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(Last month, he added aguest appearance onAbbott Elementaryto his deep bench of credits.)
Thats almost certainly how you could characterize his time onSaturday Night Livefrom 2000 to 2001.
How did that affect your approach to sketch comedy?At first, it was something I didnt pursue.
I was doing more stand-up around town.
It didnt seem like a career; it was more of a hobby.
When I first started, I was still living at home and in college.
So by the time I was influenced by sketch, that was everything.
It seemed more up my alley, and it had this intersection of people with varying backgrounds.
I worked for Michael Moore.
I was a correspondent onThe Awful Truth, his show on Bravo, on the last season.
We met through Adam McKay theyd met maybe throughSNL.
He said, Oh, I have another friend from Flint that you should meet.
We spoke on the phone, and I did a little writing for him early on.
I sent some ideas in before he hired me.
I wasnt getting the satisfaction I really wanted creatively.
Actually, I met with Lorne originally around this time when I was doingThe Awful Truth.
How did the Lorne Michaels connection happen?I had a lot of friends at the show.
I actually had gone out a couple years before I got on.
But since I was onThe Martin Short Showin 99, I couldnt audition.
Then, years later, I happened to be in New York, and Lorne heard I was there.
He said, Do you want to come in and meet with me?
I dont know if I am going to be able to get you in the cast.
At that point, Tim Meadows was still in the cast.
So I didnt really have to audition.
I just came on.
Tim was still in the cast when I met with Lorne in 2000.
He quit right before I started.
You are one of a handful ofSNLcast members to also be aDaily Showcorrespondent.
It was a weird experience.
It was a different show then a lot more of making fun of people.
It was fun but a totally different experience from what I was used to.
I have to make friends with you and be personable.
That part I didnt feel comfortable with.
Within a very short time frame four years essentially you were onMr.
It was a different time for comedians like me, working in that kind of space.
It was a word-of-mouth kind of thing.
There was also an alternative-comedy thing going on, and thats right in my groove.
It just so happens thats my audience, and those are the people who were in theMr.
I was able to use that cachet to work a lot on different things.
Ive heard that Bob Odenkirk and David Cross essentially discovered you while doingMr.
Is that accurate?Yes, definitely.
They were just starting to workshopMr.
That sketch didnt end up airing until later.
They sent me an early cut of it, and I was like, Uh, good luck.
I wasnt in L.A. then for the live show showing the sketches theyd shot.
When I eventually saw the show, I thought it was amazing.
It was the first show of the season, but Tim hadnt come back.
I came up with the idea over the summer and toldHoratio Sanzabout it.
He was like, Youve got to do it.
They did your intro, so you could be in a sketch anytime you want.
We went to Lorne late one night: Hey, we want to do this sketch.
He said, Well, is it something for Tracy?
Actually, Horatio was the one to say, No, Jerry wants to do it.
Lorne was really apprehensive about putting me on air.
We did the sketch for read-through, and it killed.
Was Eminem in it at that point?He wasnt.
He was just the musical guest.
They asked him and he said no.
He does not joke around; hes not that kind of dude.
Hes like, I cantnottake a challenge.
So he had to be in it!
I went into his dressing room like, Can you get these lines right?
Then he was really into it and was really serious about being funny and doing the dance.
Craig landed Darryl onThe Officesoon after.I auditioned for Jim I thought I did pretty good!
They went a different way.
Someone took a picture of the call sheet, and it waseveryonein L.A.
I was a big fan of the show before then.
It was a musician part, and they were like, Well, Craig does this thing.
Could he do it?
We came up with it one night at his apartment.
I knew he played the keyboard.
All I had was the title.
Adam Sandler brought him it was a few months before he died.
He was sitting in the audience watching us rehearse.
I saw him get up after we got done.
He asked Sandler to help him up out of his seat.
I thought he hated it.
He came toward us and said, Thats the funniest thing Ive seen in my whole life.
I was like,Im done!
And Al Sharpton is still around your impression holds up!Remember Darrell Hammond in blackface?
I told him not to do it.
Thats what I loved about it.
He was just like, But Im sitting next to you now.
Makes the impression not as good.
All you see is a picture of it.
Jimmy Fallon as Chris Rockcomes to mind.He did a pretty good impression of him!
I tried to explain that to him.
You see that picture and you have no concept that he was doing Chris Rock.
All you see is him in blackface.
Any other memorable moments at the show?I did a charactercalled Willie Sluggs.
I didnt do the original sketch that I wrote.
I ended up doing a second sketch.
The original was the funniest.
I did it for the read-through and it didnt get on.
For some reason, you couldnt repeat sketches, so I did the same character, different sketch.
That was my favorite character to do it was really silly.
Any hosts or anyone there that especially blew you away working with them or pitching jokes?Eminem.
U2 I was pretty blown away when they played.
Ive stayed friends with a lot of people who were on the show.
Im pretty good friends with J.Los ex-husband, Cris Judd.
Her episode atSNLwas the beginning of their relationship.
She was still dating Puff Daddy as far as we knew.
That was the coming out.
He was her backup dancer, and she brought him to the read-through, sitting on his lap.
Diddy came to the show that week and confronted Cris.
He got into 30 Rock somehow with his security.
He came into their dressing room and was like, I want to talk to you!
He didnt threaten him or anything.
Cris was like, What are you going to do, beat me up?
They had this big argument about it.
You did only one season at the show.
It feels like you were a victim of circumstance.My experience wasnt as fun as it could have been.
I shouldve relaxed more.
I always thought,Why are we doing it this way?
So I was kind of frustrated when I arrived.
The cast seemed bloated.
It was hard to get stage time.
You appeared in so many great comedies once you leftSNL.
Does something likeAnchormancome about because you knew Will Ferrell from the cast?Adam McKay, yeah.
There was a whole story line: the bear, the son being kidnapped by a radical leftist group.
I ended up improvising a whole scene between me and Will that ended up getting cut.
And that scene ended up intact right until opening.
I think its still on the DVD.
I think they never really came up with a good idea, they just wanted me involved.
They had some ideas for where that character could go that never really went anywhere.
It was still fun to do.
Were going to end up improvising a lot of stuff.
I knew John through a lot of theMr.
Showguys and met him years before.
Id see him a lot at Largo we were acquaintances through that.
Whats next for you?I want to start directing.
Its one of the reasons I went back to Chicago this summer.
Thats where my concentration and all my efforts are: getting me in the directing path.
SNLis currently in one of its classic transition periods.
Advice for the current cast?Oh, I dont haveanyadvice I was only there for a year!
Dont do what I did!
Its not a really efficient, good way to do a show.
Itll be tough for a new cast, but theyll get into it.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
