WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1302 - Sam Richardson

Episode Date: February 3, 2022

Sam Richardson thinks desperation is the key to comedy. His characters from shows like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave are a testament to that philosophy. Sam and Marc talk about his childhood being split between the United States and Ghana, his days performing on cruise ships for Second City, and his friendship with Tim Robinson, which began with Tim as Sam's improv teacher. Sam also explains how his role as Richard Splett on Veep went from a one-episode guest shot to a series regular who winds up becoming the President. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Lock the gate! Alright, let's do this. How are you, what the fuckers? What the fuck buddies? What the fuck nicks? What the fucksters? What's happening? How are you doing? fuck, Sturs? What's happening? How are you doing? How's your COVID? How's the COVID? How are you handling your COVID? Are you through the tunnel?

What's happening? I'm just asking that because I got to assume at least half of you has gotten the COVID. But I am, what is it now? Two weeks and two days out from my positive test. And that was a day after I felt a little shitty and had a negative test. I feel okay. I feel like I'm through the tunnel. But I don't know. The more I talk to people, the more similar the reactions and symptoms are. But let's not do that right now. Let me tell you about who is on my show today. Sam Richardson is here.

Sam Richardson. He's Richard Splett from Veep. He's longtime friends with Tim Robinson and created the series Detroiters with Tim. He also is on Tim's sketch series, I Think You Should Leave, which I am surprised I like. But that guy, Tim Robinson, kind of fascinates me. But I'm sure I'm projecting a lot into it. Because if you watch his characters or the sort of the character he does in all his sketches, you're sort of like, what the fuck is up with that guy? It's like a Tim Heidegger situation.

Then you meet them and you're like, oh, you're just a guy. You're a guy that, you know, that does things that aren't necessarily who you are. I think that's it. I do know that I pestered Sam a bit too much, I think, about Tim. I was like, so you know this Tim guy? So why don't you tell tim

to come on here what's tim doing i kind of hate when i do that but i'm mildly uh fascinated with tim robinson you wouldn't think it's my kind of comedy but it kind of is uh so sam's in this new murder mystery series the after party that's on apple. I watched a couple of those to get the flavor of what it is. It's kind of a knives out, kind of a clue thing, you know? What are you going to do with your life? What are you going to do with your life if you had a choice?

Where are you going to go? What are you going to do? Where is there to run? Where is there to hide? Is hiding necessary? That's the one big question. I think I've asked this before. It's like, hey, man, you know,

we got to figure out how to survive the apocalypse why who wants to live in that fucking bullshit world a couple of things i watched kamau bell's four-part bill cosby documentary which i think is an important thing to watch to really kind of you know understand the context and framework and history and the sort of move along the historical lines of Bill Cosby's career and the impact he had on the culture and on the black community. And also to look at the timeline of when these rapes happened. But I think the most important thing that Kamau's documentary does is give the victims a lot of time. The victims that he chose to talk to or that wanted to talk to him, or I don't know how he decided or how it was booked, but there are several victims who did not know each other. A lot of them did not want to tell

anybody because no one would believe them. Then they had the same story. But to really hear those stories told and fleshed out and lived through again through the narrative of the victim is a powerful thing that leaves no room for any sort of speculation. into context and then hold him accountable, at least in your own mind. So you, you know, whether you're, most people know that he's guilty, but it's just sort of like how, like, what does that mean when you really look at the numbers? There's a lot of attention paid to the victims, the number of victims, the timeline of the victims alongside of where his career was at. So it really gives you a full sort of picture of the arc of Cosby and the knowledge that the raping was going on throughout the entire arc. And then how do you deal with that? How do you deal with, you know, Kamau is wrestling with it throughout the thing and at the end.

You know, how do you sort of accept or not accept Cosby for what he was in a good way against accept and process the fact that he was a predatory rapist? It was no easy trick, and I thought that the doc was effective, and I like Kamau, and I should actually text him to uh congratulate him and then uh and then i'll text godfrey and ask him like why why so much godfrey in this documentary um in other news now i'm not bragging and you know i'm not tooting my own horn but i you know i am fortunate to be sort of a mid-level celebrity and a kind of a low-level influencer, I guess, whatever that means. Either way, this is not a paid plug, but it's something that happened. I was given or a Oklahoma Joe's Bronco drum smoker. It looks almost like a sort of vault-like garbage can with a thermometer on it and like an oven lid.

It's an impressive looking thing. But I took the opportunity to take it from them because I've been using this Traeger pellet grill, which is sort of a suburban smoker in a way, which is not bad. But it requires zero skill. Not that, you know, I'm not going to go down some sort of smoker rabbit hole. You know, I'm pretty basic, but I'd like to be able to use the thing I have for what it is. I'm not going to, you know, start working towards competing with my ribs. I'm not going to enter the world championship pulled pork playoff.

I'm not going to enter the brisket bowl, you know, and go through elimination rounds with my slabs of meat. But I do enjoy some smoked food sometimes. And I've had that Traeger. I used the fuck out of that trigger man you know i cook chickens in there i cook steaks in there i cook chickens and steaks in there oh and i smoke fish i use it all the time though it's very easy to use you put you know you just you do it from your phone but this other smoker is like i had to like learn i had to season it and i'd learn how to situate the coals so it would cook all day i just basically what happened is a couple days after i seasoned the fucking thing i just was like i'm gonna i'm gonna buy a brisket i live alone man and i went i was

at whole foods i'm like you got any briskets back there because there was none in the case and she pulled out a whole brisket with the flat and the point you know there's about probably 20 pounds of meat. And I bought the whole goddamn thing. So now I'm stuck with it. I got like 20 pounds of meat. And I'm like, all right, so I just spent all this money to learn how to do this. So I just did it.

I just leaned. I just was. I did a little research. I rubbed it down like Franklin does, like Aaron Franklin does, just salt and pepper. I let it be rubbed down overnight. Then I took it out, got it down to room temperature, figured out how to light the coals so it would go for 10 hours. And then I just stayed on top of that shit. I sprayed it. I got a new thermometer that will register the inside of the smoker and also the inside of the meat.

And I just watched that fucker. It smoked out in like eight and a half hours, though. Like I wrapped it at six because Aaron said so. Aaron is a genius. So I wrapped it in the wax-free butcher paper at six. And you just got to stay on top of that you know so because you got to work those dampers the air intake to control the temp the slow smoke got to be on top of it i mean i sat there and watched it for longer than probably

necessary but uh and then when i took it out i thought like now it looks a little burnt looks a little dark but god damn that was some world-class meat i invited my buddy dan and his wife jen over at spontaneous queen kit was here and they came and i'm like i don't know what's what's going to be like but there's got to be some great meat in there from the outside i can't tell and we cut that open it was so moist and perfect and professional seeming it was so fucking good i don't know if i can do it twice but now i'm sort of like i still got the other half but there's not enough fat on the on the um flat to really do it right that's more of a that's more of a jew style brisket event that's a you know oven and uh you liquid brisket. That's a Jew brisket style,

not smoker, non Jew brisket style. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that, uh, I was proud of myself a couple of times this week, this last week. I'm very proud of, uh, about the interview with Tony Kushner that you heard on Monday. And I was proud of this slab of meat and I can, I can feel it. I can feel the fat coursing through my heart right now. It was a big fat week, a couple of big fatty meals. And I made a chess pie that was for Kit's birthday. It was belated and I'd just gotten down to my fighting weight but uh hey i think hopefully those statins are working hopefully the statins will hold they'll hold all right so sam richardson nice guy interesting backstory that involves another country, which is always nice to talk about.

The first three episodes of The After Party are now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes premiere on Fridays. And this is me talking to Sam. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed,

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Yeah, I guess being a vet would be kind of brutal. Because every day, you're just sort of like, it's time. Like, you're seeing animals at their worst. Like, when people are the scaredest. I'm like, nobody's bringing their pet in because, like, hey, just. And they can't talk to fucking animals. And, you know, it's just like, and everyone wants answers. I started crying in front of this vet the other day.

Yeah. Yeah. I didn't expect to. Yeah, because, I mean, like, it's also like your relationship with your pet is, like, not with anything. Because it's like like your relationship with your pet is like not with anything because it's it's it's it's like an it's an unconditional love thing you know so you don't even really know how deep it is until that but i just was not ready to uh to uh be in hospice again oh yeah because like you know i had two cats go and i was like it was i just didn't want to have to deal with a dying cat for another two or three because once they start going and that could

Go on for a while right right and then that's your life You're not how to get the idiot to eat pills to eat exactly like we pill we pill Gus every morning you do Oh, yeah, well the old guy the old guy does are you are the new one? Yeah, it's Conan. He adopted us Yeah, so he came he like it lived outside and like we put a little thing out for him on the porch upstairs. So he just lived outside until he came in. Yeah. And so now he's running around. So it's also about maintaining that he doesn't eat Gus's food.

Oh, no. Yeah. Why? Because is it medicine food? It's medicine food for his kidneys. Yeah. I have that. Yeah, I do that.

Yeah. Kidney food. Kidney food. How bad are the kidneys? Is he drinking a lot of water? He's drinking a lot of water. Yeah. And then a puke every here and there.

It's the worst. The kidney, like, yeah. Is she going to do the fluids? What's going on? I don't think so. I don't know. I don't know. I think we're trying to avoid that.

But he's on this steroid. Like I said, he was skinny, but now he's gained a lot of weight. Oh, yeah? Good weight, I yeah. Good weight. I think unless it's like another, it's another thing for like, unless it's like a tight gut, then it's another problem.

Yeah. Yeah. It's, I know, I know, but you're all right. Yeah. Yeah.

All right. All right. Cause he sleeps in the bed every morning and like wakes me, he slaps me awake every morning. Yeah. So like I, I, so I,

I have my check in time with him every day. Oh yeah. So as long as that keeps on happening. And that, and that cat you've known for a while. I've known that cat for a while, yeah. So, oh, yes, you did a movie with a woman I was married to. Oh, yes, Werewolves Within. Yeah, and who hates when I talk about her.

Oh, really? And hates me. But your experience with her was okay. It was nice. It was nice. I'm sure a different context for me. But your experience with her was okay. It was nice. It was nice. I'm sure a different context for me. No, but you were a producer on that as well? Yeah.

And the star of it is based on a video game? Based on a video game adapted by your ex-wife into a screenplay. Yeah. And then we made that. And we filmed it, and we filmed that in February of 2020. And so we filmed it and we we filmed that in february of 2020 yeah and so we wrapped it and then everything shut down as soon as we wrapped like the next month like the next week oh wow you know

yeah uh did anyone have covet on there no well not that we knew right because if we if they did it was like oh it's a cold right right or flu. Right. So it was before it restarted. In fact, like in a zombie movie, I'd have the TV on the back, and they'd be like, oh, talking about this big flu pandemic. I'm like, okay. Right, right, right.

Oh, eight cases in America. Yeah, and you're like, wait, what? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then it was in the can for how long before? So then we were just able to edit it while it was shut down. And you were part of the whole process? Yeah, but not directly, like not in the editing room. long before oh so like so then we're just able to edit it while yeah uh well you know while you're part of the whole process uh yeah but like not not directly like not in the editing room but

funny people in there mckayla's in there mckayla's in it she's so funny yeah oh uh george basil yeah it's so funny everybody in that movie is just so funny harvey guillen yeah uh fun right yeah but uh but so it got one week in the theaters got Got a week in the theaters. When no one was going. Exactly. And then it ended up where? VOD. Oh, okay. I think it just hit Canada Netflix. It just hit UK Netflix. Oh, that's exciting.

So, you know, hopefully. Was it on American Netflix? Nope. Not yet? Not yet. Not yet. So rental, you can rent it. Yeah. How does that work though? Are you hip to how it works now that you're a producer? Not entirely, even still. Because I'm like, hey, can you shoot me an email and let me know what's going on? And it's like, yeah, here.

And I'm like, I don't know. Well, you've done enough shit to where you have things out there. You're like, can you still get that? Yeah, truly. You want people like, where can I see that movie? I don't know. I'm like, I'm not sure, truly. I'm like, eh?

I don't know if you can. It's so weird, man. It's a moment in time. You know, you just have to be there when. You can pretty much go like, well, I think you can get it on iTunes. That's what I say. That's what I say every time. You might have to pay $3, but you can get it. Yep.

So I watched an episode or two, episode and a half of the new thing. Oh, yeah. The after party. So this is one of those things. It's like one of those murder mystery things. Where you got a bunch of people and somebody did something or maybe they all did it or maybe no one did it. Exactly.

And you got to figure out who. We call it a locked door mystery. Is that what it's called? Yeah. Yeah. See, what happens to me when I watch shows after about 20 minutes, I'm like, I've got the patience. Oh, no.

That kind of relies on a little bit of patience. Well, I think what it is, it's like people like the form. Yes. They like the genre. Yeah. So they're just waiting to see what you do with it. Exactly. And that's a big part of this one, is that it's all about genre, because each episode is a different genre of film.

Right, because Tiffany's character is sort of like, tell me your mental movie. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. What's your movie inside or whatever? Yeah, what's your mental movie? Yeah, yeah. And yours is sort of like a romance. A rom-com.

Right, right, right. Oh, so everyone has a different mental movie. Exactly. So the idea is everybody's got a different perspective, but even that perspective is then put through how they view the world. Well, that's probably true. Yeah, I think so. Right?

But you know who did it. Yeah, I know who did it. Because I've seen the show. Yeah. Well, I didn't want to spoil it for anybody. That's why they just gave me the screeners yesterday. There's only so much I could do. But you seem funny in it, and Tiffany's funny.

Tiffany's always pretty fucking good. She's always so good. Right? She's a force. Yeah. Yeah, I don't think she's ever going to do my show. No? No.

Because I didn't really know her as a comic coming up. I remember seeing her at the comedy store sometimes. She's like, Mark Barron, I'm going to do your show someday. And I'm like, I don't know you. I think that was my attitude i'm like okay and now like she's the biggest star in the world yeah and i think she's like mark maron i'm not gonna do your show like the other foot as they call it exactly so where do you how long you lived here uh it'll be 10 years february 1st. Yeah?

Yeah. And where'd you live before that? Before here, I lived in Chicago. Oh, really? For four years. No New York time. No New York time. Chicago.

Chicago. And then before that? Detroit. And that was the whole- That's where I'm from, Detroit. The whole first part? Yep. Part one, Detroit.

And Ghana. My mom's from Ghana, so I grew up going between. What does that mean food-wise? So Ghanaian food is a lot of stews and soups. Yeah. You know, so. So that's what you grew up with? I grew up with.

Fish? A lot of that. Some fish. Yeah. Like fried fish. Yeah. Uh-huh. And your mom is a good cook?

My mom's a good cook with Ghanaian food. That's what I mean. Yeah. With the Ghanaian food. But not, nothing else. Like, talking the Ghanaian food. But nothing else. You're talking about burnt to a crisp steaks. Oh, yeah? Burnt to a crisp chicken.

Doesn't have a sense, but fried fish. Fried fish, like a fried fish. Soups and stews. Soups and stews, perfect. Jell-O rice, outstanding. What does that mean? Jell-O rice is like a sort of like a sauce. How do I describe Jell-O rice?

I don't know. It's like a spiced saucy rice. Jell-O fries exists in Ghana and Nigeria, and there's a big rivalry between who has the best one. That's better than some sort of horrendous tribal war. Yes. Yeah, I think that's what it kind of boiled down to at the end of it. The big rice competition is The big rice competition.

It's much better than any of the other options. Exactly. I think it's kind of interesting, and I don't know why I'm asking you about food necessarily, but like- I love it. Well, I brought up Indian food with Mindy Kaling once. That was one of the worst interviews I ever did. Yeah?

Well, because there's some part of it like when you're just being generalizing. Right. It'd be different if I was like, when you're just being generalizing. Right. You know, like, it'd be different if I was like, so what do black people eat? What black people eat? What kind of black-eyed peas do you eat? Is it black-eyed peas because black? You know, is that right? So I think with Mindy, I was sort of like, you must like those breads, you know?

And it was very specific because she's Indian. Yeah, right. But I don't know. We all fuck up. It's true. But I mean, I think I would have some sort of, at least a slight expertise when it comes to Ghanaian food. Well, yeah, because, but did you spend time there?

I did. I spent, I used to go back and forth. Because you have grandparents there. Yeah. In fact, I lived there. Well, my grandmother on my mom's side died two years before I was born. My grandfather died when I was about six. And so I lived there when I was like six and seven.

Because he was a chief. He was a Ghanaian chief. So he had a big funeral event, like a huge- A chief. A chief, yeah. Like a tribal chief? Uh-huh. So you come from a long line?

That kind of thing? Yeah, yeah. Like your family were chiefs? My family was chief. That kind of thing? Yeah. Yeah. Like your family were chiefs. My family was chief. It's matrilineal. Yeah. So my uncle would be the chief now. Yeah.

And then it could be me or my cousins. Most likely my cousin. Are you going to step up? I don't speak the language. I truly don't. Well, there's your next movie. I know. Have you pitched it?

I've been working on it. You have, haven't you? I mean, every day I'm like what should I do I'm like hmm I'll figure it out and then as I get older it's like less it'd be like the reverse of coming to America exactly exactly

going to Africa that could be funny I think so I think so but you theoretically could be cheap but your cousin lives there? My cousins, I'm also the youngest of my cousins. So you have to kill them.

Exactly. And it's a lot of responsibility, and I'm like, I'd rather do my stuff. Oh, my God. But what is it like there? I mean, I don't know anything about anything. Well, it's- Is there big cities? Oh, yeah, yeah. So know anything about anything. Well, it's. Is there big cities? Oh, yeah, yeah.

So I'm from Ghana. Yeah. And Accra, Ghana is like a very industrialized West African city. So like the whole thing, freeways. Yeah. Now, I went there a few years ago with Conan O'Brien because he did Conan Abroad. And so I hadn't been in like maybe about 14 years before that. Were you his uh his his reason

to go yeah because like because like they they were doing a come back to ghana right and then they invited him oh and then him knowing me and him knowing that i'm from ghana he brought me with him right so like i went and i was kind of like his sure he was like guide for some of these things but you don't speak the language i don't speak the language. I don't speak the language. It didn't help. I sure didn't. I really didn't. Right off the bat. Because I've always had the ear for it. I can understand it, but I can't speak it.

Yeah. You know, un fatui. Yeah. What's the base of the language? Is it, you don't know. Tribal African. Oh, really? Yeah.

It's not like there's no other, there's no French to it or anything like that? No. It was an English colony. Oh, was it? So everybody speaks English. Right. English is a national language. Right.

And there's so many tribal languages in Ghana because, you know, Ghana isn't like a made form from Africa. It was like the Europeans came and said,

all right, well, this is Ghana. Oh, it sectioned it. And so like whatever tribes within it, like,

guess what? You're all Ghanaians. Yeah, right. Oh, well, no, we're Fanti

and we're Akan and we're, you know what I mean all of a sudden they're all part of this are there difficulties amongst them you're not a historian I sure am not you're not from the Ghana tourist industry is it safe there very safe there

let me look at my talking points here I have a book for you it's a pamphlet. Visit Ghana. But does your mom go back there all the time? She's there maybe half the year. Oh, really? So she's there all the time. Your parents aren't together?

They are, but they're just like always doing their own thing. That's the way they do it? That's how it's always been. Your dad's a Detroit guy? My dad's a Detroit guy. All the way back? All the way back. For a while? Born in Detroit, March 8th, 1945.

What did they do? So my dad was a restaurateur. Really? Yeah, he was at Michigan State for hotel and restaurant management and then got into restaurants

and hotels and like sort of the service industry but then he started doing tours so that he would do tours to he had a company

called Lifestyle Tours he would take people from the states and travel all over Ghana with them or all over Africa so it's Ghana based it's kind of Ghana based

so your mom and dad are in on it exactly exactly that's why she's down there six months waiting for him to bring some suckers down there. But they haven't done it in so long. I think they retired from that like maybe 20 years ago. It worked, you know, but that sort of thing kind of gets...

It's a hell of a trip, right? It's a hell of a trip. And it's really a beautiful trip. So your dad had restaurants too? Yeah. They had a Ghanaian restaurant in Detroit called Jinyan Mi your dad had restaurants too? Yeah. Yeah. He had a, they had a Ghanaian restaurant in Detroit called Jinyan Mi House. Was it popular?

Yeah. Uh, not incredibly. Restaurants are hard business to, to do, but people who knew it loved it, you know? Yeah.

But, uh, but it wasn't gangbusters. Yeah. No franchises. No, no franchises, you know,

as of yet. So you grew up in the restaurant business kind of? You know, yeah, adjacent. Go to your dad's restaurant? Yeah, I go to my dad's. We had an apartment upstairs from it. Oh, wow. So you're really just right downstairs.

Exactly. You go eat breakfast in the kitchen at the restaurant. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Your mom cooked at the restaurant? She cooked in the restaurant. She taught everybody how to make the things. It was all Ghanaian food.

Right. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That how to make the things. It was all Ghanaian food. Right. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's nice. It is. I really enjoyed those times. I mean, I was very young.

Right. So, you know, the three things in my life were like that restaurant. Yeah. I got a Nintendo. Yeah. It was all about Super Mario Brothers. And then, like, you know, Simpsons or, like, TV. That was it? That was it. The restaurant, Nintendo, and Simps Nintendo. Yeah. It was all about Super Mario Brothers. And then Simpsons or TV. That was it?

That was it. The restaurant, Nintendo, and Simpsons. Yeah. That was your life. Do you have brothers or sisters? I have half brothers and sisters. Yeah. So my dad had children before me.

So I'm separated by at least 14 years. What? Yeah. Was he an old guy? My dad is now 77. He's not that old. 77. Yeah.

So, you know. But you've got these brothers and half-brothers and sisters that are 15 years older than you? Mm-hmm. Do you know them? I do. I do. I mean, we're not super, super, super close. Yeah.

But, you know, they're my siblings. I love them very much. I'm closest with my oldest brother, who is about 21 years older than me. Oh, really? Yeah. What's he do? So he's got his doctorate in verminal toxicology. He has a master's degree.

So he works for public health in Seattle. Verminal toxicology? Verminal toxicology. Verminal toxicology. So poison you get from bugs. From bugs and rats and that rats and the rats and that sort of thing but like but like so he works for that's what his doctorate was in holy shit what a weird focus and like he was like right there smack dab and because like uh ground zero kind

of where like the biggest spread happened of covid was there right so he was sitting there watching it and right knowing what was coming and what was going on. Really? You know? So he knows a little bit about the epidemic mathematics? He truly does. Shit. Was he calling you? Did he say like, dude? He'd be like, heads up, get this, get that, do this.

This is coming and this is coming and this is coming. And everybody's like, whatever. He's like, trust me. Really? You know? Yeah. But generally he deals with rats? I think he did that a while ago.

Now I think it's got, but he was like a professional student for the longest time. So he's got his MBA. Vermal. That word even. I know, right? I didn't even know that word. I didn't either. Verminal.

Verminal. Verminal toxicology. Yeah. Wow, those books. I know. Woof. You know? Yeah. Plague. Plague, exactly. Feminal Toxicology yeah wow those books I know you know plague

plague exactly so but but no full brother and sister no full brother and sister so you're like the special kid

exactly exactly they call my mom one baby mother that doesn't sound like a good thing it well it's because she doted on me a lot

you know what I mean so you know African mothers like that like a bunch of you know things like doing othered on me a lot. You know what I mean? Right. So the African mothers, like a bunch of things. They were like doing all this stuff. But my mom was like, oh, this is Sam. We've got a- Sam.

So like, oh, one baby mother. He's going to be fine. But I'm like, hey. You did. You seem well adjusted. I think so. So what drew you to- Because I didn't know who you were until I saw Veep.

And then I was like, who's that guy? And now it's more like, there's that guy again. If you look at every movie, I'm in there in some way. Right, yeah. There's Sam. That guy's doing everything. He was there for like a minute, am I right? Yeah, yeah.

But where'd you start doing this? So I started in high school, high, you know, high school theater. But then there was a second city in Detroit. What happened? Did you see Detroit fall apart? I mean, like, are you in the suburbs? No, I lived in the city proper, you know. But, like, Detroit's sort of decline happened, like, in the 60s, you know.

Yeah, but, like, dude, I mean, I was there. Like, it collapsed. Like a second mean, I was there, like it collapsed. Like a second collapse. Yeah. Like for real. Like I remember going there, I went there a couple years ago and it was like, they're like, it's coming back. I'm like, is it though? Well, it truly is.

But like somebody said, and I think it's true, like Detroit is usually like a pretty good, what was it, the barometer for like what's going to happen to the rest of the country in like maybe about five years. Oh, that's not great. You know? Yeah. So like Detroit saw like a real economic downturn and then we all saw one. Yeah. But like now because of like Detroit, there's so much space there and so much land.

And the prices of everything had just dipped so low. Did you buy a house for a nickel? I didn't buy a house for a nickel. But I bought my parents. I have my parents' condo. And I'm always trying to see what the right thing is. But now the prices are going back up. But when they were at their lowest, I didn't have the money

to buy something like that. It just seemed like it was one of those things where I'd buy nine houses in Detroit just to have, but then you got property tax and you got to make sure you got to get the verminologist in. Exactly. Let us know how many rats.

What are we doing? I worked there though, but it seemed like there's things happening in downtown, but none of them seem almost experimental. Well, yes. And I feel like it was a place where you could try a business or try whatever and fail, but the risks weren't too high. Sure. But I think some of those things did stick. And with Quicken Loans making essentially headquarters downtown Detroit. Well, that guy owns the whole fucking city, right?

He owns the city. Exactly. What's his name? Steve somebody or something? Dave. Yeah. Wow. I know.

It happens to me all the time. I couldn't remember Lindsay Lohan. Oh, yeah. I'll never forget her name. Oh, my God. The Quicken's guy. The Quicken's guy. But he owns the whole city. Yeah. Oh my god The quickens guy The quickens guy But he owns like

The whole city Yeah and he owns The Cleveland Cavaliers So what's he gonna do With the whole city Very good question You know We gotta see

We gotta see I did a show At the Masonic Hall Masonic Temple Yeah That place is nuts It's nuts I graduated in there

Really I had my graduation High school graduation The haunted shithole That thing It's pretty incredible There's like so. Really? That's where we had our graduation, our high school graduation. The haunted shithole, that thing. It's pretty incredible. There's so many hidden things. There's two theaters there.

Two full theaters there. I played in the one little, the smaller one, but it's not by much. Yeah, yeah. It's more cavernous. There's almost like a circular-ish theater, which is probably where you graduated. I think so. That's the one. And then there's like a standard structure theater.

But I didn't mean to call it a shithole. No, no, no. It definitely felt like a haunted place. Well, there's definitely like spirits and stuff running around there. There's like- And hats. And hats. And they've got like costumes and stuff.

We are, for our first season, I did a show called Detroiters in Detroit. With that Tim Robinson. With Tim Robinson. Yeah. And of the second season, was it the second season or the first season? No, the first,

sorry, the first season, our production office was in the Masonic Temple as well. Really? And we shot in there. So there's an episode called Happy Birthday,

Mr. Duvet. And we filmed all that in the Masonic Temple also. Really? So like, we were just like, spent so much time in there. And there's like,

so many like, doors that then lead to like a hallway that's like hidden and like stuff. It's huge. It's huge. And I don't like, and I just remember being down there and that whole area, it just seems kind of desolate in a way.

And there's just these random buildings that are like oh, that's a new restaurant. Right there? Yeah. And then we went to some food hall nearby and it was sort of like, it's that's a new restaurant. You're like, right there? Yeah. And then we went to some food hall nearby. Uh-huh. And it was sort of like, it's kind of a food hall. You know, I just remember I had a Pad Thai burrito, which was a little much. I think I know where that is.

Well, it's like, it doesn't, like, everything seems like they just, everything seems like a pop-up business. Well, right. Because I think everybody's just going to give it their best shot. And, like, there's a lot of ingenuity. And, like, a lot of people in Detroit are like, all right, well, I think I can make this work. Sure. And they try. And of course, it's hard when you don't have a lot of foot traffic to have a walk-up business.

You can't go back to a place that they may think is dangerous. You know, yeah. So what I hope helps and isn't just another sort of displacement thing is, like, these stadiums go in there. Yeah. And then, like, you know, the idea is that they bring people there. But the idea is, like, how do you bring people there and not have them leave again? And also, like, who then comes there? Is there not a room for the people who, you know, like, can the people who live in that city city not have a city for themselves are you waiting for somebody to come from outside it's hard like

yeah cleveland sort of like that but cleveland kind of built a little area down by the stadium that third street or whatever where you were you know the restaurants and stuff yeah i don't know what's going on since covid though i mean so they had uh so they had second city in detroit so yeah second city detroit i i started taking classes there when I was in high school. So I was like 15 when I started taking classes. Who was that? Anybody we know in those classes? Not in those classes.

But what was it like? They actually had a theater there too? Oh yeah, there was a full theater. No kidding. That's where Keegan-Michael Key came out of that theater. Out of Detroit? Out of Detroit. Second City.

So there's that guy. Yep. Larry Joe Campbell came out of that theater. Mark Evan Jackson? Out of Detroit. Second City. So there's that guy. Yep. Larry Joe Campbell came out of that theater. Mark Evan Jackson. Yeah. Iamma Funk. Josh Funk. I don't know that guy.

They were all like Detroit Second City folks. And they're all in show business now? They're all in show business now. No kidding. Yep. Yep. So you did that in high school? So I started there in high school and then kind of like worked my way up.

So I started taking classes there in high school and then worked my way up to like understudying. But you did like regular theater in high school i did so i started there in high school and then kind of like worked my way up and so i started taking classes there in high school and then worked my way up to like understudying but you did like regular theater in high school i did and then and they're like you're gonna be the funny guy yeah then i like kind of found found that there i mean i always like i've been like i just always loved comedy and like comedy movies you've never done serious i feel like you could do serious i think so i think so you so. You haven't done it though? I haven't done it. I'm always like, not worried, but I always want to make sure I don't make that transition just out of ego. You know what I mean?

Where someone's like, take me seriously. Or you try it once and they're like, wow, he's much better at this than we thought. You know what I mean? Exactly. Exactly. No more funny for you. Exactly. How about you just be the guy crying in the corner?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So who were the teachers, though? Like, they come from Chicago? No, they were Detroit people. Oh, yeah. In fact, so I was in classes when I was 16, kind of left and came back, and then I was in classes when I was maybe 17, and Tim Robinson was my level A teacher at Second City.

I don't know. Like, that guy's kind of new to me. Yeah. He's a bit... He's... A lot of people know him. Yeah. But I watched his show, I guess, the last year for the first time,

and I'm like, who the fuck is this guy? My producer loves him. Yeah. And there's some sort of backstory on him, but I don't know what it is. I guess he was almost on SNL. He was on SNL for, he was on for a season

and then he, then wrote on SNL for like four seasons after that. Oh, so he's there a long time. Yeah, he was there for a bit

and then moved out here. Because he couldn't get screen time or? I think it just was a weird fit. You know what I mean? Because his, his,

that's, he's a weird fit. You know, he's like, he's just a unique guy, you know, he's just a unique guy. You know, he's very specific. So where'd you meet him? He was your teacher?

Yeah, we met at Second City. He was like my level A teacher. What does that mean, level A? It's like the first class of Second City, but then the adult class. I did a high school class, and then I did the adult classes. So he was living in Detroit teaching at Second City. Tim Robinson. And he's from Detroit, you know, so we're all from Detroit.

Oh, all right. Yeah. So, because he has a certain sensibility. What are you learning from that guy? Well, because there's, so you're doing improv and, like, sort of, like, the sort of rules of improv and then, like, how to perform it. But is he a normal person? Oh, yeah.

He is the most normal person, you know, but just, like, a very strong comic sensibility and, like, very specific. Oh, so that's a bit. I mean, yeah. He's not really a nut a nut job no he's not a nut job no not not at all not at all yeah i mean we're all nut jobs i guess you know but like you know but like there's a there's a world where there's people that do sketch and then there's people that do like some other then there's people that do some other thing that's one step beyond it into creating an entire time zone for themselves. Right. Right?

Like Tim and Eric. Like Tim and Eric. Or Eric Andre. And Tim seems to be one of those guys. Well, yeah, because I think we get bored of the form of just sketch. Like, you know, here's a setup. Here's the payoff. Or, yeah, here's a setup, and then we lose control of it by the end you know

right exactly whereas like it doesn't land it doesn't land because we're like like because because like by that by now we all know how sketch works so the audience you're watching you're like here's a uh well here's my friend he's a little crazy and he comes in he's got like a hat on it's like oh the hat it's gonna be the joke sometimes Sometimes I don't understand it because I think I'm expecting closure. And so much of sketch, certainly modern sketch, relies on premise. Yes. And a repetition of things.

And repetition of premise, which also I feel comes from improv. Because with improv, you need your premise. That's all. Because you don't know where the end is. Right, and then like people get louder. You know, exactly. You get louder and more physical

and then somebody sweeps and then you're in the next thing. So like with sketch, I feel it needs to not just be a direct overlay of that. You know, you have to like keep on breaking the, and that's what Tim does, I think, and I think you should leave, is like, you know, you think you're going one way and then you turn left and now you're in a completely different thing that's like

based on that small thing and then now you're here and so you've made five left turns before you realize it and then the closure happens at the end or it doesn't happen but you've gone on this journey and you're on to the next thing right yeah and also there's just this this element of like my my friend or my producer brendan thinks that they're, you know, in an analysis of it, is that he was sort of this perfect kind of comedic antidote to Trumpism because, you know, the comedy is a guy that forces everyone around him to accept his reality. Yes, exactly. And so the premise of most of these sketches is a person makes a mistake, refuses to admit it, and then doubles down on that refusal. Right. So, you know. That's the structure.

That's the structure. A very fragile person makes a mistake, a public mistake. Instead of apologizing or admitting it, he then tries to act like it didn't happen. So everyone knows that in the writer's room. You know, yeah. I mean, I think that's what's the funniest thing is a person who just can't admit they're wrong. Sure.

You know? So I think that's- He came up with that? Yeah. Yeah. I mean- That's his character? That's his character.

I think that's what he does the best, you know, is these fragile, egoed people. Lying guys. These lying guys. But when you met him, he was just a teacher? Yeah, yeah. And then we did a bunch of shows at Second City and at this theater called the Planet Ant Theater. In Detroit.

In Detroit, yeah. You and him did? Uh-huh, yeah. Just the two of you? Two of us, and then sometimes we would do shows with our friend like Saren Choksi and Brett Gannell and all these people like so

out of like our Detroit folks yeah Tim and I are like the ones who've like come out here and like

kind of like made it the most but you went to Chicago first but went to Chicago first and we both ended up in Chicago at the same time but like

different paths yeah but both Second City I worked on a cruise ship for Second City. You were a cruise guy? I did a cruise for like, I did two contracts, both five months long.

And then the first contract. This world of show business, I don't get, man. It's crazy. I know there's entertainment on cruises, but then there's those people that do the bus. They get on the bus, they do all the national touring.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sudeikis did that, right? And then both of us did the touring company as well. So I did the cruise ship. Robinson? Yep. There's three touring companies in Second City in Chicago. Who's making all that money?

Second City. And they're giving you some money, but they are- They're giving you opportunity. They're giving you opportunity to learn how to be a performer. And then you get to go all these places yeah you know you know hey it's but you did i guess right i truly did i learned you're on the boat with tim robinson uh no i would so i did i did a i did a boat they did two different contracts on a boat and tim then went to chicago to join the company so wait the boat like it's an improv crew? So it's a, you're doing like best of sketch. So best of Second City Archive for one show,

which is like- Wait, from way back? From like, from as far back as like- You just kind of go into the library and you have a- It's a director who then like kind of like takes all the stuff, goes to the archives and like makes a show based on whoever's cast is. No shit.

So you could be doing stuff that like like, Brian Doyle Murray did? I mean, truly, yeah. I would do, like, Chris Farley stuff. Really? I would do, like, yeah. Like, just deep in the... But those were not... So that...

All that stuff was scripted. A lot of that stuff is on paper. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, like, a Second City show is, like, a scripted, like, 90-minute show minute show with like scripted sketches and then like most times windows of improv and so then all those sketches you know

the show will have a name because it's got like a director and like sometimes like a through line narrative or whatever and then all those scenes then go into the archive and if you're like an aficionado you'd like know oh that scene is from you know doors open on the left. Right.

Exactly. Truly. Second city nerd. Second city nerd. And, you know, like so many people. So that's how it works. So they have ownership of all that stuff. So they own it all.

And then they just send you guys out. And then you're just doing that stuff. How many people in the crew? So there were five of us and then a music director is a person who plays piano like to accompany us. And it still goes on. I think so. I don't know if the crew ship is out. Yeah, I have no idea. director is a person who plays piano like to accompany us and this still goes on uh i i think so i don't know if it's right yeah i have no idea but that's such that's the racket huh it really is just get all these youngsters on the road and just catch them and they were like what else are

you gonna do and for me i was like making the most money i'd ever made i was like making at that time i think it was like 900 a week and i was like whoa yeah you know living on i had no no expenses so yeah for the first contract I was like living like I was on vacation but I'm like I'm going to Barbados yeah but then you see the people that saw you yeah exactly so every week it would be a different a reset

so Sunday the people would get on the ship you know kind of like meander their way through Monday everybody was like kind of seasick so as a crew we would kind of like just go and like enjoy the ship. Tuesday, people would kind of like get their sea legs, start doing that. And then Wednesday had our show. Right.

And at that point, everybody on the ship knew you. Yeah. So then from Wednesday, you go, you drink in the crew bar downstairs. Right. And that's like dollar beers and all that. But then also you'd get like, also everybody's buying you drinks. They're like, oh, you're the one that did that thing. Yay.

So you can do that for a certain amount of time and then you are overwhelmed. And then it all starts over again Sunday. So it's a new- Oh, so it's a week long thing. It's a week long thing. So you didn't have to do two or three shows. Yeah, exactly.

So you would do the written show. Or you have a bad show and you're kind of like, hey. You're like, yeah. And you're like, oh, okay. Where's your friend? Yeah. So you do the written show and then the end of like hey you're like yeah and you're like oh okay where's your friend yeah so you do the written show and then the end of the week

you do the improv show where you're just like improvising oh so that's the way it works yeah and then you did the busing too yep and then did you end up teaching

I taught I taught in Detroit and then I taught I didn't teach in Chicago because I was like on I was on touring companies on the main stage

so you and Tim do the shows in Detroit yeah and then like when you're in Chicago he's doing what's he doing so when so he came to Chicago I was on touring companies on the main stage. So you and Tim do the shows in Detroit. Yeah. And then when you're in Chicago, he's doing, what's he doing? So he came to Chicago. He went to Chicago to do the touring companies. He went there for a touring company.

I was on the ships. And then they hired me from the ships to do a touring company as well. So then we're on different touring companies. Yeah. So he's out in the bus. Yeah, exactly. The bus. We would fly places.

Yeah. Wow. So how did, when did you, you guys were main friends, right. The bus. We would fly places. Yeah. Wow. So when did you... You guys were main friends, right? Best friends. Tim is my best friend, too. Like little kids, we're best friends. Right. So why...

When does he get SNL? He got SNL when he... So he left the Chicago main stage, and I left the Chicago main stage maybe like six months later. I moved to L.A. and then he was still in Chicago and he auditioned and he got SNL. And so he got that. I guess that would have been like 2013, 2012. You didn't do SNL?

I didn't do SNL. I auditioned would have been like 2013, 2012. You didn't do SNL? I didn't do SNL. I auditioned. I did like two screen tests. So you got that far? Uh-huh. You had the Lorne meeting? No meeting directly with Lorne, just, you know. So I never did the show, but Lorne produced Detroiters.

He did? Yeah. Oh, because Tim was part of the broadway video team exactly exactly you auditioned but didn't get it around this when he was on when tim knows before so i i i've gone to screen test while i was on the main stage of chicago so that's why you didn't that's why you went to la yeah because i was like because i was like i'm i could stay in second city and keep on like trying to like be there to audition for snl because they would come to see the shows every year uh and i was like well the only reason iL. Cause they would come to see the shows every year.

Uh, and I was like, well, the only reason I would do another show would be to have SNL see me and try and do that. And I was like, I don't want this to be that. Cause I really enjoyed my time at second city. Yeah.

So I was like, let me just leave. And also I had been doing, uh, sort of like sending tapes to LA for like pilot season and stuff. And I had an agent cause I got my agents and stuff from my first when I first went to do uh my SNL okay I think of it like once your name goes I was like these are people auditioning then everybody comes out like doing the bushes yeah yeah yeah you know so I'm doing tapes and I'm

close but they're always like oh we hired somebody who lives on the street so so I was like all right time to move when did you do Detroiters though were you out here already I was out here already yeah Tim was living in New York, writing at SNL. I was out here and doing shows. That's when I was on. In fact, I wasn't even a cast member of Veep yet. I was guesting on Veep, and I was doing stuff here and there. Right.

And we shot the pilot of that. That would have been. Detroiters? Detroiters. Yeah. 2000. It would have been. Detroiters? Detroiters, yeah. 2000. It would have been 2014, I think. Yeah. It would have been maybe 2015.

Wow. So we came together to write that with Joe Kelly and Zach Cannon. And so then we made that pilot. And then a year later, it got picked up to series. You did 20? Well, I did 20, two seasons, yeah. That was good. Yeah, I had a great time.

We wanted to do more, but, you know, such is life. But, yeah, and so you got cast on V-Pow just by doing a recurring, and then... So I was on V... I was supposed to just do one episode. Yeah. And then I think the character worked so well and we had so much fun. Yeah.

They wrote me into the very next episode. And then they kept on having me hang out in Baltimore. Yeah. In Baltimore. And they're like, maybe we're going to put you in this episode. And I was like, I'm unemployed. I'll come and hang out and stay at the Four Seasons as long as you want me to. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then by the end, they were like, and then Richard comes up and he's like, hey, I'm here. I was like, oh, something's up. And then they asked me to join the cast yeah, yeah. And then by the end, they were like, and then Richard comes up and he's like, hey, I'm here. I was like, oh, something's up. And then he asked me to join the cast the next season. That was great, right? Yeah, that was terrific. She's so funny. She's so funny and she's truly one of the most down-to-earth people. It's shocking how chill and nice of a person she is.

She's very in control of her comedic craft. Yes. Sharp precision. Right? You know? Yes. And she's so like, all those choices and she's just so fucking good at it. Did you learn stuff from her?

So much. Like, like just like some of that precision and like, like those precise choices. Yeah. Like, like watching how she does like takes and how she like, like, like, you know, how, how she like analyzes in a rehearsal,

the script and like sort of like the rhythm of things. I was like, Oh, okay. Interesting. Right. Like you mean in physical stuff, like physical stuff and like,

even like pattern timing and like, like kind of how to like zhuzh and like talking over each, like there's so many things that I feel like even just watching it, you wouldn't realize how it's made unless you were doing it and, like, watching somebody do it. Yeah, but I mean, there's got to be this, you know, especially with her and, what's his name? Tony Hale. Tony Hale. Is that, you know, that dynamic, there's such a rhythm to it. Yep.

You've got to figure it out. Exactly. It doesn't just happen. it yep you've got to figure it out exactly that's happened no it's so it's like like like not to be pretentious about it but it's like very like comedia where like you have like these roles and they so they they know how the the relationship is and they know like what this person would say and like they're sort of lots he's like so you know how uh gary yeah what knows what the thing is that she wants and what she says she wants and like what to give her and then like she's gonna

like fight that first thing but really want that second thing. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's so interesting to see like the math of it and then, but then like,

but then it's made loose, you know? So like there's a heavy structure but then it's like, but then there's like. And everybody, right,

but they've got to work that stuff out. Like no one's gonna direct got to work that stuff out like no one's going to direct them to because yeah because they could they just know it looks like the script is everybody was kind of paired up who are you kind of i became paired up with tim simon right yeah and like that that's sort of like it was sort of the charm of the thing there was like several different comedy teams working at all the time yeah yeah and another great thing about like my character was like i got to like kind of like have dynamics

with different, so I had my character, I had my dynamic with Tim, which was like my main one, but then I would also be with Reed, or Reed and Reed and Tim, or Reed and Amy. Right.

You know. Yeah. That level of employee. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah, it was funny. And I worked with

bochtel oh yeah what what you know dan oh he did back at all back at all yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah his last name is always sort of yeah he's a second city guy i know but he's like from the uh he he's like the angry version like it seems like second city you got the goofy guys and you got the yellers yeah i mean that's i'm talking, you got the goofy guys and you got the yellers. Yeah, I mean, that's, I'm talking about that's the recipe. They've got a certain amount of slots

for each of them. Goofy guy, yelling guy. And, you know, fat can go either way. Fat can go either way, exactly. And sometimes

you get all three. Yeah. You know, Chris Farley, the fat, yelling, goofy guy. Yeah, that's right. You know?

And the real yelling guys go to Steppenwolf. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. That's Chicago. That's how Chicago works. Yep. That's a nutshell.

So what starts to happen, like, after Veep? Did you get Emmys? The show got Emmys. Yeah. You didn't get one personally? I didn't get one personally. But then after Veep, you start just showing up in all these movies? Yeah, just kind of popping up in these things.

The Detroiters didn't go past Veep, and then I did a show called Champagne Ill. Yeah. And then just showing up in movies and keep on trying to do that. What was Champagne Ill? Champagne Ill was a show I did with Adam Pally. I know that guy. It was on YouTube. Yeah, he's

a funny dude. Yeah, he is funny. We did a show for YouTube TV. Did you know him before? I didn't. I knew him kind of remotely. I'd see him at a party. Who are your generation of guys? Sudeikis?

Sudeikis is older, so Sudeikis produced Detroiters. He was on SNL when we were at when we were on right Second City yeah and so he would come

to Second City and like we became friends that way it was like oh you guys are good and you did Ted Lasso as well

I did Ted Lasso yep because it was written by Ted Lasso so Jason Joe Kelly and Brendan Hunt

those are all my pals. Joe Kelly, co-creator of Detroiters. Yeah. So he's also co-creator of Ted Lasso. Oh. And so the character that I played is Ghanaian billionaire because they were like, oh, we got to find something for Sam to do. Yeah.

So it's that. The character, I mean, one of my things that's so sweet to me, I'm happy, is the character Sam Obasanya, it was named after me. Yeah. So I was like, oh, that's sweet. So then, I'm happy, is the character Samuel Bassagna, he was named after me. Yeah. So I was like, oh, that's sweet. So I get to interact with that character. Yeah.

And to get to go in there was a really fun thing. It's nice when your friends take care of you. It really is. They find something for you to do. You know? We'll make something for this guy to do. You know? But let's talk about you and Tim again.

Oh, yeah. Because I want to understand where this fucking comedy comes from because like i like i'm not i'm just a stand-up guy i'm not you really i don't understand the evolution of sketch even though we talked about it to some degree but it does seem like you know like whatever snl is doing is what snl is doing yes and i think it's snl is its own kind of sketch. Right. But it's old school already. Yes. Yes. But then like you know, whatever Tim and Eric were doing,

like who the fuck knows what that is. But it happens on a lot of levels. It's, you know, it's cinematic. It's, you know, it's comedic. It's, you know, there's some they've created, they create a whole universe. Yeah. Of different textures, you know. but like, it just seems like that Tim and you do something

that does create that different time zone. Like there's that, the one sketch where you are, you're a host or a baby of the year. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what is that? How does that stuff, how do you decide on that shit? How do you decide on that shit? That one, I like... That was an SNL sketch that Tim was working on

that just kind of didn't work. So when he was doing the show, he was like, I know Sam knows how to do this sort of energy. And again, a character who has these sort of like weight... This host of this show, but the premise is already like a weird thing where it's like picking who the best baby is. So then you put this level of like,

who's this host of this show? You can just let the baby thing be the sketch itself. Like, oh, these babies. And then they look at the babies. But it's like, no, the babies are like a side thing. It's what's happening. But like really, it's this weird, weird guy.

But then also the fact that there's like this history that's happened in the sketch. Like the sketch has been going, that in this world, this thing has been going on for a long time. The judges are all confused

and like upset and riled up. And like he's trying to, and like the audience hates one baby. All these levels just makes it a cacophony. And so it's my job in that sketch to sort of, well, I don't even say to manage, because no, he's a wild guy who's not really managing. He's doing his own thing.

So it just seems like what it really is is about commitment. Yeah, for that character, it's all about commitment but all of it you know like you know you at some point the the sort of element of discovery must be kind of fun because you know you guys got to know it's funny because it's not it's not necessarily going to be funny on the page as i said right exactly you're not writing these jokes or whatever yeah well we'll never write jokes that's the thing though there won't be jokes yeah because it's complete commitment and like the person believing the thing the situation exactly so it's never a wink never a nod it's always just the person is like doing that thing and they believe it entirely yeah and so you can kind of do anything ridiculous so like if you're if you

just sort of like whatever you decide it's going to be whether it's going to be you know a guy who you know only sells remote controls right for like like even just something that simple if you or tim were to be like just go all in just go all in because the guy's like selling remote controls is because he sold everything he's got to sell these remote controls, and he really believes it. And people are like, remote controls are done. He's like, no. Trust me.

What, you want to use your phone? That doesn't make sense. So the other person dives in. He believes it. He's like, I, and I'm desperate. Yeah. You know? It's like, ah.

He's like, well, do you have a better remote at home? I guarantee you, this remote is not going to do what this remote can do. Please. Please. Please. Let me come to your house and look at your remotes. So the desperation is essential. It's essential.

Exactly. Exactly. So do you write on that show as well? No. No. He just has you on sometimes? Just has me on. And like, I'll like, he'll send me some scripts.

I'll be like, that's funny. Maybe do this. Oh, yeah. But I'm not like. And he's out here too? He's out here, yeah. What's he working on? Getting ready to pitch a couple shows.

Oh, yeah? Yeah. Is he going to do more of that other thing? I think so. I'm not sure. You're not representing him? I'm not a representative. I'm not sure. You're not representing. I'm not a representative. I'm not a...

So what do you got going on? I've got this show called After Party that's coming to... Yeah, we talked about it briefly. Briefly, yeah. But there's a big cast in there.

A lot of these young comic heroes in there. Yeah. Ben Schwartz. Alana, right? Alana Glazer. Ben Schwartz has got a lot

of physical business going on. He does. He does. He does. That's a good way to put it. I know him. I've interviewed him. He's a nice guy.

But I'm watching him. I watch him in everything. He's like, a lot of things happen. Hands are moving. Head's moving. But how about that? A lot of things are moving, but it's all precise still. It's pretty fascinating because we spent a lot of time together on this show.

Because first off, we shot that show in the height of COVID. So we were shooting that show. Everybody's getting off like, cut, mask, mask. Exactly. And then we're just like all here, zone A, zone B. You guys are all together. You get your masks on. Wow.

But I spent so much time with him. It's an ensemble for COVID shooting. Truly. Wow. Truly. We shot that show from like october to february so that's like the height yeah of everything um and so you know like also these would be the only people i'd see i'd go home and i'd be at work but it's like no going anywhere else right between yeah because you don't want to catch it and bring it and then shut the show down. You know? So you did a lot of work with him. I guess you guys are buddies. Yeah, yeah.

You know? And I didn't know him super well before. No. But so like doing the show, I was like, oh, okay, let me like, working with someone like this, you really get to like analyze and like sort of like absorb that person. Yeah.

And I'm like, oh, okay. So like all these, like you say, like a lot of movements. I'm like, oh, but all these things are like very specific, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like he's so quick also. Yeah. His brain will like come up with like four things in an instant.

And I'm like, that's really impressive and really good. But he's like, you know, a full on improviser guy, isn't he? Yes, yep. He's not a Chicago though. He's not a Chicago improviser. New York, UCB. UCB, yeah. Oh, he's one of those guys. Did you guys, like, it seems like there should be some competitions between the-

Between the New York and the Chicago? Yeah, sure. I think- UCB is born of Chicago, though. Yeah, exactly. I knew those original UCBers. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I remember when they showed up with their big idea. Yeah. The four of them and their big ideas. And then they built their little, had their little theaters. And now they run the model still. I don't know where any of that is going since COVID, but sort of franchising. And I don't know, does UCB have the roadshow business too? I think they do.

It's not the same as like Second City. It's like Second City is like, if you're on a touring company, you're touring 52 weeks out of the year. You know, you're, you're, that's your job, you know? And like maybe you can do something on the side. Did you have to have a moment where you're like,

I gotta get out? Yeah, I was like, I'm moving to LA. And they're like, you wanna join the main stage? I was like, okay. In LA? In LA, yeah. Did it here? So, so no, but they,

I said I'm moving to LA and they asked me to join the Chicago main stage. Oh, to try to keep you in the family. Exactly. Really? Exactly. And then two years later, I was like, all right, I'm moving to L.A. And they're like, nothing we can do.

Yeah, we gave them the best we had. That was it. Because, in fact, I was going to leave for that cruise ship, and I was like, all right, I'm moving to L.A. And they're like, come join the touring company. I was like, okay. So, the after party, who's show is that? How'd that come about?

So it's Chris Miller wrote and directed it. And so it's Lord and Miller who produced the show. What did they do? They did like Lego movie. Oh, yeah. And Clone High and the 21 Jump Street movies. Right. Really brilliant dudes.

And I really love those guys. They're really... It all seems very tight. And the characters are very specific. It's almost like we were talking about before. There's almost a commedia della arte thing. Like everybody's occupying a fairly familiar space yes yes

right you know because everybody has their like sort of tropes and their genre because that trope then fits into their genre of the movie that the memories exactly that's the whole hook of the thing that if I had watched more of them I would have known but now I come in here pretending that I'm hip

after watching one. But when you told me that that was Yang, I'm like, oh, okay. I can see it. Yep. I didn't put it together. Fair. How could you? It's not my job to watch the whole fucking series, is it?

No, I know. It should be your pleasure. I'm going to get back to it. All right. I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get to Apple Screeners. Oh, yeah. No, it looks like a fun show. And I think that those things are, especially with the success of Knives Out, it's a popular thing.

Yeah. And this is geared to younger folks. There's familiar archetypes. Yes. Yes. uh younger folks you know there's familiar archetypes yes yes and this all revolves around a high school reunion exactly then there's the guy that nobody knows that you that is set up to make you think he did it from the beginning maybe all right whatever tiffany haddish plays the detective who's coming here to just come to like so she interviews everybody but you factor everyone factors into

everybody's memory right so yes so everybody's just recalling the story like like rashomon yeah you know everybody's like telling the story through their own perspective because everybody's there everybody's involved you know so it's like who every of course everybody to themselves is innocent then everybody else is a suspect to each person you know so it's like you're watching like oh how do you piece this story together? Well, all right, but here's the thing fucking, sorry about my language. Here's the thing that upsets me

about these things these days. Any kind of mystery thriller, even if it's a comedic one. Yeah. Is it possible to figure out who it is from the evidence given that that is that that is a I will say yes. I would say yes, because I get so pissed off when I went in the last episode. They're like, oh, by the way, there was this guy. Yeah. Right. Wait a minute. Come on.

Yeah. Like that mayor of East East Town. Yeah. Which I love. And I love her. But it wasare of East. Yeah. Mare of Easttown. Yeah, which I love and I love her, but it was sort of like, there was no way to figure that out. Well, I'll say that, but this is true for like, I feel any good mystery gives you the pieces, but then it has to unveil more. Just like any investigation, you don't have all the evidence at the very beginning. Well, it can't be easy. I get it. But to protect your narrative and to keep people watching you can't you can't introduce a whole

other thing exactly yeah and it's like cheating it doesn't do that okay it doesn't do that so like by the end of after party you'd be like oh of course oh oh why didn't i see you know there's pieces in the whole thing we're like, oh, if you were paying attention. And there's some things that you wouldn't know even to look for, you know, but it's there. Yeah. So how do your folks take your success? They're very proud. They're very proud.

Are you like a star in Ghana now? Kind of. Kind of. In fact, yes. now uh kind of kind of in fact yes i because i went i was i was there with with conan and then like at night i would so during the day i would hang out with conan how'd you know conan i just done the show a few times and then like you know friend of the show friend of the show he likes you exactly you named your cat after him i did i really didn't even tell him that i haven't told him but yeah maybe i don't know if conan if you listen, our cat is named after you.

But I was there, and at night, I'd hang out with my cousins, you know, and I would go to like, and now there's a guy, they got Burger King there, they got KFC there, which is crazy. We were at a KFC, and I'm just like, are you Sam Richardson? I was like, wow. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. In Ghana. In Ghana.

I'm like, okay. How do you know you? From V? From Detroiters. Really? I was like, that's wonderful. Yeah. In Ghana. In Ghana. I'm like, okay. How do you know you? From Vip? From Detroiters. Really? I was like, that's wonderful. Yeah. Well, show business is so international now.

Yeah. It's kind of wild. That's good and bad, but it is like people can watch anything anywhere. It used to be that only big action stars, like the whole world knew Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sure. You know. Sure. Or Vin Diesel.

Or Vin Diesel. Or Jason Stratham. Yeah, exactly. Or, I just keep namingger. Sure. You know. Sure. Or Vin Diesel. Or Vin Diesel. Or Jason Stratham. Yeah, exactly. Or, just keep naming them. See, or Bruce Willis. Yeah, that was old days. Matt Damon. Tony Jaa.

The Bourne Identity. Matt Damon. Yeah. Oh, or the Asian guy. Jackie Chan. Jackie Chan. Big. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. That was big, Jackie Chan. Were you? Oh, my goodness. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I was big Jackie Chan. Were you? Oh, my goodness. I'm talking about every movie. I read his autobiography. Really? Oh, yes.

Love that guy. Love that guy. You should do a martial arts movie. I want to. I want to. You're going to be in one. You'll probably be in the next Jackie Chan movie. Is that Sam?

Yeah. What's he do that scene? Just pop up in there. Got his ass kicked. Like, what are we doing, Jackie? Uh-oh. I'm the bad guy? Oh, no.

You ever do stand-up? Never. I've never done stand-up. I've done a stand-up set where I did a character. Sure. I'm like, hey. Oh, yeah. Character guy.

Yeah. Because come in with what you know. I'm out of my element. Why don't you and Tim and Eric Andre and Tim and Eric do a movie? I'd love that. I'd love that. Just a pushy envelope of what's possible. Because, like, what you describe about how you work or when you work with Tim,

like, it seems like Andre is just a balls-to-the-wall, kind of like, fuck it, destructive guy. That's where he's going. His commitment is like, I hope something's on fire by the time we're done with this bit. Yeah, right. Exactly. And if not, then we'll do it again somewhere else.

Exactly. We got to wreck a car, and someone's got to be crying by the time this is over. Otherwise, it's not complete. But I don't know. But are you a Tim and Eric fan? Yeah, very much so. Do you know those guys?

I do. I know Tim. I don't know Eric very well. Yeah, Tim seems to be the more accessible. Tim's out there a bit doing things. But we came up watching them. Eric just seems to be cooking. He's cooking and hanging out.

You came up watching them? We came up watching them when we were at Second City. They were the guys? They were the guys because what they were doing was so new. Interesting. And they were breaking form. So we're like, oh, wow, okay. And so I think that what we do is, you know, born of.

That's interesting. I wouldn't say it's like the exact, it's not a copy of, and I wouldn't say it's like the direct thing. No, no, I get it. But when you were young, like, you know, like each generation has these models. You know, like it all starts with Del Close, right? Exactly.

So everybody's sort of like, you got to do it this way to get to this place. But like, I guess for, you know, like it all starts with Del Close, right? Exactly. So everybody's sort of like, you got to do it this way to get to this place. But like, I guess for people who are into the form or the possibilities, you know, Tim and Eric must have been like, we got to watch what these dudes are doing because it's fucking out there and this is where it's going. Right. Because I mean, because we're also like, at that time we were at Second City. So we were like in Mecca of sketch comedy.

We were like in it. And we're like, Mecca of sketch comedy we're like in it and we're like what are these wait a minute what are these guys doing? Well it's like it is a lot about like it seems like

the one thing that happens in Second City and that what that created it's still about that weird commitment and what are you going to do with it?

Like once you got your character you know how are you going to push it you know beyond what it's you know can hold? Exactly like how full can this bucket get yeah and and how persistent can you be with with you know to the point of annoying yes because like with tim and eric you don't even understand

right why anything's happening yeah exactly exactly but they're in it but they're in it and then like on top of that then there's an edit on top of it. And they have the weird different cameras they use. And like they're playing with sort of a lot of that local access vibe. Yep. Yep. Which makes everything sad and weird. And desperate. Desperate.

Yeah. I guess that's what, yeah. Like I think that what's evolving is that you used to hide the desperate. Right. Exactly. Exactly. You used to hide it. But like that's what's also funny is like you used to hide the desperate. Right. Yeah, exactly. But exactly. You used to hide it, but like,

that's what's also funny. It's like you hiding the desperate is hilarious, but knowing that's what you're doing. I'm saying that like every fucking improvisers desperate. Yes. Yes. Yes. But now there's ownership of the desperation to our own.

That's the tone. Yep. All right, buddy. We figured it out. Yeah. Good job. Yeah. Good talking to you, man.

It's so good talking to you. All right. There you go. The After Party is now streaming on Apple TV+. There are three episodes up there. Here's a lick I couldn't get out of my head. Thank you. Boomer lives Monkey and La Fonda Cat angels everywhere It's a night for the whole family.

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