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No one guessed a silly yet earnest musical variety show co-starring 15 kids ages 8 through 13.
But thats what we got withJohn Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunchthis past Christmas.
you’re free to read some excerpts from the transcript or listen to the full episode below.
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So youre working within that structure.
And stand-up-wise, Im working within the forms that already exist but putting a spin on them.
This idea did not originate that way.
The original seedlings were just,Oh, a school gym when they have a play.
But ran it likeSNLand did it live?That was my idea.
I said, No, wed have a dress rehearsal and then wed have meetings.
And she has a kid, and I dont, so I said, Agree to disagree.
We were kicking around this idea of school theater.
You know,Our Townhas the stage manager; I thought I could be something like that.
And I said, Nope.
And they both had Paul Simon on a lot in the 70s, so that intrigued me.
That world Reading Rainbowand all that.
So all that bouillabaisse, which is a French fish soup, got stirred together.
And then once Marika and I finished the script, then we knew what it was.
But before that, we did not.
Im from Illinois, and I dont know why I thought that.
Mickey Rooney or something.
None of them were Mickey Rooney.
They were extremely talented.
But when you called cut, they were kids, and you could talk to them like regular kids.
And he says, Any questions?
And all the questions the kids have are like, What does your home look like?
Like, describe it.
And then Camille says, Is it a mid-rise, the kind of building that looks like a hospital?
And we just keep asking questions and speculating about his life.
And someone says, Are you your mothers guardian?
I bet hes his mothers guardian.
That was a lot of fun.
So, paying adults: like come.
I need that demo financially.
But kids enjoying it to the point that theydo it on TikTokis very rewarding.
Heres what I thought Id teach them:Hi.
Im an adult, and Im not going to talk to you like Im an idiot.
Im not going to get on the floor and crawl around.
Lets have a conversation.I didnt have to teach them that.
They were good at that right away.
Tyler was even better at it than me.
I went up to him after a table read, and I was like, What do you think?
He said, That was pretty good.
I said, You think that one worked?
He said, Yeah, I think it works.
I wanted to give them a few lessons, all of which Im glad I didnt.
You know, the importance of not overlooking revenge, that revenge gets a bad rap.
And I did want to tell them that people will lie to them; theyll lie to their face.
Theyll say, I swear.
I swear to you, my kids, I would never tell Page Six that.
But dont say, I think youre lying, because theyll just keep denying it.
Just go, Okay, and take it.
Those were the lessons I wanted to tell.
