Oh, boy.

You know, there's a war there. There's a... I think of it as a war. I do, too. I do, too. There's a lot of people are afraid to use that word about, I mean, Ukraine. Yeah. Because they don't know if it's the... Yes.

You know. Yeah. And Russia, come on. Come on. I'll say something. Put it live. Go live with it. I want it out there. Your new political act. Russia, come on. Come on. I'll say something. Put it live. Go live with it. I want it out there.

Your new political act. Russia, come on. Come on, guys. Come on. Well, that was, I mean, you used to do a bit of a guy with a newspaper. And that was kind of, did that guy have a name? Nicholas Fane. Yeah, yeah.

It was kind of like a mix between like David Cross, Mark Maron. Yeah, yeah. Sort of alternative kind of comedian. And you would just bring out a paper and go like, oh, look at this. Yeah. Abortion. I mean, what are we thinking?

This is in the paper? Yeah. You can't. And the joke was that I would never finish the sentence. Right, right. Never come up with anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nothing.

I mean, I told those guys. It was just, you know, a style. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And they weren't offended by it? No, no. yeah yeah nothing i mean i told those guys it was just you know a style yeah yeah and they were they weren't offended by it no no i will i will think of those people would have been yeah yeah i was bringing them down we're skewering those fuckers how dare they um i mean like i said you do so much different stuff and is that is that necessary for you like if you got on you know like a series uh you know like a single camera series that like took up all your time like would that be rough for you you

think i would figure out a way to make it work with other stuff yeah so i approach it all like my first thought is always yes like let me you know if someone asks me to do something yeah i go let me see if it's possible to do it. And then when it is, I just work other stuff into it. And it's weird because I never think of it as like I'm trying to do a lot. I always think of it as like this will be fun for this month. Or I'll think of a location. If someone offers me something, I'll go, oh, that might be fun to be in whatever, Baltimore.

I know. I know. I totally – I miss that aspect of okay sure i can spend a month in dallas let's see how that is exactly yeah and dallas is a perfect example of that yeah i'm like yeah i would like to get to know that place right right um so that's kind of how i approach it and then later it it looks like i've been doing a lot right at the end of the year i'll go oh man that was a lot of stuff. Yeah.

But really, it just feels like a bunch of yeses. When you, I mean, because like I say, SNL came relatively soon into your comedy career. Did you always feel like I got to keep things going on the outside? Because, I mean, there's so many people that would just kind of be like, well, you know, I'm on SNL. What more do I, why do I need to push? Yeah. But it felt more because of it's only 20 weeks out of the year.

Yeah. So, or less. It was even less than that. How many episodes? Well, you get the summer off, kind of. Yeah. So, the summer would be off. Yeah.

And then it's just like a sort of, you know, stuff I like to do. Right. So, doing stand-up or whatever or portlandia or documentary now it's just fun yeah yeah you know and and doing i remember do i mean i was on just about every version of conan's show yeah yeah yeah many times and even that like that felt like a good work day. I was like, I went in and thought something through. Although now looking back, I'm like, why? I kept trying to think of bits for every appearance. I'm like,

why did I do that? Yeah. Like, why don't I just go on and sit there and just talk? But I think it was, I got caught up in like, I better think of something. Yeah.

No, there, there was a pressure to do that. And there were definitely people that would come on every time and really bring stuff. You know, like I remember from the early days, like when Ben Stiller would come on. I mean, because I kind of knew him and, you know, he's a nice person and a funny guy and I like his work. But I was always like really impressed by like yeah i mean there was like one where he like hung upside down or something for half the show and i was like

there's nobody else coming in and going like i'm gonna hang upside down for half the show or yeah um and then adam pally always where will ferrell used to come in and like leprechaun outfits and stuff yeah and i it was definitely we like that because we liked bringing something because you're doing a show and it's kind of loose and you're doing it four nights a week five nights a week depending on on what part of the run it was but it is nice to know well in this bit there's some actual stuff that we've rehearsed and that we see as opposed to let's just talk about stuff and see what happens you know this is so good to know yeah until this moment i thought i was like i wonder if they're like oh god she's gonna do some bit i don't know no no it was the exact opposite oh and especially with was well

i mean like if it's i don't know you know if it's like uh you know milo ventimiglia like i being i want to do a comedy bit i don't think we would have been like hooray you know but if it's you for sure adam pally or ben stiller you know or Will Ferrell that's funny he brought up Adam Pally he is he's good at those oh yeah he's done like like yeah like really committed to stuff to the yeah to the point where when I talk to him I think he's kind of feels well I mean there's no I mean there's just the podcast now but I mean I I towards I think he felt like he painted himself into a corner like yeah you know like oh my god where do I have to cut off my head in the next episode or the next appearance? How do you feel about doing this podcast?

I feel like this is fantastic that there's like, I don't know, it just reaches so many people. I get to pry into people's lives. That's right. I wouldn't ask as many prying questions if we were just, you know, having a drink or something. Yeah.

It's funny how like, when, if we all hang out, this is a comedian thing, it just, which I love, but it goes into bits mostly and we live there.

Yes. Which is fine. Yeah. But it's almost, it becomes less that in the podcast. Even when sharing stuff, it mostly becomes bits.

Yeah. It's like our language. And also, too, I'm always amazed by I'll see a comedian friend and someone who's not a comedian will say, what are they doing right now, like work-wise? I'll be like, I don't know. And they're like, what? You didn't ask? No, I don't give a shit what anybody's doing. I don't care what jobs they have.

I think they don't give a shit what anybody's doing i don't care what jobs they have i think they don't give a shitty no sometimes they have to say something about work but they're just like what's this thing i did three months ago yeah yeah and besides i would just get terribly envious like just when i read down everything that you're doing i was like no no oh i want to be the band leader of Late Night with Seth Meyers. You know what? You are. Oh, goody. Wow. I don't say that so bad.

You're abdicating the throne. You're abdicating the throne. Well, there you go. You are. Hmm. Well, hello, Seth. I'm just going to show up. Hi, Seth.

I'm here. Oh, I don't know how to play music. It's been records, though. Hi, Seth. I'm here. Oh, I don't know how to play music. It's been records, though. Yeah, yeah. Well, what do you, is there, is there something missing from your life?

Like, is there something that you're not doing? And it doesn't have to be a work thing. I mean, it could, you know, opening up a pancake restaurant or something. Um,

I love my life, right? Like, it's, it's perfect. Yeah. It's everything I ever wanted. I get to do so much i keep getting to meet heroes of mine so work-wise i'm i feel really good i this and this is gonna sound like a joke but i want to work on this is gonna sound like but i really this is not a bit

okay and i don't want to give anything away but I want to work on like walkers you know like canes and walkers yeah they're so depressing

that I want to like come up with some kind of a walker for old people yeah that aren't so depressing

they're just like I just feel like people into music like we're all getting older. Right. So I'm like, where's the cool looking? Right.

Why is everything else? Why have we done that with everything else? Right. In the field of like medical equipment, it's all just a bummer. Yeah. So I'm just saying it out loud so that I actually get it together to actually try. Well, have you seen them? Because I take care of some elderly people in my life

have you seen the ones that like have a little it's like a walker with a seat and with a seat on it yeah they sit on too yeah and those are those can come in like red yes you know it's gotta be something you know better than that but yeah or like why not not, I don't know, like... Carbon fiber? Something like that, or rubber, or like... Wi-Fi? Some sort of Game of Thrones, you know, something. It's just this one area. It's made out of human bones. Yeah, that's the one area that, like, no one's gone crazy with.

Right, right. You know, like, why, you know, we do it with cars, we do it with everything else. Yeah. That's, I'm just, I didn't prepare for this interview. Right. You asked this question. Oh, it with cars. We do it with everything else. Yeah. I didn't prepare for this interview. Right. You asked this question. It's obvious. And what does someone prepare for an interview, Sally?

I'm glad you asked. I've got this foundation for. I'll tell you what I want to do. Open a pancake restaurant. You do have to answer the part, which is the kind of the what have you learned? Like what kind of lessons can you pass on to our listeners so that they can live an Armisen life? I really do feel like everything works out. Yeah?

I really do. I just feel like even if it sounds like a cliche, like, don't worry, but, like, really just, like, obsessing about things going right or wrong is just, like, there are so many unexpected happy surprises. Yeah. It all becomes worth it. And I'm not just talking about me, just people that I know. Yeah.

I'm trying to, trying to rephrase saying don't sweat the small stuff, but I do really feel like things really do work out for the better. Rather be proved wrong thinking something's going to be good than proved right that it's going to be shitty. Yeah, absolutely.

Let's see, what have I... I'll leave it at that, but I'm trying to think if there's anything else I've learned. Any life hacks? Travel light. Travel light. It's not worth. No underwear.

No underwear. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. No suitcase. Really? Ball of t-shirts in your hand. And you're good.

A ball of t-shirts. Could you hold these for me while I put some sugar in my coffee? Well, Fred, this has been, this has made my day. We're talking on a Monday. It's been a, this is a nice way to kick off the week.

Nice morning conversation. Yeah. A real sweet spot. 11 a.m. Absolutely. Not, you know, after lunch is like. Yeah, right. Right before, so this is perfect.

Yeah. And for me, this is like when the medication is really. Yeah. Still my friend. Yeah. By 2 p.m., you know, no, then the medication starts to work against me. Yeah. Yeah. You don't want that. the medication starts to work against me. Yeah. Yeah.

We don't want that. I learned that from Burt Reynolds. Yeah. Anyhow, well, Fred Armisen, thank you so much. Andy Richter, thank you. You can check out Fred's work by turning on a television. Although you are Cranky Kong in the Super Mario Brothers movie was that a lot of work or was that like a day

it was like a long time of work so I wouldn't hear from them for a couple months and then all of a sudden I'd go in but it's been a couple years and then

that was it was awesome yeah because that was all like Zoom and stuff the director was in France or something and then

yeah it was awesome. You need that. For a Super Mario Brothers, you got to have a Frenchman. Well, he was American, or is American, but living in, or he was working out of France. Probably bought a beret locally so he could blend in. Yeah, same thing. To do. Yeah, yeah.

Hello. Hello. Yeah. Isn't France like that? It is the ultimate American dream. To live in France? To work in France, I think, is like the ultimate. Like, any occupation you're in, if you say to someone,

hey, I'm actually going to France for a year, it is the ultimate like, whoa. It does seem super classy. Yeah. And there's something about it that's like, oh, you're really successful in your field. Right. No matter what it classy. Yeah. And there's something about it that's like, oh, you're really successful in your field. Right. No matter what it is.

Yeah. And it's more challenging than going to work somewhere where English is the language. Yeah, yeah. You seem like, oh, well, you must be able to cope with not speaking the local tongue. Yeah. If it's really far. But if you were like, I'm actually doing this podcast out of France for a year. They asked me. There is a like. A cachet. Andy, geez. Yeah. If it's really far, but like, if you were like, I'm actually doing this podcast out of France for a year, they asked me to, there is a like, a cachet.

Andy, geez. Yeah. Ooh la la. Yeah. As they say. Yeah. I didn't mean to extend this, I'm sorry. No, but you did. It is an observation. It's okay, it's okay. Well, I'm going to end it so we can talk about the real shit. Yeah. Yeah, turn that

recorder off. Yeah, you stupids. It's Yeah. Yeah. Turn that recorder off. Yeah, you stupids. It's a cassette player. You stupids. Yeah. See you, you stupids. No. Thank you for listening.

Thank you for listening. And I'll be back next week. Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco production. It is produced by Sean Daugherty and engineered by Rich Garcia. Additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel. Executive produced by Nick Liao, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, with assistance from Maddy Ogden. Research by Alyssa Grahl. 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.

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