Jason Sudeikis on Future of Ted Lasso, Scoring on LeBron, Behind the Scenes at SNL50 & More | Ep 129

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Speaker 1 The end of the season is in full swing, and you know what that means. Time to eat meat.

Speaker 1 Millions of fans are turning their homes into game day headquarters every weekend. Gosh, and whether you're hosting a watch party at home or tailgating before a big game, you gotta feed the crowd.

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Speaker 2 Yes.

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What's your go-to deli platter, Jason? I mean, any of them.

Speaker 1 Dude, anything that combines crackers, meat, cheese, and mustard, it doesn't matter what kind it is. You got Pepper Jack.
You got Provolone.

Speaker 1 You got cheddar.

Speaker 3 You got beer cheese.

Speaker 1 You got salami. You got kilbasa.
There you go. Don't be all archy with me.
Ritz crackers. Maybe you could do some of those like whole grain thick boys that are around.
Those are kind of nice too.

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Speaker 1 How about it? It's just a great name, too. Over 100.
Yeah, you know what you're getting. Boar's head.

Speaker 1 Wait, so Reese's color is orange, and the Oreo cookie was invented in 1912.

Speaker 1 This one's been in the vault waiting for its moment.

Speaker 1 Reese's Oreo. The biggest drop since, well, Ted Lasso's a coach is like the perfect temperament.

Speaker 1 And I just think it's so ironic that now that you are a coach of your daughter's team, you went back to the Coach Campbell style of coaching of intemperate change.

Speaker 1 Just because you're eight years old doesn't mean you gotta act like that.

Speaker 1 For God's sakes.

Speaker 1 Welcome back.

Speaker 1 Welcome back. Welcome back.
Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen, a wonderful show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by Audible.

Speaker 1 Listen to what I got to say.

Speaker 1 We're your hosts. I'm Travis Cousins, my big brother Jason Kelsey.
If you didn't know,

Speaker 1 we are the Kelseys, and that's what they call us. And you're listening to our podcast.
We are recording together here in Los Angeles, California, making our way out west. Yeah.

Speaker 1 How about that? It's pretty nice. Two Clevelanders making the way out west to

Speaker 1 the show. Big time.
Hollywood. Officially out here for a small amount of time.
Yes, and we're going to enjoy it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Subscribe on YouTube, Wondray Plus, or wherever you get your podcast and follow the show on social media at New Heights Show with 1S.

Speaker 1 Jason, let the people know what a special episode we have coming up. Well, we're back and we have an incredible episode for you guys.
That's right.

Speaker 1 We are bringing you this episode on Friday because we just couldn't wait to get it to you. That's right.
We've got a treat for you. Guest conversation was just too good.
Get ready for Mr.

Speaker 1 Jason Sudakis. Oh, man.
I'm fired up about this. Dude, the best.
We're going to get into it right now. Gear up.

Speaker 1 How long do we chat?

Speaker 1 I only ask that.

Speaker 1 How much time do you have?

Speaker 1 Whatever. I only ask that because it's like, I can give short answers or long answers.
I don't know

Speaker 1 what agenda do you guys have. Whatever works.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I think

Speaker 1 this is not professional, as you know, Jason. We are.
We're just out of here.

Speaker 1 All my podcasts viewing and listening are from clips. So it's like, you guys work in Megan and like, you know, all the smoke.
It's like, you know, so I know that it's 30 seconds at a time. No.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 they'll cut it up to make it 30 seconds. No matter how long-winded it is, they'll make it a clip.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 I respond well to editing.

Speaker 1 Same Z's. Yeah.
Well, that being said, Jason, you want to jump on the intro? All right, we're going to jump right into it. We got our own Bruce Buffer right here.
Yeah, let's prove it.

Speaker 1 All righty, our guest.

Speaker 1 Where's my ISO? All right. Our guest today from Overland Park, Kansas.
He's a four-time Emmy Award-winning actor, a fifth-grade CYO championship-winning basketball player.

Speaker 1 You might know him from his nine seasons on SNL or starring in the Emmy Award-winning show Ted Lasso. All right, now please welcome Mr.
Jason Sedegu.

Speaker 1 It's nice to hear that all stated one after another. It's like I forget.
Yeah, right? Yeah, you're just driving out the windshield. You don't, I don't look in the rearview mirror often enough.

Speaker 1 And we're only hitting the highlights. We're getting the highlights.
That's good. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, they even mentioned my children.

Speaker 1 Speaking of which, how are your children? They're good. Yeah, good.
Otis, Daisy. Shout out, guys.
They're doing great. Yeah.
They're doing well.

Speaker 1 Otis has got his birthday, his 11th birthday, coming up here on April 20th. And so, yeah,

Speaker 1 he's well into the double digits now. So it's

Speaker 1 little man. Little man.
You already know. I'll get him a keg.
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 He's like, Did you drink these

Speaker 1 bubbles? That's how I would do that there. He likes the ceremony of it.
Yeah, you know, that and the pumping and

Speaker 1 the keg stands, just the taste. He probably wouldn't respond to it.
Do you remember your first beer? Yeah, it was a lot later in life than most. Okay.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I was one of those athletes that took strongly to the DARE program. Me and you both.
For real. Me and you both.
I was the cool one out of this case.

Speaker 1 You're the cool one. I remember.
I was not. I remember Jason stumbling into

Speaker 1 the bedroom at five and not at five, but on a Friday night. Yeah.
Just hearing boomfupp, boomfuck, boom, boom. And like breaking doors off hinges.
Yeah, yeah. You're like, I'll wait for that.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I'll get to that eventually. That doesn't seem as cool as it's made out to be.
But I do remember, mine was, I do remember it was second semester, freshman year of college, community college.

Speaker 1 I was on the basketball team and we got, you know, as an athlete, you know, you guys know you got that.

Speaker 1 Well, maybe not for football, but like for basketball, you would get there early before school started, you know, second semester. So we were doing practice and everything like that.
Right.

Speaker 1 And I did three Miller Lights and then half a root beer, bottle of root beer schnapps. Oh, wow.
And I was, I was ripped. Yeah,

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 my good friends, Chris Sines and Brandon Bartells, they were roommates, and they were the ones that paved, that, that let me use their phone.

Speaker 1 I remember calling information in LA asking for Jim Carrey's phone number. Like, where you were just like,

Speaker 1 Carrie, Jim. Oh, maybe it's under James.

Speaker 1 You know, like Ace Ventura was the biggest movie in the world at that point. We would watch it every other week.
And, yeah, so it was, it was bad.

Speaker 1 And then the next day we had practice, and I remember puking what looked like eggs, but I didn't eat eggs. Yeah.
It It was like, yeah, it was bad news. It was bad news.

Speaker 1 And then I stayed away for like a year or two.

Speaker 1 And then it wasn't until living in Las Vegas when I was doing Second City, like in my mid-20s, that then we would go to this bar called The Crown and Anchor, which has since closed recently.

Speaker 1 And it's what we've named the bar in Ted Lasso after.

Speaker 1 And it was one of those places, yeah, we'd play a lot of darts and drink pints and eat chip buddies, which is basically like French fries on hamburger buns. Oh, it's a British thing.

Speaker 1 Really? Yeah, or a Vegas British thing.

Speaker 1 I don't know. It's one or the other.

Speaker 1 Chip buddies. I don't ask too many questions.
Yeah, I know. Where should we start? You tell me.
Is your show?

Speaker 1 I mean, golly. Did you ever pitch Ted Lasso at SML? No.

Speaker 1 No? No. So, can you kind of give us the backstory? Because I think I know a little something.
I got a good friend in KC who married

Speaker 1 a girl that I think her father was maybe a gym teacher. Oh, I had a basketball coach.
Was it the basketball coach? Donnie Campbell, yeah. Donnie Campbell.
I mean,

Speaker 1 the coach character itself was

Speaker 1 styled after Mike Ditka. You know, we did these commercials.
We got, okay, here, again, here, it was

Speaker 1 wonderful. In 2013, it was the summer of

Speaker 1 NBC Sports had the Premier League that they're going to be showing on

Speaker 1 NBC. So they're like, okay, we want to do an ad campaign.
And they had this advertising company called Brooklyn Brothers, which was actually two British guys.

Speaker 1 And they had like five different ideas for different promos. And one of them was an American football coach coaching soccer.

Speaker 1 They were modeling it after a coach character that I had played on SNL, which was much more of a yelling type.

Speaker 1 He was a football coach. He had a mustache, but he was a yeller and screamer, like a Bobby Knight

Speaker 1 thing. Probably went to West Point kind of.

Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly. 100% like that.
Intimidation. Intimidation versus

Speaker 1 motivation.

Speaker 1 And so then I was like, oh,

Speaker 1 it'd be more fun to play a little bit, you know, softer version of it.

Speaker 1 And so that's where the voice sort of came out, which was just a way that I would you know would talk when you're just sort of doing stuff with your friends and joking around uh and playing a certain type uh voice type coach and it sounded a little bit like bill self sounded a little bit like roy williams sounded a little bit like but it was just a voice that i just you know it wasn't specifically after them okay uh the the coach my high school coach a fellow named donny campbell was definitely a guy who he was definitely the guy that introduced me to john wooden who was like the patron saint of sort of the ethos for um uh you know the ted lasso character where he ended up being on the show but but um but also was really uh always had those fun kind of country, country-fried phrases, you know.

Speaker 1 And the one that the one that I always remember that I always bring up is like, you know, Sudai because you look more nervous than a, you know, a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Speaker 1 You know, and he's from like Lions, Kansas. But you know, he was like a badass football player.

Speaker 1 You know, he played at K-State, was a quarterback, got drafted after Warren Moon, you know, by the Oilers, so he never saw announced playing time.

Speaker 1 But, but, like, a big dude, and when he would, but he definitely, you know, and I think he'd own up on this, and I deserved it at the time, but he was definitely more of a screamer.

Speaker 1 Like, I I got the brunt of

Speaker 1 Coach Campbell, and rightfully so.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 yeah, he would holler at me quite a lot because I was a flashy, fancy kind of passer. Just a peep.
Yeah,

Speaker 1 that was more of my vibe. And he was more of a Normandale.
You got five crisp passes before we shoot.

Speaker 1 What's all that fancy shit over there?

Speaker 1 100%. Synchronous, what do you do?

Speaker 1 Then when we did the commercial in 2013, he was a little bit more of a knucklehead. And then it did well.

Speaker 1 People liked the commercial.

Speaker 1 Comedy, people liked it soccer people liked football people liked it uh a favorite quote that brendan and i heard like a couple years after that was like a british guy come up to oh i love those commercials you got everything wrong perfectly

Speaker 1 yeah so then we wanted to do another one in 2014 and so we we came to nbc sports and they're like they're like sure but we don't have the budget to fly over to london it's like okay great So then it became, okay, well, this is kind of funny because the story is he got hired and fired in three days by the Tottenham Hotspurs in the commercial and the first commercial.

Speaker 1 So the second one was like, instead of him being mad about it, he fell in love with London. He fell in love with

Speaker 1 soccer slash football. And now he's just dedicated his life.

Speaker 1 He bought a Minnie Cooper and he's waking up at the butt crack at dawn to watch Premier League over here in the States and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1 But it unlocked this sort of like childlike enthusiasm for him.

Speaker 1 He started coaching a little girl soccer team and whatnot. And so then that was 2014.

Speaker 1 Then 2015, Brennan Joe and I hung out uh you know we were talking about like what else could we do do we do another commercials is there more there is there like a movie and we just sat down and just started writing

Speaker 1 in in one week's time like in three days like like six different ideas for episodes we you know wrote a pilot script and then it just sat there for like two three years you know uh my ex and i olivia we had we had a couple kids

Speaker 1 joe uh who's one of the co-creators of the show uh co-created a show called detroiters with tim robinson and sam richardson and their friend zach cannon and then brendan was you know writing writing plays and

Speaker 1 acting and all sorts of stuff. And then Bill Lawrence, who had created like Cougar Town and Scrubs and whatnot, had an idea for a show that he thought maybe I could be interested in.

Speaker 1 That one didn't quite work out, but we hit it off. And he's like, well, if you have any other ideas,

Speaker 1 let me know. And I was like, well, we got this.
We had this stack of papers. I was like, check this out.

Speaker 1 Is this anything?

Speaker 1 But again, towards what I was saying earlier, no part of you, you're going to want to check it. It was like,

Speaker 1 is this anything? Like, literally, I don't know.

Speaker 1 and I always put that phrase that I always heard about. I was typing last night.
You want to check out this? But did you think that it was something? No, I mean, I knew it was fun.

Speaker 1 No, not, I mean, I knew it was something that we had fun doing. I knew it was something I was excited about, but it wasn't like assume more times than not when it's that, it's something.
Yes. Right?

Speaker 1 Yeah, but not to the point, not to the level it means.

Speaker 1 Yeah, just, you know, no way, Jose. There's no way to know that.

Speaker 1 But it, but it was at least, I wasn't embarrassed. You know, I was giving it to a guy who could, you know, it was like a stalled car.
I was like, do you have gas for this tank? And he certainly did.

Speaker 1 And he, he read it on the flight back and he's like, oh, there's definitely something there. He was 100% into it.

Speaker 1 And so then we, then, then it was like this long, the long process of, of, you know, making it, of like, you know, trying to pitch it to networks and streaming sites, trying to, you know, write a pilot,

Speaker 1 then, then, you know, then, then writing it, then shooting it, then editing it. And then you, then, you know, released it to the masses.
Yeah, what, August 2020?

Speaker 1 And then it just took off in a way that never in a million years would, any of us thought I mean I don't know like I have a decent imagination I couldn't have imagined that at all as Ted Lasso fans man thank you because that shit is gold I appreciate it have you had professional athletes or just athletes in general come up and talk to you about how much they appreciate watching the show yeah and like I really do think like Ted Lasso as a coach yeah is like the perfect temperament as a coach yeah yeah I've always felt like and I you just nailed it and

Speaker 1 I don't know I've always been curious like what that you talked about your gym teacher your basketball coach. Like, how did you get to that tone with him?

Speaker 1 I think it was having, taking the best parts of all the different mentors and teachers and coaches I'd had in my life.

Speaker 1 People like Tina, people like Lauren Michaels, people like Coach Campbell, people that I didn't have, you know, like John Wooden, you know, people,

Speaker 1 it is that wish fulfillment, you know, the person that you'd want to be.

Speaker 1 And it was also just fun because it's like a hyped up, a guy that likes to say yes and to other people that deals these things.

Speaker 1 my joke you know the first season when doing press people how much is that how much is that like you it's like it's like i think it's the best version of myself it does i don't always have access to that how many of us do uh but it's like me after two beers on a friend's boat you know it's like

Speaker 1 like in a bright sunny day where you're just like yeah i'm i'm i'm loose i'm having fun it's like the water's cold i don't care like let's get in there hey let's let's all hop in there come on and see what happens yeah you know like and uh and you're just like you want to you want to dance you want to DJ, you're just like, you're feeling it, you know, and

Speaker 1 yeah, he's just looking for the best in people. But I think it was

Speaker 1 an amalgamation of

Speaker 1 probably, if I were to sit down and really do the work, like probably like 20 different people in my life. And probably four of them are imaginary, just something you'd want.
But

Speaker 1 we've had athletes, coaches love it. I mean, we've had, heck, we have owners of sports teams

Speaker 1 appreciate us showing like the human side of ownership, too. Absolutely.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 Like a shout out. Yeah.
And so it's, it's in all aspects. And, and even just people

Speaker 1 like, I get to go speak at these events of like these companies. And it's a lot, you know, people that are in leadership.

Speaker 1 And we all are, whether we have a job that does it or not, we're all in a position of leadership. And so people respond to those.
So many carryovers to everything.

Speaker 1 And it's interesting you brought up Yes Ann from your improv time asked because it is very similar with what he does in the show.

Speaker 1 But I just, you know, I think, especially when you've been through sports for so long and you've seen how, like, ego and things can be divisive, the fact the way he forgives, the way he motivates, the way he keeps people kind of, I mean, the whole thing is just so well done.

Speaker 1 I don't even know what I'm asking. To be honest with you, I've just been a huge fan of the temperament of it from day one.
I just think it's so ironic that now that you're talking about it.

Speaker 1 So, you guys

Speaker 1 of your daughter's team, you went back to Coach Campbell's style of coaching, of intimidation.

Speaker 1 I remember this teddy last time.

Speaker 1 Just because you're eight years old doesn't mean you gotta act like it.

Speaker 1 For God's sakes,

Speaker 1 get out of my gym.

Speaker 1 Get the hell out of my gym.

Speaker 1 That is so good.

Speaker 1 That character's right there, too.

Speaker 1 Everybody's got a little Coach Campbell. 100%.
100%.

Speaker 1 It's amazing that Coach Campbell, like, a neat thing about this show is so many people connected to it

Speaker 1 have got to go off and blossom into their own thing. Coach Campbell has this great speaking career as the inspiration of Ted Lasso, which is

Speaker 1 so neat.

Speaker 1 He can tell the truth about me as an actual athlete.

Speaker 1 The older I get, the better I was. Coach Campbell's there to stop that shit.
He's like, nope, he was not that good.

Speaker 1 A lot of turnovers.

Speaker 1 One to three assists a turnover ratio. But those three.
He never wanted to pass the ball.

Speaker 1 Unless it was through his legs or behind his back. Jason Williams, light.

Speaker 1 No, i appreciate it it's it's it's it's neat having people from especially from the soccer world because that's any any of these our gatekeeper communities and the way that the the football community embraced us because they didn't know they thought we were going to be you know you know mocking in their

Speaker 1 americans coming over there and yet you know impossible to do when uh you have someone like brendan hunt who's like the the football solo that he loves that sport he comes about his love for it honestly he he was you know a chicago boy who who you know made fun of the scores and you know like 90 minutes of nothing and then was working in Amsterdam and fell in love with the sport and loves it

Speaker 1 to his core. And that permeates throughout the show.
And we try to honor that versus being parasitic towards it because

Speaker 1 it's the only way I think that the character would want to be. It sort of permeates from that ethos, you know, like, which is, which is really, really, really special and really neat.
Awesome.

Speaker 1 Awesome. Well, is there

Speaker 1 season four? Is it in the works? Is it?

Speaker 1 I don't know what I'm allowed to ask. You're going to season four.

Speaker 1 No, you're going to.

Speaker 1 That's what we're writing. We're writing season four now.

Speaker 1 That's the official word. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Ted's coaching, yeah, a women's team. So there, that's

Speaker 1 a women's team. Yeah.

Speaker 1 There you go. Is he coming back to the States?

Speaker 1 Am I asking too many questions? He was back in the school.

Speaker 1 He asked me questions.

Speaker 1 We'll leave it at that. We'll leave it at that.
And it's only because

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 1 I'm talking about answers.

Speaker 1 I was writing it now. There's a paper.
There is a paper with this going out. He's only asking too many more questions.
No, but that's what we want. I'm very excited to hear that.

Speaker 1 It felt like there needed to be more, to be honest with you. That's nice.
And it's, I know there's that.

Speaker 1 Whenever you're writing something, I'm sure there's always like, at what point are we done with this? And at what point do we keep going?

Speaker 1 I speak for Ted Lasso fans everywhere that we really do not want you to stop. So please keep doing that.

Speaker 1 That was that, you know, we had those couple years there where we had the writers and actors strike, and

Speaker 1 that made the time, the time off that we all earned feel a little less special because everybody was off. And it's heartbreaking because

Speaker 1 that makes things tough for not just the actors and writers, obviously, but everybody else involved in making these things and people behind the scenes and put up the lights and make the costumes and all that.

Speaker 1 All that stuff came to a grinding halt. And then just through that.

Speaker 1 you know, post-that, I should say, yeah, the universe kept just like saying things, whether

Speaker 1 kind folks at airports or on the internet or friends of my folks or just you know other people in the industry uh other people in in

Speaker 1 wherever in any walk of life and it was just like okay okay i hear you i hear you i hear you we hear you we hear you we're listening

Speaker 1 and then and then yeah just more stories kept unfolding and just put you know popping up in our in our heads and so yeah that's where we're just exploring all that now and and yeah it's exciting i mean it's daunting you know because we told the story we wanted to tell and that uh but there's yeah there's more there's there's there's more there and and and it is a neat group of people to work with it's a it's a it's a wonderful group of people people and characters to write around and for.

Speaker 1 There's so many likable characters. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Everybody plays their part so fine. I know.
It's such a great group.

Speaker 1 I felt like Roy Catner. You are Roy.

Speaker 1 That's literally Roy Cattle. Starting to kind of lean into Roy a little bit.
I love what this guy's doing right now. It's something.

Speaker 1 I mean, because that is that character is inspired by a bunch of things, but it's the way I felt like

Speaker 1 leaving SNL. Like I had done sketch comedy for so many years.
It's the way I felt about guys that were athletes or when I stopped being an athlete.

Speaker 1 And again, I had that lovely crossfade from I had a new passion. But when you don't, when you've been this thing, this guy for this long, and now you aren't, it's like, what, then what am I?

Speaker 1 And that question is so, is, is one that isn't, you know.

Speaker 1 And you got to play pro. Think about all the, I mean, I think about all the young men that I played AAU basketball with that were the best in the country.
Yeah. You know, and then they're not.

Speaker 1 And it's like, and, and there's nothing set up on the other side to deal with that drop drop-off.

Speaker 1 When I look at these young men,

Speaker 1 it's scary. And you think about all the people that may have

Speaker 1 used them on the way up and they're not there to help as much as you would hope.

Speaker 1 No question. Yeah.
So, you know, someone like someone like.

Speaker 1 Brett and I used to say that there's a version of Roy Kent that may have, you know, gone the way of the dark side had Ted Lasso not come into his life. You know what I mean? Absolutely.

Speaker 1 I'm getting goosebumps. It's the truth, man.
It is. It's the truth.
It is.

Speaker 1 And it's real.

Speaker 1 That shit's real. So I appreciate you feeling that way about it.

Speaker 1 That's the way I felt about him, too.

Speaker 1 And I certainly know it's the way that Brett embodied him and connected to him on the writing side and threw him his hat in the ring to audition for you. You're just like, yeah, that's it, dude.

Speaker 1 You got it.

Speaker 1 Iconic.

Speaker 1 Like, holy smokes. So neat.

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Speaker 1 I want to hear about Second City in Vegas, man. Okay.
Yeah. Yeah.
How did you, how did you end up going into Second City? Did you always know after like your hoop dreams and everything? Was it...

Speaker 1 It was really kind of nuts. I went, I went from

Speaker 1 there's a thing in Kansas City called Comedy Sports. Have you heard of that at all?

Speaker 1 It's yeah, it was, it, it's, it's still around, and it's basically like short-form improv, kind of like that TV show Who's Lines It Anyway?

Speaker 1 Yeah, so that's something you would go to after homecoming, you know, you go to the dance, and then again, not drinking, we'd go see comedy sports because it was a family show and like there was no swearing or anything like that.

Speaker 1 So, I did that in KC for a while.

Speaker 1 Uh, started like took classes like that junior year and of high school, and then senior year, and then I was playing basketball, basketball, like I said, down at this Fort Scott Community College.

Speaker 1 I was driving home every weekend to go watch shows or do shows.

Speaker 1 And, and, and my, so my crossfade between from sports to comedy was comedy sports, this thing called comedy sports, which is pretty great. Yeah.

Speaker 1 You know, and so it was, it was that, and all this, all the silliness that you do as a kid that gets you in trouble in class, that gets you, have you running suicides in practice, were now being applauded and lauded, you know?

Speaker 1 I was like, okay, this is, this is, this is, this is good, this is good. And it was improv, so there was no homework.
You didn't have to memorize it.

Speaker 1 It's the best art form for talented, lazy people,

Speaker 1 which I still aim to be.

Speaker 1 Though talented, lazy, I got down.

Speaker 1 And so then it was like, okay, well, where do you go from here? And it was like, well, you moved to Chicago. And so me and a couple buddies from

Speaker 1 Comedy Sports, we moved to Chicago, and we did that for three years, like basically from 97 to the second three-peat for the

Speaker 1 Bulls. That was a good year.
97, 98. Living in Chicago.

Speaker 1 It's incredible. It was incredible.

Speaker 1 And you're around that and you're, again,

Speaker 1 just eating like hell and

Speaker 1 taking $5, finding the ATM that allows you to take $5 out, which was right down the street from Wrigleyville or Wrigley Field.

Speaker 1 So I can go to Taco Bell around the corner because that's all you can afford. And you just figure those little life hacks out.

Speaker 1 And then while there, I auditioned for a couple of things, one of which was a theater company, an improv show, theater show in Amsterdam called Boom Chicago.

Speaker 1 So then I ended up going over there for a few months. And while there, this is in 2000, Second City's like, hey, we're going to open up a second city in Las Vegas.
Would you want to do that?

Speaker 1 I was like, sure. I was like, great.
How long?

Speaker 1 People are doing three-month contracts, six-month contracts. I was like, I'll do a six-month contract.
You know, I'll be able to come home. I won't have to work a temp job or something like that.

Speaker 1 Man, I can only imagine signing up for a game for six months in Vegas.

Speaker 1 It was, it wasn't like, didn't do a lot of extracurriculars that can make your time in Vegas much more dangerous, you know, or short or short-lived.

Speaker 1 And so, yeah, lived there, did that, ended up staying two years, nine months. And it was

Speaker 1 graduate school. Like, we did so many shows, all that, like, Malcolm Gladwell theory of 10,000 hours, that's where it was.
And you had to earn it from the audience.

Speaker 1 Audiences, you know, they're used to seeing like headliners like, you know,

Speaker 1 Secret Royale. See, Frito Morceline, Dion,

Speaker 1 like, you know, huge, huge stars. And here we are trying to do like sketch and improv

Speaker 1 and right outside the window, like it would be only these drapes, you know, type of things would be keeping the sound of people screaming it for either winning or losing or just the sound of slot machines and like and we were doing shows early on with you know for like seven people it was horrible and it was hard it wasn't horrible it was just hard because it's still like what we all love doing for a living and we yeah we did you catch yourself ever trying to like market it while you were there we tried yeah i mean they you know second city eventually you know started doing that and we started doing all these really interesting grassroots kind of marketing where we just invited all the cab drivers and so and they could come for free so that when they would pick people up at mcarran they'd be like, you know what show you should go see that we want to go see?

Speaker 1 You know, because the strip clubs had it down where it's like they get a little kickback when they would bring the strip clubs. We didn't have

Speaker 1 that kind of

Speaker 1 that access or any of the similar show elements.

Speaker 1 And so, yeah, so we literally reached out to them like that.

Speaker 1 And then, yeah, at some point, SNL asked, you know, I got asked if I want to audition for SNL and sent in a tape and then moved away to New York from Vegas. You brought up the 10,000 hours of

Speaker 1 essentially practicing over and over again in my mouth.

Speaker 1 How do you practice improv? That's one thing that's never made, like when you practice music, you're practicing the exact same thing that you're going to play in the show. Improv.

Speaker 1 You don't know what you're about to do. So how do you prepare and practice to get better at that?

Speaker 1 Well, I mean, there's some things like with sports, you know, you work on your ball handling, you're working on your shooting form, and then you're improvising the rest of the thing.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you're setting up plays, but if you're running like a motion offense or some of the plays that Travis likes through the play,

Speaker 1 just go. Tony,

Speaker 1 just go.

Speaker 1 I think you just prepare. You know, it's about getting comfortable on stage, getting comfortable with the people.
I mean, there's rules, but you don't really need to follow the rules.

Speaker 1 I think the rules are there just to give you like, like, you know, some guidelines. Yeah, exactly.
But it's not, obviously, not. So it's not complete chaos.
No, no, no, not. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 But, and then at the end of the day, it's just like getting better at being yourself, getting better at listening. Yeah.
You know, and to not get in the way of yourself or try to do too much.

Speaker 1 It's like a little bit like just a little bit stage savvy, a little bit like, you know, like court presence, you know, like where you just, where you can just, you feel at ease regardless of, of the chaos that you're about to, and, and the, the unknowingness that you're about to, you know, for sure.

Speaker 1 dive into so the the entire time in vegas like doing second city though you were going to the sports books on sundays betting on the chiefs is what you

Speaker 1 and you were just making sure like you didn't dabble a lot in the chain and slots and the table so much easier now the kids now with their ash they just have to go on the app we had to go to a sports book and deal with old grizzled men with cigarettes with ashes as long as like you know, their fingers.

Speaker 1 No, it was different. It's different.
Different then. We earned it.
It was a dark thing back then. I barely gambled.

Speaker 1 Now we put it in.

Speaker 1 Now it's okay.

Speaker 1 Come on, let Pete Rose be. That's right.
That's right.

Speaker 1 I'm with you. I was like,

Speaker 1 I barely, I think I gambled $500 in the three years I was there. No.
And it was only on Blackjack.

Speaker 1 Maybe I put some money on the Jayhawks for some

Speaker 1 time. Maybe at the beginning of the season, just because someone else did it, I was like, oh, I'll do that.
That sounds fun.

Speaker 1 But yeah, for the most part, i yeah at one time my roommate mike had a buddy come stay with us and come to find out what i know now because people know this world he was on a card counting team and so yeah it was like one of those guys like that those movies are about and he was practicing basic strategy and he sort of explained to me all what was going on and i just found it fascinating and he had like a computer program that you know so you could just run through all the stuff you can do on your apps now when you want to train basic strategy yeah i remember we we weren't allowed to drop him off at the safe house we had to drop him off at a corner.

Speaker 1 It was like a Durango in Twain. I remember it because it always sounded like a badass like 80s cops movie, like Dango and Cash, like Durango and Twain.

Speaker 1 And then he had to walk to this place where when he explained it to us, it sounded like fight club.

Speaker 1 So it's like a bunch of bunk beds and then a bunch of dudes just practicing all day grinding because they're just trying to get a little like 1% over the house to make these giant bets.

Speaker 1 And it was like, but I was like, you know, Vegas had like that kind of shit going on where, and we're just trying to like, you know, do improv

Speaker 1 on this whole other side. It's the most transient place I've ever lived.
People would, would, would come in. You'd see them at the pool.
They'd have some idea for a new slot machine handle.

Speaker 1 And then like they had just moved in. And then two weeks later, they're gone.
You never see them again. It was very, it was, it was, it was, it was fascinating.

Speaker 1 And, you know, yeah, people, we lived in corporate housing right off of Flamingo and Coval. Well, Coval and Flamingo and Koval, right? Which I found out a year into living there.

Speaker 1 It's right where Tupac was allegedly shot. Oh, wow.
Oh, wow. But yeah, like,

Speaker 1 you've got a little intense attention to walk past it. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's all cleaned up now.
But our, we used to have, we all bought razor scooters.

Speaker 1 You remember the ones that we had? On the back side of Flamingo, the hotel? Hold on. We're talking about Razor scooters.
Sorry about that.

Speaker 1 Exactly. But

Speaker 1 there was a street. I forget what it was.
It wasn't Flamingo, but it was one

Speaker 1 west of it or east of it. And we would ride

Speaker 1 our little, we'd unfold our thing and haul it. Because these are all, it was filled with degenerate gamblers and addicts, and it was heavy duty.

Speaker 1 And we'd sneak in the back way to the flamingo, walk, you know, fold it up, walk in through the

Speaker 1 swimming pool area, and then sneak right in. Oh, man.
It's also the flamingo.

Speaker 1 Was there ever an end goal in mind? No. No, no.
You were just enjoying doing what you were doing. Yeah, I mean, no.

Speaker 1 I mean, the end goal at that point would have been 100% because we were being produced out of Chicago. And Chicago is like the homeland for Second City.

Speaker 1 That's where it started back in 1959 would have been to do one of the resident stages there.

Speaker 1 So that would have been, I was doing a resident stage, but it was in Las Vegas, but to do either the ETC or the main stage.

Speaker 1 So to go back and, you know, to do as good of a job as you can where you're doing your thing and then have them say, hey, we want you to come back and do a show in Chicago would have been the end goal.

Speaker 1 The goal right in front of me. I made it back.
Yeah, 100%. And you used to go to the Second City shows in Chicago.
All the time. So did you ever see the legends pull up? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 I mean, like, when I first moved to Chicago in september of 97 you know tina fey was still was still on stage rachel dratch was on stage horatio sands was in the etc i mean i saw like like i mean all those guys tina had was just just getting was just gonna get hired to go write on snl but

Speaker 1 you know but but but we used to go every christmas we would go back to chicago like christmas for for you know with with my grandma on the south side and like all my my mom's side of the family tons of tons of cousins and whatnot and then like a lot of Junes too for like when kids started graduating from like Catholic school and whatnot.

Speaker 1 And I would always ask to go to Second City and we'd go up there. So I saw, I definitely saw Colbert and Carell back in the day and Amy Sederis.

Speaker 1 And you just have faint memories because you didn't know who any of them were. You didn't know who you were watching at the time.
Not yet. No.

Speaker 1 I remember seeing like Second City Touring Company came through and they performed at, I forget the name of the theater down, it's down in Crown Center, but they came and performed.

Speaker 1 And I saw a guy that his name was John Farley. And he was doing a a scene that his brother Chris had done.
And John's incredible. You know, that whole family is hilarious.

Speaker 1 And I was just like, oh, my God, that's got to be Chris's brother.

Speaker 1 Because he was playing like a character that his brother created at Second City, and he was doing the touring company. So, yeah, it's great.
I mean, I still love going back there. It's super fun.

Speaker 1 It's a great show. And like I said, family show.
But that's where I took classes, you know, just

Speaker 1 like over a summer. It was like six weeks.
And, you know, one of my first improv teachers, a fellow named Corey Rittmaster, who's a Kansas City dude.

Speaker 1 And, you know, we still, we talk, I talk to him more than family because we play Fortnite together. Nice.
Oh, we're still, yeah, we're still in touch. We're still in touch.

Speaker 1 Really?

Speaker 1 I mean, you know, like, you know, taking on 98 other people on this island. I mean, I don't want to get into it too specific, but

Speaker 1 plain as Billie Eilish.

Speaker 1 So good. Yeah.
Sorry. Just banging.
Well, you went from Vegas straight to SNL? Yeah. Yeah.
And you were at SNL for nine years. 10.
10. 10.
Yeah. Yeah.
I wrote for the first two years, you know,

Speaker 1 which was awesome and scary because, you know, I had only at that point really kind of realized how to write for myself.

Speaker 1 Now I'm being asked to write for other people, but I then got to learn the show, learn the staff, learn the script format.

Speaker 1 Like it felt like, you know, to speak to, you know, athletes, like, it felt like being redshirted, you know, and

Speaker 1 yet it also felt, it was scary, but it also felt a little bit like I didn't get the job that I was hoping to get.

Speaker 1 But, but I got a job that allowed for so much more than I ever would would have realized. And I got to,

Speaker 1 I started out hot. I got like, you know, a couple of sketches on right off the bat, you know, writing for people, writing with other people.
And then I just went blank for months.

Speaker 1 But I really, really loved the rewrite table. And that's when you're like sitting around talking with the other writers, other cat.

Speaker 1 excuse me, other cast members, and you're just hyping up their material.

Speaker 1 So there's this whole theory in philosophy and SNL, excuse me, of an improv called Yes And, where you're supporting the idea and then you're adding to it. And that's just a form of rewriting.

Speaker 1 So So all those 10,000 hours of doing this thing,

Speaker 1 your brain's just sort of clued into it.

Speaker 1 And then the other thing that's really neat, and it's one of the things I always speak about in relation to team sports, which is just a direct correlation for me to the ensemble arts, is just those time of being with your friends, with your teammates in the locker room, on the bus, and joking around and having different friends with different sensibilities and different sense of humors and be able to joke around with any of them.

Speaker 1 Then they get paid for it at SNL.

Speaker 1 I was literally doing the same thing that I was doing with my friends, you know, back in high school, like after a win or a loss, you know, driving from, you know, Lawrence, Kansas, getting, getting our ass kicked by them, and then driving back to Overland Park, and that's, that's 30 minutes of hell.

Speaker 1 Or I would say that's 10 minutes of hell. And then the last 20 minutes,

Speaker 1 exactly. It was just silliness.
I would say easily the thing I miss most about being playing football is being in the locker room and being around the guys and like that camaraderie for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1 So definitely can relate to it. And even to add on to that, growing up and

Speaker 1 how many sports we played, how many different like playing hockey, playing baseball, like the hockey guys are completely different than the football guys that are completely different than the basketball guys or even the lacrosse guys.

Speaker 1 Like it's like the wrestlers are the that's the how do we do it.

Speaker 1 Nutcases. Yeah.
I didn't do that.

Speaker 1 Once I saw Jason's pimple on his forehead pop on someone else's face

Speaker 1 wrestling in middle school. I was like, yeah, no, I'm good on wrestling.

Speaker 1 I swait the yellow yo, wait.

Speaker 1 I still remember getting pinned

Speaker 1 one time.

Speaker 1 No, this was my seventh grade year. So I was wrestling with somebody older.
Oh, okay. And just the guy had his armpit in my face.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 And the pungency of this guy's armpit will forever be embedded in my school. I was just like, man, this is fucking gross.
Remember it was French Liberty.

Speaker 1 We discovered deodorant yet.

Speaker 1 What school was it? Remember the school? This was actually a teammate. I didn't want to say.

Speaker 1 There you go. We were sparring.

Speaker 1 Yep. Hey, we'll leave it at that.
No, no. You ended up being a great football player.

Speaker 1 Now, I would say the only other athletes that

Speaker 1 when I was at Fort Scott, we shared our gym with the rodeo team. Like, there was a like

Speaker 1 the field house was half.

Speaker 1 That's just shit you don't get up in Cleveland, Ohio. You don't get a rodeo team.
I mean, it was nuts. And these dudes were the skinniest, like flattest butts dudes you've ever seen in your life.

Speaker 1 And they would, they were so tough. We'd be in there, like, with the trainer, like, how I jammed my finger.
They'd come in.

Speaker 1 They just got their rib punctured by like a bull's horn and they're just like tape it up so i can get back in there and we're just like okay like i mean crazy you look at the auntie list of some of these rodeo professionals

Speaker 1 the injury list of that is much bigger than nfl absolutely no it's it was those those guys those men and women were so tough and so i'll tell you what man some of them started wearing hockey helmets yeah i put on a hockey helmet before yeah that shit ain't stopping nothing dude are you kidding me it's gonna hurt still no you gotta put on everything yeah no the the bulls the bulls that's just another target for them

Speaker 1 So did you enjoy writing more or performing more? Or do you enjoy writing or performing more? Or are they

Speaker 1 two different sides of the same coin? Yeah, I mean, they're pretty fun.

Speaker 1 Both are fun. I mean,

Speaker 1 100% objectively writing is more difficult.

Speaker 1 It's exhausting. Like, you know, we're in the writing process now, and it's just,

Speaker 1 like, I know it's not farming. I know it's not digging ditches.
I know it's not teaching math to kids that don't want to be there. I know that very well.
And yet

Speaker 1 it's so hard because you're just in your head the whole time and you're just actively thinking and actively listening. And it's just a lot.
And

Speaker 1 yet when it flows, it's really, really fun. And there is something just fun about

Speaker 1 talking to yourself and then typing it out and having feeling a little bit like you have control over. the universe, which we have no control over.

Speaker 1 There is a little bit of that wish fulfillment.

Speaker 1 But I love rewriting. I love seeing something in someone and trying to

Speaker 1 bring that out of them and encourage them to access it for themselves.

Speaker 1 That's a fun thing to do. But

Speaker 1 performing is great. I mean, it is.

Speaker 1 It's hard in a different way,

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 it's mostly.

Speaker 1 Yeah, writing something else.

Speaker 1 There's nothing more daunting than a blank page.

Speaker 1 It's so scary. I don't even know where you start.
Yeah, me either. Me either.
And I've done it for years.

Speaker 1 I don't think I'm good at it. You guys are already, it's two steps ahead of me.
I can't even read or write. So it's like, I don't know.

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 1 I see a blank page. I'm like, that thing's probably going to stay blank.

Speaker 1 It's like, I can read that. Yeah, no, no.
I got to get it. You can imagine everything, actually.

Speaker 1 Endless possibilities right there.

Speaker 1 I started getting more stuff on the show when I was able to. write it and act in it.

Speaker 1 That was one of those things. You feel more comfortable writing for yourself.

Speaker 1 at that time at that point yeah yeah 100 yeah because then you just know how i can imagine that on that probably yeah that has to be kind of a lot of people's sweet spot right yeah that can do both at least yeah yeah and i had such a badass generation my s and l generation i like i'm i'm so like what a blessing to to come in with with with that group of men and women both be both behind the scenes in front of the camera like it was something else and so like our our cast could write their buns off like yeah i mean it was neat like and so everybody, it was scary though, too, because you're kind of like, shit, you're all just jockeying for 30 minutes of time airtime, you know, between when a host comes in, you gotta, you know, you gotta share with the song, you gotta share with update, you gotta share with commercials, obviously.

Speaker 1 That's why it's there. And then you're just, and it's the funny thing.
I've never thought about that. It's really just about 30 minutes.
If that, it may be 27.

Speaker 1 It may, but I mean, it's, it's, it's nuts when you really, really think about it.

Speaker 1 And then on Tuesday night, when they're all writing and they're laughing, you know, when I'm, I, my, me and uh, I was office mates with Bill Hayter the first five years and then Mike O'Brien the second five years.

Speaker 1 And our my office was right next to a fellow named James Anderson, who's one of the one of the best writers at SNL in SNL history. And he wrote a lot with Kristen Wig.

Speaker 1 And when I'd hear those two laughing, and then sometimes Paula Pell would be in that office too, because James and Paula were dear old friends. And there was a banger cooked.
You were just like, yeah.

Speaker 1 You were just like, oh no, what are they cooked up now? What's every little girl going to be dressing up for next Halloween?

Speaker 1 It's like, just like, what iconic silhouette is she going to create and what voice she's going to put it to. And yeah, it's just, it's something else.

Speaker 1 Did you have like that goat in the acting world that you like looked up to that you aspired to be?

Speaker 1 Or even somebody at SNL where you were like, oh shit, I'm finally in the same room as. Oh, for sure.
I mean, there were people like that.

Speaker 1 I mean, like, Tina was such a, Tina was someone that I loved watching.

Speaker 1 Like, her, and she did, she, she did a lot of scenes with a fellow named Scott Adsett, who's one of my all-time favorite performers.

Speaker 1 They were like, like, Second City Legends, and, and, uh, he ended up playing Pete Pete Hornberger on 30 Rock 2. And he's still, when I watch him perform, he just knocks me out.

Speaker 1 I just think he's such a great actor. He's funny as well, but he's just a really good actor.

Speaker 1 And he was really great at pantomime, which you do a lot at Second City because so you don't have all the props and all that stuff. I'm going to need you to tell me what pantomime is, real quick.

Speaker 1 Just miming. Just miming.
Just miming. Okay, so yeah, like just brushing your teeth and all that.

Speaker 1 But he could, he could, there's a scene that he does where he's running up a

Speaker 1 stairwell, like a stairwell like this. And it's just, it looks like there's a stairwell there.
And it just looks like a magic trick. You're like, there's nothing there.

Speaker 1 He's just incredible. Or being, or chasing a car, you know, and he just would just, it was just, yeah, he's just incredible.

Speaker 1 And he would make it all look so believable, but it was also very funny because he's making something out of nothing at the same time.

Speaker 1 But him and Tina would just do these really, really clever, really smart scenes. And so that was like, you know, so to,

Speaker 1 be, to have Tina Fey be like a hero, then she becomes an icon, then she becomes like a mentor, then she becomes, you know,

Speaker 1 a friend. And then like, that's like, that's one of those weird journeys that still knocks me out.

Speaker 1 But anytime anybody came back, like when Will Farrell came back to host or to work with Tom Hanks, like those are the people that I loved.

Speaker 1 And, you know, it was like, but growing up, yeah, it was all, it was, you know, I was so lucky.

Speaker 1 We just, we just re-watched at work, we just rewatched Hoosiers, you know, because of Eugene Hackman passing. And like, that was someone that's greatest sports movie ever.
It's amazing. It's so good.

Speaker 1 It still holds up. Yeah.
It's still good. Bold statement, but I loved it.
Yeah. Yeah.
Was that? It was a bold statement. You say greatest sports movie.

Speaker 1 What are you going to put about Hooters? I mean, we were talking about Miracle last week, and that was a fucking thing. Miracle's great.
What happened?

Speaker 1 Well, I guess who? No, but I mean, it's fair enough. I'm not going down the road.

Speaker 1 Like, I guess I don't know how to fight it. Exactly.
You know what I mean? This is a bold statement.

Speaker 1 I'm trying to think of it. There's like other comedy movies that I like.

Speaker 1 Major League. I love Water Boy.

Speaker 1 Major League.

Speaker 1 Yep. Major League.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Angels in the Outfield.

Speaker 1 Sandlot. Sandlot.
Sandlot is good. Sand Lott is so good.
So good. Still holds up.

Speaker 1 But yeah, getting to work with

Speaker 1 when you meet

Speaker 1 those guys,

Speaker 1 to meet Tom Hanks. That's like shaking hands

Speaker 1 on the Statue of Liberty.

Speaker 1 I had the pleasure of just, he was.

Speaker 1 I always forget the Halloween character he does on SMS. Oh, David Pumpkins.
David Pumpkins. I don't know why.

Speaker 1 I never associate him with the name David. I don't know why I never do that.
He was getting ready to do that skit like three Halloweens ago

Speaker 1 when Jack Harlett was posting it. And I snuck up behind him.
I was like, is that the man with one red shoe? And he was just like, what? Who the? Yeah.

Speaker 1 Who's all my movies?

Speaker 1 Yeah, absolutely. That was like the first one I ever remembered.
It was like the opening. They had an opening scene.

Speaker 1 And I'm

Speaker 1 like, it's blowing my mind as a kid. 100%.
I remember exactly that. I'm just like,

Speaker 1 the most skilled human being I've ever seen in my life. Love that, dude.
He always had little tricks like that in his movies. He was always doing little fun things like that.

Speaker 1 Michael Keaton is another one that I've got to meet over the years. And because for years I was kind of like, I was like, I love Bill Murray and I love Tom Hanks.

Speaker 1 But they're so different.

Speaker 1 And then Michael Keaton is like my favorite parts of

Speaker 1 both those guys. Oh, interesting.
I mean, all three men are iconic in their own ways, but it's just been, yeah, that's one of those places where you just can't believe you're mean.

Speaker 1 And then, you know, then you get to, then Paul McCartney's there too, every now and then. There you go.
Yeah. Well, speaking of Paul, you were talking about Will.
Yeah. SNL 50, man.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 How awesome was that? That happened, what, like two weeks ago? Was it two weeks ago? Yeah. It took literally a week to recover.
It looked like an entire award show.

Speaker 1 Like the amount of people that showed up, like, I don't know if, I know they kind of do it every like 10 years, but 40 didn't look like that. No, I mean,

Speaker 1 it was something else. And it was cool.
For me, the difference between 40 and 50 was we had just left. Like our generation had just left after the 40th.
Like Andy and Kristen had left in maybe 2012.

Speaker 1 And then me, Fred, and Bill left in 2013. Seth left in 2014.
So our generation had just really left.

Speaker 1 So it kind of felt like we were the freshmen coming back to homecoming, like the college freshmen coming back to the senior year homecoming.

Speaker 1 Now we're 10 years in.

Speaker 1 I got a couple of kids.

Speaker 1 It's neat having something that you've made that people responded to, like Ted Lasso. So now you're just kind of baked in.

Speaker 1 And I think the generation after us too, with like Vanessa Baer and Taryn Killam and Kate McKinnon, like that generation probably felt a little more baked in too and they because they were definitely they were on the show at the time of the 40th and so yeah it was just it was great it was like it was just neat and love

Speaker 1 it's I enjoyed every second of watching that thing man same you got to be in the uh the skit uh the jail skit oh scared straight

Speaker 1 straight the one I took a photo of the you know good nights when you're saying goodbye there at the end of Will Farrell and and Eddie Murphy like saying hi to each other those are my two favorites on the show like you know and and and they're just saying hi to each other at this is at the 40th and And then 10 years later to be in a sketch with them is

Speaker 1 nuts. No, it's great.
And my kids came to watch rehearsal on Saturday. They just came to watch the big New York musical that we did where Forte and

Speaker 1 Wig are doing the songs from Les Miz. And they're sitting there.
And then we're getting ready to leave, hop on the train, go back home.

Speaker 1 And Jenna, stage reminder Jenna, if you remember,

Speaker 1 she's like, Paul McCartney, Paul, we're ready to you for sound check. I was like, oh, Paul McCartney's

Speaker 1 good.

Speaker 1 We're good. We're going to stick here for a little bit.
He needs to watch this. All right, guys.
And that, I mean, when they say don't meet your heroes, they are not talking about Paul McCartney.

Speaker 1 That guy is a great person to meet.

Speaker 1 He loves being Paul McCartney. He is the coolest dude in any generation, in any room.

Speaker 1 He is just the coolest guy. He accepts the responsibility.

Speaker 1 He is like, I have been given this gift.

Speaker 1 I have been put into this Paul McCartney. He is that soul in a Paul McCartney vessel.
And he's like, what do you need?

Speaker 1 I mean, just having, him and my sister were talking about Let It Be, like the song, and he did, and he's responding to her as if he's never told the story before, that no one's ever asked him before, and he's so present.

Speaker 1 Dude, like, it's

Speaker 1 amazing.

Speaker 1 And then everybody

Speaker 1 throughout the day, or just every now and then when you see Paul up on stage, like at every point, someone's looking on their phone, looking, how old is he?

Speaker 1 It's like, this guy's got, this guy's, he's been

Speaker 1 more in the tank than I did. At one point, I was exhausted.
He's like 82, almost 83.

Speaker 1 It's just, yeah, it's like, oh, that's so cool. Do you have a favorite sketch from your time at SNL? Ooh, I had another one of those questions.
Yeah, yeah. I would say during my time,

Speaker 1 and I've answered this before,

Speaker 1 but it's the truth, was my favorite to do was what up with that? Because it was a big cast sketch. It also was one that people started getting really excited about.

Speaker 1 And we would normally do it after a weekend update. That became its slot.
And so they, they, you know, I mean, you know,

Speaker 1 you went, where I went to hosted everything. Yeah, so you like, like, how

Speaker 1 incredible. Like

Speaker 1 what happens in the commercial breaks, like, what that crew, what those men and women do

Speaker 1 in that amount of time, with that amount of intensity, and taking things down and putting them up.

Speaker 1 So, when, when they whip that giant ass weekend update desk and they bring it right down the center pipe there, and then they, they're taking down the thing, then they start putting together the, the what up at that set, the crowd would just start getting like, oh, shit,

Speaker 1 all of us are in it. We all know our function, we all know our role.
Everybody gets like a little highlight, a little spot here and there.

Speaker 1 We'd always, we eventually started getting like insane like, like, um, uh, cameos, you know, whether it be Robin Williams or Robert De Niro or just someone or Samuel L.

Speaker 1 Jackson, like someone who's not going to say anything, is only there to be in this shit, you know, and then wave goodnight and then come to the after party. Like, it was, that was just so fun.

Speaker 1 That was like, that was one of the out of the recurring ones. I loved,

Speaker 1 Wig and I, in our first few years together, did these characters called the two A-holes, which is really fun.

Speaker 1 Whereas like, you know, a guy on like a guy, you know, chewing gum and his girlfriend kind of like you know like playing with her hair and chewing gum and they were just those were those were a blast to to do and write and and people it was definitely a type an archetype that people saw in the in the real world sure it still exists they're still out there they're well yeah um Then like a few of my personal favorites that like I was involved in, like Forte and I had a lot of fun things.

Speaker 1 We did a sketch called Potato Chip.

Speaker 1 That very first time we did it was with Taylor when she hosted. Nice.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 it didn't make it a young Taylor, too. A young Taylor, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 But it didn't make it to air.

Speaker 1 We ended up doing it with Blake Lively. She ended up

Speaker 1 getting it over the hump for us. And they played it so differently, which is one of those neat things.
And it was like, it's the silliest sketch in the world. It's worth looking up.

Speaker 1 It's called Potato Chip. And then Forte and I would do these ESPN announcers

Speaker 1 for women's sports where it was basically us

Speaker 1 trying to sell.

Speaker 1 It was us, you know, doing like lawn darts or billiards, but then we would also be trying to sell a, everything was sponsored by like Massengill, you know, like I'm trying to, I would do these like crazy rhymes like when, you know,

Speaker 1 when, when you're, oh, when you're, what is it, like your, when your uterine lining looks like the elevator from the shining.

Speaker 1 Maxi pads.

Speaker 1 And it's just, it was so ridiculous. Oh my gosh.
And it's like, but people love it. People loved it.
And I remember we got to do, they put together

Speaker 1 a couple of years while we were still at the show where it was like all the different sports sketches, you know, from like when joe montana or or or uh you know payton had hosted at that point or michael jordan or whatever and we got to do the bumpers and so we would we filmed all these live in front of an like just 30 minutes before an actual live show and we got to do these things and we did them as these characters and we had so many of those like crazy rhyming things that i can't remember any of them now but they're all just you know more like standards and practices the sensors were more and more nervous with each one and that when you walk that tightrope on that show that's that's such a fun thing to do.

Speaker 1 Absolutely. Even though it drove Betsy Torres, our standard.

Speaker 1 Was there ever a sketch that you just knew was going to crush it and it just never caught the air? Like ever got the green light? It's a good.

Speaker 1 One of the nice things that you learn there is that nobody knows shit.

Speaker 1 Like you don't know. You never know.
You can have so much. I mean, you sort of do like, I remember when we were all in the studio and Lazy Sunday was was playing and Jack Black host.

Speaker 1 And that was like a great, a great episode for the show and for our generation and just

Speaker 1 for Earth at large. But I remember when that was playing, whereas

Speaker 1 seeing it at dress being like, oh, this is going to crush.

Speaker 1 But that's like a pre-tape piece

Speaker 1 and iconic in a way that very few things are. But I would say, no, because it's almost like you don't want to spook the muses either.

Speaker 1 That was always a fun thing that they would like these little bit of superstitions that you were, don't call home and say your sketch is making it don't text your friends because it'll end up getting cut.

Speaker 1 Don't say you're gonna show up in that sketch because your part will get up and and that happened more often than not. So, at some point, you're never like typing, being like, Oh, this is gonna count.

Speaker 1 I could, I, I, I, I, even if, even if I ever did, I don't know if I'd ever even say it out loud or would it get from my brain to my mouth? Like, something would stop inside.

Speaker 1 My soul would go, Don't you say that shit out loud?

Speaker 1 Don't you dare, don't dare,

Speaker 1 yeah, but nothing that comes up. I can think of maybe, yeah, nah, nothing.

Speaker 1 I let the Ted Lasso

Speaker 1 characters live on through every day in practice as I scream football is life, man.

Speaker 1 I still say it, dude. I love it.
And

Speaker 1 I already announced it.

Speaker 1 I'm coming back, but Chiefs fans, you have always been right there every single time towards the end of the seasons in the locker rooms, on the field, having fun with this, man.

Speaker 1 When did your Chiefs fandom really build up?

Speaker 1 I mean, my line for years, because growing up in Kansas City, it was, it was Royals Chiefs, you know, some dalliances with the, you know, the Kansas Comets and the indoor soccer days growing up.

Speaker 1 But like, my line for years, awesome jerseys, indeed.

Speaker 1 My for years, when people, especially at SNL, when like the crew guys would, you know, like Giants fans and Jets fans were like, you like the Chiefs?

Speaker 1 And when we weren't, you know, we weren't doing as well, it was like, I, it was like, you love the Chiefs? I was like, no, but I love a lot of people that do. And that was the sincere truth.

Speaker 1 It's like my family, I had gone to, prior to the last three, four years,

Speaker 1 like probably, I i think one actual chiefs game at arrowhead you know if for for us we were a basketball team you know basketball a family so i would go to you know more i'd spend more time out going to k you or the big eight tournament big 12 tournament all that stuff but then with you know having kids you know obviously the success of the team you know getting to know you and and and patrick you know through big slick and the charity stuff we do back home like then it becomes like this personal thing and then what's even more fun is when getting to play this fake coach and then you have real coaches that and real organizations that give you this beautiful treatment, we get to bring my good friends who are those people that do love the Chiefs, like my friend Terry and his kids who you've met, you know, my friend Billy and his children

Speaker 1 that you guys have been so kind to.

Speaker 1 And the Hunts

Speaker 1 let me roll deep.

Speaker 1 Like where it's like, can I bring him plus 12? They're like, yeah. I was like, oh my gosh,

Speaker 1 I was like, that's it.

Speaker 1 Exactly. Yeah.
And it's just been, it's just been a joy to watch.

Speaker 1 And it's just, it's just, you know, so now, yeah, now Otis and Daisy, you know, we're, we're, we're, you know, watching, you know, every week and watching the, you know, you know, we watched.

Speaker 1 Yeah, sorry. Yeah, that's all right.

Speaker 1 It's a better story. And I laugh about it now, but it hurts in some.

Speaker 1 Of course. It's like, because it matters to you.
I blame Jason. He had the voodoo doll maximum the entire time.
I did. I did.
That did not work out well.

Speaker 1 I got a voodoo doll off like Bourbon Street. Oh, no kidding.
Trying to like get Travis's hands warm in the middle of the game with the voodoo doll. It was not.
It was hit backfired. Ice cold.

Speaker 1 My hands were ice cold. It might have been a doo-voo.
Yeah, which might have been a doo-doo. It was more doo-doo than voodoo.

Speaker 1 We'll be back better than ever. We got this.
We got it.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 that's the story. I got you, brother.

Speaker 1 You dropped down one, and then you come back, and then you come back for one shining moment. There we go.
You know,

Speaker 1 that's the story I'd write.

Speaker 1 You can't just be winning all the time.

Speaker 1 That's not interesting at all.

Speaker 1 Nobody wants to watch five Super Bowls that you guys win. It fooled me because I definitely thought.
It'd be kind of fun. It'd be pretty amazing.
It'd be pretty cool.

Speaker 1 I know there's no way to, like, I only deal with this in the fake make-believe world and I'm sitting between guys who have actually done it and then one who just went through the hardest part of it and it feels very surreal right now.

Speaker 1 I don't know how to joke about it with you. Oh dude, I mean it was so long ago.

Speaker 1 It was I don't even

Speaker 1 know cutting off my memory. Yeah.
Yeah. But are there are there are there dudes that are holding on to it that are still like

Speaker 1 are people still in a cave.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I would have to. I still remember the one I lost and like,

Speaker 1 like one play, I could have made it. Yeah, well, you only fucking lost one, Jason.
Well, I lost to you, too. So shut the fuck up.
I don't need your sob story right now.

Speaker 1 This is what I'm talking about. Now we're reaching new heights.

Speaker 1 But you carry, for some reason, the losses, especially that loss in that game. You always carry on with it.

Speaker 1 You move on, you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 Yeah, just like anything. I joke about it.
You lost the third season three to the bear. So we're kind of the same.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that's some bullshit too well that's not come on let's not do that i know you want to play nice but that is bullshit that's that come on you can't are bear would you guys pay them no come on how much money you think oh you think they paid

Speaker 1 i hadn't heard that

Speaker 1 i'm kidding god can we cut that you brought up big slick i've never been to big slick i've heard a lot i've seen a lot of that stuff i do want to go there i don't want to be a part of it or dude

Speaker 1 yeah what is Thundergong? Thundergong, yeah. What the heck is that? Okay, so well, Big Slick is to help Children's Mercy Hospital.
We do that. That's lot of people.
Unbelievable. It's a blast.

Speaker 1 Unbelievable. It's a blast.
And last year was three mil raised? I think so. It keeps going up by the mil at this point.
I know it blows my money.

Speaker 1 It's like being one of those high school teams that are 114-0. It's like I get so nervous.

Speaker 1 And it's like the money is cool and all, but what you guys do, actually going to the hospital the day before and actually like being around the patients and everything.

Speaker 1 It's amazing. It's lovely.
It really is.

Speaker 1 support through the entire entertainment.

Speaker 1 Yeah, absolutely. And just the city turns out for it, too.
It's one of those neat things that we, yeah, we started ages ago. Rob Briggle had this idea saying, hey, what if we do this?

Speaker 1 And then he hooked me and Paul in, Paul Rudd.

Speaker 1 And then we added, you know, Kechner a year later, then we added Eric Stone Street and now Heidi Gardner, all from Kansas City, all from the surrounding area. Like, it's really, really neat.

Speaker 1 And it's, and, and so, yeah, we have that. That's every like it's beginning, usually in June, I think this year may be around May 31st, but around the beginning of

Speaker 1 June. Uh, and then Thundergong is a thing that me and my buddy Billy, uh, Brimlecum started.
He, he runs this nonprofit called Steps of Faith, and we help

Speaker 1 buy

Speaker 1 amputees, new arms and legs. My line is we help people buy arms and legs so they don't cost an arm and a leg.

Speaker 1 But yeah, I mean, he, like, a lot of people.

Speaker 1 It's funny, but it's money. It's clean out.
You can't die. That's right.
That's right.

Speaker 1 It's like clean. You put it on a business card.
People are like, I love it.

Speaker 1 I mean, business. And we do that in November.
And yeah, we help raise,

Speaker 1 we get people that have lost their arm or leg that are uninsured. We get them back literally on their feet, you know, and working again and provide help with the mental side of that too.

Speaker 1 And we work with these amazing prosthesis and

Speaker 1 physical therapists. And

Speaker 1 we can get legs people for like 500 bucks. So every time someone gives 500 bucks, that gets someone back.

Speaker 1 Yeah, walking in, yeah. And Billy, you know, it comes about it honestly because he lost his, he's a drummer.

Speaker 1 He lost his left leg, got it amputated right above the knee back in 2005, I want to say, when he was a touring musician,

Speaker 1 had no insurance. And so then we put together a comedy like rock show, like Fundraiser,

Speaker 1 raised like 50 grand back in Kansas City. It was after my first year, second year at SNL.

Speaker 1 We did some improv games, you know, his bands, a couple of bands he was in played, and we raised all this money to auction and some like cue cards that Tina Fey had signed and

Speaker 1 various things. And that got him a leg for that much money.
And

Speaker 1 he felt so moved by it. He was like,

Speaker 1 a couple of years years later, he's like, how do I do that for other people? And then

Speaker 1 this fellow was like, I have this foundation. Let Billy take it over.
And then a couple of years later, he's like, hey, why don't we do this?

Speaker 1 It's a charity concert. It's basically, you know, we do some comedy too.
But yeah, we've had amazing guests

Speaker 1 come through. Ben Harper,

Speaker 1 Winona Judd,

Speaker 1 Chance the Rapper, Brandy Carlos, sent in videos for us.

Speaker 1 Foo Fires did a video for us a couple of years ago for the one during COVID. Yeah,

Speaker 1 it's amazing. And that's one night.
The big sleck is like a whole weekend. So it's like these two things.
But yeah, and Kansas City shows up for all of them.

Speaker 1 When someone's

Speaker 1 like November, it's the first Saturday of every November. Yeah.
Yeah. In the fall.
Yeah. Try to keep them, yeah, so we're not double dipping.
I don't know why. Sure, yeah, you don't want to.

Speaker 1 You got your band geek over here. What do you play? Saxophone.
Okay. Well, I did.
I haven't played saxophone long. I'm now messing around on guitar.

Speaker 1 You got to come and come to Thundergong and do Baker Street. Oh, dude.

Speaker 1 You would kill it.

Speaker 1 Like, whatever, whatever. Or, like, yeah, or like someone saying Doobie Brothers,

Speaker 1 that's the no, Billy and his wife Allie have this band called Summer Breeze. Have you ever seen them in KC? I don't think I have.
I should, I should, I'll make you aware of them.

Speaker 1 But they, they, like, they play all the time, but they're the house band, so they do all

Speaker 1 these yacht rock hits in Kansas City. So, yeah, but they can play everything.
Like, I remember the first time, Fred Armison, who's a legit, like, great musician

Speaker 1 all his life. Um, you know, he just at the SNL 50th has played with Devo and the B-52s.
And I'm just like, which was so neat. I'm sitting there like, I feel like I'm proud papa.

Speaker 1 I asked him, I go, I go, I can't believe you got to play with Devo, knowing that he loves Devo. He goes, the first show I ever saw at Radio City Music Hall as a teenager was Devo.

Speaker 1 And I'm like, and now you're up on stage. He goes, it's just like, we just geek out like that kind of stuff all the time.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 we geek out over the B-52s. Yeah, the B-52s.

Speaker 1 My mom had two CDs in her car. Yeah.
Yanni

Speaker 1 and a B-52 CD. i forget we heard love shack dude so goddamn much

Speaker 1 to this day if love shack comes on we're gonna be jamming to it it's so funny and yanni yanni you can't

Speaker 1 yanni she just had yanni to put us to sleep she was just like all right you guys are talking i honestly i don't remember many of the songs i just remember the photo the albums the hair pianos and violins that's all i remember it's a vibe it's a vianni's a vibe yeah for sure i love this man dude i wanted to end but we got one more we got one more uh little part in here, even though we haven't been going off this time.

Speaker 1 If we're going to do it,

Speaker 1 it's not the battery. I locked it, and I don't know how to unlock it.

Speaker 1 So if somebody's complicated

Speaker 1 every week, there we go. Hanging like this.
Don't cut this out. Absolutely.
Oh, that's trash. We got to ask.

Speaker 1 You don't have to answer. Great.
You can tell us the fuck off, whatever you want. Amazing.
It's always sometimes just a little bit more. It's a little rapid fire section here.

Speaker 1 Yeah, we already talked about you playing basketball.

Speaker 1 Talked about SNL and hosts and stuff.

Speaker 1 Who's better in their respective fields? Are you better as a basketball player or is LeBron better as an SNL host?

Speaker 1 Wow.

Speaker 1 You both played. You played in the All-Star game with him.
He played on SNL with you. Yeah.
Look, as an SNL host, he's a hell of a basketball player.

Speaker 1 Yeah, Bron.

Speaker 1 No, I love that dude. I mean,

Speaker 1 we need to put this to the test. We need you and LeBron one-on-one in the basketball court, and then we need you one-on-one on the SNL stage.

Speaker 1 There is a sketch where

Speaker 1 we did characters that Bill and I did a couple times where I play like a stage hand who is just kind of a dick to people.

Speaker 1 We did to Julia Louis Dreyfus, we did it with Paul Rudd, and we did it with LeBron, and I challenged him to one-on-one in the sketch, and in rehearsal. In rehearsal,

Speaker 1 I did go by him and then went up, and he didn't know I was going to do a reverse layup, and I did score on him

Speaker 1 on an eight-foot goal. And he was actually trying to like.

Speaker 1 It's a Brown James.

Speaker 1 You can't turn that off.

Speaker 1 You can't turn it off.

Speaker 1 And it was funny because Don Roy King, who was our director at the time, who I just saw at the 50th, came up and literally brought it up. He goes, if you ever need someone to

Speaker 1 vouch for this, I know it happened. I was like, thank you.
So here it is.

Speaker 1 It kind of sucks to be the one telling this, you know, keeping this

Speaker 1 apocryphal story alive. You know, I'd prefer it to be someone else, but

Speaker 1 us two Knuckleheads.

Speaker 1 Okay, we'll keep spreading this. We'll spread it.
We'll spread it.

Speaker 1 Did you catch some legs? He was, I mean, he went for it. I can't believe he hadn't come back to do it again.

Speaker 1 He was so good, man. He was so good.
He was so good. I had to do it.
The solid gold dancer. Come on.
Come on now. It was great.
The perfect and Maverick badass.

Speaker 1 I remember Maverick sitting at the host dinner on Tuesday night. You know, when you go out with Lauren and everything? Maverick sat next to Lauren and just was just grilling him the whole time.

Speaker 1 The whole time. And I was like, I remember sitting across across from him.
I was a child. Yeah.
In like a baby seat.

Speaker 1 I didn't say anything to any of the people.

Speaker 1 It was like Michael Corleone talking to Don Corleone. It was like fantastic.

Speaker 1 I was like, LeBron is, you know, I didn't know who he was at that point. I was like, LeBron's so lucky to have this dude.
This guy's got his buddy's back like big time.

Speaker 1 And asking Lauren these questions. And Lauren was so fascinated by it.
It was great.

Speaker 1 It was just like watching an icon and an icon to be, just kind of like, you know, just, yeah, he was just a curious, smart dude.

Speaker 1 Yeah, those guys, good on him. You know it.
Just a bunch of Cleveland guys. Yeah, that's all.

Speaker 1 Some of the random world is focused.

Speaker 1 How much

Speaker 1 would your life have changed if you would have been insected into the Blue Man group? I had a hunch.

Speaker 1 I don't know. I mean, it's

Speaker 1 everything, you know?

Speaker 1 Yeah, so, I mean, I was obsessed with that show.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I loved it. It was the opportunity I felt.
I was like, oh, this would be the only chance I'll ever get to play music in front of people.

Speaker 1 And I I wasn't a good enough drummer. I love the show.
I think it's so funny. I think it's so brilliant.
And I think it's so subversive. I mean, it's all these things.

Speaker 1 They just closed the show recently in New York, which is where I ended up. I auditioned in Vegas and then got flown out there.
This was August of 2001. So this is right before

Speaker 1 9-11.

Speaker 1 And I had dudes, buddies of mine. that were in Blue Man Group in Vegas because they took a lot of our improv classes.
So we got to know them.

Speaker 1 Our shows hung out a lot, like both, you know, know, offstage and like, you know, at each other's houses.

Speaker 1 You know, I got, and, and, it, it was, um, it was an amazing, amazing time because we were this different kind of show

Speaker 1 that was sort of finding its way in in Vegas. Um, like the ones that interacted with the audience and not just, you know, showgirls or, or again, icons or, or magic.

Speaker 1 It was like this, this weird kind of thing. I remember so many, a handful of them when I was really, it would sort of take me aside and be like, do you really want to do this?

Speaker 1 Like, like, you're really good at talking. Like, it's kind of your thing.

Speaker 1 And I was like, Yeah, no, I don't care. I want to do this.
I think it's so neat. And yeah, but it would be, I mean, gosh, I wouldn't, I mean, I wouldn't have my kids.
I wouldn't,

Speaker 1 you know, there's a whole bunch of stuff that'd be different. I'd have, I'd be every time I blow my nose, blue stuff would come out.
My eye boogers would be blue, you know, like, yeah,

Speaker 1 who knows? I'd be a much better drummer than I am.

Speaker 1 You know, my rudiments would be solid, but well, did you have to paint yourself for the audition?

Speaker 1 Not for the for when you, when there's a there's gotta be a pig. I wish we there's gotta be a pig.
There's

Speaker 1 you dressed up like that and didn't get a pig. I know

Speaker 1 you wear when you wear all the same color like all three iPhones. So there's no iPhone.
Yeah, no, we had a we had a disposable camera because we when you they they put you up in this like dorm.

Speaker 1 It was on like 13th Street and it was all these like like-minded, like, you know, all of us were like six foot one white guys.

Speaker 1 And majority of, like, if there was 10 of us, I would say nine of them were, musicians first or eight of them were musicians first.

Speaker 1 And I was more of an actor with like, like, and I had been literally practicing on like a drum pad during intermissions at my second city show or in between shows, driving my castmates crazy, I'm sure.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 yet everybody had this like fun spirit. And we're all in New York flying in from other places.
And we, I remember we bought a disposable camera because we got bald and blue, as they say it.

Speaker 1 You know, they do a bald cap and the whole thing and the cobalt blue.

Speaker 1 And so somewhere, I don't know what happened to that disposable camera because you got cut like after three days, five days, seven days.

Speaker 1 I imagine it's like, you know, being in a combine or like in a camp. Dark and idol, geez.
It really was. And I got cut after three days.

Speaker 1 And they were like, if he, he could be a blue man if he worked on his drumming. And then I go home kind of defeated.
And then, you know, a few weeks, you know, later, you know, 9-11.

Speaker 1 And then it was like, then that sort of like rattled us all. And like, okay, what do you love? What do you, what do you really want to do? And it was a stick with Second City at that point.

Speaker 1 And so I never, never auditioned again. But, but there's, yeah, there's a camera out there.
But I know when I saw myself in the mirror, I looked at myself and no bullshit.

Speaker 1 I'm not even, this isn't even like humility. I was like, I look like a blue peanut MM.
You couldn't see my cheekbones.

Speaker 1 You couldn't like my feature, any features that I have on my face just got washed out. And I just look like a, like, all the dudes that I was friends with all look like male models.

Speaker 1 And I was like, oh, I think maybe this, I thought that if I wore this, I'd look as cool as they do. It's like, no, Jace, they look like that out of the makeup.

Speaker 1 It looked like an upside-down blue peanut on M ⁇ M. It was horrible.
So, yeah. Well, I mean, we know you're a music guy.

Speaker 1 What's your go-to karaoke? Ooh. I like Into the Mystic by Van Morrison.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 Nice. He's got some saxophone.
That's a great one. Yeah, I would.

Speaker 1 I like it. You play that.

Speaker 1 Like that. I mean, Bel Bib DeVo, Poison.

Speaker 1 He gets the crowd going and got a little rap on there, too. You can get the dance moves going.

Speaker 1 That's true, yeah. As long as I don't tear a meniscus.
Damn it. I don't do that.
I do not do that. that.
I know. That's how you know you're old when you learn the word meniscus.

Speaker 1 Pootball player is very familiar with the nerve. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 But yeah,

Speaker 1 those are a couple that come to mind. Forte and I used to do karaoke so much during our SNL years.

Speaker 1 Like, we would just go, just the two of us, to one of those private rooms on the West Village and just get after it in the afternoon. Nice.

Speaker 1 And it's just a blast.

Speaker 1 Paul Rudd, one of the greatest karaoke singers of all time, because he does deep cuts.

Speaker 1 I have learned of songs from doing karaoke with Rudd where I'm like, what is this? It's like, oh, this is a song called Dry Your Eyes by the Streets. I'm like, it's like British hip-hop guy.

Speaker 1 I was like, I'm like shazamming a demolish

Speaker 1 doing

Speaker 1 karaoke and it comes up.

Speaker 1 That old crew that did Wet Hot American Summer, like Ken Marino and Joe Latruglio, like really, really great karaoke, Bobby Canavali, like, yeah, really a remarkable group of guys that would sing.

Speaker 1 And then, you know, Rudd and I will do some Broadway that'll, you know, do rent, knock your socks off. Nice.
Oh, wow. You know, when, because in those private rooms, you can go to private places.

Speaker 1 You're literally, you know,

Speaker 1 rent was enough, dude. This is just so good.
There'll be so many flashbacks. All right.

Speaker 1 Great.

Speaker 1 Let me be flash forwards, but

Speaker 1 all right, last question. If you weren't an actor,

Speaker 1 what would you be doing? Oddly enough, I think I would probably want to coach basketball and teach like acting.

Speaker 1 I think that'd be so neat to like

Speaker 1 to be a drama teacher. And it's kind of what I get to do as as you know ted lasso yeah you know um both behind the scenes and and and in front of the camera i i really like uh

Speaker 1 seeing people reach their potential like i like encouraging that i i don't do it as well as as as i could at any at every given moment but that's one of the neat things of getting to write a show where you where you do play those type of characters um but yeah i think those are two things that i've benefited from greatly in my life uh both you know team sports and and and being around the arts like growing up up,

Speaker 1 my mom taking us to see everything, my dad playing all sorts of music in the car and just everything in between. But I would want to do some version of that.

Speaker 1 I mean, I guess I am kind of doing that with my kids. Does it

Speaker 1 mean that? Take them to go see plays and going to see basketball and sports and whatnot. But yeah,

Speaker 1 that would be it. What about you guys? What would you do? Me?

Speaker 1 What are you going to do? I don't know.

Speaker 1 Yeah, what am I doing? I mean, I think that's why Travis signed up for another year of football artists.

Speaker 1 He's like, this guy has no idea what he's doing with his life right now. I got to keep playing as long as I can.

Speaker 1 You know what you would have done? I feel like I would have still been in sports, like done some sort of broadcasting or something like that.

Speaker 1 I just remember always mimicking what I heard on the TV during games and stuff. Yeah.
Like John Madden and all those games. Of course.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. You know what you'd do? Probably coach.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 I mean, I just think it's so hard to envision myself doing something outside of sports. Yeah.
That was really the only thing that I was ever good at. I could see you playing the sacks on it.

Speaker 1 I could see you playing the sacks on SNL.

Speaker 1 The sacks on SNL? Yeah.

Speaker 1 I was baritone in Cleveland Heights' jazz on.

Speaker 1 You had some fucking solos. You know why I was baritone? Because I wasn't good enough to play ten or alto.
Baritone's like the bass line? Yeah. Yeah, so that's funny.
Yeah. Slow fingers.

Speaker 1 You got to get a straight. You know, Lenny Pickett is a legend.
Oh, yeah. I mean, come on.
Tower Power, man. Yeah, baby.
Golly, Crazy Legs. What was his name?

Speaker 1 No, I don't.

Speaker 1 There's a dance that he does, like Lenny Pickett,

Speaker 1 who's the guy that played with the saxophone on SNL. Tower Power is one of them.
Tower Power is his.

Speaker 1 But he has like a dance move that he did. He would, like,

Speaker 1 it's something that my buddy Billy always brings up. He's like, he's like, oh, that's Lenny Pickett man.
Crazy legs.

Speaker 1 I did saxophone. I can't wait to watch this.
I know. I got to find out what it is.

Speaker 1 Jason, let's know what it's called. A very chill guy.
The saxophone is all over the place. His voice is very chill.
Lenny, legend. I love it, man.
Dude, thanks for coming on, brother.

Speaker 1 You're the best, brother. It's been so great.
Thank you for having me. Really? Yes, absolutely.
I appreciate you always showing up in KC2, man. We'll get back on the train, baby.
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 We'll get get back we will indeed we will i have i've it's a bit again it's a better this is this is what happens at the end of the second act you know like this is when woody and you know buzz lightyear they're they're away from each other and they come back together yes that's the chiefs and the trophy

Speaker 1 let's do it baby All right, now shout out to Jason Sudeikis.

Speaker 1 What a guy, man. Yeah.
That was, god damn it. I loved every second of it.
It's one of those where like you really don't even read the rundown.

Speaker 1 And I hate to say that to our producers because you guys do a lot of hard work and a lot of research, but don't do it, Brandon.

Speaker 1 My iPad was off for a while. Yeah, no, he's one of those guys where you just ask an interesting question.
Like, how about the Blue Man crew? Like, are you kidding me? Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 The Blue Man crew, like his time in Vegas, his time at Second City.

Speaker 1 Riding a Razor scooter

Speaker 1 to the Flamingo every day. I just, the thing I took away for sure is just how much he's like, how much he's valued all the people that he's been treating.
Oh, he's so grateful. He's the best.

Speaker 1 It's just awesome. Just the Midwest.

Speaker 1 He's just a nice Midwest man. Yeah, for sure.
It'll make him any better, man. No doubt.
And he's on the Chiefs side, which is,

Speaker 1 you know, it's heartbreaking for me because I didn't make him proud. I think you did.
I think one day I will. You did.
No, man. Jason's the best.

Speaker 1 Basketball.

Speaker 1 You know what I'm talking about? You have no fucking clue. This guy's clueless, man.
All right, that wraps up another episode of New Heights, brought to you by Audible.

Speaker 1 You can listen to to new episodes of New Heights early and at free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

Speaker 1 New Heights, a Wonder Show, produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by Audible. Just like Jason said, listen to what I gotta say.

Speaker 1 Follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with 1S. Thanks to our production and crew for

Speaker 1 kind of doing some good stuff this time around. Yeah, no.
You know, and kind of just,

Speaker 1 always, always. Always.

Speaker 1 Thanks to you guys.

Speaker 1 Please delete anything that I will get canceled for. Into the 92%ers.
Hopefully, you guys enjoyed both episodes this week, and we will see you guys next week. Appreciate you tuning in.
Peace. Peace.