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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 05:47
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on Triumph the Insult Comic Dog filming for Late Night with Conan O'Brien outside a "Star Wars" movie premiere in NYC; on roasting the Star Wars fans; on his process creating the Triumph sketches and how much is improvised and how much is written; on the funniest line he improvised as Triumph, when the puppet says to a fan dressed as Darth Vader ‘which one of these buttons calls your mother to pick you up?”; on kids lining up to be made fun of (by Triumph) on other infamous lines he came up with as Triumph 04:14
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on having Adam West as a guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and on other bits he came up with for West 02:42
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on switching roles from writer to producer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on producing a five-day-a-week show; on the format of the show; on what Conan brought to the show's dynamic 04:16
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on Andy Richter and how the role of a sidekick for Conan on Late Night with Conan O'Brien came about; on how Richter was originally hired as a writer; on why it clicked between Conan and Andy; on how Stephen Colbert was also considered as Conan’s sidekick; on how NBC hated Andy as a sidekick initially; on what made a good sidekick for a personality like Conan’s 06:30
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he and Dino Stamatopoulos devised for Late Night With Conan O"Brien (this technology consisted of a still photo image of a celebrity paired with a real person’s mouth voicing an impersonation of them); on how Smigel came to be the mouth on the Clutch Cargo sketches; on his impression of President Bill Clinton; on doing this sketch live being one of the most exciting moments in his career 04:05
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on what made the Clutch Cargo sketches work on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his Arnold Schwarzenegger Clutch Cargo impersonation; on Arnold reminding him of Desi Arnaz 02:14
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on his Bob Dole Clutch Cargo impression on Late Night with Conan O'Brien being his favorite; on talking about the Senator in the third person; on Dole being the funniest person he ever got to play; on doing a different version of the impression when he did Dole on The Dana Carvey Show 03:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the stresses of producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on some of the challenges he faced as a producer; on his self-effacing personal style; on discontinuing "fake guests" on the show; on Don Ohlemeyer being a big supporter of the show; on a fake guest bit he did with Conan writer Louis C.K. about fake dog trainers; on this being the first time he did the dog-voice (a precursor to Smigel's "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" character); on the genesis of his puppet character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" when he was producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on "Triumph" first uttering the phrase “for me to poop on”; on the dog’s gold bow tie and cigar; on the cigar prop; on doing a deadpan stare as "Triumph" in the vein of comedian Myron Cohen; on "Triumph" being able to do what Conan couldn't as a "nice host"; on the popularity of "Triumph"; on doing the first remote shoot with "Triumph" character at the Westminster Dog Show and how they were able to sneak into the show which did not want them filming there; on improvising the remote bits with "Triumph"; on being invited onto Hollywood Squares as "Triumph"; on going to a Bon Jovi concert; on "Triumph" filming the sketch outside a Star Wars movie premiere in New York City 25:46
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on not being a super enthusiastic personality; on watching an episode of The Simpsons about their character "Krusty the Klown," and on identifying with the premise of being a person who wallows in his creativity rather than rejoicing in it 02:18
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Simpsons, The
Robert Smigel on the never-aired pilot he produced with Conan O'Brien called Lookwell, starring Adam West of Batman-fame 14:20
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Lookwell
Robert Smigel on his Bob Dole Clutch Cargo impression on Late Night with Conan O'Brien being his favorite; on talking about the politician in the third person; on Dole being the funniest person he ever got to play; on doing a different version of the impression when he did Dole on The Dana Carvey Show 03:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Characters & Catchphrases
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he did on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (this technology consisted of a still photo image of a celebrity paired with a real person’s mouth voicing an impersonation of them); on how Smigel came to be the mouth of the Clutch Cargo sketches, and on his Clutch Cargo impersonation of President Bill Clinton 03:46
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Bill Clinton
Robert Smigel on "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" filming a sketch outside a Star Wars movie premiere in New York City for a bit on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on roasting the Star Wars fans; on his process creating the "Triumph" sketches and how much is improvised and how much is written; on the funniest line Triumph ever said, for the Star Wars sketch ("Triumph" says to a fan dressed as "Darth Vader" "And which one of these buttons calls your mother to pick you up?”) 05:13
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Characters & Catchphrases
Robert Smigel on coming up with the idea for his character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" for Late Night with Conan O'Brien; 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 06:38
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Creative Influences and Inspiration
Robert Smigel on his Bob Dole Clutch Cargo impression on Late Night with Conan O'Brien being his favorite; on talking about the politician in the third person; on Dole being the funniest person he ever got to play; on doing a different version of the impression when he did Dole on The Dana Carvey Show 03:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Pivotal Career Moments
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he did on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (this technology consisted of a still photo image of a celebrity paired with a real person’s mouth voicing an impersonation of them); on how Smigel came to be the mouth of the Clutch Cargo sketches, and on his Clutch Cargo impersonation of President Bill Clinton 03:46
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Television and the Presidency
Robert Smigel on coming up with the idea for his character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" for Late Night with Conan O'Brien; 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 06:38
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Pivotal Career Moments
Robert Smigel on "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" filming a sketch outside a Star Wars movie premiere in New York City for a bit on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on roasting the Star Wars fans; on his process creating the "Triumph" sketches and how much is improvised and how much is written; on the funniest line Triumph ever said, for the Star Wars sketch ("Triumph" says to a fan dressed as "Darth Vader" "And which one of these buttons calls your mother to pick you up?”) 05:13
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Pop Culture
On his favorite "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" remote shoots for Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on filming at a hot dog stand in Chicago's Lincoln Park called the Wieners Circle; on using Jack McBrayer on the shoot; on getting customers at the Wieners Circle to volunteer to get vomited on by "Triumph"; on how much of the "Triumph" sketches are pre-written and how much are improvised 06:27
Interview: Robert Smigel
On "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" roasting Jennifer Lopez and Eminem at the MTV Video Music Awards; on the decision not to let Eminem in on the joke in advance, and on how the artist Moby got involved; on making sure that the cameraman never showed Smigel’s face when he was doing the "Triumph" bits; on producers at MTV being too nervous that Smigel was in actual danger and not letting him continue the bit backstage; on how he considers himself to be just "working for 'Triumph'" and the disconnect between himself and the character of "Triumph" 12:07
Interview: Robert Smigel
On why he left Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on what made that show unique; on how getting married changed his perspective; on movies he pitched based on some of his Saturday Night Live sketches; on The Dana Carvey Show; on the sketch about President Gerald Ford that never aired during his tenure at The Dana Carvey Show but finally aired as a sketch on Saturday Night Live 52:17
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on Triumph roasting Eminem on the MTV Video Music Awards 12:06
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Eminem
Robert Smigel on working with Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, on what made that show unique, and on Conan as a host 02:59
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on why Da Bears movie based on his "Superfans" sketch on Saturday Night Live didn't get made, and on Chris Farley's growing popularity at the time contributing to the movie not being made 01:22
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Chris Farley
Robert Smigel on the overhaul of the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1995 resulting in Steve Carrell becoming available; on Smigel auditioning Steve Carrell; on Carrell’s contribution to The Dana Carvey Show and the sketch “Germans Who Say Nice Things” 04:01
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Steve Carell
Robert Smigel on the “Idiot Pranksters” sketches written by Louis C.K. for The Dana Carvey Show; on his “counter-intuitive” style; on the individuality of comedy ideas for some comedians like Jack Handey and Louis C.K. 01:35
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Louis C.K.
Robert Smigel on the individuality of comedy ideas for some comedians, like Jack Handey 00:50
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Jack Handey
Robert Smigel on hiring writer Stephen Colbert for The Dana Carvey Show; on a sketch with Colbert and Steve Carrell that wound up getting them both hired on The Daily Show 05:02
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Stephen Colbert
Robert Smigel on hiring writer Stephen Colbert for The Dana Carvey Show; on a sketch with Colbert and Steve Carrell that wound up getting them both hired on The Daily Show 05:02
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Steve Carell