Jerry Seinfeld on Dave Chappelle ‘SNL’ Monologue, His Pop-Tarts Movie - Hollywood Reporter

As hard arsenic this mightiness beryllium to believe, Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians successful Cars Getting Coffee turns 10 this year. The road-trip speech amusement — successful which Seinfeld and his comedian pals hop successful vintage cars and speech store connected their mode to drawback a cupful of java — premiered July 19, 2012, connected Crackle, past moved connected to greener streaming pastures astatine Netflix successful 2018.

Over its 11 seasons, Seinfeld has hosted conscionable astir each influential comic successful the concern — his Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, David Letterman, the precocious Don Rickles, Chris Rock, Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, Steve Martin and Tracy Morgan, among them. Along the way, he’s hosted a fewer comedy-adjacent folks, too: Then-President Barack Obama joined him successful a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray successful play seven, past had java with Seinfeld successful the White House unit eating room.

To commemorate its tin anniversary, Seinfeld has compiled immoderate of the astir memorable exchanges from the bid successful The Comedians successful Cars Getting Coffee Book (Simon & Schuster). Available Nov. 22 and packed with amusing anecdotes and insights into the stand-up psyche, it’s a vacation acquisition no-brainer for the drama person successful your life.

Seinfeld, 68, joined The Hollywood Reporter for a speech astir what helium finds funny, what he’s moving connected (including his Pop-Tart movie for Netflix) and his ain thoughts connected the statement rocking the drama satellite close now: the controversial Nov. 12 Saturday Night Live monologue delivered by Dave Chappelle (who, yes, appeared connected an occurrence of Getting Coffee and features successful the book, arsenic well).

I’m truly enjoying speechmaking the book. I deliberation what I emotion astir it, and it’s besides what I emotion astir the show, is that you truly fto america into the full science of comics. What bash you consciousness makes a comic a comic and antithetic from the regular population?

A existent comic truly doesn’t attraction astir thing other but getting the laugh. Everything other successful quality beingness feels artificial and pointless. 

There was an absorbing speech successful the publication wherever you’re talking to Dave Chappelle astir however Chris Rock has a existent borderline and that helium speaks successful pronouncements. You notation to his transportation utilizing words similar “commandments” and “closing arguments.” I truly emotion that thought — that comedians person to instrumentality regular thoughts and marque them much extreme. 

Oh yeah, for sure. In fact, the dumber the thought that you’re presenting, the much amusive it is. I deliberation erstwhile it starts to go real, oregon starts to become, “This mightiness beryllium an existent applicable thought,” the amusive is gone. 

Do you deliberation that’s someway getting mislaid successful translation with audiences now? Maybe that successful the emergence of societal media, that somehow, successful the travel from the signifier to regular discourse, radical are forgetting that these are utmost versions of thoughts?

That is intelligibly evolving arsenic we speak. I watched a stand-up peculiar this greeting and [there were] tons of large jokes. But an perfectly indispensable and required constituent present is it amusement america the tremendous psychic symptom that you are in. We privation to spot it. We privation to cognize however and precisely however damaged you are and successful what mode and whose responsibility it is. And that’s go a portion of what radical privation from stand-ups now.

[Audiences] look truthful successful emotion with stand-ups. And I deliberation that’s a benignant of an indictment of different amusement forms. Like, hey, the movies and TV are expected to beryllium doing astir of this work. We conscionable privation to archer jokes. But present radical are looking for extent from stand-up comics. I ever think, “Well, the past happening I would privation to perceive was what was truly bothering Rodney Dangerfield.” I bash not wanna know! Just gimme the jokes. Take the pain, gimme the jokes. 

I was watching your New York Times video interrogation wherever you were explaining however you wrote the Pop-Tart joke. I truly liked it due to the fact that you were breaking it down successful a mode I hadn’t seen before. And you liken gag crafting to songwriting — that you person to beryllium connected a definite bushed oregon bushed and that sometimes it comes down to shaving disconnected syllables to get the laugh.

Mm-hm.

So to you, drama is simply a science. It’s mathematically earning a laugh. 

Some parts are mathematical, different parts are conscionable — it’s a sound. I was talking to this comedian the different day, really it was today. He has a spot astir a dune buggy. And I conscionable thought, “Wow. I privation I could accidental dune buggy each night.” Just a amusive sound.

So sometimes that’s the philharmonic portion — sounds that are conscionable amusive to say. You ever try. I person this full agelong spot astir idiosyncratic retention areas and there’s a portion of it wherever I go, “You gotta bust disconnected the lock.” I don’t accidental “break into it.” I don’t accidental “struggle to get into it.” But the words “bust into a lock.” It’s amusive for the ear.

I utilized to bash this spot astir bath stalls wherever I would accidental “the underdisplay viewing window.” There’s nary connection “underdisplay.” No phrase, it doesn’t exist. I made it up and everybody instantly understands it. But that’s the philharmonic portion — wherever it’s an amusement for your ear. Purely for your ear. 

And determination are definite letters that are expected to beryllium funnier. Like “k” I perceive is simply a funnier letter. 

Yeah, due to the fact that they chopped through.

I was conscionable watching Jon Stewart and Colbert, 2 of my favourite comedians, statement the Dave Chappelle SNL monologue. And I’m conscionable funny wherever you autumn connected it. Did you find it funny?

I did deliberation the drama was well-executed, but I deliberation the taxable substance calls for a speech that I don’t deliberation I’d privation to person successful this venue. 

But it made you uncomfortable. 

It provokes a speech which hopefully is productive. 

And is that the benignant of speech you would person with Dave? Because you look to person a adjacent narration with him. 

I don’t person a adjacent narration with him. We’re friends and it’s not a adjacent relationship. 

Going backmost to the Pop-Tarts thing, wherever are you with the Netflix Pop-Tarts movie [Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story]?

Netflix is watching it contiguous for the archetypal clip aft I conscionable finished editing and past we’ll spot wherever it’s astatine adjacent week. It should beryllium retired aboriginal adjacent year, I think. 

No kidding. And are you blessed with the archetypal cut? Can you archer america thing astir it? I mean, it’s each fictional, right? It’s not a existent retelling of the existent Pop-Tarts story. 

Well, no. There is nary story. But determination are a mates of elements that are existent that we usage to statesman the story, which is that Post came up with this thought and Kellogg’s heard astir it and said, “We person to bash the aforesaid thing.” And past I benignant of told the communicative arsenic The Right Stuff with NASA versus the Soviet Union. 

The Pop-Tarts race.

Yeah, the Pop-Tarts race. (Laughs.)

Well I’m decidedly looking guardant to it. I americium a large Pop-Tarts lover, truthful you’re speaking to your people assemblage here. I was besides funny astir thing else: You amazed everyone by becoming a model. I’m funny however that came to beryllium — that KITH manner spread.

It was my son’s idea. They conscionable asked maine to enactment connected the clothes. I enactment connected the clothes. (Laughs.) I had a person who was this superb lensman taking pictures and I thought, “This’ll beryllium successful the backmost leafage of immoderate W magazine.” That nary 1 volition ever spot it. 

Oh, well. That didn’t happen.

It was an insane, weird happening however that happened. It was truthful overmuch fun. It conscionable shows you however small you tin foretell astir the world. Honestly, it wholly shocked maine that anyone adjacent saw that. But of people truthful galore radical saw it and it was truthful comic to me. Literally took an hour, that full thing. “Put this overgarment connected and I’ll beryllium implicit here.” “Take a picture.” “Give that hat.” “I’ll beryllium implicit there.” “Take that picture.” We were conscionable fooling around. 

Has it opened up different modeling opportunities? 

Yeah. Yeah. I’m gonna beryllium doing a batch of modeling.

So backmost to the book. What are you doing to beforehand it? Are you doing immoderate signings oregon in-person appearances?

Yes, I’m doing this. This. You’re expected to be helping maine with that.

I’m going to assistance you!

Thank you, sir. Netflix conscionable asked maine if they could bash a publication enactment for maine for the book. So we’ll beryllium doing that. And I don’t know, immoderate other seems a bully happening to do.

And are you gonna beryllium touring astatine each this twelvemonth and successful 2023? 

Yeah, I’ve started touring this month. I’m conscionable putting worldly together. But yeah, I’m doing shows now. 

Terrific. I saw you astatine the Pantages and it was truthful funny. I emotion the spot astir what a symptom successful the ass it is to adjacent get to the theater.

Yeah. Yeah. And past you gotta get back.

Finally, I’m conscionable curious, who are your all-stars? Our generation’s drama all-stars.

Our generation. That’s a small broad. What’s the property scope you’re giving maine to work? 

Well, they should beryllium live and implicit 40. 

Alive and implicit 40. Who bash I truly emotion who I watched? Have you, this is simply a small obscure. I don’t cognize however heavy you are into stand-up. Have you ever seen Fred Armisen: Standup for Drummers. It’s connected Netflix. You person to beryllium capable to play a snare drum to get a summons to spell to the show. Because it’s each astir drumming, but it truly isn’t. It’s lone similar 15, 20 minutes of drumming material. But it’s perfectly brilliant. It’s a large stand-up special.

I emotion truthful galore people. I emotion Ronny Chieng who does The Daily Show. I emotion his stand-up. I deliberation it’s truthful excellent. I emotion Earthquake. I deliberation helium is incredible. I similar existent hardball stand-up. No, I’m not funny successful amusing anecdotes from your journal. I privation to perceive astir things that perfectly could not person happened. 

So who other bash I truly emotion lately? I emotion everything Chris Rock does. I mean, similar the guys who truly spell for the jugular comedy-wise. Right? Not truthful much, “I privation you to get to cognize who I truly am.”

You could attraction less. 

It’s not that I don’t care. But we request the jokes. It’s similar the Woody Allen chickenhearted joke. Do you retrieve that? It’s similar the feline goes to a psychiatrist. He says, “My member thinks he’s a chicken. I don’t cognize what to bash for him.” The psychiatrist says, “Why don’t you nonstop him in?” He says, “I would, but we request the eggs.” It’s about, “We request the jokes.”

Interview edited for magnitude and clarity.