Q’A with Michael McDonald

MADtv star Michael McDonald talks about his career and his jokes with The Pitt News before his… MADtv star Michael McDonald talks about his career and his jokes with The Pitt News before his upcoming show. The Pitt News: According to the valued source Wikipedia, you started out as a loan officer in a bank. Michael McDonald: That’s right, and by the way, if Wikipedia says it happened … it happened. That’s like the new Bible. TPN: You were in some episodes of ‘Scrubs’ and ‘Seinfeld,’ a few ‘Austin Powers’ movies, and you’re also credited in ‘Leprechaun 2.’ How did you get involved in improv comedy and random bits of television and movies? MM: Basically, I was a loan officer at a bank ‘mdash; I hated it. And there was this local improvisational comedy at this place called The Groundlings in L.A., and I saw Julia Sweeney and Lisa Kudrow, people like that performing. I thought that that was what I wanted to do. And I quit my job and on that Friday … and then I became a waiter and worked my way to Groundlings and then got on stage there, and that’s when people around town started giving me a chance to do shows. TPN: After improv you went on to MADtv and worked on it for about 10 years. What was it like being on that show for that long? MM: Well, it was excellent to get a paycheck. For the most part, it was really great because last year was my last year performing on the show. I just kind of wanted to move on and do some new stuff. After 10 years it felt like that was enough time. What’s great about a show like MADtv is the cast gradually changes, and because pop culture changes and presidents change or whatever, you get a lot of new stuff to do, so it keeps it from being boring. I think if I was on a sitcom for that long, I might’ve killed myself. It was a really, really fun phase. I also viewed it a little like school ‘mdash; I kind of learned how to do a lot of things there. I never had really done impressions before that, and you have to do everything there, so it’s almost like an acting school. I had a great time there [and] made a lot of great friends, and I look forward to working with people again. TPN: So you’re writing and directing now for the show? MM: I direct sometimes on the show. I haven’t written anything this season, but I actually have a new project for one of the networks. I wrote a drama pilot, and I’m trying to trick them into shooting it now. TPN: Do you want to elaborate on your new show? MM: Well, it’s top secret, so all I can say is that it’s a drama and it’s for ABC. It’s actually a lot easier working drama than comedy because all you do is just say this happened and that happened. You don’t have to be funny. TPN: Do you ever wish that MADtv was more like Saturday Night Live, or that you were on Saturday Night Live? MM: Well I think SNL is a really great show, and I have many friends on it, so I guess it’s an awesome opportunity. Obviously it’s much more high profile than MADtv is. But I’m a firm believer that things happen the way they do for a reason, and one of the great things about MADtv for me is that some of my very, very best friends that I have in the world were made while working on MADtv. So you know, who knows? Maybe if I’d gotten on SNL … I might’ve bombed out and gone back home and quit. In the meantime I went to MADtv and made a lot of friends and had a nice long 10-year run, so I’m sort of loathe to cast a stink eye on that because it’s been really nice. But I do think SNL is a great show and filled with really talented people. TPN: Any final thoughts? MM: I don’t really tell jokes, so a lot of the characters that I did on MADtv were based on people I knew in real life and situations that happened to me in real life, and that’s kind of what my stand-up is, too. It talks about real things that happened to me, and hopefully, in a funny way. We’ll have a great time, and it might be a little dirty, and we’re just going to have a bunch of laughs.