Eric Kenward
Appearances
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
Okay, so Googly Eyes Gardener. This is something my grandma Kenward used to really do. googly eyes on her cactuses, which is maybe something that Midwestern ladies of a certain age do or did. And I remember writing this down in my Word document of sketch ideas at one point, just as like an observation, you know, like, why do people put googly eyes on cactuses in particular?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
And I thought, you know, I guess it's because they're dangerous and they can hurt you. And so people want to humanize them and make them cute or more relatable. And I kind of just, you know, extrapolated that idea from there. I don't think I ever really thought about how I was going to write that into a sketch.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
And I think that's an observation that maybe sat in that document for a couple of years or a year. I also remember I wanted to write something that had reaction shots of nonreactive things. You know, like the Monty Python sketch, Confuse a Cat, where you would cut to a cat for a reaction shot, but they clearly had no idea what was going on. The Google ads kind of give you that.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
I remember writing this very late or very early in the morning on Wednesday. before I went home, before read-through. It was kind of what we used to call a fuck-around piece. I don't know if you can curse on the show, but that's what we called them, what we did call them. Obviously, Walken is great at doing sketches by himself and can really, you know, elevate the craziest, wispiest ideas.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
And I think that must have been somewhere in the back of my mind, because in hindsight, it's very weird to write... a sketch for just one person. Also, in hindsight, in the context of this show, it kind of gives you the same value as the Continental sketches that Chris Walken used to do, and there's not one of those in this show.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
But I don't think I was consciously thinking about any of that when I wrote it. I think I was just kind of trying to get this idea out. I also had a cat named Dr. Manhattan who was very scared of things. And would kind of, was always kind of going like, and that's where that came from. Obviously, Walken made it what it was, but that's where that basic idea came from.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
I remember sort of being surprised that it got picked.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
and then it got a very thorough rewrite on thursday afternoon there were a lot of good pitches it was the first thing that was going to block on thursday afternoon because it was like relatively simple um and i remember going to the floor and showing christopher walk and all the changes and he was kind of like no no no it's going to be what it was on wednesday
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
And most of the changes got kind of steadied. And I looked back at the script from Wednesday, and it is like remarkably similar. I will say two big changes that Christopher Walken made. Originally, it was, as Jesus said, the eyes are the windows of your head. And he changed head to face, which is obviously a much better word for Christopher Walken. Yeah. their standards had a problem with Jesus.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
And I got called into Lorne's office, which is something that didn't happen very often for me at that point. And we were trying to think of alts kind of on the fly or what Jesus could be changed to. And I remember Christopher Walken just said, Winston Churchill, and that's obviously so much better. Yeah, I mean, obviously, the design department did an incredible job.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
I mean, that giant plant with the giant googly eyes kind of sells the whole piece. The wig, I think, was all Christopher Walken, too. I mean, the look is incredible. The spray bottle, I think, was also him, which is, you know, fantastic. Yeah, it's one of those things that, in hindsight, I kind of can't believe actually got on the show. But it's probably my favorite sketch that I ever wrote.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Laser Cats! 3D
So I'm happy that it did. Sorry if this is too long. Bye.