Your thing is anime.
There's a new show called "My Hero Academia".
Every time you say a title of one of these shows you smirk
on how ridiculous it sounds.
Cause, I know it is! I really know it is!
[laughter]
Welcome to "What's Ur Thing?"
This is where I talk to celebrities about their things.
The things they're obsessed about.
Their hobbies, their passions. Today's guest,
Sam Richardson.
The star of "Veep", "Detroiters", and the new show,
"Champagne ILL".
And he's a great comedian and a fantastic improviser
from Detroit. We're going to get to his thing, which is anime
and a whole bunch of other shit right now.
♪♪
Welcome to the show, ladies and gentlemen.
Today's guest is responsible for some of
the funniest television in the last 10 years.
I need everyone to give a round of applause to Sam...
Sam Richardson. Sam Richardson.
[cheering]
Thank you.
What?
I love your show, "Veep".
[laughter]
I'm kidding.
You know I'm kidding, right?
No, I knew.
I'm a big fan of yours, Sam.
Thank you for being here.
Thanks for having me, man.
Really appreciate it.
Now, this show's about your thing,
but now your thing is anime. Which is?
Animated television.
Which is, I think, a little disturbing.
Well, there's a difference between anime and Hentai.
Right, I was just thinking that.
And many people get into one because of the other.
Right.
Because you're like, "Oh, I'm watching these animated
characters fight. I'm gonna watch them have sex".
Well, now, now, I'm interested, Sam.
Why don't we have them like sit around
and just talk to each other?
Hold on.
Save that thought.
I want to talk about your latest projects first.
First, "Champagne ILL".
Yeah.
What is this? This is a show on Youtube?
On Youtube Premium.
"Champagne ILL" stars me, Adam Pally,
it has Jay Pharoah in it.
It's about two members of an entourage.
Two crew members of an entourage
who all of a sudden have to deal with
losing that world.
It's like "Entourage" after the fact.
Right.
So these guys have to come back home to their
home town and pick up life where they left
off after they left for 15 years.
Something happens where they don't
live that entourage life anymore.
Exactly. Something happens.
Now, are you making fun of hip hop in this show?
Because, you know, I come from hip hop.
No, it certainly is not making fun of hip hop.
It's a celebration, in fact.
Because like it takes place in the world of,
you know, what if you are part of this world,
but then like that world is removed from you.
Right, unexpectedly.
Unexpectedly.
And so like you're no longer surrounded by those people
and the things that you like.
And then they move back to a small town, and the things
that you took for granted are now very strange
to everyone else around you.
Because you also have a show called "Detroiters".
Yes.
And that's why I wore this jacket.
Oh, yes.
No, it's actually a disrespectful thing
I'm about to say.
Ok.
I don't want too much of your Detroit-ness getting on me,
so I wore protective layer.
You see what I'm saying?
I see.
Cause, I've been there a couple times
and I got a little nervous.
Yeah.
I got a little scared.
You weren't tough enough?
And I know something about towns that have numbers. K?
What direction of number does it get whiter?
Is it higher up or is it the lower numbers?
It is higher up.
Higher.
The higher up you go, when you get to like.
22 mile?
22 mile, good luck.
[laughter]
And then is your role in "Veep"
your breakout role, you think?
I think so.
That's where I first saw you.
And you're a show stealer.
I appreciate that.
From some very talented people.
How much do you compare what
you did on Veep to what we like to call,
today's actual government.
You notice the significance?
There is a shocking amount of parallels.
It's really scary.
It really is scary.
Because what it's done for comedic effect
on the show is done for actual governing in real life.
Actual legislation.
We're in trouble!
It's bad, man.
It really is. It really is.
How's Julia? She's cool?
Julia is like legitimately the best person.
Does she talk about "Seinfeld" a lot?
She was on "Seinfeld".
A very underrated show.
Unknown.
You watch "Seinfeld"?
I love "Seinfeld".
You watch "Martin"?
Oh, of course.
Both?
"Martin" took place in Detroit. Ha!
Oh, I didn't know that.
That's right. What's up, what's up, what's up?
That's probably why I didn't like it.
You didn't like Martin?
Boo this man!
[crowd boos]
BOO!
Oh, stop it.
BOOO!
That's only the black people booing.
White people don't even know what "Martin" is.
Martin Scorsese?
No, there's a thing.
I know you're a true comedy connoisseur
if you like Martin AND Seinfeld.
I hear you're an improviser.
Yes.
I don't know if you know this about me, Sam,
but I am one of the best.
Oh.
Where did you study the improvs?
I studied improv at Second City in Detroit.
DETROIT! City!
And then I worked at Second City in Detroit
and then moved to Chicago to work on the main stage
at Second City.
See, I'm a UCB guy.
Oh yeah.
So you and I are in an improv family.
You live with mom. I live with dad.
Exactly, exactly.
We meet for Christmas.
But I don't fuck with you like that.
I understand. I see Mom's got a boyfriend around too.
[laughter]
Your partner on your show, "Champagne ILL",
that's Adam Pally.
Adam Pally, yes.
That's a UCB guy.
He's a UCB cat.
Is that alright?
Are you guys allowed to mix like that?
No, no, there's a partnership between the two.
You know, it's like Danny Glover and...
Donald Glover?
Donald Glover.
When they finally came together to make
"The Glovers" on Fox.
What happens when Danny Glover?
[laughter]
And Crispin Glover shows up?
The reason why I'm talking about this so much is
because improv is my thing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know the show's "What's Ur Thing?"
We're going to get to your cartoons in a second.
[laughter]
Anime!
Thank you so much for being here today on
"What's Ur Thing?"
Thanks for having me, sir.
My show is about people that excel in one thing
must have a hobby or an obsession or something
they do on the side that they love to do.
Yours is anime.
I love anime.
Break it down to me.
What is anime?
Anime is Japanese animation.
And you love this?
I love it.
Do you like it more than regular cartoons or American cartoons?
Like, I mean, I grew up watching things like "Thundercats"
and that holds like a nostalgic part of my.
Who's the black Thundercat?
Panthro.
No, he was purple.
He was purple.
Racist!
Oh, but Earle Hyman Jr., who was the grandpa on
"The Cosby Show" is the voice of Panthro.
So, there's different types of anime.
There's different types of anime.
And what I like about anime is honestly,
about animation in general, it's the biggest ideas,
but they can be drawn so you can like see them.
Like they changed physics in a way that you could
never do in real life.
Okay.
You know.
That's what I like about all animation.
There doesn't need to be a budget.
You can have a show about five robot lions that
form a giant robot.
You don't have to worry about how it's going to get made.
Exactly.
You can just do it.
So fantasy is much easier to come to life in
the anime world.
Exactly.
At what kind of anime are you into?
I'm into action anime and like action comedy ones.
Like when one show I've been watching right now.
It's an old one, but it's, it's called "One Piece."
Oof yes.
My research shows that you've watched 600 episodes.
Out of like about 800 in about four months.
It's about a band of pirates.
And they eat these things called devil fruits and it
gives them powers.
And Monkey D. Luffy wants to be the king of the pirates.
It's very good.
[laughter]
Is there like a stigma to being into anime?
There is entirely!
Super nerd.
Also, I only watch them in Japanese because the
rhythm and the acting in Japanese is always so much
better than like the american translation.
Really?
Anime is so amazing with its timing.
Like both action timing and like its comedic timing.
And like there's something lost in translation every time.
But it's written in subtitles.
Oh, you read the subtitles.
But then like once you watch it enough, not that
I'm saying like, "Watch enough and you'll learn Japanese!"
No, it's not that.
But you can start to get the rhythm of it, you know.
And you start to recognize phrases and stuff like that.
So you'd rather that than the dubbed version where
they put the american voice.
They got Subs Vs Dubs.
It's like an anime war.
You know, somebody like insist on subs!
Some people insist on dubs.
I'm subs all the way.
No dubs, no dubs.
So that's like the gang violence.
That's the gang violence in anime world.
Dubs or Subs, huh?
Uh huh.
Are these like seasons?
Uh, yeah.
There's like seasons.
Like there's a new show called "My Hero Academia",
which is like now just got released in the states and
it's like, now it's like very...it's like maybe the
most popular new show.
And you was already on it.
I was already on it.
Cause I'm, you know, I'm on it.
I'll be honest with you, Sam, every time you say a
title of one of these shows you smirk on how
ridiculous it sounds.
Cause I know it is.
I really know it is.
There's "One Punch Man".
That's a popular one.
What?
"One Punch Man!"
Huh?
I thought I just heard that, or was the my own echo?
What's "One Punch Man"?
[laughter]
"One Punch Man" is the story of Saitama,
who one day decided to be a superhero.
And now he's depressed because every fight he gets
in he can win in one punch and he's looking for a challenge.
Like it's a comedy.
Right.
So, no matter what challenges, one punch and it's over.
He's like depressed because he can't.
Yeah, sorry, I hear all the vaginas in the room
just drying up.
I don't know if you noticed.
You can hear that?
[laughter]
You might be an anime character.
That's my power?
Exactly.
Doink!
[shriveling sound]
[laughter]
So you're going to create an anime story right now.
Okay.
So, I'm going to show you some stock anime.
Okay.
Some stock anime.
And you give me the name, description, the start.
And I'm making these up as I see them?
Yeah, the trailer of what the anime show would be.
Ani-make This Up!
Okay.
This show is called "Wolfsbane".
Yeah, that's Wolfsbane.
Lutama was born from a wolf, but he's a human and
is now trying to incorporate himself into
American or Japanese society as a big time executive.
Right.
At a cracker factory.
Okay and the "Wolfsbane" is the show?
"Wolfsbane" cause he still has wolf tendencies.
Right.
But wolves don't like crackers.
How is he going to sell them?
"Wolfsbane."
What about these guys?
Oh, these guys.
So these were his cousins Bing Li and Bing Lo.
So they were, they were born as wolves,
but they're wearing human costumes because that's
how they get into the city, but they can't help
but act like wolves because they are wolves.
Ohhhh.
Alright.
That is Mr. Fiddle's and that is his boss.
[laughter]
Mr. Fiddle's is his boss?
And it is a cat.
Not really a big character on the show.
Just once in a while.
Every now and then it's like "Mr Fiddles is coming"
and like a cat walks by and everybody's like, "Oh shit."
Then it gets this, this feels evil.
This feels evil.
Oh crap.
That's Genghis Vaughn.
Genghis Vaughn is his hairstylist, but he has a
gun that shoots hair and so he shoots hairstyles on him.
Right.
But they are always a little bit bad.
The hairstyle.
The hairstyles.
Okay, last one.
Who are these guys?
Oh man.
Come on.
These are the page boys of the office.
Right.
Will and Bill.
Right.
They....
Oh, I know these guys!
You know Will and Bill?
These are the guys, they watched too many
Clint Eastwood westerns.
Uh huh.
And they try to, uh, bring western life into the office.
Into the office with hilarious results.
[laughter]
One episode they brought a gun into the office and
they had to evacuate the building.
Yeah.
But not the main guy cause he thought he was
getting a haircut.
Exactly.
And he got shot.
Remember that time he got shot?
He got shot!
It was so good!
Oh no!
In Japanese it's different.
Yeah.
Well Sam, thank you so much for creating this
whole anime world.
Give it up for him, ladies and gentlemen.
[cheering]
Thank you.
Jeez oh Pete, that was fun!
Shout out to Sam Richardson for coming
through and creating an anime with us.
Starring a wolf boy who works for a cat boss.
What?
It's already been greenlit on Netflix.
[speaks Japanese]
Hai!