- 8 hours ago
Kenan Thompson, Ricky Gervais, Kumail Nanjiani, Ramy Youssef and Dan Levy joined The Hollywood Reporter to talk about their respected TV comedy shows.
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00:07Hi, and welcome to Close Up with the Hollywood Reporter Comedy Actors.
00:11I'm Lacey Rose, and I'd like to welcome Dan Levy, Kumail Nanjiani, Rami Youssef, Ricky Gervais,
00:19Kenan Thompson. Let's get started. We're living through a unique time, both with the
00:24global pandemic and the social unrest. What have you all learned about yourselves during
00:29this period? I prefer it, and I want it to go on forever. Not the social unrest, the
00:37lockdown. I'm enjoying the lockdown, I mean. It suits me. I don't like people coming to
00:41the house. I'm glad I'm not there in person. I like it. I don't know. I mean, I've been
00:53relying on myself a lot to get things like this done. I built full technological equipment
01:00type things, satellite media interfaces, all this time. So, feeling pretty smart, even
01:06though that didn't sound very smart.
01:09I found that I had a lot of things I didn't realize that were very important to me that
01:15were, like, I would do for sanity over the, you know, many decades of my life. And when
01:21they're taken away, it's challenging to figure out, like, new stuff that makes you feel like
01:27a person.
01:28And what have you found? How are you feeling like a person?
01:31Well, I'm still working on it. I'm still working on it.
01:35I mean, technologically speaking, I've realized that if the apocalypse were coming and technology
01:39was all that I had, I would be not good. So, I'm shocked I'm here today. I'm shocked that
01:46my computer worked. And, you know, that's that. But, you know, I do feel like there is,
01:55I do feel like, you know, we're in a time where I think technology and I think social media
02:02have become an unbelievable resource for change and for information to be shared readily.
02:09to people in ways that I think has never been available before. And I think that I'm very
02:16thankful for that and for the fact that that information and that resources and that places
02:21to donate during all of this can be shared so that the kind of awareness that should have
02:25been happening a long, long time ago can finally kind of hit people. Granted, you know, it should
02:32have happened a long time ago. But I do feel like, fortunately, because of the internet and where
02:37we're at. And I think the fact that people are at home, there's almost a captive audience
02:41for people to really learn in ways that they were not learning before. You can never not
02:47be learning now. And you should never have not been learning before.
02:52I want to change my answer to whatever Dan, to Dan's answer. I want to change it to that.
02:57So please just credit me with that. Thank you.
03:00Rami, what about you? Have you learned anything about yourself in this period?
03:03I agree with it. I mean, definitely what Dan said was great. I really haven't learned. It's
03:08like you think you learn something and then you don't. And then you're like, no, that wasn't,
03:11that was just, I was just losing my mind. I was just losing my damn mind. And I did find
03:17out
03:18that my mom gets her news from the internet, mostly from WhatsApp. She sent me a movie called
03:24Plandemic. She said, I have to watch it. This was all planned. So learned a little bit of that.
03:34What would you do with a gig right now? Can you find humor in this moment?
03:38You've got to rewrite it. I was halfway through my tour. So I mean, the annoying thing about this
03:44pandemic is that I've got to change a few lines here and there. I mean, that's what with, I think
03:50the world a takeaway. I mean, but the good thing, as you say, but a good thing about the internet
03:55is
03:55this will allow like those nurses that are doing 14 hour shifts, some of them dying. It allow them
04:01to see us talk about our shows that might get nominated for an Emmy. So there's that.
04:09So there's that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it swings and roundabouts always.
04:15Ronnie, what about you? Yeah. You, I mean, you could, but I don't know that that's really what's
04:21on my mind. I mean, I think even speaking to some of what Dan was saying, I think there's value
04:24in
04:25some ways and they're not being a ton of distractions right now as we kind of figure out what's going
04:30on
04:30in our country. And you kind of look at the, the positives that are coming out of it. So, I
04:34mean,
04:34it, yeah, I could, I could do some stand up, but it's, it's not really like what's on my mind
04:39right
04:39now. Kenan, I'm curious, are you sort of thinking, thank God we don't have to do an episode of SNL
04:45right now, or are you thinking conversely too bad we're dark because we could really lift people up
04:49in this moment? Yeah. I mean, I think a lot of the responsibility of doing comedy is to make people
04:54try to feel good through bad times, but it is definitely very tiptoe-ish at the moment. So it
05:01might be a little harder than, you know, it would be funny. So I don't even know if the point
05:06of doing
05:06it would be worth it, you know, if it's not going to be funny because everybody's so sensitive about
05:11everything right now. That's the best time. When everyone's on edge and everyone's sensitive,
05:16that's the best time to be insensitive. My show was packed with jokes about AIDS, cancer, famine,
05:23the Holocaust. This is just going to top it up. I'm glad this helps Ricky's brand. Exactly. It's
05:29helping. This is Ricky's prime time right now. Do you ever get nervous, Ricky? Uh, I don't
05:39know. I have, I have some anxiety dreams, but I don't know if they're nervous or not. What
05:45are your anxiety dreams? Well, I'm on a, I'm on a train and I'm going in and out of a
05:50tunnel
05:50and my dad spills milk all over my face. You sure that's milk? That's not true. That's not true. I
06:00just made that up. Who wants to dissect that? You just lied to us about a dream you had? I'm
06:06anxious
06:07right now, if I'm being honest. Are you? What are you anxious about, Dan? Rami, I want to go back
06:13to,
06:13uh, to Golden Globe Night, which you had a look of sort of genuine shock on your face as you
06:18were
06:19winning with this award. You've since said that you knew as Jennifer Anderson was opening that
06:25envelope that you had won. Is that right? Yeah, I could, I could see she was like, what is this
06:30name?
06:30Like she very much had no idea how to pronounce what was happening. And it was like the, she had
06:35the substitute teacher look where she was like, I don't, what is this? Uh, and so that was, that was
06:40very exciting. And, uh, and actually Ricky was a big part of it for me too, because he said, get
06:45up and
06:45thank your God. And I was like, actually, I will. And so I just, I feel like that was our
06:49first time
06:50working together, man. It was very fun. So by calling your show, Rami, you get, as you've put it,
06:56quote, the brunt of everything, the praise, the death threats, the condemnations to hell.
07:01So first, what's the breakdown? What's, what's the split between those?
07:06Um, you don't know. It's, it's kind of like one of those things that could happen, um,
07:10like, like the likelihood of an Emmy or a fatwa is pretty equal. And you're kind of like, maybe
07:16I'm in the running, maybe I'm not. Uh, you just kind of like wait and see what, what happens.
07:20But we definitely hear the, uh, all sides of things with, with something that's talking about,
07:25you know, God and talking about Muslims in a way that, that gets, uh, you know, they're emotional
07:30topics, but we try and go at them the, the best way that we can.
07:34What's been the response you sort of least expected?
07:37Just people who, uh, don't fit the exact specifications of the family feeling really connected.
07:43Like I got an email from a guy who was like, I'm an evangelical Christian father of three
07:47and I'm Rami. And, and that, you get something like that and that feels really, uh, I was
07:53like, God, I didn't know that, that you were. And it's really cool to just see it connecting
07:56with, with different people.
07:58Sure. What about the rest of you guys? What, what are the sort of responses that, that come
08:02at you with the shows that you guys are making that you perhaps don't expect at all?
08:07Mine was the emotional response. I was surprised people would come up to me. They'd tell me
08:11their story of grief and nearly everyone that came up to me said, Oh, I lost my sister three
08:18weeks before I watched the show or I lost my wife last year. And it was amazing. They
08:22would say that to a stranger because they, they sort of use the show as an in and they said,
08:27Oh, and I was, I was Tony. That was me for a year. So that was, that was quite a
08:31shock.
08:31It affects you. Cause I, I, it made me want to treat that responsibly in series two. So
08:37I didn't make him get better because you don't, you don't snap out of depression. It's almost
08:42interactive because I'm on Twitter and Facebook and it's on Netflix. So it's there all the
08:47time. There's a lot more feedback than ever before. So, um, it does, it does sort of affect
08:53you. Uh, and the things that affect you is when a real person comes up to you and
08:57tells you it affected their actual life. Who was that bird I saw you with the other
09:01day? Coming out of here, lovely sort. What bird? Blonde, really tasty. Not yours, is she?
09:08Oh, no. Roxy. Do you mind if I have a punt? Don't get as much action as you might think.
09:15I'll put in a word. Don't bring me up too much. You'll be pretty disappointed as it is.
09:19You know, if anything, downplay it. Downplay you? Yeah. How would that go?
09:26Do you know? What do you think? I'd have to say, it looks like someone police would drag
09:32out of a river. Has any of that happened after season two and now as you're thinking about
09:37a season three? Uh, yeah. Um, well, season two, it was, it was the same, really. You get
09:44feedback from, um, social workers and people saying they're using the show in grief. And
09:50again, it's sort of scary to have a responsibility as a comedian because it's, it's not good.
09:55It's not good to have a responsibility as a comedian. Um, but as a, as a person, you do,
10:03you know, you do, you do worry. It's good and bad. It's good and bad. You can't not,
10:08you can't detach yourself from the world as much as I'd like to. Um, so you just try
10:13and make, you try and make bad things funny. That's all. Yeah. I mean, you know, I think
10:18any, any time you tell stories that are not part of the mainstream narrative, you're going
10:23to affect people in, in my case to, to really make an active choice to tell a gay love story
10:29that felt authentic to my own experience in a way that I hadn't seen depicted in television
10:35before. I think as anybody whose stories are kind of not at the forefront, you end up as
10:40an actor or, you know, as a viewer, you end up watching yourself in a way kind of distilled
10:46into a version of what people want you to be or what network executives consider to be kind
10:53of a palatable version of who you are. And so for me, I think I was given an opportunity
11:00and I was given the freedom by the, by both our networks in Canada and the US to tell whatever
11:06stories I wanted to tell. Patrick, I've never liked to smile as much as I like yours. I've
11:17never felt as safe as I do when I'm with you. I've never known love like I have when we're
11:26together. It's not been an easy road for me, but knowing that you will always be there
11:34for me at the end of it makes everything okay.
11:37It was a conscious effort on my part to make sure that all the intricacies of, of the relationship
11:43that I was writing felt real and that, you know, when I walked into the store that I owned
11:48with my boyfriend that we kissed as, as straight couples would kiss. And you realize in those moments
11:54that that isn't represented a lot on TV. You don't see casual intimacy between two men on television.
12:01And, you know, at first it obviously kind of strikes you as like, I wonder how people are going to
12:07take this.
12:07I wonder how kind of middle America is going to perceive this. But the surprising thing was that I can
12:14probably count and maybe I'm not, I mean, I'm not scouring the internet for negativity, but I do feel like,
12:21you know, the positive outcome of this is that I could probably count
12:24on two hands the negative things that have been written, but the volume of letters and notes from people, be
12:31it kids who have seen themselves reflected in our story or kids who have come out of the closet by
12:38using, you know, certain dialogue from our show or parents who have accepted their children in ways because they had
12:44been able to learn through the show.
12:46So I think television is an incredibly powerful medium. And I think in comedy in particular, people don't expect to
12:53necessarily be caught off guard by sentimentality or love.
12:57The freedom that a lot of new creators in TV or have been allowed is, is the capacity to be
13:03funny and to also be emotional and to also tell stories that we don't get to see.
13:08So it's very exciting. And I, you know, I have to say that it's quite thrilling to be in the
13:13company of everyone here because I do feel like the work that everyone has done has helped, you know, moved
13:17the dial for, for voices and for stories that we don't get to see all the time.
13:22Damn, that was very well said, Dan. My goodness.
13:28I think it's true. I think people second guess the, the, the public too often. I think, as you say,
13:34networks, they do say, can the, can the public take this when it's a taboo subject or something?
13:39And the answer is yes. Real life's much scarier than anything in fiction. And I, I, I, I deal purposely
13:45in taboo subjects for that reason, that I do want people to feel slightly uncomfortable when I start talking about
13:50it.
13:50There's no harm can come from discussing taboo subjects that, you know, that's what stops them being taboo. And it
13:56takes the audience to a place it hasn't been before. And that's exciting in fiction and create, we create our
14:02own heroes and villains, a sort of role play for the soul.
14:05So they go through those emotions and they really cry and they get angry and they laugh and no one
14:10really gets hurt. If you can't do it in fiction, I mean, that should always be the first point, really
14:15trying stuff out.
14:17Um, so I, I think, I think that's exactly right that people embrace something that I haven't seen before, particularly
14:23if it's their story and they identify with it in some way.
14:26Yeah, I will say though, with taboo subjects, you know, it's, it's obviously some of you guys talk about that
14:32stuff more than I do, but I think it's also important what the point of view or perspective on the
14:37taboo subject is.
14:38I think sometimes people just do shock to do shock. And I do think that that stuff can cause actual
14:45harm in the world.
14:47I really do. I think there are jokes against certain marginalized groups that can actually hurt.
14:54Um, so I think talking about taboo subjects is extremely, extremely, uh, beneficial, but I do think that the point
15:03of view you take on them is also important.
15:06Of course. I, that's what I always say. Is there anything you wouldn't joke about? I say, no, it depends
15:10on the joke.
15:11An offence often comes when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target. And that's really important.
15:17And that's a really important distinction to make.
15:19You want to do it intelligently and inclusively, but, um, I think some people are just terrified of a taboo
15:27subject.
15:28I often ask on Twitter, is there someone I shouldn't talk about? And I get, I get a hundred answers
15:33and, and I can find a counter example where you can, there isn't a subject you can't talk about or
15:40joke about.
15:41I think it speaks to the, the, the team, you know, I think to tell inclusive stories requires, you know,
15:48a writer's room that is, uh, filled with people who have different stories to tell.
15:52So I think it really starts with how things are, are made and, um, and, you know, being, being quite
15:58young in this industry and, and I have learned tremendously, uh, you know, over the past six years and, and
16:05we'll definitely be bringing a lot of the, the successes and the failures of, of how to create that into
16:12whatever I do next.
16:13And, and that to me is what's really exciting. And I think that's what, um, this whole kind of conversation
16:18that we're in now is, is going to, I hope have such a positive effect on the content that is
16:24made from here on out, because I think it has become necessary to make sure that voices are heard and
16:32that people are employed in positions of power where things don't slip through the cracks anymore, because that's how we've
16:39gotten to be where we are is one too many things have slipped through the cracks.
16:43And, you know, apologies have happened kind of after the fact. And to be honest, it doesn't make that much
16:48of a difference because whatever was presented was presented. And that was, that was the impact.
16:53My, my problem is this is my writer's room here and it's full.
17:01I'm very, I'm very, very diverse inside. So, uh,
17:08Diversity of thought, Ricky. All right. We were talking about the response of fans. Kenan, in your role at, at
17:15SNL, you are impersonating a whole slew of different people. How often do you hear from the people who you
17:21are impersonating?
17:22I mean, it, it depends on the person and how often I've done it. You know, like I heard from
17:28Steve Harvey and stuff like that and big poppy, but it's always usually pretty positive.
17:33I mean, Steve wasn't overly excited about it in the beginning. He grew to love it, I guess, because, you
17:40know, like I don't do it out of any malice. It's all out of, out of love, pretty much.
17:44I know him. So he, he told me, you know, in different ways or, you know, he would say it
17:49on his radio show and then people would call me and be like, Hey, Steve Harvey, talk about you this
17:54morning on the radio.
17:55And I'd be like, all right, well, I'm sure he'll settle down once he realizes that I'm not attacking him.
18:00But I remember I, we were kind of attacking star Jones a little bit back in the day and she
18:05was not feeling that shit. So.
18:07What are you doing in those scenarios?
18:10I lay low, man. I lay low. I mean, I don't know. I don't feel like I was running a
18:14star Jones anywhere. So I just lay low for stuff like that. But people like Steve, you know, I'm probably
18:20going to run into him somewhere. So I had to smooth that out. I went to Chicago and did his
18:24talk show and stuff like that. So we're good.
18:27As, as the longest tenure cast member on SNL, when did you get comfortable with the idea that you would
18:34decide when you're, you know, ready to move on versus Lauren Michaels deciding for you? So put another way, when
18:42in your tenure, did you stop being nervous about getting fired?
18:45Yeah, I mean, I guess I wasn't worried about being fired after a couple of seasons, just because you have
18:52to let that go and just kind of do the job. You know, if you're so focused on getting fired
18:56every single show, you can't focus on entertaining people.
18:59You've got to try and get fired. That's, that's my advice. Try and get fired.
19:03Right, right.
19:04And then you'll, you'll probably be, you'll be probably.
19:07Ricky, that is terrible advice.
19:08You go the other way.
19:09Yeah, exactly.
19:10That's not good advice, Ricky.
19:13Yeah.
19:13Try and get fired. You can do that if you're Ricky Gervais, but somebody else gets their first job. They
19:19take your advice. They try and get fired. Guess what? They get fired.
19:22They get fucking fired.
19:23That's how that ends.
19:25They get over it. They get over it. They thank me later.
19:28I mean, I, I just also have to say, Keenan, you are so good on SNL. You're just so effortless.
19:34And there is so much stress that goes into that job. I mean, it was, I, I've been to a
19:38couple tapings and just as an audience member, I'm stressed out.
19:42You just make it look so easy. And the work, the character work that you do is so joyful. It
19:49kind of speaks for itself in terms of, of why you have not been fired.
19:52It is a, it is a skill set that just is magnificent to watch.
19:57Thank you, man. I, you know, I don't take praise well, but I really appreciate that.
20:02I've been very blessed is all I could say. Just try to stay focused and, and really try to figure
20:08out the formula of comedy.
20:09I was telling Ricky earlier that I loved his special so much because he spent so much time talking about
20:15how to talk about like going back to taboo subjects.
20:18But just showing the fact that anything can be talked about if you do it smartly.
20:23Oh, the moon. The Venetian blinds. I must draw them set. Oh, the moon. The Venetians. Oh, clothes for Papa.
20:39I must fight back the beast. Oh no.
20:44Wrong way. Can't let the dancers know what creature lurks within me. Fight the curse, Tony.
20:52That's how I approach, you know, sketches or trying to push forward how, you know, black comedy, I guess, is,
21:00is perceived or progressing.
21:02So always just being very serious about the approach, basically. And one way to keep me calm and that is
21:09to make it joyful for me. You know what I mean?
21:11So that's why my energy is always big or I do big eyes and things like that. I just like
21:15a lot of big energy to kind of make it obvious that we're supposed to be having fun.
21:20One of your roles at SNL is also, if I'm not mistaken, you're still the the warm up guy, which
21:26feels like it would be the job that you sort of haze the new guy with. How did that become
21:30your role? And what is the sort of power in that?
21:33I mean, it's it's a team effort, basically. There's two stages of the warm up. There's a stand up portion
21:41to welcome the audience and then we sing a song.
21:43And it's been this traditional thing since I've been there, you know, like somebody goes up and does the welcoming
21:49and tells everybody where the fire exits are.
21:51And then the cast will like sing a song with the band or whatever to get them in the mood.
21:55And it just landed on me because I was so excited to like jump into it.
22:00And I first did it with Fred Armisen and Taryn Killam and we were all doing a song together.
22:05And then they both left the show. And then I was like left singing kind of by myself for like
22:09the last eight years.
22:12And you will still be there eight years from now, I suspect.
22:15Yeah, that's right. It's all about that.
22:20Camille, I want to turn to you, you know, over the course of the run of Silicon Valley, your career,
22:27I think it's fair to say, has has exploded.
22:30But I want to talk about this this moment in time and the pressures that come with the choices that
22:36you make.
22:37I think, you know, I'm very, very aware of the window.
22:40I think a lot of people in comedy, there's like a little bit of a window you get where you
22:45you have your shot.
22:46Right. And that goes away for a lot of people.
22:48So I think the best you can do is just go with your gut and do stuff that you can
22:54be proud of.
22:55But trying to just sort of do stuff that I like, because, you know, when you try and guess what
23:00the audience wants to see, that's a losing game.
23:02There's no way to do that.
23:03If you look at someone like Ricky, you know, who's had such a long career going from sort of successful
23:08thing to successful thing to successful thing.
23:10And what I think he's done a great job of is having a point of view with everything he does.
23:16Everything he does feels like it comes from from Ricky Gervais.
23:20So try and do that, you know, figure out a little bit what your voice is and try and do
23:24stuff that excites you.
23:26One of those things was being a superhero, being a part of the Marvel superhero family.
23:31And there's a first in that.
23:33How significant was that for you and what kind of sort of weight comes with it?
23:37Well, it was very significant for me because it was something I really, really personally wanted to do.
23:42I'm a big like fan of sci-fi, big fan of superheroes, big fan of Marvel movies.
23:46So I really, really wanted to do that.
23:47Now, on top of that, there's this other pressure that comes in that I'm the first South Asian superhero in
23:55a major Hollywood movie, in a Marvel movie.
23:57I'm the first Pakistani superhero.
23:59But then that stuff, it's a little harder to negotiate because I can only represent myself.
24:04I can't represent the millions and millions of people.
24:07So I do feel that pressure.
24:10But I think the only way to relieve that pressure is just to have more people have these opportunities.
24:17You know, it's not I one person cannot represent a whole group of people because, you know, this just all
24:26our experiences and backgrounds are completely different.
24:28That said, for me, when I got that part, I want to look like someone who could take on sort
24:35of the traditional Hollywood looking superheroes.
24:37I wanted to look like someone who could take on Thor, who could take on Captain America.
24:41To me, that was an important part because I was the first Pakistani superhero.
24:47So you had to get jacked for your culture.
24:50Like you did it.
24:51You did it.
24:51Yeah, I did it for all my people.
24:53And for Pakistan.
24:54Yeah.
24:54Yeah.
24:55I'm doing reps for Pakistan.
24:56You have to get ripped for it.
24:57That's the newest ice bucket challenge.
25:00Ripped for Pakistan.
25:01All of Pakistan can now eat cake and sit on a couch because I'm out here doing pull ups.
25:08It's obviously quite a quite a leap from your character on Silicon Valley, which is one that alongside all of
25:15these different moves, you've gone back to each each season.
25:18What is that sort of tonal shift?
25:21I would say I sort of obviously, you know, the movie is not out, so nobody knows this character yet.
25:26But I approached him really as a as as the opposite of the opportunities that I had gotten and the
25:33opposite of the opportunities that I've seen a lot of other brown men get traditionally in Hollywood.
25:37You know, so I feel like we're this we're this group where we can be the model minority so we
25:44can be like the smart nerds or the exact opposite.
25:47We could be terrorists, you know, depending on what the project is.
25:51I think those are like two ends of the spectrum that we occupy and very little in between.
25:57So I wanted him to be in opposition to everything.
26:00So, you know, I've gotten to play a nerd.
26:02I wanted this guy to be cool.
26:04I've played weaklings.
26:05I wanted this guy to be strong.
26:08You know, people brown men have to play terrorists.
26:11Sometimes I wanted him to be the opposite.
26:13I wanted to be full of joy.
26:14So really this character for me was was defined by what I didn't want him to be.
26:23And that was based on a lot of the things that I'd seen brown men playing on TV and movies.
26:29We're going to we're going to touch very quickly on the photo that broke the Internet.
26:33I guess the first place to start is what surprised you most about the sort of response to it.
26:37Just that my aunt saying they were really proud of me did not expect that.
26:43It's not something I'd expect.
26:44Listen, it got so much bigger than I thought I was going to get.
26:47I had no idea that it was going to that it was going to be like that.
26:50If I'd known it was going to be like that, I probably wouldn't have done it because I still I'll
26:55tell you, I've come to hate that picture.
26:57You have why I just you know, it's weird.
27:00You sort of get a weird body dysmorphia when when the whole world is concentrating on how you look.
27:06And listen, I'm very, very grateful.
27:07And I put those pictures out for a reason, right?
27:10I did that because I wanted that reaction, obviously.
27:13But then when you get that reaction, it's a little weird where you're like people are really judging little bits
27:18of your physical being.
27:20And I know a lot of people have it a lot worse than me, but it sort of makes you
27:25feel kind of naked.
27:26I got I became shallow.
27:28I got obsessed with how I look.
27:30And then all I would see are sort of what I perceive as flaws.
27:34Hmm.
27:35That happened to me.
27:36People judge me because of my body a lot.
27:38And I'm trying to turn that around.
27:40And I'm I have I probably haven't been to the gym in 35 years just to try.
27:46Yeah, I'm just trying to I want people to love me for my mind.
27:49You got in shape, didn't you, Ricky?
27:52Yeah, you did.
27:53Yeah, you did.
27:54Did I?
27:56I remember the first time I heard about Ricky with the actually a Ricky with the with the original office.
28:02Everyone said this really hot guy who works at an office.
28:04That's all I kept hearing.
28:07That was the word I love it.
28:09Yeah, I've had liposuction, but only a lot of liposuction, but only in my testicles because that is where I
28:16put all my fat.
28:17Yeah.
28:18So I just had a norm of bowls and I've had them.
28:21I've had them leaked.
28:23That picture would break the internet for sure.
28:25That's not where I anticipated that going.
28:28I did.
28:29You did.
28:30Oh, good.
28:32Shame on me.
28:33Yeah, I was like, when is Ricky going to talk about his fat balls again?
28:36Yeah.
28:37What would the rest of you guys be willing to make that kind of sacrifice for?
28:42Is there a role that you would sort of put yourself through what Kumail did?
28:47I probably, like, it's funny.
28:49I, like, joked about being James Bond and then, like, I can't really say anything, but, like, it's weird.
28:54It's kind of become a thing, and so I've been thinking about it.
28:57Yeah.
28:57I can't say much, but, yeah.
28:59There's, uh, yeah.
29:00What do you mean you can't say much?
29:02What does that mean?
29:03I just, I don't know.
29:04My agent would get really frustrated, but, yeah, no, it, like, yeah.
29:07I need to say more things, I think, about things that I want.
29:12And then be able to ride at your door.
29:15Yeah, put it out there, man.
29:17Put it in the universe.
29:18Yeah.
29:18I'll put it out there.
29:19I remember first getting to Los Angeles and going and doing a general at CW, and, you know,
29:26you're walking down the halls and it's just six packs and six packs and six packs and, like, models,
29:34and you get, finally get to the end, and I was, like, fresh from Toronto, like, had no experience
29:39and walked into the room and had, I think the meeting was about two and a half minutes long.
29:43She just was like, okay, thanks.
29:45Thanks for coming in.
29:46Great to meet you.
29:47Bye-bye.
29:47Never, never got a CW audition after that.
29:52Yeah.
29:52I don't think that's my hit.
29:54Like, I don't think that's my niche.
29:56I don't think that's what I intended to do.
29:59Ricky, what's the sort of part you'd love to play if only it were being offered?
30:03Astronaut.
30:04Astronaut just lying down, floating around.
30:07You can't see it's me, so I could have a double there most of the time.
30:11You urinate in your suit.
30:13For you, urinating in your clothes is one of the positives of being an astronaut.
30:17That's true.
30:17Yeah.
30:18I'd have to get, yeah.
30:20I'd love that.
30:21I'm looking forward to that.
30:22This is great.
30:22Ricky, you don't have to go to space to pee your pants.
30:27No, it's not.
30:28No, I know.
30:28It's the only...
30:29But I'd be getting paid for it, wouldn't I?
30:32Why do you think I'd do this?
30:34Yeah.
30:34To make money.
30:35It's the only outfit that can carry his balls.
30:37Yeah.
30:39If a role could be...
30:40Remember that thing, Phone Booth?
30:42When it was...
30:42What was his name?
30:43Was it Kiefer Sutherland just sat on the bottom of a phone booth for the entire shoot?
30:47I thought, I was jealous.
30:49I thought, what a great shoot that was.
30:51Just sitting in the bottom of a phone booth.
30:55So, yeah.
30:55Well, the first time I filmed something, I didn't know about filming, but...
31:01Like, if you're sitting down and the doorbell goes and you have to get up, open the door,
31:08you soon realise that that takes all day to shoot that.
31:11So, now I change the line.
31:12I just go...
31:13I just stay...
31:14I say, come in.
31:15Anything that I don't want to do.
31:17Anything that I don't want to...
31:19Hair and make-up.
31:21Wigs.
31:22Anything that...
31:23I make sure my characters wear all the clothes I've got anyway.
31:28Just comfort.
31:29Sitting down.
31:30Anything sitting down, comfortable.
31:33Ironside.
31:34Oh, Ironside would be good.
31:36I'd also make sure that chair was a toilet.
31:38Obviously.
31:40So, I'd do that.
31:42Remaking of Ironside.
31:44Camille, I want to go back to you.
31:46You just talked about sort of the two buckets of jobs.
31:50The sort of terrorist job, which I know is one that you sort of resisted.
31:53The other one was the bucket in which, you know, Dinesh, your character from Silicon Valley, fell into.
32:00What was the sort of thought process in taking that role all those years ago?
32:03And did you worry about the sort of typecasting that could come with it?
32:07Not really for that specific show because even though I'm a nerd, everybody's a nerd.
32:11That's a show about nerds, right?
32:13Correct.
32:13If I was the only brown guy on the show and I was the only nerd, that would be one
32:17thing.
32:17But that is a show about nerds.
32:19And I was just such a fan of Mike Judge.
32:22I mean, everything he does is so, so good that, for me, I knew that that character was going to
32:27be specific enough that it wasn't going to fall into the stereotypical roles that I've been talking about.
32:33Can I get the latest text picks from you, please?
32:36I've already sent them to you five times.
32:38I don't really want to dig through my inbox, so if you send it now, it'll be on top.
32:44I'll wait.
32:54Thank you, Dinesh.
32:59For me, easiest job I've ever said yes to is Silicon Valley.
33:03Rami, one of the things you've talked about with your show is that you hoped it would sort of start
33:08conversations.
33:09What kinds of conversations has it started for you and your family and your sort of close circle?
33:16I think so much of what we've looked at in the show is kind of a conversation of a millennial
33:22who has faith, which just feels like a thing that's super contradictory.
33:27I think in general, religion is basically just like a punchline in comedy.
33:31And I think for us to kind of find what's funny within it while it's still being a genuine thing,
33:36as it is to a lot of people who are trying to figure out the nooks and crannies of like,
33:40well, how do I hold on to what I believe in and also react to what I'm feeling and seeing
33:46in the present moment?
33:46And so I think on a community level, it's really interesting just for the various Muslim communities to not only
33:52look at this story and feel relatability, but also be challenged on certain things.
33:56I mean, one of the things we looked at in season two, we were really lucky.
34:01We got Mahershala Ali to play my sheikh and it was an exciting thing for the show because you have
34:06this Arab Muslim family.
34:08And then suddenly as a show, we get to look at anti-blackness within the Arab community.
34:14We get to look at what I think is a type of racism that we don't really talk about, which
34:18is there's this umbrella of people of color, but underneath it, there's still a lot of anti-blackness.
34:24And so to be able to break that down on a show like ours while also looking at things that
34:28people care about.
34:29It's like the more people I'm with, the lonelier I feel.
34:34I went to Egypt to try and find something and I just made my whole life worse.
34:40I want you to be my teacher. I want to take the bay. I want to kill my ego.
34:46How do I know I'm not just another one of your desires?
34:49I don't want to have sex with you.
34:52I didn't think you did.
34:54Okay.
34:56I make my show for people who resonate with it to watch.
35:01Like, I don't think like sometimes people think like, oh man, you put a Muslim family on TV and now
35:05the South are going to understand Muslims.
35:08And I'm like, I don't, they don't, the South isn't watching Hulu. Like, I don't think they care.
35:11This isn't about that. This isn't about swing voters. It's not about bringing people over.
35:16This is about people who are invested in these themes also need to be challenged on what they think they
35:21think they know.
35:22And so that's what's interesting to me. It's not about bringing in other people.
35:26It's really about we're all in the same room, but we can't just be echoing the same conversations.
35:31We need to dig into them in a more meaningful way.
35:34I was just going to say what Rami brings up is a very good point.
35:36Sometimes I feel like there's these two buckets, right? There's like white people and then everyone else is people of
35:41color.
35:41There's this idea that there's like a monolithic thought in there.
35:45But as he was saying about sort of the anti-African, anti-black sentiment among some of the other people
35:54of color,
35:54it's something that's not talked about that much.
35:57And it's in it. Yeah. And what exactly is this anti-black sentiment?
36:02Yeah, we saw it on my show. We actually. So it's all.
36:06It was a thing and now it's not. Okay, cool. As long as it's fixed. You know what I'm saying?
36:10Yeah, I wanted to make sure it was fixed before we met because I was like, we're about to be
36:14on a zoom and I just want to make sure we can take care of it.
36:17And before we should, you know, we should pick up. We should pick up sides, shouldn't we? Sort of like
36:23the world.
36:25Three on three.
36:30I had a question, Rami. I get kind of similar questions in terms of the impact that you some of
36:36the stories that you tell will have on kind of middle America.
36:39I mean, I certainly never thought about the the impact of the show.
36:44That wasn't my intention when we sat down to tell these stories.
36:47So I guess like my question to you is, was there anything in the early stages of putting your show
36:55together that you had to push back against?
36:57Because of what I would imagine a studio or something would see as kind of marketability.
37:03You're constantly fighting for specificity. Like you're constantly fighting for the ability to not over explain.
37:10And I think my whole argument was always, look, this is a show called Rami. Half the people don't know
37:15how to pronounce my name.
37:1699% of them don't know who I am. We're talking about Arab Muslims on Hulu.
37:21You're not getting the middle. This isn't like a middle America pull per se.
37:26It'll only be that if the show is really good, not based on anything else.
37:30And the only way for it to be really good is to be really specific.
37:33But I really bump against this idea that comedy is changing things.
37:38I think it can emotionally put people in a little bit of a place where they can be a little
37:42more open.
37:43But we're seeing the real change in the way people are out there doing things. That's amazing.
37:48You see the people who hit the streets. You see Black Lives Matter.
37:51You see these infrastructures that have been put in place.
37:53Black Lives Matter started seven, eight years ago. It's just now becoming a thing, right?
37:58These are real things of change. I think thinking that comedy changes stuff is just delusional with the media landscape.
38:04Because people curate their own experience.
38:07People can watch whatever videos they want that convince them coronavirus isn't even real.
38:12So it's not Cosby. There's not five, six channels and you have to learn and meet the Cosbys.
38:18No, you pick whatever you want and you believe that.
38:21And so it's our job that I have to look at my show being like,
38:25Okay, who's going to naturally be inclined to watch this?
38:27And how do I challenge that person's thought?
38:30Because there's still a lack of diversity of thought regardless of what side you're on.
38:34I think we all aspire to being like Bill Cosby.
38:40But I think that's a very good point.
38:43It doesn't really change anything.
38:45And I think people fear that they really do think that an attitude, laughing at a joke.
38:52What really annoys me is that people think that a joke is the window to the comedian's true soul.
39:00And it's just not true.
39:03A big part of my comedy is saying things I do not mean.
39:07I say the wrong thing because I know the audience knows the right thing and that's why they laugh.
39:14It's ludicrous.
39:15I'll change the joke halfway through.
39:17I'll pretend to be right wing, left wing, no wing if it makes the joke funnier.
39:23And that, I think your point is great.
39:26The people that think, people are sitting at home thinking I'm going to change the world with this gag are
39:31really, really delusional.
39:34Well, Ricky, can I ask you something about something you just touched on?
39:38I think it's interesting.
39:39You said sometimes you say jokes that obviously are not what you mean.
39:45How do you feel about audiences that might watch it and think, oh, that's how, that is how Ricky feels.
39:51That is his true point of view.
39:52Well, it's an occupational hazard because there's only so much you can wink and let the audience know that you
39:59don't mean it.
39:59And you ruin the satire and the irony. That's what satire and irony is.
40:03And to a certain extent, you've got to aim at people who get it.
40:07And sometimes they're, they're clever people.
40:10The fact that there's, if I play to 15,000 people, there are going to be rapists, paedophiles, murderers.
40:21I'm not going to, you know.
40:23Who's coming to see your show, Ricky?
40:26What is your demo?
40:28They're my, hey, hey, hey.
40:30But, do you know what I mean?
40:31To think that someone might not get that joke, I think that's a worrying state of mind.
40:36Because someone somewhere is not going to get your joke.
40:39Because some people are stupid.
40:42There comes to a point where you go, listen, the joke's there, the joke's gettable, most people get it.
40:48If there's one person that doesn't get it, I can live with that.
40:53In character comedy, that's the other thing that people don't realise is that, even in stand-up, there's a bit
40:58of character.
40:58There's a bit of persona.
40:59I often play the person who's saying the wrong thing.
41:03And then I say the right thing.
41:05And the audience, we hope, are clever enough to know when I'm being serious and when I'm not.
41:09That's the exciting bit.
41:12That they feel clever when they get it.
41:14That someone might take you at face value doing an ironic joke or a satirical joke.
41:19Well, yeah.
41:20Some people will try to inject themselves with bleach.
41:24But, you know, I don't know what to say, really.
41:28There are stupid people in the world.
41:30There's no one ever that was in court and the judge said, and why did you rape this person?
41:36And they say, I heard a joke about it and I assumed it was legal.
41:40That's never happened.
41:43Right?
41:44That person's already a maniac.
41:46No one is going away, not getting jokes and doing terrible things.
41:52I don't buy it.
41:53No, but, I mean, specifically, you used rape as an example.
41:56But there are other examples.
41:58Like, you know, for instance, if there's a joke about another marginalised group of people and you're on...
42:03And I'm not talking specifically about you.
42:04I'm just having this conversation.
42:06Sure.
42:06If you're making some sort of joke where, obviously, you don't believe it, but the point of view of the
42:11joke is that it's good that these people are marginalised.
42:14Well, I do think that that can affect, it can normalise ideas that would otherwise societally be considered harmful.
42:23Now, we're assuming, we've established that it depends on the joke and it depends on the target.
42:29And I think that's right.
42:33I just, I tell jokes about race without them being racist.
42:37Now, some people will think, if they haven't heard the joke right or understood it or didn't get the irony,
42:43they may well think that's a racist joke.
42:46But it's not.
42:47And there's nothing more I can say, really.
42:50The experience I've had is when you talk about issues and marginalised groups, that is a way forward.
42:58I don't think you're allowed to say, we want to be treated just like everyone else, except in jokes.
43:05But apart from that, we want to be treated exactly like, but not, we don't want to be the subject
43:10of humour.
43:12That's what I was saying about taboo subjects, you know.
43:16But I still come back to, it depends on the joke.
43:20You know, there's no carte blanche.
43:22I'm not one of these people that thinks comedy is your conscience taking a day off.
43:26My conscience never takes a day off.
43:27I can justify every joke I've done.
43:29Whether people believe me or care or agree with me, that's not my problem once it's out there.
43:36But I never let my conscience take a day off.
43:39It's just that some people don't get it, don't like it, don't agree with it.
43:44That's life.
43:45Dan, I'm going to turn back to you.
43:47The question you were asking, Rami, was interesting.
43:49And I'm curious, one of the choices that you made on Schitt's Creek was to sort of show a widespread
43:55acceptance on the show.
43:57There is not a whiff of homophobia on your show.
44:01Why was that so important to you?
44:02For us, it was making sure that the town of Schitt's Creek,
44:06which I think, traditionally speaking, small towns in comedies have always kind of been the butt of the joke.
44:12They've been reduced to kind of, you know, cartoon characters.
44:16And it was really important for us that this town be the kind of epicentre for growth for our family.
44:21And it's ultimately a satire on wealth and indulgence and what love kind of means.
44:26So having the ability to say, I am not going to have bigotry or homophobia ever discussed on our show,
44:34it's a way of kind of projecting a world that I felt was kind of gentler and more accepting and
44:40saying,
44:41here, this is making people feel good and this is bringing out the best in people.
44:48Wouldn't it be nice if this was, if we kind of reflected on this?
44:51It wasn't even that intellectual at the time, but it was just kind of a reaction to,
44:56if I were to include homophobia or bigotry of any kind in the show,
45:01it's giving power to those people who see themselves on TV.
45:04That's just for the case of my particular show.
45:07I think particularly for gay characters, we have come to expect any time we fall in love on camera
45:15to end in death or end in something terrible or tragic or to never be given happiness completely.
45:23But for us, I wanted to take the space to create a love story where you didn't have to fear
45:30for the safety and security
45:32of these two people who were falling in love and that inherently the support of this community
45:37is what made them fall in love and what actually lifted the whole sort of group as a whole.
45:42One of the other things that you've talked about, but that you sort of struggled with this idea of being
45:48the son of a legend,
45:50when you were sort of coming up and you would do school plays and he would say,
45:54can I help you? And your response was no.
45:59Curious sort of what was at the root of that?
46:02And how ultimately did you come to a place where it was, hey dad, let's create and co-star in
46:08a show together?
46:08I think we can all sort of admit family members of successful actors or producers or directors
46:15are kind of viewed through a lens of the snap judgment.
46:19I think generally speaking is nepotism or that they've been allowed some sort of in.
46:23I think for me being young and just like, you know, being raised in socially where people knew who my
46:31dad was
46:32and, you know, going to camp and having people sort of write letters saying the only reason people are friends
46:37with you
46:37is because you have a famous father.
46:39It kind of conditions you to want to create something on your own because you are so aware of the
46:46connection
46:46and you are so aware of the fact that people are going to initially write you off as being someone
46:52who has been afforded a luxury that other people haven't had access to just by, you know, who you are.
46:59My dad doesn't care about the entertainment industry.
47:02He doesn't watch entertainment news.
47:05He doesn't care about celebrity.
47:07He likes eating bagels and that's his vibe.
47:10But for me growing up, I wanted to create something for my own peace of mind
47:15and to really distance myself on all areas of the entertainment kind of inklings that I was getting
47:22just so that I could see for myself, do I even have something that is worthy of taking it to
47:29the next level
47:29and do I have a skill set that I feel confident enough to move forward with?
47:34And I could only do that without his help because if he did help, then I would always be questioning
47:40was it something that he helped me with or was it something that I did on my own?
47:44And I think being a host on MTV for eight years and the majority of those years, I didn't tell
47:50people who my father was.
47:52I was able to carve a space for myself where I could experiment and I could write sketches
47:57and I could do, you know, interviews and really explore what I had to offer in a way that was
48:03unobstructed
48:04by the presumption that I had gotten a job through my dad.
48:07And then when I moved out to Los Angeles, I brought an idea to him that I felt confident and
48:14comfortable enough to say,
48:16I know that I'm going to bring something to the table here and I know that I have something to
48:20say.
48:20And I thought his warmth and his kind of comedic softness in a way could really lend itself to making
48:27a special tone
48:28to what this show could be.
48:30So I only came to him many, many, many years later with the confidence that I didn't have before.
48:37Keenan, I want to turn to you.
48:39This is obviously a world that you've been a part of since you were a child.
48:44What has been the sort of navigation process?
48:47Is there a career that you look at that is a sort of a role model and that you're taking
48:52cues from?
48:53Yeah, Bill Cosby, right?
48:57Rick was pointing at himself.
49:00Imagine Keenan grew up just looking at Ricky's career.
49:04That's wild.
49:07Up until recently, it was, you know, Bill Cosby, you know, up until like all the allegations and things we
49:13learned about him.
49:13I admired, you know, his sense of humor.
49:16I watched Bill Cosby himself, you know, a million times.
49:19He was my first window into comedy, basically, because he was the clean one at first.
49:23And then I got to look back on, you know, Eddie as I grew up and Richard as I grew
49:28up and George Carlin.
49:29And then Jim Carrey came along and all these people.
49:32And like, you know, I just modeled.
49:33I watched everybody who, you know, was a great standup and then got their chance.
49:37I was already like 15 when I got my first job.
49:40So I wasn't like a kid, kid, kid.
49:42I kind of, you know, was already established as, yeah.
49:45But, you know, I had my morals and things like that.
49:47And, you know, I'm a family close and that's how I kept it.
49:51You brought up Cosby.
49:53But I imagine, was it sort of hard to reconcile when all of a sudden he wasn't allowed to be
49:57your hero?
49:58Not at all.
49:59I mean, it was, you know, definitely like a bummer, but I couldn't imagine how much of a bummer it
50:06is for his actual victims.
50:08You know what I'm saying?
50:09So it was a harsh wake up call into the reality that everybody is human at the end of the
50:15day.
50:15Like even your heroes that you assume couldn't possibly be, you know, a certain kind of way.
50:21But that was incredibly shocking and disappointing and all of that.
50:25All right, we're going to end on more of a sort of lightning round.
50:30The first one.
50:31What's your favorite comedic performance of all time?
50:34I'll start.
50:35Jim Carrey, Cable Guy.
50:36Jim Carrey, Cable Guy.
50:38I like it.
50:39I'm out.
50:40I'll go with either Bill Murray in Ghostbusters or Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.
50:46That's a good one.
50:47Ghostbusters because there's all these stakes.
50:49It's really scary, but he's really funny in it without puncturing the stakes.
50:52And to me, that's like the ultimate challenge of all action comedy is how do you be funny without making
50:58it feel like you're making fun of what's happening?
51:00And he really I mean, he really treads that line so well.
51:04I'm going to go with Ricky Gervais on this Zoom chat.
51:06Just like the levity and just there were times where he was serious and he like really brought it into
51:12the heart.
51:12But then there were times where he's just funny, he's just riffing and he's loose and just yeah, it was
51:16just like this level of nuance.
51:17We got to switch it up.
51:18That's that's three for the whites.
51:20We got to switch it up.
51:21Come on, Dan.
51:21Come on, Ricky.
51:22They're going to cut all that.
51:23You're going to look stupid because they're going to cut all my stuff.
51:25For me, one of the highlights was his dad spilling milk on his face when he's going in and out
51:30of the train tunnel.
51:31A little bit surreal.
51:31It was such a roller coaster.
51:33I was like, oh, wow, what a stress dream.
51:35And then that was a lie.
51:36So he was lying about a dream.
51:37So he was already lying about something that we knew wasn't real.
51:40So I would say for me that really brought it home.
51:43I'd say it was probably me in the office.
51:47No, I'd probably Laurel and Hardy in County Hospital.
51:55To me, it's like scenes.
51:57Okay, give me one scene.
51:58Okay, so I'll give a few.
52:01Lucille Ball with the chocolates.
52:02I know, I'm switching the rules here.
52:05I would say Eddie Murphy crossing a highway is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
52:10Both of them.
52:11And then I would say Catherine O'Hara in, for your consideration,
52:15one of the most underrated comedic performances I've seen in a very, very long time.
52:21With the fight.
52:22And Ricky in the film.
52:24Yeah, yeah, yeah.
52:25But when she did that, she did a full face of cosmetic surgery that was just her face.
52:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
52:31There was no prosthetics.
52:33That was just her holding a face of toit plastic surgery for an entire third of a film.
52:39It was quite, it was quite extraordinary.
52:42But yeah.
52:42I'd like to mention someone who isn't here, who's very, very current.
52:45And that's Larry David in the last series of Curb.
52:48I think it's, I think it's amazing.
52:50For modern times, the last, it's one of the greatest writer, performers, I think of the last 25 years.
52:56So I think we should give him a mention.
52:58Christopher Guest in Spinal Tap.
53:00Oh, play it again, Sam.
53:02Woody Allen, play it again, Sam.
53:03Come on.
53:04Richard Pryor.
53:06Richard Pryor, Long Beach.
53:07Richard Pryor.
53:08There you go.
53:09Patrice O'Neil.
53:11Louis CK.
53:13Chewed up.
53:13Come on.
53:14No, you can't.
53:15It's impossible.
53:16Louis CK and Woody.
53:17It's impossible.
53:18And Bill Cosby.
53:19Bill Cosby.
53:21Bill Cosby.
53:22It all comes back to Bill Cosby.
53:25Bill Cosby and Leonard VI.
53:27Kevin Spacey.
53:28Are we forgetting Kevin Spacey?
53:30Oh, God.
53:30Come on.
53:31Come on.
53:32I can't leave Kevin Spacey.
53:34Come on.
53:35Harvey Weinstein.
53:37Okay.
53:38No.
53:42Oh, gosh.
53:43All right.
53:44If you could have complete and utter anonymity back for a day, what's the first thing you'd do?
53:49That's assuming that I'm not kind of anonymous walking down the street.
53:54I think that question is geared toward very famous people.
53:57Dan and I stand on corners trying to get some sort of a day.
54:01We're fine.
54:02Yeah.
54:02Yeah.
54:03We're good.
54:04I live.
54:05No, I mean, I live pretty normal.
54:08People like people say hi and everything, but nobody's trying to like rip my clothes off.
54:12You know what I'm saying?
54:13Like it's always just like hand by.
54:15So I live pretty like every day.
54:17So I'm trying to think like I don't nobody even really bothers me like that.
54:22I don't know.
54:23People tell me they really like the last season of Patriot Act.
54:26You know what I'm saying?
54:28How do you respond?
54:31I've worked really hard.
54:35That's amazing and sad.
54:37All right.
54:38Last one.
54:38If you could switch careers with anyone else in Hollywood for a day, who would you choose?
54:42Just the one day, David Geffen?
54:46This is a pretty tricky question because tomorrow that person could be just dragged to hell.
54:51So.
54:52I know.
54:52Could I just say, guys, if you want to choose me, I've never assaulted anyone.
54:57I'm not a pedophile.
54:58I've never assaulted anyone.
54:59So I'm safe.
55:01You could choose me and you won't be disappointed.
55:04For me, it would be Oprah just for the influence but also the ability to like legitimately act
55:11but then also do the talk show thing.
55:14Just true versatility and power.
55:16Can I also say Oprah or is that answer stale at this point?
55:20No, you should.
55:21You should.
55:21Okay.
55:22I'm going to go with Oprah as well.
55:23Say Gail.
55:24That Montecito house is that farmland that she is.
55:28It's one of many.
55:28Those baskets of just produce.
55:31All right, Ricky, who are you choosing?
55:32Oh, I don't know.
55:33I don't want to do anything.
55:35Who sits around just eating all day?
55:37Guy Fieri eats a lot all day.
55:40Diners, drive-ins and dives.
55:43You could put a little blonde wig on and be Guy Fieri.
55:48But if you're already Guy Fieri, you wouldn't also need to put a blonde wig on.
55:52The thing is that we've become that person, right?
55:54Is it like Quantum Leap when we look in the mirror and we're suddenly Tom Cruise
55:58and then we're, we've still got, we remember it all, do we?
56:01We're us.
56:01Yes.
56:02I'm taking this very seriously.
56:03Who would I choose then?
56:04This is tricky.
56:06Just take your time.
56:07You know, we got nothing but time here, Ricky.
56:09This isn't real.
56:11They're not going to hold you to this.
56:12I just would hate for you to rush and say something that you feel uncomfortable with
56:16later.
56:16The kind of regret you would feel.
56:19America's waiting for your answer.
56:21Oh, I don't know.
56:22Do I?
56:22Who's the fat, who's the fattest person in the world of Ian?
56:27All right.
56:28Thank you guys all for, for being part of this conversation.
56:32I appreciate you all being here, albeit virtually and hopefully we'll all get to be together
56:39at an actual table sometime soon.
56:41It's our pleasure.
56:43Good luck editors.
56:45Good to meet all you guys.
56:46Good to meet all you guys.
56:46He's just...
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