Welcome, Nick Offerman.
Welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Thank you, Trevor.
I-I've been watching you, and I'm so grateful to see you.
It's good to see you, you know,
still as a human being, functioning, enjoying yourself.
You know? I see... I see the beard is coming alive.
You're enjoying it. Well, how's quarantining treating you?
Well, we're-we're hanging in there, you know.
It's, um...
We're-we're lucky enough, you know,
to have our rent paid, and, so,
Megan has become an incredible chef.
-That's the, uh... that's the headline. -Oh.
And, um... and I'm working on a new book, actually.
So I'm grateful to have something to do
to keep me occupied
so that I don't become any more of a drunk.
(Noah laughs)
Nick, you've played one of the most beloved characters on TV
in Parks and Recreation-- Ron Swanson.
Is it ever weird for you that people use your face
and your character as a conservative
and, like, a far-right sometimes icon
where people go, like, "Yeah, this is... this is our dude."
And you're like, "No, no, no, no, no.
I'm very much not your dude."
Is that ever strange for you?
It's very strange. It's, um...
I mean, it's a good problem to have.
It means that, you know, that character is ubiquitous enough
that people can iden... say like,
-"I claim this icon for my own or for my tribe." -Right.
Um, and I, you know, uh...
Ron himself and the conundrum you're talking about are part
of what's wrong with our society,
is-is everyone is that complicated.
Like, you can be someone who loves hunting
and is really into gun rights for that reason,
but isn't necessarily
a freaky, assault-rifle, second-amendment person. Like...
Yeah, like, I think that's... I always say that
about American politics is, they make it seem like
there's... there is one or zero only, it's just binary,
and because you've only got two parties,
it has to be everything,
but people are a lot more nuanced
than anybody gives people credit for.
Everything lacks nuance because of our short attention span,
and, you know, the amount of characters
we're allowed on Twitter and so forth and...
That's what my show...
That's what All Rise is actually all about.
-Right. -It's saying,
we're all (bleep) idiots.
Like, we have... 'Cause always start there.
Like, you know, with all the hearings going on right now,
it's, like, do you somehow think
those guys... (laughs)
were less of jackasses than we are?
They weren't. We're all human beings
trying to, like, not shit ourselves every day.
The show is pretty much you sharing your views
on everything-- I mean, toxic masculinity,
just mundane things that happen in life,
relationships, men, women, food, every...
Like, you're just talking about everything in the special.
Why did you choose to release it now?
Well, I was supposed to be touring it right now.
You know, I was supposed to be...
That's one of the jobs I love to do is travel around
and perform it for people in theaters.
It's my favorite way
to deliver that particular brand of medicine.
And since we... since we can't get together in theaters,
um, I was very grateful that actually my book publisher said,
"Let's put this out as, like, an audio book original,
-like a collection of essays." -Right.
For me, being involved in the arts is about, you know,
chasing human rights, basically,
and some of us do it with drama, some with comedy.
-Mm-hmm. -I do it by slow talking
and then singing, like, you know, really dumb songs.
I have a song about, uh... called "I'm not a Scientist"
that I... I wrote before the pandemic,
and, it's, you know, it's, like...
It's-it's the anti-maskers.
-Right. Right. -It's-it's like saying,
"I'm-I'm no scientist, but I like to question what I'm told.
"So tell me, if this world is heatin' up,
how come my beer's still cold?"
Taking-taking that attitude of, like, disbelieving science.
I have an anthem to Brett Kavanaugh called "I Like Beer,"
um, that, you know, it's celebrating,
um, what jackasses we all are,
because we may... we supposedly get to pick what happens
in this country, and look what we've done.
(laughing): Look what we've done.
I mean, look at the mess we've gotten ourselves into.
It's the gift and the curse of freedom.
That's exactly what it is.
You've got All rise out. What I'm really excited about is
that you're offering all your standup specials
on your website, but for a really, really special cause.
Tell me a little bit about that.
-I finally got around to putting my specials online. -Right.
But it was... The pandemic had started,
and I just was like, "I can't... I can't do this self-serving,
"like, mercenary move of, like, 'Hey, everybody.
'Sorry about all the death and stuff, but here's some, uh...'"
(both laugh)
-Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. -...medium comedy specials.
We are putting all the proceeds
from those specials towards America's Food Fund.
-Amazing. -And it's, you know...
It's-it's not a big deal for me.
I'm lu... I'm lucky.
I get paid well to do my work.
And so, there are little places where,
like, I can do that and, you know,
hopefully some people will be fed and someday I'm gonna need
a sandwich and-and, hopefully, I'll-I'll have planted the seeds
of mercy so that I can find a meal myself
when I find myself in need.
Well, um, hopefully, you'll just need the sandwich because
you're hungry and you're in your house.
Not because things have gone horribly wrong.
Uh... thank you so much for joining us on the show again.
Good to see you, nice to see your face.
Uh, say hello to your lovely wife
and, um, stay healthy out there, my friend.
I will, Trevor, you, too.
Thank you for your beautiful work.