Ana Gasteyer | Good Hang with Amy Poehler

What this episode is about

Ana Gasteyer joins the holiday celebration as a guest, discussing her experiences on "Saturday Night Live," Christmas songs, her Broadway journey, and her album "Sugar and Booze." The conversation also touches on her time at the White House, favorite musical productions, and the importance of friendship in the entertainment industry.

Key takeaways

• Holiday cheer on Good Hang: Anna Gastire's musical talent turns Sugar and Booze into Christmas gold.
• SNL alumni reminisce: sometimes bombing on stage is a gift wrapped in laughter.
• Paula Pell's makeup skills rival a blindfolded artist's touch—Los Angeles, beware.
• Walmart outpaces Santa; one-hour gift delivery redefines holiday cheer and last-minute shopping.
• Comedy meets caroling: Paula Pell's off-pitch soprano makes even cereal groan.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Amy Poehler (Host) · 39 min speaking
• Ana Gasteyer (Guest) · 29 min speaking
• Paula Pell (Guest) · 3 min speaking
• Janine Berto (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 10:00: Anna Gastire, Walmart Express Delivery, Paula Pel, Paula Pell
2. 10:00 – 20:00: Tartan, Sugar and Booze, Apple Card, Apple Card
3. 20:00 – 30:00: Violin, The Miracle Worker, Amy Carter, Amy Carter
4. 30:00 – 40:00: Broadway, SNL, Violin, Annie
5. 40:00 – 50:00: Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart, Wicked, ABC News
6. 50:00 – 1:00:00: Bobby and Marty, SNL, Violin, Paula Pel
7. 1:00:00 – 1:10:00: Wicked, Broadway, Defying Gravity, Mean Girls
8. 1:10:00 – 1:11:19: Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, The Gift of the Magi, Good Hang, Jim Henson's Workshop

Notable quotes from "Ana Gasteyer | Good Hang with Amy Poehler"

• One week down to give everybody a genuine break and then we're back in the new year. But we are with Anna Gastire today and Anna Gasty, writer, singer, Broadway star, sketch…

  about Anna Gastire · at 0:21

• Order gifts up until 5:00 p.m. on December 24th. Santa, you might want to take notes. Download the Walmart app or head to walmart.com and get your gifts delivered fast. Subject to availability, terms and fees apply.

  about Walmart Express Delivery · at 1:57

• It's It's funny. I want to talk to Anna about it. what is the difference between good singing and comedy singing?

  about SNL · at 5:30

• Funny television shows as really funny characters and then she's like playing the violin in a video she sends us to crack us up that's like incredibly skilled violin.

  about Violin · at 6:15

• And so happy you're here. Love you. Love you. Bye. Bye. This episode is brought to you by Hotels.com. Make your next trip work for you. Hotels.com just rolled out a gamechanging feature called Save Your Way. And it's as simple as it sounds.

  about Hotels.com · at 10:16

• Resume sort of leans in that direction cuz I my like legacy moments at SNL were you know Balls and the Martha Stewart Topless Christmas which was my first like thing that…

  about Martha Stewart · at 12:41

• Thank you. What do you do vocally to get into Martha? How do we do a Martha?

  about Martha Stewart · at 43:21

• First of all, you are a member of the Wicked verse. You opened Wicked in Chicago.

  about Wicked · at 1:01:22

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Anna Gastire — Person · Main guest · 3 mentions · first at 0:25
  Primary interview subject — musician, Broadway performer and comedy writer whose holiday record and career stories are the focus of the episode
• Paula Pel — Person · Guest contributor / Interviewer · 3 mentions · first at 1:21
  Appears as a guest interviewer/introduction — fellow comedian and SNL alum who provides commentary and a recorded segment
  Comedic legend, a woman who has written some of your favorite sketches at SNL. You know her from AP Bio, from the Maple Worth Murders, from Wine Country, from Girls 5 Eva. She…
• Paula Pell — Person · Featured guest (intro segment) / referenced collaborator & friend · 2 mentions · first at 1:27
  Appears in an early segment to tee up the main guest (Anna), provides personal context, and supplies questions that shape the interview.
  The Maple Worth Murders, from Wine Country, from Girls 5 Eva. She is the one, the only Paula Pel. Paula, I believe we're getting you in a car.
• Martha Stewart — Person · Referenced public figure / impression subject · 4 mentions · first at 12:46
  Discussed as a recurring SNL impression and as the subject of a famous holiday sketch; used to explore comedy performance technique (voice, mouth movement, camera-awareness).
• Amy Carter — Person · Referenced acquaintance / childhood friend · 2 mentions · first at 29:59
  Mentioned as Anna's childhood friend from a gifted program and violin peer; contextual to White House anecdotes
  Amy Carter, the daughter of President Jimmy Carter. Correct. who for people who are not our age, Jimmy Carter was a president. No, but also and the best ex-president we've ever had.
• Ana Gasteyer — Person · 12 mentions
• Janine Brito — Person · 6 mentions
• Cokie Roberts — Person · 4 mentions
• Lauryn Hill — Person · 3 mentions
• Amy Carter — Person · 2 mentions · first at 29:59
  Fascinating that you were among many people that were your friends during that time. You were friends with Amy Carter.
• Bill Berloni — Person · 2 mentions
• Emily Spivey — Person · 1 mention · first at 7:09
  Together. A bunch of the SNL ladies have gone together on girl trips. Maya, you, me, Dr. Tina, Anna, Spivey, and the wine country gang.
• Tim Bagley — Person · 1 mention · first at 39:37
  Yeah. it was, and then I befriended a bigger collective of, Tim Bagley and my Hitchcock and Sterling. We always love to talk about SNL audition stories on this show.
• Anwar Sadat — Person · 1 mention
• Cheri Oteri — Person · 1 mention
• Dan Aykroyd — Person · 1 mention
• Menachem Begin — Person · 1 mention
• Pierce Brosnan — Person · 1 mention
• Seth Rudetsky — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

• The Gift of the Magi — Book · 1 mention · first at 1:10:20
  Best music movie. EMTT Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Check it out. It is basically The Gift of the Magi. there is an incredible bunch of villains called the Riverbottom Nightmare…

Companies & orgs

• Goldman Sachs Bank USA — Company · Incidental · 1 mention · first at 11:27
  Mentioned as the issuer of the Apple Card during a sponsor segment.
  Apple Card in the Wallet app to see your credit limit offer in minutes. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Salt Lake City branch. Terms and more at applecard.com.
• Good Hang — Company · 4 mentions · first at 0:06
  Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. This is our holiday episode. It's our Christmas episode and we have an incredible guest today who's going to celebrate Christmas with us. and you should know we.
• NPR — Company · 4 mentions
• Wicked — Company · 3 mentions · first at 40:04
  Bad about it. I'll tell you why that because there have been a couple of times in my life and Wicked was one of them and Saturday Night Live was another. were both incredibly…
• Costco — Company · 2 mentions · first at 14:54
  Doorway like where you would hang mistletoe and you can basically go to Trader Joe's or Costco or whatever and get your garland and you can make a really beautiful archway. if you use that tension if you So you get what you would put.
• Mean Girls — Company · 2 mentions · first at 1:05:57
  The mind is a raging dick. Okay. Mean Girls. What are your memories about us doing Mean Girls together?
• Apple Inc. — Company · 2 mentions
• IKEA — Company · 2 mentions
• Spaceballs — Company · 2 mentions
• Hallmark — Company · 1 mention · first at 13:02
  Wrote that Christmas movie which is a parody of the Hallmark films. Tell everybody what it is again.
• Woolworth — Company · 1 mention · first at 15:24
  And you screw them into Worth Pat down at Woolworth when you're doing your stocking stuffers.
• Balsam Hill — Company · 1 mention · first at 19:40
  Is it tree trimming a live tree? A live tree or Balsam Hill.
• The Second City — Company · 1 mention · first at 38:05
  My friend Peter was You're going to So I knew I mean the other I went to go see The Second City.
• ABC News — Company · 1 mention · first at 42:59
  But like nobody It was like an NPR reference at literally but she was on ABC News and so I did Kokei Roberts.
• The Drew Barrymore Show — Company · 1 mention · first at 44:02
  So, I have had a few events with Martha and recently I did the Drew Barrymore show and showed up as her and she it's just the worst. And you're just.
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show — Company · 1 mention · first at 51:19
  Rudetski, who has the SiriusXM radio Broadway show, who I met because he wrote for the Rosie O'Donnell show at the same time as I was in 8G. A lot of people don't know when we…
• The Producers — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:07:42
  Let's Google it. Well, should we go to the producers?
• Young Frankenstein — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:07:43
  Young Frankenstein producers. when Drach and I write together, it feels like Mel Brooks is, the D is has you. Yeah. Drach is of the Mel.
• Instagram — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:08:10
  Friend Philip Taratula is doing does this character called Official Pam Goldberg on Instagram.
• Jim Henson's Workshop — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:10:06
  Look, I don't love puppets all the time, but this one has the Muppet puppet family. Jim Henson's Workshop made it and it is the cutest, most tender, best music movie. EMTT…
• Actors' Equity Association — Company · 1 mention
• Fairway Market — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

• SNL — Product · Referenced media_product / workplace · 3 mentions · first at 0:43
  Referenced extensively as the shared workplace and source of stories, sketches and characters discussed throughout the episode
  Does so many things well and a sweet dear friend who went through the same SNL sausage factory as we all did. And we talk about that. We talk about being on the show and how fun it was to bomb. We talk about Christmas and our favorite.
• ABranching note: Sugar and Booze — Product · Owned media_product (holiday album) · 2 mentions · first at 1:08
  Anna's holiday album discussed repeatedly as a central piece of the episode content and live shows supporting it
  Does Once Upon a Mattress. and Anna's story about being in the White House. And we also we talk about her record, Sugar and Booze, a Christmas classic. So it's a great episode.…
• Sugar and Booze — Product · Secondary owned · 3 mentions · first at 1:08
  Anna Gastire's Christmas album, discussed as part of her musical career.
  Does Once Upon a Mattress. and Anna's story about being in the White House. And we also we talk about her record, Sugar and Booze, a Christmas classic. So it's a great episode.…
• Sugar & Booze — Product · 4 mentions
• Bananagrams — Product · 1 mention · first at 1:08:44
  Coffee themselves, but life's too short for folders. Again, I recommend bananagrams because they're short and we'll find out.
• Nespresso machine — Product · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

• SNL — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 0:48
  Discussed as a significant part of the guest's career and experiences in comedy.
• Violin — Concept · Core topic / personal background · 11 mentions · first at 6:18
  Central to Anna's musical background; discussed as a formative, solitary instrument and linked to her childhood, performances and songwriting
• Bobby and Marty — Concept · Referenced work · 6 mentions · first at 6:33
  Discussed as characters created by the guest and Will Ferrell on SNL.
  Her, but I also she came and stayed with us to write this Bobby and Marty recently for the 50th and we sat in our pajamas at my house at our house and we just sat and just really broke it down.
• Defying Gravity — Concept · Referenced song / performance challenge · 2 mentions · first at 1:03:39
  Song from Wicked referenced as a vocal and performance benchmark for Anna; discussed in relation to repeated performances and self-critique
  To see me in the world before I left and I was so mercilessly cruel to myself every day I would come backstage and I messed up the bridge on defying gravity or oh my god I hate…
• The Gift of the Magi — Concept · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at 1:10:17
  Mentioned in comparison to the movie 'Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas'.
  Best music movie. EMTT Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Check it out. It is basically The Gift of the Magi. there is an incredible bunch of villains called the Riverbottom Nightmare…
• Broadway — Concept · 11 mentions · first at 0:32
  New year. But we are with Anna Gastire today and Anna Gasty, writer, singer, Broadway star, sketch comedian, does so many things well and a sweet dear friend who went through the same SNL sausage factory as we all did. And we.
• Defying Gravity — Concept · 2 mentions · first at 1:03:39
  I was so mercilessly cruel to myself every day I would come backstage and I messed up the bridge on defying gravity or oh my god I hate way I you know I didn't I didn't like…
• Miss Piggy — Concept · 1 mention · first at 43:35
  Martha Stewart does stuff with Miss Piggy and she's a little thrown by Miss Piggy because Piggy Miss Piggy is improvising and Martha doesn't love to improvise.
• A Clusterfunk Christmas — Concept · 1 mention
• VHS — Concept · 1 mention

Places & events

• Tartan — Place · Referenced object / clothing pattern · 3 mentions · first at 11:36
  Mentioned when describing holiday apparel (tartan pumps / tartan shoe) — not a location in context here but appears in the transcript as clothing reference
  I have a I have my tartan I have a tart Oh, it's it's a bad angle.
• Fargo — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention
  Briefly mentioned (one-off) — likely referenced in passing as a place name
• Radio City Music Hall — Place · 1 mention · first at 54:38
  The fact that this is all just so embarrassing because first of all, like it's Radio City Music Hall. It's 6,000 seats. I mean it's it's a [snorts] huge epic space.

Media & podcasts

• Wicked — Media · Referenced production / career milestone · 4 mentions · first at 40:04
  Discussed as a major Broadway credit for Anna and as a physically demanding role that shaped her career perspective
• Martha Stewart — Character · Impression / cultural reference · 3 mentions · first at 12:46
  Referenced as an impression target and recurring comedic persona in the conversation (Martha Stewart parody on SNL)
• Annie — Media · Referenced media / early memory · 1 mention · first at 32:16
  Mentioned as a pivotal childhood memory (original Broadway cast performing at the White House) and as a production Anna performed in later
  The cast, the original Broadway cast of Annie was performing at the White House Christmas party.
• Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas — Media · Primary recommendation · 1 mention · first at 1:10:10
  Recommended by the host as her favorite Christmas movie.
  So, I'm going to do end this episode and dive into the polar plunge by sharing my favorite Christmas movie with you. And that is a little known classic, Emtt Otter's Jug Band…
• Once Upon a Mattress — Media · Referenced work · 2 mentions · first at 0:57
  Mentioned in passing as part of the guest's career in theater.
  Talk about Christmas and our favorite Christmas songs. And we talk about Annie. Annie comes up. Thank God. As does Once Upon a Mattress. and Anna's story about being in the…
• The Miracle Worker — Media · Referenced work · 2 mentions · first at 28:12
  Mentioned as part of the guest's early acting experiences.
  We were rocking the patch. So right around I didn't went to camp for the violin. But around seventh grade, I got cast, wait for it, as Helen Keller and The Miracle Worker. So, I was able to pull a lot of my story into the part.
• Mean Girls — Media · Referenced production / shared past project · 2 mentions · first at 1:05:57
  Referenced in conversation about mutual experiences and memories from working together on the film
  The mind is a raging dick. Okay. Mean Girls. What are your memories about us doing Mean Girls together?
• Star Wars — Media · Referenced media / anecdote · 1 mention · first at 36:18
  Mentioned in a White House anecdote (they watched Star Wars with the Saddats), used as cultural touchstone
  And then you, Am I right that you watched Star Wars there, too?

Sponsors

• Walmart Express Delivery — Sponsor · Episode sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 1:42
  Presented in an ad read at the top of the episode promoting fast gift delivery via Walmart's service
• Hotels.com — Product · Sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 10:20
  Presented as a sponsor of the podcast episode, promoting travel savings.
• Hotels.com — Sponsor · Episode sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 10:20
  Sponsor ad promoting Hotels.com's 'Save Your Way' feature; read mid-episode
  And so happy you're here. Love you. Love you. Bye. Bye. This episode is brought to you by Hotels.com. Make your next trip work for you. Hotels.com just rolled out a gamechanging feature called Save Your Way. And it's as simple as it sounds.
• Apple Card — Product · Sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 11:06
  Presented as a sponsor of the podcast episode, promoting credit card benefits.
  This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop. This means you could be earning daily cash on just about anything like a slice of pizza.
• Apple Card — Sponsor · Episode sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 11:06
  Sponsor ad promoting Apple Card and its daily cashback benefit; read during the episode
  This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop. This means you could be earning daily cash on just.
• Walmart Express Delivery — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at 1:42
  Presented as a sponsor of the podcast episode, promoting holiday gift delivery.
  This episode of Good Hang is presented by Walmart Express Delivery. Getting gifts to your doorstep in as fast as an hour. Who needs elves when Walmart Express Delivery can make Nespresso.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:05 Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. This is our holiday episode. It's our Christmas episode and we have an incredible guest today who's going to celebrate Christmas with us. Um and and you should know we are off next week and then we are right back. So don't be scared. We just have one week down to give everybody a genuine break and then we're back in the new year. But um we are with Anna Gastire today and Anna Gasty, writer, singer, Broadway star, sketch comedian, um does so many things well and a a sweet dear friend who um went through the same SNL sausage factory as we all did. And we talk about that. We talk about being on the show and how fun it was to bomb. We talk about Christmas and our favorite Christmas songs. And we talk about Annie. Annie comes up. Thank God. As does Once Upon a Mattress. Um and uh and and Anna's story about being in the White House. And and we also uh we talk

1:08 about her record, Sugar and Booze, a Christmas classic. So um it's a great episode. And we're starting this episode with another titan, like a genius, comedic legend, a a woman who has written some of your favorite sketches at SNL. You know her from AP Bio, from the Maple Worth Murders, from Wine Country, from Girls 5 Eva. She is the one, the only Paula Pel. Paula, I believe we're getting you in a car.

1:40 This episode of Good Hang is presented by Walmart Express Delivery. Getting gifts to your doorstep in as fast as an hour. Who needs elves when Walmart Express Delivery can make Nespresso machines magically appear on your doorstep? And if you do happen to forget something, no judgment, you can even order gifts up until 5:00 p.m. on December 24th. Santa, you might want to take notes. Download the Walmart app or head to walmart.com and get your gifts delivered fast. Subject to availability, terms and fees apply.

2:22 Hi Paula. Can you see me and hear me? Yes, I can see you and hear you. Oh, hold on.

2:29 I need to Can you hear me? I think I need I hear you, but I don't see you. I think I need to hit the

2:39 I thought I hit the camera. Oh, hold on. Why isn't it working? Elaine, try. Yeah, handing it to Janine to see if she can. Janine.

2:53 Janine Breurto, Paula's beautiful wife. And we're trying to Oh, there we go. There my beautiful wife with a new haircut.

3:01 Hi, Janine. Amy, it's Paula. It's so great that your beautiful wife is also your it for a person who just got off an airplane. You look beautiful. Well, I just did a which Tina Fay is very familiar with in a in a in a car a full face makeup in about two seconds cuz I did that in the cabs on the way to work all the time.

3:25 Yep. We we are all pretty good at I mean most women are at like getting throwing it on.

3:30 Yeah. Throwing it on. I've gotten really good at just the feel. Like I can almost It's a It's like It's like love is blind, but it's makeup is blind. And you just have people do a full makeover without by just feel.

3:44 Well, it looks great. I'm also wearing my lesbian uniform in Los Angeles. I love having you in lo in Los Angeles, Paula.

3:54 It's so nice. It's so beautiful here. We left so much snow. Well, you know, this episode with Anna Guestire is going to be technically our holiday episode. It's going to air before Christmas.

4:04 Yay. And we are going to talk. You guys better carol. You better sing a carol. I was like, I wish we could have you in stewed. You love to carol though.

4:15 I do. I love to carol. I love to harmonize more than anything on earth. If I could, if someone said to me, "This is your job for the rest of your life is just to throw in that alto line and just walk from group to group and throw in that alto line, lay down that bass. I would do it and be the happiest human being on earth."

4:34 Although I have also heard you have a very fierce soprano. You can also hit those high notes.

4:39 Well, sometimes. I do think lately in my 60s I have had experiences where I thought I was nailing it and then I listened to it back on a video. Very mortified. Just a little sharp. And I I like to sing a certain kind of sharp for Janine that really makes her put her face down in the cereal in the morning because it's just a little bit. It's just just a little overshoot.

5:03 Um could you give us an example of it? It's just the nearness of you. It's like finding it. You're just It's like a level and you're always just finding it and then you finally get it.

5:19 Only a good as good of a singer as you, Paula Pal, can do good bad singing. That's such a thing in comedy. You're always like, "Don't try to sing bad. Don't try to sing bad."

5:30 It's It's funny. I want to talk to Anna about it. Like, what is the difference between good singing and comedy singing?

5:37 Yes. It's it's a it's very it's a very fine line. Um so we're talking to Anna Gastire today. What's great about Anna? Let's let's talk well behind her back.

5:47 Anna is so many things at once. Speaking of and she's such a multi- multi multihyenate. It's like every time you turn she's doing a new job. It's something where it's like, oh my god, like just Broadway and writing and movies and you know, she and Rachel writing that hilarious Christmas movie and then she's on really funny television shows as really funny characters and then she's like playing the violin in a video she sends us to crack us up that's like incredibly skilled violin. Um, so I just I admire that so much in her, but I also she came and stayed with us to write this Bobby and Marty recently for the 50th and we sat in our pajamas at my house at our house and we just sat and just really broke it down.

6:47 She's so good at sitting and just really asking question. She's a curious present friend. She's really uh such pure medicine to my soul to just really talk about everything.

7:01 We should talk. We've been on many trips together. A bunch of the SNL ladies have gone together uh on um girl trips. Maya, you, me, Dr. Tina, Anna, um Spivey, and

7:16 the wine country gang. The wine country gang. And we have been we're kind of overdue for a trip. very overdue.

7:25 Yeah, we need to We're going to all bring our grandchildren next time. It's just going to be a play date.

7:31 We'll all be there with our grandchildren. And I'll have Janine and I'll have our granddogs because we cloned Barbara Stryen style.

7:39 How are all the doggies doing? Can you name all the doggies names while we have you?

7:43 Yes, we have Ernie who used to have four buck teeth and now he has nothing and no chin. Ernie is a very obnoxious little um Chihuahua with a penis the size of his legs. And then um Gary is perfection. He's a poodle mix. He's perfect. Perfect child. And then we have Dolly who's like a Shih Tzu mix who looks like she's wearing a wig and she's very tender and gives a lot of side eye. And then we have um our only young dogs because we always adopt old dogs and now we've adopted a younger dog who makes us say about 30 [ __ ] before 10:00 in the morning cuz she's so obnoxious. Is Bunny a Beagle Basset? And she starts at about 5:30 and stares at you in the dark and you see her silhouette. She goes and just does that until you just go just get up and she you get up and feed them.

8:38 And then who's who am I missing? And then Tula is in a wheelchair, a little wheel cart, and she's an 8B tiny tiny little mix. She looks kind of like a smooth-haired pecanese a little bit. and she has um no feeling in her back half [clears throat] of her body and is faster than any of the dogs even without her wheels. She flies through the air just running on her front two legs and she used to despise me the first year and then I left for four months to shoot something and I came back and she loves me now.

9:12 Okay, so any question you think we should ask Ala today? I have I have a a legit one and then I have just one quick little funny one if you want to ask her this. The funny one is um her dog Gloria, speaking of dogs, eats things all the time that she's not supposed to. I just wanted to know I think we should all be updated on what the latest thing that she devoured and then has it come out yet.

9:36 Great. And when it came out, was it recognizable? Great. And then um and then my real question is because she's such a multi-hyphenate between writing when she's writing or when she's singing or when she's doing comedy, which one of those makes her feel the most free? Just glorious untethered euphoria. Which one gives her the biggest should that way? Perfect. Thank you so much, Paula. Love you. I can't wait to talk to you in in length one day and so happy you're here. Love you. Love you. Bye. Bye.

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11:35 You've got what are you wearing? I have a I have my tartan I have a tart Oh, it's it's a bad angle.

11:39 There it is. Tartan shoe. Does that look natural? THAT'S I WORE MY holiday pumps.

11:45 Yeah, because I do try I try to think about what the guest season. This is our Christmas episode.

11:50 I know. I got excited. So, I How many times a year you think I can wear this sucker?

11:54 Those are cute. Yeah. Aren't they cute? There. Isn't it weird to wear it in like sunny Los Angeles? It does feel weird.

11:59 And it's a sweatery texture. It's a sweatery tartan. I don't know if you can see the texture. So, it's very holiday. Anyway,

12:07 we are gonna This is gonna be our Christmas episode and I I have so many things I want to talk to you about today.

12:13 Very excited that you're here. Thank you for doing it. Never enough time. Always so much to talk about.

12:17 Never enough time. I know. And um [clears throat] but it's it's it's very exciting that you are the Christmas episode cuz I do associate you with Christmas in many ways. You have a Christmas album. You go on tour at Christmas. And you yourself love Christmas.

12:28 Yes, I do. What do you love about Christmas? Well, I call myself the Duchess of Christmas. Um, actually a nice gay called me that and I took it obviously. Um, I love the It's so weird. It's like but it's uh a I love the holidays. B I mean like the the resume sort of leans in that direction cuz I my my like legacy moments at SNL were uh you know Balls and um the Martha Stewart Topless Christmas which was my first like thing that succeeded there and they run every year on the Christmas episode on that special. So, um, it comes up for people and then DR and I wrote that Christmas movie which is a parody of the

13:02 Hallmark films. Tell everybody what it is again. It's called A Cluster Funk Christmas and it is a

13:08 a parody. It's a perfect parody. The goal was to make the perfect parody of the for the ultimate Hallmark lover,

13:16 right? Um, of which you are. You are movies. I love a Hallmark movie and I love the holidays. I love the holidays. I love

13:23 So, what kind of decorations? because we are on a we're on a text chain. We send each other like our prep.

13:29 Yeah. What decorations do you have up right now? What are you looking forward to for like in the levels of what's going on?

13:36 Right. So, it's all sort of contingent upon how much I'm traveling and how exhausted I am by visual clutter that year. So, which is fair, right? So, um I'm actually going full tilt thunder hump on Friday. The boxes are out. I'm going to do New York for the first time in a really long time. I haven't done it in a long, long time. I I've worked on Christmas a lot because during the Broadway shows that

13:57 because you're a pro babe and pros work on Christmas Christmas. Yeah. So you end up a lot of my things are which are so up your alley. I know like they're sort of

14:05 um hacks. They're like hacks to still be festive and still enjoy it and still be present in it but maybe have it not be sort of enslaved by it. Do you know what I mean? for example, I can go full Tilt Thunder, which I'm going to

14:24 trees and the lights and the garland and the swag and the the you know, all the Tik Tok hacks like with the with the um curtain rod and the you know garland going across it and let's slow down woodland woodland forests.

14:36 Let's slow down. I just heard my one of my favorite Tik Tok hacks. Tik Tok hack and the garland goes where? So, you get yourself some like uh Walmart or you know um the the tension rod and you can put it like in um a doorway like where you would hang mistletoe and you can basically go to Trader Joe's or Costco or whatever and get your garland and you can make a really beautiful archway. Um if you use that tension

15:02 if you So you get what you would put curtains, right? So you have to go buy that hardware

15:07 but that's like $4 and wrap it in garland. Yeah. And you just put it in a door and then hang it down. Put a little um tea tea cup hooks. Do you know those little teacup hooks that people you can buy them at the five and dime also at the Walmart? You know the five and dime.

15:21 Um and you screw them into Worth Pat down at Woolworth when you're doing your stocking stocking stuffers.

15:27 And you can put your garland down it and you can do lights. You can pre IKEA has um or everybody now has but I do an IKEA run every holiday cuz they real cute.

15:36 Anna Ger is here and she is telling us about Christmas. I knew you would to give me

15:40 I love a craft brown paper. Just brown paper packages tied up in strings. That's That's brown paper packages tied up in strings.

15:48 That's how you wrap. That's how I wrap. I have a question about the brown paper. I find it a little heavy sometimes for tape

15:55 because of the gauge. You've got to get a thinner gauge. A thinner gauge paper.

16:00 Craft paper. It's called craft paper. What are we talking tree? I have a feather table top tabletop. I have a tinsel like sort of medium and then I finally am just gonna do live or bust. You know what I mean?

16:13 Yeah. And the one thing I'll say about live, I I usually do a a real Christmas tree. I like that we're calling it a live live from live from Christmas. Bring it alive. Um is and I know there's ones where you can even have ones that they repot

16:25 in California. You can't really find that on the East Coast. I've tried. What? Well, the thing that I always bamboozles me about a real Christmas tree, which I still do, is I think it's going to smell so good and it never does anymore

16:37 cuz they're they've been cut so long ago. Christmas trees used to smell better. Now, they don't smell like they used to.

16:44 Well, that's you know, that's G that's genetic modification. Oh, god. Right there.

16:50 They should be true. And I mean, sometimes you just got to do Well, I use the Do you ever do like aromatherapy or a pine?

16:56 I'll put in a pine candle. Pine candle. You know who's got a nice pine candle this year?

17:00 Who? Trader Joe. I stopped by yesterday cuz again, California Trader Joe's are like he said it's singular. Trader Joe

17:09 Trader Joe has invested and it's at his his um aonomous shop. Um I I love Trader Joe but I like I like I do love Christmas, but again I will not be overrun by it. So, I love I like this is why I made a holiday album. I love my holiday album. It's very old-fashioned. It's a little winky. You've seen my show. It's very like throwbacky.

17:36 Your holiday album, Sugar and Booze, is so great. Thank you. And your shows that that you do to support it are so fun.

17:44 It's a holiday spectacular. Yes. Tell us about them. Well, I like to do we Well, I like to perform with a horn section. So, that's for starters cuz I have a loud voice. And I like to wear a tartan and get dressed up. And I like um it feels very like so the my how do I answer this succinctly? Um I

18:03 do you have to I don't do we want to spend the whole hour on this but but I mean this is this is a real this is a good this is a real good question which is like talk however you want babe.

18:15 Okay you're right. It's called good hang. Yeah good hanging. We don't have to get it right. We don't have to be you don't even have to be succinct.

18:20 No we don't. You're right. We can cut it. Yeah we can cut the [ __ ] out of it.

18:23 We can cut it. Just cut the [ __ ] We can make this podcast six minutes. You know what in the name of this this p the podcast should be called? Cut the [ __ ]

18:29 Cut the Cut the [ __ ] with Amy Polar and Friends. We should do a clip show where we call it Cut the [ __ ] And it's all the stuff that we cut. Um [clears throat] and so kind of in the the 1959 early60s entertainers era really spoke to me because it was a time when a gal, you know, Rosemary Clooney would probably be like the idol. like a gal who could tell a good story,

18:55 could could, you know, belt to the rafters, play in front of a big band, carry a band, an an evening of entertainment. So, when we set out to make the holiday album, it was really to create a record that, you know, wasn't kitschy or like um

19:12 you know, it's not a it's not a comedy. It's not a comedy record. It's not a campy record, but has you know, it's me, so it's there's fun to it. But really, I wanted it, the goal was to have it play seamlessly with, you know, a Frank Sinatra Christmas record or, you know, a classic Christmas record while you're making cocktails and wrapping presents. And

19:32 it's a perfect record for that. Tree tree tree trimming. Tree trimming. It is so good. Tree trimming a live tree.

19:38 Is it tree trimming a live tree? A live tree or Balsam Hill. Or Balsam Hill. I don't want to, you Um, it is it's such a good record and it it is it's just the right amount of like whimsy combined with really really good singing and many original Christmas songs which is hard to do to make an original Christmas song.

19:57 Really hard. And I'm I love Christmas. I love Christmas songs, but they're really hard.

20:01 What do you love? Well, I like a lot of the ones that are on the record. I love Slayigh Ride. I love um Man with a Bag, which I just think is a structurally it's um

20:09 Oh, it's on your record. Yeah, it's on the record. Um there's there's some bad Christmas songs that we listen to every year just because they're out there over and over again. Um

20:18 there's I have to say Deck the Hall is not my fave. No. And wish and We Wish You Merry Christmas is not my favorite.

20:24 It's boring. They're boring. There's a lot of a lot of them. I mean, even Rocking Around a Christmas the Christmas tree is kind of a boring song. Structurally

20:33 in the kind of carol cannon. I think God resty merry gentleman has a really great rhythm. We actually have a new arrangement of it this year which we're doing on page. God rest ye dismay. Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day. Okay. You can hear it right.

20:53 It's kind of nice. Who save us all [singing] from Satan's power when he was gone astray. Oh [singing] tidings of comfort and joy.

21:04 Yeah. It's a good song. It's a good tune. But also um I so we tried to write a few songs that would fit into that and so that was I wrote the title track show Gmboos with that in in mind because I wanted it to feel like an oldfashioned song.

21:16 When you were when you were growing up and and now what are your like Christmas albums that are on rotation?

21:21 My parents are classical music people remember. So there's a lot of Messiah jam a lot of Messiah jams.

21:27 Um you know a lot of uh ceremony of the carols you know. Oh, wait. If you do that, I remember my part from choir. If you do the dun ready,

21:44 I was the I was the parting [singing] ding. I was the bells. So many bells. Ding dong ding dong. Here come the bells. So many bells. Here come the bells. Here come the bells. Here come the bells.

22:10 Can you rock a desk? Um. Oh yeah. Um, rock a desk. What's the hallelujah one? Um,

22:14 that Oh, come all you faithful is what I was just doing. That's the Okay, start singing. Oh, come and I'll do the desk count.

22:20 Oh, come all ye. You can go up a little higher. Oh, come. Oh, come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant.

22:35 Keep going. Let's do the Oh, come let us adore him. Okay. Sorry. Do you want Come, come, let that come, let us adore him.

22:42 Oh, come let us adore [singing] him. Oh, come let us adore him. Oh, come let us adore. CHRISTAL [singing]

23:01 ACED IT. YOU REMEMBER IT. IT'S ALL IN THERE. IT'S like your movie in uh Inside Out. Those music things are all trapped in your brain. I know.

23:11 They're all in there. They're in the deep gray matter and they are so nostalgic.

23:15 They're so beautiful. They're so melancholy. They're so sad. See? Okay. So, I find Christmas sad.

23:21 Yes, I know. I know. But, and by the way, a lot of people do. I find it sad. And I get now I've gotten into now I get into the sadness of Christmas like a cozy blanket. I used to fight it fight it cuz sad is not my favorite state. No,

23:38 it's often um not where I want to like like I'm uncomfortable sometimes in sadness, but Christmas allows

23:44 Well, some people are just like a little bit more um uh they can just tolerate it or

23:49 they know it comes and goes a bit, you know, like it's like sadness and anger. I'd much rather be angry than sad.

23:53 Same. And mostly am. Totally. Totally. So, I get into the sadness of Christmas. Like I'm like [clears throat] I'm just like looking like you know when you're in your own music video and you look in the in the window. I love

24:09 Yeah, that's your jam. Merry Christmas. But let's talk about your classical music parents and your

24:21 be little Anna's beginning into music cuz I'm very interested in that very like that early time.

24:28 So, thank you. So, I played the violin very seriously. It's so lonely. It's the funniest thing. And by the way, I'm grateful. I'm very grateful for obviously the sacrifice that I mean, you know, we spend all this time resenting them and then you realize the things that they've done as you get older and they get older and it's kind of a relief. But um I mean the schleing alone like just the amount of times to like p you to to lessons.

24:52 Why did you choose the violin? Do you remember? Was it chosen for you? I think it was probably chosen for me. I had an aunt that played and I like I I love her so I think I thought it was cool. And the violin I still play to this day was my aunt's violin that my grandfather was given in the depression

25:10 in lie of a payment for legal services at some point. So it's like a 150-y old violin, but it's it's not like fancy. It's not like a

25:18 It's not a stratavarious. It's not a strat. Um but I have had it like looked at because it's kind of interesting and as an instrument and I still play that instrument to this day and I um I took it to fiddle camp with me last summer.

25:29 Oh yeah, Anna went to fiddle camp. Fiddle camp. I did. It's a real conversation starter. Um

25:35 yeah, then by that everybody everybody flees the area. Um my Yes. Anyway, I played violin as a little kid. I I started and I played until I was about 17

25:47 and I I was good and lazy. I was a Gryffindor. Um uh which set up a lifetime of talented laziness and uh sort of landing on your feet. So I could fake it for a long long time. And then there becomes a breakage point,

26:02 right? In classical music, it feels that way with music and athletics, those two things especially where you are like loving it and you're good at it and then there's a moment where it's like, okay, now you have to decide, am I going to the next level? Am I playing in college? Am I going to join an orchestra?

26:17 First of all, it's so solitary and and it is it's two things. It's deeply solitary and it is I have I am a perfectionist and it is um torture for perfectionists because even though I was lazy, I was a perfectionist. So, it's a weird I mean that I mean that I'm I'm not lazy. I'm going to read

26:37 Yeah, I Let's cut Let's cut the [ __ ] Let's cut the [ __ ] Let's cut the cut the [ __ ] We'll be right back. Um

26:46 No, I reframe, lady. I want to reframe. is that what I wasn't passionate about violin so I didn't want to lock myself in a room because truly like athletics like you said it's suddenly it is 8 hours a day 6 hours a day like going to school like you know it's not going to school late or leaving early in the afternoon to practice practice practice practice so your hands fall off and it's lonely it's really lonely and unbelievably sad it is a sad instrument

27:14 violin is the saddest instrument ever and that's I I do kind of love that about it

27:18 I mean it's Beautiful. I'm realizing now that Christmas and violins are both the way I get into my sad state. I love that.

27:25 Well, I It's funny cuz I'm writing a song called Sad Violin at Christmas. Really?

27:29 Yeah. I mean, you just made me come off the title, but that is I've been thinking about a sad violin cuz it's sad. It's a lonely, wistful, melancholic instrument, and I there's something incredibly powerful about it, obviously. But, um, so then what I in seventh grade,

27:44 don't laugh, I had my first star turn. I was legally blind also as a kid. So I I mean I still am legally blind technically. So I also had an eye patch a lot of my childhood and I had a violin. So just put all that together. Hot stuff.

27:58 Put it through the comedy Play-Doh machine. That's why hot stuff. And were we wearing the patch during the day?

28:04 We were rocking the patch. Not not at all. We were rocking the patch. So um right around um I didn't went to camp for the violin. But around seventh grade, I got cast, wait for it, as um Helen Keller and The Miracle Worker. So, I was able to pull a lot of my story into the part.

28:28 And that's what I was like, I mean, by the way, and you put that on your Tinder profile. Yes. When you were Yeah.

28:34 Yes, I do. Yes, I do. And my Grinder. Yeah. And your Grinder. Tinder and Grinder. You're on both. And you're very unsuccessful on Grindr. Very unsuccessful on Grinder

28:42 so far. You're right. Not today. Fingers crossed. So, um, hilariously, Helen Keller and the Miracle Worker was like my aha of I think this is really fun.

28:57 Right. You were you got to perform. You found passion there. Yes. And so then and then it became clear I could sing and I so I did all the parts and everything in in high school. I'm sure you did too. Um,

29:07 as a kid though, you know, because you you have you're you you're an exuberant kind of upregulated kid. Like you're you're you're more extroverted than what than the patch in violin would make me think. But were you an introverted kid? What kind of kid were you?

29:20 I don't think of myself as an outgoing kid at all. Or even as an outgoing person to be honest or upregulated or exuberant. On stage I am.

29:28 Interesting. And with you maybe I am. Interesting. But I I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. But I don't know. I sees you feel how you feel about yourself. I mean, I was I everyone in my high school was super super funny.

29:40 Yes. And I was always friends with funny people. Yes. Um but I always like SNL and people like you're the class clown. Like I was I was not the class clown. I was the person in the back row

29:50 who snickered and made jokes. You've told this on many podcasts and things, but I still think it's just fascinating that you were among many people that were your friends during that time. You were friends with Amy Carter.

30:01 Crazy. Amy Carter, the daughter of President Jimmy Carter. Correct. who for people who are not our age, Jimmy Carter was a president. No, but also and the best ex-president we've ever had. Um, for sure.

30:15 And Amy was so exciting as a as the presidential kid. She was like our Sasha and Malia.

30:22 Yes. Because he had young kids, Chip and Amy, and was that Yeah. And she was much younger.

30:28 I mean, my name was Amy, so I was like blown away. And she was just like this girl in the White House. It was very exciting. And she was norm well probably for you too. I imagine you you I know you are a reader now. You were probably a child a childhood reader. I was too.

30:41 She was a violinist. I mean boom. And um she's a violinist. She Yeah. We were in an after school like GT program together

30:49 and became friends. I mean it was just an instant like whatever books books books glasses and violins. Am I right? Um and come on guys.

30:58 Come on let's party. Let's party. And um everybody would get invited to these, you know, group events at the White House. Um many of which were in the beautiful East Ballroom, which has now been leveled by

31:10 or made more beautiful depending on who you are. Great point. Great point. Um it's going to be gorgeous. Anna,

31:16 you know what? I stand corrected. Let's wait and see how it comes out. I stand corrected. I have a feeling it's going to be gorgeous.

31:21 And I just saw the Christmas decor and you're right. And it's gorgeous. Warm as always.

31:26 It's always so warm. So warm init. You know, I wonder if it smells like French onion soup or wasle when you walk in.

31:34 Gorgeous. Okay. Um, so but you're going you go like multiple parties and things and one of my early memories this was such an extra double brain blow of like early synaptic development.

31:46 The cast, the original Broadway cast of Annie was performing at the White House Christmas party. Exactly. Exactly. Like the whole It was too many things. It was too many things.

32:00 I don't think I knew that. Like 4t away from us. It was like her little friends from her, you know, gift and talented program and her friends from school and various White House of people's children. And then like Andrea Mardle and actual Sandy right over there and buckets hard knock life in it.

32:16 Buckets. And then I did Annie at the Hollywood Bowl like five or six years ago. What? And

32:21 it was either it was during um it was right after wine country. I think you were probably buried in Ed who were you Miss Anigan

32:27 Natch Who else? What a I was I was Andy. I thought why not? Well, there is that other part the we've got you know this and ranking part. Um oh yeah but the my mind is blowing. So, mind-blowing wise, when I did Annie at the Bowl, the same animal there's one animal trainer on Broadway. He does all of all animal training for

32:54 we've probably done played her or him on SNL. He's the most delightful person. His name is Bill Berlon and he does he he adopted the original Sandy from Animal Control and he trained her for the Good Speed production and then like traveled with every Annie production ever and then now has become like sort of the Broadway he does all Broadway animals but he's a wonderful person and he and he's a big advocate for animal um rights and you know whatever. He's not the type that we had at SNL that would be like I got a gecko in the van if you need it you know like be like you got to hit it with a stick to let have him let you go.

33:29 I mean, uh, can a llama do that? I don't know. But you hit it with a 17 out of her, so I don't know if it's going to happen today.

33:37 This tortoise is going to bite you if you hold it the wrong way. What's the right way? Hell if I know.

33:49 There was a donkey sketch. Were you there for the donkey sketch? No. No, I wasn't there yet. You know, like the donkeys like going down those floors like it's just the worst.

33:57 Oh my god. And then they doped him and then like by live they're LIKE he's not moving. It was nightmare nightmare. Anyway, Bill Bologoney has these beautifully trained show dogs. All things show like it's funny even even like show children who I'm afraid of and we all should be are wonderful on Broadway because again it's all work ethic on Broadway. Everything is routine and work ethic and so a lot of the sort of like

34:22 crazy. There's a different kind of crazy but it's different. It's more like a proper OCD crazy, which I'm comfortable with.

34:28 So, but just getting back, you're in the White House. Annie's performing. So, Bill Berlon had a picture. That's what I That's why I brought Bill Berlin up because he he had a picture from the 1977 White House Christmas party with me, all these people. It's mind-blowing. You're in the picture.

34:42 It's insane with the original. Do you have a copy of it? No, but you should. You didn't even take it with your phone.

34:47 No, I shouldn't have brought it up now that I think about it. I also got a picture once with Paul McCartney and then lost my phone and don't have it. Um, oh well.

35:01 So, yeah. So, Amy Carter, here's the Amy Carter story. Okay, that's the most my So, all of it gets munched together into this kind of crazy

35:10 like there was a movie theater in the White House and you would go and be like, "Please join us, you know, and the president to for a viewing of Pete's Dragon with Helen Ready, you know, like Yeah. things like that that would be like cuz nobody we didn't have VHS or anything back then was like the olden times.

35:24 Yep. Um sure was and then that's the crazy crazy story is that I went to the Camp David for the Camp David Accords

35:32 with um the Carters and we played the violin which was crazy and for for the very first United States Middle East treaty [snorts]

35:40 that so you played violin for for Anar Sadat and Manakim Bean and Jimmy Carter.

35:45 Wow. and me and Amy and it was all in just one one room and we played we played Suzuki violin.

35:52 Do you remember we played she um got I mean it was literally like yeah lightly row or something you know minuette and g or I don't know something. Oh, that must have been so tender,

36:06 right? Maybe, as I've said before, [gasps] maybe that worked a little harder to make Middle East peace.

36:12 Yep. Didn't get on the right road. It didn't work. It didn't work. Um, and then you, Am I right that you watched Star Wars there, too?

36:20 Yeah, we watched it with the Sedats. True story. Star Wars with the Sedats. Yep.

36:25 And then you also uh watched SNL in the White House. That is the most interesting of all of the stories because so President Carter was the president. You rarely saw him. Um there were,

36:38 you know, a little bit, but we were there a lot though. Kids were at that house a lot. You know, her various friends. So, um I have a very very That's my first memory of Saturday Night Live because we went to get a snack in the middle of the night

36:52 and it felt like the middle of night. It was probably 11:45. Yeah. And um we went to and we walked by and the president who we hadn't seen very much was sitting in a chair uh with a I remember he had like a snack and a beer and Akroyd was playing him on

37:08 TV live on Saturday night and he was laughing hysterically at the impression of him. And to me, that was the most powerful um whatever you call that early building block or core memory of putting in place the power of parody and the power of comedy and the importance of being able to laugh at yourself, you know, all of those things which obviously we're in a really different time around, but um

37:32 super super super impactful. And so you get to Northwestern, we talk, you're a voice major. What makes you go from Northwestern after you graduate to LA?

37:49 A very bossy gay. Great. I mean, yeah. Follow wherever you tell me to go. My my friend Peter was like, "You're going to So I knew um I mean the other I went to go see The Second City."

38:07 Mhm. And there were two women in that cast and they both played Girlfriends at the time. And I remember being like, I want to see the girls like do something fun.

38:15 And then I came out here to LA and I went to a Growling show and it was like literally uh uh Koolage,

38:24 Jennifer Koolage, Jennifer Koolage, Kathy Griffin, Lisa Kudro, this girl Heather Morgan. I mean, there were so many crazy funny women wearing like wigs and glasses. And I, you know, I was in the improv scene in Chicago and like those or you know at Northwestern it was same as it ever is which is just a bunch of smart Quickwitz guys that were like I remember the like

38:45 main big improv guy was you know star guy was like you're more character. That's what he said to me. You do more like characters. And I knew that that was an insult

38:54 like that they thought of that as an insult. And then I came out here and I saw all these like wigs and glasses. I was like that seems really fun. And who did you meet in your early years at ground?

39:03 Um, we had an insanely talented group. It was um, so I was right behind Will and Sherry.

39:10 Will Frell, Sher Otter. Yeah. And Will is who suggested me for SNL. Um, and I had uh, in my group I had um, Steven Craig, Chris Parnell, Scott Wayio,

39:22 um, a lot of writers that came from our era as well. And then right behind me was Maya Forte, Will Forte, married my off like Yeah. I mean, it was, you know, and and and then I I befriended a bigger collective of, you know, Tim Bagley and my Hitchcock and

39:40 Sterling. We always love to talk about SNL audition stories on this show. I know we like to

39:46 I know we don't have to, but it is it is interesting like, you know, with the 50th anniversary and like us looking back and all of it. How do you feel any differently about that? Like the story that you tell yourself about your audition? Like do you feel badly about your audition?

40:00 You know what? I didn't even ever feel bad about it. Um I'll tell you why that because there have been a couple of times in my life and um Wicked was one of them and Saturday Night Live was another. were both incredibly challenging jobs in their and difficult workplaces in their own ways both just in terms of

40:16 physical demand and artistic demand and just complicated uh creative workplaces as you know um

40:25 both times SNL being one of them I left no stone unturned because I felt and I I really believe this to this day if you so sort of to totally double back on the lazy thing like if you give everything your all. If you give something your all,

40:41 you don't have regret. And if you don't have regret, you can face any consequence

40:47 for me. So, I knew that if I did the best audition I could, I would feel fine if I didn't get the job.

40:54 Um because I I wouldn't have left something on the table, you know. And so, Will Frell had told me famously that they don't laugh. And we always people whisper that to one another in advance. Did you know that? Yeah, I knew that they there's it would be absolutely silent, which it was.

41:09 Which it was. Yeah, me too. And um I told Parnell and so Charlie, my now husband, and I were engaged at the time I got the job. And he I would I wrote my I wrote the whole thing out as a monologue and I would just run it relentlessly and he would sit like Mount Rushmore.

41:24 Oh. And practice not laughing repeatedly because it was all stuff I had been doing at the ground. So, I I needed to know what it felt like. The cadence is so different if you have a character that you're used to landing in a certain way.

41:39 Yeah, that's actually a really good point. I think a lot of people don't know. A lot of stand-ups and um uh sketch performers when they come and audition, they're doing stuff that has succeeded somewhere else and there's a rhythm to it and laughs that you're used to.

41:53 Correct. Yeah. Exactly. Right. I just rehearsed it in front of him and I knew it, you know, six different directions. as well.

42:00 What characters and or people did you do in your audition? Do you remember? Yes, I did the NPR lady

42:06 who I ended up doing on the show and I end I did kind of a ridiculous panty hosew wearing woman and I did who did not end up on the show in a shocking twist.

42:14 She was she ended up on Cut the [ __ ] She she was on Cut the [ __ ] Did you do any impressions?

42:18 Well, so somebody of course was like they're going to ask you in the 11th hour to do impressions, but I didn't do impressions and Right. But I kind of knew that it might come because I'd heard that the people that were involved were never particularly organized around the

42:32 Yeah. advanced prep, shall we say? Yeah. So, I just had it up my sleeve. So, I went and I I knew that I I I liked Martha Stewart. I thought she was funny and interesting, even though The Ground Links doesn't really do impression-based comedy. And so, I wrote um an introduction as Martha Stewart. And I got a Martha Stewart wig. Um, and this is so funny to me. I did Ki Roberts.

42:54 Oh yeah, I remember her. But like nobody It was like an NPR reference at literally but she was on ABC News and so I did Kokei Roberts.

43:01 Lauren is good friends with K. Literally I like he had I had dinner with her last night and it's very it's sounds just like

43:07 I think Ki liked the talked to Ki. I talked to K. K. K was a little mean. Martha, your Martha impression is so good.

43:21 Thank you. What do you do vocally to get into Martha? How do we do a Martha? So much of Martha, it still is. She's so rehe's so rehearsed in front of the camera. There's You'll never have her do this.

43:35 Martha Stewart does stuff with Miss Piggy and she's a little thrown by Miss Piggy

43:40 because Piggy Miss Piggy is improvising and Martha doesn't love to improvise. No. And they've I've had a few situations with her in fact where I've had to dress up as her and be with her. Yeah. Which is

43:53 that's a very unique thing about SNL. I had that with Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton where you are dressed exactly like them standing next to them. So, I have had a few events with um Martha and recently I did the Drew Barrymore show and showed up as her and she it's just the worst. And you're just sitting there fully dressed like a person and

44:14 Well, that's why listen, this is why I love our people. This is why I love sketch comedy. Sketch comedy is embarrassing.

44:19 So embarrassing. Standup is cool. Yes. You get you you go outside, you wear a leather jacket, you smoke a cigarette, you put it out, you go and do your set. Yep.

44:27 Sketch. You have a freaking wig and you're slept in a box with a weird bow tie and you got

44:34 And it never ends. And it never ends. And don't think that I'm not still doing that. Like there are days where I'm like, I still have a wig area in my house.

44:44 Yep. I one time got pulled over for speeding and had a wig in my glove compartment.

44:50 That could be considered dangerous. It could be. It could be. Do you remember what the wig was? Was it?

44:55 No, it was like during growling days in fairness. But um just to have one around.

44:58 It's just you the schleing is the amount of props. It's so uncool. And that's why I love people who do it because they're to me the coolest people because they sit in the embarrassment and the commitment of it. You have to be really committed.

45:12 Which is why the bombing is the funniest thing in the whole world. Which is why Will Ferrell sitting into a bomb.

45:18 Yeah. Is one of my favorite things I've ever seen in in the world. It is. Um, at SNL we used to watch old sketches that bombed and just like love it in a way. It's what the kids would call cringe, but it's even post cringe. It's like beyond cringe. It's almost like a delicious

45:33 Yeah. What would you call It's not a serotonin boost. It's like a um I don't know. It's the closest you feel to

45:40 It's like a community therapy experience really is what it is. I mean, it's like a primal scream.

45:44 Yeah. Sketch sketch performers. What are some fun sketches that you used to watch that you loved watching that bombed or So, we did a Zoo Crew sketch once,

45:53 which is like a DJ morning DJs and we wrote I mean, it was the loudest sketch ever. I mean, it was just literally like like every single thing was JUST LIKE EVERY LIKE ME HORNY GO GET HIM ROCK LIKE nonstop everybody. It was me and Parnell and

46:14 oh my god somebody and the host I can't remember and Will and it was this basic premise really loud zuc the the weather chopper goes down like crashes okay really basic and then everyone's like we lost wither chopper 5 like just anyway people at the table were screaming with laughter so funny and then we set it up at home base the I mean a dramatic play, a Tony winning, Pulitzer Prizewinning dramatic play about a zoo crew. I mean, deathly silent like a wall like the audience and ah looked like a painting and the whole time you're you're like screaming in their It was a the wall of sound.

46:57 Did you get giggles in in I mean, yes, cuz it was so embarrassing and it was also just hilarious cuz it was like the whole time you're like they don't think this is funny. They listen to morning zoos like there's nothing. This is what it sounds like. If you like driving to work and listening to that, then that's just kind of a pleasant thing for you.

47:11 Um, that was embarrassing. Do you remember the stuff that we called [ __ ] Can Alley?

47:16 Yeah. So, there's there's all these little areas at SNL like where you get to perform. Home base is like right in the middle and it's kind of a prime spot. It's where update is. And then there's some areas that like where sketches go to die,

47:27 right? Cuz you have the audience and you have the balcony and so the main three sets, you know, where the the uh musical guest plays and whatever, you usually are going to play things. Okay. There's one that's like way in the back that has no immediate audience in front of it. And really, sketches go there to die. I mean, nothing ever comes out.

47:45 It's also a real a vote of no confidence. When your sk when your sketch is put there, you're like, I see, I see. This isn't going to make the show. the sort of quietness of like it's in [ __ ] can ali we're not going to I'm going to call my parents

48:05 it's not going to make it but you had so many hits and and NPR that NPR that sketch remains

48:15 there was no confidence in that sketch that sketch was supposed to bomb and I knew because I'd played at the groundlings that the quietness of it that was the comedy of it you know

48:23 yeah it's it was it's so so funny and I should circle Back just quickly to Martha. When we're doing Martha, what are we doing with our lips and how do we talk?

48:31 Well, one of the things she does so many of what the things that she says and does are things that she has learned.

48:43 Yes. Yes, she do on camera and she is uh very aware of how the camera is going to look on her.

49:01 It's a very barely moving mouth. Almost nothing moves. Why should it? And nor should it. We're going to make a Christmas meal and barely nothing is nothing's going to move.

49:16 She She's I am obsessed with her. Me too. I'm obsessed with her. I mean I mean Martha is um Martha I

49:25 She said I'm not going to buy you on the show because I'm too scared. But um but please listen and know that you're something else.

49:34 She also says I love her rules, Amy. Her rules are so comforting. Her rules are so comforting when you talk to her about rules. Her rules she's just got. She's like, "I don't take I don't take alcohol alone.

49:44 I don't take drinks if I'm alone." That's what she told me. I don't take Do you remember when she briefly took over The Apprentice and it was the We were both We're so obsessed with this. She She would And the Zoom at the end, but but she was always handwriting a termination note. It's a little touch of class. You're fired.

50:04 Mhm. I so enjoyed your contributions to The Apprentice, but I'm here to tell you

50:13 I sent her flowers. I sent her flowers, one of her birthdays, many of the years. Anyway,

50:17 um, cut it. Cut the [ __ ] We'll cut the [ __ ] Cut the [ __ ] Um, I want to talk about Bobby and Marty for a second, the Culps

50:24 because um th those two characters that you and Will did, I think, are perfect example of like kind of combining all of your talents. And before we get into them, what is the difference between good singing like singing and then comedy singing?

50:40 Oo. And is there one? I guess. Um, well, it is interesting. It's an interesting question. I definitely think the training informs what's fun about the characters, meaning she's, you know, they're quintessential choir teachers. So, her technique is very important to her. So, I probably lean more into that that quality of the of the of the voice. And I've met people over the years that are like music people,

51:05 I hit notes as her that I would be very worried about trying to hit as me. And I know this is true because my friend Seth Rudetski, who has the SiriusXM radio Broadway show, who I met because he wrote for the Rosie O'Donnell show at the same time as I was in 8G. A lot of people don't know when we were doing SNL, Rosie was in her studio right next door. Right next door. Yeah. So, we met in the NBC gym and he was like of a certain part of my life, like I instantly recognized him as a person who understood what that music part of me that I didn't even talk about was. And he he said he was like, "Oh, you I love how consistently you go from a B flat to a C." Like again, I wouldn't have thought about it and I wouldn't have even thought that Bobby sings that high, but she does all the time, which is kind of wild. Like if you wanted to tell ask me to hit a C, I would get like my butthole would tighten up and I probably

51:54 wouldn't be able to do it. So there's [clears throat] something really fun about that. And I think there's uh for me, I can't speak for other people, like I would never

52:01 there's a freedom around it and a chance taking that I will play in character any day of the week. Till very recently, I wouldn't have done it as a vocalist.

52:09 So cool. Absolutely. And that is what you guys do as those characters. Also, I just love Bobby and Marty's look.

52:16 Their looks are excellent. Their looks are fantastic. And we knew early on, oh, so they were um disparaged by some of the men, by the the cool guys. People thought it was a medley bit and thought it was dumb and hacky.

52:29 Um, but we had so much fun writing their passive aggression as characters, like the the dynamic of the two of them, the people giving them the finger all the time, and just the the the inherent bummer of having those people perform at your prom or whatever, like that. We always loved we always that's what was so joyful about it. The music was fine. Like the music was a super fun component of it, but it wasn't the point ever. The point was

52:55 why are these people performing at my, you know, sobriety birthday, you know, it was always like finding the premise. And so that's what made it so fun. I have to say, honestly, like at the 50th, which was so

53:08 special because that was always my favorite thing to do at SNL. It was the most fun writing it with Will and with Paula. We would we were infamous. Infamous is the term because we would, as you know, not start writing until 4:00 in the morning. Yeah. And we would finish at 10:00 a.m. And it was always like a a laugh fest that was that so heavily featured procrastination. It was extraordinary. And well, it's um it's very very funny that you say that because we do a thing on the show where we talk about we we talk to people who know our guest. We talk well behind their back and we get a question to ask them. And so I spoke to Paula Pel. Uh

53:44 oh. And for people that didn't see the the SNL 50th music special, which was amazing, you there was like sketches in between acts

53:53 and a lot of musical sketches and Bobby and Marty came out and crushed. That was not an easy audience. It was an audience of truly every single person was either performing or a performer or like it was a cynical audience.

54:09 Yeah, you guys crushed. What was that feeling to do that that night? It was so fun for lack of a better word. Like it was so for there was something, you know, as we go back to all these reunions and you bring all of your kind of history and baggage and whatever with you.

54:30 Um, again, kind of speaking to your point of the fact that this is all just so embarrassing because first of all, like it's Radio City Music Hall. It's 6,000 seats. I mean it's it's a [snorts] huge epic space.

54:45 Yeah. We followed Lauren Hill. Sure. That's who you want to follow. So you have to understand that in the wings there are like thousands of cool music people. I mean like I my dressing room is next to Jack White and his band and I'm dressed as Bobby Mohan Culp. Okay. I've got the giant glasses and my like striped dress and Will's got his bald paint and his you know we rehearsing in the keyboard. So already we're like the losers in the wings. Do you know what I mean?

55:16 Oh yeah. I mean the winners for me but it was it was fantastic. I mean actually you're like you got the violin and you've got the eye patch

55:23 100%. And so we're already just like what is happening? What is happening? Why are we here? And who invited us? You know, and then we just started to giggle cuz we we it was so cute cuz we doing the sketch and doing the we just it was very easy to imagine how excited

55:41 Bobby and Marty would have been. The people would have been to be at Radio City.

55:45 And what was it like back? What was it like back then? Did you see Jack White? Who else are you seeing?

55:50 I mean, mayhem like posies and people with like, you know, music people. So they got like big cool hair and glasses and fur like Lauren Hills has a fur coat and an afro and like everybody's got like floral pants that come up to here and there's posies and you know weed everywhere you know Chris Martins's in the corner like cool people actual cool people who just looked right past us like they they were they did not know that we used to be on Saturday Night Live. They were just like who brought Granny and Gramps? Like just right past us.

56:21 That actually probably was fun. It was so fun and then going and then we like you know going out there and the all that stuff just suddenly worked. You're right. Now that I'm remembering, Lauren Hill had had a surprise. Incredible performance.

56:33 Insane. And then there's like smoke. And then it was like [clears throat] test test and you guys crush and that's what I mean. I did I knew it was streaming and I also knew I mean it was really funny cuz we were like they just and all of their stuff was about how they'd come to New York for an opthalmology appointment, you know, they were just lucky to slip in and and just everything about it was so fun. And so we're sitting there and uh yeah and I I did have the feeling I was like this is streaming because one thing about SNL for me again I don't know if you ever had this but it's a little bit of an A student girl you know nerd girl thing I was always my greatest regret about this show not that you would go back in time is that I could I never like settled into it and enjoyed it cuz I was always so aware of the time

57:18 and of running somebody running down the clock somebody else's sketch is going to get cut like I was always and when we were there it was such a

57:25 you know like explo explosive surfate of of talent that there were always three sketches a night that might not make it, you know. So, I always felt like I had to like keep it moving, keep it moving. So, I was suddenly very aware that it was streaming

57:38 and that I was not going to be rushed and I was like, I'm going to be Bobby Mo. The funniest thing in the world to me is this woman and this man, these these choir teachers getting people to settle

57:51 cuz there's just nothing funnier than high school teachers. They just kept telling people to settle. I need you to settle. I need quiet in the back. Hand goes up, mouth goes shut. Hand goes up, mouth goes shut. Just this idea. I was like, I'm going to keep going until they settle. I'm not going to worry about it. And if I had been at 8H, we never would have done that.

58:10 Right. Very good point. We just we took a full probably 45 seconds to, you know, get people to pipe it. David Spade pipe down.

58:18 That's right. You guys called him out by I don't want to hear it. Pierce Brosman. So stupid. Okay, [gasps] we have so much more to talk about.

58:29 I'm sorry, but Paula Paula had two great questions. Uh oh. One was a um a funny one, which was your dog Gloria loves to eat things.

58:42 Yes. Um and you often keep us updated as to what she eats. What has she eaten lately? And has it come out already? And was it intact when it came out?

58:53 It never comes out. I don't know where it goes. It's upsetting. Like you're like, it was a full hairbrush. Where did it go?

59:00 Where did it go? And honestly, cuz she's also like many dogs, like it's the more personal the better, you know? So, it's a retainer or she would eat my IUD if she could

59:11 pull it out. She could get in there. Yeah. Sorry, but it's true. Dogs are gross.

59:14 It's gross. Bras, um, all that kind of thing. Most recently, to answer the question, um, it was an a massive thing of cheese. I mean, it was a manego. It was a Costco manego wedge. You know, those are big ones for a party. And Charlie Charlie sent it to me. I was out here and he sent he he taken out the cheese. He was going to have himself a little snack. Came back, the cheese was gone. He felt crazy. That's always part of the story that he's walking around like, I swear to God, I brought the cheese out. Where's the cheese? And then hours later there was like this much left which also I find upsetting because it means that she has eaten to the point of physical discomfort which for a dog is a long time.

59:52 Yeah. I just I want to know what happens in her dog brain. Maybe there's some kind of evolutionary thing where they show you just a little to be like

1:00:02 just to be like and I just just like just a tiny bit of like a trophy of like and here's what I did.

1:00:09 She's such an [ __ ] Um okay. And then Paula's um real question was and it's kind of what the theme of of our interview today which is basically like um it's such a sweet Paula question which is um you know between writing and singing and acting uh which one makes you feel the most free.

1:00:31 It's an interesting word. It's a great question. Um I think that inherently I'm the most natural singer. I mean, I think that's like my first gift, meaning like that it's just sort of beyond me. And as I've gotten older and more into it, like [gasps]

1:00:47 even in the last couple of years, I feel I feel more comfortable just accepting that it's something that came from somewhere besides me and I got lucky to have a career that kind of nurtured the muscles of it all. Literally,

1:01:00 writing is the most in the flow I probably feel. But I hate writing and I hate having to write. I love having written.

1:01:09 Yes. Having had written is the best feeling in the world. I feel like you're a more confident writer than I am.

1:01:12 Oh god, no. No, that's not true. You're very good about it. I've got I've got to um No, I've got to um

1:01:19 Your Uber's here. My Uber I'm so sorry. My Uber's here. First of all, you are a member of the Wicked verse. You You opened Wicked in Chicago.

1:01:28 Yeah, I was the you know, fourth overall alphaba. So fifth, you know, so now when you go like last year, two years ago was the 20th. And um again, I have people in my wicked life that like I'm not going back. It was torture cuz it is trauma bonding. It's a really hard job. It's a really, really, really, really hard job. It's a hard role to play. It is a physically demanding heart and it is incredibly hard to sing. So I'm I'm actually in retrospect I was so I want to actually take a minute to tell a story if that's okay.

1:01:57 Of course. Um because I actually think it's so lifeless and important. I am so hard on myself. And again, I realized this about myself recently. I'm not

1:02:08 competitive. I'm a perfectionist. So, I actually hate competition, but I want to be really good at things. So, it's a weird mix, but

1:02:17 when you do a Broadway show, everybody comes at the end because all your friends or whatever. People want to see you before it closes or you leave or whatever. And you know, whatever. Here's a Dina Menzel, the most incredible vocalist, originated this incredibly demanding vocal score.

1:02:32 Yeah. You're when you take over in a role, you you're thrown into their track. So, there's a lot of things that were designed around Adena's instrument that other people have a harder time with, her phrasing, her lung capacity, things like that. [gasps]

1:02:45 So, I was sort of mercilessly hard on myself. And I also just didn't have the Broadway credits that other people did. So, I felt like I was proving myself. And especially then on Broadway, I think people felt like who's this TV [ __ ] who just thought she could show up and sing Alphaba? You know, there was not like a

1:03:03 um I didn't feel like warmly welcomed into the Broadway community. I felt like I was proving it, you know, so every day.

1:03:09 Yeah. Um and I, you know, that role is you very very challenging. So my last like three weeks cuz I did Chicago and then I came and I did the three penny opera on Broadway and then I did Wicked It Up on Broadway. So my last like 2 3 weeks wicked um all these people you know come out of the woodworks composers I admired people I admired people to see who want to see me in the world before I left and I was so mercilessly cruel to myself every day I would come backstage and I messed up the bridge on defying gravity or oh my god I hate way I you know I didn't I didn't like the my upper register here there I was I was screaming in this part it was such an interesting experience because the sound engineer gave me like snuck me I hope I'm not getting him fired recordings of my last 12 shows. He had just like stuck in a thing and recorded them. I didn't listen to them for 15 years because I was so mortified. I was

1:04:09 like I don't want to hear myself. And then I cracked one open one day and I started I wanted to listen to Defying Gravity to see like if I could like Frankenstein the perfect version together whatever. And it was so chilling how similar they were.

1:04:28 Oh wow, Anna, that's wild. To listen to them in a row. Mhm. It was like it took my breath away because I and I tell my kids this all the time now cuz you know Ulyses, my son is such a he's such a perfectionist. I'm like the difference

1:04:43 Yeah. between 98% and 100 is imperceptible to anyone but you. And if you're hitting the general ballpark

1:04:53 of being able to, oh, I don't know, sing alphaba, you're probably cool, you know, so you are not a reliable witness about yourself.

1:05:02 Oh, never. And that's why I give 75%. I don't even get But honestly, most of it could apply to anything. Oh, absolutely. And making that decision of being like, did you show up? Were you nice to people? You know, did you know your lines? Okay. the the way that and and also the way the lovely way in which you circled back and you were able to kind of like go back to that younger version of yourself and be like,

1:05:25 "Oh my god, I can't believe how unnecessarily relentlessly mean I was to myself."

1:05:30 Yes. I mean, I don't know if I'm able to take it now in everyday life, but it's such an important I don't know. It felt like such an important lesson. And um obviously like that's the SNL wisdom pearl and like I wish I could have enjoyed it. Just enjoyed it. It was a great experience, you know.

1:05:44 Yeah. I mean, the fact that you had physical evidence that they weren't that different.

1:05:48 It was mind-blowing. Is something else, isn't it? The mind is a um terrible place.

1:05:53 A real dick. Um it's a terrible terrible place. Yeah, the mind is a dick. The mind is a raging dick. Okay. Mean Girls. What are your memories about us doing Mean Girls together?

1:06:03 I remember being on the plane with you. Yep. We were on the plane. We got in Yeah, you got in a fight with a guy. Um and the baby with baby Francis. This early empowering baby Francis was on the plane with us. Do you remember that? your baby Francis who is now in her 20s.

1:06:16 23. Yeah. She was on the plane and I still got in a fight with the guy with the baby around.

1:06:20 Yeah. I hope so. I because the guy got mad that you were swearing in front of the baby.

1:06:25 Yeah. Right. I was Yeah. It's a long story, but what happened was a very uh stress a guy who like a first class guy. Well, we were in first class, too. He was like, "Excuse me, I'm trying to You're being too loud in first class." And I uh my Boston came out. Let's the best thing I've ever seen. Okay. But but but the shooting of of Mean Girls, what do you remember of it?

1:06:44 I remember hanging out with you in that hotel one night and having drinks. I remember um I remember when Tina I have a memory of her sitting at the table on 17 and saying, "I think I'm going to try to option this book."

1:06:56 Me, too. I I have an image of her sitting at her computer and being like, "Oh." And having the book

1:07:02 Yeah. um near her and and just like working on it, being like, "I'm writing this movie."

1:07:07 It's incredible. And I was like, "Good luck with that. I'm going to go write a sketch about a lady who has a snake around her neck.

1:07:16 I heard a fart mouth. And last question is, what are you listening to watching? Where do you go to laugh these days?

1:07:28 I am like I am not very for for all my quiet comedy like I I am like Mel Brooks is what makes me laugh like big.

1:07:36 Okay. What's your favorite Mel Brooks? I mean, let's Google it. Well, I mean, should we go to the producers?

1:07:43 Young Frankenstein producers. I mean, when Drach and I write together, it feels like Mel Brooks is, you know, the the

1:07:49 D is has you. Yeah. Drach is of the Mel Brooks world. Yeah. So, writing with her is very goofy and very fun.

1:07:56 You know what I love and I know it's underrated. I love me a space balls. Oh, not deeply underrated.

1:08:03 Yeah. God, space balls made me laugh. My friend Philip Taratula is doing does this character called um Official Pam Goldberg on Instagram. Uh he plays an a member of Actors Equity since 1968.

1:08:17 I know my Uber is here, but I have to see this. Yeah, you do. Official Pam Goldberg.

1:08:21 Yeah, Pam Goldberg here and I'm recommending one to bring with you to tech. So, here we go. Snacks. Don't rely on other people's snacks or anyone else bringing snacks for you. These are Crayale peanuts. I don't think they're organic.

1:08:35 Pam's telling us what to bring to a good coffee. I like this from Fairway coffee themselves, but life's too short for folders. Again, I recommend bananagrams because they're short and we'll find out.

1:08:48 Bananagrams are short and cordial. Also, um Pam has got a real severe haircut. Real severe

1:08:54 and and a real squinty eye. She's been a regional theater actress for a long time.

1:08:59 Um but anyway, merry Christmas. [clears throat and laughter] Thank you, friend. Thank you, friend. Merry Christmas to you.

1:09:08 Uh, Anna Gastire, thank you so much. That was so fun. And, um, that time went by so fast and I love talking to you. And, um, you know, this is our holiday episode. And, uh, for those of you uh, celebrating the holiday in all different ways, I just want to say thank you for um, giving us the gift of listening to this show. It's meant a lot to us. And this is the this has been an amazing year that we've launched it. So, uh thank you. We cannot wait to make more of which we will be doing for you. Um and it has been a real gift to do it.

1:09:39 So, um I'm going to do uh end end this episode and uh dive into the polar plunge by sharing my favorite Christmas movie with you. And that is a little known classic, Emtt Otter's Jug Band Christmas. I don't know a lot of people that that know it, but it's um it was um look, I don't love puppets all the time, but this one has the the Muppet puppet family. Um uh Jim Henson's Workshop made it and it is the cutest, most tender, best music movie. EMTT Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Check it out. It is basically The Gift of the Magi. Um, there is an incredible uh bunch of villains called the Riverbottom Nightmare Band that is basically a snake and a weasel and they are incredible. Um, so do yourself a favor and I don't even know where to find it. I I think I have it on VHS, but um but um merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah. Um whatever you celebrate, thank you uh uh for uh listening and um we can't wait to uh see you in the new

1:10:50 year. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss Berman, and me, Amy Polar. The show is produced by The Ringer, and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Cat Spelain, Kaia McMullen, and Aia Xanerys. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Levelvel, and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Ana Gasteyer | Good Hang with Amy Poehler"?

Amy Poehler (Host), Ana Gasteyer (Guest), Paula Pell (Guest), Janine Berto (Guest).

What is "Ana Gasteyer | Good Hang with Amy Poehler" about?

Ana Gasteyer joins the holiday celebration as a guest, discussing her experiences on "Saturday Night Live," Christmas songs, her Broadway journey, and her album "Sugar and Booze." The conversation also touches on her time at the White House, favorite musical productions, and the importance of friendship in the entertainment industry.

What is mentioned in this Good Hang with Amy Poehler episode?

75 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Anna Gastire, SNL, ABranching note: Sugar and Booze, SNL, Violin, Wicked. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Ana Gasteyer | Good Hang with Amy Poehler"?

The episode runs 1 h 11 min; the transcript is about 14,104 words in 327 timestamped sections.

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