Name: Kumail Nanjiani w/ Sam Morril & Mark Normand - We Might Be Drunk Podcast
Uploaded: 2025-06-30T01:00:52.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Kumail Nanjiani w/ Sam Morril & Mark Normand - We Might Be Drunk Podcast' from We Might Be Drunk Podcast on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-06-30. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Kumail Nanjiani w/ Sam Morril & Mark Normand - We Might Be Drunk Podcast' from We Might Be Drunk Podcast on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-06-30. Transcript available.

Kumail Nanjiani w/ Sam Morril & Mark Normand - We Might Be Drunk Podcast

Hey, we might be drunk. We're here with Kumail Nanjiani, my old pal back in New
York.
Old buddies, my God. We did open mics together in New York, 2007.
We did every alt room from here to Queens, Long Island City, to Manhattan, to
Brooklyn.
The day I moved to New York, I brought my truck, me and Emily, with a car hitched
behind us,
and then they wouldn't go over the bridge, so she took the car. I had to figure
out how to do it.
Nightmare, I got there. Friends helped me move in. That night, I went to
Kingdom of Heaven.
Wow.
That night, I'm like, I cannot believe Emily let me fucking do that.
Yes.
It's an open mic that John F. O'Donnell used to run.
At the Creek in the Cave.
At the Creek in the Cave in Queens.
Yeah, and it would be Sean Patton, Jesse Popp.
That's where I met all these guys. I met all you guys my first day in New York.
Wow.
That whole, like, New Orleans crew, you know, like Cassidy and Chesley and
everybody.
Well, the big news about you, or the big word on the street, because you were
rising.
We were all idiots and drunks and whatever, but you were like, you had a
mission.
You were like, I'm going for it, and I never saw you bomb.
I've never seen you bomb.
You know, I texted you recently, I was just like, I'm proud of you, all your
success and
all that.
Thank you.
And you said, never saw you bomb, and I know coming from you, that means a lot.
Yes.
Thank you.
I like hearing that.
Because I was in every shit show, every outhouse, townhouse, backhouse.
I can't picture you, but I mean, I remember doing a lot of those shows with you,
and yeah,
you always seem to have a hot set.
Always.
The advantage I had over all you guys was, I was five years in by the time I
got here,
so I was doing it five years in Chicago, and when I got here, like The Creek
and the Cave,
that first set, which I thought, you know, was great, was like five years of
material in
five minutes.
Oh, I was like, this guy's a natural.
He wrote that today.
So, my first couple months in, you know, you burned through it, but my first
couple months
in New York, all the open mics, you guys were trying new shit.
Yes.
I was doing shit that I'd done in Chicago.
Now you tell me.
I just thought you were this natural.
But I will say that as soon as I moved to New York, my stand-up writing
completely changed,
and my stand-up style completely changed.
New York completely changed.
I would have changed it.
It became a lot more conversational, became like longer jokes, and Chicago's
definitely
set up punch.
I moved to New York, and doing the alt rooms in New York, UCB, you had to hide
your punchlines.
Yes.
It couldn't sound like you were doing stand-up.
Yes, totally.
Like, it had to feel like you were just kind of, like, talking, and then every
now and
then they would laugh.
You're doing your A material like, what else?
Exactly.
Yeah, the Garofalo effect.
Exactly.
So, you had to really, really, like, downplay it.
So, it changed my writing style.
I was like, oh, it can't be that set-up punchy anymore.
It's got to be, like, you know, under the surface a little bit.
Yes, and you gave me the advice, you go, always do a riff-up top, no matter
what.
If it's the best riff, just do a riff-up top, because it shows you're in the
room.
It's great.
It's great.
It really works.
It really works.
It makes you comfortable.
It makes you feel like, oh, I fucking did that.
And more often than not, you're going to stumble on something.
Yes, yes.
Yeah, and then you're like, oh, wow, I did that well with shit I hadn't even
written.
Right.
Wait until I get to the stuff I had in the workshop.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it was an exercise.
It's still like, even to this day, like, you do a regular seller set.
You're like, if I can get a riff off the last comic.
Yeah.
You get a boost.
There's a lesbian comic before me, and she walked by me and touched my arm.
And I'm like, I know she's a lesbian, but I flexed when she touched my arm.
That's all it.
They pop, and I was like, I'm in.
All right, I'm in.
All right, baby.
There you go.
Smooth state.
I heard her laugh in the room, and I was like, got it.
Yeah, that helps.
That helps.
But yeah, those were fun times.
It didn't matter as much.
It was all for the love of the – it wasn't like we were chasing a clip.
It was just like, give me a good bit.
I wonder how much New York has changed, because I will say, you know, when I
shoot here, I
go up here.
I go up at the cellar.
I never used to go up at the cellar when I lived here.
Now, whenever I'm here, I go up at the cellar.
If you're going to do stand-up, New York is so much better than L.A.
that it's not even the same fucking country.
It's so different, because here, you know, I've seen you go up a bunch here.
People are just always writing, doing new stuff.
It's about the stand-up.
I don't know how the clip thing has changed at L.A., you'll see the same dudes
doing the
same set five, six years in a row, you know, because they're not there to
really – there's
funny comedians, but New York is different.
I'd have to become a full-fledged alcoholic.
If I was doing the same act, I would hate going up.
Yeah.
If I was doing the same act for five years, I think I'd be like, what's – it's
not fun.
Still my most recurring nightmare, even though I didn't do stand-up for so many
years and
I started up again, my most recurring nightmare is I have a show, and I don't
have any material
that I want to do, that I'm excited about.
It's still the nightmare that I have most of them.
Well, the new idea – I mean, look, killing is fun, but a new idea starting to
work, there's
nothing better.
That's the real dopamine.
It's the most exciting.
I remember, you know, doing 50 First Jokes?
Yes.
Oh, yeah.
Doing that.
I remember doing a bit there for the first time and being like, wow, I have a
new bit,
and it's fucking great.
Yeah, Gavkin has five kids.
He's famous for saying, I got five kids, but a new idea is my favorite thing in
the world.
Yeah.
And I totally get it.
I thought I was going to say, I love his bit where he's like, I have five kids,
and
if you want to know what that's like, it's like you're drowning and someone
hands you
another kid.
Yeah, it's a great joke.
That's one of his lines?
Yeah.
He's so funny.
Yeah, he's a beast.
He's also to hang out with.
Yeah.
Like, a lot cattier than you think he's going to be.
It's constantly roasting, like he's so funny and just cutting you, like going
at everybody.
He's so good.
He's good.
He's got some venom.
I did a thing with my – we're making –
Which I love.
Me too.
We did a bit part in this movie I was making, and he didn't even read the
script, and he
just called me and my friend gay for like 10 minutes straight, and we were like,
what
the fuck is that?
Yeah.
But if we watched, I'm like, this is gold.
Yeah.
The way he's calling us gay is good.
He's got a clean comedian.
He's a really good actor too.
Yes.
I saw him on a law and order.
He plays like a serial killer, and he was like, oh, this guy's like a real
actor.
Dude, they recycled him.
He's on like three – he's like a predator, a rapist.
He's like –
He's done all – yeah.
All kinds of bad shit.
Yeah, yeah.
You know?
He wants to act.
Well, you act now, or you always act.
You're a big actor.
When we were hanging out back then, I never acted.
I didn't act until –
But did you have ambitions of acting then?
No.
Really?
Not at all.
I just wanted to do stand-up.
Wow.
It happened because I started – I wanted a writing job, you know, because
like it's impossible
to make money doing stand-up in New York unless you're doing like The Cellar
all the time
or touring.
I wanted a writing job, and I ended up getting a writing job on a show called
Michael and Michael
Have Issues, which was –
Comedy Central?
Comedy Central, Michael Ian Black, and Michael Showalter.
Yes, yes.
And me and Jesse Klein, who's an amazing writer and stand-up, were the only two
writers,
and the two Michaels, four of us.
They're – those guys.
And they were like, we want you guys to be in the show.
And then they wrote us parts, and I had to audition five times to play myself.
Wow.
And I would go to the floor where they would – sometimes, you know, I'd go to
the floor
where they were auditioning, and I'd walk by like a bunch of brown dudes, all
like more
handsome versions of me, reading pages with my name on them.
What?
Four lines that had written for me to say.
Wow.
They're like, sorry, dude, we're going with Dev Patel.
Yeah.
Killed it.
That I even get, you know.
Wow.
Yeah.
And then Showalter directed The Big Six, so we're still like –
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
That was a big milestone.
You're like, holy shit, Kumail, not only is he acting and stuff, he made a
fucking movie.
And you got Romano in it.
Yeah.
Romano's the best.
Romano's the best.
Sweet man.
He's a great dude.
Yeah.
Sweet guy.
Really great.
So funny.
Still does stand-up at the cellar.
Still hilarious.
Dude, his stuff is so –
He's amazing.
He's kind of – he's so famous from Raymond that he's kind of underrated now
as a stand-up.
Right.
I think he's underrated across the board.
I think the show, Everybody Loves Raymond is underrated.
Yeah.
I think that's one of the great –
It did pretty well.
It did well.
It's hard to call the show underrated.
You know, they don't talk about it as, like, one of the great sitcoms of all
time.
And I think it's in that conversation.
It's a great show.
I think it's really, really good.
I think – he's underrated as a dramatic actor.
He's, like, a really good actor.
Yeah, yeah.
And he's underrated as a stand-up.
I remember seeing his stand-up, like, you know, from before his show where he's
talking
about his twins and, like, the orange juice they give you in, like, a little thimble.
Yes, yes.
So funny.
So funny.
So good.
Yeah.
I remember him on Dr. Katz back in the day.
And you'd be like, these are good fucking bits.
That was a great show.
I love Dr. Katz.
I saw Jake Johansson on there.
Oh, yeah.
He was, like – Jake Johansson was, like, my god.
Was he your guy?
He was my guy.
Interesting.
Jake Johansson was my guy.
50 Lettermans or something crazy?
Something like that, yeah.
All killer sets.
Yeah.
Yeah.
His HBO special from, like, 93 called This Will Take About An Hour.
Great title for a special.
That is great.
It's one of my favorite specials.
I got to rewatch – I saw that years ago, but I got to rewatch it because –
Really, really good.
I remember the Hot Letterman set back in the day.
Oh, yeah.
When he did the Cyclone bit.
I remember that.
That was a hot set, man.
Cyclone, Heroin, the Cake bit.
I remember all your bits.
All those bits were –
Heroin was a big bit.
That was a big one.
That was a big one.
Heroin was the first one here that, you know, sort of, like – that's how my
writing changed.
So, like, Heroin, Cyclone, we're saying all these as if everybody knows what
these fucking bits are.
But, like, I was –
Well, you can probably get a bit somewhere.
I started doing these longer bits, and I started – that all of those I wrote,
like, my first few months in New York.
Even though it was so stressful being in New York, having no money, I was the
most, like – the most I ever wrote.
The most, like –
Yep.
Creatively engaged.
Yes.
It was great.
Like, you know, we were out every night.
Every night.
Every night.
And then you showcased – the comics were the audience a lot of times.
So, when you had a real audience, you could really kill it because we were
running with weights on constantly.
Then you go to Cabin.
Yeah.
And you get to showcase all the new shit.
In front of 23 paying people.
Yes.
Not paying.
Not even paying.
Not paying.
They were just there.
That was that tiny room.
But you never see – Jeselnik's coming by.
Kumail Hannibal.
Oh, there's Gaffigan.
Oh, shit.
I remember Jesse Eisenberg would come watch it sometimes.
Whoa.
I didn't know that.
Yeah.
Jesse Eisenberg is a big stand-up fan.
We don't have to watch this.
Please.
No, no, no.
This is not a good performance of it.
Find another one.
I'll tell you where.
It's Letterman, you know?