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Robert Smigel on wanting to be a comedian since he was three years old
(Profession - Performers)
01:34
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Performers
Robert Smigel on joining a sketch comedy program (The Players Workshop) at Second City in Chicago; on his love of Chicago and how the experience at Second City helped build his confidence as a comedian; on gravitating towards sketch comedy over improv; learning how to develop writing sketch comedy from the players at Second City like Dan Castellaneta; on his early sketch comedy ideas; on meeting Dan Crowley in Chicago and joining his comedy group (All You Can Eat) as his replacement; on Al Franken and Tom Davis, original writers from Saturday Night Live, coming to Chicago to see a show Smigel had created, "All You Can Eat and the Temple of Doom"
(Profession - Comedian)
18:58
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Comedian
Robert Smigel on the "modern" type of "so bad it's good" comedy he was interested in early in his career; catching the comedy bug after performing and winning a comedy standup contest at NYU; "I was stung, I was infected"; on getting to perform at The Comic Strip in New York city; on his closing bit as Ronald Reagan (foreshadowing a later TV Funhouse sketch "The X Presidents"); on getting more gigs after that; on being a fan of comedy that "tore everything down and made fun of itself"
(Profession - Performers)
14:35
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Performers
Robert Smigel on joining a sketch comedy program (The Players Workshop) at Second City in Chicago; on his love of Chicago and how the experience at Second City helped build his confidence as a comedian; on gravitating towards sketch comedy over improv; learning how to develop writing sketch comedy from the players at Second City like Dan Castellaneta; on his early sketch comedy ideas; on meeting Dan Crowley in Chicago and joining his comedy group (All You Can Eat) as his replacement; on Al Franken and Tom Davis, original writers from Saturday Night Live, coming to Chicago to see a show Smigel had created, "All You Can Eat and the Temple of Doom"
(Profession - Performers)
18:58
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Performers
Robert Smigel on the writer Jim Downey and what he brought to the writers' room at Saturday Night Live, and on how Downey's tenure at The Harvard Lampoon impacted his humor
(Profession - Writers)
09:52
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on Dana Carvey as a performer on Saturday Night Live and his collaborations with Smigel and enjoying improvising while doing impressions; on contributions from writers Bonnie and Terry Turner; on some of Carvey’s sketches and impressions; on working with Carvey on his Johnny Carson impression, on The McLaughlin Group impression being one of Smigel’s favorite sketches that he wrote; on his Regis Philbin impression; on “finding the music” in an impression with Carvey
(Profession - Writers)
05:50
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on writing the "Get a life" line for William Shatner on the classic Saturday Night Live sketch "Trekkers" in which Shatner says the line to some Star Trek superfans, and on the sketch being a turning point in his writing career at SNL
(Profession - Writers)
02:48
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on hiring writers Dino Stamatopoulos and Louis C.K.; on wanting the show to be the opposite of David Letterman’s style but invoking his name in the first episode; on wanting to go right to where the “stress” is in humor; on Tom Brokaw’s cameo on the show; on the very dark humor present in the first season of the Late Night show; on the "Actual Items" bit on the show
(Profession - Producers)
06:52
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Producers
Robert Smigel on the sketch "In the Year 2000" that he wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and on the inspiration coming from 1960s television shows like The Jetsons; on the Clutch Cargo sketches which involved cutting out out lips from a still photograph and re-enacting the mouth through the photo (it was Smigel’s mouth); on his impressions being more "impercisions" than impressions of famous people like President Bill Clinton
(Profession - Writers)
04:49
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on the genesis of the Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketch "Masturbating Bear" which writer Brian Reich developed, and on the bear bit being funnier due to the limitations put on it by Standards & Practices
(Profession - Writers)
01:44
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on why the Clutch Cargo sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien worked and what made them funny, and on his Arnold Schwarzenegger Clutch Cargo impression
(Profession - Writers)
02:13
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on writing for his character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on the Westminster Dog Show remote episodes with "Triumph"; on some of the best lines being improvised and not pre-written; on the remote bit where "Triumph" roasts fans of Star Wars outside the movie's premiere in NYC
(Profession - Writers)
07:39
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on coming up with the idea for his character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" for Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his wife getting him puppets for his birthday, which was coincidentally right when the Westminster Dog Show was happening; on the character first saying “for me to poop on”; on the dog’s gold bow tie; on the cigar prop; on doing a deadpan stare as "Triumph" in the vein of comedian Myron Cohen; on the character being a good catharsis for the audience since Conan is super polite and "Triumph" is the opposite
(Profession - Writers)
08:45
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on the stresses of producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his self-effacing personal style; not being a super enthusiastic personality; on watching an episode of The Simpsons about "Krusty the Klown" and identifying with the premise of being a person who wallows in his creativity rather than rejoicing in it
(Profession - Producers)
06:08
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Producers
Robert Smigel on whether there is a disconnect between himself and his character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" and how his identity merged with "Triumph’s" character; on his feeling "Triumph" has more irony and absurdity than an insult comic, which makes "Triumph" less biting or mean
(Profession - Puppeteer)
03:29
Interview: Robert Smigel Profession: Puppeteer