Steve Carell

(bell ringing) Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Good Hang. We have a comedy legend on today, a hilarious leading man, box office giant, and sketch comedian who I first saw on the stage at Second City and wanted to be like ever since. Steve Carill, joining us. Steve and I are gonna talk about a lot of things. We're gonna talk about Second City. We're gonna talk about Anker Man. We're gonna talk about the office. We're gonna talk about the smooth tones of the baritone horn. And we are gonna talk about his new HBO show Rooster out now. So we get into a lot of fun stuff. And before we talk to Steve, we talk to someone who knows Steve so we can speak well behind his back and get a question for me. And we are joined by his old Second City buddy, his old roommate, a person who was there from the beginning and who is also another hilarious and famous Steve. And that's Steve, it's Stephen Cobair. Hello Stephen Cobair, Bonjour. (upbeat music) This episode of Good Hang is presented by Subaru. Some cars go the extra mile, long range, Subaru hybrids take that to a whole new level. With up to 597 miles per tank in the cross track hybrid, a car that I've given my family and up to 581 miles per tank in the Forester hybrid, another car that I also enjoy. Subaru, love goes the extra mile. Visit Subaru.com/hybrid to learn more. Range based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy and a full tank of fuel, actual mileage and range may vary. ♪ Let everybody say it ♪ ♪ All I ever wanted was really good ♪ I just wanna start by saying, you were the senior to my freshman when I arrived at Second City in Chicago. And it was you and Amy Cideris and Correll and Paul Nello and you were all getting ready to go do exit 57, which was at the time just the thought that you could go and be like the captain on stage and then go have your own sketch show which just felt like such a dream. We had no idea what we were doing and we thought that the answer was, what if we just worked 24 hours a day? Wouldn't that make things funnier? And it made things weirder because you would fall into a chemo psychosis and not have any sense. And I go back and I watch those sketches now I go, pick up the pace. - Oh yeah. - How are you doing? - Oh God, yeah, I look at our own sketches and I'm like, you wanna go six minutes on this? You really gotta, you're gonna stay up all night fighting for cuts? I think I'd play a little better if it was half the time. Was "Second Sea" where you and Steve first met? - Yeah, I was there. I mean, I worked there in the box office so I didn't have any job. I had gone, I had done a gig overseas and then I came back with no money. I mean, little I was sleeping on a friend's floor. I didn't have a dime. And my friend Ann Libra said, she was the box office manager and she said, you can answer phones here like two days a week if you need basic cash. So I started answering phones and then I found out that you could take classes for free if you worked there, even if you were part time like I was. And so I said, well, I mean, I never imagined that I would be at "Second City" 'cause I was real in "Prove." I was, I had done, you know, I owe. I had a problem with "Olympic" and those people talked a lot of shit about "Second City." Yeah, there was a fun East Coast West Coast thing happening. - How did you say it? - Yeah. - But it was like Lincoln Avenue, Northwest, situation going on. And I was very much cross-currence. That's where we would, I did a cross-currence. - Yeah, I loved the bell on L. And I was like, no, man, I do, and then I went there and I saw the show. And I went, oh, everybody hears cares just as much as anybody else. They just happen to be sold out every night. And there's liquor. - Right. - And I kinda like this. And then I took classes and I didn't know Steve. Steve had gotten there a year, a year and a half ahead of me. Something like that. He was a little bit ahead of me in that, you might call process, or like kinda rep system there. And I didn't know him at all. A year later, a year after I started working there, I was invited to audition. And I auditioned and I got into the National Touring Company, which was like a red letter day in my career. I got into the tourco. And I think I got hired on Thursday and then on Saturday they said, can you go in at Northwest? 'Cause there used to be the theater at Northwest. And I went, yeah, sure. I learned whatever I needed to learn as quickly as I could. I went up there and I met Steve, kind of like from backstage watching him on stage. I met him in rehearsal. He's so gifted. You know who gifted musically he is, right? - I did not know that. - If it's made of brass, he can play it. - You can't kill me. I did not know that. I pick up a 10 whistle or a recorder. He can play. He plays the, I understudied for Steve. When I was at, when I was in tourco, I finally said like, you either gonna put me, you're gonna let me understudy or I'm gonna leave. I joy said down threatened. (laughs) I don't respond to threats. I'm like, it's not a threat. I've been here for four years or almost four years at this point in life. And I love doing it, but I gotta go figure out what else I can do. I hope this isn't a threat. And so literally the next day they said, I understudied like ETC or something and then they said, "Karell's gotta go, he's got like a brown chicken commercial." - Yeah, big deal. - I felt like that. - You could live off that for years. - Oh shit man. We were all jealous. - Oh yeah. - Wait, he got a bacon bit spot. And so, he's selling funeral insurance to children. Jesus, that sounds like a great gig. So anyway, they said, could you go in for Karell? And I said, he plays the euphonium. He played the baritone horn, which is like a little tuba. And he goes, he plays the baritone horn in that, do I have to play the baritone horn? And they said, yeah, yeah. I said, I don't know how to play the baritone horn. And they said, okay, we'll ask AdSid to do it. And Scott AdSid. And I said, no, no, no, no, no, I'll learn it. I'll learn it. When do I need to go in? And they said, six days. - Wow. - And so I, and they wouldn't rent me a horn? - No. - I got the horn. - To expensive. - I got like 250 bucks, which is like what you'd get paid in a month at Second City. But I had to go in at the main stage. And so I went to Karell and I said, would you, I don't, can't read sheet music. Can you please write out the fingering for the horn and teach me an omba-sure? You know what? - What's an omba-sure? - Oh. - That's the thing that makes the sound in the horn. And like you can get like three different ideas. - I knew I was gonna learn a new word from this interview. I knew you were gonna teach me a new word. - Omba-sure is a great word, especially if someone cuts a fart in front of you. A nice thing to say is you guys just go, oh, nice omba-sure. (laughing) You know, really tight on an omba-sure. And French horn. - Yeah, so anyway, I was dating this girl, now my wife, Evie McGee in New York, and I was supposed to go see her that weekend. What did we do a weekend? We sat in our apartment and I learned anchors away, pretty woman and taps. Oh, you're hearing those drums? - Wait, no, who is, listeners, I don't know if you can hear, but there's some drums happening in your house. Is someone playing? - That's my son. - Oh, that's so cute. Wait, you're talking about music and your son is starting to play drums down in the basement? - My son is practicing because he's going into his brother's band. They got a gig next weekend in Brooklyn. And so he's going down there to practice 'cause they're drummers out for the week. He's subbing in for his brother, yeah. - That's kind of like-- - It's all you want. - That is all you want. That is exactly what I was gonna say. The sound of your son practicing to sub in for your other son, that's like a dream. - Yeah, I met Carell Northwest back in 1988. - And so when you guys were on the daily show together, it was like-- - It was like a carving together. - By the way, that viral clip, I'm sure you've seen on your phone, of you guys reacting to the incredible ad for the Dana Carvey Rupert Variety Special. - Yeah, it's a kiss. - So-- - I don't want to die. - For people that don't know, that show that you wrote on was incredible. And so ahead of its time, but there's a really funny moment where both you and Steve are shown an ad from that time, where you are following a very special episode of Home Improvement. And in it, Jonathan Taylor Thomas' character, I believe thinks he is going to die. He thinks he's ill or sick and he says, like it's very sweet. And him and Tim Allen are having a moment and he says, "I don't want to die, Dad." And then the next voiceover is. - And the mug-roof-beard Dana Carvey show, tonight, on ABC. - It's so funny. It's so, and watching you and Steve laugh is so funny. It's so, and to me, it's like, I don't know how to explain it other than the joy of that. To me, sums up what it feels like to have funny friends and get to make things with them. - The joy of failing. Yes. Was something that I said early on at Second City that I realized, "Oh, I think I should do this for the rest of my life, meaning comedy." Because I was kind of biting whether I was going to do drama or comedy because I was doing straight theater in Chicago at the same time. But we laughed so hard when we or someone else on stage would fail, but the other person on stage who was failing would also laugh. And then, if it can be this joyful in failure and there's also another joy and success, then I'd be dumb not to pursue this for the rest of my life. That's so beautifully said that it is joyful and failure. That is beautifully said. That's exactly it. Yeah, I know, it's almost like, because there's so much empathy for what's happened to the person who's eating it. But, you know, to extrapolate on that even more, there has to be a belief that you'll be okay. I know you asked to, for me to think of like what I would want to ask. Yeah. What would you want to ask Steve? Thank you. Amazing thing about Steve is his ability to do anything. It is, I know a lot of talented people, but I don't know many people who couldn't do almost anything. And first of all, I mean, I remember more of my early impressions of Steve is, well, he can make anything funny. Yeah. He can make any moment very full, not funny, but funny, but also very full. Very full of presence and energy and what we would call tensiveness, like like the scenic tension. And I see that same ability, like I marveled at that ability and also how he would never fuck around. He was always very professional. And I remember looking at him backstage at second sitting going, why is he so good? And I came up with this conclusion and I wrote it down on a piece of paper with a calligraphic pen. And I taped it on the back of my little locker area to remind myself and it just said work. Because what I saw at Steve was that he worked really hard. And he never phoned it in. And I'm curious what his process is like when he does drama or what people would perceive as drama and versus comedy or what people would perceive as comedy. And the reason why I say perceive is, is it all the same to him? Yeah. That's a different character and tension or with a different energy and tension. Or is he really just approaching in a totally different way? He's like, well, that's sketch or that's something incredibly broad, like Anchorman or Diner for Schmuck's or now I'm doing Foxcatcher. Yeah. Does he do it in a different way? Because I admire him so much in both directions. And as far as I know, he's never talked about his process. So I've never seen him do it. So I don't and I've worked with him since 1988. I mean, we've roomed together practically for 10 years and I don't know what it is. That's a great question. And I mean, you're really good at this. You should try to make this your job asking questions. Are there any of these jobs left? No. No. No. Podcasts. Well, thank you so much for this time. What a pleasure. Thanks so much. And do we know what song your son is playing down in the basement before we go? Is it an original? He's either playing Bossa Nova or he's playing a deep space nine, which has one of my favorite lyrics in any of his songs, which is your heads in deep space nine. I'm not taking you to family Thanksgiving. Vape clouds destroyed your mind. I'm not taking you to family Thanksgiving, which is really tells a story. It's like you're a swifty with your own children, like you're just trying to break down all the lyrics. I got the money since everything. I mean, I think Steve's going to be so happy that we talked because and we could talk about your relationship a lot today. And I hope we do because it's very special. Back then, I'm associated with him that people still come up to me and say, Steve Carell, like they'll still get the name wrong. Yeah, sure, sure. I just love it. I feel that way about like I feel like you and Steve have a little bit of a with Tina and I have, which is we're just like people put us together all the time and I couldn't be happier about it. Sure. Yeah. I still with some day, I'll do something, I'll do something with him again. Ask him what he's doing because tell him I need a gig. Okay, great. Yeah, we'll let Carell pick your next gig. Okay, perfect. All right. All right. Thank you so much, buddy. I have a great conversation. Thanks. So nice talking to you. Okay, take care. Bye. This episode is brought to you by all state. Checking all state first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking the meaning of a word. All the kids say before using it yourself. Not smart. Not slay worthy. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check all state first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with all state potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. All state North American insurance company and affiliates Northbrook, Illinois. Thank you for doing this. I like the thanks for having me. Steve Carell is here. And Steve, I feel like you always feel the way you feel about somebody. That's kind of on the first time you see them. You just get imprinted with when you first meet them. I first met you when you were on stage. I never really knew you in Chicago. I just watched you perform and you were the senior when I arrived with my bags like being like, am I going to try to do this business? Like what is this? And you guys were like the cool seniors. Well, we also, you hear about the people who they've just hired to and you're one of those people that stuck out immediately. You know, people were talking about you super early on and you always kind of keep tabs like, well, who's who's next? Who are the, who are the uppercammers? Yeah. Yeah. And you were, you were definitely one of those people. You were in the very like, you were in that class of people that number one, we're crushing it on stage and then also went on to do things like you had jobs. You got hired. You got commercials. That was always so. So exciting to meet you. You remember Ken Campbell. Yeah. Sure. So Ken Campbell was the first one of like our group to kind of step out and God, he got a, he got a show called Herman's head. Oh, yeah. Where they were all. Some campaign inside a precursor to inside. That's right. Yeah. Exactly. He was the first person to have a job and it was astounding. Yeah. Oh, Mike, he's really doing it. Yeah, he's really going to get paid to do it. And he's in Hollywood and he's a big shot. He's going to have insurance. Everything. I remember coming out and visiting him and we were doing a little, I don't know, some, some weird little theater show like one night and he and his wife were there. Just watch. And I remember he ordered steak and I thought, oh man, that guy has, he's got it. He's made. He's a rolling in it. He's sitting in the restaurant, ordering steak, watching the show. Well, speaking of steak and speaking of restaurants before I go any further, I need to point out you're the first guest that technically my father booked for me. Bill Polar. They are. Okay. Let's tell the story what happened. Nice as people. So back in back in Massachusetts. We'll see how this story goes. We. You know, you were, you were in my mom said, I don't want to open a can of worms. All I know is I got a phone call saying good news. We saw Steve Corralita restaurant and we told him that he should be on your, on your show. So we think we've booked him is what my parents said. And I was like, my dad. And I was like, what did you say? That's exactly. No, he's, you know, Amy does a podcast like I know. Let's set the senior in Massachusetts at a nice restaurant. A nice restaurant out in the burbs. Give it hill. Give it hill farms. Yeah. Out in grotton mass. Yeah. Like it was nowhere near where we live. We just, I was meeting my brother out there. Yeah. I don't know why my parents were out there. I know what they're friends. Tom and Sue. Lovely, lovely for some. They introduce themselves and and we got to, they were very charming. Lovely. Okay. And I know that surprises you. And, and you're, you know, your dad brought up your podcast and your mom said, you should be on. And I was like, I've never been asked to be on. You're like, I think I have to be asked. I'm not going to just throw my hat in like today. Hey, I want to be on the show. Did they get awkward and they were like, oh, they're must. They got quiet. There's, they're, they must be. They're, they were treated. They were like, forget it. Oh, no, no. Well, maybe she doesn't have a park. I don't remember what she did. Maybe, no, no, that's not right. There was somebody else who were thinking they had a flag. Um, they were so nice. Yeah. So I think maybe that planted the sea. I mean, I forget that you're a Boston boy. Yeah, I grew up in acting. I know. And why do I mean, you don't seem very Boston to me. How so? Like, well, well, you're polite. And thoughtful. I consider it. There's a different. I will say politeness registers differently in Massachusetts. That's true. When you go back and people recognize you, do you have a different experience than you do here or in New York? I mean, I, I, I'm, I love Boston. I love where I'm from. I love the directness. I love the. - Yes. - Like the real loyal, like just really, really good honest people. But there is a definite, well, - There's a brusiness to it. - There is a brusiness and honestly, I'm gonna say it, there's just like, you're not better than me quality about Boston. - That's exactly it. - That I love, but it's sometimes tough to be able to receive it. (laughing) - If you know, if you can anticipate that, - Yeah. - It's actually very charming. - Very true. - And you just kind of take it at face value. - Yeah. - Because I remember going back and, you know, shop around, I was in the supermarket. One guy came up to me and said, "Hey, Steve, I know you. That thing you did was good. Don't get cocky." (laughing) - Don't get cocky. - It's all that love you. Don't get cocky. - Oh yeah? - Don't, don't, you're one of us. - Yeah. - Don't embarrass us. - You dare grow or change. (laughing) - Mostly change. - Yeah. Where did you go to college? - Denison University. - Oh yeah, and then how did you, Ohio? And then how did you find out about Second City? - Touring company. - Thank you, Steve. - And through Ohio State University. - Oh, that's so fun. - And we bought tickets and right then and there, I thought that's, it's funny. Nancy and I were just talking about this exact thing. - Yeah. - That the touring company seemed like, and she saw a touring company too. It seemed like the most fun job to have. - Yeah. - Of any job I could even imagine. - Yeah. - And you know, you roll into a college town. You do all of these great sketches that are bulletproof because they've been tried and true and have been at Second City for years and years and they always work. So you feel like, just you're on top of the world. You're not even your material. You're just going out and performing someone else's stuff. And it's in making people laugh. And it just, I thought that's it. That's what I wanted to do. - When you were in college, do you were thinking about being an actor? - I was a history major. - Oh, that makes sense. - So I was not allowing myself to kind of consider that seriously. - 'Cause you probably didn't know a lot of people who were actors growing up who had that job, yeah. - No, it didn't seem, I mean, in Massachusetts. - Yeah. - Your neck of the woods too. - Yeah, it just doesn't seem like it's a real, it didn't seem like a real job. - Exactly. It's like, I'll either be that or an astronaut. You know, it didn't seem like a plausible final destination in terms of a career. So I always, I thought maybe history, maybe law school, something, something that sounded, something that sounded good to my parents, honestly. I really wanted to, after all they invested in me and my education, my brothers, I just felt like I owed them something. - So they could like, when you're older, they could go up to someone in a restaurant and say you should join my son's law school. (laughing) - They could bother someone in a restaurant. - Yeah, they never got a chance to say that. (laughing) - And so then, you're in Denison, you see the touring company, you think, I'm gonna go to Chicago. - It's two friends of mine from Denison, after we graduated, they gave me a call randomly and said we're moving, we're going to Chicago. - Wow. - And I don't think I would have had the guts to do it myself, just by myself. But we're getting a place, we're going to start an educational theater company, which will help pay some of the bills and we'll get jobs and we will pursue careers as actors. And that's, and I was in. - What year was that then you were at? - 85. - And you were just living in a cheap, do you remember the rent of your first apartment? - 600 dollars, split three ways, all utilities included. (laughing) - Fantastic. - What was your job then, what were you doing? - I waited tables at Hoolhaens. - Oh yeah. - That was a hot spot. - Oh yeah. - Hoolhaens on division. - Yeah, that's, I mean, it was so fun back then. - It was. - To be in that city, that city felt like it was, I don't know, maybe just 'cause I was young when I was there, but it felt like it was something was crackling and happening. I mean, when you think back about those Chicago times, what comes up for you? I mean, I mean, it's such youthful, exuberant, enthusiastic times, but what feelings and thoughts come up for you. - I think, well, like all of the things we learn in class at Second City, having that freedom to fail, and there were very few constraints in terms of what you could try. - Yeah. - And at Second City itself, it was the same thing. Like, being on stage every night and working it out and figuring, you know, that audience is such a great barometer. And if you're not doing it well or right, they'll tell you, you'll feel it. - And it was so much fun. - So much fun. And also, you know, I think about it now, as you're talking about it, is I think sometimes, when I think back at Sketchin Improv, I kind of like, I don't know, I think like, oh, I wasn't working material like a standup or something, but that's not true. We really had to, we had different audiences every night, rowdy audiences expecting stuff from us. - Yeah. - And like, you had to learn how to kind of be hung out to dry a little bit on stage and be okay with it. Did you embrace that? I, we used to challenge each other. - Okay. - To embracing the awfulness of the scene. (laughing) And like, challenging each other not to leave, because it's so easy. If something's failing, you just want to bail. Like during an improv scene. - Oh yeah. - But it was sort of a badge of honor. Uh-uh. We're gonna drive this into the ground. - It's an exquisite feeling. - To look at your partner and be like, we're bombing. - And work, and let's hold hands. And let's do this together. And sometimes you'd be able to pull it out of a nose dive and other, a lot of times it's just the light's just slowly. (laughing) - Slowly fading. (laughing) - Well, what do you like about it? I know what you mean. What is the thing about it? - I don't know. I think it's, I guess just throwing everything off of you. Like throwing all of the worry, all of the concern of this isn't working and getting into your head about why isn't it working? We have to make it work. Everybody gets sweaty. Everybody, everybody starts trying too hard. But sometimes when you can just allow it to kind of wash over you, the things that you might find are really interesting. - And embracing like-- - It's like a little death. (laughing) - It isn't the closest. It feels like you are, I mean, I'm trying to think, 'cause when you're explaining it, I'm getting this feeling of what it felt like when it was, when you, I mean, one thing is we weren't usually alone. - No. - We weren't bombing alone. - And that's, I can't imagine. Did you ever do stand up? - Occasionally, like when I would be asked to do small shows. And I didn't mind it. I kind of liked it, but I never really, like, honed a set. I bet you would be, I bet you were great at it. - I found it easier, or I liked doing it as I was older. When I was younger, I just didn't think I understood. I had like a lot of respect for the art form. And I wanted to be with people. I wanted to perform with people. - Me too. - So I think that that's what I mean is the bombing with people was like a special joy. - I completely-- - But one of the many things that Second City, I know it created lifelong friendships. And like, you know, you got here, we all figured out how to like get our 10,000 hours on stage and all that stuff. But you met your wife. - Yeah. - How did you meet Nancy? - All the great hilarious Nancy walks. - This is going to sound super creepy. But I was teaching class at Second City. - Okay. - And she was in my improv character class. - Dang. - And she was hilarious and super smart, beautiful. Like, I-- - I have to remember, she was a real catch back then 'cause Nancy is so funny. - Great. - And also beautiful. And I remember everyone being like, this is not quite fair. It's not quite fair. How tall and pretty and funny she is. Like, usually you don't get one. - It's so nice. - And they're so nice. - And cool. - And cool and nice and sweet to everybody. - Are you really snagged the bed? - Tell me about it. And we, so, but I thought she hated my guts because I'd be teaching and talking and I'd look over at her, get nothing. Like, dead eyes, no affect in her face. And I, and I'm like, boy, she is not buying any of this. She hates me, hates his class, snows on the phony and it turns out she was just nervous. That's what she told me. - And when she gets nervous, she gets like stone face. - She just doesn't want to show anything. - That's a powerful move to do because it really makes the other person work for it. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And she worked across the street. She was a waitress across the street at a bar called the last act. - Oh yeah. - So after shows or after class, I used to go over and I used to sit at the bar and I'd order a diacote and we'd talk, but it took so long because we both kind of talked around the whole thing forever and never like finally one day, the conversation went something like, you know, if we're talking about people that we like or like, what's your, who would you go out with? - Oh my God, that's such a funny con. - Oh my God. - And it was all just this circuitous, you know someone down the bar is just saying, get to it. Mike, come on. - Yeah. - You're annoying everybody. And I think I finally said, you know, If I were, if I were going to ask somebody on a day to be somebody like you, like you would be like that template of somebody that I'd love to go out with. And she's like, you know, somebody like you asked me out that I would love it. It would be fantastic. And there was a pause. And I said, do you want to go? So, super, super, cool. Like, you went two doors out of the other bar. You know, like, then that was the beginning of it. And then you could, when you left Chicago, where you weren't married yet. No, we were engaged. We got engaged a week before she got SNL. Wow. So, yeah, we went on our honeymoon and came back and moved right to New York for her start rehearsals. So, you, people know, like, the way ahead of its time, Dana Carpenter, Harvey show that you were you and co-bear and others smile and Conan were all writers on. A bunch of people, yeah. Incredible cast of writers. And you were also in the rep company. Like, did you, you did stuff? Yeah. And I mean, I was, Dana calls the sketch of tears. Can we talk about Dana Carvey for a second? Because Dana Carvey was so, it was really important to me. Yeah. Like, he was, you know, you always kind of fall in love with that, that, that cast, that when you're like 13 that you see in SNL and it was Dana and Phil Harmon and Jan Hux. Like, Dana is so funny. He is so funny. He is so funny. I don't know if there's anyone funny or live too. Like, to, to be in a room with him is incredible. He's just a super funny, incredibly nice guy. Like I owe him and smile everything for that opportunity on that show. Because I was, I was at a point in Chicago. My agent had told me if something doesn't happen for you soon, it's not going to happen. My agent. Way to build the up. I was feeling very good about myself. Dang it. That's hard. So I moved. I moved to New York. Yeah. And was able to, the next thing I got was Dana Carvey. Yeah. And it changed, that really changed everything. Yeah. That was my first kind of step into something other than second city. Yeah. I mean, that show I remember it being this, it felt like an experiment. Yeah. And it felt like it was like, you guys got an opportunity to make whatever you wanted with other people's money. And then they noticed he were doing it. And they said, stop. They said, stop doing that. Well, you heard about the first episode. Did you hear this story? Tell us, tell us again. The first scene of the first Dana Carvey show was Dana playing Bill Clinton. And he was sitting at a desk in the Oval Office talking about how he is the nurturing president president. And at a certain point, he opens his shirt to reveal a prosthetic breast plate like teets, if you will. And I think he had eight nipples. Yes. And they brought, which was 10 real milk, were rigged to lactate. And so they brought a bunch of puppies and stood them on the desk. And the puppies started succulent because he was the nurturing president. And so we started, we were following home improvement. And they said the ratings went from home improvement. And they could chart it like, at the beginning of this sketch, it just, it, like you could hear the drop off. It was done. It was the show was over. And that was the first episode first scene. Oh, God. That's funny. ABC was not not happy. No. It was, but somebody had to approve that that was the first sketch. Somebody had to, I mean, it was not a credit. ABC allowed it to happen. Yeah, they, they took some huge swings. And it was fun because like Colbert, I shared an office and we could, and, and we worked together a lot at second city. We were in a bunch of casts together. And we come up with an idea and go down to Smigel's office, Robert Smigel and just pitch something. And he'd say, let's, yeah, let's go. Yeah. And we do it on the show that night. I mean, it was the kind of, it was as close to live as you could get without being SNL. Yeah. You really did work on a bunch of, like, really specific, interesting places. Like the daily show is, is, is its own system. They kept changing with different kind of versions of the same thing. But what was it like, what, was that feeling like when you were all there, young working on that? And it was so well received. It was similar to second city. Yeah. And I think those are the, I guess, well, there's the kind of environments that I am drawn to that everyone is just in it together. And there's a spontaneity to it. And, and we don't know if it's going to work, but we're going to give it our best shot. It was a lot of improvising on that show. Um, you know, in the field pieces, yes. Because you just had, especially early on, they didn't know that we were a comedy show. So, so we were kind of undercover. Did you ever feel bad when you were tricking people? I did not, I did not like it at, especially at first because I was new when I was kind of following the template. Yeah. And I never felt good about mocking someone who doesn't deserve it. Yeah. And so I, I tried, and I know Colbert, Stephen gave me great advice, which was come up with a character. And that will make it much more palatable. And my character was someone who didn't quite understand, didn't quite get it. Um, but was super serious about everything you was asking. But it was not, the, the, the honest was on me to be right. I was, I was the idiot. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Take the, to take that off of the people. I remember doing one field piece, which were, um, it was a Klingon speakers convention. And, you know, you go and obviously the idea is, let's make fun of people who meet and learn how to speak Klingon. And they were the nicest gentlest. I really, and I really like these people a lot. They were very kind. Yeah. And I thought, well, what, who are they harming? No one. I mean, it's, it's just harm was fun. It's just people enjoy each other's company and have a shared hobby. I mean, how is it any different than a woodworking club or a photography club? It's just, it's what they did. It's what, it's where their interest was. And then it made them happy. And I thought, no, it has to, it has to be about what an idiot I am. Well, you're really good at that. See, you're so good at playing someone who's frustrated by their own lack of understanding. Can we think? I'm such an interesting way to put it just like, go, get this right. It's so, why is the world so long? It's so, and that energy of that is so funny. And it's so funny. But, but Stephen was right. And Stephen, um, that, that took a lot of it, a lot of that strain away because then it, then it wasn't making fun of people. And there, you know, I just, there's no, I don't like playing pranks on in terms of it being unkind or trying to make someone look stupid unless they deserve to look stupid. But more often than not, these people didn't. They were, you know, some of them were just eccentric. But who care? Like that's, yeah, that's the spice of life. And so do you think that Adam McKay who wrote and directed Anchorman, wrote brick with you in mind? I think so. No. I mean, we've all seen the, the audition. It's so, that character is chef's kiss. That might have been the most fun I've ever had professionally. Like, with those guys, well, one of the things we do every day when we were shooting, and it was really like my first big, it's one of the first things I ever did. And I just, I couldn't believe my good fortune. I thought this might be it. You know, this might be the one that I just, this might be one and done. And I'm going to, I'm going to enjoy it. Yeah. But what used to do during, they used to do dailies every day and watch that. Everyone would watch them. They have a dailies trailer on set. And it was all on film still. So you'd watch from a few days before they developed the film and you'd just see selections from a few days earlier. And so we'd have lunch. This was every day. We'd have lunch. And then the four of us and other cast members too and the producers would go into this trailer and we'd all get hot, fudge sundays at catering before we came in. So, We all said eating hot fudge Sundays and watching the dailies And acting is so hard. I know. I know. I mean, I thought this is this one is this it? I can't. As a little bit. This is what you would dream that acting would be. Yes. It's what you would dream. And it was just pure joy. And you would just laugh at what you had done a couple days before. And most, you know, I'm sure you're the same way watching yourself. No, yeah. Yeah. But get to somebody else's stuff. Totally. And it's just to watch what everybody else is doing. Because you can't really watch while you're in it while you're doing it. But you kind of watch objectively. Oh, yeah. I know you mean like sometimes I've known like, I don't know if I nailed it, but I'm going to be in a funny movie. I don't know if I'm, yeah, I don't know if I'm going to be the funny one in the funny movie, but I'm going to, but I'm going to be in one. If I, if I can not be, if I cannot detract from everyone else being funny, that's usually what I feel my job is. If I, because I feel like when people, you can tell when people want to be the funniest thing. Yeah. And are trying, when it gets sweaty and they're trying super hard. Yeah. And I don't know how, how you feel about improv as used in film. I have a strong feeling about it actually. Well, because I feel like, especially during that time. So I was in Anchorman. I got cut. You were in the battle scene. I was in the, um, no, no, the original one in the original Anchorman. There was a whole other, if you remember that giant, the alarm clock, the alarm clock. That's right. So there was, I wasn't in the alarm clock, but there are people who have the DVD extras. No, there was like a whole other world of like bad guys. Like a cut out of that movie. I think an hour's worth of material at my Rudolph, Chuck D from Public Enemy. Because of course, Kevin Corrigan, they were like the weather underground. That's true. They were at this like, you know, um, feisty group of rebels, you know, trying to upset the city. I don't know how it had to do with you guys, but it was pages and pages and months and months. And I was, I did a scene with them where I was like a bank teller, you know, like a bulletin bank teller or something. But I went and worked for a day. And so I have a picture of me in Chuck D and me and Maya and a great outfit. And we're like, we're going to be an Anchorman. And then McKay was like, we're not going to be doing it. I don't think there's a whole idea out there. Well, there was another like a flashback scene that I don't know if we shot or whether I, it's kind of a blur. But the idea was there's, it's, it's a bit of a brick backstory, origin story. Or the he was their platoon leader in, in Vietnam. And he was like the biggest badass. Oh, wow. And then like follow me. We're getting the shit done. That kind of thing. And, and then you cut to now he's, he's their trusty mascot. Yeah. But you don't know what happened to be funny. It's really funny. But in terms of, there was a lot of improv. Yeah. So during that time, there was a lot of like an Adam loves to improvise and total. And like, and I used to love it because I felt like I, I could do it well. But it also, it did, it did wear me down a little bit as the years went on. Yeah. No, I, I, I see that. Do you feel this way about improv? I do, which is sometimes people were like, it's great. You can improvise. And I'm like, oh, it's here. Here's my take. Yeah. What does your take? I, I think it's, I think it's a great tool. Mm-hmm. But I don't think it is the, the, I think it's a means to an end. Mm-hmm. I don't think it's, let's just do a big improv thing. Yeah. Because, and, and I think this was true on the office. Mm-hmm. The scripts were great on that show. Like really strong every, every episode. And can I ask you a question? Yeah. About Parks and Rec. Yeah. So you, you know, you led that show for so many years. Did you ever, what, how did you maintain the, the, uh, the dignity of that character? And like, how did, how did you, how are you able to center that character all the way through? Because I think it's very easy for, you know, when writers turn over, when staff turn over, sometimes new writers are more fans of the show and are kind of writing to the most obvious elements of a character, as opposed to, you know, people who were like the creators of the actual, the writers who created the character. Um, so how did, did you feel like you protected your character going through? That's a good question. I feel like the, the short answer is Mike Sure, who really was the best captain and just kept everyone's characters very sacred and safe and really paid attention to what we would and wouldn't say. Um, I think we started off like a little wacky and we had to adjust on the fly. So we did some like early adjusting on that show and then locked in after that. Um, but I know what you mean. Like there would be times where I would have to say like, I don't know if, I don't know if this is too far or I don't know, but not a lot. I feel like everyone was in flow there. Everyone really got it. But it's funny that you bring up that exact thing because parks and recreation came after the office and there's really only two people that I've been told. I am a poor man's version of and one of them is you, which I take, I take that as high compliment. And but like we came. I would take that as a huge insult. We were, you know, parks and rec had the worst launch ever. Everyone was like, this is not the office. We don't like this. I just remember being like, I'm like, you're not Steve and you're not. We don't like it. And I remember being like, oh, I think I just associated it. It was just like, well, our our pilot. You heard about our pilot. I know. And I want to talk about pilot was the lowest testing pilot in the history. I think of NBC. People, people really hated it. Like not just just kind of they actively hated it. They actively hated this show. And I don't quite know how it got legs after that. Well, I remember the moment. So Mike sure who was writing was running update. And I wasn't doing update them. But I was just a cast member on SNL. And we were watching the British office like everyone else and loving it. And I remember they were going to make the American version. And everyone's like, this is a terrible idea. It was terrible idea. No one no one can be as good as Ricky's your base. No one can do that show. And then we heard it was you. And we were like, oh, oh, whoever's making the show wants it to be funny. You know, like it was this thing of like, oh, that's a very, very good choice. Well, Greg Daniels is was a is a great producer. And he's also kind of he's very adept at putting together casts. Yeah. Like the the alchemy and the chemistry between those people. And we all got along so well. Yeah. We're we all bonded instantly. And we all felt like we were a part of a team. There was no there were no hierarchy at all in that cast. So I attribute that to him. Yeah. But you know, I'm a poor man's Ricky's your base. But you never watched the I didn't and never have watched the UK. No, even now. No, I've watched all of his other shows. Yeah. I don't know if I would have wanted to watch either. I just would have felt too stressed about. I watched like a minute. Yeah. Of one of the show of him. And he was so good. Yeah. And so specific and so funny. I thought if I watch a second more, I'm just going to go on on addition with that. Yeah. I won't be able to even imagine it a different way. And I mean, are you like me? I mean, I don't enjoy comedy. No. No. I never have. Especially with me. And comedy that's done well. No. No. Pass. Yes. So you went in not knowing you're not watching the year. No. Yeah. And so I think that you guys all heard, oh, oh, the, you know, they're doing an American version. And everyone had the same reaction. And I remember Rudd. Rudd told me his side is like, don't do it, man. Don't, don't audition. Don't audition. Don't audition. It is like, there is no, there's no way. Yeah. Everyone was like, don't even touch this. Don't touch this. Ten foot pole. And did you have like a major premise or theme about Michael's arc? Like if you were to sum it up, would you say what was like, what was his, what was kind of his simple mission statement as a character? Um, early on, this, this was like a dream come true for him to be in a documentary. Yeah. And be able to not only be in charge of all of these people, but to have the ability to perform. And. and be watched and be loved. - Right. - So I think so much of who he is was about being loved. - Yes, so good. - I wouldn't even say respect. I think he just wanted to be loved. And the last, like a year before I knew I was going to leave, I talked to Greg about what potentially the last arc for him would be. And I did want there to be a sense of, of growth for him, that I said one thing I'm gonna pitch is that the last day is not the last day. Like everyone thinks that they're gonna have a party for him, but he leaves the day before. Because he doesn't need it. He doesn't, he wants to say goodbye on his own terms and he's sort of beyond being celebrated that way. And he's, that's, that's, that I thought would be an interesting way for him to go out. - The office is a show that people watch when they're stressed, when they're sad. - Well, person Rick is exactly the same one. - I'm sure you had this happen too. Like during the pandemic, everybody rewatched those shows. They went back to it. You have provided and everyone in that show has provided this like feeling of safety and security in a time when people are very, very anxious and they return over and over again. Oh, what does that feel like? - I've really, I've provided a public service. - Really? And in that way, I think I'm more than an actor. - Uh-oh. You got cocky. You got cocky. - You got cocky. Don't get cocky. - Don't get cocky. - No, but it's true, but it's true. - It is, it's nice. - Like we fell in love with their journey. - We're Michael, we really, really, we do, we love him. And I will say like what your, what your, what the office did for me and watching it with my kids is like exactly the way in which they enjoyed and learned this feeling of what the kids would call like cringed. But the sparkly, weird feeling of like, oh no, like tension and a little bit of stress about what is Michael gonna do and say and how is he gonna do it? And then watching him swing and miss over and over again while still being loved is like, they just, they didn't know how to put that in the words but they loved that. They loved that about him. It's such a, I mean congrats on a great show. I don't know what else to say. I have no question here, you know. What did you say to Pam? - Thank you. - At the airport. Tell us what you said to Pam. - I leaned in and I went, I ran, ran, ran, ran, ran, ran. Just to make it look like I was saying something. - You did, you didn't know. - No, you did. - No, we had a very emotional shared moment. - I love that moment. Such a good moment. - Okay, so we do something on the show where we talk to people who know our guests and who are friends of our guests to get a question asked and when we talk well behind their back and so we talk to Steven Cobraire today. - Oh my gosh. - I know, he was in his living room. It looked like a little earth study. I was so psyched to talk to him because like you, Steven, you both were, you know, I kind of only got to know you later. I didn't know you in Chicago and you were both these examples of like, you know, aspirational performers who I wanted to be in any way like. And Steven talked a lot about those early times with the two of you and what it was like to watch you on stage and he talks about like how you can do almost anything, you know? Like that you have this ability to be really, really big and really small and you can have these characters that are really shallow and really deep. He told us that you can play any instrument which I did not know that you're like very good at brass instruments. Is that a lie? - It's pretty amazing, isn't it? (laughing) - Did you learn, did you take lessons? - I took lessons. - Like what was your instrument of choice? - Burr tone horn. - Oh dang. - I know, right? - You're like ladies. - I don't. (laughing) - You're like ladies? I've got a burrito. - Hey. (laughing) - I play the burrito horn in the morning. - Why do you pick the burrito horn? - I love the tone. - I want to know what it sounds like. - It's sometimes, it's also called a euphonium. It's basically a small tuba. I know, sexy. (laughing) - Burrito horn. - I play the small tuba. - And. (laughing) - Yeah. - And I also play the bike. - Would you like to go in a second? - Do you like that? - The fight? - Yeah. - Sorry, I gotta get commercials off of my YouTube. (laughing) YouTube, if you can find a way to, okay, here we go. - Yeah. Somewhere between a trombone tuba and a French horn. - Oh, Tony is a trombone teacher. - I'm telling you. - This podcast is going to elevate to a trombone horn play, like never before. - I love Tony, here we go. (dramatic music) - Mm-hmm. (laughing) - Right. - And play a trombone in the euphonium. - Euphonium or a baritone horn? - Right. - Well, it's a quite a large instrument. - Yeah, you hold it like this. - Yep. - And I had the bell that went out like this. And. (laughing) - Did you play in the band? - So I played in the band. I played in the jazz band. - I played, yeah. I played it, I played it at Second City. Stephen Colbert had to learn how to play the baritone horn 'cause he was my understudy. - Yes, he mentioned that he had to understudy and he had to learn the baritone horn in like six days. - Unbelievable. - And he did. - Talk about somebody who can do anything. Like, I mean, I played the baritone horn since I was in fourth grade. He learned it in six days. So, yeah. - And he told me that he also taught me a word. I've completely forgotten it. It's a word that describes when you make the sound of the, the, the, the, do you remember the name of the word? - Ambisher. - Yes, Ambisher. (laughing) He told me he said, you taught him an Ambisher. What was it like working with Stephen? And what do you remember about meeting him for the first time? - Um, wow. I just think, you know, I think about him a lot, to be honest. I just, I have, I'm in awe of him. He's so smart, he's so funny. He is someone who can literally do anything. He's, he can sing. He's a great writer. One of the funniest people I know. And a wonderful father and husband. Like, just like one of these straight arrow. - Yeah. - I would trust him with my life kind of guys. And we got a lot, working with him, you know, when you work, well, you and Tina, when you know someone can finish your sentence. - I, I mentioned that to him that like, there's a feeling as we get older, when people knew us when that feels really like, beyond special and valuable. It's like, you just have been through a lot with someone. - Yeah. - And when you've met them at the beginning of what eventually will be like, the best thing about your life other than your family. - Yeah. - And your partners is like, you're just, they knew you when you were struggling like in that, you just, they have a part of your life in them and you and theirs. - Yes. - And that's what it feels like with the two of you. - Well, it, for me too. - Yeah. - And to, to learn at the same time. - Yeah. - And to be going through. And I'm sure, you know, certainly you and Tina experienced that and others to have that as you were saying, like those sort of formative years, when you don't really know what you're doing. - Yeah. - But you're having fun and you're all having fun together and you're trusting each other. And I think that's one of the great things about Second City was just learning how to trust other people. And I just, I just trust him. And I, as a person, as a performer, he's just fun. He's a, I can't wait to see what his next thing is. Because. - Well, we were talking about it and we think you should decide. - What his next thing is? - Yes. - Well, I'm always pitching the two of us doing a play. - I love that. That's a great idea. - I'd love to do a play with him. I think it would be, or anything. - Oh, honestly. - I would, I would. - That's a great idea. - Do anything with him. His question for you, because of course it was, was very thoughtful and interesting, which was, you know, he was saying, like, I've known Steve for so long, but I don't really know his process. We've never really talked about it. In terms of like, is there a difference between when you're doing something dramatic and doing something comedic, do you think about it differently? Do you approach it differently? - I'll preface this by saying, whenever I hear an actor start to talk about their process. - You know what, we're gonna cut the answer. - A character doesn't know if they're in a comedy or a drama. - Mm-hmm. - They're just living their life. - Right. - And so if funny things happen around this character, then the movie or the show is a comedy. But if it's tragic or scary or whatever, it's, it's leans towards drama. Sometimes it's a mixture of both. But I think if you can tell a character knows there are in a comedy, it's intrinsically less funny. - Yes. - Like I look, I look like somebody like Alan Arkin, or Peter Sellers, and they all always seem very true to their characters. They were never like you couldn't tell whether Alan Arkin was doing something intensely dramatic or something crazily funny. It was the same like not the same kind of not the same acting. He'd play different characters, but he was equally committed to both of them and never letting on. He was never winking. Like I'm in a comedy. Yeah. Here we go. Watch this joke. You're going to laugh. What do you ever said, Sector, sometimes waiting for the waiting for the laugh in a movie? They're like looking around like like like like a punchline like wait a second. We're also the other thing that makes me so stressed out and like sweaty is in real life when people say like I'm funny. I'm like, I don't know. I don't know. If you got to say it out loud, I don't know. Have you ever had an executive? I had an executive once say, listen, I know comedy. Okay. Like I know it. I know it. I know it. I've studied it. Okay. It's such a subjective thing. And reverse it, right? Like if you if I went up to like a you know, and like if I went up to Merrill and I was like, I'm pretty dramatic. Like reverse it would be like, I'm pretty good at being pretty. I'm pretty I can get pretty sad. And you know what? I think when I cry, I'm going to make other people cry. So I've cried. So a lot of my friends have seen me cry. I mean, I'm going to glaze you for a second. Beautiful boy, Fox catcher. The patient. You're so good. That series was so incredible. I loved you in four seasons. I loved that series. And I look forward for season two and your ghost, obviously, haunting the set. I don't know. I just think I should be in background. I think I should just just just wear a ball. No. Background. And I just like, but like almost, it's like, it's screwed up. Like you can't, yeah, yeah, yeah, tell if it's me or not. Yeah. But but I love what she said about the two of you working together. Cause I do think that you both have similar qualities. You you work really hard. You're very professional. And you're shier than people would think both of you. Yeah. Well, we talked about that. Yeah, it's together before. And it took us 15 years after that to become friends. Because it is true. I'm very, I think closed off is what the word you're looking at. I'm not shy. I'm just. Clothes. But um, but are you? I'm pretty shy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I guess I'm what I bet people think like you're going to be the life of the party. Oh no. Yeah. Do you remember coming to my house for the I loved your house, but tell that story. So this you know, I had a dinner party for the Oscars one year. That was so fun. And had a had a few couples over. And it was really fun. It was fun to have everybody over. But that's that's very unlike us. Like we don't, I don't know. We're not, I think we're more social now. I've, that we're getting older, I guess. Times right now. I just letify some of these friendships. But um, so the Oscars and we had very nice dinner and we taped it. We put it, you know, we're we're taping the Oscars. And we ate first like civilized and then we were going to be like, let's go. We're gonna sit down and they're gonna go in and we're watching. We can fast forward through the awards that we like. And we looked at the the tape and we hadn't added the extension and Oscars always go along. So like the big awards, we missed. We completely missed. Yeah. And we were frantic. Like, I think somebody got online. We just started announcing like, one of the awards. I'm acting it out. My memory of that time and feeling was that it was really fun. Like, so I can only imagine the stress of like, oh shit, we didn't record the Oscars. But also. I mean, it was just fun. That was so fun. But yeah, I think that people probably assume that you're going to be kind of crazy. Yeah, I'm pretty, yeah. I'm down. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not out there. No, no, no, I really envy envy. I admire is will. Yeah. Like he just owns it. Well, fair. Like he'll show. Yeah, will Ferrell. He he he'll show up at a King's game. He was wearing a refs uniform the other day just sitting in his seat. He came as as his character from Elf year before last and was just smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. But he just he just kind of owns it. I know. And he loves it. Love it. And I'm I'm way too introverted to do that. Yeah. I won one time. And I would never do this. But I thought I'm just going to do it. I was in Beverly Hills. I was driving around and I tore bus went by and I thought I'm going to I'm going to do it. I'm going to wave. And I went, hey, everybody, not a person. They were like, knowledge. They were like, what? Who's that? And I shrugged this little ball like last time I'm ever doing anything. They were like, what have you been in? And you're like, oh, my god. You just start listing your resume. Oh, man. I was like, why did I even do that? Yeah. Yeah. I was certainly no gift to anybody. Oh, god. I was like, no. Oh, god. Oh, god. I mean, I you're I mean, that is what I love about you, Steve. It's like, I feel like for many things. One is that I feel like you're just such an incredible actor performer and and collaborative person to work with. And I do look forward to being in the play that you and Steve and do together. Yes. How about who's afraid of Virginia Wolf? I want to do it. Yes. All right. Two things, though. I like to go to bed early and I don't want to do as many performances as they make you do. I think about our times when like the hardest part of our day was at the end of our day when we would do our shows and it was like in jeans shuffling out there. We're like, can we get a word to get started? Like much a lazy motherfucker. Shout out to you things out. Shout out to shout out. Where we work? Where did the two of us work? What's our relationship? What's my first line? What's my last line? And what are some of the lines in between? But you have been killed off on a couple shows. Morning show you were killed off. Morning show. The patient. The last three shows. The last three shows I've been killed. What's going on? I people love to see me killed off. It's a thing. Yeah. Now your new show you're not Bruce. Okay. Let's talk about Rooster. Yeah. Season one. So far so good. Okay. Just came out on HBO. Yeah. What is it about? It's about my my character Greg is a writer not unlike Carl Hyerson whose daughter is a professor at a prestigious East Coast University. I go to that university to just do reading. And in order my my daughter kind of gets into some trouble. And the president of the university, this is a long-winded version. President of the university asks if I'll stay on as a resident, you know, a writer in residence. And so I become the writer in residence at this college that my daughter. And so my it really changes the dynamic between me and my daughter. And it's like you stepping into this like academic world. Yeah. I like to see you as a professor. I like that a lot. Yeah. It's fun. Yeah. I think it's really and the cast is stacked. Such a good good group. What's it like doing another show with like how does it feel? It's really it was great. Yeah. It was it had that sense of freedom. Yeah. And that sense of anything can happen at any time. We can try stuff. Everybody's a great improviser. People, you know, talking before about improvising in character on point. Yeah. Everybody's so good at that. So great. It's it's very well written and funny. Yeah. I love it. I really love it. Congrats on that. That's great. It's going to be my parents favorite show. I hope to run into them at that restaurant. Well, I was hoping actually. Do you would you mind if we just FaceTime? Oh my gosh. Do you mind? No. Because I told them that we were interviewing you. And my mom texted back, okay, it was the Gibbitt Hill Grill. Yeah. In Groton Mass. Yeah. Now, when I called my dad before, when I texted my dad and said, where did you see Steve Correll? He didn't answer me back. And mom said he was at the gym. Let's see if we can get a hold of him. Hi, mama. I've got I've got Steve Correll here. - How are you? How is your meal? - It was very nice. I believe I had the stuffed scrawd. (laughing) - Scrawd. - Scrawd is a Boston sec. - Don't forget what I said. - We were talking about how Steve doesn't seem like he's from Boston, doesn't have any kind of accent, but neither do you, Mom. - Oh, don't even make fun of me. I know you're gonna ask me to say something. Time to cut. (laughing) - How mad is that gonna be that he didn't answer the phone? He's at the gym. - He's right here. - Oh, Bill's right here, Steve, do you mind? - Of course. - Steve Correll's on the phone here. Sit up, Steve Correll. - Hey. - Are you just lounging on the couch? - Clouncing on the, we find out. - He's in his recliner. What time is it there? Hi, Pop, look who you secured for me. - Yes. Do I get any benefits from that? - Yeah, like that. - We can call it that. - Fine, fine, Steve. - Yeah, fine, this is fine. (laughing) - Boston. - You know what? Are you, when you go out to restaurants now, are you just gonna be like scoping for people for the show? (laughing) - You'd be interested to know what I said after you left. I said, his wife is beautiful. (laughing) - Weird, weird. Thanks, Dad. - Yeah, what's that about? - He's weird. - What's that weird? - Hey, Mrs. Polar, that's not right. That's weird. Don't let your husband talk. That's gross. - I'm not filing for divorce now that I think. (laughing) - Well, thanks you guys for the assist. We had a great interview and Dad, I owe you a couple bucks. Bye. (laughing) So Steve, thank you for being with my parents. And before I finish, I gotta ask you my most important question, which I almost forgot to ask you, which is, what is making you laugh these days? What are you watching, reading? Who's making you laugh? What do you like? - Nancy and I just started, we're late to it, but just started watching The Righteous Gemstone. - Oh. And that first season was such a joy. Love it. - Danny. - Incredible. But can we talk about E.D. for a second? - Mm-hmm. - E.D. Patterson on that show. (laughing) - I'd never seen her before. - Oh my God. She's so funny. - So, see that's when you start, when you see someone that just comes out of the blue. - Yeah. - And unexpected and like completely different approach to-- - Yeah. - A character, so unique and specific. Yeah. - I know. And talk about like improvising in character. She, everything she's saying is tumbling out of her mouth, it seems like. I don't know how much is written or improvised, but it looks like a lot is improvised, but I don't know. But everything is kind of tumbling out of her mouth, but it's never ever a false note. She's just staying in it. All those characters are nuts. - Yeah, I really like it. - That is an amazing cast, John Goodman. I love John Goodman. - I do too. - Adam Divine. - Yeah, it's really good. And it's one of those, I just kind of flip by. It didn't, was under our radar. And on a whim, we just said, I've heard good things, I started watching it. - Let me call my parents and see what they think. - Okay, let's see. (laughing) - Thank you Steve. - Thank you. - Thank you for doing this. (clapping) - Thank you Steve Carell. Thank you for talking to my parents. For this polar plunge, I just wanna reiterate how grateful and lucky I am to be a Boston girl. Me and Steve are Boston kids who made it big. And it is really nice always to feel like you are part of a community and that's what being from Boston feels like. So don't come at me Boston if I said one thing that made you mad, all right? Let it roll off your shoulders, all right? 'Cause you're still the best number one. Don't forget Boston Forever, go socks. Okay, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time. I'm good hang, bye. (clapping) - You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss Berman and me, Amy Poler. The show is produced by the Ringer and PaperKite. For the Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spalane, Kaya McMullen, and Alayezan Eres. For PaperKite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. ♪ All I ever wanted was a pretty good hang ♪