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Great interview, Jesse. Zach's story about his days on "Tru Calling" had me cracking up. Also, I have to say, I love "Live at the Purple Onion".

If anyone deserves a reality show, it's Zach, especially since he's slowly losing his mind.

I really enjoyed this interview. Great job, Jesse!

I'm guessing the "oregano" that he indulged in on his interview for AST was not in play on TSOYA.
I have to say, I don't have a lot of respect for ZG's approach. It seems like he's always hoping for his projects to fail. If he feels like he's selling out to do something, better not to do it than to do it half-ass and internally sabotage the project.
In interviews with Chris Elliot, Crispin Glover, and Paul Feig, they talked about their approach to doing things that are more mainstream than their particular taste. They seemed to approach it in a way that was much more grateful and a lot less contemptuous.
He's a funny guy, for sure, but I think he came off like a selfish brat.

I don't know if it's so much half-assed, wadeworld, as much as it is a protective mechanism from having so many failed projects or crappy projects just to make a little money, and having to deal with "industry" and "business" people second-guessing everything you do to make money. I think you just must get impatient and and tired almost resigned to the process, and that level of how much you can take varies across personalities.

And I think Jesse kind of questioned this, almost calling him out on it in a respectful way - like when he was asking about when is he actually going kinda nuts and when is he just acting.

I've long appreciated Zach, but never cared for the way he comes off in interviews. Jesse was tough without being confrontational and really challenged him to explain himself and I think he came across more favorably because of it, even when compared to his prior TSOYA appearance. Pot-obsessed narcissist or not, he always makes for a good listen.

I'm a very big fan of his humor, but there's something that has been nagging at me. He uses race in a way that seems to assume that there is something inherently funny about being black. The references to Patrick Ewing, the Fugees, Big Momma's House, That's So Raven and so forth and usually absurd and sometimes funny but all rely in part on this idea. Am I way off on this?

I hear you, mic_dee. I'd say the joke is much more about the contrast between the way we see Zach and the way we see black folks... there's also a sort of a tenderness underneath everything that Zach does.

Did you see the Atlantic City episode of CofC?

Jesse, you have a good point on the tenderness issue. That really came through in the Atlantic City episode, where he really was the hero. Is my beef with the audience for laughing particularly hard at those bits? I was at the screening of the new DVD and the UCB and the bit where Seth is talking about the Fugees got this condescending uproarious laugh. I get the joke and it was funny, but it sort of reminded me of those moments Dave Chapelle talked about when some jokes would go over too well.

Sem related: Zach used to have this joke about how you never hear a black person say "I've got to home home to watch Fraiser". He did this joke on Jimmy Kimmel several years ago and at the end of the set, Jimmy surprised him, or at least appeared to, with a gospel choir coming behind him, singing "Gonna go watch Fraiser!" Good stuff.

I don't think he intentionally sabotages his projects, he just has a realistic idea of their shelf life.

I'm a huge fan of Zach's and just got the chance to see him live two weeks ago at Irving Plaza in NYC. I have never heard him do a serious interview so Jesse's interview was a treat. To me it seems like Zach has a tendency to lose interest in projects as soon as they begin to take off. I really relate to this bad habit. Everytime I sell one of my ideas, I think I must have sold out somehow to get it made. It's like a guilt thing and a self-sabotage thing. So I lose interest because I think it must be beneath me. I see myself do it time and again, but everytime it feels sincere. And maybe there is a truth to it. You do have to sell out a little bit to get others to work with you. Everytime you add a person to the project, it gets watered down from how you would do it if you were working alone. But you need those other people to make it happen. So, there's a compromise that must happen. And some people are too hard on themselves about it. It sounds like Zach is one of those people.

Awesome interview. I've also been watching Late World lately, and it's great (and incredibly odd).


Yeah. While it's obviously not good to sabotage everything you do, I don't think Zach does that. He's aware that his style of comedy isn't likely to become a mainstream hit any time soon. And, honestly, how much of a problem can anyone really have with him trying to sabotage something like Tru Calling?

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If you have so little respect for a project that you hope it gets cancelled immediately, don't do it.

I feel like you probably get enough money from a project like Tru Calling to be able to spend some time on what you really love. I know some friends who do commercial work, get that out of the way, and then move on to trying to do there own awesome thing.

I guess the question is if there is something wrong with that. I guess I don't think there is.

Exactly. A lot of us hate our jobs and want to get fired, but we stay because we like having an apartment, a car, heating/air conditioning, cable, a dog and a collection of Broadway showtunes.

Disliking your job, but doing it in a professional manner anyway- that's one thing.
Disliking your job to the point that it contributes to the failure of the company and the loss of other people's jobs is completely different.
Maybe if he tried a little harder on a few of the jobs that are so beneath him, he'd have to do fewer of them.
I just don't think "I was eating a lot of pot cookies," is a very good excuse.
Also, maybe it is part of "Doing the Rounds" when you are putting something out, but the guy says the same things on his interview with AV Club and Dead Frog.