Netflix
When a person decides to become a comedian, having some jokes bomb is part of the territory. What starts to happen when they begin to become famous, though, is they start bombing in front of other famous people.
Take John Mulaney, for example, who was a guest on this week’s episode of Hot Ones. During the appearance, host Sean Evans asked Mulaney if he can recall any times when one of his jokes got rejected by someone that was hosting Saturday Night Live when he was a writer on the series.
And the first name that popped into Mulaney’s head was Josh Brolin.
“No need to name names, but what’s the worst reaction you ever recall getting from an SNL celebrity host to a sketch that you pitched them in?” Evans asked.
Mulaney, clearly not caring about naming names, immediately blurted out “Josh Brolin.”
“You said name names, right? Josh Brolin said, ‘Well, this isn’t funny!’ I was writing something and I started to walk him through it. And he went, ‘Yeah, no, but that… that’s not funny!’ And it was so matter of fact, I wouldn’t even call it the worst. I found it very refreshing. It was early enough on Tuesday night that I didn’t proceed with it. I’m actually not answering your question because it was such a gentlemanly exchange of ideas.”
Mulaney wasn’t done there, though, as he shared an anecdote about bombing in front of legendary Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger:
“There were others. I remember we had a joke when Mick Jagger hosted that was: ‘Hey everyone, I’m Mick Jagger, so mothers lock up your daughters, or should I say, daughters lock up your mothers.’ And he listened and he went, ‘No, I don’t like that.’ And I actually remember, I made Seth Meyers read that one.”
Mulaney’s latest special Baby J, which he says during the Hot Ones interview is the special that he’s most proud of, is now streaming on Netflix.