Mike O'Brien
Appearances
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
And it was, thank God for Bill's good instincts, because it is the way it ends now. I love. And it's so crazy. I also think probably somebody was like, can you call Seth so we don't have to have a car accident?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah. I think it helps that you tried the other. So you at least know. Yeah. You know, even if you got burned by your friends. Yeah. Well, even though like your friends are like, what was that? You're like, Lauren would let me do the furry stuff.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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But it was one of those that was so different. I remember, and correct me if I'm wrong, it got really good feedback, right? People really liked it.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, no, I love it. I love it. It just makes it stand out immediately. Totally, completely to show your range here. So first of all, then I know this is a real burn on your and my other two co-hosts. They just fully, Lorne was like, yeah, you can put a Mike O'Brien film up there. It was okay for anybody else. It was so funny. Lorne held the line so hard on Digital Short.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Then he's like, call it what you want. Sure.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I don't know about the musical talent because this segues really nicely into the Jay-Z short. The Jay-Z one, I had a really funny thing, which is the first time I went looking for this today on YouTube, I wrote Mike O'Brien, and I think the third option was Jay-Z. Then later, I accidentally went and looked for it, and I wrote Jay-Z first, and your name does not pop up. Whoa, weird.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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If you go Jay-Z first, it turns out Jay-Z Mike O'Brien is not in the search, but Mike O'Brien Jay-Z is like the third.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I don't know. It's hard to say. All right. So it's the Jay-Z story and you play Jay-Z. And I have so many things to say about it. But first, just talk about where this one came from.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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But it was fascinating to watch the audience process this. Because first, it's beautifully shot. Yeah. I mean, beautiful black and white. And it's the Jay-Z story. And then the first reveal is that you're Jay-Z. And there's a fear, I think. Because the worst thing that could happen is you're doing an impression, right? We don't want to actually hear you do an impression of Jay-Z. Right.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Which you quickly don't do. You're absolutely playing it like yourself, but you're not even saying things Jay-Z would say. You're super earnest and really sweet.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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She was like, stop. You built in a failstaff, which is you did a thing so terrible that you knew you'd get him to say stop at some point. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Oh, my God. Yeah. Good times. That is very bold. But it's interesting you said that because I am going to jump ahead. I was not in the decision-making team in 04, so I don't have the same recollection as you coming through then.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah. Hater had put a lot of a lot of shoe leather into having taste. Yeah. And I think late in his time, Lauren had a lot of respect for Hader's taste. So if Hader was laughing louder than other people, it was almost extra cool points, I think.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It's also a very funny tone for the Jay-Z story, which is everybody in it is really sweet and encouraging. And I don't even know what your archetype is in this sketch because you're not even like a basic white guy. It's almost like, I don't know, like a movie about a teenage girl. Like it's such a weird.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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You're really bashful. Right, bashful. You're on the cover of like a made up rap magazine and you just like clutch it to your chest and fall back on a couch and kick your feet. Which is called awesome rappers.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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You, there's really fun moments where you ask how to get home and somebody says you can take the J or the Z. Classic, classic.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It's not a good rap.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
I was editing and I couldn't get you on beat. We, I forget the Prince song. Let's go crazy. Maybe there was a network wide promo where they had all the talent on the network saying like one line of that song and Spike Lee directed it. And Spike Lee came to my studio, Studio HE. And I was like, look, I'm just real bad at singing. I'm just going to tell you right now. And he's like, don't worry.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I know how to get this. I've gotten it from a lot. Everybody tells me that. Fine. And we did it for like an hour. And then he walked over. He's like, we couldn't do it. You broke it. He really looked at me. He's like, you were right. He couldn't get it. He goes, you want to just shake your shoulders a little bit? We'll probably cover that.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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But it was really, he was really sweet about it. Cause he was like, you know what? I thank you for your honesty early on. I should have listened to you.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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At least you got it from the best. That's a, that's very exciting. Yeah. There's a very fun casting move, which is Beyonce comes in played by Sasheer. which then establishes, at least in my mind, when I was watching it, oh, Mike's the only one who's gonna be a white person playing anybody in the story. Then you go talking to Kanye, and then we reveal it's Sudeikis. Yeah.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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But I remember going to IO with Lorne in the lower room at the old IO when we were doing a showcase or we were seeing a showcase and you came out. I think the nice part of this is you did not learn your lesson. But Lauren sort of came around to appreciating what you're doing. Do you remember that bit you used to do about how you were going to come out and play the spoons?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And then you guys have a very sweet scene where Kanye tells Jay-Z he also wants to be a rapper, and you're incredibly encouraging.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It's so funny. It's so well acted. Was this the sheer thing laid in as a misdirect or was it just she's really good as Beyonce?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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i will say if beyonce had also been white it feels like a different sketch right like it happily kind of grounds it back to the world yeah that's interesting with it being this year um there's also of course the really funny thing which i mean has made my favorite part is that jay pharaoh's in this and jay has a lights out jay-z impression yeah and jay must have been sitting there just wondering what had gone wrong
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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That he was playing Jay-Z's friend and you were the one playing Jay-Z. Yeah.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, he'd done Jay-Z at that point. So it was at least he didn't have to think, oh, now Mike's the Jay-Z.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I mean, to defend the man, if he hadn't seen it, what a weird moment.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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You're like, well, okay. I thought the fact that Leslie set it up like it was a big moment. I do worry that you walked over with a little bit like, it's finally happening. Oh, 100%. The big moment we've both been waiting for. Give me a hug. Come on. Water under the bridge. Hey, no beef. No beef. No beef, man. Did you ever get the sense that after it aired... that J.K. Simmons appreciated.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Did you ever get any feedback from him?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Oh, great. Oh, that's very cool. It's one of my favorites. And again, Michael Keaton, there's very few actors I like more than Michael Keaton. Yeah. So this is Prom King, and you're both so good in it.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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This podcast is legally obligated to do it. I mean, I already took his sweetest chef, so I feel like, you know, might as well be that. I'm a Beetlejuice guy now. Yeah. I gotta get married. Oh, I was back twice back.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I think it's worse. I mean, not worse is the wrong word, but I think it is as taxing, if not more taxing now.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I'm going to say something.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I kind of love that it's not there.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah. The trope is that teen movie where the super cool guy says, I will, you know, make a girl who is unexpected. I will bring her to prom. She will win the prom queen. But it is a cruel bet that he makes with a friend. In this case, it's really nice because Pete doesn't pick the nerdy teacher. He points to Kate and you just misunderstand who he's pointing to.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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A big old headgear and a move of moving the pencil within the body of the headgear.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It's amazing. Yeah. I remembered she had a line and watching it again, which is, you don't realize she's still in the room and Keaton looks down and she's just still there. Sure. I suppose that'd be all right. Right? Yeah. Great. All right.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And so I was a spoons guy who couldn't help but make those noises, I guess, or whatever. But you dragged a chair to the front of the stage. Lauren and I were pretty close to the front of the stage. And you're doing this spoons bit.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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He's so good in it. Yeah. Vanessa is so good in it. Yeah. You do get a sense that there's not a lot of excitement in his life.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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She's just the line readings for Vanessa are so dead.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And it's it's amazing. She does come around. She does want him to go to the prom. I mean, she doesn't quite know the stakes, but she does support him. It's really lovely. And I will say another one that it sort of does end sweetly. You know, there's no like furries fucking in an alley.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Keaton, he brings so much integrity to it. Yeah. It's so funny for you to say how tired he was because, of course, you don't see it. And, man, it really goes back to how hard that show works its hosts. Oh, it's crazy.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And it was very esoteric because I also feel like most other people that night, which probably would have been the advice I would have given you, did a way more classic SNL audition. Yeah. You did the spoons thing. You know, the moral of the story is one, your instincts were right. And two, it's a real credit to Lauren because I had known you. I was rooting for you to do well.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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They'll never take those kisses away. No. Only we know about that now. Stored in the bank. I think his instincts were right. I liked not seeing the prom. I liked how just happy he looked to have the crown. Yeah. It was happy. Yeah. It was good. I think he's one of the first, because that's pretty soon after I left.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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He was the first, like, really, I felt the ache in my bones of like, ah, I can't believe I didn't get to write for Keaton. And I bring this up because after you had left, I remember one time we were sitting in Higgins office and I won't name names, but all anybody was doing was complaining about the host. And it was like a real moment of wisdom.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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where you said, these are the ones you're going to talk about with everybody here like 20 years from now. Nobody remembers anything but the absolute disasters. And it was really, it was like such a nice moment because I was like, oh, you're right. This is the one that they're going to laugh about.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I mean, you're happy to see Paul out because of how smooth it was. But like the fun stories are. It was like you said it in the way that in the movie Parenthood. Remember when the grandmother like make some speech that like kind of grounds everybody in the world. I can't quite remember. I think it's something about a merry-go-round. But it was a real everybody got quiet.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Well, you're like, don't you see? These are the moments. And now I must go.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
I feel like terrible choice of vibe and energy right after I talked about. Yes.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, it's true. Yeah. Like there's no other place like this. And the fact that you can do bits about a impossible host is one of the gifts. Yeah. I do think Timmy was always on the side of this is hilarious. Yeah. Timmy was never in a bad mood. I remember saying, is the host as bad as everybody says? And he's like, oh, it's the worst.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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You were doing the spoons thing, which I thought was very funny. But seeing it through Lauren's eyes, I definitely thought, well, not going to happen for old Mike. And then we left. And I remember Lauren saying, you know, I think there was something to the spoons guy. Yeah. And he really did sort of see.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It was the first shoe selection right out the gate. I forgot about Obi. That was a real... I still had enough friends at the show that I could go back and visit. And it's not, by the way, I think people would be very polite if I stopped by, but it wasn't instant bits.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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But I remember showing up and Timmy, almost with tears in his eyes, explaining how you're now Obi and you wear young clothes and how happy it made him.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And he did not know the bit, correct?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Oh, I did not know that you did it everywhere. That's great. So Lauren spent a whole year where you, for no reason, or certainly for no reason he knew, were all of a sudden dressing young. Yes. I think that speaks to the kind of people Lauren has worked with over 50 years where he's like, I'm just going to let it go.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I'm going to say zero. I will say Prom King, you have a super stupid cool guy haircut that works very well.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It's so funny because Mikey Day, absolutely. They pass him for 14 on SNL all the time. And yet if it was like one of those Netflix documentaries about like a, you know, a 35 year old who like tricks his way back into high school, you feel like they would catch him like halfway through the first period. Right away. They're like, no, dude. No, you're a cop.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And then, I mean, it bore exactly the kind of fruit you would think from the person who did the spoon bit. Like you did do esoteric stuff that Lauren really celebrated your time on the show.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, they tried to stripe you down, but it just didn't work. Yeah, they tried to stripe me down. All right, Grow A Guy, one of my all-time favorites. I never tire of watching it. Oh, so good. It's absolutely fantastic. Do you want to lay out the premise or how you came up with this one?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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That's the best part is he doesn't talk about him in a way that anybody should think he's a growing guy. He just has a kind of a genuine question about it.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I think twice he says, I'm genuinely asking. That genuinely is such a shit heel move. The other great thing, because he has all these great line reads, when it's revealed that he's a grown guy, he basically self-destructs by saying, peace.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It's also so wonderful that he is a growing guy who has just grown into a dickhead.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah. Peace. And then Dragon Babies is insane.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Also, every moment in this, if you stopped it and said to 100 comedy writers, what happens next? Nobody. Yeah. Now, what do you think happens next? Like, there's no way to stay ahead of this one.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, he always surprises you. Solid burns. I always joke forward. Can I ask, this is unfair, because I always try to remember how to explain this bit I saw you do. I saw you do a one-person show in Chicago when I went back to visit. You did a wordless sketch, which was a guy eating cookies out of maybe like a Chips Ahoy package. Do you know the bit I'm talking about? Yeah.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And it looks so much like that, man.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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But I will say, as sad as I am not to have it be Dennis Franz, the fact that you play someone who looks just like Dennis Franz and your name is Rick Shoulders.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Well, Rick cut me off a lot and cleared his throat in almost every take.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Again, though, tribute to what a wonderful actor she is. She's fantastic at it. Oh, she's so good. Watching it, you would even say, oh, I bet she fought for this one.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Also, the logic of it is all over the place. It does seem like they have had to animate the movie based on lines that you said that were not in the script. Right. There's a moment the dragon babies are talking about who got what sandwich and we see it's you and Cecily is your wife.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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You did a bit in that show, didn't you? Isn't that? I do remember sort of being backstage at one point.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, you feel as though you're trying to build in a empathy for this guy who's maybe a little over his skis as far as doing voiceover work. But then he admits that the two worst days of his life were getting cut from Madagascar. And then a time he thought somebody had a gun and then shot him 10 times. Yeah. And the audience, you can tell the audience has a real, okay. Yeah.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Not sure where we're supposed to stand on Rick's shoulders.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Right. He's also still dressed, I think, in his cop, like Windbreaker.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Trying very hard.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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We're also joined by Mike O'Brien. Hello, Mike. What's up, guys? I'm somber, too. Yeah, I feel like you're laid out a real what not to do. Sorry. All right. So, Mike, this is very exciting. You did a series of short films at SNL, most of which I realized when I went back to watch were after I left. But I was there when you got hired. What year did you start at the show?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It is very funny to think of someone telling Lauren, hey, so we spent a fortune on this animation and good news, it's on this week. And then it starts with you as Rick Shoulders.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Fantastic.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, that probably got it through. Only because you are mentioned it. And I feel as though people are going to have a fair amount of homework after listening to this podcast. But seven minutes in heaven. How many episodes of that did you do? Around 40. Oh, my God. I did an episode. Did you do an episode, Jorm? Were you a guest? No, I'm not that cool.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Lots of lots of fun people from our world. We did an interview in a closet and it was very close and uncomfortable and a lot of fun.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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That's the only one I can watch and not go like, oh, why didn't we? Oh, interesting. So Underground Festival, because those, I will say, love going back and watching. One of the most fun things to pitch on at the rewrite table because it was just a bucket of insanity.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, that did come in handy later.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, it's very fair. We should have used you for your burnt. I guess one of the reasons to be Yoram, you're just really, a lot of times I'm like, be here at 11, and you're like, Pacific Standard or Eastern? I'm a lot. You do the opposite of the one I tell you. And then one last plug for Mike. Mike created a show called AP Bio that was on NBC and Peacock, but now is on Netflix.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And the world is seeing it in a way that it has not seen it before. And it's really a great show.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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This is the MacGruber Peacock show. So this is direct competition. Yes. Yes.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Worth every penny.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I'm sorry to say. Oh, shit. That's even better.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, but what we did know was this has happened before. Yeah, yeah. You know what it means? Like, whoever's at the door and you have had issues over how many cookies you've eaten.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Of course. Thank you so much for joining us, Mike. Everybody's homework. Obviously, you're going to want to watch Grow a Guy. Jay-Z story with Mike O'Brien, Sad Mouse, Prom King with Michael Keaton. There's a bunch of other ones too. Oh, wonderful. Once you start watching Mike O'Brien videos on YouTube, the algorithm will be your friend. And it's really, they're just great.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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It was so much fun to go back and watch a bunch of them.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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So thanks for doing it. Do you feel like there's anything that belongs in the Criterion Collection that has not received enough love? Oh, yeah. Like if you could save a friend.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah. I'm surprised that that one. That one's great. But Hero Song for me, still the comedy of the term is my favorite.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, so your order was writer, then cast member.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And it's great. It is fun. Like, I do think the secret sleight of hand of Hero Song is if you have Andy singing with that wig and he is sort of letting you know he's got money. you're all rooting for him to get punched in the face.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Yeah, I've never heard it talked about from that perspective. Like, yeah, that's kind of cool. Every time I walked in and you guys played me a song that really made me laugh, it never quite rose to that. I always think that, like, I was a real jinx. It's fine. It's fine. Well, no, I'll just say, I mean, the first time I heard...
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I Wish It Would Rain, which we're going to get to, and I keep foreshadowing. I just remember thinking, you've done it. It's the best thing I've ever heard in my life. Another good, handy singing song. Oh, the best. All right. Mike, we love you, buddy. Thank you so much for doing this.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Awesome. All right. Bye, buddy. Bye, guys. Bye.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Okay, so you got a promotion.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Okay, that's good. Yeah, that's a that's a good spot. Not bad. I also do remember calling you to tell you you had the writer's job, which is very exciting because one, I was his fan, two, we were friends. And Jorm, I called him from the set of MacGruber. Oh, wow. I remember that's where I was. I was in New Mexico.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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And that was it. And then your sister was probably like, not very cool how you just walked in and stole my thunder. I'm like, who wants a picture with me instead of the baby? You walked in and said, a lot of babies got born yesterday, but guess what only happened to me? It truly was the biggest thunder seal. All right. One year in the cast. So is Sad Mouse the first Mike O'Brien film? Yeah.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast. We're doing another special episode. It is very much due to all the turmoil in Los Angeles and just trying to figure out the logistics of doing this. But we have a very exciting guest today. First of all, I'm here with Jormel. What's up, Jorm? Woo!
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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I wasn't in the cast. And so you also were not in this short. Right. So I think this is the only one we're going to talk about where I was still at the show.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
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Well, the best thing about Sad Mouse is, and Joram, can you sing us into Seth's Corner real quick?
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
So Bruno Mars is host to musical guest. And I think this tells you the difference between Mike and I and also how writers come from many different cloths. And the best writing staff you can have is a diversity of takes. So I sit in my room and I'm thinking, what could Bruno Mars do? And I realized he can sing in any genre. He could do all these voices.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
And so I wrote a sketch where I think it was Pandora at the time, right? That's right. No, you're right. It was Pandora headquarters and Pandora went down and he was the janitor at Pandora and he had to sing all the music. Now that is a very good example of what can this guy do that no one else can do.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
He was fantastic in it and I actually can't go back and watch it because it is one of the sketches that I remember going a little bit better at dress. And so I'm still just a little mad at how, because it required a lot of choreography and a lot of really intense cutting. And it was just, it was not bad at air, but it was so perfect at dress. But then Mike was like, oh, Bruno Mars.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
I know what that should do. Wear a full, full mouse costume and walk around Times Square being sad. Literally nothing about Bruno Mars makes you think he'd be good as a sad guy. It's just like a bottle of joy.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
Yeah, right. I'm blaming it on other things. And it's just not. It was just a hotter audience.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
It's really super fun.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
I mean, I watched a bunch of yours today. Like there is a core sincerity that goes through all of them. So I feel like we are bearing the premise. So Sad Mouse starts with Bruno Mars. He's talking to Sudeikis about how bad things are going. I think his girlfriend broke up with him.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
And then Sudeikis is sort of taking this in and you don't quite know their relationship. And then it turns out Sudeikis basically says, this is the easiest hundred bucks you're ever going to make. You're going to put on this patriotic mouse costume and walk around Times Square and take pictures and then people will pay you and we'll split it 50-50. And then, oh, he says you got to wave at people.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
And Bruno, and I will say watching it back, I kind of can't believe Bruno hasn't been an actor. He's so good in it. And his face is so, I mean, it's so camera friendly.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
But yeah. And then he says, you know, he wants the job, obviously, but he's really worried in his fragile state that if he waves at somebody, they don't wave back. It's going to be like the straw that broke the camel's back. We're all just watching and rooting. The one, of course, callback to the setup is Bruno Mars is sitting in Times Square. It's clearly just regular people.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
Like you said, Mike, nobody is clocking that it's Bruno Mars. He's got a letter from his girlfriend and then he also has a letter from his dad. Which I feel like a dad who had a secret second family wouldn't send, wouldn't tell you with a photo of the new family.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
But then it just resolves itself with, you know, he sees somebody in a frog costume and they just kind of wave at each other. There's no, there's not more than that. But it's genuinely, you can tell by the audience reaction, there was an emotional investment in it.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
Oh, here we go. Let's hear it.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
Oh my God, I want to see that so bad. I can't believe I have no memory of this and I'm sitting here praising you for your restraint.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
Yeah, people like sincere. I wrote an episode of a documentary now called Globesman. It was based on salesmen. And the original ending was Fred and Bill get into a car and just get T-boned by this rival Atlas salesman. And so it was this real dark ending. And Bill, I wasn't on set. I was doing my show and they were filming it out in L.A.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast
Breaking Down Mike O'Brien's SNL Digital Shorts
And Bill was like, hey, man, Fred's playing it really sad because they were getting T-boned right after Fred had like a minor victory. And he's like, I think people are going to be super bummed out if it ends with him dying. And it was the same thing. Like, I didn't have the confidence to just let it end nice. Yeah.