The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Martin Starr

Episode Date: October 18, 2022

Martin Starr (Silicon Valley) joins Andy Richter to discuss his experience as a teenager on the set of “Freaks and Geeks”, falling in love with motorcycles, coming to terms with death, and more!

How are you, Martin? I'm good. This is exciting for both of us. This is my first time in the Conan Studios. And I've been here for years, waiting for you. Yeah, actually, I've gotten a lot of calls from people. They're like, will you please? I'm not leaving until we do the podcast.

Please come and get Barton out of here. I've been telling security for three years. But, you know, it's my first time in these beautiful facilities. It's not my first in-person post-COcovid that was uh henry winkler at uh we did that at sirius xm yeah absolutely yeah what a dick that's not what i said oh i know i i was doing the opposite i was going the old switcheroo it's a comedy thing look it up uh well let me just google that um so, so this is the first time. So it's great to have you here in person looking at you.

There will probably be long stretches of silence of me just looking at you. Got a nice woolly hat on. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Is that one of those like old-timey baseball? Yeah. Ebbets Field makes these old-timey hats? Yep, Ebbets Field flannels.

That's it. That's an unsolicited plug. Yeah. They're great. You must have one of their flannels. I's it. That's an unsolicited plug. Yeah. They're great. You must have one of their flannels. I don't have any of the shirts, but I have some of their hats. Yeah. Yeah.

They make old timey baseball, like faithful reproductions of old timey baseball stuff and some really, really cool ones. I mean no disrespect here, but you look like you have a head maybe too big for sizing. Oh, my God. I don't have a human head. I have to wear hats made for bears. Do they have a hat that fits you? They do.

And that's one of the reasons that I'm aware of them is because they do fit my head. I have a size 8 head. That's a big one. If not a little bit more. yeah head that's if not if not a little bit more like you know like the the trend which i think is just terrible of like like sort of the fred durst super big baseball cap that you wear down low over the tops of your ears but it's great for me because people with normal size heads want a baseball cap so big that'll go over their ears and that's like an eight or an eight and an eighth and that fits me like a normal baseball cap yeah they do babe ruth size it's like you know like a 60 inch chest and a 32 inch waist you know hachi chachi what a man

so uh how are you how's your covid world be? Have you gotten COVID? Because I'm just over it. Okay. Was it the first time? It was my first time. Yeah, yeah. I was all sassy about it. You know, like I never got it, and then I got it. Same.

Yeah. I had it a little over a month ago. Yeah. And was it bad for you? It wasn't too bad. It actually ended up great. I watched a ton of television. My girlfriend was in town at the time, and she never caught it she had it in december and i didn't get it ah yeah somehow we both just

kind of dodged it when the other one had it but oh nice yeah it wasn't so bad for me was it bad for you no it was like you know kind of your generic flu sort of deal it wasn't that bad body aches cough um this is the part my mom's gonna like she loves symptoms um the part of the show the interview um of anything yeah of anything so um you are you're from here i'm from one of those weird people that's actually from here yeah uh and and and your folks what did your folks do i can't remember know I read it. My dad worked in sales for a while and then went into teaching. And my mom is an actress and ran her own business for a long time. And what was that business?

Is that how you refer to selling weed? So she ran her own weed business. Did I not put that? No, no, you didn't. What did I say the first time? She had her own business. Yeah, yeah. So she had her own business that was selling weed.

No, what was it really? It was around – it revolved around acting. So she produced these classes and people would come in and kind of coach young actors. And it'd be a bit of a springboard to get yourself situated in a city where most people are strangers trying to make it out here in a much bigger, you know, coming out to the big city. Especially because she was from Kansas. She came out to L.A. and had a tough time figuring out how to make connections and meet people. So she ended up starting a business that made it easier for people to kind of get connected out here and, and get their start. Oh, nice. Yeah. That's a very Kansas thing to do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's a sweet one. Yeah. So you're, you were seeped in acting like from the very beginning. It's like a good tea. Yeah. Stained with it. Um, I mean, was it just, was it something that it just was kind of natural that you were going to do it?

I found an acting class when I was a kid that was a scene study and improv, drama and comedy improv at this place called Center Stage LA with a teacher named Kevin McDermott. And that's where I started really falling in love with it. And what age was that? Oh, 12. Oh, wow. Yeah. And I'd been around it earlier because I just went to my mom's business and would do scenes with people and, you know, but it wasn't, it didn't feel like anything much. And then I found that class and I was like, this is great. People are laughing at me. I feel like I got friends all of a sudden. This is awesome. And do you have any siblings? I do. They're all much older. They're half siblings from my dad's first marriage. Oh, I see. I see. So you was pretty, you, did you pretty much grow up in the house alone or were they older? Yeah. No, older,

older. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're all 15 years older. Oh, wow. Wow. I mean, did you have any other sort of interests that you were, or was that pretty much it? Were you sort of just like? I mean, I liked doing other things, but nothing quite took hold the way acting did. Yeah. But luckily I somehow have so far made it doing this. I feel like most of my friends, and certainly this is the way I feel, like every job I have, I'm like, this is probably the last time I'll ever work. But it's been a good run. I'm thankful.

And just move right along. I saw Dustin Hoffman say that once. Yeah. So all they took from it is like, oh, okay, that never goes away, I guess. I guess you're always sweating. You never get to enjoy it. You always have to worry about being scared about just it all stopping. I think I've come to peace with it a little bit.

Have you? Yeah. Yeah, I haven't. So when do you start working? I mean, does your mom mind you, when do you start working? I mean, does your mom mind that you start working as a kid? Oh, I started, I started pretty young, but I didn't, Freaks and Geeks was the beginning in a lot of ways. And you were 14 when that started?

15, 15. 15. And then when we started going, we started on the series when I was 16 because I had a car at that point. Oh, okay. It's interesting starting in a business so young. Yeah. Most people don't have experience, I guess, working before they graduate high school to that degree.

Right. With that level of responsibility, I guess. Yeah. Which I was not ready for. I proved that in some ways. In what ways? There was one day where I fully slept in and missed half a day of work. Oh.

And that was like a huge wake up. And it's interesting because I feel like that was the reminder. For me, that was a huge life lesson. But for other people, it's probably a reminder that, oh, this guy's just a child. Yeah, yeah. Like he's not ready to do – to like the timely nature of any responsible adult getting to their job on time. I wasn't fully prepared for, and that was a good life lesson for me. Yeah, yeah. I let a lot of people down.

I just remember the disappointment in – Jake Kasdan was genuinely really pissed at me, and he had every right to be. But, yeah, it was valuable for me to to learn yeah a lesson that day they almost cut me out of a big part of the show because of that oh wow of that episode that's a that does suck when you fuck up and somebody just can't help themselves but like they're pissed at you and they let you know like i'm really pissed at you because there's part of you that's like come on on, we all fuck up every now and then. Right. I feel that way now. At the time, I was like in a turtle shell, like scared shitless of the way that people felt about me.

Because I was judging myself so harshly. I felt awful. It's also a very unique workplace for a child. You're not a bagger at the grocery store. There's a lot that rides on you as a 15 or 16-year-old kid. Yeah, yeah. And at that point, because I was 16, I was responsible for taking myself to work, whereas most kids at that point, your parent or guardian is dropping you off.

So there's a level of responsibility that goes to them as well. Well, you were a minor. Did you need to have somebody on set with you, or did you get emancipated or something? The teacher. Oh, the teacher would be. Yeah. Oh, okay. So that counts as a guardian oh wow um and so you were going you were having to do school at the same time oh wow that would suck i made it really fun but not for the teacher

i ran around a lot it was not a healthy environment for for learning phil was the i think that was the name of the teacher. Yeah. Really sweet guy. He drove like two hours to get to work every day. He used to pee in a – he probably wouldn't like me saying this, but I remember him telling me that he had to pee sometimes in a plastic bottle because he didn't want to leave the freeway. It could cost him an extra 15 minutes. So he was just like, I bring bottles in the car.

I've done that. Have you ever done that? I don't think i have forced to do that just stuck in traffic on the 405 and really trying to avoid doing that but then ending up having to you know pee in a bottle yeah you know yeah i don't and then chuck it at a hippie i I really, I heard the beginning of that word and I thought you were going to say, and then chug it and get it back in my system. Oh, yeah, that's a thing with me. That's one of my things. That's actually a religion I'm starting. Do you ever watch Nathan For You?

Uh-huh. Did you see the episode where he's talking to a gas station, a guy who owns a gas station? And he just goes off into a thing that kids need to drink pee? No, at the end he says, you know, one of my secrets is I drink my grandchildren's pee. Oh, that's right. And that's my secret of life is that I drink my grandchildren's pee. And that was a trip. I don't know how he put that on the air.

Yeah. That was a genuine reaction. You were seeing the guy's face, so that means he signed off on it. He signed a release. He did not recognize that that was something that his family, at the very least, doesn't want him talking about. Absolutely. I hope it's from a cup. I hope it's from a cup.

Oh, no. Oh, no. Not right from the spout. Please do not. Oh, no. Not right from the spout. Please do not. Oh, dear. Well, now. How are you going to transition out of that? Everyone back to you.

Back to you. Now, freaks and geeks. Well, the first thing I want to say is, like, are you spoiled for the rest of your career for being on something that's so good? I really felt that way for a long time, and I've been really lucky to continue to have experiences with really great creative minds and really talented people on all sides of production. and really talented people on all sides of production. With Party Down and a show I did on Adult Swim with Paul Scheer called NTSF SDSUV. We had a really great group of people on Silicon Valley. And I've been lucky to do a lot of other things that have been really rewarding.

But, yeah, for a while I was like, this sucks. Like, what a wonderful start. And then there was a real drought after that too. Cause I just didn't know how to do it. Like when you, when you are handed something that's that incredible, I don't think I really knew how to get back there again. I didn't realize how high the mountain was that we landed on that we were, um, you know, I didn't realize how high the mountain was that we landed on that we were lucky enough to all be a part of this incredible project together. But, yeah, somehow it's all come back around, and I lasted long enough to make it back to do some pretty fun things. Were you the only minor on that set?

No, no. John Daly was the youngest, I think, of the main cast. Right, right. And was Sam? Seth, Sam, and I are all pretty much the same age. Oh, no. John Daly was the youngest, I think, of the main cast. Right, right. And was Sam? Seth, Sam, and I are all pretty much the same age. Oh, okay. So you all were in school together. Yeah.

Oh, poor Philip. Oh, boy. Poor Philip. Can't you tell my love's a-growing? Were you typecast after that? Like, was it hard to get? Because it's such, like, among television works and archetypes, and I mean among the freaks and geeks, you're the geeks,

and you were the guy with the glasses, and you were the skinny guy, and went with the short hair. Yeah. Is that, like, a burden that you had to then carry with you? I feel like that's what I anticipated. And to some degree, I did see that as a result of the experience that we had on Freaks and Geeks. But it, you know, somehow I've been lucky to, I think you could kind of clump a lot of the parts that i've played into a similar category but but i i see them all as quite different and unique so it's for me it's been a really fun

roller coaster and playing playing different a lot of different things yeah it's fun i'd much rather play someone with like heart and honesty and integrity than like to to play an archetype yeah rather than a mordant wisdom. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I guess on Silicon Valley, it wasn't quite in that same, but I think underlying that was a lot of, I think there was like a genuine friendship between Guilfoyle and Dinesh in that show.

And it just was shown in very different ways. Yeah, they're very weird, kind of broken guys. So yeah, they're not going to relate in a healthy way um but i would say that like among like freaks and geeks and and then party down and like you can see those three characters they are similar you know like they're they have like like you could see them being like the guy that you played on Silicon Valley, being the grown-up version of the kid on Freaks and Geeks, you know? I mean, I'm not saying it's, you know, I don't mean to limit, say, that you're saying. Here we go.

I didn't realize I was going to be roasted here. No, but do you know what I mean? You take your questions from online. Why? Oh, is that something that you've had that people said that? I mean, I'm sure people do. I just, I don't really pay

that much attention to what other people say anyway. But I do find that people like to, if they feel connected to you, they kind of connect the dots. Right. How their brain kind of needs to

to function, I guess. Right. But there's, but I guess I just see things differently. But power to them. Yeah. The fact that I'm, you know know the people connect with what i'm i'm lucky enough to do this period and people connect with it makes me really happy well and also you're i mean i always feel like you're

lucky enough to be a character actor because that's just that's where the fun is yeah because you could also say like well every fucking character that harrison ford's ever played is the same guy you know sure harry grant's the same guy you know and it's and you know and that's like well that's just how it works i mean i you know occasionally i'll get like somebody just recently i'm in an episode of monk where i get to murder somebody and that was fucking awesome like and i would love to murder again okay um okay cool um i'm gonna just are we how close to how long are we it's friday i'm ready you want to hang no go out oh but um is that the door yeah no i mean but it's but you know i mean i get to say you and casting also, too, is a really dumb process. Like, they're not super creative.

They don't go like, hey, here's a guy. I bet he has something we haven't seen. They always just go like, no, get her. She does that. Get him. He does that. Well, now it's like, how many Instagram or TikTok followers do they have? Oh, yeah, yeah.

That whole process just astounds me i know because what those those statistics don't relate you're not getting more viewers based on your tech like it's a different function of viewing right anyway that's what i mean what that is though is that they can just say to the person above them who says, like, why'd you hire that guy? They could say, got 600,000 Instagram followers. Oh, okay. It's just to keep the heat off from the people above them who are like, why are you spending money on that person? It's just always you got to have something. Wait a second.

Are you an executive? Hold on. I wish. Oh, my God. Are you an executive? Hold on. I wish. Oh, my God. No, I actually don't wish. My fucking network would tank in like three days. It would all be just like weird stuff about like Hitler's gardening tips and stuff like that. Now's not the time.

That's a little too. We're not talking Hitler. All right. All right. Not Hitler. But I mean, just his gardening tips. I'd be interested. not the time we don't that's a little too we don't we're not talking all right all right not hitler but i mean just his gardening tips i'd be interested did he have a lavish garden that hitler uh yeah no i i don't envy people because you know i mean there's you know i see gigantic hit things and i'm like oh my god that's horrible you know like if somebody brought it to me i would be like oh that's a terrible piece of shit and then it's like it's the biggest tv juggernaut since the last tv juggernaut you know yeah it it uh it's an odd world also we're not the particular demographic that pays the bills i know i know um just get older and older

so i'm working on a show now that's kind of under the Taylor Sheridan banner. He created Yellowstone and a bunch of other shows and wrote Sicario, I believe. I finally watched Yellowstone while I had COVID.

And it's just so much. It's like so intense. It's like a really fun watch. It's like not my brand of television. Right, right. But it is such a fun watch. Yeah, yeah. Me and my girlfriend were both just like having a blast watching this.

Watching this like really heightened reality show. It's fun sometimes when that happens where there's like a show that there's no reason like that you would watch it and yeah but you're like oh actually i'm enjoying this mark movie you know um so after freaks and geeks which was just one season correct yeah and how many episodes did you guys get to do 18 i think oh okay that's i mean you know that's still when they were doing decent numbers of episodes yeah i think 22 was the goal and and uh we got the back nine but not the last four or three or whatever we either did 18 or 19 episodes but they were convinced that we were going to get canceled so they or at least judd judd was judd could feel it coming and so i mean there's a whole documentary about this. You don't have to take my word for it, but he knew it was coming.

And so we shot the final episode of the season five episodes early or something. Oh, I see. Six episodes early. So in the middle of the year, we were shooting this like big kind of final sad story about. Where everyone dies. Where everyone dies. And if you, and if you because if you haven't seen i don't want to ruin it for you but everyone dies all the sorry guys everyone

dies it's an apocalyptic freaks and geeks ending and um you'd have to watch the director's cut because they obviously couldn't no one ever saw it because it didn't air but um check it out yeah earth swallows them well we sure are freaks, and we are geeks. That was it. Wait, you are an executive. I am. I'm really good at making the TV. Well, what do you do with yourself afterwards?

That's got to be a fucking drag. I mean, I've been through that. You do a really good show, and it just kind of like... What did you do in the in-between years? Because you were on Conan for a while and then you dipped out. I left after seven years and I came out here and I did Andy Richter Controls the Universe, which was two mid-seasons. Did you do The Tick? No.

No. The Tick was right before that, but it was another sort of like underappreciated Fox show. that but it was another sort of like underappreciated fox show because at fox at that time there were really cool people doing development there were really cool people doing like the current you know like the you know because you go from development to current like the executives change over yeah everybody's really great and really cool and that doesn't always happen yeah and then it would get to this like you'd get up to the main office and it was like all these guys that just all these men that just wanted like you know cheeseburger tv and i'm i love cheeseburgers but it was just like you know like like first of all i just would see them being like wow why andy richter show i mean but then and i'm i'm all

was always kind of puzzled by it because it's like yeah you signed off on it like you you bought me you know after the first look it's it's all so puzzling after the first table read of the show the head of paramount because it was a paramount which was another thing that always doomed it because it was two studios was it what did it thing that always doomed it, because it was two studios. Did it have to do with your pronunciation of Param? Paramount? Uh-huh. Why, what's wrong?

Paramount? Thank you. Well, but everyone says Paramount. So you do know how to say it. Everyone says Paramount. I've never heard anyone in my life say Paramount. Eduardo, how do you say it? That was the first time I've ever heard it.

Paramount? Maybe it's just illinois i don't know p-a-r-a-m-o-u i know i mean i know it's paramount but it's like hold on a second you know it's paramount yeah of course paramount to what tantamount thank you tantamount no i don't know i've always called it paramount but anyway i have to listen to that now i've never it's just something i've never noticed gonna have to listen to this episode of my own podcast this is gonna no no i mean i'm gonna just listen to like people say paramount um you won't hear it paramount so it was at paramount and they had a paramount after the table read fuck um how much do you regret inviting me in here today

it's all right i learned something i learned that i say a word wrong um they the the head of the studio comes up to me after it and goes like the head of the studio comes up to me after it and goes like wow you can really act which i just was like after you shot the pilot no with the table read of the pilot but i signed the deal and you know like we're gonna make this pilot of this show and it's like oh you can act it's like wow you know we're gonna make your album hey you can sing you know it's just congrats yeah it's good for all of us it's really weird but anyway but yeah but i mean i've i've been there where you do this because it was the in between times i mean my thing for for years and and it was also it was a different time there was just lots more tv there was lots more tv comedy is i would try to you know get my

own thing sold and if i couldn't do that then i'd you know do a job i mean i still was in demand enough that i could like go get a job on a on another show because so after andy richard controls the universe i did was it writing were you writing a lot on conan too or no on conan yeah on conan yeah uh and i was a producer on andy richter controls the universe too i didn't i didn't write an episode but like a few of a few of the episodes were my ideas and you know and and i was very hands-on and like at times kind of a pill i think like i'd be like we cannot end the show like that we you know i would just dig in and be like it's your show your face my name's on the fucking show which i wasn't even i didn't even want that

and i you know and i wanted it that's andy richter controls the universe i wanted it to be a grandiose title that no one could think was i would take seriously and nobody gets it right so it's like that's the proof that it was a terrible title and i picked it you know so but they wanted my name in the title so i had to figure out you know something with it but that you know so then i did a show called quintuplets that was not as fulfilling as andy richter controls the. It was just a- Were you producing that one or no? No, I was just an actor in that one. But it did a full 22 episodes, but we didn't get picked up again.

And then I did Andy Barker PI, which Conan created with Jonathan Groff, our former Conan head writer, and that was really, but we only did like, I think, seven episodes of that. But that was really but we only did like i think seven episodes of that but that was really great and then that was my three my three times at bat as number one on the call sheet and then it's like oh well okay i don't like it well i mean number one on the call yeah it's not an experience that i ever needed to have yeah um and i think i've kind of shied away from it when the

opportunity has arisen but i've gotten cornered a little bit. I've done it a few times, and it's worked out great. The experience has always been really great, but it's not – I don't – that's not something – that's not a goal for me. Me neither. Me neither. I mean, yeah, it's nice. I mean, sure, who doesn't want to be – I mean, the nice thing about it is the amount of control as far as, you know, at this point, we have a lot of experience.

Yeah. And so it's nice to be a part of that process because there's certainly something you have to – there are answers for questions that you have. Yeah. I didn't say that right, but you know what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah. No, you can contribute in a meaningful way. And it's nice to be able to do that. That's a that's a day well spent when you get home you're like i've i fixed the ending of that episode or right i figured something out that is better off for it

um that that's a really rewarding experience but other than that i much prefer the collaborative experience with a group yeah going to going to work on party down or silicon valley or freaks and geeks where you're with other people and you're just like trying to figure out together how to make something as good as it can be yeah and it's fun when you're firing on all cylinders yeah to like make something that you're really proud of i mean you've gotten you've gotten to do that i know three times in like a really big seriously fantastic way i've gotten really lucky yeah i cherish it yeah i think i was really i was especially aware of it with silicon valley yeah um and i and i feel like in that experience especially through season one of us shooting in in some way a lot of uh some of the other cast were just aware that this was the auspices that we were making the show under um

i was somewhat familiar to me like just working with good people and having an opportunity kind of this big but this is the that was the first time that we had that i had ever been supported by a network like to to have HBO behind you, and they really did support us in such a great way from the beginning. But I feel like certainly at times the other guys look to me just to see how they should appreciate this. Oh. Because I just sat back and really enjoyed.

Yeah. We may only get one season. Yeah. I've been on shows that were like i thought pretty great and we got one season and that was it and you just go well thank god we got to do that yeah and the fact that we got to do six is pretty dang incredible and um i'm not like a no cursing guy so i'll say that again that was pretty fucking incredible um but it you know it was just uh i feel feel like that maybe they weren't looking to me at all, but I think a little bit of my energy rubbed off.

Right. Because everyone was really like, this is great. This is cool. We're getting to work with Mike Judge. Yeah. We get to work with Alec Berg, who both in their own rights are – Former Conan writer. Oh, right.

Yes, of course. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I i mean he's come up through the ranks um in comedy in a huge way and and he's so he was you know instrumental in in how the show turned out but i really appreciated that we got to have that experience from the beginning yeah well i i'm just like second guessing how i said all that because i like it doesn't make me sound arrogant that i'm like these guys were learning from me i mean i learned so much from no no that doesn't thomas and kumail it doesn't no listen that doesn't sound arrogant at all because there's just the plain fact that

you had been doing it since you were fucking 15 years old yeah and they nobody else on there had been you know it was a it was a first it was a launching pad for certainly Thomas and Kumail. Yeah. Zach had already done The Office, but not in such a big way. Right. And TJ had been on a few things, but nothing that was really big. No, he'd done it. Yeah, but TJ had a different energy about it.

Yeah, yeah. Have you done much developing yourself? Have you tried to do lots of stuff? I mean, are you a writer? I don't even really – I don't love the writing process as much as I love acting. But I enjoy collaboration in all the ways. I like working with great, you know, with people I have good chemistry with and creating something together, writing or working on a scene or in any capacity, really storytelling. I really enjoy it.

And so I've done that a number of times, but nothing that's gone to air. Yeah. But I'm not done. So we'll see. Yeah, yeah. I have something that I'm working on now. so we'll see kind of where that heads. But I'm doing something way, way out of my comfort zone at the moment. I'm working with Sylvester Stallone on a TV show for Paramount+.

And it's so interesting. It's so interesting. Are you spending time with him? Yeah, all my scenes are with him. Wow. Yeah. Are you spending time with him? Yeah. All my scenes are with him. Wow. Yeah. Oh, you're shooting it?

Yeah. We're in the middle of it. Oh, wow. I'm just out here for a little. I had two weeks off, so I came back to LA. Where are you shooting? We're in Oklahoma City. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Hanging out with Sly in OKC. Yeah. Yeah. He goes back Friday night and comes back Sunday night, I think, as best I've seen. Yeah. He's gone as soon as he's done working. But I like the city a lot.

Yeah. I love the people there. They're all really sweet. It is definitely a different vibe to being in California. You know, politics are such a big part of our world, unfortunately, now. And so you feel that when you see some of the commercials for who's running for Congress and stuff like that. And you're like, oh, okay.

That's your platform? It's literally just God. I'm taking God to the Senate. And you're like, uh-oh, that's not who I want in the Senate. Well, but come on. that's pretty good backing. You know, like if you're going to have somebody back your campaign, that guy, God, oh, he knows shit. Boy, he's unlimited funds. Yeah.

And really connected, well-connected. He knows everybody. Yeah. Unfortunately, he knows too many people, I'm going to be honest. Rather, he didn't know so many. But yeah, stuff like that has been an interesting, eye-opening experience. I've always thought, because I always just think, you know, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. I think he still lives there.

He has like some big, weird big weird Artist hippie compound out there You know because Is it in OKC or is it like just outside I'm not exactly sure I've never been there What's the address You can google it I bet when you get back there and you say like Hey you know you just ask anybody

Anybody like you know where Wayne's Oh yeah Hey buddy But I'm sure you know tulsa's got like a nice kind of weird underbelly you know of just which i'm always amazed about like being a weird creative person in tulsa or in oklahoma city i always just like to me i'm just why don't you leave what are you doing here here? Why are you here? I mean, you need artists everywhere. I guess, yeah.

And some people just, you know. Do you know Josh Fadum? Uh-huh. So he's from Tulsa, I believe. And he went back to Tulsa during the pandemic. So I got to see him while I was there. But he's such a unique and wonderful artist. Like, just in every experience I have with him, I'm like, no one is you. But he's such a unique and wonderful artist.

Just in every experience I have with him, I'm like, no one is you. No one will ever be him. And hopefully we'll get to have him on the show. But he has just such a wonderful energy. And I think he had trouble out here in L.A. making it to the degree that he deserves to, I think, based on his talent. But yeah, I mean, I guess wherever he can be the best him he could be. Yeah. We need more Josh Fadums.

Yeah. I mean, and I would love to get to a point where I could go, you know, like move back to Chicago, say, you know, like, and just be able to maintain a show business career. You know, like I was. You could podcast from anywhere. I know, I know, but this is not paying the bills, frankly. Oh, I'm getting paid real good for today. For today? Yeah, yeah. Oh, wow.

Yeah. See, I still have – They pulled up a Brinks truck outside, and I was like, that's not – I thought you guys were going to write a check, And they were like, no, no, no. See, that's Cohen's thing. I don't get into that. This is all still part of my community service. Like, you know, I'm supposed to talk about mental health.

You know, and then the West Hollywood police forget about some stuff that I did. Like what? Nah. I honestly don't remember, but they tell me it was not good. Right on. Cool. Can't you tell my love's a girl? I mean, what's it like working with Sylvester Stallone?

I mean, I know you can't be like that. It's great. Yeah. I really like it. Yeah. I enjoy the collaborative experience with him. I think I was surprised at how open and present he was. I don't know what I expected.

Yeah. But I guess in general, I keep my expectations low and my hopes high. And he lived up to hopes. Oh, that left expectations behind he's great I you know he's he just turned 76 wow and he still shows up to work every day and he's like trying to make everything as good as he can yeah he's present and he's and he's doing his best work. And it's cool to watch him do that thing where he just like turns it on. Yeah. And you're like, that's why you're a fucking movie star. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like that is, I'm like, I'm in it. Yeah. You make it easy to like to work with you. Yeah. Yeah, he's been really fun. Yeah. The little bit I've gotten to do with like, you know, like work on a show with big, big stars. Like, you know, like, for instance, like, for me, James Caan, working with James Caan on Elf, and he just passed away.

And that was, you know, there's, I've met lots and lots of people that I really admire, and it's been a bit of a letdown. I mean, it's never, like, it's never been absolutely horrible. But there have been people who are like, oh, that's too bad. That guy's kind of a dick or whatever. Whereas James Caan was just like everything you'd want a James Caan to be. Just every little just. Did he slap your ass? Huh? No. He didn't slap you on the ass? uh did he slap your ass huh no he didn't slap you he did not slap my ass that's not what i want out of a james con that's not what you want that's your james con oh yeah is that mine well we all have our versions all of ours no we all just want to

like a good uh hey good job out there and then you know there's a pat on the like a little too hard yeah yeah like how that hurt a little bit hard. Yeah. Yeah. Like, ow, that hurt a little bit, but I deserved it. Right. Right. But then it lingers and you're kind of like, did I deserve it?

Yeah. Yeah. The guy from rollerball, I can still feel it. He's got that rollerball power. No, he just was really, and it was funny because like he,

you know, he wanted, he's a big movie star and he's doing this, you know, silly Christmas movie, but all the scenes were like me, you know he wanted he's a big movie star and he's doing this you know silly christmas movie but all the scenes were like me will ferrell amy sedaris and kyle gas and there was a point where he was where he literally said like you know i'm trying to be serious and i'm trying to like you know do you know do the do the work like i to. But I mean, if you all want to just fuck around and have fun,

I'm up for that too. And then he started, he was calling us the fun bunch. And even in the movie, he calls, he uses that. He says, my fun bunch. And then we all, like for the week that I was there, he would be in, we'd all be in the hotel bar together. And one time we were we were sitting around. It's very tight, little, tiny hotel bar. And he comes up with this attractive woman, you know, middle aged woman.

And then he says, hey, everybody, this is and I don't know. This is Linda. apparently in the 80s we fucked and she was like all giggly and embarrassed you know and he's like i don't remember but she says we did can you imagine having that many conquests that you're like i don't remember uh no i have too much detail in my brain about it the disappointment i've left on people um oh that's what you call it disappointment yeah yeah sorry about that i'll go get you a towel um it is it's really nice when the big famous famous people are are, you know. Yeah. And also, like you said, when you get to see, you get to see them do that movie star thing.

It's a very, it's not even acting so much. It's like its own thing, you know. It's like a level of charisma that I will never understand. Like my brain and body will never be capable of giving that off right and it's it's so cool to witness yeah yeah yeah you're like oh that's how you do it that's how you do it i don't know what you're doing but yeah that's how you do it it's like watching magic and you're like no idea how you just made that card appear yeah yeah, yeah. Well, where are you heading now? I mean, what, is there any?

I'm going to go get my motorcycle later today. Oh, motorcycle. Tell me about that. I upgraded it to a 1200. You're okay with dying? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Actually, I mean, if we're going to talk about it, yeah.

Really? I am okay with dying, I think, yeah. Why? When I was 15, before Freaks and Geeks, I was laying in bed. My mom had a condo in Santa Monica, and I would go to sleep. I left my dad to go back to Los Angeles to be with my mom and go to a school out here that was one of the best experiences I've had in my life. LOXA. It's the arts high school out here, and it's wonderful. But I spent like two weeks, every night I'd cry myself to sleep as I was realizing

to my core that when you die, it's really over. And I think I absorbed that to such a degree and I digested it as information, as energy, as – and that changed me I think in a huge way. Yeah. Why do you – why was it at that time that you were – that that hit you so heavily? I think I missed my dad a lot. Yeah. Where was your dad at this point? My dad was in Florida. So I grew up in LA. My dad and I drove cross country to live in Florida. I, at that point I got along better with my dad for sure. And so I think they, both my parents

had decided that that was the best move for me. And so I went with my dad. He, he, his third wife, So I went with my dad. His third wife, Jean, my stepmother, Jean, he moved to Florida, got married to her. And so we drove there to be there with her. And Florida's terrible. And it's only gotten worse. There are aspects of it that are very nice, obviously, because it brings a lot of people there but um the people i did not have a great time there i bet with people but i came back to la to how long were you there one year oh wow

yeah and like a formative year at the end of that i was like this is enough i don't think i need to be here any fucking longer yeah and i think i can get along with mom. Yeah. Yeah. Mom, I love you. And so I came back to L.A. and I went to this school out here. And pretty early on, I just missed my dad a lot. Yeah. Because he and I were always really connected. And so that was a strong bond that was broken through that experience. And it was a painful detachment. And then I –

How do you think – how did it feed into like a death fear? I don't I don't fully know. I think maybe just the emotion, the energy of that missing him and maybe recognizing in some way that one day he really wouldn't be here. Yeah, that's probably it. Yeah. It's because, you know, I, I think every child has a notion. Well, I mean, Freud thinks, you know, children fantasize about their parents' death. Like it's something that they desire that's in us, you know, to take over the spot of being in charge.

But, yeah, and that was probably it. When I started working on The Conan Show, that was my yeah i had when i started working on the conan show i that was my death my death time um and it was because and i couldn't figure it out but like when you started the initial run in 93 yeah um living in new york city making more money than i'd ever made in my life so that was settled you know like like the know, the stressors in your life, money, I'm making money career. Like, you know, I, I'm, I want to make it in show business. I'm on the fucking TV every night. Okay. That's settled. Um, and at the time I would, uh, had just, uh, I was engaged and then married in 94 to my ex-wife and so I was very much happily in love. And the Conan show was stressful.

It was like very stressful in the beginning. But I think that my brain was still producing the anxiety that would normally go down all those other channels like, oh, I got to make money. Oh, I got gotta find a job oh i you know why am i not in love with a magical creature but it had nowhere to go because those problems those roots were already yeah failed and it went to death i just was like i was finding myself like being like well this is great the show's doing great we did a really good show tonight but what's the point we're gonna be dead in five minutes you know like just really fun stuff some nihilist some good nihilist yeah yeah like oh what's the point of anything when you're just going to be in the

fucking rotting in the ground in five minutes yeah um and then i sought out counseling and medication and it helped a lot oh good yeah is. Is it mushrooms? Cocaine? No, no, no. What are you taking? Self-medicated? I think at that point, no, at that point I think it was Zoloft. Exciting. But it's other things. You know, I mean, it's, you know, you got to switch it up. You got to change those meds up, you know, because sometimes they have little weird side effects that you don't want anymore.

You built up a tolerance and now've got to move to another one. That's right. That's right. Now it's just Windex. Windex is a – I just drink a bottle. Oh, yeah. Just drink a bottle of Windex. It's fantastic.

I mean, does that make you a daredevil then? I mean, obviously you ride a motorcycle, and I was kind of kidding. Daredevil then? I mean, obviously you ride a motorcycle, and I was kind of kidding. I mean, that's just me being intrusively judgmental about motorcycle riding because it terrifies me. You're not wrong. I think if you tried it, if you got through that fear, because you might have too much fear and anxiety to actually enjoy the experience, but if you got to really just experience letting go, and maybe that doesn't happen in a city for you but just on a road somewhere and you try to ride a motorcycle it's something that is so exhilarating

it's it's not travel the way that i think we're all accustomed to it it's so it requires so much um awareness and focus that it it's just its own experience experience. Because I feel like we can get so distracted in a car. Yeah. I can be amazed that I will sometimes think like, did I notice when I passed the high school? Like, no, I don't have any recollection of passing the high school. When you're on a motorcycle, you have no other choice than to pay attention to everything that's happening

because your life depends on it. And that is exhilarating. It triggers, you know, it's great. Have you been writing for long? Three or four years. I got a license, yeah, I guess three or four years ago, but I started writing kind of in, I don't know if I should talk about it because it's technically illegal.

Well, nobody's going to arrest you. Right. Well, not anymore. I took a class, a course a while ago to basically cut off. When I got my license, it takes half the test off, basically. So you go and train with someone, you do the test with them, and it's just all the on-motorcycle stuff, and you do a written test as basically. So you go and like train with someone, you do the test with them and it's just all the on motorcycle stuff and you do a written test as well, but you still have to go in to get your license and take a written test with the DMV, but you learn

how to write a motorcycle in that process. And then five or six years later, I was working on a movie and we were about to shoot, um, well, we were getting ready to shoot a scene where the other guy that I'm with is supposed to be driving a scene where the other guy that I'm with is supposed to be driving a motorcycle. And he's like, I've never, ever done that. And I don't know how to. I was like, well, I have, and I can, I can, I can ride it if you feel comfortable with

me. So I just like took it out for a spin, felt fine. And he got on the back and we had a great time and there was, there was no issue, but technically that was me driving illegally. Right, right. And then a couple of years later, I i was like i gotta get a motorcycle oh wow i mean i immediately i wanted to do it i just it took me a little bit to do you have like one of this like really fast ones or is it more of a cruisery kind of normal one i have a harley um i have a harley um iron 883. That means nothing to me. Oh, come on.

You know what that is? I don't know. Come on. You're just joshing with us. Harley, to me, is a line of menswear for old white men as far as I know. Correct. Yeah, they also do that. Yeah, yeah.

It seems like you could put Harley Davidson on a turd and there's a certain guymmy bahama clothes that would buy it i'm you've are you sold all right hold on after the show give me a minute that was quick um you wrote it with the turd yep amazing yep well you know you've got control i guess it's on my resume incredible incredible anal control no no not not the anal retentive i mean there are a lot of people who have definitely googled that sentence literally like what yeah i just i just enjoy it i just so at 883 is in reference to how powerful the engine is and i upgraded that to a 1200 which is just more power. Cause I, I've, it, it wasn't very powerful.

I didn't want a bike that was powerful to start. I wanted to get comfortable on it and I didn't want to be, um, in over my head right out of the gate. Like I wanted to figure out riding for a year or two and then get something that had a little bit of oomph to it. And, uh, and that's what I've, that's what I've done. Is that sort of like your main pastime? Is that kind of like when you're not working or something?

Is that like your boat? Is that your golf? Is that your gardening or whatever? I still do all those things as well. Oh. Yeah. Golf boat gardening. I do.

I garden on my boat while I'm golfing. Of course. And it's incredible. Oh my god. Come out on the boat sometimes. It's a big time saver too when you get all three done at once. It's the SS Andy Richter. No relation. Yeah. No, it's the SS Anal Control. That's right.

Yeah, yeah. In honor of. Yes. In honor of. Yeah. I mean, you're going to ride your motorcycle. But, I mean, back to, like, you know, what's in the future for you? I mean, would you like to have a family? Do you see yourself staying in L.A. forever? I'm madly in love.

I'm putting everything I can into the relationship that I'm in now. And I've never been happier. And she's moving to Los Angeles soon. And so that's going to make that a lot easier. Where is she living now? She's from Austin. Oh, okay. So she's leaving her home there for the first time, really, in a permanent way. And yeah, I mean, I don't know to what degree starting a family means, what that means to us. But as of now, I don't think we want to have kids that's certainly capable of changing but we'll see but um work-wise i i just love doing this and i certainly enjoy a lot of what you know we were talking about before and experiences

that you know ties into experiences you've had just being able to make something that I'm a bigger part of. So that's the next step, hopefully. But I'm enjoying the show with Stallone, and I'm going to pitch my own show that is about a part of my life, a big part of my life, and it's a weird story that we'll see if we get to make. And those things are what i look forward to other than just being happy yeah being happy is nice being happy is the ultimate goal if you can swing it yeah um i swing it well i swing it well i swing it i swing it you better back up because i'm swinging it around right now coming on it's considerate swung what do you what's the point of it all? What have you learned so far in this journey of Martin stardom?

Oh, look at that. Oh, my God. I got to go. Bye. He does drive a motorcycle. I love the special effects on your show. Uh, I, um, I, most of what I learned is just to try to ride the wave and be happy through whatever the experiences are that, that I get to have. I've learned that's helped me to a great degree.

Yeah. Cause you can be, what's the point of being miserable? I even think like there are ways in which, um, cause I was really young when I started working as an actor. And so I've, I've had a lot of awkward interactions with people who felt more connected to me than I did to them. And for a while, I really struggled with that idea of fame. The concept of fame eludes me a bit. I don't like it.

I don't feel comfortable with it. I'm certainly not the only one. But I've just kind of gotten better at accepting it as a part of my world and trying to recognize, based on lessons I've learned from other people, that sometimes some stranger, this might be the only time that they see someone in my position who they feel connected to because of something that I'm fortunate enough to have been a part of, that giving them a moment of my time or my day is more precious than I might recognize than I'm and so I try to give more than I perhaps did before I see it felt

so invasive to like take a photo with somebody for some reason yeah and I think I've come to terms with whatever that is that infringement on like my space. So I try to be more – unless someone is a dick. Yeah. And then I have no problem saying adios. Yeah, no thanks. But if someone is sweet, it's like really easy to just go, okay. Yeah.

I'm happy to give – it's a pleasure. Yeah. Yeah, I find like it's because I'm totally there with you in terms of people interrupting a meal or something. I mean, and it's not – I'm not hounded. So it's not like – I'm not saying like – Same. You know, the paps are outside my door. Same. It's not a big issue, but it is like you become aware of it.

Yes. And there are times where people are rude and you do feel annoyed and you know um but i also find too if you give them just an ounce of you know for me it's like you know if i make them laugh if i'm if i say something funny yeah it's like they it makes people so happy yeah and it's just it's you know i just you know my girlfriend and i weren't like she's from whittier and we were at a pancake house in whittier before a why one of her okay no no no judgment before well she grew up in whittier she doesn't live there anymore i'm in Waffle House. Why not do like the original pancake house? Original pancake house in Whittier.

Would you prefer that over a waffle? Oh, yeah, yeah. Original pancake house in Whittier. Now, where are the French toast houses? No, original pancake house in Whittier. Well, they have waffles. The last time I was there, I had a pecan waffle. But they, you know, like the people there, we were going to a baptism and uh so not connected

to this story um but like we were there and and you know like some staff members asked to take pictures and i just you know i was a little funny and um and you know we were leaving and i it just was i was kind of like yeah see wasn't that fun you know because she's you know, we were leaving and I, it just was, I was kind of like, yeah, see, wasn't that fun? You know, cause she's, you know, she's, we've been dating for about six months and she's still weird about like, she's like, it's weird that people know who you are and how is that? And what is it? And that was just like a moment of like, see, it's kind of fun. It's, you know, if you're not, if the people are nice and you're nice, it's just, you know, you feel like a regular everywhere.

You know, like one of the regulars. Like, oh, you know, they know your order or whatever, you know, but it's like, but it's everywhere. It's one of the really nice, beautiful things about this. It's great. And those are great moments. I'll tell you a weird story. All right. That's what I'm here for.

Oh, that's what? That's why it's called Weird Stories with Andy Richter? Weird Stories. This kind of set, I think from Freaks and Geeks, people were like, that guy's really approachable. That guy's got nothing going on. I could go approach him. He'll be nice. And from Silicon Valley, now people are like, I wouldn't bother him.

He's a dick. Please don't bother that guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's definitely him. Keep walking. Keep walking. Right, right, right. He might have a katana on him.

Which, anyway, it is what it is. But before we were doing Silicon Valley, or maybe year one or two into Silicon Valley, I think is what it was. My dad was sick with ALS. And I was out visiting my family in Florida. And my sister was out there. And I think my brother was out there, too. And my cousins were there. And we all went out one night to a Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah concert.

Yeah. And it was in know at in ebor city or something and you know in tampa and um and we go to this concert and my sister and i are just having this like breakdown you know it's it was like a tough journey going through and supporting him in that process and just you know really coming to terms with the fact that he wasn't going to be there soon. And we were just crying. They're singing up on stage, and we're in a corner, me and my sister, just bawling.

Yeah. Just as much as my eyes could produce, there were tears rolling down my face. And this guy walks up to us, and he just stands there for a second, and then he's like, hey hey sorry to bother you guys and in my brain immediately i'm like if you're that sorry you wouldn't have done it continue and he's like i'm sorry to bother you guys but um i just are you the guy from that thing are you the are you an actor and i was like yeah he's like oh man so cool man so cool um can i get a selfie with you and i was like hey i'm so sorry i i appreciate that that you're asking this and i i just am not in an emotional place where i want to take a photo with someone and and he was like clearly disappointed and i

felt bad but i just didn't want to like be crying in someone else's random photo that sure that wasn't what i signed up for in that moment. And we were like clearly in the middle of like some really sad shit. We were having therapy and you interrupted our session, which is fine. But I was polite and I let that moment pass. And then later we were all like we had gotten through that. I'm still crying all night. There was not a time where tears weren't rolling down my face.

Right. Dealing with the emotional drain of, you know, what was going on. And we took photos as a group, our family. Like we took photos while we were like dancing on the dance floor, just like having a cathartic experience there. and that guy or someone with him slipped a note into my sister's purse that I kept for, I took a photo of it at some point, but it was this insane letter that he took the time to write and it said something to the effect of, I'm in a a band so like i know what it's like to be famous um you know like we're pretty popular in the area and you know the fact that you know your brother wouldn't take a photo with me was so rude like what a fucking jerk like he's an asshole and you

guys should all just you know you guys can go fuck yourselves like this aggressive thing wow and i remember we were leaving and she she was like yourselves like this aggressive thing wow and i remember we were leaving and she she was like someone put this in my purse while i was going pee i was like oh interesting and i like read this note and i thought it was gonna be something nice from a stranger or something yeah um but uh i that was optimistic and instead i read that letter and then i was like where the fuck is this guy? And we're walking out. And there's this huge bouncer standing there who's really nice and jolly. And he's like, oh, you're the guy from that.

And I was like, yeah. And he's like, nice to meet you, man. I was like, cool. Nice to meet you. Thanks for everything. And then I'm walking out. And then there's this dude and two girls, I think, that were with him. And I was like, my dad is on his deathbed right now.

We're having an emotional moment i'm like you know this is one of the darkest places i've ever been in and here we are just trying to enjoy an evening like i don't know who the fuck you think you are i'm sorry i didn't live up to your expectations but you can go fuck yourself i probably wasn't that aggressive but i was just like i don't i like i don't deserve whatever emotional journey you chose to take this on. And I was just like, I actually probably said it a lot nicer. I definitely didn't say go fuck yourself. Yeah. People can be so, they can take such an ownership of another human being's life because they feel like you owe them something.

Yeah. feel like you owe them something yeah and i don't understand that whole aspect of fame and this like privilege that people feel in relation to it and i think that's what has always pushed me away from wanting it being a part of it that's a that's a big part of why number one on the call sheet has like never been a goal because i've known from the jump that the fame thing is not up my alley yeah i'm all to me it's the basic thing of you asked and it's a 50 50 shot in terms of what the answer is so like it was the 50 that you didn't want but you know but i mean it's a society that says oh baby wants what baby should have i love that as just the summary of this whole episode yeah baby wants what baby should have well baby should have since baby wants um well martin thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to come down here to these luxurious studios. Is this leather on the walls?

That's sweet, isn't it? It's the hide of Conan's victims, all his vanquished foes. I didn't realize there were that many. Oh. This is a big room. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. For those of you that can't see, it's at least 350,000 square feet. It's ridiculous. I don't know why we're in here. It's a podcast studio. It's at least 350,000 square feet. It's ridiculous.

I don't know why we're in here. For a podcast studio, it's absurd. It's its own city, and here we are. And here we are. Thanks for having me in here. It was great to see you and great to talk to you. And thank all of you out there for listening. I mean, I'm going to be back next week.

You should too. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco production. I mean, I'm going to be back next week. You should too. Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Maddie Ogden. Research by Alyssa Graal. Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to The Three Questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts. Can't you tell my love's a-growing? Can't you feel it ain't a-showing? Oh, you must be a-knowin'.

I've got a big, big love. This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf.