Name: TJ Miller | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #266
Uploaded: 2020-03-12T13:00:17.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'TJ Miller | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #266' from Theo Von on Comedy Buff. Published 2020-03-12. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'TJ Miller | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #266' from Theo Von on Comedy Buff. Published 2020-03-12. Transcript available.

TJ Miller | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #266

Today's episode is brought to you by Gray Block Pizza.
If you were wondering if you can have something in your mouth that feels like
it's from another country, you can.
Italy. And that is pizza.
Gray Block Pizza. 1811 Pico Boulevard on the way to the beach.
Gray Block. Get that header.
Today's guest is a film man and he's a comedian.
And honestly, I don't even really know him that well.
So I'm going to get to know him as you do.
But I do know that he is the star of the Emoji movie, T.J. Miller.
I live and tell you our story.
That's your version of the Emoji movie.
Yeah, it is.
You know, and I just sometimes I like to have something.
Sometimes I'll wear some glasses that don't have any lenses or just something.
I don't really like interviewing.
So it makes me feel or not interviewing.
But sometimes I'm just not.
It's not really my strongest suit.
Do you think?
Yeah.
Well, one of the things is you riff on your own and with the voicemails and
stuff like that.
So, you know, it's and it's that's closer to stand up.
Right.
Then doing an interview.
And then I find that other people are almost more comfortable interviewing.
Like, that's one thing that I've thought is really interesting about.
I mean, the joke with Mark Maron's podcast was always like fast forward through
his part and get to the interview because he's such a good interviewer.
Yeah.
And then Joe Rogan, I think, has slowly become more about the interview and
being the interviewer than about it being comedic at all or anything like that.
Yeah, he's yeah, he's not usually he's not very comedic or with some guests he
is and some guests he isn't.
Yeah.
But I think you do interviews really well.
But that's interesting that you don't feel necessarily comfortable doing that
because we were talking about I have the show called Gore Burger where it's a
giant blue alien puppet that interviews people.
And that was on Comedy Central and there's a lot of it on YouTube and that I
felt really good.
And I'm I was interested in interviewing it.
And he did Gore Burger did Snoop Dogg's GGN network.
And it was just it's a real burger.
It's a fake burger, but it's a no, it's like you.
Oh, there it is.
That's it.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
He's and so it's a giant puppet.
There's somebody else in the puppet.
Is it you?
But I'm so I'm controlling his mouth using a radio controller and two other
puppeteers are doing his eyes and sort of facial expressions.
And so it's a lot.
It's like Joe Biden.
You mean.
It's got kind of the look.
A little.
He stumbles a little bit less, I think.
Well, that's incredible looking.
It's great.
And so I do it with these two guys, the director brothers, and it's a it feels
a lot more comfortable for me.
Kind of what you're saying to interview somebody through the character, because
he sort of talks like this and he doesn't really know anything about human
beings.
And so he has kind of questions about what it's like to be a human.
Yeah.
So the questions can kind of come from that angle instead of necessarily being,
you know, T.J. Miller asking questions.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I really, really like that.
And then my podcast, Cashing In With T.J. Miller, is the conceit is that Cash
Levy, who's a comedian and an improviser, a friend of mine that I tour with, he
has an interview show, but he can never get another guest.
So I've been his only guest for like six years now.
Oh, really?
So it's just you interviewing him, him interviewing me every time?
No, he interviewing me, yeah, every single time.
But it's more absurdist and it's kind of, you know, the interviews aren't about,
you know, what are you up to, what's going on with you?
It's more stuff like, you know, we have a thing where it's like, if you attach
a handle to anything, does it become a ladle?
Like if you put a handle on this, does it immediately become a ladle?
Like a mitten?
Right.
A mitten would be a ladle.
That's exactly right.
And that would be a better, is that a better ladle than a glove?
Or can you use each of the fingers for the separate things that you want to ladle?
I think glove probably be better because a mitten is going to have too much, a
liquid could get out of a mitten.
Yeah.
I've tried to run water across the house in a mitten when I was young and it's,
it's anti-climbactic.
I'd love to know what the context of that is.
Just not having a cup.
Yeah.
So you just got to get that water one way or another.
And it's fast.
You know, kids, when you're being fast, you know, it doesn't matter.
Well, can you relate, you think, to that, Anna?
Like, do you feel like you sometimes, like, because I feel like you, to me,
like, because we don't know each other that well.
Yeah, I know.
We kind of have crossed paths mostly through stand-up.
Yeah.
Yeah, do you feel like, and you always seem to me like, like, I always,
sometimes, sometimes with you, I always, because I always felt like there was
like a fire alarm going off or something sometimes.
Like, I get, that's the same kind of feeling I get sometimes.
From me?
Yeah.
Okay.
From you, or that's around you.
I'll take that.
No, but I like that.
Like, somebody behind you or something pulled a fire alarm, or maybe even you
just pulled it on your own back, and it's just, like, there's like.
There is that energy.
I've never heard anything even close to that, but that's pretty right on.
And sometimes it's the energy of me coming in.
I live in New York now, so, and in Manhattan, I do, and it's a much better
speed for me.
Because I'll, I'll zip around.
You live in Greenwich Village, right?
Yeah, in Greenwich Village.
And then I'll zip around to do three, four, five sets in a night, and that is a
better energy for me to just, like, run from the subway to the club, go right
up, do the set, like, get paid, talk to the people, then leave, run to the
subway, get on the subway, get out of the, go to a different.
That's kind of, I feel more comfortable in that energy, and I think that was
always a problem for me in Los Angeles, was that I had that energy.
But here, it's a lot more laid back, not just that Cali attitude, but also, you
know, you do one show in a night, maybe two shows, and if you're going to do
two, it's like a spot at the improv, and you'll make your way up to Laugh
Factory, so there's no rush, there's no hurry, there's no need for energy like
that.
And then, that energy.
It's more hype than hustle.
It's more hype than hustle.
Yeah, that's a good point.
There's no hustle energy.
Yeah, and so, the hustle energy, but that also works when you do film and
television, especially television.
Because they are moving quickly.
They need every, you know, minute costs this amount of money, and so they
appreciate that I'm like, all right, let's go, let's go, and then I just riff,
like, you know, five, six lines.
Okay, is that good?
Let's do it.
All right, let's get the cameras in a different position.
And you have moments of chilling and relaxing on a film set, and sometimes
people say it's a lot of waiting, but as soon as the knock comes down the
trailer door, you got to quickly get into it and go, and they need you on set
right away, and you go in front of the camera, and then boom, you got to go.
So, do you feel like, like, I feel like, and I get, I don't know, I hope I'm
not being judgmental, but I always feel like you're like, you remind me of,
like, a character.
Like, you remind me of, like, a.
That feels a little judgmental.
Does it?
No, no, no, no.
I think that's right.
I mean, here's.
Do you ever feel like that?
No, here's the sort of character is, like, I think it's funny.
Like, I feel like you're so talented, man.
I mean, any of the films I've seen you in, any time I've ever seen you perform,
I'm like, I don't know what is going on inside of this dude.
Like, this guy brought his own moons, you know?
Like, this guy's doing his own thing.
But there's, you know, I think my character would be, it's just, I'm equal
parts eccentric and kind of ostentatious, but all of that is because I think it's
funny.
It's like, I don't really care how I look.
I'd rather dress in a way that makes me laugh and other people laugh.
Yeah, yeah.
That's kind of fun.
And then Kate, she sort of fits my wife.
Kate is like, you know, also thinks it's funny.
And she kind of likes that I dress like this just because it's just clearly I
don't give a fuck.
You remind me of, like, kind of an Ignatius Riley.
Do you remember?
Can you bring that character up?
But more handsome.
He's, like, from Confederacy of Dungeons.
Do you remember that?
Yeah, yeah.
It's like an old New Orleans story.
Do you ever feel, because you're the only person I know that kind of rocks a mullet,
you know?
Yeah.
And so do you ever feel a little, within the context of your accent and your
sort of whole vibe, do you ever feel kind of like a character or no?
No, I feel like, I felt like.
Or is that sort of true to who you are in your background?
I think in my heart it makes me feel good having longer hair.
Nice.
And I always had, like, a big nose when I was, like, I still have it.
I don't see that, but maybe it's there.
A lot of brothers and sisters will come over to see what's up when I'm
wandering around.
So that's how I know.
Sometimes my bird will stop down here, you know, and kind of look up at it.
You get close.
You just get close.
That's when you know.
But, so I think for me, having long, I would see pictures of myself with
shorter hair and it would make me feel, I don't know, longer hair, I feel like
I can just hide a little bit, you know?
I just feel sometimes like I need a little bit more space from the world a
little bit sometimes.
That's interesting because there are, I think those are two types of comedians.
There's sort of a comedian that really actually in real life doesn't want to be
gregarious and outgoing and on and all that kind of stuff and maybe even feels
a little bit socially awkward.
And then it sounds like you take some pains to sort of say, okay, I need, you
know, a little bit of space here, a little bit of that.
And I sort of, I do a lot of things.
I don't at all feel like I have to be on all the time, as you can tell right
now, but I do kind of, I do exude this, yeah, fire alarm or just like a truly
nihilistic, don't give a fuck kind of thing.
But I'll change my appearance based on, based on characters that I'm playing a
lot.
The first time I had long hair was for a character that had just gotten out of
jail.
And that for me, that's my fire alarm.
That's the fire alarm going off.
It needs new batteries.
And I had, I grew long hair for it and I kind of grew a beard.
And then I sort of, some people started to say, oh, that's in fact, Chelsea
Handler was like, you look a lot better with longer hair because your head is
so oblong, you know?
And I think that's true.
You get that extended cab.
Yeah, then I'll kind of stick with it.
And then Kate just kind of likes this, Kate just kind of likes the, she likes a
six and a half o'clock shadow.
So I usually kind of keep that going.
But yeah, I mean, I don't, I'm less concerned about my appearance.
Like I'll cut weight for a role or I, when I did Silicon Valley, I always
gained weight for that character for Ehrlich.
But just being like, so like out, like you're out, you seem like outspoken even
like at your spirit kind of.
Like if that makes any sense, does it, is that, is it you, is it just you or do
you feel like you like?
No, that's me.
Cause it would seem exhausting to be able, like, I, you know, it's like a, it's
like when you see a guy like have those plates on the thing, you know, on the
spikes on those things that they usually cut meat off of or whatever.
Which I can do, by the way.
Can you really?
Yeah, I do a lot of circus art stuff actually in my act, right?
That's perfect.
Like that makes perfect sense, but I can spin plates and I juggle cigar boxes
and I'm a juggler and, and my act now is like this one man philosophy circus.
It's like, I have a ventriloquist dummy with a smaller ventriloquist dummy with
a sm