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John Mulaney: 'I didn't get the job at Barnes & Noble. I was really mad' John Mulaney: 'I didn't get the job at Barnes & Noble. I was really mad'
(2 months later)
As a writer for Saturday Night Live, most of John Mulaney's days are spent toiling away in the hallowed writing offices at the show's New York headquarters. Mulaney is famous for creating the recurring character Stefon with Bill Hader, but has occasionally emerged from the writer's den to do on-camera stints in the Weekend Update segment.As a writer for Saturday Night Live, most of John Mulaney's days are spent toiling away in the hallowed writing offices at the show's New York headquarters. Mulaney is famous for creating the recurring character Stefon with Bill Hader, but has occasionally emerged from the writer's den to do on-camera stints in the Weekend Update segment.
Mulaney, 30, sat down with the Guardian backstage at Comedy Central's annual outdoor standup event in New York City's Central Park as part of our continuing campaign to solicit life advice from professional comedians. He can't talk about whether or not he is taking over Weekend Update, but he did offer suggestions about how to get a job on the show, and explained how to stave off a potentially dangerous obsession with social media.Mulaney, 30, sat down with the Guardian backstage at Comedy Central's annual outdoor standup event in New York City's Central Park as part of our continuing campaign to solicit life advice from professional comedians. He can't talk about whether or not he is taking over Weekend Update, but he did offer suggestions about how to get a job on the show, and explained how to stave off a potentially dangerous obsession with social media.
Q: You recently got engaged. Congratulations! What does a person have to do to get to that point in their lives, to be engaged? To be in a successful relationship? Q: You recently got engaged. Congratulations! What does a person have to do to get to that point in their lives, to be engaged? To be in a successful relationship?
A: That's a good question. We've been together for almost four years. When we met, I was 26. I wouldn't say I was old by any means – I was pretty young – so I'm not sure. I just met someone I would never get tired of hanging out with. I was just immediately: 'I can hang out with this person every day.' And then when you test that after a couple years, you say: 'Ya, I'm not going to change that much.'A: That's a good question. We've been together for almost four years. When we met, I was 26. I wouldn't say I was old by any means – I was pretty young – so I'm not sure. I just met someone I would never get tired of hanging out with. I was just immediately: 'I can hang out with this person every day.' And then when you test that after a couple years, you say: 'Ya, I'm not going to change that much.'
Q: I have a question from a 17-year-old from the suburbs of northern California. It's her dream to write for SNL. What does she have to do?Q: I have a question from a 17-year-old from the suburbs of northern California. It's her dream to write for SNL. What does she have to do?
A. I have found that people who really want to work at Saturday Night Live and pursue it get pretty close. You have to be funny – but everyone who works there, it was their dream to work there. So it's kind of nice in that way – there's a lot of people who say: 'I just always wanted to do this and now I'm doing it.' It's a real show, you can work there.A. I have found that people who really want to work at Saturday Night Live and pursue it get pretty close. You have to be funny – but everyone who works there, it was their dream to work there. So it's kind of nice in that way – there's a lot of people who say: 'I just always wanted to do this and now I'm doing it.' It's a real show, you can work there.
You have to capture their attention a little, but we find writers from all over. People who did improv, people who did internet videos, people who were standup comedians, people who were pure writers writers from Harvard Lampoon and other publications. People have been hired because they were in the world of theater and film, and they were just kind of funny people. It's like: 'You'd be a good presence to have around'. There are a lot of paths.You have to capture their attention a little, but we find writers from all over. People who did improv, people who did internet videos, people who were standup comedians, people who were pure writers writers from Harvard Lampoon and other publications. People have been hired because they were in the world of theater and film, and they were just kind of funny people. It's like: 'You'd be a good presence to have around'. There are a lot of paths.
Q: What did you do to capture the attention of SNL? Q: What did you do to capture the attention of SNL?
A: I would just come to New York and go to the UCB theater [the renowned comedy venue Upright Citizen's Brigade theater]. There's not that much ground to cover, I feel like. You'll run into people from that show … there's a lot of them. Come to New York and wait on the street corners. You'll see someone from SNL somewhere.A: I would just come to New York and go to the UCB theater [the renowned comedy venue Upright Citizen's Brigade theater]. There's not that much ground to cover, I feel like. You'll run into people from that show … there's a lot of them. Come to New York and wait on the street corners. You'll see someone from SNL somewhere.
Q: She's also trying to determine what college to go to. How do you make those decisions?Q: She's also trying to determine what college to go to. How do you make those decisions?
A: That's a tough one. Go to the best school on the list.A: That's a tough one. Go to the best school on the list.
Q: Is that what you did? Q: Is that what you did?
A: Ya! I went to the best school I got into. It just won't hurt. There were schools and I thought: 'There's more of a fun hang' when I toured there, and I loved the school I went to, but yes: go to the best one. Even if you want to do comedy – what do I want to go to four years of school for? It's just good to see successful people. I remember people like Madeleine Albright were guest speakers and I remember seeing that and thinking: 'That person is really successful; that's interesting." If you see those people enough, you think: 'I could probably put something together that would go OK.'A: Ya! I went to the best school I got into. It just won't hurt. There were schools and I thought: 'There's more of a fun hang' when I toured there, and I loved the school I went to, but yes: go to the best one. Even if you want to do comedy – what do I want to go to four years of school for? It's just good to see successful people. I remember people like Madeleine Albright were guest speakers and I remember seeing that and thinking: 'That person is really successful; that's interesting." If you see those people enough, you think: 'I could probably put something together that would go OK.'
Q: Did you ever interview for jobs and get rejected? Q: Did you ever interview for jobs and get rejected?
A: I interviewed at Barnes & Noble [for a job] that I didn't get. I was really mad. I had a whole fantasy of how fun my life was going to be: I would have lunch at the little cafe and read the books, and I'd be the dreamer, and you'd catch me in the stockroom reading books, and they'd say: 'Come on you, get back to work,' but they'd like me. I had this whole fantasy plan in my head, and then: no, you're not Barnes & Noble material.A: I interviewed at Barnes & Noble [for a job] that I didn't get. I was really mad. I had a whole fantasy of how fun my life was going to be: I would have lunch at the little cafe and read the books, and I'd be the dreamer, and you'd catch me in the stockroom reading books, and they'd say: 'Come on you, get back to work,' but they'd like me. I had this whole fantasy plan in my head, and then: no, you're not Barnes & Noble material.
Q: What do you think of Twitter? Q: What do you think of Twitter?
A: I had someone change my password and I don't know what it is. So I email someone now to post stuff. I was just looking at it too much – it's just insane. I was frantically checking it all the time and I would wormhole into all of these things. Then people would tweet links to articles and then you go and read that. My phone would buzz for a text and I would open my phone and it would be on Twitter and I would never get to the text. The text wouldn't be important either, but it would kill a lot of time. So now I just email someone what I want tweeted.A: I had someone change my password and I don't know what it is. So I email someone now to post stuff. I was just looking at it too much – it's just insane. I was frantically checking it all the time and I would wormhole into all of these things. Then people would tweet links to articles and then you go and read that. My phone would buzz for a text and I would open my phone and it would be on Twitter and I would never get to the text. The text wouldn't be important either, but it would kill a lot of time. So now I just email someone what I want tweeted.
Q: Are you able to restrain yourself? Q: Are you able to restrain yourself?
A: No. I've asked for the password a couple times. It's like a friend a gambler has to cut them off – I have that for Twitter.A: No. I've asked for the password a couple times. It's like a friend a gambler has to cut them off – I have that for Twitter.
Q: Do you have any advice for the youth of America?Q: Do you have any advice for the youth of America?
A: [Long pause.] Keep all your clothes, because everything I wore when I was four is wildly popular again. Everyone is wearing striped, early-1980s toddler clothing now. It's just so popular, I wish I had held on to those shirts. Keep your clothes – they'll come back around.A: [Long pause.] Keep all your clothes, because everything I wore when I was four is wildly popular again. Everyone is wearing striped, early-1980s toddler clothing now. It's just so popular, I wish I had held on to those shirts. Keep your clothes – they'll come back around.
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