WEBVTT

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OK, let's dive in. If you're, you know, really

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plugged into modern American comedy, you've definitely

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encountered John Glazer, seen his stuff, laughed

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at it, maybe even been a little confused by it.

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Right. But pinning down exactly who he is, that's

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tough because his career is just so incredibly

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broad. He's like the ultimate comedy chameleon.

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Yeah, he really operates in these two almost

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completely separate comedic worlds at the same

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time. And that. Duality is what's really striking.

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I mean, on one hand, you've got Lazer, the the

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mainstream guy, the Emmy nominated writer helped

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shape Conan's show for, what, a decade? A long

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time. But then there's the other side. The like

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deep absurdist Glazer creating these super niche,

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really high concept kind of surreal shows, you

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know, for Adult Swim True TV. Exactly. So our

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mission today for you listening is basically

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to connect those dots. We want to figure out

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how one person, one comedic mind can swing so

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effectively between writing jokes for millions

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on late night and then, you know, spend years

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wearing a ski mask. for his own weird reality

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show parody. We're really digging into the identity

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of the guy who gave us both Councilman Jeremy

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Jam. Oh, Jam. And that, uh... that super committed

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one song billy joel cover band right so let's

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start with the stuff people probably know best

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kind of lay the foundation he got those five

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emmy nods with the conan writing team which is

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huge obviously created and starred in day located

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and me on joe werewolf hunter over on adult swim

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bizarre stuff i'll be bizarre and then john glazer

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loves gear on true tv that mockumentary right

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And we also, crucially, we know his face from

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some massive sitcoms from the last, say, 15 years.

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Yeah, the Actie roles. He was Councilman Jeremy

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Jam on Parks and Rec, Leslie Knopes, like, ultimate

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nemesis. Just relentlessly annoying, perfectly

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played. And then Layered on Girls, totally different

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vibe. The Recovering Addict Neighbor kind of

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brought this weird warmth, actually. He did.

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It was surprisingly nuanced. So, yeah, to get

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how he does all that, we've got to go back to

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the beginning. Where did this unique comedic

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voice even come from? Let's do it. The roots.

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So the story doesn't kick off in NYC or L .A.

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like you might expect. It starts in the Midwest.

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Glazer grew up in Southfield, Michigan, a Detroit

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suburb. Graduated high school there back in 86.

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Michigan. Yeah. And there's maybe this, you know,

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Midwestern thing, a certain kind of dry, maybe

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slightly self -deprecating humor that you can

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kind of see threading through his work sometimes.

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Interesting. OK, so after high school. University

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of Michigan. Ann Arbor. And that seems to be

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where the comedy bug really bit him hard. He

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graduated from U of M and right away got involved

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in college sketch comedy. Right. The proving

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grounds. Exactly. He was apparently a key guy

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in two troops there. Comedy company and just

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kidding. Ah, okay. And that college setting,

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it's critical, right? Because you're forced to

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write, perform, workshop stuff constantly. Sources

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mention he was performing with other people who

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went on to do stuff, like John Hine. From The

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Howard Stern Show. Oh, really? John Hyde. Wow.

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Yeah. So that whole process of creating together,

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hashing out ideas, it really laid the groundwork

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for working in professional writers' rooms later

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on. Makes sense. And that collaboration leads

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directly to probably the single most important

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step in his development, right? Yeah. Chicago.

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Second City. Absolutely. If you're looking for

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the moment where he maybe crystallized this idea

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that, like, the best comedy is often the most

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conceptual and just committed comedy, this is

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it. He was on the main stage cast there, mid-'90s.

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And the mid-'90s Second City. I mean, that was

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a legendary time. Oh, totally a golden era. Just

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think about who he was bouncing ideas off of,

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performing with. Adam McKay, future SNL head

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writer, huge director now. Right. Rachel Dratch,

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future SNL icon. Scott Atsit, you know, from

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Mr. Show, 30 Rock. That's just a murderer's row

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of talent. They were just doing standard improv

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games, I take it. No, definitely pushing boundaries.

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And we actually have this amazing little window

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into his specific style from back then. There

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was this award -winning review called Pinata

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Full of Bees. Pinata Full of Bees. Great name.

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Isn't it? Directed by Tom Giannis. And this show,

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it really gives you a feel for the early Glazer

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vibe. OK, give us the details. What was so Glazer

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about it? Well, the material was just so specific

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and kind of weird. It wasn't just aiming for

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laughs. It was aggressively conceptual. Like,

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get this. One of Glazer's big pieces in the show

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was him singing a song. OK. About why it's morally

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wrong to betray a friendship by pretending you

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don't have legs just so you can play in a wheelchair

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basketball league. Slight pause. Yeah. Wow. OK.

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That's. incredibly specific. Right. But the premise

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itself is just layers deep. You have to accept

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so much absurdity just to get to the core joke,

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which is about like the ethics of faking a disability

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for sports fraud. That level of detail and just

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committed so hard to that ridiculous scenario.

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That feels very him. Treating the absurd with

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utter seriousness. Exactly. And the performance

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itself just kept escalating. The sources say

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that during the show's climax, Glazer was drumming

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while wearing a demonic pig mask. A demonic pig

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mask. Of course. Yeah. So you get this contrast,

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right? This really crafted, intellectual, almost

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meta commentary in one bit. And then just pure

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like. visual theatrical weirdness in the next.

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But maybe the biggest clue about his future work,

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the meta stuff, was him interrupting the show.

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Yeah, apparently he'd just come out on stage

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throughout the performance, not really in character

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in the usual way, but as himself, kind of judging

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the audience. Judging them. For what? For laughing.

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He criticized people for laughing at jokes that

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he decided were like socially irresponsible.

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OK, that is pure meta comedy right there. Breaking

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the fourth wall to critique the act of watching

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comedy itself. Totally. It's comedy about comedy,

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drawing attention to the whole setup. He wasn't

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just doing the sketch. He was doing a sketch

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about the comedian viewer relationship and then

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like giving the viewer a bad review for how they

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consumed it. That instinct, you know, to disrupt

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things, to challenge the audience and break the

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expected rhythm, that feels foundational. You

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see echoes of that all over. Delocated, John

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Glazer loves gear. For sure, where the character's

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own seriousness rubs up against the format itself.

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So before he landed the big late night gig, were

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there other stops? Yeah, a few brief early writing

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jobs, short -lived sketch shows like... The Jenny

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McCarthy show on MTV. Oh, wow. Memory Unlocked.

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And the Dana Carvey show. Both kind of quick

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burns, but probably good exposure to the TV production

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grind. Right. Any other early TV spots? He did

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one appearance, just one as a correspondent on

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The Daily Show way back in 2004. But mostly this

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early stuff seems like prep work for the big

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shift, the most kind of stable and mainstream

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decade he had. Moving into late night. Like the

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Conan years. That pivot to New York, to late

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night TV, that was huge for him. A full decade,

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basically. 1998 to 2008 on late night with Conan

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O'Dryan. That must have provided some serious

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stability. Oh, absolutely. Consistent, high pressure,

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creative work. He was on screen sometimes. Yeah,

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like 31 episodes, they say. But his real impact,

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the foundational stuff, was in that writer's

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room. That's where those five Emmy nominations

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came from, being part of that team. People sometimes

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gloss over the writing part, but the discipline

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required for a nightly show, it's intense. It

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really is. It's relentless. You're generating

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and pitching constantly five days a week, topical

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stuff, original bits. It's not like the slow

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burn of developing an adult swim show. This is

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structure, deadlines, immediate feedback. Right.

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And that decade of intense discipline, you got

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to think it influenced how he approached his

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own stuff later. You know, learning that even

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the craziest idea needs some structure, some

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way to sell it in a pitch meeting. It's like

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those two sides of his brain we talked about,

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right? A side writing structured Conan bits and

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a side wanting to wear a demonic pig mask. Exactly.

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The Conan years probably trained him to take

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that anarchic energy and package it, make it

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work commercially. And that mainstream visibility

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being part of that successful show, that must

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have helped open doors for the big acting roles

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later. For sure. The move from being primarily

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behind the scenes to being a face people recognized,

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that was definitely driven by those key sitcom

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roles. And the one most people probably picture

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instantly is Councilman Jeremy Jam. Oh, Jam,

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Parks and Recreation. He was just the perfect

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antagonist. Wasn't he? Showed up in 18 episodes,

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seasons five and six, just became... Leslie Nook's

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number one most infuriating rival. So smug, so

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petty, obsessed with his tiny bit of power, and

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that catchphrase. You just got jammed. Yeah,

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he nailed that character. And if you break down

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jam, like you said before, he's kind of a mainstream

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version of that earlier performance style. Totally.

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He's a character who takes himself so seriously,

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completely blind to how ridiculous he is, obsessed

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with the tiniest details in his case, like town

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council rules. He treats arguing about zoning

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like it's a life or death. battle. And that commitment,

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that intensity applied to something so mundane,

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that's where the comedy comes from. It's comedic

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gold. But then, almost at the same time, he shows

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up on a completely different kind of show, demonstrating

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serious range. Girls. Right. Laird Schlesinger

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on HBO's Girls appeared across 12 episodes, seasons

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two through four. And Laird couldn't be more

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different from Jam. Not at all. Hannah's neighbor,

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recovering addict, sculptor. Kind of vulnerable,

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really quirky, often saying totally inappropriate

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things or crossing boundaries. Yeah. But that

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role needed a much more grounded performance.

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It wasn't broad comedy. He was playing this complicated,

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kind of fragile person. It really showed he had

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dramatic chops. The characters he plays, even

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the ridiculous ones, they always feel like real,

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specific people, not just cartoons. Exactly.

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And even while doing these big acting roles,

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he kept his hand in writing, contributing to

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inside Amy Schumer. Right. Writing and performing

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on there for quite a span, actually. Five episodes

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between 2013 and 2022. And you'd see him pop

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up in other places, too. Those great guest spots

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like The Doorman on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Classic

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Curb Rule. Mike on 30 Rock. He played a character

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named John on Louis, just sort of cementing his

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place as a key player in that whole New York

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comedy scene. We should probably quickly touch

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on his film work, too, because even in smaller

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parts, you see that versatility. Way back in

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2001, he was in Pootie Tang. Yeah, as a recording

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engineer, sometimes credited as John Glazer with

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the load. Oh. Hmm. Okay. Then School for Scoundrels

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in 2006, he played Ernie. Uh -huh. And a really

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memorable one for movie nerds, especially physical

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media fans. Be Kind Rewind in 2008. He was the

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West Coast video guy in New York. Oh, right.

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Perfect casting. Then jumping ahead, he's in

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big comedies like Trainwreck as Schultz in 2015.

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And then more recently, showing he's now this

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sought -after character actor, he was in that

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huge movie Don't Look Up, credited simply as

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Meow Man. Meow Man, of course. Yeah. Even his

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small roles are kind of weirdly specific and

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intriguing. Exactly. mainstream gigs they give

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him the visibility maybe the financial freedom

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to to really pursue his true passion project

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that completely out there creator driven stuff

00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:12.240
yeah that's the big question isn't it how does

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a writer who's disciplined enough for the nightly

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grind of conan suddenly switch gears into the

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just glorious weirdness of adult swim right it

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leads us right into what you called the creator's

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corner Where Glazer is fully in charge and you

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have to start with Delocated. Oh, absolutely.

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Delocated feels like his definitive statement

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piece. It really does. His creation for Adult

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Swim, live action show about John, a guy in Witness

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Protection. Okay, standard enough premise. But

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he also has his own reality TV show. Right. There

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it is. The central contradiction. Exactly. The

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whole point of Witness Protection is secrecy,

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anonymity. The whole point of a reality show

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is total exposure, manufactured drama. The comedy

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lives entirely. in that impossible conflict.

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And he commits physically to the bit, too. Totally.

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To stay anonymous while starring in his own show,

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John wears a black ski mask constantly and uses

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a voice changer. And crucially, the show never

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treats the mask like a joke. It's presented as

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absolutely necessary for his safety. All the

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drama around the absurdity is played completely

00:12:15.299 --> 00:12:17.440
straight. That commitment again, just leaning

00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.679
all the way into the impossible premise. That's

00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:21.629
why it worked. It ran for what? 30 episodes.

00:12:21.850 --> 00:12:24.590
Final one in March 2013. It's a pretty good run

00:12:24.590 --> 00:12:26.850
for something so niche. It really is. And the

00:12:26.850 --> 00:12:29.049
character John kind of took on a life of its

00:12:29.049 --> 00:12:31.529
own outside the show. Yeah. How so? Well, that's

00:12:31.529 --> 00:12:32.909
where you see the cult status. The character

00:12:32.909 --> 00:12:35.769
John from Delicated actually appeared as a DJ

00:12:35.769 --> 00:12:39.610
in a video game. Saints Row, the third, on the

00:12:39.610 --> 00:12:42.529
Adult Swim radio station in the game. No way.

00:12:42.730 --> 00:12:44.850
That's amazing. Talk about cross -media synergy.

00:12:45.129 --> 00:12:48.250
Right. But the absolute peak of committing to

00:12:48.250 --> 00:12:50.110
the bit where it crossed into the mainstream.

00:12:51.850 --> 00:12:54.190
the subway commercials oh my god yes i remember

00:12:54.190 --> 00:12:57.769
those february 2012 he did a series of national

00:12:57.769 --> 00:13:01.769
subway ads as the delocated character ski mask

00:13:01.769 --> 00:13:04.669
voice changer the whole deal pitching sandwiches

00:13:04.669 --> 00:13:07.669
just think about that pitch meeting okay so our

00:13:07.669 --> 00:13:10.220
spokesman is going to be this surreal masked

00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:13.139
guy who's technically a fugitive in witness protection.

00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:15.399
And he's going to talk about the $5 foot long

00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:18.700
with complete deadpan seriousness. Yeah. It's

00:13:18.700 --> 00:13:20.899
brilliant. It takes that absurdist philosophy

00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:23.740
and somehow makes it palatable for a massive

00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:25.820
corporate brand. That's the genius of it, making

00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:28.080
the utterly bizarre feel totally normal within

00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.679
his own warped logic. So after Delicated Wrapped,

00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:32.940
he didn't leave Adult Swim entirely. He did another

00:13:32.940 --> 00:13:36.000
high concept thing, Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter.

00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:39.059
Right. The miniseries premiered December 2015.

00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:41.360
The title kind of says it all, doesn't it? Pretty

00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:44.500
much. Pure genre parody, late night adult swim

00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:47.110
vibe. Character who takes his ridiculous job

00:13:47.110 --> 00:13:49.750
way too seriously. Classic Glazer territory.

00:13:50.190 --> 00:13:53.269
Then he shifted platforms for John Glazer Loves

00:13:53.269 --> 00:13:56.730
Gear. Yeah, over to Truke TV for that mockumentary

00:13:56.730 --> 00:14:00.570
series. Started October 2016, ran 13 episodes,

00:14:00.750 --> 00:14:03.629
and it definitely continued that theme, playing

00:14:03.629 --> 00:14:06.350
a super self -serious character, but this time

00:14:06.350 --> 00:14:09.870
in a real -world documentary -style setting.

00:14:10.070 --> 00:14:12.350
And the focus was gear. Yeah, his character's

00:14:12.350 --> 00:14:14.750
passionate, obsessive, often kind of hilarious.

00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:17.940
Hilariously intense love for gear like camping

00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:20.840
stuff workout gadgets anything specialized and

00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:24.649
probably unnecessary So like a parody of influencer

00:14:24.649 --> 00:14:27.570
culture and consumerism. Exactly. That obsession

00:14:27.570 --> 00:14:29.429
with having the right specialized equipment.

00:14:29.590 --> 00:14:31.289
And the sources point out something interesting

00:14:31.289 --> 00:14:32.990
about the character description. What's that?

00:14:33.129 --> 00:14:35.169
They say he plays a character who isn't a douchebag,

00:14:35.250 --> 00:14:37.549
but he plays one on TV, which highlights that

00:14:37.549 --> 00:14:39.690
performer versus performance thing again. Right.

00:14:39.730 --> 00:14:42.350
He's using that fake documentary style to critique

00:14:42.350 --> 00:14:45.610
the vanity and self -importance that can come

00:14:45.610 --> 00:14:48.690
with that whole gear culture. It's specific observational

00:14:48.690 --> 00:14:51.029
humor, but wrapped up in his usual committed

00:14:51.029 --> 00:14:53.309
performance. Very specific. We should probably

00:14:53.309 --> 00:14:55.570
give a quick nod to his earlier web series work

00:14:55.570 --> 00:14:57.590
too, right? Didn't he do something called Tiny

00:14:57.590 --> 00:15:00.269
Hands? Yeah, for Comedy Central, also shown on

00:15:00.269 --> 00:15:03.610
Adam TV. It kind of foreshadowed him taking control

00:15:03.610 --> 00:15:06.590
and using different platforms to get his very

00:15:06.590 --> 00:15:08.990
particular brand of comedy out there early on.

00:15:09.889 --> 00:15:13.429
Hashtag V, collaboration, voices, and comedy

00:15:13.429 --> 00:15:15.289
music projects. Okay, so that willingness to

00:15:15.289 --> 00:15:17.750
partner up, especially with people who kind of

00:15:17.750 --> 00:15:21.000
share that specific... maybe niche sensibility.

00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:24.059
That seems really key to his career. And the

00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:26.080
biggest collaboration has to be with H. John

00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:27.899
Benjamin, right? Oh, absolutely. Their partnership

00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:31.059
goes way back. Live shows, animations, sketches.

00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.600
They definitely share an aesthetic that's sort

00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:36.440
of dry, sometimes confrontational, always committed

00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.700
to the bit style. Didn't they have a live show

00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:40.779
in New York? Yeah, called Midnight Pajama Jam.

00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:42.639
And apparently when they did stand up, they often

00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:46.179
did it as a duo. But instead of like normal sets,

00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:49.120
they just perform as kids. characters who would

00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.139
bicker and argue with each other on stage the

00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:54.539
whole time. Okay. Again, it's meta. The comedy

00:15:54.539 --> 00:15:56.799
is about the performance itself, the friction

00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:58.899
between them messing with what the audience expects.

00:15:59.179 --> 00:16:01.620
Exactly. And Glazer popped up on Benjamin's own

00:16:01.620 --> 00:16:04.440
projects, too. Like, he was PBT, Nathan Glazer

00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:07.100
on John Benjamin Has Van. Right. But beyond the

00:16:07.100 --> 00:16:09.379
live stuff, Glazer's voice acting career is...

00:16:09.379 --> 00:16:13.379
Wow. It's huge. He's done so much animation work.

00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:15.460
He really is a voice acting workhorse. It lets

00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:17.399
him explore all these different worlds without

00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:19.480
even needing to show his face. He was the lead

00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:21.720
in Stroker and Hoop, right? On Adult Swim. Yep.

00:16:22.059 --> 00:16:25.200
Played Stroker, a .k .a. John Strokmire. And

00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.620
maybe the most perfectly Glazer -esque Adult

00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:33.120
Swim role, lead voice as DJ Jesus in Lucy, the

00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.600
daughter of the devil. DJ Jesus. It just, it

00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.740
has to be heard to be believed, probably. That

00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:41.409
mix of sacred and just... Ridiculous. Total adult

00:16:41.409 --> 00:16:43.429
swim sweet spot. And he's all over that network's

00:16:43.429 --> 00:16:45.450
other classics, too. Voices on Aqua Teen Hunger

00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:49.169
Force, Oog, Jerry, CIA Agent, Hashtag 2. Wow.

00:16:49.269 --> 00:16:51.169
And he's done a good amount on the Fox animation

00:16:51.169 --> 00:16:52.990
side, too, like multiple characters over the

00:16:52.990 --> 00:16:55.690
years on Bob's Burgers. Okay, so a really versatile

00:16:55.690 --> 00:16:58.129
voice actor. Any other big ones? Oh, yeah, tons.

00:16:58.490 --> 00:17:02.330
Hojo on TV, Funhouse, roles in Freak Show, Trip

00:17:02.330 --> 00:17:05.539
Tank. He was Whitney on Archer. Ah, Archer. Makes

00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:08.079
sense. More recently, doing political satire

00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.259
voices, Larry Kudlow on our cartoon president,

00:17:10.339 --> 00:17:12.700
Mark Taliano on Dicktown. It's just a massive

00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:15.420
list. He clearly brings that same specific character

00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:18.960
energy just to his voice. But now... Now we have

00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:20.940
to talk about the comedy music projects, because

00:17:20.940 --> 00:17:23.099
this feels like where the whole commitment to

00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:25.819
the bit thing reaches its absolute zenith. It's

00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:28.200
almost performance art. It really is. OK, first,

00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.680
the slightly more, let's say, structured one.

00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:33.579
Detroit Octane. Detroit Octane. Glazer was the

00:17:33.579 --> 00:17:36.779
lead singer, NYC comedy band, and they hit a

00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:40.640
big milestone. They performed on Conan back in

00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.480
June 2008. Do what? Singing their song Barack

00:17:43.480 --> 00:17:47.549
Obama Assistable. Chuckles, okay. Sung to the

00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:49.910
tune of... Robert Palmer's Simply Irresistible,

00:17:49.930 --> 00:17:52.309
just forcing these political, complimentary lyrics

00:17:52.309 --> 00:17:54.349
onto that existing structure. Right, okay, that's

00:17:54.349 --> 00:17:57.289
a classic musical parody format. Funny, but structured.

00:17:57.509 --> 00:18:00.230
But then there's a matter of trust. Ah, yes,

00:18:00.470 --> 00:18:03.289
this project is legendary among comedy nerds.

00:18:03.430 --> 00:18:06.509
Glazer on bass, and the rest of the band. H.

00:18:06.529 --> 00:18:09.390
John Benjamin, Todd Berry, Tom Shillew, just

00:18:09.390 --> 00:18:11.769
an incredible lineup. Wow, okay, so what was

00:18:11.769 --> 00:18:14.099
the gimmick? Because there had to be one. Oh,

00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:16.740
there was. And it was beautifully, punishingly

00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:19.940
simple. The band only played one song. Billy

00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:23.119
Joel's A Matter of Trust. Wait. Only that song.

00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.579
Only that song. Over and over. They refused to

00:18:25.579 --> 00:18:26.880
play anything else. No matter where they were

00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:29.059
playing, who asked, nothing. They treated this

00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:31.680
highly conceptual joke like it was the most serious

00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:35.200
musical endeavor ever. That is intense. The joke

00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:37.119
isn't just the song choice, it's the refusal.

00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:40.000
Exactly. The humor is in the audience's confusion,

00:18:40.339 --> 00:18:43.000
their expectation, the band's absolute refusal

00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:45.259
to give them anything else, and just the sheer

00:18:45.259 --> 00:18:47.980
grinding repetition. It forces you to think about

00:18:47.980 --> 00:18:50.759
what performance even is. And the ultimate proof

00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:53.720
that they sold it. crazy idea they opened for

00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:56.299
the new pornographers a real respected indie

00:18:56.299 --> 00:18:59.519
band in 2006 they took their one song joke onto

00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:02.240
a legitimate stage and just did it never broke

00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:04.740
character that perfectly encapsulates the whole

00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:07.019
thing doesn't it the level of sheer conviction

00:19:07.019 --> 00:19:09.559
you need to stand there playing the same billy

00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:11.980
joel riff repeatedly while people expect rock

00:19:11.980 --> 00:19:14.619
music uh -huh It's the exact same conviction

00:19:14.619 --> 00:19:17.680
he needs to sell a guy in a ski mask on a reality

00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.839
show or the bureaucratic fury of Councilman Jam.

00:19:21.019 --> 00:19:23.759
The commitment is the constant, whether the situation

00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:27.240
is absurd or kind of boring. Hashtag hashtag

00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:31.799
be say. Synthesis and final thoughts. So, yeah,

00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:33.839
as we try to wrap our heads around this whole

00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.660
incredibly varied career, we should mention he's

00:19:36.660 --> 00:19:38.539
done stuff off screen, too. He wrote a book,

00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:40.759
right? Yeah. My dead dad was in ZZ Talk, came

00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:43.920
out back in 2011. And even the title kind of

00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:46.480
hints at that blend of maybe personal, maybe

00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:48.859
completely fabricated high concept stuff. Totally.

00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:50.640
Sounds like his brand. And he stays connected

00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:53.259
to the comedy world, too. Like he did Ken Reed's

00:19:53.259 --> 00:19:55.339
TV Guidance Counselor podcast live at the Eugene

00:19:55.339 --> 00:19:58.779
Merman Comedy Festival in 2015. He seems engaged

00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:01.420
with analyzing the craft. Right. Now, just a

00:20:01.420 --> 00:20:03.000
couple of quick personal notes, kind of ground

00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:04.799
the guy behind the characters. He's married,

00:20:04.940 --> 00:20:07.140
has two kids, a son and a daughter, lived in

00:20:07.140 --> 00:20:09.259
Park Slope, Brooklyn for a while, which fits

00:20:09.259 --> 00:20:12.019
that New York comedy scene vibe. And showing

00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:14.099
some hometown pride, he's apparently a fan of

00:20:14.099 --> 00:20:17.529
Detroit City FC. Nice. Summing it all up, that

00:20:17.529 --> 00:20:19.809
diversity really is his defining feature, his

00:20:19.809 --> 00:20:22.230
superpower almost. Yeah. He moves easily between

00:20:22.230 --> 00:20:25.490
sketch, improv, writing, sitcoms, animation.

00:20:25.950 --> 00:20:27.730
Yeah. But the thing that ties it all together

00:20:27.730 --> 00:20:30.490
is that ability to just fully commit, to find

00:20:30.490 --> 00:20:33.490
the absolute conviction for a role, whether it's

00:20:33.490 --> 00:20:36.730
hilarious or surprisingly serious. He does take

00:20:36.730 --> 00:20:38.809
on a lot of roles that need that. Characters

00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:41.089
who are super self -serious or antagonists or

00:20:41.089 --> 00:20:43.549
just totally lacking self -awareness. And maybe

00:20:43.549 --> 00:20:45.710
that ability to just disappear into that conviction.

00:20:45.769 --> 00:20:48.089
is why he's getting more and more serious roles

00:20:48.089 --> 00:20:50.349
lately. I think so. Look at some of the recent

00:20:50.349 --> 00:20:53.750
stuff that shows that dramatic side. 2019, he

00:20:53.750 --> 00:20:56.609
was Tobias on Mr. Robot, highly acclaimed drama.

00:20:56.869 --> 00:20:59.029
Right. Then in 2022, completely different gear,

00:20:59.230 --> 00:21:01.970
he played Jackson Wright on Law & Order, SVU.

00:21:02.589 --> 00:21:05.690
Straight up network drama. Oh, SVU. OK. And just

00:21:05.690 --> 00:21:09.089
last year, 2023, he was Steve, the CIA disguise

00:21:09.089 --> 00:21:11.990
maker in White House Plumbers, that HBO limited

00:21:11.990 --> 00:21:14.930
series. A CIA disguise maker, again, kind of

00:21:14.930 --> 00:21:17.809
niche, requires that serious focus commitment

00:21:17.809 --> 00:21:20.609
to a slightly absurd job. Yeah. And he keeps

00:21:20.609 --> 00:21:22.509
mixing it up. He was Gerald on Life and Beth,

00:21:22.630 --> 00:21:25.710
Nathaniel on Single Drunk Female in 2022. But

00:21:25.710 --> 00:21:27.910
then he'll also bring that specific energy back

00:21:27.910 --> 00:21:30.829
to pure comedy, like playing the sports demon

00:21:30.829 --> 00:21:33.190
on What We Do in the Shadows or Jeremy Lefkowitz

00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:36.349
on Ghosts just this year. It's just a wild trajectory

00:21:36.349 --> 00:21:40.049
from like drumming in a demonic pig mask in Chicago.

00:21:40.069 --> 00:21:42.930
Right. To writing jokes for Conan, to getting

00:21:42.930 --> 00:21:45.750
jammed by Leslie Knope and now playing CIA guys

00:21:45.750 --> 00:21:48.849
in serious dramas. It really is unique, which

00:21:48.849 --> 00:21:50.720
leads us to that. final thought? The thing for

00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:53.279
you, the listener, to chew on. Considering Glazer's

00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:56.019
deep, deep roots in that really conceptual, almost

00:21:56.019 --> 00:21:58.539
performance art comedy, weird Second City stuff,

00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:01.200
the one song Billy Joel band. How does he pull

00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.180
it off? How does he switch so effectively to

00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:05.880
playing these convincing, straight faced, serious

00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:08.519
characters or mainstream villains? Is it maybe

00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:10.200
because the best comedians aren't just funny

00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:12.680
people? Is it that they're actually incredibly

00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:15.640
skilled, dramatic actors at their core because

00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:18.079
they fundamentally understand what it takes that

00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.200
absolute unwavering. conviction to inhabit any

00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:22.960
persona and make you believe it whether that

00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:25.980
persona is a drumming demonic pig or a ruthless

00:22:25.980 --> 00:22:26.940
city councilman