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Dana, it's awards season, which means we're due for some classic red carpet combos, like strapless dresses and statement necklaces, or acclaimed directors and long acceptance speeches. But you know what look always pairs perfectly together? Discover and Cashback.
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See terms at discover.com credit card. David, I don't know if you know this about me, but I've always been a fan of exploring new places, not like you kind of, you know, no, no offense.
And one of my best trips, listen up, is when I stayed at an Airbnb. Felt like I was living like a local with all the space, comfort of home.
You know, hotels can be a hassle. Room service and then the housekeeper.
It's a hassle. So then you go to Airbnb and you can get whatever you want, a little cottage, this and that.
It's fantastic. You have your own separate separate space so it's a great product for people who travel david yes i have friends doing one of these right now if you have a home you can airbnb it it's fantastic i mean um to to monetize your home when you're not there seems like a good idea i mean look i'm on the road a lot.
I could probably do it. It's something that people can do when they travel.
They have extra space. Or you're at a place not full time.
You come in the winter. You leave in the summer.
That's something you should think about. It's a way to get some extra money.
And it's a cool experience. Your home might be worth more than you'd think.
Yep. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host.
You go ahead, start this off. Who's our guest? Ego Wodum.
And she is a lovely young lady on SNL, I think six years in. Really great chat with her.
And we, this is the deepest dive we've done on one sketch we Lisa from Temecula which was a sketch that was renamed which I thought was very interesting that they you know you you name his sketch it's like it reminds me of the pina colada song Dana it was called it was called escape but everyone said hey I like the pina col, so they changed the name. So, this was, she's so articulate and fun and a self-starter and just had a lot of really interesting things to say about SNL and about being there and what it's like.
Yeah, this was the most, she takes you on a ride that we've done before with other guests, but there's these emotional tipping points. And she talks about just how the whole arc of being on Saturday Night Live as a cast member is just, it can be topsy-turvy.
The sketch is cut or it's in or the host dropped out or whatever it is. She really is very honest.
She's very talkative and we do orientate the episode like david right david said uh lisa from temecula a character she played in a restaurant scene with pedro pascal i think and did a steak night and it was physical it was funny and she said it just reorientated the way the writers would look at her. And really, the audience.
She killed so hard. Hit every beat perfect.
Just one of those classic sketches. It's honestly like having a hit movie come out.
And then you're like a good actor. And then someone has a hit movie.
And then now they're getting the good scripts. It's just the way showbiz is so she does a sketch that blows up gets on it goes a little bit viral and then suddenly they're like you know what she'd be good in this and that just it really like woke her up and gave her new energy for being on a show that's just a tough beating sometimes yeah and because there's a larger cast even if you've been on six years there still is this dance with the audience where they discover you and they see you in something.
Oh, they like that. And then maybe you're not in things that give you that platform.
And then I like that. I like that.
And I think that. You're showing a different angle that you have.
Yeah. And you're like, oh, she can play that also.
Oh, let's make her play that. Yeah.
And then it builds on itself. And then the best place you can get to is where the audience just sort of is already ready to laugh.
Like with Kenan Thompson, they're just ready to laugh with Kenan. He hits every line.
But I think that she's still, I just say, I think she's kind of popping. You know, there's a subtlety of confidence where you're like, say, you're 70% confident or 80%.

And if you can get to 90%, 95%, it's a whole other thing.

The audience senses it.

Then everybody's having fun. where you're like, say you're 70% confident or 80%.
And if you can get to 90, 95, it's a whole other thing.

The audience senses it.

Then everybody's having fun.

And that's where she's at.

And so, and she's really an affectionate person.

She hugs everybody.

She's very sweet.

Yep.

She looks like a lot of fun.

And I know you're doing the show with her now,

which is great to be around everybody

that's been on the show. So she is hey go wow hi I know you know Dana I do know Dana oh yeah we know each other we know each other.
We know each other. Yeah.
We get each other. I always get my hug when we do those fake good nights.
Oh, yes. I give real hugs that fake good nights.
And it throws. Yeah.
The hugs are real. But the first one's fake.
And we have to act like we're crying. Oh, yes.
Yeah. Oh, that's true.
I'm disrespectful. I thought about this the other day.
I was like, I think it's kind of rude. Maybe that I wear my, as we call them behind the scenes, comfies for dress rehearsal.
Good nights. I don't even attempt to make the audience feel like they are at the real show.
I've gone out there with a bald cap. I think I've, yeah, I think I've gone out there as Biden.
I don't know. I mean, it's just practice.
They're a practice audience. We're practicing.
Look, if you can't get the main ticket at 1130, we can't help you. Listen, I count the good nights as a sketch.
I used to. Really? You give good nights.
He's skilled. I said I was in a couple of things.
It was things It was an update I was in good nights Okay Give us your good night wave to the crowd, David Let's see it I go like this I'd never go to the front Because we'd make fun of each other For trying to be too thirsty Okay And then If you hug the host first They'd make fun of you Or we would make fun of each other So I go, Farley, get up there You know gonna hug him in five seconds i said at least wait till he gets all the lines out like good night everyone thanks to that and then foo fighters and then grab her and then um and then we would like go as far back as we could wait were people jumping the gun at times trying to hug the host before they said all their thank you.

I mean, other than Chris, I don't know.

It was funny because, you know, they liked certain cast members,

but there were certain ones you knew,

you might know in your head without saying,

some sort of worm up to that front row to get on camera.

I always don't like it.

But what's your tactic?

Say the names.

I'm going to drop names.

I'm going to be dropping tea. This is going gonna be kind of the club shea shea yes um cat williams interview style where i burn it all down and burn it down how would cat williams say that let me think about this i know it's hard to hard you have to get warmed up you do have to do you see me put my hands on my legs and go on.
Let me find it. Let me find it.
I haven't listened to him in some time. Now, David, David, David Spade and Dana Covey.
I'm trying to tell you something in there. Something.
It's kind of nasally. Yeah.
It's, yeah, it's very cool. So they don't tell you.
I told him when I, we, I golfed with my only met him once. We golfed golfed.
And I go, last time they made me play from the pro tees. He goes, you're David Spade.
They don't tell you to do nothing. You tell them.
That's kind of something. Good.
That's a good one. It was something.
He's got a very unique. It's very good.
It's a beautiful voice. Beautiful voice.
It's hard to get to get his first special that i saw i put it up there with anything i've ever seen in my life he's pretty he's pretty incredible also to have made that interview i was reflecting on that interview as recently as yesterday because i got the the i won't say dreaded email the email about which episode would you like to submit for contention for this award nomination and i was like and so i was looking through i kind of arbitrarily picked but i thought about that sketch i got to do and i thought about that moment where he did that interview and helped the podcast blow up i'm not going to be able to do that for you here today but david it is nice to meet you formally because i have very nice to meet you if only we could hug on stage behind a host i would run up to you because i have no shame anymore back then shame yeah no shame well yeah also you got it people some people are not in any sketches was this a thing back in the day not in any sketches because that's just the way the cookie crumbled and then you're at good nights it's it ha it happened not Not in my early days. I would refuse to go and think

it would really turn

the show on its lid

like if Lauren finds out

because they'd walk around

knocking on the door,

good nights,

good nights,

like Marcy Klein,

our talent person.

And then I go,

I'm not going

as like I'm standing up

against this establishment.

And then I thought

Lauren would be tossing

and turning in his sleep

or couldn't have fun

at the party because of that. Absolutely unbothered.
No one noticed. Oh, David wasn't a good night.
Oh, okay. Well, that's too bad for Lauren.
In time, we got another Lauren impression. Yeah.
You have to get the Lauren impression. I want the audience to know that we've done four shows together.
So we've had four musical guests and four hosts. So who's your favorite and who do you want to trash? Yeah, burn it down.
Burn it down. The year of truth.
New podcast called Burn It Down is a good idea. Maybe I start hosting that one.
All the hosts have been absolutely lovely this season. I will say this.
Stand out to me. No, I know.
Stand out. Honestly, fuck off to me for real.
But stand out. What I will say this stand out to me no i know honestly stand out honestly fuck off to me for real but stand out what i will say is stand out to me because i feel like we were having a mutual love fest between the two of us ariana grande we were having a i love you you love me we're a happy family vibe going on between us and so i'm gonna go yeah just unreal could Yeah.
Just unreal, could do anything. And then was really kind because, you know, sometimes people aren't kind.
We've learned, right. But she was kind, talented, all the things you want her to be had range was down to play.
And I always say the hosts who are before having range, that's great. And I love that.
And of course that's helpful. I think being willing to play and look stupid and kind of just go with the flow and see where this thing takes you.
Yeah. She looks so dumb.
When I saw her walk down the hallway and ate H with that castrati. Castrato.
I said, okay, that's going to perk. Castrato.
The little hat. But yeah, she was game and her range is unbelievable.
And so she probably looked at you and said, gee, I'm looking into a mirror. Oh, well, that is very kind, Dana.
Dana wants extra hugs and I'm giving them out. Hey, Lisa from Temecula, maybe your most badass performance.
Thank you. That was fucking fun, man.
That was crazy. crazy okay and i've said this before but you guys will understand this having been cast members at the show when we got to do that sketch like i've told the story that i go i go you know it killed at table and i didn't even know that it i don't even know that what happened at table could have been defined as killing i feel like I unlocked a level of experience there just in general even if I was just watching that happen at table because uh the writers had a real steak delivered to me at table read oh okay all right so yes they had a real steak delivered to me Eamon from props came and slid a steak to me right before he read that sketch Mikey Day said this before says every time he's looking at over my shoulder at my phone, which I say, why is Mikey doing that? But that's a different conversation.
Mikey goes, every time I look at your phone, you are not so scrolling social media. You're looking at menus and like, all you care about is food.
This is a true thing. I'm either planning my near future meal or my distant future meals.
That's what I spend most of my time on my phone doing. And so when he saw across the table, and he has this whole thing about me being a diva, he does a bit with me.
And he across the table sees a steak get delivered to me in the middle of table read. And he's like, okay, she's getting out of control.
He doesn't know what's going on. He has no idea what's going on's going on listeners let me just insert what it is in case they haven't heard it and i want to hear more but basically you're you're a pretty big personality at a restaurant and you get and it's going along it's funny you're doing funny stuff which you can talk about and then you start cutting this steak and it keeps escalating into madness where the table is shaking and everyone's just trying to hold it together so that's the fact that you did it at the at the it really helped it so go ahead the table read is great with pascal yeah with pedro pascal here's my thing too is i would normally when the writers i'll tell you how that sketch came to be too is it's written by alex english gary richardson and michael che the way that sketch came to be is from alex english's mind apparently his cousin was at the holiday christmas i think eating a steak and she was kind of shaking the table she had gotten a well-done steak that's the thing lisa from temanke likes her steaks extra extra extra well done so it's basically a hockey puck and And so she, so it's based on his cousin,

but the week before they had done a sketch, Gary Richardson, Alex English, and they were like, you're in our sketch, you're in our sketch. And we're friends and we get to table read.
So on writing night, they're like, you're in our sketch. And I'm like, cool.
That's an extra piece at table. I get to read in.
Okay. We've got that.
I get there. And my line is, Ooh, I love it.
And that's the one out of a 12-page sketch. And we're friends.
So I gave them so much shit about that. I was like, at the after party that week, I go, ooh, I love it.
And I go, you really? You really going to come knock on my door and tell me how I'm in your sketch that we're reading tomorrow? And the line is, ooh, I love it. And that line could have been cut by the way.
And I remember when I read it at table the previous week, I was like, this is going to get cut once they, it was a pre-tape. I was like, this is not a necessary line.
It doesn't help establish anything. They kept it in.
And so I gave them shit. I mean, I gave them so much shit about it.
I was like, and I got a full face of makeup on, on a Friday to say, Ooh, I love it. And then Alex so kindly was like, okay, I have something for you.
I have something. And it was Lisa from Temecula.
Of course, we didn't know it would be this. But normally I would have said to the writers, and this is my problem, I would have been like, yeah, but where does it go from there? So she orders a well-done steak, the table's shaking, and sort of then what? But I was hands-off approach on this one.
Because you wasted all your bitching the week before yes exactly you understand i was like i think i think i'm out of bitching coins genuinely i'm like i'm out of bitching coins so i'm gonna have to just go thank you we'll see so i got to the table they have this stick delivered to me and i'm and then the we the table read dana you've seen the most recent one it's now happening an 8-H opposed to on the 17th floor yeah yeah and it's like far less intimate in a way and this table is way bigger than it was when it was on the 17th floor so i'm like is this going to shake this table is this is this at table read going to be reliant on my ability to shake this current gigantic table yeah but just this yeah it's gigantic but just the sight of it it it worked somehow and i couldn't this is where i said i didn't i wouldn't have known in real time this was defined as killing because i couldn't get through the sketch at table read i was really struck it was making me laugh in the middle of it and i was like i can't read this and this is so fun and silly and so i didn't even think on wednesday when they picked the sketches that it even really stood a chance i wasn't worried in one way or the other i was like well that was fucking fun but i didn't think it was going to get picked and then it got picked and then lauren asked us to rename it because it was just birthday dinner originally and then um, yes. Wait, who has a thought? Maybe Mermaid Dinner Steak or something.
Susan from Modesto. Maybe from Hamptons.
Lila from San Diego. Maybe Alice.
Those writers are so brilliant. Does he want to name something more about the ste and they know what the fuck i know i think he wanted it he was like he suspected so on friday he calls me into his office and i'm thinking and i'm feeling a little anxious about this sketch all week and people are like it's really funny and for me also i will say i don't know how you guys about this.
If something kills at table, baby, in my opinion, that's kiss of death. It's going to play to, it's going to play the literal silence.
It's going to play to silence. There's nowhere to go but down.
Yes. And so I was like, I don't even know how this thing is actually going to work.
I didn't think about the monkey boys, their hand in it and how the writers had planned to produce the sketch. So I was like, this is a lot.
I'm pretty strong, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to shake a table sufficiently for the sketch. And then I realized it wasn't on me totally.
But Lauren called me and the writers into his office on Friday. And I was like, okay, this meeting is for sure him Him telling us like, this was fun all week to pretend we were on a divorce.
But I was like, I don't know how this works, but he was calling to be like, you're going to want to name this woman something more memorable. And I was like, I don't know, quite the opposite of what I thought he was calling us in to talk about.
He was sort of like, people are going to want to see this character again. And then I'm like, well, now this feels like a different kind of pressure.
And Alex and Gary came up with Lisa from Temecula. I don't know how, where, why.
I used to live in LA. So I'm like, I'm familiar with Temecula, but what an obscure.
It kind of means nothing. It just sounds good though.
I like it. Yes.
Yes. And then we panicked because somebody told me they're like what a random fucking name so then on saturday morning we were like going through other names and shout out to gary richardson being like no i think we just keep it lisa from temecula it's kind of yeah it's kind of nothing let's keep it that yeah so it was very fun but at what I say at dress.
Oh, it does not do well. Somebody really know.
And all week people in hair department going, I don't laugh at anything. And honestly, with sound off watching the monitor in the hair room, we're dying.
And I go, it's too much pressure. I don't want the compliments.
In fact, at a certain point, I'm like, it's all it of death, a bad omen. People building it up.
Too much pressure. Get in your head.
Get in your head. This is the best catch in history.
No, that's really good to mention that on this podcast because that hasn't been talked about. Like, you're going to crush.
Please don't say that. Please do not say that.
We had one this week on the show with, we had one this had one this week with, gosh, my, as soon as we go on hiatus, thank you. My brain erases what happened every week.
I know, because you expunge it. You just let the kid to let go of it.
Did you see it? It was just short-circuited there. Anyway, Michael Keaton, that killed at table, absolutely destroyed.
And not, and there are weeks where things are like that was

really good at table and that was really fun and there's moments where i'm using the word killed

so something killed at table with keaton big and then got to dress rehearsal and i go oh

it's crazy it's really not working the same and it went from like top of show to kind of

down there got down there more a more regular slot if you will um rivaling 10 to 1 not quite but

Thank you. like top of show to kind of down there, got down there more, a more regular slot, if you will, um, rivaling 10 to one, not quite, but anyway, I, I am, we do this at dress rehearsal.
It feels like a lot of pressure. The table's not shaking because somebody told the monkey boy to not shake it as much.
And we did the run through, right? Dry run. And I was like feels a little chaotic but kind of fun i think it all come together and then it just the shaking dissipated and there's really no when you say when you say monkey boy how do you mean that and there's someone under the table there's someone on their table and i don't know what their official like the monkey boy productions they do the puppets okay okay i just want to You thought it was a slur? You were slussler.
People might think it's an actual monkey boy or something.

Monkier. boy productions they do the puppets okay okay i just want to make sure you thought it was a slur you were slussler people might think it's an actual monkey boy or something monkey or a simian okay something so is that a company that deals with this stuff and there's the special effects yes special effects them puppeteering i feel like i know them most for their puppet their puppet right puppetry um they built me a mask

in this for a run to do a jigsaw kind of sketch and like like a welder's situation like yeah they're incredible but someone told our guy not to shake the table as much it's not communicated to me sabotage it kind of you know that's the one thing that could hurt that sketch the one thing Or stupid, but one of the S's

Yes, it's one of the S's

And so I'm like, and so it's not shaking. There's no sketch.
It's like a woman has ordered a well, the extra comedy. Yeah.
There's no comedy. It's like, I'm trying to, and then also plot twist that threw me for a fucking loop is for the first time from table read to now we've done it table read we've done blocking

we've done saturday daytime run through um for the first time at dress and no one tells me in

advance which normally they would have would have been appropriate to it's a t-bone steak i can't

even like pantomime sawing a t-bone steak that's extra extra well done you can't even i was like

whose idea to put a big bone in the middle changed it wow don't change anything don't change a thing and so it's not going well there's this moment where i'm just like well motherfuckers and mr pedro pascal whose praises i'll sing till i'm blue in the face and i'm super great show and a very likable great actor great actor down to play down to look like a fool town to look stupid like a dumbass and also didn't try to curate his own show i that's the other thing like to be very clear that when a host is trying to curate their own show he just gave himself up to them truly and i think this about that episode by the way unrelated to least from temecula glad i got that off in that episode when i reflect back on that episode and i was talking to mikey day about this um i was like there are so many sketches in that episode that could have been the one there was like real stiff competition on that there's a mario brothers one that was beautiful tape there was um marcello's protective mom sketch that was an absolute hit so yeah i haven't seen an episode like quite like that one in some time just where it's like there are multiple sketches in here that could have been the first sketch could have been the one yeah and so um anyway pedro is like i think i don't want to speak for him but i get the sense is thrown by like, whoa, we all had high expectations for this sketch. And boy, is this like bombing right now.
And he starts looking for the, I guess it's throwing him. And he's like, now I'm trying to, how do I articulate this? Like trying to see a cue card, but he's making it obvious.
Like, remember we're still in the scene, but now he's making it obvious obvious he's like kind of looking over and up and trying to see a cue card and absolutely in character unscripted because it's bobbing at this point so who fucking cares i go in character and i go and what are you looking at and then that's the biggest laugh at dress rehearsal is me going and what are you looking at and calling him out for like oh it's absolutely off cards that That's funny. And then we wrap up and I'm at the B I don't know where I catch him.

Oh, a good nights at dress, the fake good nights.

And I go,

the table wasn't shaking and there was a T-bone steak and he's like,

what the fuck?

And mind you, he's pretty straight man in that sketch.

So the jokes aren't really his, it's not really about him. And a lot of hosts would have used that opportunity to be like, see.
To get out of it. To get out of it.
Because they probably, a lot of hosts wouldn't have wanted to do it in the first place. Yeah.
And then. Yeah, I'm just a puppet in this.
They aren't the score machine. Nothing for me to play.
And so I was like, that would have been a perfect out. They wouldn't have fought him on it because it did bomb and it would have been like a nice heartbreak to deal dish me and um they he actually went in there and fought for it he was like they didn't give her they gave her a t-bone steak the table didn't shake i want i love it you need someone in that goddamn room because no one's in the room you're not allowed you need someone in the room and having someone in the room i've had every iteration of an an experience at this show.
I feel I was saying this to Heidi recently. I'm like every version of it being the baby.
No one gives a fuck about having a writer who was not only really fucking funny, but also in the room. I've had that writer go away and now have nobody in the room and feel like, oh, okay, I guess we're starting from scratch again.
Like, and having someone in the room, nothing like oh okay i guess we're starting from scratch again like and having someone in the room nothing like it really nothing uh very end game of thrones creating alliances who are in the room omaha omaha dana that's what peyton manning used to yell out oh yeah omaha stakes did he yell stakes too i don't know. Omaha Steaks.
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saraya and odyssey podcast available now for free on the odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts for the viewers dana let's have her say what the room is and who's in it okay so the room is the deciding room there's the room i think convenes multiple times the week. But most important or seemingly significant for us as cast and for writers is the room after table read.
So after we've read our 40 sketches on Wednesday. The room convenes.
It is Lorne, Steve Higgins, Eric Kenward. I think Caroline Moroney is in there.
Aaron Doy doyle is in there um other rebecca schwartz i'm not sure who else but other people from the talent department i believe but those are the decision makers head writers are also in there i left them out street or allison gates kent sublet and that's what that room looks like so you do the math on that so that's who's in Okay. And then that room convenes again throughout the week to check in with the host.
I think they have a meeting with the host on Friday, less pressing to all of us, but how are you feeling? Yeah. How are you feeling? What do you like? What do you not like? Oh, you're confused about your role in that one.
Okay. Oh, and a host being like, I find it fascinating.
I want to be in that room one time, specifically the Friday room. I want to be in the Friday room because I want to know, I want to hear hosts.
They start, not always, sometimes try to manipulate the system a little. And like, if they're not scoring, that's their opportunity to say, I don't know what I'm doing in that one.
I just don't, I don't know what I'm doing. Or I can't wrap my head around this very straightforward character.
I can't feel it. It's very straightforward.
I'm just having a hard time understanding. I'm confused.
So I'm just setting up them to kill or? Friday night at like 11 or 12 or whatever. Yes, exactly.
So we've at that point blocked all the sketches pretty much. They're waiting on the pre-tapes know what they hate exactly and they start to plant those seeds you kind of see it reflected in the run death they're read the seeds of death that is how you kill a sketch that's how you begin to kill a sketch poison pill boy oh that's good it's a poison doubt just create doubt yeah they create the little doubt and then you get the rundown we as cast the writers everyone gets the rundown which is to say this is what our um run through the dry run on saturday is going to look like this is what dress rehearsal looks like long and you said it's very long we get to work at like 11 30 a.m on saturday and the show wraps up no one realizes that's the earliest day you have yes actually truly which is insane and so only rival by pre-tape day friday where we sometimes are like i'm getting picked up at 6 a.m but they the the dress rehearsal run run down if you will on the left side of that document says who's doing update which feels like a very secretive thing all week when they pick who's doing update that's when we all get's when we all get to see when it becomes like, and this is who's doing updates.
So it's happening, whispers behind you. You don't know people if you're close are going, did you, have you heard about your update? Are you, oh, do we know who's doing? But it's all very like secret.
But then when that rundown comes out at 11.30 PM on Friday or midnight Saturday, you go, oh, that's who's doing update. And oh, so then on that left side, when you see the order of the sketches in this dress rehearsal show, you go, yes, at the Friday meeting, the host has planted a seed of doubt.
That sketch went from fourth of the night to now second to last of the night. Yes, exactly.
I kind of love these hosts. I love the deviousness.
I like a host and they're going, I mean, I don't know what's funny. To me, it's not hilarious, but I trust you guys.
Like in the assistant right next to him with a little notepad. Oh, yes.
Kind of a sweater. Mind you, the assistant and them and the publicists have already had their conversation off to the side.
Everything's a side chat. It.
It's so good. Everything's a side chat is so crazy.
But so then, yeah, it's, but when things, when, when you can sense that a host has done that too, then that just creates a sort of like, well, that sucks because also you want to like, you're like on Tuesday, when you go to talk to a host about the idea you have for the week or the ideas you have and and oftentimes I'm a pretty direct person so I'm like you can literally say you hate it you're not gonna offend me you can tell me like I really don't want to do that I'm if come Wednesday even if it kills that table I'm gonna in that meeting veto it so don't do I don't want to do it don't waste my time don't waste my time because I have other ideas I don't want to write it. And it's cool.
Yeah. It takes hours.

It's,

it takes hours and it's disheartening when it does kill it.

It doesn't go.

And it turns out because you didn't.

So please just be honest with me because I'll write something else that we can both be excited about.

But it's what I adore about Pedro is because,

is that he did take that opportunity in that Saturday meeting.

I mean,

that meeting we talk about happens again,

Saturday after dress rehearsal.

Right.

So now the- That's it. That's the big important- That's the most intense time of the week.
Picking the show. Yes.
It's like 10.45 or- They basically hack a half hour out of dress. So you're in the show all week.
And then by 11 p.m., you're suddenly not in the show. So what happened happened with lisa from temecula well lisa he went in that room and he fought for it and said in that meeting he wanted to do it in that meeting that there was they gave me a t-bone steak which wtf and then that the table wasn't shaking who were why did that happen when did when did that decision get made and also if that if that was a note that was communicated to the monkey boy not a slur the company right if that was a if that was a note communicated to them why no one told me why no one communicated it to all of us or why we didn't do a like quick little like hey it's gonna come to this hallway right now it's not gonna be on the set but like let me show you how much i'll be shaking it at this point and then we'll ramp up to this right so um i appreciate it because most hosts i feel now that i've been there long enough many of them and i want to say most since i'm gonna say most would have been like yeah see it didn't work and right i'm not doing anything and we have to cut stuff anyway yeah we to.
And maybe another time, man, bummer. That's so fun.
Yeah. Let you bitch about it later and be like, no, but, and they're like, Oh, do it next week then.
Yes. And then next week they don't, we don't actually do it because it's like, well, I forgot, we forgot, we told you you could do it next week.
So, um, air quote forgot, but, um, he fought for it. But what's interesting is on that week, I'll say say this there's a sketch i do the following show i believe where travis kelsey hosts he either hosts immediately after pedro we go on a hiatus after pedro and then i think travis kelsey's the following host um um and he he he ended up acting in this sketch but this was the this is how the night panned out i had a sketch sketch the same week as Lisa from Temecula with James Austin Johnson, a prince.
Love him. He's an incredible performer inspired by Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle.
I'm obsessed with Michael McDonald. And we got to talk about him.
One of the great voices of all time. Oh my gosh.
What if he believes? It's crazy. Oh gosh.
Well, I, I, I listened to Michael McDonald relatively regularly, but I feel like someone told me and it maybe it was Kyle Mooney. Maybe this is wrong.
And I felt, sorry, we love Kyle. Yawn.
If you yawn while you're singing, that's your Michael McDonald impression. And it's pretty effective.
Okay. Okay Beautiful, beautiful Doobie Brothers So who's Travis Kelsey? So Travis Kelsey is a football player, he is boyfriend.
No, who's he in the sketch? A know. Who's Taylor Swift again? She is a singer.
She's girlfriend to Travis Kelsey. These are great parts for them.
Go ahead. So Travis Kelsey ends up playing this thing that Pedro was.
It was me and James Austin Johnson. The sketch goes to air with Travis, but Pedro was in it originally.
That's the week we happened to write it. And he plays a man named Sucre, a name I'm obsessed with from Prison Break, one of my favorite TV shows.
There was a guy. Sucre.
Sucre, yeah, which I believe means Spanish. It means sugar in Spanish.
It means sugar in Spanish. So anyway, they were up against each other in a sense.
It kind of panned out that because Pedro's episode was so, so, so strong, we're talking killer, killer, killer, sketch after killer. This sketch with him, I don't remember what it ultimately, family song, family meeting, family meeting is what it's called.
It was Pedro. It was great.
It actually did really well at dress. Okay.
And so after the meeting, the, the big meeting, the Saturday 10 o'clock meeting PM meeting, um, that one is still in the show as is Lisa from Temecula, but they're back to back basically like commercial break between them. And it's like, we always know you go into dress rehearsal with a longer show than you have time for generally speaking.
And so something's going to get cut for time on air. And sometimes that cut for time thing ends up on the internet, on YouTube.
And sometimes it's just like, no, that sketch is cut and you're going to have to try it again. It came down to family meeting and Lisa and family meeting absolutely proved itself at dress rehearsal.
I was in it. I helped write it.
It's also something I loved and was passionate about. And Pedro was so great in it.
And ultimately family meeting got cut in favor of Lisa at the end of the show. But I remember I was sure Lisa wasn't going for how built up it had been all week and for how crappy it was at dress.
And so Tom Broker comes up to me, my quick change costume, who is my, you know, people are scared of Tom and I find it fascinating because he's my closest, closest person. He was there when I was there.
Yeah. I had not seen him in years.
And then I was just pouring my heart out to him. Just, just seeing him and you start, the dress just you're throwing back well that's i i was just saying that to a new cast member too i go i don't know what it is something about i said when i first got here i feel like desonel i was quite i don't want to say kg is not the word it's the first thing that comes to mind it's not the right word but for the sake of being concise um kg and like somehow i found a lot to Tom though.
And I go, is it because I'm in a closet with you with all these clothes and something, but there's some intimacy about this. Yeah.
He's yeah. And I was like, I would, I would talk to him though and tell him basically everything, but Tom comes up to me and goes, get dressed for Lisa.
And I kind of, is that how you found out? Yes. Yes.
And it was like, right before we were about were about to do it and I mean I had to get dressed in 60 seconds because I was sure that wasn't going and he goes get dressed and I and this is just self-protective okay because at that point I had been I'd been heartbroken if you will and I was like this is crazy to build up to have that then go that way and so much was out control. And it wasn't a matter of performance.
And I don't even know that I feel the audience got to see the sketch because all the technicalities. I feel like I'm not a big eye roller, but I like to say, and he and I are very close.
I feel like I rolled my eyes and I go, really? Because I was so hurt. I was like, I can't believe.
And I go,

so what?

It can be a throwaway sketch now in my mind.

And I didn't say that part,

but I think that's what was going on.

I was like at the end of the night.

Oh,

okay.

Really?

But you lost confidence in it.

I lost confidence.

Yeah.

And I was just,

and that's what that little,

we're so close in it.

And he probably didn't even read it as attitude,

but I try to say generally positive.

I just remember going really. And then going in the, did you almost attitude.
But I try to stay generally positive. I just remember going, really?

And then going in the quick change. Did you almost want to do the one that worked?

Damn it, David.

That is such a good question.

Because I think about it.

Oh, everything would just be so different for me.

It's wild to think that.

If they said you pick.

Yeah. No, this thing went very viral.'s millions millions of youtube but you know if she got to pick she might say just i just want one to work just give me i just want one to work we know that one worked and fuck it i don't know i'm and i'm kind of salty and pissed and hurt about this other thing and so fuck it and to i'm glad it wasn't up to me because i'm yeah i i might have picked family meeting which would mean a very different trajectory for me because i think lisa from temecula not to be haughty at all but one i had so much fun doing it but two i think it's the moment people were like oh she's a really fun sketch performer and then people who listen to me on comedy bang bang that podcast which is scottckerman Scotty Scotty Ox um know me to be insane but I don't think up until Lisa up until Lisa everyone has just considered me this like very polished listen I like to look nice guys but I'm an insane person in real life and I do comedy because I'm wild and kooky and I might look like I'm put together and in ways I am but like my sense my comedic sensibility I think is like been largely reflected on comedy bang bang and those fans when Lisa from Temecula happened goes that's the ego I know who's been on this podcast for all these years that's where we've been waiting to see that on SNL um and so I'm glad it worked out how it did because I think for the first time, a broader, the larger audience could say, oh, that's her comedy.
There's something to point to that it's like when Debbie Downer happens, just there's some now and then that blow up and it's very hard to get something to kind of blow up. It's so hard.
Even if it's a good sketch, it doesn't mean it. It's just sometimes they kind of hit and you go, go oh people are coming up and asking about this now though so something works there yeah go ahead so unique i just think you landed it so perfectly just watching it a couple hours ago um and you drove it so well so yeah i could see that would be like a storm making moment because you were just just on fire uh as a character landing line after line he just wants butt or is it because we're black or whatever you kept landing these lines that was like beautiful and also and you know that was my i'm in my seventh that was my fifth season fourth season um and i think fifth.
But I had been leading up to that. That was February.
The place is frustrating for all of us, no matter what time you think we're having. Understatement of the fucking year.
I call it emotionally violent. You know what? That's probably really accurate.
That's accurate. And it's really frustrating.
And I think I'm a pretty strong person. And I don't actually look for the world to be fair.
I'm the youngest of four. I was explaining this to someone.
I'm the youngest of four. My mom is a doctor.
She would bring candy home that like pharmaceutical sales reps would bring the doctors in the office, which is maybe its own fucked up thing that they bribe doctors that way, but whatever. I'm not here to comment on that.
But she would bring home candy or whatever, like sweet treats the pharmacy, pharmaceutical reps would bring. And I was the last, I was always the, I got to pick last.
Like, so my oldest brother would get his dibs first because he's the oldest. Then my sister, cause she's second.
Then my brother ahead of me and then me last. And we never changed the order for equity ever.

And I was just like,

yeah,

I'm the youngest and I'm going to get the last pick.

So I don't,

when Lauren talks,

Lauren talks to me sometimes about the show being fair and how it's not

fair.

And I go,

I am not rich,

not fair.

I'm like,

I'm the last person looking for fair in here.

I don't think I grew up with the most fair.

My life was,

I don't know that it was fair.

You know,

I go,

I had that happen with my dad and I came back from SNL and said, he said, why are you down about it? I go, I just, it doesn't seem like it's fair. And he goes, who told you it was going to be fair? I go, well, nobody, but shouldn't things just be fair? And he's like, I wouldn't guess that place would be that fair.
I'm telling you that fair is one of the most loaded words in the English

language. And I've heard people use it like it's not fair.

If they win the lottery, so to speak, it's just not fair.

And your dad was prescient and wise.

Yes, I think so. Absolutely.

And I just had someone in the talent department two weeks ago told me,

they said,

my mom said I'd be having a better time here if i just accept it wasn't fair they said you're having a better time you're at the best place you can be in comedy and it's the fucking hardest you're like why this should be going better that's what i always thought i'm god damn it's so but you know you don't have a sense of it hiatus is really nice because you get to go out in the world and go oh someone more than recognizes me because that's whatever but goes oh i love that thing you do or like you're my favorite yeah and you go okay because you inside of it have no sense of whatever impact you're making or more importantly like if anything you're doing is even fucking register or translating no into anything tell you can truly cannot tell and you don't even leave the building most that until no we're there i don't people ask me how do you like living in new york and i go i don't live in new york i work in new york i don't know i don't know where i am i go from my apartment to 30 rock and you're not outside for just 12 14 hours at a time. No, I'm like, I don't know what I don't know where I am.
I go from my apartment to 30 Rock. You're not outside for just 12, 14 hours at a time.
No, I don't know anything about New York. I know where 30 Rock is and the new eateries in the basement there, the concourse.
I know that's my version of New York. But that experience with Lisa was so affirming as a performer.
I didn't know. I certainly, it's so crazy how the goalposts change for you to when you're a cast member there.
My first season, it was like, can I get a sketch on? Cool. You don't even have a concept.
So when that rundown comes out at midnight on Saturday morning or 11 45 PM on Friday that we're talking about, you're not like, oh, mine's first of the night or it's last of the night. Oh shit.
Like you, everything I had described to you a little bit ago about the meeting and the host and it meant nothing to me. My first season, I had no concept of it.
I just was like, I have a sketch in cool. Um, and then as you, you spend more time there, you start to understand how the system works and what everything sort of means or represents.

You're like, oh, well, then I want that.

I want to have that version of it.

And that's fucked.

And I just have to say.

I love that word.

Someone I know just got engaged in it.

Oh, boy.

It's a big one.

It's the next step in a relationship.

And that's why they have a thing called an engagement ring.

What was the Beyonce song? You should have put a ring on it. Oh yeah.
Pay attention to that. And we know how you can get a nice ring, right? You go to Blue Nile.
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It's all very confusing, but you need someone to help walk you through it.

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It is confusing, but they make it simple is what I'm going to say. Yeah, you go there and they clear it up because I don't know what I'm doing.

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Yeah, I think when you're trying to hire someone, there's a lot of different things you're looking for, but you want them to kind of have your aesthetic, your sensibility, if you were. You could look up those words, David.
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Terms and conditions do apply. A sketch early in read-through I never knew was, you call it table, but my first week I handed one and it was fourth and they were like, that's good.
I'm like, why is that good? And they go, you don't want it at the very end you don't want unless it's the very last sketch sometimes people wake up for that but once you go there we used to do like an hour and a half then have like a little break and you need to wake people up then you another hour and a half or so and that second half was just death those first 10 get the most attention that when I was there I don't know if it's the same thing but that's something I never knew it's true it's when you it's the same thing now um another thing I didn't realize until like my third fourth season where I was having a really good time and Anna Dresden and I were just like having the collaborative experience of our dreams but a lot of our sketches would be okay you do the they would read like the monologue and then the cold open. And then our sketch would be the next one up.
But I felt, and that was like a few weeks in a row and I go pretty damn cool, pretty cool. But then when that stops happening, you're like, oh no, but I want that again.
That thing that I didn't even know was a thing. Now I want that.
And I feel its absence and I'm chasing that again for no reason but i i was telling someone last season i go i actually don't fuck with my sketch being too too early let's get like three four read before mine i'm like i don't want it to be the very first sketch proper because sometimes the host is not though they've read their monologue they're not warmed up up. They're not quite understanding how it goes.
And yes, you can have prepped them beforehand a little bit and have that little conversation with them about what your piece is and kind of what you're expecting and hoping them to do in their performance. But I'm like, I need, I want the host warmed up by the time we get to my sketch.
And I do think it's just human nature to kind of, I say, eighth or ninth, and you follow a sketch that was pretty weak. You wouldn't want to follow a Chris Farley banger.
Here's my thing. I don't think I have a hot take on this.
Not weak, because I feel like it's going to be hard to make the chart. It's going to be hard to get them back going again.
Granted, if you do get them going after a really weak one, you go, Oh, this is probably going to get, make it to dress rehearsal. Cause that, that really took us from zero to something.
But I'm like, I want it to have done pretty well, like just not a banger, not a banger before me, but just pretty well. You really have, you really have this show down.
I mean, I'm, I'm, we've interviewed a lot of people, but this has been, it's stuff I'm learning. Yeah.
I'm remembering again. Yeah.
I'm insane though. And is the truth.
And I overthink, I don't know if it's overthinking because it's just the way my brain works. And I have tried, I'm like, I should sedate myself a little bit more, but my brain is like clocking a thousand, which is why I go, am I the right person for this job or the exact wrong person? Because I wish I was just like a touch more ignorant, like where I go back to that first year version of the cast member.
It was just like, I don't want to sketch on all I know is let's try to get a sketch on. And now no one has explained any of this shit to me, but I've slowly picked up on it myself over years like and this means that and that's that and i go it's probably giving me a headache and breaking my heart more than it needs to be you know when you do something like the lisa sketch do you and you've you've seen i'd been there dana's been when you see someone do something like that but you haven't done it yet it's, it's sort of interesting to say, what is that like when it kind of blows up? And then you got in one.
So it's like another level of endorphins where you're like, oh, this is what it's like when something really hits. It's so fun, but no wonder everyone chases it because it's like, God, I want to do another one of these.
Or I want to do something else that works like that on that level.

Yeah.

It was like drugs.

And I say there's so much that feels like drugs.

There was a season I had.

So again, I'm in my seventh season.

There's a season there where my expectation for what they would allow me to do at SNL,

just being the seventh Black woman in the history of the show, was pretty, I don't want

to say low, but tempered.

I think I'm a good performer. I think I'm a confident performer.
I know my comedic voice. But I also know I was stepping into an establishment with that history.
And it's a machine of its own. And I'm one person.
And so I was like, my goal felt pretty limited there. And then to have had these experiences, I'm like, yeah, you get the drugs in your system.
So like when I said, I'm like my third season, I feel like Kate was away shooting maybe Tiger King at the time. And 80 was away doing shrill the final season.
And I can't remember where Cecily was and they were letting me do every fucking thing. And I was having a ball.
And it was interesting because I didn't realize, so we were also in COVID times then. So the world was still shut down, but we were back in studio, not the at-home episodes.
And I remember getting really upset because I wanted to do this update that kept killing. And I kept going, it's me as myself talking about dating, current dating.
We don't have a dating representative and we still don't have a dating correspondent on the show. And I want to talk about it.
And that's my third season. So all these seasons ago, and it killed, right? I wrote it on my own, killed.
They had someone else more junior to me do a thing that didn't kill that then went on to dress or maybe even made to air and didn't kill okay they're like wait your turn we're trying to give this person a shot i go okay not how it worked for me but that's fine salute right that's fine um then i go okay now this piece could live again this is feels topical maybe it was like valentine's day i don't know but i go okay i to submit it again. Hard to do because they've already heard these jokes, this whole table read audience, right? But I go, one thing about me, guys, if I'm going to resubmit a sketch, I want you to know, and writers who have to work with me on this, I'm sure detest me, but I go, we're rewriting the whole thing.
Every joke is brand new. Oh, really? Oh, yes.
I do not believe it. And so I'm not, let me be honest.
I'm not resubmitting a ton because of that, because I go, unless we're going to be really rewriting it. And listen, if it makes it to dress, let's take it back to the original one, but we have to earn these laughs at table and make people go, oh, this is funny again.
I have a story about a resubmit, a couple of them, but this is one. But that dating piece, I ended up rewriting, kept my strongest two jokes, but I was like, great, I'll give you more.
I'll give you more. I'll give you different jokes.
I really want to do this piece. I believe in this piece.
I believe people will enjoy this. It kills at table again, like kills harder the second time.
Um, and they don't, they, they aren't picking it, but I sense, cause I also know how to, I can, I have like a third eye. I'm like, people keep, I was shooting a pre-tape that was me centric in a me piece.
And they go, somebody was like, how's the tape going on a Friday? I go, no one's ever texted me about how pre-tapes going. I was like, hmm.
And then someone else was like, when are you back at 30 Rock? And I was like, they must have had a meeting about how we're not going to do that update. And they know I am going to speak up about it.
Oh, yeah. And I go, and everyone's doing a little temperature check before I get to 30 Rock.

And I go, mm-hmm.

You really are perceptive.

I am.

I have to say.

I was like, this is weird.

How's the tape going?

I was like, I've never, what's going on?

So sure enough, they were not going to let me do the update.

And they sure enough, we're doing a temperature check.

And it was like, because it was crass, it's very crass.

And I guess... We're not going to let me do the update.
And they sure enough, we're doing a temperature check. And it was like, because it was crass is very crass.

And I guess,

and it was sort of like,

that's why.

Yes.

It was pretty crass.

And it was like,

if you do it as a character,

but as a go,

we don't want necessarily a go telling those jokes,

but the character could tell those jokes.

And I go, it was not and I go it was not crash

it was not crash but here's the thing yes she is here's the thing yes she is if you but this

it's sort of like that comedy bang bang thing where I'm like that's a podcast I what I love

about that podcast and when I started doing it was before SNL and randomly because someone I

know had to drop out and they recommended me and now it's a thing I do no one knows what I look like

the first time I do that I was the first episode was like Sarah Silverman no one knows what I look

like they don't know if I'm put together or not they don't know anything about me they don't know

me from Adam I get to be as insane as I want and do the kind of characters that I enjoy doing but

similar to that update situation was like if as a character maybe but not I'm not our ego telling

I think... do the kind of characters that I enjoy doing.
But similar to that update situation was like, if as a character, maybe, but not, I'm not our ego telling jokes like that. And I'm like, did you switch it? No, I never did it because I was like, I never did it.
And I, I, cause I was like, I don't really want, I don't, I don't want to do it that way.

I don't want to do it as a character. I don't even know what that character would be, frankly, if I'm honest.

And so I'm like, I don't even know what that is.

But Mikey and I had this like great sketch last season that we,

we wrote once it killed at table kill.

I won't say did really, really well at table.

It's different energy than I played at the show.

And then the host pulled a sort of like, I don't what i'm doing and so great it goes away and so it made it to dress and then it goes away um even though it did pretty well dress and then we rewrote it we resubmit it right they were like you should bring it back we love that character for you and we resubmit it and i was like i did that thing i do where i go oh honey it's not only done well at table and played at table it's gone to dress we have to rewrite this sketch it can still be the same but every joke is going to be different my name is a different joke everything's different and it killed harder the second time at table read so they've got this this group of people have already seen at table, seen it at dress, seen it at run through, seen it at blocking.

And it kills harder with this rewrite.

And Steve Higgins, one of the producers of the show, comes up to me and Mike and was like, I think that's the first time I've ever seen a rewrite be better at table.

But that's my rule, though.

I'm sort of like, I don't take anything for granted.

I don't think, I don't know that I'm, I think there are people, this is, is this right to say, whatever that get like gratuitous laughs at table. Like, I do think there are people that get gratuitous laughs and I'm like, I am.
There's favorites. There are.
And I'm not assuming I'm one. And so I'm like, we have to rewrite.
If we are going to be resubmitting something, let's not expect that people are going to go, oh, love that. And I'm like, let's rewrite.
Do you not want eye rolls of people going, how do we go again? Is that kind of? It's because, well, no, it's not even the eye roll. Yes, the eye roll, but I'm like, they're not going to laugh.
They're not going to laugh. They already heard it.
And even if they like me and are, in theory, rooting for me to any extent. It's hard to laugh twice.
You're right. It's hard to legitimately, naturally laugh twice.
You can, but it cannot do what it did, I don't think. And the host sees that, the new host, and goes, did that do that good? You know, because they're like, well, and if they say it's a resubmit, they go, why didn't they want to do it?

Uh-huh. Exactly.
That gets in an ugly conversation. Exactly.
And so I'm like, let's take nothing for granted. If we're having an opportunity to read it again, let's not assume the room's going to be kind and warm about it because they're rooting for us to get to do it again.
Let's not assume the host is going to be someone they can convince to do something that did okay at table. and so I've had when it's time to resubmit things i do i have had writers just kind of be like this bitch wants to rewrite this bitch wants to rewrite the fucking sketch i'm like well we read it we read it um if it's something we haven't read i'm like yeah let's just check let's do a casual check for the jokes but I'm like and we read it already we got to rewrite it and so um i some have said some who i remember my second season being like do i need to like work harder what's the deal taking a meeting with a producer and they were like no one here thinks you need to work on you know well that's that's showing that grinding because the fact you don't need to do that and sometimes it just buzzes through without big laughs but they go we're going to try it again but you're actually trying to earn some more laughs from it is yeah yeah it's still the puzzle we all play with and it doesn't matter where you're at in your life or career if you're a comedian how do you do you set up the exposition, land the laugh, have it be escalatory, get out of that big laugh, have it have performance, have it have going full circle, just that table moving.
And I always say funny with the sound off guy in a bar looks up and would laugh because it keeps getting to the point of ridiculousness and everyone no one at the table is going what the fuck's with the steak and getting up and walking away yeah i mean they don't say anything and the tension of that is just allows you to laugh so hard and of course your character is the driving force of that sketch but anyway so that's all you could do if it's your first season seven season just try to solve the puzzle and just make it funnier it was tread water stay line yeah it was really cool that that experience was so special because i had been like by that time in the season too just kind of honey i don't know what they want from me at this point because lauren does a thing too where he's like new move we've seen you do that before like so we want to see you do something different so you start to be like well this is my comedic voice right like this is my voice these are the kinds of people i think are funny and you're telling me like before he seasons in like something else and i'm like oh okay but it's funny because i don't think lisa's some grand departure from what I've done previously but there's this physicality to it but um yeah it's uh that one was by that time in the season I was sort of like I don't honey I don't know what they want and I'm at a loss and so when I did when Alex and Gary said they had this piece for me I would have like I said normally been and where does it go from it? Let's actually talk this through. But I was like, if these, these dudes think they have a piece, great.
I'm going to let them go off and write it. Cause I write as well, some too.
And so I sometimes want to get in there and I'm like, listen, it's I'm going to, this is their baby. But then once we got to, when was it like the, cause we're black.
I've seen people go like, did you improvise that? I improvised it not on air and not at dress rehearsal. I think on Friday at blocking or something, I was like, I feel like she should say something right here.
It's actually kind of funny if she says, cause we're black, given the only other black person here is punky. And the person who's approached them is black.
And then there were these moments that I was like, I think this needs a line here or she should say this. So then it became collaborative on the backend, which was really cool.
And I hadn't really had that experience yet where it's like, yes, you wrote this for me and it's such a gift. And now we both get to meld our minds at this stage of the process where it's okay.
It's in the show, at least to dress let's try to like make it as, as good as we can. And here's my thoughts as the person performing.
Maybe she says this as well. Maybe she does this in the real performance.
I had a lot of joy because I did, I just had no expectations of it. So too, when I think about like if it had moved up in the night, right, if it had killed it dressing and it's second of the night or something like that, how free of a performer would I have been in that regard? I did not expect to do the sketch.
So when I hurried and put on my clothes to do that. You're like, what's this one again? Yes.
Legitimately, I was like, I've kind of started to block it out of my head and scrub it from my memory because it was such a flop. But then I put on the writers didn't even get to find me to tell me they like cut out a whole middle of the sketch so there's a moment where i like pause there's a moment of air if you're really paying attention in it and it's someone else was supposed to have a line in the original version but in the like last minute you guys are doing it we and you need to cut out x number of pages they cut out this whole chunk and then i realized like okay yeah they never came to tell me if anything was cut out.
And I was like, I heard silence for a little longer than I wanted. And I was like, oh, and then I improvised what, what, and then said my line.
But I was free in that performance. Cause I was like, I had no expectation at this point when the steak fell, that was like, I didn't, they gave me the hardest steak they'd given yet.
I genuinely couldn't cut through it and it fell. So then I was like, what do I do?

I guess I'll pick it up with my fingers and suck on it.

Cause I know I have a line about how good it tastes,

but I haven't been able to cut off a piece.

So all these moments,

the chair falls and because Pedro is so warm and just to,

you,

you feel connected to him.

I was like,

I think I can put my leg on my foot on him.

If it had been a host who was kind of off,

like standoffish,

I don't know that I would have felt comfortable doing that.

But yeah,

Thank you. I think I can put my leg on my foot on him.
If it had been a host who was kind of off, like standoffish, I don't know that I would have felt comfortable doing that, but yeah, all the pieces it's kind of magical. And then you do want to replicate something like that.
Right. And have another Lisa.
That's the thing you're chasing. Yeah.
But she can't, it doesn't work that way. It doesn't.
You didn't even see that one coming. I was out of the blue.
Yeah. But that makes every week kind of fun because someone might write.
And if someone writes for you, that's a gift too. Just someone.
Huge. If they seek you out after the sketch, if there's time during the commercial break, it's kind of nice.
If you collaborate with a writer and you're both kind of celebrating just for a second. Yeah, it's fun.
Yeah, it's really nice. That's a very sweet moment each time where you go, oh my goodness, we did it and we did something together and it worked.

And then you hope, but what's sick about it

is that then you go, all right,

Tuesday writing night is a couple of days away

and you go to work on Monday

and kind of what you did on Saturday means nothing.

I know, it just, it's over.

Tissue in a fireplace, just.

There we go.

What do you got this week?

Literally, and now you go, you got this week? Literally.

And now you go, what about last week?

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We do want to ask about your new podcast because it's out now this week. It's out.
It's out. There are several episodes.
Thanks, Dad dad it is out wherever people get their podcasts i'm having i was raised by a single mom i don't have a relationship with my dad as i say i'm not gonna have one with him because turns out he died last summer guys so um which is okay and and dana's giving me thumbs up no i didn't that was the the funniest thing i've ever seen somehow there's a say that it's like it's unreal i'm so sorry and then the worst possible timing my dad is dead and dana's emoji thumbs up came up and i was completely on uh we love a dead dad but no very odd morning thanks dad so this is a podcast working through these issues or it's what is it? It's not, it's what I basically invite guests to be my dad for the day. And I get to ask them questions.
I've always want to ask a dad. And so things like, how do I know if the guy I'm dating is the right one for me? What do I look out for when I'm buying a car? Tell me about like buying property.
What, what's, what's, what are some tips you have in that regard? And so they give me dad advice. I get to hear about my guests as fathers themselves or parents themselves.
And I get to then hear what their dads were like. And so we have this lovely, vulnerable, fun conversation, but it's, it's, it's light.
It's light. It's vulnerable.
It's fun. It's all the things.
I feel Mikey's episode, which is out in the world, starts with him saying, I didn't realize you didn't have a relationship with your dad. And I'm like, yeah, I don't really seem like a girl who doesn't have a dad.
And so I'm trying to, and then he's like, well, what does that mean to seem like a girl who doesn't have a dad? And I go, you know that's why you thought i had a dad and so it's fun we're having a good time interesting we're having a good time yeah but it's adam palais is was on your show but you also do you're also in that show with mr throwback right yes mr throwback with adam palais steph curry um it's on peacock Aiden Meiery a bunch of really great people um casp who i know a little bit yeah he's true angel the creators are so fun so funny um the lidman brothers matthew and daniel it was a dream that was so much fun and that there was some improv on there very passionate about improv over here true nerd i'm i'm introducing improv to the Baltimore city school curriculum by way of my high school Spanish teacher. And so I don't, I mean, I love it too.
And I don't even a little bit of it. I don't think anything beats the performer discovering something new live in real time and improv allows that.
So they're taking, it's popping in your head. I'm going to do gonna do electric when you see improv it's like that's what uh brando did he broke down the whole thing he didn't want to know the script he put it in the ceiling or in an orange or he just get it at that moment just to get in order yeah the godfather i can't remember he had he had the script everywhere i think he was feeling it but uh that's love improv.
And I think just a little bit of it, when that sketches turn a little lively, something happens or people are a little playful. It kind of does all that.
But it's like trying to catch the wind. That's what I say.
Always. You're a blast to talk to.
Thanks for talking to us. You gave us so smart and such inside baseball.
No one has given us, we've had these great guests. You've been the most detailed about the emotional ride and the logistical ride of that show.
So pretty fun to talk to. It's fun.
It's like it's thrown back there. I was thrown back.
I wanted to, thank you both so much for having me on. I wanted to ask you so many questions about your time and now I'm going to have to force you to get dinner with me or a drink and be my dad's guys.
I don't have a dad. So, um, I'll be your dad.
Dana, you know, Dana's answer to that. Thumbs up dead dad.
We love that. Yeah.
How do you know if the guy you're dating is the one? Is that? Yes. Yeah.
That's your first dinner question. That's the first dinner question.
You can think on it and get back to me. But yeah, turns out.
Well, if I can visit Dana, I'll come visit you too. Smart sense of humor, kindness.
Kindness. Kindness is key.
Smart sense of humor and kindness. is key smart sense of humor and kindness okay definitely kindness smart sense of humor kindness I'm going to write it down thank you thank you and it's very nice to meet you great pleasure and I will see you soon I'll put it that way Dana will see you okay see you soon okay bye bye this has been a presentation of Odyssey.
Please follow, subscribe, leave a like, a review, all the stuff, smash that button, whatever

it is, wherever you get your podcasts.

Fly on the Wall is executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Jenna Weiss-Berman

of Odyssey, and Heather Santoro.

The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman.