The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Andrew Rannells

Episode Date: August 8, 2023

Andrew Rannells joins Andy Richter to discuss re-uniting with Josh Gad on Broadway for “Guttenburg! The Musical,” the art of the water-bottle tour, running into Adam Devine in Omaha, Andrew’s new book “Uncle of the Year,” and more.This episode was recorded on July 12, 2023.

What I was just checking was, because you're from Omaha. That's correct. And I just interviewed Adam Devine. Oh, yeah. And he's from Omaha, too. He is also from Omaha, yeah. We didn't know each other. No, you were going to say it, but yes, he is younger. He's from Omaha, too. He is also from Omaha. Yeah, we didn't. You didn't know each other because you're young.

No, you were going to say it, but yes, he is younger. He's younger. He's younger than I am. Listen, everyone's younger than me these days. I used to be the young one, and now I'm the oldest all the time. No, no, no, no. Well. There's older out there. All the time.

But Adam and I met, we didn't meet until we were both in LA. And then we worked, we worked on the first thing we worked on together. It was a movie called why him with Brian Cranston that we did. We both just had sort of like little parts in and we were on the set together. And then later we did the intern together with Nancy Myers. And we had a couple,

I don't even know know i don't think we had scenes together but we were on set together a lot and during that process but and then as it always happens in life then anytime i went to omaha for like a holiday or something i would see him in the airport or i would see him like at a restaurant like never saw him before but then all of a sudden right yeah i think that just happens it does just happen but we used to see each other at an airport bar in omaha called cracky mcgee's oh it's one of those bars that serves crack yes it was a crack an irish bar an irish crack bar but oh boy from omaha yeah yeah yeah well uh we've already started, by the way. I'm talking to Andrew Rannells.

Are you Andrew all the time, or are you ever Andy? I am Andy at home in Omaha. So I was just in Omaha for Fourth of July, and I'm still very much an Andy. But we can't have two Andys on this interview. Well, I mean, I'm still waiting to see if andy williams will be on oh that'd be great i can't remember if he's still alive well if he's not that'd be even more of a get i want to ask him about the whole coke spoon thing um well now i mentioned it omaha i mean it's it's actually people hear omaha nebraska and they think snooze um when actually it's kind of a bustling metropolis is it not it is it's a

it's a bustling metropolis and they i have to say every time i go back i was 19 when i moved so i was not like fully aware of like the what the city had to offer but over the past you know 25 years going back um they really do a nice job of revitalizing like their downtown area and yeah they I mean yes it is a huge there's a big suburban sprawl there but um but they also they do a nice job of like actually using using the space that they have and using older buildings, which I appreciate. I appreciate that they use those old neighborhoods. And now there's a lot of young, fun, little hipster folk running around. Yeah, isn't that weird?

It's really weird. For me, it's more the suburbs of Chicago. But there seem to be hipsters in the suburbs of Chicago, which I just am like, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be? Yeah. You know, no, I guess you can be, you can be a hipster anywhere. It turns out. Yeah, no, it's, it, it seems like that. I, but you know, my, my son is an, is an artist. He's, he's just finishing up college. And he talks about, you know, how there's amazing art opportunities in Tulsa.

Really? Yeah, like that they are trying to attract artists with incentives or grants or something to come populate downtown Tulsa, which is not what you'd expect from Tulsa. No, but that's, that's very cool. You know, I, I felt like, and I don't know if you felt the same, like when I was in high school, I, I, well, I mean,

specifically I wanted to be on Broadway. So there's only one place to do that. And that is New York city. So I had no other option to do that, but I see it with my nieces and nephews now that like, you know, there's, there are more options like that.

For me, it was like, I had tunnel vision on New York. Yeah. I was like, I got to go to New York. And now it seems like there's other places you can go. Yeah, but that Broadway, it is so. Yeah.

I mean, where else are you going to go? Yeah. I mean, I guess maybe London. True. You know, because there's, you know, in terms of English language theater would be kind of London. But even then. Well, and I wanted to do musical theater, which is so specifically American. Yes, it exists in the West End, but that is a very American thing to focus on.

Yeah. I didn't have the skill set for Shakespeare, Andy. I was not, I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I don't have the attention span for Shakespeare, Andy. I was not, I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I don't have the attention span for Shakespeare. I've run into a lot of issues with this. And I always say the wrong thing. Like, I remember having a conversation with Oscar Eustace, who runs the Public Theater. And he asked me about like doing Shakespeare in the Park. And I said, why? Why? Which, my friend

Nikki James was with me and she was horrified because she's done several shows at the Delacorte in the summer and I was like, I can't do that. I just can't. The words. All the words. So much talking, not enough faces. Come on.

Well, I, you know, I don't think it's true because i think the last thing the last shakespeare thing i saw was a shakespeare in the park which i do i am like a fan of yeah stagecraft and art direction like i do like shows you know i like any of that uh cirque de soleil stuff i'm there for the the you know like all any of that Cirque du Soleil stuff. I'm there for the, you know, like all of a sudden the stage opens up and there's a 15-foot diving pool. You know, like that shit I love. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah.

But I saw, I think it was a Midsummer Night's Dream. And it was one more than I said, because previous to that, I went and saw Shakespeare, somebody else's idea, and I just sat there and I thought, I'm a grown man. I don't have to do this. I don't have to do this anymore. I don't. And if somebody were to say, oh, he's the great, I'd be saying, okay, that's great for you, but I do not get much out of this. Well, there you go. I don't know what they're talking about half the time.

It's a lot of... And I think that's useful. It's a lot of, you know, code deciphering sometimes. Yes. Which I think people really enjoy. And on a certain level, it's fun to do sometimes. But yeah, you know, because I was introduced to a lot of that material by way of musicals.

Like I remember the first time seeing like a production of Romeo and Juliet and being like, Oh, that's Maria. And that's Tony. And that's real. We're going to talk about kiss me, Kate or something.

Well, I, but I put it with West side story. I was like, Oh yeah, now I understand what's happening i understand throw some songs in there now i get it yeah yeah um i want to go just because it crossed my mind and i i think when you were like when you left omaha to go to new york city

i mean like you said you only had one choice yeah where you could really go to New York City, I mean, like you said, you only had one choice. Yeah. Where you could really go to do what you wanted to do. But was there also kind of a like, I got to get out of Omaha? Yeah. No, I definitely felt that pressure. Yeah. I mean, I think for a few reasons, like wanting to be an actor, a number one, being gay was a big one, too.

an actor a number one being gay was a big one too like i was like i can't i can't really imagine what my life was gonna be like here you know especially in the 90s in omaha i was like i just can't i can't see it working out um now i don't know what the but you know probably be a lot of different options but um but yeah at the time yeah i felt like it's i gotta i gotta get out of here i gotta yeah i gotta get and i here. I gotta, I gotta get. And I did think about like a couple other places. Like I thought, well, maybe I could go to, I remember going to visit the San Francisco State, that campus. Cause I was, you know, like a lot of teenage boys who go to all boys Catholic schools.

I was really obsessed with Jack Kerouac. And I was like, I'm going to San Francisco and find some Benzies. And I'm going to, I'm going to live. I'm going to live in San Francisco. And I got there. One of the cool kinds of alcoholics.

Yeah. I want to just hitchhike. Yeah. But, um, I got there and I was like, this isn't for me. I just got to go.

I got to go to New York, but I did think about it for about a month. I was like, maybe I'll there and I was like, this isn't for me. I just got to go. I got to go to New York. But I did think about it for about a month. I was like, maybe I'll go to San Francisco first. But it didn't work out. It didn't work out. I mean, was there an age when you knew like, okay, I got to be in Broadway? I got to in on with Broadway. You know, I got to soak it up.

Yeah, I was watching the, the Tony awards one summer and, you know, pre-internet, it was like, that was the one window of time a kid from the Midwest or anywhere outside of New York could see what was happening on Broadway were the Tony awards. And I watched this number from a musical called Falsettos. And it was, it's this great musical that James Lapine and William Finn wrote. And it was nominated for a Tony that year. And they did this performance. And it was not only really funny and really cool, but it was also about gay people.

And the two leads of it were gay. And I was like, I got to do that. That's what I want to do. And piecing that together in my mind, I guess that's the, I'm going to do musical theater on Broadway. And that's going to be what I do. Yeah. That's my job. And it was, did you, did you vocalize that to anybody?

I did. And like a lot of kids who vocalize things like that, I was told it was nonsense. Yeah. That I needed a backup plan because it it kind of is it kind of is nonsense i know not wrong they're not they're not incorrect but i was told all through high school and that like that was not you know i should have a backup plan and i should yeah i should really and my parents were were they didn't come on too strong about that in terms of like you should study something

else in addition like they just kind of let me figure out like what school i was going to go to and how i was going to pay for it and like you know i got scholarships and i auditioned for you know like any sort of grant i could get at that time like to pay for school and and they were very supportive but they just didn't really know how to do it. You know, they didn't have any, they didn't have any of that info. So I sort of made that plan and did it. And I remember, um, getting into school and being like, well, I got a, I got a full scholarship to this school in, in New York city and I'm moving in August and, and that was it. And I just told them and they were like, Oh, okay. Um, well, best of luck. Good luck. Good luck with that. And they, they took me to New York and they literally dropped me off at a dorm and that was it.

And they were, they were on their way. I mean, I have older kids and now, you know, I just got married to somebody that had a daughter. So I have a 22 year old, a 17 year old and a three year old. Oh, wow. Yeah. So like, I'm really kind of looking, you know, I've been thinking a lot about parenting in a very holistic kind of way. And I just wonder it with that kind of light touch approach that your parents had kind of like without stating any heavy preference for what they expected of you. I mean, were you okay with that at the time? Did that seem like, did you want them to kind of push you in one direction or another, or, you know,

or was it just kind of, that's how it was and why, why worry about it? I mean, that's a good question. I think, um, I think at the time I was, I was really determined and I was very focused on what I wanted to do. And because they maybe didn't have the, uh, experience or the, the sort of vocabulary that I needed, particularly when it came to, when it came to studying acting or, you know, the arts in general. Like, they didn't know a lot about that. And they told me that, that they were like, we can't really help you a ton when it comes to, like, picking out. We don't know what you're looking for.

We don't know what the best answer is. And, again, this was at a time where, like, it wasn't a simple Google search away of, you know, well, what is a liberal arts education in New York City? Or, you know, so, so at times, yes, I would have loved them to have been more hands on and, and more, maybe dug in with me a little bit more when it came to the research and it came to things like that now long term i would say having to do that on my own uh did make me more determined yeah and it did make me i mean i there was no room for failure when i got to new york because i was like well this is the plan that i made and i don't have a backup and i very much kind of had that not in a resent resentful way, but in a, I'll show them, like, I'll show them that I can do this. I'll show them that I can make these decisions. And, you know, it's lonely at times.

It was scary at times. And I made a lot of mistakes. But, like, and my mother hates hearing about it now, that, you know, some of those, you know, some of those years that were pretty lean and bleak in New York, like she does not like to hear about those. Um, but that was all kind of, that was all part of making a life. You know what I mean?

Like that was, what is, what is she not like about it? Does it, some to seem it reflects on her mothering or something? No, I think that she just doesn't like to think about me upset or lonely or depressed or you know the idea that she was in nebraska and i'm you know

you know far away in new york city you know alone uh sort of struggling but like at the time i don't know how you feel about it but when in your early 20s like that, I didn't necessarily feel like I was struggling. I was just sort of in the middle of it. So I didn't feel horribly depressed by it. But yes, looking back on that kid and being like, well, yeah, there were some tough years there. But when you're in the throes of it, I don't know. You're just kind of doing it. And everyone around me was doing it.

Right. And I think that that's what, you know, that's like, you know, the transition from child to adult, it can be really miserable. And I mean, and like, in a way that is garden variety. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's like, yeah, yeah, no variety you know it's like it's you know what i mean it's like yeah yeah no i know that's really stressful and really awful and sometimes you feel like what's the point of it all and and you don't know if you're going to make it through it but yeah that's kind of that's what kind of it so it yeah so you're you're 22 year old son yes

yes so yes when he comes to you with those thoughts or those feelings, like, do you I mean, do you say like, yeah, you got to just kind of roll through it? Yeah. Yeah. And I don't think that it's very, very helpful answer. But I mean, I don't know what else to tell. I know. Yeah. You know, it's the same thing.

He has my same. I, you know, whether you call it ADD or just like, I just can't get homework done. Like I have real troubles getting homework done. And until the very last minute and even then get an extension on the last minute. So I get another last minute. And he definitely has that same thing. And thank God, like his younger sister doesn't. Cause she once told me like, why doesn't he just do a little bit of his work every night rather than leaving it all right till the end?

And I was like, that's like saying, why doesn't an alcoholic just stop drinking? You know, I'm like, because that's just not how it is. And he, you know, I've tried to commiserate with him and say, yeah, I know. I know what you're going through. And yeah, there's no magic answer. You just kind of, you got to do your homework. Yeah. You know, it just, you got to, and it, and however you can find, and, you know, there's different strategies that, you know, specialists will tell you.

But it's like, no, you just got to do it. And yeah. And, you know, and, and being worried about the future and being worried, you know, frankly, now, you know, he's transitioning into an area where, you know, he's, I'm not paying for everything, you know? And it's, and that, that transition is, is very difficult, but it's like, well, of course you're not going to starve and you're not going to be homeless, but yeah, you really got to figure out how to make money, you know? And that's, that's very much what my parents did to me or for me was that I was just responsible for all of that when I got to New York. So it's, you know,

it's daunting, but I think if I had kids that were at that age, like, yeah, I would, you know, I would help when I could. But for the most part, you do eventually you're going to have to figure it out. So, yeah, I don't know if it's if it's is it a better lesson to learn at 21? Because I've seen people I've worked with people I grew up with people who like whose parents sort of you know helped them all through their 20s and then they still go through it at 30 and it's and it's not a good look to be like 32 and be like i don't know how to pay my bills you're like that's that's not how do you write a check yeah yeah i i was lucky that i figured that out, you know, early, but I, I certainly, and I was, I was resentful of my peers whose parents helped them who paid, who paid for apartments and they had allowances and, um, and it's, and now, you know, at 44, I'm like, well, I'm, I'm actually glad my parents didn't do that because I like, I've because I had to sort that out on my own. And I'm glad that they didn't because everybody has to go through it at some point.

Unless you're like a trust fund kid who just can always do that. Right, exactly. Then you've got a lifelong teat to nurse from. Yeah. Did you get to New York and have to get a series of shitty jobs? Yeah, I did nurse from. Yeah. Yeah. Did you have, did you have a, a, like a series, did you get to New York and have to get like a series of shitty jobs? Yeah. I did all the shitty jobs. Um, the only thing that I didn't really do was wait tables because I, uh, was not qualified. I mean, it turns out it's like kind of hard to get a, a, a waiting job in New York. Um, Yeah. They want references and they want,

and I couldn't do that. So I was a host at several restaurants. I did coat check. I did. I worked at some gyms. I worked at the Warner brothers store as a greeter. That was a real low point. Yeah.

Oh my God. That was, you gotta, oh yeah. Talk about acting. Oh my God. And then, you know, mixed in, I did all of those horrible things that like young performers do, like promote, like handing out like promotional flyers.

Like I remember, I remember doing that in Times Square for the Big Apple Circus and being like, you know, 20 years old maybe. And having to like wear some like dumb sweatshirt and be like, do you guys like clowns? Like who wants to see the circus? And like, I, I, and just like standing in the cold with like a stack full of flyers.

Nobody wanted to talk to me. Um, for some reason I was paired with a girl who took it very seriously. And I just started slowly throwing my flyers away in street trash cans and was like, fuck this. And she was like, Andrew, you can't throw them away. We have to pass them out. And I was just like chucking them. And I was like, see you later, Lindsay.

Yeah. Look, I'm done for the day. I'm going home. Terrible. Oh, yeah. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.

That is. Well, you mentioned in your new new book uncle of the year uncle of the year um you mentioned that uh you you know when you got there you did start going to through the audition process yeah and then you do say you got you did fairly well with voiceover yeah yeah yeah and did that start fairly early on or was that kind of that started when i was in omaha actually and i i did a lot of work at this was a kid um at this community like this children's theater and through this weird series of events um this company called deke dic that at the time was owned by Disney, who made Saturday morning cartoons, came to Omaha

to audition some actors to see if they could do what I now understand was non-union voiceover work. I didn't know from a union at 16 years old. They just say, do you want to read these things that'll be on TV?

So I got a job. I got a Saturday morning cartoon that, yeah, that recorded in Omaha. And we did it for, I did that for a while for like all through high school. And then started then a couple more series came my way. This was all in Omaha, which is pretty crazy. So then, and I did commercials and things like that. So then when I got to New York, I really wanted to keep doing that. And I was able to do some of it through that company, through Deke. But then I got hooked up with this company called 4Kids Entertainment that did like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! And they had all of these shows that they were producing in like around 2000, 2001. And so I just kind of jumped on their bandwagon. And that was, that became like my real like sort of day job, quote unquote, while I was auditioning for theater, was doing these like- Is this in New York?

Or is this still back in Omaha? This was in New York. Yeah. All the Pokemon this was in new york yeah the all the the pokemon stuff was in new york um do you still do you have copies of those like or you know they're floating around yeah seeing kids watching a pokemon cartoon and being like that's me yeah those kids yeah they because they weren't even born when i was doing it. And now all of that stuff is on YouTube. And so I get kids who come up with like playing cards and like, they've,

they've tracked me down on a lot of these weird shows. Wow. Yeah. It's pretty, it's very humbling. Um, but super grateful that that was my job, you know,

that I got, I got to do that for a long time. Yeah. It's, it's great. We're, I love doing voiceover like if i honestly i'm at well i'm just at the point like if i could make a living just doing voiceover yeah i would be absolutely okay with that you know i mean i and i'm you know lucky that i still get to do a lot of it um yeah i do a lot still do a lot of animation and um some commercial stuff and yeah i love it i love doing it it's it's real fun it's real fun to do

can't you tell my loves you know you mentioned that you know, when you first got to New York City, that transition from Omaha, live with your folks, to New York City, Broadway, which can chew you up and spit you out. And New York City, which can chew you up and spit you out. Yeah. And I can imagine that New York City gay life can chew you up and spit you out. I mean, was there ever a point where you thought about giving up or where you thought whether you just felt like this is too much? I had like one hour where I thought I should seriously go move to Orlando and work at a theme park. should seriously go move to Orlando and work at a theme park. I remember thinking that at one point being like,

my life would be so much easier if I just worked in a theme park. And cause I had to have dental. Yeah. I had friends that went and did it and I was like, I should maybe just do that. But I didn't do that, but I did. I had a handful of like really close calls for different Broadway shows and didn't get them and was feeling really discouraged. And at 23 was feeling really old and really like, just kind of like beat around. And I was like,

it's never going to happen for me. Like I should just stop. And that's when I, I accepted a job at that for kids entertainment directing cartoons. And I became like, I directed two series for about two and a half years. I worked for them and stopped direction or the whole thing, voice direction.

Yeah. They were acquired shows, mostly from Japan that we just, we just had to redub. So there was like a little bit of like editing work that I had to sort of like figure out in terms of like, but whatever for timing. And, but most of it was just the, the voiceover direction, which I liked and it was very stable and there was insurance and there was a

retirement plan. And there were all of these things that I was like, it's so nice just to have a paycheck. But after about two and a half years of that i was like uh i'm not done i was i was 25 and i was like i want to i want to go back to auditioning and then was it keeping you from auditioning the schedule didn't allow it was because yeah I mean, it was a full time. I mean, there were long days of recording. So yeah, there was no room to like skip out for an audition. So, but then I quit that job. And I just I quit rather impulsively. I walked into my boss's office and I was like, I'm going to give my two weeks notice. I mean, there was no contract or anything. It was just, and I quit and said, you know, I told them what I wanted to do, that I was like, I want to try this Broadway thing again, and I want to audition. And they literally laughed at me.

That they were like, that's, yeah, they were like, that's, I mean, best of luck, but this is a huge mistake and you can always come back. And, and then I quit and just started auditioning. And I did, I did one show off, off, off, off Broadway, um, which was pretty terrible, but really fun called it's karate kid comma, the musical. And, uh, but while I was doing that, then I got an audition for a Broadway show for Hairspray. And that was the first Broadway show that I booked. So it ended up working out. But it was a real, I just had to sort of trust my gut on that one and be like, don't i can't stay on this job i guess i think i just i remembered at 25 i was like you moved here to do one thing and you've lost sight of it and you need to you need to give it another shot before you call it a day so were there people in your life who were

sort of saying to you you know aren't you gonna get back to that isn't that was it you know did you have encouragement from people to kind of say like what are you doing just directing the yeah yeah cartoons i did yeah i did but it was mostly just like an anxiety that was growing inside of me that was yeah and i'm glad that i had the you know i it's it's funny to think about that at 23 i was like i'm too old i'm too old to continue yeah um and then at 25 something clicked that i was like you're not that you're not that old get out there yeah and it's you can yeah you can really i think even now too i think the world is it is different just in terms of ages because i think you can you can fuck around like all the way up to 30

you can really don't give up keep trying you know i fuck around i just mean keep trying on the long shot yeah you know yeah you gotta pay bills and stuff but you don't have to really no you don't have to you don't have to lock it in settle yeah you don't have to settle when you get to 30 like i do think there is a point where you do sometimes you gotta settle like you gotta go look maybe i'm not gonna be an astronaut yeah and so i'll stop i mean i have the suit i know but i don't so far nasa is not calling um I also want to ask, because you mentioned it, about, like, I can only imagine what it's like to be young and gay from Omaha and move to New York City. Yeah. And can you speak to, like, what, you know, what that meant to your identity? And, like, were you excited?

Were you terrified? Were you all those things? Because it certainly is a lot easier to be gay in New York City. Yeah. Yeah. No, I was, I was all of those things. I, it took me a while to, to sort of figure out what my life was going to look like in general in New York. You know, I was in, I was in school. Yeah.

So a lot of those questions were sort of answered for me in terms of like where I was living and what my days looked like. I was going to, you know, I was in classes all day and had a job at night. And I found myself like, you know, a really cute, like liberal arts boyfriend who was like really sort of like moody. And, you know, it was like, Oh, really sort of like moody. And you know, it was like, it was great. So my first unemployed, like liberal arts people are, he was like a night, he was like a year older. He was like real nineties looking like he was cute. And yeah. Um, so that was fun and I did all of that, but it wasn't until a few years after I, I left school and was working that I really kind of figured out like what that gay scene was for me, because, you know, coming out in the nineties or becoming aware of my sexuality in the nineties, especially like within the context of like community theater and Omaha and stuff, there was a lot of, you know, big picture, there was a lot of fear about AIDS at the time and HIV.

So sex seemed still very dangerous to me in my mind at that age. And some of the examples that I had around me, you know, of guys, adults that were doing, you know, community theater with me, a lot of them were sick and that scared the hell out of me that like that could potentially be, is that my future? Is that what, you know, is that what my, is that what being gay means? Um, you know, these are all, you know, questions I had as like a very young person. So then by the time I- Does Catholic stuff enter into that too? Like, you know these are all you know questions i had as like a very young person so then by the time i catholic stuff enter into that too like you know or or can you separate that um i didn't feel no i didn't feel like judgment from the catholic church like i don't know why

even though i was raised very catholic it was an altar boy and went to catholic school and all of that like i kind of was like whatever um when it came to them saying like you're going to hell i was like cool cool um i didn't yeah i i wasn't okay yeah i wasn't i don't know i wasn't super conflicted about that i was like yeah okay and i think because in high school and i i wrote about this in my my first book that like i had a handful of run-ins with some real grabby priests um yeah and like super hypocritical like clearly gay like obviously yeah like gay priests that were like yeah real fucking handsy and so i kind by the time i was like graduating high school i was like fuck off um like whatever they were saying about like we don't we we condemn that i was like sure you do yeah um like i

remember going i remember running into the president of my all boys catholic school at like an after hours gay club in omaha and he and he was wearing a fucking glow stick necklace around his neck. And he like, he saw me and he was like, are you supposed to be in here? I said, I don't know, father,

are you supposed to be in here? Cause like we, I had snuck in and he was, I was like, what the fucking nerve? I know you're supposed to be in here. I'm doing research. I book on sin.

I'm, I'm preaching to these young men. I'm doing research on my book on sin. I'm preaching to these young men. So, yes, but it did take me, it was like not until I was probably in my early 20s that then I like found my group of gays to hang out with in New York. And then it became fun. And I, you know, and I talk about it in this book a little bit of finding, you know, going out to clubs and like finding bars to go to and having sex with people and dating people. And like that, there was a little bit of a delayed adolescence when it came to that stuff. I was like into my 20s before I found that. And then by the time I hit Broadway, whole group of people that's a real fun that's a fun place to be you know young and gay is Broadway I bet it's Broadway

I highly recommend it oh if I had it all to do over yes to be know young gay chorus boy um did you you mentioned it in the book kind of that you had difficulty you and you said you found your group of gays yeah and you know and did you not it seems like you had mostly female friends prior to that yes that is correct yeah and is that do you think that's a common thing with young gay kids in smaller towns and and what is there something that's keeping you from being friends with i mean boys you know with boys gay or straight i think some of it is uh is the fear of being like found out um i think i learned pretty early that, you know, hanging out with other boys and not, you know, being that athletic, not being, you know, not being like a typical little boy. I mean, the word faggot starts getting thrown around pretty quickly.

Yeah, it sure does. So then I was like, especially in like the 80s and the 90s, I was like, okay. So then I was like, especially in like the 80s and the 90s, I was like, okay. So I learned that. And I was lucky that like in my small Catholic school, there, it turns out, were two other gay boys. And so the three of us became like a little gay clique. Oh, wow. We'd talk about like Kids Incorporated and Knotts Landing and, you know, we're quite popular in our own right and my wife is my wife is almost like just about 10 years younger than me and kids incorporated has come you know she

mentions at least once every couple of weeks there's something like oh she was on kids incorporated or yes you know or she'll send me clips from kids incorporated which just it seemed like such a like a factory oh my god making you know weird little showbiz kids that don't fit anywhere in the world so strange well i would be happy to talk to your wife anytime about kids incorporated anytime she wants to know she remembers the personalities the name you know yeah sure well Fergie Fergie

was on right not the Duchess of York but the black eyed pea black eyed Fergie Fergie yeah she was on kids incorporated yeah yeah so it's such a success and Jennifer Love Hewitt

and Mario Lopez. Like, there was some people came out of Kids Incorporated. Right, right, right. It was fertile ground. If only you could have been there, you know, then maybe you would have made something of yourself. Don't you think I didn't want that? I mean, that and the new Mickey Mouse Club.

I was like, please, baby Jesus, if there's some way for me to get on the new Mickey Mouse Club. I was like, please, baby Jesus, if there's some way for me to get on the new Mickey Mouse Club. It never happened. God, that was another one. That was another one. It was Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears. Keri Russell. Wasn't it Christina Aguilera in that too?

Yeah, yeah. She was on there. I mean, there's a lot of, of people, Ryan Gosling. Oh, right. I would love to see reunion of the new Mickey mouse club. If anyone could put that together,

because I know for every like shiny, shiny example of stardom, there is, there are some kids who also fell through the cracks and I would love to catch up with all of them. You know, I just want to see where everyone is. How's everyone doing? Yeah. Put, put, yeah, you put your Justin Timberlake in the same room with like one of his co-stars who's now managing a Fridays. Yeah. You know, I want to, yeah, that would be interesting. And I want to do it like, you know, like Andy Cohen style,

be interesting. And I want to do it like, you know, like Andy Cohen style, you know, just couches and people really just like going at it, like just have at it, just have at each other. Let's get them all out there. I'm happy to host. I'm happy to watch whatever it takes. can't you tell my love's a crow well you started you started to get some well i mean touring shows you were like in jersey boys and stuff like that which by the way how did you take to life on the road like was it one nighters or were you going somewhere and staying for a few months or weeks i did so the first tour i did was um pokemon live okay which was uh very not fun um it was it was mostly it was i was 21 at the time though so i was like whatever we started at radio city and we did like six weeks at radio city which which was seemed cool. Um, or maybe it was like whatever it was, it was like four weeks, six weeks,

something like that. And then we, uh, and then we went on this tour, which was mostly one week sit downs, which is pretty cushy. And then it became like split weeks where we were doing like, you know,

two nights in Duluth and then driving to like Moline and then driving to like, then, then it started to get a little, that was not great. But years later when I was doing Jersey boys on tour, that was like the cushiest tour ever because you sat down for like a month in every city. So, you know, a month in Chicago and a month in San Francisco. And like, that was pretty easy. And then we did four months in Toronto. So like that tour,

I liked touring a little bit. Like I, I learned a lot sort of opening a show in every city and, and they were skills that, um, I didn't know I would need, but then like became very useful when I started, you know,

even still doing publicity for stuff. Like a lot of that is stuff that I learned on tour of like how to do wake up Cleveland and you know, you're doing like a cooking segment, but also talking about Frankie Valley. It's there's not, because nobody teaches you how to do that. There's not a class for that. And you're, 5 a.m and you're you know singing on local television it's like that's that's tough but um and it's a big part of what you do especially like for television if you get a job you you know you study acting you study performing you study

auditions you study you know you might even be sort of like knowledgeable about the production of a television show which informs your acting skills And then all of a sudden it's like, here you go. Here's, you know, like they call them satellite interviews for people that don't know. Here's 10 different morning hosts. One after the other be charming and funny to them.

You know, that was, that was a real, I remember doing those in San Francisco for Jersey boys. And it's like specifically, like it was the first time i had ever done anything like that and they the guest before us on many of these on these shows was the guy who ran the bunny ranch oh right dennis something was his name i think he's since passed away but he he has yeah he was promoting the the show uh on hbo which i think was called

cat house and then it was like the boys from jersey boys um and it was such a weird i was like how do we transition out of this like how do we get from i don't know it was like it was that learning how to do that and those especially the the the really loud morning shows where it's like you just hear like animal noises and car horns and like there's all sorts of sound effects and shit. And you're like, what the hell is happening? Yeah, yeah. Especially the radio. Oh, my God. The radio ones are.

It's like, you know, like, you know, big man and booger or whatever, you know, just awful, awful people. Like, come on like yeah hey buddy it's usually like two horrible men and then like big big man and booger and lindsey and you're like at some like just giggles yeah she's like a nice woman who like tries to answer you know asks the questions and the other guys to humanize the big man and the booger. And the booger, yeah. So that was, but it was a good lesson. Very good lesson. Yeah.

So you kind of, you know, you were making your living, you know, you quit that Pokemon directing job for a good reason because you were making a living, but Book of Mormon is what really planted you in the public consciousness. And I'm wondering, is there specific ways that that, like when you realize like, oh shit, it's different now. Yeah.

When, I mean, the people that were coming to see the show, the celebrities that were coming, the actors, the directors, the writers, like that really sort of was very eye-opening. The fact that every night we were meeting people and all of a sudden Josh and I are getting like, you know, taken out to dinners and that was moved very quickly and was really heady. that was moved very quickly and was really heady. And then when the, the, you know, requests, you know,

to come to Los Angeles to meet with, you know, show runners and producers. And that was also really, I, I don't want to say that I wasn't prepared for it. It just like, and it sounds silly to say it,

it happened so quickly because it was like 12 years after I moved to New York. Yeah. But just with like the opening of one show it happened so quickly because it was like 12 years after I moved to New York. Yeah. But just with like the opening of one show that all of a sudden it was like, and now you're going to go to LA and you're going to meet with these people. And, you know, the hope is that you get, you, you know, end this trip with a pilot. And, and, you know, there was just definitely, it's like the, the finish line sort of moved very quickly. And all of a sudden I was, I had, I was developing like a new skillset of how to take general meetings, which I had never done before and like, didn't know what the hell I was talking about. And,

and luckily I had, I mean, the other crazy thing that happened right after we opened the Book of Mormon was that this young woman named Lena Dunham, um you know asked if i would be a part of this television show that she was doing that nobody really knew anything about and so i we filmed the first season of girls um while i was still in the book of mormon and uh and then i went away to la after we finished that just for a week i took took a week's vacation and like took a bunch of meetings and I stayed with Lena while she was editing the first season. And she sort of talked me through general meetings because she had just done it all after she released Tiny Furniture, which, you know, got her girls. Yeah. So she, I was so, I'm so grateful to her that I was staying with her and she would sort of coach me through all of these meetings. I'd be like, this is my list of, of all.

And I just gotten my, I had signed with Jimmy Miller, you know, Jimmy Miller. He's a manager. He's a manager and represents a lot of comics and actors and writers. And so I was working with him and he and he and Christy Smith, my manager still like they set up all these meetings. And so every night Lena would we would go through and she'd be like, Okay, well, I don't know this person. I do know who that is. And like, you just have to be, you know, we would sort of talk about what I was gonna wear what I was gonna talk about what I was gonna, you know,, her other funny piece of advice that I write about in this book is she was like, everyone's going to

offer you water. They're going to give you a water bottle. And so just take the water every, at every meeting, just say, thank you. I'll have a water. And it's, she was like, it's the water bottle tour. Like, that's what this, that's what this is. And she was right. Like in the back of my Chevy, you know, Cobalt that I had rented for the week, it was just littered with like every kind of bottled water you could possibly have. She was like, take the water, just do it.

Yeah. Don't ask for anything else. Don't ask for a coffee. Don't ask for. Don't drink it. Don't drink it. God's sake, don't drink it. Just take it and take it with you. Take the water. Yeah. So that that was the you know, that was sort of the moment that I knew I was like, oh, the Book of Mormon really changed everything. Like this is yeah, this is pretty nuts all of a sudden. Yeah. Well, it was I mean, it's it's you know, you may not even think about like, what are the things I've laughed hardest at?

And it's one of the things I've laughed. Yeah, it's such a funny show. I got to see you in it. Yeah. In New York. Yeah, I took my son, and I got to see you in it. But that night, Josh's understudy was on, whose name I don't remember, but I was. His name was Jared Gert name was jared gertner

um yeah very very he ended up taking over for josh yeah he took he played the role um yeah super yeah josh um yeah i mean it was just and josh was going through the same thing that i was going through like yeah yeah we both i think we we both left that show we left at the same time to go both shoot pilots for nbc we left the show at the same time when those pilots got picked up um we went back to new york after our shows were canceled um you know it was like we went through that whole experience together of like having you know yeah i just and it's it's why it's you know, yeah, I just, and it's, it's why it's, you know, we're still very close and I'm,

we're doing a show together on Broadway this fall called Gutenberg, the musical. And it's, yeah, I wanted to talk about that. Yeah. It's the first time that we've worked together since the book of Mormon. And we've, we've done little things here and there, but like this will be the first time and it's Josh's first time back on Broadway. So I mean, I couldn't be more excited about it, but it's it's,

it's pretty, I mean, it's, it's just amazing that, you know, 12 years later we get this opportunity to come back and do a show together. Yeah.

While the book of Mormon is still running on Broadway, by the way. So it's, it's a strange, it's a, yeah, it's a,'s a strange, it's a, yeah, it's a nice feeling to know that that legacy continues. It's also weird to think that like, oh yeah, we started that and the people who were playing those parts

were probably like 10 when the show opened. Fuckers, those fuckers. Tell me how that came about. Like what did somebody have the show Gutenberg? Did you guys say, Hey, we should develop something to do for ourselves. Well, we had, we had been, Josh and I had both sort of been independent. I mean, we had have talked about doing things together for, for many, many years. And we both are a huge fan of, of Alex Timbers, the director, Alex Timbers, and,

and had both been sort of pursuing him separately and about different projects. And then Alex came to us with a show called Gutenberg, the musical written by, um, Scott Brown and Anthony King that, that had been produced off Broadway many years ago. And that he, Alex was a part of, and he was like, I think, I think this is the thing for both of you. So we both read it and we're like, this seems, you know, hilariously funny. We, we put together a reading of it here in Los Angeles, um, in March of 2020. Um, and like to just get interest fundraising kind of thing. It was more, it was just sort of just to

see it. It was just for us to sort of work through it. And so we did it and we sort of tried it on for size and we were like, this is, we both really liked it. And we found some producers and then Broadway shut down because of COVID. And that all went away. And then, but we kept talking about it and we kept, you know, Alex and Josh and I kept sort of, you know, speaking and, you know, Scott and Anthony, we all talked about it. And then the timing just all kind of clicked together

that this fall was going to be the time that sort of worked for everyone. And we did another reading of it and JJ Abrams has come on board also is, is our, um, as our producer. And,

um, so yeah, so we're gonna, we're gonna take it to the Broadway now after, after all of that. You play multiple characters, both of you, correct?

We do. The show is, um, it's, I mean, I think it's hilarious. Um, it's two very well-meaning guys who want to write a show.

They want to write a musical. And they think they're big fans of musicals. They think they know what works. And what they think would work best is a musical about a historical figure. So they just kind of randomly pick Johann Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press. And it turns out there's not much known about Johann Gutenberg. So then they figure,

fuck it, we'll just start making some stuff up. So they create the show. They're presenting it to an audience for the first time as sort of a backers audition. And they're going to try to find some producers. They've rented this Broadway theater for one night and they put all of their resources into this one performance of the show. And they're going to try to sell the hell out of it. But the problem is they don't really have, they don't have money for a full cast or a full band or a full set. So we're just kind of winging it. We're just kind of, we're just kind of winging it.

Playing all the parts. So we get to play all of the parts and they range from like children to old men to like it's um it's it's really fun and i just get to you know fuck around with josh gatt on stage for two hours so yeah that'll be nice that sounds really nice and and how long how big a slot do you have for it to run in your schedule well we'll be uh how long can you do it it's it's 20 weeks so we start uh in september and then we close january 28th is our closing date so so it's a nice healthy 20 weeks to get in there you know i think autumn in new york is always it's the best time you know christmas time beautiful holidays that holiday show schedule yeah yeah that's nice well is there is there uh is there stuff that's kind of been left undone for you i mean what do you what do you want to do you know

in the future is it kind of just you know continue on the same track that you've set or i mean i you know it's i the short answer is i'm not i'm sure. And any time that I've tried to plan that I've busted out a vision board and this is what's going to happen next, it's never quite worked out the way that I thought. And I think the best example of given another opportunity to write a second book, you know, that just Uncle of the Year that just came out. Like, that's not something that I ever thought I would get the chance to do. And I'd always loved writing and I loved to write. And I was always very nervous to share anything I had written. And then slowly was kind of, you know know coaxed out of that by various people and um you know so that was a really that was a big surprise that i got that i got to do

that so yeah i don't i don't quite know what's next because as i said you know usually when you plan it's a good way to to not have it go that way so i don't know hopefully hopefully definitely more writing and and coming back to broadway after i mean the last broadway show i did was was the boys in the band um and what was that 2019 um 2019 18 well something like that and uh it was pre-covid yeah pre-covid i think it was 18 um so it's been this has been a very long time since i've been back on broadway so i'm very excited you met you met uh your partner tuck watkins at that point and tuck and i i know i knew tuck years ago when i first came to la yeah and um and i'm wondering because he has kids he does he. He has two kids. What's that been like for you, you know, to kind of be dad's boyfriend?

Yeah. I mean, it's not anything that I had sort of, again, had sort of seen on the vision board that I would be dating somebody with 10-year-old twins. Yeah. And it certainly comes with you know challenges as you know with children it turns out or turns out kids have minds of their own and they have a lot of fucking opinions yeah they can they can be real assholes i'll say it you can be real assholes uh and then they can be great um they can be the best yes so they are the best that's that's the the the lead sentence but then you know in there's that yeah but there's occasionally

flash occasionally asshole yeah you know and i know and i and i talk about it in in uncle of the year that like i have 10 nieces and nephews and i like to think of myself as someone who can like be cool and relate to kids and it doesn't like my skillset does not always work. Right. Right. Yeah. I'm not always thinking that. Thinking that usually means that it's wrong. Not happening. People that really can do that. They don't, you know, no, no, no. Yeah. But it's just, so yes, there's been,

there was a steep learning curve when we started when we started dating. And I think we've now I feel like sort of found, found a rhythm at least for the moment, you know, they're, you know, the kids are 10 years old or 10 year old twins. So they're also on the cusp of like, you know, becoming little tweens with, you know, all sorts of different, you know, things going on. um but right now it's going well we'll see how um i feel like i might be good with teenagers i don't know i don't

know just i don't know i don't know if anybody's good i might be good with good with teenagers from like the 90s. Yeah. I think sometimes the point of teenage years is like, like you just not, as a parent, you're just not going to avoid being a jerk, you know, like being the problem. Like you're the problem, dad. Like, all right, I'll just, I guess I'm the problem for a few years and you just hope that it doesn't last more than a few.

My God. I remember years ago being at my friend, Jenny Connors house. I don't think she would mind me telling this story, but she was, she was a producer on girls. Yeah. She was a co-show runner and executive producer.

And we were at her house here in LA in between seasons. And her daughter, who I think at the time must've been like 11, had some sort of fit about something and ran up to her room and went, you bitch, and slammed the door about Jenny. And Jenny just very calmly, she looked at me and said, well, that happened sooner than I thought it would. Like, she knew it was going to come at some point.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But 11, she was like, eh, maybe. But at some point, it was going to come at some point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But 11, she was like, eh, maybe. But at some point, it was going to happen. Yeah. Yeah, no, I know. I mean, my 17-year-old daughter, when she was young, she learned the phrase, negotiations are closed at a very early age. Wow.

From me, just like, I'm not going to repeat myself anymore and and i would always say like i don't worry about her ability to advocate for herself that's good was like a way of saying like i think that this will serve her well but it is currently making my life miserable um you know so it's you have to you have to like pull out the the good points of what is the the the tedium and the anxiety of your current time is like yes but this will all be this is good for the future absolutely yeah long term that's good yeah It's a good quality. Yeah. Well, speaking of long-term, this podcast is the final question of the three questions, which I think we've covered, the other two, is what have you learned? And I mean, do you have, I mean, I'm sure that you get, do you have advice for young

performers? Do you have advice for young men or know, whatever kind of, I mean, is there something that you really feel that you've, you've pulled from your experiences that's easily shared? Um, I think I wasted a lot of time, especially in my early and mid twenties, being jealous of other people, um, particularly professionally being jealous of what other people, particularly professionally, being jealous of what other people had, what other people are doing, wanting to try to, you know, be like somebody else, you know, in order to achieve some level of success. And it wasn't until I was like 30, into my early 30s, that I figured out like just how to relax into what I do.

Um, and realizing that like, I, I got to keep my eyes on my own paper and not, and not try to keep up with whoever is around me. And I, I mean, and it's easier said than done. Cause I still, you know, I'll still see billboards here in LA and be like, why the fuck is he in that? Like I, you know, that still comes up. It never ends. It never ends. So I'm not trying to say like, oh, I've healed myself. It's not that.

But those moments are fewer and short-lived. Like I don't flip off as many billboards as I used to while driving here. Fuck that guy. Like I don't, that doesn't happen as often. So I feel like that's growth, Andy. I feel like that's growth. Fuck that guy. Like, I don't, I know that doesn't happen as often. So I feel like that's growth, Andy. I feel like that's growth. It certainly is because you can't, first of all,

that kind of professional envy, you know, it happens in every, sure, you know, every category. But like, if you're, you know, if you're selling office machinery, there's no billboards with the guy that sells more office machinery than you. You know, ours is just particularly in your face about what you didn't get. Yeah. But I feel like that envy is, A, it's natural. It is a bit of an engine, like to keep, you know, to keep you going.

Totally. And so I always just feel like you got to just feel it for a minute and then let it go because it's, it exists. It's, it's, it's almost kind of worth it to feel it. Um, I mean, certainly early on, like it did propel me forward. Um, and it did keep me sharp and keep me trying and yeah, no, I mean, I, I do feel like a certain amount of that is, is important and it's still important. It's, I think it, it helps your ambition along and, and keeps you learning new skills. And, um, but I think I, I take, uh, I take other people's successes less personally now, which I spent a lot of time feeling it as like some sort of direct assault on me yeah if someone if someone did something better than i did or got something

like i took it personally now i realize the longer you stick around it's like everybody kind of gets a turn at some point if you're lucky and like yeah things float up and down and you know you're lucky just to like be in the mix quite honestly so like if you stick around long enough like you're gonna get some you're gonna hit some high moments and you're gonna watch other people hit high moments and um that's it but it's not personal you can't take it personally right but but you know it for a different podcast maybe we can compare our lists sometime of our hit list. Yes, yes. Well, Andrew Rannells, thank you so much for taking the time to be on this.

It was great to talk to you. It's great to talk to you, too. And I hope to see you around the neighborhood. Yeah, you probably will. See you on the streets. See you on the streets. All right. Well, thank you so much for having me thank you again andrew and uh check out the new book uncle of the year and go to the new

show uh gutenberg the musical that's right and and then i want all of you out there to tune in to here uh next week where i will have another episode of this podcast and thanks for listening and ta-ta. The three questions with Andy Richter is a team Coco production. It is produced by Sean Doherty and engineered by Rich Garcia, additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel executive produced by Nick Liao, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, with assistance from Maddie Ogden. Research

by Alyssa Grahl. Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to The Three Questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts. And do you have a favorite question you always like to ask people? Let us know in the review section. Can't you tell my love's a-growing? Can't you feel it ain't a-showing? Oh, you must be a-knowing

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