Ana Gasteyer

25:57So I could fake it for a long, long time. And then there becomes a breakage point in classical music. It feels that way with music and athletics. Those two things especially where you are like loving it and you're good at it. And then there's a moment where it's like, okay, now you have to decide, am I going to the next level? Am I playing in college? Am I going to join an orchestra? First of all, it's so solitary. And it's two things. It's deeply solitary. And it is, I have, I am a perfectionist. and it is torture for perfectionists because even though I was lazy, I was a perfectionist. So it's a weird, I mean that I'm not lazy.

26:35I'm going to read. Yeah, let's read. Let's cut the shit. You know, let's cut the shit. Cut the shit. Let's cut the shit. Let's cut the shit. We'll be right back.

26:45No, I am not. Yeah, let's reframe lazy. I want to reframe. Let's reframe it. What I mean is that I wasn't passionate about violin. So I didn't want to lock myself in a room because truly like athletics, like you said, it's suddenly it is eight hours a day, six hours a day, like going to school, like, you know, it's not going to school late or leaving early in the afternoon to practice, practice, practice, practice till your hands fall off. And it's lonely. It's really lonely. Yeah. And unbelievably sad. It is a sad instrument. Violin is the saddest instrument ever. And that's, I do kind of love that about it.

27:17I mean, it's beautiful. I'm realizing now that Christmas and violins are both the way I get into my sad state. Yeah. I love that. Well, that's funny because I'm writing a song called Sad Violin at Christmas. Really? Yeah. I mean, you just made me come off the title. But that is, I've been thinking about a sad violin. Because it's sad. It's a lonely, wistful, melancholic instrument. And there's something incredibly powerful about it, obviously. So then in seventh grade, don't laugh, I had my first star turn. I was legally blind also as a kid. So I mean, I still am legally blind. So I also had an eye patch a lot of my childhood.

27:53and I had a violin. So just put all that together. Yeah, hot stuff. And put it through the comedy Play-Doh machine. That's why hot stuff. And were we wearing the patch during the day? We were rocking the patch. Not at home. We were rocking the patch. So, right, around, I went to camp for the violin, but around seventh grade I got cast, wait for it, as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker.

28:18So I was able to pull a lot of my story into the part.

28:26and that's what i was like i mean by the way and you put that on your tinder profile yes yes yeah yes i do yeah yes i do and my grinder yeah and your tinder and grinder you're on both and you're very unsuccessful very unsuccessful on grind so far so um hilariously helen keller and the miracle worker was like my aha of I think this is really fun. Right. You were, you got to perform. I got to perform. You found passion there. Yes. And so then, and then it became Claire could sing. And I said, so I did all the parts and everything in high school. I'm sure you did too, but. As a kid though, you know, because you, you have, you're, you, you're an exuberant kind of upregulated kid.

29:11Like you're, you're, you're more extroverted than what, than the patch and violin would make me think. But were you an introverted kid? What kind of kid were you? I don't think of myself as an outgoing kid at all. Got it. Or even as an outgoing person, to be honest, or upregulated or exuberant. On stage I am. Interesting. And with you, maybe I am. Interesting. But I, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't know. Yeah, you are. Nobody sees themselves. You feel how you feel about yourself. I mean, I was, I, everyone in my high school was super, super funny. Yes. And I was always friends with funny people.

29:41Yes. Um, but I always like SNL and people like, you're the class clown. Like I was, no, I was not the class clown. I was the person in the back row who snickered and made jokes. And you've told this on many podcasts and things, but I still think it's just fascinating that you were among many people that were your friends during that time. You were friends with Amy Carter. Crazy. Amy Carter, the daughter of President Jimmy Carter. Correct. Who, for people who are not our age, Jimmy Carter was a president. Yeah. But also, and the best ex-president we've ever had. Yeah, for sure. And Amy was so exciting as a, as the presidential kid, she was like our Sasha and Malia.

30:20Yes. Because he had young kids, Chip and Amy and was that? Yeah. And she was much younger than her siblings. I mean, my name was Amy. So I was like blown away. I know. And she was just like this girl in the White House. It was very exciting. And she was, well, probably for you too. I imagine you, I know you are a reader now. You were probably a child, a childhood reader. I was too. She was a violinist. I mean, boom. She was a violinist. Yeah. We were in an afterschool, like GT program together and became friends. I mean, it was just an instant, like whatever books, books, books, glasses, and violins.

30:53Am I right? Um, and come on guys, come on, let's party. Let's party. And, um, everybody would get invited to these, you know, group events at the white house. Um, many of which were in the beautiful East ballroom, which has now been leveled by, or made more beautiful depending on who you talk to. Great point. Um, it's going to be gorgeous Ana. You know what? I stand corrected. Let's wait and see how it comes out. I stand corrected. I have a feeling it's going to be gorgeous. You're right. And I just saw the Christmas decor and you're right. And it's gorgeous. It's warm as always. It's always so warm.

31:26It's so warm and inviting. You know what? I wonder if it smells like French onion soup. Or wassail. When you walk in. Gorgeous. Okay. So, but you're going to multiple parties and things. And one of my early memories, this was such an extra double brain blow of early synaptic development. the cast, the original Broadway cast of Annie was performing at the White House Christmas party. Exactly. Exactly. Like the whole, it was too many things. It was too many things. I don't think I knew that. Like four feet away from us. It was like her little friends from her, you know, Gift and Talented program and her friends from school and various White House people's children.

32:08Yeah. And then like Andrea McArdle and actual Sandy right over there. And buckets. Hard knock life in it. buckets. And then I did Annie at the Hollywood Bowl like five or six years ago. What? I didn't know this either. It was during, it was right after Wine Country. I think you were probably buried in editing. And who, you Miss Hannigan? Match. Who else was Annie? What a party. I was Annie. I was Annie. I thought, why not? Well, there is that other part, the, we've got it, you know, the Ann ranking part. Oh, God. Lily. my mind is so mind blowing wise when I did Annie at the Bowl the same animal there's one animal trainer on Broadway who does all animal training and we've probably played her or him on SNL he's the most delightful person his name is Bill Berloni and he adopted the original Sandy from Animal Control and he trained her for the Goodspeed production and then traveled with every Annie production ever and then now has become sort of the Broadway he does all Broadway animals but he's a wonderful person and he's a big advocate for animal rights and you know whatever he's not the type that we had at SNL that would be like I gotta get going to Van if you need it you know he'd be like you gotta hit it with a stick to have him let you go I mean can a llama do that?

33:30I don't know but you hit it with a stick she's got 17 out of Van in her so I don't know if it's gonna happen today this tortoise is gonna bite you if you hold it the wrong way what's the right way? Hell if I know.

33:47There was a donkey sketch. Were you there for the donkey sketch? No, I wasn't there yet. You know, like these donkeys like going down those floors. It's just the worst. Oh my God. And then they doped them. And then like by live, they're like.

34:02And it's not moving. It was a nightmare. Nightmare. Anyway, Bill Berloni has these beautifully trained show dogs. Thank you, Bill. So like, it's funny, even like showbiz children, who I'm afraid of, and we all should be, are wonderful on Broadway. Because again, it's all work ethic on Broadway. Everything is routine and work ethic. And so a lot of the sort of like crazy, there's a different kind of crazy, but it's different. It's more like a proper OCD crazy, which I'm comfortable with. So, but just getting back, you're in the White House, Annie's performing. So Bill Berloni had a picture. That's why I brought Bill Berloni up because he had a picture from the 1977 White House Christmas party.

34:37with me, all these people. It's mind-blowing. You're in the picture? It's insane with the original. Oh, do you have a copy of it? No. But he showed up. You didn't even take it with your phone? No, I shouldn't have brought it up now that I think about it.

34:52I also got a picture once with Paul McCartney and then lost my phone and don't have it. Oh, well. So, but it exists. It exists. Here's the Amy Carter story. Okay, that's the most my. So all of it gets munched together into this kind of crazy, like there was a movie theater in the White House and you would go and be like, please join us, you know, on the president for a viewing of Pete's Dragon with Helen Reddy. You know, like, yeah, things like that. That would be like, because nobody, we didn't have VHS or anything back then. It was like the olden times. Yep. Sure was. And then that's the crazy, crazy story is that I went to the Camp David for the Camp David Accords with the Carters and we played the violin, which was crazy.

35:34for the very first United States Middle East treaty. So you played violin for? For Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter. Wow. And me and Amy. And it was all in just one room. And we played Suzuki violin after lunch. Do you remember what you played? She, um. Cut my dough. I mean, it was literally like, yeah. Lightly row or something, you know, Minuet and G or I don't know, something. Oh, that must have been so tender. Right? Maybe, as I've said before, maybe that worked a little harder to make Middle East peace. Yep. Set it on the right road. It didn't work. It didn't work. And then you, am I right that you watched Star Wars there too?

36:18Yeah, we watched it with the Sadats. True story. Star Wars with the Sadats. Yep. And then you also watched SNL in the White House. That is the most interesting of all of the stories. Because, so, President Carter was the president. you rarely saw him. There were, you know, a little bit, but we were there a lot though. Kids were at that house a lot, you know, her various friends. So I have a very, very, that's my first memory of Saturday Night Live because we went to get a snack in the middle of the night and it felt like the middle of the night was probably 1145. And we went to, and we walked by and the president who we hadn't seen very much was sitting in a chair with a, I remember he had like a snack and a beer and Aykroyd was playing him on TV live on Saturday night.

37:09And he was laughing hysterically at the impression of him. And to me, that was the most powerful, um, whatever you call that early building block or core memory of putting in place the power of parody and the power of comedy and the importance of being able to laugh at yourself, you know, all of those things, which obviously we're in a really different time around, but, um, super, super, super impactful.

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41:05And so you get to Northwestern. We talk, you're a voice major. What makes you go from Northwestern after you graduate to LA? A very bossy gay. Great. I mean, yeah. Follow, Get in line. Wherever you tell me to go. My friend Peter was like, you're going to. So I knew. I mean, the other. I went to go see the second city. And there were two women in that cast. And they both played girlfriends at the time. And I remember being like, I want to see the girls like do something fun. And then I came out here to L.A. and I went to a groundling show. and it was like literally uh coolidge jennifer coolidge jennifer coolidge kathy griffin lisa kudrow this girl heather morgan i mean there were so many crazy funny women wearing like wigs and glasses and i you know i was in the improv scene in chicago and like those are you know at northwestern it was same as it ever is which is just a bunch of smart quick wits guys that were like, I remember the like main big improv guy was, you know, star guy was like, you're more character.

42:13That's what he said to me. You do more like characters. And I knew that that was an insult, like that they thought of that as an insult. And then I came out here and I saw all these like wigs and glasses. I was like, that seems really fun. And who did you meet in your early years at the groundings? We had an insanely talented group. It was, so I was right behind Will and Sherry. Will Ferrell, Sherry Oteri. Yeah. And Will is who suggested me for SNL. And I had, in my group, I had Stephen Craig, Chris Parnell, Scott Wainio, a lot of writers that came from our era as well. And then right behind me was Maya Forte, Will Forte, Maya Rudolph.

42:55Like, yeah. I mean, it was, you know, and then I befriended a bigger collective of, you know, Tim Bagley and my Kitchcock and Sterling. We always love to talk about SNL audition stories on this show. I know. We like to. I know. We don't have to, but it is, it is interesting, like, you know, with the 50th anniversary and like us looking back and all of it, do you feel any differently about that? Like the story that you tell yourself about your audition? Like, do you feel badly about your audition? You know what? I didn't even ever feel bad about it. Um, I'll tell you why. Because there've been a couple of times in my life and, Wicked was one of them and Saturday Night Live was another.

43:31And they were both incredibly challenging jobs and difficult workplaces in their own ways, both just in terms of physical demand and artistic demand and just complicated creative workplaces, as you know. Both times, SNL being one of them, I left no stone unturned because I felt, and I really believe this to this day, if you, so sort of to totally double back on the lazy thing, like if you give everything your all, if you give something your all, you don't have regret. And if you don't have regret, you can face any consequence for me. So I knew that if I did the best audition I could, I would feel fine if I didn't get the job.

44:18Because I wouldn't have left something on the table, you know? And so Will Ferrell had told me famously that they don't laugh. And we always, people whisper that to one another in advance. Did you know that? Yeah. I knew that they, there's, it would be absolutely silent, which it was. Which it was. Yeah. Me too. And, um, I told Parnell and so Charlie and my now husband and I were engaged at the time I got the job and he, I would, I wrote my, I wrote the whole thing out as a monologue and I would just run it relentlessly and he would sit like Mount Rushmore. Oh, and practice not laughing.

44:52repeatedly because it was all stuff I would have been doing at the groundlings. So I, I needed to know what it felt like. The cadence is so different. If you have a character that you're used to landing in a certain way. Yeah. That's actually a really good point. I think a lot of people don't know a lot of standups and, um, uh, sketch performers when they come and audition, they're doing stuff that has succeeded somewhere else. And there's a rhythm to it and laughs that you're used to. Correct. Yeah, exactly right. So I just rehearsed it in front of him. and I knew it, you know, six different directions well.

45:23What characters and or people did you do in your audition? Do you remember? Yes, I did the NPR lady who I ended up doing on the show. And I did kind of a ridiculous pantyhose wearing woman. And I did, who did not end up on the show in a shocking twist. She ended up on Cut the Shit. She was on Cut the Shit. Did you do any impressions in here? Well, so somebody of course was like, they're going to ask you in the 11th hour to do impressions, but I didn't do impressions, right? But I kind of knew that it might come because I'd heard that the people that were involved were never particularly organized around the advanced prep, shall we say?

45:57Yeah. So I just had it up my sleeve. So I went and I knew that I liked Martha Stewart. I thought she was funny and interesting, even though the Groundlings doesn't really do impression-based comedy. And so I wrote an introduction as Martha Stewart and I got a Martha Stewart wig. And this was so funny to me. I did Cokie Roberts. Oh, yeah. I remember her. But like nobody, it was like an NPR reference, literally. But she was on ABC News, and so I did Cokie Roberts. But Lauren is good friends with Cokie. I had dinner with her last night, and it's very, it sounds just like. I think Cokie liked the impression.

46:31I talked to Cokie. I talked to Cokie. Cokie thought it was a winner. Cokie thought it was a little mean.

46:41Martha, your Martha impression is so good. Thank you. What do you do vocally to get into Martha? How do we do a Martha? So much of Martha, it still is. She's so rehearsed in front of the camera. You'll never have her do this. Martha Stewart does stuff with Miss Piggy, and she's a little thrown by Miss Piggy. Yes. Because Miss Piggy is improvising, and Martha doesn't love to improvise. No, and I've had a few situations with her. In fact, where I've had to dress up as her and be with her, which is... That's a very unique thing about SNL. I had that with Yes, Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton where you are dressed exactly like them standing next to them So I have had a few events with Martha and recently I did the Drew Barrymore show Oh right and showed up as her and she it's just the worst and you're just sitting there fully dressed like a person Well that's why listen this is why I love our people this is why I love sketch comedy sketch comedy is embarrassing So embarrassing Stand up is cool Yes You get you go outside you wear a leather jacket you smoke a cigarette, you put it out, you go and do your set.

47:50Sketch, you have a frigging wig and you're schlepping a box with a weird bow tie. And it never ends. And it never ends. Don't think that I'm not still doing that. There are days where I'm like, I still have a wig area in my house. I one time got pulled over for speeding and had a wig in my glove compartment. That could be considered dangerous. It could be. It could be. Do you remember what the wig was? No, it was during growling stays, in fairness. Just to have one around. It's just the schlepping. It's so uncool. The amount of props. It's so uncool. And that's why I love people who do it because they're, to me, the coolest people.

48:30Because they sit in the embarrassment and the commitment of it. You have to be really committed. Which is why the bombing is the funniest thing in the whole world. Which is why Will Ferrell sitting into a bomb is one of my favorite things I've ever seen in the world. It is. at SNL, we used to watch old sketches that bombed and just like love it in a way. It's what the kids would call cringe, but it's even post cringe. It's like beyond cringe. It's almost like a delicious. Yeah. What would you call it? It's not a serotonin boost. It's like, I don't know. It's the closest you feel to - Well, it's like a community therapy experience really is what it is.

49:05Yeah. It's like a primal scream. Yeah. For sketch performers. What are some fun sketches that you used to watch that you loved watching that bombed or so we did a zoo crew sketch once which is like a dj morning morning djs and we wrote i mean it was the loudest sketch ever i mean it was just literally like like every single thing was just like everybody like oh he's a horny go get him rock like non-stop everybody it was me and parnell and oh my god somebody and the host I can't remember. And Will. And it was a basic premise, really loud zoo crew. And then the weather chopper goes down, like crashes.

49:48Okay. Really basic. And then everyone's like, we lost weather chopper five. Like just, anyway, people at the table were screaming with laughter. So funny. And then we set it up at home base. I mean, a dramatic play. A Tony winning Pulitzer Prize winning dramatic play about a zoo crew. I mean, deathly silent. Like a wall, like the audience in age looked like a painting. And the whole time you're like screaming. And it was the wall of sound. Did you get giggles? I mean, yes, because it was so embarrassing. And it was also just hilarious because it was like the whole time you're like, they don't think this is funny.

50:27They listen to morning zoos. Right. Like there's nothing, this is what it sounds like. If you like driving to work and listening to that, then that's just kind of a pleasant thing for you. Right. That was embarrassing. Do you remember the set that we called Shit Can Alley? Yeah. So there's all these little areas at SNL where you get to perform. Home base is right in the middle, and it's kind of a prime spot. It's where Update is. And then there's some areas where sketches go to die. Right, because you have the audience and you have the balcony. And so the main three sets, where the musical guest plays and whatever, you usually are going to play things okay.

50:59There's one that's way in the back that has no immediate audience in front of it. and really sketches go there to die. I mean, nothing ever comes out of that corner. And it's also a vote of no confidence when your sketch is put there. You're like, I see, I see. This isn't going to make the show.

51:21The sort of quietness of like, it's in shit can, Ellie. It's in shit can, Ellie. We're not going to. We're not going to. I'm going to call my parents. It's not going to make it.

51:33But you had so many hits And NPR, that sketch remains. There was no confidence in that sketch. That sketch was supposed to bomb. And I knew because I'd played at the Groundlings at the quietness of it. That was the comedy of it. Yeah, it's so, so funny. And I should circle back just quickly to Martha. When we're doing Martha, what are we doing with our lips? And how do we talk? Well, one of the things she does. so many of what the things that she says and does are things that she has learned to do on camera and she is uh very aware of how the camera is going to look on her. It's a very barely moving mouth.

52:28Almost nothing moves. Why should it? And nor should it. We're going to make a Christmas meal and barely nothing is going to move. I am obsessed with her. Me too. I'm obsessed with her. I mean, Martha is... Martha, I... she said i'm not gonna buy you on the show because i'm too scared but um but please listen and know that you're something else she also says i love her rules amy her rules are so comforting her rules are so comforting when you talk to her her rules she's just got she's like i don't take i don't take alcohol alone i don't take drinks if i'm alone that's what she told me i don't take do you remember when she briefly took over the apprentice and it was that we were both we're I'm so obsessed with this.

53:17She would, the Zoom at the end, but she was always handwriting a termination note. That's a little touch of class. You're fired. Mm-hmm. I so enjoyed your contributions to The Apprentice. But I'm here to tell you. I sent her flowers. I sent her flowers on one of her birthdays many of the years. Anyway. Cut it. Cut the shit. We'll cut the shit. Cut the shit. I want to talk about Bobby and Marty for a second. The best. The Culps. Because those two characters that you and Will did, I think are a perfect example of like kind of combining all of your talents. And before we get into them, what is the difference between good singing, like singing and then comedy singing?

54:03Ooh. And is there one, I guess? Well, it is interesting. It's an interesting question. I definitely think the training informs what's fun about the characters. meaning she's, you know, they're quintessential choir teachers. So her technique is very important to her. So I probably lean more into that, that quality of the, of the, of the voice. And I've met people over the years that are like music people. I hit notes as her that I would be very worried about trying to hit as me. And I know this is true because my friend Seth Rudetsky, who has the Sirius XM radio Broadway show, who I met because he wrote for the Rosie O'Donnell show at the same time as I was in 8G.

54:46A lot of people don't know when we were doing SNL, Rosie was in her studio right next door. So we met in the NBC gym and he was like of a certain part of my life, like I instantly recognized him as a person who understood what that music part of me that I didn't even talk about was. And he said, he was like, oh, I love how consistently you go from a B flat to a C. Like again, I wouldn't have thought about it and I wouldn't have even thought that Bobby sings that high, but she does all the time, which is kind of wild. Like if you wanted to ask me to hit a C, I would get like my butthole would tighten up and I probably wouldn't be able to do it.

55:18So there's something really fun about that. And I think there's, for me, I can't speak for other people. Like I would never, there's a freedom around it and a chance taking that I will play in character any day of the week. Till very recently, I wouldn't have done it as a vocalist. So cool. Does that make sense? Absolutely. And that is what you guys do as those characters. Also, I just love Bobby and Marty's look. Their looks are excellent. Their looks are fantastic. And we knew early on. So they were disparaged by some of the men, by the cool guys. People thought it was a medley bit and thought it was dumb and hacky.

55:52But we had so much fun rating their passive aggression as characters. Yes. Like the dynamic of the two of them, the people giving them the finger all the time, and just the inherent bummer of having those people perform at your prom or whatever. Yes. We always loved. That's what was so joyful about it. The music was fine. Like the music was a super fun component of it, but it wasn't the point ever. The point was, why are these people performing at my, you know, sobriety birthday? You know, it was always like finding the premise. And so that's what made it so fun. I have to say, honestly, like at the 50th, which was so special because that was always my favorite thing to do at SNL.

56:35It was the most fun writing it with Will and with Paula. We were infamous, infamous is the term, because we would, as you know, not start writing until four o 'clock in the morning. Yeah. And we would finish at 10 a.m. And it was always like a laugh fest that was, that so heavily featured procrastination. It was extraordinary. And well, it's, um, it's very, very funny that you say that because we do a thing on the show where we talk about, we, we talk to people who know our guests. We talk well behind their back and we get a question to ask them. And so I spoke to Paula Pell. Uh-oh. And for people that didn't see the SNL 50th music special, which was amazing, there was like sketches in between acts and a lot of musical sketches.

57:18And Bobby and Marty came out and crushed. That was not an easy audience. It was an audience of truly every single person was either performing or a performer or like it was a cynical audience. Yeah. You guys crushed. what was that feeling to do that that night it was so fun for lack of a better word like it was so for there was something you know as you go back to these reunions and you bring all of your kind of history and baggage and whatever with you um again just kind of speaking to your point of the fact that this is all just so embarrassing because first of all like it's radio city music to call.

58:03It's 6 ,000 seats. I mean, it's a huge, epic space. Yeah. We followed Lauryn Hill. Sure. That's who you want to follow. So you have to understand that in the wings, there are like thousands of cool music people. I mean, my dressing room was next to Jack White and his band and I'm dressed as Bobby Mohan Culp. Okay. I've got the giant glasses and my like striped dress and Will's got his bald paint and his, you know, we were rehearsing in the keyboard. So already we're like the losers in the wings. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. I mean the winners for me, but it was, it was fantastic. I mean, actually you're like, you've got the violin and you've got the eye patch.

58:46One hundred percent. And so we're already just like, what is happening? What is happening? Why are we here? And who invited us? You know? And then we just started to giggle because we, we it was so cute because we doing the sketch and doing that like we just it was very easy to imagine how excited bobby and marty would have been the people would have been to be at radio city and what was it like back what was it like back to you see jack white who else are you seeing i mean mayhem like posses and people with like you know music people so they got like yeah they're so cool big cool hair and glasses and for like lauren hills a fur coat and an afro and like Everybody's got floral pants that come up to here.

59:26And there's posses and weed everywhere. Chris Martin's in the corner. Cool people. Actual cool people who just looked right past us. They did not know that we used to be on Saturday Night Live. They were just like, who brought Granny and Gramps? Just right past us. That actually probably was fun. It was so fun. That's fun. And then going out there and all that stuff just suddenly worked. You're right. Now that I'm remembering, Lauren Hill had a surprise, incredible performance. Insane. And then it was like smoke. And then it was like, ah, ah, ah, ah. And test. Test. Test. And you guys cried. And that's what I mean.

1:00:07You know what I did? I knew it was streaming. And I also knew, I mean, it was really funny. Because we were like, just, and all of their stuff was about how they'd come to New York for an ophthalmology appointment. You know, they were just lucky to slip in. And just everything about it was so fun. And so we're sitting there. It's so funny. Yeah. Yeah. And I did have the feeling, I was like, this is streaming. Cause one thing about SNL for me, again, I don't know if you ever had this, but it's a little bit of an A student girl, you know, nerd girl thing. I was always, my greatest regret about the show, not that you would go back in time is that I couldn't, I never like settled into it and enjoyed it.

1:00:38Cause I was always so aware of the time and of running somebody running down the clock, somebody else's sketch is going to get cut. Like I was always, and when we were there, it was such a, you know, like explosive surfeit of talent that there were always three sketches a night that might not make it. So I always felt like I had to keep it moving, keep it moving. So I was suddenly very aware that it was streaming and that I was not going to be rushed. And I was like, I'm going to be Bobby Moult. The funniest thing in the world to me is this woman and this man, these choir teachers, getting people to settle.

1:01:14Because there's just nothing funnier than high school teachers to settle. So that's what they did is they just kept telling people to settle. I need you to settle. I need quiet in the back. Hand goes up, mouth goes shut. Hand goes up, mouth goes shut. Just this idea. I was like, I'm going to keep going until they settle. I'm not going to worry about it. And if I had been at 8H, we never would have done that. Right. Very good point. But we just, we took a full, probably 45 seconds to, you know, get people to pipe it. David Spade, pipe down. That's right. You guys called him out by name. I don't want to hear it, Pierce Brosnan.

1:01:49So stupid. Okay. We have so much more to talk about. I'm sorry. But Paula had two great questions. Uh-oh. One was a funny one, which was your dog Gloria loves to eat things. Yes. And you often keep us updated as to what she eats. What has she eaten lately, and has it come out already, and was it intact when it came out? It never comes out. I don't know where it goes. It's upsetting. like you're like it was a full hairbrush where did it go where did it go and honestly because she's also like many dogs like it's the more personal the better you know so if it's a retainer or a pair of underwear she would eat my IUD if she could pull it out if she could get in there yeah sorry but it's true dogs are gross it's just gross bras all that kind of thing most recently to answer the question it was a massive thing of cheese I mean it was a manchego it was a Costco manchego wedge you know those are big ones for a party and Charlie Charlie sent it to me I was out here and he sent he's he'd taken out the cheese he was gonna have himself a little snack came back the cheese was gone he felt crazy that's always part of the story that he's walking around like I swear to god I brought the cheese out where's the cheese and then hours later there was like this much left which also I find upsetting because it means that she has eaten to the point of physical discomfort which for a dog is a long time yeah I just I want to know what happens in her dog brain.

1:03:18Or maybe there's some kind of evolutionary thing where they show you just a little to be like just to be like and just just a tiny bit of like a trophy of like and here's what I did. She's such an asshole. Okay and then Paula's real question was and it's kind of what the theme of our interview today which is basically like it's such a sweet Paula question which is between writing and singing and acting, which one makes you feel the most free? It's an interesting word. It's a great question. I think that inherently I'm the most natural singer. I mean, I think that's like my first gift, meaning like that it's just sort of beyond me.

1:04:07And as I've gotten older and more into it, like even in the last couple of years, I feel, I feel more comfortable just accepting that it's something that came from somewhere besides me. And I got lucky to have a career that kind of nurtured the muscles of it all, literally. Writing is the most in the flow, I probably feel, but I hate writing and I hate having to write. I love having written. Yes. Having had written is the best feeling in the world. I feel like you're a more confident writer than I am. Oh God, no. No, that's not true. You're very good about it. I've got to, I've got to, um, no, I've got to, um, What?

1:04:42Your Uber's here? My Uber. I'm so sorry. My Uber's here. First of all, you are a member of the Wickedverse. You opened Wicked in Chicago. Yeah. I was the fourth overall Elphaba. So now when you go, like last year, two years ago was the 20th. And again, I have people in my Wicked life that are like, I'm not going back. It was torture because it is trauma bonding. It's a really hard job. It's a really, really, really, really hard job. It's a hard role to play. It is a physically demanding heart and it's incredibly hard to sing. So I'm, I'm actually in retrospect. I was so, I'm going to actually take a minute to tell a story.

1:05:19Yes, please. If that's okay. Of course. Because I actually think it's so lifeless and important. I am so hard on myself. And again, I realized this about myself recently. I'm not competitive. I'm a perfectionist. So I actually hate competition, but I want to be really good at things. So it's a weird mix, but when you do a Broadway show, everybody comes at the end because all your friends or whatever people want to see you before it closes or you leave or whatever. And you know, whatever, here's a Dina Menzel, the most incredible vocalist originated this incredibly demanding vocal score. You're, when you take over in a role, you, you're thrown into their tracks.

1:06:00So there's a lot of things that were designed around Adina's instrument that other people have a harder time with, her phrasing, her lung capacity, things like that. So I was sort of mercilessly hard on myself. And I also just didn't have the Broadway credits that other people did. So I felt like I was proving myself. And especially then on Broadway, I think people felt like, who's this TV bitch who just thought she could show up and sing Elphaba? You know, there was not like a, I didn't feel like warmly welcomed into the Broadway community. I felt like I was proving it, you know? So every day.

1:06:32And I, you know, that role is very, very challenging. So my last like three weeks, cause I did Chicago and then I came and I did the Three Penny Opera on Broadway and then I did Wicked up on Broadway. So my last like two, three weeks Wicked, all these people, you know, come out of the woodworks, composers I admire, people I admire, I'd be able to see one to see me in the world before I left. And I was so mercilessly cruel to myself. Every day I would come backstage and I messed up the bridge on Defying Gravity or, oh my God, I hated it. I didn't like my upper register here, there. I was screaming in this part.

1:07:12It was such an interesting experience because the sound engineer gave me, like snuck me, I hope I'm not getting him fired, recordings of my last 12 shows. He had just like stuck in a thing and recorded them. I didn't listen to them for 15 years because I was so mortified. I was like, I don't want to hear myself. And then I cracked one open one day and I started, I wanted to listen to Defying Gravity to see like if I could like Frankenstein the perfect version together, whatever. And it was so chilling how similar they were. Oh, wow, Ana. That's wild. To listen to them in a row, it was like, it took my breath away because I, and I tell my kids this all the time now, because you know, Ulysses, my son is such a, he's such a perfectionist.

1:08:04I'm like, the difference between 98 % and 100 % is imperceptible to anyone but you. And if you're hitting the general ballpark of being able to, oh, I don't know, sing Elphaba, you're probably cool. Yeah. So you are not a reliable witness about yourself. Oh, never. And that's why I give 75%. I don't even get it. But honestly, it can apply to anything. Oh, absolutely. And making that decision of being like, did you show up? Were you nice to people? You know, did you know your lines? Okay, check. And also the way, the lovely way in which you circled back and you were able to kind of like go back to that younger version of yourself and be like.

1:08:48Oh my God, I can't believe how unnecessarily relentlessly mean I was to myself. Yes. I mean, I don't know if I'm able to take it now in everyday life, but it's such an important, I don't know. It felt like such an important lesson. And obviously like that's the SNL wisdom pearl. I'm like, I wish I could have enjoyed it. Just enjoyed it. It was a great experience, you know? Yeah. I mean, the fact that you had physical evidence that they weren't that different. It was mind-blowing. Is something else, isn't it? The mind is a terrible place. A real dick. It's a terrible, terrible place. Yeah. The mind is a dick.

1:09:20The mind is a raging dick. Okay. Mean girls. What are your memories about us doing mean girls together? I remember being on the plane with you. Yep. We were on the plane. We got in a fight with a guy. Yeah. You got in a fight with a guy. and the baby baby Frances was early empowering baby Frances was on the plane with us do you remember that your baby Frances who is now in her 20s 23 yeah she was on the plane and I still got in a fight with the guy with the baby around yeah I hope so because the guy got mad that you were swearing in front of the baby yeah right I was yeah it's a long story but what happened was a very a guy like a first class guy yeah we were in first class too he was like excuse me I'm trying to you're being too loud I'm in first class and my Boston came out.

1:10:03It was the best thing I've ever seen. Okay, but the shooting of Mean Girls, what do you remember of it? I remember hanging out with you in that hotel one night and having drinks. I remember when Tina, I have a memory of her sitting at the table on 17 and saying, I think I'm going to try to option this book. Me too. I have an image of her sitting at her computer and being like, oh, and having the book near her and just like working on it, being like, I'm writing this movie. It's incredible. And I was like, good luck with that.

1:10:36I'm going to go write a sketch about a lady who has a snake around her neck. Have you ever heard of Fartmouth?

1:10:46And last question is, what are you listening to, watching? Where do you go to laugh these days? I am like, I am not very, for all my quiet comedy, like I am like Mel Brooks. is what makes me laugh. Like big, Okay. What's your favorite Mel Brooks? I mean, let's Google it. Is it, I mean, should we go to the producers? Young Frankenstein producers. I mean, when Dratch and I write together, it feels like Mel Brooks is, you know, the, the, the, Dratch is, has you, yeah. Dratch is of the Mel Brooks world. Yeah. So writing with her is a very goofy and very fun. You know what I love? And I know it's underrated.

1:11:22I love me a space balls. Oh, not deeply underrated. Yeah. God, space balls made me laugh. My friend Philip Teratila does this character called Official Pam Goldberg on Instagram. He plays a member of Actors' Equity since 1968. I know my Uber is here, but I have to see this. Yeah, you do. Official Pam Goldberg. Yeah. Pam Goldberg here, and I'm recommending one to bring with you to tech. So here we go. Snacks. Don't rely on other people's snacks or anyone else bringing snacks for you. These are Crestdale peanuts. I don't think they're organic. Pam's telling us what to bring to tech. I say good coffee.

1:12:01I like this from Fairway. They can't manage my open coffee themselves, but life's too short for fulgers. Again, I recommend Bananagrams because it's short and cordial. You also won't find out. Bananagrams are short and cordial. Also, Pam has got a real severe haircut. Real severe. And a real squinty eye. She's been a regional theater actress for a long time. But anyway, Merry Christmas. Thank you, friend. Thank you, friend. Merry Christmas to you. Anna Gasteyer, thank you so much. That was so fun. And that time went by so fast. And I love talking to you. And, you know, this is our holiday episode.

1:12:42And for those of you celebrating the holiday in all different ways, I just want to say thank you for giving us the gift of listening to this show. It's meant a lot to us. And this has been an amazing year that we've launched it. So thank you. We cannot wait to make more, which we will be doing for you. And it has been a real gift to do it. So I'm going to end this episode and dive into the polar plunge by sharing my favorite Christmas movie with you. And that is a little known classic, Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas. I don't know a lot of people that know it, but it was... Look, I don't love puppets all the time, but this one has the Muppet Puppet family.

1:13:31Jim Henson's workshop made it, and it is the cutest, most tender, best music movie. Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Check it out. It is basically the gift of the Magi. There is an incredible bunch of villains called the River Bottom Nightmare Band that is basically a snake and a weasel, and they are incredible. so do yourself a favor and I don't even know where to find it I think I have it on VHS but Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah whatever you celebrate thank you for listening and we can't wait to see you in the new year, bye You've been listening to Good Hang The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman and me Amy Poehler.

1:14:23The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullin, and Alea Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. All I ever wanted was a really good hand. When you want spring break to feel like... And a moment away from the kids to feel like... And your reward status to feel like... Thank you for being a Hilton Honors Gold member. Enjoy your daily food and beverage credit. And now that nightcap in the lounge can feel like... It matters where you stay. With Hilton Honors, earn the most valuable gold status faster and unlock benefits at over 9 ,000 locations worldwide.

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