The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Jerry Minor

Episode Date: February 11, 2020

Actor/comedian Jerry Minor talks to Andy Richter about playing Michael Jackson’s glove in ‘For the Love of a Glove,’ jumping from his Jehovah’s Witness upbringing into stand-up comedy, and finding footing on SNL. Plus, Jerry shares some of what he’s learned while hosting his show The Cult Awareness Podcast.

Hello! You have once again stumbled upon the three questions. I'm Andy Richter, and my guest here today is somebody that I've known for a very, very long time. We've never liked each other much. I didn't know. It's always been stressful. It's always been tense. I like you. Oh, shit. I thought it was mutual. Ladies and gents, it's Jerry Miner, the very, very funny Jerry Miner. How are you? I'm good. Good, good.

So, how are you? I'm doing well Good, good. So, how are you? I'm doing well. Yeah, I haven't seen you in a long time. Yeah, it's been a little bit. It has been, yeah. It's good to see you. Yeah, good to see you. What are you up to these days?

I am doing a play right now, a musical that's about Michael Jackson's glove. Did you write it? I did not write it. Yeah, yeah. Another fellow wrote it, and he was after me for a couple years to do this. Yeah. And then he got in contact with me a couple years ago and goes, hey, do you want to do this play?

And I'm like, oh, you know, and I listened to the music. It's a musical. And really liked it. And so I'm like, hey, if you want to do that play, I'd still want to do it. And then the documentary came out on HBO, and I'm like, well, they won't be doing that play. Yeah, yeah. But the play doesn't really deal with that thing.

It's mostly his early life, and it's a comedy. Like I said, it's about his glove. Yeah, yeah. So it's a big – it's like Sid and Marty Krofft-like. Yeah, yeah. It's got puppets in it. It's like, you know, Sid and Marty Kroff, like, you know, it's got puppets in it. It's a – So it's absurd enough that you don't have to worry too much about the –

You got it. The icky part. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, I find he's such, like – he's such a divisive character now, too. Yeah, yeah.

Especially because, like, it's – African-American people are really, really protective of him. So I'm like, yeah, yeah. No, but I mean, no, a lot of people are, like, refuse to believe. Like, it's like a religion or something. And it's kind of like, well, there's a lot of smoke there. Yeah, yeah. You know, so I guess there's got to be some fire because, you know. Yeah.

Well, and there was also the kind of defiance that he had. I mean, we saw it in the interview of like, well, hey, is this normal? And I'm like, of course it's normal. Right, right, right. But he also had this life of doing whatever he wanted. He didn't have enough money to do whatever he wanted. So it's such a weird. And I've met so many people that have been involved with him.

I know people that slept in the bed with him. They're people that we work with now. Right, right, right, right. So it's just a mix of a mess. Yeah. It is pretty, it's like one of the most unique stories, like, the power of fame and genius combined. Not just fame, but, like, also, like, he was a genius. But I honestly don't know.

I can't think of anybody that people are so protective of even as much as weird, crazy shit that happened. protective of even as much as weird, crazy shit that happened. And I do think that because there's a sympathy towards, well, what it's like to be a child star, have an abusive parent, be an African-American in today's world, and also, I think, be gay. I just think he was just gay, you know? That's pretty much, like, the whole story of what this play is about. Right. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Pretty much, yeah. Because, yeah, because I can't remember who I was talking to, but it was somebody who was an older homosexual who knew him and said, like, he was just gay. And just, like, and that he, but he just was, like, he had such a fucking weird life said, like, he was just gay. And just like, and that he, but he just was like, he had such a fucking weird life that like, it just came out in such a weird permutation, you know? Yeah, you know, we explore a little bit of that. You know, the writer wanted me to do it

because he knew about my background. I grew up at Jehovah's Witness and that's- Oh, we'll talk about that. Okay. But he wanted me to do it because I knew this experience. And when I was a kid and we knew about him and that was always a rumor. I lived in Michigan and obviously he was in California or whatever. But for me, it was like, oh, he says he's a Jehovah's Witness, but I didn't believe it because he was out, he was like outperforming and doing stuff. Right, right, right.

And so later on, a story came out, you know, that he was and then he left. But Ryder wanted me to do it just because he thought how much of like that teaching affected him in his later life. Yeah. And maybe wanting to admit he was gay or even suppressing his sexuality, you know, and all. And that was something that I could bring to him and go, yeah, well, I can show you the literature that, you know, I was given when I was a kid and stuff like that. So I don't know how much it affected him later on, but I know how it affected people that I was around.

Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I saw a lot of people who actually would join that organization because they were trying to suppress their sexuality. You know, I saw it in my own family. Yeah, yeah. So it wouldn't surprise me that he took on some of that, you know, some of that thinking. At least it was in his family. Yeah. Of, you know, there's just no way that I could be gay or, you know, maybe even sexual too.

Yeah, yeah. In any way. Right. That's what I learned. Like any kind of sexuality outside of marriage and outside of trying to make babies is bad. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I think too, I mean, just that stunted childhood. You're like, you know, no childhood.

That fucks with you. You know, it's got to cause some – was Prince a witness too? He was later on in life. Yeah, yeah. It's weird to be a late onset witness, you know. I think that's – although, you know what? I have cousins that in their, I don't know, 30s became witnesses, you know. And it just – I just – you know, it seems like it's such a – it's one of those ones that's so rigid that for people that are looking for just some kind of vessel to hold them and to give them a reason to just, I don't know, they're looking for like a strict parent or something.

That says it when we all are in a way. Yeah, yeah. And that says a lot. And then also, I mean, you can kind of get trapped in it too. Yeah, yeah. can kind of get trapped in it too you know yeah you get along and you start studying you start doing these things you start learning things and then all of a sudden you start believing in it and it's just almost like a um a social you know thing where you go well i have to do this you know yeah yeah it's really weird and i grew up in it which is different but i mean i saw people i helped

people in you know yeah in that way of like all of a sudden you're in now yeah yeah you know so you're you're from uh flint michigan yeah yeah and and but you didn't you weren't born there right you was born in Memphis but I went there on me move when you're a tiny yeah yeah and your folks were witnesses were they born witnesses my mom yes my dad was my mom dad got divorced early on so I don't remember but yeah my mom became a witness she was really into religion, it seemed like. And then when I was around six or seven years old, she started studying with the witnesses. They came to our house.

Yeah. But I also had an aunt who lived in Memphis who was one. And so my mom was kind of familiar with the whole organization. But it was when you were seven. It wasn't like it was always there. No, I do remember us starting to go to the meetings and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah. And do you question it at all when you're that little?

I mean, the strictness of it and the no celebrating birthdays and Christmas and all that kind of thing? Is that, you know? I did. Because that shit's got to be weird to a kid. That was weird to me, yeah. And it was starting to be like I wanted to be weird to a kid. That was weird to me. Yeah. And, you know, and it would, it was starting to be like, I wanted to be a Cub Scout. And I didn't know that there was a rule against Cub Scouts because it's a Christian organization and they don't, you know, fellowship with other

Christians. Right. There's only one way. Yeah. There's only one way. So I didn't understand, like, well, why can't I be a Cub Scout? And they go like, well, we have arts and crafts down here. And I'm like, there's no arts and crafts here. I'm just listening to somebody, you know? But there was always an alternative, like, oh no, you don't want to play football. You want to like, you know, go house to house and do outdoors. Yeah, so it was weird to me as a kid. So you couldn't play sports because they like frowned upon it? Yeah.

Wow. Yeah. Any kind of like extracurricular activity. I used to say my joke is my mom was Jehovah's Key witness. She was really into it. Star witness. So she took me out of marching band. Wow. And there were other witnesses that were in the marching band.

They stayed. And I'm like, what? They get to? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why do I? That's such like a classic cult deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, yeah.

Like the isolation thing. It's like it's so strange. Well, was there aspects of it that you liked that you found sort of, I imagined like just anything, because, you know, I went to church as a kid and I never really believed. I've always kind of just naturally been agnostic just because I, like as a kid, I just was like, wait, if I step on a bug, does that bug go to heaven? You know? And I think even as a kid, I thought like, how can there just be, how can one just be right? You know, they're all different, you know. And also we had, I went to church.

It was for a small town. It's a pretty, it's a United Church of Christ, which is a pretty liberal church. And we had a really great minister that was very charismatic, and I really liked him. And so I was in church, like I say, not believing, but just because I liked sort of it was like a philosophical place. And it was, you know, a lot of my friends went. And so it was like a sense of community. And is that sort of one of the things that kind of kept you going? I guess that, well, what kept me going was because I had to. I was afraid I was going to die in

Armageddon. That's it. Because my dad, divorced and he goes to a church and he goes to an AME church and there it's the same kind of thing. It's a lot more about the community to do a lot of outreach and stuff like that. And I have no problem with that church. I love going. Yeah, yeah. I love going with them. Yeah, I think some of the good things that I got from it, I think, are public speaking. Yeah.

Because I was trained to be a public speaker. Oh, to get up and, yeah, yeah. To talk to people. Yeah. And also talking to people. Oh, right, right. Sure. So I feel like I'm –

That is true. That's like performance. That is performance because, yeah. And I definitely felt comfortable. The first thing I did when I left was I started performing because I didn't know how to relate to people other than being a class clown at school and getting up in front of talking. Yeah, yeah. And talking in front of people. So I think the week that I left the church, I was-

At what age? 19, 20, 20. Yeah. I was up in front of an audience like that week. I'm like, well, I got to do something and- Doing standup? Trying to do standup. Wow.

Yeah, yeah. Wow. Now, was being funny a problem when you were in the Witnesses? Well, it was something that I could do because I couldn't play sports and I couldn't do a lot of extracurricular activities. I was allowed to do quiz bowl my senior year, which I think if I'd have gone a little bit longer, they would have taken me out of that too. Yeah, yeah. Simple quizzing. You have too much knowledge. which I think if I'd have gone a little bit longer, they would have taken me out of that too. Yeah, yeah. But some of the- Simple quizzing.

You too much knowledge. There was a thing of people thought that Jehovah's Witnesses were dumb because they don't go to college and they discourage kids seeking a higher education. And this competition was good. It's also classic. I know. Don't learn anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's also classic. I know. Don't learn anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like one of the things I love about Scientology is like that they're like so anti-psychiatry and mental health professionals. Because it's like, I don't know, it's just like, it's like, you know, mice being against cats. You know, it's just like, you know, I mean, because it's like the thing that will help you realize how fucked up this is. It's like, nah, stay away from that. You don't want mental health.

It's the most evil thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, also because, you know, L. Ron Hubbard, his whole system, he took that to the American Psychiatry Association early on, and they told him, get out of here. And so that started that. And a lot of things are like that, too. I had no idea that a lot of the things that Jehovah's Witnesses have gotten into their practices are because the early leader, they don't have facial hair, at least in the United States. And it was because the second leader, who was a lot of times like, that's the guy who really like turns it up.

Yeah. Didn't want people to have facial hair because the first leader had it. Wow. And that's the only reason. Because I was always like, why can't I have a beard? When did it start? I'm not familiar. Charles Russell started it in around the turn of the century.

So like the late 1800s. Yeah. And then the second guy, it was like a schism. Yeah. It still is. So the group that the first guy started still is going. Oh, really? It's their own little thing.

It's very small. Yeah. And the second guy made it big. He turned them into Jehovah's Witnesses. He came up with that name. They were just called Bible students. And that was after the turn of the century, like around between 1915 and 1920. Yeah.

I like to think that the first Bible students all now just have huge beards. Even the women, just big beards. We'll show you. Big beards. We'll show you. Well, now, so when you're funny, are you funny at church? Do you call it church? Do you call it church?

No, they just go to meetings. Meetings, yeah. They call the church the congregation, so the people that gather there. But the building they call Kingdom Hall. Yeah. And you can't really be funny there. No, I don't think there's that much opportunity to be funny there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But, I mean, were you funny when you were passing out watchtowers ever? No. No, just at school. That was just to relate to normal people. Right, right. So, yeah, I mean, you can't do anything else. Right. Class clown.

Were you a wise ass, too? Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Yes. Probably. It was all so bottled up. Yeah. Go go to school i can get it all out oh man i i would think about like oh it's friday i got like saturday and sunday to come up with some new bits and things to tease people with you know like it's missing in my monday i was ready to go yeah i think i always think because i think because i mean i wasn't i i wasn't, I wouldn't say I was class clown, but I was like class wise ass.

Like I was, and I mean. Yeah. And I get, you know, like, and they were, I mean, because too, it was like in high school, like teachers that were just, I just knew were dumber than me. Yes, of course. I just fucking would roast them until they'd get mad. And in retrospect, I look back on it, and it's just because I was so frustrated at my own lack of power in my life. And was that in general? Or you mean just as a child growing up, you're just like, oh, I don't have enough power.

It was as a child. It was as a child. It was like, and third grade. And she wanted – because my dad didn't have any money. And her new husband had a thriving plumbing business. And so she wanted us to be – she wanted him to adopt us. So he became our legal father. And my dad signed off on it because he felt like he couldn't support us and he didn't support us. But she wanted to have more kids.

So she wanted us all to have the same last name. So I was Richter. My dad's name was my born name. But her second husband's name is Swanson. And she had changed our names when he adopted us to Swanson. So at whatever that is, second grade, when I was seven, eight years old, I got a new last name. Right. Like, what am I doing?

Yeah. And it just was like, oh, you're getting a new last name. And it was funny, too, because I switched schools. We moved to a different town. And you were born in Michigan and then you moved to... Yeah, Michigan for just a minute. And then I lived in Indiana for a little bit, but I mean, mostly in Illinois, mostly 70 miles west of Chicago and kind of a small town. And when my folks divorced, we moved back in with my grandparents. And that was like the ancestral home in Yorkville, Illinois. But it was funny because since I changed schools, in my mind, and at the time I thought,

I don't like the way Andy Swanson sounds. And my full name is Paul Andrew Richter. And my mom called me Andrew for some reason. And my older brother goes by his middle name too. It's just some weird thing, which actually became really handy with bill collectors. No, he's not here. They call for Paul, and I'd be like, this is his roommate, Glenn. Whenever we'd call for Paul, I'd be like, he's not here. But I decided Paul Swanson sounded better. So when I went to a new school, I became Paul Swanson. And in retrospect, it was such like a desperate attempt to reclaim

some kind of control over this. Like, you're going to change my name. Well, I'm going to have some say in it and I'm going to change it too. And then after two years, my grandfather died and my grandma couldn't keep up this big house. So we moved back into their house and added onto it. And I moved back to school and I came back and I'm like, I'm Paul Swanson and all these kids that I've been to second grade were like, no, you're not, you're Andy. And I'm like, no, all right, I'm Andy. Because I was Andy at home anyway. So I was like, all right, I'm Andy. Because I was Andy at home anyway, you know. So, I was like, all right, I'm Andy. So, then I was Andy Swanson until I was 18, 19 years old. And then I changed it. My dad asked me to change it back and I did. I went through the legal process

of changing it back, which I'm happy to do. I mean, I don't really give a shit one way or the other, but, you know, name's a name. But were you funny then and i mean and i was i was a i was a a smart ass yeah you know but just like and and it was fun and there were and i mean i know you can use it too like teachers are mad at you and if you make them laugh i there were so many times and teacher be mad at me and be yelling at me and i'd say something that would make them laugh and you could just they're just so fucking it's such a it's such a magic trick to like turn an adult like to turn off their anger yes fucking you like to like control them you know manipulate an adult it was so thrilling you know um but yeah but i didn't think about i mean mean, I didn't think about, did you think about doing it professionally?

Yeah. Not at all. Yeah. It wasn't until 19, I mean, when you started to do stand-up, had you thought, had it in your mind or was it just? No. No. I thought that was the stand-up boom, it was the 80s. And you're still in Detroit, right?

Yeah, still in Flint, yeah. 80s. And you're still in Detroit, right? Yeah, still in Flint. And there wasn't that much comedy around town, but people were doing it in Detroit, and so the first thing I started doing is, first I went to the local clubs and like, hey, while these people are dancing, I go up

to the DJ and say, hey, can I tell some jokes? Oh my God, really? Holy shit, that's bold. The first time I did stand-up, I went with a friend of mine and I'm like, I think I'm going to try it at the club. Because they say they do it at comedy clubs, right? That's a club. Yeah, yeah.

So I went up to the DJ and I said, hey, can I tell some jokes? And I could see the DJ's like, oh, you want to tell? Yeah. And he stops the music like, hey, everybody, this guy wants to tell jokes. And like just the boos. Oh, of course. I didn't get two words out. And there's a guy that was like standing right in my face going, sit down.

Sit down. Scream. Oh, that's such a bad idea. So then I started like looking. I'm like, okay, maybe I should look in the phone book at like places that actually do comedy. And there's a couple of places like in Detroit. And so I drove down there and asked them if I could get up. And they were like, that's called showcasing.

Yeah, yeah. And that's the way I started. I do want to backtrack just one second. And just in the decision process of getting out of the Jehovah's Witnesses, how did that evolve? When did you first start to feel like, I've got to get out of this? Well, I flipped out and got kicked out. Oh, really?

That wasn't meant to rhyme. I'm not Nipsey Russell here. I wish you were. Oh, I wish you were. I got kicked out. I just had a night where I went and did the most debaucherous things that I could think of and then was guilty about it and went right to the elders, what they call them, and told them. And I kept having these problems. I was like, I just don't know what's happening. And I really think that what I wanted was out. Yeah. I was still living with my mom, couldn't figure out a way to get out. All my friends are going

to college that weren't Jehovah's Witnesses. They're going places. Did you have a job? I did have a job. Yeah. I was working at night. And also my neighborhood had turned from, you know, like a regular neighborhood that was kind of mixed. We had white and black people to crack central. Yeah. So, you know, it was like. What year is this about?

88, 89. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, there's like, you know, prostitutes turning tricks in front of my house and finally count them. There's murders, you know. Yeah, yeah. It's completely changed. And, you know, all this stuff is around me.

Now, I don't know. I'm thinking that this is just the world as in general. I don't know that like, no, that's your neighborhood. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, I just, I flipped out. And so, yeah, I flipped out, had sex, did drugs all the same night, and went and told. Wow. Now that's, you know, kudos.

That you can just, you know, people work hard at that shit. You just, you know. Happens all the time. Happens all the time. You know, it's just like when silentology, when people blow, what they call blow. Yeah, yeah. They just like take off. Yeah. It happens all the time happens all the time you know it's just like when silentology when people blow what they call blow they just like take off it happens all the time

that's why they like follow each other because people just flip out and be like I can't do this anymore you know I gotta get high and fuck yeah

and I think for me I thought like that's what people do that's what normal people do so I just want to do what normal people do I didn't know that like

no not everybody does that it took me a few years after leaving to go like, I'd be like, okay, when's the orgy starting? When people are like, no, that's not what normal people do. Yeah. Extremes to extremes. Yeah, yeah. Yes, exactly. So yeah. And part of that too was that I ended up getting kicked out, which is what they call disfellowshipping. that I ended up getting kicked out, which is what they call disfellowshipping. And most people take that as just a term, like a jail term or a punishment term, where you get kicked out for a year or two years or whatever. You show up at the meetings.

Nobody talks to you. And you kind of work your way back in. You write a letter, and you get back in. I had no idea how the process actually went until I was actually kicked out, which I was surprised by. I was actually surprised I kicked out because I confessed. I said everything. And I was always told, as long as you go and tell what you did and you confess, they'll work with you. And I did.

And they were like, yeah, you're out. So you're not going to be able to talk to your mom, your friends, anybody that you know, because pretty much I made that my only social circle at that point. And I didn't know that nobody, I thought that at least the elders, the older people would talk to me and work with me because I'm like, hey, I'm having a hard time. And because that's what they told you too. Yeah, yeah. We'll work with you. And it was like, I'm having a hard time. I just want to sin all the time. And I need somebody to work with me. And they're like, well, your work is that nobody's going to talk to you for a year. Wow. And that's it. And that automatically, it just felt like a house of cards.

I'm just like, this isn't right. Yeah. And then I started thinking, like, Jim Jones, it happened not too long before that. And I went, you know, they're going to do this. And my mom, actually, I was living with my mom, and she kicked me out of the house. I had nowhere to go. I had my dad, which was a good thing. But a lot of kids don't.

Yeah, yeah. He was in Flint? He was in Flint. Yeah, he was in town. And I kind of, you know, our relationship had waned because I was so much into Jehovah's Witnesses. So I wasn't spending as much time. But I'm so happy that I had him and my stepmom and my stepbrother and sister who helped me out. And I went to college. There was open arms to come. Open arms and sister who helped me out. I went to college.

There was open arms to come. Open arms to come. That's great. Went right to school. And I had no idea that that was available to me. Right. And it was still a hard transition. Shit, if you didn't have that, it could have been terrible.

I talk to people all the time who don't have that. Where am I going to go? I want to leave this religion. It's just kids who come to a realization that they don't want to do this anymore, but what are they going to do? Yeah. And I think for me, that's part of what I did. There was just a part of me that just said, you got to get out of this, and no matter what it takes, get out. Yeah.

And so I think that was the whole night that I did that, and just me not wanting to admit that to myself. Right. Because it was just so easy after I saw the way that they treated me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This isn't right. Yeah. Was that the first time you had sex on that blowout? Wow.

Wow, you really. And I should say, too, it wasn't really like real sex. It was like barely. I hadn't done anything. Right. But to me, it was like, oh, I had sex. It's like somebody barely touched me. Right.

But I did do drugs, though. Yeah. Well, oh, I had sex. It's like somebody barely touched me. Right. But I did do drugs, though. Yeah. Well, yo, sure. Sure, of course. I mean, I'm not saying you're a nerd. And I did the drugs because I'm like, well, they're here. So, yeah, I might as well go live it all up. Right, right.

Yo, sure, if you're going to sin, you might as well, you know. Yeah, don't do that, kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Might as well lay with beasts. You know? Why not? I would have. That's what we were doing, right?

Got any goats? Can't you tell my love's a crow? So you start then doing comedy. You start doing stand-up. Mm-hmm. And, but you eventually, you get into, there's a second city in Detroit that you did too. Yeah, I was doing stand-up and I just started to work with a sketch group. Because I kind of like, that was what I wanted to gravitate toward anyway.

So many stand-ups then at that point. But I started to like. It's more fun too. I like being on stage with other people. I don't like being on stage alone too much. I like to like. It's more fun, too. Yeah. I like being on stage with other people. I don't like being on stage alone too much. I like doing characters. Yeah. And another thing is I wanted to get outside of myself and be different people, you know.

Yeah, yeah. And I could do that a little bit in stand-up, but it was hard. You know, it's hard. You know, like, now I'm going to do this guy, you know. Yeah. But I found a group of guys that I started doing these sketches with at a club, Chaplains in Detroit. And we got a night actually for a while.

And so we were doing that. And then they announced they were going to open up a second city in Detroit. Wow. And I'm like, oh, I'm going to do that. And so I auditioned. And I had actually, the group that I was working with, we got together from a lady who was a doctor in Detroit, and she would take classes in Chicago. She was rich. Her husband played for the Tigers, for the Tigers. So she had

enough money to go. She would fly to Chicago on the weekends and take classes. And bring back her knowledge. And bring back her knowledge. And she brought this, and she's like, I want to do a show like they're doing this thing called Second City. And so the guys in my group, we entered and we got into her show because she's like, I want these sketch performers. Yeah. And she brought us to Chicago to watch a show. Oh, wow. And so when they announced that they were going to open one in Detroit,

I'm like, oh, great. Now I don't have to move to Chicago. It's great. Because I was thinking about moving at that point. And it was between going to Chicago. And you're 20, 21 at this point? At that point, yeah. 22, yeah.

Yeah. And I'd gotten some, you know, some brochures from Chicago, and then I also found out about the groundlings here in L.A., and I was going to do one or the other. Yeah. And they said, oh, we're going to have one in Detroit. So I auditioned and got in. And how long were you there?

Second City, well, I was in Detroit for a year. Yeah. And then I went to Chicago. Oh, you just, what was that decision? Just like you wanted the real deal, you know? SNL, nobody would come and watch us. So SNL wouldn't come. They were like, no, can we get a flight out the same night?

And they're like, no. And they're like, well, then we're not coming to watch anybody there. So I was like, well, I think I need to go to Chicago, do a show in Chicago. Was it the same in that it had a school attached? Yeah. But did you go through classes or were you on stage right away because you had already? They picked a cast and then they put us through classes. So they had some people come from Chicago.

And then we actually went to Chicago for a little while too. Yeah. And I mean, we did what people would do in their levels. We did that every day. I see. We were going to class like five days a week. Wow. Before the show opened.

Wow, wow. And how long were you in Chicago? Did you, like, was it an easy transfer? Like, did you? It was. I'd gotten to know a lot of people. There were a few people at that point who'd come from Chicago and joined our cast in Detroit, so I knew a few people. Adam McKay and a bunch of these guys came down one night and improvised with us.

In Detroit? In Detroit, yeah. Oh, wow. So I knew all those guys. And so when I moved to Chicago, Adam was moving to New York right at the same time. So I took his apartment. Oh. And I lived in that apartment.

So it just, you know, everything worked out. Right. At that point, I was married. And so I was going back and forth. everything worked out. At that point, I was married. And so I was going back and forth. I was doing shows in Chicago, like Thursday through Sunday. And then I would go live my life in Michigan. Oh, wow. Your wife was still there. Yeah. Yeah. I did that for a year. She put up with that for a year. Wow. And then it was done?

She didn't want to put up with it anymore. Yeah. That's rough. Yeah. Well, I got married almost a year after I left the Jehovah's Witnesses, which is probably the wrong thing to do. Yeah, probably. But I didn't want to sin anymore. I still had a little bit of that in me. That's what I was just going to ask. I wondered if it was like a hangover of guilt and that you're like, yeah. Yeah, nobody told me like, hey, you don't have to be married.

Right, right, right, right. Like, no. Yeah, God really doesn't give a shit. Yeah. I was really trying to live that lifestyle. And my whole thing was like, well, that is wrong. But what I learned was right. So I learned what I thought was the Bible and the right way to live.

And I'm still going to do that. Yeah, yeah. But I'm just not going to go to that church or whatever. Right, right. I'm just not going to go to that church or whatever. Right, right. So you didn't have kids with your first wife or anything, did you? No, we did have a stepdaughter. Oh, you did have a stepdaughter.

Yeah, but my wife then was – I married a woman that was much older than me. Oh, really? I got married when I was 21, and I think she was 33. Wow. Wow, wow. So she had a daughter that was almost a teenager. Yeah, yeah. So I was closer

to my daughter's age than my wife. Was it? Oh my God, that's weird. Was it like a misplaced mother thing? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

There was many times where I'd wake up and go, mom, I mean, honey, honey. Oh, that is weird. Because were you, I mean, what was your, I guess I got to ask about what was your relationship with your mom like after you left? I didn't talk to her. And pretty much.

And has that continued or? She just died not too long ago. Oh, I'm sorry. That continued all the way up until then. The first time I talked to her, there was a couple of times I talked to her. I talked to her once after I was in SNL. And then there would be a few times where I'd call her and say, hey, I still love you. I'm still here. And then that would be the end of the conversation. No, nothing deep. What are you

doing? Where are you living? None of that stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then before she died, I found some relatives, or some relatives found me and told me that she was sick. She had ALS. And so she was starting to deteriorate at that point. And so we did talk a little bit. She found out she had a grandson and all that stuff. Oh, wow. So we were able to reconnect a little bit.

Yeah, yeah. Did you see her before she passed? No. No. Never made it out there. Wow, yeah. Did you see her before she passed? No. Never made it out there. Wow. And she still, it was up in Flint? She had moved, actually. I didn't know where she was.

Oh, wow. It had been that long. It had been 20 years pretty much since I talked to her at all. Yeah, yeah. And even in those conversations, none of those conversations when I did talk to her were meaningful. Yeah, yeah. And like I said, she didn't contact me. I had other relatives who weren't Jehovah's Witnesses contact me and say, hey, maybe you should contact your mom.

And I was surprised that she actually talked to me then. Really? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, it seems like a silly question, I guess, but like, is that hard or do you get used to it after a while? I mean, or is there always kind of this missing thing? Oh, I mean, it was always this missing thing. I think I just, you know, I had other parents. Yeah. So kind of like my stepmom, you know, even when I, we did a Mother's Day special on SNL and my stepmom came, you know, that was,

and I grown up with them almost as much. You know, I was at my dad's house on the weekends. Yeah, yeah. So she became my mom. Yeah. But there was still always a hole of like, there was the person that I spent all my time or most of my time with. Yeah. You know, from until I was a teenager.

Yeah, yeah. And really did have a close relationship. And I knew more about her and she knew more about me than anybody yeah um yeah I think that was one of the reasons why I started I really wanted to be on television because I always wanted to go like hey I'm doing okay you can see me right right right oh wow um so yeah so now I'm like well what do I do now I should find another career now you know what you should you should do a musical about Michael Jackson's club. Because, you know, she probably wouldn't approve. Like, now's your chance.

Yeah, it is weird. Because I haven't talked to my dad in years. And there was just, you know, the relationship kind of turned toxic. And it was, it just made sense to not keep in contact. And it is weird how like, I mean, because, yeah, there's definitely kind of, and I mean, you know, my folks divorced when I was four. So, and I've said this on here too, that like he wasn't really present. So, like I don't have like, I didn't have like a real male role model that was really present i mean my i had an uncle sorta and i would sort of glom on to different kind of male role

models but mostly it was just like i was just surrounded by women um but it is weird how kind of like there's still this there's this efficiency that happens know, where it's kind of like it does bother me that I don't talk to him. You move on. And, you know, and you get like updates that tell you like, well, okay, yeah. It's still the same way. Yeah. That's the way it was for me too. Yeah, yeah.

I call and go like, eh. And I wish it weren't, but, you know, it's like it just feels like I would just be going back to the same thing that, you know, the same sort of toxicity that, you know, fucked it up in the first place. So it's kind of like it's just, you know, it's sad and it's weird, you know. Well, you have kids, and so. I do. And that's why I say, Well, you have kids. I do. And that's why I say, like, being a dad, I've said this before in here, I'm a mom. I know how to mom more than I – I mean, there is sort of, I think, like just preternatural differences between the way males react to children and females react to children. You know, I mean, I'm not a mom, but I mean, but I do like, like my love for my kids isn't tossing a ball around the yard. It's cooking. It's, you know, it's, it's, and you know, so it's, but yeah,

I don't, it was, I do have kids and I, and I, you know, I think I'm a pretty good dad. I know you are. Yeah. And I mean, but it's also, you know, I mean, I worked at it, but it's also just part of the work of working on myself. Yeah, yeah. If you want to be a good dad, you got to, you know, you can't, you can't avoid your own bullshit. You got to figure that out before you can be a good anything. Well, you know that.

And that's the thing is like, I'm sure that that's applied. You know, your experience is applied to you. Like how, how much of a father you are now, what kind of father you are. I mean, that's exactly the way it is with me. Yeah. How old is yours? Is it a boy? Oh, wow.

Two. Wow. Yeah. It took me a while. Wow. That's gotta, that's gotta be exhausting. Yeah. Yeah. That's got to be exhausting. Yeah, yeah. It's still an exhausting phase.

Yeah, yeah. How old are you, may I ask? 52. 52, yeah. Jesus. Yeah, I'm 53. A two-year-old at this age. I know.

Everybody's like, oh. I've happily forgot about it. I ask people about stuff, and they're like, oh, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. Yeah, you don't get any sleep. Yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I forgot about it on purpose.

I forget. Yeah, right. Yeah, if you don't get any sleep. Yeah, I forgot about that. Because I forgot about it on purpose. I forget. Yeah, definitely. You're, you know, like there's like a shark brain, especially with children. Because if you hold on to how fucking hard it is, you only have one. You only do it again. You'll only have one because it's really, you know, it's really just like you got to. And also you just got to, you know, you got to be ready to just give it up. Drive into it.

Yeah. You got to just be ready to like, it isn't about me. You know, like boo-hoo, buy me, you know. So what gets you out of Chicago? Or, you know, is it SNL? No, I did Mr. Show with Bob and David. Right, right, right. I'd gotten to know those guys.

They actually came when they were putting this show together. They came to shoot a sketch in Detroit for some reason. They were like, they wanted an industrial place. And director Tom Janis, he was working with them a little bit. So he's like, hey, I got some people, you know, this cast in Second City. You can shoot some sketches with them a little bit. So he's like, hey, I got some people, this cast in Second City. You can shoot some sketches with them. And so I got in touch with Bob and David, got to know them.

Oh, so it wasn't before the show. It was when they were making Mr. Show. And they were still doing, I think they were doing like a live show in Santa Monica. And they were kind of like, it was the concept of the show on HBO, but it was a live show.

So they were showing sketches as they were performing them on stage. Oh, so these Detroit sketches were just for a live show. Yeah, which they ended up using in the show. Oh, cool. I think not even the first season. Yeah. But I kept in contact with him, and he's like, hey, if you ever want to come out to L.A. And then they had some actual sketches that they could use me in.

Yeah. So I made the move. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah. Because they didn't have like a real – well, there wasn't like – it was all piecemeal when you worked for that show, right? I mean, there was no sort of cast. A cast? They did.

Oh, they did have a cast. I think by the time I came, which is the last season, fourth season, they had pretty much said, okay, yeah, all these guys are in the cast. A lot of them are writers, too. Paul Tompkins, Jay Johnston. Was Marilyn Reichkub? Not that year, but the year before that. And Karen Kilgariff, was she?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tom, Tom Kenny. Yeah, yeah. Oh, right, right. Was Jill Talley on it? Jill, yeah. Jesus Christ, what a talented fucking bunch that was. That show is fantastic, yeah.

It was a lot of fun to do. It was a bad experience for me to learn that way of sketch comedy, because I'm with the SNL after that. Right, right. Where it's like, oh, they get to do whatever they want. Yeah, yeah. And they're doing this stuff, whatever they're doing, it's like they're mixing sketches together, and they go in and out, and they can experiment and all this stuff, and then you go do a show that's like, no, we've done it this way since 1975, and we stay up all night to write, and that's the way we do it.

Fit in this box. Yeah. So how long were you in L.A. before you went to New York? A couple years. A couple years. And when you drop into SNL, what's that like? I mean, I guess everybody... Was it through McKay?

Was that sort of your end? At that point, I knew everybody. Oh, I see. Tina was there, Horatio. I had met with Lorne the year prior. I just happened to be in New York. I was working for Michael Moore. He was also from Flint.

And McKay. For one of his TV shows? Yeah, for the Bravo show. McKay hooked me up with him, and we got to know each other. And he started doing another show on Bravo. He had already done the one on NBC. Right. And I was a correspondent.

And so while I was in New York working for him, Lauren wanted to meet me, so I met with him. And he's like, maybe you want to be a writer or something? I'm like, I don't know. So he invited me to the show, to come and see the show. And I was like, tonight? And he's like, yeah. How do I do that? And he's like, just show up.

So I came to the show, and then he hired me as a writer. Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. And when did you start doing stuff on the show? The a writer. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And when do you start doing stuff on the show? The first show. Oh, wow. Yeah. I don't think Lorne wanted that, but were they just, were there, was it like, we need a black guy? If I may, if I may be so blunt. Yeah. Well, the thought was Tim Meadows was still there when I met with him and he wasn't sure whether he was going to leave or not. Oh, I see. And he told me that.

He's like, you look a lot like him at that point. Yeah, yeah. And he's like, so I don't know if it will work with you in the cast,

but we have writers. We've warehoused people as writers before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spade and different people. It's so funny that basic shit like that. You look like him,

so fuck you. You know, I thought that anyway. Tim were friends in Second City. Well, you're both very handsome. Oh, thank you. And he's a Michigander too.

That's right. So yeah, I'd gotten to know him and I kind of figured that anyway. And then by the time the first show came around, Tim left. And so I'm like, my opportunity uh-huh um and so do you are you doing regular you're just are you a featured performer I don't remember or are you just a writer that happens to get into bits yeah kind of in between that yeah um and then they went are you in the credits oh you're in the credits

yeah well they shot my credit sequence early on so that that's what told me, I'm like, well, then I might as well write a sketch then. I think Lauren's idea was what she would do a lot of people, like maybe around May, maybe at the end of the season. Yeah, yeah. Get you in something. And I'm like, yeah, I wrote this thing, and I got to be in it. Yeah, yeah. Okay, you'll see how it goes. You had a good relationship with him?

No. No? knows did you you had a good relationship with him no no yeah he's a it's weird because he is sort of like you know he was the executive producer of late night with conan o'brien and he's like kind of revels in being a bit of a dick you know a little bit yeah he sort of likes it and i, it's kind of funny in a way. Like he came down once, because when I say he was a hands-off executive producer, I could print hands-off executive producer on a banner

and fly it across the sky, and it would be an understatement. But we had one of our Christmas parties in the studio, and he came down, and it would be an understatement. But he came, we had one of our Christmas parties in the studio and he came down and it was late. And I mean, like people are smoking weed in my dressing room and stuff. And he came down and, and he's, he walked in with like one of his, you know, interchangeable assistants and, or two or three of them. And he walked in and he went, Oh, Andy, oh, you're still on the show, eh? And I think I said to him, I said like, yeah, aren't you an executive producer?

It's something I think you would know. I think you'd check in every now and then. Because he came to the first taping, the first test show, and they would set up in their little backstage area a bar table, a round bar height table, two director's chairs, a bucket of popcorn, and an ice bucket with waters in them. That's his setup at SNL. That's his setup at SNL. And we had to set that up just in case. Always? Always.

I didn't know that. It was there for about a year. I didn't know that. And I mean, and it was not a very big space. Not right. It was like in the middle of this very Bobby Bowman, had set it up. And there was something like people were coming and going and it was in the way. And he just said like, you know what?

Fuck this. I'm not doing this anymore. And he just took it away. And it never was there again. It never got set up again. So, yeah. But, yeah, he's, yeah, he's, I mean, there's so many people that, like, Tim Meadows will tell me, like. Best friends. Yeah, well, he's like, I can't say a bad word about the man.

And so many people are that way because he has done so much for so many people. I can't say. I mean, now I feel like I have a good relationship with him. so many people are that way because he has done so much for so many people. I can't say. I mean, now I feel like I have a good relationship with him. Well, and to be fair, once I took my son to the show a few years ago when we were in New York and they asked me to come. Somebody came and said to me, come, Lauren wants to say hi. And he was absolutely lovely and gracious you know so yeah i mean i just think he's he's a funny man but his funny is like a very weird salty funny yes yes very peculiar and he and he

and he does things i mean everybody knows like you know if you ever meet with him the first time you meet with him it's going to take two hours yes you have to they keep you waiting to keep you waiting yeah the same thing so there's that but then there's also he can be very gracious, very funny, too. Yeah, yeah. He's a very funny dude. Yeah. And he knows what's funny, obviously. He's talented.

I mean, he's had a show going for a long time. Yeah, yeah. He also, I'm just remembering, too, our debut night, September something 1993, our first show on the air. And we had a party afterwards at the 21 Club. So I went up to my office to just get my bag or something. And on my desk, and this was given to everybody in the staff. It was like a Tiffany desk clock. It was a box.

And it was a Tiffany desk clock with Late night with Conan O'Brien and the date. And there was a card in it. And everybody got the same clock. Everybody got the same note. And it said, it has been a pleasure working with you, Lorne. We're getting fired. He's firing the whole show. And everybody's like, nah, what what does that mean it has been a pleasure

working with you and i just and i just feel like that's not an accident yeah yeah yes yeah you know because it's like it's like you know congratulations is a lot easier than it has been a pleasure working with you and there's part and there's part of me that sort of like initially was like, oh, man, that's fucking mean and weird. And then there's another part of me that's like, eh, it's actually kind of funny. It's pretty funny, yeah. Since then, I've worked with way worse people. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Four worse people who are just outright.

Lorna seems to just have his own whatever. Fiefdom. Yeah, and it's just a weirdness that he's always had. And I think it's just because he's comfortable working that way. Well, I mean, you know, how many people are we blessed with in our lives that make us laugh thanks to him going, and yeah, you. Oh, yes, you. That's right. So what happens, is it a good atmosphere while you're working there the whole time?

I mean, it seems like, because I know with Tina there, was she head writer at that point? No, no. She was going that way, but I think Adam was still there. Oh, Adam. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh, she was going that way, but I think Adam was still there. Oh, Adam.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Because that was like, that was, I think, a new sort of, because when we started in 93, it was not, because I had friends that worked on the show. Sure. And it was not a pleasant atmosphere. Right. Yeah. Especially for women.

I think it was. Yeah. Because like, I had women friends that worked on it, and I would hear stories that were just like, oh, fuck, that's terrible. It had turned a corner by then. That was one of the first things he said to me. He's like, you know, this is a girl's show now. So you had like Molly and Anna.

Thank fucking God it's a girl's show. Yeah, I mean, Jesus. Yeah, I mean, I think that when we grew up, we watched it. I think it was kind of a boy's show. It appealed to the sensibility of a teenage boy. Yeah, yeah. But girls still stay up late at night on weekends too. Right, right, right.

And it worked out that way when they started doing sketches that featured a lot of female performers. Yeah, yeah. And girls started watching more. Yeah. Well, I always just think the basic thing about, you know, I find this on, like, one thing that I really like about Twitter is how I know there are so many more funny women that I know about now and have ended up getting to know personally because Twitter is kind of like a very egalitarian platform. Like it doesn't, you know, everybody, you just put something out there and it's funny

or it's not funny. And I think that like there's nobody, there's no booker in a standup club. There's no casting person. It's just, and I've always said like, it's not like I'm some kind of big feminist ally. It's just that comedy has been so fucking male for so long that, like, a woman's perspective of being funny is just like, oh, my gosh, that's different. And it is different. You know, it's not always different, but it is, you know. And that's why I like – that era of SNL was really, really, really funny stuff with Amy Poehler and Tina there and Molly. It just really – thank God because it just – and it also seemed more collaborative than previous incarnations of the show. Yeah.

Well, they got into kind of the star power thing. Yeah. of the show. Yeah, I think, well, you know, they got into kind of the star power thing. Yeah. And a lot of the guys, you know, even before then,

they started to hire people who had already been famous. I think that that kind of was hard for them. Yeah. Because right before I came there, you know, they had Chris Elliott, Jeannie Garofalo. Yeah. And a lot of those people had worked a lot,

you know, before then. And I think that that, it worked out better to get people who were newer to the business, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and that was also, yeah, that was, and that was rough it worked out better to get people who were newer to the business. Yeah, and that was rough. That was Chris and Janine were friends of mine. I remember going, because we used to go to the after parties because they're like, you know, it's like I was in a different class at the same high school. Right.

So I could get into the party whenever I wanted. Sure. And I went once. And Chris is, you know, like, I haven't talked to him in a long time, but we're pretty good friends. And I saw him and he was eating. And I walked up to him and I said, hey, I saw the show, because we'd watched it at home. I said, hey, I saw the show.

It was really funny. And he looked at me and he went, wasn't i hate myself with a big mouthful of food and i was like all right well honey i'll talk to you later you finish your dinner you know yeah well so that's like pretty that's that's pretty chris elliott that's. That's what you want out of your Chris Elliott stuff. So what happens when, I mean, how do you end? How does it end? How do they end it? That year, I got fired.

Well, my contract ended. Yeah. But I was also, by the end of the year, like I said, I'd had this experience in L.A. I'd done Mr. Show, and I had people in L.A., and I was always constantly going like, can you come back? You should audition for this. I'm like, I'm doing Saturday Night Live. Right, right, right.

So I felt the pull back. I was definitely going to go back in the summer. Yeah, yeah. And then there was a big to-do with almost half the cast, like if they were going to come back. They wanted to cut the cast. It was a big cast, too. Yeah. It was hard to get a lot of airtime in because there was so many talented people.

And they let two of us go. They let me and Chris Parnell go. Chris ended up coming back to the show. I just moved back to L.A. and just started doing it, started working. So, yeah, that was it. And also 9-11 happened in between that, so I was really ready to get out of New York. Oh, boy, wow. Yeah, yeah.

So you weren't, it wasn't like a crushing disappointment or anything? I mean, I was, yeah, I was mad. Yeah, and I guess it's never good to not be renewed. Yeah, and everybody was really supportive of them but but i was also you know i had an attitude too you know and and i i thank myself for that attitude that i had then because you know that was really what i think um at that point you're trying to get your identity your comic identity yeah and for me that's what i wanted to be and i didn't want to wait i didn't want to you know sit back and wait to be in sketches and I should have left, you know, go and do something

else, you know, if I'm going to have to wait to be on air. So I'm happy about that. And since then I've gone back and guest wrote. Oh, really? Yeah. Well, that's good. So you come back out here and then sort of what's next? Now, are you single at this point? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, I didn't get married up until a couple years ago. Oh, really?

Yeah. Really? Yeah. Are you still married? You're still married? Yes. Well, I just got married a couple years ago. Okay, okay. Yeah, because I didn't know because in my notes there was something about you being divorced,

but I didn't know if it was from the first time. I got divorced right before I moved to Chicago. Right, right. So to do, or I actually was in Chicago for a year. I was going back and forth in Michigan. And then I moved to Chicago. Right. Now, do you think getting divorced,

so the way you got married, the way you got divorced, did that scare you off marriage for a long time, do you think? No, I think more of it was that for me, I was just starting to develop a personality. I didn't know who I was. So I started really from ground one. A lot of ways I feel like I'm 21 years younger until I look at myself in the mirror and I realize, no, I'm not. No, you're nuts, man. Because it doesn't crack.

It's true. It's true. I'm not 20. I don't look like I'm 32, though. I didn't know that. But, you know, I think it was just, it took that time to get a personality, to grow up. And when I was an adult in my new life, that's when I knew that I was ready to get married when I knew myself. Yeah, yeah. And so you come out here. Is there any – are you worried, like, that you're coming back out here to kind of – No.

I mean, no, that was the thing. It's like things that started to happen for me. People knew me out here a lot more than in New York, so I was comfortable in L.A. I got to know a lot of people, and I had worked on a few things since the Mr. Show had ended. And so I felt right back in the mix when I came back to L.A. It was where I was comfortable. Oh, that's good. That's good.

Were there pretty steady gigs there, or was it sort of like incidental stuff? Yeah. I mean, yeah, I started working on stuff right away. And at that point, there was enough things to do. I did another sketch show for VH1. I wrote for some stuff for MTV. And at that point, there was enough, you know, things to do. I did another sketch show for VH1. I wrote for some stuff for MTV. Yeah. What's the mix in writing and performing at this time?

I'm pretty much equal. Yeah. I'm doing a lot of stuff at that point that I'm writing to. Yeah, yeah. So, you know. Much just writing or usually a combo? Usually a combo. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And, yeah, that was my, that's what I wanted to do is I wanted to be out there, but I also wanted to create what I was doing. So I looked for those kind of opportunities. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, but I was also getting stuff where I was just writing or I wrote for a show on MTV. There was a rap group out of Chicago that made this, like, sketch show. Wow.

What was it called? Got the name of that group. They did, their thing was they did a Shakespeare rap show in Chicago, a live show. And for some reason MTV was like, yuck, let's make a show. I know. And that show, I never saw it. And they told me, they were like, oh, you got to come see our Shakespeare show.

I'm like, nah, you don't like you guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I need to have a positive opinion about you. And they were a really cool guy. I liked working with them. They were really young. They were like in their early 20s or teens. So they weren't like hip hop rap.

They were like Hamilton rap. Yes. Yes, okay. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So a lot of the sketches that we did were rap sketches. We sayhop rap. They were like Hamilton rap. Yes. Yes. Okay. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So a lot of the sketches that we did were rap sketches, you know. We say Hamilton rap. They thought they were hip-hop rap, but now that there's a difference, yes.

Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, yeah, that's, I mean, just you describe that and it sounds like the worst fucking thing in the world. No offense. I mean, you know, it's water under the bridge. Jesus Christ. I had a good time. A rapping sketch comedy.

There was a couple of shows and I worked on a couple of them. Yeah. There were these rap. There were other rap sketches. There were other ones, yeah. Oh my God. All done by MTV. Wow. Yeah, there was one.

Actually, it was right before I went to SNL. There was, I forgot what the, and it was a group of guys then, too. And that one was half comedians, half rappers. Yeah. And they would do rap sketches, and then they'd do comic sketches. Yeah, yeah. And the two didn't really meet. Yeah, yeah.

Although the rap sketches were trying to be funny, but they rapped them. And so the rappers were in a different room than the comedian writers. That's how much they divided. Wow, wow. But the same show. Yeah, yeah. That's crazy. It's amazing that genre didn't catch on.

Really? I think they tried it. To get Rain of his core. Yeah, yeah. Well, so are you – oh, I want to ask you about the duo that you and Craig had. Because that, oh, my God, the first time – I think the first time I – well, you know what? I know. I think I saw you guys at Largo once.

And then I saw – it was a bit on maybe some MTV thing on TV. Oh, I think it was the Comedy Central Awards. Yes. Did you co-host? I think I hosted them. Yes. Yeah, yeah. You hosted, and we did it in that too.

Oh, my God. So fucking funny. We did it at Largo, and then like a a week later we were on Bill Maher doing it. Because he was in the audience. And we had come up with it that weekend, a couple days before we did it at Largo. What would one Google? You can Google somebody's fucking my lady. Can I say that?

Yeah, sure. Somebody's fucking my lady is the name of the song. Oh my God. Somebody's doing my lady is the name of the song. Oh, my gosh. Somebody's doing my lady was the clean version. Oh. That's good. Yeah, and there's a Bill Maher version. There's an HBO sketch pad show they did.

And then there's the Comedy Central Awards version. Did you guys have a whole show that you did? No. Or was it just like incidental? We did that song because I knew him. He was taking classes in Chicago when I was in Second City. And I knew him, and I knew that he could play the piano. And I came up with this idea.

Amazingly well. Yes, he's a really good musician. Yeah, wasn't he like a musical youth pastor or something? Yeah, yeah. He did like that stuff, that musical stuff in his church. Yeah, yeah. And I knew that he could play. And when I moved to LA, I kind of lost contact with him.

I thought he was still in Chicago. And he was a stand-up. He would tour and stuff like that. And so we had a mutual friend that was a writer's assistant. I was working for the Martin Short Show at the time. And she's like, hey, I know somebody you know, this guy Craig. I'm like, oh, I've been looking for him for two years. I got this idea for this song.

Because that's how long I had it. Right, wow. And then we finally met up. And I'm like, hey, I got this idea for a song. So we got super high one night. Started kicking around ideas. Yeah. And I had the tune in my head.

Yeah. But I didn't have the whole thing. And so we just kicked it around. And then it was like, let's try this tomorrow at Largo. Oh, wow. And we tried it. Was it at one of Paul Tompkins' shows? It was at that point in time, the Monday Night Largo show.

Oh, okay. Which would go through different hosts, I believe. Yeah, I think so. I think so. But that was the cool alternative comedy thing. It was really awesome. Really fun. And such a great little room, you know?

Yeah, I used to see you there a lot. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, I could walk in the back door. Right. I could park in the back and walk in the back door and not get my car. I can still kind of do that at Largo. I mean, Flanagan, the guy that runs this club, Largo is one of the nicest

people in the world. He's very awesome. Very good to us. A lot of people in comedy. And then I've met a lot of people in music through him. Yeah, there's definitely like a nice overlap of musicians that enjoy comedy and comedians that are musical.

comedians that are musical so can't you tell my love's a crow when you're doing all this kind of you know you're kind of doing different stuff here and there um i'm always i always because i think about the things that like in me like like the things that i really wanted to go that didn't go. I mean, are there – because, you know, there's jobs. And then there's like, oh, boy, if this could happen, it would be so great. And were there ones like that for you? You were involved in one thing. And I want to thank you.

I don't know if I ever got a chance to thank you. I did this pilot for HBO. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I still haven't seen that, by the way. Why not? I mean, I saw it once. I had to go to, because, you know, like, they don't send you your pilot.

Right, right, right. I had to go to the offices. And, yeah, I just haven't been able to get a copy of it. Right, right. No, I've had the, I did a pilot a few years ago for Fox that I got to watch once. Yes. And it's like, really? What are you protecting, really, you know?

I mean, they probably figured I would put it on the internet, which I would have. Yes, of course. Why not? Why not? Yeah, yeah. That's what Bob did. We did a pilot for Fox, a sketch show.

And yeah, he was selling it for us. Yeah, he's selling it. Yeah. Oh, that's hilarious. He passed it around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now everybody's seen it so I'm sure they don't like that and who was that for? it was for Comedy Central right?

the one you did? it was HBO and what did they say to you? well at that point it was weird because HBO went through a weird shake up I don't know if you remember when the guy the programming director at that point, got in trouble for beating up his girlfriend in Vegas.

Do you remember that? Oh, no, I don't remember that, yeah. Yeah, and so he was obviously over, and then he left, and all the projects kind of just went away. I hate when that happens. That has happened to me a couple times where there's regime change and then like fucking – oh, my dog's here. She's protecting us. She's checking the perimeter and barking.

But where it's like there's a new alpha male who needs to kill the offspring of the previous alpha male, which is always so fucking frustrating, you know, because I did it. I had a sketch comedy for Comedy Central, a pilot that I was writing for them that I really liked. And that one really, that one stung too, especially because I had this, I had been the, you know, number one on the call sheet for three network television shows. Andy Richter, Controls the Universe, Quintuplets, and Andy Barker, P.I. And then I thought, okay, I want to do a sketch show. And, you know, I got a deal with Comedy Central.

And, you know, I'm like arrogant. I'm like, come on. Fucking sketch show on Comedy Central. And I, you know, I'm like arrogant. I'm like, come on, fucking sketch show on Comedy Central. Please. It's a no brainer. I got this in the bag. And I wrote the first, the first draft, I wrote all myself. I wrote a bunch of sketches myself. And then they had Scott Aukerman and BJ Porter come on and kind kind of help it out because I was going to need somebody to run it. And it was just so frustrating because they were like, it's so funny. It's so funny. But they would – the guy kept telling me – he'd say like, I don't know why these sketches all live together.

Like what's – they're all so funny, but like what's tying them together? And it's like, well, I'm in them. Me? Yeah. I'm in all of them. But, you know, I just – I think that they just wanted – you know, their sketch shows tend to be about one thing. One thing. Yeah.

Like it's like this is the sketch show about – like there was – I think they had one like – because I used to joke with them and say, I should just do the bong report. And I think that they actually did that. Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah, a show that's just everything's about weed, which I was just kidding. I should have fucking done it. So, well, is there – I mean – well, tell me about getting married. I mean, did you – were you thinking like it wasn't going to happen ever? Yeah, I guess, you know, at that point, I wanted children.

I knew that I was like, I think I'm mature enough to have a child now. Yeah, yeah. How long ago was that? A couple of years ago. Yeah, yeah. But I started thinking about it like in my mid-40s. Yeah, yeah. And so I had to find the right person, right?

Right, right, right. Yeah. That's important. mid-40s. Yeah, yeah. And so I had to find the right person, right? Right, right, right. Yes. That's important. Yeah. I think I also, like I'd gone through so many bad relationships and stuff like that. I just learned, you know, like what I wanted. And I'm glad that I didn't get married in between my first marriage and my last one. Yeah.

I call it my last one because I do not plan on getting married again. That's it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You know, I feel like I just know what it is now. You know, my wife is a wonderful person, a great person. I just found the right person for me. Yeah, yeah.

You know, just for me. Yeah. Maybe not right for anybody else. I don't think anybody else will put up with what my wife puts up with. Yeah. We just work really well together. What do you mean put up with? Are you moody?

Anything. It's just me. I really do think that it's hard for people these days to find people that are compatible because life is so complicated. You can do so many things by yourself as an individual. To find somebody that is into the same things that you are, that likes the same things you are,

that wants to do the same things that you do, that has the same kind of passions and goals in life. It's hard. It really is hard. And I feel lucky that I found my wife. I really feel like I fell into it. I fell into, you know, like it's gotten better since, you know, we got married. That's great.

I was just lucky. How long were you married before you had your son, right? Yes, two years. Yeah. We had him right away. Oh, really? Oh, wow. And what's his name?

Mickey, Michelangelo. Oh, that's great. And were you, I mean, was it scary or were you just mostly sort of excited about having a kid? Mostly sort of excited, yeah. I was not thinking about the work and everything. None of that. No, it was just like, okay, I'm married now and I'm in my 50s, so I got to get this going. And she was obviously okay with that.

Yeah, she's not a spring chicken herself. Oh, well, I'm sure she's glad to hear you say that. No, we said that at our wedding. Like, these aren't kids getting married right now. Right, right, I'm sure she's glad to hear you say that. Yeah. No, we said that at our wedding. Like, these aren't kids getting married right now. Right, right, right. Yeah, before the eggs rot, you better, you know. Get on it. Better get on it.

Well, is there something that you're missing out on that you sort of wish that you would be doing more of? Or, I mean, is there some dream project? Or are you going to have more kids? You know, I'm still thinking about that. You know, now, I mean, the fear of me being an older dad and, you know, I know. And then I've met somebody who, like, had their first kid in their 60s. I'm like, what? What are you doing?

So that kind of – that's going away, and I'm also getting used to the fact of like, oh, it's not as terrible. I'm getting to sleep now, so maybe I might have another one, but I have to do that soon. It is nice to have – because there's five years between my kids, and for years it was he was going to be an only child. kids. And for years it was, he was going to be an only child, you know, because I mean, you know, I just sort of do as I'm told. So it wasn't really my decision per se. And, you know, and also too, it's like, I don't carry him. I don't feed him for the first six months or whatever. You know, like, it's like, it's, I'm my, I, it's, I'm definitely a sidekick in that position too, you know? So, but it, it was when, and then when we decided to have another one, it's funny too,

because having a boy and a girl, everybody was like, when, cause we knew we were having a girl and people would be like, well, you're all done. Well, you've done it. And I was kind of like, well, fuck you. Because it's like you don't want to be told what your experience is going to be with your own kids. But like within moments of having a boy and a girl, I was like, oh, yeah, this is kind of like a nice complete set here, you know. But I do think, and especially because five years was a good spread. I mean, but because he was sort of not a baby anymore.

Right. And now that they're 14 and 19, they're so close. And they have such a really, like, they're like each other's favorite person. Oh, that's right. And I mean, oh, that's like, you know, it's like the feeling when your kid, you know, like eats a good meal. Like you just feel like, oh, good. He's just, you know, like, you know, like just this satisfaction that your kids are

safe and going to be taken care of. And the fact that they have that relationship to go through the rest of their life. Oh, I feel like, you know, I could fuck up for a long time and they still would have, you know, yeah, yeah. They've got each other and they will have that kind of like incredible nourishing relationship for the rest of their lives. It's really great. Did you miss the fact that they didn't go to school together? No, no, because actually they did. Oh. They did because –

What elementary you got? Well, my son went K through 5 to one school, and then he came to the school that my daughter was already going to, which is K through 12. Oh, okay. So it's just like it's one of those L.A. schools that's like a huge sigh of relief that you don't have to go fucking through that process anymore of looking for, you know. I just went to orientation or whatever, open house for preschool.

Yeah. Two-year-old. Yeah. And then I had to go. Right. I have to fill out this application to go to this thing. And it was like, when I was there, I'm like, I don't want to buy this timeshare. Because that was one of those, like, slides.

And I'm just, like, lost. I'm like, oh, what do you teach them? I don't know. Right, right. Yeah, I mean, preschool is preschool. I think so. You know, it's kind of just, it's, you're, again, you know, it's like with a dog. You're socializing.

You're, like, taking them, you know, to the dog park to just kind of get around. Don't fear yourself. Yeah. And also, too, the important aspect of that is the separation between you and them. Yes. That's a big deal. You need, you know, it's, you want to feel like, you know, you got a kid and you want to feel like, oh, I want you to know you're always taken care of. But that's not necessarily the best thing.

You got to create an individual. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah. So, well. There's more than three questions. Yeah, no, I know. But I mean, they're all sort of the same topic. Well, let's get to the what have you learned?

I mean, what do you, you know, what's the point of all of this for you? I mean, and it could, you know, it doesn't have to be a work thing. It doesn't have to be a. Yeah. I mean, a life thing too, right? Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, I feel like I'm at the point in my life now where I know too much. You were talking about Twitter and, and I just, I'd learned, I just, I just deleted my account last week because it was making me so angry. And I think I've learned things of like, you know what, you don't have to do this. If it's making you angry every time you look at it,

and usually it's something political or whatever. Oh, yeah, yeah. And, you know, just don't do it. Just don't do it. And getting rid of that account, like deleting it, I had the thing, like the screen up to delete it maybe for a week. Oh, wow. And I'm like, okay, if it's this hard, do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You got to do it. Like, it's addictive. And I wasn't tweeting. That's the other thing, too. Like, other people, like, they use it. They, you know, advertise whatever they're doing and stuff like that. Right, right. I wasn't doing that.

I was just trolling people. I'd just get mad and, like, you know, go say fuck off to Donald Trump Jr. or something. You I wasn't doing that. I was just trolling people. I'd just get mad and like, you know, go say fuck off to Donald Trump Jr. or something. And then delete it later. I'm like, just not do that. Right, right, right.

It's not creating a good life for yourself. Yeah. So I think I've learned things like that of like, you know, if I was younger, I probably would have been like,

no, I can't quit this. I gotta keep doing it. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, now I feel, I have much better days now. Yeah. I'm like getting angry for no reason. Yeah.

No reason. I know, I know. I mean, I go back and forth with it because I still do get a lot of good out of it. I think you do. And I do. Thank you. And I do enjoy, I like sharing jokes. Yes.

And you do that. I didn't do that. Yeah. See, I like just thinking of silly stuff and putting it out there. And then, and also too, and this is like now, now that I'm divorced, it's, it's different, but like, especially like, you know, being married and having two kids, you know, you're kind of like, you don't do anything. You know, you're just kind of at home a lot. And for me, it was an ongoing conversation with funny people.

And some of them became IRL friends, you know, like, and but then there are also people that I talk to all the time who I really do consider like a friend that I've never met. That I've never met. And that, you know, like I know them pretty well. And I, you know, I, it's, you're basically, you know, and you're like, you're, it's, you're, it's all brains, you know, and especially if you're funny and you, and you're a joke person, it's like you're, you find your, you know, it's definitely there's people there that are like my kind, my tribe. Yeah.

So I do derive a lot of good from it. And it is – you know, it is a good thing. Like it fucking matters when you're trying to sell something. Well, that's the thing. Yeah. Like if you've got followers, it's a lot easier to sell a book or sell a show or whatever. to sell a book or sell a show or whatever because you can say like look i can i can advertise 30 seconds from now i can be advertising to x amount of people depending on how many you got you got access to millions of people and that and that does matter yeah um but yeah it does like

i do you know as someone who's politically active kind of, I kind of backed off just this last year has been rough. So I wasn't going to really get down in the mix of politics. And I do a lot of biting my tongue these days just because it's not – there's no – you can't not get shit for. You say one thing about one candidate and another thing about, and you're going to get shit from people. See, you're old enough to know that, like, you know what? I'm not going to wade into this. Most of my friends that are in our generation know, like, you know, still in the primaries, I'll just see what's going to happen.

Yeah, yeah. Where I see the younger people are like, no, it's got to be Yang. Yeah. Smart enough to know, like, I'm not going to, like, ruin this before the real deal comes up. Yeah. And it is like, how much stress do I need? And what am I really doing? Like, I had that thing, you know, because, like, when I got separated, I really, like, just unplugged completely from politics. I muted every political person on my timeline.

I didn't watch CNN or MSNBC or anything for months and months and months. Because I was like, A, look, obviously all my tweeting in 2016 didn't work. I didn't change the world with my cleverness and uh and and b if i in terms of like my being informed about the election which is you know the the that's the sort of end result like that that's the point of all of it sure if i is, you know, that's the sort of end result. That's the point of all of it. Sure. If I don't, you know, I don't even need to pay attention until like the day before Iowa.

And I, you know, and I'll be able to figure it out, you know. Well, that's the thing. I've never, I've never seen so many politically active people in my life until we had social, I mean, until after 2016. I mean, I have friends of like, I'm like, you don't care about politics. And like, now you're like a diehard, whatever, you know, Mary Ann Williamson supporter. Like, this is insane. Yeah. But I think that's also the proliferation of social media and people are talking about it. You know, we're like, people, I'm like, you don't, you don't even care about this, but they do now. Yeah, they do. Yeah. Well, and I think also, too, there definitely is a, like, sometimes it feels like everybody's a professional wrestler cutting a promo. You know?

And that can be pretty fucking fun, you know? But it just, you know, it does end up being like it just gets depressing you know it just gets depressing like to think like just the way the election looks right now it's just kind of like oh fuck i don't i honestly don't think trump's gonna win but it does but it's like whoever gets there is gonna be so beat up is it's such it just like, seems like such a clusterfuck right now. And then you got the whole, you know, and then the, you know, it's like as a depressive, you know, like just when I start to, you know, it's like the fucking world doesn't do you any favors now, aside from politics. Cause it's like, you kind of start to feel good about everything. And then you remember, oh yeah, the planet's dying. Oh, fuck.

You know? So it just – it does – there's so much of it that kind of encourages apathy or like a protective kind of apathy, you know? But you can't, you know, you can't, you can't, you can't. You got to do it. I think it's a thing that we're so connected now, and we, I don't think human beings were ready to be that connected. Oh, yeah, yeah. We weren't that connected to somebody across the world and know exactly. We were affected by that now.

We used to be like, that's a million miles away if Australia is burning. I mean, it's terrible, but now we feel like I'm there. Yeah, yeah. I'm doing a thing, you know, next week, you know, for it. And I'm sure that wouldn't have happened years ago sure sure yeah and i also think too there's like uh there's certainly uh and this is this yes you know depending on who i mean that i this is an incredibly pricky thing to say but like there's some people that yeah we don't need to hear from them like before like there's a lot of people we hear from a lot now that I'm kind of like, yeah,

it was better when we didn't hear from them so much, when they didn't have a direct line into my ear or my eyes. Well, that's the thing. It's like there's the good side of it. Like, oh, you get to keep in touch with people and you can keep in touch with the person's thoughts that you really admire, but also just people that you don't admire and you're going to get to hear their thoughts too. Right. Well, now you have a admire. And you're going to get to hear their thoughts too. Right.

You know. Well, now you have a podcast. I do. I do. I haven't been able to do it because I've been in rehearsal for this show. But I've been doing this cult awareness podcast. That's a really interesting idea. Yeah.

And how many have you done? About six. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we started in the summer. Do you talk to people? Like, you know. Try to most of the time. Yeah, yeah. You've been in. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we started in the summer. Do you talk to people? Try to most of the time. Yeah, yeah.

Been in, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so the last one I did, I talked to, actually, he was a friend of mine. He wrote this book called The Cult of Trump. And he actually helped me out a lot in the last couple years when I was trying to get in contact with my mom. Yeah. Cult expert Steve Hassan. But his latest book, he just decided to look at the commonalities between Trump supporters, and he was a cult member.

He was a Mooney. Oh, wow. And he's helped a lot of people leave cults, so Scientology and Moonies and different other groups. So, yeah, he was the last person. And I also interviewed, which it hasn't gone up yet. Um, the whistleblower from the NXIVM. I can't, I'm upset.

I can't remember her name right now, but she's an actress, but she was the first one to talk about, she did the interview with the New York times and she got branded and there was a CBC podcast that featured her. Um, but she was the first one to say what was going on inside that whole thing before. Is that the one in Hawaii? No. NXIVM was nationwide, but it was based on the East Coast. And that was the one that had a few actresses in it,

and they were starting to brand each other. Oh, my God. I don't know what this is. Wow. Yeah, and it was a big expose in the New York Times. And this guy, Keith Raniere, was the leader of it. And yeah, it's a whole story of how it was kind of like a self-help group, large group awareness kind of thing. It kind of turned into this thing where the women were starting to become his sex slaves.

And they were- That boy, that's- It goes that way. It sure does go that way a lot. Oh, dear. So what's it called? The Cult Awareness Podcast. Cult Awareness Podcast.

And it's wherever one gets one's podcast. Yeah, you can get it on Apple. I forgot what it's called. Podcast. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but if you just Google it, you'll find it. Well, cool. Yeah.

Well, thank you so much. And when is your show open? What's it called? It opens, it's called For the Love of the Glove. And it opens on the 25th. So I think by the time this is out, it'll be running. And it's running at the Center for Inquiry Theater. Oh, yeah.

The Carl Sagan Theater. Oh, it's Carl Sagan. Is Steve Allen? The new place. They're a new place now. And they named it after Carl Sagan and his wife. Awesome. Yeah.

It's actually a really nice space. Nice theater. Yeah. Yeah. The old one, that old place was great. This is better. Oh, cool. Better, yeah.

It's a little smaller. The seating is smaller, but the stage and everything is just really nice. Excellent. Yeah. Well, Jerry, thank you so much for coming. Thank you. This is a great conversation. Thanks a lot.

And, you know, I'm going to check out the witnesses. I'd rather be to check out the show. Get your tickets. I'll do that, too. I'll do that, too. All right. Well, and thank you all for listening. And we will be back with you next week with three more questions.

Bye now. back with you next week with three more questions. Bye now. Producer is Aaron Blair, associate produced by Jen Samples and Galit Sahayek, 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.