Good Talk with Anthony Jeselnik 1x1

1. - This is "Good Talk with Anthony Jeselnik."

2. You just hit the jackpot, and no,

3. I do not wish to elaborate.

4. My guest tonight is a comedian, actor, and—get this—

5. an improviser to boot.

6. - One of my favorite people in comedy.

7. Thank you for being here, Nick Kroll.

8. - Thanks for having me, Anthony.

9. - Nick, I think one of the most interesting things

10. about our dynamic is that you're, like, the nicest guy

11. in show business... - Mm-hmm.

12. - And I'm pretty much pure evil, straight from hell,

13. yet not only are we friends,

14. but we always have a blast working together.

15. - Yes. - Uh, why do you think that is,

16. and I'll tell you if you're right.

17. I think you're—uh, I'm not as nice as people think

18. and you're not as mean as people think,

19. and so we meet somewhere in the middle there.

20. - But you are, like— you're nice,

21. and I mean, like, a genuine—a genuine nice,

22. not a fake showbiz nice. - Thank you.

23. I believe being nice to be

24. a much easier path through life.

25. - Mm-hmm. - You know?

26. - Yeah. - I don't think you're rewarded

27. for being mean to people.

28. - I mean, I've made a career out of it, but, uh,

29. I—I see what you're saying. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

30. - Uh, "Big Mouth," your show on Netflix...

31. - Yeah. - Is so great.

32. What made you want to get into animation?

33. - Couple things.

34. Andrew Goldberg was my partner on the show,

35. and my best friend from childhood

36. s—I've known him since first grade,

37. and Mark Levin and Jen Flackett,

38. who—the four of us created the show—

39. they brought me the idea

40. about me and Andrew going through puberty,

41. and it just kind of— it made sense.

42. Immediately, it just felt— it was like, "Oh, yeah, yeah,"

43. and then I think also, I was—

44. had been doing "The League" and "Kroll Show."

45. I was pretty spent, uh, physically,

46. making those shows,

47. and also, like, feeling a little weird

48. about my face constantly being on,

49. like, recognized as much,

50. and so I think there was a little bit

51. of, like, "Oh, animation might be a good way

52. "to be able to make the stuff I want to make

53. "but not always be, like,

54. so, uh, physically out front on it."

55. - Cool. Let's take a look at a clip

56. from the Valentine's Day special

57. on Netflix.

58. - I know what we should do.

59. Flick Nick's nips!

60. - Ow! - Yeah.

61. - Jeepers, stop. - Yeah, this is fun!

62. - Make them stop! Make them stop!

63. - They don't need to stop.

64. They're having fun at his expense.

65. That's what boys do.

66. - Boys are assholes.

67. - Guys, stop!

68. Why are you being so mean to me?

69. - He's having a really bad day.

70. - Nick, we were just joking around.

71. - Yeah, you're acting like a chick.

72. - I'm not acting like a chick.

73. - He's just a boy with breasts.

74. - Great stuff, Nick. - Thank you, Anthony.

75. - Great stuff.

76. Uh, why do you think you're so obsessed

77. with kids going through puberty?

78. - I mean, is it something

79. you, like, can't control?

80. - Uh, I think it was— I mean, it was partly, like,

81. I hit puberty late, and it—

82. I think it really fucked me up.

83. Uh, I think, like,

84. being a late developer—

85. being any p—I mean, puberty just kind of

86. is such a seminal—

87. what's so funny to you right now?

88. - The idea of you hitting puberty in college

89. just cracks me up. - Yeah, yeah.

90. Like, sophomore year,

91. like, all of a sudden being like,

92. "What is this zit on my face?"

93. Wake up, be in class with a boner.

94. - College sounds like a blast.

95. - Yeah, uh, college was fun.

96. Um, honestly, I think

97. puberty's just such a rough time.

98. You feel so alone when you're going through it

99. that having a show or—

100. and now there's a few shows that are sort of

101. all, like, talking about this stuff,

102. like "PEN15" and, uh, "Sex Education,"

103. and—and a few other shows

104. that are—are doing a good job

105. of talking about this stuff,

106. and it's just—I think just because it's fruitful.

107. It's just like, there's stakes to it all, you know?

108. - So to sum up, it's cool and not at all weird

109. that you make this show?

110. Yeah. - And the show itself

111. is so dense with jokes.

112. I mean, every line is a joke... - Mm-hmm.

113. - Which is different from, you know, the "Kroll Show"

114. or your act. - Mm-hmm.

115. - W—was that—I mean,

116. you have jokes, but it is character pieces

117. where you're building to something...

118. - Sure. - When this is just, like,

119. rapid-fire, almost like, uh—

120. like "Airplane!" or, uh,

121. or, uh, "Naked Gun." - Yeah.

122. - Was that—did that come naturally

123. as you were writing it?

124. - I think that's the beauty of animation

125. is you just keep getting to pile jokes on stuff,

126. and there are so many ways to tell jokes

127. in the just physically laying out a scene

128. that—that is harder to do in live action,

129. and you keep getting to, like, polish animation,

130. so, like, we can add another joke on top of that,

131. we can call back that, and it's a much more—

132. yeah, it's just, you're able to keep adding

133. and polishing, in a way.

134. - Uh, Nick, what was the theme of your bar mitzvah?

135. - I had a world theme.

136. - Who cares?

137. - Uh, Nick, you do both stand-up and improv.

138. It's so rare for people to be so good at both.

139. - Mm-hmm.

140. - How do you come so close

141. to pulling it off?

142. - Oh, man. I do believe I straddle—

143. there are so many times when I feel like

144. it's a larger thing in my life,

145. where I'm like, "Ooh, why do I straddle both?

146. Like, why do I dip my toe into improv?"

147. and then I'll do improv shows and be like,

148. "Fuck, man, I wish I were more, like,

149. you know, my—that muscle was warmer," you know?

150. And the same with stand-up, where I'm like,

151. "Oh, I just can't fully commit

152. to, like, fully jumping in and engaging it,"

153. but, um...

154. but also, you know,

155. who fucking cares? You know?

156. Who cares about any of this? - Not me.

157. I just wanted to kind of slam you

158. in a question. - Yeah, I figured.

159. - Nick, looking at IMDb... - Mm-hmm?

160. - Did you know that that stands for "Internet Movie Database"?

161. - I did. - You did?

162. - Yeah. We used to joke around

163. that it was called "I am Debbie."

164. - I'll be right back with Nick Kroll,

165. but first, please enjoy some stunning examples

166. of timeless comedy.

167. - Oh, my last girlfriend—

168. she was calling my penis what I thought was, like,

169. a big, powerful, scary nickname.

170. She was calling it a weapon of mass destruction.

171. Ah, sounded cool.

172. But I found out she was calling it that

173. 'cause she thought my penis was really hard to find.

174. - So they were playing Puff Daddy at the place.

175. You guys like Puff Daddy?

176. - The last two summers,

177. we had the West Nile virus.

178. - One day, there may be a black president,

179. but there will never be a black president

180. named Barack Obama.

181. - We have iPods, for God's sake.

182. We have iPods!

183. - Anybody here on Myspace?

184. Myspace? Yeah.

185. Right on. Yeah.

186. Mm-hmm.

187. - Lending a crackhead 20 bucks

188. is like loaning out one of your good knives

189. to O.J. Simpson.

190. You're never gonna see it again.

191. - "Timeless" was ironic there. - Yeah, I can tell.

192. - And I'm back with "Good Talk."

193. Hey, Nick Kroll, when did you get here?

194. - I g— That's funny.

195. - Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is.

196. Uh, Nick, you've been doing comedy for so long

197. Uh, who are some of your, like—

198. your comedic influences... - Mm.

199. - Besides the way golfers dress?

200. Um...

201. Oh, you really wish I didn't have this buttoned.

202. Do you feel the button work—

203. the button up to the top works for the golfer joke?

204. - I'm glad you're doing it so I don't have to.

205. - Yeah. - But I know—

206. we wrote this joke well in advance...

207. - Yes. - Not knowing

208. what you were gonna be wearing.

209. - But you figured it would be somewhere in the—

210. in that vibe. - I've never seen you

211. not look like you could be carrying golf clubs.

212. - Really? - Yes.

213. - What if I didn't play golf but I just

214. carried golf clubs around with me, like that was my thing?

215. Um...

216. you know, a big one for— especially for me and Andrew:

217. um, when—when we were around this age,

218. when we were around the— like, 13,

219. the boys in the show,

220. we would watch "Wayne's World"

221. basically, like, every day,

222. - The movie or the— like, the sketch on "SNL"?

223. - Uh, originally the sketch, and then the movie.

224. Like, I—I kind of know that—

225. I'd say that might be the only movie

226. that at one point, I knew, like, every word to,

227. um, because I just also—

228. like, Dana Carvey's a big one,

229. I'm realizing now more and more.

230. I just heard him on, uh, "Howard Stern,"

231. and I was, like, remembering, like,

232. his years on "SNL" and how—

233. like, what a fucking star he was.

234. - Oh, yeah, yeah.

235. - And I was like, "Oh, right," and, like,

236. specifically, the Wayne and Garth model

237. of two characters who are in the same world

238. uh, and there's, like, this status play at hand.

239. Like, so many of my characters and things like that

240. have—have some version of that dynamic,

241. like, "Oh, Hello" with me and Mulaney,

242. or PubLizity,

243. or Bobby Bottleservice and Peter Paparazzo

244. or, uh, Rich Dicks.

245. Like, all of— a lot of "Kroll Show"

246. kind of functioned in some version of that duo

247. where Wayne and Garth clearly are these two guys

248. from the exact same world and—and environment,

249. and yet they have these very different, like, uh,

250. status plays on it.

251. So that was a big one for me. I love that movie.

252. - It's so funny, running into Dana Carvey now.

253. Like, I grew up the same way as you,

254. like, watching him and being like,

255. "This guy's a genius,

256. the funniest person ever." - Mm-hmm.

257. - And now, because he has kids

258. who are, like, in their early 20s

259. and getting into stand-up, he knows who we are.

260. Like, he came up to me and wanted to shake my hand,

261. and I was like, "I can't believe this guy

262. that I've loved my whole life

263. like, wants to meet me..." - Yeah.

264. - And, uh—and talk to me about his kids.

265. - Yeah, I, uh, did not have that version of it with him.

266. Uh, I approached him. He, uh...

267. He blew me off a couple times, and then

268. and then someone introduced me and said,

269. "Dana, you should know— you should know

270. "who Nick Kroll is.

271. He's a contemporary of Anthony Jeselnik."

272. - Yes, um...

273. - At which point, he engaged me,

274. and so I'm very grateful to you for that.

275. - Let's cleanse ourselves of this awkwardness right now

276. and watch a clip

277. from, uh, the movie "Wayne's World."

278. - Great. I love that movie.

279. - Did you ever find Bugs Bunny attractive

280. when he put on a dress and played a girl bunny?

281. - No.

282. No.

283. - Neither did I.

284. I was—I was just asking.

285. - Still holds up today. - Mm-hmm.

286. - Now, you said you and Andrew, when you were younger,

287. would reenact "Wayne's World."

288. Was it, like, word for word, you would do the sketches,

289. or would you make up your own?

290. - I think it was probably a combination therein.

291. It was like, we would host, um—

292. I don't know, Anthony, if you knew this, but I'm Jewish.

293. I don't know if you knew that about me.

294. - Huh. - Yeah, uh, and, uh,

295. I went to a Jewish day school

296. and we would, uh

297. Andrew and I would host, like,

298. the Purim talent show

299. as Wayne and Garth.

300. Um, do you know what Purim is?

301. - I don't even know what day school is.

302. - Oh, God.

303. - Were there Jewish night schools

304. for kids who were just too busy?

305. - They were already, like,

306. selling electronics and diamonds

307. during the day, they were doing...

308. They were doing elementary school at night.

309. Um, so anyway,

310. they—it was the Purim talent show.

311. We hosted it. I think we did—

312. it's like the Mad Libs of— of you take, like,

313. the basis of Wayne's World bits

314. and then you replace it, you know,

315. with, like, local references.

316. You know. - Sure.

317. Do you see yourself as more of a Wayne or a Garth?

318. - It really depends on the bit.

319. - Really? - Yeah.

320. I'll comfortably go th—

321. like, both, play both.

322. - Who would you say I am?

323. I think you're beta. I think you're a—no.

324. - I'm Rob Lowe.

325. - You're Rob Lowe? - Mm-hmm.

326. - How so?

327. - I hate both you guys

328. and I'm— - Oh.

329. - And I'm gonna do my best

330. to steal Wayne's girlfriend. - Yeah.

331. Tia Carrere.

332. - Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. - Mm-hmm.

333. - Still getting it done. - Yeah, yeah.

334. - Uh, Nick, the Emmy-winning show

335. "Entourage"... - Uh-huh.

336. - Aired from 2004 to 2011,

337. the golden age of television.

338. - Oh, yeah. - I assume you are familiar?

339. - Oh, yeah!

340. - Great.

341. We're gonna play a game right now

342. called "Actual turtle, or Turtle from 'Entourage'?"

343. - Copy. - I'm gonna describe something.

344. - Mm-hmm. - You tell me if I'm describing

345. an actual turtle... - Uh-huh.

346. - Or Turtle from the show "Entourage."

347. - Copy that.

348. - This turtle brings street smarts

349. and an urban flavor to actor Vinnie Chase

350. and his friends

351. and is a frequent user of marijuana.

352. - This is Turtle from "Entourage."

353. - It's your boy, Turtle!

354. - Oh, yeah!

355. - This turtle spends its entire life at sea

356. except to lay eggs several times,

357. every two to five years.

358. - I think that's an actual turtle.

359. - It's your girl, sea turtle.

360. - Oh, yeah!

361. I saw turtles.

362. I met—I met a bunch of turtles.

363. I saw turtles fuck.

364. I went to the Galapagos and I saw turtles,

365. like, old turtles fuck,

366. and they fucked for, like, nine hours.

367. - Why in the hell would you bring that up now?

368. This turtle's diminutive size

369. and softer-than-average exterior

370. often forces it into submissive,

371. or bitch-type, roles,

372. by its more dominant peers.

373. - I think that's gonna be an actual turtle.

374. - No, it's your boy, Turtle.

375. - Oh, yeah!

376. - This turtle once dated Jamie-Lynn Sigler,

377. who has since been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

378. - I'm gonna say that that's the actual Turtle—

379. that's a tur— that's Turtle—

380. I'm so flustered.

381. Um...

382. That is the actual Turtle from "Entourage,"

383. is what I want to say.

384. - It's your boy, Turtle.

385. - Oh, yeah!

386. Great job, Nick. - Mm-hmm.

387. - You only got one wrong,

388. which is shocking.

389. - Mm-hmm.

390. - We'll be right back with more of two white guys

391. telling it like it is right after this.

392. It's "Good Talk."

393. - We're right in the middle of "Good Talk."

394. I'm Anthony Jeselnik,

395. this is Nick Kroll,

396. and it's too late to turn back now.

397. Now, Nick, have you ever seen the movie "Sophie's Choice"?

398. - Yes. - Okay, great.

399. Then you're gonna be great at this.

400. This is just like "Sophie's Choice,"

401. It's called "Agree or disagree."

402. - Okay. - I'm gonna read you

403. a statement about comedy. - Great.

404. - You're gonna tell me if you agree with it

405. or disagree with it... - Sure.

406. - Just like "Sophie's Choice." - Great. It's amazing.

407. I totally zoned out during that,

408. but I think I'll remember now. - Mm-hmm.

409. Agree or disagree.

410. Internet comments are helpful

411. and worth taking time to peruse.

412. - Uh, disagree.

413. - Disagree. You've never gotten

414. anything good out of reading comments.

415. - I think—I— I remember, years ago,

416. watching a show called "Iconoclasts"

417. on the Sundance Channel... - Mm-hmm.

418. - Which is ostensibly what we're doing here.

419. You know, Robert Redford and Paul Newman

420. interview each other.

421. Turns out, Paul Newman's cooler than Robert Redford.

422. - Mm-hmm. - That is a—

423. - By a mile. - Yes, correct.

424. So they had Maya Angelou and Dave Chappelle

425. on an episode,

426. and Chappelle asked Maya Angelou

427. "How do you deal with criticism?"

428. And Maya Angelou ostensibly said,

429. "If you don't pick up the compliments,

430. then you don't have to pick up the criticism, either."

431. - Mm-hmm. - And I've tried my best

432. to live by that ethos.

433. Like, if you don't—yeah.

434. If you don't let what— anything coming in affect you

435. and what you're trying to do,

436. then—then the—

437. the negative stuff has a lot less of an effect on you.

438. - But doesn't Maya Angelou deserve all the shit she gets?

439. Yeah.

440. - Uh, agree or disagree—

441. - Does it feel good when you know—

442. when you know you got it?

443. When does that pop into your head?

444. Like, when do you know you're, like,

445. "I'm gonna fucking take down Maya Angelou in a second"?

446. - Honestly, I'm so used to it

447. that, uh—that she shouldn't have come at me.

448. - You know what I mean?

449. Agree or disagree: when it comes to stand-up,

450. you should just have fun up there.

451. See, you're telegraphing in your delivery

452. where you stand on this.

453. I—I have— for me personally,

454. I have to have fun up there.

455. Uh, I have to. It cannot be—

456. because I don't write jokes like you,

457. um, part of what is interesting or charming about me

458. is going to be seemingly

459. that there's something happening onstage

460. that might not happen again,

461. that is, like, this moment,

462. whereas everybody knows

463. that you sit alone in a dark room

464. and write these awful thoughts.

465. - Yes,

466. but if I am having fun—

467. like, if it's not going well,

468. but I'm still having fun... - Mm-hmm.

469. - It's still a good show. - Yes.

470. - But I've done shows—like, two shows in a night,

471. where I hate the first crowd and I'm furious

472. and I'm just getting through it,

473. and the second crowd is amazing.

474. Uh, they're just, like, giving me all the energy

475. and I'm having the time of my life,

476. I'll walk offstage and be like,

477. "I hated that first show, loved the second show,"

478. and someone will go, "Anthony, watching you,

479. you cannot tell the difference."

480. - Right, right. - "Your character

481. "is so locked in that any joy is lost.

482. "Like, the— we have no idea,

483. uh, what's going through your head."

484. - Yeah.

485. - Agree or disagree:

486. singing, dancing, or playing an instrument

487. is cheating in stand-up comedy.

488. Oh. I disagree.

489. - Why?

490. Who are you trying to protect?

491. - So many people.

492. Uh, you know— you know what it was?

493. It was, I thought the question was just gonna be,

494. "Singing, dancing, or playing music,"

495. and I was just gonna say dancing.

496. Like, I didn't know there was gonna be more to the question.

497. I was like, "Oh, I know the answer to this,

498. I know it," and I wasn't even agree or disagree.

499. I just knew that I was like— my answer is "dancing,"

500. um, and then, as you finished the question,

501. then I was like, "What if I danced onstage?"

502. I'd like to dance onstage.

503. Uh, but I've never done it because it's not, uh, funny

504. and it just makes me wanting to seem cool.

505. - You want to dance onstage?

506. - I wanna dance onstage.

507. I wanna dance— I just wanna dance, I think.

508. - I mean, you could Ellen it up

509. if you wanted to. - Oh, my God.

510. - People would love it. - Would you dance

511. when on "Ellen"? - No, I don't dance

512. at, like, places where people go to dance.

513. - Really? - Oh, yeah.

514. If you see me dancing, call an ambulance

515. because I am—I am this close to alcohol poisoning.

516. - It happens,

517. but, uh—but I am— I am dead drunk.

518. - Oh, man.

519. If you just walked into a club

520. and saw you dancing alone to, like, Morrissey...

521. - Mm-hmm. - Just like,

522. like, weeping on the dance floor,

523. just kind of, like, swinging back and forth.

524. - Would you go into that bar?

525. - Yeah, I would fucking go to that bar

526. and hang out.

527. Um...

528. uh, do I think it's cheating? What do you think?

529. - I think there are exceptions.

530. - Yeah? - You know what I mean?

531. Like, Steve Martin played the banjos sometimes.

532. - Sure. - Like, great.

533. You know, he's still a great stand-up.

534. Uh, I think that stand-up, though,

535. is a pure art form,

536. and that it should just be

537. you and a microphone. - Yeah.

538. - Uh, last one.

539. Agree or disagree:

540. more children should be doing stand-up.

541. Disagree.

542. I-I don't think more children

543. should be doing stand-up, Anthony.

544. - Me too. I agree with you on that one.

545. - Oh, that's awesome.

546. I don't think kids

547. should be able to do any show business.

548. - Mm? What about porn?

549. - That's fine.

550. - Did somebody say D block? No.

551. - Well, then I guess the honor is mine.

552. D block, coming up next.

553. The talk is good.

554. - Time to wrap it up like a PSA from the '90s.

555. Nick, I like to end every show

556. with a segment called "Make God laugh,"

557. where we talk about a comedian friend of ours

558. who's no longer with us.

559. Tell me about your experience with Brody Stevens.

560. - The amazing thing about Brody is he—

561. especially when he passed away, you realized

562. he knew every comedian

563. like, from movie stars

564. to, like, open mic-ers,

565. 'cause he kind of continued to do

566. every type of show.

567. Like, as we stopped doing, like,

568. like, the smaller, like, back-of-a-bar shows,

569. he continued to do those shows,

570. so everybody has, like, their version of—

571. of being around him,

572. but I met him, I don't know,

573. probably like '04 or something like that

574. the first time in LA, or—

575. uh, and he's just—you just—

576. he's kind of an immediate, uh, presence.

577. - And I—most people know him as a stand-up.

578. - Mm-hmm. - Uh, I certainly didn't know

579. he did any acting,

580. but let's take a look at a clip

581. of, uh, Brody Stevens on "Kroll Show."

582. - I'm here to get you in shape.

583. I wanna whip you up. You wanna be a father?

584. - Yeah! - Pushing the stroller.

585. Taking them to school.

586. Soccer practice.

587. - I'ma make my kid proud

588. by getting all jacked up!

589. - Get jacked up!

590. - Yeah, let's do this! - Let's do this!

591. - Blam, blam, blam, blam, blam!

592. - Don't sh—no, no, no. Don't shoot the surfboard.

593. - Okay, I got carried away, Lactic.

594. - You got carried away.

595. - We love you, Brody.

596. I hope God is enjoying

597. watching you do a bunch of push-ups

598. right now.

599. I'd like to thank my guest, Nick Kroll,

600. for putting his career in my hands.

601. Nick, you were hilarious tonight,

602. a great friend, an even better guest,

603. - Tony Jes, thanks so much for having me.

604. - Make sure to check out season three of "Big Mouth"

605. on Netflix and "The Addams Family"

606. in theaters soon—or now.

607. We tape these pretty far in advance.

608. Check your local listings or something.

609. That's "Good Talk."