Carol Burnett

13:38Amy Poehler:Back at you, honey.

13:39Rachel Dratch:I'm so happy to see you. I mean, I got the chance to see you in person maybe longer than I'd like to admit, maybe like a year or two ago. I don't think I've seen you since. Well, I think you, what was it? At the 90th.

13:51Amy Poehler:At the 90th. And then we did it when you presented me with an award. I got to, got to say nice things about you,

13:57Rachel Dratch:which is the best. Thank you. And, um, I, I, I just, you know, I just want to get this out of the way, Carol, you are everything to me. You're the reason why I'm in comedy and you are a living legend. And it is really, uh, very emotional for me to get to talk to you. I'm thrilled that you're here and it means a lot to me. So thank you.

14:18Amy Poehler:You know what? If I'd never been born, you'd be doing what you're doing. So.

14:24Rachel Dratch:Well, we'll never know. We'll never know. But, and you know, the fact that I get to call you a friend and know you is amazing. It's definitely one of those things where sometimes you feel like your life is a dream. And I think we, you and I talked about this one time that, you know, life does feel like a dream. And I know that there's moments in your life where you look back at your life and say...

14:49Amy Poehler:You remember the movie It's a Wonderful Life? And Jimmy Stewart has this angel named Clarence. There are things that have happened to me where I feel I've got Clarence on my shoulder. From the very early on in life, I remember I lived with my grandmother in one room a block north of Hollywood Boulevard. and we were poor. Our rent was a dollar a day,$30 a month. And sometimes we could hardly manage that. And so I graduated from Hollywood High and I desperately wanted to go to UCLA. Hmm. And my grandmother said, forget it. You know, we can't afford the tuition. There's no way. Guess what? The tuition was UCLA in 1951.

15:46Rachel Dratch:A yearly tuition?

15:48Amy Poehler:Yeah.

15:49Rachel Dratch:Well, for a semester. Okay, for a semester. A thousand dollars?

15:56Amy Poehler:Forty three dollars. And we couldn't afford it. Yeah. So we lived in this apartment building right at our room face the lobby. So every morning, I would check. There was a pigeonhole mailboxes for all the apartments. And I would look out and see if we had a little letter or something in our slot. So I go, and there's a letter in this slot this one morning. I came out and I opened it up in our room. My name was typewritten on the envelope. And there was a$50 bill. I do not to this day know where that came from nobody in the neighborhood that kind of money had that and that was my tuition so that was Clarence you know and I got to go to UCLA then I got a catalog that said theater arts and I looked through that and there was a one called theater arts English so I entered the theater arts department but also at that time if you were a freshman, no matter what, if you wanted theater arts film, theater arts theater, theater arts English, you had to take an acting course.

17:11Rachel Dratch:Do you remember the first thing you did in your acting class then? Yes.

17:16Amy Poehler:Oh, I was terrified. I'd never done anything. I'd never performed or anything. Wow. I thought, oh my God. And I came in late actually, and all the other kids were teamed up and so I was the oddball. And the teacher gave me a couple of monologues to choose from. One from The Country Girl and one from a play called The Mad Woman of Chaillot. And I picked The Mad Woman because it was shorter. And I got up and it didn't even occur to me to read the play. All I did was memorize it. And I said, I'm doing a scene from the mad woman of Chalit. I didn't know how to pronounce it. And I did, and she gave me a D minus.

18:03Amy Poehler:And she said, the only reason I'm not failing you is because you memorized it. Sounds like a great teacher. Well, she was right. She was right. And then I got into a one act that one of the students had written where I played a hillbilly woman. And of course, we're from Arkansas and Texas. And all I remember is that there was one scene where I came out and I'm this over-the-hill hillbilly woman. And I just said, I'm back. And everybody cracked up and laughed.

18:34Rachel Dratch:Was that your first laugh you remember getting, doing, like performing? Yeah.

18:39Amy Poehler:And from then on, and then some of the other students would come up and some of the teachers said, would you be in another one act? Would you be in another one act? All of a sudden I thought, I kind of like this. Yeah.

18:50Rachel Dratch:When I was talking to Kristen Wiig, who is here doing this, who I know you love, she said that she kind of burst into tears when she met you. I hate it when people look at me and cry.

19:05Amy Poehler:Why am I scaring them?

19:06Carol Burnett:When they point at you and cry.

19:11Rachel Dratch:But what I was going to say is Kristen talked about how important it was to meet you. and um you talk about how luck played a big part in many moments in your life but as you know luck only gets you so far you kind of have to show you have to kind of nail it you know which door to go through yes and you have to kind of deliver yeah and what i love about your work which continues even to this very moment this very day because you are working non-stop is you are this beautiful combination of luck meets opportunity meets gratitude meets flexibility meets collaboration. I've watched and watched you and your career since I was a young person and how you welcome all of those things at once.

20:05Rachel Dratch:You're never taking anything for granted.

20:07Amy Poehler:No, you don't. You can't. But people do. Then they're wrong. Yeah.

20:13Rachel Dratch:They don't. Right. But you also are so confident and skilled in what you know you can do. You show up for those lucky moments. And I want to talk about all of that stuff today. But, you know, I think sometimes with, I'm lucky to know a lot of nonagenarians, like my, you know, the 90s or the new 80s, babe.

20:32Amy Poehler:I like that.

20:33Rachel Dratch:I just want to talk about the present moment for a second because you are working. What does work feel like to you right now today?

20:40Amy Poehler:like how do you how is work feeling it feels the same yeah I don't you know I'm 105 years old but I still like when we were doing our doing Paul Morial and all that I'm just as excited as I was when I came on and said I'm back you know it's the same thing and I was just what another thing I was thrilled about Palm Royale. When Abe Sylvia called me, he was the creator and director and showrunner, all of that, two, three years ago, I guess it was, I said, we're going to do this show, and we'd love you to be a part of it. I said, well, what's it about? And then he told me who was going to be in it.

21:29Rachel Dratch:Yeah.

21:29Amy Poehler:Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney, Laura Dern. I said, I'm in. don't even bother sending me a script I want to work with these ladies I want to lock eyeballs with them get in the sandbox and play and it was really of course the first few episodes I was in a coma you have it in your contract that you need to be able to sleep on set get up at 5 in the morning go get made up go right back to bed

22:03Rachel Dratch:But, you know, but those women that you talk about, you know, have become your friends and you are and I and I feel grateful for this, too, is that you're a living example of it's just like if one's lucky enough, they keep meeting new people and new friends.

22:17Amy Poehler:Absolutely. Absolutely. I felt that way. I was very lucky to do Better Call Saul. That was just before Palme Royale. Yeah. And I was a big fan of Breaking Bad and Vince Gilligan. And I watched Bob Odenkirk and all. And Vince Gilligan said, we'd love you to come. I said, I'm there no matter what. So it was a wonderful, wonderful time for me too. You know, you're one of those people that, you know, you've gone back and forth in your life between New York and L.A.

22:48Rachel Dratch:And I want to talk about both. And I bet that each block or section of the city holds a memory. What was Hollywood like? When you were there, how would you describe it?

22:57Amy Poehler:You didn't even have to lock your doors. And every morning when I would go out getting ready to go to school, I'd look up and there was a Hollywood sign. And we used to climb the Hollywood sign. Wow. The other neighborhood kids and I, now you can't get near it. Sure. But we would fly kites or roller skate and they would say, yeah, I'm bored. Let's go climb the sign. So we don't care. And it was kind of rickety then. They'd fixed it up now. And there were splinters, and I would climb up, get splinters. It's a wonder we didn't break our neck. And then the O's were my favorite. And I would just hang over the O's and say, hello, Hollywood.

23:37Amy Poehler:Hello. And then we'd do the Tarzan yell and all of that. And also growing up like that, we played. Yeah. We went out and played until it was time to go in for supper. Yeah. And no one knew where you were. I hear my grandma say, Carol, come on, you know, and we'd come in and, but, and I say, I'm going out and play now after school.

24:04Rachel Dratch:And then you, you spoke about your grandmother who was instrumental in your life and how you would go to the movies together. Yeah. So take us to that. What were you watching? Who are you seeing on the screen?

24:16Amy Poehler:Well, we would go to the second runs because they were cheaper than going. If you went to a first run, it was a lot more money, like a quarter, you know. And so the second runs and there would be double features. So we would see, we would go one, two, three, four, maybe six movies a week. Wow. And that was in the 40s. And Betty Grable and Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and Tyrone Power and all of those, which maybe none of the people listening know those people. Anyway, they were my favorites. Yeah. And Linda Darnell was a beautiful woman. She's not as well known today as... You know what? I don't know Linda Darnell.

25:03Amy Poehler:I have to tell you, my grandmother and I, we would go and hang over the ropes when there would be a premiere on Hollywood Boulevard and to watch the movie stars come in, right? So I'm nine years old and Nanny is standing there and the ropes are holding all of us back. And coming, walking up by us was Linda Darnell. I got to look her up while you talk about her. Oh, do, do. Okay. And so my grandmother grabbed her by the... Linda, Linda, give this little girl your autograph. She just loves you. And Linda Darnell was so sweet. And I'm looking at her, and she said, okay, dear. And I gave her my book, and I was shaking.

25:48Amy Poehler:And she said, what's your name? And I told her. And I'm looking at this gorgeous, and I realized her nostrils didn't match.

26:05Amy Poehler:why what happened it was just like a millimeter off

26:10Rachel Dratch:and suddenly that was the only flaw suddenly you realize nothing is what it seems our faces are different when you put it they're different symmetry is not my strong point. I don't think it is for anybody. But I remember that so clearly. You remember that so clearly. Oh my gosh. Who else did you have in that autograph book?

26:36Amy Poehler:Oh gosh. I had Betty Grayball.

26:40Rachel Dratch:Oh wow. Linda is so pretty. I'm looking her up right now. She proves my theory that the more far apart your eyes are. Her eyes are very far apart. She proves my theory that if your eyes are far apart you're very beautiful.

26:54Amy Poehler:And especially if they don't cross. And I remember going, we would go to the Grumman's Chinese, where they have the courtyard with everybody's handprints and footprints and so forth. And I remember putting my handprints into Betty Grable's handprints. And just a few months ago, I got my handprints after all these years after. And I remember putting mine, and I'm wondering, will somebody someday put their handprints on mine? You know, wouldn't that be kind of wild? Yeah. But I, yeah. So cool. And also, I mean, I feel I did have a fairy godmother. Yeah, Clarence. Betty Grable was one of my first guests on my show.

27:44Amy Poehler:Whoa. Did you tell her the story? Oh, yeah. What was she like? Adorable. Very funny. Yeah. Betty was on the show as a guest, and so was Martha Ray, who was one of the funniest women ever. She was very bawdy and loud, and she and Betty had worked together, and they were good friends. So it was, for me, my God, I'd grown up watching Betty Graham, watching Martha Ray. I was all thrilled. So now we're rehearsing. Now, Betty had a thing about Coca-Cola. She had to drink Coca-Cola all the time. So what would happen would she be going, ugh, constantly, I mean, really, really loud.

28:30Amy Poehler:She just loved Coca-Cola. So we're in the wings, ready, and we're doing the show. And Betty and Martha and I are ready for our cue to go out. And Betty took one and did, ugh, again. And Martha Ray said, oh, for God's sakes, Betty, why don't you just fart and save your teeth?

28:58Amy Poehler:I thought I was going to die. And then we had to go out and do the finale. I was just hysterical.

29:07Rachel Dratch:Betty, I mean, you talk a lot. I want to talk to you about it because you talk a lot about people coming through your show, the Carol Burnett show. I mean, when you host a show, I know that from SNL and in some ways from Parks, when you host a show and people come through, you're the host. You're hosting the show, but you're also hosting the guests. And you're watching all the different ways that people work.

29:30Amy Poehler:But, I mean, it was a joy. Yeah. In fact, in 11 years, we didn't have one rotten person that we dealt with at all. Everybody was happy to be on. And another thing that I always loved doing was giving, like if we had Chita Rivera or Juliet Prowse or dancers and singers on the show, we also would try to put them in a sketch.

29:56Rachel Dratch:Yeah.

29:57Amy Poehler:Because if they went on another show, the other shows, they would just do their bit and that would be it. Or they may be in a finale also. But we would put Gwen Verdon in a sketch. I even did a sketch with Ray Charles. Wow. What was the sketch? It was a piano bar. And I was a lady who was a little bit in her cups, very sad about herself because it was her birthday and nobody cared. You know, and I was and so now I'm talking to Ray, who is at the piano. And we have this lovely little scene about the fact that I'm so sad and nobody. And he then talks, is very sweet, encourages me. And he says, come on over here and sit down.

30:41Amy Poehler:And then we sang together, you know. And he said, I just love it. He said, nobody has ever asked me to do lines before. Wow. So he really, he loved it.

30:53Rachel Dratch:Wow. Okay. When you were in your 20s in New York. Yeah. First of all, what was it like being in New York in the, what was it, it was the 50s? 50s. Did Mad Men get it right? Like, what was it like?

31:08Amy Poehler:I lived at the rehearsal club. Yeah, talk about the rehearsal club. Well, I got a chance to go to New York. A benefactor lent me the money to go. I had never been any further east than Texas or California. And I remember my grandmother saying, you can't go to New York. She said, your blood's too thin. You'll be dead in a week. So much for that. Good, thank you. Anyway, I said, I'm going to New York. I have this money. And I was so stupid and naive. How old were you? I was 21. 21, yeah. I didn't know where I was going to stay. Right, you just showed up and said, we'll figure it out. It's like the movies, you know.

31:52Amy Poehler:With the suitcase. Okay, I'm going to get there, and now I'm in a Broadway show. So I'm on the airplane, and I see an ad for the Algonquin Hotel. I said, well, I think I'll go there. and I had something like$300 some odd dollars left. And so it was raining. I had a cardboard suitcase and got up to the Algonquin. And I checked in and he said, that'll be$9. And I said, for the week? He said, no, for the night. $9 for what? Okay. So I gave the$9 and I went up to this room and I'm there and I called Nanny, my grandmother, and she said, come home. I said, I just got here. And she, anyway, I hung up and I thought, what am I going to do?

32:38Amy Poehler:I'm in New York. And the next morning I had one phone number that I could call. And it was a girl who had gone to UCLA and was ahead of me. And she went to, came to New York and she left her phone number with a bunch of us in case we ever got to New York to give her a call. So that was the one number I had. And I called her. Her name was Eleanor Eby. And the phone rang and I said, hello. I said, is Eleanor Eby there? And they said, wait a minute, Ellie. And I'm hearing all this noise going on, people singing and stuff. And she gets on the phone. Hello. I said, Ellie, it's Carol. You're here. Where are you?

33:19Amy Poehler:I said, the Algonquin. She said, get out of it. Are you crazy? She said, come up here. gave me the address. I left. I got bing bong. It's a brownstone, four stories. And I had no idea, but I rang the doorbell. Some gal opened the door. She said, well, I said, I'm here to see Eleanor E.B. Oh, Ellie. And I go in and there's a parlor and a bunch of stairs going up to the various floors and people are dancing and singing and playing the piano. And all women? All women. And it was called the Rehearsal Club. And maybe about 25 women lived there. And Ellie said, maybe we can get you a way to stay here.

34:05Amy Poehler:And she said, I'll introduce you to the house mother, Miss Carlton. And Miss Carlton came. She said, well, you're in luck. We have one cot available. And it was$18 a week, room and board. It was sponsored by a lot of rich New York ladies, which made it possible for that to be so inexpensive. How cool. And she said, this is a transit room, so it's the biggest, and it's where we put new people. And you'll have four roommates. There'll be five of you. And she said, there are rules. No men be on the parlor. and they can't stay past 10 o 'clock or midnight on weekends. You cannot spend the night you have to be in.

34:52Amy Poehler:It was very, very strict. And you have to be pursuing a career in the theater. You are allowed to take a part-time job to help pay for the rent. Wow. But you must go on auditions and so forth and so on. So it was very...

35:09Rachel Dratch:It's making me think of the Lucille Ball movie Stage Door.

35:13Amy Poehler:That's what it was written about. Stage Door was about the rehearsal club. That was it. I was just going to, absolutely. How funny. That was it. Also, it's the first time I had a bed. I slept on the couch for 21 years. My grandmother slept on the Murphy bed.

35:32Rachel Dratch:So I have a bed. Carol, you know, it makes me want to ask you, Was there ever a job that made you feel secure, financially secure?

35:40Amy Poehler:Only when I got on the Gary Moore show and Once Upon a Mattress.

35:45Rachel Dratch:Okay. Because Once Upon a Mattress felt like a secure, like, okay, I've got a gig every week and I'm going to be okay and I'm going to be able to take care of my family. And were you taking care of your family then? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

35:58Amy Poehler:Yeah.

35:58Rachel Dratch:Yeah. So Once Upon a Mattress is a Broadway show that you opened. You opened that show. You were the original. Winifred. Okay. So we've talked about it on this podcast, that particular show. And I know I've shared this with you because I got to be Winifred in my high school production of Once Upon a Mattress and listen to your cast recording to try to learn the part. And Rachel Dratch, the great Rachel Dratch from SNL also was in Once Upon a Mattress. She jokes that she was the boring part, the Lady Larkin part. All right. Yeah. And I spoke to her earlier today about you. Give her my life. I will.

36:39Rachel Dratch:And we talked about how influential you were to us. But when you were doing Once Upon a Mattress, you were getting, like, finally getting paid to be an actor.

36:54Amy Poehler:$80 a week. Well, what happened? And actually, again, Clarence, I had been auditioning before I got Mattress. When I left UCLA to go to New York, my friend said, what are you going to do? I said, I'm going to go to New York and I'm going to be in a show directed by George Abbott. Now, George Abbott was Mr. Broadway. He directed Pajama Game, Damn Yankees. He was the musical director of all time. And I said that, I'm going to be in it. Okay. But that's what I'm talking about.

37:26Rachel Dratch:That's not Clarence. That's Carol. Hold on, though. Wait. This is weird. But that's manifesting.

37:32Amy Poehler:You put it out there in the universe. That's right. So what happened was I was in New York for a while, and then I got a chance to audition for a re... They were going to reissue, not reissue, redo a show called Babes in Arms that Rogers and Hammerstein and Hart wrote. And they were going to open it in Florida and bring it to Broadway. I auditioned and it looked like I was going to get the part of the girl who sings Johnny One Note. I was so excited and everything. And then, and the director wanted me, but then they said, you know, Carol, we're going to go for someone who's got a name. I went, oh.

38:10Amy Poehler:So I hung up the phone. Swear to God. I hung up the phone. Two minutes later, the phone rang, and it was Jean Eckhart who was producing a show called Once Upon a Mattress. And she said, can you come down now to the Phoenix Theater and audition for George Abbott? Wow. Rejection is God's protection, Carol. I took the subway down. I sang what I had to do. Do you remember what you sang?

38:40Rachel Dratch:Do you remember your audition song?

38:41Amy Poehler:I sang Everybody Loves to Take a Bow. It's from a show called Hazel Flag. I got back. The phone was ringing. They said, you got the part. And had I gotten Babes in Arms, which never left Florida, I wouldn't have had mattress.

38:59Rachel Dratch:Isn't it weird how when you look at life and you think if just the slightest thing moved here and the slightest thing moved here.

39:05Amy Poehler:And some of the best things happen when you're disappointed at first. That's right. You look back and say, you know, if that hadn't happened, this would... That's right.

39:39Carol Burnett:Enjoy your coffee, your way. Sip for yourself.

39:42Rachel Dratch:Shop Virtuo up exclusively at Nespresso.com.

39:46Carol Burnett:We're leaving today and entering a world of Mickey Mouse waving, princess meeting and greeting, lightsaber clashing, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror dropping, banshee flying, Space Mountain launching, galaxy rewinding, galaxy rewinding, fireworks igniting, World of Other Worlds. For whatever you love. Infinite worlds await at the most magical place on Earth. Walt Disney World Resort. We all have that dream trip we've been wishing we could go on. But too often, life, or usually price, gets in the way. That's why Priceline is here to help you turn your dream trip into reality. With up to 60 % off hotels and up to 50 % off flights, you can book everything you need for your next adventure.

40:35Carol Burnett:Don't just dream about that next trip. Book it with Priceline. Download the Priceline app or visit Priceline.com and book your next trip today.

40:49Rachel Dratch:When you were doing Once Upon a Mattress, we spoke, we mentioned Lucille Ball. But can you tell everyone that story? I know you've told it before, but to me, you were very kind to talk and always talk about Lucy whenever you get a chance to. but you were very kind to talk about her in a documentary that I did. And you told this story, which I think is not only so indicative of how wonderful and supportive a person she was, but how she saw in you something very, very special that we all eventually came to know.

41:25Amy Poehler:I remember we opened in May of 1959. and got great reviews. I was like, wow. I was thrilled. And the second night, there was a buzz backstage and everything. And I said, what is it? Lucy's in the audience. I was more frightened than I was opening night. What year was this? 1959. So I remember I was stupid. I peeked through and I saw this orange hair in the second row. Oh, my God. Anyway, I got through the show, and she wanted to come backstage. And it was off-Broadway theater, and it was really funky. And I had a couch where the coil was sticking up. And it was kind of, anyway, and it was Lucille Ball.

42:21Amy Poehler:Come in. And she headed for the couch, and I said, oh, look. She said, no, I see it. you know so she sat on the right end of the couch and well god 20 25 minutes and she called me kid she's it was 22 years older and she as she was leaving she said kid if you ever need me for anything you give me a call wow you know so actually for about four years later i was working and doing stuff. And CBS wanted me to do an hour-long special, variety special, if I could get a major guest star. So the producer said, you've got to call Lucy. I said, I don't want to bother her. All she can do is say, I'd love to, kid, but I'm busy.

43:13Amy Poehler:So I got up the nerve, and I called her. Hey, kid, you're doing great. What's happening? I went I'm doing a show and I know you're and she said hold on when do you want me? She's such a badass Lucy So she did the show

43:32Rachel Dratch:and we did it together I mean I think about Lucy a lot when she was very ahead of her time and also we talked about this when we talked about her together she was producing and running shows, even though she wasn't getting the credit, just like you were producing your show. She was so ahead of her time. Well, there's a story. She, when she did my show, you know, we had a lot of fun together, and we had a dinner break.

44:07Amy Poehler:So we went across the way to the farmer's market, you know, and she's knocking back a couple of whiskey sours. and she says you know kid because my husband at the time joe was producing our show yeah you know and i he just did it and uh she said you're you're very fortunate you got joe to do it for you she said because when i was married to the cuban she said desi did everything yeah he invented the three camera system. A lot of people don't know. He said he took care of the scripts. He took care of the costumes. He took care of the lighting. All I had to do was come in and be silly Lucy on Monday and do the show.

44:51Amy Poehler:Then we got a divorce. She said, now I know I have to be like Desi. I got to get him. And she said, I didn't know what. So they had a script reading of the new Lucy show. And she said, it was terrible. It was terrible. And I thought, Desi wasn't here to fix it. She says, I called lunch. She said, and I went back and I figured I have to be strong. I have to be confrontive, but still not afraid. So she went back and she said, and I told them in no uncertain terms to write what they had to do, how to fix it. I was just really tough. And then she took another little drink. She said, and kid, that's when they put the S on the end of my last name.

45:48Yeah.

45:49Amy Poehler:And so every birthday, on my birthday, she would send me flowers. Happy birthday, kid.

45:55Rachel Dratch:Yeah.

45:58Amy Poehler:And this one morning I got up. It was my birthday, and she had died that day on my birthday. And I got the flowers that afternoon. Happy birthday, kid.

46:08Rachel Dratch:Do you believe in ghosts or spirits? I don't not believe in them. Yeah. Like, do you feel like you've ever been visited by? Lucy? Yeah, by Lucy. Don't you feel like she'd be a funny ghost?

46:24Amy Poehler:Hello.

46:27Rachel Dratch:Lucy, if you're here. Lucy, if you're here. We'd get our Ouija board out. But yeah, I mean, and, and, and she, and, and Carol, you're like that for so many people. I mean, I feel like you're a mentor to so many women and you, you, like you said, you got things handed to you and you hand it down, you pass it on. The spirit of that felt like it was embedded in the Carol Burnett show because, so you were skipping a lot, but obviously you go to New York, you're, you're in Broadway, you, Gary Moore. And do you feel like Like, I mean, you were physical in a way back then and a way back and way and a way now.

47:09I mean, first of all, you look terrific.

47:12Rachel Dratch:Well, thank you. You're 92? Yeah. I mean, you're just. Well, thank you. I mean, physically, your body has been so good to you. You have a command of your body and always have. And it's like, and I guess one of the questions that Rachel had that we were talking about is this idea of physical comedy, which was. I love doing it. Yeah. When you would do the show, would you do warmups, like physical warmups? Like, would you stretch? Like, before the show was about to start.

47:40Amy Poehler:No, I was very athletic as a kid. I would roller skate. I would do all kinds of, climb the sign. Yeah. Yeah. And so I was, and I could run like the wind. It was very fast.

47:53Rachel Dratch:What are those legs, Carol?

47:55Amy Poehler:Well, they're the last things to go.

47:57Rachel Dratch:Babe, you got it. I mean, what I would give for long legs. You have the best legs. Thank you. You probably could have been a long distance runner. Well, when I was in junior high school, my physical teacher, because I could run,

48:12Amy Poehler:she sent a letter home to my grandmother saying, could Carol stay after school and I could be coaching her? And my grandmother said, no, running is bad for the heart. Whatever that means.

48:25Rachel Dratch:That was definitely back then when everyone was a little scared of everything. Of everything. Yeah, running is bad for the heart.

48:32Amy Poehler:Yeah, like she said when I went to New York, you know. Yeah, yeah. You'll be dead in a week. Your blood's too thin.

48:38Rachel Dratch:Yeah, so physically. And also, Carol, do you feel like you have a thing that happens, because you've done a lot of live stuff, where when there's something that's a little wrong, you know, when something's going a little wrong, There's like a little fun electricity where you get excited.

48:54Amy Poehler:Okay, now what am I going to do?

48:56Rachel Dratch:Yeah. Oh, yeah. You've always had that. Yeah.

48:58Amy Poehler:Yeah.

48:59Rachel Dratch:I love that. Yeah.

49:01Amy Poehler:We were accused a lot of breaking up.

49:05Rachel Dratch:So on your show, there would be people, you guys would laugh.

49:08Amy Poehler:Yeah, but out of 270-some odd shows, I can't—there was—in fact, I kind of looked at stuff because it was usually Conway who was after Harvey to break him up. I don't think we—more than 15 times out of 200. But people remember that. Oh, yeah. Because it was so delicious. It was. But then people say, well, they shouldn't have done that.

49:38Rachel Dratch:That kind of fun goof around thing. I mean, that just goes to show, I think, what I felt watching, even from, you know. It was a family. It was a family. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was 10 years that you made that show together? 11. Yeah. And what was - I decided I wanted to quit after 11. Do you remember the last moment of the last show?

49:59Amy Poehler:Well, yeah. It was when I sat on the bucket as the charwoman, and then I just talked about how we were going to not come back, you know. And yeah, I cried. It was bittersweet. Yeah. But it was time.

50:13Rachel Dratch:Yeah. And the last thing I'll say about how important that show was to me is you, and I know you've spoken about how it was a section that at first you thought, I'm not sure why I'm doing this. But do you watch your old stuff? Do you watch clips of yourself?

50:28Amy Poehler:I'm not like Norma Desmond. You don't?

50:32Rachel Dratch:You're not in your bedroom all day watching old clips of yourself?

50:37Amy Poehler:We had spaces then.

50:40Rachel Dratch:But you must every once in a while stumble across something that comes, your phone must know who you are. Oh, yeah, yeah.

50:46Amy Poehler:Well, actually, when I wrote my last book was about doing the show. So I had to watch a lot to, you know. I went fast through some of them, and some of the sketches, oh, God, they were terrible. And some were wonderful, you know, but I hadn't remembered a lot. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

51:06Rachel Dratch:And do you watch comedy now? I ask my guests. Not really. Yeah. Do you watch anything now that you're liking? I watch TCM.

51:17Amy Poehler:Turner Classic Movies. I go and visit all the people that I loved when I was growing up.

51:22Rachel Dratch:Who did you, comedically, who did you love growing up? Oh, growing up comedically. Who would you visit right now if you could on TCM?

51:30Amy Poehler:Carol Lombard. Now, you know, she was, that's who my mother named me after, actually. She was a beautiful comedic actress and could really, you know, with a turn of a twist, this, and that's the movies, you know.

51:51Amy Poehler:Comedically, I kind of fashioned my show not only after Gary, but after Sid Caesar.

51:57Rachel Dratch:And Sonny and Cher were in the same studio as you, right? They were next door. Do you and Cher hang out? No. I'd like to. Did you guys ever hang out? Not really. No, but we know each other we're friends. Did you watch their show? Oh, yeah. And you snuck over there?

52:16Amy Poehler:Our studios were joined by the ladies' room and men's room. So if there was a break or I had, I'd go through the ladies' room and watch them rehearse something. And sometimes, like she and Sunny, and even separately sometimes, just walk on while I was doing questions and answers. Oh, fun. And we'd get around. You know, it's great fun. Oh, that's so fun. She's lovely. She is lovely. I mean, I don't know her. We just don't run around in the same circle. She just seems cool. She's cool.

52:45Rachel Dratch:Cher, if you're listening, we love you. She should come on this show. You heard it here first, Cher. Yeah. Carol says, I'd love to have her on. What's your sign, Carol? What's your sign? A Taurus. Of course. Earth sign. What does that mean? I'm lying on a bull. You're bull. But you're an Earth sign. I'm a Virgo. Tina's a Taurus. You know, somebody's got to get this stuff done. Somebody's got to get stuff done. Torrens. And again, I know nothing about astrology. Yeah.

53:16Amy Poehler:Oh, well, you know who else is Taurus? It's Shirley MacLaine and Barbara Streisand. They have the same birthday.

53:24Rachel Dratch:And you heard it here. Carol thinks you guys should come on this podcast too. I think so. One of the most special moments of, of doing your, um, wonderful special that, um, you and Brian produced, uh, for your birthday a couple of years ago, number one, it was like the first time I had been out since COVID. I was like, but also you and Julie Andrews were together and you held hands during a lot of that and sat next to each other. My chum. Yeah. Tell us when you first met Julie and how important a friend she is to you.

54:04Amy Poehler:I was doing mattress and she was in Camelot. So she was a queen and I was a princess. And some friends, mutual friends said, you two ought to meet because there's a similarity there. And later on, Julie and I even talked about, oh, come on. It's like It's like a blind date. You ought to be to see him. Anyway, she had a Sunday night off from Camelot, and we worked on Sunday night. So she came with her friend, and I had my friend there, two gentlemen, just friends. And she watched Mattress, and we went out to a Chinese restaurant afterwards, and we never stopped talking to each other. The poor guys who were with us just sat there and listened.

54:52It was as if we were joined at the hip from the beginning.

54:58Amy Poehler:And always. And she taught me some dirty words. Because you're not a big swearer. You don't love to swear.

55:11Rachel Dratch:Occasionally.

55:13Amy Poehler:Occasionally. If I stub my toe, you know what comes out. And what kind of friend is Julie? My chum, we love each other. We were sisters. Unfortunately, not unfortunate, but for me, she lives on the East Coast. Yeah. So you kind of. Yeah. And it was so sweet of her to come to the 90th to be with me.

55:37Rachel Dratch:Where were you when The Sound of Music came out? Did you go to the premiere? Do you remember?

55:42Amy Poehler:The movie? Yeah. No, I didn't go to the premiere, but I remember she used to send me dirty limericks when she was filming. Perfect. She did, I wish I could remember it or even tell a thing about, she did a whole parody on these are a few of my favorite things. I mean, brilliant.

56:06Rachel Dratch:So from it. So good. So good. Okay. And then you've worked with some, you've worked with amazing people. You have had an amazing life where you've gotten to play around with people who are kind of at the beginning of their careers, at the end of their careers. Was there anyone that you met as a young actor? I love to ask people this. Like a young, you met them and it was maybe their first job and you saw something and you said, oh, they're going to be very successful and famous.

56:35Amy Poehler:Vicki Lawrence. She wrote me a fan letter. And we were going to do the show. And we knew we were going to do something with Harvey and me where I'd be raising my kid sister and we'd be a married couple. And so I'm reading my fan mail this one night. And this was in December of 66. And we were going to go on in the fall of 67. And I'm opening up this letter. And it's from this 17-year-old girl, Vicki Lawrence, who's very nice letter saying people say that I remind them of you, young you. And then she enclosed a newspaper article that had her picture in it. She looked so much like me when I was 17.

57:19Amy Poehler:I thought, oh, that's interesting. And then in the article, they said she was going to be in a contest called Miss Fireball of Inglewood with eight other girls. And so the local paper was doing a bit on each one of those girls. This was her article. And then I look at the date. the contest is tonight. The letter had been sent three weeks ago and it got to me from CBS. It's tonight. So my husband's coming downstairs and I said, don't get too comfortable. We're going to the Miss Fireball contest tonight. He said, what? And I showed him the article. I said, but should you, yeah, okay, but shouldn't you try to tell her, you know, don't make her nervous.

58:07Amy Poehler:I said, you're right. So her father's name was listed in the article, Howard Lawrence. So I called the operator, and I said, got the phone number. And so it rings, and this lady answers, hello. I said, hi. I said, is Vicki Lawrence there? And she said, this is her mother who's calling. And I said, it's Carol Burnett. Vicki!

58:38Amy Poehler:Vicki comes up. I hear footsteps. Vicki comes up to you. Yeah, hi, Marsha. I said, it's not Marsha. Wow. It's Carol. I got it. Would you be okay if we come to the car? Okay. So we went. Wow. She did the guitar. She played the kazoo. She did a couple of jokes and she sang. And she won the contest.

58:59Rachel Dratch:And she was like you, in peeking out and seeing, just like you saw Lucy, she's peeking out seeing Carol. Exactly. And so I was in touch with her.

59:09Amy Poehler:I said, we're going to be doing a little, well, I'll be in touch with you.

59:11Rachel Dratch:We're going to be doing a little very famous show that's going to change comedy.

59:16Amy Poehler:And so we called her that summer. And she came and read. And there was another girl who'd had a lot of experience. Vicki was raw. But I saw something. You saw something. And today, no network would let us do that. Hire an 18-year-old girl with no experience. That's right. They wouldn't allow...

59:37Rachel Dratch:I mean, Carol, we could talk forever about the biz, because the biz has changed so much.

59:41Amy Poehler:I know. You know, you can't be happy being 92, but I'm glad I'm 92, because none of this would have happened today for me. It might have been... Something might have happened, but it wouldn't be... There's no way we could do what we did before. Mm-hmm. 28-piece orchestra, 65 to 70 costumes a week, two guest stars, a major rep company. Yeah. And also, CBS left us along. Right.

1:00:16Rachel Dratch:I remember you telling me that. They really didn't give you any notes. There was one note in 11 years. Sorry, I'm laughing.

1:00:26Amy Poehler:I was doing a sketch where I was a nudist. and I'm behind a fence that says, keep out. And so I'm hanging over the fence, you know, bare-shouldered, and then my legs are bare with high-top tennis shoes. And Harvey's voiceover, and it's just, he's interviewing me, and it's a bunch of jokes about a nudist colony. I mean, it's no big deal. Right. So one of the lines was, so what do you nudists do for entertainment? I said, well, we have dances every Saturday night. And he said, oh, and how do you notice dance? And I said, very carefully. Well, the network, that was too blue. You have to change that line.

1:01:14Rachel Dratch:Sometimes the change is even dirtier. Hello.

1:01:17Amy Poehler:So what do you do? Well, we have dances every Saturday night. Well, how do you dance? how do you do it? I said, cheek to cheek.

1:01:32Rachel Dratch:Incredible. So much better.

1:01:34Amy Poehler:And they were like, that's it. That's better.

1:01:38Rachel Dratch:That's good. Also, I don't have really any questions other than Annie.

1:01:48Rachel Dratch:That's all, Carol. Just Annie was so important. Annie remains so important but was very important to Gen X women Wow I mean, I've talked about it with Rachel Dratch and a bunch of people in this like how big Annie was as a musical it was all parts for it we were that age and then when the movie came out we thought, okay, here comes the movie and when you were Miss Hannigan it was like I saw that character for the first time I really understood her

1:02:17Amy Poehler:Well, I went to John Huston at the beginning, and I said, I think she should drink. It wasn't in the original. That she should have a little bit, because it would only make sense that this woman, you know. Yes. And so he, that's a good idea there. That's the way he does. Now, this is my favorite story about Annie. Tim Curry, Bernadette and I, you know, the villains. Yeah. Easy Street was going to be this big number. So being a Hollywood movie, they decided to change it from the original, where it's just the three in the orphanage, to this big, huge thing where they had this street open up. They had 400 dancers, singers, people hanging out.

1:03:07Amy Poehler:I even had a monkey grinder with a monkey. And Tim and Bernard, it takes away from the number. They're just big Hollywood production. Huge. It took a week to film, and at that time, a million dollars or so. Okay, all right. So we wrapped. I flew back. I was at the time living in Honolulu. Bernadette flew back to New York, Tim, London. And I had always wanted more of a chin. I had a weak chin. Now, there was an orthopedic surgeon, orthopedic, no, an oral surgeon in Honolulu, who said, oh, well, you know, I can just give it a little more. I said, I don't want to be Kirk Douglas. Right. I don't, I want, oh, when it rains, I'd kind of like to feel it, you know.

1:03:57Amy Poehler:And I said, just like two or three millimeters. That's all, just so I have a little more of a chin. Yeah. Okay. So no big deal. He fixed it and I had a little more of a chin. Okay. So about a month later, I get a call and it's Ray Starr, who's a producer. He said, we're going to reshoot the Easy Street number. With just the three of you. I said, thank goodness. That's great. So now Tim and Bernadette and I are in her office. Hannah goes on. And Mr. Houston says, well, what I think we'll do is we'll do it. From when Carol ran into the closet to find Annie's locket, we'll pick it up when she comes out with the locket.

1:04:44Amy Poehler:I went to, Mr. Houston, call me John, dear. John, two months ago when I ran into the closet, I didn't have a chin. And now I'm coming out of the closet with a chin. He thought for a minute, thanks. Well, dear, just come out looking determined. great direction

1:05:13Rachel Dratch:that's my favorite story I mean I guess want to end Carol by asking you what is the best part about being in your 90s that you're not 105

1:05:27yeah

1:05:29Rachel Dratch:that's yet to come you're a kid yeah

1:05:31Amy Poehler:do you feel like a kid a few years ago a bunch of us were sitting around a table said how do you really feel inside I said 11 and I remember maybe that's because that's when I would climb the sign, when I would roller skate, when I would put my handprints with Betty Grable I don't know, but something about being 11 go figure well, I loved you

1:05:59Rachel Dratch:when I was 11 so when I'm with you I feel 11 too, so it's really nice and you know I knew I was going to cry. I knew I was going to cry. And Jana said when I cried that she would start saying, cry, cry, cry.

1:06:20Rachel Dratch:So, but I knew I would cry. But Carol, that is that sense of play. That sense of play. Yeah. Like, you know, especially young girls. They're kind of really magical at 11. They haven't quite become self-conscious.

1:06:34Amy Poehler:Maybe that's it. Yeah. They're not too smart-alecky yet. Yeah. That's why we're not talking about teenagers' good luck. Yeah. Eleven is still very sweet. Yeah. When they're teenagers, you are so stupid. Yeah, right. You have no idea what life is about because you're too old. Totally.

1:06:50Rachel Dratch:But there's that tender moment before you become self-conscious when you can still kind of do your thing and not really worry about it.

1:06:57Amy Poehler:I remember when my daughter, Carrie, who we lost a few years ago when she was five years old, we caught her in a fib. And I said, that's not good. So you have your dinner and you go up to bed and, you know, you can't stay up. And then I went in afterwards and she was upset. And I sat on her bed and I'm looking at her and I said, sweetheart, you know, we love you very much. But, you know, if you tell a little fib, then later on it might become bigger, and people don't want to be a liar. And she is looking at me like, you know, and I'm thinking, I'm going to get a medal as a mother of the year. I am so, I could hear violins.

1:07:44Amy Poehler:I was so perfect. And she's looking at me. And finally I stop. And I said, are you okay, sweetheart? You want to say anything? She said, what, darling? She said, how many teeth do you have?

1:08:06Amy Poehler:Okay.

1:08:13Rachel Dratch:Perfect, Carol. Perfect. Yes. May we all get back to that innocent time. Thank you so much for doing this. It means so much that you're here. I love you, Carol. Thank you for coming. Thank you so much for coming. well thank you so much carol burnett um i cried and um look i don't want to i don't want this to become a thing okay i don't love crying and i'm i'm you know but if anyone's gonna get me there it's carol burnett i'm now technically using the good hang tissues that i have mocked other people for using and now well it got me so karma's a bitch um but uh for this polar plunge i guess just, I, you know, um, thank you, Carol.

1:09:00Rachel Dratch:You are a legend and, um, you mean so much to me. Thank you for doing the show. And it just also makes me think about all the women that we talked about in this interview, Lucille Ball, Betty Grable, um, Linda Darnell, Phyllis Diller, um, Elaine May, uh, um, uh, you know, we, all these, all these different actresses, do yourself a favor and check them out. Type them in your phone or ask your computer. Ask your computer to bring up a picture of them or whisper into your robot's ear that you want to see some of their highlights because it's just a reminder of all the good performances. And also watch that great film Stage Door, which is a great film about what Carol was talking about, about women living in a house trying to be actresses.

1:09:52Rachel Dratch:Anyway, I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm crying. I've cried. It's over. I've lost all credibility. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you soon. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Alaya Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.