They called me in and were like, I think we just discovered a star.
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A simple enough sketch premise.
Co-creator Zach Kanin, playing Paul, suggests Bluetooth capabilities.
It goes around a little.
A couple more ideas.
The man suggests the car be too small.
But where did this sketch and more important, this man come from?
How was the sketch written, shot, and edited?
You started atSNLas a writer in 2011.
Tim, coming from Second City Detroit and then Chicago, joined the cast in 2012.
How and when did you start working together?
Was there something specific you bonded over?
For you or for the show?Robinson:For everybody.
Robinson:Yeah, he was building a replica of the Titanic.
Kanin:Calling itTitanic 2and using all the same parts.
Robinson:This is identical.
I figured out that was the kind of thing Id like to write.
Would you say that assessment is correct?Akiva Schaffer:100% no.
Robinson:Yeah, I wouldnt say that.
I dont think so.
Robinson:Im definitely not a wild card.
I dont like that.
This is notmyassumption.Robinson:You said wild card.
I am not a wild card.
Theres probably an assumption …Robinson:You said probably a wild card.
I dont like that.
What is your working relationship like?Kanin:Im better at typing.
Robinson:Thats true, thats true.
Schaffer:Theyre falling into the stereotype.
Robinson:Just the typing thing.
Other than that … Oh, no.
I aint no wild card!
Kanin:You are at typing.
Youre a wild card at typing.
Robinson:Im a wild card at typing.
And youre a Harvard at typing?Kanin:Im a Harvard at typing.
Theres Z Shirt, theres a sketch where you playreal-estate agentscomplaining about vandalizing their posters.
Do you remember this sketch?
Did you write this?Robinson:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was an old Chicago bit.
It was one I used to do years ago in Chicago.
But of the things you did on air, did you feel like Oh, theres something there?
Theyre like, Stop singing!
and then he hits everything.
Not every sketch.Robinson:Most sketch comedies.
Like, Oh, I think you better get out of here now.
What about Lazy Sunday?Schaffer:Thats not really a sketch.
All right, then never mind.
Youre right.Robinson:Like Cowbell.
Theyre like, Stop that!
Kanin:You gotta go.
Robinson:I dont know.
I guess its probably just that sort of thing is what Zach and I find the most funny.
If anything made it, that would be useful.
But things that made it onSNLthat you guys wrote together.Robinson:Yeah.
Theres kind of a lot I feel like that aired, but yeah.
Its Mike OBrien going out.
That was one of the first things we got, and we felt real proud of that one.
Its just to get, like, a little dot over here?
But then we really dug into his psychology at some point.
He takes a call and says happy birthday to his son.
Like, why is he doing this?
And then his brother right away just goes [to a bug] Where you going?
And its whats his name?
Kanin:Josh Hutcherson.
Robinson:Josh Hutcherson!
And hes like [to a bug], Where you going?
And he fakes [the bug saying], Im going to the supermarket!
It was really hard to get them to move around.
He goes, Oh, dont let that thing out!
I was like, Why?
He was like, If this thing gets loose, its going to fuck up the ecosystem.
Were like, Put it in the box!
Dont use that bug!
Are there other sketches fromSNLthat you guys are particularly proud of?Robinson:Zach, can you?
[Zachs nodding.]
Kanin:There are.
Theyre like, Oooh, it smells, it smells a little bit.
The magician carries on.
At one point hes like, What were you implying?
That I shit my pants?
Schaffer:That aired?
Robinson:That aired, yeah.
Kanin:Peter Dinklage.
Robinson:Peter Dinklage, yeah.
Kanin:By your logic.
He keeps saying, By your logic.
Robinson:He actually said, I didnt say you shit your pants.
He said, So what made the smells, just piss?
Kanin:He was insisting there was a skid mark.
Robinson:Oh yeah, skid mark, yeah.
I just said there was like a skid mark.
Kanin:By your logic, theres a loose enter my pants.
But he keeps saying, I like the joke.
Robinson:Oh, yeah.
He keeps saying, Im a good sport, I like the joke.
So I asked Seth Meyers if he remembered any.
He said Hot Dog Car was something you wrote forSNL.Robinson:Yeah.
He said it killed at table [read] this is what Seth Meyers said.
So I dont know why it didnt work onSNL.
I think there was something about …
Kanin:Just the set was really complicated.
Robinson:Yeah, like bringing a hot-dog car was, yeah.
Kanin:That was definitely our most complicated set on the show, getting the hot-dog car.
Robinson:I remember trying to figure out How do we get a hot-dog car in on Saturday?
Kanin:And how do we smash it through the window.
Because you worked on that as well, right?Kanin:Yeah, yeah.
We did that together.
I mean, I think it was just a blueprint for it.
Not exactly, but just kind of.
We felt good aboutThe Characters.
Robinson:It maybe just like solidified exactly what we wanted to do.
I had warned you about this beforehand, but this is going to be one of the boring questions.
So coming fromSNL, what really interests me about that sketch is its paced very differently than anSNLsketch.
Where this sketch is essentially like its a crescendo of like this guys happening and then the decline.
Are you aware of form or thinking about that?
I feel like a version of that could work onSNL.
Like I thinkSNLhas tape pieces where the joke isnt until pretty late and youre given a little more leeway.
Robinson:People have a little more patience for a taped piece than they do a live piece.
And you might edit it faster.
So enter Akiva into this story.
Hi, Akiva.Schaffer:Hi.
You dont … okay, thank you.
But you came in as a featured player.
So I also just learned that right now.
What is your history with the guys?
How did you meet them?Schaffer:I dont know exactly, but I would come back occasionally.
Like when Timberlake would host, me and Andy would come back for the week.
That was the first time I guess I knew of your guys stuff.
As Tim tells it, it was your idea forI Think You Should Leaveto happen.
Not the show itself, but for Tim to have a sketch show.
But then really fromThe Characters when I saw that.
and kind of that stuff.
Just if there were any ideas out there.
So I was like, If you give them a show, theyre not going to waste it.
Theyre gonna know how to do it.
But I know your response was like, Yes, that has always been my dream.
And I was like Oh, all right.
Robinson:We were shooting onDetroitersactually and I remember you texted me.
It was like our last week and I was like, I cant do this anymore.
Schaffer:That show was very stressful for you.
Robinson:Yeah, I couldnt do it.
I was so stressed out.
One last question of this section.
Have any of you participated in a focus group, witnessed one, moderated one?
Have any of you driven a Ford?Robinson:Ive driven a Ford.
Cover all bases.Robinson:I never owned one.
Im a Chrysler man.
You made a note of that.
Anything else?Schaffer:I have driven a Ford.
Ive seen focus groups for movies.
Equally mundane I would say.
Writing
So you get the show.
Its time to start writing some sketches.
I think we were just like joking around with the idea.
We were like okay, this feels different.
Robinson:For wanting to do good at something that just doesnt matter.
Schaffer:Thats true to every real focus group, too.
Theres always someone that just starts raising their hand and talking and kind of messing it up.
So at that point, we do know that Zach is the one typing.
Beyond that, how do you write out?Schaffer:Youre like pacing, sweating.
Throwing a tennis ball.Robinson:I got a Hawaiian shirt on.
Schaffer:Youve got your tennis rackets.
But are you just sort of riffing on the idea?
And it’s possible for you to say pass.
When did you think of that?
How did that come to you?Schaffer:Ive wondered this the whole time.
Robinson:Pass, pass.
Schaffer:Can I ask you a background question?
Did it happen to him before?
That was going to be a followup.
Is that a thing that his whole …Kanin:No.
Schaffer:Hes just worried about it.
Schaffer:Yeah, hes like,Why arent people agreeing?
It was a softball.
Obviously everybody should be agreeing with me.
Robinson:Right, right, right.
Is it a call forward?Robinson:We had written it, but stinky wasnt part of it.
We already shot that.
That was the first?
Kanin:Yeah, that was the first.
We had, there were a lot more hand waves.
Robinson:We cut probably ten people saying things stink.
These guys just like people going [Waves hand in front of face, disgusted.]
but he didnt do it.
Robinson:I was watchingFriday the 13tharound Halloween.
I saw an extra.
[Waves hand in front of face.]
It doesnt have to be a problem!
Schaffer:Hes telling his own little story.
Robinson:Its a story.
Schaffer:Theres a mini arch in your biggerFriday the 13th.
Schaffer:Hes adding layers.
What is your line of thinking that multiple people say mud pies or the shows willingness to repeat jokes?
Were there people like, Oh, youve already used that before?Schaffer:Yes.
And what did you respond to this person?Schaffer:Were creating a universe.
I dont know that we said that.
Robinson:You accidentally stumbled upon something smart so you resay it.
Schaffer:I do that constantly.
So this person, just to clarify, said mud pie.
Robinson:Mud pie.
Kanin:Thought mud pie stinks.
Schaffer:But then another person in a whole other sketch said it.
Robinson:Yeah theyre brothers.
Schaffer:No, Im following.
How does this fit as a slightly different version of that?
Hes at a focus group and hes trying to be the best at it.
Why would somebody do that?
Youve said in interviews that you would overwrite the sketches.Robinson:Whats that?
You write longer than the sketches would be.Robinson:Yeah.
What does that mean in practice?Robinson:Oh, we would just write a lot.
I feel like the Tim Heidecker one was …
I think that had another, like, eight minutes.
Kanin:Yeah, that was really long.
Schaffer:Some of them were like 12-page sketches.
Can you say other things that were in this?
Now this is three minutes.
He says like Paul ate slop sandwich.
Robinson:Oh, right.
Schaffer:Thats what Im saying it was right around the farting.
Kanin:Because he said he farted.
And he says, like …
Robinson:You farted because you had a slop sandwich for lunch.
Kanin:Yeah, yeah.
And you want like the police to say, Oh, it stinks in here.
What did you eat for lunch, slop sandwich?
Schaffer:I feel like Paul had a response but I cant remember.
Kanin:No, I dont remember.
Robinson:I cant remember whats in there.
Is it stuff about him with the police, the paramedics finding the cars?
What did you have for lunch?
Theres no police stuff in the …Kanin:Theres no police stuff in this.
I forgot what that is.
Kanin:It explains.
Robinson:Because if it flies out the window, youre toast.
Schaffer:Him saying it stinks wasnt as connected to Paul farting, in fact.
They were kind of separate.
Like you kind of saw how he figured out that Paul, he decided Paul had farted.
Schaffer:It made a lot of sense.
Schaffer:And so everybodys at the same age.
Oh, really?Robinson:Yeah, just to see or a lot of them.
Schaffer:We had talked about it being you, though.
That was on the table.
It was not written, I want to say, to have an accent of any sort.
That was not part of it.
It was written as man between ages of …Schaffer:Like 50-year-old man, yeah.
[Ruben enters holding a steering wheel.]
Ruben Rabasa:I grab it before this.
Paul, what are you doing here?
I thought you were getting married with your mother-in-law, man!
Well, I came from Cuba in 1955.
I always get killed.
So the first movie that they gave me, I was a ghost.
I said, This is going to be my life.
My God, this is terrible.
And then I went back to Miami and I start doing a lot of shows too.
Now Im doing a show in Miami.
Its calledThe Amparo Experienceand its a beautiful play.
I really, really enjoy this play very much.
When I read that, I said, What the hell is this?
Then I say, I dont know how I can do this.
Robinson:Its fine.
Rabasa:Then I start practicing in front of the mirror and I like myself.
I said, This is getting to be good.
But I keep practicing and then when I come into audition, they love it.
They really love what I did and I really was enjoying every minute, every minute I was there.
Especially when I was talking to Paul.
They called me in and were like, I think we just discovered a star.
Thats not a joke.
I think its literally for their use as their boardroom as the company that rents you the plane.
And we were like, They have a boardroom, we can shoot this.
Thats how scrappy you have to be.
Then we were just trying sketch to sketch to make them not feel the same.
Did you cross shoot?Schaffer:Yeah.
Always two cameras because we do two sketches a day, if not three.
So there was no time to be really precious.
Does he have a name?Kanin:Did he have a name?
Rabasa:No, no, no.
Because they were laughing at everything I said.
Schaffer:Just like this.
Rabasa:I was scared at the beginning, but I really had fun with that really.
And I love the way they talk to me and we become a beautiful team when were doing that.
And thats the most important thing when you the … how do you say?
Chemistry was … it works together and its perfect.
I have such a good chemistry with them that it was unbelievable.
You had, as you said, a pretty long script.
Rabasa:Twice, right.
Rabasa:I know.
I remember when you told me you had to have the bottle to throw it.
I said, Oh my God, thats going to be hard.
Schaffer:And then he did it.
Rabasa:The second time, boom.
I guess thats what happened, huh?
Oh my God, I did it.
But Ruben kept getting it.
Rabasa:I know.
Ruben, I wanted to talk about two other moves.
How did you sort of master your stinky wave?
What was your approach to it?
And do it right now.Rabasa:I was sitting very close to Paul.
Schaffer:So it just was natural.
Rabasa:So it came out naturally.
[He dabs.]
I didnt know what the hell I was doing.
I got a stick neck.
I did it three times.
Every shot is already the funniest sketch Ive ever seen.
Kanin:When we shot, Ruben was just like two feet from my face.
The commitment was so …
I laughed in every single take, and then Ruben would wink at me when I cracked.
Id be red-faced, in tears.
You couldnt use anything I had done and hed be so angry at me.
We brought it up now.
Kanin:Yeah, so we just wrote another we added another beat to something to bring Ruben back.
Or is it self-explanatory if people watch it?
I think its pretty self-explanatory but its the …Robinson:The Laser Spine.
Its the Laser Spine sketch that turns into the record-executive guy.
Robinson:Yeah, Robbie Star, yeah.
Schaffer:This clip is pretty short.
Its just right at the end of that sketch.
Rabasa:Oh, my God.
Schaffer:You havent seen that.
Rabasa:I didnt see that one.
Post
So weve talked about how this sketch essentially gets rewritten in edit.
How long of a process is that?
Theres a small continuity error in the sketch.
[They all shake their heads.]
There goes the question of, Was that on purpose?
Fox:Your shirt collar is on the outside of the jacket one time.
Fox:I didnt know if it was like …
I watched the sketch a lot to prepare for this.
Robinson:No, its not on purpose.
So its time for it to come out.
But we just, yeah …
Kanin:We had no idea what to expect.
Kanin:It was really nice.
Do you have theories of why specifically people responded to it?Kanin:No.
Akiva, do you, as an outsider?Schaffer:No, no.
Ruben, how was the reaction for you?
Do people recognize you on the street?Rabasa:Oh, yes.
I went to a restaurant the other day.
A guy come in and he throw a bottle right in front of me.
I said to the waiter, Its crazy.
The guy said, No, do it for me.
Do it for me again because I want to see how you did it in the show.
I go, Oh my God!
Robinson:Sounds like a nightmare.
Rabasa:I know.
Fox: [to Rabasa]Was it vindicating for you?Rabasa:I dont know.
The other guy comes in: What do you want in a car?
So I said, What?
I just bought a Jeep?
Say No, Ruben, thats not what you want.
I said, then What I want?
No, you want the one with the steering wheel flying doesnt off your hands.
I said Oh, thats right!
I forgot about that.
No, they thought.
At first they thought he wasnt going to get it.
Theyre getting a second season; its announced.Rabasa:I need money, just.
Have you started working on the second season?Robinson:Yeah.
Writing and shooting?Robinson:Just writing right now.
Do you know what youd want from it generally?
Right now its just writing it until we have a big group of sketches.
You made the first season in a vacuum.
Are you responding to knowing what people responded to with it?
I think at this point, were really just trying to write things we think are funny right now.
Does it make you more confident knowing that it works?Robinson:No.
Have you written anything that you think might be good for a certain actor thats here?
Will you say confidently?Rabasa:You better.
Robinson:We have an idea where he plays a dead guy.
Rabasa:Oh my God, no!
One More Thing
With one minute left, we talked for an hour about this sketch.
I want to talk for one minute about one more.
Robinson:I do.
Schaffer:He loves spooky stuff.
Did that come into play in the writing?
Robinson:Not really.
It was an idea that I cant really remember.
I know that they were separate ideas.
Whether they all started playing the song together.
They were two separate ideas that we smashed together.
