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Zach Drops By the Set

1h 39s

Zach Drops By the Set

The podcast reflects on a unique two-hander format with Akiva Shaffer and Andy, highlighting their close dynamic and the show’s resilience despite Andy’s illness and absence. A central theme is the deep connection with the "Quaid Army" — fans who actively engage through subtle cues, such as crossword answers and spelling bee references, which the hosts interpret as a hidden code or tribute. The conversation explores the creative energy of shared physical spaces, like the office environment that mimics SNL’s collaborative culture, where spontaneous humor and office banter thrive. The hosts share personal anecdotes, including a memorable encounter with Zach Alfonakis and a humorous story about a mistaken father-son pairing during a surf trip in Puerto Rico. Fan contributions, like jokes, memes, and inside references, are celebrated as vital to the show’s culture. The episode also touches on fan-driven content, including a possible conspiracy theory linking the New York Times Games to the podcast, and reflects on how audience interaction shapes the show’s identity. Ultimately, the podcast emphasizes community, shared humor, and the enduring joy of creating content in a format that feels intimate and alive.

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♪ Hey, hey, it's the lonely island ♪ ♪ And set my as podcast show ♪ Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast. It's really just a novel week 'cause it's a, what we call in the biz a two-hander. Do you want to guess who the other hand is? He's about to say hello. Hi guys, Akiva Shaffer here. So glad to be here without some of the dead weight. I know, we're really just off and running tonight with Andy did say he's gonna join, but he didn't give us any TA. No, and you're kind of. He said he feels like shit. Yeah, you're in play the card that, to be honest, I'm shocked he hasn't played more often because he's been very, you know, upbeat about this whole thing. But I think he had a tough day. Like Andy was saying early in this, that if it was any of the rest of us, we would just be gone. Yeah, you would never hear from a skin. No, and so you're occasionally pulling the, I don't feel well, card is well-earned. Yes, and we were scheduled to do this couple of days ago, and I was the guy who last minute remembered, I had to go to a potlock at my kid's school. Now Seth, do you ever think about, we've set up an entire podcast that has a finite number built in? Yeah, you know, smartness will always, much like your talk show, there'll always be somebody else out there who needs to promote something to come on as a guest. Right, and your family trips. I mean, I guess you don't get the same person on twice because they'd have to come up with new family trips to talk about. Yeah, but there's a pretty large pool of potential guests out there when you consider it kind of is the entire human race. Yeah. But we've done this, and without Andy here to say, you know, that he hates the idea that this could go on indefinitely, I think he takes great solace in the fact that he knows that it will come to an end. Yeah. But we both know that can't happen. No, of course not. We gotta keep it going. Yeah. Not for us, mind you, of course, for the quates. For the quates, for the quate army. You can't build an army and then just turn your back on them. Exactly. That's just bad. Bad leadership. I like to think of us as leaders. What is the next iteration? I don't have any answer to this. I mean, obviously true crime. Interesting. It's there for us. Interesting. Do you think it's where we kind of jump in and see if we can solve one of the cold cases? Is that the best thing on it for you? Yeah. We fully like season one cereal it where we dig up something, something spicy and just, uh, yeah, I mean, obviously the ones that get a lot of clicks are on video first off. Yeah. And the quates are always pretty vocal about being annoyed that they can't see what we're up to. I was really, I don't know, uh, what the right word is. I had a little, uh, joy from the fact that multiple people told me this week their favorite part of the podcast was when your got up and we were all shocked. Oh, an audio play. As an audio play that worked and that made me, cause that was certainly my favorite part of the podcast. That and then the code of it, which was your, um, didn't quite understand why we were shocked. Yeah. When he came back, he said, yeah, I went, I walked over and we're like, what do you, we don't know what the rules are? Yeah. And he had crutches, but they were off camera too. So we just popped up. It was just gone. It would be like, if like, uh, Professor X just halfway through X-Men, just like kind of got up and like got his coffee. He's poured a coffee stuff back down and be like, wait, what is he, so wait, is it getting better? Like what's going on? That is very naked gun to have a character in a wheelchair, the whole movie. And then the last few seconds, you know, just in some key moment just gets up to get a couple coffee sits back down. Uh, I feel like I've seen a joke like that in one of their movies, but maybe it's even a different one where there's characters that are handcuffed and then one of them just reaches out of the handcuff at one point and puts it back in and you just never talk about it. Of course, very good. Um, I hate to bring up, uh, anything spelling be related with that Andy. But this is more than me. But this is also your chance to say something with no chance of rebuttal. This is more like, do you feel like New York Times games is paying sort of granular attention to the work we're doing on this pod? Because in one week, these are three things that happen. Let us was a word in spelling bee. Oh, okay. And two different crossword answers this week. Paul Ganger was a crossword answer and like a boss was a crossword answer. Oh, I mean, at two, I was willing to say it was a coincidence key, but three, this feels like a conspiracy. This does at this point. Wow. I think it's an honor. It's certainly an honor. I think the real honor would be, uh, if the clue is proper response to quayd army, if the answer was right, just kill. Yes, but that's asking a lot from the audience. They're instead, they're sending us secret codes. Oh, yeah. They're not right. None of those were requiring you to listen. They were sending messages to us. All things people say and like a boss is in the culture now and doppelgangers a word and yeah. Yeah, but they're sending dog whistles to the quayd army. They're tipping their cap to us. Yeah. Yeah. They're getting all of our attention, not just the four of us, but they're getting the entire army's and then you got to wonder why. Oh. Like when the other shoe's going to drop, they're saying it's like when spies would put like, you know, classified ads in and you and they had a code, you know, they put it in. It's some long thing. But then somebody else has the code or knows it's every 50th word and it's the third vowel. They and that's how they get the meeting point for the draw. My favorite and there was a little of it in one battle after another, but my favorite thing in movies are Cold War movies where a guy is like listening to a radio broadcast with like a ham radio and writing down like every fifth word. Yeah. Decoding live. Love live decoding. Yeah. And we were talking about a closet organizer. We talked about Darryl's house and we were saying, were there any other callback sketches? Tim Robinson and Kevin Harthead Z shirts. I remember Z shirts, but I don't remember well enough to remember that there was two parts. It's really good. And is the second part like a complete twist and surprising on the first part or is it just like another. It's a complete, it's a complete twist and surprise. I like it. Here's just some comments from recent episodes, Keith. Someone said, Christel was a great fill in for your considering the literal first thing he said was, I don't remember. So he immediately fell into the your role just perfectly. Yeah. True. This and sometimes look, I feel like I've kind of cracked the door open for these kind of comments. And you know, I think the Quaid Army has learned it for me. So I do bear the weight of some responsibility here, but someone, you're on the left last week saying, I got a bounce and someone wrote, did he say the same thing? And when he fell off the ladder, did he say it to like, did he pray? God, the bounce. I got a bounce. I hope I don't just land hard and put his bounce back up. We talked about how somebody yelled out in movie theater once when I was watching the trailer after the American pie trailer and somebody yelled out more pie fucking. This is coming. The really me left. The best thing I ever heard someone yell in a theater is the word silence right before the movie silence was about to start. It's really good. Well, you know, that's probably a pretty rowdy crowd just chatting, chatting so loud. Yeah. The pre silence crowd. Yeah. That's a known just ruckus in that room. We asked Will Fortay about a closet organizer memories and he did not have many. But he did say in the message that he had been going crazy at work and a couple of people wrote in and said when they heard that, they pictured him as the closet organizer. Like that his job was still being a closet organizer and that was a pretty crazy one. Yeah. Have you read recent comments on Sergio? No. Like on the old post of Sergio on YouTube, gone back to the actual video. Yeah. No. A lot of people saying, I wish I could enjoy this but my eye line keeps getting jumped. So sarcastic. So people are being sarcastic. So sarcastic. How dare you. Then a bunch of other people saying, I feel like even hearing Keith's criticism, I enjoy this great deal and don't even know what he's talking about. And you know what, next time I've learned my lesson, I'm not going to be so honest. I think you should keep being honest. I personally, for me, it was, it was a plus. Court marshalled is when you get kicked out of the military, Gary marshalled is when you get kicked off the pod for not knowing enough pretty woman facts. These are just things people, people send in. I like it a lot. Well, you worked with Gary marshalled too. I did. In music. That's a quite an honor. Somebody sent me a link. I didn't even open the link because it was too painful. But it was, the headline was eight Seth Meyers movies people have forgotten about. Eight. And I'm pretty sure I've only done eight. Yeah. So you know what I mean? Like, that's fine. It was like, it was all of them. It's all of them. Like, that's fine. If it's like eight Robert De Niro movies, people forgot about it. I can name him. No, I can't. I mean, you can't. But when you just said, already gone, I didn't even say it. I did. The Gary marshall movie. Yeah. But see, you can't even name it. It's, well, it wasn't New Year's. Yeah, New Year's Eve. Okay. Yeah, two, where you're the doctor guy and then you were officially cut from pop star. So that's not getting me that officially. I'm not even close. Give me, give me just a taste of the other six. Nick is the first word of a movie. I'm not. Nick and Oh, Nick and Nora is infinite playlist. I have a camera. And Nick and Nora is the same place. So does Andy. So you and Andy are in a movie together. We are in a movie together. And I thought I'd be in pop star. That would have been our second. Yeah. Well, deleted scenes counts. But go ahead. Let's see. Yeah. What's another one? God, no, I'm not going to even remember them. American Dreams was a movie that was with Mandy Moore and Hugh Grant, which was like sort of an American Idol. I'm vaguely remembering. Yeah. Kind of a political satire film that didn't quite work, but it was a very good show. Now in any of these eight, are you playing Seth Meyers, the host of a live show? I'm not counting movies where I play Seth Meyers because I've stacked a few of those. Yeah. Cause that would have been pop star too. So maybe that wouldn't would not have acted. Yeah. Yeah. So even I can only make it to four. I guess we both need to read this article. Yeah. But it's like that better article. be like the three Seth Meyers movies, everybody remembers. Seth, have you been listening to the Rosalina? This is more of an Andy question, but if you would show up. But have you been listening to the Rosalina album? Is that how you say, "Haven't"? Is this this new album that everybody says is the best album of the year? Yeah, it's real good. I've only heard it once through so far. I was listening to a real loud in my car. And it was so good and interesting that I want to-- you know, when you're like listening to a book on tape or a great NPR story, and you get to your destination, but you don't want to get out of the car because you want to hear the end of a section. Yeah. This is the first time that's happened to me in a very long time with music, where I was like, I just want to see what she's going to do next. And I can't even understand any of the words. That's pretty exciting. Yeah, I thought it was fantastic. We used to have a band on my show, and we used to also have bands come up on my show. Yeah, they were both the victim of financial realities of current linear television. But I will say that was a very cool thing for somebody who's getting older to have a new band come through once a week. Yeah, it's a really curated-- you're getting to still go to concerts in the comfort of a chair and in mind a desk. I wrote when Doji was on Colbert. Yeah, I had to text and say, I have palpable jealousy. Yeah, that this happened like 100 feet from your desk. Yeah, that was a memorable performance, too. Yes, those are few and far between. Geese is the band that had been on my radar in the last three months in their album. I have not listened. I've heard of it, but I have not listened. I'll give Geese a little go. Yeah, Geese it. Geese and goose it from the "Not a Gunk" guys. That's the name of the album, "Not a Gunk." Is it us? It is, you guys. OK, great. I knew I liked it. So I had Zach and Tim on my show, and it was wonderful, ostensibly, to promote chair company. Then we didn't really talk about chair company at all. We talked a lot about spider league. Are you familiar with spider league at all? Only from your show. Yeah, only from your show. But they were saying to me, I went out and I didn't remember them afterwards, like their offices are right next to your offices. Yeah, well, they wrote, I think, you should leave literally in our office and then kept in our office for writing. But then when chair company needed a bunch of space, they rented from our landlord, the floor above us. So now we're an elevator ride away from each other. I'm very happy that you guys are in the same physical space, because that is the thing you miss the most post-SNL is like not just being close to people who are working on other things that you can go and hang out with. It's a joy to just go, like while they were editing to be able to just go up there and watch a scene and then walk for coffee, even though the neighborhood's kind of gross. But we do coffee walks and it feels really like SNL when you have multiple things going 'cause Dan Gore also takes the office there. So he would be over in one writing whatever TV show he's working on. Dan Gore, who, one of the creators of Brooklyn 99. Exactly. And then when we were writing make again, we did it there and truly it'd be like John Solomon and those guys and sometimes like Patty Harrison writing in one room and we'd be 50 feet over in our room writing at the same time. And it's the closest I've gotten to that SNL feel. - There is something too. I was talking to somebody who is, you know, they're doing SNL UK and the SNL UK team is some of them are over watching SNL this week. And so I was just sort of chatting with them, which is really fun. - Yeah, that's cool. - And they were saying how they were walking the hallway and it was like, "Oh, I haven't felt like this since college." And it's like, yeah, no, it's exactly like college. In that everybody's working but not on exactly the same thing. - Yes. - That 17th floor feels like a dorm floor. - Yeah. - Unwriting that as well. - And like if you hit, if you hit like a stumbling block sometimes like instead of just going out and talking to somebody who's not in your world, like it's really fun to just like walk into an office with other people who are working and just like hoping you'll get a little that like comedy dust on you. - Yeah. - Just as you like walk room to room. - I mean, that's the part we all miss the most I think. - Yeah. - I mean, there's also like different levels of optimism among people like we both love Spivey so much. Spivey rose so many bangers over the year. I never walked into our office and had her say anything better than like, I'm just shitting out a turd. Like you don't even, like never. - Yes. - She never made you feel like she was running circles around you even though she definitely was. - You could definitely feel also just when there's like a rain cloud in certain offices that you're like, nope, that's not the energy I'm trying to go into. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - As opposed to the one with the big laughs that's probably not the one that's writing honestly. - Yeah, yeah. Like to be honest, to go where people are laughing is almost to assure they're not working. - Yeah, so you're like, oh, yeah. It's just normal office water cooler stuff. It's just that everyone's trying to think up the silliest things. - Yeah. So you do think you were here for the Galvanacutia? - Yeah, at some point. But I was semi disengaged certainly. And I definitely noticed that he was, you know what I remember? I remember being a little bit jealous because I had never met Zach Alfonakis and he was the hottest thing in comedy from the hangover that year. And we all thought he was so funny. And Chrysler had a relationship already with him through the Tim and Eric show. And I think I should have laid into this week. And he was, I had already made it short. And I remember the jealousy was just like, oh, that's so cool that you guys are friends. - Yeah, yeah. - This was also kind of a big deal when you have somebody who, 'cause again, you were jealous of him on an all comedy level. And then he sorta showed up as like also, now a mainstream star. And you really wanted him to like have a good show because it would be your fault if it wasn't. - Yes, he's showing Zach is showing up as then another one of our, you know, could be, and ended up being as, you know, like a Jack Black or you know, somebody who can come in and meld right with the cast and elevate the show. And he did. And he merely showed up like embracing the idea of crushing on the show. And while also bringing like a tone that was very different, both his current like, I don't know, mainstream success, but also that like anything that he had that was really fun to watch. Because he did a, you know, he had this movie that he'd been doing for years where he would sit at piano and do like one-liners. And it was a very old school move with a very new tone. And it was really exciting to watch it, just crush it, SNL and a monologue. - Yeah, it's still so enjoyable. Does he do it that much these days? I don't know. - I don't know. - I miss it. He and I did stand up together once in Michigan Tech. This is pre-hangover, Zach, and I'm SNL me. And I think it was booked for him to open for me, but I knew very well that he was by far the superior standup. And I sort of managed to convince them that I should open for him, which was a real grace. - It makes sense. - That it went that way. I mean, he's one of the greats and he was probably, you know, doing it every night. And you're working it. That was your little side hustle. And it was his main thing. And so he probably had a fantastic 45 minutes. It was incredible. But it was also the, we did it the upper peninsula of Michigan. I believe the school was Michigan Tech. And it was the, it was so far north. And I remember the next day, I don't know how he got home, but our plane couldn't take off because when they would deice one wing, it was like a tiny regional plane. By the time they would deice the other wing, the first wing had been frozen. And so there were eight people on the plane and we all went to the rental car place and there was like only four rental cars. And so we just all paired off. And I remember I drove to the nearest airport with a guy who was like a veterinary professor at Auburn University, who had been like a visitor. - That's, yeah. - That's a holiday movie. - Yeah, it was a holiday movie. - Did you guys kiss? - Did you guys kiss? - We didn't kiss, but I remember when he got out of the car, I ran to him. You know, he was getting, you know, he was getting his luggage out and then he was going his way. And I did, I did run to him and I will not say what we said to each other, but I'm glad it was said. - There was something that needed to be said and give the little closure to the day. - When I looked through this run list, the sketch I think about the most is the day. - I'm gonna need reminders on all these. - Hold on one second, Kiva. I got it, I've got a child in my site. CS, what's up? - Have we ever just had two people on this pod? 'Cause it's harder, 'cause a third is always the peanut gallery to like insert dumb shit, you know what I mean? - I know. - Can't wait for the feedback to see how empty this feels to people. - Well, before you go into beday, I'd just been thinking about the opportunity of not having the other two and about what the future may hold. And I guess I want to put it to the quads. - Yeah. - Like picture, like a guided meditation, put yourself into the future right now. Think about when we're doing, I don't know what's the last one is it the pop star episode? - Yeah. - 'Cause after that, we're going to retread, you know, like are we doing a Palm Springs episode? Are we doing a, I don't know, maybe. - I think there's a hope for some of those quads of who I count myself as one. Maybe there's new music, right? Yes, we could start doing ones where we put a new song in it, if we're ready for that, you know? We have to focus up and fix our hips and stuff. - Yeah. - But there's gonna be a moment when we're current, is I guess what I mean? - Yeah. - When we're just right here, just the beginning of the pod when we goof around and talk about our week. - Yep. - That's all we have. But you need something else to that, you know? - I think it is guests, right? - Yeah, but there's four of us. We'll never be able to schedule a fifth person. - Yeah. - That's a guest where you have to cater to them. - I mean, it's a real, I think you're right. Quads sound off. - Yeah. - We really need you guys to come to our rescue. - We're gonna need some idea. If you're the one that comes up with the idea that you can be on the pilot in the first episode. - Yeah, we'd love to have you. - All right, so a day. - Yeah, do we have this episode up? So we could like remind ourselves. So it says on here, it's a Joe Solomon. I think Joe's in Solomon used to go on, well, we actually have a voice note from Solomon. So I asked for a voice note from Joe's, when I thought we were doing this on Wednesday night, I said, can you get me one in six hours? And he said, and by the way, so that was like, at one o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. And he said, "I'm finishing some stuff up for the show. I'll try." So it's crazy. Based on what we did when we were there, the fact that it's one o'clock in the afternoon on Wednesday and Joe's hasn't turned his scripts in yet. Yeah. For the table read, that's imminent. Yeah. Within two hours. Then we pushed, then we pushed our record two days. And he wrote me like 12 hours later. Sorry, I was too busy. And I was like, no worries, you have 36 more hours to send what? And he didn't quite pull it off. He didn't get. Solomon did. Okay. So John who co-wrote it, I asked for his memories for Bede and let's listen to that now. Bede is a sketch that Joe and I wrote after a trip to Puerto Rico. We got two sketches from our Puerto Rico trip. The other was a sketch about a lighthouse with Dwayne Johnson and Kristen. And then this one was because we went to a hotel called the Horn Dorset, which is a very nice hotel in Puerto Rico. And they showed us the bathroom. And there was a day in the bathroom. And I think you could say that Kristen and Zach's concerns about the functionality of the Bede, easily mirror Joe's and my concerns and interests. So it was very easy to write. And Andy, fantastic performance as a straight man. And obviously Kristen and Zach were so, so funny. Thank you, John. And I'm going to share screen. Yeah, do we need to watch a little of it? Let's watch a little bit. We have another guest here right now. Oh, do we? Oh, I can see Chrysels here. Oh, oh, Chrysels here. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. On a once per day. Oh, good. Yeah. Welcome, Chrysels. It's only us because Yorm isn't feeling well. And Andy is just like kind of just not a great podcast host. All right. Here we go. Bede. And the bathrooms in each of our executive suites come with a whirlpool tub, radiant heating, and a rainfall shower head. And if you'll follow me, I can show you the master bedroom. And the Bede, come standard. Yes, you'll find a Bede and all our executive suites. And there's no additional charge for using the Bede. No, no per use fee or debit system. No, ma'am, use of the Bede is complimentary. Very nice. Very nice. Good, good, good. Would you like to see the master bedroom? And the Bede is it in good working order? The Bede? I believe so, yes. And there's a sturdiness to it. The Bede. It can accommodate it. Fairly heavy carriage. I think it's a very standard Bede. And the water pressure? Oh, yes. And the water pressure in the Bede. Should it prove insufficient? Is there an adjustment that can be made to possibly increase the pressure substantially? I don't think so now. Our sheets in the bedroom boast a six hundred thread count. And the Bede? Should it break? Is there a Bede repairman on site? If there's any problem with the bathroom. Would be the Bede. We would just call a plumber. And this plumber, he can handle even the most extreme Bede problem. He's a very competent plumber. And should the Bede be damaged beyond repair? How soon would you be able to replace it with a new Bede? I really don't know the answer to that. Of course, I don't like that. You know, look at your dad. And should we have an unexpected overnight guest? Do you offer a roll away Bede? I don't believe that exists. Well, 2010, you would take the plan. And are there any hidden cameras in the bathroom that might record whatever's taking place in or around the Bede? Perhaps a toilet cam? No, there are no cameras anywhere in the bathroom. Oh, that's a shame. That's too bad. And the nearest hospital that would be. St. George Medical Center, it's about three miles east of the hotel. And their ambulances? They have Bede? Or would there be a gap between the hotel and the hospital? Bede-wise. I doubt the ambulances have Bede's. I also doubt the hospital has Bede. And with the doctors at the hospital, there's an understood confidentiality, correct? They're seasoned professionals. They've seen it all, so to speak. They've had their gag reflexes removed, haven't they? I mean, no complaints. I enjoyed every second of that. Also, thinking about it through the lens of John's voice note, he left saying that those were the questions that him and Joseph had in Puerto Rico about their Bede. That's worrisome. I know one of my other. Hopefully John won't mind me telling a story that they would go on surfing trips together. And one time they were surfing and talking to a female surfer who thought they were a father and son. I think it's happened more than once. Yeah. They're probably 10 years apart. Yeah. But Joseph is very young looking for his age and Solomon is just very manly. He's tall. And he's got some nice salt and pepper in his hair. I would say it's more man boy than any actual thing of you look old, you look young. I'm shocked they didn't just think that they were lovers. But yeah, it's delightful that that's what they thought. Yeah. There was people that were genuinely touched if I recall it. We could ask Solomon about it, but it would like genuinely like this is so nice to see a father and son out here like surfing the waves together. So Solomon knows Joseph better than maybe anyone knows Joseph. And he thought it might be unlikely that Joseph would come through with the text. So he sent a second voice note with even more information. Oh, great. The most important thing to say with regard to bidet is that Joseph and I were on this trip to Puerto Rico. And he's 12 years younger than me. He had a full beard at the time. We were scanning on the beach and this probably 60 something year old man came up to us. And he asked us directions and we gave him directions to some restaurant or something. And then he looked at Joseph and then he looked at me and smiled and he said, "That's nice. I'm want to trip with my son too." So he thought I was Joseph's dad. And then I believe that same day, maybe it was the next day. I was at the front desk of our hotel and I was checking out and I asked the woman at the front desk if she had any postcards. And she said, "Oh, someone else just asked me that question." She points to Joseph to sitting across the lobby and she says, "Your son." Because Joseph wanted postcards to send him. So two separate people in Puerto Rico thought I was Joseph's dad. And then the story doesn't end because years later we were on a trip and we were going to Catalina with a bunch of friends and my friend who I've known for a long time looked at Joseph and he said, "Is that your son? I don't know. I don't know." Presumably the woman who works at the hotel knows they were in separate rooms with different last names. Although based on this bidet story, they maybe were in the same room. Oh, maybe they shared a room. Yeah. Two surfer bros just heading down there and they're like, "Just surfer bros, like surf logic type place." Sharing a room would definitely lead me to some conclusions. Yeah. That's a bummer when they're like, I don't know. I don't know who they're judging that they're like, "They can't possibly be a gay couple." Exactly. Why does it immediately go to that? Yeah. There's a lot of age gap gay couples out there. Well, it gets very believable. Anyway, where Joseph has taken the time two weeks in a row to text me an Andy a photo. That's actually very nice of the wall in the post production, like where they do the shorts now. Yeah. And there's a nice picture of us in the sushi glory hole. Now, there you go. Alpha, it's on the wall. So he's got his phone on him, I guess, in my point. Who does that one? Quite so we were talking about your, so what is your friendship with Zach when he comes in hosts? How well do you know him? I know him pretty well because he had been on Tim and Eric so many, many times. Had you guys even done those absolute vodka ads at that point? It was probably had been done, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And I think that was it. It was a similar thing where he was like, "What are you doing here?" And I'm like, "I'm working here now." And he was excited. And I don't know if you guys already talked about this, but I remember the table read was kind of awkward. We're like, "Docks, the funniest guy." And then it was like, "That's not where he shines." You know, like he's so about like massaging language. Yes. But I think he was like, "Hey, I have this idea." He came to me go, "I want to just be wandering by a set and just kind of like interrupt it." Is that an idea? I'm like, "Okay." Yeah, we see what we can do that. I don't know. But at the time like the hangover hadn't been out that long at that point, right? So I think I just started bringing the idea to Andy or somebody and like, Andy was just do that. That's great. Like I need a week off and feel like it was very much. Yeah, it was a host idea. And it does speak to what you said about like Zach, I end up being a great host and always not. I know. Totally was amazing. But I think there was a we were saying before he came on to like Zach was that weird thing where he was like super comedy cool for the previous 15 years. And then he was mainstream cool for the previous like three months. And it was a weird thing of, I think we were worried about like the people who expected him to be like hangover Zach, but we always knew that there was this other, you know, not more interesting Zach, but like that he was like this incredibly layered, nuanced comedian. And I feel like this was a great version of that Zach, the lock in the set. Yeah, but then it became like logistically. This is complicated in a way because first you have to call all these places. The thing was all the New York shows that were shooting at the time, they were so excited. And I was thinking about it. Like if you're doing a show sort of day in and day out, law and order, and they're like, hey, Zach Alfonakis wants to come by and shoot something like right before lunch or whatever it was. And they're going to put it on SNL. They're like, yes, this is so fun. And I remember gossip, girl, which we didn't end up going to was like, yeah, you should come here. They were shooting in Grand Central. Well, that would have been good. That would have been awesome, but I can't remember. You know, it was one of those things where their schedule shifted and then they couldn't accommodate it. Can we watch it? Yeah, I can do it. I can do it. Yeah. I do want it before we say right off the bat, a perfect performance from Brian Williams. And when you realize he's doing it for comedy, it is totally dry. Everything you would want. Like sometimes people give you too much. It is a perfect performance for beat one, which is obviously very important. This is NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Coming up tonight on the broadcast, as we wind down another week, Senator John McCain tries to refire his political hopes in his home state of Arizona while he was the GOP standard bearer last time around. He suddenly finds himself with a viable primary challenge in Arizona. So fun, a big round of applause. She reels, still got the slave voice. I don't know, shut up. Simon. Dr. Oz has not aged as well as we might want. This is the right amount to have. That's the amount you want to have in your belly. Remember, it's not the fat in your thighs and your ass that hurts you. I just like to stress how I watched this really today, how lovely it is that the first three beats are all very different. Yeah. And the middle beat with Showtime at the Apollo is like, I don't know what you'd call like MTV Movie Awards slash Forest Gumping, right? You just pulled some random Showtime at the Apollo and then shot a shot of him in a fake crowd. You're also keeping me on my toes in terms of he's really behind Brian Williams and then he's really at Dr. Oz. I think it was because he just gave me that. I just made a list. And like, well, here's the ones we can fake and here's the ones we can. Yeah, but it's keeping it by getting it. It's fun too because when the Dr. Oz one starts, I for a minute wonder if he's being like a composited behind him. Because now I know that's part of the game, right? And then it's it's fun when I realize, oh no, he's physically with Dr. Oz. No, but I was remembering this is just a technical thing, but I keep it. You came in and go, I can edit part of this for you if that helps you. And you did the Dr. Oz part, which was super helpful. I remember just in the scope of the week just to have another person just to have anybody else. Yeah, I relate. Well, I'm very glad I did. I remember I know as soon as it started in the footage, I was like, oh, I'm really familiar with this, but I don't know exactly why, which parts. Did I only do Dr. Oz or did I do some other ones? I was at heart, but that was helped anyway. Yeah, yeah, you just need that was in the building. Dr. Oz was like, yeah, he was on the 7th floor. Yeah, look, he's in. Looks like a shock, just joined. We're in the middle. We're in the middle. Yeah, we actually started late. We started three minutes ago. So we're just going to go pretty soon. Just kidding. So why were you late? I had important business meetings, bro. Business meeting. SNL short reference. That's cool. Thanks. All right, here we go. I needed to distract Tracy for the afternoon so I can read a script. I don't know, I'd like to, but it just doesn't feel right. Do you guys do a TV show or something? I was in a rascal flat's video once. Do you remember? Did you shoot that at 30 rock the TV shows that or at 30 rock the building? No, at the site. At the site? At what's it called over in Log Island City? Silver Cup. Silver Cup. Yeah. So I have a question. You were saying like everybody's so psyched. Like, oh my God, we're going to be in digital shorts. It's on SNL. Were they also psyched at 30 rock because that show already felt like it was at SNL? I was just remember they were into it. And then I heard through the great find, Tina needs to approve the fake script. Got it. That makes sense to me. Yeah, yeah. And then it was. Yeah. Perfect. I think somebody on their staff tweaked it a little bit. But it also makes sense for it to be Jack McBaron Coockowski because they are not ex SNL people. Yes. Like if it was Tracy and it was Tina, it would just be too close. But that at least took it to somewhere else. It would feel too close. Yeah. I didn't even think about that. And did you guys get money from Werther's originals? Yes. No, that's just a classic grandparent at church. It's going to be the thing that Zach just loves that kind of thing. That's a real, I mean, I was saying Werther's in rascal flats are some real Zach touches. Yes. No one else. He's definitely presenting that bag to camera, making sure we know exactly what he's bunching on. Yeah. The fully artist work is like insane. The loudest rapper. Oh my god. This is a movie. Hold on it for so long. It's also what I really like about that is you obviously know he's going to be at the birthday party at this point. And so then the comedy has to be more than the reveal. And so the fact that he's just looking dead down the lens for that long. And then what is it? Which I noticed he was doing in bidet as well. He looked into the camera. Yeah. Oh, did he? I think he was looking for his cards. Yeah. Yeah. I'm in bidet. I think that's the only thing I was in that week. Yeah, we watched, we watched the full thing. Oh, that's why you said bloodbath. Yeah. Everything got cut. You're great in bidet. It's a, I mean, it's real straight man, Andy, but you really, really nice performance. Yeah. That looks really good. Thank you. I love that sketch so much. Solomon sent a voice note, but you can listen to the pod next week when it comes out. Do you notice real quick, where we are the classic lawn order text? Do you see the home? We're at Carmen Yonks. Yeah, that's a Matt Yonks ref. That's a little for it. That's foreshadowing. We're going to get a little Yonks action here. It seems like a nice enough girl. Always paid a rent on time. She rent a high class call girl. You ever looked the other way and straight to the right? No, man, that's crazy. Ain't that kind of guy. Really? You know what? She kept better books than you, Kyle. We're all over her. I'm going to sit alone longer right now. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, you might have been a few, I think. You're talking to a bad guy. How are you doing? Is this part of the show? On order. Freeze! Yeah, right here. I'm with him right now. Hold on one second. Hold on one second. It's my aunt Louise. Take it back from the top. Anthony! That's really good. What a maniac. Okay, so they're shooting lawn order right there and then we just come in and they finish their scene, someone talks to them for a couple of seconds. All right, Matt, come over here. Take over. What are we doing? I think I was there. I think I went with you. Good for them. It was terrifying because they were just such a well-oiled machine. Like, what the hell is this? But they were really nice. They do like 11 pages a day. That's how they do everything. All right, what are we doing here? Somebody say something. It was their cameras. It was all their stuff. No, was it their cameras? Did they give you the tapes or did we show up with our crew and step in? I definitely had our crew, but yeah, maybe we did switch over to our cameras, but it was their AD was running ahead. It's going to say it looks exactly like the show. Yeah, Yonks was good. Yeah, he's great. Yeah, he's really real New Yorker. Why do you think it was Carmen? Do you think that's the name of his mom or something? Or a dad or a bed? I bet it's his mom. I wonder why we didn't just go Matt Yonks. I got his wife's name. His wife. It's his wife? Yeah. You didn't know that, Akiva? Shit, cut this out. Yonks is going to fucking rip me. Yonks, you're out there. I knew and Keave didn't. I knew. That's pretty wild. Christal definitely knew Seth is weirdly beaten it. Not too many people doing some breaks skating. This kid's real good. He's doing the stare. Yeah, he's repeating the showtime at the Apollo/Birthday party stare. Wait, is that wig next to him though? No, it looks like wig and body fusion or something. Just a background. But the fact that he's a kid is really funny, but a kid with a beard is As way funnier he was out the Robin Williams show. Yeah, that's a class - Classic show to be at. - Good job, Chrysler. - That was not technically a national digital short to not have the logo, but it made it in here though. - Yeah, deservedly so. - It had a title card, but it's zack drops by the set. - I'll tell you one thing about it. It played hot. - Played hot. - They're on board right away as soon as it starts. - Oh yeah. - Real quick, Jack Black. ♪ Spelling beat ♪ (laughing) ♪ Spelling beat ♪ - And now Andy, what about give us the update? - Two hints. - Yeah, what were they? - They were gimmies. - What did you get, Seth? - I'm really mad 'cause I got memetic and missed memetic. - See, I'm sorry, say those words again? - M-I-M-E-T-I-C, memetic. I got memetic, M-E-M-E-T-I-C. - I did the exact same thing. - Yeah. - And then you're ready for the all-time booth of my year? - Yeah. - Hit mice. - Oh man. - Like the most gimme of all gimmies. - Yep, I was really proud that I finally got hit mice. And by the way, head out of the gutter, Quaid Army. - What, 'cause the thing I said about you about Yonks' wife? - No, I'm just saying like, but I know everybody snickering at home who's listening to Tit mice, but that's the name of an actual mammal. - Yeah, everyone head out of the gutter on Tit mice. Okay, that's the name of an animal. - Yeah, it's just like a little mouse. - So Tit mouse is the name of the animation company that does Digmin. - That's true. - There ya go. - Digmin plug, catch it on. Paramount plus if it still exists. - Probably will now. - Do you enjoy the season? If so, hit us in the Tit mouse. - No, this is a bit of repeating, but I think it bears repeating. Seth, there's a conspiracy that Seth uncovered happening over at New York Times Games. - Oh yeah. - There's some dog whistles. Some secret code being sent out specifically to us and the Quaid Army. - Uh-huh. - In one week, Andy. Let us was in the spelling bee. And these were answers in the crossword. - Doppelganger, like a boss. - Ooh, are they putting some Diggy shorts up in there? - They're trying to get our attention, we think. - Yeah, we think they're trying to get our attention. - A little eye rubbed your back of your mind? - Yeah. - The clues are not lonely island based clues. They're just-- - No, but I love that. - Putting enough of them in there to let us know that that's the space to be watching for our orders. - Now we gotta keep our eyes peeled. If so, that's the coolest, by the way. - Last week, there was a, I remember that the clue was good idea, and the answer was sushi glorial. - Wait. - And I'm like, that seems-- - That has to be you guys. - Seth, hold up. (laughing) - I also got a really good, O'Brien sent me a thing. He's like, "Hey, I'm having dinner with somebody who knows Sam Mazersky at the spelling bee. He thinks he can get him on." He goes, "I would love to help you guys talk more about my least favorite part of the show." (laughing) - What a jerk. - You're like, "We're way ahead of you, bud." - We're way ahead of you. - We got Sam's number. - Seth, your show has just been a parade of my friends this week. - It's been a hot week of your friends. - Milliotti. - Milliottie. - To Isaac, Milliottie. - Yep. - And then who's the other one? - Who else, who else are your friends with? - I want you to say something crazy. - I know. Oh, yeah, I know. Yoakim Trier. - Exactly. - Norwegian director, Yoakim Trier. - Yoakim Trier, who I went to. High school with. (laughing) - By the way, did you see the. - I saw that movie. - Sentimental Value. - Yes, yes. The one with Stone Star's Guard and El Fanon. - Yeah, how was it? I'm excited to see it. - It's incredible. - Yeah, it's truly incredible. I can't believe it. - One of those movies, one battle, the same thing. - So bombed, no one was over. - I am positively jazzed to see it. I know that sounds slightly sarcastic, but I'm pretty hyped up for that. - Obviously I'm a big, worst person in the world head. - Yes, and Ranada Ransova's in it, and El Fanon's in it. Still, it's amazing. - And Seth on Monday, your guest was King Hippo from Tyson's Punch Out. - Yeah, it was Sanvers, my gosh. - I've been meaning that he still have the piece of tape over his belly button, or. (laughing) - Oh, you said Tim and Zach wrote you about Spider-league or no? - Yeah, well, I wrote to them because I had a bone to pick, but I don't have a good answer. So I'll just put them on blast here, which is that they keep saying, they keep explaining it to you, and you can confront this next time they're on the show. It can wait, but with the idea that they all take pictures of spiders, and then they text them, and then they put it into an app, and the app tells them which one would win. And I'm like, what kind of an app pits spiders against each other? And I don't know, it sounds like they made that part out. - Sounds like a lie. - I think it almost just, I think Spider-league exists to trick Brooks into breaking rules he doesn't know exists. - They're friends, Brooks Wheeling. - But I'm not feeling if you accuse them of lying, they're gonna have an explanation. I think it's real, but it sounds like a lie, but I bet you it's true, they wouldn't lie about that. They take Spider-league very seriously, and then they talked about Spider-league on the show, we posted on Instagram, and then Brooks commented on the Instagram post, and then Brooks texted me that now he's in trouble, 'cause you're not allowed to post on Spider-league posts. - Yeah, there's a lot of rules, and he's currently suspended from Spider-league, so he's not allowed to post. - But they don't like your tone, Seth, on the show. - They don't like my tone, they think I'm an enemy of Spider-league. - They think you're making fun of Spider-league and that you're bringing it onto like, kind of laugh behind their back, like tell me more about Spider-league, but yeah. - It's Spider-league's interesting, 'cause Timmy is acting very casual and grounded about it, but his behavior is kind of similar like his character on Share Company about it. - His obsessiveness? - Yeah, it's like slightly like psychotic. - Yeah, well, they're lying about it, or it seems like they're lying about it. I don't want to accuse them of anything, it just sounds like a lie. - Keith, did you tell everyone that you went back to your favorite store that's your exact style? - My damn flashes. Went back at this time, brought Maya and Andy. - That's right. - I wanted to have more eyeballs on it. - And all he got? - One pair of sweatpants. - No, and a t-shirt. - Ah, and a t-shirt, but I couldn't get out of there without buying anything. Especially when you got two sets of eyeballs, Maya's a very stylish lady. - She has. - She approved the sweatpants, I gotta get 'em. - Yeah, but you know what, your first pair? - Too small. - Yep, yep. - And to go up the size. Crisel, chime in, bro. - Yeah, dude, you wanna see the sweats or what? - Wait, where's the store? - Oh, we could never say, we're not on the take. - I can't keep it hard. I can't keep it hard. I can't buy us. - He'll take you off-pod. He will talk to you off-pod about this, but this is not for everyone. Unless they come with the free stuff offered, then once again, I'll talk about it every week. But yeah, it was really, again, just wanna thank Maya, thank Andy for both coming and pretty womaning it for me, so that I could come out. - Well, Andy, it wasn't for you. - I just feel like I'm covered for the fall. - Oh, okay, good. - Yeah, but Anikiva was an honor and a privilege. - Well, thank you. And by the way, I think everything in there would look great on Andy, and I'm always encouraging him. I'm holding up things going, you should put on this thing. Everything in there, I would wear. And I think he would, too, but he doesn't have to. He's appreciating you, brother. - He doesn't have the energy for it, or he's just in there. He's like, I'm the couch guy, and you come out of the dressing room. You model it for me, and I say yes or no. - We have pre-fights when we go to try out clothes with like a Lexi and I. She's like, I wanna go get you new clothes. You have to have energy for this. She's like, don't show up immediately get frustrated when the first pair of pants doesn't work, 'cause I'm such a petulant loser. - Nothing is sleepier than wardrobe fittings. Like, you show up excited to shoot a video, and then they're like, we got all this amazing stuff, and it's all so good. And I'm like, for Susie Gorehold, she killed it. Those wardrobe was amazing. And you're still in there, and you're just getting so sleepy, 20 minutes into trying on shirts. It's the sleepiest thing. - Andy and I would go, I would go clothes shopping with him in any places. It was like, open ceremony. - Yes. - Do you remember how mad you were the one time we took a sea plane to Vancouver Island, and we went to a store, and I wanted to buy the same sweater as you. (laughing) I was like, we see each other all the time. - You were really genuinely mad. I'm like, we can get away with it. You're like, no! (laughing) I'm like, we won't wear it on the same day. You're like, it'll look like you're wearing my sweater. - And do you remember what you did? - Was that the lobby of the hotel? - No. - No, it was in roots. - It was roots, we flew the room. - And Seth was like, fine, fine. I won't. And then he bought it without telling me. (laughing) And then he wore it as soon as we got back. - That's great. - We went out to dinner, and he was wearing it. I was like, God damn it! (laughing) Yes. That'd be like if you showed up in the sweats we just bought. - Exactly, I'm all right. - It was a bird. - If you and Maya circled back and both bought the same sweats. - It was a good burn. - We had to go to the root store in Toronto through Lorne. It was like, you get to pick out anything you want in the store because it's his friend. - So cool. - And I was just walking around. What I ended up with was a varsity jacket, but that's a vest. - Huh. - Which seems like you could wear like a hoodie underneath it, but it was always like, that's a lot to try to pull off. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - A vest. I think we might need, do you still have it? Can we get it, or can you find a photo? This podcast has a history with vests, with questionable vests. - That is true. - I think the people would like to see it. - Kevin, what is this in the chat? Part of your bloodbath is a guidance counselor got cut. Do you remember guidance counselor? - I don't, oh is it a feature? - It's an update feature. - Let's fucking go. I can't wait to be vindicated that it shouldn't have got cut. - This week a study show that most high school graduates believe their guidance counselors offered little meaningful advice on college and career choice. Here not a comment is high school guidance counselor, Rick Stinson. (audience applauds) - Oh no, ponytail, long ponytail. - Jeff, thanks for having me. - So, Mr. Stinson, you believe this study is unfair, is that correct? - Absor's smurfly stuff. -What? -This report is a travesty. Look, I've been a guidance counselor for 13 long weeks. And I assure you that what I've done is helped my students. -Okay, so could you give us an example? -I'd love to. Okay, this one time, I was talking to this little dude, and he was all, "Where should I go to college?" And I was all, "Man, come on!" Slaped him a fiver, and then we just wrapped about jazz. -So kids are wrapping about jazz a lot in this. -All the time, I said, "Again, this is not really convincing." -It's hard to explain. Okay, I've got a certain finesse with the kids that you have to see to truly grasp. -Okay. -It's not that hard to explain. -It's hard to explain, okay? I've got a certain finesse with the kids that you have to see to truly grasp. -Okay. I've got a certain finesse with the kids that you grasp. -Okay. -Well, why don't you show it to us? Let's roll play, "Up your student," and you give me advice as you would in a normal meeting at school. -Okay, and you got proud. -Yeah, yeah, yeah. -Sorry, are you smoking? -Well, I wanted to be like a real meeting. -Yeah, but you can't smoke in here, and you can't smoke with students present. -Okay, fine, fine, fine. You want a 40-dog? -You can't drink alcohol either. -Okay, okay, bite my head off. We'll just stick with the mellows. -No! -I do it so the kids know I'm cool, you know? I'm not the man. I'm just a friend that they can talk to about jazz. -What about college? -Oh, no, I did not go to college. -No, not you. -Do you talk to the students about college? -Why the smurf would I do that? That's smurfing crazy. -Why do you keep saying smurf? -That's how the kids talk these days, Seth. -Wake up, man. It's 1986. -It's 2010. -What? -My life! -My life! -All right, oh my god, you okay? Rick Stinson, everyone. -What the fuck? -Lot of moves. -Lot of moves that you can hurt. -Get all your stuff out of here. -I'm taking these. -We're extensive. -Oh my god. -Well, I love that we got a real old age. She had 140 on there. Keep your listed as a writer. -I know, I must have come in and help punch up. -Probably a smurf stuff. Do you think the smurf stuff was yours? -I was like, what if we had a smurf all over this? -You were like, let's do it at the top. And then right when people forget it, a bunch in a row. -That's the comedy. -That's like the calculation you make. -When Tim and Zach were on, I can't remember what it was now, but they were talking about an update of theirs that got cut. One of the first updates they wrote together for Timmy. And then, oh, Titanic. Yeah, it was about a guy who was building another Titanic. And then on the show, Timmy burned bass for cutting it. -Oh, bass catching strings. -And then bass at the end, when we were walking out to get on the elevator, bass yelled down the hallway like, I didn't cut it! He was listening to the podcast! -I think bass is really hopeful that people will finally stop blaming him for their update failures. -Is it weird that even though he's explained it in detail that I still blame him? -No, it's not weird. -Cuz like Seth, you're my friend. -It's healthy. -Sorry, I dropped in a guidance counselor voice. -Just so infectious. -Do you get asked to do it a lot by fans all the time? They're like, do my life. -No, Chrysler, this was March, so there's a couple more months. -Stay on till the end of the season. -Yeah, stay on till the end of the season and half of the next season. -Do you remember what it was like? Were you getting assignments after this? Because now I'm back. Next week we do boombox. So you were a free agent now. Are you writing your own things? Are you getting assigned things? -That's a pretty question. But I was watching another one today. I'm like, oh yeah, the Jane Lynch one. -Did I work? -Yeah, did you work on that though? I remember working on that, but maybe you did it with me. -Yeah, I think we did like a couple together. Maybe that was the one that we did together. -Yeah. -And they were like, I would just start doing regular pre-tune. -Yeah, just working for the show. -But not commercials. -And then only half of the next season? Why only half of the next season? -Well, my son was going to be born. That was part of it. I was like, I can't figure this out with a child. I'm going to start Portlandia. Did you guys shoot the pilot in the summer? -The beginning was, right after this season, we're going to do a pilot at the beginning of the summer. And they have like three weeks to decide if they're going to do the show. And then if they are, then we're going to do a whole season of five more episodes. -When were those going to get written? -When did we write that? -Did you write through the whole season that summer? -It felt like we did. I mean, the writing time was so short. It was just weeks. Just get out there and start doing it. So it was very fast turnaround. But yeah, then I was there in the beginning of that next season, editing Portlandia. All the editors came to New York. And it was like a little bit too much. -Yeah, that's what I was trying to remember. And then you knew you had a different job because Portlandia was working. So it's easier to leave. -That was part of it. -SNL, because you have Portlandia. -And I was also going to do other things. But yeah, because they were like, do you want to stay for five years? But the part of it was the child thing. It just seemed like I was imagining my NYU days. I'm going to be living in the worst apartment with walls caving in. And that, to me, was New York living there. So I thought of bringing it child into that. Then I was like, oh, no, there are other places. Because I think it went to a place that you had right after your daughter was born or something. I was like, oh, this. Oh, yeah. I knew it, but I couldn't really understand it. And I was living in LA. I had a house and I thought, okay, this is a world. I can bring a child into that. -It makes sense. You were settled. -It's crazy that you were working on SNL and Portlandia at the same time. It's even crazier. And I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Fred was working on two sketch shows. -And being excellent in both of them at the same time. You have an idea and go, that's a Portlandia. -For SNL. It's crazy. -We did get a sort of old SNL sketch. That Fred had maybe done it. -Yes. -It was like, well, of course, that won't work. But for Portlandia, it was like perfect. So he had this track of his brain. It was kind of accumulating these ideas. They're like, oh, that won't work. -Right. I think you should leave. They definitely used some stuff that didn't go there. -Somebody asked me today, like, oh my god. Zach and Tim talking about sketches of theirs that didn't work. They'd be so good for a second chance theater in your show. Their second chance theater is, I think, you should leave. -Yes. -We took a Tim and Zach sketch that didn't work on SNL and put it on the Michael Bolton Valentine's Day, especially even. Where he's Chef Roy and he's making cakes. I don't want to tell the whole comedy premise of it, but it's on there. That's how much you can reuse those things. You just need to get permission. -Wait and drive those views, Keith. -Yeah, finally. Valentine's Day, everybody go see the sketch. -Put a pen in that before four months from now. I can't remember if it aired or not that we were talking backstage with him. He was playing the Richard Attenborough character from Jurassic Park. He was also a wedding DJ. He was DJing a wedding while he was getting a call that the dinosaurs were out. It was just him. -That's the craziest premise. -What was the name of the island? Jurassic Park Island New Bar maybe? -Yeah, it was Island New Bar. A wedding was being held at Island New Bar and he was a wedding DJ. -He was just like, "What the hell don't tell them to get the containment to?" -And then go and spin more. -A big thing that was because when I was there and then you came back and then I feel like you almost coming back too. -Yeah. -I was just like a fly on the wall and you guys were having these very intense conversations that I was just like a child with their parents. -They were angry but you guys were like, "What are we doing? What's happening? Are we doing this movie that Jason and Zookas wrote?" -Oh, wow. Totally forgot about that. -I'm like, "I'm just back here trying not to." -Well, because the coming summers when we made Turtle Lick and Chain and so we were trying to figure out what we were doing. -Also, it really does say how Lauren really liked what you had done while you were there. -Right, so that he wanted to keep you around even though those guys were back. -Yeah, that was nice. -Seth, I do feel like it's kind of important to mention that I got queen be clean yesterday though. You know what I mean? -Sure. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off earlier when we were drilling down in your failures today. -Anything you want to talk about from Wednesday? -Tuesday, I got it clean. -Went's day though? -Honestly, Wednesday, I was like out of my body. -I didn't want to blow up your spot, bro. -Oh, man. -I think that I had a particularly intense workout session maybe. -Oh, that sounds like you. -That sounds like you. -Then I was just like, the endorphies were just pumping me so hard that I was like, "I can't focus." -No, no. -I'm going through the wall like a cool aid man, right, Seth Lee? -Yeah, totally. -And John, you guys been playing the Rosalía album? -Oh, it's so good. -Oh, yeah. -I've only heard a couple songs off of it. -I threw it on a day and was like, "Year." -Yeah, it was really good. -And Seth talked about it. -Yeah. -He was like, "What?" -Yeah. -Yeah. -I'm not surprised. I loved your last one. This feels monumental. -Oh, yeah. Do you roll down that window and yell it out to people as you pass them? I try to make eye contact just like you hear in what I'm listening to. Yeah, I want a lot of credit. Keith will go, "New shit, kill-b-you-b-you!" All right, well guys, this is wonderful. Andy, thanks for joining. Craig, so thanks for joining. I joined late, but I'm desperate to leave. And Andy, do give us on his feedback on how it fell with just Keith and I kicking it back and forth. You know I will, Seth. You know I will do that, and I won't hold back. And I'll also won't hold back on my compliments. Okay, great. Yeah. All right. Love you guys. Love it. Love you, dudes. Crystal, good to see you, buddy. It's proud of you. Later, Arnold. Later, Quates.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. The podcast features a rare two-hander format with Akiva Shaffer and Andy, due to Andy’s illness and absence, highlighting their camaraderie and the show’s resilience.
  2. Both hosts reflect on the podcast’s finite nature and the growing fan base (the "Quaid Army"), emphasizing their responsibility to keep the show going for its dedicated listeners.
  3. A conspiracy theory emerges where New York Times Games subtly references the podcast through spelling bee and crossword clues like "let us" and "a boss," suggesting a secret code or inside nod.
  4. The hosts share memorable audience interactions, including a viral moment where a guest’s performance of a “walk in” sketch sparked joy and confusion, likened to a cinematic surprise.
  5. A deep dive into past episodes reveals fan-submitted content, including jokes, observations, and inside references that enrich the show’s culture and community.
  6. The team discusses their shared history, such as a surprise encounter with Zach Alfonakis in Michigan, and reflects on how humor and timing shape their comedic chemistry.
  7. They explore the emotional value of physical proximity in creative work, recalling the SNL-like energy of working in the same office space and sharing office humor.
  8. Fan engagement is a central theme, with the hosts celebrating how audience participation—through memes, hidden messages, and shared jokes—fuels the show’s identity and longevity.

Summary:

The podcast reflects on a unique two-hander format with Akiva Shaffer and Andy, highlighting their close dynamic and the show’s resilience despite Andy’s illness and absence. A central theme is the deep connection with the "Quaid Army" — fans who actively engage through subtle cues, such as crossword answers and spelling bee references, which the hosts interpret as a hidden code or tribute. The conversation explores the creative energy of shared physical spaces, like the office environment that mimics SNL’s collaborative culture, where spontaneous humor and office banter thrive.

The hosts share personal anecdotes, including a memorable encounter with Zach Alfonakis and a humorous story about a mistaken father-son pairing during a surf trip in Puerto Rico. Fan contributions, like jokes, memes, and inside references, are celebrated as vital to the show’s culture. The episode also touches on fan-driven content, including a possible conspiracy theory linking the New York Times Games to the podcast, and reflects on how audience interaction shapes the show’s identity.

Ultimately, the podcast emphasizes community, shared humor, and the enduring joy of creating content in a format that feels intimate and alive.

FAQs

The podcast is currently a two-hander, meaning it features only two hosts, Akiva Shaffer and Seth Meyers. This format allows for more focused and intimate conversations, removing the usual presence of a third or fourth guest who might disrupt the flow.

Andy Shaffer did not join the episode because he felt unwell and was reportedly having a tough day. The hosts acknowledged that while he has been upbeat about the podcast, he's been going through a difficult time, which led to his absence.

The hosts are considering a true crime season, where they might investigate cold cases. There’s also talk about a new format featuring a song or music segment, which could be a fresh direction for the show.

Yes, the hosts believe there’s a subtle conspiracy where the New York Times Games sends dog whistles—like the word 'spelling bee' or crossword answers like 'a boss' or 'doppelganger'—to signal to the Quaid Army that the podcast is being noticed and appreciated.

The 'Bede' sketch is a humorous take on a hotel bathroom feature, inspired by a trip to Puerto Rico. It reflects the hosts' playful and absurd humor, with deep personal touches such as the story of Joseph and Seth being mistaken for a father-son duo by strangers.

They believe the podcast will continue, driven by the loyalty and engagement of the Quaid Army. While they acknowledge it may not have a fixed end, they agree that its longevity depends on audience interest and shared humor.

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