Alex Edelman ('Just for Us'), Jacqueline Novak ('Get on Your Knees'), Jenny Slate ('Seasoned Professional'), Mike Birbiglia ('The Old Man and the Pool'), Ramy Youssef ('More Feelings') and Taylor Tomlinson ('Have it All' & 'After Midnight') join THR in Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter.
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00:00It was cool to see you on SNL.
00:01Aww, you were so good.
00:04Thank you.
00:05So good.
00:06So that's Taylor's bucket list.
00:07It was just to see you on SNL and I can die now.
00:13Was that a bucket list for you, SNL?
00:14Yeah.
00:15Yeah, that was crazy.
00:16It'd be crazy if you were like, nah.
00:19Oh, hello.
00:22Welcome to Off Script with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:24I'm your host, Yvonne Orji, here at the beautiful Georgian Hotel in sunny Santa Monica, California.
00:30Now, normally, five comedians is usually a pretty long show.
00:35Six?
00:36And you're pushing it.
00:37Today, we are definitely pushing it.
00:39But the good news is, there are no tickets, no drink minimums, and definitely no hecklers.
00:44Oh, unless you count the comics heckling themselves.
00:47But today, we are going to hear from Mike Berbiglia of The Old Man and the Pool, Alex
00:54Edelman of Just For Us, Jacqueline Novak of Get On Your Knees, Jenny Slate of Season
01:01Professional, Taylor Tomlinson of Have It All and After Midnight, and Rami Youssef of
01:07More Feeling.
01:08So sit back and relax as our panel goes on the record, but just a little Off Script with
01:16The Hollywood Reporter.
01:19They're all yours, Lacey.
01:22Thanks, Yvonne.
01:23Hi, and welcome to the Stand-Up Roundtable.
01:25I'm Lacey Rose, and thank you all for being here.
01:28I'm going to start with a question for everyone.
01:30You're standing on stage, you look out at the audience, describe the audience member
01:34that you dread the most.
01:36A man.
01:37Sorry, I had to.
01:38I couldn't resist.
01:39Okay, I've changed.
01:40Something's changed in me since joining a roundtable.
01:46It could be someone that's drunk.
01:49It could be someone you know.
01:50I mean, it could be any number of things.
01:53The figure in the joke?
01:54The person in the joke?
01:55I've had that experience before.
01:56You're telling the joke.
01:57The person the joke is about is in the crowd, and you're just like, oh, God.
02:01And you go for it anyway.
02:02I mean, you have to.
02:04I think anybody you know is a really good answer.
02:06I've had people from high school come and sit in the front row, and you're like, no,
02:10please, not there.
02:11Why do they do that?
02:12They love that.
02:13They love that.
02:14They think they're supporting you.
02:15They do.
02:16And they are, and we appreciate it.
02:17Do we, though?
02:18I mean, I do.
02:20I do.
02:21I'm just like, you sit like halfway back, right when the darkness starts, that midway
02:24point in the audience.
02:26And any like folded pair of arms in the front row, I think, no matter who they're attached
02:30to, you're kind of like, let's unfold those over the course of the night.
02:33People you know is not who you want in a stand-up comedy audience.
02:37Jacqueline and I toured together for like a few years, and we always compared it to
02:42if you were an exotic dancer or a stripper, where it's like, you don't really want your
02:48friends to be there when you're stripping.
02:50No.
02:51You're non-comedy friends.
02:52Yeah.
02:53Yeah.
02:54You're non-stripping friends or whatever.
02:55Right.
02:56You're non-stripping friends.
02:57Yeah.
02:58Maybe they tip more, though.
02:59I think it's a seduction.
03:00It's a seduction.
03:01It's like, good job.
03:02Yeah.
03:03It's embarrassed to be seen in a seduction.
03:04Absolutely.
03:05Like we used to talk about a business voice or whatever, right?
03:06Oh, my gosh, yes.
03:07Or like, someone catches you on the phone with your doctor's office being like, I'm
03:11around on Tuesday, but if Wednesday works, that could work, too.
03:14It's like your business voice.
03:16And if someone catches you doing your business voice, you're like, oh, I'm so shamed.
03:20Yeah.
03:21It's a little bit of that.
03:22But Jacqueline, I feel like I've read you used to actually look at who was coming to
03:26the show each night.
03:27Yeah.
03:28Like a pervert.
03:29I wasn't going to say that, but that does feel like a sort of a risky-
03:33Not every night.
03:34I will say the journalist pushed that towards hyperbole.
03:37Got it.
03:38Got it.
03:39She's going through the maze.
03:40Good job.
03:41You know what I did do the night before, like, opening my show at Cherry Lane, very, very
03:48nervous.
03:49I started looking at the names, the ticket sales, just like, literally, I'm a log in
03:53girl.
03:54You know, I like to get into the back end and see it all live.
03:57And I'm in there.
03:58That's terrifying.
03:59And I just went through and I just, names I didn't know.
04:02Let this be a warning to all future comedy audience members who are watching you.
04:06I don't love it.
04:07I would never look at the list.
04:09Well, that's what I was going to ask.
04:10Who else has looked and have you been rattled?
04:11I'm way too scared.
04:12Whether it's an ex, whether it's an idol.
04:14Do you look at the list?
04:15Do you actually want to know?
04:17And has it ever sort of rattled you in real time?
04:19For logistical reasons, sometimes.
04:21Like my cousin, because sometimes my cousins are coming.
04:23I have a lot of cousins, apparently.
04:25And my mom would be like, Nancy was there and you didn't say hi.
04:28And I'm like, I didn't know she was coming.
04:30And she was like, she told you on the family WhatsApp.
04:32And it's like, well, I forgot.
04:33Family WhatsApp.
04:35So my emcee will sometimes go through and pick anyone with the last name Edelman
04:39or any of the other associated names.
04:41And she'll be like, does this person belong to you?
04:43Does this person belong to you?
04:44It is weird when an idol comes to see your show.
04:46It's like, how did anyone ever kill Lincoln?
04:49Because the entire audience is watching the famous person.
04:52I was like, wasn't at that show everyone's like, is Lincoln enjoying this?
04:55Does Lincoln think our American cousin is good?
04:57Is he?
04:58Is he?
04:59Oh, no, shit.
05:00That's how I felt.
05:01If a famous comedian came, people would be like, what is so-and-so think of that joke?
05:05Does so-and-so think that punchline is very displeasing?
05:08But are you doing that, too?
05:09I mean, from stage, are you also trying?
05:11I try not to look at them.
05:12I scan the audience.
05:13Do you blur your eyes at the audience?
05:15I look right into the light.
05:17Do you want bright?
05:18You've got to engage.
05:19Really?
05:20Yeah, I play to each section of the crew.
05:22Really?
05:23It's like it's tic-tac-toe.
05:24You've got to play.
05:25But you section them.
05:26You don't have a leader?
05:28I cater to the pockets that aren't laughing and try to sort of like...
05:31Really?
05:32Desperately try to tickle them from below.
05:34Or sometimes they go, they're not laughing because I'm looking at them.
05:36So I'll look at the others.
05:37I'm like, I'm working, you're working.
05:39Do you tickle them from below?
05:43I don't want us to move off that phrase because I saw you trying to get away from the deck
05:47and now I'm like, I want a little bit more.
05:49I was hiding my pride.
05:51I love it.
05:52How do you actually define a bad show?
05:53Like, there's got to be some memorable disasters in this bunch because everyone has them.
05:57It's always kind of nice when you don't get what you want from a show
06:01because then the next show is better.
06:04That's kind of the only way I ever wrote material was just having really bad shows.
06:07But how do you define that?
06:08What does that actually feel like in real time?
06:10For me, it just feels like not connecting with the people who were there.
06:14So sometimes if I walk off, I'm like, oh, I was just saying what I had in my head before I got up there,
06:18then it wasn't really effective.
06:20So if I'm just saying things I could have said to myself in my hotel room, it's a pretty bad show.
06:24Like I didn't connect with who was there.
06:27And there's something wrong with that for me.
06:29I remember seeing Rami for the first time because one of the writers for Rami's show
06:34is a mutual friend of ours, Josh Rabinowitz.
06:36He's a brilliant writer.
06:37And he's a great comedian.
06:39And he was like, I think that you'd love my friend Rami.
06:44So I went to see you at the Comedy Cellar one night when I was there.
06:47And it's interesting hearing you talk about having a good show versus not having a good show.
06:51I don't think you can have a bad show.
06:53Because I think your essence is fundamentally funny and interesting to watch.
06:57That's very kind.
06:58I definitely will walk off and feel like, you know that glazed eye thing?
07:03So there's sometimes times where I'm just like, I feel like I didn't give people what they needed
07:08because I wasn't able to get present enough.
07:10That really might be the thing that kills me because I'm like, not even that they paid.
07:14It's like they put on their shoes.
07:16They came out.
07:17They gave us their time.
07:19We had this time together.
07:21I have mutual friends in comedy who've passed away.
07:24And then you really start thinking about time.
07:26And you go, oh, my God, those seven minutes are everything.
07:29Because I remember people's sets when they really give themselves.
07:32So any time I have a show where I'm like, I was checked out or whatever,
07:35I've gotten to a point now where I just don't go to the comedy club if I think that's the show I'm going to have.
07:39If I'm not ready to fully be myself, I'll just stay home.
07:43But there are different briefs for different shows.
07:46Different one?
07:47Different briefs.
07:48There are different goals that you have to find.
07:50Sorry.
07:51I thought.
07:52Boxers, briefs.
07:53Underpants is what I was thinking.
07:55You said what?
07:57I almost thought like a brief.
07:59Like the Pelican gift.
08:01This round table is out of control.
08:03I love it.
08:04We've lost the thread.
08:05He was saying some kind of sentence.
08:07Who creates the brief?
08:09Who creates the brief?
08:11The venue and the ticket price and the audience.
08:14Choose a different word, Alex.
08:16Fine.
08:17Remit.
08:18That's worse.
08:20Do you mean like.
08:21Goal.
08:22There's a different goal.
08:23There's a different goal for the show.
08:25At the comedy cellar, sometimes a bad show is a show where you fucking crush.
08:28Sometimes you go up there and you destroy and you come off and people are like, great set.
08:32You're like, no, I want to try new stuff.
08:34But I tried a sort of half new joke and it didn't work and I lost a little faith.
08:38So I was like, well, here's 15 minutes of stuff that I know is going to do well.
08:43And so if I plan on going down to the comedy cellar, which is where you have to do well but also really work stuff out.
08:50And I go on stage and I lose my nerve.
08:52And I do really well with the audience but I don't come away with anything.
08:55That's a failure.
08:56That's a big mistake.
08:58Because it's still a service industry.
09:00But you also have to progress as an artist.
09:01And sometimes those two things are like.
09:03Yeah.
09:04Oh, my gosh.
09:05I was just sitting here listening to Alex going, I'm so glad I didn't tackle this bad show question.
09:10Because Rami and Alex had these very artistic answers.
09:13And I was like, acoustics are a nightmare.
09:19I mean, you're not wrong.
09:21Not wrong.
09:22When you crush it can be a bad show.
09:24I was like, oh, no.
09:26That is such a humble brag.
09:28It's amazing.
09:30Wait, I always crush.
09:31Is it possible I'm having bad jokes?
09:32When you're at the comedy cellar, not past.
09:34Never audition.
09:36You didn't audition.
09:37True.
09:39Can you tell the actual story of this?
09:41I think that I can be overly concerned with having to do what's important to me within an environment that feels set.
09:50And sometimes.
09:52And I'm not saying this is necessarily true.
09:54It can sound like a cop out.
09:55But just from my perspective, if something feels.
09:58I hate that I'm going to say this.
10:01Because I know people have said it before.
10:03But old school male.
10:04There's a part of me that's like, I reserve the right to say this is not important to me.
10:09And, like, I just want a stage where, for me, I can get past the things that separate me from other people.
10:19Which is also, by the way, the thing that's why I go to therapy.
10:23Like, to try to achieve intimacy, which also means, like, not hating parts of myself.
10:29Like, if you think, like, part of yourself is, like, essentially bad.
10:32You'll probably hide it.
10:34Which means that then you can't, like, be truly intimate.
10:36And, like, everyone does whatever we're doing for different reasons.
10:40But for me, I'm like, I'm sensitive.
10:44I already feel bad enough.
10:46It's not because I'm, like, undeveloped.
10:48It's just the kind of, like, mammal I am.
10:50But also, for real, I can't do less than, like, a 48 minute set.
10:54I'm a long distance runner on this one.
10:57And, like, I don't want to, like, be in plays.
11:00But I want to, like, stand on stage and talk for a long time.
11:04And that's just, like, what's up, I guess.
11:07Yeah.
11:08It's so cool.
11:09I'm, like, 46 to lure him in.
11:1247th minute.
11:13Like, everything's connected to something else is how I feel.
11:16And I know that's not true.
11:17And, like, the people that, like, I do comedy with, like, for years.
11:21Like, Gabe Liedman and Max Celeste will be, like, no, Jenny, you can do 15 minutes.
11:26Like, you just don't.
11:27And it's, like, yeah, but it feels like if I do this one, then it's, like,
11:32I'm not going to be able to go to sleep for three days unless I do that one.
11:35But if I don't do that one, if I do that one, then I have to do the other one.
11:38So maybe I have OCD.
11:40There are places that audiences will go with you.
11:43And there are places where you can sort of feel perhaps they won't.
11:46I feel like, Taylor, I've heard you talk about sort of earlier in your career
11:49there were sort of darker material, whether it had to do with your mom or something else,
11:53where you could feel audiences didn't want to go with you.
11:57I'm curious sort of what does that feel like and when does that shift for you?
12:00Yeah, with that specific material, I mean, I just started really young.
12:03I started in high school.
12:05So watching a 19-year-old do stand-up at all is very uncomfortable,
12:09and people are already scared for you and nervous about the show.
12:13So I don't think I had the maturity as a performer to pull those jokes off.
12:17But what does it look like when, like, it's not working?
12:20How do you know that?
12:22Oh, people aren't laughing.
12:24It's so devastating. Oh, it's so bad.
12:26It's what I would call a bad show.
12:29For other people it's when people are laughing too much
12:31and you're like, none of this is new.
12:33No, I really, like, yeah, it's just when people are sad and uncomfortable
12:40and looking at you like, are you almost done?
12:43Yeah, I think that's what's so great about stand-up is you know pretty quickly
12:48if something does or doesn't work.
12:50Like Alex was saying, you just go up wherever you can
12:52and you try out the same material in front of as many different audiences as you can,
12:56whether they're there for you or not.
12:58I think that's important to go up in front of people
13:00who aren't there to see you specifically.
13:02Like you were saying, so that you know it is going to work,
13:05if not everywhere, most places,
13:07so that when it does get on a big platform like Netflix or HBO
13:10that people who aren't familiar with you will hopefully be converted into fans.
13:14Sure.
13:15Are there subjects that you feel like your audiences were at any point
13:18sort of uncomfortable going with you?
13:20Mike said something to me, said something like, you know,
13:24there's your agenda and the audience's agenda or the booker's agenda or whatever
13:31and something along the lines of, like, work your agenda, right?
13:35So for me that meant working on my show or like,
13:39okay, I'm going to put it up in New York or whatever,
13:41but like I'm doing it at the Jukebox in Peoria
13:46and like I know it's not going to –
13:49I mean some people might find it kind of interesting or whatever,
13:51but there is no sort of pleasing them.
13:54I am planting my feet and saying the words
13:57and I'm kind of like maybe burning my chance in the room, you know what I mean?
14:01Or like I did it at the Punchline in Philly and like Chris, my boyfriend,
14:05was like, you know, the way you went up in Philly and just like bombed
14:07and I was like, I bombed?
14:09I was always like, what do you mean?
14:11I mean I stood up there doing my art.
14:13The delusion, the required delusion, but this phrase, like my agenda,
14:18really helped me almost, you know, not listen to the crowd kind of
14:22and go, like, I got to just – I got to do what I think I got to do
14:27and trust that what I'm saying that will find its audience.
14:31And so I had to block almost the crowd reaction.
14:36I mean I was just like, it's weird.
14:38But it was huge for me.
14:40That, like, my agenda, doesn't matter.
14:42Tonight, everyone in this room, I hate me, this club will never hire me again.
14:45I had a lot of bad nights, like, you know,
14:47and those nights where I had to stand there and say my words
14:51and get them in my head.
14:53Thanks, Burbiggs.
14:54But you're getting at something, right?
14:56Like the thing is trying to get somewhere.
14:58Like you can't just rehearse in a space.
15:01I've heard stories about some comics who have.
15:03Who just run their set and empty a room?
15:05Run their set in a carriage house filled with mirrors.
15:07What?
15:08Who does that?
15:09Chris Rock.
15:10Chris Rock, yeah.
15:11I thought that was a metaphor.
15:13I was like, that's beautiful.
15:14No, but he actually built mirrors.
15:16Built mirrors and, like, did that for, I think, before Bring the Pain.
15:21No one else has a mirrored room in their house.
15:24No, stand there with a hairbrush and do their thing.
15:26But, like, you have to get on stage, and there is a goal,
15:28and the goal is growth, and it's also a service thing.
15:31So, like, what do you do?
15:33How do you show up for both?
15:35For some times I'll go on stage, material that I know works,
15:38and then graft it onto it very carefully, new material.
15:40And then material I know works, and then graft it onto it very carefully, new material.
15:43Oh, and that's working. I'll follow that path.
15:45Oh, that didn't work. Here's new material.
15:47Graft it onto, like, a thing.
15:48That's so pro.
15:49Like, that to me is, like, a discipline that I don't always have.
15:52I kind of, like, you know, I'm like, let's drive it into the ground.
15:55Like, you know, sort of, like, these big swings of, I don't know.
16:00Well, sometimes you get desperate.
16:01Sometimes if a big new show where you need a lot of new material is approaching,
16:04you go, well, tonight can't be service night.
16:07Tonight is kamikaze night.
16:09And you just go out there with all this stuff.
16:11And then some nights you're like, I've got a couple months till that show that needs to be ready,
16:16and so here's a little more risk-averse X, Y, and Z so that you kill.
16:21But it's like a different thing.
16:22What felt at the time like the riskiest bit?
16:25I did a show called The New One. It was on Netflix.
16:27And it was about having a child and about the darkest feelings
16:30because I never wanted to have a child.
16:32And it's all the reasons why I never wanted to have a child.
16:34And about how I had a child and how all the ways that I was right and then I was wrong.
16:39And it's kind of an emotional turn.
16:41And there's a moment in it where I say, you know,
16:44at my darkest moments I thought, like, I get why dads leave.
16:47And there's a, you know, comedians laugh at that.
16:52Humans don't.
16:54You know, it's more of a dramatic turn.
16:57It's an emotional moment.
16:58It's an emotional moment in the show.
16:59But there were times early in the process of that joke
17:02where I really felt that the audience felt almost betrayed by the show.
17:08I led them down a comedic path.
17:10And then all of a sudden I'm saying essentially my deepest, darkest,
17:14dark night of the soul confession.
17:17And I even had the reviewer, prominent reviewer said,
17:20he lost me when he said, I get why dads leave.
17:23Very prominent reviewer.
17:25I smiled when he said that.
17:27That's cool, Mike.
17:28I'm, like, proud of you for that.
17:30I'm really proud of you, like, for losing him.
17:32Because you know how to get him.
17:34You know what I mean?
17:35I'm, like, yeah.
17:37Keep it coming, baby.
17:39You have to see, right?
17:40Like, you have to see what will.
17:42Sometimes you just don't care about the thing as much and then you say it
17:44and you're, like, why did I even say that?
17:46I don't even care that much about it.
17:47Like, I had the thing.
17:49I think, like, after I had my baby I was, like,
17:51trying to talk about the changes in my body,
17:54but I didn't want it to sound, like, cliche.
17:56Like, after the baby, body material.
17:58But also there was, like, some stuff that really weirded me out about my own body.
18:03And, like, it was really hard to do the material because it was uncomfortable
18:08and sometimes I would do it and it would, like, hit, like, the right spot.
18:12And sometimes it would just seem like I didn't like myself
18:15and I was, like, asking people to be, like, yeah, you're ugly and your body sucks as well.
18:19Like, it was, like, this, like, terrible focus on.
18:22And I was, like, and I couldn't figure it out.
18:24And eventually I gave up and, like, I really regret it now
18:28because there's, like, one joke that I liked that I, like,
18:31but I was so afraid to, like, lose.
18:33I didn't want that feeling of, like, feeling, like, such a,
18:37the word that comes up for me is, like, abomination.
18:40Like, she made us eat shit with her.
18:43You know, like, we thought we were invited to a party with Kik
18:46and she shat and she made us eat her fucking shit.
18:49And, like, it's, like, oh my God.
18:51Like, I did not.
18:52I just wanted to talk about how, like, my nipples used to be for sex
18:55and now they're not and, like, I don't know.
18:57And, like, it's just, like, everything collapses.
18:59And, like, I can't even go in that area anymore.
19:02And, like, but it's really hard when you're, like, I'm interested in it
19:07but it might just show, actually, where I'm, like, sick.
19:11Not that I am, but maybe.
19:13Right to the camera, like, straight down the barrel.
19:16I think that's why, like, comedians like spending time with other comedians
19:20because, like, you and Chris, your boyfriend, were on the road with me
19:23when I was developing that.
19:24And it took comedian friends saying, like, no, no, go towards that.
19:29Because audiences often won't tell you to go towards that.
19:32Audiences will be, like, eh, easy on that.
19:34But it's people who are comedians who are usually most likely to be, like,
19:39no, no, say the thing that's, like, really deep in your subconscious.
19:42Then on the other end of figuring out the joke,
19:44the audience is so happy that you figured it out.
19:46But there's that, like, middle of the, like, growing out your hair.
19:49You know, like, just that middle where it's just a little, like,
19:52and then it's like, oh, yeah, I like that.
19:54You know, there's that bit that I think is comedians will tell you,
19:57no, no, no, like, keep going.
19:59Like, you should do that. That's why it's so fun.
20:01Is there a clear third rail for each of you?
20:03I don't do jokes about people in my family or, like, friends of mine
20:08or people I'm dating without running it past them
20:11because I just don't think it's worth, like,
20:13destroying your relationships for 90 seconds.
20:15You always done that? For a good laugh?
20:18Probably not. No. Not when I was, like, 21.
20:20I'm like, burn it all down to be a legend.
20:23But, yeah, then you get older and you're like, oh, I'll be alone.
20:26Uh-huh. A lonely legend.
20:28Yeah, yeah, exactly. Uh-huh.
20:29I always have to be kind of dragging myself into it
20:31if I'm talking about somebody else.
20:33Like, it's never really about anyone other than myself.
20:35And I think that's kind of the solo act of it.
20:37So even pulling in, like, you know, you mentioned a celebrity,
20:41you mentioned this, you mentioned that.
20:42I don't like doing jokes at people.
20:44Like, I'll mention them, but it's really kind of like,
20:46oh, because I'm also kind of jumping off the same cliff with you.
20:49Like, we're going to do it together.
20:51And also everyone here is just as, you know,
20:54is guilty of the same exact thing.
20:57And the whole thing is, like, how do you offer something about yourself
21:01that actually would make someone feel less afraid or less alone?
21:05But then it gets, like, really messy on the way to do that.
21:09But I just can't, like, point at someone else and say, like, that's a mess.
21:13It's like, no, no, like, I know that mess
21:15because it's literally the same one that I have or I have a version of.
21:19And so, yeah, third rail would be, like, if I'm not.
21:22I wouldn't even do it. It wouldn't even be fun.
21:23You wouldn't go there.
21:24It wouldn't even be fun. Yeah, yeah.
21:25But topic, like, there's not a single topic you can't talk about.
21:28Does anyone that you have spoken about, that you have joked about,
21:30do you hear from people after, positively or negatively?
21:33I try to obscure.
21:34I try to turn real people into archetypes for, like, you know, for obvious reasons.
21:39And I also don't talk about people that I date.
21:42It bothers me that I talk so much about my family sometimes
21:45only because I speak very lovingly about my family always.
21:48And so people still sometimes come to my parents and they're like,
21:51oh, he really got you.
21:52And I'm like, what?
21:53By saying my dad is, like, really nice and smart and thoughtful
21:56and my mom is very cool and collected.
21:59Like, I speak really well of my family.
22:02But in terms of, like, third rail topics, like,
22:04it's tricky because all the power is in the third rail.
22:07Totally.
22:08Like, there are all these things you can't talk about anymore.
22:10And, like, it's actually kind of more exciting.
22:12There are more tensions, more interesting tensions.
22:15Comedy is about the buildup and release of tension.
22:17You have free tension.
22:18Deal with the new ones and, like, try to release them
22:20or find tension in a topic that no one thought there was tension.
22:22So, like, third rails are, like, a big part of it.
22:24But, like, what Rami's talking about is elegance.
22:26You want a degree of elegance.
22:28You want a degree of personalization.
22:29Sure.
22:30One thing I picked up from Brubeck's when we started
22:32sort of chatting in earnest is sometimes Mike would be like,
22:34That joke's good, but it's not personal enough to you yet.
22:36Even if it's about something random.
22:38And so, like, it's a really, I don't know,
22:40I think about this topic a lot.
22:42October 7th happened, and I think you called your producer,
22:45one of your producers, and said,
22:47I don't know if we should, maybe we cancel these shows.
22:52I think I heard you say, Who Can Dance in the Slaughterhouse?
22:54You obviously didn't cancel the shows.
22:56I'm curious if it actually felt that way once you got back on stage.
22:59It was a complicated moment.
23:01It remains a complicated moment.
23:02It certainly does.
23:03Rami was one of the first people to call me,
23:05and we had a really amazing, really fulsome,
23:10helpful for me conversation.
23:14And I just really appreciated that.
23:17It was hard, and it's made me more mindful of the fact
23:22that it's still hard.
23:24After a while, you get inured to human suffering,
23:26because that's the way the thing works.
23:28But it's been constantly reminded not to,
23:32which has made it difficult.
23:34Getting on stage, again, another conversation I had with Mike
23:37after, what do you do?
23:40Do you change the show?
23:42And I thought that the best thing to do
23:44was make the show conversant with the moment
23:46that we're living in, but still an escape from it.
23:48I think the best comedy is conversant with the tensions
23:51that we live with.
23:53But it makes me sad.
23:56At some point, going on stage and talking about not that
23:59feels like a real problem.
24:01So I'm glad we didn't cancel the shows.
24:03Right before I went on stage in San Francisco
24:06for that first show after October 7th,
24:08I was standing in the back of the room,
24:10and I just saw 1,000 people on their phones watching a war.
24:14And I was like, okay, maybe this is a better thing to do
24:18than not at least getting people away from a war for an hour,
24:21so an hour and a half.
24:23But I wrestled with it all the way through,
24:25whether or not this is right, whether or not this...
24:27I put some new lines in to talk about this feeling,
24:30but didn't change the whole show.
24:32But yeah, something I wrestled with all the way through.
24:34And Rami, I feel like you would go up,
24:36you were on stage, you were on tour in those weeks after,
24:39and you would talk at the top of the show
24:41about this very thing of,
24:43is this the right thing to be doing right now?
24:45I'm curious what you learned about yourself
24:48and your audience in those experiences.
24:51Well, I think my audience has always been
24:53kind of open for these conversations,
24:55and it's kind of why I don't think...
24:57I've never felt stand-up is actually that risky,
25:00because I've kind of always been in conversation
25:03with an audience that has a really global perspective
25:06as to tragedy, I think, and suffering.
25:10And so there is a way to kind of go at it
25:14that leads with connecting hearts.
25:16Because I think that the news is very much like talking heads,
25:21and people just...
25:22It's literally mental,
25:24and what we get to do gets to be emotional.
25:27And so it's really liberating,
25:29because we don't need to kind of...
25:31I don't know, anytime anything gets too factual
25:33or anything gets too even historical, overtly,
25:37it feels very like...
25:39It's like, stop being comedy.
25:41And so I kind of try to center the emotional piece.
25:46And yeah, so for me, it's interesting,
25:49because my special is much different
25:50than what I thought it was going to be.
25:52Even the special that I just put out,
25:54I probably left like 30, maybe even 40 minutes
25:58of other material on the table,
26:00because I kind of felt like,
26:01oh, there's actually something.
26:03Back to what we were talking about before,
26:04if I'm actually present with the moment
26:06and with the audience,
26:07there's something totally different
26:08that they should be hearing, that they want to hear.
26:10Alex, I went and saw his show,
26:12and he has a diverse audience,
26:14but also like a really Jewish audience,
26:15which was really cool.
26:18Yeah, and it's really cool.
26:20And that was also really fun, too, for me,
26:21because I do think there'd be a bunch of Orthodox Jews
26:24who are like, yo, dude, I've seen your show.
26:27They're like, because we pray a lot on my show.
26:31Orthodox Jews like praying.
26:33And so they're like, wait.
26:35Three times a day, they're obsessed.
26:36They're like, we do a version of that.
26:38But then, same thing with my audience.
26:40Obviously, there's a lot of people
26:41who come out who are Muslim.
26:43And so I've always kind of felt
26:45that there is a space to have
26:47where you're talking to people
26:49who need to hear a specific thing
26:50they can't hear somewhere else,
26:52and also challenging them to hear something
26:54that they probably might not want to hear,
26:56and getting to play with that.
26:58And I think that is kind of what's fun about it.
27:01It's like the very little thing that we could do.
27:04I constantly contend with how important that piece is.
27:07And I also think like a lot of the language around that
27:09can feel like a little hard for me to stomach
27:12when there's like people who really put themselves
27:15on the line to kind of try and help the world.
27:18Because I'm always going for the joke.
27:19So it's like my space.
27:21The space I want to have in the conversation
27:23is like really, really small.
27:24Small?
27:25Really small.
27:26I want to be like the doorman.
27:29Like letting people into a room
27:31where there are actual interesting things happening.
27:33Like I am the valet.
27:35Like there is nothing.
27:36This is not like about this philosophy thing.
27:39This is truly just like a little bit of like
27:42with the grease that makes the door not sound so squeaky
27:46so that people can kind of walk into a room
27:49and actually process real things.
27:50And so I'm really aware of kind of that.
27:54Stand-up comedy is one of the rare art forms
27:56where it's one person speaking to a group of people.
27:59There's no studio.
28:00There's no network.
28:01There's no filter.
28:02So you do have a sense when you're watching somebody speak
28:05that that's roughly what they're thinking about.
28:08And it's so raw.
28:09And it's the reason why I love watching comics.
28:12I just love comedy
28:13because it doesn't feel like it's processed.
28:16There's a lot of conversations around sort of truth
28:19in this moment.
28:20But I'm curious.
28:21Do you worry about sort of your comedy
28:23being fact-checked in this moment,
28:25which is this ridiculous thing to say,
28:27and yet I think that's sort of where we are?
28:29After the Haas article came out in The New Yorker,
28:32I got a lot of text messages that said,
28:34I hope you jump through that second story window.
28:38Referencing a show I did many years ago
28:40where I jumped through a second-story window.
28:43I heard it was a first-story window.
28:46Yeah, that was definitely, like,
28:47something people wanted to talk to me about.
28:49I don't know about you guys,
28:50but they wanted to talk to me about that a lot.
28:53And I take it, you know, I love Haasen,
28:55and I think the intent of that writer
28:58remains very nebulous in why they would write that.
29:02It's very confusing to me.
29:03Yeah, it's not a thing to fact-check.
29:05Like, this isn't...
29:06This isn't a thing.
29:07I don't want to break anyone's heart.
29:10Nobody ever fact-checked Swimming in Cambodia.
29:14It's not something people do.
29:16I think you have a sense of what level of truth
29:20the person is telling, and you take a guess,
29:24and sometimes you're right, and sometimes you're wrong.
29:26It's also really, like, interesting
29:28in terms of, like, what you need to say
29:31as, like, what's true to you
29:32that, like, you really want people to know,
29:34and I thought a lot about this when that article came out,
29:37because I was like, everything in my special is true,
29:41but a lot of it also is about my perception.
29:45Of course.
29:46Well, I didn't, like, hear what the people
29:48who decided to, you know, send me an audition
29:50to be Pennywise actually thought when they sent that to me.
29:54But, like, I'm trying to tell you...
29:56I know, it's such a bummer that I didn't go in on that.
29:58But, like, it's, like, I'm trying to show how I felt
30:03rather than saying, like...
30:04I mean, I guess I did end up screaming, like,
30:06that really hurt my feelings,
30:07because that is also something that I wanted to say,
30:09but I wanted to show, like, how confounded I was,
30:13but also humiliated, and so, like, I acted it out.
30:16And, like, yeah, I'm not, like, accusing people
30:19of actually doing that or whatever,
30:21but I just started thinking for me, like,
30:23it would be weird if that was how my act was,
30:27or my performance or whatever was assessed or something,
30:31because it's so much about, like, the psyche,
30:34about, like, how you are in the world
30:36and, like, how it feels and...
30:38And the artistry.
30:39Yeah, and it's, like, I'm trying to show
30:41not just, like, I'm not just trying to make an impression,
30:44but I'm trying to show what it feels like
30:46to have an impression made on me.
30:48I don't know.
30:49It's all about the how, though,
30:50and, like, I have to say this,
30:51because we're in this comedy thing,
30:52because it's, like, and I told you this,
30:54but the first ever one-person show I saw
30:58was Jenny's at UCB.
31:00Wait, which one?
31:01And I remember the one where you were doing,
31:03you were playing the heiress, yeah,
31:04and it was, like, it literally made me go,
31:06I want to do that.
31:08Like, I think I was 17 or 18 or something.
31:10Like, I remember just, like,
31:11maybe it was, like, my first year of college,
31:13and I remember seeing it,
31:14and I just loved how you did it,
31:16and it was just all about that raw energy,
31:19and I think that's all that this is.
31:20So to fact-check it is so weird,
31:22because it's, like, I think it speaks to a larger,
31:24we have, like, an integrity problem,
31:26like, we have a spiritual void,
31:28we have an, like, as a society,
31:30because the common person, a politician, talks,
31:33and they don't even, they're, like,
31:34yeah, he's probably lying,
31:35but this comedian, you know, so I don't care.
31:38I don't care where Mike jumped from.
31:39I don't care if Alex actually went to a meeting.
31:41Like, it doesn't matter,
31:42because it's all about, like,
31:44what the approach is and the how
31:46and the why you're approaching it that way,
31:48and I think that it speaks to a massive integrity void
31:52that we look at entertainers the way that we do,
31:54that we look at stand-up the way that we do,
31:56and, because it really is, at the end of the day,
31:58there's nothing funnier than a fart joke,
32:00and it remains to be,
32:01and that should tell you something
32:02about this whole art form.
32:03I agree. I agree.
32:04There's nothing funnier than a fart joke.
32:06It's my favorite joke.
32:07Like, it's proven.
32:08Someone in that, say, comedy is falling on their head.
32:10You mentioned the Pennywise thing,
32:11and I'm curious, sort of, this idea of, like,
32:13what does Hollywood know what to do with all of you,
32:16and some of you have written your own stuff.
32:19You're laughing at this thing.
32:20What does it do with all of you?
32:22Great.
32:23I think a hard-cornered devil over here.
32:25Yeah, I know.
32:26But what would they want it any other way?
32:29I don't think Hollywood knows what to do right now.
32:32We're at an inflection point,
32:34and I think everyone here has been really clear
32:37as to what they want to do, how they put it together,
32:40and I don't think that anyone here
32:41needs to be confined to any sort of box.
32:43I don't think there are types.
32:45There are barely even channels.
32:46Like, everything is open for grabs,
32:48so that, like, what does Hollywood know what to,
32:51that's a whole other,
32:52and no one's at fault.
32:53Like, that's actually just a reflection
32:55of the entire landscape of media
32:57and how things are made has just radically shifted.
33:00Mike, you, at, like, 30,
33:01got a CBS sitcom pilot, right?
33:03Oh, yeah.
33:04Which was the thing you thought you wanted.
33:06I love this story.
33:07This is, like, Jerry Maguire.
33:10But it wasn't the thing you wanted, you ultimately.
33:12Yeah, no, it was...
33:14The look in your face suggests that there's more here.
33:17Go.
33:18It's, like, in my 20s,
33:19I just thought that I wanted to be a star somehow.
33:22Yeah, just, like, I want to be a comedy star, you know?
33:26I don't even think in hindsight I knew what that meant.
33:29And when I was 30,
33:31I was given my own sitcom at CBS,
33:34and they shot the pilot,
33:35and Bob Odenkirk played my brother,
33:37and, you know, Nick Kroll played my cousin,
33:39and all this stuff, and it was, like,
33:41oh, my God, I can't believe it.
33:42And then, by the time it went through the factory
33:46that is studios and networks and all that kind of thing,
33:48it just wasn't really my life.
33:50It wasn't my creative vision,
33:52and it didn't get picked up to air.
33:54And thank God, I went back to New York.
33:56I mounted Sleepwalk with me.
33:58Nathan Lane put his name behind it and his reputation.
34:02Nathan Lane presents Mike Birbiglia's Sleepwalk with me,
34:04and it changed my life and career,
34:05and I haven't looked back.
34:06I just make my own things now.
34:08Although then you did that for us, too, as well.
34:10That's, like, my favorite kind of thing
34:11is when comedians can have their own authentic voice.
34:14What's the brass ring?
34:15I mean, I feel like my generation grew up
34:17and I'm in your generation,
34:19thinking SNL was the thing, thinking the...
34:22Did you want to do a late night?
34:23Because you worked, like, when I think of you,
34:26you worked, like, always.
34:27You were always doing it.
34:28That's why I was telling you it's so cool
34:30that you got this show.
34:31That's nice. Thanks, Charlie.
34:32No, I never wanted a late night show.
34:34Like, I only ever wanted to tour theaters.
34:36Like, that's all I ever wanted to do
34:38is just tour theaters off of my stand-up,
34:41like Brian Regan.
34:42And the reason I took After Midnight
34:44is because they're, like,
34:45we film Monday through Wednesday.
34:47So you could tour on the weekends.
34:49And then everyone who's involved is just incredible,
34:52and I wanted to work with all of them.
34:54And, you know, once you're on tour by yourself,
34:57you don't see other comedians that much.
34:59So I was like, oh, you can just, like,
35:00play around with other comedians on TV
35:03for half the week?
35:04That sounds great.
35:05But, yeah, no, it was never, like,
35:06a goal of mine to do a traditional talk show
35:08or anything like that.
35:09You know, it was our special on HBO,
35:12like Chris Rock.
35:13Uh-huh.
35:14I mean, that was it.
35:15That was the center of a vision board.
35:17That was, to me, that was, like,
35:19the height of the form.
35:20And I know there's now more specials
35:22than there used to be,
35:23and, you know, that's a whole thing, right?
35:25But it was, like, marching around
35:27on a big stage with confidence, I guess.
35:30So you've achieved the...
35:32Yeah, that was really it.
35:33And, you know, I do feel some bit of, like,
35:38not that it's a constant question of,
35:40okay, if I died tomorrow kind of thing,
35:42but I'd feel a lot better dying tomorrow
35:45than I would have felt dying tomorrow
35:47five years ago.
35:48Uh-huh.
35:49I think the brass ring for me is, like,
35:51this sounds really po-faced,
35:52but, like, I always wanted to, like, be seen.
35:54Not as, like, a star, but, like, genuinely,
35:56I always wanted to, like,
35:57I guess, like, there's a romance in being seen.
35:59I was, like, looking for romance.
36:00Like you said, like, 45 minutes, like,
36:02long form still works for me
36:03because, like, I require a good amount of explanation.
36:06I require...
36:07People are like, what are you?
36:08And I'm like, here, let me just talk for an hour.
36:11Sit back and relax.
36:12And then maybe I'll get,
36:13maybe there's something of that.
36:14I guess it's the being seen thing,
36:16but, like, I do kind of feel like
36:18we're here, you know, as individuals, right?
36:21And it's like, what do I have specifically
36:23that's mine to offer up during my lifetime?
36:27Like, what's the me thing?
36:28And I felt like I did that in one part,
36:31you know, at least I felt I did that
36:33one part of me once so far
36:36and before I don't think I had.
36:37So, you know, I was almost, like, to the gods,
36:40you know, like, kind of like,
36:41again, don't want to die tomorrow,
36:43but just, like, okay,
36:44like, we got one on the fucking books,
36:46you know what I mean?
36:47I feel like Jacqueline's an example of, like,
36:49someone who, in a different era,
36:51you might have been watered down to,
36:54like, your comedy might have been
36:55watered down to a different type of comedy.
36:57So, like, when people see Get On Your Knees,
36:59they really see your brain, like, out on the table,
37:03you know what I mean?
37:04And it's like, that's so beautiful.
37:06And it's, I think, part of,
37:07partly because of the moment that we're in
37:10where people have, because comedy's so ubiquitous,
37:13people have become connoisseurs.
37:15So people found Jacqueline's comedy
37:18and it's become, like,
37:20when you ran the show at Cherry Lane in New York,
37:22it was a phenomenon.
37:23You know, when Alex ran his show in New York,
37:25it was a phenomenon.
37:26It was like, if you didn't see it,
37:28you're not in the know kind of thing.
37:30And that wasn't of the era,
37:33when I was a door person in the 1990s
37:35when I was in college at the Washington, D.C. Improv,
37:37there wasn't that.
37:39People weren't comedy connoisseurs in that way
37:41where they were seeking out, like,
37:42oh, what's different from the people
37:45who were here for the next six weeks?
37:47It's so funny, though,
37:48because I was reading an interview
37:49that Rami did a couple of weeks ago,
37:52maybe months ago,
37:53and someone asked him a question
37:55that I get asked a lot also,
37:57which is sort of about the cultural specificity
37:59that they suppose your thing has, right?
38:02They're like, is your,
38:03I assume they're asking in a euphemistic way
38:05about you being a Muslim.
38:06And the same way they're asking me euphemistically
38:08about me being a Jew.
38:09And you said that people come up to you and go,
38:11oh, I understand because that's my family,
38:13my family's Jamaican.
38:14Or they come up to me because that's my identity
38:16and my desire to do X, Y, Z,
38:18but I'm, you know, from anywhere else.
38:20And the first thing I thought when I read that was,
38:22that's Norman Lear.
38:23That's Norman Lear, always said,
38:25I'm just another version of you.
38:27And the specific being universal,
38:29like, I do think that, like,
38:31people are looking for specificity now
38:33in this, like, very scattered media landscape.
38:36And, like, the individual,
38:37in a way that they used to maybe get from television shows.
38:40And so, like, there's something very old school
38:42about the aesthetic,
38:43even as the content vessel for it is really different.
38:46All right, we're gonna end on a lightning round.
38:48Number one thing on your bucket list.
38:50This isn't an answer,
38:51but it was cool to see you on SNL.
38:53Aww.
38:54You were so good.
38:55Thank you.
38:56So good.
38:57It was really amazing.
38:58So that's Taylor's bucket list.
39:00That's Taylor's bucket list.
39:01It's just to see you on SNL.
39:04And I can die now.
39:06I can die tomorrow night.
39:07To see Jenny at the Comedy Cell in Philadelphia.
39:11Oh my gosh.
39:12Was that a bucket list for you, SNL?
39:14Yeah.
39:15Yeah, that was crazy.
39:16It would be crazy if you were like, nah.
39:18No, I mean, it was,
39:19and I've been so fortunate,
39:21and I think everyone here has,
39:22we've all checked a lot of bucket lists out,
39:24even by getting to talk to you.
39:26Like, it's,
39:27you kind of have to check bucket lists to get here.
39:29Sure.
39:30But that, SNL's still SNL.
39:31It's really, it's crazy.
39:32That, for me.
39:33It's crazy.
39:34When she asked that,
39:35that was one of the first things I thought,
39:36I don't think that's my answer,
39:37but hosting SNL,
39:39I think all of us are fans, to some extent.
39:42Everyone pretends a little bit,
39:43to different degrees,
39:44but we're all like fans of comedy.
39:46We're all like,
39:47I rarely meet comedians
39:48where I truly believe they're not fans,
39:50so it's a thing that,
39:51I almost was like,
39:52what's being on SNL like?
39:54I think that probably was my bucket list.
39:57It's weird to get the bucket list
39:59and then be like, oh.
40:01I guess I'm not sure that I really,
40:03that it was what I wanted,
40:05or it wasn't the thing,
40:07but if I hadn't been on it,
40:10I would be trying to be on it still.
40:12And when I watch it,
40:14I still feel magical about it.
40:16I also have this feeling that
40:17it will become more relevant, actually,
40:20because I was watching something
40:22and there was just this AI video
40:24of LeBron doing a presser,
40:26and I believed it for the first minute,
40:29but then he was talking about,
40:30it was LeBron's take on the Civil War or something,
40:33and he was like, I was there,
40:34and then I was like, oh wait, this is a joke.
40:36But I do think being live
40:39in front of 300 people,
40:41it's happening now,
40:43the stock on that is only gonna rise,
40:46so I actually think it's
40:47kinda gonna be a lifetime brand,
40:49because I do think that there's something
40:51that people really crave,
40:52which I think also makes stand-up
40:54this art form that I think will continue
40:56to only have more and more people come to it,
40:59because we all wanna know it's happening,
41:01we wanna know it's real,
41:03and we wanna know,
41:04and I mean, not the stories,
41:05but the experience, you know?
41:07It's like, actually,
41:08this person actually said that.
41:10It is gonna be really,
41:11I think, really important to feel.
41:14My bucket list thing would be,
41:15if I really could master new things,
41:19old things, I really,
41:21I'm acting a little more now,
41:23to master that seems like
41:24a whole new bucket list challenge,
41:26and little goals along the way feel less,
41:28like, I'd love to win awards,
41:30or do SNL,
41:33or play Madison Square Garden,
41:35but really it's for the multiplicity
41:37of experience,
41:39and I think the actual thing
41:40would be, God,
41:41if I really got to a place,
41:42Seinfeld always talks about
41:43the joy of mastery,
41:44and how so many rich people aren't happy
41:46because they don't have mastery
41:47in their life.
41:48God, to master something new,
41:50where you express yourself
41:51in a way you never thought
41:52you could is fucking,
41:53it's really cool.
41:54What's something you guys
41:55used to joke about
41:56that you look back on now,
41:57and cringe?
41:58People's weight.
41:59It's not really a taboo yet,
42:00and no one's ever called me on it,
42:01and I was never like,
42:02that guy's fat,
42:03but I would make jokes,
42:04like, obliquely.
42:05There are plenty of things
42:06that I wouldn't say now,
42:08not for the reason of, like,
42:09cancellation,
42:10but because my standards
42:11are higher than they used to be.
42:12I've made some jokes
42:13that I would just, like,
42:14I'm embarrassed by it.
42:16A lot of my early stuff,
42:17it was like,
42:18I was not good.
42:19There's a little bit of, like,
42:21I don't know,
42:22like, learning on the,
42:23kind of like,
42:24not like the wrong clay,
42:26or something like that,
42:27but there is a little bit of,
42:28like, figuring out
42:29how to put things together,
42:31and then the building blocks
42:33are kind of arbitrary,
42:34or something,
42:35like, you know,
42:36like, in the craft.
42:38I don't worry about
42:39cancel culture,
42:40but I worry about
42:41the iterative nature
42:42of comics figuring it out
42:43being somewhat arrested.
42:44I would say that's a more,
42:45not to be, like,
42:46well, like, that's a thing
42:48I worry about more,
42:49people figuring it out.
42:50I had a lot of things
42:51I need to, like, figure out.
42:52When I look back
42:53on things I did
42:54early in my career,
42:55it's not that I'm embarrassed
42:57of the word choice,
42:58or something that's
42:59out of date and time.
43:00It's like,
43:01that I wasn't opening up
43:03to the audience
43:04and being honest
43:05about how I actually felt.
43:08I was attempting
43:09to project a persona
43:12that I thought
43:13people would like,
43:14and it's embarrassing.
43:16And I think that
43:17what's helpful
43:18to look back on that
43:19for is to go,
43:20okay, but now I can.
43:22Now I can walk out
43:23on stage and say
43:24exactly how I feel.
43:25Like, the best compliment
43:26I ever get is, like,
43:27recently I've been touring
43:28this new show,
43:29and people are like,
43:30that's what you're like.
43:31And I'm like,
43:32fuck yeah.
43:33Like, that's,
43:34I don't know,
43:35it's not done yet.
43:36It'll be another year
43:37in the oven,
43:38but, like, that's
43:39what I'm going towards.
43:40I'm not even Jewish,
43:41so it's really,
43:42I can get away from that.
43:43All right,
43:44we're going to end on
43:45something that's going
43:46to feel silly,
43:47but I feel like
43:48the most used emoji
43:49on your phone.
43:50The hands clapping.
43:51There you go.
43:52Hands clapping.
43:53Eyes being wide open.
43:54Oh, the side eye?
43:55Just wide open eyes.
43:56Yeah, the big ones.
43:57Like that,
43:58where he's like.
43:59Yeah.
44:00I do use the heart a lot,
44:01but it's,
44:02I hate it.
44:03I truly,
44:04I'm just,
44:05it's just so,
44:06like,
44:07what a diaper,
44:08you know?
44:09It's like a fucking baby.
44:10I use the heart a lot.
44:11I use the heart a lot.
44:12I like it.
44:13I just want people to know,
44:14you know,
44:15like, I'm just like,
44:16but don't give thumbs up,
44:17because I feel like
44:18that's too sporty,
44:19but I do the lightning bolt
44:20a lot,
44:21and I love it.
44:22Ooh.
44:23I absolutely love it,
44:24and I feel like
44:25when people get it,
44:26they're like,
44:27oh, you know,
44:28like, they love that.
44:29Like, really,
44:30you got it.
44:31Yeah, like,
44:32see you there.
44:33You know what I mean?
44:34Yeah.
44:35I like the little,
44:36the one heart,
44:37and then the little heart.
44:38Oh, I like that.
44:39Together,
44:40it's a little bit of
44:41like an ellipses heart
44:42or something.
44:43It's got a little
44:44movement to it,
44:45and of course,
44:46he's a little silly, too.
44:47Embued with,
44:48you know,
44:49the spiritual.
44:50Yeah, I like him.
44:51And yes,
44:52I gendered the ghost.
44:53You can take it back.
44:54Yeah, exactly.
44:55I refuse.
44:56Go ahead.
44:57Go ahead.
44:58I refuse.
44:59Apologize into the lens.
45:00I really like the face melting.
45:01There's a lot of ambiguity there.
45:02Uh-huh.
45:03You're not sure
45:04what they're doing.
45:05Why?
45:06You're just like,
45:07why is there,
45:08if someone says something
45:09I don't know how to react,
45:10I'm just like...
45:11So yeah,
45:12that.
45:13Take it home, Rami.
45:14I think I used
45:15the angel.
45:16There's like two angels,
45:17but this one,
45:18that's the little angel.
45:19Because I feel like I'm always,
45:20I don't know,
45:21I'm always in situations
45:22where I'm like,
45:23let me show
45:24the little baby angel
45:25so we can all remember
45:26that we're here.
45:27I don't even know
45:28what baby angel is.
45:29It's like,
45:30there's two angels.
45:31He's got the face
45:32and he's got the little wings
45:33and the halo.
45:34Does he have
45:35like a little,
45:36like,
45:37oink,
45:38like a dinosaur?
45:39You know,
45:40it's got wings.
45:41So the halo's the older angel,
45:42but I use the baby
45:43to kind of say,
45:44you know,
45:45it's just a nod
45:46to the inner child.
45:47I love it.
45:48I couldn't even finish it.
45:49But you did.
45:50I do use it.
45:51I think that's why I use it.
45:52I've never put it
45:53in these words,
45:54but then I looked at Mike
45:55and I was like...
45:56There's real elegance
45:57to some of these emojis.
45:58The one that looks
45:59like Mount Fiji,
46:00you're just like,
46:01wow,
46:02that's really beautiful.
46:03Like a rock.
46:04Like when you can find one
46:05and you're like,
46:06this has not been used.
46:07They're doing work.
46:08They feel incredible.
46:09Yeah,
46:10it's very nice.
46:11I love it.
46:12On that note,
46:14Mike speaks for all of us.
46:15I don't know.
46:16Taffy?
46:19Today's takeaway,
46:20with all the uncertainty
46:22in the world,
46:23one thing is for certain,
46:24we need comedy now
46:25more than ever.
46:26And we're not going anywhere.
46:27Until next time,
46:28I'm Yvonne Orji,
46:29and this is Offscript
46:30with The Hollywood Reporter.