The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Martha Kelly

Episode Date: March 7, 2023

Martha Kelly (Euphoria, Baskets) joins Andy Richter to discuss reluctantly becoming a successful actress, the fantasy of small-time living, her sobriety journey, and much more.

Hi, everyone. Andy Richard here with another episode of The Three Questions. And I am speaking today with a very funny, very talented actress who I don't think we've ever met. No. Yeah, we've never met. But we know a bunch of people in common. Loved your work for, you know, for what I've been seeing of it, both your stand-up and your acting. I'm here with Martha Kelly.

Hi. Hello. Hello. Hello, podcast world. How are you doing? All systems are stable. So, trying to, yeah. Are you just coming off like a three state

murdering spree or something? Well, I don't, I can't really talk about any potential criminal exposure I might have, but, um, I'm, uh, I'm, I'm just, uh, waiting for, this isn't fun, but I'm waiting for results about my dog. A biopsy result. Oh, no. So a little bit on edge. More than I, it might, she has a good chance of it not being serious. So we'll just see. How old is she?

She's 11 or 12. And she's the sweetest spirit I've ever met. And so, yeah. I follow you on social media. I don't know if I follow you on Instagram and Twitter, but it does seem to be like 100% pet action all the time. Yes. On social media. You've really used it to great effect to further your career.

Well, I was really surprised when people responded strongly to my cat, Barry, the black and white one. Yeah. And that made me look, I think that made me love him more, although I already loved him a lot. But it was just like, I didn't realize that his personality came through in pictures. So then it became fun to post him a lot. And also being Gen X, the whole self posting selfies on social media is not my game. Me neither. I don't not. I don't. Yeah. It's I mean, there's maybe been three photos of me that I've gone like, oh, OK, you know, that's all right. You know, but everything else is just like, oh, okay. You know, that's all right. You know, but everything else is just like, oh my God, that fucking Ziploc bag of pudding

that my head is, you know. But I think that, yeah, it just wasn't a thing until like millennials and Gen Z. And so they probably are used to it more and they also know how to use filters and stuff. And I'm like, but if I learn how to do that, isn't that essentially catfishing everybody if I post a picture that has a filter? So I just hardly ever post selfies because I don't want to deal with it. Yeah. Yeah. No, I know. But people just assume that there's some fakery going on whenever you post a picture of anything. So, you know, they probably think you've had, you know, you had Barry get work done.

I have had Barry get work done. Yeah, yeah. Barry's had a kitty facelift. Yeah, Barry's had a kitty facelift. He's had a, well, he's actually had reverse liposuction where they added flesh to him. Buccal fat? Yeah. Into his face.

So, yeah. Now, you're from Southern California originally, yeah? Right. I grew up in Torrance. In Torrance? Yeah. And how was that? Uneventful.

Yeah. And how was that? Uneventful. It's more, it's like a part of it is a beach city. And then the east side of it is like an industrial suburb. So not a lot happening in Torrance to this day. Very little going on. I think I appreciated it more after I was an adult. Like when I would go back to my parents' house, you know, they lived on a hill. And so as a teenager, especially, you're like, we're so far from where all the action is because we're up on a hill. And the school I went to was at the bottom of the hill. So like there was no teenagers hanging out on that hill.

And but as an adult, I liked it more. Yeah. I mean, do you feel like it was like a Southern California kind of upbringing or do you feel like it could have been anywhere? Because to me, Southern, like growing up near the beach seems like, oh, well, you must have been surfing and having clam bakes and, you know. My experience with the ocean has been tumultuous and I don't trust it. I know when I was a kid.

It will fuck you over. It really will. And I didn't. Very sneaky. I didn't learn until probably late adolescence that if you don't want to get wiped out by a wave, you have to, and you're in the ocean, you have to dive under it instead of trying to control what it does when you're on the surface. So as a child, there was the body surfing boards that came out in the late 70s, early 80s. Boogie boards, I believe. Boogie boards, yeah.

And just wiping out so many times and being like, maybe I'm not an ocean person. Right. And then my dad grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, and my mom grew up in a small town in East Texas. So I always romanticized where they grew up a lot more than enjoying where I grew up. Right. So, but they weren't like Southern California people. Like they weren't like, let's all hang out at the beach all the time. You know, what brought them to LA? I think for each of them, it was get away from where they grew up partly although like my dad growing

up in Massachusetts I think a lot of people want to get away from that winter and then so he came out with a friend after college and then my mom's older half sister had moved out here so when she finished college she moved out here because her sister lived in Manhattan Beach and really loved it. This was in the, I think, the early 60s. Yeah. So it was still relatively affordable and not all the like traffic and population explosion that we have now. But they never wanted to leave. Like they lived here their whole lives after they moved out.

So we visited where they grew up, but they never wanted to move back. So I always wanted, I did live in Texas off and on. I lived in Austin from 2000 off and on till 2019. And I think about Massachusetts. I still romanticize small towns. Yeah. It just seems like just getting away from traffic. I know there's more to life than escaping traffic. Yes. When you live in L.A., it does seem like that would be like winning the lottery to just live someplace where you can go wherever you want in 10 minutes and there's tons of parking. Just move to Burbank. I am in Burbank.

Oh, are you? I do love it. It still bothers you? Oh, yeah. I love it, but like coming anywhere else is crazy. I have turned into such an old curmudgeon man about, wait, you want to meet where? Yeah. Santa Monica.

And it's like Santa Monica is gorgeous. It's a beautiful place with lots to do. And just, but the notion of like, ugh, that park over there, ugh. And also it's like either it takes an hour longer than you thought to get somewhere or you're 30 to 45 minutes early. There's no figuring it out exactly.

No. So, but I mean, there's a lot that's great about it. As I have gotten older, I've appreciated the boring weather here more. When I was a kid, I wanted it to be more exciting. Right. You know? No, no. The predictability of the weather is...

I wanted it to be more exciting. Right. You know. No, no. The predictability of the weather is when I first moved out here, I thought I missed the change of seasons. And I realized it was Stockholm syndrome. Because when I went back for a went back home to Illinois and there was a blizzard in like March, I was like, this is this is nowhere near Christmas. This is not romantic at all. Yeah.

Although I will say this week in Burbank, it has felt like an Arctic winter. It was 56. I don't turn the heat on at night. And it was 56 degrees in my house when I woke up this morning. Yeah, that's Arctic for California. And that reinforces my desire not to live someplace with a cold winter. But I do love snow and and I love thunderstorms. Oh, I miss. Yeah, I do, too. The Midwest, that was one thing that that they have is big thunderstorms and seeing them roll in. That's really great. Yeah. And I can tell you, growing up in a small town, there's a lot.

You know, the grass is always greener on the other side of the living space fence. But growing up in a small town, it can be—well, I mean, it all depends on your temperament, I guess. But I ultimately found it kind of a little stifling. Yeah. And a little homogenized. Yeah. stifling. Yeah. And a little homogenized. Yeah. I think I romanticize the green spaces being a lot more plentiful than Southern California and just the cost of living. Yes. Those scenes. Oh, yes. But when I was a teenager and we would go to Massachusetts and hang out with my cousins in

the small town my dad was from, it just was so fun and amazing. And it felt like they had much easier access to other teenagers and particularly teenage boys. And there was like a pond in the middle of town and we could take a little canoe from my aunt's house to the store downtown. It just seemed like really fun. That does seem pretty idyllic. But I don't know that they experienced it as being as exciting as I thought it was. You have siblings? Yeah, I have a twin sister and a brother who's a year and a half older. And then I have older half siblings. But they grew up in in Massachusetts where my dad was from so we

would see them periodically but they were like nine and ten years older than us so yeah they would come out to visit or we would go back there is your dad old for I mean was he old for having when he was when I I think that his first marriage was like right out of college. And then he moved out here and then they split up. His wife decided not to come out here. And so he and my mom met and then he was 36 when I was born. My mom was 30. So they were a little older for that generation.

For that generation, sure. Now that might be considered young to have a family kind of. It is kind of, yeah. Yeah. I mean, depending on where you are. Again, most of the country, it's still pretty. I think it went from like 19 to having kids to maybe like 23 or 24. Yeah.

Which seems, when I think about my mental and emotional maturity in my 20s, I'm like, how could it's bananas? How could you be a parent? But you have more energy. I guess that's the benefit of it. Although when my niece and nephew were born, I was in my late 30s and I is one of the most wonderful times of my life. So maybe it's OK if you wait till you're older. Well, yeah, I think it is. But it's also, I don't think biology cares about mental health.

Yeah. They just want, you know, biology just wants you to put babies out there as quickly as possible. And now you're a twin. I mean, what is growing up like a twin, as a twin? I have a twin brother and sister. They're a half brother and sister, and they're nine years younger than me. But I imagine growing up with a, and are you identical?

No, we're fraternal. We're fraternal, but both girls. Is it, I mean, having another, an identical, or not identical, but a girl your same age and same everything? What is that like? Some things about it were great and some weren't. I think the great part was like having someone who we always were on the same wavelength sense of humor wise. So like and still like we can make each other laugh more than than in a way. I can't always connect with other people that way.

And like having the companion and sort of like going through childhood with someone right by your side through all of it. That was I think that was nice. And I think a lot of twins experience that as like that's a good thing. But we also had a lot of conflict. And so, and sometimes I know this is the case with other siblings and twins in particular is like, you can go from zero to screaming and then back to no big deal really fast. And when you're with other people, they, they'll be like, what was happening? Yeah.

You know, they'll get we would cuss each other out and then five minutes later be laughing again. So that stuff is intense. Did you find that you were kind of some like choices that you made or things that you chose to do or activities or interests were in reaction to her? Like she does that, so I can't do that kind of things. Was there any of that? No, we did a lot of the same things. Like we, in school, they wouldn't put us in the same class, which is, I don't know if it's different now, but that was like the standard for twins back then. Divide and conquer, basically. Yes. Yes. Crush their spirit. How you're not going to, if they team up, it's harder. Yeahide and conquer, basically. Yes. Yes. Crush their spirit. If they team up, it's harder. Yeah. But we shared a room until we were 20 and went off to different four-year colleges.

So the first two years of college were a community college. We took a lot of the same classes and we always had the same friend groups until much later when we lived, you know, like I lived in Austin and she was out here. So we did separate and have our own like separate lives and friend groups and stuff. But until mid twenties, I'd say we were pretty inseparable. Wow. Yeah. And were you living at home or did you move out together? Well, um, we both lived at home until we went off to colleges. Okay. And then I, um, returned to live at home off and on many times as an adult. So, um, and mostly for, in a way that ended up being really helpful.

And both my parents are gone now. So I am like I probably treasure the times that I spent with them as an adult more. Yeah. And like I definitely feel like when I was newly sober, I moved back in with them and that was a huge help. with them. And that was a huge help. Did you like, were you always kind of headed towards the life you have now in terms of like comedy and acting and performing and things? I don't, it's weird. I, I was in drama in high school and that was the only like fun time I had in high school was with the drama kids. Cause we just that thing of,'s the same with acting now, like you're part of a team and you're all working on the same thing together for the same goal. And then also in high school, the added benefit of like drugs and alcohol being a part of it and part of the theater scene. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And there was one kid in drama whose parents were hippies and would let us have parties at their house.

So there was a lot of like finally cutting loose in high school with someone's parents. Like you could go to the party because it was like, well, her parents are there. Right, right. And everyone's like passed out. Because it was like, well, her parents are there, you know? Right, right. And everyone's like passed out. But then after high school, I didn't think I was going to ever do acting again. Because I took one day of acting class at the community college.

And it was so mortifying. It was so geared towards extroverts. And I just couldn't handle it. And so I was like, that's not for me. And then a few years later, tried stand up and I love that. So I wouldn't have ever done any acting if Zach hadn't written a part for me on his show. When you say the drugs and alcohol were in the theater crowd, those, you know, that Motley Crue.

But when you say, you know, that there was the drugs and the alcohol, was that something, and with you now being sober, was that something that, like, did it appeal to you, like maybe a little bit too much when you say and like cutting loose? I think that I didn't know how much the drama kids were into drugs and alcohol when I first started taking drama in my junior year. So initially it was just like, I think growing up watching Little House on the Prairie and Facts of Life, I kind of as a kid romanticized being an actor. And then junior year of high school, just wanted to see if it was fun. Initially wasn't acting in the plays. I was on the sound crew.

on the sound crew. And that was so fun because it was me and these two guys with walkie talkies and headphones and just the whole night when a play was going on, just trying to make each other laugh backstage. And then senior year, I started acting questionably whether it was good acting or not, but it was really fun. But that's when the, that's when we were old enough to go to parties on the weekends. And as long as it was this person's parents are there. Yeah. My parents assumed. That it was okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I would say if my niece and nephew were doing what we were doing at those parties, I wouldn't consider it okay for kids. I never did because I was scared, but there were kids doing acid at these parties. I definitely drank and smoked pot.

It was wild, wilder than I expected from the drama kids. Right. So that was more like of a coincidence, really. Okay. kids. Right. So that was more like of a coincidence, really. OK. But once I started enjoying getting drunk and high, I was like, yeah, this is this is what I've been looking for my whole life. This is this is the best thing that's ever happened, which that's pretty typical for alcoholics and addicts to feel that whenever, whenever it's first, you get that first experience of it, you know? Yeah. And is it like, is it just that freedom from yourself kind of? Yeah.

A feeling of all of a sudden everything's okay. Nothing's scary. Um, I realized at the end of my drinking, like I'm definitely the kind of alcoholic who would end up living outside if I hadn't stopped because every night I was getting drunk and, you know, every morning I'd wake up going, my life is off the rails. Like I'm behind in rent. I can't work. I'm not even doing standup. Um, I have to get a hold of this. And then I would end up getting drunk anyway that night. And once I started drinking, I would feel like everything's fine. It's going to be fine. I'm not going to worry about it tonight. And like, that's how I would have ended up if it wasn't for my parents helping me financially, I would have been on the street and just thinking like, well, I'll figure it out

someday, you know? So I'm really lucky that that's not what happened. When you started doing standup, I mean, as an introvert and as someone that, you know, felt a need to free yourself from yourself, why stand up? Because it's one of the most naked ways to be in front of people and, you know of skyrocketing to fame in the, I don't remember what year Roseanne's show started. But like when I was in high school, Joan Rivers was at that peak of guest hosting for Johnny Carson and then getting her own show, hosting Saturday Night Live. And then in early college, I think, was when I first saw Roseanne. Like, I graduated high school in 86. So maybe late 80s, early 90s. And that, like, I was an English major in college. And got back together with drugs and alcohol and was flunking out and was like, well, what would I want to do if I could do anything? And I just remembered how fun drama was in high school, but I knew I didn't have the inner fortitude to go on auditions. And then also in the early 90s, seeing Janine Garofalo. And I just thought like, well, that maybe that's a way to experience the thrill of being in front of an audience without the auditioning and the rejection of that.

And if you get rejected at stand up, it's a really short amount of time and you you're not looking anyone in the eye. You're not meeting the audience that doesn't like you right they're just hurting your feelings for a few minutes at an open mic and uh and if you choose not to really look into the darkness you don't even have to really notice their faces yeah and then i discovered how fun it was to drink before performing at the open mics. Yeah, and then it was just like my social life kind of exploded with fun of like, that's where I met Zach and Tig and Jackie Cation and Jimmy Pardo, like a bunch of comics at this coffee shop in West LA in the late 90s. Is that where the alternative scene kind of that was that coffee shop that kind of?

Yeah, it was Garofalo, I think, kind of. Didn't she? No, I mean, there was I think there was one. I can't remember. Yeah, this was a place called Pedersen's and it was definitely open micers who wanted to be part of the Mr. Show and Gene Garofalo crowd. And Largo was like the biggest deal to us. If someone went from Pedersen's to Largo, it was like they may or may not still say hi to you next week at the open mic.

It was a huge deal. But it was also like just the timing of it was when I met a bunch of people that I'm still friends with and that were super funny and made me want to try harder to write jokes. And then the drinking made it like, well, now I'm comfortable socializing with people and getting to know them. And it just was great. Yeah. There were people from the beginning who were like, listen, you don't want to have to drink before you perform because that can turn on you. But, you know, like most alcoholics, I just didn't think that was a problem. I just thought like, I'm not pounding hard liquor. I'm drinking like a few light beers every night. Yeah. But that was all it

took for me because I'm small and a woman and sometimes we're more affected by alcohol. So yeah, it wasn't really a problem until a few years later. Yeah. But in the beginning, it was like so fun. Did you have that thing in your mind where part of your funny was the drinking? And then if you got rid of the drinking, the funny would go away? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because my first experiences with open mics, the very first one I did was really fun, but it was also- Was that here? Yeah. Or was that in Texas? It was here. It was at the Laugh Factory. Okay. It was here. It was at the Laugh Factory. Okay.

And that was in like 95 or 96, maybe. And the first time you do it, if you're introduced as this is their first time doing stand-up, the crowd is already really on your side. Yeah. And I went back the next week and bombed and then didn't do it again for a year because it was so painful. Wow. Bombed, didn't do it again for a year because it was so painful. Wow. Bombed, didn't do it again. And then finally, Pedersen's was in the neighborhood I lived in.

My twin sister worked at the newsstand that was part of that coffee shop. So I would hang out with her. And then I just noticed, oh, Tuesdays they have comedy. And I started watching. And then I started, that's when I really started doing it but I got drunk every time and it was like put your name in a hat I think at like seven they draw the names of who gets the 25 spots and then come back at eight and everyone who's on it does like three to five minutes yeah so I was name was finally picked, I was like, I've got to go buy a 40 ounce, pound it so that I can do this.

And it was really fun. Did you have material stored up? Yeah, because I would for years I'd been wanting to do it. And I just I was very terrified, like bad stage fright. And then bombing once a year sort of made it seem harder and harder. But I would like write ideas for jokes on little pieces of paper. And I had this folder. And so initially at Patterson's, it was just like, let me see what's in here.

at Pettersons, it was just like, let me see what's in here. And also a lot of people were doing material that was like, this is what happened to me this week. Very influenced, I think, by Janine Garofalo and that group. And that seemed really authentic compared to some of the stuff I'd seen at the Laugh Factory, where it would be like a lot of gimmicks that worked really well with that crowd. So yeah, it was a combination of like stuff I'd been, ideas I'd been writing down. And then what happened this week that I could try to say a joke about? Like, is this the kind of material that you're sharing with people, like co-workers and things?

Like, do they know that you're funny or is this? No, I wasn't ever. Like also just mortifying to have someone that you're working with or even like recovery communities that I'm a part of. If they're like, hey, when are you doing stand up? Like, I don't ever want anyone I know to be in the audience unless they're a fellow comic, you know know otherwise it's just like you're worried about them the whole time you know in what sense um are they having fun are they gonna if it doesn't go well how are you all gonna face each other after and just you know if it does go well you you're you're high from it.

Yeah. And then you're like, well, but I still have to take care of them after the show. Yeah, yeah. And that kind of stuff. And also just sense of humor is so personal and idiosyncratic, if that's the word, that you could have a great friendship with someone, but they don't like the same kind of stand up you do. Right. And if that's your stand-up, that feels catastrophic. It isn't really in the large scheme of life, but it's like, I don't want to deal with that.

So, yeah, never at work would I talk about it. Right. would I talk about it. Right. Except when I won a stand-up contest in Austin and the prize was $500 and I was like, I'm quitting my day job. And I told them, I was like, I just won $500. I don't...

That's my nest egg. I'm not doing this job anymore. But yeah, mostly. What took you to Texas, by the way? It was... Because I know you've lived here and then there was like a little Texas sojourn and then... Yeah, I had been doing stand-up almost two years

and they were having auditions for Aspen. Yeah. But in L.A., you had to have an agent or a manager to get an audition to get on a showcase for that. For people that don't know, there was an Aspen Comedy Festival that was— HBO. Yeah, and you'd go there, and you'd get work. Right. People would go there and then come home with a TV deal. Yeah.

Yeah. And that was especially probably for how much I was drinking. That was like the pot of gold. In my mind, it wasn't you get a development deal and then you think of something to develop, which is what the people giving you the money are hoping. To me, it was you get a development deal and then you can get drunk every night without worrying about how you're going to work the next day and make money for rent. And so I really was like, I've got to get to one of these festivals so I can get a little stockpile so I can drink all the time. And I couldn't get on a showcase out here, but they had open call auditions in other parts of the country where they don't have agents and managers, you know, putting on showcases for people. And Austin had an open call and my friend Laura House

was going to be there that week for a movie that she was doing. And I asked her about it. And she said, yeah, I'm going to stay with these guys, Ray and Colby. And if you want, I can ask them if you can stay there too. So that was free lodging for the open call. And then it was a magical weekend. And I was like, this is the best place I've ever been. I want to move here.

And I did. I think I did the audition in October, made it to the callback, didn't make it to Aspen, went home depressed. And I was like, I was happier in Texas that probably I should go there and be happier. And kind of I was for a while. Like a geographic move does work sometimes in the short term. Because even when I was hung over and depressed in Austin in the early 2000s, I would still feel like, yeah, but look where I live. Like there's these, at that time, big lots of undeveloped land.

So big pastures in the middle of the city. There's a lake. It was beautiful. And it was like a perfect balance between a small town and a big city. Yeah. Yeah. And they had a really good comedy scene. And I just I loved it.

They had a movie theater where you could order beer and dinner from your seat, which I thought at that time I was like, who knew life could be this great? So, yeah. And then I made friends there and so have moved back and forth for a few years. How long were you there? The first time, almost four years. Moved back here for four, moved back there for almost four again. Oh, okay. Moved back here in that time when I moved back in 2013. I didn't think I was going to ever live in Austin again, but then in 2014, did the pilot for Mascots. End of 2015 2015 did the rest of season one. It was like, I'm going to move back there.

My plan had been take whatever little stockpile of money from that show, go to Austin and just work on stand-up and figure out a day job and just leave L.A. behind because it has a mixed bag of great stuff and awful stuff. Yeah. Was it easier to be sober in Austin than it was in LA? It was harder to find groups of sober people initially in Austin because I found a community of sober people here when I first was sober and they are still like a family to me. So I don't think it was easier either place or harder. It's more. I mean, LA, you know, it's easy to sit here in LA and see all of the people that are doing better

than you and to, you know, to have that, to have a bit of a corrosive effect on just your wellbeing. Whereas in Austin, everybody's kind of just hanging out, I think, you know? Yeah. I would actually, now that we're talking about it, to some extent, doing standup in the 2015 through 19 in Austin was a little bit harder because it's a younger and more drunk community than here. There's a lot of people in L.A. who, even if they drink a lot, they don't do it at comedy shows because you never know who's going to be there. you never know who's going to be there. And people are trying to, your social life in LA can overlap with like networking and wanting to make a good impression. And so maybe people don't cut loose as much here. So it is a little easier. I find show business difficult even when things are going well, just because it's so emotionally intense and also unpredictable. Yeah. But I do love money and it pays better than any day job I've ever had. So

that to me, the bottom line is that there's a lot of fun to be had. Yeah, it is really fun. But that's the thing is like it's this high of spending all day with a lot of fun to be had. Yeah, it is really fun. But that's the thing is like, it's this high of spending all day with a bunch of people. It's so fun. I find that I don't consider myself an actor. I consider myself a comedian who gets acting jobs sometimes. And then I do love actors because they do like, for the most part, it's it's like oh we're all within three days hey I love you they're like very emotionally demonstrative yes and it's lovely but it's usually it's for the duration of the job yes and then often people try to stay in touch but you can't ever replicate the feeling of 12 hours a day together. So it's weird.

That part's weird. Not knowing how to be a better actor is weird. Loving money. So taking acting jobs, even if I think this is a mistake, they're going to get mad at my performance, but I need, it's expensive to live in LA. So like, yeah. And they're saying they'll hire me.

I mean, who am I to throw that back in their face? Yeah. And having to like, that's the last job I had at the end of last year was like, they're going to end up firing me. But they're probably not going to be mean about it. And if they are, I'll stand up for myself. Like, I don't have to. It's not like those horror stories of Hollywood I've never had to encounter where someone is screaming at you and you just have to be like, yeah, they're powerful. So I can't fight back. That's not my personality. And luckily that's not happened to me. I don't know why I'm going down that road. I also thought I was going to get fired from baskets all the time. So really full circle career wise. When Zach wrote that part for you, I mean, did he let you know that he's writing it for you? Did he let you know like, you're going to act in my show? And how did you feel? Well, when he first called me about it, he just left me a voicemail and I couldn't

tell what it, I thought maybe he was going to do a late night appearance and wanted me to do a bit with him because he had asked me to do that before. And I said no, because it seemed embarrassing. I said no because it seemed embarrassing. Zach loves being embarrassed. Like he thinks it's funny if he looks ridiculous. And I don't have the healthy inner self-esteem that he has. So that's what I thought it was. And then when we finally talked, he said, That's what I thought it was. And then when we finally talked, he said, it's a pilot for FX. I'm going to play a rodeo clown who lives in a motel in Bakersfield. I would like you to play my personal assistant. And I thought like, and I said like, well, I don't, I don't think I can act like if I had had a couple of meetings with casting directors after in 20 in 2002, I did Montreal and it went well. Another comedy festival that people get jobs from. Yeah.

And then I had meetings with casting directors and they were all it was terrible. And I was like, I'm going to freeze up like I did for that. I'm not going to be able to do this. And he said, it doesn't matter. It's not important. It's just fun. Just say your lines like you would say anything as yourself. And I was like, I'm still not going to be able to do it, but at least it would be a little bit of, again, it would be money. And I knew Zach, A little bit of, again, it would be money. And I knew Zach, if he had to fire me, he would be as kind as possible about it. And I thought, I have to try it.

I can't not try it. Yeah. So that's how it started. And then when they got the order for the rest of the season, it was like. But it changed into being a Costco car insurance person, not his. Right. Because it didn't make sense for a rodeo clown to have a personal assistant. Well, the show didn't make sense.

It didn't really. So, I mean, it would have been fine, but, you know. Yeah. Yeah. But it was like just getting to spend hours a day sitting next to Zach. Yes. hours a day sitting next to Zach. Yes.

Just always feeling, he's always like emotionally balanced person to be with. In addition to being super funny. Yeah. So it was a combination of like, I always feel relaxed and safe with him and he makes me laugh all the time. Yeah. And he's truly one of the, he's a magical person.

I love him so much. Me too. Yeah. And I love I love him so much. Me, too. Yeah. And I love being around him. And, you know, you know, we've gotten to be friends over the years. Like, you know, I don't I don't do anything. I don't go out with anyone, but I go out to dinner with Zach, you know, like just because I love him so much. He's a dear person.

Yeah, for sure. Very special, person. Yeah. For sure. Very special, too. Yeah. Like you said, like he's, you know, he has, he does have defense mechanism. You know, he has armor. Like, so he can go through this. But it, you know, I think that the, as much as we all want success, the hangover was a lot to happen to him all at once, those movies. And I think it kind of, you know, I think he kind of walked away a little bit from the whole big churning machine of this

stuff and, you know, wanted to do things like be a rodeo clown in Bakersfield. Yeah. Yeah. And I think like his favorite thing is to just be at home with his kids gardening or canning vegetables. Absolutely. And I think like that is kind of ideal. If you could make enough money to not have to worry about old age and retirement. And then just do stuff that's not. Just live. Yeah. That would be lovely. It would be really retirement. Yeah. And then just do stuff that's not. Just live. Yeah.

That would be lovely. It would be really nice. Yeah. I think a lot of people, show business is kind of like gambling. And I think it's possible. It seems like for people, if they get to that spot that he got to, some people are like, well, I got to put, I got to go all in again and try and get even higher and higher. And some people keep getting higher and some people crash.

And being a non-famous character actor, there's nothing at stake for me in that way. The way for people who really get up into the churning machine of it. Yes, yes, yeah. Like it's kind of, this is a sweet spot if you're an introvert and also don't like chaos. Yeah. Or risk of any. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. But you've got, but I mean, that kind of gave birth to a burgeoning acting career. I mean, you've done a lot more acting. I've been really lucky. Yeah. Well, what do you, what do you hope to do with the rest of your time on this planet? I mean, is there a plan?

Is it just make sure the dog is okay? That is number one right now. Yeah, yeah. Go back. This is why I love Burbank. There's a hot yoga studio, seven minutes from my apartment. I've been three times and I loved it. That's goal number one, um, for this year. Is to go there more? Yeah. Yeah. I used to do that kind of yoga, um, like

15 years ago and I loved it. And, and it's just luck that there's a studio that does it. That's that close. Right. Um, I found out last night, there's a real fun, very small comedy room in Burbank. And so I'm like, Hmm, let me start working on writing. And at some point just see if that's, yeah, I would want to like work on new material in a low stakes room. Yeah, yeah. And that, and then just figure out how to make the most of this new haircut I got a few weeks ago. You have been tossing your head around a lot. Even with headphones on, really.

I really had the same long, all the same length, long hair for like 25 years. And then finally I went on a new antidepressant and like two weeks into it, I was like, you know what? I'm going to cut my own hair and give myself layers. And then went and got it fixed. Yeah. It was like, it's kind of fun to have a change and to put all your hopes and dreams into a haircut is a great idea as well. So that's one goal is to just catapult into the fourth dimension with this great haircut and hot yoga and and stand up. And then really my biggest dream would be to come up with an idea for a hit podcast, but I, I don't have an idea. I've been want for years. And like, if I, that just seems like so

much fun. Cause the, there are comedians who've created podcasts and then they can tour and it's like, there's nothing better than an audience that is only there to see you, even if it's a hundred people. Yeah. That's the best thing in the whole world. Yeah. Yeah. I have zero ideas for a hit. I know. I mean, this podcast does fairly well, but I mean, I have, I have friends that like, they don't have to do anything else because they, you know, and, but I mean, a lot of times it's like, you know, it involves true crime or, you know, something else. And I don't, you know, A, I, I'm terrible with homework. Like this podcast, I get a list of like stuff about you. And then we talk and, you know, and I've done enough of these that like, I feel like, well,

you know, I can interview somebody for an hour, but like the notion of like, oh, you know, and I've done enough of these that like I feel like, well, you know, I can interview somebody for an hour. But like the notion of like, oh, doing research or something or writing a script every week, I'd be terrible at that. You know, it seems daunting. And also, I don't like sad murder stories. I listen to my favorite murder, usually just the beginning. I just want to Karen Kilgareff is one of my favorite comedians of all time. And she, I think, makes her living doing that. She was actually who I had in mind when I was saying that, yeah.

Yeah, but I don't want to hear about people getting hurt. Yeah, no, there's a psychic weight to it that I don't think I could handle once. Well, what's the point of it all? What have you learned so far in this life and doing what you've done? I think one thing I've learned is that I don't have any ability to predict the future. So I might think things are going to go one way and they'll go another, especially with COVID was like, oh, nobody knows. No one, there is no predictable. Yeah. That was a big wrench thrown into everybody's works.

And like, um, euphoria. I thought they're going to hate me and I'm going to get fired because it's a heavy show and the acting is next level and I'm a comedian. Didn't think that was going to go well. And they were so nice and lovely and it was great career wise, you know. I watched one episode of that show and I can't. I felt like I was a creepy old man peeking over the fence, watching teenagers do things. It's definitely not something I would have sought out if I hadn't gotten to work on it. But it's more the emotional risk of the teenagers and the great acting that's so heart-wrenching, even though they're doing physically dangerous stuff too.

even though they're doing physically dangerous stuff too. Yeah. And then it's stuff like, yeah, when I quit drinking, I thought this is the end of ever enjoying life. And it's been the best thing. I was living with my parents when my niece was born and they said they'd be full-time daycare. And I was like, this is the end. This is going to ruin my life.

And then it was like, I've never been happier than carrying my niece around and just watching a little person become a person. I mean, being born with a personality and then seeing it blossom and being like, I didn't know how much I would love it. So I never know how things are going to go. I always assume they're going to go badly. Yeah. And they usually don't. Yeah. And when they do, it's not the end of the world. So you have learned to be more open to things? Dragging my heels, but yes. Yes. Yeah. Well, that's, you know, pretty much all you can do, you know. I think that life is just really unpredictable for everybody. And that I just have to try to do things that make me feel stable.

And then things that are risky or expose you like acting or even stand up. Just be like, well, what's the worst that can happen? Like there are people who've gone on TV and crashed and burned and they don't die. Yeah. You know, they like Monica Lewinsky is still able to live a happy life after being trashed in the media and in this huge American scandal. Like I don't have hardly anything at stake. No one's going to be like, we've got to hunt down that lady who ruined euphoria. It's not that big of a deal, you know? Yeah.

So. Well, thank you, Martha, for coming in and spending this hour with me. I really appreciate it. And I look forward to seeing more stuff from you. Are you doing more stand-up now? I mean, has it kind of, when you started acting, did it taper off in some way?

Yeah, I think that I want to write new stuff. Not doing it because of the pandemic and then not writing new material in the pandemic. Yeah. I'm at a point now where I don't really want to do it until I write new stuff. Yeah.

But, yeah, I'm excited. There's a tiny little room in Burbank that's zero stakes. That's my kind of thing. Well, do it because your stand-up is really, really funny. Thanks, Andy. Such a good joke writer. Thank you. Well, thank you.

And thank all of you for listening. And I will be back next week with three more questions. They're the same questions, but I'll ask them again. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco production. It is produced by Sean Doherty and engineered by Rob Schulte. Additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel. Executive produced by Joanna Solitaroff, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross. Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Batista

with additional booking support from Maddie Ogden. Research by Alyssa Grau. Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to The Three Questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts.