[MUSIC PLAYING]
JOHN MULANEY: We were in a taxi
cab, and I saw Chelsea Piers
and I wanted to go
to the climbing wall
to do a little
upskirt photography.
But while we were
here, we thought
we'd bang out a couple
of gorgeous glam shots
for our Broadway premiere.
NICK KROLL: We also
came to Chelsea Piers
because we thought that there
was an orthodox bar mitzvah,
because there's nothing
better than kosher Chinese.
But because we decided
that that wasn't here,
we decided to do a
photoshoot for our Broadway--
JOHN MULANEY: For our Broadway--
NICK KROLL: For Broadway show.
JOHN MULANEY: We're coming
to Broadway, Lyceum Theatre,
September 23rd.
And it's a dream
come true, you know?
NICK KROLL: For New York.
JOHN MULANEY: For New York.
NICK KROLL: For us, it's
an expected turn of events.
JOHN MULANEY: Oh no,
it's a dream come true
for the audience to pay a
good deal of money to see us.
It's a joy for
them, it's a dream.
NICK KROLL: It's
a dream come true,
and for us it's
something that has
been 50 years in the making.
We want everybody to
come to this play.
JOHN MULANEY: Not
just some people.
NICK KROLL: Everybody.
JOHN MULANEY: Everyone.
NICK KROLL: We want
everybody to pay full price
to come to this play.
JOHN MULANEY: A
lot of people think
that this is not for everyone.
Well if you're the type that's
on the fence about coming,
why don't you go get stuffed?
Get bent.
How dare you talk
to me that way.
Come see my play.
I'll kick your screen
door in and find you.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER: So I'll
intro the show here.
Two of the most original
voices in comedy today,
Nick Kroll and
John Mulaney, make
their brilliant and bizarre
Broadway debuts in "Oh, Hello"
on Broadway.
They take the stage
as their acclaimed
alter egos Gil Faizon and George
St. Geegland, outrageously
opinionated, 70-something,
self-proclaimed legendary
bachelors of New
York's Upper West Side.
So now, please help me
welcome, of course, Nick Kroll,
John Mulaney, and
director Alex Timbers.
[APPLAUSE]
So this show is about two old
friends in their 70s, right?
Have known each other for
close to 40 years now, right?
So how much does that
parallel real life?
I know you are not that old.
I couldn't find your
birthday online.
JOHN MULANEY: I have
no birth certificate.
SPEAKER: I figured.
JOHN MULANEY: I was a foundling.
We met when, 2000?
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: At the
turn of the century.
And it's now 2016.
And I'm not great
at math, so I don't
know how long that's been.
NICK KROLL: It's 19 years.
JOHN MULANEY: 19 years, yeah.
We met in 2000 in
college, and we have
been best friends for 16 years.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
SPEAKER: In college, really?
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
We met, I was a senior,
we went to Georgetown,
and I was the director
of the improv group.
And then John auditioned.
John auditioned, and I
immediately fell in love.
SPEAKER: So how did
you two get together
to develop the characters
of Gil and George?
These two wonderful gentlemen
on the screens here.
JOHN MULANEY: Well, it
started with an opening
on Thursday nights
at this club called
Rififi on East 11th Street,
between First and Second.
It is now a Buffalo Exchange.
Nick was hosting a stand-up
show with Jessi Klein, correct?
NICK KROLL: Correct.
JOHN MULANEY: All right, then
I kicked her out or something
like that.
NICK KROLL: She went to
go write for a show in LA,
so I asked John if he
would host it with me.
And we were trying to
figure out what we could do
or what would be a
fun way to host it.
And we were at The Strand
bookstore one day, which is--
JOHN MULANEY: Do
people know The Strand?
NICK KROLL: The Strand
is 18 miles of books--
JOHN MULANEY: And 12
miles of loneliness.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
And so we were
there and watching--
there were these
two older men both
buying their copies of
Alan Alda's autobiography
"Never Have Your Dog Stuffed."
SPEAKER: Is that true?
NICK KROLL: Yeah, they both
bought their own copies.
And then we followed
them to a diner
where they both sat there and
read their individual copies
of the same book.
And we were like, these
guys won't share a book
but they probably
share a Murphy bed.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah, they had
a real Bert and Ernie vibe.
And they wore
turtleneck and blazers.
They were all fabric.
NICK KROLL: So it was the kind
of guys that I think both John
and I have been interested
in for a long time.
They're all over New York.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah, these were
like the bachelors in a Woody
Allen movie.
You know, when someone's
like, I want to introduce you
to this great guy.
And then it's like
a blob of corduroy.
But in the reality of the
movie, this guy's a catch
and he's an architect, and
he has hair like oatmeal.
And you're like, in what world?
NICK KROLL: And so it's
like, imagine those guys
20 years later.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: So they're
just like, it's tote bags.
JOHN MULANEY: It's
men with tote bags.
NICK KROLL: It's men, and
not like cool hipster,
little jean short
Brooklyn boy tote bags.
We're talking like, broken
pen, stained tote bags,
and chipped PBS mugs.
JOHN MULANEY: Guys with their
own individual grocery carts.
Those little pulley carts that
then collapse and you hang
on the wall with a bicycle.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
SPEAKER: So "Oh,
Hello" the Broadway--
NICK KROLL: If you want 40
more examples, we'll give them.
If you want.
JOHN MULANEY: You
wanna know anything
else about these types of guys?
SPEAKER: Their hand liver spots.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah, they
think the sun is good for you.
They lay out in
Washington Square--
NICK KROLL: God, I just was
in Washington Square Park.
I took a picture of a guy
in Washington Square Park
the other day.
It was sunny and I got
a picture of one guy
with a big Jewish
star right here.
And he just was a color of
a beautifully rotisseried
chicken.
And then there
were a couple guys,
one of them who had the full tin
foil thing with a weird mouth
guard.
Because he was like, my lips
can't get burned or something
like that.
He had paper lips.
Like Einstein's
heroin-addicted brother.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah,
I'm Jerry Einstein.
I'm not my brother, you
know, but I'm a good guy.
I repair keyboards.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, exactly.
Exactly right.
SPEAKER: So "Oh,
Hello" on Broadway
is a show within
a show that can--
NICK KROLL: Do you
need more examples?
We can do more if you want.
SPEAKER: I've got
more questions.
JOHN MULANEY: All right.
Well, we'll find a
way to wedge them in.
SPEAKER: OK, so can you
explain the premise behind the
"Oh, Hello" on Broadway show?
Because--
NICK KROLL: It's a money grab.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah,
it's a cash grab.
The money's in legitimate
theatre, everyone.
Get out of tech now.
There's about to be a
live performance boom.
So I play a character
named George St. Geegland,
and he is a writer, OK?
And this is a
play-- he's written
many plays with his dear
friend Gil Faizon, who
is a great actor.
SPEAKER: He's also
a potato stand-up.
JOHN MULANEY: He's a
stand-in for mashed potatoes.
NICK KROLL: So they
have written a play--
JOHN MULANEY: They've written
several over the years.
NICK KROLL: They're written
several plays over the years,
and this play is
about them losing
their rent-controlled apartment.
JOHN MULANEY: Yes.
NICK KROLL: And they've
been paying $75 a month--
JOHN MULANEY: For a five-bedroom
with office and fireplace
and crown molding
on 73rd Street.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, and their
rent is being raised to $2,500
a month.
JOHN MULANEY: The most
money they've ever heard of.
NICK KROLL: And so they're
losing their apartment.
And then the play unfolds,
and then the relationship
between George and Gil-- the
men who have written the play--
starts to collapse upon itself.
JOHN MULANEY: There are
cracks in this facade.
NICK KROLL: If you
can believe it.
But Alex might be able to
explain it better than us,
in a more theatrical way.
Did we explain it all right?
ALEX TIMBERS: You did
a great job, guys.
NICK KROLL: Thank you, Alex.
JOHN MULANEY: Thank you so much.
ALEX TIMBERS: I think
what's also useful to know
is that so much of
the show is scripted,
but also a lot of
it's improvisatory.
So every show you see is
different from any other.
SPEAKER: I was going to ask
that later on, because I've
seen the show--
NICK KROLL: Thanks for
fucking that up, Alex.
JOHN MULANEY: You
jumped his question.
Jesus Christ, we talked
about this in the car.
NICK KROLL: I mean,
why couldn't you
give an example about what
kind of guys they were?
That's what he's looking for.
SPEAKER: I was going to
ask, how much is actually
scripted versus how much
you guys are trying to make
each other crack all night?
Because it looks like all of you
were just about-- both of you
were just about to laugh
throughout the entire thing.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah,
and sometimes I
will try to do things
to make Nick laugh.
And sometimes we
look at each other,
and I think we just realize
that we're on Broadway.
And I really mean this, this
has happened a couple of times--
where we look at
each other and then
we realize what we're
doing, and where,
and we both start laughing.
NICK KROLL: Yes.
And sometimes a joke
we've done 100 times-- I'd
like to say every
time I crack it's
because we're improvising
something new that I've never
heard.
But sometimes it
just makes me laugh.
Like, I'll be describing
the shelving unit,
and I'll look over and John is
looking at the shelving unit.
He's just like-- And it's
like I am not a professional,
I don't know.
JOHN MULANEY: No, few people
can hold up under that look.
NICK KROLL: So
there's lines that
are always evolving
and changing,
and we're improvising
within spots.
And then we have a
guest every night
that obviously is an improvised
interview every night.
And then there are
other sections.
And Alex did a very good
job of creating a structure
that is really a play--
and that we've worked hard
in creating a real play
that we've written--
but always leaving
pockets for us
to walk away and
come back to things,
so that it feels fresh to us
and feels fresh to the audience.
Because you want everyone
to feel like whatever night
they're there, that they're
seeing something specific
to that night.
JOHN MULANEY: And luckily
because we really cannot
remember our lines, you are.
But there are a few core
relationship things--
and for this next sentence
I'll win the Pulitzer--
that you didn't want us
to undercut, I think,
in a good way.
So we try to honor some
things about Gil and George
that we would not
try to laugh through,
because it's a serious play.
ALEX TIMBERS: Yeah, I think
there's a heart to the show
because there's this sort
of meta-narrative, which
is the friendship of
these two characters
but also Nick and
John's friendship.
And I think by the end
they both really pay off.
And so it surprises you
because it's a tough edge show,
but it has a warm
heart at the center.
SPEAKER: Talk about
the journey of the show
itself, because it
started out as-- like,
there was a "Too
Much Tuna" sketch,
and there was the
"Oh, Hello" show.
And then you went
to do things in LA,
you were doing things
in the East Village.
Then it went off-Broadway,
now it's on Broadway.
And then when did
Alex get involved?
What's the journey?
JOHN MULANEY: Okay, so
the actual Rififi show
on East 11th I was talking
about started 10 years ago.
So we've been doing
them 10 years.
I'd say it laid dormant--
NICK KROLL: It's
older than YouTube?
Is that possible?
SPEAKER: Yeah, a lot of
things are older than YouTube.
NICK KROLL: I know.
And look, "Oh, Hello"s a
billion-dollar business now.
JOHN MULANEY: In 10 years,
we've been able to lose money.
NICK KROLL: And just
10 years later, we're
at a company that started after
us at some weird picnic table.
JOHN MULANEY: Nick
and I have both gone--
NICK KROLL: Is this where you
guys save the money on the--
[LAUGHING]
Is this what it is?
Micro-kitchens in every room?
But thanks so much
for having us.
JOHN MULANEY: And we feel this
is-- and I'm not pandering.
This is one of the best
search engines-- no, for real,
I'm not kidding-- in
America, if not in the world.
Honestly, a great search engine.
NICK KROLL: It's a
great search engine.
I mean, George and Gil
are Alta Vista heads,
but-- And we're Bing boys until
the day we die, obviously.
JOHN MULANEY: Obviously.
NICK KROLL: Obviously Bing boys.
SPEAKER: The original question--
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: OK, so
Nick and I would often
go work on separate
things, but I'd
say this laid dormant maybe
for no more than a year
or so when Kroll
Show started up.
NICK KROLL: It was probably
longer than that, though,
because I moved to LA and
you started working on "SNL."
And we sort of put
the guys-- there
wasn't a real venue for them.
And then when I started
doing Kroll Show,
I was like, we should
do Gil and George.
And we tried a few
different formats of it.
Some were like little
Woody Allen filmic pieces,
and then also a
prank show that they
made called "Too Much Tuna,"
which was like their Manhattan
public access show where
they pranked people
with too much tuna
fish-- which still
doesn't make a lot of sense.
JOHN MULANEY: What do you mean?
How does it not make sense?
NICK KROLL: I mean--
SPEAKER: There's
always too much tuna.
JOHN MULANEY: But it's funny
to put it in front of you.
Imagine.
I mean, imagine
someone put a huge tuna
sandwich in front of you and
acted like you ordered it.
It's a funny thing to do.
NICK KROLL: Tuna's very funny.
JOHN MULANEY: It's really funny.
Tuna fish salad, by the
way, is what we mean--
NICK KROLL: With mayonnaise.
JOHN MULANEY: Short-hand
tuna, but please know
we're talking about tuna salad.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, so
we did it on Kroll Show
and it weirdly--
like, we were always
told this works in New York,
it won't work anywhere else.
And then it weirdly took off and
became one of the more popular
things on the show.
And we had 15-year-old girls in
Phoenix dressing up as George
and Gil for Halloween.
So it was like, oh, this
is expanding beyond--
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah,
it had a Slender Man
vibe, where people everywhere--
NICK KROLL: So then we
did an in conversation
at the 92nd Street Y, which
you can watch on YouTube.
Yeah, YouTube.
And that was to promote Kroll
Show season 3 and it was super
fun, and it was like 900
people and we improvised
for an hour-and-a-half
with Willie Geist.
JOHN MULANEY: And
we hadn't done them
in front of a live audience
since 2007, probably.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, it had
been a really long time.
And it was so fun.
And afterwards people were
like, well, what's next?
And it was like, oh--
JOHN MULANEY: "Oh,
Hello" on Broadway.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, "Oh,
Hello" on Broadway--
JOHN MULANEY: As a
joke, but then like--
NICK KROLL: So then
it was like, well,
let's just go to Broadway.
And people were like, you
can't just go to Broadway.
SPEAKER: Hey, I'm here now.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: Knock, knock.
NICK KROLL: So then we
set out to write a show.
JOHN MULANEY: And
we booked a theatre.
NICK KROLL: We booked a theatre,
we booked the Cherry Lane
Theatre for end of November,
right after Thanksgiving.
And so then we started
writing a show.
And then at end of August,
beginning of September,
we started-- it's
so crazy to think.
JOHN MULANEY: It was really
dangerous how we did it.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
SPEAKER: This year?
NICK KROLL: Last year.
So we booked the Cherry
Lane Theatre, let's start--
it was like, November 26.
And so like September 1,
we had a 10-page outline
that we then would take
on-stage and improvise.
And built the play that way,
writing it out that way.
JOHN MULANEY: It was the
most, like, vaudeville
show of anything I've ever done,
where we had a trunk of bits
from 10 years.
And we would sprinkle
them wherever,
and then try different
threads to the show.
And we arrived on
an early incarnation
of what we have now.
NICK KROLL: And Alex
was kind enough to--
I had met Alex a
few years earlier,
and have been a big
fan of his work.
And on a lark we
were like, Alex,
would you be interested
in being involved
in this truly stupid thing?
And he was like, yeah,
that sounds great-- which
was kind of a shock.
It was really a surprise to
us that he was interested.
And so we would send him tapes
of what we were doing in LA,
and he could start to get
a sense of weighing in
and weigh in where he
could and wanted to.
And then we had a
crash course at UCB
for three or four nights before
we went to the Cherry Lane.
And then at three--
how long was our tech?
ALEX TIMBERS: It
was like, two days.
SPEAKER: How long
is tech normally?
ALEX TIMBERS: Usually you
have a rehearsal process
where you decide what the
blocking is going to be,
and then there's a
set and lighting.
And I think the first
time we all got together
was the beginning
of tech, and we
were like, you could enter
through that door or that door.
And you guys were like, we'll
enter through that door.
And then the next night you
were in front of an audience.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: You kept telling
us, "Hey, this is great.
By the way, this never happens."
And we were like, OK.
NICK KROLL: So at
that point, Alex
started to get very involved and
brought in his team of lighting
and sound and music
and choreography,
and all these people
who all of sudden
coalesced with us
in a very brief,
fast run-- which we then honed
over that Cherry Lane run
about a year ago.
And then we toured the show
this winter, like January
through March in
four or five cities.
And then--
JOHN MULANEY: And
that was kind of nice,
because the Cherry Lane
is on Commerce Street,
it's about 200 seats.
We started going to places
in like, San Diego that
were much bigger venues.
And we realized,
oh, George and Gil
feel comfortable anywhere
because they feel entitled
to everything everywhere.
So they're fine
playing a big house,
they're comfortable
in that type of thing.
And that was a nice build
towards Broadway, where you're
like-- once they get
to Broadway they're
not going to be thrown
because they truly believe
they deserve to be there.
NICK KROLL: And then we came
back to New York for rehearsal,
and this was like,
oh, we actually
are now rehearsing
in this building
where "The Front
Page" is rehearsing
with John Goodman,
Nathan Lane, John
Slattery, this amazing cast.
And also we were next to-- I'm
going to, I can only say it
in English.
ALEX TIMBERS: Go for it.
SPEAKER: Say it in English.
NICK KROLL: The Dangerous
Liaisons with Liev Schreiber.
JOHN MULANEY: We
shared a bathroom.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, we shared a
bathroom with Liev Schreiber.
JOHN MULANEY: He didn't
know, but we did.
SPEAKER: You were
watching the whole time.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, and we're
in one room being like,
"We need more tuna fish," and
he's in the other room like--
But it was fun, it was like
Broadway college it felt like.
We were all rehearsing together.
And then we started our work.
JOHN MULANEY: And
Alex, by the way,
assembled some of the-- both--
most talented and nicest,
most fun people to be around.
I think you probably
have deliberately
picked amazing people your
whole career, because the people
you brought in--
SPEAKER: I would hope so.
JOHN MULANEY: Well,
sometimes you're
stuck with a bunch of jerks.
But you had and have an
amazing group of people--
SPEAKER: Listen
Alex, your credits
include "Peter and
the Starcatcher"
and "Bloody Bloody Andrew
Jackson," some serious Broadway
things-- and then as Nick
said, this stupid project
that you've taken on.
What made you want to
take it, and what's it
like working with these guys?
ALEX TIMBERS: Well,
I think what I
loved about it was
immediately I was fans
of these guys for a long time.
And when I saw "Tommy" when I
was growing up, I was like wow,
theatre is not an elitist thing.
Theatre can be in dialogue
with the mainstream.
And it felt to me like
having alt comedy on Broadway
is a really exciting
opportunity.
And you see it in
the audiences that
are coming to the show-- it's
way younger, way more diverse.
And I think it's this sort
of thing where if you came
to Broadway and this was
your first Broadway show,
you might be like, oh, there's
a place for me in theatre.
Or theatre's a place I might
go back to see another show.
And I think what's cool about
these guys is as they've
said about the team, the people
that are working on it are nice
but it all comes from
the top with these guys.
These guys play
assholes, but they're
really kind and collaborative.
And so that's been
the whole experience.
And along the way, we've brought
in some incredible people,
like multiple Tony
Award-winning set designers.
The greatest puppet
designer in North America
has built an extraordinary
puppet effect
involving tuna fish.
So it's just been a lot of
artistic firepower aimed
at total stupidity.
NICK KROLL: Yes.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
Ad-Rock from The Beastie Boys
was a guest on "Too Much Tuna,"
and said I think my favorite
thing about the show ever.
Afterwards he said, "What
I like about this is we
all have ideas that,
they're fucking stupid.
Like, you know you have
ideas and you're like, oh,
that's so funny, but that's
too fucking stupid to do."
He's like, "You guys,
you did that idea."
NICK KROLL: It was like,
the highest praise ever.
Like, the dude who
made "Sabotage."
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
And Mike Birbiglia
also said, he's like,
"This is the most
expensive joke ever done."
He's like, "It's like you're
doing a show about the M&M
Store, making fun of the M&M
Store, inside the M&M Store,
and you guys also love M&Ms.
SPEAKER: So, "Too Much
Tuna," that segment
of the show every night,
for those who don't know,
you bring up a different,
well-known person,
different celebrity every night.
I was there on
Seth Meyers night.
JOHN MULANEY: Oh, great.
SPEAKER: Which was--
which very funny.
Yeah.
So how do you pick who comes
up on stage, and is it--
and it's-- obviously is
it improv the whole time,
or is it rough script?
JOHN MULANEY: No.
NICK KROLL: We have a whole,
through personal relationships
and otherwise, book all
different types of people.
And our goal is to have not only
people like Seth Meyers, who
are friends of ours or
people in the comedy space,
but also people who
would either be in George
and Gil's world in real
life, like Robin Byrd.
Who, for people who grew
up in New York and some
of the men are
quietly chuckling,
Robin Byrd hosted a
show on Channel 35,
Channel J, like a
public access show
that she would have
strippers and porn stars on,
but has been on
TV for since 1977.
And it's like if you don't
know who Robin Byrd is,
Google her and
you'll see something
that is so deeply and
specifically New York.
And she was amazing.
And she was just
like truly a joy.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
We want people that
are well known,
but we're also going for people
that would most kind of jibe
with Gil and George's
world, who they would
be most excited to talk to.
We had Marcia Clark on
the show in Los Angeles.
We've had Ira
Glass, Dick Cavett;
people they would
have a lot to say to.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
Like former police--
ALEX TIMBERS:
Commissioner Kelly.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, Police
Commissioner, Ray Kelly
did the show.
Who was like a beat cop
on the Upper West Side,
as his first gig.
And probably busted George and
Gil for smoking a roach outside
of a Zabar's.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
We started to explain
the characters,
and he went, oh,
I know these guys.
NICK KROLL: And
then we also have
like, Alan Alda was our
opening night guest.
And like our guys
again, it's like for us
to have the guy who when we
used to explain the show,
we would be like they are
Upper West Side older guys,
they're obsessed with Alan Alda.
And it kind of locks people
in, to know what kind of guy
we were talking about.
So to have Alan
Alda as our guest,
was like the culmination
of a crazy amount of just--
it was just this confluence
of things, and really amazing.
And then he just hung out with
us backstage, and was amazing.
And he had done plays
and we had photos of him
from the Shubert, or
the Shubert Archives.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah,
the Shubert Archives
are in the top floor of the
Lyceum Theater where we are.
And so we had gone
through and seen
old playbills of early stuff he
was in, like "The Apple Tree,"
and it was just amazing.
We got to talk to him
about all of that.
NICK KROLL: And we
improvised with him on stage.
People don't realize
that he was a trained
improviser at the
Compass Players,
which sort of
predated Second City.
And so we improvised on
stage, the three of us.
He was like, well improvisation
is about support, and whatever
the other person is saying
that you supported and move it
forward.
Yes-and kind of thing.
So we improvised.
He was like, well, let's
improvise a scene together.
And so I said, hey
Alan, let's kiss George.
And he, without
missing a beat, goes,
yes let's kiss George on
the ass, and you go first.
And it was like a perfect
improvisation on his part.
And it was amazing.
It was truly like-- it was
kind of like, if the show would
close the next day, I would
have been like, we did it.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah, we did it.
A 10-year insane journey ending
in a beautiful conversation
with Alan Alda.
SPEAKER: So being in
the Lyceum theater,
a lot of the jokes
in the show revolve
around that actual space.
Did you write it-- did you
write the jokes once you got
in there, or did you
specifically seek out
that show?
JOHN MULANEY: Wherever we've
been, Cherry Lane or on tour,
George and Gil are very aware
of the space they're in,
and we always wanted to write
to the space we were in.
And we were familiar
with some productions
that have been at the Lyceum.
Alex, obviously,
had seen a lot more.
So we just started thinking
about how they're-- I mean we
also had Scott Pask, I guess.
It started with that, our
amazing set designer putting
together a set cobbled together
from old Broadway sets.
SPEAKER: Are they actually--
JOHN MULANEY: They're
stored from a warehouse--
NICK KROLL: Some of them are.
The Steel Magnolias is an
actual piece of the set, or no?
ALEX TIMBERS: I
am my own wife is.
NICK KROLL: I am my own wife is.
So--
JOHN MULANEY: Those
are the grandma--
NICK KROLL: We have
a bunch of stuff.
And then there's pieces of
the set that we were like,
you know what.
I don't know if we're going to
use Ed Koch's grave, which was
originally part of the show.
Which if you have
a second, go Bing.
Oh, it's a fucking joy.
JOHN MULANEY: Go
Bing or go home.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But honestly go just
yourself Ed Koch's grave.
It's so weird.
JOHN MULANEY: Because
it's back in the show.
And people always go, why did
you write all that weird stuff
on Ed Koch's grave?
NICK KROLL: And it's like, no.
That is Ed Koch's grave.
It's got a Daniel
Pearl quote on it.
Which-- is-- I'm like I don't
know-- I'm like, it's so funny,
you know that
beheaded journalist.
But it also doesn't have
his born and death years.
It has the years that he
was mayor of New York.
SPEAKER: Oh wow.
JOHN MULANEY: It says, Ed
Koch, like 1984 to 1989.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, yeah.
It's mayor of New York.
So anyway, there
stuff like that,
that Alex and Scott, our set
designer were smartly-- we
were like, we don't need that.
And they were like, no.
The real goal was like, if we're
going to do a Broadway show,
it's got to feel like
it belongs on Broadway.
And so that's been,
again, one of the things
that Alex has done
beautifully, is maintaining
the like low shittiness
of George and Gil,
while also presenting
something that
feels like it should be
on Broadway that feels
like it has the scale to--
JOHN MULANEY: Polished garbage.
ALEX TIMBERS: That's right.
How do you like-- how do you
balance a low-fi quality with
a couple of cours de theatres?
That really would
surprise people
that Gil and George have that
kind of theatrical know-how.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, they do.
JOHN MULANEY: They're not here
to play games or make friends.
SPEAKER: So, John, you're
still a writer on "SNL," right?
JOHN MULANEY: No.
SPEAKER: No?
JOHN MULANEY: I
left many years ago.
SPEAKER: OK, well-- all right.
JOHN MULANEY: But, no.
I go back-- sorry.
I go back occasionally.
No one ever leaves.
That you're right.
No one ever leaves.
You're always called back.
SPEAKER: And an alcoholic, yes.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
SPEAKER: So you actually
created, you were a writer.
You created the character
of Stefon with Bill Hader.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
SPEAKER: So do you
prefer now being
on stage in the spotlight,
or do you like the writing
room a little bit more?
JOHN MULANEY: I like playing
George St. Geegland more
than anything I've ever done.
I love doing
stand-up second-most.
I love writing.
I don't just like
to be out there.
I like to do specific things.
I like to do stand-up,
and I like to play George.
And as of now, that's about it.
But, no.
I wasn't always like,
oh, I want to go
do a worse version of Stefon.
But with George St. Geegland,
it was like oh no, this is me.
So it's kind of-- it's not
that jarring for me to do this.
Because I've been
doing it for 10 years.
If I was suddenly in like
"The Pajama Game" tomorrow,
that would be odd.
And that reference
brings down the house.
Yeah.
But this, like stand-up,
feels very natural to me.
SPEAKER: Hmm.
JOHN MULANEY: Not satisfied.
SPEAKER: Yes.
JOHN MULANEY: No, I
really like-- I mean,
but with "SNL" and this I
was like, live-- hard jokes
in front of a live audience,
that's the best thing.
I've really enjoyed
this Broadway experience
more than anything I've
ever done professionally.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: It's so fun.
It's so bizarrely-- for
these two pieces of garbage,
it's so bizarrely glamorous.
And it's like what I always
thought show-business was.
I wanted to be
like Ricky Ricardo.
I wanted to go do
my show at night,
and then come home and
just have my day free.
NICK KROLL: Have your
wife like in blackface.
JOHN MULANEY: Did
she do blackface?
NICK KROLL: I would assume
at some point, right?
JOHN MULANEY: That's
a major accusation.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: You could
be sued by Desi Lu.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
SPEAKER: So this is definitely
not one of the low points
of your career?
JOHN MULANEY: No.
This is-- I just
said, it's the best.
It is the best ever, and
still a low point, yes.
SPEAKER: Alex, do you
want your next thing
to be more of a
classic Broadway?
I mean what are you
working on now otherwise?
ALEX TIMBERS: The
next thing I'm doing
is a show with David
Byrne about Joan of Arc.
So it's like a rock musical
all the way through.
NICK KROLL: So
nothing like this.
SPEAKER: I'm hoping one of these
guys will play Joan of Arc.
JOHN MULANEY:
Auditions are tomorrow.
SPEAKER: John just
said he'd help out.
And then, yeah, Nick, so
what are you working on?
Are you working on anything
else at the moment?
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
I'm doing an animated show
for Netflix about growing up,
me and my friend Andrew Goldberg
from childhood, who ended up
a writer at Family Guy.
It's about he and I
as 13-year-old boys,
going through puberty, or in my
case not going through puberty.
And actually John voices
the role of Andrew.
JOHN MULANEY: Yes.
NICK KROLL: It's
called "Big Mouth."
It'll be out next year.
And it's really fun and dirty.
It's like perverted
"Wonder Years," basically.
An animated--
JOHN MULANEY: But very sweet.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, it's
got a real sweet--
JOHN MULANEY: They wrote an
extremely sweet show that
also has things that
make my fucking jaw drop,
they're so dirty.
NICK KROLL: And it's like me
and John, and Jason Mantzoukas,
and Jesse Klein, and Jenny
Slate, and Jordan Peele,
and Maya Rudolph,
and Fred Armisen.
And it's a crazy,
crazy group of people
who are throughout the show.
And then I have a
movie called, "Loving"
that's coming out
in a couple weeks,
which is just like "Oh, Hello."
It's a historical drama about
Richard and Mildred Loving, who
were an interracial couple who
got arrested for being married
in Virginia in the
1950s, and then brought
their case to the Supreme
Court, overturning
the ban on interracial
marriage nationwide.
SPEAKER: Just like "Oh, Hello."
NICK KROLL: It's
a laugh a minute.
JOHN MULANEY: Well, and
you play Gil Faizon.
NICK KROLL: I play-- yeah.
That was the only way I'd do it.
They were like, they're
interested in you
for this movie.
And I was like, what am
I going to play in that?
They're like it's the ACLU
lawyer named Bernie Cohen.
Yeah.
I think I could-- I
could swing that one.
But it's a really-- Jeff
Nichols directed it.
It's a beautiful movie.
So I encourage all
you guys to go see it.
It's unlike most
historical dramas,
it's quite understated and
beautifully told and shot.
It's a really cool movie.
SPEAKER: Hmm.
Well, we're going to--
NICK KROLL: Another Hmm.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
And I have my own Sully
coming out in 2018.
But I would avoid, it sucks.
I didn't do a good job.
SPEAKER: Hmm.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: There it is.
It's a new hum.
I like the new hum there.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
SPEAKER: We're going to get
into audience questions.
So if you have any questions,
please line up at the mics
here.
And while people line up--
JOHN MULANEY: Wow, look at this.
SPEAKER: I'm going to
pass out two white boards.
And because I didn't have three,
someone will get a notepad.
Who wants the notepad.
JOHN MULANEY: I'll take it.
SPEAKER: Very good.
All right.
All right.
NICK KROLL: I do like
that our first question
is coming from someone with
headphones and takeout food.
AUDIENCE: It's not takeout food.
I actually brought you
guys tuna salad sandwiches.
JOHN MULANEY: Oh, no!
AUDIENCE: To make
you feel at home.
NICK KROLL: Bring it up!
Bring it up!
JOHN MULANEY: Better be enough!
NICK KROLL: Oh, thank you.
This is the great joke, though.
This is--
AUDIENCE: Not enough tuna.
NICK KROLL: This is
what we call anti-humor.
It's a commentary on it.
I would argue that this is
genuinely not nearly enough.
JOHN MULANEY: You must have
confused us with the assholes
from Too Much Bread.
Your question?
AUDIENCE: I do have a question.
My question is, what is most
alike between you as actors
and you as your characters?
NICK KROLL: Well, in the
play, there's a couple things.
One someone described it
to us as like, "Oh, Hello,"
is like you guys doing
who you really are inside.
And that is like Nick is a
baby, and John is an asshole.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: So we
are playing some--
JOHN MULANEY: Deep down, yeah.
NICK KROLL: Some inner Id.
And then I think
it's like-- I mean,
I personally think we
are-- I don't know.
I think our dear
friendship and love for one
another comes through in the
relationship of George and Gil.
I think that these two guys
are-- that they're really dear,
dear lifelong friends.
JOHN MULANEY: The
only thing that's
hard is that George
has to intimidate Gil.
And I met Nick, and he was--
like he'll always be a senior.
And I'll like-- I'll always
be intimidated by him.
So that's kind of like
the one weird thing.
NICK KROLL: Do 20
push-ups, jerk.
JOHN MULANEY: All right.
Fine.
I'm a man.
I'm a man.
I'm a man.
Come on.
Get up to the microphone, you.
SPEAKER: Hold on.
I want to do a white
board question real quick.
NICK KROLL: What is-- by
the way, what is this?
JOHN MULANEY:
Explain what that is.
SPEAKER: Well, yes.
JOHN MULANEY: Don't pretend
everyone knows your thing.
SPEAKER: All right.
Nobody knows my thing.
I'm going to explain it.
So I want you guys--
we're going to play
a little like version a Newlywed
Game with the three of you.
JOHN MULANEY: Oh, great.
SPEAKER: OK.
So there's my explanation.
JOHN MULANEY: Thank you.
SPEAKER: But answer
as your character.
Alex, you answer as you
would expect one of their--
ALEX TIMBERS: Oh as one of--
SPEAKER: Yes.
ALEX TIMBERS: OK.
SPEAKER: So, you still carry
a tin lunch box from the '80s
to work every day.
Who's on your lunch box?
NICK KROLL: And it's-- sorry,
we're not guessing it about
the other person, it's
just about ourselves?
SPEAKER: Actually,
yes, we should
guess about the other person.
That would be the Newlywed Game.
NICK KROLL: And
just to be clear,
I'm guessing what George
would have on his thing,
or what John would
have on his thing?
SPEAKER: What George would have.
JOHN MULANEY: And I'm
guessing would Gil would have.
SPEAKER: Yes.
JOHN MULANEY: And what's--
ALEX TIMBERS: And I'm guessing--
SPEAKER: Just
either one of them.
NICK KROLL: OK, great.
ALEX TIMBERS: OK.
SPEAKER: We will get imaginary--
NICK KROLL: There's a reason
we wanted an explanation.
OK, great.
All right.
What would George have on a--
SPEAKER: You have 10 seconds.
JOHN MULANEY: OK.
SPEAKER: You all ready?
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
SPEAKER: And 1, 2, 3, reveal.
NICK KROLL: Cast of "Dynasty."
SPEAKER: The famous cartoon
character Michael Gross.
JOHN MULANEY: Michael
Gross played the father
on "Family Ties."
NICK KROLL: Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, he was great too.
JOHN MULANEY: He
was a good actor.
NICK KROLL: And he
is-- you're right.
He is like a Gil and
George, like that liberal--
JOHN MULANEY: Oh, very much so.
NICK KROLL: He's like a
liberal-- that liberal hippy
'60s guy.
JOHN MULANEY: He was also in
that play "Art," which I feel,
when it was in Chicago
he was in "Art."
and I feel like that was a
big watershed moment for Gil
and George.
NICK KROLL: And
Bernie Goetz, I don't
know if you young millennials
know who Bernie Goetz is.
But he's a dear friend
of Gil and George.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: He's the guy who
shot four people on the subway.
JOHN MULANEY: He was known for
like three days as the subway
vigilante, and then
he stepped forward.
And they realized
he was just like a--
NICK KROLL: Turn
of the narrative.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: A weird racist
in a Members Only jacket.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: Allegedly.
He's a litigious guy.
SPEAKER: Question over here.
AUDIENCE: Hi.
I'm wondering if
you think YouTube
has been an overall
benefit to or detriment
to comedy and theater.
NICK KROLL: Ooh.
Oh.
In the belly of the beast.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
It's been a benefit.
It's been a benefit to comedy.
I think exposure is
always good for comedy.
NICK KROLL: I think that, yeah.
I think that YouTube,
and I would put podcasts
in a similar regard.
And that woman just clapped
for the word podcast.
That--
SPEAKER: She's a podcast teamer.
NICK KROLL: Yes.
That's great, and
blogs-- I think
it's about the
democratization of comedy,
and content in general.
And so I think there's
a great utility
that all types of people could
have their sketches and videos
seen, and all types of stuff.
And it just allows
a lot more people
in a lot of different
places to see stuff.
Whereas 10 years ago, when we
started doing our characters,
we were desperately trying
to get into the Aspen Comedy
Festival.
Which was a Comedy Festival.
That's where all the managers,
agents and industry people
would go to see your act.
And if you had a
sketch show that's
where you could get a deal
to get to go do a show
or whatever.
With the advent of
YouTube and podcasts,
all of that ivory tower shit and
gatekeepers, became irrelevant.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
It really ended the
year we tried to get in.
They said, it's
a young festival,
and you guys are
playing old men.
We were like, peace.
It ended that year.
NICK KROLL: And that
was the last year of it.
And so it really
felt like-- and I
think YouTube had a major--
and a lot of the other stuff--
I think it's amazing that
there are friends of ours who
are super talented people who
maybe not are household names,
can build a following on
YouTube or on podcasts,
and go and play really
great theaters and venues
all over the country.
Because they've been
able to build a fan base.
JOHN MULANEY: What do
you think about-- so what
do you think about theater?
ALEX TIMBERS: I think
it's a double-edged sword.
Because I think for writers
and performers it's great.
Because you get your material
out there in the same way
you guys are talking about.
I think the thing that's tricky
for designers and directors
and choreographers,
is if you're doing
a first-class production of--
say you're doing "Wicked,"
and someone films it.
And then someone
else wants to do
"Wicked." you can steal
copyrightable material
from that.
And so you see a lot
of replica productions
of professional productions
where normally you
wouldn't be able
to go to a theater
and transcribe all the
blocking that they're doing.
So that's kind of where
it becomes complicated.
JOHN MULANEY: Is that--
blocking is like trademarks?
ALEX TIMBERS: Yeah, yeah,
yeah; like dance steps.
SPEAKER: Because it's officially
part of the finalized show.
JOHN MULANEY: It's like
writing or something.
Isn't that fun to watch
someone learn something?
What a wonderful world.
SPEAKER: All right.
Another white board
question here.
If you could pick
someone from history--
NICK KROLL: How about
a white guy question?
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
Isn't it time?
NICK KROLL: Isn't it
time we had our chance?
SPEAKER: All right.
Here's a white guy,
white board question.
JOHN MULANEY: Yes.
SPEAKER: If you
could pick someone
from history
already dead, so you
have as a guest during "Too
Much Tuna," who would be?
NICK KROLL: And are we
still answering this for--
SPEAKER: Yes.
NICK KROLL: George.
SPEAKER: Rules have not changed.
JOHN MULANEY: There's only one--
NICK KROLL: Is there?
SPEAKER: He just wrote down
a bunch of stick figures.
NICK KROLL: Oh, man.
OK.
SPEAKER: All right.
Show them.
Hey!
NICK KROLL: Boss Tweed.
I like Boss Tweed.
ALEX TIMBERS: He's
the original Ed Koch.
JOHN MULANEY: He's
the original Ed Koch.
There you go, yeah.
NICK KROLL: That
Tammany Hall genius.
JOHN MULANEY: And these guys
are the bosses of tweed.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: That's not funny.
SPEAKER: A question?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
Thanks so much for coming out.
I saw the show a few
weeks ago, very funny.
There was a lot of very
specific references.
It's sort of like a
satire on theater.
Also just caught up on season
two of "Documentary Now,"
which John, I know
you wrote on, which
I've heard described as a loving
parody or like a loving satire.
Which I think also kind
of fits with "Oh, Hello."
And I kind of wonder
what your approach
is to do a parody or
a satire, but that's
also very loving and
not in a mean spirit.
JOHN MULANEY: I never think
of when people are like,
oh, with "Documentary Now,"
or "Saturday Night Live,"
I'm sure with "Kroll Show,"
and "Oh, Hello," people
are like, oh, so you guys
are taking down blank.
And I'm always like,
no, not at all.
We can parody or name
check or reference things
that I'm just
like, no we're just
saying them and emulating
them in a funny way.
But I have very--
I mean sometimes we
were just like on
"SNL" sometimes we're
just making fun of something.
But for a lot of
stuff I've done,
like we did this whole
Spalding Gray episode.
And people were like, oh you're
taking down Spalding Gray.
And it was like, no.
I'm the biggest Spalding
Gray fan in the world.
It was so fun to
get to do an insane
version of that type of thing.
Right?
So I think with "Oh, Hello,"
again, we're in the M&M store,
making fun of the M&M store.
But we love M&Ms.
NICK KROLL: But also just to
be clear, regular M&Ms suck.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: The peanut M&Ms are
the only M&M's worth having.
JOHN MULANEY: Which I
didn't have till I was 30.
NICK KROLL: Peanut M&Ms?
JOHN MULANEY: I never had them.
NICK KROLL: Oh, John.
[INAUDIBLE]
Yeah.
I mean, like we say in the
show or have said in the past,
it's a love letter to
Broadway, but or more
realistically a
stalkers note written
in lipstick on a mirror.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
We're like guys who are too
in love with certain things.
So when it comes out of our
mouth, you're like, easy.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
And again, it's like bringing
in Alex and his team of people,
I'm like we love
theater and plays.
But also there are
things about it
that drive us crazy about it.
And there is a way, I
think, to celebrate it
without mocking it and
being inclusive of it.
And that I think that's
the goal is to make stuff--
JOHN MULANEY: We have a lot
of jokes about Steely Dan.
And I see them every year
at the Beacon Theater.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY:
Like, so everything
is kind of kidding
and deadly serious.
SPEAKER: Hmm.
All right.
White board question.
If we were to look at Gil
and George's Google search
history--
JOHN MULANEY: Sure.
SPEAKER: What would be the
most frequently recurring term?
Ready?
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
ALEX TIMBERS: Oh god, I'm
bowing out of this one.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah!
NICK KROLL: The
only difference is,
and this is the difference
between George and John
and Nick and Gil, is
that his are in quotes.
JOHN MULANEY: Oh, someone
knows how to search.
SPEAKER: Yes, question.
AUDIENCE: Hi.
I want to learn to talk
like Gil and George.
Is there a manual?
NICK KROLL: We have a podcast
that we're doing about it.
JOHN MULANEY: Pdcast.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
That's actually a good example.
They wouldn't say podcast.
They would say "pdcast."
It's the--
JOHN MULANEY: Bury
the first syllable.
NICK KROLL: Bury the first
syllable of everything,
but not like--
JOHN MULANEY: "Jn" Stewart.
NICK KROLL: "Jn"
Stewart, "lmp" shade.
There's that.
JOHN MULANEY: Change o's to
soft u's whenever possible.
NICK KROLL: And then also turn
anything like A-U into an A-R.
So it's the "ardience."
JOHN MULANEY: Add r's
wherever you want.
Bury the first
syllable, m space.
But then also bury "dtcom"
NICK KROLL: Yeah,
m space "dtcom."
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: "Utube," "dtcom."
JOHN MULANEY: So I guess it's
on the one and the three.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
It's like German--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
ALEX TIMBERS: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: Like we-- we
didn't-- but we got a lot
of people saying like
Trump like in the--
JOHN MULANEY: He
said, "sisfire."
NICK KROLL: He said, "sisfire."
JOHN MULANEY: There should
be an immediate "sisfire."
Oh, hello.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: Oh, hello.
NICK KROLL: How does
that-- does that help?
SPEAKER: OK.
White guy question.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
NICK KROLL: Nice.
SPEAKER: If Gil and
George were running
on the same ticket
for president,
what would the
campaign slogan be?
NICK KROLL: You're
bowing out again?
SPEAKER: I would say oh, hello.
What's that?
AUDIENCE: Can you read them out?
NICK KROLL: Oh, read them
out, read out once we've said?
The last one was feet.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
Gil and George both liked feet.
And before that they would
want to prank Ed Koch.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: Can
you read them out?
What's everyone laughing about?
NICK KROLL: OK.
Ready?
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
All right this is their ticket.
Yes.
SPEAKER: Yes, yes.
JOHN MULANEY: Oh my god.
Come on.
NICK KROLL: Please!
JOHN MULANEY: Please!
Hey!
Or there's their
campaign to women.
Why don't you smile more?
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
Very effective.
JOHN MULANEY:
You're so beautiful.
NICK KROLL: Gorgeous.
JOHN MULANEY:
You're so gorgeous.
Why don't you smile more?
Come ride the subway with me.
Pocket.
AUDIENCE: I've got a question.
Do you guys just
think this is so funny
that it's been the same
thing for 10 years,
or does it evolve at all?
Because I feel like--
I feel like if you've
been doing the same thing for
10 years, it's either like,
you just fucking love it.
And you think it's the
funniest thing in the world.
Or it's like, I'm finding new
nuances to the characters?
JOHN MULANEY: We--
that was like-- you
seem like a
wonderful guy, but it
had like slightly bully energy.
Hey, do you guys just--
do you think it's funny?
AUDIENCE: I was going
to raise the mic--
JOHN MULANEY: That you've
been doing this for 10 years.
My answer is yes.
That honestly made
me laugh a few times.
NICK KROLL: That it's--
JOHN MULANEY: Just on stage,
I'll look over at you,
and you're like--
and I'm like, my god.
We've been doing
this for 10 years.
NICK KROLL: And
I-- but there are
jokes-- there are jokes
that are in there that we
have been doing for 10 years.
And there's nothing
else that I would ever
do that-- I would never do
another-- I would never do
a stand-up joke for 10 years.
There are jokes in there that
we've been doing forever.
And then there's also
stuff that we are learning
every day about the guys.
It was like-- I don't know if
it was in a rehearsal or the run
through when we first
got to the stage
that we realized that Gil's
father ratted out other Jews
during the Holocaust.
JOHN MULANEY: That came
out during an improv.
NICK KROLL: So it's fun,
light stuff like that.
But it's like there's new--
you've got 70 years of stuff
to learn.
And so and that's really
been also the fun of theater.
Is when you make TV
or film, you write it.
You do your best to write it.
And then shoot it, right.
And then you edit it, and
hope you can figure it out.
With on stage, it's
the same thing.
And then it's like
"Groundhog Day,"
where you just get to keep each
day learning more and more,
and trying to get it more
and more interesting,
and figure out if you can make
Andie MacDowell interesting.
ALEX TIMBERS: And you
guys have discussed also
continuing to do it, until you
actually become Gil and George.
JOHN MULANEY: Yes.
NICK KROLL: That is the goal is
to do Gil and George until we
don't have to wear makeup.
JOHN MULANEY: Until we go
like, this isn't funny.
SPEAKER: You guys even-- you
put on liver spots on your hands
even.
NICK KROLL: Yes.
JOHN MULANEY: Yes.
My wife, who is our
amazing makeup artist,
really makes us pretty gross.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
And every guest who
comes up on stage,
is like, what's wrong
with your hands?
JOHN MULANEY: Well John
Oliver, from "This Week Tonight
with John Oliver,"
he was on the show.
And he was like, you don't
understand how ridiculous it is
to look you guys in the face.
And at one point
during his interview,
I said, Gil you have a
question about Israel.
And John Oliver
started laughing.
And he said, I knew
I was going to have
to turn and look at Gil.
And that he would then
start talking about Israel.
But with how much
stuff now, people
want new content and
people like-- is stand-up,
so you burn your hour,
and never do it again,
and have an hour every year.
It is so funny to do what is
truly like a vaudeville thing,
where like I'm like I've
said this joke 1,000 times.
But tonight I'm going to
say it a little differently
to make myself laugh.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: It's very weird.
But it's sort of
reverse liberating.
ALEX TIMBERS: And I
think your fans love
hearing some of the
same jokes, and actually
giving them a laugh.
NICK KROLL: It is like music.
JOHN MULANEY: It's
like old school vibe.
NICK KROLL: And I will
blame YouTube for this.
The only problem with it is
how hungry the internet is.
It's voracious in its appetite.
And so you constantly,
as comedians,
feel like you have to constantly
be putting out new content.
Where years ago, you
would just hone your act,
go make your show, and you'd
be able to-- or you'd go
tour it for 2-3 years,
and then put it out.
But it's such a hungry
beast that-- and that's one
of the fun things about
doing live theater.
It's like, no.
This is the show.
JOHN MULANEY: You've
got to come see it.
NICK KROLL: You've got to come
see it and experience it live,
and for a very
unreasonable price.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
SPEAKER: Through which
googlers have the discount.
NICK KROLL: Yes,
JOHN MULANEY: Yes.
NICK KROLL: Yeah, sure.
JOHN MULANEY: What?
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
SPEAKER: Would you ever
consider the final performance
recording it, and putting
it up on the Netflix.
NICK KROLL: Well, I think
our goal is to make something
for prosperity, I mean for
it live in some other format.
JOHN MULANEY: Some other way
beyond the Lincoln Center VHS
archives.
NICK KROLL: But I
think it is, I mean
I think for sure like we've
worked really hard on it.
It would be great to
have it seen somewhere.
But there is something about
the live experience of it
that is, I think, unbeatable.
JOHN MULANEY: Do you like
watching shows on tape?
ALEX TIMBERS: No.
It's terrible.
JOHN MULANEY: Yeah.
But like film versions?
ALEX TIMBERS: Yeah.
There aren't that many that are
great that you want to-- that
you feel like--
JOHN MULANEY: It's
so hard, yeah.
ALEX TIMBERS: Some day
you'll have the Oculus Rift,
and you'll be able to be
with Mandy Patinkin, right?
JOHN MULANEY: Right, on stage.
ALEX TIMBERS: That's the goal.
JOHN MULANEY: Mandy.
NICK KROLL: The goal is always
to be with Mandy Patinkin.
But I want to be an Oculus
Rift, in an episode of "Chicago
Hope."
JOHN MULANEY: The real ER.
SPEAKER: Yeah.
I mean you could have said, no.
It wouldn't hurt my feelings.
That's fine.
JOHN MULANEY: OK.
NICK KROLL: OK.
SPEAKER: Yeah,
one more question?
AUDIENCE: Yes, John, so
you've done both stand-up
and also been a
writer for "SNL."
JOHN MULANEY: Yes.
AUDIENCE: What's your
process for coming up
with jokes, other than
observing old men at diners?
JOHN MULANEY: So, I feel like
in the past couple of years
I've had to get
more disciplined.
I was lucky when I was
younger, in that I don't know.
I just could like-- I had more
free time, and less on my mind.
And I would just kind of walk
around and think of bits.
And I was kind of lucky
with stand-up stuff.
A lot of early stuff
kind of came to me,
like semi-fully formed.
Or I would just think about a
whole run, or a whole long joke
on a walk or something,
and then try it that night.
And in general,
it's still a process
of trying stuff that night.
And I have the benefit
with stand-up as does Nick,
that we can just go to a club
and work on stuff that night.
But I have now had at the--
now at the end of my life,
I've found-- like I just can't--
my brain is like preoccupied
with other things.
And I really need to
make time to go, OK.
I'm going to the
Comedy Store tonight.
I need to think of jokes.
Now that has positives
and negatives about it.
I miss the fertility of
like, I'm just this dude
walking around.
But now with some
responsibilities, it's harder.
And I need to make time for it.
So I've had to carve out,
think about comedy time.
Whereas I used to have
zero life and no friends,
and thought about
comedy all the time.
AUDIENCE: What is you,
carving out time, look like?
Are you sitting in the chair?
JOHN MULANEY: I'm
sitting at a desk,
with a notebook and no computer.
And I try to do it-- I read
Philip Glass's autobiography.
And he had these three-hour
horrible sessions where he just
would sit at the piano.
And he was not
allowed to get up,
like couldn't go-- you
can't go get a snack.
You just have to
really sit there.
And at the end of
the three hours,
you could have written nothing.
And then you get up,
and you're so happy.
But you have to sit
there with nothing else.
And I found that that does work.
Because I almost-- I
hate writing so much.
And I almost am like-- well,
I better entertain myself
by thinking of something.
Because this is so boring.
So the displeasure
of my own company
outweighs my dislike of
the creative process.
I hope that inspired
millions of children
that by 34, you'll
be brain dead.
And you'll have
to force yourself
to do the thing you love.
NICK KROLL: As you watch
this on your computer,
instead of doing whatever
it is that you're that
supposed to be doing--
JOHN MULANEY: By God though, I
still love talking about comedy
so much more than writing it.
It's crazy.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
SPEAKER: Cool.
Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
JOHN MULANEY: You're welcome.
SPEAKER: So before-- we're
almost out of time here.
Before we go, I
wonder if you guys
would be nice to explain to us
how we make a one-sided phone
call, which was one of my
favorite bits of the show.
JOHN MULANEY: Oh, the
one-sided phone call.
SPEAKER: You need a prop?
NICK KROLL: Sure.
I have my phone, not that I
don't want to use your phone.
JOHN MULANEY: Not that
you don't want Google
all over your phone.
NICK KROLL: Yeah.
JOHN MULANEY: But so, as
George St. Geegland would say,
the one-sided phone call,
is when a character makes
a telephone call, but they do
it in a very stagey way, where
they repeat the phone
call information out loud
to everyone else on stage.
So Gil will now show us
a one-sided phone call.
NICK KROLL: Oh, hello.
Sergey Brin?
That's who you are.
Uh, huh.
You love "Too Much Tuna?"
You love this GoogleTalks?
You want to give us a project X?
You're going to check out
our blood sugar by putting
a fucking contact in our eye?
And pay us enough money
to get a micro kitchen?
All right.
Well, we'll do it.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER: Well,
thank you very much.
Visit the show online,
"Oh, Hello" Broadway.
JOHN MULANEY: No.
Visit the show.
Come to the real show.
NICK KROLL: But he's helping us.
You've got to go to the
guy-- go to Broadway,
on OhHelloBroadway.com.
JOHN MULANEY: No, no, no.
People like to line up
and buy physical tickets.
I'm sorry Allan, I was
just-- I don't know.
SPEAKER: Do you want read--
JOHN MULANEY: I don't know.
I just trying to get a laugh.
No.
SPEAKER: Because--
JOHN MULANEY: I'm so
desperate for a laugh.
SPEAKER: OhHelloBroadway.com,
NICK KROLL: John, at home,
being like I got to write today.
And he's like, I got the joke
that I'll do it at the end.
JOHN MULANEY: 7:00 AM getting
up, thinking of Allan Burns.
SPEAKER: So the show is in a
limited run until January 8th.
Get your tickets now.
See it now at the Lyceum
Theater 149 West 45th
Street, @HelloShow on
Twitter and Instagram.
Everybody help me give them
another round of applause.
Thanks.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
