Steve Carell

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 Carell joining us. Steve and I are going to talk about a lot of things. We're going to talk about Second City. We're going to talk about Anchorman. We're going to talk about the office. We're going to talk about the smooth tones of the baritone horn. We are going to talk about his new HBO show Rooster out now. We get into a lot of fun stuff. 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. 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. That Steve is Stephen Colbert. Hello, Stephen Colbert. Bonjour. 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 Crosstrek hybrid, a car that I've given my family. And up to 581 miles per tank in the Forrester hybrid, another car that I also enjoy. Subaru, love goes the extra mile. Visit Subaru.com slash hybrid to learn more. Range based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy and a full tank of fuel. Actual mileage and range may vary. I just want to start by saying you were the senior to my freshman when I arrived at Second City in Chicago. It was you and Amy Sedaris and Correll and Paul Nello. You were all getting ready to go do Exit 57, which was at the time just the thought that you could go and be 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. 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 watched those sketches. Now you'll pick up the pace. Oh yeah. What are you doing? Oh God. Yeah. I look at our old sketches and I'm like, you want to go six minutes on this? Really good. You're going to stay up all night fighting for cuts. I think I'd play a little better if it was half the time. The second city where you and Steve first met? Yeah. I mean, in fact, I was there. I got, I mean, I was, I worked there in the box office because 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. I, and my friend Ann Libera said she was the box office manager. And she said, you can answer phones here like two days a week if you need, like 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're like part time, like I was. And so I said, well, I mean, I never imagined that I would be at second city because I was, I was real improv. I was, I was, I had done, you know, I, I, I remember improv Olympic and those people talked a lot of shit about second city. Yeah. There was a fun East Coast, West Coast thing happening over there. It was like Lincoln Avenue, North Wells situation going on. And I was very much across currents. That's where we would, I did it across currents. Yeah. And I was like, no, man, I do. And then I went there and I saw the show and I went, oh, everybody here cares just as much as anybody else. They just happen to be sold out every night. And there's liquor. Right. I'm like, I kind of like this. And then I took classes and I didn't know Steve. Steve had gotten there a year, year and a half ahead of me, something like that. He was a little bit ahead of me in that, you might call it process or like kind of 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 Turco. I think I got hired on Thursday and then on Saturday they said, can you go in at Northwest? Because 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 how gifted musically he is, right? I did not know that. If it's made of brass, he can play it. You're kidding me. I did not know that. You can pick up a tin whistle or recorder. He can play. He plays the... I understudied for Steve when I was in Turco. I finally said, you're going to let me understudy or I'm going to leave. And Joy said, down threatened. 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. And I love doing it, but I got to 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, uh, Carell's got to go. He's got like a Brown's chicken commercial. Yeah, big deal. Something like that. You could live off that for years. Oh shit, man. Yeah. We were all jealous. Oh yeah. Wait, he got a bacon bit spot. And so he's selling funeral insurance to children. That sounds like a great gig. And I, so anyway, they said, could you, could you go in for Carell? 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 adds it. And I said, no, no, no, no, no, I'll earn it. I'll earn it. When do I, when do I need to go in? And they said six days. Wow. And so I, and they wouldn't rent me a horn. I don't even got the horn. Too 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 a domain stage. And so I went to Carell and I said, would you, I don't, can't re-cheat music. Can you please write out the fingering for the horn and teach me an embouchure? You know? What's an embouchure? Oh, that's the, that's the thing that makes the sound in the horn. And like you can get like three different options. I knew I was going to learn a new word from this interview. I knew you were going to teach me a new word. Embouchure is a great, embouchure is a great word, especially if someone cuts a fart in front of you. A nice thing to say is you just go, oh, nice embouchure. You know, really tight on that embouchure. And French horn. And 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 all weekend? We sat in her apartment and I learned anchors away, pretty woman and taps. Oh, you're hitting 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. Come on Brooklyn. And so there he's going down there to practice because they, they're drummers out for the week. They're subbing in for his brother. Yeah. That's kind of like, all you want. That is all you want. That's exactly. I was going to say the sound of your son practicing to sub in for your other son. That's like a dream. Yeah. I met Corell at Northwest back in 1988. And so when you guys were on the daily show together, it was like, jackpot. We're in Carvey together. That's right. You weren't, 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 root beer variety special hour is so. Yeah, it's a kick. 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 root beer 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 it's and to me, that'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 failure. 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 fighting whether I was going to do drama or comedy because I was doing straight theater in Chicago at the same time. And I but we'd laugh so hard when we or someone else on stage would fail. But the other person on stage who was failing would also laugh. And I went, if this 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. It's almost like because there's so much empathy for what's happened to the person who's eating it. But but if you know, just to extrapolate on that even more, there has to be a belief that you'll be OK. 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. The amazing thing about Steve is his ability to do anything is I know a lot of talented people, but I don't know many people who can do almost anything. And and first of all, I mean, I remember my really early impressions of Steve is while 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 a 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 City and 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. Yeah. 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. Different character intention or with a different energy intention or is he really just approaching in a totally different way? He's like, well, that's, you know, that's sketch or that's something incredibly broad like Anchorman or dinner for schmucks or now I'm doing Fox catcher. Yeah. Does he do it in a different way? Because I admire him so much in both directions. Same. And as far as I know, he's never talked about his process. So I don't, 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, really good at this. You should, you should try to make this your job asking questions. Are there any, are any of these jobs left? No. Okay. No. The podcast it is. Well, I 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? Do you know, is it an original? He's either playing bossa nova or he's playing a deep space nine, which, which has one of my favorite lyrics in any of his songs, which is your, your heads in deep space nine. I'm not taking you to family Thanksgiving vape, vape clouds, destroy your mind. I'm not taking you to family Thanksgiving, which is really tells a story. It's like you're a Swiftie with your own children. Like you're just trying to break down all the lyrics. I got the bracelets. Yeah. 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. Yeah. I still, someday I'll do something, someday 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. Have a great conversation. Thanks. So nice talking to you and seeing you. Okay. Take care. Bye. This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Checking Allstate 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 Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Thank you for doing this. Mike, thanks for having me. Steve Carell is here. And Steve, I feel like you always feel the way you feel about somebody like based kind of on the first time you see them. Like you just get like 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? 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 next? Who are the, you know, who are the up and coming? Yeah. And you were definitely one of those people. You were in the very like, you were in that class of people that number one were crushing it on stage and then also went on to do things. Like you had jobs, you got hired, made money, you got commercials. That was always so exciting to, to meet. You remember Ken Campbell? Yeah, sure. So Ken Campbell was the first one of, of like our group to kind of step out and got, he got a, he got a show called Herman's Head. Oh yeah. Where they were all these components. Something to say, a precursor to Inside Out. That's right. Yeah. Exactly. And he was the first person to have a job and it was astounding. Yeah. Like, oh my, he's really doing it. Yeah, he's really going to get paid to do it. He's getting paid and he's in Hollywood and he's a big shot. He's getting him 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 rolling in it. He's sitting in the restaurant ordering steak, watching the show. Oh. 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, they are the nicest people. So back in, back in Massachusetts. We'll see how this story goes. We, you have issues. Well, 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 Carell at a 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. 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. So you're in Massachusetts at the scene. You're in Massachusetts at a nice restaurant. A nice restaurant out in the burbs. Like we were deep. Give it hill or something like that. Give, give it hill. Give it hill farms. Yeah. Out in Groton mass. Yep. Like it was and nowhere near where we live either. No. We just, I was meeting my brother out there. Yeah. I don't know why my parents were out there. They, they were with their friends, Tom and Sue. Lovely, lovely for some. They introduced themselves and, and we got to, they were very charming, lovely. And I know that surprises you. And, 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, Hey, did they get awkward? And they were like, Ooh, they must get quiet. There's, they must be a reason why. They retreated. 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. It was somebody else who were thinking that had a park. They were so nice. Yeah. So I think maybe that planted the seed. I mean, I forget that you're a Boston boy. Yeah. I grew up in Acton. I know. And why do I mean, you don't seem very Boston to me. How so? Like how? Like how do you get into the light? 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 love Boston. I love where I'm from. I love the directness. I love the, like the real loyal, like, like just really, really good, honest people. But there is a definite, how would you say it? There is a breastness and honestly, I'm going to 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 on the receiving end of it. If you, if you know, if you can anticipate that, it's actually very charming. Very true. And you just kind of take it at face value 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. Don't get cocky. It's all that love you. Don't get cocky. Don't. Don't. You're one of us. Don't embarrass us. Don't you dare grow or change? Mostly change. Yeah. Where did you go to college? Denison University. And then how did you get Ohio? And then how did you find out about Second City? Touring company. They came through Ohio State University and we bought tickets. And right then and there, I thought that's funny. Nancy, I was just talking about this exact thing. 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, 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 going, it's not even your material. You're just going out and performing someone else's stuff and it's making people laugh and it just, I thought that's it. That's what I want to do. When you were in college, 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. Because 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, I mean, 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. 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 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. They could bother someone in a restaurant. They never got a chance to say that. And so then you're in Denison, you see the touring company, you think, I'm going to 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. 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 right. 85. And you just were living in a cheap, do you remember the rent of your first apartment? I do. $600 split three ways, all utilities included. Fantastic. What was your job then? What were you doing? I waited tables at Hull Hands in Chicago. That was a hot spot. Hull Hands. Yeah. Hull Hands on division. Yeah. That's, I mean, it was so fun back then to be in that city. That city felt like it was, I don't know, maybe just because 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, it's such youthful, exuberant, enthusiastic times, but what feelings and thoughts come up for you? Well, like all of the things we learned in class at Second City, having that freedom to fail. And there were very few constraints in terms of what you could try. 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 Sketch and Improv, I kind of like, I don't know, I think like, oh, I wasn't working material like a stand up or something, but that's not true. We really had to, we had different audiences every night, rowdy audiences expecting stuff from us. Yeah. 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? We used to challenge each other. Okay. To embracing the awfulness of the scene 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. But it was sort of a badge of honor. We're going to drive this into the ground. It's an exquisite feeling. It's so... Look at your partner and be like, we're bombing. And let's hold hands. And let's do this together. And sometimes you'd be able to pull it out of a nosedive. And other, a lot of times it's just the light just slowly fades. 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 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. I mean, is it like a little death? Isn't it the closest? It feels like you are... I mean, I'm trying to think... Because when you're explaining it, I'm getting this feeling of what it felt like when it was... 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 honed a set. I bet you would be... I bet you were great at it. I found it easier. I liked doing it as I was older. When I was younger, I just didn't think I understood. I had 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 in Second City, I know it created lifelong friendships and you got your... We all figured out how to get our 10,000 hours on stage and all that stuff, but you met your wife. Yeah. How did you meet Nancy? Well, it's the great hilarious Nancy Walsh. This is going to sound super creepy, but I was teaching class at Second City 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 because Nancy is so funny 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. You don't get... You can get about one. She's so nice. And so nice and cool. She's cool and nice and sweet to everybody. But you really snagged the babe. Tell me about it. Yeah. And we... So... But I thought she hated my guts because I'd be teaching and talking and I'd look over at her, nothing. Like dead eyes, no affect in her face at all. And I was like, boy, she is not buying any of this. She hates me, hates this class, knows I'm a phony. And it turns out she was just nervous. That's what she told me later. And when she gets nervous, she gets like stone faced. 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. So after shows or after class, I used to go over and I used to sit at the bar and I'd order a Diet Coke and we'd talk. And 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, who would you go out with? Oh my God, that's such a funny con. And it was all just this circuitous... You know someone down the bar is just saying, get to it. Like, come on. You're annoying everybody. And I think I finally said, you know, if I were going to ask somebody on a day to be somebody like you, like you'd be like that template of somebody that I'd love to go out with. And she's like, you know, if somebody like you asked me out, I would love it. It would be fantastic. And there was a pause and I said, do you want to go out? It was so lame. It was so super uncool. Like, yeah. So we went two doors down to the other bar, you know, like then that 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 first start rehearsals. So you people know like way ahead of its time, Dana Carvey show that you were you and Cobair and others, Smigal 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 called the sketch of tears. Can we talk about Dana Carvey for a second? Because Dana Carvey was so it was really important to me. 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 Hooks and Dana is so funny. He is so funny. He is so funny. I don't know if there's anyone funny or alive to 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 Smigal 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 me up. I was feeling very good about myself. Dang, that's hard. So I move. I I moved to New York 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 was 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 you 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 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. And at a certain point, he opens his shirt to feel a prosthetic breast plate, like teats, if you will. Teats. And I think he had eight nipples. Yes. And they brought which which had real rigged to lactate. Right. And so they brought a bunch of puppies and stood them on the desk and the puppies started suckling because he was the nurturing president. Right. And so we started we were following home improvement. And they said the ratings went from home improvement and they could chart it like beginning of this sketch. It just it like you could hear the drop off. It was so sharp. It was done. It was the show was over. And that was the first episode first scene. And that point ABC was not not happy. No, it was. But somebody had to approve that that was the first sketch. Somebody had. I mean, it was not a surprise 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 cast 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 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 its own system. Yeah, 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 those are the kind of environments that I am drawn to. Yeah. That everyone is just in it together. Yeah. 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. There was a lot of improvising on that show. You know, in the field pieces, yes. Yeah. Because you just had, especially early on, they didn't know that we were a comedy show. So so you were kind of undercover. Did you ever feel bad when you were tricking people? I did not. I did not like it at first, especially at first, because I was new and 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 try it 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, but was super serious about everything he was asking. But it was not the the onus was on me to be right. I was I was the idiot. Yes. Yes. Yes. To take the to take that off of the people. I remember doing one field piece, which were 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. Yeah, they were very kind. Yeah. And I thought, well, what? Who are they harming? No one. I mean, it's it's just harmless 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 is where their interests and it made them happy. 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 comedically. That's such an interesting way to put it. Just like, go get this right. Why is the world so wrong? It's so. And that energy of that is so funny and it's so funny. But but Stephen was right. And Stephen, 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 in terms of 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 don't think so. No. Not at all. Because, I mean, we've all seen the the audition itself. 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 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 we used to do during they used to do dailies every day and watch them. And you'd watch everyone would watch them. Wow. 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 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. Well, eating hot fudge Sundays and watching the dailies. Oh, my God. And acting is so hard. I know. I know. I mean, I thought this is this one is is this it? I can't do this is what you would dream that acting would be. Yes, it's what you would dream. And it was just pure joy. Oh, 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. 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 to kind of watch objectively. Oh, yeah. I know what 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 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 if I cannot 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 and are trying when it gets sweaty and they're trying super hard. Yeah. And I don't know 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 fight. The battle. I was in the. Were you in the original one in the original anchorman? There was a whole other. If you remember that giant alarm clock 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 that got cut out of that movie. I think an hour's worth of material at Meyer Rudolph. Chuck D from Public Enemy. Because, of course, Kevin Corrigan, they were like the weather underground. They were this like, you know, 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 bulliger and bank teller or something. But I went and worked for a day. And so I have a picture of me and Chuck D and me and Maya in 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. There's a whole movie out there. Well, there was another like a flashback scene that I don't know if we shot or whether it's kind of a blur. But the idea was there's it's a bit of a brick. Backstory, origin story. That he was their platoon leader. In Vietnam. And he was like the biggest badass. Oh, wow. And then like, follow me. We're getting this shit done. That kind of thing. And then you cut to now. He's he's their trusty mascot. Yeah. But you don't know what happened in between. Really funny. That'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 totally and like great. And I used to love it because I felt like I could do it well. But it also it did wear me down a little bit as the years went on. Yeah. No, I I grew. I feel this way about improv. I do, which is sometimes people are like, it's great. You can improvise. And I'm like, oh, it's. Here I here's my take. What's your take? I I think it's I think it's a great tool. But I don't think it is the the I think it's a means to an end. I don't think it's let's just do a big improv thing. Yeah, because. And I think this was true on the office. The scripts were great on that show. Oh, yeah. 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 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 staffs 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 are like the creators of the actual the writers who created the character. So how did do you feel like you protected your character going through? That's a good question. I feel like the the short answer is Mike Scherr, 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. 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. 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. 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 dissociated and was just like, well, our pilot, you heard about our pilot. I know. And I want to talk to you. That was the lowest testing pilot in the history, I think of NBC. It people people really hated it, like not just just kind of they actively hated it. Actively hated this show. And I don't quite know how it got legs after that. Well, I remember the moment. So Mike Scherr, who was writing, was running update in 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. This terrible idea. No one no one can be as good as Ricky's your face. 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. Yeah. And we all got along so well. Yeah. 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 the. You know, I'm a poor man's Ricky Gervais. 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've never watched. I know what you mean. 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 an audition 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. Yeah. So you went in not knowing you're not watching the. No, yeah. And it well, it's funny 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 pulled me aside and was like, don't do it, man. Don't don't. I'm sure. 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 would to sum it up, would you say what was like, what was his? What was kind of his simple mission statement as a character? Early on. This this was like a dream come true for him to be in a documentary. And be able to not only be in charge of all of these people, but to have the ability to perform and right and be watched and and be loved. Right. So I think so much of of who he who he is was was about being loved. Just being wanting. So good. I wouldn't even say respect. I think 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 like what potentially the 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 one thing I'm going to pitch is that the last day. Is not the last day like everyone thinks that they're going to have they're going to have a party for him. But he leaves the day before because he doesn't. He doesn't need it. He doesn't he wants to say goodbye in 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. Because exactly. Yeah. And during I'm sure you had this happen to like during the pandemic. Everybody rewatched those shows. They went back to it. Like you have provided and 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. Oh, you got cocky. You got cocky. I got cocky. Don't get cocky. No, but it's true. But it's true. It's nice. It like we we fell in love with the journey of 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 cringe. But the sparkly weird feeling of like, oh, no, like tension and a little bit of stress about what is Michael going to do and say and how is he going to 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 into words, but they loved that. They love 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 at the airport? Tell us what you said to Pam. I leaned in and I went. Just to make it look like I was saying something. You did. You didn't know. No, you did. No, we had we had a very, a very emotional I love that moment. Such a good moment. OK, 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 to ask them when we talk well behind their back. And so we talked to Stephen Colbert today. Oh, my gosh, I know he was in his living room. It looked like a little study. I was so psyched to talk to him because like you, Stephen, 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 Stephen talked a lot about those early times, 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? Did you learn? Did you take lessons? I took lessons. Like what was your what was your instrument of choice? Baritone horn. Oh, dang. I know, right? You were like ladies. I don't. You were like ladies. I've got a baritone. Hey, I play the baritone horn in the marching band. Why did you pick the baritone horn? I love the tone. I want to know what it sounds like. It's sometimes I it's it's also called a euphonium. It's basically a small tuba. I know, sexy. Baritone. I play the small tuba. And. Yeah. And I also play the fight. Would you like to go in a second? Do you like that? The fight? Yeah. It's a woodwind. I got to get commercials off of my YouTube. YouTube, if you can find a way to. OK, 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 baritone horn play like never before. I love Tony. Here we go. Right. Euphonium or baritone horn. Right. Well, I it's a quite a large instrument. Yeah, you hold it like this. Yeah. And I had the bell that went out like this and. 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 because 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 on that describes when you make the sound of the. The. Do you remember the name of the word? Ambushur. Yes. Ambushur. He told me you said you taught him an ambushur. What was it like working with Stephen? And what do you remember about meeting him for the first time? And. Wow. I I just think I, 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 he is someone who can literally do anything. He's he can sing. He 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. He 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 is like you're just they they knew you when you were struggling like in that you just they 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 to. Yeah. To to to learn at the same time. Yeah. And to be going through. And I'm sure, you know, certainly you and Tina experience 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 and I just I just trust him and I as a person, as a performer. He's just fun. He's a. I 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. 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 or anything. Oh, honestly, 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, we're going to cut the answer. A character doesn't know if they're in a comedy or a drama. 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 or scary or whatever, it's it's leans towards drama. Sometimes it's a mixture of both. But but I I think if if you can tell a character knows they're in a comedy, it's intrinsically less funny. Yes. Like I look like somebody like Alan Arkham or Peter Sellers and they always seem very true to their characters. They were never like you couldn't tell whether Alan Arkham was doing something intensely dramatic or something crazily funny. It was the same like not the same kind of not the same acting. He played 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. Here we go. Yeah. Watch this joke. Yeah. You're going to laugh. She ever said actors sometimes waiting for the waiting for the laugh in a movie. They're like look around like like a punchline like wait a second. We're they also the other thing that makes me so stressed out and like sweaty is in real life when people say like I'm funny. And 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. OK, like I know it. I know it. I know it. I've studied it. OK, it's such a subjective thing. And and and and reverse it, right? Like if you if I went up to like a, you know, like if I went up to Meryl and I was like, I'm pretty dramatic. Like reverse it. Be like, I'm pretty good at being pretty sad. Deep. I'm pretty. I can get pretty sad and you know what? We'll buy it. I think when I cry, I'm going to make other people cry. So I've cried something to a lot of my friends have seen me cry. But Steve, I mean, I'm going to glaze you for a second. Beautiful boy, Foxcatcher, the patient. You're so good at that. That series was so incredible. I loved you in four seasons. I loved that series and I look for for season two and your ghost, obviously, haunting the set. I don't know. Yeah. I just think I should be in background. I think I should just just. Just like we're as well. No background. And I just like. But like almost. Almost. Is it? Scrutable. Like you can't. Yeah. Yeah. You can't tell if it's me or not. Yeah. But but I love what she said about the two of you working together, because I do think that you both have similar qualities. You you work really hard. You're very professional and you're shyer than people would think. Both of you. Yeah. Well, we talked about that. Yeah, it was. 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 for. I'm not shy. I'm just close. I'm just. I mean, but but are you? I'm pretty shy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess 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 but tell that story. So this and 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 we're not. I think we're more social now that we're getting older, I guess. Times running out. I have to slidify some of these friendships. But so the Oscars and we had a very nice dinner and we taped it. We put it, you know, we were taping the Oscars. And yeah, we ate first, like civilized. And then we were going to be like, let's go. We're going to sit down and they were going to 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 added the extension. And Oscars always go long. 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. What are the awards? Kind of acting it out. My 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 but yeah, I think that people probably assume that you're going to be kind of crazy. Yeah, I'm pretty. Yeah. I'm yeah, I'm not I'm not out there. No, no, I really envy envy. I admire is Will. Yeah, like he just owns it. Will Ferrell, like he'll show. Yeah, Will Ferrell. He he he'll show up at a King's game. He was wearing a ref's 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 one 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 a tour 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 I shrugged in those little ball, like last time I'm ever doing anything. They were like, what have you been in? And you were like, oh, my God. You just start listing your resume. Oh, man. I was like, why did I even do that? Yeah. It was certainly no gift to anybody. Oh, God. No. Oh, God. Oh, God. I mean, I you're 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 and collaborative person to work with. And and I do look forward to being in the play that you and Stephen do together. Yes. How about Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 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 a bunch of lazy motherfuckers. Shout a few things out. Shout it, just shout it out. Where do 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 of shows. Morning Show, you were killed off. Morning Show, the patient. The last three shows. The last three shows. The last three shows I've been killed off. What's going on? I people love to see me killed off. It's a thing. Yeah. Now, your new show, you're not. OK, let's talk about Rooster. Yeah. Season one. So far so good. OK, it just came out. It just came out on HBO. Yeah. What is it about? It's about. My my character, Greg, is a writer, not unlike Carl Hyacin, whose daughter is a professor at a prestigious East Coast University. I go to that university to just do a 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 asked 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 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 the cast is stacked. Such a good, good group. What's it like doing another show with like, how does it feel? 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. 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, would you mind if we just FaceTime them? Oh, my gosh. Do you mind? No. Because I told them that we were interviewing you. And my mom texted back, OK, it was the Gibbet Hill Grill. Yeah. In Groton Mass. Yeah. Now, when I call my dad before, when I texted my dad and said, where did you see Steve Carell? He didn't answer me back. And mom said he was at the gym. Let's see if we can get ahold of him. Hi, mama. I've got I've got Steve Carell here. My God, how are you? How are you? How was how was your meal? It was very nice. I believe I had the stuffed scrawl. Scrawl. Scrub. Now, Scrawl is a Boston second. We were talking about how Steve doesn't seem like he's from Boston. He doesn't have any kind of accent, but neither do you, mom. Oh, don't even make fun of me. I know you're going to ask it a sister. Time to cut. How mad is dad going to be that he didn't answer the phone? He's at the gym. You know, he's right here. Oh, Bill's right here. Steve, do you mind? Of course. Steve Carell's on the phone here. Sit up, Steve Carell. Hey. Are you just lounging on the couch? Lounging on the recliner. He's in his recliner. What time is it there? Hi, pop. Look who you secured for me. Yes. Do I get any benefit from that? Yeah, like that. What do you call it? Like a fine, fine. Steve's fine. Yeah, fine is fine. Boston. You know what? Are you when you go out to restaurants now, are you just going to be like scoping for people for the show? You'd be interested to know what I said after you left. I said, his wife is beautiful. Weird, weird. Thanks, dad. Yeah, what's that about? Don't. Hey, Mrs. Polar, that's not right. That's weird. Don't let your husband talk. That's that's gross. I'm filing for divorce now that I. Well, thanks, you guys, for the assist. We had a great interview and dad, I owe you a couple of bucks. Bye. So, Steve, thank you for being with my parents. And before I finish, I got to 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? I, Nancy, I just started, we're late to it, but just started watching the righteous gemstone. Oh, and that first season was such a joy. Loved it. Danny. Incredible. Incredible. But can we talk about Edie for a second? Edie Patterson on that show. I'd never seen her before. Oh, my God. She's so funny. So, see, that's when when you start, when you see someone that just comes out of the blue. Yeah. And. Unexpected and like a completely different approach to. Yeah. A character so unique and specific. Yeah. I know. And to talk about like improvising in character, she did not. Like everything she's saying is tumbling out of her mouth, it seems like. Yeah. 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. Yeah. 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 Devine. Yeah, it's really good. I and it's one of those I. Just it just kind of. Flipped by like it didn't was under under our radar. And on a whim, we just said, you know, I've heard good things. I started watching it. Let me call my parents and see what they think. OK, let's see. Thank you, Steve. Thank you for doing this. Thank you, Steve Carell. Thank you for talking to my parents. You know, for this polar plunge, I just want to reiterate how grateful and lucky I am to be a Boston girl. You know, me and Steve are Boston kids who made it big. And it is really nice always to feel like you were 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, because you're still the best. Number one, don't forget Boston forever. Go socks. OK, thanks for listening. And we'll catch you next time on Good Hang. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weisberman and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite for The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Katz Villain, Kaya McMullen and Alea Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weisberman. Original music by Amy Miles.