1114 – John Mulaney’s Tales of Saturday Night Live
Jimmy Pardo wants answers! And John Mulaney gives them. Jimmy wants to know all about how Saturday Night Live is put together every week, so he has the perfect guest – a writer for SNL who’s not there every week. But never mind that. John is a funny man and a great addition to the Never Not Funny stable of funny people, PLUS he wrote one of the fist fan letters to Never Not Funny via MySpace. In addition the the SNL talk, we get our first FOR REAL sweep of the out of town scoreboards. Well, scoreboard, singular, as Jimmy has Garon keep him abreast of the White Sox / Tigers game. SPOILER: White Sox win!!! DAMMIT! (I’m from Detroit.)
Enjoy Garon’s wonderful notes!
In-Studio Notes by Garon Cockrell
Episode 1114 – John Mulaney
00 – Off the bat coup chat! Willie Aimes? 8YO jimmy got his autograph because Adam West’s line was too long. Sweep of the out of town scoreboard White Sox vs Tigers.
05 – Cuban Defector? Bases Loaded! Write Now! with Jimmy Pardo October 4th!
10 – Game updates 3-3. Jimmy intros John! behind the scenes: john is shooting charades. Truck backing up! Happy birthday John (8/26)!
15 – 9/11 chat: Inside Job man! We’re talking the History of John! One of the first fan letters came from John Mulaney via MySpace.
20 – Jimmy talks college gigs, says he never did well. Jimmy and John met at Bumbershoot. Creator of Kathy is Cathy Guisewite. Tigers up 4-3. Setting the stage! John was not at the premiere of SNL.
25 – John has a couple new projects up but doesn’t wanna talk about them! John got his starts with recent guest Julian McCullough and others (Nick Kroll, Reggie Watts, and more)
30 – When does comedy go too far? Like “Coupons” – John.
His coupon material brought the house down…when he was alone. Hanky Panky = Working Blue. Anti-SNL chat.
35 – HBO flashback chats: Not Necessarily the News, Dream On! OJ Lawyer chat.
40 – Blaire from Facts of Life on Survivor?! Jimmy can’t wait for EW subscription to end. Too snarky! Jimmy saw a dead cat during a run and it ruined his day. Too fresh. John’s High-fallooting words: ground and guy. No chance for cat to be saved 🙁 otherwise Jimmy would still be there with the paramedics.
45 – There murder John refers to is Kitty Genovese who was murdered in 1964. There were allegedly 38 onlookers. ] the common portrayal of neighbors being fully aware but completely nonresponsive has since been criticized as inaccurate. Nonetheless, it prompted investigation into the social psychological phenomenon that has become known as the bystander effect or “Genovese syndrome”[6] and especially diffusion of responsibility. John called security on a couple who was fighting. Friends finale chat! John thinks they couldn’t afford their rent! Mad About You chat! Matt quizes John on Mad About You and John nails it!
50 John’s letter was Chicago album cover (Hot Streaks) related. Demon Dogs was a mecca for Chicago fans. Full of memorabilia. Plus poison and jay leno pics. “Pippen Hate Hot Dogs” Jimmy goes into his Cold Read issues. Jimmy resets: John greets America. “A Head of Hair like that needs to be on television” – Jimmy. Bottom of 6th 5-4 sox 2 outs.
62 – When we come back we learn what a week writing SNL is like!
*Break*
00 – We’re back! Jimmy medical update. Once twice three times a blood drawn! Block party in Jimmy’s neighborhood would have ribs and chicken not hot dogs. Jimmy takes a head butt from Oliver straight to the nose followed by Pit fire Pizza. Per John: “Empathy begins a four for not serial killers.” Jimmy likes Joel Stein. Costume shopping Oliver got a major scare from a trick spider thing that ended costume shopping for the night.
05 – John was a camp counselor for a summer. Kids don’t get sarcasm. End of counseling career. Oliverism: Can’t wait for daddy to come home. He’ll love this. It’s funny!” Master of Disguise is a win.
10 – Dana Carvey hosting is one of John’s favorite SNL weeks. Dana is “deeply kind, deeply nice, and hilarious.” Jimmy heard coming up in comedy that Dana is a dick. Turns out to be not true. Dana made Jon Lovitz throw up with an impression of Kurt Douglas and Burt Lancaster fucking. Also did it for John. Sleep deprivation makes people punchy! John also says SNL is not very competitive. Internet neerrrd! – Jimmy
15 – Hall Pass 2: The Hall Brothers or Hall’s Pass starring Rich and Brad Hall. American airlines FTW. Jimmy’s only Platinum. John’s not getting upgrades as often. Both Jimmy and John are Sapphire. Jimmy thinks something happened on 9/11 that made AA cut their flights down. “I know two didn’t make it.”
20 – Jimmy #1 for upgrade from Dallas. His upgrade was snatched by Garfunkel and Oates. Infuriating! John was in coach with Fisher Stevens. Jimmy rode coach with Matt Besser. American Airlines chat! Pre-TSA status: Jimmy has no idea how to get it. Jimmy calls John hurtful for referring to one of his “three characters.”
25 – SNL Behind The Scenes chat. 2 pitches to the host per writer. People sleep on set to get work done. John says it’s fun fun fun. cast host writer dinner. host reads about 40 sketches probably higher. Delirious loose really funny table reads. Sketches picked Wednesday nights and then you move to production departments. rewrites and rehearsals start on thurs. Friday all rehearsals pretapes are done friday morning. digital shorts start shooting midnight on fridays sometimes!
30 – Saturday starts at noon with full costume speed through. 8pm dress rehearsal. Rewrites happen during the show! Says changes happen throughout the show. 1:00 show ends 1:01 first internet review. Jimmy read about this a million times but was never more interested or entertained before this.
35 – The show is like a dorm room or turf because they’re there all the time. Hosts are normally on their best behavior. John was horribly worried that he was going to get fired and that Lorne would tell Conan he was not funny. Sketch choices are collaborative.
40 – Everything sits better on a Ritz – Jimmy. Actual slogan: “Everything tastes better when it sits on a Ritz.” John says everyone’s input is treated with respect. John never had to deal with a host refusing to do a sketch.
45 – Jimmy is like Pizza to Chicago! Jimmy wins $20! Last update WHITE SOX WIN!
– Garon/the Bionator/The New Dan Katz/The Cuban Defector
