Rob Corddry | From “Old School” to AMC’s “The Audacity” | Normal From Across the Street

00:00 Rob Corddry joins Story & Craft

00:00 Rob Corddry: Looking back, it's great, but, but at the time we were just trying to make jokes and I was just, I was sort of the poop joke guy. Out of all, if I'm being honest.

00:13 Announcer: Welcome to Story Craft. Now, here's your host, Marc Preston.

00:17 Marc Preston: All right, welcome back my friend. Uh, good to have you. Glad that you have joined me once again for some more conversational mischief.

00:25 Marc Preston: Uh, and if this is your very first episode, the first time you're joining Story and Craft, I am Marc. And, uh, thank you so much for checking in. Today, great chat. Uh, really enjoyed sitting down with our guest, the very talented actor, Rob Corddry. Uh, he's got a new show called The Audacity. It is on a MC and a c plus.

00:43 Marc Preston: It's out right now. You could check him out there, but you know, Rob from some of his greatest hits, like being one of the original cast members on The Daily Show with John Stewart back when John did it five days a week. Children's Hospital Ballers, top Gear America, of course, on the big screen. Old school, the Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller.

01:02 Marc Preston: Hot tub time machine. Uh, like a couple of my favorites, we even discuss it. Cedar Rapids, just a great film with Ed Helms. Uh, also the way, way back with Steve Carrell. Uh, just really enjoyed the conversation with him. He's, uh, just, we just had a lot of fun and one of those guys I would love to sit down and have a beer with.

01:21 Marc Preston: Uh, you know, I enjoy speaking with everybody, have a great time with every guest, but sometimes there, there are those guests that I'm like, you know, I think, I think we're the same tribe, uh, fellow Gen X kid. We like a lot of the same shows and film and, uh, just a cool dude. I mean, you gotta work to not like Rob Corddry, just a, as my people say.

01:41 Marc Preston: A mensch. Uh, of course, if you would do me a favor, make sure to follow story and craft, uh, whatever podcast app you use, as well as, uh, leave a like, uh, ring a bell, do all that kind of other jazz. It, it really does help folks to find story and craft and doggone, and I appreciate it. Uh, also story and craft pod.com, everything you could possibly want to know about the show.

02:05 Marc Preston: It's all right there, past guests and everything. Uh, do me a favor, if you would. Also, we are really enjoying being on substack and all you need to do is go to story and craft.substack.com. Alright, so, uh, let's get after it. Man, this is a great chat. I had so much fun. I know you'll enjoy it, uh, because today.

02:24 Marc Preston: Is Rob Corddry Day right here on Story and Craft. So, uh, how things, uh, where, where are you right now? Are you on the, on the left coast?

02:34 Rob Corddry: Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm in, uh, silver Lake.

02:37 Marc Preston: Is that a chalkboard behind you? Is that, or is that just

02:40 Rob Corddry: Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. A chalkboard. It was a grand idea I had about, you know, mapping out all of my ideas, uh, behind me in my office on this chalkboard wall.

02:51 Rob Corddry: And, uh. That never happened.

02:54 Marc Preston: Well, that's, that's better than post-it notes. And uh,

02:56 Rob Corddry: yeah. It's just not the way I work. And I tried it and I was like, Ugh, I hate chalk.

03:01 Marc Preston: Yeah. You know, you know what? I was a kid. One of my favorite things to do, I thought I was a real cool guy. Uh, in sixth grade I was a kid that could go, uh, clean the erasers.

03:09 Marc Preston: I dunno if you remember, but the teacher would do the erasers and they had all that powder and dust and stuff on 'em.

03:13 Rob Corddry: Oh. It was an honor. Yeah. That

03:15 Marc Preston: you got trusted to go down and handle heavy equipment? Yeah, that and uh, that, and we had the thing in the classroom, the big guillotine paper cutter thing, you know?

03:22 Marc Preston: Yes, we did. Could easily remove the digit. So

03:24 Rob Corddry: we also had the mimeo. The mimeograph, like the, uh, well, we could run off. Yes. Run off copies.

03:31 Marc Preston: Did you, did you smell it also? Did you, did you like, oh,

03:34 Rob Corddry: I can smell it right now.

03:36 Marc Preston: My daughter's over here, like my 23 year old's. Like, what, what is he talking about? This is, uh, so, uh, but you're, you're originally, you're an East coast kid, right?

03:39 East Coast to LA Move

03:44 Marc Preston: You're like a Massachusetts,

03:45 Rob Corddry: that's right. Yeah. Boston, uh, suburbs, Weymouth, Massachusetts.

03:51 Marc Preston: When did you finally make the move out to, out to la?

03:55 Rob Corddry: Um, you know, it was after the daily show, so it was about 20 something, 20 years ago in change. Um, it was after the daily show. I had gotten a show, uh. Uh, Seth McFarland's first live action show.

04:05 Seth MacFarlane The Winner

04:11 Rob Corddry: It was called The Winner, which is a, in retrospect, a terrible thing to name a TV show. 'cause it just gives reviewers fodder.

04:20 Marc Preston: Yeah, this gives 'em too cool. Too cute. They could be too cute with the title

04:23 Rob Corddry: of Yeah. They're like, well, I gotta automatically hate this because it's too good. It's too easy to the joke.

04:29 Rob Corddry: But, um, yeah, it was, uh, and it was killed within. It was a, a rude awakening to the, to the ways of Real Hollywood after being, having been sheltered in the Offices of the Daily Show for so long. You know.

04:45 Marc Preston: Well, wait a minute. So this was your very first, that was your first project after the Daily Show, was the, uh, was the winner because I don't even rem I, I this, sorry.

04:52 Marc Preston: Yeah, I don't even remember. I'm sitting, I didn't know Seth McFarland had anything before. Uh, the space thing. He did, uh,

04:58 Rob Corddry: there was, there's no reason you should remember it. It's, uh, it, it ran for six episodes and then. I think it was about, uh, you know, I was, I played a reckless who, who befriended a 14-year-old boy.

05:12 Rob Corddry: And, you know, we were just best friends, uh, because I was sort of naive and it was very, very funny. It was written by Ricky Blitz. Um, I think Fox got a little scared when they, when they saw it and, and they were like, did we just greenlight a show about a pedophile

05:34 Marc Preston: and Fox? A greenlight? Just about anything really about

05:36 Rob Corddry: that.

05:37 Rob Corddry: Yeah. Yeah. Pedophilia, I guess is their line.

05:40 Ben Stiller Family Scene

05:40 Marc Preston: I don't like to do the resume thing with folks, but you're in some of my favorite stuff and one of the, one of my favorite shows or films, uh, it, it's, um, it's Jim Rash, the, the way, way back, uh, Jim Rash. I, I'm,

05:53 Rob Corddry: oh yeah.

05:53 Marc Preston: Drawing a blank on, uh, the, the writing partner.

05:55 Marc Preston: They did the, the diss descendants also, not Faxon, who I've got a comedy crush on him. He, it's like, that was such a, I, I just, my kids, uh, loved, you know, the way, way back. Lily. Yeah, she's nodding her head. She nodding

06:07 Rob Corddry: your head. Thanks Lily.

06:08 Marc Preston: So thanks for the support. You've been in some stuff that, you know, I just got asked questions about and I've noticed some kind of, I've noticed that you kinda landed a lot of projects with a lot of the same folks, but one question I've always wanted to ask, I don't know how many people can say they acted with Ben Stiller and his father together in a scene.

06:25 Marc Preston: I don't know how many people have that, uh, that honor. And I want to kind of go back to the, the Heartbreak kid, and what was, what was the vibe in that room like? I, this is just me as a fan boy, I, I just gotta know.

06:34 Rob Corddry: I, I, I, uh, you know, it's one of those things that, that you don't appreciate it, uh, you don't appreciate, quite appreciate it as much until you know you're asked about it in an interview.

06:48 Rob Corddry: Um. Today. You know, it's, it's, I, I guess I had never really even thought of it, but yeah, that was, um, that was quite something. Yeah. That, that's, that's a, that is, I will tell you, uh, speaking now, uh, from, from the present day, uh, that, that's quite it, it's quite an honor. Yeah. And, and, and kind of odd and, um.

07:15 Rob Corddry: You know, it's, um, something I, I, I wish I could afford to appreciate more in the moment, but in the moment I'm just trying to do the scene and

07:27 Marc Preston: yeah.

07:27 Rob Corddry: Treat it like these people are normal.

07:30 Marc Preston: Yeah. Like, well, it's funny you say that because you, you have this wonderful ability to, in the most beautiful way possible, celebrate the ridiculousness, the absurdity, and really swim in it, you know?

07:41 Marc Preston: But I was talking to Tom Harp about the donor party, which it's funny because when, when I watched that, I was going, everybody around you. Was kind of a little on the ridiculous side, but you are the levelheaded one in the bunch. Well, it's my

07:55 Rob Corddry: birthday. It was my birthday. Everybody was ruining it. That's

07:58 Marc Preston: right.

07:58 Marc Preston: Yeah. But yeah, I, I'm sorry. I never really do that with folks, but you, you hit on like all eight cylinders and some of my, some of the most, please.

08:06 Rob Corddry: I love it. I love it. I, I think you and I have the same taste too. I, I listened to your episode with, um, Thomas Jane and, um, I'm a big thank expand fan as well.

08:16 Marc Preston: I talked with show Ray Alu, uh, you know Chrissy.

08:20 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm. You know. Sure. You know what was sad about that? I watched, I didn't realize I was watching the last season 'cause I watched it kind of after the fact and I end up in the last episode like, alright, next season, you know, streaming. I'm like, wait, that was it. Uhhuh the distance. CNLI.

08:34 Rob Corddry: I watched it pretty much when it came out, but I watched, but it only was four seasons.

08:40 Rob Corddry: I believe. And then, and then I, then I missed the next two. I stopped watching it and I was like, that's the end. And, and, but then they made two more seasons, like two years later. Uh, so I went back recently and re-watched the entire thing. And I even have the comic book, uh, sitting over there that, that continues 10 years after the show.

09:04 Rob Corddry: Yeah.

09:05 Marc Preston: Yeah. That I just, I really just en I enjoyed that my son and I were really into it. And, uh, we, and the other one we watched is, uh, the, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, oh the Apple show, the um. You know, whenever try to remember something, my brain just goes, no, no, no, you're not gonna do that. Totally. But the one that kinda has the same tone, it's um, I'll remember it in a second.

09:24 Marc Preston: I don't wanna waste your time.

09:25 Rob Corddry: Um, well, you know, is it a space show?

09:27 Marc Preston: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's about, it's

09:29 Rob Corddry: a space show I'm in for all mankind.

09:31 Marc Preston: No, no, no. Uh, that, that's a good, actually, I'm gonna talk, it's funny, I'm gonna be talking with, um, uh, Joel, uh, Kinnaman here shortly, and I'm Oh,

09:39 I

09:39 Rob Corddry: love that guy. God, I Please tell him I'm, I'm a big fan.

09:43 Marc Preston: Yeah. I, you know, I was just talking to my daughter. I loved, uh, I was a big fan of the, uh, uh, of Hannah, the kind of the reboot of the film and, you know, that was, that was fun. But, uh, but I was gonna ask you, it's rare you get to play a badass, but I, another one of those films that I just love, that just kind of lands for me is Cedar Rapids.

09:51 Cedar Rapids and Dark Horses

09:59 Marc Preston: I just enjoyed that. I thought Ed Helms was so good in that, but you got to play kind of a fun, gnarly kind of a, a, a, a guy in that did. Was it fun beating up on Ed Helms? I mean, you know, after working with him on the Daily Show

10:11 Rob Corddry: Yes. After, uh, spending. You know, five years in a, in an office, sharing an office with him and listening to him play the banjo and, and, uh, you know, sing pretty much constantly.

10:27 Rob Corddry: Uh, yeah, it was a, it was a, I guess I, I didn't realize I wanted to do that so, so much Ed was, uh, was, I'm kidding. Of course, ed, ed Ed is great. And he, he was great in that movie. And, uh, it's funny, you're, you, I'm glad you seem to like the, um, dark horses. A lot of the dark horses.

10:48 Marc Preston: Yeah. Oh, ab absolutely. Yeah. I, I mean like, I love how Steve Carrell.

10:53 Marc Preston: You got to really see him be a, a, a real big asshole in, in the way, way back, you know, you saw him. Yeah. You know, and also that's the second film I can think of. You, you have a habit of having wives and films that are not terribly faithful to you. Uh, you know, I was like, does that, and, uh, and in a world, you know, that, uh, sure was like, you, that's another thing I noticed you, your relationships in films are kind of a fun, or like a, i I find like little nuggets I really enjoy of everything you've done.

11:18 Marc Preston: And even being a father in, uh, in hot tub time machine, I mean, now that was its own kind of, you know,

11:24 Rob Corddry: a father. I know. It's the, it's, it's the best. I, I, I, I'm so, uh, I love that movie, those movies so much. And, um, I was so, I feel so, uh, lucky. Like if I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I would've missed all that.

11:42 Rob Corddry: And then I'm just so lucky to have done it.

11:45 Daily Show Era Origins

11:45 Marc Preston: Going back to kind of quasi origin story. What, 'cause the class, we'll call it a class on the daily show of the guys you were working with Steve and, you know, and Ed. And that was a special, you know, all y'all really kind of went off into your own thing and really have had reMarcably just, I think awesome, uh, kind of a collage of all different kind of roles and stuff like that.

12:05 Marc Preston: I mean, what, was there something in the water was, uh, did, did John Stewart create some kind of super drug for y'all? What, what was going on back then?

12:12 Rob Corddry: I, I don't really know. I mean, well, the war was very good to us. Oh, yeah. Um, and, uh, and, and George w was, uh, the ge the gift that kept giving.

12:25 Announcer: Mm-hmm.

12:25 Rob Corddry: And, um, and his whole, his whole cadre of, of, of evil doers was, uh, always fun.

12:34 Rob Corddry: So, so, so they did have a lot to do with it, but, but John really, he's, he was steering the ship. And, uh, I think it was, I, I don't really know. I mean, it was the only time I, I've, I've been, uh, lucky that, lucky like that in some, in, in the way that something. Hits the zeitgeist and um, you know, becomes cultural, becomes a cultural fascination.

13:06 Rob Corddry: And, and to be part of that is insane. And it's actually kind of uncomfortable at the time. Looking back, it's great, but, but at the time we were just trying to make jokes and I was just, I was sort of the poop joke guy out of all of them, if I'm being honest.

13:25 Marc Preston: Yeah. On your resume, do, do you know daily show from this day?

13:27 Marc Preston: Disney poop joke guy in italic poop Joke

13:29 Rob Corddry: guy. Yeah.

13:31 Marc Preston: Um,

13:31 Rob Corddry: but um,

13:31 Marc Preston: but yeah, like Colbert kinda ran with that, you know, he al he kind of stayed on that, not political, but, so, you know, I think, well that's what comedy does. It kind of makes a lot of heavy more. Palatable. Um,

13:42 Rob Corddry: yeah, a lot of them did. I mean, it's like me, uh, Corll and Ed Helms, I guess are we, we, we, we went a different way, but everybody else from the Daily Show seems to have, um, they, Stephen Colbert explained it to me once, it was after he did.

14:04 Rob Corddry: Um, I like the movie, I dream of Jeanie or something. Um, and he, I said, how was, how was it? And he said it was the worst. He goes, I don't, I don't like all that. I like, I like reading the news in the morning, shoving it through a joke pipe during the day, and then. Than saying it and saying the joke at night, you know?

14:32 Rob Corddry: And, and that's when I realized how different we were, you know? Yeah. I mean, I always think of him as sort of a mentor in a lot of ways, but like that, that was never my intent. Never, never my goals. I I never wanted to like be that guy. I guess

14:50 Marc Preston: I, do you think he just found himself drifting into a different season of his, of his career and just kinda like, well, and that kind of really resonated with him.

14:57 Marc Preston: I assume, you know, we're,

15:00 Rob Corddry: I don't know. You, you find, you find something, you know, you, you're, you're, you, you might even just be like getting blown by the wind from project to project, you know, and like, and, and thing to thing. And then you find yourself in something that you belong in. Mm. That is really, uh, that speaks to you and that it uses your talents, your best talents to the, to the, to great effect.

15:25 Rob Corddry: And I think that was Stephen, you know?

15:28 Marc Preston: Yeah.

15:28 Rob Corddry: And I think that was,

15:29 Marc Preston: I

15:29 Rob Corddry: mean, obvious

15:29 Marc Preston: work. I mean, you know, he got, you know, being canceled by the president. I mean, essentially, you know, you know your job, you've been doing your job, right. If, if the, uh,

15:37 Rob Corddry: yeah.

15:38 Marc Preston: But

15:38 Rob Corddry: yeah,

15:39 Marc Preston: that, um, excuse me, I'm, I'm allergic to my kids.

15:43 Marc Preston: I apologize. Um,

15:45 Rob Corddry: oh yeah.

15:45 Marc Preston: So

15:46 Rob Corddry: I'm allergic to your kids too.

15:49 Marc Preston: Yeah, the, uh, the thing I just, I, I loved is, is it made people think about, maybe, I don't wanna say news, but kind of framing like, what's going on in the world and you can laugh about, and I think that's kind of, you go back in time, that's kinda the way it's always been in a way, which I think is, is cool.

16:04 Marc Preston: But Yeah. But that's a lot of homework for you. I can't even imagine what the production schedule was like for you on the Daily Show to, to conceive, you know, they always talk about the, the Saturday Night Live, about what their production schedule's like. But the Daily Show, I'm like, how long did you have from concept to air date on a

16:06 Daily Show Grind Today

16:21 Rob Corddry: Oh, the morning, to morning to evening.

16:24 Rob Corddry: Um,

16:24 Marc Preston: really? Yeah.

16:25 Rob Corddry: There was never any plan. And, and, you know, and sometimes. Let's say, um, I don't know. Dick Cheney shoots one of his friends in the face while, uh, while hunting. Then everything changes and a red phone rings and you, you, you, you swing down your bat pole and, and get into your suit and head down to the, to the daily show cave where, where everybody is just on this one thing.

16:52 Rob Corddry: Um, so it is a lot like a newsroom in that regard. You know, it's, it's, uh, it's, it's daily, truly daily in that it's, uh, I think they may have ideas of what's gonna happen, um, from, from show to show or like segments, but mostly the, the headlines are just from that day.

17:14 Marc Preston: If you were doing it right now, given where we are politically, socially, would your head explode with just too many ideas?

17:21 Marc Preston: I mean, you know, I don't even know because it's almost like I was watching, uh, pat, pat Oswald, see, everybody says, oh yeah, comedians, he must love it when Trump's president. He is like, no, it's just this, this, he did this. I'm not gonna even go into the bit. But basically it's like, no, we don't like it.

17:35 Marc Preston: There's simply just too much. It's just imagine doing that now. You know?

17:39 Rob Corddry: It's not, it's not fun. That would not be fun. George W. Bush was fun.

17:44 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

17:45 Rob Corddry: Um, but, uh, but no, Trump is like, uh, it's, it's, it's, uh, he's, he's, it's, it's almost satire him. He, he's almost, he's practically doing satire and without knowing it.

17:59 Rob Corddry: And then, then what makes it sad is the, the people that, that just think this is real. And, you know, think he's, he's the real deal. And I don't know. I, I, I, I don't know if I'd be able to do it.

18:13 Marc Preston: You know, who's doing a great job at the Daily Show is, um, God, his name starts with a k uh, uh, tall guy. Uh, I'm trying to think of his name.

18:20 Marc Preston: Uh, he, the one that does the packages, kind of the, he more kind of explores like going in and talking to the, you know,

18:26 Rob Corddry: he's the man on the street guy. I know who you're talking about.

18:28 Marc Preston: Um, it's, it's like, it's what a great thing. Just explain to me why you think the way you do and to not make passing any judgment.

18:34 Marc Preston: Just it's, uh, it's, it's tough times for thinking people. I think, you know, um,

18:39 Rob Corddry: that is a good take on, on what's happening today to just, just let them have their thing and just react to it, you know?

18:47 Playing Ari Fleischer

18:47 Marc Preston: Well, didn't you, you play, didn't you play Ari Fleischer and w Uh, I did. Yeah. So what was that like to kind of flip on the other side of the Bush experience to, was that, did you, were you already primed for it or did you have to kind of watch a lot of old video of, uh, Fleischer doing press conferences and stuff?

19:04 Rob Corddry: No, I mean, I did, uh, watch some, but I, I was pretty much, uh, you know, and attuned to that whole, uh, that whole thing and, and I knew, uh, of that man very well. And, you know, I made, I made the mistake of actually getting in touch with him. I, I was the only, oh really? I was the only one out of the cast who, who actually asked, you know, got to ask questions of the person they were playing.

19:34 Rob Corddry: And I don't know why I did it. I think I did it at the time because I was younger and, and thought this is maybe what you do. Maybe I, I'll discover something here that. That is valuable. And I discovered nothing. He was, um, he was a press secretary, which is the hardest kind of person to talk to. Um, so

19:59 Marc Preston: yes.

19:59 Marc Preston: Well, unless you are the, was it Caroline Levitt or whatever, it's just you look at him and go, there's, you're not trying to even find the shadings. You're not even trying to frame it. You're just like, you know, dear leader, he wants this, you know?

20:11 Rob Corddry: Yeah.

20:11 Marc Preston: Um, like when you, uh, you, you know, growing up in, how far from Boston were you?

20:16 Marc Preston: Pardon? My, I'm a, I'm a Texas kid, so pardon my geographical ignorance, but how far from Boston did you grow up?

20:21 Rob Corddry: Um, yeah, I mean, depending on traffic. Oh yeah. I would say as a, uh, pretty, pretty close. Like we could see from a point in my town, a high point in my town, you could see the skyline. So it was, uh, and it was fairly close, so I would say about 15 minutes.

20:38 Marc Preston: Oh, okay. So you're, you're, you're in the metro. Okay. So you're there. Yeah. So what was was was the, was coming up, were you, you know, I know you did, you had some classical training and stuff, but was were you like, okay, I'm gonna set up shop, this is gonna be my home base, or was an aspiration to go, no, I wanna be in film, or I want to do stage in New York, or what, what was the aspiration as a, as a young,

20:41 Shakespeare Dreams New York

21:00 Rob Corddry: yeah.

21:00 Rob Corddry: Well, actually, uh, in college as a theater major, I got really, really into Shakespeare. I was a double major in English and theater, and I focused my English major on drama. Um, so I got pretty deep into that and, and. And that's, I, I graduated, um, fancying myself as a Shakespearean actor.

21:28 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

21:29 Rob Corddry: Um, whether I was any good at it or not, I have no idea, but I

21:33 Marc Preston: What was it that, uh, kind of got grabbed you?

21:35 Marc Preston: Was it, was it just the, the, uh, rhythm of the, of the, of the verbiage? You know, what, what, yeah. Or was it the story or what was it that grabbed you?

21:43 Rob Corddry: I mean, I, Ambi pentameter is a lot easier to act than people think, you know? Yeah. Um, he's telling you what to emphasize. Um, but it, it, these, um, these are, these stories are, um, indelible because for a re, you know, for a reason.

22:04 Rob Corddry: He's, he's, they're still, to this day, I like reading. Hamlet, they're so dense. You know, that I find new things, um, when I, when I read it, and I always read it out loud, uh, to my wife's delight or chagrin.

22:21 Amelia: Mm-hmm.

22:22 Rob Corddry: And, um, I, I'm just still and will always be enamored with it. I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to do it again.

22:31 Rob Corddry: Um, but, uh, I was, I thought, yeah, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna go to New York and I'm gonna just, I'm gonna be a Shakespearean actor.

22:43 Marc Preston: Oh, by the way, I was gonna ask Amelia, by any chance, are you on mute right now or are you

22:47 Rob Corddry: No,

22:47 Marc Preston: I'm hearing, I'm hearing, uh oh. Amelia, I didn't know. She's in the, she's, uh, producer position.

22:52 Rob Corddry: Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.

22:54 Marc Preston: I'm hearing, so, oh my

22:54 Amelia: gosh, I don't think I'm on mute. I'm sorry. Let me turn this off. Oh, okay. Sorry.

23:01 Rob Corddry: Please don't cut that. Please don't cut this. Hi Amelia. Don, don't cut this from

23:05 the podcast. I'm getting, I'm typing. Sorry,

23:10 Rob Corddry: Marc. She does this on purpose because you know she wants to get in the spotlight.

23:14 Just interview me, I'm ready to go. Thanks.

23:17 Marc Preston: We will. I want to talk about Katz's Deli and everything. You're in New York, you know, I'm a Jewish kid who doesn't have a good access to good deli, you know? Um, oh

23:24 Rob Corddry: yeah. That's

23:25 Marc Preston: send

23:25 Rob Corddry: a salami to your boy in the army.

23:27 Marc Preston: Exactly.

23:35 Marc Preston: So you, you, did you get to New York with a gig already or did you land starting to work in restaurants and trying to do Shakespeare? What was the path for you?

23:43 Rob Corddry: Yeah, that's right. I, I had about, um, I landed in New York with, with nothing but, uh, a plan to work and, and, and I really. If I had one thing going for me, it was, it was my, my, my focus, my rigorous, um, desire, my focus to, to, to get this done.

24:06 Rob Corddry: And I was going to, I had no backup plan because I always believed that a backup plan is you're gonna fall upon it if you have one eventually. And, um, this is, I'm gonna have to do this, so let's get it done and figure out what I'm not good at and get better at it. Um,

24:27 Marc Preston: how, how old were you when you made your way there?

24:30 Rob Corddry: Uh, boy. Right. I mean, I guess I was probably 21, 22. Oh, okay. 22. Yeah, it was right after graduation.

24:37 Parents Support and Naivete

24:37 Marc Preston: What did your, what kind of work were your folks in?

24:40 Rob Corddry: My, um, mother was a well frustrated housewife, I guess. Uh, it wa because, you know, she, she always sort of wanted to work. She was a nurse, trained nurse, and then when she started having kids, uh, kind of, um, you know, let that fall away and I think kind of didn't know what to do with her hands for a lot of years.

25:08 Rob Corddry: Um, my dad is a, was a civil engineer and he worked for like one company in Boston for God, it might have been 40 some odd years. Mm-hmm. Um, and he, you know, like he worked at the airport, he worked at the Bridges, um, and yeah, that was his thing. So, but they were both, I think at their heart, in their hearts.

25:38 Rob Corddry: Um, actors or performers at least, you know,

25:45 Marc Preston: it's ringing a bell. Didn't Bill Burr's dad also, when he's from Boston, didn't he do kind some kind of civil

25:50 Rob Corddry: Probably. I mean, it's, it's a, there's a lot of, um, lot of blue collar or blue collar to, you know, white collar in the blue collar world. Uh, jobs in, in Boston.

26:02 Rob Corddry: It's a very blue collar town. And so yeah, probably he was, uh, that or a pipe fitter.

26:07 Marc Preston: So what were the, what were the folks thinking? You're like, all right, you know, he, he's gonna head off to New York, or were they kind of behind you? Were they like, well, I guess,

26:13 Rob Corddry: yeah,

26:14 Marc Preston: go for it.

26:14 Rob Corddry: My dad, my dad was funny. He, um, always, every time I had an aspiration, he would support it.

26:23 Rob Corddry: They was, they were always supportive, both of them. But he would always try and sort of twist it in a way that I'm more apt to make some money. Like when I wanted to be a writer when I was younger, he was like, you know what, you could be as a technical writer, you could, uh, you could write, you could write dictionaries and instruction manuals

26:47 Marc Preston: because that was what he was familiar with.

26:49 Marc Preston: Who he was trying to figure out a way to apply your, your, your aspirations to something he understood, you know?

26:54 Rob Corddry: Yes. And also to make sure that his child, you know, was, was, would, could take care of himself. Um, and with a, I I wanted to be an artist and he said, oh, you could be a commercial artist. You know, everything was like that.

27:09 Rob Corddry: But when I said I wanted to be an actor, this was about, um, sophomore year probably, um. I started toying with it in college. Uh, my parents were both, you know, surprisingly supportive. Mm-hmm. Because I think neither of us had any idea how difficult it actually is. We, it's almost like growing up in this blue collar town, we didn't even believe in that.

27:40 Rob Corddry: There were people who did that job.

27:43 Amelia: Mm-hmm.

27:43 Rob Corddry: You know, they, they never had any, um, examples, uh, that I could point at and say that person made it as an actor. You know, I, it was, it was just kind of a mystery to me. People don't do that, right.

27:57 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

27:57 Rob Corddry: Uh, well, I mean, I guess somebody does and it's, it's, it's confusing.

28:01 Marc Preston: Well, don't we kind of need that naivete when we're young to be able to jump into something, which is, you know, if you know then what you know now, you may be less inclined to wanna do it because you know, it's, you know, potentially in front of you.

28:13 Rob Corddry: Yeah, exactly. I mean, I, uh. You know, for instance, my youngest daughter is a musician.

28:19 Rob Corddry: She's a, a brilliant guitarist. And, uh, we always thought, I always thought like, ah, boy, this is a rock and roll, huh? Here we go. Here

28:30 Marc Preston: we go. So, so she's, so she's not doing like classic because she's doing like she's wanting to do,

28:33 Rob Corddry: she does everything.

28:35 Marc Preston: How do your daughters

28:36 Rob Corddry: 17 and 19.

28:38 Marc Preston: Oh, okay.

28:38 Rob Corddry: Yeah.

28:39 Kids and Clown Makeup

28:39 Marc Preston: Well, I gotta ask though, when growing up, were you ever, like, were you hyper selective on what things that, that you'd shown him that dad does?

28:46 Marc Preston: Or were you like, all right, you're gonna see it eventually, you know, some things that would be a little bit more better digested later in years? You know,

28:53 Rob Corddry: I mean, you know, growing up in LA it's easier for these kids to sort of digest it because there's a lot of performers around, a lot of writers around, and, you know, half of the kids' school, half their dads were actors and writers.

29:09 Rob Corddry: Um, so, but it was, there was one day when, um. I thought season of chil, a new season of Children's Hospital was being released. And my face, my clown face was all over buses in Los Angeles. And, uh, my youngest daughter was probably like six at the time, was driving with my wife and, and there a bus pulled up next to them and she just kind of like bored, said, uh, mommy, there's the clown again.

29:47 Marc Preston: Well, did she know it was you or did she

29:49 Rob Corddry: Yep.

29:49 Marc Preston: Oh, she did. Okay. Okay.

29:50 Rob Corddry: Yep.

29:51 Marc Preston: What was it like being on that show and being the only one who is wearing clown makeup? I know you've probably been asked that question a bunch, but it's like when you show up, everybody else goes to the makeup trailer, they're just getting polished up and you're going in there to you, you're going, you're going

30:03 Rob Corddry: for, I know.

30:04 Rob Corddry: I'm usually in and out of the hair makeup trailer like five, 10 minutes and

30:08 Marc Preston: Yeah.

30:09 Rob Corddry: Um, yeah, that was. Something, you know, I never cast myself as, as that in that role. Uh, I wrote it and, um, one, one of my partners said, um, oh, you're gonna play the clown, right? And I was like, uh, sure. Not knowing what I was getting myself into.

30:32 Rob Corddry: And it was, um, a real, it was a pain in the ass. I mean, to, to, to, it was, uh, the makeup was, the makeup was heavy. It was like grease paint. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, if you, with paint on your eyelids, it makes you feel sleepy because it just drags your eyes down. Um, and that. That was horrible. And, uh, it was, luckily, I really, um, loved, uh, my makeup artist, uh, who designed the makeup with me.

31:09 Rob Corddry: She's, she was wonderful, and I got to hang out with her for a little.

31:13 Marc Preston: Yeah, I just, I just liked the fact that you always wore scrubs, just utterly covered in blood, but no real explanation as to why, you know. Yeah, just,

31:20 Rob Corddry: yeah, yeah. I know, right? Like, he never got to the LEAs after that surgery season one.

31:26 Top Gear America Cars

31:26 Marc Preston: Uh, you know, kind of going forward, I've never watched it, but I know, I know what the, uh, the top gear show is.

31:33 Marc Preston: All it's, it's guys in the cars. How did you land on doing that? Are you a car guy? Are you a

31:39 Rob Corddry: Yeah, yeah, I am. And I, you know, I, I've heard over the years about these guys that would just like these actors who would get cars sent to them for a weekend just to try out, and I wanted that, that's what I was going for.

31:56 Rob Corddry: I just wanted to be one of those guys. And, uh, so I would drop it in the media that I was a big car guy here and there. Um,

32:06 Marc Preston: but so, so you had your fishing pole out, you're, you're baiting it, you're like, I just let people know. I was just,

32:10 Rob Corddry: yeah, I was just baiting the, the, the car companies really through, uh, people like you.

32:15 Rob Corddry: I would plant it and uh, and then the top gear. You know, took the bait and

32:21 Marc Preston: Yeah, I know Dax Shepherd's a Motorhead. You know, he, that's Uhhuh, yeah. That's his jam. But is your thing, is your thing kind of what's new and cool or are you a class more of a classic or, you know, muscle car kind of a guy?

32:34 Rob Corddry: I don't have a, uh, see that's the thing that think, that's why they cast me to begin with.

32:38 Rob Corddry: Because, you know, the other two guys were real gearheads. Like Dax Know was is from Detroit. He knows everything about cars. And Jethro was from England and he was like the supercar, um, expert who wrote for magazines and, and I was basically the every man. You know, uh, I was the, I was the viewer essentially.

33:06 Rob Corddry: Um, and that was the viewer's standin. And, and they could relate to that, me and

33:11 Marc Preston: that. Oh, that what a great, what a great idea. What a, what a great idea. 'cause I think everybody can live vicariously through you, as you know. Hey, I'm gonna make you jealous real quick. I'm gonna make, just see, my dad ran car dealerships when I was growing up and he ran.

33:21 Marc Preston: Primarily Ford and Lincoln Mercury,

33:23 Rob Corddry: Uhhuh. And

33:23 Marc Preston: uh, you know, I didn't have a car when I first got my license, but every weekend I was allowed to take a car home off the lot Oh wow. To drive, to go do so. And they were the exclusive dealer in Dallas for, uh, the, you know, they had a Ford Mustang that gets modified by a guy named Steve Celine, the Celine Mustang.

33:42 Marc Preston: Oh, wow. And so there's no reason a 16-year-old needs to be driving that car around on a Friday night, just none. And um, that's

33:48 Rob Corddry: a terrible idea.

33:49 Marc Preston: You know, the old Bronco, which I wish they would bring back the original, you know, the OJ Bronco, you know, and so yeah, I went on have these like circa 1990, you know, 'cause we're both Gen X kids, you know, we both had, you know, we had a good selection of some fun cars growing up.

34:03 Marc Preston: Um, but

34:04 First Car Gen X Nostalgia

34:04 Rob Corddry: Sure.

34:04 Marc Preston: But what was your first car?

34:07 Rob Corddry: Oh my God. My, my first car. It was one of the worst cars ever, and I loved it more than anything. I love to drive, I love cars. And it was a um, uh, 1975 Ford Pinto wagon, um, with rusted out floorboards and just a couple years left in the tank and it was.

34:32 Marc Preston: Did you play Queen on the stereo?

34:34 Marc Preston: 'cause I hear that's what you gotta do with that car, you know?

34:37 Rob Corddry: Well, I, oh, I do remember I ruining the Beastie Boys, uh, Paul's boutique, I believe. Uh, I, I, I actually, the tape just wore down. I had a tape deck in there and I had to, I threw it out the window and had to go buy another one. Um,

34:55 Marc Preston: but yeah. Well, did you ever have the thing where you took the tape out of the tape deck and there's still tape stuck in there and you're like deciding whether or not you wanna sacrifice it to the, to the music gods?

35:03 Marc Preston: Oh. Or if you wanted to surgically do it. Yeah,

35:06 Rob Corddry: yeah. No, and I would surgically do it. I would like, uh, you know, you just get the pencil in the, in the sprocket and you try and wind it back up, but it never really sounds the same again.

35:18 Marc Preston: Yeah. Going back to Pat Oswald, he has this bit, he, he did DJing it for weddings and they were still the last DJ.

35:25 Marc Preston: Business that still use cassette tapes and they're all worn out and warped and, or not warped, but they had that wor sound that they get, you know? But what, by the way, going back, uh, speaking of Gen X, I always gotta ask when I'm fortunate to have somebody of my tribe.

35:33 Brat Pack Inspirations

35:38 Rob Corddry: Yeah.

35:39 Marc Preston: Musically movies. What was sparking your imagination and just kind of firing up, you know, is this making you, that maybe sort of like, was sort of that fuel that pushed you later on decide, yeah, I wanna do this film thing and all that?

35:53 Rob Corddry: Oh boy. Um, I mean, you know, I, I'm an easy audience. Uh, I pretty much like anything, uh, with images that move and jokes come out of, so I was, um, as a kid I pretty much liked everything. I really loved the the brat pack. Movies, you know, all of those from, I mean, just, I mean, I can't even begin to list them all, but, uh, I tho those are probably the first, the first comedies I would like because, you know,

36:30 Cusack and Chevy Stories

36:30 Marc Preston: because Phoebe Kate was in there and like, you know, that sure was.

36:33 Marc Preston: Well then again, you know, Cusack being just kind of the guy that was almost like a a, he was on the, he, he was on the Mount Rushmore. What it was like when connecting on the hot tub time machine. It was of course, you know, as a Gen X kid, you go, I know you, you know,

36:47 Rob Corddry: it's wild. It's, it's pretty wild. Yeah.

36:49 Rob Corddry: It's like you, you, you're trying not to appreciate it the way you're appreciating it in the moment and just, just be normal. Um, because this guy is like, and

37:01 Marc Preston: remember your lines. Yeah.

37:03 Rob Corddry: You, you've seen absolutely everything he's done. Um, and are a fan. Uh, so yeah, that was, that was a, a treat. And then, you know, working with Chevy Chase on that movie as well was

37:18 Marc Preston: Oh yeah, that's right.

37:19 Rob Corddry: Um, you know, he was one of my, growing up, one of my comedy. Heroes. You know, I loved the Fletch movies, uh, the vacation movies. I mean, Christmas vacation is one of the best comedies I think ever, ever written.

37:35 Marc Preston: It was so funny because with the spaceship going to the moon and the toilet had an issue, everybody was putting up the cousin Eddie memes, you know, you know, the shitters, the shitter, whatever the, what do you say?

37:46 Marc Preston: Yeah, the shitters clogged or whatever, you know. Um, yeah. But yeah, I still say that was the, where the sequel I think was actually better than the original, you know?

37:54 Rob Corddry: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I appreciate their, I appreciate all of them, even though, you know, some of the later ones weren't as good, but I, I still appreciate.

38:05 Rob Corddry: I appreciate the effort. You know, I appreciate them, the keeping the world, uh, together and, and going. Um, I love it. I love that. But I also want to, uh, switching switch, switching gears a little bit away from that. I, I want to also give props to probably my favorite comedy of all time that I saw when I was a kid and I have probably seen more than any other comedy.

38:15 Why “Arthur” Hits Hard

38:31 Rob Corddry: And that's, um, Dudley Moore's Arthur.

38:34 Marc Preston: Oh yeah. That was a great movie, but it had some heavy moments. John Gil. Good. You know? Yes. Uh,

38:40 Rob Corddry: that's what I loved. That's what I thought comedy was. I thought comedy was what, basically what televis, what television has become these days, this dramedy is you can't have a drama without jokes.

38:54 Rob Corddry: And it's, this is like a comedy with some really, really. Um, poignant moments, you know, and

39:04 Marc Preston: what basically is, he has almost no family, and the only family that has left is his butler, which is his as Defac. He becomes his, essentially that's his father. That's his father

39:15 Rob Corddry: figure.

39:15 Marc Preston: Yeah. So it's a real exploration.

39:16 Marc Preston: It's not just there. When I was, I think I'm just a couple years younger year, like the year and a half I think. When's your birthday?

39:23 Rob Corddry: February.

39:23 Marc Preston: Okay. Yeah, mine's on the first, so exactly two years younger. So we're watching the same stuff and you know, my parents took me to movies. I probably like dirty hair, some movies I shouldn't have gone in.

39:32 Marc Preston: But you know, your kids, you're seeing stuff that, and watching Arthur, you start realizing, wow, that here's this guy who seems like a buffoon, but he's going through some real, real emotion and it's kind of like, wait, I thought I was gonna be laughing at this thing. You know?

39:46 Rob Corddry: Yeah. Looking back, I mean, it's really, I.

39:50 Rob Corddry: Unconsciously, I mean, a movie that's written that well and, and, and, and plotted so perfectly, it's, it really kind of, um, I think unconsciously prepares you for, you know, if or prepared me for the future.

40:08 Grounded Absurd Comedy

40:08 Marc Preston: Well that's, you know, it's funny you say that 'cause you, when I say absurd, I mean so, and not a reductive, but a very loving way.

40:14 Marc Preston: You know, you, you find yourself in a lot of, I don't wanna say absurd characters, but, you know, just hot tub time machine. Let's go back to that. But you can still, you still sort of see, there's still some moments of heaviness, you know, and like, you know, how your, the way your character gets introduced, you know, there is, there is like an interesting through line.

40:34 Marc Preston: Like,

40:34 Rob Corddry: yeah,

40:34 Marc Preston: this guy's gone, going through this. He doesn't feel appreciated. He doesn't, doesn't really feel you know much.

40:38 Rob Corddry: Yeah. I mean that was something that, that we all talked about and all wanted to make sure was underlined and spotlighted, uh, was that these guys were, were friends. Years ago, but they're not friends really anymore.

40:53 Rob Corddry: And they, and they, and that, and what happens when that, you know, what happens to each individual once when, um, when a friendship breaks, uh, or sort of splinters at least. And, and, you know, and it, and it had a different effect on all of us. And, and I, and we all wanted to show that, uh, especially John, you know, John is very conscious of, of that.

41:20 Rob Corddry: That comedy that, that kind of com doing that kind of comedy that I love is, which is the, it can be absurd, it can be crazy. Uh, but yet, let's, let's ground it.

41:30 Marc Preston: Just the things he was in. I just enjoyed wa you know, it's thi it's not like we watch TV the same way where we watch something and a rerun comes on, or, you know, now you have to actively morph, find something on streaming, you know?

41:40 Marc Preston: But he had a career. I, I kind of wish I would've, I, I like, oh, that, that guy in the eighties, if you were, if you were a Gen X Oh, because those Gen X kids were a little, I, I feel like I'm kind of a middle Gen X kid. 'cause all the ones who were in the Brat Pack were about 3, 4, 5 years older. You know, all Breakfast Club, you know, folks.

41:57 Choosing Roles and Auditions

41:57 Rob Corddry: Yeah.

41:57 Marc Preston: Um, but what, like, when you kind of going forward. With, with all the stuff. I mean, you have an awesome constellation of work, but what is it that's the deciding factor for you now? I mean, uh, I, I'm assuming, you know, not as many auditions as you used to be. Now it's like, Hey Rob, you wanna do this thing?

42:14 Marc Preston: You know,

42:15 Rob Corddry: ideally, but I'm, I'm, I'm actually pretty good at, I think I've become fairly good at auditioning. So I, I, I always tell my agents I will do it. I want to, if I want to get a job, I, I will show them, you know, that I can do it so they feel better about casting me, uh, or more secure, however, um, yeah. So, uh, but, but yeah, it is, it is, it is nice to just get.

42:46 Rob Corddry: Offered roles rather than having to go through the, it's like, you know, back in the day I was just, just combing through Backstage Magazine, you know? Yeah. Audition.

43:00 Marc Preston: But I mean, now, now that you have an opportunity, you have relationships, obviously, uh, you know, like I know like Lake Bell, you've been in a few things, you know, with, and

43:08 Rob Corddry: Yeah.

43:08 Marc Preston: You know, so you, you know, you, you got I think just the best of all worlds, you know, people, y'all can get together and create something, you know? Yeah. But if you were to say, now, okay, this is something I haven't done, or maybe you have done that you wanna return to it, that you kind of feel like I got, I want to tell stories in this genre or in this ecosystem, or whatever you wanna call it, what would that be for you?

43:28 Marc Preston: Right.

43:29 Writing Mysteries and Spies

43:29 Rob Corddry: Oh boy. You know, it changes all the time. Um, you know, I, I, I was trying to write, um, a mystery because I love mysteries and, and it's probably one of the hardest things to write. And, and I just couldn't do it. And so now I'm, now I'm trying to learn how to write mysteries and, and that's, that's another, that's hard in and of itself, uh, that education.

44:02 Rob Corddry: And I, um, I've always wanted to write, I've always wanted to write, like, um, I have a, I have a spy movie that I, that has been in the hopper for a while, you know, that I, that I sometimes go back to and, and then end up hating. Um,

44:21 Marc Preston: I mean, do you enjoy writing or is it just I love it. Is it a nec You do. Okay.

44:24 Rob Corddry: I love it.

44:25 Rob Corddry: I love it. I love it when I'm, I love, I mean, when I'm acting, I feel like that's what I love. And then when I'm writing, I feel like I don't want to be doing anything else but this

44:35 Lynch and Weird Worlds

44:35 Marc Preston: Is there anybody you like, ah, god, I would love to just collaborate with them on a project.

44:40 Rob Corddry: You know, well, yeah, there was, uh, he, he passed away last year.

44:45 Rob Corddry: Um, David Lynch. Oh, yeah. I'm a big, big fan of David Lynch and always like, I'm sort of, uh, obsessed with like, how, what, what, so who, who picks up the baton and what does that look like? You know, um, you know, there's, uh, Yago, uh, la How do you say his last name? Lamos? Uh, the, the lobster

45:10 Marc Preston: cinematographer. Oh,

45:11 Rob Corddry: cinema.

45:11 Rob Corddry: No, he does, uh, begonia, I believe.

45:14 Marc Preston: Oh, oh, oh, oh, okay. I gotcha. I gotcha.

45:16 Rob Corddry: You know, he's people that make, um, weird world movies, whereas like David Lynch was making movies based on the dreams he had the night before.

45:29 Marc Preston: Really,

45:29 Rob Corddry: you know, he, he was just flying by the seat of his pants at times. Ba with a script, but like, that's the kind of freedom.

45:39 Rob Corddry: Artistry that, that I would love to, to, to do. I would love to, to be able to create a world of that. Is that, is, that is off, you know? Yeah. Like Children's Hospital was, was, I mean, it's a pretty absurd slapstick comedy, but it's, uh, you know, no, it does have that kind of off kind

45:53 Children's Hospital Logic

46:02 Marc Preston: of component to it. Yeah,

46:03 Rob Corddry: it definitely, definitely, and I, I, I was always in favor of explaining that to a certain degree or hinting more toward it, whereas the other guys were like, or we could just do jokes and they were probably right.

46:15 Rob Corddry: But, um, you know, why, why is there no continuity in this show? You know, what, what explains the, what explains the, the oddness that. That, uh, sort of

46:28 Marc Preston: like all the, like all the blood on your scrubs. There's no explanation to that. It's just show up and you're bloody, you know?

46:34 Rob Corddry: I thought that was, um, I always thought of, uh, clowns as being a race in and of itself, and, and that that was his, uh, clown costume.

46:44 Marc Preston: Oh, okay.

46:45 Rob Corddry: It was fake blood. It was fake blood. But, uh, you know, there was one previously on we did, and all our previous Leons previously ons were, um, fake. You know, they weren't, they weren't taken from, we just did them. We just wrote them. There were just a chance to write some separate jokes. Uh, was me in a closet dipping my hand in fake blood and, and, and putting it on my scrubs.

47:11 Rob Corddry: But that's the only reference ever. And that's the first season to, um, to, to where or, and why, and even his. Even his daily clothes have blood right there. So that's his sort of, that's his clown costume. He's committed to that.

47:29 Marc Preston: Yeah, that's a great way of putting it. And that's kind of the reason why I, I, I, I'm not a, I'm trying, not predicting, but I'm, as I'm kind of predicting a little bit, a little bit of a return with everything going corporate wise of filmmaking, I would love to see that resurgence We had a few years back with all these independent films that were just interesting.

47:31 Indie Film Comeback Hopes

47:45 Marc Preston: They were just, you know, like I mentioned, like kind of like way, way back. It's, it's, it's, it's something kids would enjoy, but it's really kind of universal, like a nice little kind of jewel box of a, of a film, you know? I don't know the best way to put it, but

47:57 Rob Corddry: I mean, I think we're due for that, right? I think,

48:00 Marc Preston: yeah, I think

48:00 Rob Corddry: so.

48:00 Rob Corddry: You know, everything comes in waves. Um. Like r rated movies, for instance, had a, had a time and I was able to capitalize on that to a certain degree.

48:11 Marc Preston: I mean, then you were, you were kind of like being an old school that that's sort of like on the Mount Rushmore of

48:15 Rob Corddry: those,

48:16 Marc Preston: you know,

48:17 Rob Corddry: and now that's sort of gone right now, but it'll come back and, um, I think everything like those nineties, those nineties, um, well movies in Hollywood from the seventies and nineties was just sort of like, let's put on a show, um, kind of, uh, ideas and.

48:40 Rob Corddry: And, and that is, uh, my, my producing partner, John Stern, who produced Children's Hospital with me, has produced a lot of those movies in the nineties. He out of NYU and he, um, so when it happens, I'm, I'm gear. I'm ready. It's just not,

48:57 Marc Preston: yeah. I, I I don't think there's anybody else who's more ready than you. I mean, I mean, if you look like I, I love like lower learning, that movie's worth watching just to see how you interact with children.

49:07 Marc Preston: Like, just the way you talk to them. It's like the kids go with it. It's,

49:10 Rob Corddry: you really like the dark horses, man. Yeah. I love it.

49:13 Marc Preston: I, I, I'm a weirdo. I just, it was rated r in a fun way and it's like the kids, the kids they cast were sort of like, they just sort of accepted it as just the kinda the way you are.

49:23 Marc Preston: You're this

49:23 Rob Corddry: Yeah.

49:24 Marc Preston: Bizarre principle, you know? Yeah. Um, I got, we gotta watch lower learning. I gotta tell my daughter, we gotta watch that. I don't think my kids have seen it yet. I think they would appreciate it. Oh, by the way, I remember what that TV show is on Apple. It's the foundation. The

49:36 Rob Corddry: foundation? Oh yeah.

49:37 Rob Corddry: The foundation. That's interesting. I kind of fell off that because it's, it is like the Expanse, but it's, um, it's um, and it's a good show and I love that guy. What's his name? Um, oh, British guy. Uh, he was in, um, Hal and Catch Fire as well. Uh, oh, I'm just blanking on his name. Um, he was in Halton Catch Fire and he's, he's like the, one of the, the leads of Foundation.

50:03 Rob Corddry: He's probably number one on the tall sheet.

50:05 Marc Preston: Yeah. I, uh,

50:07 Rob Corddry: Lee Pace Lee. Pace

50:08 Marc Preston: Lee. Oh, Lee Pace. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Lee Pace. I thought you were mean Jared Harris. But yeah, Lee Pace is, uh

50:13 Rob Corddry: oh. Jared Harris,

50:14 Marc Preston: the whole concept. Yeah. That he's, that guy's so talented. But, um,

50:19 Rob Corddry: yeah,

50:20 Marc Preston: it wonder kind has that

50:20 Rob Corddry: same thought out world and universe.

50:22 Rob Corddry: It's a, it's a really well thought.

50:23 Marc Preston: Yeah. And each thing's its own season. It's, you gotta really, it's one of those things you got, you can't just jump in midstream, you gotta kind of follow along. No, I, uh,

50:31 Rob Corddry: like if I were to, if I were to keep going with it, I would have to watch it from season one, you know, because I just, I don't remember things.

50:38 Rob Corddry: It's, which is kind of great in that. I can watch things over and over and it's like the first time,

50:44 Marc Preston: you know, what's great is when you finally catch up with something you haven't seen. Like, like me, I'm catching up to stuff I've never seen Homeland. I was just telling my daughter about it and with, uh, Manny Patinkin and uh, uh, uh, clear names.

50:55 Marc Preston: Yeah. And I just caught up with that and I missed like 24 in that vibe and like, yeah, I'm only 15, 14, whatever years' too late. But I, I just, I'd ask powered through in the last month, like five seasons, you know? Right. Which is fun to discover something that you just never caught in the moment, you know?

51:09 Rob Corddry: Yeah. Or to discover that something doesn't quite hold up like it did when you were younger. You know, like I, we tried to rewatch my wife and I tried to rewatch, uh, six feet under and Uhhuh, I, I didn't, I didn't care for it. This time around, I didn't. I thought it was just too, too, too much, too serious, too prestigious in quotes.

51:31 Marc Preston: Isn't that funny? Uh, the, well, I think art is, uh, reflective of the times and stuff like that. Yeah. I mean, I, I love, I mean, I know when COVID kicked in, I, I, you know, told my kids, Hey, let's watch Lost. And we watch, we watch Lost and Power watched every season in, you know, during COVID, during, you know, while they're doing school at home.

51:48 Marc Preston: Like,

51:48 Rob Corddry: oh, that's

51:49 Marc Preston: awesome. I dunno if that's healthy to watch. It kinda reminds me of that scene from, uh, uh, a Jud Apatow's daughter from, uh, uh, this is, I think this is 40 when she's power watching all those episodes, and she's like, you know, it's expanding my brain, you know, but, uh, but Judd aau, see, that's, that's, that's, I, I think anything he does, I wanna see you in it.

52:07 Marc Preston: I just think that would be, you know, match made in heaven, right there. I've still got his book down here. I need to go through, I dunno if you've seen his, uh, no, this,

52:14 Rob Corddry: no

52:14 Marc Preston: this, this almost Bible of, he created this enormous, thick, you know, Odyssey.

52:18 Rob Corddry: I'm a big fan. He's, there's no one quite like him, right. I mean, he's, he's been interviewing comedians since he was a child.

52:28 Marc Preston: That's one they, I appreciate. Just before you knew exactly just that, that, uh, what do you call it? The, uh, uh, uh, fearlessness of doing that. That's, yeah. You gotta be like that as a kid, I think.

52:37 Rob Corddry: Yeah. He's fascinating. He's fascinating and very funny. I like 'em a lot.

52:48 The Seven Questions

52:48 Marc Preston: Well, before we get going, I always do my seven questions on the back end, a little extra fun, a little extra, get to know you and I Oh, and I always end talking food. We talked about salami a moment ago, but I talk food at least once every episode. Uh, but I gotta ask, what is your favorite comfort food? That thing?

53:04 Marc Preston: Good day, bad day. It's, it's just, it always lands for you.

53:08 Rob Corddry: Um, it changes, uh, but these days it is a, uh, I get a child's size smash burger, um, with, uh, and it's at, it's at place nearby called Gold Burger. I always get it from that hamburger, a cheeseburger with just ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, like a McDonald's burger is.

53:31 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

53:32 Rob Corddry: Like it should be. And then fries. And they got great fries. And that, that's what I'm. That's what I'm probably gonna find some comfort in when we hang up here.

53:44 Marc Preston: Well, we're down here in, down here in Texas. We have Whataburger, which is, you know, we don't, we're not, we're not ketchup people down here. I will say that.

53:50 Marc Preston: Although, although I did see Matthew McConaughey talk about how he takes it and he, he's his Texan as they come.

53:55 Rob Corddry: Right.

53:56 Marc Preston: Dips his whole burger in ketchup, which I'm like, oh, that's an interesting,

54:00 Rob Corddry: well, sure, I'll do that. I don't think barbecue sauce should be on ketchup. No. If that's, if that's what your state is saying.

54:06 Marc Preston: No, it's just No, it's just, we're just mustard people, you know, we're just, uh, mustard and, uh, you know. Interesting. No, no ketchup. But yeah, it's, it's, it's a, it's a Texas thing, although my daughter over here, she's an In-N-Out burger person, so, you know.

54:17 Rob Corddry: Oh my God. Yeah.

54:18 Marc Preston: You know. Gonna disown you.

54:20 Rob Corddry: They're great.

54:21 Marc Preston: She's just staring at me like, be quiet. Um,

54:23 Rob Corddry: what a, what a burger is good though.

54:25 Marc Preston: Yeah. My

54:26 Rob Corddry: wife is from Texas.

54:27 Marc Preston: Oh, whereabouts?

54:29 Rob Corddry: Uh, from Sugarland, outside of

54:30 Marc Preston: Houston. Oh, down Houston. Yeah, in Houston. Well, I'm down on South Padre Island. This is, uh, I had to get my tropical Mayberry thing going. Oh, nice. Yeah. This is where Elon Musk, since his rocket's up about seven miles south of me.

54:41 Marc Preston: Yeah. So that's kind of fun. That's fun. Um, now next question. If you're gonna sit down with three people living or not, and you're gonna have coffee, uh, talk, just talk story for hours, uh, who would those three people be living or not? You'd like to sit down with?

54:54 Rob Corddry: William Shakespeare, David Lynch, and, um, boy, uh, third one I would say, uh.

55:02 Rob Corddry: Let's just throw, let's throw a, a wild, let's throw a John Belushi into the mix, just to

55:08 Marc Preston: Very nice, nice. Just

55:08 Rob Corddry: to liven things up, just to, so we'd have some cocaine.

55:12 Marc Preston: Yeah.

55:13 Rob Corddry: I could introduce Shakespeare to cocaine.

55:15 Marc Preston: Wow. And I am a pentameter. Gets turned up a notch. Yeah, that's, that would be interesting. Now

55:21 Rob Corddry: going back, I had some coke and tried to go to bed.

55:26 Marc Preston: What was it Ed gr ala Poe. That was his, wasn't that his thing? I think, I don't know. I'm trying to remember. Ninth grade English, you know.

55:33 Rob Corddry: Oh, no, Shakespeare's definitely, I amec pentameter. It's like a guidebook for actors if they, if they would follow it.

55:40 Marc Preston: Oh no, I'm talking about, you know, uh, chemically induced, you know.

55:43 Marc Preston: Oh, uh, yeah, Edgar Allen Poe, I think. Wasn't he kind of, uh oh

55:45 Rob Corddry: yeah. He was into like, um, uh, opium or Dilaudid.

55:49 Marc Preston: Oh, I believe that's right. That's right. Yeah. Hey, this is a real family friendly program today. Uh, now next question. Who was your celebrity crush when you were, when you were a young Rob?

56:01 Rob Corddry: Oh, when I was young.

56:02 Rob Corddry: Was one known rider.

56:03 Marc Preston: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I see that you, uh, that was the, the, uh, uh, the senior, you're Mary Stewart Masterson. Come on. That was like, you know, uh, what was that film she was in? Uh, she's drummer. I don't know. See her, I'm trying to remember

56:17 Rob Corddry: the story. Yeah. Some kind of wonderful,

56:18 Marc Preston: some kind of wonderful,

56:19 Rob Corddry: yeah, yeah, of course.

56:21 Rob Corddry: And, you know, I, um, all, all, all, all those women, but I, I, Winona, I put on a pedestal and, and I now, um, have a crush on Mary Stewart Masterson after having worked with her. Now, now. Oh, she's

56:36 Marc Preston: awesome.

56:37 Rob Corddry: Yeah. She's amazing.

56:39 Marc Preston: Age. Like a fine wine.

56:40 Rob Corddry: Absolutely. Oh, she's an amazing woman.

56:42 Marc Preston: Is the senior out now, or is that going to be coming

56:45 Rob Corddry: out?

56:45 Rob Corddry: Yeah. Yeah. That came out. Um,

56:47 Marc Preston: okay.

56:47 Rob Corddry: Came out. I think it did fairly well too. It was out in theaters for a little bit.

56:52 Marc Preston: The audacity that's coming out here was

56:54 Rob Corddry: Yeah, the audacity on, uh, A-M-C-A-C plus.

56:58 Marc Preston: What a, what a cast. That was that guy. Yeah. Oh my God. But Billy Magnusson, that kid's cool. And I, I had a chance to chat, chat with him a while back.

57:05 Marc Preston: He, he's just, he is just as cool as they come and he

57:08 Rob Corddry: know, he is so fun, man. I, I love that guy. I actually, we just emailing him today. Um, you know, we've, I've since done a project with him, actually, a sort of Texas based project, um, that his company put together a mattress. Mac, you might only know it if you're from Houston.

57:27 Marc Preston: I'm

57:27 Rob Corddry: one of those regional commercial guys, you

57:29 Marc Preston: know?

57:30 Rob Corddry: Yeah.

57:30 Marc Preston: Yeah.

57:31 Rob Corddry: Um, and, and, uh. I was just asking him to do an animated show I'm producing right now, but he, I, I will do anything that guy wants to do. And, and I, I hope he feels the same 'cause.

57:44 Marc Preston: Oh, he, he was, he was so much fun. I, it was one of my favorite, one of my favorite chats.

57:48 Marc Preston: And then it was for when he played a Nazi officer, you know, and then, and then two seconds later, he is in a James Bond film playing a bad guy. You know, I'm like, he's just, you know, he's, he is just as chill as they come. Absolutely. Now, real quick, now if I, next question. If I was to say, okay, uh, Rob, you're gonna be on a, uh, you're gonna be on an island for a year.

58:06 Marc Preston: It's an exotic island. You love being there, but there's no streaming. So if you wanna listen to music, you gotta bring one CD or a box set. And if you wanna watch a movie, you gotta bring 1D VD. So what would that cd and what would that DVD be for that whole year? Something you can watch over and over again?

58:20 Rob Corddry: Oh, geez, Louise. I can't believe you're asking me this. This is terrible. This is something that, you know, it's one of those things I've been talking about my whole life and. For some reason obsessed with and thinking about, and I, I, I, I can't give you a, a comfortable, a, a satisfying answer, but I, I will say that the second side of Abbey Road is the best music ever recorded.

58:45 Rob Corddry: So I think I'd have to bring that just, you know, by default.

58:51 Marc Preston: Um, well, Beatles always show up, so that's,

58:52 Rob Corddry: that's, yeah.

58:53 Marc Preston: They're evergreen, you know?

58:55 Rob Corddry: Yeah. And the, the DVD, uh, would probably be Arthur, because that's one of those movies I can just watch and watch again right after watching it.

59:05 Marc Preston: You know, I haven't seen that in a long time.

59:06 Marc Preston: So it's kind of fun when you, in different eras of your life to kinda go back to the same movies and kinda see what you pick up on. Yeah.

59:12 Rob Corddry: Yeah. Come back to terms with, uh, Arthur. It's, it's one of the best.

59:16 Marc Preston: That's on my list now. Uh, now real quick, I wanna ask what would be the next question? What would be the definition from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep?

59:23 Marc Preston: The component parts, the recipe of a perfect day for you.

59:29 Rob Corddry: To feel like I got something done, um, whether that be something around the house or, or something creative. I just want to feel like I've accomplished something. And, and oftentimes, you know, we're, that's, we're, we're thwarted in this modern age. Um,

59:49 Marc Preston: so man plans, God laughs.

59:51 Marc Preston: Yeah.

59:51 Rob Corddry: Yeah. So, so, you know, sometimes I'll go to bed frustrated and, and then, but also sometimes my perfect day is just. Sitting in my office here watching tv, eating my smash burger and, and and ha and in a world all to my, to my own, in to my own device of my own device.

1:00:14 Marc Preston: So it'd be, it would be a day where your, your head can just kinda

1:00:17 Rob Corddry: go

1:00:17 Marc Preston: wherever away it goes.

1:00:18 Rob Corddry: Yeah. I love it. I love just, yeah.

1:00:20 Marc Preston: That's, that's a luxury I'm finding these days. Uh, big, big luxury. Now, if, if somebody said, Rob, you know, the creative, the writing, the acting, all the things you're doing now, it's just not gonna be available to you anymore. What is another vocation you could jump into and go?

1:00:35 Marc Preston: That would be my number two.

1:00:37 Rob Corddry: Oh, yay. Uh, boy. Um, I would say, I've always said, uh. Truck driving. I would like to drive truck because, you know, I love driving like long haul. Like long haul on the highway. Yeah. Long haul, long haul trips. Um, you know, and then, you know, I've, I heard that, uh, it's a, those guys really get screwed.

1:01:03 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

1:01:04 Rob Corddry: Um, uh, but, but you know, that's, I mean, in, in the romantic sense, that's the job I, I would love to do.

1:01:12 Marc Preston: Yeah. 'cause just, you know, exploring different truck stops, it's just seeing different stuff. I, I, I think, I think I, I always wonder, would you fatigue of that at want a home base or would that become a good lifestyle of just being, you know, same thing of like an airline pilot, you know, so the same kind of thing.

1:01:30 Marc Preston: Would you always wanna be going somewhere, you know?

1:01:31 Rob Corddry: Yeah, I think so. I mean, you know, one of my favorite, uh, guilty pleasure reads is, uh, Jack the Ra, the Jack Reer series by Lee Child, because the guy just goes where the wind blows him. Uh, and that's what I appreciate about it. You know, I just like the fact that he only owns a toothbrush, and

1:01:54 Marc Preston: I always was envious, secretly envious that people pack everything into a bag and just gum.

1:01:58 Marc Preston: I'm like, how do you do that? I got entirely too much stuff to do that, you know?

1:02:01 Rob Corddry: Yeah. I, God, I have, I hate stuff now. I don't want any more stuff.

1:02:06 Marc Preston: Yeah. I, I'm definitely in a pairing down mode myself,

1:02:09 Rob Corddry: Uhhuh.

1:02:09 Marc Preston: Um, now the last question I got for you. If you could jump in that DeLorean, and you can go back 16-year-old, you and you got a couple nuggets of advice just for a few minutes to, to give 16-year-old you to make that moment somehow better or put yourself on a little bit different trajectory, what would that advice be?

1:02:24 Rob Corddry: I would say, um, first of all, relax. Nobody, nobody is looking at you or talking about you. Everybody's in their own movie. Mm. So just do your movie, you know, be in your own, be the star of your own movie. And, uh, you know that I just watched that show, DTF St. Louis, and there's this great line that I really related to that I might say to my younger self, which is, uh, everybody looks weird.

1:02:59 Rob Corddry: I mean, everybody looks normal from across the street. Um, so, you know, 'cause I was, uh, I was, um, and anxious, I think, I think very internally anxious. Uh. I, I had a lot of

1:03:16 fears.

1:03:17 Marc Preston: Yeah, I, I totally ident, I totally identify because I think that's, isn't it strange when you, when you get to that point in your life, you realize that, but you need to look at other, some other adults, air quotes here that are still living in that head space.

1:03:28 Marc Preston: I'm like, like the whole gossip thing and the whole i's like, I, no, you know, I'm,

1:03:32 Rob Corddry: it's not, I'm not into that so much. I'm not into that, but I, I had, um, like after college crippling social anxiety, and so I would want to head that off at the pass, you know, and just, just say like, don't worry. It's not, what if somebody is talking about you about that crazy thing you did that's keeping you up at night is it's not the end of the world.

1:03:56 Marc Preston: Yeah. And it's really more of a reflection about what they're all about, not you.

1:04:00 Rob Corddry: Yeah. I don't, yeah. Yeah. That's the benefits of, uh, of the wisdom that comes with age. You know, you can sort of worry less and. And just carry on.

1:04:13 Marc Preston: Absolutely. Well, my friend, I, I want to thank you for sharing some time. This has been so much fun, man.

1:04:17 Marc Preston: I appreciate it. This has been a joy. I, I love, uh, I love your work and I, I just, anything that you're in, I, I gotta see it. You know? He is one of those handful of guys that, you know, I just gotta do it. You know, it's always good to connect with a fellow Gen Xer who's, who's done good, you know?

1:04:29 Rob Corddry: Well, thank you.

1:04:30 Rob Corddry: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to, to also to, you know, to promote the audacity and, and, and, and to, to, to have an actual conversation. This is a, it's, it's rare and, um. Valuable to me.

1:04:46 Marc Preston: Uh, uh, ditto here, my friend. And, uh, we'll go and, uh, enjoy some time with your daughter. I, I'm, uh, you know, looking forward to downloading one of MP threes one day.

1:04:53 Marc Preston: You know, I'll, I'll jam out to it, you know, and do it.

1:04:57 Rob Corddry: Oh, you actually can feature Rock Star. Can you actually, can they, she Oh, really? Used a song with her band. It's called Lemonade by the Band, four Leaf, uh, I believe they're on Spotify and Apple Music, and it's like this, like dirty funk, man. I don't know where these kids.

1:05:13 Rob Corddry: Got it. But it, it's awesome. Anyway, that's why I promoted my daughter's single

1:05:19 Marc Preston: dude. You know what? We gotta pass it along to the next generation. We got

1:05:22 Rob Corddry: you. Hey man,

1:05:23 Marc Preston: well be wonderful. Have a great rest of your week, and hopefully we'll have a chance to catch up down the line.

1:05:27 Rob Corddry: Yeah, you too. I hope so too.

1:05:28 Rob Corddry: Thanks. Bye.

1:05:31 Marc Preston: Okay. There you go. Mr. Rob Corddry. Uh, man, I had fun. He's a cool dude. Come on. Rob's the real deal when it comes to, uh, film and tv. Uh, anything Rob's in, I'm gonna go see. He's just a, uh, just, just, he always lands it right. He's always funny. He always elevates the level of whatever he's up to.

1:05:50 Marc Preston: Come on. Nowadays you need a good laugh, right? There you go. We're all about, you know, seeing if we could find more smiles, more laughs. It's, it's, uh, it's a thing. Uh, okay, so, uh, I'm gonna get on out of here, but before I go, I wanted to make sure you follow Story and craft on whatever podcast app you use. Uh, just follow it like it, because it really helps people to find, uh, the show and, uh, as well as story and craft pod.com, that's the website.

1:06:18 Marc Preston: Everything about past guest, past episodes, it's all right there. But of course we're on Substack. Just go to story and craft.substack.com. That way you get an email every time a new episode comes out. Plus that's kind of where some of the cool odds and ends and fun stuff and extras will start landing, uh, is at Substack.

1:06:36 Marc Preston: And I do really, uh, like. Promoting, uh, independent media now more than ever. So join us there if you would. Hey, do me a favor, go have an amazing day. And I always want to thank you for making what I got going on here, part of whatever you've got going on. Uh, I love the connection and it means a lot to me, and I hope you have an absolutely stellar, awesome, beautiful, wonderful rest of your day, evening, morning, afternoon, weekend.

1:07:01 Marc Preston: Holiday, whatever you have going on, enjoy it. Alright, and we'll talk to you next time right here on Story and Craft.

1:07:08 Announcer: That's it for this episode of Story and Craft. Join Marc next week for more conversation. Right here on Story and Craft Story and Craft is a presentation of Marc Preston Productions. LLC Executive Producer is Marc Preston, associate producer is Zachary Holden.

1:07:26 Announcer: Please rate and review story and Craft on Apple Podcasts. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. You can subscribe to show updates and stay in the know. Just head to story and craft pod.com and sign up for the newsletter. I'm Emma Dylan. See you next time.

1:07:45 Announcer: And remember, keep telling your story.