Pendleton is exactly the way you would hope him to be if you're a fan of his work. Imagine being some kind of potion vendor in a fantasy world and one day a famous powerful wizard sends you a message that says "I enjoy your potions!" Then imagine that wizard invites you into his tower of sorcery and for a couple of years you get to help him and his sorcerer friends cast powerful spells that you sort of imagined were possible but had never witnessed yourself. Add two of the cutest pug-dogs on earth to the creatures living in the tower and That's what it's like working with Pendleton Ward.
Tags:
Related posts tagged 'Working with other comedians'
Bill Burr is as funny as you would imagine, but he is also a very serious actor who was not afraid to show a kind, sweet, vulnerable side in the film. I think people will be blown away by his performance.
It was very fun. Amy is a joy to watch work. I learned a lot from seeing her on set. She is involved with every part of the shoot and she is extremely upbeat and charismatic at 5'oclock in the morning even if she didn't want to be because she knew it was important for everyone involved in the shoot.
Question: I've always wondered how you managed to get so many big name guest stars on Robot Chicken. Was it all purely professional negotiation, or was there a lot of getting friends to spend an afternoon doing you a solid?
Answer: A little of both. I asked a lot of favors in our first season, but as the show became popular, we got approached by performers who wanted to play with us. We always ask, and are thrilled when people say yes. I think it's lots of fun, so I always present it to performers that way.
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.
Only worked with him that one day on Chappelle. I really loved Patrice. But he had complicated energy. I sort of diffused on chappelle by whispering to him, "I know you don't listening to people, but..." And he was like, "Nahh...Where'd you hear that?" Meanwhile, he hated listening to people. One things about Patrice: He's the only person in my entire life who ever called me on the phone out of the blue just to tell me he thought I was funny. Another thing: I wanted to act in a pilot I co-wrote and was directing with Dov Davidoff. This is in 2009. I call Patrice. I go, "Dude, I want you to be in this pilot. But are you gonna be a pain in the ass?" He's like, "Neal, how the fuck you gonna cal...
I would LOVE to tour with Kevin, that would be a lot of fun. I don't know what we would call it. It would probably NOT be "Between a Rock and a Hart Place." But if Kevin wants to tour, I'd get ready.
I loved them. So much. I love Eric Andre. He is a lunatic too. One of the few legit ones. I missed his birthday and it is a major regret this year. He's a ton of fun. I called him before the show and said "I'm gonna do something really fucking crazy on the show. I'm not going to tell you what it is but I wanted to give you the heads up." He said "Okay cool, I'll go nuts too." I loved it. A lot. So I always welcome him in any situation to do whatever the fuck he wants. I've riffed against crazier things than he could ever bring to the table.
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.
Tags:
Related posts tagged 'Relationship with other comics'
No! I had Bill tied up with a phone cord, so he can't swing a golf club at me anymore, hahaha! He invites me to play golf with him, but he's so good, I don't even see him after the first hole - he's usually WAY at the 9th hole, too far for me to catch up!
We're friends.
I think he's remarkable - and by the way, I just St. Vincent with Billy in it, and I thought That's an Oscar caliber performance, really great. So it's nice to see his growth, and it's nice not to have to smell his breath.
OH MY GOSH. I think that there will never be anybody as funny as a standup, because he was so ACTIVE on the stage. And he did so many great impressions of real people, you know? Like the guy from the bar, all that stuff, and Richard and I were very good friends, I loved working with him, it enabled me to write one of the least attractive sketches on SNL, which was called "Job Application," in which I'm asking him a few questions as he's applied for a job, but all of my questions just break down into... what's the word? They all just become more and more racist, you know, and this is just a word association test Mr. Pryor or whatever your name is, so if I say "apple," you say "house," hahaha!...
I would not go on twitter I would just approach the comic after the set and say something. But I knew he was leaving as I went on....
The point is, Dane Cook and I are cool. We talked it out and we are cool now and I've had a few good conversations. He and I basically put it this way: You're a comedian and I'm a comedian, I may not respect your comedy but I respect that you are a comedian. And that goes for me too.
Because of the episode where we used all of the outtakes, you pretty much got to see all of the stuff that cracked us up. People always talk about Chappelle's Show being quotable. Dave and I will quote it ourselves, but it's more obscure stuff. Like Rick James saying, "People think I do things just to do them. I got a little more sense than that. Yes I remember putting my feet on Eddie's couch." Dave and I will meet for coffee and say shit like, "People think I do things just to do them. I got a little more sense than that. Yes I remember going to get coffee with Neal." It's pretty stupid.
I loved it when Conan came in and interrupted us from working to make us laugh for hours while production was waiting for us to write a sketch. Conan wasted more time than anyone on that show, but it was a lot of fun.
Chris was always doing that bit to me at work. We shared an office, and you had to walk through our office to get to Chris Rock & Adam Sandler's office, so these 2 microscopic offices were back to back, and Chris' desk was behind mine, and he didn't really know how to write, or read, really (kidding!) but he would come in bored, because I would have to write my sketches to try to get on but they would always let him on, so he would get behind me and be bored, everyone would write him sketches, and he would say "Davey… turn around" and I said "if this is Fat Guy in a Little Coat I'm not turning around, it's not funny anymore." And he would say "no, i've got a whole new thing I'm doing."
And ...
Tina Fey had probably the biggest influence on me other than my parents. She's just not afraid. I loved watching her work cause she was so brave. I was really scared when I got to 30 Rock, she was like "I don't give a fuck. Be you. If it's funny, it's in the script." and And watching 30 Rock, there's so much Tina there that it made me see how I should start being me more too. Started putting out more music and started not being as afraid to be me. Tina is a true gangsta. She don't give a FUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK. I put her against any chick in the game.
EDIT: "Against ANYONE in the game." She'd destory anything. If she started rapping, I'd quit. I don't want that.
My oddest fan encounter... I will grossly namedrop this and say that I met Steve Martin, who knew he was meeting me that night and had watched a couple episodes of the show and said he liked it, which was not odd, but like the coolest thing that's ever happened.
And it's not like he came up out of nowhere - he knew he was going to meet me, and prepped for it.
Wow. There are so many Chris Farley stories to tell. I try not to overdo it, because they are very personal, but they are so funny, people should hear them. I just told one on Howard Stern this morning that was ridiculous. But I will say here's one: Me, Him and Adam Sandler were walking to dinner, during SNL, and this cute girl was getting in a cab, and we commented how pretty she was, so Chris ran over and climbed in the cab with her, and said "hey, you goin' downtown? Let's share a cab!" and she started yelling at him and kicking him. And he finally came back, and we said "Chris, if they don't know who you are, you are just a crazy fat guy trying to climb in a cab with them."
And then we ...
Duncan Trussell