How you doin'?
Good.
Now, uh, is this Saturday Night Live thing,
this is still pretty new for you.
This is, this is very exciting.
This must have been a dream of yours for a long time.
Yes, yeah.
I was at The Groundlings in Los Angeles.
Doing improv out there, I know that place.
Yeah.
Okay, so your family must be over the top
crazy thrilled that you're doing Saturday Night Live.
Yeah, they're, they're very excited.
It's still hasn't quite hit them I don't think-
Right.
That I'm on the show and that I actually have a job.
Right.
(audience laughter)
They may watch it but they still sorta can't believe it.
Yeah, like when I, when I called my dad to tell him
that I was coming on your show,
I was like, Oh, I'm so excited.
I'm gonna be on Conan, Oh, my gosh.
And he was like, "Oh," he's like, "That's so great."
He's like, "For what?"
(audience laughter)
I was like, I'm gonna be,
I'm gonna be a guest on the show,
I know, I can't believe it.
And he was like, "Oh, um, alone?"
(audience laughter)
"Like, just by yourself?"
Why would they have you?
That's not right.
Your dad has to get behind this thing.
He must be a big fan of Conan, huh?
He loves you.
Yeah, that's great.
(laughter)
"Whose this Conan O'Brien anyway? It's on pretty late."
Now you started out in Los Angeles.
I did the same thing.
I graduated from college and I went right
to Los Angeles to try and get into show business.
You started in L.A. as well?
Yes, I was actually in school in Arizona
and I moved to L.A. kind of quick decision.
I didn't tell my parents I was leaving,
um, moving to LA.
So, it's like you ran away?
No, no.
I was in Arizona and I just wanted to go
and I was scared to tell my parents, so I just didn't.
And then I went out there
and I got a job at the Hollywood Hot Dog Company.
The Hollywood Hot Dog Company?
What is the Hollywood Hot-
Is that like a hotdog stand?
No, it's-it's a restaurant.
It was a restaurant, it's not there anymore,
but it was in Beverly Hills and it was like, a little-
I'm surprised it failed.
(laughter)
It's a restaurant that's called The Hot Dog Company?
The Hollywood Hot Dog-
It was like gourmet hot dogs and-
What's a gourmet hot dog?
(laughter)
I don't know.
I'm just curious.
Good pork.
(laughter)
"This hot dog is made with the finest pork."
Do they like take it-
they open up a little silver tureen.
Yes, yes, they did, yeah.
Wow, incredible.
So uh, and did people-
were people excited for you working at the Hot Dog Company?
Well, the, yeah,
rumors kind of went around back home that I'd moved
to L.A. and that I worked at a hot dog stand
in the city, that I had my own hot dog stand.
So I had to clear that up.
I was like, no, it's, it's a, it's a hot dog restaurant.
And it's very-
(laughter)
different.
You don't understand, man.
Yeah, they have fancy sauces,
and Jon Lovitz came in once, so.
(laughter)
Fancy sauces.
Yeah, I don't know.
Like a ketchup sauce.
(laughter)
A sauce made of mustard seeds, yeah.
(laughter)
So you worked for a long time
at this restaurant and then you, how did you like break in?
Did you break in commercials?
I, I did do some commercials.
I, because, you know, when you move there
you have to have your headshot and your resume.
And my resume was, was, there was nothing on it.
It looked like a flyer
like, just my name and like two things.
Well, some people list all kinds of skills
on their resume when they want to be an actor
or a comedian, they say crossbow, you know, good at running.
And I can, I can high dive, things like that.
Yeah, but that can also get you in trouble because my,
it was the, my second commercial audition
and my agent called me and she said, she's like,
"Oh, I got this audition came in
but I need to know, are, are you a dancer?"
Right.
And I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm a dancer.
I'm not a dancer.
And she knew that cause she said, "Are you sure?"
Well, it's also the way you answered the question
would be a giveaway.
"Are you a dancer?"
Yeah.
Dancing, that thing you said I do.
(laughter)
I do it everyday.
Yes, um, I, I went, I went to the audition
and it was a room full of dancers
and they had their leotards on and their hair in buns.
And I had like sweat pants and like running shoes on.
I should not have been there.
You were like showing up for the Rocky audition, yeah.
(laughter)
I was like, doing little stretches,
like two second quad stretches
while they had their leg up by their, um-
And I went into the room and, and,
I was terrified, very nervous.
And the woman was like,
"Okay, well this is a promo
and you are gonna be a flame.
So we want you to start out
like crouched down and, and kind of like do a turn."
They wanted people to act like they were a flame?
Yes.
What was this ad for?
I don't know, it was like a promo for something.
Flame broiled burgers.
(laughter)
We can't show you an actual flame,
so we'll show a woman dancing.
Right.
That's very strange.
Yeah, yeah.
So I, I like got,
I like got down on the ground and I like had my hands
over my face to be very, you know, dramatic.
Flame-like.
Very flame-like and I just, it, it was like three seconds.
I just basically, just like, stood up and,
and just put my arms out.
(laughter)
And I like remembered the flame,
so I went like that and then at the end,
I just wanted to finish it off,
so I was just like-
(laughter)
That's how, that's how I did it.
You're like, "I did it!"
I did it.
This is more of a mushroom, I think, than flame.
I think flame, I would do this if I was a flame.
(laughter)
Is that turning you on?
That's a flame right there.
(laughter)
That's a wildfire plane, that's what I would do.
I didn't do that.
I would've gotten that part, I tell you right now.
(laughter)
I'd been in a leotard doing this.
I never would have gotten this job.
(laughter)
Your life took a different course.
Yeah, it would have just all fallen apart for me.