WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 790 - Jennifer Coolidge

Episode Date: March 1, 2017

Whether you see her in Christopher Guest's movies or on 2 Broke Girls or as Stifler's mom, Jennifer Coolidge is always a unique comic presence. She tells Marc how she put her wild New York City cocaine days behind her to come to LA and join the Groundlings, where she established her comedic chops. Jennifer also talks about her blown chance to get on Saturday Night Live and what she learned from that missed opportunity. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's winter, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost almost anything. So no, you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. But meatballs, mozzarella balls, and arancini balls? Yes, we deliver those. Moose? No. But moose head? Yes. Because that's alcohol, and we deliver that too.

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what the fucking ears what the fucksikins what the fuck nicks what's happening my name is mark this is my podcast you're listening to it. I call it WTF. That's what it's been called since the beginning. Even before, back before we even knew that it would become what it is. There was a reason for it having that name. And that reason dissolved away in terms of what the show was and turned into whatever it is now. It's like a long time ago already.

Man, been a long time. We're coming up on 800 episodes. It's crazy. 800 unique episodes. Never missed a Monday or Thursday to put new content into your head. Because myself and my producer and business partner, Brendan McDonald, are compulsive workaholic people that need to keep moving and keep doing it and staying on top of it and making new stuff. It's what we do. Speaking of new stuff, is everybody all right?

We OK still? Are we OK? Just remember, there's a difference between normalizing and trying to function remember that no normalizing but do try to function please don't give yourself cancer don't start drinking again don't start doing heroin for the first time. Don't lean into the bad stuff that's annihilating. Stay in the saddle. Just make some space in your mind and your life to live it.

Look, I'm just talking from experience. Someone brought fucking donuts to my house this morning. I stay the fuck away from donuts. All right? Because I know there's no end to that no end to a donut when there are several more and stores in the neighborhood and around the country right down the street i got donut friend the guy from drive like jehu mark trombino believe he was the drummer he's got this donut place down there they make basically donuts filled with whatever you want there's all different shit so i had a meeting over here at the house with some people and some guy as a kind gesture

brings a box of very donuts with stuff in them and my reaction is never correct in those situations you know it's a nice thing the guy did there's several of us there and i'm like why why would you do this to me why why why are you trying to kill me through either artery clogging or shame i don't want to strangle myself with my inner shame rope today but i hadn't even done this in a long time so i ate four of them and that's where i'm at right now i'm still yeah i'm kind of in the middle of the buzz so i'm going to try to but my point is it does feel some days where I'm just sort of like, I don't know what's going to happen. Let's just do all the bad shit that makes me feel good.

Why the fuck not? But there are better things to do. Stay in the saddle. Take care of yourself. Stay vigilant. Stay focused. I know a lot of people want to know how they can support charitable causes, which I think is good. It's better than killing yourself with donuts.

Maybe a healthy mix. Donuts and charity is good. But there's a way to give support to organizations that are protecting people and protecting our freedoms. And I'll tell you what we use here at the show. And this is not a paid plug. This is not something they asked us to do. They don't know that we're doing it. We just think it's a great tool, and you can use it too.

We use Charity Navigator. You can enter an exact charity or just search by keyword, and they give you a very detailed breakdown of the best charities, including how much money goes directly to services and charity functions. It's actually a really great site. CharityNavigator.org. And they have nothing to do with this show. I want to make that clear.

And again, they have no idea we're giving them a shout out. But they're important. They're non-profit. And they can help you help other people. Help your fellow humans. Feels good to give today on the show jennifer coolidge the very funny actress jennifer coolidge you know her from a lot of the christopher guest movies from american pie but she's definitely a memorable presence uh she's uh hilarious and i always was always curious to talk to her so she's uh she's here today but speaking about busy about doing stuff about things done

glow the gorgeous ladies of wrestling the show i did with allison brie and betty gilpin and a bunch of other people for Netflix is premiering June 23rd. Seems so far away, but I'm excited about it. You know, I've done a little ADR work where I go in and redo lines or this or that, and I see little bits and pieces of how the show looks, and I'm very excited about it. It's going to be a great show. So look forward to that. Netflix. Glow on Netflix is premiering June 23rd. Dig it.

I'll be in Ridgefield, Connecticut at the Ridgefield Playhouse tonight to hang out with you guys. I'll be at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire tomorrow, Friday, to hang out and talk about things, get some laughs, hopefully, work through it, rise above it. I'll be in Montreal at Olympia de Montreal on Saturday and the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto on Sunday, which is sold out. You want a little cat update? I can give you that. Buster Kitten is doing well. i think he's somewhat of a genius i've decided that he's part abyssinian cat because of his face and

his ears and his long body he uh fetches and brings back what you throw which is a i've only had one other cat like that fat moxie uh and he also seems very thoughtful and on top of things and uh and chaotic and a fucking pain in the ass monkey and lafonder find deaf black cat persist exists and seems to be eating well out back scaredy cat too is up front a lot now replacing his predecessor who uh tragically was hit by a car not long ago and that's that's what's happening in the cat land what am i reading what am i listening to how am i finding enlightenment well oddly i've been reading this book uh altamont the rolling stones the hell's angels and the inside story of rock's darkest day by joel selvin and it's

fucking great like it gives all the forces that converged on that concert where that guy was stabbed by the angels you know a lot of us have seen the movie a lot of us know the the rough sketch of what what happened but you know how the the san francisco was involved how the dead was involved how the hippie thing converged with the biker thing and the the bad acid thing and then the stones just starting to emerge as the version of the stones that became the greatest rock and roll band the biggest rock and roll band in the world at that time they hadn't toured the states in three years but it also there's something about all the different angles that are approached in this book and all the research that was done about the shifting of the sort of peace

and love 60s into the just dark evil speed driven chaos that kind of put the nail in that era's coffin but it's great man especially if you're a rock fan especially if you know you want to know the whole story and and and how how it worked culturally and just how jarring you know like it was just crazy how that concert came to be wasn't the plan man so jennifer coolidge it's fun man it's fun uh she's uh right now in the cast of two broke girls which is in its sixth season on cbs it airs on monday nights but you you know her you know her from a lot of stuff okay this is me and jennifer you can get anything you need with Uber Eats.

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Zensurance provides customized business insurance policies starting at just $19 per month. Visit Zensurance today to get a free quote. Zensurance. Mind your business. Bullish. You know, you talk about stuff that's a downer and you like talk about your depression and stuff like that, but you don't act depressed. I mean, you don't. Well, I'm a comedian. So, you know, I've figured out a new language for it. I mean, I imagine that if you listen to a lot of funny people, I mean, if you just turn the knob a little bit, you're like, no, this guy's sad and fucked up. Thank God he's got a good disposition, chipper attitude about it. No, I don't sound, sometimes

I can sound heavy-hearted but i i have uh i've i fight a fight against that when i feel it because you can feel it you can feel like it sort of drop out and it's like a fear thing you know like when i gotta travel i'm like instead of like get depressed or freak out or i get full of dread but then i just i get i get angry and i get you know just crazy i go that way i try not to go to the, oh, God, I don't like that. I don't like that place right there. Like, I don't know what's going to happen. Yeah.

I think that's me. I'm just very, I go low energy where I just like, yeah, I flatline. Do you? Yeah. Really? Yeah, sure. Yeah. But are there people that are able to get you out of it?

How long does it go on for sometimes? Oh, forever. You've always had it? You've always had the darkness pervading or around the corner or weighing down? I think so. Yeah, I think what happens if... I heard there's a book written about something about the overly sensitive kid. And I think that's who I am.

I think, you know what I mean, just a horrible way to live because so much of the stuff has nothing to do with you and yet you feel every cricket in the room that can't get out. You just can't get out. So you're just kind of like, you're so busy feeling everyone else's feelings,

you don't, you know, you're sort of, you're exhausted and it's not even your stuff. Right. And a lot of it you might be making up. Yeah. You are so right about that. I'm sure. Look at that. You're right.

You're absolutely right. I projected all this stuff onto the cricket and he's fine. Yeah. He's not even paying attention. He might be as happy as he's ever been. He might be having a good day, that cricket. Yeah, no, I was talking to Rachel. She works for me in New Orleans.

Just this amazing young girl that is so much more capable than I am on every level. And so it's just really, she should be, you know, I should be her assistant. And that's for sure but there's always time for that there's always it was coming it's coming i'm um you've had a good run i mean no i don't even get a run i have like i have someone they're my assistant for one day and they decide that they're superior to me in every way and you know what yeah uh there's nothing you can do about that because it just shows how smart they are. Yeah.

They're like, oh, my God. Yeah. I can get a handle on this lady. Well, just feel, you know, they feel better. You know, they're like, oh, I can run this. Because she's not doing it. She's not doing it. But yeah, I was on the phone with her and I guess, you know, I have this house in New

Orleans and she's down there and, um, I don't know, someone, uh, someone want to use the house for a photo shoot or something. And, um,

and, and they were sort of after they sort of agreed to it, they, you know, they wanted to change the price of it, whatever. And I was like, Oh, and I was like talking to her or whatever.

And she's just like, you know what? Just, we don't even need to have this conversation, Jennifer. Just like, no, just say no. Right.

Oh, and I'm like. Well, that's the problem. I like, you know, try to take her down this long train ride or whatever. And then she's just like, no. Yeah. Just say no. Like, it's just so simple. And you were worried about putting the photographer out, I imagine?

Yeah. Because we, I guess we'd had them one time before. Yeah. And they're, you know, they're not even from this country. I don't know them. There's no relationship. Yeah. But somehow I go into this whole thing. Oh, he's going'd had them one time before. Yeah, and they're not even from this country. I don't know them. There's no relationship. But somehow I go into this whole thing. Oh, he's going to be on it.

Oh, and he'll be sad and you won't be able to do that project. It's the same thing we were just talking about, that sensitivity. Yeah, but you're right. It could be all wrong. It could be like, you know. Yeah, they'll probably get over it. Oh, I think they're over it. I mean, I don't know. Yeah, you're right. It's so sad. Yeah, and I they're over it. I mean, I don't, yeah, you're right.

Yeah. It's so sad. Yeah. And I guess there's self-importance in there too, right? Where you like. Yeah, I think so. Where you think that you know what everybody's feeling. Right.

And also I think there's probably like some sort of weird, it gives you the illusion of not really control, but at least a little bit of control. I don't know. It's probably pretty complicated. I have it too. You know, like you were coming over. I get concerned. Yeah, I want to make sure the bathroom's relatively clean.

I straighten the pictures on the wall. You know, I don't want you to walk in and be like, wow, what the fuck is this? Who is this guy? I don't know you. I kind of know you. I know kind of, we have common friends. I've built a relationship with you through your work, but that doesn't mean anything.

So I was nervous and I assumed the, not the worst, but you never know. I feel like it's good though. I feel comfortable. You? Yeah, I mean, I would have to say that you give off the exact opposite, that you don't really, you know, you're kind of like, hey, come on in.

Well, what do you, I got to. I mean, your bathroom is very clean, but I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised if it wasn't just because of how casual. Right. You're, you know. It's probably been worse. No, it's been worse. Here's literally what I go through sometimes when i have particular actors and

actresses over is like like like for instance annette benning came over here and i don't know where i have her i idealize people i put people on pedestals almost everybody in my mind right so like i now i gotta worry about the bathroom because annette benning's gonna use the bathroom you're gonna use the bathroom it looks fine it's a bathroom but here's what I always think when I uh when I have actors over it's like they've shit in porta potties like how are they going to judge my bathroom we're actors we've been in the in that horrible trailer bathroom how is it yeah we're we're grown people that have been around we've been in we've gone to the bathrooms in bad places for all kinds of reasons that's true i mean i would rather go out in the woods than those porta-potties i

mean if they were just like jennifer the woods is over there yeah there's something about like there's like 12 of them in a row yeah the worst and they have like a window to the other person next door yeah you can hear everything you can hear everything. You can hear everything. Just like, you know, and it's just like, I, how could anyone like feel, uh, and then there's just, there's no,

exactly not relaxed, but also there's no movement. Like you just, I, I, they've given, they've haunted me forever. I really,

there, there's nothing more nauseating to me really than those things. I, I've, it's horrible. It can ruin an entire don't see, this is the, the horrendous obstacles people in show business have to to hurdle.

Just like the realities of like, all right, I'm going to I need to go to that port-a-potty. Oh, the lights on in that one. And I think the grip is in the next one over. I don't really know him. But now we're going to have a very intimate experience. Also, you can't see the bottom and who knows if there's someone down there or not i mean oh really you could so you think wasn't there like a horror movie where the guy was at the bottom of the port-a-potty

sure there's a horror movie and it was also i think uh there was an auschwitz movie where where some kids hid in there there It's not a good place. No. And then there's that horrible movie with, it's not a bad movie about the miners. Were they in the port-a-potty? Well, it was just a terrible, brutal, it was with that actress who was in Monster.

Oh, Charlize? Yeah, Charlize was in it. And her dad was a miner, and then she wanted to work in the mine, Charlize was in it. And her dad was a miner. And then she wanted to work in the mine. And she was a woman. And then the guys were bullying the women. And then one woman was in a port-a-potty. So they turned it over with a tractor thing.

And it was terrible. I'm sorry. I don't know why. What's going on? So we've established that we don't like porta potties. I apparently will. I'm able to use them if I have to. My bathroom is nicer than that.

And that I give off the I'm pretty relaxed. But, you know, I just want to make sure things are nice for people. You know what I mean? But just know if you did it or if you had a cleaning lady do it, just know your bathroom does look really good in there. Well, thank God. Yeah.

Because I only have the one bathroom. This is a small house. That's the other thing that I have insecurity about the size of my house when people come over. Because, you know, I could probably be in a bigger house,

but there's only the one bathroom and the two bedrooms and there's no way to sneak away. You're in there with my products. Right. Yeah think i was gonna lift maybe there's nothing to lift unless you need antifungal cream for for athlete's foot or uh some some medications of some kind nothing exciting a friend of mine was telling me how he has this friend that had this snake named violet that he kept in the bathroom and it was sort of

coiled up next to the toilet and i just thought like he was like you'd get in the bathroom and you'd like sit on the toilet and he goes in and you look down and violet which would be staring at you a snake next to the toilet yeah he said it was just Violet had this look on her face like, I don't know. Really? And I just thought, to me, you got to have a snake next to the toilet to really bum me out. Because I did a movie once where the stunt snake peaches. It was this movie with Jared Hess. And the snake was really good for the first part of the day.

And another guy had it around his neck. And then at one point, the guy I'm dating, and at one point it comes over and sort of like supposed to sort of mount my boob. Yeah. But somehow Peaches got this weird look on her face. The snake. Yeah. We were like three quarters of the way through the day. And I was like, yeah, peaches looks different.

There's something up with peaches. And my boob's about to be involved. Yeah, and I guess I forget how it went. It just went a little, you know, peaches didn't bite me, but it went a little bit sour. And I just remember, like, you know, at the end they have YouTube has all these videos of snake modeling things where it goes horribly wrong. Oh, really? So it can go wrong. I didn't know those existed.

I don't know why I assumed they wouldn't. I guess I never really thought of it. But everything worked out with you and... Yeah, I mean, I didn't get bit or anything. But I remember just how like it had, you know, you can look at the, you can look, his face got different halfway through the day. You know, he just started to look like, I've had enough of this. And, you know, you don't blame them. You know what I mean?

It's not what the snake signed up for. He didn't sign up, no. This is not what life of a snake is supposed to be. No. So how'd you end up going, finding a house in New Orleans? Why'd you choose there? Mainly, I don't think, I don't know if I really would have discovered New Orleans if it hadn't been for my sister going to Tulane

and I went down to visit her a few times. Years ago? Yeah. Yeah. And I was just blown away by it's sort of this undiscovered secret. I mean, of course, more people, it's catching on so that more and more people are figuring out how cool it is. But yeah, I really fell in love with it and um came obsessed with it and

every time i had a break on a job i would go down there and just hang out look at real estate oh really yeah actually i saw a house in the french quarter that had never been messed with and it was you know just just so interesting and you know with the shutters and everything everything just yeah and so i became obsessed with like finding something and eventually i found a house and i have it and i go down there on my you know i'll work like three weeks on here and then have a week off and i go down there really yeah and that works for you you just you're able to just walk right in just like you know it's everything's there you got someone working for you down there yeah it's got the food in the fridge when you get there yeah oh it's nice yeah and it really brings you like peace and yeah it's sort of the opposite of here Oh, it's nice. Yeah. And it really brings you like peace. Yeah.

And it's sort of the opposite of here. You know, it's sort of. I dream of getting out of here. All it would take. Yeah. But this feels, I feel like your house, I feel like I'm kind of away from the hustle and bustle. Yeah. I don't enter the hustle and bustle much, but it starts to eat at you somehow, this city.

I'm not sure because everybody loves Southern California and LA's got this reputation. And yeah, there's a lot of good things about it, but something eventually just starts to creep you out. Yeah. You know, it's hard to explain. Like I lived in New York a long time and I knew exactly what it was.

I didn't get creeped out in New York. There was just too many people right up on me. And here, like it just gets to the point where you're like, I don't need this every day. This guy is right next to my face, you the point where you're like i don't need this every day this guy is right next to my face you know because you're on the train or whatever but here i'm not sure what it is the traffic really existentially bothers me i can't get around it you know look i don't like traffic but there's other stuff that are other stuff that is actually a bigger bummer

i think than the traffic i mean like what you said to me like i just uh it's a lonely city exactly if you're single especially if you yeah if you just want to if you want to hang out with anybody it's a big fucking ordeal you got to plan a week ahead it's hard to be spontaneous like in new york or something probably new orleans it's like yeah i'll walk over i'll meet you there in 10 10 minutes i can be over there here it's like oh fuck so you want like seven tonight it's two now i should probably leave now you know it's like no you're right there's no spontaneity you know i was like saying to rachel in new orleans i was saying or it was like 8 30 on a monday night and i was like do you think if we threw a dinner party tonight anyone would come and she was like she's always very positive.

She's like, yeah, I think, I think, yeah. The next thing you know, like, you know, we've assembled 10 people on a Monday night, you know, like I don't think I could ever make that happen here. No, no. You know, it just wouldn't happen. Hardly anyone comes over here. I mean, they would.

I mean, you came, they come to talk to me on the mics. How long have you been out here? Let's see. I came out here, oh, I don't know, like early 80s, didn't work out, didn't go so well. I went to an acting school out here or whatever. And then I left and I came back, I think 1990, and I've been here ever since. Well, you know, you're a special person and you're very known and you have a certain place in the comedy hierarchy as being a uniquely funny person that does something that no one else does. And it's a great thing.

So like, I want to hear why it didn't work out because that sounds like a great story. But I want to know, like, where do you come from? Because I can't even identify. Like, if i want to know like where do you come from because i can't even identify like if i were to to try to guess where you come from i wouldn't even know really yeah i couldn't i couldn't like you you you to me you're a person that just appeared here on the landscape of comedy in los angeles like i can't i'm having a hard time picturing you as a uh as a person in a place when you were younger. Well, I grew up in Sweden and I was a famous stand-up in Sweden.

No, you weren't. No, it's boring. I'm from Norwell, Massachusetts. Where's Norwell? I know Massachusetts pretty well. I started my comedy career. You went to BU, right? I went to BU. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. I think we're probably around the same age. Yeah. Ish. Yeah. Yes, yes. I think we are. Yeah. Yeah. I think we're probably around the same age. Yeah. Ish. Yeah.

Yes, yes. I think we are. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So then we're probably around. Okay, let's go through it. What's Norwell near?

It's on the South Shore. Oh, it is. Going toward the Cape, it's right next to Cohasset. Oh, really? Cohasset. Yeah. Do you grew up on the beach? No.

Actually, we were on like a little a little like river my father my father and mother actually sort of got it right and actually picked a great beautiful little spot that yeah it was on a river and stuff but no i wasn't doing the comedy thing at all i was just kind of really a lost soul for for a long time Didn't really know what I wanted to do. Driving around, drinking, smoking cigarettes. Yeah. Hanging out with guys. I was Jennifer. Jennifer.

Jennifer. Yeah. It was like, yeah. And I was just like, I have really bad circulation. So I'm always cold no matter where I'm on the beach and I'm cold. So it was really the wrong town to be in. And like, I would stand at the bus stop. And like, I remember it's like, you know know I was only like seven years old and I'd click my heels together and I'd be like god please get me out of this town

I'm so cold and didn't work huh you're stuck there how many siblings you got oh I got a brother and a sister and a sister is is down there in new orleans and oh she lives there yeah yeah she yeah she fell in love with a guy down there and oh so you got family there that's nice so that's yeah and actually uh her house uh backs up to my house it's very weird she bought a house didn't know that her house it's a weird story yeah i don't know somehow she didn't know that her house backed up to my house anyway it does it's wild it just worked out that way just yeah so so boston is so specific that area the south shore is so specific there's such a specific kind of person that i was you know i was in that area for six or seven years and there's a lot of like jennifer like there's a lot of that like would you go get

clam rolls and stuff that's all we did smoke cigarettes and and yeah and clam rolls lobster rolls no but i do like that new england i do i have to say there's something about like the new england guy girl that just like there's just like you say they they don't know how to edit and you felt like they were always answering honestly about everything. They were like, yeah, we're not going to stay here because it's just not fun at all. Your house isn't fun at all. You just always knew where you stood and everything like this. And it's like, I think that's why, maybe that's why LA is hard because, you know, I don't know.

You never know where you stand. Yeah, I don't know. It's such a guessing game here. But yeah, you're right. New England, and they're a little tough. They're kind of hard to get. Yeah, but pure.

There's something so like, I don't know what it is about the Bostonian lifestyle, whatever, that makes you so unable to schmooze or something. Right. They don't have this schmooze factor at all or any way of like, it's sort of.

Right. And they're all pretty, you know, I don't want to generalize, but I always met really good people, but they are kind of, you know, they're a little rough. You know what I mean? You got to keep up. You can't be too soft. No. But they're very innocent in some weird way.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there's a very regional feel to it. It's very provincial, all of that. You know, a lot of people don't go away. stay there they don't they you know what i mean they're not yeah and when you go away and come back they're like what'd you do what'd you do out there is it terrible those people are fucked up no you can go back there at you know any time even you

know now and you know it's all all this it's all like still potty yeah you can potty anytime yeah plenty of potty and going on yeah so when did you what did you do you did you study acting in college i did yeah i went to emerson for a while and then you did yeah but were you there with like dave cross and those kind of people was there anyone there that you know that we know now was like what dennis wasn't teaching there yet i think dennis was still it was kind of a hot shot yeah when i was there but i wasn't there very long and i i had a i kind of fell in love with a guy at the school and i guess that wasn't very good so when he left it was kind of not a good situation well just not you know um i don't know. I think it was time to, you know, look, I'd been in my, I spent my entire life in Boston and it was time to go, I think.

Yeah. And then I thought, well, you know what? I've learned everything I need to know. I'm going to go to LA and be an actress because, you know, you can study it all you want, whatever. Right. You know, and of course I flew out here and I became, you know, went to an acting school out here. Which one? an acting school out here. Which one?

It doesn't even exist. I guess it's in Hollywood now, but it used to be up in Pasadena. It was called the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. And it was the only way I could really get my dad to help me out with- Moving and stuff? Oh yeah, just living.

If I'm in a school, my father always used to say, Jetty, if you want to work on having a saleable skill, I'll always support that. What was his saleable skill? He manufactured plastic and fiberglass. Just raw stuff so people can make? Yeah, for like Boston Whaler, all that kind of stuff.

Oh, really? Yeah. And your mom, what'd she do? And she was really kind of a. Oh, really? Yeah. And your mom, what'd she do? And she was really kind of a housewife. Yeah? Yeah. But, you know, he, it's interesting because he ended up being this, you know, incredible environmentalist, you know, just so worried about the environment.

And, you know, he was like talking about global warming, you know, way before anyone else was. Yeah. Sort of interesting that he started off, you know. Is he still around? No, no. He passed away uh uh last last summer um sorry so anyway but he made it to you know he's like one month shy of 95 oh my god

that's a pretty good run though that's a pretty good yeah i mean just think about like yeah i mean like i think of like my life i got like 40 something years, what, 40 years to go. Hopefully, or not. I mean, of course I don't. Like, there's no way I'm going to make, you know, not after all those clam rolls and cigarettes, right? No. No, but, you know, I just, you know, who lives that long anymore? I mean, I think it's really hard to make it to that age.

Well, I don't know. People, I think, are living longer. They are, but I mean, I think, you know, 95 is hard to that age. Well, I don't know. People, I think, are living longer. They are, but I mean, I think 95 is hard to get there. You've got to have the genes to do that, but maybe you got them. I don't know. You know, he did say to me that he said he thought the 80s were excellent. He thought the

90s were overrated. Overrated. I think he thought the 90s were a little bit rough. But you know, he even like, you know, when he got this sort of deadly cancer at the end he was like you know i'm really jenny i'm really looking forward to the next chapter i'm just very excited about the next i mean i've never heard anyone say that i've just at any age yeah i can't wait for that next i mean he very. He had a good disposition.

Yeah, and was just convinced that, you know, a really fun thing comes after this. Yeah. Maybe hope he's right. Yeah, I do too. Yeah. So you came out here and you're at the American Dramatic Arts School. Yeah, yeah. And it just, you know, after the school, after my little stint at the school, I came down

and moved on to, you know, first I went to Venice Beach and lived there and that was kind of a disaster. And then. And you were like 20? How old were you? Yeah, I was like 20. You know, I was like, I was dating this guy and his brother's parrot was loose in his apartment so that like, it didn't matter where you were in the apartment, it would eventually

just fly over you and like, just, you know, dump on you. Yeah. I just remember like being in this like apartment. In Venice. Covered in like just parrot dung and thinking like this wasn't what I had in mind. Not the plan. This wasn't what I had in mind, Not the plan. This wasn't what I had in mind. But, yeah, so.

What did that guy do? He was a waiter. We both were waiters at a restaurant in Venice Beach. So then, yeah, so then eventually I left with my tail between my legs. And then. It's funny that everyone has that first L.A. Like, some people come here and they never leave, but I know a lot of people that came

and that were spit out one way or another, either by themselves. Because you come out here with this idea that you're going to do this thing, and then you get out and you realize, it's very spread out. And how do you get into this thing? And where the fuck am I?

And then you just get defeated and you get a job and you have no idea how to make any headway. And you end up just like drinking or in an apartment with a parrot. And you just like have that moment where you're like this. Fuck. There's no way to get in. No. So you leave and you go back home?

Yeah. And you're like, Jennifer's back. What is that parrot shit on your jacket? No, but yeah. So I came back. Yeah, I came back. And like, it was really depressing. I remember I like worked in like this weird weapons like lab.

It was like a photo lab where they did. I think it was called like Raytheon. And they like make, you know, I think they make, manufacture weapons. But I couldn't believe that I went from. Parrot shit to weapons photos. Yeah. And that was like, yeah. So that was, but you know, I don't know how I was able to turn it all around and went to Manhattan for a while.

And oh yeah. And then I went to rehab when I was like 27 and i think that really um for for booze no i mean well it was really actually cocaine oh yeah yeah so you're doing blow down on the cape no i went to manhattan and then we were doing a lot of it there oh really yeah and then it was like living the life huh yeah. Wow, that was so glamorous. So glamorous. How long did it take for you to hit the wall? Well, let's see. It was like, I think it was like a downhill ride from like 20 to 27.

I think it was kind of. Oh, that's a pretty good run. So you went to Manhattan when you were like 21? And what were you doing there? Where were you living? I think it was like 20, Yeah. From 23 to like 27. I was just really just, you know,

I worked at, you know, people have know this story, but I worked at this restaurant called Canistels on 19th and park. Canistels. I remember that place. And, and Sandra Bullock was like the hostess and I was one of the cocktail waitress

and, and, uh, sort of interesting. The whole place was sort of, everyone was an actress that was waitressing. And then of interesting, the whole place was sort of, everyone was an actress that was waitressing. And then, yeah, I just like the shift would go from like 5 p.m. till 2,

and then 2, the night begun for a lot of us. And New York enables you because everything's open till like 4, and then reopens at 5. Yeah, stuff doesn't close too. Yeah. And yeah, so that was really. Were you acting at all? No, but I was telling everybody I was acting.

Yeah. I mean, well, I'd be like, I was auditioning. So I'd be like, oh, yeah, I'm really close on this stuff. You know, but like. Nothing. But yeah, it just wasn't going well. So how hard, like, what made you check into rehab? Did your folks step in?

What happened? No, I was so glad. A friend of mine that lived a couple blocks away sort of saw, you know, I think I went to the emergency room a bunch of times. Thinking you were dying or with what? No, I think I called him when I was always, I used to call him when I was in there and say like, you know, I really blew it again, Stephen, you know, whatever. But eventually, you know, it took, you know, I don't know, three or four times. He was like, all right, I'm calling your parents. And he did call my parents and they poor my poor innocent parents from Massachusetts drove up. Oh, my God.

They just had no idea. it's drove up oh my god i mean they just had no idea and um one time my sister said uh i went to visit her down in new orleans and she was like oh my god jennifer your head is too big for your body and uh that's not nice but she was right you know yeah i mean you're just like someone like that actually knew you had the guts to say something but anyway yeah so uh this friend of mine steven like called him up and said you know you got to come down here and and so they you know put me in a rehab out in minnesota and everything and i got sober and thank god for that because uh you know it uh you know it was sort of life-changing i kind of got my yeah my act together and yeah well that's a it's that's a that's a horrible moment that moment where you get so submerged

in a lifestyle that you begin to think like well this is how i'm living like you you lose touch with how other people live and then you go visit somebody or somebody visits you and they're just sort of like what the fuck and you're like what i know right but you know the thing was it wasn't you know i think it was like i was feeling sorry for myself because my dreams my dreams weren't happening yeah you know but then you know how can you really pursue them when you're like you know partying every night and you know i you know sandra and i weren't great friends. We weren't like, you know. But I have to say, she was actually doing it. She was actually doing the life.

She was actually like, I'd run into her at auditions and stuff, but she was, you know. She had it together? At 2 a.m., she went home and prepared for her. Audition? Yeah, and I would just be like, well, let's see. It's 6 a.m. Should I go home or just go right to the audition?

Or were you going to an apartment building and everybody is going to their jobs? Oh, the worst. And you're like in your black dress. Your high heels. Walking out to a new day after you've been up all night is really one of the worst fucking feelings in the world. I cannot watch a sunrise for any reason. I just can't.

Even if it's pretty, I can't. Like that feeling of like not sleeping. I know. And just knowing like you're fucked. No drug is going to help you. You're just fucked for a day or two. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

But it is weird, too, because I have such judgment about it now. Like, you know, if I'm in a bathroom and someone is like, and I'm waiting to use it, and someone's like, you know, do you want me to leave a line in there? You know, I love doing Legally Blonde. You want me to leave a line in the toilet seat or whatever? You're like, no. No. And you're like, that drug is awful.

And it leads to terrible things. Did you say that? No. But I mean, you're thinking like, how could I have liked it for as long as I did? Because you don't really get anything out of it except weight loss. Weight loss. You can drink more and for about an hour it's spectacular it is spectacular it is for i i say i say 30 minutes

it's good but but and then you're chasing it but yeah but it is weird that like i could have gone that long because it's you think i would have woken up one day and just said like this is so nowhere oh man and i when I was in Boston, man, I was working at like up in Coolidge Corner, you know, like a restaurant. And I would work

the shift for dinner. And, you know, and then I just remember like we all had to wear these polo shirts. There was red and green polo shirts that said

Matt Garrett's on it. But then if you just went back and changed into your regular shirt, you could just go sit at the bar. So I'd work the shift, and I'd change my shirt, and I'd close the fucking

bar. And then blow all your money, right? Oh yeah, you just spend all your tips at the bar, and maybe get a half gram of blow. And I was doing like, it wasn't even New York, I was doing blow in those towns where you grew up. Like I'd get jacked, and go do stand-up and then drive around doing it was just like and you're probably funny that's the weird thing I felt I felt like I was

never interesting or funny ever on that stuff I was very intense I think annoying would probably be a better word well don't you think everyone's annoying when you're if you're not doing it and you're sitting with a bunch of people that have done it you're like you are all so full of crap you are all so full of and it's just it's so nowhere it's like it skeeves me out to talk about i know i did too i just got the creep i just got the like the just those like all night sessions just you're just hanging out with people because they have drugs you know like and you're just talking to people and it's going nowhere.

It's going nowhere. And then you don't feel time going by anymore. And you're drinking, like it enables you to drink more than you could ever imagine. Right. And then all of a sudden it's like four 30 in the morning and someone's like, should we get some more? And you're like, oh yeah, probably at four 30. What do you think is going to happen?

That was the other thing is what can you do blow? It's like any second something's going to happen. Nothing ever happens. End up having horrible sex with somebody for too long. I always thought that was weird that guys would supply cocaine for girls to get

to have sex with them. I always thought for a lot of us girls, that's the last thing you wanted to do. Like the minute you started, you were like, by the way, I'm never,

we are doing, and yeah, like I, I feel so incredibly not what you think I'm feeling. I mean, I just, I don't want to, I don't want to do any of what you think.

And the fucked up thing about that, like that sex is like the guy's all jacked up. You're jacked up. Your mouth is always dry. Everything dries out. And then if you end up doing it, then you've got to try to fucking get it up. And you don't even want to be fucking. And then it's just like this nightmare that takes too much effort.

And it's just, you know. Yeah, but this is the great thing about no no i know how you have the creepies right now but let me tell you this is what's great about it yeah that you and i aren't gonna after this go try to score a half gram yeah and like an eight ball yeah and like you know what i mean like i would i think as an older person that would be a real bummer to be doing that still yeah oh my. Oh my God. I mean, you know what I mean? Like to have, you know, cause a lot of people,

they discover it, you know, much later in life and they're like, oh wow. And it's still going on, right? I'm so out of the loop. I think it is, yeah. I know, yeah, it definitely is. I mean, there's two girls going,

like sometimes when I go out, you know, to a, I don't know, some, you know, even a restaurant sometimes when two girls go into the stall together, it's like, well, you know, I don't think they're brushing each other's hair. Yeah. I mean, it could be, but I always feel like they're, you know. Doing a bump.

Doing a bump. And it's just, it's, yeah, I just, you know, like I said, that's the good thing. It's like, I'm not, I'm really done with that chapter. It feels very far away to me. But, all right, so you go to Minnesota and you clean up. And then what, you come back out here? Yeah, I came back out here. I came back in 1990.

And thank God, I think people always say to me, do you have any advice as far as I can get? And I think it's like, if you get in some program or some place where you're on a stage, I think that's the way to go. Even if no one's going to the show. Yeah, sure. program or some place where you're on a stage yeah you know i think that's the way to go even if like no one's going to the show yeah sure but i went to the groundlings and uh and that sort of changed my life what you so like what year was that um like 90 yeah so you you auditioned to do

to be in the groundlings yeah i was doing it i was doing there was a little other smaller thing it was called like gotham city it was on the east coast and then i came out to on a vacation i saw what the groundlings was and i was like oh i want to do this show who was in it when you saw it julia sweeney was in it and she did some amazing characters yeah i think kathy griffin was in it i think a bunch of lisa kudrow wow All I know is that I was like, when I saw those shows, I was like, this is what I want to do.

And then my timing was kind of good. I was in, you know, we were all, it was like. Did you take classes first? Well, I was just finishing.

I only had like two to go. And then I ended up in the Sunday company, the main company. You mean the ones you took in New York counted? Yeah. They counted a couple of them. Yeah. Yeah.

And then, and then, you know, New York said I sucked. And then the woman that I kept getting as the teacher was like, I'm sorry, Jennifer. I'm going to have to repeat you because you really don't seem like you know what's going on. And she was kind of right because I was- What is repeat? Oh, you had to take it again? Yeah.

And I think she, you know, what she was picking up on too is like, you know, if you get sober at 27, but you've sort of fried yourself, I think. Like, I couldn't like, it's really a true story. Like you had to have, one of the first things you do in the ground is you have to be able to come up with some sort of activity while you're talking to someone. And I'm not kidding. For the first like two years, the only, I'd be on a golf course and I would be stirring a bowl of batter with a spoon.

I'd be talking to someone. It was all I could think of was, okay, I got a bowl and a spoon, you know. Stirring the batter. I could be on a ship and I'm stirring. I'm not steering the ship. I batter. I could be on a ship and I'm stirring. I'm not steering the ship. I batter. Why that one? I don't know. It was just, and I couldn't,

I could never think of anything else. So maybe that's why she repeated me a bunch of times. She's just waiting for you to change up the behavior. Maybe fry an egg. Yeah. Please, Jennifer. My God. Space work. Come on. Make something with that batter this year. the behavior maybe fry an egg yeah yeah please jennifer my god space work come on make something with that batter this year yeah but then i guess they you know they didn't know about that at the west coast ground he said i could only had one sort of you were the batter girl yeah they had

no idea so they brought the batter out here? I did. Yeah. And then, you know, and then it was really exciting times. It was Will Ferrell. Yeah. And it was Sherry Oteri, Chris Kattan, Chris Parnell. Oh, yeah. I've had a lot of them on here. Yeah.

Yeah. Really exciting times. And how does it work? You get the main stage show or what? Yeah. Once you're in. Yeah. Once you're in. Yeah, once you're in.

The only thing I always think is that the Sunday show was so exciting because you didn't know if you were in. And I think there's something so exciting when you're... Why is that? How did the Sunday show work? I don't know if anyone's told me that. Well, you can get kicked out of it. And so there's something really great about like, once you're into the main show.

Yeah. I don't know. I always felt like my material was less interesting because you're in, they can't kick you show. Yeah. I don't know. I always felt like my material was less interesting because you're in. They can't kick you out. Yeah. And I felt like, you know,

when you're trying to win everyone over and get their votes, you're pulling out all the stops. For Sunday. Yeah. So this cast decided

who was in and out? Yeah. The actual cast, which is really scary because I had all my eggs in one basket. I was thinking... The batter basket? Yeah, I had all my eggs in one basket. I was thinking. The batter basket?

Yeah, I had all my eggs in the batter basket. I was like, if this doesn't work out, no. Because I realized this is what I wanted. And I wanted it more than anything. And I was like, I made all these deals with, you know. God? Yeah, I did. I really did.

I was like, hey, you can get me. If I get into the ground, I swear to God, I will never ask for anything ever. Yeah. This is when I, you know. Yeah, this is it. This is it. You wanted to be a comedic performer. I just wanted to be in that, I don't know.

I felt you could go to your crappy job and just, I don't think I was a great writer, but I had a really good ear for exactly what someone said to me. And I always had these really condescending bosses, and I could remember exactly their wording and everything. So I would just write it all down immediately and then just put it on stage at the ground. So I got out all of my anger and everything by just recreating these people that made my life difficult.

Really? Those were your characters? Yeah. Assholes. Yeah, I mean, you just got, you know, it was something so freeing about doing the people that you felt like were torturing you. So those were, how many characters did you create?

Oh, you know, you create, I don't know, like 30, 40, 50 at the ground, and then there's only like, I don't know, like 30, 40, 50 at the ground. And then like there's only like, I don't know, like there's probably 10 good things that you do. Yeah. You know, and then you can save them later. Yeah. For, you know. Do you remember some of them other than the condescending boss?

Well, you know, I babysat for a woman in Beverly Hills and she was very very condescending and she was very anal about like things that I touched yeah that you know like my I had a paper plate and the kids had glass plates and everything that I touched had to be disposable I mean you know it was very strange but but you know but she was so eccentric that everything she said was so, it was beyond condescending. It was just like there was different water for the kids than there was for me. It was like Arrowhead was like for me and the, I don't know, the Evian was for the kids. Really? Stuff like that.

You know what I mean? It was just very condescending. But if you can remember that stuff and then you then people give you credit and they say wow i love the you know i think you're you can really write and it's like i really wasn't i don't think that's what it was it's just just that was somebody recalling yeah yeah recalling stuff but you learned how to improv yeah i don't think i was never the great like no one ever went like holy crap Jennifer that that improv you did with Will Ferrell I'll never forget how brilliant your lines were I don't that was never you know I wasn't the people always say that you had great timing and that you had a unique

sort of approach to you know comedy I've heard a couple people say that in here I mean I think I was kind of different, you know, and my take is probably weirder than other people's on a lot of different things, but I was never the quick, I wasn't the ping pong ball that you couldn't see because it was going so fast. Right, right.

I was always envious of those people that could just like, you know, rapid fire. Like Kathy Griffin was always so rapid fire. Yeah, but that's not you and like you the fact that you sort of go almost the opposite direction is even funnier that the amount of space that you can take in some characters is hilarious right but the problem is it's not even like a it's it's just i got nothing but yeah i know but that's all right flatlining at that moment don't give me credit because it's like i just i have like i don't even have thoughts that's your style yeah yeah it's just you just go brain

dead for a few seconds and then you come back around see i like that because when you say that's your style it looks like it's a chosen thing i like that you assume i chose i don't know that anyone chooses their style i think the best thing that can happen is you come into yourself and you know you find your confidence in whatever the hell it is that you are, and you just do that. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don't know that anyone, people who choose their style, that doesn't add up to much.

It's like a gimmick. Right, so it should be more called like accident. Accident that you are able to utilize. So did SNL ever come around? Yes. Yes, they did. They did. Yeah?

Yeah, and it was a very funny thing because what happened was we all flew out together. Who? Let's see. I think it was me and Chris Kattan. I saw him last night. Oh, did you?

Yeah, at the comedy store. Oh, really? He was doing some benefit show I was on. I hadn't seen him in a while. Saw him on a plane once. He seems okay. Yeah, he's a great guy, actually. He was a really, really nice,

he was really, really nice to everybody, I thought. Yeah, he seems like a nice guy. Yeah, I mean, I knew him quite well, too. You know, we dated for a while. Yeah? Back in the day? Yeah, the day. Boy.

Back in the day. Yeah. No, but. So you all flew out? Like, I have to say, he's one of those guys that you date and, like, you, like, you know, if people ever ask me about him, I'm like, it was, like, a really nice person. Yeah. It wasn't, like, you know, I don't have, you know, usually, you know if people ever ask me about him i'm like it was like a really nice person yeah it wasn't like you know i i don't have you know usually you know your exes you're like uh but he was he was really a really nice guy but um we all flew i was like me uh sherry o'terry will ferrell yeah i forget i think i forget if chris parnell was on that first trip

but anyway we all went out and auditioned. And I couldn't tell if it went really well. But there was a manager that actually, Lauren led into the auditions. Because he, I don't know how he got in. But anyway, he went. And he sort of reassured me that my audition went really well. But then we got back.

And then we were all told, we all got word at the same time that we were all going to be on hold for like three months. Yeah. I had just gotten a new agent at this small agency and he was like, you know, Jennifer, I got that phone call from Saturday Night Live today and they want to put you on hold for the next three months. Just like everybody else. And he was like, and I think that's outrageous. hold for the next three months whatever just like everybody else and he was like and i think that's outrageous and i'm gonna tell them that they either make up their mind today or we're you know we're not doing yeah we're not doing it or we're not doing it you know we're not doing we're out

he's like yeah he's like yeah he's like he's gonna Hardball. Yes, he did the hardball move or whatever. And of course, everyone else agreed. Everybody's people were just like, but my guy said no. And then of course, they were like, well, absolutely not. You can't wait. We're not making a decision. So that was that. Then two weeks later, I call my agency and I'm like, you know, can I speak to Jeff or whatever? And they're like, oh, yeah, Jeff is no longer with the agency.

And I'm like, he's not with the agency. And then I find out from another agent, he like, he went into his like his family's meat business. The guy who fucked your SNL up? Yeah. I mean, it just goes to show, now this is where, you know, I was in my 30s at this point, but this is where,

if I had just been smart, I would have just fixed this myself and called up and said, look, I had a crazy agent, made a bad decision. But it's so weird how you think everything is set, when back then everything was so big and dramatic and said, look, I had a crazy agent, made a bad decision. But it's so weird how you think everything is set. Back then, everything was so big and dramatic. And you're like, oh, I could have fixed that immediately and just said, yeah, I'm back in.

I'm back in. And you have three months to decide on me. Take your time. Yeah. Yeah. But you didn't. No. Take your time. Yeah. Yeah. But you didn't. No, because I, because, you know,

like so many mistakes I've made in my life, but that, just not having the guts to just, you know, they don't know what they're doing. It's a lot of these agents.

I mean, they're guessing too. They're like, no one knows. Like, I think a lot of the time we have to sort of take things under our own hands

and just fix them. Oh, absolutely. And just sit around and be like, and I hope it all works out yeah i mean i hope they all you know well you immediately surrender so much power to these representatives because you assume they know but a lot of times they're just trying to get in their own traction yeah and they're just like you know feeling their own way and then you just get

you don't even know what they do when you're not there. Like, you know, why didn't I get that? Like, no, you weren't right. But they might have thrown you under the bus. You never fucking know. No. Yeah. No, you know, plus I love how people get really confident. And they're like, let me tell you how we're going to do it.

We're going to tell them. We're going to tell them. You are not going to wait. But then what happens is it's like it's their performance for five minutes. And then they're like, I don't even know if I feel comfortable talking like this, but it sounds right. But you know what I really want to do? I want to go into the meat business. The meat business.

And then you're like, ah, shattered dreams. But anyway, it all worked out because. It's so funny because of all businesses, like that's the agent. the guy you put your head your career in in the hands of that guy and it's like the meat business yeah is it like it was just it was that or the meat business yeah his family's meat business but i mean you know he you know he did all you know you realize like people when you're an actor like a lot of people like they're the reason you get a job or you don't get a job. Yeah. Absolutely.

You're in their hands. So what happens? That never came back around, I'm guessing? No, it didn't. No, that's not true. I think I flew in one other time and tried to take a meeting with Lauren. There was one time I flew in just for a personal meeting. How was that?

It was fine. Actually, i thought it went pretty well but i don't know i think at that point i'd kind of lost my i don't know you have all your friends and everyone's trying to get into this thing i don't know it's sort of i feel like the moment had passed oh yeah and um and so i went back to the ground he said i was just doing some shows there and then christopher guest came to one of the shows. And then my life sort of went that way. And actually, I think in certain ways, it was probably better for someone like me. Right.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I was like, could be like a Tina Fey where you're just, you know, writing these sketches for 18 hours a night and coming up with i think of like what she was like writing all that stuff and creating it all and acting and i don't think i would have been able to it might have crushed you i don't think i could have done it to be honest i would i think i would have failed i don't think i would have you know i think i wasn't maybe not built for it and you hadn't done were you doing like like little walk

on shit uh yeah like well actually i got my my sort of big break was i got an episode assigned It wasn't, maybe not built for it. And you hadn't done, were you doing like little walk-on shit? Yeah. Like, well, actually, I got, my sort of big break was I got an episode of Seinfeld. And then that same day I booked Seinfeld, I got this series called She TV, which was like a woman's sketch show. And that died very quickly. But then I think, yeah, really Seinfeld started. Then somehow I got American Pie and all of that stuff. Do you think you were getting typecasted at some point? Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, that's what happens. You get like 12 scripts on your doorstep, and they're all the same lady. The weird, sexy lady? I guess, you know, sort of, yeah, like Trophy, W trophy wife girls was happening a lot and then you know Legally Blonde sort of helped me get a little bit out of that because she was sort of like you know the sort of the loser girl yeah not the you know right and and that helped a little bit but um I don't know I think my biggest mistake is just not really just sort of making my own stuff try to you know going that route where I was I think my biggest mistake is just not really just sort of making my own stuff,

going that route where I was. I think I was always waiting around for people to give me. Take care of you? Yeah, I thought I would just find that perfect. I think that's kind of a fluke. I really do. Yeah, well, it's hard because especially when, like for me, because I had a lot of, like I was around a long time,

but it always seems that people have their ideas about you. And if you don't have a strong enough idea about yourself, you kind of believe them for a second. Oh yeah. That sounds good. Yeah. I'm that guy. Yeah. Yeah. I'm the, I'm the angry guy. Let me do that. And then like for years, I couldn't understand why I didn't get anything. It was like, cause I didn't know what the fuck I was. I don't know what, you know, really or what I was capable of or who I was. I just knew I never fit into the boxes people put me in. See, I wouldn't have really thought that about you. No, you always seem so overly confident.

Sometimes I feel like you would go on people's shows and it would become your show. Well, no, I can do that. But I didn't have a strong sense. Like I was so, everything's very present to me. You know what I mean? Like I feel the urgency of the moment. So like I would naturally do that. Like if I'm on Conan or if I'm on something,

like I'm going to go, let's go. There's no pausing. You know what I mean? I guess I think it's confidence, but it's also just being in the present. I'm not very calculating. I've gotten a little more calculating lately, more along the lines of like, hey, maybe you shut up now. How do you like that?

It's okay. It's not great, but I think it's a smart thing. Do you like it better? Do you like it better? Yeah, a little you know because like I I recently acted in something and I realized that I was right for the part but I just done four seasons of playing me and then I took this job and I auditioned for it I taped myself on the audition just because I'm like I can do this guy but the only thing I knew that was different because I have a wheelhouse I think you do too like I there's certain I'm like, I can do this guy. But the only thing I knew that was different, because I have a wheelhouse. I think you do too. Like I, there's certain,

I'm not going to learn a Russian accent. I'm not going to put on 30 pounds. I'm not going to play. You know, there's things I can do. And I know the limitations of my talent to some degree, but I knew I could play this guy, but he wasn't me because he wasn't neurotic. He was a little bitter,

but like I had to turn off all that weird self-reflection that dialogue which is really you know sort of what i do and i had shut it off for this guy and i was like well that's great if that's is that what acting is you just turn things off it's like or turn things on i think you're absolutely right i think to i think to act you do have to turn those voice that all the voices off and it's really really hard to do if that's who you are. Well, yeah, because that's what you think it is who you are. But I mean, theoretically, you're supposed to be becoming someone you're not at least a bit. Right.

I mean, I've always been confident, but it was always driven by a certain amount of panic. And I like talking to people. Like if you see me on a show and it feels like I'm taking over it's because like I'm so relieved to be talking to somebody like you know it's really that's the excitement it's like we're talking me and you yeah I'm usually thrilled you know you know that's what it is that's what it is about your stand-up and stuff it's like you seem really excited about to talk about something. Yeah.

You seem very excited, but not in any sort of, there's nothing false about it. Well, yeah, it's all very life and death for me. It's not very well planned usually. And sometimes I'm disgruntled or aggravated,

but I need the connection. So if there's a connection there. I guess you're, yeah, you're not insecure once you're talking. That's what it is because you really like you look like a little pea in a pod when you get going yeah yeah you look like

you're having a grand old time yeah if i'm connecting but if i'm just if i was just sitting here by myself it'd be different but i also like i i don't i don't know and it's weird i just went back to therapy today because i'm going to need it. You know, that my perception of me is not necessarily right. You know, because you get these things in your head that you run in your head all the time. And a lot of times they override, you know, decades of experience. You know, they're just old, weird shit. And like, you know, I done i'm very hard on myself and it's like i'm outside and even probably to myself i'm much more confident i'm a little more

grounded now you know like i'm good at what i do but there's a still part of you that's sort of like i don't know what i'm fucking doing yeah you do of course you do how could you not know what you're doing and i know like i know on most days what i'm doing well thank god you're not like a brain surgeon or something because like yeah i mean i mean or maybe maybe they have those moments too but i hope you they have them for just yeah you hope it's after the surgery but i like the you're as honest as you are about those about not knowing because i don't think a lot of people are honest about not knowing. I feel like a lot of people you speak to on a daily basis

really are pretty convinced they have it. They have it all figured out. A lot of people just don't have something. The new president is a very good example. Great example, yeah. He's a genius. Yeah. He new president is a very good example. Great example. Yeah. Where it's like. He's a genius.

Yeah. He thinks he's a genius. Yeah. But there's a lot of power to that in the way that like, if you really think you're a genius, it's amazing how that can really, you smart people, you know, I have a couple of smart friends that receive it as someone who really knows what they're doing. Sure. That guy seems to know what

he's doing yeah yeah well what when you started working with um well the american pie movies were a big hit for you but i mean i i've not interviewed christopher guest you know i've interviewed michael mckean and jane lynch and parker posey uh i've interviewed people in his films but that seemed for you to be like the like he seemed to really understand your talent and how to let you do what you do he saw something

yeah I mean look a lot of us wanted that like when we heard Best in Show was coming out a lot of people couldn't get into that audition or whatever but I think it's because he had come to the groundings I don't know how I really did get in. Catherine O'Hara told me she had mentioned. I interviewed her. She's great.

She's great. And I think she said she mentioned to him that she'd seen me at the ground. I don't know how. You never really quite get the scoop of how it all goes down. But I just think he likes women, which is, you know, not that common in the movie business where like a guy really wants to give a very big part to a woman. Yeah.

And, you know, a decent part and like lets you improvise and stuff. A lot of people are like, you know, Jennifer, just, you know, stick to the words here. Right. And this is someone that's like, doesn't hand you a script

and says just improvise. So that was pretty cool. Best in Show was the first one you did? Yeah. And I didn't expect to get it. And then it was such a good experience, just the whole thing, just meeting those people. Working with Jane. And working with Jane.

And Jane was really cool. Yeah. You know, we were hanging out in Vancouver and it was like there's something about making a movie outside of your element that makes it quiet things down a little it makes it 100%

better I think to leave your own world and so that was really cool we went up there and hung out for like 6 weeks or whatever so how many movies did you do with him? Three, two? Yeah, I think,

what is it? I had a very small part in Mighty Wind and then for your consideration. Oh yeah. And then a very, you know, a very small part in the latest one, Mascots. But,

but he really, I think just working with him really helped things. And, you know, I'm forever grateful to that guy. It's like him and Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz. There's like four guys in town that really helped me out. Because of American Pie, that was like four or five jobs. And Christopher Guest was four or five jobs. There's like four guys in town that have sort of kept me in the business yeah you know and you've been sober for all that time no

no i mean you go back to drink you know you do you know i didn't drink for like 13 years but eventually i did start drinking red wine again and came back around came back around and you know stuck now i'm snorting the red wine. Oh, good. Yeah. Well, at least it's not Coke. No. No. And yeah, so that, yeah.

Yeah, I did go back to red wine. How's that working out? It makes you skinny and it makes your skin really dewy. And it just makes you look better in every way. Good, good. I mean, it really, it improves your mind. Like, I find that,

you know, the more I drink, the more articulate I am. Yeah, that's usually what happens. Right? Oh yeah, all the time.

Yeah. Nothing better than talking to someone who's had three glasses of red wine. But the Two Broke Girls, that's like a regular gig. That's a real gig. That's a big show.

Yeah, yeah. How many seasons has that been going for you? This is six, yeah. My God. Yeah. And you're like on every one? Yeah. Good gig.

That is an amazing gig because it's that dream job. I wish I had a family because, you know, people always go like, now I can see my family. And I'm like, you know, who am I going to see? I'm sorry. Who am I running home to? You know, I mean, you know, I have some amazing dogs that I like to see, but you know, like people are like, oh, thank God. I guess, you know, I got time. Yeah. My time. Spend time with my, oh no. Yeah. But, uh, you know, I guess, you know. I got time. Yeah, my time. Spend time with my, oh, no. Yeah. But, you know, I mean, look, I have a pretty great life.

You know, it's pretty great. You know, especially, you know, I get the break of this town, like you and I were talking about. I get the break. I get to go to New Orleans whenever this town feels too claustrophobic. Are you enjoying yourself? Yes, I am. I am. Oh, good.

I really am. And did you ever do stand-up or you didn't? I did. I did, yeah. For like three years, I went around and sort of- Before Two Broke Girls. Yeah. Yeah, it was, yes.

And how was that for you, the stand-up? Yes. And how was that for you, the stand-up? Ah, you know, look. New Year's Eve, I went to see Amy Schumer, you know, because she was down in New Orleans. Yeah. And I went to see her show. Yeah.

And, you know, like, I'm not, you know, just her gift for, her gift for just being. Busting balls. Busting balls, but just being so precise and just skilled with her words. She knows her character. And just how she tells how the story is all sort of weave. I didn't ever have, I didn't have that. And, you know, I was doing this weird sort of, it wasn't really stand up what I was doing.

I was doing like story, I was telling stories and stuff. And, you know, look, if you're telling stories to a crowd that's drinking a lot, you know, where I'd... So you do comedy clubs. Yeah, which I don't know why my agent was putting me in these comedy clubs. And that really wasn't... Yeah. ...where I should have been.

You know, you go to, you know, Beth Lapidus gives you this amazing, you know... Oh, over at the Young Cabaret? Yeah. Oh, that's right. I saw you there. Yeah. You were in the audience one night. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I remember. Yeah, you were great that night. And then, yeah, but she would give you these great opportunities. You'd get up there and everything. And then you feel very funny. Cozy room. And you feel very funny. And then, of course, you know, no one in Vegas wants to hear your story.

About your dog or whatever. I don't know. I think, yeah, for Vegas. Actually, I think Vegas is a weird animal. I don't go there. And that's sort of where it ended. Yeah, it ended there. And I was sort, actually, I think Vegas is a weird animal and that's sort of where it ended. Yeah, it ended there and I was sort of like,

I really got to rethink this. But I think, I don't know. Is that like, do, you know. What? Do I like ever feel like I've just absolutely brought down the house? Like, you know, is that what I think I should, you know?

Yeah. I don't know. Well, it sounds like what happened was your agent's sort of like well people kind of know who she is let's see if she can sell some tickets at comedy clubs so you go out there and you you probably get some people who know who you are and then you get a bunch of people that just go to comedy clubs and then you got it you're up against that sort of like i don't get it where's that it's hard and then they don't want to hear this is the other thing and i would talk about how you know really a lot of what i used to talk about is like how i'm in a you know

unable to fire anybody that works for me or just how like my you know people that work for me are feel superior and all that stuff then you're like then you're telling like five or six stories in a row of like just how inferior you are and people are like then why did i just spend like 30 bucks on this ticket like you know i mean if you tell every bad dark story you have yeah um yeah people start to feel bad for you it's not the well or they they just like you're actually you're unselling the show in this weird like you actually i spend the whole like you know hour and a half like uns it's convincing them that you can't do the job. I'm the wrong choice for tonight.

Let me tell you how I am. Yes. So you got out of that. So I think, yeah, unless, you know, look, I think it also has a lot to do with who's guiding you and who's, you know,

I never really had any guidance. I'd ask my friend to get together a bunch of friends they'd all watch it and they're like it's fine you know it's like you never like you need that friend that goes get rid of that why are you telling that your house isn't any fun you should have done it in situate how yeah why are you in overalls what the fuck are you doing? No, yes, if I had only had some of those Boston people. To set you straight.

No one wants to hear that, Jennifer. Yeah, where are those? See, that's what you're missing in Hollywood. That's what you're missing. The people that just give it to you straight and go like, get rid of that. That's not funny. Yeah, it takes too long to tell that story. That's what you're missing. The people that just give it to you straight and go like, get rid of that. That's not funny. Yeah. It takes too long to tell that story.

I don't want to hear that you died at the end of the story. I don't know. That's funny. But I have to say that when I see someone doing what you do and what amy does and chris rock and all these people when people are like on fire there is nothing i'm more jealous about like you know it's like it is what a gift and when someone's killing it yeah it's so you just wow yeah so it's exciting and uh i like seeing it too sometimes i like when i'm doing it more than i like seeing it because don't you like it when you just feel like you have the room i you know because i was there

that night and on cab where you had you were like you know certainly i've seen you do other stuff you did later in and on conan and everything but and you kill on that but you must know when it's going incredibly well right and you just i know when i'm connecting yeah yeah doesn't it feel amazing yeah but i'm still hard on myself i'm sort of like that thing but i'll usually say it out loud now like i'll do a bit that gets a pretty good laugh and and i'll sometimes just like out loud go like that needs a little more i think like i was in the moment yeah in the moment you're thinking that no i'll say it right then i'll be like i'm hoping that punchline will come up like i know it's funny as it is but doesn't have like

it doesn't really have an ending but but i thank you for being here for this part of it but see this is the thing i feel like sometimes when you you know when i start to go where i'm like uh-oh this isn't going well whatever i go into a full-on panic mode. And the weird thing is I see, I feel sometimes, it's going to go wrong. I feel like sometimes when I'm watching it, I'm like, where is this going? It's not really going. And then you do this amazing save like it was never going to go wrong. Sometimes those are real saves.

Wow. Those are the moments. That's my style of improv like you know like oh this is going nowhere and then at the end of it just be like oh that didn't work well for any of us no but i really i haven't seen you have i haven't really seen you have one of those where it doesn't work out at all i haven't seen you have maybe you, you know, I mean, you can pull one up. Maybe, I don't know. But I've seen it look like it's like you do, I always feel like you sort of know where it is, where it's going as opposed to someone like me. I never really knew where I was going. Well, I leave a lot of room for like, you know,

I leave room now, you know, like I don't, like I'm not trying to get anywhere in terms of like career wise. So like I know, like I've got a bit of an audience and I like new trying to get anywhere in terms of career-wise. So I know I've got a bit of an audience, and I like new things to happen. I like whatever performance I'm doing to be its own thing. So I have things I'm working on, but I'm so relieved if I can find the freedom of mind to just go.

And that's how new things happen, and that's how new things happen and that's how you know like real moments occur and i really i i i live for those to have the freedom to do that and the only thing that stops that is fear but sometimes you know you have those runs with that stuff and like i've got a relationship with my audience now like i'll do a professional show but there sometimes i'll do like two hours and there will be moments where i'm like you know i'll do a professional show but there sometimes i'll do like two hours and there will be moments where i'm like you know i'll do something and it's good and i'll just say like oh man i gotta gonna work on that one so nice that's so uh i wish i see it's all right

it's a work in progress no i like that because it's it's uh it doesn't get any more honest than that it's just yeah you know and they you know it's like i know that there are people like when you watch someone kill with an hour and i've done that like the the last the last special i did like it was tight and i knew it had callbacks i knew where it was going to end and it all worked together and it was like i rehearsed it and i did it and i worked it and that feeling of like it's going to kill every time you want to be killing every time yeah i like that okay but i like it better when i'm like oh i don't know what's gonna happen out there i like that better you do see i do but like you know it is riskier that's why you're that's why you are doing it that's why i

couldn't i just didn't I couldn't handle that. I didn't like those people. If someone in the front row was not having a good time, I couldn't handle that. It's like that person, because I would never want to be like a hairdresser where someone goes, this haircut sucks.

I hate it. And you know what? I'm going to cry right now. Actually, I can't go to school because this is so ugly. You know, like, I never want to be that person where someone thinks I gave them a service that sucked. But a lot of times, like, again, because, you know, I do the same thing. And I did it for years. And I had to do those rooms for a long time as an unknown comic.

You know, looking at disappointed people or looking at people that aren't laughing. But a lot of times when you focus in on that dude who's sitting up front with the sad face, you know, your assumption is like, I'm not getting through, but he could be sitting there going like, oh, my dog died today. You don't fucking know. And, and sometimes when I talk to Stuart Lee, who's a British comic, he is just, he used to be furious about it, about that, like, you know, that he couldn't get through or that they were too dumb or what they weren't getting him. And he shifted at some point to sort of like, hey, you know what? This is probably wasn't the best choice for you this evening with me.

That's really brilliant because, you know, there's nothing worse than when like, you know, you go out on a date with someone and they just absolutely don't have any interest in you. And then you like tell a girlfriend later and you're like, he didn't even look up from his dinner. Like you're like, he just, he had no interest. And then the girlfriend always said, there's always this cliche answer that girls always give other girls. And they go, you know what, Jennifer? He was just intimidated. He was intimidated.

He was just intimidated. He was intimidated. And then you're like, well, we can all go through our lives and just go like, this whole world is intimidated by me. I mean, all these people that are looking down at their car keys right now are just intimidated. But I feel like that's like, that's so easy way out. Yeah, right. It lets you off the hook. Yeah. Because it's like uh it still leaves

you with your self-respect right yeah yeah i don't know you know like you know with audiences it's like who the fuck knows and then it gets to a point where it's sort of like what's the worst that could happen they had a bad night out were they going to tweet at me that i sucked you know like yeah you're right you're right yeah it's like that's the weird thing that you learn too like when you know because i'm friends with louis you did you were in pootie tang right yeah i was in pootie tang yeah you know i've known louis a long time and you start to realize you know when you see these guys that are out there hammering away for big money you know big crowds you know that you know they can do uh an okay show and that's enough as long as

the show's tight right like you know the part of the job is that you know you don't bomb but some nights are going to be better than others and some nights are just gonna you know the laughs are only going to go up to here they're not going to kill you know but you got them and that's just the way that's going to go that is really the worst feeling it's actually worse than bombing is that when you bomb you're like oh this is going to be fucking awful for an hour but i know what you know i what's up, and that doesn't happen too often. But when you get them laughing, but every joke is like a fucking uphill climb.

Like they never kind of cross to the level where you can just roll. It's just sort of like you put a lot of energy into a bit, and it's just sort of like, ha, ha, ha. Okay. I'm like, what? Can't you just roll it? Can't you just keep going? know i'm gonna that that's

the most frustrating because then you know i i have to go i gotta go out next week and you know you have to do that you have to go do that well my hour is not so tight but it's good you know but it's like you know and usually like if i'm not tight i'll end up doing like an hour and a half you know just so they get their money's worth even if it was you know inconsistent i go through periods where the fear is gone but then it's always sort of like oh i gotta go do it i'm not afraid to be on stage and i you know i know that i i live up there which was a great gift that happened recently that there's part of me that's excited to do it but like you know if i think too much about it which i haven't

in years about like you know what if it doesn't go good you really feel that you feel that that's sometimes yeah not not more lately because like i'm intimidated by you know this uh by the the shift in the tone of culture because of the presidential election i know i know i know i guess and you know understand i I totally understand, actually. And all the people are coming to see me. But then before, it's like, hey, it's going to be fun. But now it's a feeling like depending where you are, it's sort of like, thank God you're here

because this is all of us. We're all here. Right. Make us feel better. Right. Extra pressure. Yeah. It's a big adventure.

This will be, this will be. Yeah, that's a, that's a okay diplomatic way to put it. Yeah. It's definitely going to be a big adventure or a very scary ride. Well, it's great to talk to you. Yes. I've been informed that your ride's outside. Oh, how do you do see it?

From reading the screen? I just got a, yeah, I put the text up here. Oh, thank you. Thank you. You feel good? Yeah, thank you for having me. It was really nice. That's great.

I'm glad you're doing okay. It was, it was great. I liked meeting her. That was nice for her to stop by. I always wanted to meet her. Go to WTFpod.com for all your WTFpod needs. And, uh, guitar.

Woo. Yeah. Huh? What? Okay. A little. A little. I'm just, uh, sticking with the same setup, really. I don't even want to talk about this guitar I'm playing now. This is the best fucking guitar I've ever had.

It's pretty new. It was given to me. And I love it. I don't want to betray it by even talking about it or saying its name. Thank you. Boomer lives! Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations,

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