WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 808 - Wendi McLendon-Covey / Al Madrigal

Episode Date: May 3, 2017

Wendi McLendon-Covey may have found success with The Goldbergs and Bridesmaids but the Hollywood lifestyle was never her thing. As she tells Marc, Wendi lived at home with her parents until she was 26, worked at a hotel in Anaheim while she was in the Groundlings, and kept a job on the side even when she was starring in shows like Reno 911. Marc's friend Al Madrigal also stops by to talk about his new special and to smooth over some rough patches in their friendship. 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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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, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies

what the fucking ears what the fucksters what's happening i'm mark maron this is my podcast wtf welcome to the show how's it going are you okay today i was over at the huntington gardens today with my mother and my girlfriend that's always a an exciting dynamic isn't it for anybody involved in that sort of situation uh my mom's in town and we went out to the gardens and it becomes very uplifting to me to see anybody and everybody out doing things that enrich their hearts and minds and just being human and enjoying what's left of the freedom and liberties and beauty of this country. It elevates my spirits a bit and i become very sensitive to it and i hope you are as well uh today on the show al madrigal is here for a little bit talk about some stuff he's got going on i love al he's my neighbor and my friend and one of the best comics working

and after that wendy mcclendon covey from the goldbergs from bridesmaids came by. And that was a that's it. I enjoyed that conversation. And I never met her and I didn't know where it was going to go. And her life was interesting in how seemingly uninteresting it was. And I don't mean that as a as a insult. And you'll you'll you'll understand what I'm talking about when you hear me talk to her. I have two more dates coming up for the Two Real Tour. As you know, those of you who listen, I've done a lot of dates and it all culminated in the special I shot last Saturday at the Pantages in Minneapolis, and it was tremendous. And apparently I made a mistake about leading up to that show, which is that the Pabst Theater, I must have said, was in Madison, which it isn't.

It's in Milwaukee, and that is the one with the spectacular dressing room downstairs with the full hi-fi setup, including records and couches, couches necessary in every hi-fi setup, coffee bar, snacks, and just a general good vibe all around there downstairs. That's at the Pabst, and I want to send my thanks and love out to the people of Milwaukee and the Pabst Theater that I mistakenly placed in Madison, Wisconsin, which is where the Orpheum Theater is. Also great people that work there, but a lot of concrete. But nonetheless, a good show and a good venue. So we clear that up. Oh, man, I didn't tell you about hanging out with Ben Sidron in Madison.

I should tell you about that. But let me get to this. I have two more dates coming up. I have Washington, D.C. on May 13th and Philadelphia on May 12th. I'm at the Miriam Theater in Philly on may 12th i'm at the warner theater uh may 13th in washington dc you can go to wtf pod slash tour for direct links to those uh those tickets and also i want to uh to yeah i'm going to start talking about this more and more i'm going to be at the book con in new york city on saturday june 3rd with my

producer business partner and co-collaborator on this book you can get an advanced copy of the book waiting for the punch and it should be a good event i believe on the day before on the friday i'm going to be interviewing senator al franken live but brendan and I always like to get out in front of the folks. And so you can see what that guy has to deal with in dealing with me. So let me let me get you caught up on that, man. I, you know, I did. Well, not that you're asking me, but, you know, I'm a music guy and I've been sort of I've finally leveled off on the perfect system in my little house. And you know how you know it, and I didn't realize it, is when you sit in a certain place on the couch or in your chair away from the system in between the speakers, the sound,

if the high fidelity is right, just floats somewhere in the center as if it's on stage in front of you. Sound just floating in the center. No real distinction between speakers. Everything just comes together floating there in front of you. And it's a beautiful thing, man. But when I was in Madison, Wisconsin, many of you remember back, maybe I can actually get the episode number because I have a computer. Like I can go on the website, wtfpod.com slash podcast and do a little search for Ben Sidron. That would be episode 420, way back, you know, 400 episodes ago or so.

Ben is a jazz pianist and author and scholar of jazz and touring musician. And his son, I believe his son's name is Leo, if I'm not mistaken, kept pestering me to talk to his dad because he just thought we would get along and we didn't. I learned a lot about jazz and we talked a lot about creativity and improvisation and it was a lovely conversation. I loved it. So he lives in Madison and when I was going out there, he emailed me and said, you want to hang out? You want to have lunch? And I'm like, yeah, man, let's say I'm going to hang out with Ben. I'm going to hang out with Sidren and uh you know maybe talk music maybe get caught up see what's going on so we go over to sidren's house and we're just

sitting there man like two kids i mean he's about 10 years older than me yeah if not more maybe he's in mid to late 60s and i'm you know 53 and we're saying he's got a wall of blue note records and he's just laying the foundations a hard bop on me. But it was funny because we're sitting there, and I don't think he's used his record player in a while, and he's pulling records off, and he's putting them on, and the record player, his old record player, which was fine, maybe a 1970-something, just couldn't take up with the pace, couldn't keep up with the pace. It just crapped out on us. But he's like, all right, don't matter.

Let's go into the other room, and we'll just use the computer speaker. So now we're going digital, and we're just in that groove where he's showing me shit. I'm looking at shit and there's that mutual excitement of him turning someone on to new stuff and me getting new stuff put in my head. And it was a blast. Someone turned me on to this Tina Brooks record. Some fan emailed me and said, you got to listen to the Lee Morgan solo on the Tina Brooks album, that first album. And I think it's a solo on The way you look tonight i'm not sure so i go download that from itunes and i i look up the tina brooks minor moves record and it's a very rare record and it's only available on this

japanese issue on blue note and and uh and i asked sidra and i said you got this tina brooks i always like tina brooks is the shit you know didn't live long and I'm like yeah I want to hear some of that Lee Morgan and he's going through his records he pulls them and he's got two copies of Minor Move because he had a buddy in Japan back in the 70s who was there when they reissued all the Blue Notes and he has like all of them and he had two

Minor Moves and I'm like oh man this is a great record you got two and he's like take it and I'm like what take it and I'm like what take it and i'm like yeah he's like yeah and i took it and now i got that beautiful rare record with that beautiful tone that beautiful sound and he's a beautiful sax player and lee morgan's on there doing beautiful trumpet it's a beautiful thing floating there in my living room in the aural holographic free zone in between the speakers while i sit on my couch drifting jamming it's fucking sweet but that was a that was just a real pleasure to have lunch

and just kind of hang out just a couple of dudes hanging out listening to jazz records talking about it talking about the groove talking about the feel talking about it, talking about the groove, talking about the feel, talking about the breath, talking about the swing. Oh man. It was, uh, I, you know, and that's something I probably wouldn't have done. I probably would have just been like, I don't know if I got time, but there's something else inside of me said, go hang out, man. This is going to be good for you. It's going to be good for your soul. It's going to be good for Ben. And we're going to, we're going to engage and we're going to get into the music and you're're gonna talk to a real jazz dude about real jazz and it was fucking beautiful so right now al madrigal al and i go back a bit and you know i'm a big fan of his comedy i think

he's one of the funniest comedians working and there was a moment there where it got dicey with us but i think we're back on track we're on top of it and i i believe i brought it up when i talked to him and i think we're okay i think we're okay uh he's got a new showtime special called shrimping ain't easy premieres this friday may 5th at 9 p.m this is me and my neighbor al madrigal the very funny uh al madrigal, the very funny Al Madrigal. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead

courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com. Calgary is an opportunity-rich city home to innovators, dreamers, disruptors, and problem solvers. The city's visionaries are turning heads around the globe across all sectors each and every day. They embody Calgary's DNA. A city that's innovative, inclusive, and creative. And they're helping put Calgary and our innovation ecosystem on the map

as a place where people come to solve some of the world's greatest challenges. Calgary is on the right path forward. Take a closer look at CalgaryEconomicDevelopment.com. talking i don't know how to delegate i don't know how to delegate tasks i was good at it uh i was bad at i was good at delegating when i was working at my parents' family business. Firing people? Yeah. That you were good. That was your delegation. It's over. And then being a stand-up comic and having an assistant, it's weird.

I don't know what to do. I just turned over my calendar to them and then I see everything. I see them on everything. My manager does that. I happen to have a good manager. But just for shit, like, I can't have people sitting in the house by themselves.

So, like, I have a part-time assistant to sit in the house when people come with people, to sit in the house with them. Oh, that's hilarious. And also, he cleaned my roof. You just need a body. I do, I do. I don't own them going through my shit.

No. I'm not assuming they will. That's not a proper waiting room for anyone to be sitting in. You live, you really do live. Yeah. Like the pot that you had on the stove when I walked in. I just made, it was oatmeal with quinoa in it from this morning. It wasn't, it don't, don't characterize it like that.

Describe the house, everyone. It really is like you'd find like an old man in the neighborhood who's passed away three, four weeks ago. I know. It's starting to have that feel like maybe some upkeep would be in order. I've been on you for a long time about moving. I really have. I know, but there's something like this place, dude.

You know, like I don't know. Keep it. Okay, I'll keep it, but I've looked at houses and every one I look at, it's like i i don't know keep it okay i'll keep it but i've looked at houses and every one i look at it's like i don't know it's a lot of room or it's like that looks stupid or what just live somewhere nice all right okay i will well how that place you have that was uh that that was like an art uh some sort of art uh exhibition it's nice that but that place you bought is some sort of architectural masterpiece.

You drive in and it's like you're inhabiting modern art. We, we, I had something very fortunate

that happened to me that made that happen because it goes back to my parents' family business. Yeah. So, we bought a house

in Eagle Rock. Mark and, we've lived very close to each other for a long time. I know the house up there with the, with the round windows or next to the round.

It was small. Well, yeah. There's a bathroom problem. We had a bathroom. I have two kids, growing children. We had a 1,200, 1,300 square foot house and everybody was on top of each other. Wasn't there like one bathroom? It's 1.75.

There was a shower. Right, right. Which is great. We could have made that work. Sure. There's a lot of people who do that. Of course. We could have made that happen.

I was rolling over my wife to get to the other side of bed. Right. So that's when I always wanted a master bedroom where I didn't have to push my bed up against the wall. And I did that for 10 years. We bought that in 2005. up against the wall. And I did that for 10 years. We bought that in 2005.

Yeah. So then, you know, I've been on so many TV shows that have gone nowhere, but I saved up all my money. Do you know this new show I'm on is Pilot Number 10? I'm dying up here? It's Pilot Number 10. For you? Yeah. How many of those pilots went to air?

Four. So that's not bad. Four out of ten. No, you add it all up. You're in the game. I mean. Yeah, the affable Latino guy. Sure.

Yeah, ethnic friend. That's what I always said. Yeah, but in this show coming out, it's a character which is a lot more interesting than anything I've ever played. Because prior to that, I'm in all these pilots as ethnic friendly, going, all right, who took my smoothie? And it's ridiculous. All right, who took my shoes, smoothie, cat, garbage bag? My duffel bag is missing, and I know one of you guys.

That's constantly, which I love, because when I started out or just started thinking about being a comic, it was watching Martin Short, Rick Moranis, Don Knotts. Yeah. I always think that's my- Don Knotts. Don Knotts. Andy, working your pants.

I love Don Knotts so much. Pulling up those pants. Shuffling around. I always thought I would be this sort of- You love Don Knotts? Oh, I love Don Knotts. We did an Apple Dumpling game

when I was a little kid which was just like the best thing ever the incredible Mr. Limpet. He was very memorable and funny. Sure and him

in Three's Company Yeah. With his kerchief. Fertile. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah he's awesome. His hipster clothes. No the supporting act

the guy who shows up just to be funny is a job that comics do. Like even Steve Landisberg on Barney Miller or Ron Glass. Oh, my God. Right? Lou Grant.

Yes. But that was a lead. But Ted Knight, all those, they were smaller parts, a lot of them, and they were hilarious. Yeah, for me, now the point I'm starting to think about the back end of all this really just settling down. I always wanted to be now ethnic lab rat. It seems ideal to me. Which one is Like a CSI

NCIS where they come in and it's a case and I got a lab coat on and then instead of saying, where's who took my smoothie, I get to say like, alright, you guys aren't going to like this. So that's the big plan? That for a decade? And then you never see me again.

It's funny, you and I do that. We think of that. I talk to you about this all the time. It's like our end game. Do we stop? It's just like, I don't know why I got it in my head. Maybe because I didn't grow up essentially working class or anything, but there's part of me in my brain that's sort of like, I want to stop.

Aren't we working towards stopping? But then you look at these guys, no one's stopping. If you can still go, they don't stop. Again, I'm obsessed with this where how do we get out? And I want to work my ass off, and I've taken on quite a bit, to 50 years until I'm 50. Well, how old are you now? I'm just about to turn 46.

Oh, you're that much younger than me. Well, I'm 53, and what it comes down to for me is that I developed a relationship with an audience. I have an audience. I enjoy talking to them. I go out and I perform. I still love doing comedy. But what's really happening for me is I don't know that I've had a life. I don't know what my life looks like.

I feel like, is this it? Am I living it? Because it's starting to repeat itself a little bit. Maybe if I bought a house or took some adventures or did something, you know, I can't, like, you start, like, I'm doing different versions. You know, I got to get out of myself a little bit and go out into the world or something. Well, definitely.

But for me, I don't have an audience. I do people, I, you know, I got this special coming out. I just don't think anybody really wants to see me do stand up. I always do well. But when I go out, I'm tired of waiting for people to show up. Well, what do you think that is? Because you're one of my favorites. You do long form.

You do very deliberate, you know, beautifully executed stories with multiple punchlines and characters. And it's old school. I love it. Is that in the special? Thanks. No, you've always been very nice. I remember when you showed up in the very beginning. I was headlining in 2003 or 2004.

Where? At San Francisco Punchline. Yeah. And you were in the, I totally remember because I was honored that you were there. But in 2003, 2004, you showed up in the back of the room, me headlining an off night. Yeah. And I came back and I was like, do you want to go up?

Do you want to? And you go, no, I'm just here to watch. I'm a fan. And I was like, oh, okay. I better do good. I remember running over to see you. I don't know. Where was I playing?

Across town or something? Yeah, probably. Yeah, because when I first saw you, I'm like, no no one's doing this this is the way it's supposed to be done no it was a huge honor for me and then we became friendly and uh you know i like then we were friends and then we had a problem that wasn't a problem that was the funniest fucking moment no i'm a baby because we both thought the same thing about each other that was the fucking thing of it oh i thought you were too busy for me i thought no you said you know i thought you were big time oh i

totally thought you were big time yeah but like i in my mind i'm like you're much bigger time than me so i'm like i'm sitting there like i'm not gonna bother out he's too busy building an empire loosely based on some sort of uh you know latino entertainment model before you should get into because that's become a whole thing. When you were mad at me, I finally, I don't know who called who, but I'm like, what's going on?

Oh, no, you called me because I heckled you in the green room about you were doing a cereal chunk. I'm like, hey, nice cereal chunk you got up there. I was making fun of your- But you liked it, I thought, the Trader Joe's thing. It was good. It was good. Yeah, but you were mean. I was mean. I was making fun of your- But you liked it, I thought. The Trader Joe's. It was good.

It was good, but I was- Yeah, but you were mean. I was mean. I was being a dick. And I was like, I felt it. I'm like, that was real. And he was mean to me for real. And I better figure out what this-

Well, it was just, all right. So yeah, we might as well talk about it. Because you had Marin, which by the way, I don't even know if I told you this story. My son, you've been around my kids since they were very tiny. Yeah. And I remember Lorenzo, when your show comes out, which you're very happy about, Marin on IFC. Yeah.

It's the first season, and Kristen is sitting on the couch with Lorenzo. They're watching Goldfinger on IFC. Yeah. Lorenzo is about 10 years old, 11 years old. That's going to be a sad story for me. It's going to hurt my feelings. No, he goes, commercial for your show comes up. Then another commercial for your show comes up.

Then another commercial for your show comes up. And then Lorenzo looks at Kristen and says, Marin's got a show on IFC, huh? This is a 10-year-old. Yeah. And then she goes, yeah, yeah, yeah. He goes, really pushing it aren't they because they're really shoving it down our throats don't you think so then you so

you had the show and if you look any comedy fan that's listening to this i want you to pull up imdb and i want you to look at all the people that have been on this, Marin. Everybody. Now, when Marin starts, I get a phone call from you that says, hey, just so you know, I'm having Dave Anthony and Andy Kindler playing my friends. You said that. Yeah. Which I was like, oh, good. Oh, so I already felt guilty. You totally felt guilty.

But here's the, let me, in my defense, let me say this, is that on some level, like, and I would have been in the same place you were, but on some level, I always assumed that you were good. Like, you know, you were always working. You didn't seem to be hurting for money. You had pilots, you had TV shows. So my choices, and a lot of them outside of people playing themselves, which I regret not having you play yourself for a podcast guest or something.

Yeah, whatever. Like just that. But in terms of casting, I really, I think I rationalized it by thinking like, you're doing network shows. Yeah, totally. But I'm one of your friends who can act. And this is why season three comes up. And season four comes up. I'm like, I can't believe this fucker has not asked me to be in this show.

Yeah, I'm sorry. It's shocking. I'm sorry. So then I just started. I just held on to all of it and then it just came out. But it was definitely not big timing. I know. It was just a.

Well, then you used to come over and, hey, like if you had screeners. Yeah, yeah. You used to come over for dinner all the time. Yeah, yeah. And so that's why. But then. You got a girlfriend. No, that's another thing you thought.

Well, you went through with one girlfriend with me, but this one is nice and she's a painter and stuff. But also our lives got like, I'm fucking busy. I don't go out with anybody. We went on a couple's date the other night for like the first time ever in two, three years. Like, you know, you really have to make time, but I'm sorry I didn't put you on the show.

No, it's all right. But I miss you. Yeah. Yeah, you know, I'm around, but now you know. Well, then I called you the other day, and... What did I do now? No, nothing. I just called you the other day, and I go, hey, what's going on?

I was talking about real estate. Because you were looking at a house. I went to look at that house. It looked like a piece of shit. Oh, my God. Huge. Huge. Yeah, I did a drive-by, and it's like, oh, yeah, you can't live there.

You look like it's going to fall off the hill. Oh, yeah, and you'd be an old man. You'd be 10 years from now trying to walk up to this house with huge stairs leading up to it. It was like this craftsman castle that was built in the early 1900s by a famous guy, but you walk in. I've never felt the presence of ghosts more than in that place. I'm like, whoever lived here in 1909 still lives here. It was crazy. But then you were out at lunch with, you were going to lunch with Dean Del Rey.

Well, you know. Yeah, sure. I know. That's fine. That was the first time. I need to call. All right. I need to call more often.

I need to check in. Yeah. Is what, I get busy and caught up. And I, again, I've taken on a lot. What happened with the latino entertainment empire it's happening it's totally happening well i started all things comedy with bill burr in 2010 and that's sort of taken off we've got a partner what i wanted to do is just i saw people coming in and you saw like year wolf and artists and all these places, and even had the idea prior to that,

those guys coming on board. Yeah. But we just want all the comedians to own their own material, own their own podcast, and then control the distribution network. So now we have over 50 podcasts, and then we are starting our own video, and we're starting our own studio.

So you do know how to delegate. Yeah. Yeah. Just hire people. We have about six employees over there now. And the whole thing, we just got funding. It's all a new website coming in. It's great. Congratulations.

Yeah, but it's a lot. It's way more than I needed to take on. And it's also why probably people don't come out and see me because I've deluded myself so much. You're fucking busy. You're always busy. I miss your wife. I miss your kids. I miss coming over.

But the truth of the matter is, even me today, people ask me for coffee and I'm like, what the fuck? Can I get, you know, do I have an hour? Can you come to my house? I'll make us coffee, you know? I just feel, I don't think there's too many comics. I was trying to think. I think Tom Papa falls into my category of being a sort of a responsible dad. Yeah.

That's probably never going to get divorced. Right. No matter what. Yeah, exactly. Just hang on. And yeah, there's a lot of comics that we know have younger kids. Yeah. But I've sort of given up on the road a little bit and tried to concentrate on staying out.

Tell me about the other, what's going on with the, what were you doing as a consultant? Oh, yeah. I've worked as a consultant for a long time because I have this business background. A lot of people ask me, I'm a consultant right now for Viacom. So I have Viacom has agreed to give me 10 different pilots or make 10 show ideas that I have. And what was the other one

with the Latino network? Oh, yeah. I was consulting for Univision. Univision. How'd that go? I just did it for a year to help them launch. Was it successful?

That was not very successful. They were based in New York. The weird thing about Latinos is they could, all Univision and everything is East Coast. Yeah. And most of the Latinos are in Southern California and the Southwest. Yeah. So I think it's 64% of Latinos in the United States are Mexican-Americans. And a lot of the programming, again, on the East Coast, a lot of Cubans, Puerto Ricans,

and there was a little bit of a disconnect between my ideas and what they actually got out there. But all things comedy is going well? Yeah, it's going great. Now, this special, this new special, it's got all the great bits you've been working on over the last year? No, it's the last three years so i don't do a special every year it's got the the stinky shrimp the shrimp it's called shrimping and easy because of the seafood revenge story yeah let's not tip it too much and it's got the the soccer

coach guy no that was the special pride oh okay okay yeah yeah yeah yeah so yeah i get a lot of my bits and stories from this neighborhood that we live in where has it got the taco truck the taco truck had a cilantro that's good that's good as a guy which i practically hugged that guy because that was the taco truck down at the 76 station on colorado oh yeah yeah and so i walked up and this guy said this thing to me and when he said it i almost hugged him because I knew it was- You mean the criminal 76 station? Yeah.

That went out of business? Bad gas. Yeah, the bad gas station. Now it's like a homespun gas station. I used to get gas at this place all the fucking time. Me too. And then an article came out that they were selling bad gas. Watered gas.

Watered down gas, ruining people's vehicles. That taco truck. That taco truck, which is a good taco truck as far as they go. And yeah, this dude said something to me about the cilantro. And I almost hugged him on the spot because I knew it was seven minutes. The great thing about your comedy, though, is that you're able to do this thing that nobody does well. And nobody really does anymore is that you have a pace that allows you and the skill and talent to do characters you know within the bit that speak to each other and that is such a lost art and it's

so great yeah but it's such a difficult fucking thing to bite off in terms of i i look at guys with shorter material you shorter form bits. I just think it's a matter of playing the right place. I think that my audiences would love it. If you get some sensitive, smart people, grown-ups who have patience. I don't know

if grown-ups come and see stand-up anymore. I've cultivated this weird audience of grown-ups of all ages. Like grown-ups of 15-year-old grown-ups. Like ages like grown-ups of you know 15 year old grown-ups like this people that you know are are sort of they're just either good tippers or smart they're i don't know how it happened but i'm grateful for it but let's we'll do a show together yeah i'd love to because let's make a plan right here we're gonna have dinner with the girls and we're gonna do a show together just. Just like Bob Newhart and Rickles.

Rickles used to go on vacation. That would be ideal for me. I can't wait to get to that point where, again, at 50- Would you go on vacation with me and my girlfriend? That would be fun. Really? Yeah, I want to because I bought that, do you see the truck I bought? What?

I bought a Toyota FJ62 Land Cruiser. Yeah. And that's what I want to tow a camper and go to Big Sur and do all that shit. All right. Well, you're talking about going to Italy? That sounds better. The camper thing, maybe we're going to follow you. We'll bring a tent.

Yeah. You guys have a camper? Yeah, we'll cook some stuff. All right, we'll do it. Thanks for talking. Say thank you. Yeah, thanks, man. Thanks, man.

Al Madrigal's Shrimpin' Ain't Easy premieres this Friday, May 5th at 9 p.m. on Showtime. He's a funny fuck. Always like seeing Al. Wendy McClendon Covey. A lot of names. Very funny. And I didn't know a lot about her. I knew she was funny.

I don't watch a lot of the Goldbergs, but I watched enough to get it. I think there's some part of it that's a bit too familiar. Growing up a middle-class Jew in the 70s and 80s, too familiar, a little too familiar. But you might remember from Bridesmaids, and she's very funny, and I didn't know a lot about her.

And it's interesting why her life was interesting to me, and I definitely liked her and got a kick out of her. So the Goldbergs, as I said, is a show she is on it's on wednesdays at 8 p.m eastern on abc the season finale is may 17th and this is me talking to wendy mcclendon covey why are you late um I came from Long Beach. Oh, my God. Do you live there? I live there.

And MapQuest took me on quite a journey. Yeah, I have a navigation system in my car, but I don't trust it. So, wait, you printed out MapQuest? I didn't even know MapQuest. Because I couldn't find my Thomas guide. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so I've been through Alhambra. I've been all over our great city, and I have to say, this is the best neighborhood.

Well, thank you. So back up. So really, MapQuest? Yeah. That's still there? It's still there. It's still there, yeah. And it gives you the printout?

It gives me the printout. Do you have an iPhone? I have a, no, I don't. I have a Samsung. And that doesn't have a GPS on it? It probably does. It probably does. And I have a Tesla, which has a GPS.

But it's never taken me to the right address. Uh-huh. And it always takes me on weird side trips. Why'd you end up in long beach i i've always lived there really yeah i never left like since you were a kid uh-huh you grew up in long beach i grew up in long beach i grew up in long beach i live two miles from my parents who live in the house i grew up in they They're still there? They're still there. Yeah. And I live like a couple miles away from my old high school. I just never left. Do you have

kids? No. Okay. So it's just, do you go to your parents and you know, like hang out there and have coffee with your mother and stuff? I did on Easter. I don't see them that often. They're busy. Oh, okay. Listen, they're retired. They've got stuff to do. Finally. They're very active seniors. Are they?

And they do not have time for me. Isn't that weird? Like, I go to my mom's house, and she always says she wants to hang out with me, but by three days, she's like, all right. Yeah, how long must you stay? Thank God I have that mother, and not the one that doesn't want me to leave. Right, right. So you grew, but you didn't grow up in show business.

Like what was your family involved in? What'd they do? Very religious. Religious what? Baptist. Really? And my dad worked for Coca-Cola for a long time. And my mom worked for McDonnell Douglas and then Boeing.

She's an airline engineer an accountant an airplane an aeronautical accountant yes yes aerospace account aerospace accountant baptist and now you're playing about as jewish a woman possible how about that yeah and i've and i've listened and you're fooling them you're fooling everybody. You're fooling everybody. I'm fooling everybody. And I used to play a boozy floozy who was a cop. In Reno 911. And my parents were not pleased. Did they really have a... Yes, they did.

They thought it was a bad example? My mother told me to quit and wrote me a letter. Again, my mother who lives two miles away from me. Okay. Yeah. All right. It didn't go over very well, but I had to let her know. You know, I am an adult. Again, my mother who lives two miles away from me. Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah. It didn't go over very well, but I had to let her know, you know, I am an adult.

And it was a job. And it's a, I think everybody else understands that this is not, you know. Real? Reality. I think most people who watch TV understand. And yet now I do feel like a lot of people thought they were watching a reality show. It's weird, though. But that's the world we're living in.

Right. But there's a certain age that doesn't quite understand the slight nuances of satire. No. Oh, God. What happened? I know. It's true. I don't know if they ever knew.

Some people just accept Fox News as news without-huh without you know uh you know entertaining but they're programmed that way you know you grow up three channels guy sitting behind a desk telling you what's going on in the world you just make assumptions yeah i think it's very hard for them to shake that shit sometimes like why would they say it if it's not true right and he's wearing a suit there's no laugh track yeah he looks groomed yeah he seems to know he's talking about yeah he knows a lot of he's saying things i don't know about yeah i'm learning things i'm learning things and i'm comfortable with what i learned and i don't want to learn anything else so they didn't get reno 911 at all not at all not at all no laughs just just terror just pure embarrassment what she involved in did people at

church are are are concerned well i think they figured out that the people at church don't really care one way or the other oh really no one's thinking about our family that much isn't that weird how everyone worries about that yeah especially in religious communities yes that's because everyone's up each other's ass. They do want to know. Yeah. They do want to know, and they're looking. They're for sordid bullshit.

Exactly. But I'm sure they mostly thought, like, well, she's on television. What are you worried about? Yeah, I think that they just thought, oh, the money's probably rolling in like a slot machine from the TV. Yeah, yeah. Well, how many siblings do you have? I've got one sister, and she's a therapist, an honest-to-God therapist who owns a comedy theater in Portland, Oregon. So she ran away.

See what religion does to people. See what Baptists do. She's a therapist running a comedy theater. Oh, she couldn't get out of Long Beach fast enough. In Portland. In Portland, where she has a very nice life. Yeah. A very nice life.

She started doing comedy there, and Portland is the greatest city in the world for the arts. Being weird. Anything you want to try, you will find an audience in Portland. Yeah. Okay? You can in Portland. Yeah. Okay? You can, yeah. Absolutely.

And she was doing sketch comedy, storytelling, all this stuff, and she just saw a need for a specific theater. And so her friends bankrolled her. And as far as I know, it's turning a profit after a year. So she, wait, her sister's a bona fide comedy star in portland yeah no no i'm talking about you and then out of left field she's like i'm gonna well i think it was kind of like well if that idiot could do it i could do it too is she older no she's younger no kidding yeah but she's very independent. I was never that. I was always afraid of everything.

Really? Because I was the firstborn. My parents were very reactionary with me. Really? Because sometimes the firstborn is the special child, the golden child. They were just panicked? No. My parents, no one in my family expected me to do much.

You surprised everybody. Yeah, I did. Why? Were you a problem? No. It just, you know, I grew up in the 80s. And back then, it wasn't even a given that you'd go to college. No?

No. It was like your high school graduation. That was a big deal. When did you? Where now it's like, of course, you're going to graduate high school. You piece of crap. Well, the idea was, I thought, you know, usually with some, you know, responsible families that maybe the kid would further their education. They were just excited that you made it through high school.

When did you graduate high school? 87. What are you pushing back against the religion? Was the religion a big deal? You said it like it was a big deal. It was a big deal. And I don't, listen, I can't say that I'm totally scarred. I wasn't raised in a cult.

But we had to spend maybe four to six hours every Sunday. At church. At church. Doing the food and Sunday school and mass. Doing the Sunday school and the choir and the this and the that. Make sure everybody sees that you're there. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. Doing your part. Facing forward and listening to something, some kind of message when we should have been actually looking at each other and communicating that way. That didn't happen? No, it did not. But everybody saw us in church. Yeah.

So you got points. So you got points. You're not bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're not bad people. Everybody was making their mental tally. The McClendons were in church. And look, I knew what I wanted to do from an early age, but-

You did? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Which was what? Which was be funny and be on television and be on television and and be an actor and just really what made you do that what made you want to do that um let's see what made it happen uh gosh i remember watching flip wilson and and um doing geraldine oh yeah oh yeah and i kind of remember it.

Yeah. And Carol Burnett. Phyllis Diller, I thought, was just the greatest thing in the world. Love American Style. Oh, yeah. I thought, there is nothing funnier in the world than this show. I remember watching those shows in like 1970. Yeah, in the 70s.

Yeah. And I would fake sick so I could stay home and watch these shows. Watch my soap operas. Mm-hmmas and thinking, Oh, this is the life. This is the life for me. I know.

And I would, I was one of those annoying kids that would like make everybody watch one of my performances at a dinner party. Oh yeah. Some, what were some of your classic routines? Um, let's see.

Classic routines. Classic Wendy dinner party routines um maybe i'm gonna sing a disney song in my nightgown sure while running around the the living room with a kleenex trailing behind right very artistic with the adults all sitting there smoking and having cocktails and rolling their eyes waiting for the kid to go to bed exactly yeah exactly or maybe the puppets would come out sure Sure. You don't know. Yeah. Yeah.

Potpourri. I was full service. Yeah. And needless to say, your younger sister's just sort of like, oh, here she goes again. Here she goes. It's all about her. Oh, someone's going to dress me up again and make me play the piano while she sings. What's the age difference?

Three years. That's like me and my brother, two and a half years. Oh, yeah? Yeah. So you got to go to school at the same time? Three years. That's like me and my brother, two and a half years. Oh yeah? Yeah. So you got to go to school at the same time. Kinda. Sometime. Yeah, and you just, you become very different people.

My brother, I think, felt abandoned by everything because of me. Really? Yeah, because like, you know, I was a lot to handle, and I was the first born. A lot to handle, I don't see why that would be. I think you're exaggerating. I was, I needed a lot of attention i don't see why that would be i think you're exaggerating i was uh i i needed a lot of attention did you sure as did you apparently i did but did you cause trouble to get attention in school yeah yeah yeah did you no because my parents were so strict like how it was anything i could do to not get in trouble.

Like, please don't take any of my few freedoms away from me. Oh, they did that? Yeah, yeah. So I was very good. I never ditched, never drank, never went to parties, never broke curfew. Because they were just so strict. So Jesus, when you got out of there, you must have just exploded. It must have been.

See, you'd think that. But I stayed at home till I was 26. Oh, my God. I know. I know. I know. I'm a big nerd. But very responsible.

Did you go to college? Yeah, but I stayed at home. You went to like Long Beach? Long Beach State, baby. After Long Beach City College. Oh, you needed to. Which is like the Harvard of the West. Sure, you need to make up for shortcomings in high school.

What happened? Yeah, I also just didn't know why I was going to college. I didn't graduate college until I was 30, okay? Wow. I had a lot of stops and starts. What were you doing? Let the record show that Mr. Marin is looking at me with absolute pity and confusion in his eyes. Well, I'm just trying to fill in the gaps.

I mean, were you just like laying in bed? No, I wasn't. I was working. I worked retail jobs and was trying to work full time, go to school full time. But I didn't know why I was doing that when I knew what I wanted to do. All right. So let me just get the timeline. You graduate high school and you're like, now what?

And then you go to Long Beach City College to try to figure out what now? Just to at least get my GEDs done because you have to do that no matter what get the basics out of the way two years basics out of the way two years yeah of course I dragged out into more years than that okay okay it's okay and I would sneak off for five years oh really yeah okay you sneak off to audition for things. Really? Yeah. You had an agent or you just did? No.

It was all through Dramalog. Oh, really? You looked at the little paper? Yeah. Oh, what were those like? Mostly waste of time. Uh-huh. Okay.

Copy, meals, and credit. That's what they all say. What does that mean? Meaning you're not going to get paid, but you'll get a copy of what you did. You'll get full access to the craft service table. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you'll get your name on something somewhere. You can put it on a resume.

Did you book any of that? Some of it I did. The occasional music video or non-union commercial. Not speaking, just sort of background? Yeah, background. union commercial not speaking just sort of background yeah background or um i did a pilot once for something that you would call it now a pilot presentation uh-huh so it's like well we can't really we don't have the words to describe this dumb project so we have to film it and then we'll show it to people uh-huh okay so these are just individuals that were

casting yeah yeah yeah so you do all this and and then most of the time to people. Uh-huh. Okay. So these are just individuals that we're casting? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you do all this and then most of the time it's a waste of time and most of the time it's like, oh, I'm walking into like a pervert den. Did that happen? Mm-hmm. Sure. Sure. Yeah?

Like someone's house? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. In someone's house. And sometimes you just drive right past the house and say, nope, nope. Even I know this is dicey. So you're like 20 years old just going off on me. Oh, yeah.

With my little headshot, you know, teetering around on my high heels. What's this for? Oh, a 976 commercial? Later. I took off work for this. So, yeah, those were the 90s. You didn't get into trouble no i didn't and nothing you have no memorable you know bad situations no you know what i do remember and this wouldn't happen today maybe it would i don't know and i would like to think we're more highly evolved but um there's no indication of that anywhere i don't know. I would like to think we're more highly evolved. There's no indication of that anywhere.

I don't know why I just said that. There's just more shit out there. There's more options. No evolution, just a lot more choices. Exactly. Yeah. You would leave your resume with somebody, your picture and resume. And then later on, those would fall into the hands of assistants or just, you know, whoever. In the office.

And they would call you and try to get you to go out with them. Or say, oh, wow, your measurements are this? Okay. Well, ever done any foot modeling or like something completely nuts? That would happen sometimes. You never did it. Come on. You have to not do it.

Come on. What? I've never wanted anything that much where I would say, wow, he called me at 11 and asked me about foot modeling. Well, my feet are amazing.

You know what? Maybe this will lead to something. You're not that person. Well, my feet are amazing. You know what? Let me, maybe this will lead to something. You're not that person. No, no. I'm not that person. I'm too cynical for that. But you were trying. I was trying.

I was trying. With no direction and trying to hide it from my parents. Oh, they couldn't know that you were pursuing show business. Because they just didn't. They just, it was so outside of their comfort zone. Sure. And it's interesting that you're pursuing show business. Well, because they just didn't. They just, it was so outside of their comfort zone. Sure. And it's interesting that you're just here, you're in LA and show business is here

and not like any, unlike, or just like everywhere else, you don't know how to get in. How do you fucking do that? Yeah. How does anyone do that? Everyone, like what you wanted to do was clear and it was across the street almost. Yeah.

But it's just like, what does one do? And you just took it on yourself to start going on those auditions. There's so many levels of that shit that nobody realizes like, well, you can't really do anything until someone gets you into the door somehow. Right. You know, so you've got to put yourself out there somewhere in a place where someone can take you along. Exactly. And not just be used up by the weird predatory culture of headshots and resumes. Oh, God. And then trying to get your SAG card.

That's a whole other hustle. Yeah. Someone has to do you a favor. Yes, exactly. Or you have to get Taft Hartleyed. That's what I did. That's what I did, too. Everybody does, really. You've got to be Taft-Hartley'd. That's what I did. That's what I did, too. Everybody does, really.

You've got to be Taft-Hartley'd at some point. Yeah, unless you do your extra work and get your vouchers. I don't know. It's such an ass-ache. Oh, extra work. Did you do extra work? For a little bit, and then it was so soul-crushing. I just couldn't do it.

Just watching other people live your dreams while you sit at a table pretending to eat? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Sitting around with other people who are unhirable in any other way. So when do you start studying the thing or figuring it out? Were you in college, the real college? Yeah. Once I got married and got out of the house then i went full force was that before were you both you and your husband living at your parents house or is that no no no no so wait there's still a big drop off so for you like from so you graduate from cal state long beach once i

got married i got married at 30 you went back yeah So you just crapped out. You went to Cal State Long Beach and you're like, fuck this, and you got a job where? At a clothing place? Well, after I graduated. Let me keep guessing. After I graduated, I was like- But that's when you were 30. At 30, yeah. But what happened between 20 and 30?

Between 20 and 30, I worked a bunch of retail jobs and then worked at a shitty hotel near Anaheim. Oh my God. Or in Anaheim, near Disneyland. Yeah. For three years. Oh, my God. Doing what?

What's that? Doing what? I worked in the sales department. Mm-hmm. And I was a secretary. And then I was director of corporate sales, which means I tried to get businesses to stay. So were you just, like, seething all the time? Seething.

Oh, like for years. I am going to commit suicide. Like I hated my life so much and thought this cannot be what I'm meant to do. I cannot do this. And so a friend of mine who got me the job at the Ramada, and we'd been friends since junior high. Yeah. We started taking Groundlings classes together. And we would drive up from Long Beach.

She found out about the Groundlings or you knew? I knew about them, but it took me four years to make the call to say, hey, I want to take classes. Yeah. I was so afraid of everything. Yeah. So anyway, that was the tipping point. It was like, okay, I'm just take classes. Yeah. I was so afraid of everything. Yeah. So anyway, that was the tipping point. It was like, okay, I'm just going to go and do this for fun.

And I'm going to do it. With her. Yeah. I'm going to do it until they kick me out. And this is the first time you've ever done anything like that? Like, I mean, in terms of stage work. Did you do plays or anything? Yeah, sure. I'd done plays and stuff in high school.

You did? And was a dancer and this and that. Yeah, like I wasn't. A dancer? Uh-huh. In this and anything? Yeah, sure. I'd done plays and stuff in high school. You did? And was a dancer and this and that. Yeah, like I wasn't. A dancer? Uh-huh. In this and that? Yeah. Yeah, okay.

You know. You danced. Yeah. Occasionally. You knew how. Dancing, not stripping. No, I wasn't implying that, but at some point you must have learned how to dance. No, but someone's thinking it.

Yeah. You learned how to dance? Yes. You were a dancer? I was more than a leotard owner uh-huh so see this is these gaps that we fill in okay you know you took dance classes and you learned how to dance i could do that and you i could do and and you did some stage work in high school so you're getting some satisfaction you got you got a taste of it got a taste of it. Got a taste of it. Of being funny in front of people.

You know, had the occasional minor success through drama log. Okay. So, you know. Yeah, the weird pilot. Exactly. You know, I got the little taste of this and that. But yeah. But was like, how.

How did I become Phyllis Diller? My day-to-day life sucks so badly. I hate Anaheim. I hate this job. I can't imagine that this... I'm going to look forward to the weekend for the rest of my life. That's the only joy I'm going to have is maybe going to El Torito on a Friday night.

That's my big treat. No. There's something more. Yeah. Okay? So my friend and I start going to the grounds. Is that like on Sundays or when did it? It was for non-actors.

So it was only on Saturdays. Oh, learn some skills. Like, come, you know. Improv skills. Improv skills. It'll be fun, you know. Have fun on a Saturday. Improv skills.

Improv skills. It'll be fun. Have fun on a Saturday. As it turns out, my friend is hysterical. You didn't know that. Well, I knew that, but I didn't know she'd be good at this. Yeah. She's really good, but she didn't stick with it.

Yeah. Which is, I feel sorry for the world. Really? Oh, yeah. And are you still friends with her? I'm still friends with her, but she decided to move to Oklahoma and blah, blah, blah. Oklahoma. Yeah, yeah. But too bad, because she would be a star.

Really? Like, she's- Do you tell her that? The funniest person- That no one knows. I've ever seen, and a very specific type. Ever? Ever seen?

Ever. Given who you've worked with. Given who you've worked given who you know exactly who i've worked with yeah okay yeah this girl is funnier than anybody that day that you realized she was that funny was that a big day where you're like holy shit yeah because we were so nervous going up yeah that we would we would almost talk ourselves out of walking in the building who was teaching the class um i don't know how familiar you are with anybody over at the groundlings but um well i've talked to people who were there okay what year was this so this was like late 90s so we had chase winton and david john roy jenkins. But after a while, she just thought, you know, I'm never going to do anything with this,

so I'm not going to do it anymore. But I kept going. And I eventually. Were you funny, too, though? I was. I was good. Well, look, I never got asked to repeat a level. And I did end up in the company and stayed there for seven years.

So you guys go in for the non-actor thing. And like, because I don't know. I've talked to anybody that entered that way. Uh-huh. Just sort of like, my life is terrible. You know,

and, you know, I'm working at a hotel in Anaheim. Yeah. And I just need to, need to do something. Yeah, got to have something

to look forward to. So they're not expecting much out of that group, really. Not at all. Other than to, so how, so what happens? How do you get encouraged? We were like, well, So they're not expecting much out of that group, really. Not at all. Other than two. Not at all. So what happens?

How do you get encouraged? We were like, well, it looks like we're okay at this. Let's audition to get into the school. So you both did. So then we got into the proper school. Both of you? And we both got in. Yeah. We both got in.

And we stayed together until my friend was asked to repeat a level and she decided, eh. That was it. I don't want to. That was the moment. That was the moment that she stopped. Right. Fuck the rejection. She was good.

She was gifted. And she chose to see that as rejection. Right. She's probably sensitive. That was a mistake. Oh, that was a mistake. I feel like we're doing this specifically for her. You're going to have to tell her to listen to this.

Stacy! Damn you! Oh, that was a mistake. I feel like we're doing this specifically for her. You're going to have to tell her to listen to this. Stacy! Damn you! Shows the wrong fork in the road. All right, so you both get in. And now, like, who's in your company? Or these are still classes? These are still classes, but let's see.

I was in class with Andrea Savage, Caitlin Olsen, Larry Dorff, Jess Rowland. Did you see people like when you got into those classes where you're like, oh, this is the real deal? Were you getting a sense of what show business might be at that point? I was getting a sense of like, I'm in over my head. I don't know if I can do this. These people are so amazing. I don't know. But I felt like I didn't want to quit.

Like I wanted to push myself it never occurred to me just just back off and don't even try it occurred to me well see if you can yeah measure up and what were you what were they telling you to do i know some of the stuff you do but like what was the how does it work again for me well okay so aside from the improv it's very uh character based and they want you to write a lot of characters and character monologues yeah that's my favorite thing in the world oh really oh yeah what was your first character um one of my was it a woman who worked at the ramada no no no I went a little deeper than that. She was an anthropology teacher,

and it was based on one of my anthropology teachers in college, and she had a very specific, clipped way of speaking. And the whitest woman in the world, but taught Latino studies. Latino studies? Yes. Oh, that's your character. I've lived among the mestizo Indians,

and I went native. Things like that. Oh, that must have killed. I'm sure. What? Well, it did, I got to tell gotta tell you yeah i did all right i like the idea but i never did characters ever you didn't no i i didn't go that way i was a stand-up so you're more observational well i just was i think i was trying to put my my character together okay it's working on me, Wendy. I was trying to pull it all in. All right.

So you're doing these characters. And that's what, so it's improv. And then, and what other ones? And then you write characters. And then you use that as a springboard for your sketches. And then you either get voted into the Sunday company. Or you, then you really do get asked to leave. I got voted into the Sunday company or you then you really do get asked to leave. I got voted into the Sunday company.

Were you going to the Sunday company now? Were you hooked? Were you going every weekend and watching everybody? I would watch. And honestly, the kids in the Sunday company at the Groundlings work harder than anybody in this town because that is your life for a year and a half, is you put up sketches, you buy costumes for sketches. Everything is about the Sunday company. And that material gets rotated in and out every week. So you can't stop writing.

You can't take a vacation. You can't do anything. It's your life. Before you got in, who was in the company? Who were you watching? I was watching, let's see melissa mccarthy maya rudolph jennifer joyce jennifer coolidge yeah she was here and jennifer is amazing yeah she's great and she was like one of the people that i would watch and and just like, did I just see that?

Did she just do that? That's amazing. And once I finally got into the company and got to work alongside her once in a while for alumni shows, it was like, holy crap. I'm in the presence of a real crazy person. But in the best way. In the best way. Yeah, she's sort of

a unique gift. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To say the least. But I remember there was a show that they do

at the Groundlings called the Beverly Wynwood Showcase and it's all about you know actors showcases around town where you pay to

come up and do a monologue that has nothing to do with you and you know they're all pretty bad. This was the sketch for the for the entire show okay so um jennifer would come in and i again i love jennifer i think she's amazing but she would come in you know the show starts at eight she'd come in at 7.55 does anyone have a trumpet can I borrow someone's bra

does anyone have a child's Halloween costume she would always need like the most insane things and you know what everyone rustled to get her what she needed because you want her in your show right but anyway and so but she was already ahead of you

yeah oh yeah yeah yeah uh-huh and who was and so melissa was in your company you're watching her she was she got into the main company right as i got into Sunday company. So Sunday's not the main company. No, but Sunday is like the farm team and you do perform every week. That was a really successful group. There was a big wave of people that got swept out into show business, you know, SNL or just other shows. Yeah. You know, very successful group. So to be there at all was amazing.

But you're still driving back to Long Beach. Still driving back. Still driving back. Going to job. At that point, once I got in the Sunday company, I was working at Cal State Long Beach in the social work department, editing a scholarly journal that they put out. And I did that for 12 years so i kept that job

all through the groundlings all through reno 911 all through lovespring all through bridesmaids i kept my little side job because you just never know that you Would you have to go into work? Yes. How'd you pull that out? But I didn't have a set schedule. I just had to go in and shuffle papers and return emails and stuff like that. But I could do it whenever I wanted. Eventually, I could do it from wherever I wanted. And I loved doing it. Were you reading the journal?

Uh-huh. Yeah? Yeah. Did social work interest you um i never wanted to be a social worker but i i have a great respect for what they do and i mean i just kind of fell into this job but once i started doing it i really loved it and i was working for this brilliant insane woman that i thought oh God, I'll follow this woman anywhere. She's so crazy.

And she. A professor? Mm-hmm. With a double PhD. In social work. In social work and history or something like that. But she was brilliant and nuts. And she was like, listen, I don't care what you do as long as you just never quit this job

because i don't want to hire anybody else so you do whatever you have to do when's your next show i totally want to be there like she was so supportive i thought i'll do whatever she wants because she's so cool like i've always wanted a job like this even though you're starting to have success yeah so i would be on on sets and you know sometimes you're sitting there for hours and hours there with my laptop editing manuscripts and reading about you know these people who are maybe making 40 000 a year helping working 80 hours a week and and i'm sitting in a cushy trailer getting catered to. And I would feel such guilt.

But anyway, yeah. So you've got that job. Did you get that job when you were living at home? No, no. So when does the husband come in? Where did that happen? Okay, so the husband comes in. The guy that makes your name even more complicated?

Yes. At 26, got got married left home finished school while working at the ramada what's the husband do the husband is a graphic designer techie um but he took jobs that were very stupid just to keep our insurance and to put me through my improv classes. So he always had like two jobs. So he could help you. Yeah. And you're still together.

Oh, yeah. 21 years we've been married. So, okay, so he saves you. He has earned his angel wings. Yeah. Okay. So he saves you. Yes.

Gets you out of your parents' house. Yes. They must have been relieved. They were, Mark. And they were relieved. My dad actually said this to my husband, like, you take good care of her. Something to the effect of, thank God, because I know she would just be eating out of the trash. It just really highlighted how little they thought of my judgment.

And now at 47 years old, they have to look at me and say, okay, you're not a bad decision. Well, I think it was just that you were just rudderless in their eyes. Yeah. Right? Yeah. They were just sort of like, I don't know. She's not going to figure it out. Yeah.

And yet they got married at 17. Right. And didn't have to. You know what I mean? Right. So like they had their whole thing plotted out, but they've also been bitter about it for most of their lives too so i think yeah i think that generation has that but then you know they figured out how to work and you

know bring up kids whereas like i think i don't know if it's our generation or not but i i think when you have a kid that just doesn't that's just sort of floating yes they're just sort of like well she's not bad she's not bad we don We don't know what she's good at, really. And she doesn't ask for money. Where'd you meet the guy? I met him at idiot school. I met him at community college. At City College?

Yeah. At Golden West, actually. Oh, that's another one. Because then I had transferred to a better community college, Mark. It's a good story. Come on now. It's a good story. Yeah, of course it is. Well, that's so sweet. But college, Mark. It's a good story. Come on now. It's a good story. Yeah, of course it is.

Well, that's so sweet. But anyway, yeah. So you get married, and now you move to a place where you live with a guy. You're working in Anaheim. You're doing the classes. You do in like three of what?

You're 30 now, and when do you get to be on the main stage? When do you do it? When does that happen? I got in the main company when I was about 31 32 and who's in the company with you uh let's see kristin wig tim brennan uh-huh do you know i don't um again larry dorf rachel ramris christian duay. Don't know her. Who else?

Nat Faxon, Jim Rash. So Wig is there because she had a weird journey as well. Yeah, yeah. She did. Oh, yeah. She's had every occupation in the world. Yeah, and I've talked to her. Yeah.

Did you guys become friends? We did. We did, but I never got to be in a show with her because because of work stuff like i remodel work stuff no no no like neither neither i booked a series and then reno couldn't do shows for a while you booked reno yeah but did you try to get SNL no no no even though I had two managers who basically told me they could walk me right through the front door of SNL yeah um and what clearly they were lying oh but no I never I never got to audition I never did any of that but I think that's okay yeah I don't have any regrets about that. Well, it sounds like it was all winning from a certain point.

I got to do some fun stuff. The job with the journal would have kind of gotten in the way of SNL, maybe. No, I could have still done it. And I still would have done it. You know? I like it. It's a loyalty thing. It's a loyalty thing.

It gave structure to my day. And you were learning some things. Gave me some stuff to be responsible for. Did it help you inform any of your characters? Yes, it did. It did. Yes, it did. Academia is really an interesting well of comedy.

Because it's very insular yeah and um the people who get tenure guard it with their life yeah and god damn it if they checked out a vcr and somebody else has it you're gonna write a nasty letter to someone okay you're gonna make a big stink in your insular world. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Everything's a big deal. Same with, I mean, I guess you could find this in any office,

but you know, there's always someone who can't handle it. Cannot handle it. If you don't clean up your coffee mess. And they are going to bitch about it for hours and hours and hours. And it's going to go on. It could go on for years. Could go on for years. Then they're going to make a little laminated sign and put it on the microwave.

Your mother doesn't live here, so clean up after yourself. And they're going to feel so mighty that they did that. And then they're going to go home to their sad lives. Their sad lives. And, you know. So how'd you get the gig on Reno? I was subbing for someone in a show. Really?

And the casting assistant saw me and brought me in. And this was after Reno had been a pilot at Fox. Yeah. And they didn't pick it up. And they sat on it for two years. And then Comedy Central said, oh, let's think about reshooting that pilot. Was that Tom Lennon's thing? Mm-hmm.

And Grant? Tom and Ben. Yeah. Yeah. That was their first thing. Their first big thing. They'd done this state and Stella. Yeah.

They'd done that and Viva Variety. Viva Variety. Right. They've done this state and Stella. Yeah, they've done that and Viva Variety. Viva Variety, right. And so, yeah, after Fox sat on it for two years, there was an original cast member that couldn't do it anymore. So they were having casting sessions to replace her. Yeah. And I had just gotten into the growlings, but I was also feeling like maybe this is never going to happen for me. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know yeah i don't know i don't have an agent i don't have jack squat i'm having to go to the groundlings and listen to everybody in the dressing room talking about all their auditions and i'm not even give being given the chance it's not like i begrudged anybody their successes but

like i wasn't even getting any calls because i had no one representing me i was just getting frustrated you ask people how do i get representation yeah yeah and but you know that's when people start getting cagey like well i don't i don't know if anybody you know i don't know if my agent is right for you no no. You know. So anyway, I went in. I felt like, fuck this. I'm not going to get it. But you know what? I'm just going to go in and whatever.

Was it your character? It was. All they said was that she needs to be a sexy cop. Right. So I did my interpretation of what that would be, of what a sexy cop in Reno is. Yeah. And to me, she's someone who thinks she's sexy. It doesn't matter if she really is.

Uh-huh. And she's not Hollywood sexy. Right. She's just got some swagger. This is a girl who's been to the dog track a time or two. And she's a cop. She's a cop because they have a dental plan. You don't have to go to the academy.

So anyway, I did my take on that. And they called me back and blah, blah, blah. I eventually got the job. and then it got picked up and I was like, oh, I booked a series. I guess I should tell my manager. You had a manager. Because at that point, I did have someone who was calling herself my manager. Was she a manager? She was a manager in that she had a business card that said manager on it.

And you know, that's all it takes. Sure. That's all it takes. They wait for someone like you to get them, legitimize them. Exactly. Then they take their 10%. You know, they know about calling business affairs to get a check. But other than that, they don't know how necessarily to make anything happen.

Right, right, right. At least this one didn't. Okay, so now you're on a series do you and do you give notice at the hotel or oh i had quit the hotel before working at the at school at the school yeah so you you didn't give notice because you're like not give notice because you're like you're you're gonna stay with her the woman so yeah she was like oh great you know just don't quit when does your show start you know just don't quit because and i look we never worked on reno that show shot very quickly because it didn't have to look good it was all handheld yeah so it started a lot of careers in

some odd way like carlos was in that right albrocki and then lennon with his shorts and It did. in three weeks. Right. So we were free to do other things, sort of. And I got another unscripted series in the interim called Love Spring International. And that only lasted a season. But, you know, it was fine. You know, I worked. And I worked pretty steadily. And then I...

You were good at unscripted. I can do all right. What's a certain skill? Making up my own dialogue. It's like not everyone can do that. No, no no it's like it's kind of hard to do it i imagine it's this certain type of person that can do that i shot one thing that was all improvised it was exciting but i don't know like the character was not that far from me so i could just load it up with my own experience but it's it's a great way to work because the discovery is so exciting.

Yeah. And if you have other people around you who get it. Yeah. And who know like, well, it's not about being funny all the time. Right. Right. Just service the story. Yeah.

That's all you have to do. The funny will show up. Yeah. Just, you know. Uh-huh. Don't try to get your zingers in there. Sure. That's annoying.

So this all happens when you're now, now you're 31, 32. I mean, like. I got Reno at 32, I think. Anyway, nothing big started happening for me until I was in my 30s. Right. And then life got really good once I was in my 40s. Right. Honestly.

Yeah. Yeah. That's wild. That's not the regular story. It is. It was in my 40s. Right. Honestly. Yeah. Yeah. That's wild. That's not the regular story. It is. It was touch and go there. You could have been moving up the ladder at the Anaheim Ramada. You know.

You could have been one of those people yelling at someone about their coffee habits. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. I could have been putting yellow tape around the pool because someone took a crap in it. These are things that happen at hotels. Every hotel has hookers. I just want you to think about that. Every hotel has hookers.

Were you in charge of that kind of shit? No, I wasn't. But if I had moved up, I would have been the one to have to knock on the door and say hi um what's going on a new credit card i i now understand that you're homeless yeah okay i understand that happens oh yeah all the time doesn't matter where it is so you're saying all hotels have a seedy, sad side. Element, yes. But there's hookers in every hotel. And that's a fun thing that I learned when I would go on ride-alongs with the police department.

In Reno? Yeah. Just because they said, well, that might be a good thing to do. So we'd pitch stories. Yeah. So I started going on ride-alongs with the Long Beach police. you know that would that might be a good thing to do some pitch stories you know yeah so i i started going on ride-alongs with the long beach police and then i started loving it and i was like oh my gosh when can i go on my next one it was so interesting and um and i did go on a hooker sting

one time at a very nice family style hotel uh--huh. And wow. Like what happened? You gotta walk those girls right through the lobby and past the children in their water wings. And you know, it's terrifying for the moms and dads

to see this. But it's... Exciting for the kids. Exciting for the kids. Because the moms and dads are like, how are we going to explain this? Yeah.

What did those people do wrong? And yet the kids probably already know. They just don't have wrong? And yet the kids probably already know. They just don't have the language to tell you that, you know. What else did you see in Ride Alone? Let's see. This was for research for Reno? Mm-hmm.

And they set it up? No, I set it up. You can just ask? Yeah. Did you know the cops down there? I just, oh, you know what? One of them I met at some animal charity event, and he offered it to me. He's like, if you ever want to go on a ride-along.

So I was like, yes, please. I want to go. And I highly recommend going if you can work that out. Just go. Just go. Everything about it is interesting, especially if you go at night. And my first one was on a Super Bowl Sunday. Just go. Everything about it is interesting, especially if you go at night. And my first one was on a Super Bowl Sunday.

And that's the most. Domestic abuse? Yeah. That's the day of the highest amount of domestic abuse in the country. And we sure got called a lot on a lot of violent things. And let's see. I did see a dead body one night. That was, I did not enjoy that.

I saw some very funny hooker stings. I saw some very funny drunk driving. Oh, pullovers? Pullovers, yeah. Them trying to convince the cop that they're not drunk? Yes. After, you know, and we were sitting in the SUV. Yeah. Because I was riding with the captain.

Uh-huh. So you see a guy holding a water bottle full of yellow liquid. Yeah. And then he sees in his rear view mirror and then he tries to like sneak it down past his arm and under the seat and i said did you just see that uh-huh and he said no and i told him what happened he pulled him over it was a teacher at the local high school who was drinking and driving uh-huh and uh was not was not fresh no not fresh no i saw a guy um get put in a cell and then proceed to slam himself against the wall to look like he got beat up by the cops huh so you were like addicted

to ride along oh it was it sounds like you're fighting the urge to maybe do it next week i'm thinking like who do i know yeah it's honestly it's so interesting and again these guys don't get paid enough no they don't get enough downtime yeah i have such respect i don't i don't see how any cop can go to work and then decompress enough to go home to their families and just deal with the minutia. I think it's hard. I think it's one of those like that, not unlike social work, where you just realize this work is never going to be done. Right. It's not, you know, there's no letting up.

It's relentless. Yeah. It's like war. It just keeps coming. Just keeps coming at you. It doesn't matter if you're sick. Yeah. It doesn't matter if you're sick. It doesn't matter if you don't feel like doing it. And it's hard not to get kind of morally broken.

Right. Well, it's interesting that you're tapped into this sort of like this weird connection to social work and to cops. Yeah, I know. For years. Yeah. Did cops like Reno 911 in general? Some did and some hated it. Yeah.

Some really found it offensive. That, you know, you're making fun of our profession. And that's not true. We weren't trying to make fun of cops. Right. We absolutely have the utmost respect. Right. The premise of the show was what if there

was an entire department of people who sucked right like the worst of the worst and they all work in this one little shady town that's all it was so i imagine the reno cops were not happy um there is no reno sheriff's. That is actually fictitious. I think there is a PD, or a Washoe. Did you guys shoot there? No. Oh. No, we shot out here in Sun Valley. Oh, I've shot there.

Which is super scenic. Oh, yeah. You know that. Yeah. And a lot of the houses we used needed no set dressing. Because they were so shifty and meth-labby looking. And more than happy to take

a 500 bucks every year shooting the house. Let me just hide a few things and you guys come on in. Please. Oh, you need a house that's fully decorated for Christmas, but it's July?

We got one. We got one. Just get the chickens out of the bedroom. Yeah. So, all right. So then you kick around, you do a lot of acting. You have bit parts here and there.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you like doing that? Padded my resume because I never- I'm looking at it. I got Reno, but I never, I didn't have like the day player. Right.

Bob's Burgers. So you're starting a modern family. I mean, you were around and then you did a bunch of the rules of engagement for sandler's company was that fun that was fun and that started off as just like a one-off thing and then i got to come back 14 times and that's how i got the goldbergs that's it how did bridesmaids happen who pulled you in um kristin wigg and annie mumolo, who wrote it. Yeah.

They wrote it with specific people in mind. And I went to the first table read for that movie in, gosh, 2007? Yeah. So that's how long they'd been kicking that around. And then when it came time to actually audition, three years later, they called me in. And I thought, well well that's really nice that they would even remember that like how sweet so i went in i auditioned and i thought well that's nice i'm sure this is where it ends i'm sure everybody in the world wants to do this but

i kept coming back and coming back and eventually there we go that And that was big. People liked it. And again, that was one that my parents, I said, look, you're not going to like it. So just don't go see it. And if you do go see it, don't tell me. Uh-huh. And? So they saw it and they told me. What did they say? My mom said, well, people came to have a good time and they sure did.

That's kind of, that's not as bad as a passive aggressive compliment could be. Exactly. That's actually, she didn't love it. In that realm, that was a pretty good one. Sure. Sure. So they sat in a theater with people laughing. After I told them, do not, do not do this.

And they saw it. What could their problem have been with that movie? Let's see. I mean, it was a little crass. It was a little crass in parts. And there was some sex in it. And there were, you know, look, we all shit our pants at one point. Yeah.

But that's just funny. But come on. Yeah shit our pants at one point yeah but that's just but come on yeah i mean that's just based on reality yeah come on everybody shits their pants when they go dress shopping where maya's in the middle of the street i mean that that's like one of the best things that ever happened in movies i think so too i think so too that should be a part of every oscar montage it was certainly something you never saw before no So too. That should be a part of every Oscar montage ever. It was certainly something you never saw before. No. And it was all because Annie was a bad bridesmaid.

But anyway, so yeah, so that happened and that- Was it fun doing that thing? Oh God, it was so fun. Yeah. Because we were working with our friends. Yeah. Were you riffing? We didn't have any expectations of it, you know, because nobody knew what it was.

So it was just kind of like, hey, we're at summer camp. Yeah. And Paul Feig's really nice. And I like these girls and we get to wear nice outfits. And I never got to wear real clothes on a show before. You know, I was always in some horrible getup. And so it was like, oh, wow. I get to wear a dress that I might actually wear in real life?

This is crazy. Did you get to keep any? No. No. How much improvising was in that film? A lot. Yeah. A lot.

I can't speak to how much they actually used, but we improvised a lot of stuff. And when they finally edited that movie, I mean, look, I think the funniest stuff lives on the DVD. Oh, yeah. In the three hours of extra footage that they couldn't include. Did they recut the movie or is it just extras? There's just entire characters that they couldn't keep. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. Because the movie or is it just there's just entire characters that they couldn't keep it because the movie already is too long i think it's two hours it should be a little less than that but um anyway nobody asked me mark yeah that's all right nobody

it wasn't your job that was not your job but anyway it was fun. All right. So now this is a big deal. This Goldbergs is a surprise hit in a way. Yeah. Right? Mm-hmm. The thing was is that it ended up being so different than the pilot we shot. Right. Thank God.

Because the pilot was a little too mean. Yeah. What was the tonal difference? Because it's familiar to me because what year does it take place? Like 80? 1980 something, they never say. Because I grew up in a middle class Jewish world, but it was New Mexico. Oh, okay.

But it's all familiar. Yeah. But in the pilot, there was a little too much screaming. And at one point, I take off my slipper and start beating on the kids. And, you know, maybe that's not the right tone to say. It seems a little, like, feels a little Malcolm in the Middle-y. Mm-hmm. I could see that.

Right? I could see that. The pace of it and the kid, you know, the sort of, like, smarter than he should be kid. Yes. The sort of smarter than he should be kid. Yes. But the reality was that in this family, the youngest kid was really the mother's last hope to hang on to her babies.

Yeah. And the real Adam Goldberg, his mom just knew he was going to be a girl, so he painted the whole room pink. Right. And then made him live in that pink room for many, many years. And she really did a lot of the weird stuff that I do on the show, but she did it worse. Uh-huh.

And so she's thrilled with the way she's being portrayed. And so she's thrilled with the way she's being portrayed. So she's a traditional narcissistic Jewish mother. Yes. Who is now being celebrated in her mind. Who now feels like, all right, I'm vindicated. Yeah. Because look, I got two surgeons and a TV writer. Hello.

Is that true? I am a success. Yeah. Yeah. And who can argue? Right. You know? Yeah.

Have you met her? I have met her. And she's intense. And I love her. Yeah. And who can argue? Right. You know? Yeah. Have you met her? I have met her. And she's intense. And I love her. Yeah. But it would be a blessing and a curse to have her as your mom. Because on the one hand, she believes in her children 100%. And fights for them. Fought for them, made teachers cry for them.

Really went on the war path for them. On the other hand, do you want your mom sleeping overnight in your dorm when you're a freshman boy? Yeah. She did that? Oh, yeah. Now, where does Adam F. Goldberg come from? What's his pedigree? he came from jenkintown

pennsylvania but like has he done other stuff yeah um breaking in yeah he did that um he's written some films he's you know you like him i love him i love him i knew i wanted to do the show well first of all the way knew I wanted to do the show. Well, first of all, the way they got me to do it was they gave me the script, which is fine, but then sent me footage of the family. The real family. The real family. And I said, yep, yep, yep. Can't say yes fast enough to this. So your depiction is close?

Yeah. Oh, yeah. And we look similar. Uh-huh. And I get it yeah I get the smothering instinct because I was smothered uh-huh by my own mommy yeah so um I totally I get it and she does it because in her mind she's right yeah they just don't know that They just don't know that. They just don't know. Act first and apologize later. Yeah.

But, you know. And it's hard to do the, like, you know, that thing can become a stereotype if you don't invest it with some, you know, real emotions. Yeah. And you seem to be able to manage that. I hope I can. I don't know. No, no.

It's funny. Yeah, yeah't know. No, no, it's funny. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, definitely. All I can tell you is that this is the most fun I've ever had. And you're working with Big Jeff? I'm working with Jeff. I'm sorry I called him Big Jeff.

He's not that big anymore. It's good. Well, but he's got a big personality. That's for sure. And you cannot deny that. No. I love him. I love him.

Yeah. Yeah, you've had him here. Yeah, I've known him for years. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He's a, I love him. I love him. Yeah. Yeah, you've had him here. Yeah, I've known him for years. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He's definitely a character. Yes. And very fun to work with.

Yeah. I just. George Segal's playing what he plays now. George fucking Segal. Yeah. Plays my dad. Yeah. Unbelievable.

How's he to work with? He's great, but he's 83. Wow. So get it done. Don't make him wait. Right. He is not there for that. All right?

Yeah. Just do it. Be professional. Yeah. Tell him he looks good, because he does look good i gotta say yeah well he's like you know he he's a it's great that he's working yeah and he's like a part he's like he's been acting forever yeah he has and he just got his star on the hollywood just now like just a couple months ago and And you guys, I think, finally dealt with the,

I'm friends with the other Adam Goldberg, who, and this has just been the bane of his existence, really. I know. Yes, and we did have, we did address that. We did address that. And did he respond? I don't think so.

I don't think so. And it was a good episode, too. It was a new one, right? It just happened. Yeah, it just happened. It's our Karate Kid episode. Quite delightful. I gotta ask him. Yeah. Because I know that it was just sort of like, alright, I'm not that

one! Yeah, and he was going so far as to say that our show was cancelled and all these things. So, it got a little stupid. Yeah, well, he's a, you know, he's an intense guy. He's intense and an artist. Give him a guest spot.

Oh, my gosh. You should have him on the show. That would be brilliant. Tell Adam F. Goldberg to have Adam Goldberg on. He'll fit in somewhere. I'm going to suggest that. Yes, of course. There's got to be a part for him.

Of course. Make him a teacher. Well, if the spinoff show goes is there a there is a spinoff what is it we've reached syndication my friend you've been on that long already yeah just finished our fourth season so it's being syndicated it's being syndicated we're starting season five in august what are they syndicated Where? I mean, how many episodes? I thought that was 100. We're at 96, but going into this season, yeah, it'll be 100.

You can start selling it. And it'll be fine. But it's already been, the deals are done. Wow, good for you. Yeah, that's what everybody's looking for. It's called Schooled, and it takes place at William Penn Academy, which is the high school on our show. And it just revolves around the teachers. Oh, you got it.

So that would be amazing. Tell Adam Goldberg to bring Adam Goldberg in. Well, look, Wendy, I'm glad it all worked out for you and you're not at the Ramada. Thank you so much. I'm going to turn that Ramada stuff into something. Yeah, I've not seen that movie. it all worked out for you and you're not at the ramada thank you so much do you feel i'm gonna turn that ramada stuff into something yeah i've not seen that movie because um there's a hooker in every hotel there's the name of your film there's a hooker in every hotel there are hookers in every hotel there's hookers there's drugs yeah i know i've been part of one of those okay

okay I'm gonna back in the day plenty of drugs at the hotel always yeah always

yeah and they're you know they're independently owned and operated most of them franchises

franchises so sounds like you've already done half your research I've done half my research and I just need to sit and write something.

How could that not be funny? Why hasn't that happened? I mean, because you'd have to, like, you can't really do like those, you could do a boutique hotel, you know, but you couldn't do like a home, like a family owned motor lodge because that doesn't really exist anymore. But it would seem that if it was just a, almost like the office the hotel yeah right i'm working on that i'm working on that yeah okay well great yeah it's nice talking to you maybe you'll come and and i'll do something just keep it in my wheelhouse okay i don't like to put on weight i'll grow beard i'm not gonna make you put on weight i'm not gonna make you do anything you don't want to do okay i'm ready all right yeah i'm in all right i'm signed you might have to

wear a little uniform okay okay yeah all right yeah i could be the guy that um shit didn't work out for and now he's got to re-enter the workforce and you give me a you know like a room service job okay or you're one of our traveling salesmen who's always there and always at the sports bar okay like one of our trivia night regulars oh right you know and it's not clear what i do or whether or not i'm really selling anything exactly like i'm living some weird yeah i might be a ghost you might be a ghost yeah yeah like it. Sleeping with hookers at the hotel. At the hotel. Yeah. It writes itself. I actually like the idea of the guy that doesn't leave and it turns out he can't leave because

he doesn't have anywhere to go. And then I do some legal action where you can't actually kick me out. Oh, my God. I live there. You live there. Yeah. You have squatter live there. Yeah. You have squatters rights. Yeah.

You have some kind of Native American stake to the land or something. My family. All right. Well, that's my episode. We're going to speak it into existence. So you feel good?

I do. All right. Well, thanks for talking to me. Thank you. Huh? Huh? What do you think of that hotels right yeah yeah hotels a lot goes on in hotels oh don't you know it don't you know it people go to wtfpod.com for all that stuff and uh get a link there's a link to pre-sales for the book there. Be waiting for the punch. I think I'm going to go get that guitar I like from the house. But there won't be any time in between me saying this and me being back.

So I don't even know why I'm saying it. But just know that between right now and when I have the guitar, time will have happened and a journey would have taken place Boomer lives! It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com. 5 p.m. in Rock City at calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com.