Robert Smigel

In his nine-hour interview, Robert Smigel talks about his early life and family and growing up in Manhattan. He recalls wanting to be a comedian from an early age but instead pursuing a career as a dentist (following in his father's footsteps). He details how he started doing stand-up after entering a contest while still studying to be a dentist. He traces his career from comedy writer, to being scouted by Saturday Night Live writers Al Franken and Tom Davis while performing at the Player's Workshop at Second City in Chicago. He discusses in-depth his long tenure at Saturday Night Live, many of the memorable sketches he worked on, and other SNL writers he worked with such as Bob Odenkirk and Jim Downey. Smigel talks about working alongside SNL performers Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, Adam Sandler, Steve Martin, and Phil Hartman, among others. He talks about the now-infamous "Nude Beach" sketch which was later cut from subsequent SNL episodes. Smigel details writing the "Bill Swerski's Superfans" sketch and coming up with "Da Bears" catchphrase. He talks about leaving SNL to produce Late Night with Conan O'Brien and discusses many of the memorable sketches from that show including "Clutch-Cargo" and "In the Year 2000." He talks about many of the writers he worked with including Dino Stamatopoulos, Louis C.K., Stephen Colbert, and Steve Carrell. He talks about producing The Dana Carvey Show. He discusses the challenges of producing the show. Smigel also discusses a pilot he made with Conan O'Brien called Lookwell, starring Batman's Adam West. Smigel talks about the genesis of his most-famous character, "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" (who makes a cameo during the interview). He details many of "Triumph's" best-loved sketches and interviews including filming fans outside a Star Wars premiere and roasting Eminem during the MTV Video Music Awards. He talks about his return to Saturday Night Live with the animated sketch segment "TV Funhouse" and the spin-off television series of the same name. Smigel details the concept behind and writing of many Funhouse sketches including "The Ambiguously Gay Duo," "X-Presidents," "Christmastime for the Jews," and "Conspiracy Theory Rock!". He shares his inspiration for founding the fundraising specials Night of Too Many Stars, which has raised millions for autism. He discusses political humor and covering the 2016 presidential campaigns. Finally, "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" closes out the interview. Dan Pasternack conducted the interview in partnership with the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College over two days, on November 19 and December 20, 2019 in New York, NY.