Ike Barinholtz

Hi everyone, this is Amy Poehler. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang.
We have the great

Ike Barinholtz joining us today. Ike is a hilarious, warm, funny mountain of a man that I met back in

Chicago many years ago, and I work with him on the movie Sisters. You might know him from the Mindy

Project. We did a satirical podcast together called the Chris Chapman Do-Over, where he played a

podcast host that, well, is not great. He wasn't great, but he was trying his best.
He's the co-creator of a great new show called Running Point with Mindy Kaling. And he is the star of The Studio, which is out now on Apple.
And we're going to talk to him about that. Ike is amazing.
And as always, we like to take a minute before we start to talk about people that know Ike or might know Ike's work and want to talk to me about questions they think I should ask him. So let's get on Zoom and let's talk to two queens, Emily Spivey, writer at SNL, and Catherine Hahn, actress and hot bitch extraordinaire.
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So, how is your day going?

What's going on with you?

Where are you right now and how has your day been so far? Well, I'm in my car. But it's getting hotter and hotter, which is great.
I just got my eyebrows done. Ooh.
And that's how much I love Ike, is that I'm showing up in this face. And Spivey, where are you talking to us from? I'm in North Carolina.
Everything's fine. I'm still getting over that Fococca flu.
The SNL COVID flu. Right.
The scourge that we all got at the plaza. I blame Lin-Manuel Miranda.
I feel like he was patient zero. Because everywhere I went, I saw him.
All right, well, we'll get to Ike because you both have worked with him in various ways. And I'm going to talk to him and interview him in just a few minutes.
He's going to be so happy, by the way, that you did this, so thank you. What I love is his, like, his enthusiasm, the way he falls in love with the project and just has its back from the beginning.
Like, I just love how he is so fricking loyal and faithful to the thing that he's doing, that it really inspires everybody else to like be as enthusiastic. Also, there's never a, he never lets the ball drop in any conversation.
Like if it's an awkward table, he will keep it up. Like the vibration is very high with Ike Barinholtz.
It's a very high vibration human being, I think. Whenever I've worked with him and he played a character on a show that I did, he was the biggest cheerleader.
Just a positive joy bomb all the time. Brought so much to the role.
Helped really develop this character. And then was completely so supportive and positive the whole time.
Showed up for every event. Just an absolute gentleman, funny joy bomb.
I mean, what a delight. And I thank him for that because that was a show that I had created and was running.
And he really helped with my confidence. Like, I would find myself going, oh, thank God Ike's going to be there today.
Like, okay, good. Ike, be fucking God.
You're a God among men. Hansi, by the way, if you have in any way turned off your AC, feel free to turn it on.
Oh, thank you so much. What if you just see me just slump to the side? And did you see the roof? And Polar and I are trying to guess which parking structure you're in.
Oh, God. What structure is she in? The song beating down from above.

L.A., baby. There it is.

L.A.'s so bright.

L.A. is too bright.

Yeah, we're just using context

clues from her window to try

to figure out where she is.

Where is she? God, is that a Vons?

No, it's a Gelsen.

I mean, I first was really introduced to him.

I know he had such a huge body of work before this, but was on your podcast, Amy. That character that he played on with Dr.
Sheila was so freaking brilliant. Like so dropped in.
I really dig it. I also dig his height and his father.
Yes. Yes, his height and his father.
He's a tall gentleman. And he also has a dad who is new to the biz that we're going to talk about today.
That's right. I just want to clarify, you're talking about a show called The Chris Chapman Do-Over, which is on Odyssey, a podcast that we produced as well as a great podcast that Emily Spivey is the star of called Women Talking About Murder.

And they were both with the great Liz Krakowski. And Liz and I also made the Chris Chapman do-over with our producer Jenna here.
And those are two great examples of like our love of podcasts and us trying to do comedic versions of styles that we love. And in the one that Ike did, Ike plays one of those guys who can't get it right.
And so he has to keep apologizing for the thing he said the week before. And Ike was so good at playing a guy who was trying to learn from his mistakes, but who had hot takes and he had to say them.
So good.

Such a good character. Okay.
So the last question I'll ask and let you guys go. Thank you so much for this.
Is I'm talking to Ike and what do you think I should ask him? How are his girls? How is it being, how is it being a girl dad? Because that's something I really always admired too, is the fact, because he has three girls, right? Three girls, yes. Which I think is so cute.
Yes. Him and his wife, Erica, are awesome and awesome parents.
And yeah, Spivey, you and I have boys.

So it feels very different. Well, yeah, I thank God I had a boy.
If I had a girl, I'd be completely like half crazy. I wouldn't know what to do.
I'm sure you know this, but I would love to know what in the birth order in his family, where he falls and how that influenced him as a comedian and where that all started from for him. Wait, what is everyone's birth order on this call? Where are you and your fam? I'm oldest of three and I have two younger brothers.
I'm the oldest and then I have a younger sister, but people think that I'm the youngest a lot because my sister is so responsible and seems like an adult. And I guess I don't seem like that.
Amy, you always seem like the oldest in your family. I am the oldest.
So I have to say, because I am. I'm older than my parents.
I know. That's what people don't realize about Polar.
She's weirdly older than both her parents. But Ike is the oldest in his family.
I know that's, that's what people don't realize about Polar. She's weirdly older.
I'm weirdly older than my parents,

but Ike is the oldest in his family.

I know that.

And his younger brother is also an actor.

So it's,

it's just two brothers.

And his dad.

And now his dad.

That's something I would love to hear about what that is.

And also I feel like they all live here.

So he has these huge Sunday dinners with everybody all the time.

And it feels like,

it just feels so wholesome over there.

Thank you. that is and also i feel like they all live here so he has these huge sunday dinners with everybody all the time and it feels like it just feels so wholesome over there that just kind of like a sunday roast with all your relatives coming over like it sounds like i mean it's so far from what my sundays my family spread out all over the country but um i always feel like a tenderness towards that.
It feels really sweet.

I love a man who likes to eat.

I don't trust a man who doesn't eat.

No, it's weird.

Me either.

Okay, well, have fun talking to Ike.

I can't wait to hear it.

Thanks, and I can't wait to have you guys on this too

and so that we get to talk well about you

behind your backs too.

Okay, love y'all. Miss you.
All right, love you guys. Good to see you, Han.
Before I pass out. I can't.
I can't. Thank you.
And then. Oh, no.
There she goes. Oh, no.
She wowed. I know.
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Wait, Ike, look at the, um, the, um... The fake food? Fake food.
This is all my personal collection. You are one of the great collectors of fake food in North America.
Wait, um, this is the fake food. This is fake food for my house.
Oh, my God. Look at the garlic.
Fake garlic. I'm obsessed with this tiny Nutri-Grain.
Can I have one? Oh, really? Why don't you open it up? Wow, there's actually a... There's a weird Japanese Nutri-Grain thing in there.
I can't prove this, but I feel that the people who make these are perverts. You know, I mean, there's something mildly perverted about it in a good way.
Oh, you know what? Can we talk about that? You know that we have a theory that there's a difference between pervert and creep. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. Perverts can be great.
Agree. Some of our greatest Americans have been perverts.
FDR, hands down the best president. Huge pervert.
This is exactly why I wanted you here. We've got Ike Derenholtz, and we're off to the races.
But to your point, perverts can be good. Creeps almost always are bad.
Yeah. And perverts, you know, people are so afraid of creeps that I think they can overcorrect and they can scoop up perverts.

Yes.

When they should just scoop up the creep.

Welcome back to Justice for Perverts.

When I hear the word pervert, I go like this.

Like for those people that are listening and not watching, I just get a little smile on my face like a little pervert. A little pervert.
Sweet little pervert. You know, someone who's just like, I don't know, doing their thing.
Again, consensual adults. Consensual adults.
Everyone's into it. Sitting on cakes and they all like whatever they like to do.
No kink shame. I do not kink shame.
I might kink shame a little bit just because it's a waste of a delicious cake. Okay.
That's right because you love food. I love food.
I take it very seriously. And when I see someone sitting in it and touching themselves, I'm just thinking like someone really put love into that cake and spent time baking.
But to your point, I love a good pervert. Creeps, no thank you.
No thank you. And it's kind of like good art.

Like you know it when you see it.

You know the difference between a pervert and a creep.

Do you think that we have a higher tolerance for perverts because of our age?

I think that's a generational thing.

I think the younger generations don't have as much love for perverts.

But they're young.

You'll get there, guys.

Get there, guys.

Give us a chance.

I can also tell you this. Sometimes perverts can become creeps.
A hundred percent. I had a friend who I loved, and he had a dad who I actually liked a lot.
But I remember going to their house as a kid, and the dad had Playboys in the bathroom. And I was like, amazing.
This is the greatest thing in the world. And then his parents got divorced.
And then the next time I went over there, he had Hustler under there.

It's getting worse. And then you're like, ugh.

Because Playboy, you're like, when you're a, whatever, eight-year-old boy, you're like, this is great.

Hustler, you're like, that's pee.

We're talking about pee now, which is not great for a young man.

I think what you're trying to say is that every creep started as a pervert, but not every pervert becomes a creep. Could not be more well said.
I believe it was Mark Twain who first coined that phrase. Yeah, you said that to me at the Mark Twain Awards.
When we gave each other awards at the Mark Twain Awards. I whispered and I hugged you and said, congratulations.
How's my hair piece, by the way? You look incredible, Ike. This got woven into my head this morning.
It looks gorgeous. So it's a little, yeah.
What kind of glue do you use on that? This is just good old Elmer's. Good old Elmer's.
Picked up at right age. You know, paste it on there.
It's a glue stick, though. So it's not like, I don't have white glue all over my head.
Do you like wearing wigs, by the way? No, I hate it because I have like seven hairs left in my head. You do not.
Well, yeah. But whenever they pull them out, like the clips, it just – that hair comes out.
You worry. I'm like – Yeah.
I have so much fake hair in my head right now, and it's wild. Like if I took it all out right now and laid it on the table, it would look like a regular person's hair.
But I need so much fake hair to look like I have even normal hair. You are a great wig wearer though.
Like when you used to like old UCB, SNL sketches, you really wore a wig better than anyone. Better than anyone in this whole town.
Well, let's get really get started. Yes.
Okay, let's be real and get this interview started. Let's be real.
Ike Barinholtz is here. Ike, we met when and where? We met in, I can tell you, pretty much like the exact year.
It was like 1996. I had just started taking classes at ImprovOlympic, which was your former theater.
And you guys had just left like five months before I started to go start UCB. Maybe it was a year, but whatever.
You guys had left and UCB was already kind of like the cool thing. And I remember they were like, hey, there's Amy Poehler and Matt Bessler coming back to teach a workshop at ImprovOlympic at like 11 a.m.
on a Monday. So I had a day job and I lied to my boss.
I was like, I have the flu. And I went and no one – like for some reason it was just me and three other people.
And Matt Besser was like, yeah, we can't do this with this few amount of people. And so I remember you were like, why don't we just smoke a joint in the green room? And I was like – I did? Yeah.
So unprofessional. And I was like, this is the coolest person I've ever met in my life.
Like, I'm obsessed. This is incredible.
And then you guys came back and did the workshop. And I remember the first half of the workshop was you teaching us just getting in there and doing scenes.
And I was like, this woman is the greatest improv teacher I've ever seen in my life. Like, oh, my God, I love her.
She's the greatest. And then the second half was Besser, who was trying to teach us the Mortal Kombat form, you know? Yes.
And the group of improvisers that were doing the workshop, we were all bad. We were all, like, very young and green and trying to get – and the form wasn't going well.
I'll never forget Matt Besser. God bless him.
He goes at one point, he goes, no, I should have done something else. You said it out loud.
That's never a good sign when your teacher says out loud. Yes, yes.
But I was still like, it was such an amazing memory for me because it was really when I first immersed myself in our world. And it was always cool.
And then whenever, like, you know, I'd be at a friend's house watching Conan and you would, like, come up and do it. But I'd be like, she taught us in a workshop, smoked a joint with her.
Oh, my God. How much, how, you started when you were 18? I was 18.
Yeah, I went to college for a year at Boston University and just did not enjoy it, was not going to class, was very distracted. And I knew I wasn't going to go back.
I knew I was being drawn to acting. And I went to go randomly see the ImprovOlympics 10th anniversary show.
And I believe you guys shot a video. And I was just blown away by seeing you guys.
Saw McKay for the first time. Tim Meadows specifically was so funny in that show that I was like, I am signing up for classes tomorrow.
So that was kind of my journey from college into the improv scene. Do you ever think about finishing college? I am going to try to enroll.
Have you seen the film Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield? I'm going to try to do that. No, I, you know what? That is something that like, I just, I don't know if it is for everyone.
You know what I mean? I think college used to be, at least when I was there, it was a thing where everyone went and it was just a fait accompli that you would go to college, you would get a job and that's how it worked. And I think that's changed a little bit.
Yeah. And to me, I'm just kind of like, yeah, I don't, it's never something I was like longing for.
Yeah. You know? I mean, I just find your brain, your brain so huge.
You're a super, super smart guy. I mean, we'll get to it, but you basically won, I mean, you won Jeopardy.
I won Celebrity Jeopardy. That's true.
And then I did – I went on regular Jeopardy and I did win. You won a regular Jeopardy.
Yes, yes. So when you were first in Chicago – and by the way, I'm wearing Chicago Wall Street.
Like my heart is melting. It's just beautiful.
And that's like a vintage one, but it's nice. It's really good.
Dave Stassen would go wild. We love Dave Stassen.
We love Dave Stassen, folks. Your writing partner, co-creator.
Wonderful man. With you of Running Point.
Yes. Great show that's coming out, or out, is out.
It's out. It's out with Kate Hudson, Mindy Kaling also producing on that.
And you guys are huge basketball fans. We've talked a lot about basketball.
Can we talk about the Bulls? Yeah. I mean, I don't know where to start, but.
The current Bulls or the great Bulls of my youth?

Because I will say this.

Growing up in Chicago in the 90s was so remarkable that I am so fortunate that I've inoculated myself from any sports pain.

Right?

Meaning that the Bulls have been terrible now for a while. It's the worst.
it's the lowest point for Chicago sports. Across the board, every team is terrible.
And I want them to do well, but I don't live and die by it because I had so much of a run in the 90s that I'm not like, oh, even if the Cubs went to the World Series this year and they lost, I wouldn't be like, damn it. I feel like the 90s gave me such a wonderful joy that I still hold on to it and I'm able to watch sports with a very healthy approach to it.
Do you remember the first time you saw Michael Jordan and did you ever meet Michael Jordan? Yes and yes. First time I saw him live, I went to a Bulls game before he was on the team when it was all Orlando Woolridge.
I saw him his second season before he got hurt. Or his third season after he came back for the first time.
And it was crazy. It was such a phenomenon, especially in Chicago, before he really blew up.
And then I met him years later at a health club. And I was holding a Archie magazine, Archie Comics.
Yeah, Archie Comics. I was holding like a Jughead Digest 12 and he walks in, I just froze.
How old were you? Oh God, maybe 11. I don't want to say like 17.
I was reading Jughead. Was it Desi Jughead? It was actually Slaughterhouse-Five.
Jughead. That's creep territory.
That's not pervert. That's creep.
That's creep. That's true.
But I just walked up to him and held up my Jughead digest, and he just looked at it and signed it, and I melted. So you have it signed still? I have it signed still.
It's still at home. And, yeah, I love him.
I love him. I love, too, that he has lasted so long.
That documentary that came out was so great. And a whole new generation of people never saw him play live, still understand how wonderful he is.
Well, as we continue to talk about sports, I just want to say that underneath my Chicago Bulls sweatshirt is this guy. It's going to be a Boston Celtics shirt.
Yeah, it is going to be a Boston Celtics shirt.

Because look at this.

Oh, that's really good.

Very bird.

Best.

I did love him very, very much.

Is it?

I loved him so much.

I loved him so much.

That was the 80s Celtics wore the 90s Bulls for us.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah.

They kept us going for a really long time.

He was amazing. And I know there's like a nine-part Celt documentary that's coming out.
Bill Simmons. Bill Simmons.
Bill, we cannot wait to see this. Do you know he's from Boston, Bill Simmons? Yes, of course.
Bostonians are like Canadians. Bostonians are like, love to say they're from Boston and they know everyone from Boston.
Canadians are the same way. Very true.
They're like, you know, Brian Adams is Canadian. It's like, okay.
All right, you got that one. Fine.
And it's like, you know what? You should leave with Martin Short maybe. Can you tell us a little bit about Running Point? Yeah, so Running Point is, it's a story inspired by the life of Jeannie Buss, who is the owner of the Lakers, who I've actually gotten to know over the years and who really is like – I imagine like most owners of sports teams like have like satanic rituals where they worship Moloch and they're billionaires and stuff.
She's just like a normal person. It's like a family business.
And she's so like forthcoming and wonderful. And her life really is crazy.
I mean, she's the only female owner in a, in a incredibly male dominated field and running a legacy team, one of the most important teams in the league. And so we thought that a family comedy or Mindy Kaling thought like a family comedy set in a basketball office would be a really funny world and thought of Dave and I and brought it to us.
We obviously worked with her on the Mindy Project years ago and we really loved her and hadn't worked with her in forever. And so the three of us just kind of talked about what it could be and what we think it is.
And yeah, that was like three years ago. And it's doing really well.
It was, it was, yeah. Number one, baby.
It was number one on Netflix, baby. Shout out Papa Ted.
We love you, Papa Ted.

For those people who are just listening, we just dabbed.

We dabbed in honor of Ted Sarandos. We dabbed.

We did the Netflix dab.

Running point is canceled.

Oh, no, you just got a text.

It was the dab.

Little dab will do you, is what they say.

A little dab will not do you.

A little dab will do you in.

A little dab will do you in.

Oh, my God. You do a lot of things really well.
You write, you produce, you, um, uh, act and they're all like you, you, you have a lot of skills that you can do really well. How do you, I guess the question is, like, which one right now is the one that's like turning you on the most? Which is the one that like, because you just were in as an actor.
My erotic photography. And it's a problem.
I can't believe myself turning you on. Why did I say that? I'm so bad at this.
I've just started. I seriously don't know how to ask questions.
Like, what are questions? Hey, there's one. That's a question.
What are questions? Because on it, but I guess what I'm trying to get at is people, I don't think enough people know how much you write. I'll say that.
Yes. I, right now is a very blessed time where I love shooting and acting and being on set and production.
That is fantastic. As you get older, you know, I'm at that age right now where my kids are still want to like hang out with me a little bit and they still like, they're going to be gone soon.
They're gonna be teenagers that just don't want to hang out with me. You have so much time until they're teenagers.
They're still little. Yeah, but yeah, the oldest is like, she's like 11 going on.
Yeah, yeah. And it will, I know it will go fast.
So right now, like in this little phase of like writing and spending, I think also too, we've kind of through the years, through COVID, we figured out how to like really focus a writer's room and be very effective with our time. Like

I'm sure like it parks, you know, you remember like, oh yeah, they're coming in at 10 and they're leaving at 10. You know what I mean? Like it's long, long hours.
It is a little bit better now where you can kind of manage your time a lot better, target a lot more, still put in the time, but be able to cook dinner every night. That's my real favorite thing to do is to like cook dinner at night for the kids and eat like a giant just bucket of food.
That is like the fun zone right now. And that will hopefully change at some point because in a few months I'll be like, I need to get out of here.
I need to be on set. Yeah.
I don't think, you know, maybe for people that aren't too aware when you're on set filming something, it's kind of when you have the least amount of control of your time. You have to surrender completely.
And you're looking at a 12-hour day. 12-hour plus days.
If you're acting too, you're getting into hair and makeup. If you're shooting far away, you're waking up at 5 a.m.
And that's when it can get rough. But then you're exhilarated because you're on set and you're funny and you're with all the fun people and stuff.
So, but right now the zone I'm really loving is being, creating and being at home and writing and stuff. I remember with Parks, I mean, the best thing about it was the immersion into the world.
And the worst thing about it was just so much time away. Like I really had to figure out how to balance having little kids and being on set.
It is not easy. It's hard.
And we're lucky too. Like we're shooting running point in LA.
I got friends that are like, Oh yeah, I'm going to a, uh, Newfoundland for four months to shoot like a sci-fi show. That's really tough.
That's where you're like, Oh man, you gotta really love acting or, you know, need to do it and go. go.
And that's the rough one. Okay.
And then to get to the other thing that you're doing, because I'm very excited to watch this, the studio. With our good friend, Katherine Hahn.
We love her. I remember you told me years ago, you were like, do you know Katherine Hahn? I was like, no.
You're like, you would love her. And you were right.
Katherine Hahn is, she's a good example of someone I met in my 40s. You know, you think you've kind of met your friends for life.
And Catherine and I, we just kept hearing about each other, and I was a big fan of her work, and I knew her work. And then she came on Parks, and Paul Rudd was like, have you – you don't know Catherine Hahn? And he said, oh, you two are going to we just immediately, like, and she is one of my dearest friends and so funny and so talented.
People are obsessed with her on Instagram. Like, like if someone posts like a trailer for the show, like every reply is like, mother, mother, I'm coming for you.
I love you. You know why? Because her applause did the kissy kissy.
Oh, I know. It did a little bit of witches, witches, kissy kissy witches.
The original show was called Kissy Kissy Witches. The original show was.
It was like. I'm doing a show where me and another wizard kiss.
I don't think it's. Wizard kiss.
Wizard kiss. Wizard kiss actually does sound like a pristine show.
Who would be the guy that we would like to see you kiss in wizard kiss? Do you remember Bull from Night Court? Richard Mull? I'm going to say, who would we want to see you kiss in wizard kiss? It would be like- Do you want like a younger guy? I met Timmy the other night at the Laker game. Should we get Timmy?

Oh my God.

I would binge.

He's adorable.

If you and Timothee Chalamet kissed in a new show called Wizard Kiss.

Timmy, if you're around, give me a call.

And it's like.

And it's like.

You guys are casting spells.

And every once in a while you go.

Critics are like, this is the worst show ever. it's the end of peak TV it's over so many executives are fired because of this green lighting but how about Timmy Shal- Timothy Shal- he's got the goods man speaking of Michael Jordan yeah that's I thought of you when I saw that speech because I was like that's my guy right there okay and I promise we'll cut this part because I could talk about it forever.
But, you know, I'm kind of into the Enneagram, which is this, like, thing that tells what personality you are. And Ike is at Enneagram 3.
So is Jenna, our producer. So is Tina.
So is Seth. Achiever, right? Threes are like, get it.
Win. Yes.
Be the best. best.
I would say that Timmy's speech

is ultimate Enneagram 3

energy. He recently gave a speech at

the SAG Awards where he basically said,

I want to be the greatest.

I loved it.

I loved it. And I loved it too.
He wasn't like, I want to be the greatest

like Brando. He's like, no, I want to be

like Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps.

And Viola Davis.

Viola Davis. Yeah, it wasn't just

to acting. It was this whole spectrum of things.

He's got the goods, man.

I love it. like Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps.
And Viola Davis. Viola Davis, yeah.
It wasn't just to acting. It was this whole spectrum of things.
Yeah, no, he's got the goods, man. He's making mustaches great again.
He really is. I saw him at the Laker game.
He had a beautiful mustache. He looked great.
Who grows a great mustache? Henry Cavill. Yeah.
That thing is incredible. Yeah.
Yeah, it's like thick and strong. Mine is not great.
Mine looks like a guy that like is killed very early on by Liam Neeson in one of the Taken films. That's like, I don't know what I – like, yeah, like that.
It's like thin and wispy and I will grow it out sometimes and like no one likes it. It's not – it's – Have you ever grown a full beard? I had one like literally two weeks ago.
It looked, I was very like, was I an imam? Was I a rabbi? Somewhere in between. I don't know, but it was very long and, and, and, and thick and, and quite frankly, gross.
Yeah. I got you like, once it gets past a certain point, once you're dealing with, you know, what's that smell? Oh, I had cereal.
Like, you know what I mean? It's disgusting. So yeah.
So I shaved it. And then my daughters were like, we missed the beard.
And I'm like, too bad. Yeah.
Did Erica like it? Your wife? I think at first it was kind of like, oh, this is nice. She's like, oh, there's a stranger in the house.
She was like, oh no, don't chase me. Don't chase me.
Don't chase me. The money's in the safe.
Leave me alone. Oh, fine.
I'll take off clothes. Fine.
For every five minutes. She says some long, complicated thing.
For every five minutes, I don't tell you the code of the safe. I'll take off one article of clothing.
I'll take off one article of clothing. Bearded man that doesn't live here that's not my husband.
You're like, wait, what's the rule? Let's just watch TV. Come on.
Okay, but she liked it. She didn't mind it.
No, she didn't mind it. And it was cool.
But then it just got, like, I think for the premiere of Running Point, I showed up. And also when you're an actor, people are like, what are you shooting? And you're like, nothing.
Like, are you in The Revenant part two? You're like, no, I'm just, I got nothing going on. You brought up Catherine Hahn.
And we do this fun thing on Good Hang where before we have our guest in, we do a little Zoom, a little fun Zoom with people that know them. And we talk well behind their back.
Ooh. It's almost like this is your life a little bit.
It's a little bit like, you know, the idea is you don't really know who's going to show up and who's going to pop in.

And so we did a Zoom with Catherine Hahn and – Michelle Obama.

And Michelle Obama.

Who are you going to say?

Sorry.

With your first wife, Michelle Obama.

Oh, yes, yes.

And we did it with Catherine Hahn and Emily Spivey.

Oh, my God.

And we got to talk about you.

Two of my all-time faves.

Truly. I know.
God, I love Spivey. Oh, my God.
And we got to talk about you. Two of my all-time faves, truly.

I know.

God, I love Spivey.

And they had questions for you.

Oh.

And Spivey's question was about your daughters.

Like, what is it like to be the dad of three girls?

You know, you're a girl dad, as they would say.

I'm a girl dad.

I'm a girl boss.

And that's problematic. I'm a girl interrupted.

It is, you know, I grew up in a house with boys, just me and my brother. And it is a delight.
Like it is like, you know, and again, I'm in that zone where they are really like still little and they want to play and they are asking me questions about the world. You know what I mean? And I am very well aware of the fact that there will be a time where they're just like – they won't even be texting.
They'll have like a chip in their brain and be like, Dad, I'm shipping right now. But I have a vision of like, you know, Peyton, Foster getting married.
To each other? Jesus. Sorry.
No, not to each other. And you – first of all, you love to to cry you're a big crier Jesus yes and um that might I don't know if that's a girl dad thing but it's definitely an Ike thing yeah you love to cry yeah I feel like and I have this vision of you dancing with one of them and then the other sisters tapping out like that's I'm gonna I know that's the part about girl dads of which I are you trying to make me cry and then you're like and then your grandfather's ghost comes down and he tells you he forgives you and i'm like that would be good i think we're similar in this way which is you you live very big you take big swings and you love that about people and you are definitely that kind of person.
You're a party pumper. I think we both are.
I'd like to say we share that in common. We like a good time.
We like trying to like get, get the party going, the energy going. Like I've been to a million parties with you, small and big.
And when Ike shows up, like, it's like, we're, we're getting started. Come on, let's cut loose.
Yeah. And have you always been like that? Do you think that just like, that was your from day one vibe? I remember like when I was like five, like my parents would have like friends over for dinner and I would like, after dinner, walk around and be like, let me see your cigar.
Like, you know what I mean? Like I was like doing bits and like imitating Indiana Jones and stuff. And so like, I do love, you know what I mean? Like, I was, like, doing bits and, like, imitating Indiana Jones and stuff.
And so, like, I do love, you know, being around people. I love, like, sitting around, like, a bunch of your friends, like, doing bits and laughing and maybe having a few drinks.
Like, that is a very, very fun time. And I'm not stuffy.
Again, I'm a lot like Rodney Dangerfield. You really are.
I really am. And let me just ask anybody under the age of 53 about Rodney Dangerfield.
Okay, let's take a water break. Nice Stanley.
I wish Stanley was a sponsor. You can get him.
Do you have a Stanley too? No, this is a Yeti. She got a Yeti as a sponsor, but an actual Yeti.
I love my Stanley so much. I know it's basic.
Well, maybe not. Stanley, if you're a sponsor, it's not basic.
It's not basic. It's the opposite.
It's a wonderful way to drink. but if you're not a sponsor, I know it's basic well maybe not if stanley if you're a sponsor it's not basic it's a wonderful way to drink but if you're not a sponsor i know it's kind of basic bitch stanley stuff but there's something about the weird like baby bird gerbil thing you have to do where you have to go that's so satisfying it's strange okay.
So I feel like you're, like, you're, Emily and Han and I were talking about this about you, about your enthusiasm for life and for projects. Like, when you come onto a set, when you say yes to something, one of the best things about you is people know you're going to commit.
Yeah. Where did that feeling of like, where did you learn that idea that you had to commit? And what does it, you know, what does it do for you? That's, I'm going to say that's, that's, that's, I think from, from our old improv days.
I think that's a big part of it is, uh, I mean, just at like a basic level, like, you know, I will give Mick Napier some credit on that one. Because I remember Mick, who was like a famous Chicago improv director and guru.
I remember I was taking classes with him one time. And I think early on when I would do improv, I was like a bit of a sideline guy.
Like I would kind of come on and say like a funny line from the side. And he was like, get in there, man.
Get in there, you know, do weird shit, be weird. And I think that kind of a big part of our improv training is learning to not be afraid of failing.
So as you develop as a improviser, you start to learn that like, oh yeah, even if the scene is bad, you got to commit, man. You got to like go all in.
You all in. You got to just – you got to do it.
And I think that kind of just bled into, you know, the way I look at work. I will say I'm very lucky.
I'm, you know, by and large doing projects that I love. You know, if I was doing The Sound of Freedom 2, you know, I don't know if I'd be like, hey, everybody, I got a food truck.
Yeah. You know, but, you know, and again, most of the things I do are comedy and stuff.
And I do think it's very important that, you know, when you're on set, when you're doing a, whether a TV show or movie, it's a comedy, it should be loose. It should be, you know, it should be people should be ready to laugh.
And, you know. But you bring it over to not just your work, but your life, too.
Like, when you're in something, you're really in it. Yeah, yeah.
You really are in it. Yeah.
You know, again, I think it's just because I'm lucky that people I'm hanging out with, like, our friends are great friends. You know, the people we know are wonderful people.
And so I'm, I don't know. It feels like, I think we're only here for a couple minutes and it's good just to kind of throw it all out there.
You know what I mean? It's a hard, it's a good lesson to learn early. I always try to tell my kids this too.
Like if you can get past the fear of being cool, like you said, or failing or being cool, the coolest people are the people that are like take the biggest swings and go for it. And just kind of, it's a hard lesson to learn to just get over being embarrassed.
But you don't mind being embarrassed. You also have to go through, I think, a lot of embarrassing things.
Like, you know what I mean? Like, I shit my pants on the L one time. You know what I mean? And, like, it was a nightmare.
Like, I've been in countless bad improv scenes and movies that didn't work and episodes of TV that were just like, what? You know what I mean? Like I've had, I've tripped at an airport. Like, you know what I mean? Like all these things I think add up and kind of, they give you metal, I think.
People probably know who maybe have listened to you on other podcasts, but you talked about being in Boom Chicago, which is like you performed in Amsterdam with Jordan Peele. Seth Meyers.
Seth Meyers. Josh Meyers.
Liz Kekowski. Liz Kekowski.
Josh Meyers. All these great people over there.
How long were you there? It was almost two years, which was wild. It was crazy.
It was a crazy party time. Did you celebrate Y2K in Amsterdam? I did.
I did. What was that like? Cocaine-y.
Very cocaine-y? Very cocaine-y from what I remember. Cocaine.
But it was Dutch, so it was like cocaine. Cocaine.
Cocaine. Cocaine.
It's like regular cocaine. It's just more condescending.
It's just more to the point. It's more directed to the point.
It's more direct. Yes.
Yeah. But it was really – it was a great time.
It was just, you know, really fun people. I was really young.
I was, like, 22. I'd never been to Europe before.

We were doing, like, the theater was, like, becoming, like, a thing where, like, the prime minister would come.

And we would have huge audiences.

And it was just, it was, like, the ultimate party.

And we're all, like, still friends.

And it was really, really fun.

That sounds so great.

I might go back this summer.

But I would go back with my family, which would be interesting. You know, like, hey, girls, this is where I took too much ecstasy and vomited before I saw Oasis.
Yeah, I picked the pill out of the vomit and ate it again. This is a different time, guys.
This is like 1999. Please don't judge me.
This is before you could get another pill. You only had one.
You had to get it out. It wasn't on trees.
Are you going to see Oasis again? Do you want to? I would like to see Oasis again. Do you think that Oasis, I mean, I'm curious if Oasis, will they tour? Are they going to make it to the thing? I think they will make it.
They seem to have like- They're pumped? I think they're pumped and I think they need the money very bad. There's an amazing clip, if you can find it, of Liam Gallagher making a little cup of tea.
And he's just like, you know, back in the day, I had four people doing this for me. I had one person holding the cup.
The other person putting the bag. And the other person getting the water.
The other person handing it to me. Now I have to do this fucking shite by myself.
That's why there's no more rock stars. It's really a good little clip.
yeah no i'll see oasis like i i i'm a 90s boy me too they were so fucking cool so cool and those brothers fighting all the time so cool that was when you could just be like maybe i'll show up maybe i won't yeah and and i mean i guess you can do that now still but it just feels more you'll just get sued more. Yeah, if you walk the show.
Back then, you just, people would go, hey, come on. Yeah, yeah.
Oh, man, it sucks. But I had a great night anyways.
Still saw Sabado. They rocked.
Sabado. Oh, my God.
That's such a deep cut. You, I love your family.
You have a brother in who's an actor. Yep.
And incredible, John Barinholtz, great actor, great guy, wonderful family, family man. And now you have a dad who is an actor.
Yeah. And Emily and Han both wanted to know what it was like now to have your dad be on TV.
And we, they were asking what your dad did before,

which I didn't really know. Was he a lawyer? He was a lawyer for like 35 plus years.
He wanted to be an actor back in the day. And then he auditioned for Second City when John Belushi was there.
He wanted to be an actor, but just was impatient. He was like, I'm going to have a family.
I'm going to go to law school. And he was, yeah, he was a litigator for 30 plus years.
But he was very supportive of my brother and I. And they came to so many improv shows.
And there was a couple shows that we did with him. We brought him on stage and acted with him, which was really fun.
Susan Messing brought him on stage and did a show with him one time. It was crazy.
But yeah, he always had this kind of passion. And I remember like five years ago, he was like, I'm going to retire and I don't know what to do.
And, you know, blah, blah, blah. And I remember thinking like, well, move to LA and, you know, maybe you could, I don't know, get a line on a show or something or, you know, I'll put you in stuff if I can.
And long story short, a year after that, a friend of a friend is like, hey, would your dad put himself on tape? We're trying to do like a new hybrid show where they need a judge. And it sounded insane, low stakes.
I was like, yeah, sure, call. And so they called him and my brother and I put him on tape.
And I remember filming him and looking at John and being like. It's pretty good.
Good read. He gave a nice little performance.
So we sent him the tape and like an hour later, a friend of mine is like, hey, I'm producing this show. I'm going to cast your dad.
And that show was Jury Duty. So it comes out and it's a huge hit and he's like recognized everywhere he goes now.
And like, him he loves it's like it's his dream he's so uh living his best life and he's in running point he's in the studio he's he was in the accountant part two with ben affleck oh my god yeah no he's he's he's a working los angeles actor and it's amazing and it's like even when there's times where you're like, like if I'm cooking dinner on Sunday at four o'clock and I got the stove, I got four burners going. He'll come up and be like, hey, remember, whenever you get a chance, if you could put me on tape for that thing.
And you're like, okay. So then you're all of a sudden you're filming your dad.
You're still taping him? Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. I mean.
So we got to talk. That's too much.
It's. You got to hand that over to somebody else.
Yeah. And someone else is not my mom.
I'm not going to put her through that. Okay.
So we did this podcast that was really fun because we were, we did a bunch of satirical podcasts. Well, your pitch to me, which I was still like the greatest pitch, is like, don't you want to improvise but not have to go on stage after 8 p.m.?

You know?

You were like, we could just go if we were in a studio and just riffing.

And I was like, oh, my God.

And you were like, what if it was a fake podcast network?

Yes.

And it's basically one show, your character, Dr.

Dr.

Dr. Sheila.
Dr. Sheila.

I think you have to say her name in the form of a question.

She's not a doctor.

She's not a doctor.

She kind of launched it.

And then her last episode introduced Chris Chapman, which was my character.

Yes.

Which was a – I would say he would be a member of the manosphere.

Yes.

Right?

He's definitely adjacent to some of the podcasts you heard of. Yeah.
Experts who have supplements and labs and like a lot of, they do extreme stuff. Yeah.
And they have hot takes. A lot of hot takes.
Yeah. Where it's like, oh yeah, no, you're supposed to actually sleep in ice water.
Like you're supposed to, I read that if you sleep for eight hours in case in ice water, it will help you. You're in de-inflammation.
It's the stuff. Or even, even more.
They're like, it'll help with your menopause. That's what they say.
And you're like, Oh, okay. Give that a shot.
Okay. But yeah, I'm misinformed, confident.
You were incredible at talking extemporaneously as that kind of person. Because like I said from the beginning, when we started, and Liz Krakowski, the co-creator, and I would laugh, we would just say, like, look at I go.
You are able to talk about subjects and go very deep about the conspiracy theories around them. And sometimes I don't know where you left, where Chris Chapman and Ike, there was some blurring lines.
Yeah, there was some blurring lines. They came to me with an idea and they said, we know the effect you have on our society.
We know how significant you are. We want you back.
And they said, the one thing we are worried about, we're worried that no women will listen to the show. So they said, you want to do the show? You need to get 1% at least female listenership.
Right? The character of Chris Chapman is feeling like the world is, you know, moving too fast and he's trying to catch up and trying to apologize for stuff that he got

wrong. And then when he apologizes, he kind of, he gets it wrong again.
He gets it wrong again.

And I think there, there is a big part of me like that. Like a lot of the guys that he's

inspired by, I think there's a part of a lot of dudes who there's a component of that. We're like,

yeah, I like to smoke weed and like to, you know, talk about like, oh, fuck who shot JFK.

I want to smoke weed and like to, you know, talk about like, oh, fuck who shot JFK. I want to know who shot RFK.
You know what I mean? Like, like that's like, there's a part of that. Now I don't, I think all that is kind of gone and it's been replaced by just.
Well, I think it's always interesting and this is men and women. I think we both share this, which is i i think it's very funny when people act act like experts super experts yes and then go hey i'm just i'm just a guy just a guy i'm just a comedian no no no you just told us about how to perform a heart transplant yeah yeah you own that now a little bit but so you just said it yeah but now it's like, but you know what? What do I know? I'm just a dumbass.
I just got a lot of outtakes. I'm just a dumbass.
And I would say also with women, women are asked to also give tons of supportive advice and life advice in a way that if you missed it, you'd be like, I imagine they're a certified therapist. Yes.
And you look at them and you're like, oh, no, they used to own a gym. It is a golden age for those types of people in all fields.
Like when you go onto your Instagram algorithm or TikTok algorithm, you just see people that are just like, I'm here to tell you that if you eat oatmeal, you will literally die. And like they're so confident.
You're like, I was going to have a bowl of oatmeal, but let me see what they're up to. I like the ones that are like – and by the way, I'm the biggest sucker for this too.
I am the audience. But I like people that are like top five ways to – top five ways to forgive your partner.
It's like, number one, take a moment and realize they didn't mean to do what they did. Number two, make a decision to forgive your partner.
You're just like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. You're listening.
This is so good. And it's just so surface level stuff.
It's just so like the only way to be happy is to choose to be happy and say to yourself i'm a happy person and you're like yeah yeah yes you are right it's so but i'm i am a sucker for i love a list i love a list yeah yeah yeah especially workout stuff too like oh really oh oh this is top five ways to like to like do sit-ups without doing sit-ups yeah sign me sign me up. And then you see like a doctor comment and being like, I'm actually a spine doctor.
You'll never walk again if you do this. And you're like, okay, what do I do here? But then you do research and the spine doctor is actually an actor who played a spine doctor on TV.
And he added the word doctor. And if you look a little closely.
His last name is Doctor. Yeah, it's spelled a little differently.
John Doctor. And yeah, yeah.
One of the things we're doing on Good Hang is we're just kind of like figuring out, you know, these conversations are an attempt to like feel fun and an escape from a lot of stuff. What do you do? Where do you go? What do you watch? Who do you listen to? What kind of video do you put on? What do you watch to laugh? One of the great things about having kids is you get to go back and you get to watch shows with them that you love.

So I have gone through Seinfeld with my kids and they loved Seinfeld.

Really?

They love Seinfeld.

They do?

They love everyone.

They love everyone.

They love JLD. The everyone.
They love JLD.

The best.

They love Kramer.

They love Kramer's stand-up.

No, I'm joking.

He's a maniac.

They – but they just love the show.

They love the show.

And then we started doing the Mindy Project, which they were very into.

They got into the office.

Next on the docket is a little show called Parks and Rec, which is – They're going to love it. They're going to, like, freak out about.
So going back and watching those, like, watching three episodes of a sitcom that you have seen before but you love them very much is, like, Mother's Milk to me. Like, it's so nice.
It's so relaxing. It is – it is just – it just makes you laugh really hard and also just takes you back to that time.
You know what I mean? You instantly go back to like 2012 and you're like, what a different world, what a different time. So those are the main ones.
But I also like, I love when I see like a totally new thing. Like I loved, I love, you ever see the movie Bottoms? Yeah, so good.

I loved that movie.

So good.

It reminded me of

one of my all-time favorite comedies,

a very big movie in our house,

which happens to star one,

Amy Poehler,

Hamlet 2.

I'm not even kidding you,

is like,

like it is a

Hamlet 2,

check it out.

Masterpiece.

It is one of the funniest movies ever made.

I've seen it dozens of times.

It's one of Eric and I's favorites.

We always tell people about it.

Thank you. Hamlet 2.
Check it out. Masterpiece.
It is one of the funniest movies ever made. I've seen it dozens of times.
It's one of Eric and I's favorites. We always tell people about it.
We're like, have you seen Hamlet 2? And they're like, what? Steve Coogan, the great Steve Coogan. Steve Coogan, literally one of the funniest men of all time.
And you and a bunch of high schoolers, Catherine Keener. Yes.
The Bottoms reminded me of that. And it came out of nowhere.
I'd never seen a lot of those people before. So when I see things like that.
And then, you know, there is TikTok. There is, you know.
Do you watch TikTok? I do watch TikTok. You do? I do watch Instagram.
Are you a secret TikTok person? Once I learn how to do it. Who do you like on TikTok or Instagram? A lot of chefs, a lot of chef work.
Do you like all that macho chef stuff where the guy cooks in the woods and the meal? Yeah, there's those guys, but then there's the guys that are shirtless and they're kneading dough and putting their face in the dough like it's a butt. It's too much, guys.
You're turning them out a little too much. Mike, I love you so much.
Thank you for doing this. I can really say without a doubt this was you know what? It was a good hang.
Oh, my God. It was a good hang.
It was a good fucking hang. Please just come back all the time.
Let's do it tomorrow. All right.
Let's do it tomorrow. See you then.
Fantastic. Thank you so much, Ike Barinholtz, Isaac Barinholtz, your legal name.
Thank you so much for being on the podcast. I love you, and you're so hilarious.
And check out the studio, which is coming out soon or already out, depending on when this is out. But I just want to end by saying, you know, when we do the polar plunge, we want to dip into something that changes the chemistry in our brain and makes us come alive.
And I wore my Chicago a Bulls sweatshirt today, but really at the end of the day, I'm a Celtics girl. Grew up watching the Celtics and love them.
And if you have not checked out the great documentary, it's Bird vs. Magic about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and their incredible friendship, rivalry, competitive relationship, whatever you want to call it, highly suggest.
It's excellent storytelling. And, um, it's, uh, it's about the two greatest players ever.
I know Michael Jordan. Um, okay.
Uh, thank you so much for listening to Good Hang. Uh, we, we love that you're here and we'll catch you next time.

You've been listening to Good Hang.

The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler.

The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite.

For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Alaya Zanaris.

For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.
This episode is presented by the Toyota Grand Highlander. Life's journey brings constant change, filled with exciting surprises, new chapters, and grand challenges.
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