What happened, Victoria, was, I opened for Bill Cosby. I told him my dad was a big fan. He said he would have my dad backstage when he went to Ottawa where my dad lives. But my dad has been dead for 15 years. So he asks me for my dad's phone number, and i Just write some numbers down on a piece of paper. He was such a nice guy, I didn't want to say he was dead. So I did hear from Cosby after that, because Cosby is so nice, I told that story one time on Letterman and the next day at SNL I received like 200 things of flowers, and then about 2 weeks later I found on one flower way in the back a little card and it was from Bill Cosby and it said "I'm sorry to inform you from this, but your dad i...
Patrice O'Neal, Mark twain, and Doug Stanhope. Three of the most original minds in American comedy history. I would also throw in Bill Hicks and Bill Burr and Billy Wilder.
Favorite standup comic of all time. (I hate the word favorite. It's too exclusive). But for one special, Sam Kinison was fucking perfect. One special. Then it went to his head and the rest of his career served as a warning to me on what to avoid.
And then currently, I'll never miss the chance to watch a set from Bill Burr, Dave Attell, Rory Scovel and Kurt Metzger.
Stanhope is a national treasure and a voice of reason and humor that in a sane society would be heralded as a prophet. He's proof that alcohol when consumed wisely can have great consciousness managing benefits. He's proof there are no rules. He's one of the greatest comics ever, and I love the shit out of him.
My favorite NEW comedian? I don't know how new he is, but every time I see Jim Gaffigan, I laugh and laugh. I love seeing him on TV, hearing him on comedy radio stations, guy just makes me laugh.
I started doing comedy in 2002 and I had a VHS tape of one of my first few sets. I took it to my RA, Open Mike Eagle. He watched it and said you sound like this dude, he played some Hedberg for me. I thought it was amazing.
Mitch played Zanies in Chicago in 2005. I was brand new and I went up to his green room and asked for a spot. (This was really obnoxious but I was hungry and ambitious.) The next night he let and 3-4 other Chicago comedians that he never met perform on a sold out show of his fans. That's unheard of. Comedians just don't do that type of shit. I won't do that shit now. I can be in the greatest mood ever and I won't let a stranger on my show. It went well and he let me open...
Farley offstage was everything you would expect him to be. Fun loving, reckless and often inappropriate. We had a thing -- If he was getting out of hand I would raise my eyebrows and he would respond with, "What? Take it down a notch?" Miss him.
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.
One time Bob despised a sketch of mine so much at a readthru, he told me what was wrong with it for a full ten minutes before concluding, "So I guess I'm saying I hate this sketch and it's trying to kill me," as he dropped it on the ground.
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...
Christopher Walken was great, and he always had funny things to say. He worked on a movie called MOUSE TRAP and explained how it's different working with an actor dog than an actor mouse. It was one of the best conversations I've ever been involved with.
Eric is extremely creative and driven and when he's on camera he wants to make it a moment. He's incredibly prepared and he's a smart dude.
The best part of working with him is that I really don't have to do anything but be myself and react.
Kevin Hart