John Mulaney Seeks the Truth While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones

chewing and chewing around the mouth of the chicken gives no opinion on the flavor and then all of a sudden it's like, hey, we have a consensus, hey, what's happening to everyone during the first week of Feast? I'm Sean Evans and you're watching the hot

ones

, it's the show. with burning questions and even hotter

wings

, and today we're joined by John Mullaney, an Emmy Award-winning writer and comedian who rose to fame during his time on Saturday Night Live and the time since doing everything from the show on Broadway to a children's musical and a series of beloved comedy specials, including his latest Baby J, which is now available to stream on Netflix.

John Mulaney, welcome to the program. Sean, thanks for having me. Do you let viewers know it's 11 a.m.? m.? You know, sometimes it appears. You've known it for a long time, it's fine, but for some this is the first thing they try all day. You and I had hot sauce for breakfast and you're right. I think it's important to be transparent about that fact. for the audience watching maybe or maybe not, I mean it's just a big deal, thanks foreigner, did you ever have braces? No, never, my life, oh, I did. I'm very conscious about

eating

in public because, like in high school, you would do it. go well, don't worry John, we're going to be very gentle in the editing.

John will be very kind in the end. I appreciate it, but I still have to do my due diligence, yes, make sure I don't have chicken. with my braces, which I haven't been there for 20 years, it's very tasty intense scrutiny or intense media scrutiny of a comedian's personal life is that a force for good or a force for evil when it comes to writing material new, you know some people, they don't It doesn't require media scrutiny because sometimes we comedians just start

eating

our tails and, you know, our new jokes are about our old jokes or a lot of them are stories about being a comedian, so it's not so much media scrutiny, but more. just uh just um cannibalizing your own life as a comedian I think it can be dangerous Waylon Jennings I heard you know those Outlaw Country guys, yeah, yeah, they had a lot of songs about being Outlaw Country guys, you know?

Are you sure Hank did it this way? Don't you think this outlaw business has gotten out of hand? Yeah, yeah, and someone told Waylon Jennings once they found out that you guys used to sing about my life, but now you just sing about your own life. I thought that was something like that. Sometimes autobiographical comedy Danger Green Curry, what does that mean? Green curry. I thought it meant true Green for a second. I thought it meant true. I thought, oh, what an interesting name. James, green curry. Very, very nice, here we go two by two over two.

As a teenager, I understand you spent many weekends reviewing archival television footage at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. Did you have a favorite exhibit or curiosity, like have you ever marveled at Bozo the Clown memorabilia or taken a moment to visit Edward R? Murrow's plaque in the Radio Hall of Fame. I saw all those exhibits. They also had stuff from the early broadcasts and they had these puppets called kukula, Fran and Ollie, which I guess you know were the original cacao melon. like the best children's programming and they're the naughtiest puppets of 1951, you can't imagine this was a show, but it was, um, they just look like socks or like the leather thing you put on a golf driver, um, that It was interesting to me that I got into the archives because my parents gave me something that was the best of Johnny Carson, so it was like a video and it had all these famous clips of Johnny Carson, so I was really interested in that. most 10 year olds are, so I went just to watch full episodes of Carson like a full episode from a random day in 1971 and see what it was like and it was interesting because they're not as good as they are.

All you know, not all people remember that kind of stuff, uh, you just choose, I mean, if you're on the air for 30 years and you have five good things a year, you know, endless reels of the best, but it was nice watching meandering interviews bad monologues is really comforting in a way it was comforting in a way yeah, when I started my broadcasting career they're not all not all of them are hits what does that mean lemon? pepper, it means green curry, it means real curry, it's a light taste, yes, we're still in a kind of delicate touch, oh no, I guess, I guess, of how many we have, you have to prepare them yourself, but also in general , this is a little bit clearer than, yeah, the last one, yeah, we're pulling, yeah, yeah, we're pulling, uh, some levers, we're pulling some levers here, yeah, psychological games, shades of light and dark, yes, that's very good, it's not necessary.

Name names, but what's the worst reaction you remember getting from a famous SNL host to a sketch you performed for them on Brolin? You said names, names, right, no, Josh Brolin said well, this isn't funny because I was writing something and I started to explain it and he was like, yeah, no, but that's not funny and it was so, in fact, I didn't even I wouldn't even call it the worst. I found it, actually, it's like valuable feedback, completely valuable and it was early enough. Tuesday night I didn't proceed with it, it was actually me. I'm not going to answer your question because it was a very gentlemanly exchange of ideas.

Hey Josh Brolin, do you like this idea? Let me see. No, it's not funny that he actually did it. It was quite a service to me, um, there were others that, uh, I remember we had a joke when Mick Jagger was the host, which was uh uh, hello everyone, I'm Mick Jagger, so mothers lock up their daughters and daughters lock up your mothers um and he listened and left. no, I don't like that and in fact, I remember I had Seth Meyers read that one because he was going through a bunch of jokes and we got to that one, it was, it was, let me redo, that the joke was, uh, me.

I'm Mick Jagger so mothers lock up your daughters or should I say daughters lock up your mothers and when we got to that one I handed it to Seth and I said and then there's that one, you could read that one, what's this one? This one here Chile Tongue of Fire don't ask me what it means I have no idea about Truth's curry in Latin what do you remember about performing in the note and Wicker Park was the first place you tried? -up yeah, uh, I was 18 years old. I did it as if there was a variety show on the note.

I remember being very frustrated because I wasn't much better immediately after watching comedians for 18 years. I really wanted to get started on that. Level I, yeah, and I didn't really tolerate my own level at the time and, uh, but it was a lot of fun, it was one of those things where, and this is a lot of early comedy, the audience is the other people performing and then in From the beginning, they are often a group of people you invited, family and friends, who you are then quite resentful of, they are there once you get up and it doesn't go so well, and why all these, damn, look .

You now, John, look, now, look at me now, at 11 a.m. m., hitting girl, how long does it take for the taste to reach your brain? I would say I'm like 30 seconds, I'd put 30, I'd put it. I'm surprised how long some of these last are um you take a bite you think you're there. I'm chewing, I'm chewing, I'm chewing, no opinion is formed about the flavors, chewing and chewing around the mouth, the chicken has no opinion about the flavor and then. Suddenly it's like we have a consensus, he laughs, this is really nice, so earlier this month, more than 11,000 film and television writers went on strike, marking the first such walkout in the streaming era.

Let's say this lasts until November or December. Does that really mean for people who love TV and movies in your opinion? Ooh um, it would be interesting to see it now if I was a little cynical, um, there's a lot of content out there already, um, and you know, I'm sorry. like we've all been saying for years like God there's so many shows there's so many shows there's so many shows and now we'll see how many there are you just have the

ones

you have um if everyone's going to keep watching the broadcast. TV I wonder when there will come a point where you'll get to, oh no, it's frustrating as a viewer that there aren't new things to like if you take money out of the equation, like what do you think is the biggest issue?

It's like what's at stake in this negotiation because a lot of things have changed since 2007, the last one is interesting on the picket line. I've been hearing more and more about AI, which I thought was not a fringe topic, but something like that. side, but maybe as a comedy writer you might be a little isolated because I don't imagine AI being funny, okay, I'm also pretty sure there's something to that there's a profound difference between knowing that you're Hearing a joke from a person and knowing that you are hearing it from Ai and the public not only looks for the real as a mechanic of the mechanical, yes, but I have famously terrible instincts and I never knew what it is.

It's going to happen in the future, so what do I do? But I've heard jokes about AI that are either solid or solid. Sorry, I wouldn't call them "crossovers" but they are solid. So maybe AI could replace them. you know that 15th joke in a monologue at an awards show, that's fine and acknowledge that you know when they have to acknowledge a movie that's nominated or something, but the joke isn't that good maybe AI could provide something good , only time will tell, I guess just ready to move on here to the back half, John, yes, absolutely, so this is the

spicy

shark here at the sick place,

spicy

shop, New England born job, famous place and Spicy known for its indigenous chillies, indigenous chillies, curries and paprikas, yes, I can feel it now, yes. you know what it's like when it hits the back of the lid or tastes like a sweeter sauce that's gone bad oh this is a nice flavor oh but it's been out in the sun it was on the dash

while

we were parked in a Target Parking Lot, so in 2020 you were nominated for a pair of Emmy Awards for your musical special The Sac Launch Bundle, a project you described as as satisfying as anything you've done.

What is the origin story of Grandma Has a Boyfriend? Clearly, song very shaped by enthusiasm for musical theater Grandma Has a Boyfriend uh it came from my nana who had a boyfriend a wonderful boy named David they started dating I think when I was 10 years old. It was just if I knew right away as a kid, I'm going to this It's a funny situation, you know, that's my grandmother's boyfriend, it was funny right away and then you get to see your mom, your aunts and your uncles, grown people, having a sort of "you're not my dad" reaction, which I'm being very general. and I'm glossing over tons of nuance in terms of my own family and how they appreciated and loved David, but there was something that you know somehow, just because it's new, it was so much fun for me, I did it and they had so many opinions about it and I remember my grandmother's boyfriend, I remember, my excellency, my grandmother's boyfriend called the house once and my aunt didn't pick up my nana and she went to say hello and he went well, he swam in Sherry and she said what David and everyone made fun of me, thanks adobo Loco, that means crazy, actually I'd say this is number seven, this is pretty good, wow, is this your favorite so far?

A little, because I like the base flavor better. okay, interesting, interesting, like it has a smokier flavor, there's a little bit of barbecue sauce, it has the feel of a pure Worcester sauce, it has a slight meat sauce to it. I like that here we go we talk about a crazy abode, they don't lie, they don't lie. The Liar Switch is as crazy as any foreshadowing I've ever gotten into, absolutely crazy people, like you don't remember that these shows like the best week ever actually had really funny people like you and Michael Che on them, do you?

Did you think that was good? way to drill comedy or are they different skill sets, no better week was a great training ground, especially for Saturday Night Live, you just have these pretty dry indications of something that happened on the news and you have to think of five jokes about it , but overall, I liked writing assignments. I still like writing assignments, like if I wrote a joke for someone's awards show monologue and they did it watching that. I think I think that's the most satisfying thing. Still, it really is like you. I'll watch someone else hit the home run and then whoever I'm with, I'll say that was my joke, it really is, it really is funny, do you do it?

No, it's also funny when it doesn't work, yeah, that's what I It was really funny when it doesn't work, can you imagine why they trusted you? It has a missile and it's called a bomb and it's called Beyond Madness to achieve consensus. I feel like that's when he got here. I knew it. It was going to be bad, yes, and that says a lot. I have done a lot of damage to my synapses and I realized it immediately. Well, first impressions. Yes, it's very hot. Needless to say, it's a hot sauce system. Huh, is it beyond crazy?

Tell me, it's not good, it's not good food, you understand, yes, yes, it doesn't make the food better. I follow it. I'm not trying to hurt your business. It is not a good product. I think this is their business and the product is lackingvery much the objective. but you're a little serious, well, taking him to the Dome is an interesting thing, incredible to behold honestly, but please, I appreciate it, but as we both know, neither of us likes compliments, certainly attractive, but it's what I like. draws more attention. the taste is not thethe taste is metallic and poisonous, it just stinks, yeah, it's just not a thing where you go, you know, I'm going to get, I'm going to put some bomb on this, yeah, do you have a Mount Rushmore of albums comedy, the first four of all? time ooh and the tears are running down my face now I feel too, yeah, shared suffering right here, sure, okay, Florida chisel in the stone, here we go, strategic locations of Grill Mitch Hedberg, I felt in that moment that there was many imitators of Hedberg, but I think they have largely moved away and now you are left with this totally unique voice.

I mean, at one point he just says, I wish I had a briefcase handcuffed to my wrist like that, that's no joke either, it's just funny. I thought he had that thing that was always very inspiring to me, sometimes you can say things that aren't even like a punchline. I've never cried this way, yeah, where I don't really feel if they're just rolling down the side of my face bring the pain Chris rocks bring the bench very, very unique, very against the grain at the end of high school, I got I think that all of Eddie Izard's albums up to that point, uh, Dressed to Kill, um, I can't remember what The Old Testament and the New Testament are a great album? um Dave Attell sucks For The Memories, that's simply the best comedian to ever perform in clubs at the absolute top of his game.

It's just a great record, a record that sounds like it's salsa, you know? 80 year old man, yes, it is aging you, it is aging me a lot, yes, Alchemy. I should slow down because I might get hit by something I'm not aware of yet, but I wasn't going to get in your way at first. I just like to let the fugitive. Train, go, you know, I'm just trying to keep up, it tastes like fish food, oh, you know what I have, you know that? Yeah, well, I've only smelled fish food, but I'm actually making the connection right now.

Thanks, let me be clear, it tastes like fish food. I know why I'm so defensive, like if I eat fish food, okay, that's my choice. Have you ever eaten goldfish? No, never in my life, really in my life, no, yes, here it is. The problem when you were a child is especially if you like to take care of people. You want to feed them more, but you're not supposed to be like you guys, and I know there's only one thing I can do. I have given it to you before and I already gave it to you today, but you are still there and I want you to like me and I want you to tell other fish that I am a good guy, so I would love to feed you again and again. and again, but you can't, you can't do that, it's very difficult.

I think he is a very beneficial owner. It is a very good test for people who like children. Can? Can you have a limit with this fish and is it food and is it difficult because? yes you know, but the results of that could kill the fish, it's very stressful. I know, I know it really depends. I relate it. I relate it. Let's find a new way to feed fish where you can do it multiple times. Yes, you don't have to be. emotionally supported are in these flakes where if they have it twice they die sounds like it's a problem with the food manufacturer these are questions that not enough people ask John, you know nobody asks, nobody asks, that's right, you know , that's really Chris Rock.

Inspire me. I say everyone thinks about it. Yes, they are afraid to say it, but they are simply afraid to say it. They are afraid. I face the stage and take the fish food, one flake at a time, do you recommend just one? tap, this is a nice little touch, you see yours, okay, how do you feel about that? I feel like it looks great, okay, it looks great, I don't want the comments to be like this, there is no touch, take a good close-up, I don't know. why am I trying to do this you really don't need to do it I know it's like with fish though you just want to explore please ok cheers cheers John what a ride this is called the last dab , Apollo Tangy, it's still food though, right? exactly the bomb is something else a cologne Maybe yes maybe it's okay like I'm still eating this I know I can see it and it actually looks like you've cleaned almost the entire plate now this is the bomb I think whoa no they're not coming back yes yes no I'm not going to come back but I didn't do much damage to that one but you know what by 11 in the morning it's wreaking havoc right there and to close things out John we have a little It's a little surprise for you, so you can close your special with this eight-minute autopsy of an interview you did with gq's Frasier Tharp.

Yes, Frasier Tharp used to work in this same building, he walked these same halls and luckily she contacted him. the information is still live so we reached out to Frazier to give him the final Wingten question so this is Fraser Tharp with a Wingten question for you. Alright, my question to you is at what point did he realize when he was writing from scratch and it's going to become Baby J, you wanted to take our interview and make it not only a big part of the special but also the big finale. It's good to see Frasier, it's just like I remembered it when I first went on stage after being away on a Rehab for a couple of months was in May 2021 at City Winery in New York on the West Side Highway and I don't know if I started with the interview, but I got there pretty quickly, maybe on the fourth or fifth night I was there. doing City Winery Chris Rock came and said you should come out and start the intervention immediately and I did it for a long time so I did it that night so I had to postpone the interview because at that point I already had a lot of laughs.

He was the last one to close the show, so he started closing the show in May 2021. He was very memorable when the interview came out. He was in rehab and he was reading it and it was a very bad time in life. To me this is very funny, well John, yes the

wings

of death, a distant memory that we can remember like the old Johnny Carson episodes, yes, you have lived to tell the tale and now there is nothing left to do but extend the Red carpet. camera this camera this camera let people know what you're going through in your life oh thank you I didn't know this was part of this hello it's me of all wings uh awesome to be a part of a 21st season of something um uh it's an honor having been here um it was very interesting going through this um they really marked them in a way that you think you're safe and then they kick you again like it's not easy or difficult it's not. a perfect curve I have a special called Baby J on Netflix um I'm so proud of it.

I've enjoyed all my comedy specials, but I think this one is the best one I've done. I hope you watch it and I hope you enjoy it, but more importantly I hope you watch it because that means it gets streaming ratings that I will never get any information about. I don't have anything else ahead of me either. There is a writers' strike. I'll be picketing, maybe Warner Brothers. sometime go out and get us water or something nice like that um and that's it oh I'll still be a comedian thank you thank you John and that's the hottest experience that was amazing.

I may have already burned some taste buds like I don't know how good this is, but I thought to myself that this is actually something I would take again, well you know what we're going to pack and you can have it, well then, yeah I'm going to take it. At home, yeah, yeah, you might want to figure out how to put that on. Damn, this was amazing. Sean, thank you, you had a great time. Great, oh thank you, you are the best researcher. You didn't ask me anything. I've been asked before, thanks everyone, hey, what's going on hot ones fans, I'm Sean Evans, if you've ever seen hot ones and wondered how hot those sauces are?

You could get through that without water or milk, well now it's time to put your money where your mouth is, the hot ones season 21 lineup is now available in its entirety on heatness.com heatness.com, that's heatness .com to get your hands on the Hot Ones season 21 hot sauce lineup, milk not included. Be careful with your eyes and take them

while

they are hot London