Last night on HBO‘s Real Time with Bill Maher, the host returned after a week away while his #Adulting special ran in his regular HBO time slot. He invited Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk to talk about comedy as a career and his new book, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir.
Odenkirk sat down for a 1:1 interview with Maher to talk about what it takes to deliver quality comedy to an audience.
But first, Maher mentioned one of his favorite Odenkirk titles: Mr. Show with Bob and David, a sketch comedy show he did with David Cross that aired on HBO from 1995 to 1998 and had a semi-reboot on Netflix in 2015 under the title W/ Bob & David.
“We were trying to copy (Monty) Python,” Odenkirk said of the show. “We tried to keep that energy going. We packed a lot of ideas into them.”
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Odenkirk then spoke about his time as a writer on Saturday Night Live from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1992 to 1995, where he says he didn’t bring much to the table. He added that broad comedy was not his thing. “I couldn’t pull it off,” he admitted. “I learned everything I know there, and they got nothing out of me. I took what I learned and came to L.A., and I made a career.”
He says one of the main things he learned was that “There should be an element of anger in comedy. It’s got a little edge,” something that the early SNL seemed to master. “It’s a generational thing,” Odenkirk said. “If you weren’t part of that generation, you didn’t get it. I loved that. I loved that there was a show that you had to find your way into the brain of the people who made it.”
The two comics then talked about performing standup routines during the ’80s comedy boom. “It was great for a little while, then we ruined it,” Maher joked.
“I couldn’t stand the confrontational nature of standup,” Odenkirk said, describing it as “a fight with the audience.”
Maher then mentioned a sketch that Odenkirk did where he played film producer Robert Evans running a booth as God. The host said he saw the sketch at the Aspen Comedy Festival and was cracking up at Odenkirk’s dead-on voice imitation of Evans.
“It’s a great way of thinking about God,” Odenkirk commented.
Odenkirk said that his standup career never really took off since “I couldn’t tell a joke more than twice without hating it.” He added, “A real pro has to be able to do that tight 20, that core material that you bring through the years.”
“I’m never on tour,” Maher said, noting that his standup bouts typically consists of a couple of shows and that’s it.
“You do happen to have a TV show,” Odenkirk teased.
Lastly, Odenkirk said his new book was mostly about “making your way and not quitting. It’s show biz, and if you keep looking for opportunities, (they come).” He revealed that the opportunity to star in Better Call Saul came to him, he didn’t have to seek it out. “I never read for it, never took an acting class.”
Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor
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