"Andy Richter: LIVE in Chicago”

24:20Yeah, that's the dad. Because I mean, me and Robert Reed. It's been a while. Fucking dead ringer. No way. So it's Mike, Greg, Peter, Bobby, right? Yeah. Thank you. Right, right. There you go. That's really good. This is what they have to deal with with me. You're really staving off to nobody. Not quick or bright. Wait, so I have A to D. What did you say? I played Mike Brady, but that was... But I was like the third or fourth Mike Brady. It was when it went from Chicago to New York. The guy that was playing Mike Brady also worked at the Annoyance Theater. Like, had a, you know, he was like a salaried person there, so he couldn't go to New York.

24:59So I asked Joey Soloway, can I go along, you know, buy me a cheap wig? And all right, you know. So was it like that tight, curly wig? Oh, it was awful. It was seriously like a$17 wig that was like a bathing cap with hair on it, you know. I feel like I got a bit of a Carol Brady going right now. I need to cut this flip so bad. You need a little bit longer. Well, Gene Lynch played Carol Brady in the show, and she had just like the shittiest like little Carol Brady flip that had like a, just an elastic strap that she like hid under her bangs. She just would strap on, you know. Who played Alice and how was she?

25:43Mary Weiss and she was great. She was, she sort of originated the role here. She's kind of like a more musical theater person. I would have played Tiger. That would have been mine. Tiger, the dog. Well, it was such a big thing that we all pitched in. When I heard they were going to do it, I thought it was the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. And then when I saw the first night of it, I don't know that I've ever laughed harder. Sean, you saw it. Yeah, a long, long time ago. Because everybody in it was really talented. Oh, my God. You met Conan there? No, I did not. See, you got to bring him back on track, guys.

26:19Right, right, right. Good for you. You got to keep your eye on the prize. I, uh, I, I, we went to New York and then the Brady Bunch moved to LA and I went to Brady, I went to LA with the Brady Bunch. And in the meantime, uh, Betty Cahill, a Chicagoan, uh, who is a friend of mine that I went to Columbia college with, she had, she was on SNL and for a season. And that summer she was in LA. Do you point a lot? You point constantly? Yeah, yeah, Yeah, yeah. It's my Bernie Sanders imitation. I'm kidding. And then we... No, we... She comes out to LA. She comes out to LA. I hang out with her. She's friends with Robert Smigel.

27:03I meet Robert Smigel. Robert is going to be the head writer on Conan's show and says, do you want to meet Conan O 'Brien? Did you know who Conan was at the time? Was Conan already on the air? I knew that he was the guy... One question at a time, man. I knew that, no. No, no, no. He had just done like a screen test kind of thing. And it was just announced, this guy who was a comedy writer on The Simpsons is going to be replacing David Letterman. I just heard about it like anybody else. And then like two days after it happened, I went to Jeff Garland was taping a pilot in LA where he played like a New York cop, like a lovable guy, which, you know, Garland as a cop, is of course hilarious he's absolutely a cop sure the world's chattiest cop yes exactly uh but i i actually went to that with kate flannery and we sat in front of bob odenkirk who was there with carol leafer yeah and i totally totally eavesdropped on them talking about conan because bob is very good friends with conan and bob actually bob and his brother bill actually in the beginning of late night came out and wrote on the show for a couple of months and guess wait wait and bob and conan were roommates at one point yes here in chicago yeah during the right they were working on snl and there was uh during the writer's strike they came here and they did a live show this is bob smigel bob odenkirk oh bob odenkirk was in that show too robert smigel bob odenkirk uh conan uh jeff garland was here at that time too i think they stayed unbelievable i mean like just heavy So then how did you get from meeting Conan there to becoming such a close friend with him and then becoming the co-host of the Conan O 'Brien show?

28:53Look at these. They're like cheering on for your rudimentary skills. They've got bad ADHD. We try to sit them in the front. Yeah, yeah. Look at him go, asking questions like a big boy. What was the moment that you and Conan met?

29:10We arranged lunch in Los Angeles at Junior's Delicatessen. Sure. Junior's. And no longer there. I ordered food. Conan ordered a can of Coke. And I was like, because for me, someone was paying for lunch. Sure. Bring it on. And we just hit it off really well immediately. We could be as stupid as we wanted with each other. Was it just to be friends? or was there... No, it was to get a job as a writer on the show. As a writer. You think it was a date? Well, I don't know. I mean, they're both handsome fellas, you know? We were spooning in a booth. But, but, but, but, so because you, the notion of you being on the couch with Conan during that show all the time was never really part of the plan, question mark?

29:55Uh, I... But I'm not supposed to say the question. That rising intonation, I could tell. Okay, good. You're not talking to Siri. Yeah, no. Yeah, yeah. He does, by the way He does do so much Of dictating his texts While he's driving So, and you know people who do this But you'll be in a room, we'll be all in the We've been on the road now for like a week or whatever And Jason will be in the corner and he'll be going Hey honey Are you there? Question mark I'm just gonna dot dot dot Dot dot dot Call me back when you get a second comma And blah blah blah Can't wait to see you. Italics. XOXO, smiley face emoji, heart emoji, kiss emoji.

30:39Well, who doesn't? Who doesn't do that? But wait, so I went - I got hired as a writer. Right, right. And there was like an implicit promise that you're gonna perform at some point too. And then just as the show evolved and he started doing test shows in studios around - He realized he wasn't enough. No, no. Robert Smigel. I mean, no, that's still a few years off. Yep. But he, Robert Smigel just went, go sit with him and keep him company. And which was like, which like we'd worked enough together long enough to know like, oh yeah, that's something that needs to be done. Smigel, by the way, was the guy who did the little mouth thingy cut into the face, right?

31:27Saturday TV fun house. Are you talking about Triumph the Insult Dog? Yeah. But he also was the guy with the mouth behind... Yeah, we did... Oh, on Conan when they put the other mouths... We called those clutch cargos. Was that his hand? Oh, no, I'm thinking of the in-laws. Oh, my God. With Peter Falk and... That's Senior Wences. I'm so old, you guys. This is all starting to go. So, wait, I've always thought, you know, because obviously we love Conan. He was on the tour with us already. He's amazing. But I always thought when I watched it, you know, every single kind of wisecrack you kind of cut in with her.

32:02And it was always fucking so funny. You just waited and he went, bam, like right in there. And I was like, he could have his own talk show. Is there any kind of aspiration to do that? Because it seems like you could so seamlessly. Did you ever try to kill Conan? I never did try to kill him. And honestly, it was, it was, I was happy to have that position. I would not want, like there was so much of just the time that I've spent being his TV wife I there was so much stuff that he had to deal with that he kind of likes dealing with and that I'm just like leave me alone he has to have so many meanings and he has to know so many pukey executive types and remember their name I don't know anybody's name you just want to do bits I want to show up I want to make television, I want to make funny stuff, and I don't want to have a bunch of boring meetings.

32:58Yeah, yeah, yeah. Baby wants fun. Yeah, yeah. And I'll bet you both these guys would agree that any time we were on that couch, the idea that you were right here the whole time was very comforting. Oh, very, very comforting. Yeah, I loved it. I was smelling your hair. Yeah. I mean, if that... It's hard not to. Is that the comforting? It's the glue. It's mostly the glue. Andy, again, you know, not unlike Chicago, you were at Conan at a time when you guys started doing that show, you really kind of once again broke the mold. Dave had done it with Letterman in the 80s, and then you guys re-did it.

33:31You had amazing writers, most of whom were sketch performers, or a lot of them, from Chicago. Yep. It was a real Chicago-Boston kind of split. It was unbelievable. And you guys did so many unbelievable sketches. You guys remember in the early 90s and late 90s, whatever, there were so many amazing moments. Being there at that time, was it exciting? Every day, were you like, fuck yeah, I'm so psyched to go in there and do these bits and work on this show. No. Great. Good night. Good night. I mean, you know, it's like... What do you mean, no? You weren't? No, not every day. I mean, you know, what am I, Pollyanna?

34:08Am I, you know, skipping to work in my shorts with a big lolly? Well, you need to learn to appreciate it. How heavy was the lift, though? I mean, like, you'd get in there, you guys would shoot, what, about five o 'clock, right? Oh, no, in the beginning, it was brutal. We were on 47 weeks a year, five days a week. How long was the day for you? You'd get in at what time and leave at what time? 10 a.m. and usually leave around midnight. Really? In the beginning. Every day? Yeah. What the fuck would you do for 14 hours? It's a one-hour show. Write bits. Write bits. Produce bits. What's the staff for?

34:45Well, when I got hired, I was a writer. You know, I was on the show, too, and in the beginning, No, I know. Look at how tired he is thinking about it. I mean... But I mean, if... Hey, portal to portal. No, no, no. Who fed you your soup? For a one-hour show, though, you would think it would be a shorter day, but every time... Wait, wait. Can I just tell you something? This is really on brand for this, and I just want to talk about what happened backstage today. Oh, my God. So, hang on. Can I just tell you? This right before we came out? Yeah. So I just want to say, so everywhere we go, we've been on tour for a week, And Andy, you're gonna appreciate this because you've known Jason for a long time.

35:21By the way, I drank out of that. Yeah. I don't care. And he's been super sneezy, super... And his mom's eye came in that, too. Go ahead, sorry, sorry. So everywhere we go, we have the special water and almonds and popcorn. I didn't ask for any of it. So Jason starts going, it dawns on him, and I'm like, everywhere we go, we're the popcorn and the almonds and the lemon water. And they're like, where is this coming from? and then we find out. Well, look, I... Hey. But I said, it dawned on me that, like, all my favorite things... Because we're all staying in the same hotel room. We thought it'd be fun and funny.

36:04It's a fucking drag. Are you really? Are you really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're all staying in the same. It's nice, it's fun, it's great. But all my shit is in there. There's Lemon Perfect, a great beverage. I highly recommend it. It is a great bet. Almonds. Daddy likes almonds. There's a certain kind of candle that I do like a nice smelling candle. By the way, and there's skinny pop popcorn. And every time I walk in I go, skinny pop. But I realized that whomever was tasked with getting this stuff in the hotel room, in the dressing room, must think I'm a fucking monster. But, but, but... And rightfully so.

36:49But the point is... I'm trying to find... But I'm trying to... Because I never asked for it. I'm trying to track down. It must be one of my friends from back home that told whoever is arranging things here, oh, by the... I just want to make sure they're saying, don't make the mistake of not having X, Y, and Z. I hopefully it was like, oh, by the way, just, if you've got something, you know, Jason happens to like such and such, and I think the guys like it too. It wasn't like that. It wasn't like that. No. And the best part was, Jason was like, how come there's nothing for you and Sean don't have everything?

37:18And I was able to, you know when you get on the high road? And it's open. And you're able to be just super chill on the high road and you go, because we don't need anything. Well, wait, Andy. Andy, I want to get back. I know, I know, I know, I know. I know, I know. So wait, Andy, I want to show you. Do you remember the time that there was some kerfuffle about you in line at the Apple store? Oh, God. Do you all know about... Yeah, clearly they already know it. Oh, my God. We talked about it. That was so hilarious when that happened. I think I saw you like the day after and you were like, I was not cutting the line.

38:02But wait a minute. I want to get back to... You already told the story so they know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to get back to just a little bit about Chicago because Chicago... Oh, hey, Sean. Hey, what's going on? And I want to get back to Chicago and everybody knows there's so many great music and great bands and everything like that are from here. Did you have anything like that growing up where you just, anybody you loved or maybe somebody now or whatever? Because I love, I was in a band called Sounds From The Stairs. Hold for applause. Thanks a lot for five years. What was Sounds From The Stairs?

38:33It was all keyboard and synth. But what was the significance of the name? None of your business. Wow. Sounds From The Stairs. It sounds like they started practicing in the basement of Mom's home. That's exactly what it was. It was. That's exactly what it was. What kind of songs? Oh, just synth pop. Okay, well, an example. Like we would do covers of The Cure and stuff like that. Oh my God, that sounds so cringy. Sean doing synth pop. Did you have a smoky eye? We'll be right back.

39:05And now, back to the show. So I would be the, you know, like when you play keyboards in a band, you can't really like, you know, jam like you can a guitar, because you can't jump because you miss the keys. That's why they invented the keytar. No, right. The keytar, right. But I only played synth, so I'd be like, I'd be jamming out, and then whenever it was my turn to play, I'd go.

39:28It was awful. Wow. It was awful. It's like the bassist. Yeah, yeah. That really says goth, too, all of that. Yeah, absolutely. But what about you? Did you ever do that? Yeah, did I? Was I in a band? No, I was not in the band. You got nominated for best host. Oh, anybody that I love? Well, at the time when I was young here, Smashing Pumpkins were still around. That was the big band that everybody talked about. And then there was always lots of... Wilco. Blues, and Wilco, yeah, yeah. Wilco is great. Wilco is amazing. Well, it's so funny because we keep, we are, these guys turned me on to Wilk when I was reading about Jeff Tweedle and how incredible he is.

40:11No! I mean, Tweedle. No! Tweedle, I can't visit. Tweedle, hang on. Let me just finish. Jeff Tweedle, about how Hayes. You're fired. Hang on. Boy. Wait, wait. I just want to make sure we got that, right? Yeah. I was reading about Jeff Tweedle. We're rolling. That is a perfect example of stuff that goes through the Sean Hayes filter. Yeah. I was reading about Jeff Tweedy and how amazing he is. And he's not only like a songwriter and a musician and a record producer and a Grammy winner, he's also here in Jeff Tweedy! No! No! What? What?

40:58Wow! Hey, man. That was right. Did you see me? Wow. Hey, I know you. Good to see you. And I've never met you. Sit in the middle. All right. Sit in the middle. Oh, my gosh. This guy's freaking out right now. Yeah. Have you never met him? I have met him. I met you on a tour bus, but I was not in a real good place to talk because I was a little star struck like I am now. Oh, no. Good lord. Wow, it's so cool that you're here. Thank you. Wait, aren't you in the middle of recording an album or something? We are. We're recording. Yeah, Wilco's recording in a studio. Yeah. On Instagram, I saw a photo of, I don't know if it's your basement or some room in the house.

41:39You have like hundreds of instruments in this room. And where is that in your house? And did you have that growing up? And your kids loved that? Or what's the name? Oh, no, no. We didn't have any instruments in my house growing up. They had a bucket? Yeah. Were you facing a wall with a desk? Yeah, I had a desk in the basement. So that's like a Chicago thing. Yeah, yeah, definitely. You just put the kids in the basement against a wall. Lack of visual stimuli. Okay. I have to say, I was asked to come out here last night. Yes. And I was like, oh, that's exciting. I went to sleep, and I dreamt that you were my best friend.

42:16Yeah. Yeah, good luck. A lot of people have had that dream. I have that dream every night. So in my dream, I get so excited about getting to do this that I go and tell you. Sure. and you start crying. Because I ruined the surprise of me being here for you because I forgot that you were on the show too because I was excited about meeting you. No!

42:51But you were really upset with me. That's what's very upsetting to hear even now as the dream. Yeah, I was just like, I got asked to do this amazing thing. I'm going to be on this podcast. And then what happens? Sean Hayes calls you Jeff Tweedle. Yeah. How many times has that happened? I didn't hear that, but now I know. I rehearsed my little bit with Randy all day. All day. And I got your name wrong. That's all right. Now, I read a recent interview of yours where I love this because I love talking about this. I'm a musician as well. I studied piano for 20 years, but classical, not what you do.

43:30It's stunning, by the way. And so I love what you said about creating music. Something about your mind disappears, but you're also present at the same time, and that's when you become creative. Explain that, because I think that's fascinating, because I only got the disappearing part. But that's helpful, isn't it? I mean, that's one of the... We all look for things to do that are, you know, a way to kind of transport ourself outside of the burden of being in our bodies or be... Jason takes gummies for that. Yeah. So you kind of have one foot in and one foot out? Oh, I just think that, you know, you just try and put yourself in the path of doing something creative.

44:17And what I feel like I get out of it more than anything is these moments that just kind to go away without me having to like consciously try and kill time or or be you know thinking about something that i don't have control over or you know just like just but just uh i think a lot of like games crossword puzzles like those time sucks a lot of things do that but i think that there's something nice about having activities that you kind of come back from that experience with something that wasn't there before, like a writing or a song. I love that. Can I ask... First of all, calm down. Okay. Yeah.

44:58So, but... I mean... I let the robot speak. I would ask this to any musician, as I would a writer of books or screenplays. I'm assuming when you write a screenplay or a book, you're writing and then the next word kind of falls to the next and how should the story go, and it just kind of falls out in a natural progression. Is it the same way when you're strumming and you're kind of trying to come up with a new song and you find a good rhythm, and then just naturally, because you have great taste, oh, this chord would sound good after that, and by the end of a few minutes, you've got yourself a song?

45:30Is it that easy? You say what to that? Question mark? Question mark? That can happen, but that's not normally how it happens. Why? Is it normally like there's a certain structure, a certain chord has to follow another sharp thing. Is that like a recipe? Oh, you do? Well, you listen. You listen to... It's so logical. I love it. I love you so much. And I'm pulling for you. How? Yeah. How does music? How make music? How does music? It like math equation? Yeah. Sounds arranged. No. Not compute. Not compute. It's okay. I'm not know things. Processing. See, I've got a battery pack and everything. Oh, no.

46:18I'm the wires. Help me, Jeff. I can help you. I can help you.

46:27You improvise conversation all the time. Right. Because you have a vocabulary. Right. You learn a vocabulary. And you learn certain phrases and things that you like. Yes. And you express yourself. And you tend to repeat some of those things because you know they're effective. and how you're able to communicate when you use those. It's no different with music. There are certain building blocks of the vocabulary that you get from your record collection and from things that you like and things you care about and other songs that you've written. And eventually, it does become sort of conversant in a way that you can construct a sentence or a story out of whole cloth just by sitting down and saying, I wonder what would happen next.

47:06But the most fun part about doing it is the discovery for yourself. You know, that you don't really know where it's going to go. And that's the, I don't know, that's my favorite part of it. Isn't that a rad answer? Aren't you glad I asked that dumb question? No, it's a good question, too. And Andy... Yeah, you guys are making fun of him. He's the only one that cares. We're just doing it for the fun of it, just for the sport. But Andy, you get that, right? I mean, that's what improv comedy is about, too. That's a similar language in that way. Yes, definitely. And you do, especially when you're doing improv, like you learn little tricks or little rules that they're not like the things, you know, discoveries pop in.

47:48Like I remember when I was doing improv on a regular, you know, like whatever, eight shows a week or something, there were times where we'd be on stage and there would be things coming out of my mouth that I didn't know. Yeah. Like it just felt like autopilot and like, holy shit, I'm good at this, you know. and uh and so but it doesn't happen now um but but it it is it's you you learn tricks to kind of just keep the ball in the air until you like have that real moment of inspiration that you know like the really new thing you know yeah uh uh jeff can i switch gears uh your son uh spencer is still uh playing drums?

48:29He is, yeah. And so my other son, Sammy, is singing with me. No way. Yeah, not in Wilco, but we make records. My solo records are mostly with my kids. It's incredible. We came, do you remember years ago, we came to see you at Madison Square Garden and I was with Fred Armisen and Amy and we went in there and then these guys go on and Wilco go on and then Jeff welcomes his son. And Spencer was like 12 at the time, maybe? I think it was It was his 13th birthday. It was, it was his 13th birthday, that's right. That's what he just said. Yeah, that's what he just said. Yeah. He just said it just now.

49:05Yeah, he said it. Holy shit. Yeah, I don't know how you do it, Will. He, but here he goes on, he's 13, and he plays with you guys at Madison Square Garden. That's so cool. Was he cool with it or was he nervous? He was pretty nervous, but he was cooler than I would have been, for sure. Yeah, you don't know fear at 13. And cooler than I was, actually, on stage looking at him like I'm forgetting the lyrics, you know, because I'm so worried about him. Yeah, yeah. Do you commonly get anxious in front of a large audience? No, I'm here all the time. I mean, I know. I mean, Andy as well, like I'm sure you guys have had like we also have had probably moments where you have a performance, whether it's live or on camera, that you're totally relaxed for.

49:56And you might think it's not that great, and it probably isn't. But I do my best with it, and I've got a healthy level of anxiousness or nerves. Do you like to find that place? I mean, not really. You'd rather just be totally... Yeah, for this, you know, bullshitting, being funny while bullshitting, Right. It's much better to just be free and loosey-goosey and not, you know, because it shuts me down. Being nervous shuts me down. It doesn't give you that little bit more energy that you might have for... Nah, I just don't work that way. What makes you nervous? What would make you nervous? Um... A glass eye.

50:39Real answer. No. A glass eye. I hope not. No, like, well, like, if I had to, like, sing. Yeah. You know, or do something like that. Let's hear it. Here we go. Just do the national anthem. Huh? Just do the national anthem. Oh, shit. No, I'm not going to. But I still get nervous when I do improv now. Really? Yeah, because for years, too, even after I was a grown-up and I was doing grown-up improv, I mostly would just do monologue stuff because a lot of the long-form improv will have a guest monologist, especially the the UCB ASCAT version has somebody come and tell monologues and then the people improvise based off of that so I would do that a lot and I'm very used to just sitting and being myself you know in a venue kind of thing but to actually have to do improv is now scary because it's a different you know it's like I don't do it all the time and it's I always say people will ask me like do you want to come do our improv show and and I'm always say like I don't want to leave the house to get nervous.

51:48Yeah. What about you, Jeff? What makes you nervous? I think it's good to not be too relaxed. I think it means you care, you know, like when you're a little bit nervous. My dog, yeah. But I feel confident and nervous most of the time. Would you feel confident and or nervous to sing us a song right now? Wait, what? We can't pay for that. I didn't bring a guitar. And yeah, you didn't pay for that. Wait, you didn't?

52:21I haven't signed the release yet. Oh! Oh, no. Oh, my goodness. Is that your son? That's Sammy. That is Sammy. Is that your son? Hey, man! This is so wild. Repping the local head shop that just went under. Oh, no. Do they need someone to buy a large order of things? I brought my wallet. A large order of things. You know, I was going to say... I can sit closer to you. This is blowing my mind. I was going to say the thing that I've learned to get used to on stage over the years is early on and for a long time, I think you have an evolutionary ability to pick out danger that comes from being on the savannah or something, you know?

53:11Yeah. You know? So I've had to teach myself how to ignore the guy yawning. Uh-huh. Or, like, you're like, you can stand, everybody can be having a great time, and I will find you. Right. I will find the person looking at their phone. That unlapping motherfucker, I stare at him every time. Yeah, so it's like. I can see it through the mask, too. Yeah, yeah. I spent 20 years going, what the fuck is wrong with that guy? I know, I know, I know, totally. And I finally just went, oh, this person is delightful. Yeah, I did a one-man show on Broadway called An Act of God. An opening night.

53:52And you guys didn't see it. Fuck off. I did. I did. She saw it. Don't tell her what she did or didn't do. So you and me, that's it. And it's a 90-minute monologue. It was impossible to memorize. I did it, blah, blah, blah. And an opening night, it was so great. Everybody was laughing. I just focused on one person. Not into it. Wow. He didn't like it. He didn't like it. You know what, though? I mean, it's very, not to open up a larger discussion because you're going to play it, but it is very natural. I think that we do that as humans. We can have 95 % of our life going really, really well, and 5 % doesn't work.

54:27There's always going to be 5%. And we focus on that. And it's taken me, I'm going to be 52 improbably. I agree. I don't believe you. I mean, good God, look at that thing. Why, Andy? Go on. Wow. But it's taken me this long. It's only been within the last couple of years that I realized that, like, yeah, I'm so stupid for focusing on that shit. Why wouldn't I focus on all the stuff? Twitter is based on it. Yeah. I think Twitter is based on that. It's true. It's true. That reality. All right. All right. So. Thank you.

55:08I am an American aquarium drinker, I assassin down the avenue. I'm outing out in the big city, blinking, what was I thinking when I let go of you?

55:36Let's forget about the tone-tied lightning Let's undress just like cross-eyed strangers This is not a joke, so please stop smiling What was I thinking when I said it didn't hurt? Wish I knew how to play drums.

56:03I want to glide through those brown eyes green and take you from the inside, baby hold on tight. You were so right when you said I've been drinking. What was I thinking when we said goodnight? Yeah! That is so cool. Wow. That is so cool. Wow. Thank you guys. Amazing. I think... What I think is so incredible is how many... This is what I think about all the time with you guys, successful musicians like you. You have so many songs in your head that at any moment you just call upon them and you know them. You must have hundreds of songs in your head. I do, actually, yeah. I do. And I'll bet you...

56:58Well, you tell me. Is it... Do you remember the lyrics as you get to that point in the song? Because the... Because... I'm so sorry. I'm doing it. This is me doing it right now, Will. This is... I just... Well... No. Like, here's... You know... Jason, imagine Jason's brain is... It's like an abacus inside. And it's just moving pieces. Well... But like for an actor, like when you're about to go out and do a play, you can't remember all your lines right then, but when you get to the fridge, it's that line, hey, who stole my Coke? You know, like, it comes to you because of the blocking. I love that you're thinking, you say fridge, you actually are thinking about the model home and the rest of the development.

57:42Right, but I'm just saying, there are certain things that will jar the next line based on where you are in the music. Sure, you can't remember all of the lines at once. Again, another smart question. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, um, yeah, there's a story, I think Phil Oaks, I think he had to do some sort of testimony in court one time. And they were grilling him about his anti-American lyrics or something like that. And he couldn't remember them. And so they had to go get him a guitar. Oh, wow. See? It might be total bullshit. I've heard that, though, I think. I went on tour with Kenny Rogers. I was a Christmas elf.

58:19Yes. Christmas elf. And I loved Kenny. I grew up listening to his songs, but he would forget the lyrics sometimes on stage and he would just point the microphone at the audience. And they would just, you got to know when to... Right. So when... Right, exactly. Keep going. But anyway, yeah. And you played, did you play an elf in this Christmas show? Yes, I was a Christmas elf, yeah. That's hard to do when you've got a guitar around your neck. Jeff, you don't know the gambler, do you by any chance? No. Okay. Yeah. I don't think we can afford that either. Yeah, you're right. Anyway, Jeffrey, I can't tell you how excited we are and Jason and Will are and they are that you're here.

59:03Me too. And Andy too. I've known Andy. I've met Andy many more times than all of you guys. Wait, do you guys know each other? Yeah. Well, yeah, just from over the years. Yeah, from him being on the show a million times. Conan was our first ever performance in Uncle Tupelo. Our first ever television performance. Yeah, I mean, Uncle Tupelo, man. And your stage director said, there's three million people watching, don't fuck it up. That's a recipe for success. I want to tell you, last year we would have killed for that number. I was wondering how accurate that was. Oh, boy, yeah, yeah. No, the numbers keep going down.

59:42But Jeff Tweedy, thank you for being here with God of Cruz. I don't want to take a lot of your time. Andy Richter, thank you for being here. Thank you. Let's say thank you. Andy Richter, Jeff Tweedy. This is amazing. Thanks, man. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thanks, man. Yeah, yeah, great to be here. Come see us play. Come to the YHF shows. Sean. Sean, are you kidding? He played a song while we were on, like, next show? And my face was just staring at him like an idiot. That's close. You guys got two guests. Yeah.

1:00:24Anyway. I'm still a little rocked by the whole experience, to be honest. Yeah, Andy Richter. He's one of my favorite people, one of the kindest, nicest. I love him. So, and Andy, we didn't even get it. Andy, the three of us used to play cards a lot back in the day with Andy. A lot, a lot. Yeah, a lot. Like it's a problem. Like it's a problem. And Andy was always the funniest guy at the table. Always. And he would, I remember one time we had a bunch of snacks in my old place in Venice, and he came down the stairs and somebody had brought some fudge. And Andy comes down the stairs and he's got fudge all over his mouth.

1:00:58And he comes down and he goes, I learned from the fudge, but somebody must have eaten it.

1:01:05And it was the funniest, the stupidest bit. I love stupid bits. Well, the only thing that I wish Jeff could have stayed to play, maybe if we had more time is a sweeter song. You know, maybe like a lullaby.

1:01:29Bye, guys. We love you. Thank you. Smart. Nice.

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