- 3 weeks ago
Ashley Padilla ('Saturday Night Live'), Hannah Einbinder ('Hacks'), Keke Palmer ('The 'Burbs'), Lisa Kudrow ('The Comeback'), Quinta Brunson ('Abbott Elementary') and Rachel Sennott ('I Love LA') join THR in our Comedy Actress Roundtable.
Recorded on location at The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica.
Recorded on location at The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica.
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00:00One time somebody said Kiki Palmer is too Kiki Palmer at this point.
00:03And I was like, yeah!
00:05That's a compliment.
00:06I was gagging, I'm like, I think I love this, but I'm not sure.
00:09But also, yes.
00:11I love to engage with the folks.
00:13You know?
00:14It's cool.
00:55Welcome to the Hollywood Reporter Comedy Actress Roundtable.
00:58I'm your host, Mikey O'Connell.
01:00Ladies, what is the most amusing or interesting feedback that you've gotten in your career as well, trying out for
01:07a part?
01:07I was very excited to audition for Gary Shandling for Larry Sanders' show.
01:15And so I thought he's going to listen and respond, be there.
01:18And he was sort of like doing something funny before we started the actual scene.
01:23So I was just playing along really dry, too dry.
01:27And I said something that just made them go, er?
01:31Oh.
01:32I don't remember what it was.
01:33It may have been something like, well, we should get started.
01:36Yeah, we should.
01:37It may have been like that.
01:39But I thought it was pretty funny.
01:41And then we read the scene and he went, okay, so thank you.
01:45Because, you know, we don't know right now what's going to happen.
01:49I went, well, yeah, sure.
01:50Okay, thanks.
01:51And I walk out.
01:52And it's a really long hallway to the elevator.
01:55And I hear the door open.
01:56And I turn around.
01:57I'm miles away.
01:58And there's Gary Shandling just going, okay, we'll have to call you.
02:04Oh, my God.
02:05He saw you out.
02:06Why is he afraid?
02:07He thinks I'm an X-marker.
02:09Oh, God, I love Gary Shandling.
02:10Yeah.
02:11That was it.
02:12That was crushing.
02:13That's Gary Shandling.
02:14I did Accutane.
02:17Everyone probably knows because I talk about it on all the time every second of every day.
02:20She actually made it possible for me to do Accutane.
02:22And I just want to recognize, like, the people who came before me because I am on it right now.
02:25And I did it before both of you.
02:27Yes.
02:27And I actually did.
02:29Well, I listened to you talk about it on a podcast.
02:31But before, it's a really intense acne medication.
02:35It makes you so dry.
02:36And your skin starts flaking.
02:38It's crazy.
02:39But it's so worth it.
02:40Okay.
02:40But before I did Accutane, my skin was really, like, I had really bad acne.
02:45I was very self-conscious about it.
02:46I feel like I would often audition for parts where they would be like, and we can keep all of
02:51this.
02:51Oh, no.
02:52They would be like, we would lose this.
02:54They're like, don't fix a thing.
02:58And I feel like I got that a lot where I was like, this is kind of, in a way,
03:02good feedback.
03:03But it's something that is, like, and then also I would do, like, so much makeup and cover-up.
03:09Yeah.
03:09Like, before an audition or something and be like, they can't, like, you're looking at yourself in the mirror.
03:15You're like, no one knows.
03:16No one knows.
03:17And then the first thing you hear is they're like, we're keeping all of that.
03:21So that's maybe some feedback.
03:24That's fun feedback.
03:25Yeah.
03:26The first feedback I've gotten is no feedback.
03:28When it's just, just it ain't you.
03:30You don't even know really where you're going from with it.
03:32It's kind of like, can I know?
03:34Was it the age?
03:35Is it the vibe?
03:36Was it a different role?
03:37You're great.
03:39But I wasn't.
03:40Yeah.
03:41I would have gotten the role.
03:43Yeah.
03:44So that's a tough thing when you don't know.
03:46Yeah.
03:46Yeah.
03:47Yeah.
03:48I think early on, because I don't have, like, a traditional acting background.
03:53I come from the world of stand-up.
03:54Yeah.
03:54I think early on, just the feedback was, like, I just talk really slow and kind of, like, have sort
04:02of, like, a baseline.
04:03As you can probably tell from my voice right now, like, just kind of, like, a baseline affect.
04:07And so, thank you.
04:08Wow.
04:09Thanks.
04:12What was I talking about?
04:14I have kind of, like, a baseline sort of, like, mellow thing.
04:18And so I think it was just kind of, like, okay, let's get it up.
04:21Let's get it up.
04:21Let's get some levels in there.
04:23And then one of the notes that I received on season one of Hacks the most was, less sad.
04:28Oh.
04:28Interesting.
04:29What was happening underneath, you know?
04:31Only time would go on to tell.
04:33Yeah.
04:33You were miserable.
04:34Yeah, right.
04:35Thank you, Lisa.
04:36Yeah.
04:36I think similar to Hannah, didn't have a traditional entry to acting.
04:42So the first pilot that I auditioned for, I remember getting there.
04:47And I learned a lot about acting that day because I did not want to go on that audition.
04:54My manager suggested that I do it, and I didn't see the importance in it.
04:59I didn't see why I should do it.
05:01So I went and I read the lines off of the paper, no actress or actor should ever do this,
05:06ever.
05:07Really?
05:08Okay.
05:09Shouldn't.
05:11And I just, yeah, I didn't do a good job.
05:14And the feedback I got from a very prominent producer named Rob Thomas, he was like, when you come, I
05:21want you to come back tomorrow.
05:22And could you know the lines?
05:23And I was just like, yeah, I mean, I know it seems simple, but at the time, I really didn't
05:29know because I came from stand-up and not traditional auditioning.
05:34And I did wind up getting that role when I came back and knew the lines the next day.
05:39So it was great, good feedback.
05:41I was very happy he told me to know the lines.
05:43That was important.
05:44And, yeah, so that was important.
05:47And also just shows you care.
05:48Like, don't show up and don't show up and seem like you don't care.
05:51That's not what you want to do.
05:52So it stuck with me.
05:54You had a tricky one, didn't you, with SNL?
05:57Yes, actually, I was just thinking of that, hearing all these stories.
06:00I'm similar, like, I didn't get any feedback.
06:02I feel like I was sending self-tapes just out into the ether.
06:05Into nowhere, yes.
06:06And you don't hear anything, so you're like, well, surely I'm bad then.
06:10Like, that's what that means.
06:11But then SNL, I tested once.
06:14I even celebrated after.
06:16Like a total jerk.
06:17I look back at that because I was like, I nailed it.
06:20And me and my manager had, like, a drink and a bar.
06:22We're like, we did it.
06:23Yes!
06:25And then I got a call a week later, and they were like, Lauren wants you to come back and
06:29test again.
06:31All new characters.
06:33Brand new five minutes.
06:35Oh, wow.
06:35And I, did you have?
06:38No, I didn't have another five minutes.
06:41I went, I did the thing I had, and I worked hard on that one.
06:45And I just sombed.
06:47I'll be honest, I called my mother and cried, and then I said, well, what should be different?
06:51Can I know?
06:52No wigs.
06:53So even more vulnerable.
06:55No wigs.
06:56No wigs.
06:57How can I get you to the bar?
06:58He wants to see you.
06:59He wants to see you.
07:00And I was not used to that.
07:01I'm used to hiding behind a character and, like, putting on a funny voice.
07:05So when that was the note, it was scary.
07:08I sobbed.
07:09But then it freed me in a way that, like, it is some of the best feedback I've ever gotten.
07:13Showed up, no wigs, just my hair, and did funny stuff.
07:16And it brought myself into the audition.
07:18And then I booked it.
07:19And she's a star.
07:20And she's a star.
07:22Yes.
07:23I love this story.
07:26I love this story.
07:28It's like, well, who of us is going to say, so what happened?
07:32And then?
07:33I'm still waiting on the call.
07:35We'll see.
07:36We'll see.
07:36A lot of people talk about bombing in stand-up, but so many people here started in improv.
07:43So I'm wondering, what is the memory of bombing in improv?
07:48Like, when is yes and oh no?
07:51So my biggest memory is, like, bombing at a theater that doesn't exist anymore called
07:55Iowa West.
07:56It was on Hollywood Boulevard.
07:58God rest her soul.
07:58God rest her soul.
08:00But I don't know.
08:01Bombing in improv, to me, was the most fun and freeing because you had to get yourself
08:06out of it.
08:07Yeah.
08:07I think you learn lessons in comedy in those moments that are, like, you know what I mean?
08:14You can't get that anywhere.
08:15You're in front of an audience making up stuff, really fighting to get the crowd back on your
08:23side.
08:23You do it in stand-up, too, of course.
08:25But improv, it's like four idiots up there talking about some made-up scene from some suggestion
08:31from the crowd.
08:32So the rush of actually getting everyone back in, yeah, I don't know.
08:37There's nothing better than getting everybody back in.
08:40That's the best.
08:40Yeah, when you feel like you almost lose it.
08:43It's like when you're all, like, tossing a balloon or whatever.
08:46Yes.
08:46You're going to do it right to the end and then everyone's, yeah.
08:49Yeah, it's so satisfying.
08:50There's less pressure.
08:52Yes.
08:52And whereas if you write something and it bombs, I feel like you're more like, oh, no.
08:56Yeah.
08:56I worked on that.
08:57Yeah.
08:59I will say, though, I mean, this is a stand-up bomb because I started in stand-up, but,
09:03like, just off of Ashley's story of, like, you have your five minutes and now you need
09:08to come up with, like, a full new five, I feel like I did a lot of college shows where
09:14I would have what I thought was 30 minutes and then go into an audience where it was – I
09:20did a show in Florida and it was not my crowd and it was my – I had 30 minutes
09:27and I just
09:28– of, like, my – what I thought was, like, really good stuff and I tore through
09:33it in, like, seven and I was, like, looking up at the clock and I was, like, so if that
09:38was what I had for, like, my best – what am I going to do now?
09:42How am I going to riff after doing, like, tight jokes for seven minutes that all kind
09:47of just, like, just hit the deck, like, one after the other.
09:51It was really rough.
09:52And so then it was, like, after seven minutes of, like, really, like, written, like, jokey,
09:57jokey, jokey, joke, I was, like, so what's everybody's major?
10:00Like, oh, what's your major?
10:02What's your major?
10:03Like, for such – desperately trying to get out of it.
10:07Yeah.
10:07Lisa.
10:09Do you have any memories of some, like, real stinkers at Groundlings?
10:13I don't acknowledge bombing while I'm on stage.
10:17I mean, I acknowledge it, but it doesn't feel bad.
10:21Mm-hmm.
10:21I mean, if you just stay in the moment of what's happening and go with it, then, you know,
10:28I don't know, you've just got to be okay in front of an audience.
10:32They just want to know you're okay.
10:34Yeah.
10:34So you can pretend to do that.
10:36That's what I was trying to say.
10:37Wait, she said more eloquent.
10:38I did?
10:39Yeah, you did.
10:39I don't normally do that.
10:41Yeah.
10:42It's all, like, yeah, you just – you just go through it.
10:45Yeah, you just go through it.
10:46You will get them back.
10:47Yep.
10:48Kiki, I'm going to read your own words to you because –
10:51Oh, you're already going to be dating.
10:53A few years ago, you and I spoke about Persona, and you said something that really stuck with me.
10:57You said that you've taken the flamboyant and interesting aspects of yourself
11:01and learned how to use them in a space that has become a career for you.
11:06I'm Walt Disney.
11:08That's Mickey Mouse.
11:10These many years later, at this point in your career, do you feel like the industry is coming to you
11:15for Mickey or Walt?
11:16Oh.
11:16You know, that's such a good question.
11:18I feel like it's both, and I'm in a phase of really knowing which one speaks to me at which
11:24time
11:24in the conversation that I'm trying to have as an architect of my career.
11:29You know, for me, Kiki Palmer, the character I was able to create digitally,
11:34especially coming from being a child entertainer when everybody was like,
11:37You're a has-man!
11:38You know, and going to digital, finding my voice in comedy through sketch, through the digital age,
11:45I was able to create a new voice.
11:47But also, it's more also me saying, That's just one of my voices.
11:52And I want you to see the person that created that voice.
11:56Speaking also to Persona, you've said something along the lines of that your stand-up act
12:03is how you want to present yourself to the world, like the voice that you wish you had.
12:06Do you feel like, given all your experience now, that you've gotten closer to that?
12:12Like, are those two more closely aligned?
12:13You know what I would say?
12:15My stand-up is highly stylized, and so there's an element of it that will always be separate from myself.
12:22Right.
12:22Um, but I think what I meant when I said that was that the sort of character that I was
12:30portraying on stage
12:31within my stand-up was highly, highly confident.
12:35And I do think that I have kind of, like, come into that more naturally.
12:42I definitely, when I started, it's funny because when you were talking about kind of not acknowledging the bomb
12:46and being okay, like, I got into comedy because I was really not okay, and I really, really needed other
12:51people
12:52to validate that I was, and that was what I was after completely.
12:56And over the years, I have been so lucky to, you know, have the experience and do the work
13:01to, like, actually build self-esteem, which is not something that I used to have, honestly.
13:05And so, yeah, as I've done comedy, like, I have come into myself, and that confidence
13:11is something that, like, I actually manifested in real life.
13:15That's powerful.
13:16Crazy.
13:17Mm-hmm.
13:18Um, a few of you are very online, I would say.
13:21Who reads comments and what have been some of the wilder things that's said about you or your work?
13:28One time somebody said, Kiki Palmer is too Kiki Palmer at this point.
13:31And I was like, yeah!
13:33That's a compliment.
13:34I was gagging, I'm like, I think I love this, but I'm not sure.
13:38But also, yes, I love to engage with the folks, you know.
13:42Cool.
13:43I started on Twitter, and then I left, and I had, like, a moment where I, like, had to just
13:51go, like, completely clean,
13:52like, not look at anything, whatever.
13:55And then I sort of toe-dipped back in when I was checking in for a friend who was like,
14:02what are they saying about me, and I said, I can, I can look for you.
14:06And then I started, I started swimming around, and I was like, I was like, it's starting to, like, not
14:11feel as bad anymore.
14:14And I also feel like I, I'm in a group chat with my sisters where they always send me, like,
14:20not mean tweets about myself, but things that they are, they're like, this is funny and not gonna destroy you.
14:27Yeah, yeah.
14:29Which I feel like is good.
14:30And it is, it's a good way, every now and then I think you have to, like, check in.
14:34I mean, if they're not saying anything, that's bad news.
14:37Then you're in trouble.
14:37So, I mean, hey, sometimes people only show love in weird ways.
14:41Yeah.
14:41Love you back.
14:42Love you back.
14:44To whoever said you're too kinky.
14:46Right, exactly.
14:47No, but it's also, like, people get really creative.
14:49Oh, yeah.
14:50Yeah, they do.
14:50They do.
14:51With even, where you're like, what do you even mean by this?
14:55And you know what I've also started to realize is they want to be comedians.
14:59Oh, yeah.
15:00You know what I mean?
15:00So a lot of it's like their pitch.
15:02They're like piloting a joke out.
15:04They're like, you know, so a lot of times it's not even really about what they really think of you.
15:07It's just they trying to get some likes.
15:10More little repos.
15:11Yeah.
15:12What was it like when you were on BuzzFeed?
15:13Were you just, like, churning out so much content that you didn't have time to engage with the reception?
15:18Like, did you have an awareness of how it was playing?
15:21My relationship to the internet was different back then.
15:23It was my job.
15:24Like, my job was to make videos for the internet.
15:28I didn't do, like, lists or anything like that.
15:30Just like, but it was series.
15:32I made short series, and I was very intentional about not unscripted stuff, things that are scripted, written.
15:38And so it's not me they're engaging with, it's my work.
15:41Yeah.
15:42And even then, I didn't, I wasn't too big on comments because I don't feel as though, I don't feel,
15:50how do I say this and not get in trouble?
15:51Give me a second.
15:52You got this.
15:53Why would you get in trouble?
15:54Because anything is something.
15:56If it's the truth.
15:56You know, I just don't feel like comments are actually valuable in the space.
16:04I want to know how you feel.
16:06Did you enjoy it?
16:08And I'm not even sure I want to know that.
16:10I made it, and it's out.
16:12Actually, no.
16:13I don't know.
16:14I went to, like, a museum, like, two years ago, and I really was sitting there thinking about painters and
16:19paintings.
16:19And they did the painting, the painting is done.
16:21They don't know what I think about it when I walk through the museum.
16:24But it's in the museum.
16:26Their intention of the painting doesn't even matter.
16:28If I look at the painting and I get something totally different from it than the artist intended, then that's
16:33my business, and their business was just to do it.
16:35So I've really tried to approach things like that.
16:38And even now, even when it comes to having a show that is my, you know, body of work, of
16:46course, similar to what Rachel, I'm on to hear stuff.
16:48My sister sent me stuff.
16:50I see stuff.
16:52I actually, for the, like, transparently, I don't even have my main Instagram account on my phone.
16:58I have a social person who runs that now because I don't need to see it.
17:02Like, I'll stop damning you.
17:03I just don't need to.
17:04I'm like, I'm afraid for anyone here.
17:08Love this look.
17:08How are you?
17:10To someone that I don't know.
17:11Text me directly or, like, I call.
17:14But I think also, respectfully, I feel like everyone's relationship to that is different, though.
17:20Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:21But I've found that that's what works for me is to just, I made it, now it's yours.
17:27I think that's the most respectful thing you can do with an audience is, you know, that's, you produce art.
17:35It's all art.
17:36And it's up to the person experiencing the art to have their own experience.
17:43It's like a Rorschach test, I think.
17:45I think so, too.
17:45So, shows, written pieces, all kinds of art.
17:49It's whatever a person is coming to it with is what they're going to see and experience.
17:55I just saw, do you remind me of that?
17:57I just, you know, I just saw, like, I was in New York and I just saw Death of a
18:01Salesman again.
18:02This is this play written way back when.
18:04And I'm thinking about, you know, how Arthur Miller could have in no way known where we would be today.
18:09And how there were still themes about, you know, America and the American dream and capitalism that still applied to
18:15it.
18:15But he couldn't have known that.
18:16He wrote it.
18:17He finished it.
18:18It's on stage.
18:19You can't change that play.
18:20And I think there's something really special about that.
18:24And I think we're going to need that to get through what we're about to go through is, like, here's
18:28the art.
18:29Yeah.
18:30I put my heart in it.
18:31And I don't really, I don't, I don't really want to engage with it.
18:35But not in a bad way.
18:37I want them to have their own experience with it.
18:38Yeah.
18:39That's a great way to look at it.
18:40Yeah.
18:41It's very talky.
18:42Sorry.
18:43Lisa, you recently said that at some point in the late 90s, like, mid-Friends era, your, I don't know
18:51if it was your agency or your management company, but people you were working with, representatives, referred to you internally
18:57as, like, the sixth friend.
18:58And they had no plan for your career.
19:00And they just sort of were like, oh, she lucked out.
19:03Yes.
19:04I don't think I said all that.
19:06Yeah.
19:06Yeah, yeah.
19:07You had an Emmy, like, why did you stay with these people?
19:11Like, what?
19:12No, no, no.
19:12It wasn't that.
19:13It was just that was what the talk amongst the business folk was.
19:20I know.
19:20Why I was told that, to me, is the, oh, well.
19:24But I really didn't care, because it didn't matter.
19:29I mean, I did a movie right after the first season, an Albert Brooks movie.
19:34Yay.
19:35And then the next season, I did two movies, Romeo and Michelle, and then an independent film, Fox Watchers.
19:41And I just thought, it doesn't matter, does it?
19:44Mm-hmm.
19:45What anyone thinks.
19:46Yeah.
19:46I just have to do what I do.
19:48Mm-hmm.
19:48Totally.
19:48Period.
19:49Yeah.
19:49Period.
19:50So true.
19:50And if you're waiting for someone to get you something, that's, yeah, that's a bad wait.
19:57Mm-hmm.
19:58Is there a moment, though, where you felt like that shifted, where the business, like, saw you for your talents
20:03and your contributions?
20:04Oh, I wasn't paying attention to it.
20:07I know.
20:08Remember?
20:09I'm never bombing.
20:11You know, I don't know.
20:13That's, like, how I feel the right way to act.
20:15Your own reality.
20:16It's Valerie Cherish, not that far away.
20:18Rachel, you, obviously, there's a lot going on when you were showrunning, writing, acting, and you would take walks on
20:28the Warner Brothers lot to sort of, here we go, you would run into Quinta.
20:32Yes.
20:32Who's in a very similar position to you.
20:34What were those conversations like?
20:37I feel like, I feel like I would, we would, like, lock eyes.
20:44Mm-hmm.
20:44And Quinta would just be like, you okay?
20:46Mm-hmm.
20:47Like, what's going on?
20:48Just, like, checking in.
20:49But I think feeling, there's something about having people, especially, like, other women around your age and, like, you're young
21:00doing this and you're trying to be taken, like, I feel like stuff that we talked about was, like, how
21:06to be taken seriously.
21:07But also still be fun and, like, and yourself and still be funny and do the thing that, like, got
21:15you the show.
21:16It's a lot of hats.
21:16Yeah, it's a lot of hats.
21:17And, like, I think having someone who was doing all of that and is doing it so well that I
21:26look up to and is, I just, it was just nice to just check in and feel like you get
21:33it.
21:33I feel like, just talking about trying to prove, prove myself in the writer's room and how, like, you were
21:43talking a little bit about, like, your experience shooting through COVID and then after that and then basically every season
21:50is a new challenge is what you were saying.
21:52Oh, yeah.
21:52Because I was like, well, once you get through the first season, then it's, like, smooth sailing.
21:58And Quinta was like, my love, no.
22:00Like, then all of a sudden there's more people involved.
22:03Then there's this and whatever.
22:05And so, in a way, it was just, I don't know, like, helpful to hear and be like, okay, I'm
22:12not crazy.
22:14Yeah.
22:14I don't know.
22:15Yeah.
22:16And I really value Rachel being there because, you know, we were just talking about this.
22:21There's not many shows shooting on the lot right now, period.
22:26Yeah.
22:26And for a while, it was just, like, us and Young Sheldon.
22:28And then Young Sheldon went and then it was like, damn.
22:32It was just us.
22:33And then the pit came in and that was nice.
22:36Okay.
22:36And that was nice.
22:37But it's, like, a whole different vibe.
22:39Yeah.
22:39They in there.
22:41No.
22:42They're bleeding.
22:44They're bleeding.
22:45They're bleeding.
22:45They're all, like, all their different vibes.
22:46Booth triage.
22:47Booth triage.
22:48And then so for Rachel to come on the lot, it was one of the first times I didn't feel
22:55alone as a younger showrunner.
22:57Yeah.
22:58Beautiful.
22:58Of my ilk.
23:00Like, me and Rachel, we have the same, we have some friends in common.
23:03It felt like, I'm finally, like, not.
23:05We're both 5'2".
23:065'1", 5'2".
23:08What?
23:09Sorry.
23:09Oh, height.
23:10Yes, yes.
23:10We're both fatigued.
23:13We're both fatigued.
23:16It was like, all right, I'm not here.
23:17It's not just me.
23:18And I know so many things have changed.
23:20I get it.
23:20So much has changed.
23:21But I was like, it's not just me and a bunch of, like, dudes or me and a bunch of
23:24white
23:24guys.
23:24It was, like, kind of nice to just see, all right, we can keep what we do alive.
23:29And I was happy when the comeback came to the lot because, Lisa, duh, we're all huge
23:33fans of you here.
23:34But it feels like, okay, like, we've got some motion here.
23:38Yeah.
23:38And I had a friend on your show.
23:40It just feels really good to see people, I don't know, that you know on the lot.
23:46Yes.
23:46And there's something really, like, comforting about that.
23:49Ashley.
23:50Yes.
23:51The internet has beamed you the MVP of SNL this season.
23:55Oh, wow.
23:56You have broken all kinds of screen time records.
24:00I believe, like, Robert Smigel referred to you as a miracle recently.
24:04So how does all this attention impact the way you navigate the most infamously competitive
24:12workplace?
24:13I'm so curious about that.
24:14Thank you for asking me.
24:15Seriously.
24:16Oh, man, I really want to know this.
24:17Just watch her coffee cup.
24:19Yeah.
24:21It's so funny because I do not see the show as competitive at all.
24:26And that sounds so silly to people.
24:29And it almost feels disrespectful to people because of people who've, like, you know, gone
24:35through it.
24:35I remember someone saying to me, like, there's sharks in the water there, you know?
24:39Like, that was what I was going into.
24:40I see it as a collaborative place to be funny with wonderful friends.
24:47And if your thing gets on, that's awesome.
24:50If not, you've got to help your teammates and their sketch and give it their all.
24:55You'll try again next week.
24:56And so that's how I go into it.
24:58That's great.
24:59And I'm also in a position, though, where at the Groundlings, you have to write for yourself
25:03to get on that stage.
25:04So I had that tool with me going in.
25:07And so I empathize with my peers who maybe, like, came from the stand-up world or don't
25:14write sketches.
25:14And they're like, I need help.
25:16Right.
25:16But I'm too new.
25:18The writers aren't going to.
25:18So that's where I think that stress might come from.
25:21But I'm having a great time.
25:23And the online stuff is so surreal to me that I try to, I'm like, I'm so blessed that it
25:29scares me.
25:30How would you, like, describe your role in the cast?
25:33Like, do people fill a specific job, do you think?
25:37I'm trying to, Marcelo called me his big sister the other day.
25:41And I was like, oh, that feels right.
25:42I feel like a, like a, a big sister or something.
25:46I don't know.
25:47Maybe because that fear is removed.
25:48So I'm able to maybe go like, hi, how you doing?
25:52You know what I mean?
25:53But I don't know.
25:54Some would probably, yeah, say that, I think.
25:57That's nice.
25:57Maybe.
25:58Maybe someone's like, she's the bitch.
26:01She's the bitch sister.
26:03She's the bitch.
26:03She's the bitch.
26:04I don't know.
26:05I'm the cat.
26:05They're scared of you.
26:06That's why everyone is so nice.
26:08There we go.
26:09But it's not competitive.
26:10I mean, it used to be very competitive.
26:14But didn't that stop a while ago?
26:16I think so.
26:18Your mama was in it.
26:19Do you think, do you feel like she thought it was competitive?
26:21Can you speak on behalf of your mother in front of all of us?
26:24What did she say?
26:26What did she say?
26:27No, I think that cast is perhaps just different from all the others.
26:32Yes.
26:32I think in the 70s and the original cast, probably that would have been just like a completely distinct experience.
26:39They were just launching it.
26:40They didn't know what was going on.
26:41Right.
26:41But I think after that, it was competitive.
26:44Well, listen, Groundlings was ridiculously competitive when I was there.
26:50Yeah.
26:51And it's like an S&M boot camp.
26:53It's pleasant.
26:53Yeah.
26:54It was unpleasant.
26:55Oh, unpleasant.
26:56It was so competitive.
26:57Oh, wow.
26:58It was unpleasant.
27:00Wow.
27:00I thought, yeah.
27:01Did you guys all feel that you had this experience at Groundlings, that it was very competitive?
27:05Well, I was there 100 years before she was.
27:09I tend to mind my own business.
27:12I know that's right.
27:13You know what I mean?
27:13So I think I'm not good.
27:16It's going to work.
27:16I'm out.
27:17Create a bubble.
27:19Oh, my God.
27:20I submit my sketch before bedtime.
27:23That's right, Tani.
27:24And then everyone's like, I was up till four.
27:25I'm like, oh, no.
27:26Yeah.
27:27Right.
27:28You know, I have to.
27:29Yeah.
27:29It's possible.
27:31So maybe minding my business sounds horrible, but...
27:34No, it doesn't.
27:34No, it doesn't.
27:34That is what I do.
27:36I mind my business.
27:37And if you make business, you have all my life.
27:39Because it's a job.
27:40You don't do the overnight, up all night thing.
27:43I do not.
27:43That is...
27:44I do not.
27:45I know that.
27:45See?
27:46I said...
27:46And you don't have to, and you're the best.
27:49It's just not how I want to do it.
27:51And it's funny, because I feel like I got the job at a point in my life where I went,
27:54I don't care anymore.
27:56Like, I was not booking stuff.
27:58And I was just like, I don't care.
28:00I got tired.
28:01Sure.
28:02And I went, I am tired of not living my life for myself.
28:05Yeah.
28:06And that's when everything came.
28:08That's right.
28:09And so to lose that would be silly now.
28:11So why not keep that going?
28:12It doesn't mean I'm not turning in my work and being 100%.
28:15But to be 100%, I need sleep.
28:18Hannah, Hacks.
28:19Hacks is over.
28:21What?
28:21We brought you here to tell you something.
28:23Oh, my God.
28:24Hannah.
28:24You guys are hilarious.
28:25It's not.
28:26But this is a huge show that has, in many respects, defined your career so far.
28:32Oh, yeah.
28:33How are you approaching what's next?
28:35Are you excited?
28:36Are you scared?
28:37How do you feel?
28:38I feel total, like, liberation.
28:42I feel like I've had an experience that has modeled, like, the intersection of, like, community and quality, which is,
28:51like, all I'm after.
28:52You know what I mean?
28:53Hacks has set the bar and created a precedent for me to try to marry, like, the deep, loving connection
29:00with my collaborators and the quality.
29:02And, like, I view whatever comes next as, like, just extra, like, just abundance.
29:10I feel, yeah, excited and really proud of our show.
29:18And, yeah, like, I – Hacks is over, I guess, technically, but, like, it has changed me forever.
29:27And the people I work with have changed me fundamentally as a human being.
29:31Like, I said earlier, like, I was able to come into myself on that show because I was supported by
29:36people who I admired.
29:37And I was like, well, if they think I'm okay, like, I'm probably okay.
29:40You know?
29:41And –
29:42You are.
29:42You're very good.
29:44That's really so good.
29:45You're a good actor.
29:46You're very good.
29:47Yeah.
29:47It's really so amazing hearing what you're saying that you had a community around you.
29:50That's not always the case.
29:52Good people.
29:52You know, like, a good group of people over there.
29:55And people I love, for real.
29:56Yeah.
29:56And, like, people who – like, I've watched people have kids, grow up, like, you know, over so many, like,
30:03get married.
30:04Like, it's really, like – I know that it's, like, very toxic when people say it's, like, a family because
30:10it's, like – you know what I mean?
30:11Like, it's hard to say that about a work environment.
30:13But, like, I have those feelings, like, for my people.
30:17And, you know, it is – so it does set a really high bar.
30:22But, like, you know, I did, like, two movies last summer.
30:24Okay.
30:24And I got to – well.
30:25And I got to, like, be, like, okay, like, who are these people?
30:28Like, we're going to have this, like, bond.
30:31And both experiences were so deeply fulfilling in both of those ways.
30:37And that's just, like, all I care about at this point.
30:40Good people, good work.
30:42That's it, you know.
30:43You seem to have an incredible perspective on what's next.
30:46But, Lisa, having been in that position of ending a long-running sort of career-making role, like, what –
30:52do you have advice about how to approach what comes after a sort of career-defined role?
30:58No, no, that's how I felt, too.
30:58Yeah?
30:59I just said, excited for whatever comes.
31:01Yeah.
31:02I thought I was going to do a lot of independent films.
31:04And then those stopped in the early aughts.
31:08So – yeah.
31:09But now they're coming back.
31:10They're coming back.
31:10They are.
31:11They're goodish.
31:12I know, but now I don't feel like it's too hard.
31:18We're doing it all in ten days.
31:20Right.
31:22Going to heading into this sixth season of Abbott, you are still being referred to as the woman who saved
31:29the network comedy.
31:30And I'm really interested to know what you think of that label and how do you see yourself in that
31:40because that can't be what you are forever.
31:43It's just all relative.
31:44It's just all relative.
31:45The truth is relative.
31:46I don't know what to say.
31:47It's relative.
31:48I also don't think it's true because, like – I get too hyper.
31:52No.
31:53No, I'm not.
31:54And here's why.
31:55No, but you know what I think it does.
31:58Because it ignores – there have been shows that have been holding it down in the meantime.
32:05I think Abbott is a certain – which I'm grateful for.
32:08It was, like, buzzy and flashy, but young Sheldon was doing his thing.
32:13Mom was killing it.
32:15The Neighborhood just ended an eight-season run on CBS.
32:18That was incredible.
32:19Law and Order – like, there are all these – SNL.
32:23These are long-running network shows.
32:25But I think the industry just kind of moved away from caring about them, and we all started caring about
32:30streaming so much.
32:32But at the end of the day, the thing that's kind of holding up TV still are these tentpole TV
32:40shows, you know what I mean, that are still carrying, you know, revenue.
32:45We've kind of watched some streaming platforms come and go, but the networks are still here.
32:51Do you know what I mean?
32:52And so that's why I have a hard time with that, because I don't think it's 100% true.
32:58And I think it ignores the work of many other people around me.
33:04But what if it's true for a moment?
33:08I mean, it was true.
33:11Yes.
33:11And maybe is still true.
33:13It's not forever.
33:14It doesn't have to be.
33:15Yeah.
33:16But, you know, everything's temporary.
33:19Yeah.
33:20Yeah.
33:20But, yeah, I mean –
33:22I don't know.
33:23I don't know what it is.
33:24I don't like you saying that.
33:26No.
33:27I receive that.
33:28But it's probably true.
33:30Yeah.
33:31Especially if Mikey said it.
33:33You're right.
33:33But –
33:34You're right.
33:34Let me just eat a damn cashew.
33:37No, no.
33:38No, but I understand and appreciate every single thing you said.
33:42Yes.
33:42It's just that you did revitalize with your show and your voice and your humor.
33:48Mm-hmm.
33:49I think that is true.
33:50Mm-hmm.
33:51And, yeah.
33:53I appreciate it.
33:54I'm excited for –
33:55Because I know everything.
33:56You do.
33:57That's right.
33:57You do.
33:58You don't.
33:58I don't know anything.
33:59You do.
33:59That's tea.
34:00I'm just –
34:01That's actually like a good callback.
34:02You do.
34:03That's tea.
34:04And you've done this and been a part of doing it.
34:07Mm-hmm.
34:07And, like, the comeback, coming back is one of those things that's like, dude, we can
34:12keep, you know, you can keep revamping and just keep, I don't know, being a new
34:18part of the – because that show has now come back.
34:20It's like some other thing is going to happen that's really cool.
34:22A lot of us are sitting here because you have kept coming – I don't know.
34:28Really?
34:29Yes.
34:29All right.
34:30Great.
34:31You're welcome.
34:31Yes!
34:32Y'all.
34:33You're welcome.
34:33Y'all.
34:34Okay, y'all.
34:35I don't know.
34:36I'll take it.
34:37I don't know.
34:38I don't understand it, but all right.
34:40I think we're all sitting here because of each other.
34:41I'll put it that way.
34:42Yeah.
34:43I'm a hip of that.
34:44I think because Kiki has done things, I'm able to do things.
34:46Because I've done things – I just think everything is just like puzzle pieces.
34:50It's just to allow everybody to keep –
34:52And it's always morphing and changing.
34:54And I think like – I think maybe sometimes what's hard about like being given a title
35:01or been like – and you're the woman who like – I'm trying to think what they could
35:05say for me.
35:06You're showing –
35:07Well, I think you probably have a –
35:08You've got it in a different way.
35:09Like or whatever, you know?
35:11I imagine you probably have the same experience because they put that on you too where it's
35:15like she's the new – it feels hot when they do that.
35:18Yes.
35:18It's like, oh, shit.
35:19Yeah.
35:20And then you're sort of like – and then other people go, is she really the name of
35:23that?
35:24Or did she really reinvent?
35:26And you're like, well, I didn't even say the first part of it.
35:28Yeah.
35:28And then whatever.
35:29I think that's what I feel.
35:30It's like she's even –
35:31Yes.
35:32I was over here just making this show.
35:33Yes.
35:33That's a lot to experience.
35:34That's the hardest part.
35:35Yeah.
35:36That's a lot to experience.
35:37I'm sure you –
35:37That's the hardest part about it.
35:39It's because they're doing that.
35:40No.
35:40And once the public – the publicists have to be stopped.
35:44This is my moment to y'all now.
35:46Y'all setting us up to be torn down.
35:49Summer, she doesn't seem for me, Summer.
35:49We're going to spend it on it.
35:51She's the first and they're the only and he's the one and they revive.
35:55You're giving us a death sentence.
35:57I'm not talking about those comments.
36:00I mean, it was a few questions ago, but those are the comments that I need to ignore.
36:05She's Kristen Wiig.
36:06No, she's Kate McKinnon.
36:07Because it's the same show with different people and they're trying to label you because
36:12it's their show and I respect it.
36:15But that is the hardest part is I'm like, I promise you I have something else to say
36:19that's different than I am inspired by all of them.
36:23Yeah, there's a lot of misogyny.
36:25Are we going to open up the box now?
36:27Are we going to open up the box now?
36:28It's a bad time of the box.
36:29I have a key right here.
36:31Do you open it?
36:32And I have a spare.
36:33Exactly, thank you, thank you.
36:34I feel that with you though because, you know, look, I like my Reddit.
36:39I don't look at the Reddit for Abbott though.
36:41Reddit is fun though.
36:42But like I'm on SNL Reddit.
36:44Are you?
36:45The theories are crazy.
36:47She's like writing on there like, what the hell is that?
36:49I never write.
36:50I'm very afraid.
36:51The name is like, I don't like when to read.
36:54I'm very afraid of being found out so I would never write.
36:57But I like to read.
36:58Broadway Reddit, Walking Reddit, SNL Reddit.
37:02That's the only social media I have to love myself.
37:04Reddit.
37:04Reddit, I get it.
37:05But yeah, comparisons are.
37:07It's hard.
37:07It's a lot.
37:08Because then you start comparing yourself.
37:09Yeah.
37:09If you get too caught up and then you go, never mind, I'm not looking.
37:12Yeah.
37:12I think it becomes really interesting for us in the black girl spaces because we get compared in such a
37:18way that is so crazy.
37:19Yeah.
37:19Even though, I mean, I feel like it's just not fair to us.
37:23Yeah.
37:23Like Kiki and I are like two totally different individuals.
37:27And we feel, there's so little of us in the space.
37:29But we get compared, and you're already getting compared to other actresses, period.
37:35And then you go into this smaller bowl of getting compared.
37:38And it, it like hurts what we actually are capable of.
37:43I do.
37:44When we were talking about things that we would want to see done again, I would want to see Hollywood
37:47shuffle redone.
37:48Oh.
37:49You remember the old Robert Townsend, Kenan Wayans movie where they talked about, it's a sad time about what you
37:54just said.
37:54Yes.
37:54Where it's like, they'll say on the thing, an Eddie Murphy type.
37:57Yeah.
37:57And it's like, what does that, but I don't even do what Eddie do.
38:01Exactly.
38:01You know what I mean?
38:02This is not my lane.
38:03And so anyway, just to your point where people being able to acknowledge the nuances of what people do.
38:07Yeah.
38:08You know what I mean?
38:08All actors, I feel, are individual.
38:10Now, somebody might remind you of someone.
38:12You know what I mean?
38:13People say, oh, she reminds me of Angela Bassett or she reminds me sometimes of, you know, so-and-so.
38:18But at the end of the day, it's you.
38:20It's you and all your influences coming together to create something that's very genuine to you and your perspective.
38:26Of course.
38:26And so I think, yeah, when people do that, a lot of times it compresses what you've curated.
38:32Mm-hmm.
38:33I agree.
38:34But it's kind of a part of it.
38:35I agree.
38:35Whether you're black, white, woman, a man.
38:37It's all in it.
38:37They're going to always find gay.
38:39He reminded me of that other gay dude.
38:41Right.
38:43It's like, why don't, why, why, you know, it's kind of always a thing that we just have to just
38:48like, you know.
38:49Can I ask Lisa a question?
38:51Yes.
38:51Okay, please.
38:52Because you were on TV in an era before the internet.
38:56It was just starting.
38:58It was just starting.
38:59Come on, dial-ups.
39:01No, there were chat rooms and you could read things about yourself.
39:06Oh, my God.
39:07And you had to boot up the whole room.
39:09Yeah.
39:09To read it.
39:10To read it.
39:12I don't remember it being a big effort.
39:15It wasn't.
39:15You were there.
39:16I don't remember that.
39:17But so I looked once and then just said, oh, this will never serve me.
39:23Yes, right?
39:23I never, ever looked again.
39:25Wow.
39:25Yeah, it's beautiful.
39:26Yeah.
39:27Yeah.
39:27Mm-hmm.
39:28Yeah, me too.
39:28I looked once and then.
39:30That was it.
39:31Walked away.
39:32I was good.
39:32Yeah.
39:32I was all set.
39:34I just often think things were better then and I want to know if that's true.
39:38Well, but when you had, well, I don't know.
39:40I mean, you know, there's always been people saying nasty things.
39:44Yeah, that's true.
39:45They could always send you like a weird letter.
39:46The inquire.
39:47You know.
39:48Yeah.
39:48It used to be huge.
39:48Then there's that stuff.
39:49There was that stuff, which because it wasn't, you know, regular people having an opinion.
39:55That's it.
39:55They would read it in something published and think, oh, well, this has some more weight
40:00then.
40:00Sure.
40:01So.
40:02Yeah.
40:02And those were just pure lies.
40:03All right.
40:04So.
40:04Yeah.
40:05I used to run Diane Keaton's Instagram.
40:07This is just like a sidebar because you remind me so much of her.
40:11The way you're saying that what you're saying.
40:12I used to run her Instagram.
40:13That's so amazing.
40:14I love Diane Keaton.
40:15She's amazing.
40:16And I.
40:17What?
40:17I learned that from her because I ran her Instagram.
40:20So she didn't see the comments.
40:22Yeah.
40:22So she was just putting out into the world whatever she liked.
40:25Yeah.
40:25We did videos on eyeballs.
40:27That wasn't going to hit millions and millions of views.
40:30Probably not something that you should maybe do.
40:32I don't know.
40:32Right.
40:32But like she liked it.
40:33And I remember sitting in the office once and seeing some like nasty comments or something
40:37like that.
40:38And I saw her floating and just doing everything.
40:40I'm like, oh, because she doesn't know.
40:42Yeah.
40:43She's living in bliss.
40:44And that taught me to like, fuck you.
40:46But I love what you just brought up because the reality also is like the internet is not
40:52the only world.
40:53So a lot of times people find themselves doing stuff for this many likes or is it going
40:57to get me this engagement?
40:58But that's like only one side of things.
41:00That's only one version of a career you could maybe want to have if you want to be engaged
41:03with the internet.
41:04And there's so many different versions of success and reaching your fan base.
41:09And that's what I feel like I hope we talk more about now.
41:12If there's any gift that can come from having immediate access to your audience, it would
41:17be that you create your corner.
41:19Yeah.
41:19And that's the corner y'all.
41:20You got your community.
41:21They come and see everything you do when you have a standup show, when you got a new
41:24thing coming out, whether it's 200 likes, 15 likes, you can count on them.
41:30You know, that to me is what's always been so important.
41:32And what I always loved about digital, the best thing I took from it was I can reach y'all
41:37now, the ones who really give a fuck.
41:39You know?
41:41I want to spend the rest of this talking about Diane Keaton's Instagram, but we do have
41:45to move on.
41:46No, no, no.
41:47We're going to move on to fart jokes.
41:49Thank God.
41:50Lorne Michaels famously loves a fart joke, I believe.
41:56And a fart sketch.
41:57No, he doesn't like them.
41:58Doesn't like them.
41:59Yeah.
41:59Well, then why do they all get on?
42:01If they're funny, maybe.
42:02Okay.
42:03I don't know the rules.
42:04Despite his relationship with them, you delivered, like, one that is definitely entering the
42:10all-time grades.
42:12You made it almost cerebral.
42:16So, I'm wondering, if you want to explain what happened in Surprise, you can.
42:22We don't have to get too into it.
42:23But, like, what was Lorne's response to it?
42:26I don't know.
42:28I mean, I remember.
42:29It's funny.
42:29That sketch I used to do at the Groundlings.
42:32Like, I just love someone taking something small very seriously.
42:39That's comedy to me.
42:40That's what comedy is.
42:42That's so good.
42:42Right?
42:42And it's like, what is dumber than a fart?
42:45So, if you have that, you know, contrast of, like, someone who's very serious and they
42:49fart, and they're, like, you know, and so playing with that.
42:52So, it's not the fart itself.
42:54Oh, my God.
42:54Yes.
42:56Surprise.
42:57I'm on a Hollywood reporter.
42:58I'm talking about farts.
42:59I was making a social sense.
43:02It's the concept around the fart itself.
43:04It's not the fart itself.
43:05It's the air around the fart itself.
43:08You didn't volunteer the fart discussion.
43:11That is so the fact.
43:12That's right.
43:13I didn't bring it up.
43:14It's what goes into the fart.
43:15It goes into the fart.
43:16What was the meal before?
43:18Exactly.
43:19So, I think Lauren respects when something is just done well.
43:22Like, it's like, it's not the fart.
43:24We're not just throwing farts in and he's like, put it on television.
43:27I think it's, like, the fact that it was the behavior of the individual and how they
43:32handle it.
43:33I'm sorry.
43:33I didn't want to interrupt you.
43:34No, not at all.
43:34But what she just said, when you were talking about improv before and what, an improv bomb
43:37to me, an improv bomb or whatever, to me, it's context.
43:42Yeah.
43:42Like, when I'm thinking about improv or, like, we're talking about that, it's like the context
43:47of the situation.
43:48That's what makes whatever that you say funny because it's holding so true to the moment,
43:53to this person who's serious.
43:54And so wherever it goes, as long as you maintain that truth, that context, it becomes so funny.
44:00So when you lose context in improv, I always think that's a, uh-oh, we went too far.
44:04And your character doesn't know they're funny.
44:07So your character doesn't know they're bombing.
44:09Yes, absolutely.
44:09They're just being them.
44:10Yeah, absolutely.
44:11So nothing should hit them, right?
44:13Like, it's, that's it.
44:14Yes.
44:14Do you have a good appetite for, like, potty humor in general?
44:17Not really.
44:18I remember they do, did they ever do the, um, oh my gosh, it was like, it's a show they
44:23do at Groundlings where everyone has to put their phones in a bag and it's like, you
44:28can do gross-out humor and it's, like, really intense.
44:31They started doing it.
44:32I was like, oh, I got one.
44:34Snot comes out of her nose.
44:35And everyone was like, you're not going to be a part of this show.
44:37Oh my God.
44:38Snot comes out of her nose.
44:40Because I don't have that in me.
44:42It's really, it's not.
44:44It's like, it's like gruesome.
44:46It's like, I can't.
44:47No, I don't know.
44:48I'm asking.
44:48Sarah Sherman's good at it.
44:50Sarah kills it.
44:51That's, she, she finds a way to do it.
44:53Like, what is it, for example?
44:54It must be on some two girls, one cup.
44:55What is it, for example?
44:56Taking it back to the thing.
44:58What is it?
44:58Kiki.
44:59That was so crazy.
45:00What?
45:01Y'all remember that?
45:01Yeah.
45:02Early on.
45:02Of course.
45:03We didn't know what we were being exposed to.
45:06We didn't know what we were being exposed to.
45:08We should have no business.
45:09They should have protected us.
45:10They should have protected us from that.
45:12I need you on the Senate floor.
45:13You've never seen Tiki.
45:15I have sucked it from me.
45:16You absolutely get the right thing to you.
45:18We should watch it right now.
45:19We should watch it.
45:20No, no.
45:22I need you on the Senate floor.
45:23We need to get it on the Senate floor.
45:25What?
45:25Yes.
45:26After legislation.
45:27That's not the two girls.
45:29That is not.
45:30That's the reason why we were being around.
45:31That was the start.
45:33That was the start all the time.
45:34It was the beginning of the end.
45:35It was before and after.
45:36We've got to move away from that.
45:39I've never seen it.
45:40I'll never see you.
45:42We're going to wrap things up in a minute.
45:43Before we do, we're moving on to my quote-unquote fun question.
45:48Yeah.
45:49The whole thing been fun.
45:51Wow, it's going to get even funner.
45:53It's going to be the most fun it's been.
45:55Or what if we said, now it's going to be fun.
45:58What is the most bizarre fan interaction you have ever had?
46:02Oh.
46:05I have my favorite one.
46:06Yeah.
46:07Maybe that's cuter.
46:08It was during Friends, and I was going to Jerry's Deli or something, and the hostess
46:13was, oh, okay, I'll show you your table.
46:17I was waiting for someone.
46:18I was like, oh, she's seen Friends.
46:19That's cute.
46:20And we were cute.
46:21I wasn't that.
46:22I'm not just.
46:22She took me to the table and went, oh.
46:24And she had an accent.
46:26She was from somewhere in Eastern Europe and just went, oh, I know who you are.
46:31And I went, oh.
46:32And she said, you are Dionne Warwick.
46:38Dionne Warwick.
46:39Dionne Warwick.
46:40She said, you are Dionne Warwick.
46:42And I just went, no, I'm not.
46:46I am not.
46:47Yes.
46:47And I kind of got this, like, she's not who I am.
46:50And then it was, wait, Dionne Warwick?
46:55That's what I'm saying.
46:56You think I'm Dionne Warwick.
46:58I said, no, no, she, and then I just went, she's a legend.
47:02She's a legendary singer.
47:05Yeah.
47:05No, no.
47:07And she was like, oh, okay.
47:09Oh.
47:09She wasn't, yeah.
47:10I wonder how she called Dionne Warwick.
47:10I just thought it was the funniest thing ever.
47:12I love that.
47:13Just face blindness.
47:14Yeah.
47:15American face blindness.
47:16Clearly, that's Dionne Warwick.
47:18That's all.
47:19It's got to be Dionne Warwick.
47:21It's got to be Dionne Warwick.
47:21It's got to be Dionne Warwick.
47:22The blonde hair.
47:24I've seen her.
47:24I know her.
47:24Dionne Warwick.
47:26Heard that voice.
47:27Yep.
47:27Dionne Warwick.
47:28Girl, if you're Dionne Warwick, I'm Stevie Nicks.
47:30Okay.
47:32I mean, that's a really interesting one.
47:34Anyone else?
47:35I left it.
47:36I don't have them.
47:36I don't know.
47:37I don't have them.
47:37Mine aren't fun.
47:38They're not fun.
47:39I'm not going to.
47:40Oh, come on.
47:41Do people quote lines from early videos at you?
47:47Stuff like that.
47:48I get called Fatima, which I love.
47:50Oh, I love Fatima.
47:52It's Fatima.
47:53I thought it was Fatima.
47:54It's Fatima.
47:56They said she looks like her name is Fatima, but in a white way.
47:59That shit is hilarious.
48:00I went to high school with a girl named Fatima, so that's why I pronounced it like that.
48:04Yeah, I thought it was Fatima.
48:05But maybe it's both.
48:07It depends on where it is or what your mama says.
48:10Exactly.
48:11It depends on how you see it.
48:12It could be Dionne.
48:13We don't know.
48:14It could be anything.
48:15But I feel like when I get called that or when people say, like, come on, it's L.A.
48:22Like, deep, we have videos.
48:23I love that.
48:24Definitely.
48:25Definitely.
48:26I mean, my favorite is always I have a group of fans that are like my aunties.
48:31Yeah.
48:32And that, oh, my gosh.
48:33I love them so many.
48:34Baby, I'm pregnant.
48:35How that baby doing?
48:37Yeah.
48:37Where's password coming back?
48:39Yeah.
48:39I love it.
48:40Whenever I run into them, and it's so funny.
48:42When I had my album come out, because it was all about, like, women empowerment, they
48:45were like, girl, I had to let his ass go, too.
48:47Yeah.
48:47Two years I've been divorced.
48:48Happiest I've ever been.
48:49I'm like, I love this.
48:50They just breathe so much life in.
48:52Yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:52So I love all of those.
48:53Those are beautiful.
48:54I will say my ideal gay person in motion, okay?
48:58We're walking like this.
49:00And they give me something along the lines of, like, yes.
49:03Yes.
49:04I'll throw back.
49:05Yes.
49:06Yeah.
49:07Just kind of unspoken.
49:08I've had that happen a couple times.
49:09It's always awesome.
49:10It's on the moves.
49:11Yeah.
49:12Gay person in motion, that's what I'm after.
49:14Fabulous.
49:15Yeah.
49:15Simply.
49:16Mine was a mailman.
49:17I've told this story before, but I didn't know my mailman knew who I was and had opinions
49:23and felt as though we needed a mailman on Abbott.
49:26Oh, my gosh.
49:27I don't know.
49:28That one really sticks with me.
49:29It's just like, you never know who's watching or whatever.
49:31It's a very small one, but he just felt like, he just said, hey.
49:35I was like, hey.
49:36He was like, hey, you need a mailman on Abbott.
49:37It was just so jarring because I just didn't know he.
49:41So sweet.
49:41Right.
49:42I didn't think he, yeah.
49:43And he had been delivering the mail at that point for like three months straight and never
49:46said anything.
49:48So I felt like, I know there's a mailman character in your real life.
49:51So.
49:52Pretty much.
49:53Yeah.
49:53So that always sticks with me.
49:55Please, Rachel.
49:56Wait, these are all sweet.
49:57They are sweet.
49:57What was the prompt?
49:58Well, you turned us around.
50:00You said you want to say your favorite.
50:01So then we started saying our favorite.
50:02We started saying our sweet ones.
50:03Oh, sweet.
50:04You said sweet.
50:04I was looking for trainers.
50:06You were looking for train wrecks.
50:08I thought mine was a train wreck.
50:09But it was my favorite.
50:10It was a sweet train wreck.
50:11It was very funny.
50:12It was cool.
50:13It was very cool.
50:13It was cool.
50:14People told her I was Dionne Ward.
50:16I think they were just sitting around.
50:17I also love you being like, oh, that's sweet.
50:19And then being like, you don't know who I am.
50:20Yeah.
50:27I was so excited.
50:30I do love when people ask you to sort of like list your credits in front of them.
50:34The classic one.
50:36Where do I know you from?
50:37Where do I know you from?
50:38Wait.
50:39Don't tell me.
50:40That is tough.
50:41And then it's like, is it?
50:42And then you're sort of like frozen in space with them being like.
50:48Why?
50:48Yeah, you're like, should I do?
50:50Yeah.
50:50You were in.
50:51You were in.
50:52I love boosters.
50:53Nope.
50:53That's kiki.
50:56Literally all the time.
50:57It's so funny.
50:58But anyway.
50:58Oh, my gosh.
50:59That is yet.
51:00That happened to Niecy Nash recently where she was signing autographs outside of whatever.
51:05Jimmy Fallon, Kimmel, one of them.
51:06And she signed it.
51:08And they were like, we love you on Abbott.
51:10And so Niecy's like, which one do you think I am?
51:12Do you think I'm Cheryl or Quinta?
51:13Oh, my God.
51:13I don't know where Janelle.
51:14She didn't know which one.
51:16But those are hilarious, too.
51:17And it's like, I know you.
51:19Hey, I've gotten it, too.
51:20I've gotten it where it's like, I know you.
51:22I don't know where from.
51:23So Dionne Warwick.
51:24That's going to make me feel better if you are Dionne.
51:28So today you are Dionne.
51:30Oh, my God.
51:30Yeah.
51:31Of all your public appearances or your work, what is your favorite meme in which you appear?
51:41My favorite meme.
51:43I have a least favorite.
51:43I don't have a meme.
51:45Well, we can go there first.
51:46Does anyone want to say their favorite?
51:48You'll go, though.
51:49There's one that's popped up now, but I don't understand.
51:51And it's like, they use it to call Janine.
51:54The character on Abbott is a very straight-laced dork, if you will.
51:59And they're using it to call her a young hoe.
52:01A young hoe!
52:04That's not what I was expecting.
52:05Yeah, it's really crazy.
52:06I know, I was like, what are they saying?
52:10She's like, she's not it.
52:11They're calling her a young hoe.
52:12Young hoe!
52:13And she, it's a, it's a, it's from when I was, you know, the episode she was outside,
52:18it was cold, and I was jumping up and down because I was cold, and therefore my breasts
52:23were jumping up and down.
52:25And so it got added to the thing.
52:28It got added to the thing.
52:29I love it got added to the thing.
52:33But now they're using it to add the narrative now.
52:36It's turned into a meme that I really don't appreciate seeing where it's like, yeah, and
52:43they say young hoe, and I don't understand that one, and I've gotten too old to understand
52:47things, and I like that about me, okay?
52:48I don't want to, I don't want to understand, but it does perturb me.
52:52So, I don't love that.
52:53Yeah, I don't love it for you.
52:55Or for Janine.
52:56She's a nice girl.
52:57I don't know about memes of myself.
52:59I don't know if there are.
53:00Are there?
53:01I don't know.
53:02How do you know?
53:03How do you?
53:04There's some of you.
53:05I've used them.
53:05Yeah, yeah.
53:06I think you do some of you.
53:07There's tons.
53:08Tons of gifts, tons of memes.
53:10I finally think I got a little meme with, I just recently did this character named Kathy
53:15who just repeats herself, but I say it in a cadence.
53:18It's like, we talking, and people are putting other things on the image.
53:22Like, we talking tacos, we talking about, I'm like, I'll take that.
53:25I love it.
53:27It's not me.
53:28And I've been using it to the writer's room, so I've been using that one.
53:30Are you kidding me?
53:31I'm not kidding.
53:31I use Rachel whenever I do anything in L.A.
53:34Kiki's just a part of the gift.
53:36I mean, yeah.
53:38The gift keyboard.
53:39She is.
53:40She is.
53:40Kiki's just in there.
53:42Do you have a favorite of yours?
53:46Um, I don't know if I have a favorite, but you know, there's certain ones that when people
53:50put them in a particular context, that makes me laugh.
53:53Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
53:54Like a creative use of it.
53:56Yeah, yeah, yeah.
53:56When they do that, like, the, um, mm, this one has a little sweetness.
54:02Who have done the most insane?
54:03Somebody said when a mosquito bites a diabetic.
54:06I was like, what the hell are y'all doing?
54:08What are y'all doing?
54:09What are y'all doing?
54:09Y'all gotta get offline.
54:11So, I love the storylines they put.
54:12They put things.
54:13Yeah.
54:13I like the one of you, it's a crazy face you're making, and I like using that one for something
54:18going well.
54:19They got that from the podcast when I was talking about Michael.
54:22So, yep.
54:24The fact that you can, my favorite is definitely Sorry to This Man.
54:27That's a really huge one.
54:30That one felt like a movie.
54:32Like, like, like, like, in my own life, it was like, did I do a movie called Sorry to
54:35This Man?
54:35Because that was like, Sorry to This Man is just a part of the lexicon.
54:39It's a part of culture.
54:40And then they have you speak on it, too.
54:42Like, like, in every interview, they're like, can you speak on Sorry to This Man?
54:46And you're like, I guess I did do this film.
54:48I did do that film.
54:49That's what it became.
54:50Like, the performance really came from a place of, you have to, yeah, seriously.
54:55That's my favorite.
54:56Anything from you?
54:57I, you know what?
54:58I think sometimes I did take that beta blocker girl.
55:03And I feel like then I got, I got tagged in this really insane TikTok that was like about
55:12the state of the world.
55:13And like, it was all around this video.
55:15And it's like me on the carpet being like, take that beta blocker girl.
55:18And then it goes, pause.
55:20This is why numb is not okay.
55:22And then it goes into this whole thing.
55:24And I was like, oh, God.
55:25Do you know when you were like, I didn't mean it like that?
55:27Yeah.
55:27And it's just a pill so that I sweat like a little bit less on purpose.
55:32I wish it did something more.
55:36There's nothing wrong with it.
55:37I wish I was, I could go, I wish I was pulled out more, but all of this make you
55:42sweat less.
55:42So then you sort of are like, I didn't mean it like that.
55:45But I think, I think it was, yeah.
55:49It's okay to be misunderstood.
55:50But now I've explained myself in a way that I'm sure not.
55:53Say it louder.
55:54I'll be misconstrued.
55:55So quiet, really.
55:56I mean, once it's out there.
55:58Once it's, yeah, it's okay.
56:00Well, thank you all so much.
56:02I look forward to seeing you on SNL Reddit.
56:04I know, he's like, he tidied us up on that.
56:07Let me put my shoes on.
56:08Yep.
56:09We're going to end this with a cheers.
56:11Oh, yeah.
56:12Thank you so much.
56:16Oh, yeah.
56:16One more.
56:34We'll see you next time.
56:35Bye-bye.
56:36Bye-bye.
56:40Bye-bye.
56:44Bye-bye.
56:46Bye-bye.
56:47Bye-bye.
56:48Bye-bye.
56:51Bye-bye.
56:52Bye-bye.
56:52Bye-bye.
56:52Bye-bye.
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