From Dropout to 'Saturday Night Live' with Jeremy Culhane and Kurt Maloney

Do you have a good fake laugh

I don't think so. Do it. Do it. That's good. That's okay

I think that's good. That's okay. I think in a room in darkness, that's a good fake laugh

If it blends in. Yeah. But you might be the only laugh if you're fake laughing. Okay, do yours. That's good

Pushing a little. F*** you. Do yours. Yeah, it's yours. Bad. Worse

Can you imagine that? Yeah, I'm going to genuinely do it right now

That's horrifying. Really try. oi okay i was gonna follow it up with oi every time

one of my favorite episodes of dropout period is you're very important people

oh thank you it's so good and it's and it's also just like it's it's it's like i have to assume

that you made vic break way more often than they actually showed i think so i think like we were

both just laughing up a storm that day the lighting guy we sucked each other down and

then talked about our parents that was such a fun day to shoot I was so shocked with what they put

me in I thought I was like a rock star or something like that and then I opened my eyes and I'm hideous

it was so fun is that one of the days you left most on yeah that was one of my favorite days of

all time it was so fun to just mess around I'm like I realized that was a dream of mine just for

somebody to dress me up in a costume and me to just improvise as a character until like you find

it and you run with it so it was just truly so much fun yeah i watch it and i'm like this just

feels like heaven for like just an absolute like playground oh yeah for comedians and vick is so

good at making it feel like that yeah they really like push you to feel as comfortable as like off

the rails are spontaneous as you want to feel they'll follow you anywhere is there a damn drop

out that like that like you're like this is the most i've ever laughed on set um it hasn't come

out yet but we just try to make some noise that i'm really excited about that lou and i were in and uh it's just that it's just us giggling you know that's just the most fun part about it

uh if you can make someone break you're like yes i did it you know that truly is the the best uh

feeling one of the best days too when we were both at which was a side thing but it was part of the

Sam says the year long episode where we gotta eat dinner with that lemur

I was pretty tired too you want my yam? I think Siri just took a shit

oh my god that was crazy it's shit in your food yeah it's shit in my food

and they were like Jeremy you gonna eat that I'm like not after shit right there this was like

we were very new to drop out too and we were like called in as like

their friends so Jacob was Kurt's friend you were Lou's friend and Kimia was Vic's friend

And we all came in as like random buddies. I think I had done one thing at that time

Maybe you'd done one or two things. Gosh, that was so funny though. Jacob and Luke kept on paying us in cash

To like spend Sam's money. It's funny. And then they actually had a lemur. It was the cutest thing until it started like eating food off the plate and then s***ing right after it ate

And they were like, you don't want to finish your meal? I was like, absolutely not. Do you remember the production team kept yelling at us not to eat the food after the lemur s***

Like we were fake. We were like going to go, you know, for the show. Yeah, of course. And I like I not going to eat it Now it funny to make you sweat We had no idea what was going on They had set up all this elaborate stuff All of a sudden there a guy with a flute playing the most beautiful music I ever heard

Oh, pan flute. Pan flute. Dude, that, oh my God, it was so... He played us two baller songs

We were both like, whoa. It was crazy. It was a great day

It was truly just like, we were pampered and fed well until we were staying on our food

Yeah. For a community to be like, for them to be like, all right, we're going to set, we're going to set, we're going to create this setting for you

We're going to do everything that needs to happen in order for you to just, like, sit in this crazy circumstance and just play and react

Yeah. It's the easiest, funnest thing in the world. Yeah. We also did that party bus. I'm so happy to see y'all

This is great. Honestly, the best day of work I think I've ever had in my life. That was really early

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the year before, I think. No, that was a part of the year long

No, I think that was the year before. Oh, but that was... That led into the..

Yeah, because they shot that episode in two parts, and that was... I think it was the Sam Says thing the year before

Right. Anyway, we had to drive around in a party bus and try to make them, like, say weird..

I don't know. We all had, like, challenges to get them to say stuff. To lose points. Party bus at, what, 1 p.m. in the afternoon

1 p.m. in the afternoon? Oh, my gosh. It's a strange vibe. That's like family vacation vibe where it's just like..

It did feel like an RV. It was like a party bus with six people all sitting down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

We're having a great time. Yeah. And you have to do that thing where you're, like, dancing to music, but there's no music playing because they're going to add it in post

That's such an odd thing to do. That's such an odd thing to do. No one's to the same beat

Right, right. There's no beat. Yeah. How did you get on Dropout? So I've known Jake for a long time, and they held auditions

And Jake just threw my name in, and they gave me an audition. And then Paul auditioned me, who I also – I didn't realize, but I didn't realize he worked at Dropout, but I'd known him for forever

he's an old friend too and so when i got on the audition zoom he was like it is you and i went

it's you that's great what's the audition like they give you a couple prompts like make some

noise prompts and you just kind of do them and then uh they're very kind they're like if you

want to try again um or we can give you another one and i think i did three and he was like it was

he's very kind paul was like normally i give five but like i think i get it you're good we're just

gonna patch your name along i was like oh hell yeah bragging i did three hell yeah three instead

five and and how about you how'd you get pulled in similar thing i think either jake or lou uh maybe

i can't i don't actually know there were they're held i think it was probably maybe a year or two

before that they held maybe they just did one year before yeah i think i came in the year after

they held in-person auditions they were more like big group people that they were seeing and so i did

the same thing a couple prompts and in front of paul yeah and then i got added which was great

I was so excited. That's amazing. So many people are talking about how like Dropout is, I mean, pun intended, but like, you know, it's changing the game right now as far as like how content is consumed, how comedy is consumed

For the longest time, like, it was like, oh, like, you know, like improv is great, but it can't really be monetized

Like, how do you, like, you know, how do you, how do you make it something that like people are going to continue to come back and watch and pay for

And I feel like Dropout has figured not only how to do that, but also, yeah, like how to create this whole new space for people to go and view content that isn't YouTube or isn't a website

How has that been from the inside? It's been great. Yeah truly I do think I mean I been doing improv since 2004 And when I first started that how old I am And when I first started I was asking my coach how do I do this as a career

And he's like, it's not a career. It's just a hobby. Like, there's no money in it. You can coach. You'll make a couple hundred bucks

But like, it's just sort of a hobby. And I think there was sort of a whole generation that came up like, there's something here

We can make this. We all grew up on whose line is it anyway? Right. It was like, who's like, can make money doing it

And they kind of cracked the code and figured out short form on TV and other people tried it

And like, I think Dropout found a way to put a version of short form improv on TV in the form of a game show

And it's just kind of, I think everyone else is kind of like, it was right there and we didn't see it

But Sam put it in the game show format and it works. I've invited you here because you're all the best in your fields. Demolitions

Sleight of hand Face man Driver And my nephew TJ I feel like whatever this is

Whatever it's going to Like it's not in its full form yet Like it's like I feel like

It's emerging Yeah Which is really exciting to be on the front lines Of an emerging kind of thing Yeah

And you're on I mean you're part of that emerging thing And you're also now on a 50 year old Yeah

Old school Hollywood Like established I mean which changed the game for sketch comedy on television

This is a dream come true. How's that been? It's been amazing. I've been loving every second of it

I didn't realize that when I got there, I was really worried about the time and the schedule and all this stuff

And kind of like after the first two weeks, I was like, oh, I've just been doing this schedule for free my whole life

For the last 10 years of my life, I've been doing sketch and characters and joking around late at night until the wee hours and just getting maybe $12

And you're like, ah, yay. And now it's like – and it's just such a crazy institution to be a part of

It's just so fun. I'm having a really, really fun time. It seems like it. Yeah

The Tucker Carlson sketch from the other day is fun. Thank you. Yeah, that was a blast. What are we doing

What's going on? And you have to do impressions. Are those the kinds of impressions that you like to do

Yeah. I mean how it works is not like they're like go do this impression a lot of the time

It's mostly like what do you have? And I had totally forgotten I had that impression

I just was I did it like two years ago I was gonna say I remember like a couple years ago you were

like people keep telling me I look like Tucker Carlson so I don't remember ever like but I

I was like oh yeah let me mess around with that totally forgot about it and then this last week

someone was like oh we want to do something like this and I was like oh wait I think I can do a

Tucker Carlson and so we wrote it together and that's how it kind of came to be and then everybody

was like why did you not do this earlier on the show and I was like because I forgot right

yeah that's so funny in your first season why didn't you do this earlier you're like i'm year

one this is me coming out the gate and i actually made me realize like there might be so many good

things for the show that i've forgotten about that i can't are you like like scrolling through like

i'm scrolling through so many notes and scripts and writer duets and final drafts just going like

what what my memory for these things is just so like fleeting it's i treat all comedy like improv

So like once it's done, it's done. And I kind of forget that I ever did that character

Yeah. Like monks painting with sand. Usually after I do a character twice, I'm like, and I release it for the world

But this job requires you to like have some really good characters And I know I did good characters I just don remember So if anybody has seen me do a funny character reach out to me

Remind me of these characters. When you came, like, what's your like, I don't know, like nervousness level been

I know that like, you know, this is a fly on the wall. And Dana Carvey was like, I didn't feel like I was in the pocket to like year nine or whatever

Have you been navigating that? It's like crazy nerve wracking, but not impossible

So it's like very scary, but also it's really, really fun because there's like a middle line where sometimes I'm like, I, I didn't feel as nervous as I thought I would be

And that is the best feeling in the world. And then sometimes you're like, I feel weirdly nervous about this

How the show works is it's like you do on Saturday, you do run through all the sketches and then you do a dress rehearsal and then you do air

I think my, I'm actually a lot more nervous going into dress rehearsal because it's like the first time I've done it

I've never put it in front of an audience. And my young brain does not understand that I've yet to connect that dress rehearsal is not on TV and air is on TV

So in my head, it's just like I'm scared for dress to perform it in front of an audience

Air, I'm just running it back. I just did it 20 minutes ago. Let me just do it again

My brain has yet to connect that it's on TV yet, I think. So maybe that will change

But right now, I'm a lot more nervous around dress rehearsal than air. That makes sense

And they're both in front of an audience. Yeah. So it makes sense to be like, okay, no, like, okay, we did it once

Yeah. Like, like the. I know how it went with this audience. I know how to like tweak it to like play maybe this part better for a new audience

And, oh, it's like you have a new audience. So it's like comparing the two

It's just a little different. So that's where I've been most nervous, I think. That makes sense

You haven't done Dropout that long? About two years. Two years, yeah

Is there anything that you haven't done yet on Dropout that you're really excited to do

Yeah, I mean, VIP for sure. That show is – that's the show to get on, right

You get to be in a wonderful costume and then just hang out with Vic all day

It's great. And then – oh, and this is going to be bad because I was asked to do it and then it didn't work out

What's the presenting one? Smarty Pants. Smarty Pants. I got asked to be a sub for Smarty Pants and came up with a really fun presentation

they ask like nine extra comics just in case because if people get sick or back out you have

to come up with a whole 15 minute like presentation um and so i think i'll be on that next season which

is very exciting oh nice that's something that i think i mean a lot of viewers probably don't know

is like is like is like and i feel like a lot of people just assume with like comedy in general is

that like oh like you're funny people you just show up and you show up you figure it out and

and it and it and magic happens yeah but like the amount of planning that goes into drop specifically

with uh with smarty pants because it i mean you are basically doing a 10 minute stand-up routine

it's the only one that you come in with a written kind of script that you wrote um as opposed to all

the other ones you have no idea what you're gonna do so you just show up on the day you get hair and makeup and then you go do improv um so that i think there's a fun challenge to like yes i'm

funny off the cuff but am i funny when i sit down and write up like a you know a 10 minute

monologue is that watchable we'll see we'll see can we all fake laugh to end yes that sounds great

thanks guys