Adam Pally discusses ‘Game of Bros’ and his one weird night with Shaq

Adam Pally’s work resume should just read “professional bro.”

On TV, Adam plays guys everyone wants to hang with — whether it was Max Blum on Happy Endings or Dr. Peter Prentice on The Mindy Project — Pally is the go-to guy for “the typical bro.”

It only makes sense that Adam would spearhead the Game of Bros — a competition of guys from eight different fraternities competing for the bragging rights to be “the bro’est of bros.”

Adam stopped by to talk about Game of Bros, how an improv trick might or might not work with a woman and his one crazy night with Shaquille O’Neill.

On ‘The Mindy Project’, your character Dr. Peter Prentice is a textbook definition of a bro. He is a womanizer and often a dick to woman. Isn’t gynecology on odd career choice for him though?

It’s not the worst career choice because it also allows him to see the most women on any given day. I think the cool thing about the Peter Prentice character is while he is a bro he’s also very good at his job. So it shows a lot of different sides to him.

Is there any part of you in the Peter Prentice character?

Oh totally. I am that guy. Except I screwed up, got married, and had kids. I tried to follow Peter’s principles but I screwed up somewhere down the line.

To this day, people are still pissed that ‘Happy Endings’ got cancelled. What do you say to those fans?

I say “thank you very much” but what I get the most about Happy Endings is people ask if it’s still on the air. So I’ve got to cancel it for those people all over again. I did one time tell this person it’s only available on phones. I like to imagine that person is still searching his phone for it.

You started your comedy career at the Upright Citizens Brigade. What’s one improv skill that would benefit the average guy in every day life?

I think it’s “yes, and…” and it’s a way to teach people about comedy but it’s also beneficial in the real world. Saying yes to things opens people up to a ton of new experiences just by saying “yes, and..” instead of just no.

Does that also work with women? If a woman continues to turn you down.

No, that would be rape.

No, not sexually. I mean if a woman continues to say no, you could say, how about “yes, and…”

No, still, what you’re describing is rape. So it doesn’t really work with women.

Your IMDB page is a picture of you and Shaquille O’Neill at a party. How the hell did that happen?

It’s a long story so I’ll give you the abbreviated version – my first season on Happy Endings I went to these critics choice awards. And the critics ask a bunch of questions about the show. The critics were asking a bunch of questions and let’s just say I was answering them ‘comedically’ and it wasn’t going over very well. The critics kind of bashed me for it and the only person who came to my defense that night was Shaquille O’Neill.

I was eating sushi and he tapped me on the back and goes [in Shaq voice] “you wanna put that sushi down and take a picture with me?” And I did and it’s now the photo on my IMDB page.

Do you think Shaq would be good at improv?

Yeah, he’s pretty quick, thinks on his feet, he’s certainly funny. I think he’d do well. There might be an issue with him actually fitting on a stage, especially under some of the sets at UCB, but we’d figure something out.

Game of Bros — how did you get involved?

Norelco came to with an idea for a short video series about the Philips Norelco Click & Style. I use the Click & Style often because when you’re a hairy dude, like myself, there are several ways to groom my scruff. So Game of Bros is a comedic look at all the ways to use this razor.

I think it’s kind of cool to learn about a product while getting a laugh.

People think it’s better to not shave in the winter but I’ll argue it’s better to not shave in the summer. Is there a worse season to shave?

Well, I like to not shave ever. But at least this razor makes it easier. I do tend to go with a bigger beard in the winter since I’m a little fatter than most dudes. It hides my face. My chin is where I gain the most weight. I tend to grow facial hair depending on how fat I am at that moment. Right now, I’m sporting an enormous ZZ Top beard.

Do you plan on shaving or losing weight?

Shaving because I give losing weight very little effort.

Chris Illuminati avatar
Chris Illuminati is a 5-time published author and recovering a**hole who writes about running, parenting, and professional wrestling.