Terry Gross

That's what I was thinking.

I was thinking it's sort of like free jazz, which seems like it's probably more fun to play than to listen to now.

I mean, in the early days when it was radical and like something brand new, it was exciting.

Right.

But it's not always so exciting now.

No.

But yes, I'm sorry I interrupted you.

Your improv group is the Upright Citizens Brigade, which was co-founded by Amy Poehler.

You've taught there, and you've had some students in improv who became very successful.

Name some of them.

What was it like to see your students and your peers becoming more successful than you?

Well, your improv skills have come in very handy in roles like playing a cockroach for a pest control company.

So tell us what that experience was like.

Explain that.

On a kind of related note, or perhaps not so much, you've been in a lot of commercials earlier in your career.

And like in some of them, like you have one line, like there's one commercial where your line is wedges.

Because the woman in it is choosing between like espadrilles or wedges.

And you're going wedges.

So how do you audition for like, what is the audition like for an ad like that?

If you're just joining us, my guest is Jeff Hiller.