Robert Smigel

he really hasn't changed much. he was quite evolved for a 25 year-old. He was already a very cool filmmaker and I'm very happy that he's be able to scratch that itch after all these years.

Duck Soup, Marx Brothers. The first hour of the original The Producers and the first hour of King Of Comedy are amazing and unforgettable. Blazing Saddles and Step Brothers have my favorite endings.

You have to really want it and/or believe deep down you can do it. And/or hit rock bottom with your alternate career choice. I was coming apart at college, sucking as a predental student, and I heard about a standup contest. I wrote an act and went for it, and if I had bombed I may have given up right then. Fortunately I won and the validation made me unstoppable, as far as knowing what I wanted to do from then on. Not that unfamiliar a story, insecure actor/writer is self-effacing, scared to assert himself, gets a little success and shifts in animal mode. I don't know how badly you want to do this for a living, but if you do, go for it hard, take chances, and if you're not as lucky early o...[Read more]

The Mary Tyler Moore Show is my favorite sitcom. The characters were all perfect originals at the time, totally distinct and have been ripped off endlessly since. Lou (Ed Asner) and Phyllis (Cloris Leachman) are especially amazing

Adam is the greatest guy I've ever worked with, kind, honest, never withholding affection or anger in the best way possible. But he's also as funny as anyone I know; he was easily one of the most inventive writers in my time at SNL (see: Herlihy Boy, his early Update appearances, his early Canteen Boys - not the Baldwin one). And yes, being around him is the best because he's not only funny but he makes you feel like you can do anything.

Well, I always felt especially bad that Charlie was disappointed by the show because he uprooted from LA and was definitely expected the show to be innovative and groundbreaking. Now, lots of people think it was, and if you check it out, there are plenty of sketches like Grandma the Clown, First Ladies as Dogs, Waiters Who Get Nauseated by Food, The Stupid Pranksters, and, yeah, the first Ace and Gary cartoon, and I'd say those and others were smart and original. We also had a legendary star performer who did amazing impressions and had beloved characters. So writing to the star's strengths, which included writing for his Regis, Perot etc. was always going to be an important ingredient. I ki...[Read more]

Dino is one of my favorite people to work with. We connect on a very base and childish level and he's an amazing giggler. It's hard to find people who still giggle like babies at this age, Dino and Sandler (and me) are the best. It's hard to think of a single story because being around that guy is always fun and easy, so nothing jumps out. It's just one long, funny story.

I will always put "Here Comes Snoopy" by Charles Schulz first because my dad gave it to me when I was seven and I stayed up all night reading it and it was the first book that made me laugh out loud

Aside from being witty and engaging and easy to watch, the key is simple, it's someone who's exactly the way they are off camera as on camera. Triumph is an exception. He's a great broadcaster but much more engaging on camera than in the Duane Reade bag on my shelf.

Phil was a pure sketch performer, his commitment in every scene was only matched by his talent. Having someone who could pretty much fill any role allowed for everyone else to do whatever they did best. I should add that Jan Hooks, who named Phil the Glue, actually fulfilled the same role on the female side.

That would be me, Robert, when I was EPing Dana Carvey's prime time variety show in 1996. We wanted to to do cartoons on the show, and pretty much anything that make it feel different than SNL. The great writer and deviant Dino Stamatopoulos pitched me something entirely different - what if characters like Wallace and Gromit were clearly having a sexual relationship? I didn't know much about what would be acceptable to the ABC audience watching after Home Improvement but I correctly identified that as unacceptable. Anyway, for some reason, the AGD idea just came to me at the end of that conversation. What if we did two superheroes and everyone suspects they're gay? It was always more about t...[Read more]

Being on Curb was the most fun I've ever had other than watching my twin boys clown around for me. It was like comedy fantasy camp. Larry David is another mega-hero for me. I auditioned and got cast as Yari, the vaguely foreign softball coach/mechanic. But I didn't know until I showed up for the shoot that they wanted me to do a speech to the team. So I asked Larry Charles, the director, if it's okay to curse. And he gave me the answer I wanted to hear. So I had about ten minutes to write a couple of things down that made me laugh. Then we shot it and Larry didn't know what was coming. I've heard he's an easy laugher but still, seeing him crack up felt like alley-ooping to Michael Jordan. I'...[Read more]

There's improv, but we write a bunch of stuff in advance, too. So have a library of jokes in your head, and on paper too, and you can pull some out when you need 'em.

Best job ever. The excitement of starting a whole new show to replace my hero Letterman's, of doing it with one of my best friends hosting it, and working with hilarious young writers, it far outweighed how hard it was and how many people tore into it. Too many memories to list but Louis CK used to throw shit out the 30 Rock window a lot. He would throw money, and attach a note to it - stuff like "You fucking pathetic moron." So we got to watch people scurry to pick up dollar bills and the read the note. Even though they were ant-sized, their body language was enough to have us laughing for hours.