-I want to talk about "Sack Lunch Bunch,"
because it's just -- if you're on --
if you have -- if you're on Netflix...
-If you're currently on Netflix...
-Then it's impossible that you're watching me.
[ Laughter ]
You might have two screens in your home, I don't know.
If you're lucky enough to have a dual screen.
-Yeah -You have to check this out.
"John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch."
I don't know how to describe it except
it's you and very talented kids.
-Yeah, we had a group of 15 like 8- to 13-year-olds.
-Yeah. -And we do a bunch of songs,
and we had some sketch comedy,
and we talked about existential fears with them.
[ Laughter ]
And that's as good as I could ever describe it.
-Yeah, it's something I've never seen before
and something I didn't know that I needed until I saw it,
and I go, "This is unbelievably fantastic."
-Well, thank you. -I absolutely loved it.
And I love the cameos that you got.
The celebrities you got to come in are --
It's an odd group of people, and I loved every single choice.
-Oh, thank you. I mean, David Byrne,
who's on "Saturday Night Live" with me this week, did a song.
-Crushes. -And -- Oh, Jake Gyllenhaal came
and did a character --
-How did you get Jake Gyllenhaal to do that?
-I don't -- I don't know. [ Laughter ]
-He was fantastic. -Because I didn't know him.
And 'cause he's a movie star. Right?
-Yeah. -So, someone sent him the script
of this character called Mr. Music.
And Mr. Music is trying to teach the kids
that you can find music anywhere,
but everything he tries, he can't make a sound.
So he's like, "When you tap a pen on a paperback book..."
Tt-tt.
"Not too loud, but you get the point."
And he's like -- [ Laughter ]
So we write it kind of like a calypso song.
And I remember Netflix was like, "Who do you want for this?"
And I was like, "Ideally, Harry Belafonte in 1961."
And they were like, "Please work with us.
Please work with us." [ Laughter ]
-Yeah, it's hard to happen. -And so, the director and I,
Rhys Thomas, who also worked up at "Saturday Night Live,"
and Marika Sawyer, who I worked with there,
and we're all there, and we go,
"Who would be the best Mr. Music?"
And we all look at each other and we go,
"Jake Gyllenhaal would be the best Mr. Music."
Because we'd seen this movie "Okja" that he did on Netflix.
-Oh, yeah, I loved that. -And I remember when he hosted
"Saturday Night Live," he sang for his monologue,
"I'm Telling You I'm Not Going," from "Showgirls."
-♪ And I'm telling you ♪ -Yeah.
-And he crushed it. -No, he like --
It's more good than you want it to be.
-Yeah. -Yeah, and so we said, like,
"That guy's nuts." You know?
Like, I'd seen him in "Sunday in the Park with George,"
the musical, and I remember watching him and I was like,
"Oh, man, I'm never gonna be an actor.
That guy thinks he's the person.
Like, he's out of his mind. This is great," you know?
So we sent him the script, and he called me.
He's like, "Hey, I really like Mr. Music."
And I was like, "Oh, thank you."
[ Laughter ]
It was immediately like, "Oh, my God.
It's Jake Gyllenhaal." [ Laughter ]
So he said, "How do you want me to play him?"
And I said, "Honestly, Mr. Gyllenhaal,
we want you to make any choice that you want."
And he went, "Oh. Okay."
And he knew that that meant go real big.
So he came in, and we gave him this suit
with a xylophone on it.
and he said, "How should I play it?"
And I said, "Well, you are our first choice,
but our real first choice was Harry Belafonte in 1961."
And he said, "Should I play it Caribbean?"
And I said, "That's probably not a good idea."
[ Laughter ]
He said, "Why don't I play it like I'm from somewhere
in Europe, and I want to be from the Caribbean."
And I was like, "You're a genius."
And so he did, yeah. -And he hit a home run.
I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Jake Gyllenhaal and John Mulaney
in "The Sack Lunch Bunch." Take a look at this.
♪ 'Cause there is music here, music there ♪
♪ Music, music everywhere ♪
♪ Use your ears, be aware ♪
♪ You're making music everywhere! ♪
Whoo!
♪ Even a cat can bat a tune ♪
Do it. [ Laughter ]
Go ahead.
[ Chuckles ]
♪ Or take a pudding cup and put in a spoon ♪
♪ Then when you pull it out ♪
♪ Then when you pull it out... ♪
I did this last night, and it made a sound.
-What kind of sound did it make?
-Like a squishy sound, like a butt!
-Maybe if you tap it -- -No! You talked over it!
It just made the noise!
[ Cheers and applause ]