With the first episode [of John Mulaney Show] I tell a story that happened to me accidentally chasing a woman down the subway.
John MulaneyI always wanted it to be multi-cam from the beginning. In the first seeds of the idea, I wanted a live audience, multi-cam show. That was very important for me.
John MulaneyIn every case, I find pre-planning noble, but not always that useful in comedy. You know comedy once you're doing it.
John MulaneyYou can't always see both sides of the story. Eventually, you have to pick a side and stick with it. No more equivocating. You have to commit.
John MulaneyThe best-case scenario is everything goes perfect and smooth, but we're also a new and weird show. So all my conversations were, "Hey last night didn't go perfect but we kind of know what we've got in store for everybody episode-wise."
John MulaneyI was always the squarest person in the cool room, and alternatively, sometimes the weirder person at the mainstream table.
John MulaneyAll my money is in a savings account. My dad has explained the stock market to me maybe 75 times. I still don't understand it.
John MulaneyIf I was at the Comedy Cellar at midnight you yelled at the back of the room. But you, for television, play it to the camera because yes you're communicating to the people at home using the studio audience that's right in front of you as a guide for that.
John MulaneyI'm a very straightforward person. But that's fine for a comedian. Because a lot of times you're talking about everyone else.
John MulaneyI really set out to do this traditional looking and traditional sounding multi-cam sitcom, but then make the world as elastic as an animated show could be. Make the world as surreal as we wanted it to be.
John MulaneyIt was funny to be an emcee, because you're so at the mercy of the club. You can show up for the weekend hoping to get the $400 - and get fired. I had to prank whoever they told me to prank.
John MulaneyI had a lot of fun writing things that died during dress rehearsal. Sometimes I remember the crazy ones that died even more fondly than the ones that did really well.
John MulaneyI wish I could go tell 12-year-old me like I don't worry that you just fainted in front of all the girls, one day you'll be able to make this into an episode of TV.
John MulaneyAn episode that is near and dear to my heart is the entire cast in one room for the night because we get bed bugs in our apartment building so we have to stay with Martin Short.
John MulaneyOn Friday night, it was fun [to know] that if you bombed, or whatever was going on, that you'd be on TV at 11. It was a cool feeling, and you'd get a couple hundred dollars.
John MulaneyComfort is everything. You start doing something and you want it to be perfect right away, but most babies are born ugly and then they shake it out and you get beautiful toddlers.
John MulaneyIll book a ticket on some garbage airline. I dont wanna name an actual airline so lets make one up, lets just call it like Delta Airlines
John MulaneyMy standup persona is like I'll heighten things, but I'm observing the world as it is in sort of a heightened emotional state.
John MulaneyI was just trying to blend the standup that I do almost with like the visual sketch stuff that I did on "Saturday Night Live." And so in terms of how elastic in the world is, we'll see what we can get away with [in John Mulaney show].
John MulaneyI like to turn on the TV and watch whatever's on. Nick Kroll does that a lot. He doesn't watch important shows. He'll just turn on a documentary on Mia Hamm and watch it for an hour. Whatever's on, we watch.
John MulaneyIf you’re comparing the badness of two words and you won’t even say one of them [the n-word], that’s the worse word.
John MulaneyYou all have a relative who is an expert even though they really don't know what they're talking about.
John MulaneyI plan to join the 'SNL' band as a maraca player and stand behind saxophonist Lenny Pickett. That way they will at least cut to me before commercial breaks. I'll be sure to look right into camera.
John MulaneyI think for many of us - speaking for just a pocket of the country - we trusted Obama. So when you leave your baby with your mom to watch, you don't run home and check the nanny cam. But now we've left the baby with Gary Busey, so we're going to be a lot more on it.
John MulaneyGoing on the road for long stretches can seem daunting, and I certainly miss being home sometimes, but the chance to see so many different cities, let alone perform in them, is something I am really grateful for.
John MulaneyIt's nice when you're nervous and everybody's like, "Yeah, you should be nervous." Because a lot of times you're anxious and people say, "Relax. Shut up." And that just feels like, Well, I guess I'm also crazy.
John MulaneyIf something is very, very funny but possibly controversial, if it's truly funny, then it's worth doing. Things aren't worth doing for the sake of being controversial.
John MulaneyI do longer runs on things, a lot stories. I really like one-liners, I like a lot of different kinds of standup but I've always been long-winded.
John MulaneyI have a lot of stories about being a kid because it was the last time I was interesting.
John MulaneyThe more you do stuff, the better you get at dealing with how you still fail at it a lot of the time.
John MulaneyPart of standup is being loose and having a good time yourself and that translates to the audience.
John MulaneyI have tons of jokes with moments in them over the years in stand-up that don't get a laugh but I love them so they stay.
John MulaneyI never turn on the crowd. Sometimes, you think it's a terrible show, and then afterward, sometimes people say they really liked it. So turning on the crowd is only going to alienate the few people who might like it.
John MulaneyHaving done stand-up on television and in stand-up specials for like Comedy Central, you learn quickly that for that type of performance you're playing to the camera.
John MulaneyOccasionally you get that one person that says "I really like that one part of this joke" and you go, "Oh thank you that's my favorite part too." But no, in order for it to be authentic hopefully you have jokes that everyone can just get on board with and then you have a few things for yourself.
John MulaneyIt's really fun to be writing and producing your own sketches. You almost have more control.
John MulaneyA lot of comedy clubs are set up with people sitting at little tables and you have everything from the way they are seated to them ordering or taking a sip of a drink, these can make a comedian go harder and faster in a club.
John Mulaney