Chapter 1: What was Julia Sweeney's experience on Saturday Night Live?
Julia Sweeney, who I shared several years on Saturday Night Live, so did David, and we had this really nice interview with her. So we're bringing her back in case you missed it. She had a character named It's Pat that was kind of a big hit on SNL. There was a movie. It was controversial in its own way, but she's very talented and very open about her life.
Androgynous character. Everyone tried to figure out if it was a man or woman. That was a big joke, and it was funny. She also was a strong utility player because, like Phil, as a female, she would come in, and she was in a lot of sketches because of this, and she could play anything and throw a wig on and give her an accent.
It was fun to sit with her and look back because we were there a lot at the same time. Yeah, early 90s. Just good...
Chapter 2: How did Julia Sweeney create the character Pat?
You know, you always focus on the fun and some of the tough times, but we overall, we all had a great time there. She was a trip down memory lane.
Yeah, one of the greats, Julia Sweeney. You've done two or three one-woman shows based on... Well, really just one. Letting go of God was the.
Yeah, that's the religion when the other ones are other things.
God said, ha. Yeah, I got it. But so you're an atheist.
Yes. Although I really.
It sounds so negative, but it's just.
Yes. Well, no, because to American ears, atheists sounds like I hate puppies and flowers.
Yes. You know, it's sort of a Nazi ass thing to it or something.
Yeah. Even though the Nazis weren't atheists, but I wish I'm always explaining to people. OK, but anyway.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Julia face with her character's androgyny?
Well, it comes from Catholicism. But yeah, I yeah, I mean, I've had. Yeah, I don't believe I don't. Let me put it this way. I don't live my life under the assumption that there is a deity watching what I do. Right. I guess that makes me an atheist.
yeah i guess uh i don't know what i i keep coming back to this like i can't comprehend infinity that there was no beginning or end to this whatever why why do things exist and when did they get here so i keep going around with that i i did know a jovis witness once who who told me he could understand infinity i said so you can think of a god who never was not here was always here he looked up and he goes yeah i got it yep yep
yeah that'd be i want to say to the record i like puppies and i like flowers i think julie what people is the it hits the ear like if you don't believe in that then you don't believe what we believe is that that created those things so you're against everything is that kind of what the vibe is yeah that's it and it's like a very i used to think i could
I don't know what I thought. I guess I thought doing my show, I would change people's mind. I wasn't doing it to change people's mind. Actually, the reason I did the show is because for me, it was a huge, huge philosophical transformation. I wasn't particularly religious before. So I was about age 40 that this happened. Well, I was religious. I wanted to be a nun in high school.
I was completely committed, but I let it kind of go away. And then I had a crisis in my life that made me believe more like I really felt, you know, I had religious experiences. And then after that, I started trying to think, well, what was going on with those experiences? And then as I learned more and more about the brain and how we evolved,
Then I finally read the Bible, you know, and then over two years, I realized that I could explain it psychologically or naturally or, you know, like I didn't need a God to explain what happened to me. And then so then I wanted that was a big, dramatic change in my life. And I had been doing these one person shows about things like that.
So I thought, oh, that's a good challenge to kind of do a one person show about a change of mind that all the dramas all takes place in your head. And that was really hard. And I didn't necessarily achievement achieve it. I had to make stories and, you know, like I had to conform to normal dramatic structure. But I did it and it was probably my most popular show.
And but I wasn't thinking I'm going to convince people to be an atheist.
It was more like I have comedic tones, I'm sure.
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Chapter 4: How has Julia's perspective on religion evolved over time?
But yeah, did I ever believe in a magic God and all that stuff? No, I'm with you on that. I mean, I never bought it and no one bought it in the Lutheran Church. Even the pastors, you could tell.
Oh, I fully believe now that... All everyone, no one really believes it.
Chapter 5: What insights does Julia share about her one-woman shows?
I mean, like, I know one really about tribalism and history and affection for the ritual and affection for the way of life.
Mm hmm.
And so it almost is like it was useless to try to argue rationally with someone about it. It isn't a rational choice. It's usually you're born into it or you have an emotional thing that makes you join something because it helps your life like. And, you know, I don't care. That's fine with me, with people like I'm not, you know, so.
I went back to the Catholic Church with my wife and I found it just interesting because they were talking about Pontius Pilate and stuff, you know, and it's like, wow, they're still doing it. It was like going back in time.
But I'm still doing these bits.
Yeah.
But the old material.
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Chapter 6: How does Julia reflect on her time working with Phil Hartman?
David, have you ever had? Yeah. Now I kind of as a hobby, follow these right wing Catholics. It's interesting.
Right wing. OK.
Oh, yeah. There's a huge schism coming in the church, I think.
Oh, that makes sense.
I there's the Latin masters and they're the people who are Pope Benedict and not with Pope Francis. And they think Francis is the anti-Pope.
Did you say Pope Benedict or Pope wanted it?
Good night.
Sorry. Okay. Anyway, I canceled. I'm sorry. I'm canceled every five minutes. I like that one. I just made it up. I just made it up. Anyway, should we talk about your other supernatural experience meeting David Spade in 19?
That's Julia.
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Chapter 7: What lessons did Julia learn from her experiences in comedy?
Destroy elbow out. Right. And seemed like the growlings were sweeter and nicer overall.
Oh, wait. I mean, I'm sure I was naive and I was and frankly, I was succeeding so much. I didn't know. That sounds arrogant to say, but at that moment I was succeeding enough that I didn't. have any awareness of the competitiveness of it. I was just thought we were all doing it. And but then when I got to SNL, well, actually, and I feel like I had mostly really good experience there.
But now that I'm older and I look back, I think I I really didn't understand what was going on. I didn't understand how hard you had to compete. I thought we were all just going to look out for each other.
Yeah, well, when Nora and Jan left and you came in, it seemed like you had a lot of, you were very active initially. You were doing stuff with Phil.
Before I was beaten down.
Well, you became the go-to wife. Solid utility, yeah. You were just in every sketch in a sense. You and Phil had that sort of, a lot of sketches together, right? And you were very active your first year.
Yeah, I mean, Jan was mostly his wife, but I was like, I was the B-team wife.
But then Jan left the show and there you were. And then you came in here with the alternative wife.
Did you and Jan overlap a year and maybe one year?
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Chapter 8: What are Julia's thoughts on the evolution of women in comedy?
I think Tina Fey changed everything. I think she revolutionized us now. Yeah, and doing update and writing and bringing women in and yeah, and pointing out that there's no reason not to have the women that if all the sketches are so male focused, that there's only women as weird archetypes in sketches here and there. It's like you're never going to get the women use.
You have to really change your whole point of view. And I don't I wasn't there, but and I don't even know Tina Fey, but I I sense that there was a huge revolution took place. That was a good one.
You know, it's funny when Tina was there, that was it sounds crazy, but it might have been the first time when there's like a sketch with all women.
Yeah.
Where people would be like, what?
Well, she wrote about that in her book. I mean, not about the sketch, but just about why you couldn't have a whole sketch group that was all women or like, why can't why wouldn't you be able to think up a lot of sketches for a lot of women that didn't happen to have a man in it? You know, like and and I was I had that prejudice myself.
Like, I really thought, oh, yeah, you think of something for a guy to do. And then you think how you could come in, you know, like it. It took a long time for me to see how much the sexism was even in myself.
Yeah, that that was sort of the way it was. We were all there around the same time. And I remember it was just the way it was thought of good or bad. It was just the way it was thought.
Yeah. It's amazing how you don't even question certain things like I thought of myself as a liberated, progressive person. And yet I didn't. I thought, oh, yeah, it will always be three women and 10 guys.
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