Transcript of Ana Gasteyer

Persil sorgt schon seit 1907 für tiefenreine Wäsche, auch bei den Johnson's, oder Anna? Das stimmt. Sogar meine Oma hat schon mit Persil gewaschen. Und als Dankeschön für über 100 Jahre Vertrauen gibt's jetzt bis zu 15 Euro Rabatt auf unserbestes.

Das mit der roten Schleife.

Genau. Made in Germany. Mehr Infos auf unserbestes. Persil. De.

Wenn es tiefenrein ist, ist es Persil. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. This is our holiday episode. It's our Christmas episode, and we have an incredible guest today who's going to celebrate Christmas with us. You should know, we are off next week, and then we are right back. So don't be scared. We just have one week down to give everybody a genuine break, and then we're back in the new year. But we are with Anna Gastier today. Anna Gastier, right writer, singer, Broadway star, sketch comedian, does so many things well, and a sweet dear friend who went through the same SNL Sausage Factory as we all did. And we talk about that. We talk about being on the show and how fun it was to bomb. We talk about Christmas and our favorite Christmas songs. And we talk about Annie. Annie comes up, thank God, as does Once Upon a Matress. And Anna's story about being in the White House. And we also, we talk about her record, Sugar and Booze, a Christmas classic. It's a great episode. And we're starting this episode with another tight written, like a genius comedic legend, a woman who has written some of your favorite sketches at SNL.

You know her from AP Bio, from the Mapleworth murders, from Wine Country, from Girls 5, Eva. She is the one, the only, Paula Pell. Paula, I believe we're getting you in a car. This episode of Good Hang is presented by Walmart Express Delivery. Getting gifts to your doorstep in as fast as an hour. Who needs elves when Walmart Express Delivery can make Nespresso machines magically appear on your doorstep? And if you do happen to forget something, no judgment. You can even order gifts up until 5: 00 PM on December 24th. Earth. Santa, you might want to take notes. Download the Walmart app or head to walmart. Com and get your gifts delivered fast. Subject to availability, terms and fees apply. Paula. Hi.

Paula, can you see me and hear me?

Yes, I can see you and hear you.

Oh, hold on.

Can you Can you hear me? I think I need...

I hear you, but I don't see you.

I think I need to hit the... I thought I hit the camera. Hold on. Why isn't it working, Elaine? Can I try? Yeah. Handing it to Jeanine to see if she can put her in. Hi, Jeanine.

Jeanine Breto, Paula's beautiful wife. I'm trying to- There we go. There we go.

There it is. My beautiful wife. With a new haircut. Hi, Jeanine.

How are you, Amy? Paula, it's so great that your beautiful wife is also your IT. For a person who just got off an airplane, you look beautiful.

Well, I just did a, which Tina Faye is very familiar with, in a car, a full face makeup in about two seconds, because I did that in the cabs on the way to work all the time.

Yeah. We are all pretty good at, I mean, most women are, at getting- Throwing it on. Yeah, throwing it I've gotten really good at just the feel.

I can almost... It's like love is blind, but it's makeup is blind, and you just have people do a full makeover without by just feel. Well, it looks great. I'm also wearing my lesbian uniform in Los Angeles.

I love having you in Los Angeles, Paula.

It's so nice. It's so beautiful here. We love so much snow.

Well, this episode with Anna Guestier is going be technically our holiday episode. It's going to air before Christmas.

We are going to talk- You guys better carol. You better sing a carol.

I was like, I wish we could have you in Steud. You love to carol, though.

I do. I love to carol. I love to harmonize more than anything on Earth. If someone said to me, this is your job for the rest of your life is just to throw in that alto line and just walk from group to group and throw in that alto line, lay down that bass, I would do it and be the happiest human being on Earth.

Although I have also heard you have a very fierce soprano. You can also hit those high notes.

Well, sometimes. I do think lately in my '60s, I have had experiences where I thought I was nailing it, and then I listened to it back on a video. It was very mortifying. Just a little sharp. I like to sing a certain sharp for Jeanine that really makes her put her face down in the cereal in the morning because it's just a little bit. It's just a little overshoot.

Could you give us an example of it?

It's just the neowness of you. It's like finding it. It's like a level, and you're always just finding it, and then you finally get it.

Only as good of a singer as you, Paula Pell, can do good, bad singing.

That's such a thing in comedy. You're always like, Don't try to sing bad. Don't try to sing bad.

It's funny. I want to talk to Anna about it. Like, what is the difference between good singing and comedy singing? It's a very fine line. So we're talking to Anna Gastier today. What's great about Anna? Let's talk well behind her back.

Anna is so many things at once, speaking of. And she's such a multi, multi, multi-hyphenate. It's like every time you turn, she's doing a new job that's something where it's like, Oh, my God. Just Broadway and writing and movies. She and Rachel writing that hilarious Christmas movie. Then she's on really funny television shows as really funny characters. Then she's playing the violin in a video she sends us to crack us up that's incredibly skilled violin. I admire that so much in her, but I also... She came and stayed with us to write this Bobby and Marty recently for the 50th. We sat in our pajamas at my house, at our house, and we just sat and just really broke it down. She's so good at sitting and just really asking questions. She's a curious, present friend. She's really such pure medicine to my soul to just really talk about everything.

We should talk. We've been on many trips together. A bunch of the SNL ladies have gone together on girl trips. Maya, you, me, Dratch, Tina, Anna, Spivy, and The Wine Country Gang. The Wine Country Gang. We're overdue for a trip.

Very overdue.

Yeah, we need to- We're going to all bring our grandchildren next time.

It's just going to be a play date. We'll all be there with our grandchildren. Janine and I will have our grand dogs because we cloned Barbra Streisand style.

How are all the doggies doing? Can you name all the doggies names while we have you? Yes.

We have Ernie, who used to have four buck teeth, and now he has nothing and no chin. Ernie is a very obnoxious little Chihuahua with a penis the size of his legs. Then Gary is Perfection. He's a poodle mix. He's perfect, perfect child. Then we Dolly, who's like a shetsu mix, who looks like she's wearing a wig and she's very tender and gives a lot of side eye. Then we have our only young dogs. We always adopt old dogs, and now we've adopted a younger dog who makes us say about 30 fucks before 10: 00 in the morning because she's so obnoxious, is Bunny, a beagle basset. She starts at about 5: 30 and stares at you in the dark and you see her silhouette. She goes,. And just does that until you just go, just get up and shoot. You get up and feed them. Then who am I missing? Then Talula is in a wheelchair, a little wheelcart, and she's an eight-pound tiny tiny, tiny little mix. She looks like a smooth-haired Pekingese a little bit. She has no feeling in her back, half of her body, and is faster than any of the dogs, even without her wheels.

She flies through the air, just running on her front two legs. She used to despise me the first year. Then I left for four months to shoot something, and I came back, and she loves me now.

Okay, so any question you think we should ask on it today?

I have a legit one, and then I have just one quick little funny one. If you want to ask her this. The funny one is her dog Gloria, speaking of dogs, eats things all the time that she's not supposed to. I just wanted to know. I think we should all be updated on what the latest thing that she devoured, and then has it come out yet.

Great.

When it came out, was it recognizable? Great. Then my real question is, because she's such a multi-hyphenate, between writing, when she's writing, or when she's singing, or when she's doing comedy, which one of those makes her feel the most free three. Just glorious, untethered euphoria. Which one gives her the biggest shoulder that way?

Perfect. Thank you so much. Paula, love you. I can't wait to talk to you in length Monday, and so happy here. Love you. Bye, bye. This episode is brought to you by hotels. Com. Make your next trip work for you. Hotels. Com just rolled out a game-changing feature called Save Your Way, and it's as simple as it sounds. When you book a trip as a hotels. Com member, you decide how to use your savings. Choose to take the instant savings now or bank the savings as rewards for later. It's your call. Turn discounts on this week's stay into rewards for a luxurious beach getaway next year. No complicated math, no blackout dates. Just you choosing how to make your travels work harder for you. Only at hotels. Com. Save Your Way is available to loyalty members in the US and UK on hotels sells with member prices. Other terms apply. See site for details. What are you wearing?

I have my Tartan. I have a Tartan. Oh, it's a bad angle.

There it is. Tartan suit.

Does that look natural? I wear my holiday pomps.

Yeah, because I do try. I try to think about what the guest is going to- It's Tartan season. This is our Christmas episode.

I know. I got excited.

How many times a year you think I can wear this sucker? Those are cute. Yeah.

Aren't they cute?

Isn't it weird to wear it in sunny Los Angeles? Yeah, it does feel weird.

It's a sweatery texture. It's a sweatery Tartan. I don't know if you can see the texture. So it's very holiday. Anyway.

This is going to be our Christmas episode. I have so many things I want to talk to you about today. Okay. Very excited that you're here. Thank you for doing it.

Never enough time. Always so much to talk about.

Never enough time. I know. But it's very exciting that you are the Christmas episode because I do associate you with Christmas in many ways. You have a Christmas album, you go on tour at Christmas, and you yourself love Christmas. Yes, I do. What do you love about Christmas?

Well, I call myself the Duchess of Christmas. Actually, a nice gay called me that, and I took it, obviously. I love the... It's so weird. It's like, A, I love the holidays. B, the resume leans in that direction because my The Legacy moments at SNL were Shweety Balls and the Martha Stuart topless Christmas, which was my first thing that succeeded there. They run every year on the Christmas episode. Right, of course. On that special. It comes up for people. Then Dratch and I wrote that Christmas movie, which is a parody of the Hallmark films.

Tell everybody what it is again.

It's called a Cluster Funk Christmas, and it is a parody. It's a perfect... It's a perfect parody. The goal was to make the perfect parody for the ultimate Hallmark lover. Right.

Of which you are.

You are a Hallmark movie. I love Hallmark movies. I love a Hallmark movie, and I love the holidays. I love the holidays.

What decoration? Because we're in a text chain. We send each other our prep.

Yeah.

What decoration do you have up right now? What are you looking forward to in the levels of what's going on?

It's all contingent upon how much I'm traveling and how exhausted I am by visual clutter that year, which is fair, right? I'm I'm actually going full tilt Thunderhump on Friday. The boxes are out. I'm going to do New York for the first time in a really long time. I haven't done it in a long, long time. I've worked on Christmas a lot because during the Broadway shows- Because you're a pro, babe, and pros work on Christmas. Christmas, yeah. So you end up... A lot of my things are, which are so up your alley, I know, they're hacks. They're hacks to still be festive and still enjoy it and still be present in it, but maybe have it not be enslaved by it. Do you know what I mean? So I have, for example, I can go Full Tilt Thunderhump, which I'm going to do this year, and I'm going to...

What does that mean?

That means the trees and the lights and the garland and the swag and all the TikTok hacks, with the curtain rod and the garland going across it. No, let's slow down. Woodland forests.

Let's slow down. I just heard one of my favorite TikTok hacks. Tiktok hacks. Yeah, I know. And the garland goes where?

You get yourself some Walmart or the tension rod. You can put it in a doorway where you would hang mistletoe, and you can basically go to Trader Joe's or Costco or whatever and get your garland and you can make a really beautiful archway if you use that tension rod. So you get what you would put curtains.

I'm not articulating it right. Right. So you have to go buy that hardware.

But that's like $4.

And wrap it in garland.

Yeah. And then put it in a doorway. You just swag it around it and then hang it down. Put a little tea cup hooks. Do you know those little Tee cup hooks that people... You can buy them at the Five and Dime also at the Walmart. You know the Five and Dime. At Willworths Five and Dime. At Wilworth's. Pat down Wilworth's when you're doing your stockings, stockings, staff. And you can put your garland down it and you could do lights. You can pre... Ikea has, or everybody now has, but I do an Ikeya run every holiday because they're real cute.

Anna Gastier is here, and she is telling us about Christmas. I knew you would give me good stuff.

I love a craft brown paper, just brown paper packages tied up in strings. That's the whole- Brown paper package is tied up in strings.

That's how you wrap. That's how I wrap. I have a question about the brown paper. I find it a little heavy sometimes for tape.

Because of the gage. You've got to get a thinner gage.

A thinner gage paper.

Craft paper.

It's called craft paper. What are we talking tree?

I have a feather tabletop. I have a tinsel, like medium. And then I finally am just going to do live or bust. You know what I mean?

Yeah. And the one thing I'll say about live, I usually do a real Christmas tree. I like that we're calling it alive. Live from Christmas. Bring it alive. And I know there's ones where you can even have ones that they repot.

In California. You can't really find that on the East Coast. I've tried.

What the thing that I always bamboozles me about a real Christmas tree, which I still do, is I think it's going to smell so good, and it never does anymore.

Because they've been cut so long ago.

Christmas trees used to smell better. Now, they don't smell like they used to.

Well, that's genetic modification. Oh, God. Right there. It's so true. I mean, sometimes you just got to do... Well, I use the... Do you ever do aromatherapy or a pine?

Yeah, I'll put in a pine can.

Yeah, pine can. You know it's got a nice this year. Who? Trader Joe. I stopped by yesterday because, again, California Trader Joe's are like- I like that he said it singular. Trader Joe. Trader Joe has invested, and it's at his eponymous shop. I love it. You love Christmas. I love my Trader. I do love Christmas. And you love Trader Joe's. But I like... I do love Christmas, but again, I will not be overrun by it. Of course. So I love... This is why I made a holiday album. I love my holiday album. It's very old fashioned. It's a little winky. You've seen my show. It's very like throwbacky.

I love your holiday album, Sugar and Booze.

Yes, Sugar and Booze. Is so great.

Thank you. And your shows that you do to support it are so fun.

It's a holiday spectacular.

Yes. Tell us about them.

Well, I like to perform with a horn section. So that's for starters, because I have a loud voice. And I like to wear a tart and get dressed up. It feels very like... How do I answer this succinctly.

Do you have to?

I don't know.

It depends.

Do we want to spend the whole hour on this turd?

But I mean, this is a real good question, which is like, talk however you want, babe.

Okay, you're right. It's called Good Hang. Yeah, Good Hang. We're hanging.

We don't have to get it right. We don't have to be succinct.

No, we don't. You're right. We can cut it.

Yeah, we can cut this shit out of it. We can cut it. Just cut the shit. We can make this podcast six minutes.

You know what in the name of this podcast should be called? Cut the Shit. Cut Cut the Shit with Amy Poehler and friends.

We should do a clip show where we call it Cut the Shit, and it's all the stuff that we cut.

In the 1959, early '60s entertainers era really spoke to me because it was a time when a gal, a Rosemary Clooney, would probably be the idol. A gal who could tell a good story, could belt to the rafters, play in front of a big band, carry a band, an evening of entertainment. When we set out to make the holiday album, it was really to create a record that wasn't kitschy or like... It's not a comedy record. It's not a comedy record. It's not a campy record, but it's me, so there's fun to it. But really, I wanted it. The goal was to have it play seamlessly with a Frank Sinatra Christmas record or a classic Christmas record while you're making cocktails and wrapping presents.

It's a perfect record for that. Tree trimming.

Tree trimming.

It is so good. A tree trimming, a live tree.

It's a tree trimming, a live tree. A live tree. Or a balsam hill.

Or a balsam hill. I don't want to... It's such a good record. It's just the right amount of like, whimzy combined with really good singing and many original Christmas songs, which is hard to do to make an original Christmas song.

Really hard. I love Christmas rec. I love Christmas songs, but they're really, really hard.

What Christmas songs do you love?

Well, I like a lot of the ones that are on the record. I love Slay ride. I love Man with a Bag, which I just think is a structurally... Man with a Bag. It's a... Oh, it's on your record. Yeah, it's on the record. There's some bad Christmas songs that we listen to every year just because... What are They're out there over and over again.

I have to say Deck the Hall is not my fave. No. And We Wish You a Merry Christmas is not my fave. It's boring.

It's boring. They're boring. There's a lot of them. I mean, even rocking around the Christmas tree is a boring song. Structurally, in the carol canon, I think God rest ye, Merry Gentleman has a really great rhythm. We actually have a new arrangement of it this year, which we're doing on stage. God rest ye, Merry Gentleman, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ, our savior, was born on Christmas Day. You're going to hear it, right? Yes. It's got a nice, Who save us all from Satan's power when he was gone astray. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy. Comfort and joy. Yeah, it's a good song. It's a good tune. But also, we tried to write a few songs that would fit into that. I wrote the title, Trident's Sugar and Booze with that in mind because I wanted it to feel like an old-fashioned song.

When you were growing up and now, what are your Christmas albums that are on rotation?

My parents are classical music, people remember. There's a lot of Messiah jams, a lot of Messiah jams, a lot of Ceremonia of the Carols.

Oh, wait, if you do that, I remember my part from choir. If you do the Dun Dun, ready?

Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun O'Kam, O'Kam, so many bells.

Here come the bells, here come the bells, here come the bells, here come the bells.

Can you rock a desk camp?

Oh, yeah. Rock a desk camp. What's the Hallelujah?

That 'Oh, come, all ye faithful' is what I was just doing. That's the... Okay, start singing 'Oh, come' and I'll do the desk count.

'oh, come, all ye...

' You can go up a little higher. 'Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful and joyful.

' Keep going.

Do the 'Oh, come, let us adore him. ' Okay. Sorry, do 'Oh, come, let... ' Do that. 'Oh, come, let us adore him.

'oh, come, let us adore O'er him, O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him.

Christ, the Lord. Aced it. You remember it. It's all in there. It's like your movie, Inside Out. Those music things are all trapped in your brain. They're all in there. I know. They're all in there. They're in the deep gray matter.

And they're so nostalgic.

They're so beautiful.

They're so melancholy. I know. They're so sad. They are sad. See, okay, so I find Christmas sad.

Yes, I know. I know.

And by the way, a lot of people do. I find it sad. I find it sad. And now I've gotten into... Now I get into the sadness of Christmas, like a cozy blanket. I used to fight it, fight it, because sad is not my favorite state.

No, no.

It's often not where I want to... I'm uncomfortable sometimes in sadness, but Christmas allows me to get... Well, some people are just a little bit more... They can just tolerate it.

Yeah, they know it comes and goes a bit.

It's like sadness and anger. I'd much rather be angry than sad. Same.

And mostly am. Totally.

So I get into the sadness of Christmas. I'm like, I'm just looking like... You know when you're in your music video and you look in the window. You like the poe, spirit tale of New York. I love the poe. Yeah.

That's your jam. I'm like, I'm married to Christmas.

But let's talk about your classical music parents and your little Anna's beginning into music, because I'm very interested in that early time.

So... Thank you. So I played the violin very seriously. It's so lonely. It's the funniest thing. And by the way, I'm grateful. I'm very grateful for, obviously, the sacrifice. I mean, we spent all this time resenting them, and then you realize that things that they've done as you get older and they get older, and it's a relief. But the schlepping alone, just the amount of times to practice to lessons.

Why did you choose the violin? Do you remember? Or was it chosen for you?

I think it was probably chosen for me. I had an aunt that played, and I I love her, so I think I thought it was cool. The violin I still play to this day was my aunt's violin that my grandfather was given in the depression in lieu of a payment for legal services at some point. Very cool. It's like a 150-year-old violin, but it's not fancy. It's not like a- It's not a Stradivarius. It's not a Strad, but I have had it looked at because it's interesting as an instrument, and I still play that instrument to this day. I took it to Fiddle Camp with me last summer. Oh, yeah.

Anna went to Fiddle Camp. I went to Fiddle Camp.

I did. It's a real conversation starter. Then by that, I mean, everybody flees the area. Anyway, I played violin as a little kid. I started and I played until I was about 17. I was good and lazy. I was a Gryffindor, which set up a lifetime of talented laziness and landing on your feet. I could fake it for a long, long time. And then there becomes a breakage point in classical music.

It feels that way with music and athletics. Those two things, especially, where you are loving it and you're good at it. And then there's a moment where it's like, okay, now you have to decide, am I going to the next level? Am I playing in college? Am I going to join an orchestra?

First of all, it's so solitary. And it's two things. It's deeply solitary. I am a perfectionist, and it is torture. For perfectionists because even though I was lazy, I was a perfectionist. It's a weird... I mean that I'm not lazy. I'm going to re... Yeah, let's re... Let's cut the shit.

Guys, let's cut the shit.

Let's cut the shit. We'll be right back.

No, I am not- Let's reframe lazy.

I am not going to reframe. Let's reframe it. What I mean is that I wasn't passionate about violin. So I didn't want to lock myself in a room. There you go. Because truly, like athletics, like you said, suddenly it is eight 6 hours a day, six hours a day, going to school. It's not going to school late or leaving early in the afternoon to practice, practice, practice, practice till your hands fall off. And it's lonely. It's really lonely and unbelievably sad. It is a sad instrument.

Violin is the saddest instrument ever, and I do love that about it.

I mean, it's beautiful.

I'm realizing now that Christmas and violins are both the way I get into my sad state. I love that.

Well, that's funny because I'm writing a song called Sad Violin at Christmas. Really? Yeah. I mean, you just made me come off the title. But that is, I've been thinking about a sad violin because it's sad. It's a lonely, wistful, melancholic instrument. There's something incredibly powerful about it, obviously. Then in seventh grade, don't laugh I had my first star turn. I was legally blind also as a kid. I still am legally blind, so I also had an eye patch a lot of my childhood, and I had a violin. Just put all that together. Yeah, hot stuff. Put it through the comedy Playdough machine. That's why, hot stuff.

Were we wearing the patch during the day?

We were rock in the patch. Not at home. We were rock in the patch. I went to camp for the violin, but around seventh grade, I got cast, wait for it, as Helen Keller and the Miracle Worker. I was able to pull a lot of my story into the part. That's when I was like, I mean, by the way.

And you put that on your Tinder profile, yes? Yes.

Yes, I do. Yes, I do. And my Grinder.

Yeah, and your Grinder. Tinder and Grinder. You're on both. And you're very unsuccessful on Grinder. Very unsuccessful on Grinder. So far.

You're right. Not after today.

Fingers crossed.

So, hilarious. Helen Keller and the Miracle Worker was like, my aha. I think this is really fun. Right.

You got to perform. I got to perform. And you found found passion there.

Yes. And then it became Cleric and I did all the parts and everything in high school. I'm sure you did, too. But- As a kid, because you're an exuberant, upregulated kid.

You're more extroverted than the patch in violin would make me think, but were you an introverted kid? What kid were you?

I don't think of myself as an outgoing kid at all. Got it. Or even as an outgoing person, to be honest, or upregulated or exuberant. On stage, I am.

Interesting.

And with you, maybe I am. Interesting. But I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't know. Yeah, you are. Nobody sees themselves clearly. You feel how you feel about yourself. I mean, everyone in my high school was super, super funny. Yes. And I was always friends with funny people. Yes. But I always like SNL and people like, You're the class clown. Were you a superlative? No, I was not the class clown. I was the person in the back row who snickered and made jokes.

You've told this on many podcasts and things, but I still think it's just fascinating that you were among many people that were your friends during in that time. You were friends with Amy Carter.

Crazy.

Amy Carter, the daughter of President Jimmy Carter. Correct. For people who are not our age, Jimmy Carter was a president. The best ex-president we've ever had. Yeah, for sure. And Amy was so exciting as the presidential kid. She was like our Sasha and Malia. Yes. Because he had young kids, Chip and Amy.

Was that- Yeah. She was much younger than her siblings. And she was younger.

I mean, my name was Amy, so I was blown away. I'm not kidding. I know. I know. She was just this girl in the White House. It was very exciting.

She was normal. Well, probably for you, too. I know you are a reader now. You were probably a childhood reader. I was, too. She was a violinist. I mean, boom. She was a violinist. Yeah. We were in an after-school, like GT program together and became friends. I mean, it was just an instant, whatever, books, glasses, and violins. Am I right? Come on, guys. Come on, let's party. Let's party. Everybody would get invited to these group events at the White House, many of which were in the beautiful East Ballroom, which has now been leveled by- Or made more beautiful, depending on who you talk to. Great point.

It's going to be gorgeous, Anna.

You know what?

I stand corrected. Let's wait and see how it comes out.

I stand corrected. I have a feeling it's going to be gorgeous. I just saw the Christmas decor, and you're right.

It's gorgeous. It's warm as always. It's warm as always.

It's always so warm.

It's so warm and inviting.

I wonder if it smells like French onion soup or Wassel when you walk in. Gorgeous.

But you're going to go in the East Forum. You were in the East Forum.

We were in the East Forum. We were in the East Forum. Multiple parties and things. One of my early memories, this was such an extra double brain blow of early synaptic development. The cast, the original Broadway cast of Annie, was performing at the White House Christmas Party. Exactly. What? Exactly. The whole, it was too many things. It was too many things.

I don't think I knew that.

Like four feet away from us. It was like her little friends from her Gift and Talented program and her friends from school and various White House of People's Children. Then like, Andrew McArdle and actual Sandy right over there. Oh, my Hard Knock Life in a Bucket. Then I did Andy at the Hollywood Bowl like five or six years ago. What? I didn't know that either. It was right after Wine Country. I think you were probably buried in editing.

Who were you, Ms. Hanigan?

Natch. Who else?

What a part. You were Annie?

I was Annie. I thought, why not?

Well, there is that other part. We've got it. It's the Anne ranking part. Oh, God.

Lily. My mind is mind-blowing. Mind-blowing-wise, when I did Annie at the Bowl, there's one animal trainer on Broadway who does all animal training.

We've probably played her or him on SNL.

He's the most delightful person. His name is Bill Berloni. And he adopted the original Sandy from animal control, and he trained her for the good speed production, and then traveled with every Annie production ever. And then now has become the Broadway. He does all Broadway animals, but he's a wonderful person, and he's a big advocate for animal rights and whatever. He's not the type that we had at SNL that would be like, I got a gecko in the van if you need it. You know what I'm saying?

He'll be like, You got to hit it with a stick to have him let you go. I mean, can a llama do that? I don't know, but you hit it with a stick.

She's got 17 out of in her, so I don't know if it's going to happen today.

This torus is going to bite you if you hold it in the wrong way. What's the right way? Hell, if I know.

There was a donkey sketch. Were you there for the donkey sketch?

No, I wasn't there yet.

There was these donkeys going down those floors. It was just the worst. Oh, my God. And then they doped them. And then by live, they're like… It's not moving. It was a nightmare. Anyway, Bill Berloney has these beautifully trained show dogs. All things show. It's funny. Even show his children, who I'm afraid of, and we all should be, are wonderful on Broadway because, again, it's all work ethic on Broadway. Everything is routine and work ethic. And so a lot of the crazy. There's a different crazy, but it's different. It's more like a proper OCD crazy, which I'm comfortable with.

But just getting back, you're in the White House, Annie's performing.

So Bill Berloni had a picture. That's why I brought Bill Berloni up, because he had a picture from the 1977 White House Christmas party with me, all these people. It's mind-blowing. You're in the picture? It's insane. Do you have a copy of it? No. But he showed it.

You didn't even take it with your phone?

No, I shouldn't have brought it up now that I think about it. I also got a picture once with Paul McCartney and then lost my phone and don't have it. Oh, well. So, but it exists. It exists. Here's the Amy Carter story. Okay. That's the most my... So all of it gets munched together into this crazy... There was a movie theater in the White House, and you would go and be like, Please join us. On the President for a viewing of Pete's Dragon with Helen Reddy. Yeah, things like that. That would be like, because we didn't have VHS or anything back then. It was like the olden times.

Sure was.

And then that's the crazy, crazy story is that I went to the Camp David for the Camp David Accords with the Carters, and we played the violin, which was crazy. For the very first United States Middle East Treaty.

So you played violin for?

For Anwar Sadat and Monaham Bagan and Jimmy Carter. Wow. And me and Amy. It was all in just one room, and we played Suzuki violin after lunch. Do you remember what you played?

She-.

It was literally like, yeah, lightly row or Minuet and G or I don't know, something.

Oh, that must have been so tender. Right? Maybe.

As I've said before, maybe that worked a little harder to make Middle East piece. Yeah. It did It didn't work.

It didn't work. Then, am I right that you watched Star Wars there, too?

Yeah, we watched it with the Sedats. True story.

Star Wars with the Sedats. Yeah. Then you also watched SNL in the White That is the most interesting of all of the stories.

President Carter was the President. You rarely saw him. There were a little bit, but we were there a lot, though. Kids were at that house a lot, her various friends. That's cool. I have a very, very... That's my first memory of Saturday Night Live, because we went to get a snack in the middle of the night, and it felt like the middle of the night was probably 11: 45. We walked by, and the President, who we hadn't seen very much, was sitting in a chair. I remember he had a snack and a beer, and Ackroyd was playing him on TV, live on Saturday night, and he was laughing hysterically at the impression of him. To me, that was the most powerful, whatever you call that early building block or core memory of putting in place the power of parody and the power of comedy and the importance of being able to laugh at yourself, all of those things, which obviously we're in a really different time around, but super, super, super impactful.

You get to Northwestern, we talk your voice major. What makes you go from Northwestern after you graduate to LA?

A very bossy gay.

Great.

I mean, yeah.

Follow.

Get in line.

Wherever you tell me to go.

My friend Peter was like, you're going to... So I knew... I mean, the other... I went to go see the Second City, and there were two women in that cast, and they both played Girlfriends at the time. And I remember being like, I want to see the girls do something fun. And then I came out here to LA, and I went to a Groundland show, and it was literally Coolidge.

Jennifer Coolidge.

Jennifer Coolidge, Cathy Griffin, Lisa Kudrow, this girl, Heather Morgan. I mean, There were so many crazy, funny women wearing wigs and glasses. I was in the improv scene in Chicago, and at Northwestern, it was the same as it ever is, which is just a bunch of smart, quickwitz guys that were like... I remember the main big improv star guy was like, You're more character. That's what he said to me. You do more like characters. I knew that that was an insult, that they thought of that as an insult. And then I came out here and I saw these wigs and glasses. I was like, That seems really fun.

And who did you meet in your early years at the Crownings? At the Crownings?

We had an insanely talented group. I was right behind Will and Sherry.

Will Farrell, Sherry O'Terry.

Yeah. Will is who suggested me for SNL. In my group, I had Stephen Crag, Chris Parnell, Scott Wainio, a lot of writers that came from our era as well. Then right behind me was Maya Forte, Will Forte, Maya Rudolf. Then I befriended a bigger collective of Tim Bagley and Mike Hitchcock and Min Sterling.

Then we always love to talk about SNL audition stories on this show. I know. We like to. I know. We don't have to. But it is interesting with the 50th anniversary and us looking back and all of it. Do you feel any differently about the story that you tell yourself about your audition? Do you feel about your addition?

You know what? I didn't even ever feel bad about it. I'll tell you why. Because there have been a couple of times in my life, and Wicked was one of them, and Saturday Night Live was another, and they were both incredibly challenging jobs and difficult workplaces in their own ways, both just in terms of physical demand and artistic demand and just complicated creative workplaces, as you know. Both times, SNL being one of them, I left no stone unturned. Because I felt, and I really believe this to this day, so to totally double back on the lazy thing. If you give everything your all, if you give something your all, you don't have regret. If you don't have regret, you can face any consequence for me. I knew that if I did the best audition I could, I would feel fine if I didn't get the job because I wouldn't have left something on the table. So So Will Farrell had told me famously that they don't laugh. People whisper that to one another in advance. Did you know that?

Yeah. I knew that it would be absolutely silent, which it was.

Which it was. Yeah, me too. And I told Parnell. And so Charlie, my now husband and I were engaged at the time I got the job. And I wrote the whole thing out as a monolog, and I would just run it relentlessly, and he would sit like Mount Rushmore.

Oh, in practice not laughing?

Repeated Because it was all stuff I had been doing at the Groundings, so I needed to know what it felt like. The cadence is so different. If you have a character that you're used to landing in a certain way.

Yeah, that's actually a really good point. I think a lot of people don't know a lot of standups, and sketch performers, when they come and audition, they're doing stuff that has succeeded somewhere else. And there's a rhythm to it and laughs that you're used to. Correct. Yeah.

Exactly right. You have to forget all that. So I just rehearsed it in front of him, and I knew it six different directions well.

What characters or people did you do in your audition? Do you remember?

Yes, I did the NPR lady who I ended up doing on the show. I did a ridiculous pantyhose-wearing woman who did not end up on the show in a shocking twist.

She ended up on Cut the Shit.

She was on Cut the Shit.

Did you do any impressions?

Somebody, of course, was like, They're going to ask you in the 11th hour to do impressions. But I didn't do impressions. But I knew that it might come because I'd heard that the people that were involved were never a organized around the advanced prep, shall we say? I just had it up my sleeve. I went and I knew that I liked Martha Stewart. I thought she was funny and interesting, even though the Ground links doesn't really do impression-based comedy. I wrote an introduction as Martha Stewart, and I got a Martha Stewart wig. This was so funny to me. I did Cokey Roberts.

Oh, yeah.

I remember her. It was like an NPR reference, literally. But she was on a I'm not really into ABC News, and so I did Cokey Roberts.

But Lauren is good friend with Cokey.

I had dinner with her last night, and it sounds just like- I think Cokey liked the impression. I talked to Cokey, and she liked it. I talked to Cokey. Cokey thought it was a winner.

Cokey thought it was a little mean. Martha. Your Martha impression is so good. Thank you. What do you do vocally to get into Martha? How do we do a Martha?

So much of Martha, it still is. She's so rehearsed in front of the camera. You'll never have her do this.

Martha Stewart does stuff with Ms. Piggy, and she's a little thrown by Ms. Piggy. Yes. Because Piggy, Ms. Piggy is improvising, and Martha doesn't love to improvise.

No. I've had a few situations with her, in fact, where I've had to dress up as her and be with her, which is- That's a very unique thing about SNL.

I had that with- Yes, Hillary Clinton, I'm sure. Hillary Clinton, where you are dressed exactly like them standing next them.

I have had a few events with Martha. And recently, I did the Drew Barrymore show. Oh, right. I showed up as her. It's just the worst. And you're just sitting there fully dressed like a person.

Well, that's why Listen, this is why I love our people. This is why I love sketch comedy. Sketch comedy is embarrassing.

So embarrassing.

Standup is cool. Yes. You go outside, you wear a leather jacket, you smoke a cigarette, you put it out, you go and do your set. Yeah. Sketch, you have a frigging wig and you're schlep in a box with a weird bow tie. Yeah.

And you got- And it never ends.

And it never ends.

Don't think that I'm not still doing that. There are days where I'm like, I still have a wig area in my house. I one time got pulled over for speeding and had a wig in my glove compartment.

That could be considered dangerous. It could be.

It could be.

Do you remember what the wig was?

No, it was during growling's days, in fairness.

Just to have one around.

It's just the schlepping.

The amount of props, it's so uncool. It's so uncool. And that's why I love people who do it because they're, to me, the coolest people, because they sit in the embarrassment and the commitment of it. You have to be really committed.

Which is why the bombing is the funniest thing in the whole world, which is why Will Farrell sitting into a bomb is one of my favorite things I've ever seen in the world.

At SNL, we used to watch old sketches that bombed and just love it in a way. It's what the kids would call cringe, but it's even post-cringe. It's like beyond cringe. It's almost like a delicious... What would you call it? It's not a serotonin boost. I don't know. It's the closest you feel to- It's like a community therapy experience, really, is what it is. It's like a primal scream. Yeah.

For sketch performers.

What are some fun sketches that you used to watch that you loved watching that bombed or feeling?

We did a zoo crew sketch once.

Which is like a DJ.

Like a morning DJ. It was the loudest sketch ever. I mean, it was just literally like,. Every single thing was just like, everybody like, oh, Misa Hormis. Go get them rock. Like, nonstop. Everybody. It was me and Parnol. Oh, my Somebody, the host, I can't remember, and Will. And it was this basic premise, really loud zoo crew, and then the weather chopper goes down, it crashes. Okay, really basic. And then everyone's like, We've lost weather chopper 5. Anyway, people at the table were screaming with laughter. So funny. Then we set it up at home base. I mean, a dramatic play. A Tony-winning Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatic play about a zoo crew. I mean, deathly silent. Like a wall. The audience and the age looked like a painting. The whole time, you're screaming. It was the wall of sound.

Did you get giggles? I mean, yes, because it was so It was embarrassing.

It was also just hilarious because the whole time, you're like, They don't think this is funny. They listen to Morning Zoos. There's nothing. This is what it sounds like. If you like driving to work and listening to that, then that's just a pleasant thing for you. That was embarrassing. Do you remember the stuff that we called Shitcan Alley? Yeah.

There's all these little areas at SNL where you get to perform. Homebase is right in the middle, and it's a prime spot. It's where Update is. Then there's some areas where sketches go to die.

Because you have the audience and you have the balcony. So the main three sets where the musical guest plays and whatever, you usually are going to play things okay. There's one that's way in the back that has no immediate audience in front of it, and really, sketches go there to die. I mean, nothing ever comes out of that corner.

It's also a real vote of no confidence when your sketch is put there, you're like, I see. I see. This isn't going to make the show.

The quietness of It's in Shit Can, Ellie. It's in Shit Can.

We're not going to. I'm going to call my parents. It's not going to make it. But you had so many hits. And NPR, that sketch remains- There was no confidence in that sketch.

That sketch was supposed to bomb. And I knew because I played at the groundlings at the quietness of it. That was the comedy of it.

Yeah, it's so funny. And I should circle back just quickly to Martha. When we're doing Martha, what are doing with her lips and how do we talk?

Well, one of the things she does, so many of what the things that she says and does are things that she has learned to do on camera. She is very aware of how the camera is going to look on her.

It's a barely moving mouth.

Almost nothing moves.

Why should it?

And nor should it.

We're going to make a Christmas meal and barely nothing is going to move.

I am obsessed with her.

Me too. I'm obsessed with her. I mean, Martha is. Martha, I... She said... I'm not going to buy you on the show because I'm scared. But But please listen and know that you're something else.

She also says, I love her rules. Amy, her rules are so comforting. Her rules are so comforting when you talk to her. Her rules? Her rules. She's like, I don't take alcohol alone. I don't take drinks if I'm alone. That's what she told me. I don't take. Do you remember when she briefly took over The Apprentice? We're so obsessed with this. The Zoom at the end, she was always handwriting a termination note. Just a little touch of class.

You're fired.

I so enjoyed your contributions to The Apprentice.

But I'm here to tell you.

I sent her flowers. I sent her flowers for one of her birthdays. Many of the years. Anyway, cut it.

Can we- We'll cut the shit. Cut the shit. I want to talk about Bobby and Marty for a second. The best. The culps. Because those two characters that you and Will did, I think, are a perfect example of combining all of your talents. Before we get into them, what is the difference between good singing, like singing and then comedy singing?

And is there one, I guess? Well, it is interesting. It's an interesting question. I definitely think the training informs what's fun about the characters, meaning they're quintessential choir teachers, so her technique is very important to her. So I probably lean more into that the quality of the voice. And I've met people over the years that are like music people. I hit notes as her that I would be very worried about trying to hit as me. And I know this is true because my friend Seth Rudetsky, who has the SiriusXM radio Broadway show, who I met because he wrote for the Rosie O'Donnell show at the same time as I was in 8G.

A lot of people don't know when we were doing SNL, Rosie was in her studio right next door.

So we met in the NBC gym, and he was of a certain part of my life. I instantly recognized him as a person who understood what that music part of me that I didn't even talk about was. And he said, he was like, Oh, I love how consistently you go from a B flat to a C. Again, I wouldn't have thought about it, and I wouldn't have even thought that Bobby sings that high, but she does all the time, which is wild. If you wanted to ask me to hit a C, I would get my butt hole would tighten up, and I probably wouldn't be able to do it. So there's something really fun about that. And I think for me, I can't speak for other people. There's a freedom around it and a chance-taking that I will play in character any day of the week. Until very recently, I wouldn't have done it as a vocalist.

So cool. Does that make sense? Absolutely. And that is what you guys do as those characters. Also, I just love Bobby and Marty's look.

Their looks are excellent. Their looks are fantastic. And we knew early on. They were disparaged by some of the men, by the cool guys. People thought it was a medley bit and thought it was dumb and hacky. But we had so much fun rating their passive aggression as characters. The dynamic of the two of them, the people giving them the finger all the time, and just the inherent bummer of having those people perform at your prom or whatever. We always loved. That's what was so joyful about it. The music was fine. The music was a super fun component of it, but it wasn't the point, ever. The point was, why are these people performing at my sobriety It was always finding the premise. That's what made it so fun. I have to say, honestly, at the 50th, which was so special because that was always my favorite thing to do at SNL. It was the most fun writing it with Will and with Paula. We were infamous. Infamous is the term because we would, as you know, not start writing until 4: 00 in the morning, and we would finish at 10: 00 AM. It was always a laugh fest that so heavily featured procrastination.

It was extraordinary.

Well, it's very, very funny that you say that because we do a thing on the show where we talk to people who know our guests. We talk well behind their back, and we get a question to ask them. And so I spoke to Paula Pell. And for people that didn't see the SNL 50th music special, which was amazing, there was sketches in between acts and a lot of musical sketches. And Bobby and Marty came out and crushed. That was not an easy audience. It was an audience of truly every single person was either performing or a performer, or it was a cynical audience. You guys crushed. What was that feeling to do that that night?

It was so fun, for lack of a better word. There was something... As you go back to these reunions and you bring all of your history and baggage and whatever you. Again, speaking to your point of the fact that this is all just so embarrassing, because first of all, it's a radio sitting music hall. It's 6,000 seats. I mean, it's a huge, epic space. We followed Lauryn Hill.

Sure. That's who you want to follow.

So you have to understand that in the wings, there are thousands of cool music people. I mean, my dressing room was next Jack White and his band, and I'm dressed as Bobby Mohan cult, okay? I've got the giant glasses and my striped dress, and Will got his bald paint and his... We were rehearsing in the keyboard. So already, we're like the losers in the wings.

Do you know what I mean? I mean, the win is for me, but yes.

It was fantastic.

I mean, actually, you're like, you got the violin and you've got the eye patch.

100 %. And so we're already just like, what is happening? What is happening? Why are we here? And who It invited us? And then we just started to giggle because it was so cute because doing the sketch and doing that, it was very easy to imagine how excited Bobby and Marty, the people, would have been to be at Radio City.

And what was it like back then? What was it like back then? Did you see Jack White?

Who else are you seeing? Mayhem. I mean, mayhem, like posses and people with music people.

So they got like- Yeah, they're so cool.

Big, cool hair and glasses and Lauren Hills, a fur coat and an Afro. Everybody's got floral pants that come up to here. There's posses and weed everywhere. Chris Martin's in the corner. Cool people. Cool people. Actual cool people who just looked right past us. They did not know that we used to be on Saturday Live. They were just like, Who brought granny and gramps? Just right past us.

That actually probably was fun. It was so fun.

That's fun. Then we going out there and all that stuff just suddenly worked.

You're right. Now, Now that I'm remembering, Lauren Hill had a surprise, incredible performance. Insane. And then it was- And the food juice.

There's like smoke.

And then it was like... Test, test, test. And you guys cry. And that's what I mean.

Is that what I did? I knew it was streaming, and I also knew... I mean, it was really funny because we were like... And all of their stuff was about how they'd come to New York for an ophthalmology appointment. They were just lucky to slip in. And just everything about it was so fun. And so we're sitting there and- It's so funny. Yeah. And I I did have the feeling, I was like, this is streaming, because one thing about SNL for me, again, I don't know if you ever had this, but it's a little bit of an A student nerd girl thing. I was always... My greatest regret about this show, not that you would go back in time, is that I never settled into it and enjoyed it because I was always so aware of the time and of running down the clock, somebody else's sketch is going to get cut. When we were there, it was such an explosive surfeight of talent that they were always three sketches a night that might not make it. So I always felt like I had to keep it moving, keep it moving. So I was suddenly very aware that it was streaming and that I was not going to be rushed.

And I was like, I'm going to be Bobby Mouth. The funniest thing in the world to me is this woman and this man, these choir teachers, getting people to settle. Because there's just nothing funnier. So that's what they did.

They just kept telling people to settle.

I need you to settle. I need quiet in the back. Hand goes up, mouth goes shut. Hand goes up, mouth goes shut. I was like, I'm going to keep going until they settle. I'm not going to worry about it. And if I had been at 8: 00, we never would have done that.

Right. Very good point.

But we took a full, probably 45 seconds to get people to pipe it. David Spade pipe down.

That's right. You guys called him out by name.

I don't want to hear it, pierce Brosnan. So stupid.

Okay, we have so much more to talk about.

I'm sorry.

Paula had two great questions.

Uh-oh.

One was a funny one, which was your dog Gloria loves to eat things.

Yes.

And you often keep us updated as to what she eats. What has she eaten lately and has it come out already? And was it intact when it came out?

It never comes out. I don't know where it goes. It's upsetting. You're like, it was a full hair Where did it go?

Where did it go?

And honestly, because she's also like many dogs. It's the more personal, the better. So it's a retainer.

A pair of underwear.

She would eat my IUD if she could pull it out.

She could get in there.

Yeah.

Sorry. But it's true. Dogs are gross.

It is gross. Bras, all that thing. Most recently, to answer the question, it was a massive thing of cheese. I mean, it was a Manchego. It was a Costco Manchego wedge. You know those are big ones for a party. And Charlie sent it to me. I was out here, and he'd taken out the cheese. He was going to have himself a little snack, came back, the cheese was gone. He felt crazy. That's always part of the story. He's walking around like, I swear to God, I brought the cheese out. Where's the cheese? And then hours later, there was this much left, which also I find upsetting because it means that she has eaten to the point of physical discomfort, which for a dog is a long time. I want to know what happens in her dog brain.

Or maybe there's some evolutionary thing where they show you just a little be like... Just to be like... And just to... Nice vintage. Just a tiny bit of a trophy. And here's what I did.

She's such an asshole.

Okay. And then Paula's real question was, and it's the theme of our interview today, which is basically like... It's such a sweet Paula question, which is between writing and singing and acting, which one makes you feel the most free? It's an interesting word.

It's a great question. I think that inherently, I'm the most natural singer. I think that's my first gift, meaning that it's just beyond me. As I've gotten older and more into it. Even in the last couple of years, I feel more comfortable just accepting that it's something that came from somewhere besides me. I got lucky to have a career that nurtured the muscles of it all, Writing is the most in the flow, I probably feel, but I hate writing, and I hate having to write. I love having written.

Yes. Having had written is the best feeling in the world.

I feel like you're a more confident writer than I am. Oh, God, no. No, that's not true. You're very good about it.

I've got to... We have to go. No, I've got to...

What? Your Uber's here?

I'm so sorry, my Uber's here. First of all, you are a member of the Wicked Verse. You opened Wicked in Chicago.

I was the fourth overall Alphaba. Now, when you go, two years ago was the 20th. Again, I have people in my wicked life that are like, I'm not going back. It was torture because it is trauma bonding. It's a really hard job. It's a really, really, really, really hard job. It's a hard role to play. It is a physically demanding, and it's incredibly hard to sing. I'm actually in retrospect, I was so... I'm going to actually take a minute to tell a story. Yes, please. If that's okay. Yes, please. Of course. Because I actually think it's so lifeless and important. I am so hard on myself. And again, I realized this about myself recently. I'm not competitive. I'm a perfectionist. So I actually hate competition, but I want to be really good at things. So it's a weird mix. But when you do a Broadway show, everybody comes at the end because all your friends or whatever. People want to see you before it closes or you leave or whatever. And whatever. Here's a Dina Menzel, the most incredible vocalist, originated this incredibly demanding vocal score. When you take over in a role, you're thrown into their tracks.

So there's a lot of things that were designed around Adina's instrument that other people have a harder time with. Her phrasing, her lung capacity, things like that. I was mercilessly hard on myself. I also just didn't have the Broadway credits that other people did. I felt like I was proving myself. Especially then on Broadway, I think people felt like, who's this TV bitch who just thought she I would show up and sing Alphaba. I didn't feel warmly welcomed into the Broadway community. I felt like I was proving it. So every day. That role is very, very challenging. So my last three weeks, because I did Chicago, and then I came and I did the 3 Penny opera on Broadway, and then I did Wicked up on Broadway. So my last two, three weeks Wicked, all these people come out of the woodworks. Composers I admired people. I admired people I admire, people to see want to see me in the world before I left. And I was so mercilessly cruel to myself. Every day, I would come backstage, and I messed up the bridge on Defying Gravity, or, Oh, my God, I hate it. I didn't like my upper register here, there.

I was screaming in this part. It was such an interesting experience because the sound engineer gave me, like snuck me. I hope I'm not getting him fired. Of my last 12 shows. He had just stuck in a thing and recorded them. I didn't listen to them for 15 years because I was so mortified. I was like, I don't want to hear myself. And then I cracked one open one day and I wanted to listen to Defying Gravity to see if I could Frankenstein, the perfect version together, whatever. And it was so chilling how similar they were.

Oh, wow, Anna. That's It's wild.

To listen to them in a row, it took my breath away. And I tell my kids this all the time now because Ulysses, my son, he's such a perfectionist. I'm like, the difference between 98% and 100 is imperceptible to anyone but you. And if you're hitting the general ballpark of being able to, oh, I don't know, sing Alphaba, you're probably cool. So you are not reliable witness about yourself.

Oh, never. And that's why I give 75 %. I don't even get- But honestly, it can apply to anything.

Oh, absolutely. And making that decision of being like, did you show up? Were you nice to people? Did you know your lines? Okay.

Check. And also the way, the lovely way in which you circled back and you were able to go back to that younger version of yourself and be like- Oh, my God.

I can't believe how unnecessarily, relentlessly mean I was to myself. Yes. I mean, I don't know if I'm able to take it now in everyday life, but it's such an important... I don't know. It felt like such an important lesson. And obviously, that's the SNL wisdom, Pearl. I'm like, I wish I could have enjoyed it. Just enjoyed it. It was a great experience. Yeah.

I mean, the fact that you had physical evidence that they weren't that different.

It was mind-blowing.

Is something else, isn't it? The mind is a terrible place.

A real dick.

It's a terrible, terrible place.

Yeah. The mind is a dick.

The mind is a raging dick. Okay, mean girls. What are your memories about us doing mean girls together?

I remember being on the plane with you.

Yeah, we were on the plane. We got in a fight with a guy. I remember sitting in the...

Yeah, you got in a fight with a guy. And the baby, with baby Francis was early empowering. Baby Francis was on the plane with us. Do you remember that?

Your baby Francis, who is now in her 20s.

My baby Francis, she's 23. Yeah.

She was on the plane. And I still got in a fight with the guy, with the baby around?

Yeah, I hope so. Because the guy got mad that you were swearing in front of the baby.

Yeah, right. I was... It's a long story, but what happened was a very A guy, like a first-class guy. We were in first class, too. He was like, Excuse me. I'm trying to... You're being too loud in first class. And my Boston came out. It was the best thing I've ever seen. Okay, but the shooting of Mean Girls, what do you remember of it?

I remember hanging out with you in that hotel one night and having drinks. I remember when Tina, I have a memory of her sitting at the table on 17 and saying, I think I'm going to try to option this book.

Me too. I have an image of her sitting at her computer and being like, oh, and having the book near her and just working on it being like, I'm writing this movie. It's incredible. I was like, Good luck with that. I'm going to go write a sketch about a lady who has a snake around her neck.

Have you ever heard a fart mouth?

And last question is, what are you listening to watching? Where do you go to laugh these days?

I am not For all my quiet comedy, I am like, Mel Brooks is what makes me laugh. Big, silly.

Okay, what's your favorite Mel Brooks?

I mean...

Let's Google it.

Well, I mean, Madely Khan and- Should we go to the producers? Young Frankenstein producers. When Dratch and I write together, it feels like Mel Brooks is the- Dratch is of the Mel Brooks world. Yeah. So writing with her is very goofy and very fun.

You know what I love, and I know it's underrated, I love me a space Spaceballs.

Oh, deeply underrated. Yeah.

God, Spaceballs made me laugh.

My friend Philip Taratula does this character called official Pam Goldberg on Instagram. He plays a member of Actors' Equity since 1968.

I know my Uber is here, but I have to see this. Yeah, you do. Official Pam Goldberg. Pam Goldberg here, and I'm recommending what to bring with you to tech. So here we go. Snacks.

Don't rely on other people's snacks for anyone else I'm bringing snacks for you.

These are Crasdale peanuts.

I don't think they're organic.

Pam's telling us what to bring to tech.

Or should I say good coffee? I like this from Fairway. The management will be copying themselves, but life's too short for folgers. Again, I I have bananas grams because it's short and cordial.

Bananagrams are short and cordial. Also, Pam has got a real severe haircut.

Real severe.

And a real squinty eye.

She's been a regional theater actress for a long time. We love Pam.

But anyway, Merry Christmas.

Thank you, friend. Thank you, friend. Merry Christmas to you.

Anna Gastier, thank you so much. That was so fun. And that time went by so fast, and I love talking to you. And this is our holiday episode. And for those of you celebrating the holiday in all different ways, I just want to say thank you for giving us the gift of listening to this show. It's meant a lot to us, and this has been an amazing year that we've launched it. So thank you. We cannot wait to make more, which we will be doing for you, and it has been a real gift to do it. So I'm going to end this episode and dive into the Polar Plunge by sharing my favorite Christmas movie with you. And that is a little known classic, Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas. I don't know a lot of people that know it, but it was Look, I don't love puppets all the time, but this one has the Muppet Puppet family. Jim Hensen's workshop made it, and it is the cutest, most tender, best music movie, Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas. Check it out. It is basically the gift of the Magi. There is an incredible bunch of villains called the Riverbottom Nightmare Band.

That is basically a snake and a weasel, and they are incredible. Do yourself a favor, and I don't even know where to find it. I think I have it on VHS. But Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukah. Whatever you celebrate, thank you for listening, and we can't wait to see you in the new year. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weis-Burman, and me, Amy Poler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya MacMullen, and Elea Zanaris. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovelle, and Jenna Weis-Burman. Original music by Amy Miles. All I ever wanted was a really good hang.