When I first got to know you, it was,
well, this is a former Second City guy
who probably was interested in sketch comedy
and then got into very quickly when you
came out to LA. Yeah.
You got that "Walking Dead" gig, right?
So quick, so quick.
Like within a matter of months.
Yeah.
Literally in like half, six months, I got that.
Did you have any disappointment before you got that gig?
I did.
I had, I was out for pilot season
and I had auditioned for this network pilot
that I got to the last stage.
It was me and this other guy, and I didn't get it.
And I was like, decimated that day.
I was, I think I've told this story, but like
I was eating at a IHOP by myself and like.
Well, that's, first of all,
that's a sign of trouble right away.
(guests laughing)
That's up there with drinking alone.
You can't do an IHOP alone.
Not by yourself.
Give me all the pancakes.
All of them.
It was, it was--
Mr. Yeun, please, all of them!
It was not great.
And so, yeah, I got a phone call there
saying I didn't get it.
And I thought it was done.
And then, you know, two months later,
the thing that I couldn't have gotten if I had gotten
original thing. Yes.
Yeah.
So I don't know.
After that, I just stopped.
I mean, I still bug out, but I stopped like forcing it.
Well, you know, this hits on one of the great lessons
I try to impart to people, which is,
and I've said this many times, but I keep repeating it
because I think it's so elemental and true.
There are these disappointments that you hit along the way
and, you know, believe I've said this,
but I was convinced it was my destiny to be a writer
for "Late Night with David Letterman."
Like that is the key.
And it almost feels like "Lord of the Rings."
If I don't, I need to cross that bridge
to get to the other side.
I'm just trying to pull Gourley in.
I need to cross that bridge.
(Sora laughing)
I love bridges.
(everyone laughing)
Hates, by the way, hates all Tolkien
and "Lord of the Rings," but any kind of bridge talk.
Loves bridges.
Oh man.
We talked for an hour about the Triborough the other day.
We're doing suspensions next week.
We are, we'll get to it.
We'll get to it.
That's next week.
I'm sorry, just excited.
It's next week. Gees.
It's next week, and I have the specs you asked for.
Thank you.
But no, it felt like the only way to get to the magic land
is I need to be doing for Dave.
I need to be a writer on that show
and I need to do some performing on that show.
And that's, I just felt that that was the thing
that had to happen.
And when it didn't happen, I thought, "Well, that's it."
Now, if I later on helicopter route, I call it Google Earth,
if you pull way out and look at your whole life,
if that had happened,
I would not have worked for Lorne Michaels
who would not have noticed me and thought,
"Hmm, maybe that idiot could be a talk show host."
None of that would've ever happened.
If the thing I wanted it, you know, and to happen happened.
So, I wouldn't change a thing.
And that includes a lot of missteps
and disasters along the way.
But people need to know that.
They need to know that
because in that moment, when you're sitting in an IHOP.
Yeah.
And you get that call.
Yeah.
And you just look at the waitress and go like, "More!
More syrup, more."
Wait, I go to an IHOP alone every morning.
What am I doing wrong?
You're doing right.
No, no, no.
You're doing you. Okay.
That's you.
It's not sad when you do it.
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay.
For me, it's a celebration to go to IHOP alone.
Well now you have twins.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Going anywhere alone, I mean, you've been through this.
You have two young kids.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I am no longer in that boat.
My kids are teenagers, but when they were little
if someone said, we have an iron maiden here, you know,
we're gonna lock you in it.
And spikes are gonna go into your flesh.
I would say, "Would I be alone?"
(guests laughing)
Well, yeah.
So my kids wouldn't be with me?
No.
Okay!
Clang!
Mr. O'Brien, we're supposed to lock you in it.
You're not supposed to jump into it and shut it behind you.
I said no calls.
I said no calls!