[laughs]

So God bless McMahon for having the, uh, you know, balls slash, uh, uh, wit to, to, to go for that one.

And literally, like, th- they, they, um, they started playing, like, music to kind of, like, calm the crowd down while they were trying to make sure Ditka was okay.

People are going behind the curtain.

And of course, he gets up, and he's, you know, "Let's keep going." I mean, you probably heard the crazy kicking and screaming story, where he, he had just gotten a hip replacement and, uh, [laughs] and Will Ferrell panicked because he's, he's just, "It just popped out, guys.

Just popped out," and he's in, like, terrible pain.

And, uh, and they get somebody, they get a doctor over, and the doctor, like, pops it back in, like, literally just pops his brand-new hip back into place.

[laughs]

[laughs]

So God bless McMahon for having the, uh, you know, balls slash, uh, uh, wit to, to, to go for that one.

And literally, like, they, they, um, they started playing, like, music to kind of, like, calm the crowd down while they were trying to make sure Ditka was okay.

People are going behind the curtain.

And of course, he gets up, and he's, you know, "Let's keep going." I mean, you've probably heard the crazy kicking and screaming story where he, he had just gotten a hip replacement and, uh, [laughs] and Will Ferrell's panicked because he's, he's just, "It just popped out, guys.

Just popped out," and he's in, like, terrible pain.

And, uh, and they get somebody, they get a doctor over, and the doctor, like, pops it back in, like, literally just pops his brand-new hip back into place.

[laughs]

Again, I just found out this week that apparently you and your wife discovered Triumph, or the first version of Triumph, at some sort of knick-knack shop or antique store?

Yeah.

My wife and I, we were newlyweds.

Or actually, we were on, we were furniture shopping, and there was this, uh, quaint little store called Mabel's in, uh, Manhattan, and they had an even quainter rack of puppets, rubber puppets, that were just animal heads.

You know? There were dogs and cats, and there was a sheep, and there was, you know, an owl.

So I just grabbed a dog head, and I was so amused by how realistic it looked that I put it on my hand and immediately sniffed my, uh, my, my wife's [beep].

So w- well, why don't, why don't you describe it?

Uh, so my m- my wife actually came up with this show.

[laughs]

So God bless McMahon for having the, uh, you know, balls/ uh, uh, wit to, to, to go for that one.

And literally, like, they, they, um, they started playing, like, music to kind of, like, calm the crowd down while they were trying to make sure Ditka was okay.

People are going behind the curtain.

And of course, he gets up, and he's, you know, "Let's keep going." I mean, you probably heard the crazy kicking and screaming story where he, he had just gotten a hip replacement and, uh, [laughs] and Will Ferrell's panicked because he's, he's just, "It just popped out, guys.

Just popped out," and he's in, like, terrible pain.

And, uh, and they get somebody, they get a doctor over, and the doctor, like, pops it back in, like, literally just pops his brand-new hip back into place.

[laughs]

[laughs]

So God bless McMahon for having the, uh, you know, balls/ uh, uh, wit to, to, to go for that one.

And literally, like, th- they, they, um, they started playing, like, music to kind of, like, calm the crowd down while they were trying to make sure Ditka was okay.

People are going behind the curtain.

And of course, he gets up, and he's, you know, "Let's keep going." I mean, you've probably heard the crazy kicking and screaming story where he, he had just gotten a hip replacement, and, uh, [laughs] and Will Ferrell's panicked because he's, he's just, "It just popped out, guys.

Just popped out," and he's in, like, terrible pain.

And, uh, and they get somebody, they get a doctor over, and the doctor, like, pops it back in, like, literally just pops his brand-new hip back into place.

[laughs]

What was that way that surprised you?

Well, one of the times I got to meet him was at a Mike Ditka roast, which happened in 2001.

ESPN put it together, and...

It was like, as I wrote on Friday, like, you know, Netflix tries to create this anarchic kind of atmosphere with their roasts.

Anything can happen, but nothing compares to putting a dais together filled with drunk, retired athletes.

There's just no comparison.

They had guys from Ditka's playing era, and they had guys from the 86 Bears.

I didn't know

Hmm.

It's, it's just about his rings mostly.

But Wayne Gretzky, there's, nobody talks about anybody.

I mean, there's, there's Ovechkin and people who've had great careers, but nobody's comparing him.

Nobody's debating this, you know, because of his all-around game.

And, but Wayne Gretzky was really like probably the, the shyest and most low-key of any, any athlete we'd ever had there.

'Cause they all come and they have a certain inner confidence to them, you know? A certain I don't give a damn quality, where they're not that nervous.

That's awesome.

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Podcasts.[upbeat music] Thank you for your, uh, inquiry.

I've brought in a couple of people who have worked with Steve O'Donnell.

So can we cut to, uh, the first, uh, my first guest- Oh, my God ... who's gonna help you.

Did you see him? That's Jim Downey.

[laughs] Hi, Barack.

Now, I brought one other person who worked on the, this Late Night with David Letterman show.

Everyone but yourself has forgotten.

Of course

... especially all things SNL.

So he's like, "The first time you host a show, it's like, oh my God, how am I going to do it? I, I...

What, why am I even here?" Full imposter syndrome.

"Second time you host a show, it's like, I can't believe I made it through the first show.

Is it possible I could possibly do the second show as well as the first show?"

There, there was a secret club

... you're a five-timer, and, uh, you know, now it's time for the club.

Again, I just found out this week that apparently you and your wife discovered Triumph, or the first version of Triumph, at some sort of knick-knack shop or antique store.

Yeah.

My wife and I, we were newlyweds, or actually, we were on, we were furniture shopping, and there was this, uh, quaint little store called Mabel's in, uh, Manhattan, and they had an even quainter rack of puppets, rubber puppets that were just animal heads.

You know, there were dogs and cats, and there was a sheep, and there was, you know, an owl.

So I just grabbed a dog head, and I was so amused by how realistic it looked that I put it on my hand and immediately sniffed my, uh, my, my wife's [beep] with it.

So, w- well, why don't, why don't you describe it?

Uh, so my m- my wife actually came up with this show.

It's called Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends, and every week we have people who've called in, left a message, and they need help with some sort of task they have.

... trying to be funny

...

it was just people like, you know, just guys who, uh, and girls who would watch these guys.

And we'd just come up with our own premises and, and work on them, and, um, develop them.

And I was a little more of a TV guy.

I had more TV parodies than Second City usually did, uh, just 'cause I was a, a TV nerd.

And, and-

Yeah

[laughs]

And, and the, there were live animals interacting with puppet cats and dogs.

And the puppeteers were under a three-foot stage, and they were just, you know, confined under there.

They had little holes where they could stick their puppet arms out.

And I guess the low point was when Dino Stamatopoulos, right?

Good to work with?

He was s- the most ex- you can't believe how excited he was to do Jack and Jill with Adam Sandler.

He treats every movie with absolute...

You know? Everybody should just, like, do whatever they want."

But that's like we could, we very much connected because we liked...

And doing, we liked doing impressions that were kind of abstract.

We liked creating abstract impressions.

And so, you know, Dana had some under his belt, obviously.

And then I tried to help him with, you know, Johnny Carson and Regis.

The Regis thing was very strange 'cause, like, I wrote it for Phil Hartman.

Yeah.