Re-Release: Mike Myers: Yum Yum
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Hello, Literally Friends. Before we launch season three of this amazing podcast, I want to share with you one of my favorite interviews I have ever conducted. Please enjoy this wonderful chat with my friend, the comedic genius, Mike Myers. Mr. Low ready now. What? Wait, you have a ukulele in your hand. Yes. Give me some of that.

New theme song to the podcast. Welcome to the podcast. Hold on. Ready? Hold on. Stories. He's got stories. That's it. Oh, yeah. Yum, yum. Well, Rob. Yum, yum. Yum, yum. Here we are. I'm so excited. Welcome to Literally. I'm your humble host, Rob Lowe. I don't even know where to be in. Mike Myers. I love him.

I have been friends with him since 1989, 1990. We made a movie called Wayne's World together. We made a movie called Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery together. We've been through marriages, kids,

successes, challenges, friendship. And he is, this is going to come as a shock. This is the thing that people, this is what I don't think people really realize about Mike Myers. He's funny. He's really, really funny. Oh, by the way, during this, during this conversation, you're going to hear us say, yum, yum, like,

It's an inside joke that Mike and I always do to crack each other up. So I'm apologizing in advance. But that's the price you pay for getting two really good old friends together. There's going to be a lot of inside stuff. It just makes me laugh. So be on the lookout for that. I think it's from an ad for Bailey's Irish Cream that we used to laugh about. I don't know. Anyway, so yum-yum. And here is Mr. Mike Myers. ♪

First of all, when did you start playing the ukulele? Oh, if you're an English person, you're issued the ukulele. You're telling me that English people have ukuleles? Yeah. Where did the Hawaiians get them then? From English people. Was it? No, just George Harrison used to play ukulele. I'm a cheeky burglar, a burglar and what's more.

I'll break into your cottage and I'll take a shit on your floor. Cheeky burglars. That's an obscure Lennon and McCartney song. I'm a cheeky burglar, a burglar and what's more.

I'll break into your cottage and I'll piddle on your floor. That was the Liverpudnian accented version. It's a guy named George Formby. There's an English comedian named George Formby who used to play the ukulele and sing cheeky songs. So I made up a George Formby-esque song as if that isn't the world's most narrow, narrow casting of a topic. Well, listen, one of the things I love about you is your obsession with

Your obsessions, period. I mean, George Florenby. Are we started? We started. Oh, we started. Or did we start before? We start, you know, this is the new, this is, Mike, this is the new show business. There's no beginning. There's no end. Right. There never was. It always will be. This interview could go, could literally just be Lorne the whole time. It's very sad, but whatever.

But no, we're not. We're not doing Lauren. We're doing Dr. Evil. No. Do you remember the first time we met? I do. Was it Paris? No, I don't remember. Where was it? Was it Lauren's office? It was Saturday Night Live, but it was your office. And you had the poster of Mike Myers Halloween in the back. Right. Right. And you were talking about what you were going to write for my episode. And you asked me,

You said we're going to do a Wayne's World or a Sprockets. Which one do you want to do? And I was like, Wayne's World. Let's do Sprockets. Right, right. And we did Sprockets. And I remember that hurting my feelings at the time. But anyways, go ahead. It didn't hurt my feelings. And it shows you what I know. Mike, I can always pick the hits. Yeah.

We just both end up talking like Lauren. I know. Mike, the thing is... I just keep picking the hits. Right. The first time you meet Rob, you think, oh no. Second time. Twelfth time.

For the uninitiated, when I started asking Mike what it's like to host Saturday Night Live, he gave me Lauren's advice, which was what, Mike? I don't remember. What was it? The first time you host, it's like you don't know what you're doing. The second time you host, you know a little bit more, but you still don't know what you didn't know the first time. The third time you host, it's like being shot out of a cannon. The fourth time you host, the cannon is pointed in a different direction, but you're still inside of it.

but it's flying in a totally area, but you know that it's there. The fifth time you host, there isn't a fifth time because you're sedated. The sixth time you're hosting, someone else is hosting in your skin suit. The seventh time, it is. The seventh time you host, you're in a diving bell. The eighth time you host, it's by phone. The ninth time. Tom Hanks is doing it, so you're just home watching. Tenth time you host, it was all a dream. Eleventh time you host.

How many dinners have we had? Rob, how many dinners have we had? Honest to God. I must have had dinner with you. I'm not even kidding you. 3,000 times. I think. I think 3,000 times.

And the last time we had dinner, and it's been way too long, but you're right in the thick of family raising. I've been there. I know what that's like. Yeah. Yeah. That's all it is. And by the way, it's the best investment you'll ever make. But it's been so long. But do you remember what happened the last time we had dinner? Who came up to the table? I do. No. Are you teeing me up for an impression? No.

Well, you're going to do the impression. Who was it? Paul McCartney. Oh, no way. Okay. It was me, Ewan Dorn, and Dana. And it was the Wayne's World 25th anniversary. We all went to dinner after the big screening. And Paul came up to the table.

and said the following, oh, I can't do a Paul McCartney. Oh, oh, Wayne's World. Oh, that's a classic. Very bad. Oh, Wayne's World. Yeah. That's great, though. Oh, did I tell you that I sat next to Paul McCartney during a screening of Wayne's World 2? No. I was so nervous. This was in London. And he was really chatty, you know what I mean?

And I was so nervous because I'd only seen it a couple times in front of an audience. And you just hope the movie has a good show because it's all different for different houses. He's like, well, that's great, Mike. Did you write that? And I was like, yeah. I couldn't stop talking. He goes, that's a funny bit. How do you write? Hard work. I do it a lot. Yeah.

And in my head I was thinking, why couldn't I sit next to the quiet one? I had to sit next to the cute one. And it was just unbelievable that I was like, Myers, have you no sense? It's Paul fucking McCartney! And you're sitting next to him! This is what happens when you're so ensconced in your work. You lose all sense of

You know, where I'm being short with Paul McCartney, like, and doing that sort of like hand pointy look, the screens over there. Take it down. Take it down, Paul McCartney. Trying to watch the movie. Put a lot of work into it. Did you shush him? Did you ever get resorted? Yeah. Shh, shh. Say back.

Hey, World Heritage Site. You know I played Colonel Sanders, right? Have we talked about this? Yes. We haven't talked about it, but I did know you played Colonel Sanders, who, as you know, I am obsessed with. Oh, you've spent... How many... You know, he lived in Toronto. I don't know if you know that he lived in Toronto, Colonel Sanders. Colonel Harlan Sanders, the Kentucky Colonel. Yes, the Kentucky Colonel lived in Mississauga, Ontario, which is a suburb of Toronto.

I was obsessed with Colonel Sanders. I thought he was a great character. And I thought that Americans had so much narrative power, the ability to create a story, that if Rome ruled with the broadsword and Britain with the three-masted ship, America has ruled the world with the narrative, how strong the American narrative is. And you guys had so much, you American folks, had so much story power that you even had

A guy for chicken, like the chicken guy was so complete. And you could go as him for Halloween and I have. And I have. And so he became my obsession. I have gone as Colonel Sanders for Halloween. And then I saw that you were playing Colonel Sanders and I was very, very envious and jealous. And, you know. Not only did I play Colonel Sanders, but I sent one of his sandwiches into space. Did you? Yeah, the zinger.

Is that what you call having a dump?

I sent a zinger into space, baby. Sorry I was late. I was sending a zinger into space. Dropping the kids off at the pool. If I said that to the ad agency, they would have been like, fuck, we spent so much money on this campaign. And Rob Lowe told it to Mike Myers and he thought it was taking a dump. God damn it. I was just being silly. Sorry, Yum Brands. Yum, yum. Yum, yum. We sent a sandwich into space and that's when they had me at hello. I was like,

I guess, you know, everybody had played Colonel Sanders, you know, Norm MacDonald had played him and, and they, somebody quit.

And they were like, you know, this is the good calls you get from your team. They're like agents and like whatever. They're like, hey, listen, I know this is weird, but like, would you have any interest in two days playing Colonel Sanders in a commercial? It's a commercial in which they send a sandwich into space. I said, I'm sorry, what'd you say? Send a sandwich into space. Oh, yes, absolutely. I'll be there. But you haven't painted my portrait as Colonel Sanders. Mike has painted, how many Colonel Sanders portraits have you painted?

I think I'm in the 20s now. I've painted Colonel Sanders about 20 times. I will often buy paintings and colonel them and put a colonel in it. Like, I got this painting of a landscape, and I put a colonel walking away in the snow. I bought a painting of a beach and put him relaxing in a cabana, you know. I just thought it was just...

Kind of how we're all just supposed to accept that there's a colonel in our lives. And first of all, my dad's whole take on it was those Americans, my dad was from Liverpool. I was like, they've even managed to militarize chicken, you know, Colonel Sanders. And I was just, I've been obsessed with the colonel for a long time. I put him in. So I married an ax murderer as part of a secret organization.

And, you know, just love the colonel. And you got the plan. I saw that. But you know what I saw, Rob? You know, I watch a lot of Military History Channel and the American Heroes Channel and the History Channel. And I'm watching, I think, something on the Pacific, USA and the Pacific. And I believe I heard you saying it was the 25th day in Corregidor. The men fought bravely.

Fighting off leeches. They fought for democracy. And each other. And that was Rob Lowe. Good grade, by the way. I would do those in a heartbeat. In a fucking heart... Dude, when you get a chance to say that kind of stuff, again, I'm in. Yeah. You like your eloquence. You like your... Which is why you were perfect for West Wing, the...

We're not talking about a time. We're talking about a time in history. Like those, you like, you know what I'm saying? You would have been great in Mad Men as well. That kind of like, they're not buying a sandwich. They're buying a memory. Because you've got one of those, you've got one of those faces that should be saying important things. You know what I mean? Yeah.

I am struck by how handsome you are. And every time I see you, it's like with Vern, God bless him. God rest his soul. You're just a little bit of a stubborn Troyer who's many me. I was like, oh my God, he's really small. And then you forget about it. And every time I see you, Rob Lowe, I go, he's like, so handsome. I forget every time you just walked in before and I was like, Jesus, dude, that's a joke. You know what I mean? You're such like an American.

You're like the brawny towel man, dude. There you go. There, I said it. Oh, my God. But you're right. And Vern was the same. You'd be like... He's even shorter than I thought, and I've seen him all day. Yeah. But then you forget it. Then he's just Vern. You know what I mean? And you threw him around a lot. He wanted to be thrown, is the truth of it. And he was a really great comedian, a great stunt person. And, you know...

My training in improv is to say yes. And, you know, I don't know if he had improv training, but my God, his whole thing was yes. And he didn't want to ever be like, you know, Vern, it's okay. You don't have to do this. You don't have to do that. He was always like, no, I'm in. I want to do it. But we just kept giving him more and more. And I miss him. He's a good dude. He was the best. Yeah. How did you find him? Jay Roach found him. It's one of the most amazing dial-ups ever where you sort of put into a script,

And then there's a one, I don't know, one 12th replica of Dr. Evil. And Jay's like, okay, I'm on it. And then he goes, what about this guy? I'm like, holy shit, he's perfect. And same with Scott Evil. You know, Jay was like, here's Seth Green. He's perfect. And he was. And he is. So one of those people, like yourself, who makes things better than written. Oh, you're very nice. Do you?

I remember because I play the golf hole every day. Well, not every day, but when I play, I play the same course and I know exactly where on the course you and I were playing golf. Right. Where I was doing R.J. Wagner impersonation.

And you called Robin on the phone and said, you have to hear this. And I did. And then we forgot about it. I forgot about it until I read the script. And there in the script, you would secretly put in young number two. But you would be young number two. Yeah. As played by Robbo. You put it in the script, didn't you? It was my memory. I do that. Yeah. Yeah.

Because, you know, if you build it, they will come, you know? That's right. What else is going on, Rob? What's going on with you? What's going on? What's happening? What's going on with you? What's going on with you? Me? Yeah, I'm running this show. I'm asking the questions. Let's talk about you, dude. This is my podcast. Is it? I'm doing my podcast simultaneously to you doing your podcast, by the way. Oh, you just did a Jedi mind trick on me. Yes, I did. And it worked. Yeah. Well, Mike, it's good to be here. Thanks for having me. This has been amazing. Oh, are we starting? You're kidding.

Um, who would, who would win in a fight, Austin or Dr. Evil? These are the kind of hard hitting questions that my podcast is grounded in. Are these viewer write-ins? Yes. Viewer write-ins like Willie Templeton from Thunder Bay, Ontario writes, who would win in a fight, Austin Powers or Wayne Campbell? It's, it's, uh, it's very Larry King live. Did you ever do Larry King live? I did Larry King live. Did you? Yeah.

Yeah, and it's like, hang on, Hackensack, New Jersey, go ahead. You're on with Mike Myers. Roanoke, Virginia. Go ahead. A lot of people in Roanoke. He had a lot of viewers in Roanoke. Yeah. Roanoke, Virginia. Go ahead. You're on the air. Thank you, Larry. I'm a longtime fan, first-time caller. What's your question? Go ahead with your question, please. He had no patience. But also, it was mildly insane at times. He said to me, Mike, you're from Toronto. You love hockey.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs come out all dressed in green, you must get so excited. And I was like, well, Larry, they wear blue. No, they don't. Come on. Yeah, they do. Toronto Maple Leafs wear green. Are you thinking, and then I start to get generous because I'm like Canadian and I go, oh, you're thinking of the Toronto St. Pat's. The Toronto St. Pat's. No, I'm not. Toronto Maple Leafs, they wear green. Green's their color. Leaf is green. Mike, Mike, a leaf is not blue. I don't know if you know that.

Who would make a blue leaf? Okay. Well, I get excited when they come out, Larry, even though they're wearing blue. No, they're not. Leaves are green. What are you going to tell me next? Sun's brown. It's orange. What's the worst interview you've ever had?

I had this one guy ask me who would win in a fight, Austin Powers or Dr. Evil. And I just lost it on them. And I just say the fuck you're like, this is the state of journalism today. No, I said, I thought about it and I went, yeah, yum, yum. Oh, it's a maneuver. I was just such a dick just now, but it was funny.

And we'll be right back after this. All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪

Qualifying plan required. Wi-Fi were available on select U.S. airlines. Deposit and Hilton Honors membership required for 15% discount terms and conditions apply. Where are you right now? You seem to be in a top secret facility. I am. A hardened bunker.

I'm in my basement, which I also call the sit room. Right. And that's where situations happen. Right. Well, we are getting older, dude, you know. Oh, I'm aware. I'm very aware. I'm watching the grays come in. You have a beautiful gray hair. Me? Yeah, I'm fully gray now. You have a gray head. Beautiful gray head. It used to be salt and pepper, and now it's just salt. When did it start? When I was 19. 19.

Yeah. I've been color treating my hair since the age of 19. No way. Way. Party on. Swing. Touch my monkey. You're like butter. Yeah. $1 million. Okay.

Party on, swing. Just run through them and get out of the way. Get out of my swamp. Get out of my swamp. Rob, that's all I can say. There's so many good cultural catchphrases that you're responsible for. And then we have our own together. We have our own private ones.

which I like. We have yum yum. Yum yum. Yeah. Should we explain the yum yum? I think we probably should explain the yum yum. But you do a better job of, you actually gave me gold cufflinks that say yum yum that I wear proudly. Yes. Probably from Bailey's. Bailey's had a series of ads where it was yum yum. Yum yum. Yum yum. Do you have tasteful, handsome man gray hair?

Like you went to the handsome store and had them put it in. It's hanging in, though. It grays, it stays. That's what I say. When did you take the Jon Bon Jovi option? Oh, that's funny you should say that. You wake up one day and you go, oh my God, Jon Bon Jovi's gray! No, it's my COVID hair. It's my quarantine hair. I'm in quarantine. So I just was like, I'll just buzz it off. I shaved it.

Did you go bald bald like Dr. Evil bald? No, I went Marine. I went like Paris Island. I don't know why Marine made me think of

It made me think of Full Metal Jacket. That's a logic. And then that made me think of Kubrick, which made me think of directors. And then I thought of Quentin Tarantino. And then I thought, I better ask Mike about Quentin Tarantino. That's how my mind works, just so you know. Yeah, sure. How was it? You were great in that. What was it like being hopping into that movie in Inglourious Bastards? I think, as you were describing, if somebody called me to play Colonel Sanders...

I got a call. Quentin Tarantino wants to talk to you. I was like, okay. Again, thought it was my brother Paul. Picked it up. It was Quentin Tarantino, and he said he's doing a movie about World War II. Would you want to play a British general? And I was like, yeah, of course I want to play a British general. And we talked about World War II movies. We were supposed to talk for 45 minutes. We ended up talking for eight hours.

About various war movies, because I love war movies. I wouldn't want to actually be in a war, just like I don't think anybody wants to be in an actual horror film situation. But both my parents were in World War II. My dad was in the Royal Engineers. My mom was in the Royal Air Force. And it shaped who they are. And the Nazis were just...

Bad guys, just clearly Nazis, fascists, horrible, horrible people that are, you know, just they're the bad guys. And so for me, all the World War Two movies are so so clear, like of being on the right side and and fighting the good fight.

So I become a World War II aficionado. And, you know, he blew my mind because he said what he's doing, because he knew exactly what he was doing, which is so fascinating. And I have such a respect for him. And I just think he's a hero. But he said, just like with spaghetti Westerns, he said, I'm making what's called a macaroni combat. That's what the subgenre is, which is to say that it's a European knockoff of an American war movie, which is like, oh,

Oh, heaven, heaven. And he said that the term macaroni combat is actually Japanglish. It's because Japanese film critics had coined that term of macaroni combat.

And, you know, you talked about this kind of magical reality you wanted to create. And I was like, okay, that sounds good. I wonder how that translates to the page. And then I'm reading the script and I'm like, holy shit, they fucking kill Hitler. They kill Hitler. I couldn't believe it. I'm like, I am so in. And on top of it, it is that thing that I love, that kind of British, like, you know, we're here, the enemy's there, you know?

Your job, you know, that whole thing. And I was just like, and I loved every second of it. Shot in Nazi headquarters. No, really? It was all this. Yeah, it was all this Albert Speer.

I think it's Potsdam. It was in Berlin, anyways, in Germany. And everything in threes, the type of architecture that makes you feel that the state is more powerful than you, all the Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer, crazy oversized doors that are intimidating. And it then became...

Soviet Army headquarters. And then the Americans, when the Berlin Wall fell, the Americans had it. Now they rent it out for movies. And my first day I get there and I'm wearing my British Army uniform and I'm just thrilled. I'm in this room filled with thousands and thousands of World War II uniforms. It's my dream come true. And he goes, Quentin wants to see you. So I go over there and it's the scene where

Hitler is getting his portrait done. So I'm sitting there and then Quentin Tarantino's like, and action. And then Hitler's like, you know, you know, like the whole thing. And I'm like, this is a fever dream. This is a fever dream. You know, I'm in like the place where like, I think Lenny Rufenstahl,

had an office like this giant, you know, no, no, that's where I picked up my uniform. And then I'm in Nazi headquarters and it's just like Gestapo headquarters or whatever. Yeah.

And there's a guy dressed as Hitler wearing a wrestling cape and a French guy painting him with like a Maywee beret and a mustache. And then it's, and cut. And then Tano turns around and goes, what do you think? I go, what do you think? What do I think? I'm like, this is every like Airfix 132nd toy soldier thing.

Every, you know, Spitfire, I've made over 700 130-second scale, 170-second scale Spitfires in my life. Every story of my parents talking about the Blitz and my dad, you know, being in the Black Forest in the second wave of Operation Market Garden. It was just a dream come true. And he was great. And there's no playback, which was weird for me. Really?

And, you know, I did a take and he went, that's great because it's all pieces. So he knows exactly what he wants. And I said, could I try one more? And then people were like, like a needle scratch, everybody. One more? I said, yeah, I want to just like, if I did that take, like imagine you're going around a mountain pass and we did that take at 60 miles an hour. I want to try one in 100 miles an hour just to see, you know, for shits and giggles to see if there's one.

that just has a little something extra in it. And he goes, I never do that. I said, well, then no, no, it's all good. I don't care. It's fine. Thank you. It's all good. He goes, go ahead, try one. I said, no, it's all good. It's all good. No, no, try one. And I'm like, no, I serve at the pleasure of the president. It's all good. He goes, no, no, try one. Just go ahead. Go ahead. So we try one. And about 10 seconds in, because during my takes, he's looking at this little monitor that

handheld monitor and I can't see anything except I can see his smile and his head shaking like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, which of course just makes you, you know, I felt like Peter Sellers must've felt like with Kubrick who would put a furniture pad underneath the mat box, uh,

And just watched Peter Sellers do takes and just evidently like just laughed out loud and wrecked takes and stuff. But I felt like, oh my God, there's Tarantino. And I'm like in the middle of this British character. And I just was like, it was like almost every one of my dreams come true that I'm playing a Peter Sellers-esque character. And he's got that smile that makes you like go through, I could go through a wall of fire, but then I get this extra take. And all of a sudden I get the, no, I don't like it face. I'm just in my head going, cut, cut, cut. I want to go.

I have displeased him. I have displeased him. You know what I mean? You got the don't like it face? Yeah, he didn't like it. He said, yeah, you had it two takes back. And I was like, okay, I'm really sorry. He goes, no, no, there's no story. He goes, I love your character, man. I want to make this fucking movie. I want to make this guy. General Fennec was the name of the character. I want to make the Fennec movie, man. I'm so into the Fennec movie. So, anyways. No playback. No playback.

Because, I mean, you know, for those of you who've never been on a Mike Myers set, you know, you live and die. We'll have fun, and we'll look at the playback, and Mike will be like, oh, yeah, no, that's great. More of that, and that, not so much. And then you learn, and you go. It's just a very different way of working. You try and have every line covered, and then you try and put a little crazy juice on stuff, because you only get to make the movie once, and it's such a... It's the most expensive entertainment device created by man, and...

It's a lot to ask people to sit in the dark and not talk about themselves and sit now even more so sit with strangers. And it's such a unbelievable privilege to be able to make stuff, especially stuff that you've written. Do you want to make sure that every minute of the movie, every molecule is as entertaining as it possibly can be for Tarantino?

the movie is a dream that he's, you know, if movies, if dreams are private movies and movies are public dreams, he knows his dream. And kind of like a sculptor who sees the sculpture inside the rock, he just takes away the bits of rock that aren't the sculpture and it's done. You know what I mean? It's such a full dream that he has. So for him, he did that all in his head. He saw what lines were covered and

It was done. I don't ever see it that way. I need to see playback sometimes, you know. Is there any hope ever of doing Sprockets movie? I don't know. I don't know. Like, it's such an odd time right now. You know, I was born in 1963. I grew up in the 70s. I thought the 70s was like, you know, with the gas shortage and Munich and punk rock and

Just, you know, the recession. And I thought, oh, it's never going to get weirder than the 70s. And it's such a weird time right now. It's hard to explain to, like, you know, people in their 20s how I've never seen anything like this before. So there's a broader question of what's to be with show business more than anything. You know what I mean? How are they going to figure out, you know, social distancing? And how are they going to figure out

how to make filmed entertainment anymore. You know what I mean? And I don't mean to be negative. I'm sure they will figure it out, but it's such a crazy time right now. Also, don't you want to make comedies for people to laugh in a room? Yes, I do. I was raised that being an entertainer is a very noble profession. And you are in service. I am in the service industry. I would like to

perform a service, such as it is or isn't or can be or whatever. It's just such an odd cultural time, and it's an odd political time. All of it is just odd. It's odd. I can't even, you know, Mr. Eloquent. But you know what I mean? It's just an odd, odd time right now. So in a weird way, if I were to do something like Dieter, I don't think you can do anything

crazier than what it is right now you know what i mean well that's exactly what i was gonna say is the level of crazy and outrageousness in our everyday lives is plenty yeah there's this guy uh matt lucas who is in little britain he had this thing called uh thank you baked potato

I don't know if you saw, I'll send it to you. Yeah. Send it to me. I don't know. But it's a, this song that he sort of put around cause he has this character called baked potato who I love it already, by the way, baked potato I'm in and it's, but it's like a George form BS song, you know, it's that kind of British music hall, silly song in an amine.

That is just pure entertainment and silliness, which I think the ukulele gives you, you know what I mean? George Harrison would always say, you cannot be sad after hearing a song on a ukulele, you know what I mean? True. Very true. And he did this thing, and it was like...

here's a thing that's happening now and something, something, something in this said, and then it's like, and we need some advice from Mr. Potato. So it's like, wash your hands and keep your say, thank you. Baked potato. Thank you. Baked potato. And it was so sweet. It's just a sweet song. It's just sweet entertainment that sort of, you know, in our house now, everything is thank you. Baked potato. Like we can't,

We can't not say thank you, baked potato, every time you say thank you. But it just said to me that we're in such a cynical, dark time right now that I think that we need almost like pennies from heaven type movies. You know what I mean? Yeah, for sure. Escapism. We need escapism right now more than, you know what I mean? And you've got to see this thing. It's Matt Lucas.

Thank you, Big Potato. I can't even give it justice. It's just... And I was just like, oh my God, the genius of just being so earnest and sweet about this thing that is going to be so crazily disruptive. And it's just... Embrace the sweet right now. That's what it felt to me. It's just fantastic. Anyways, that's kind of... That's where my chi is right now on all of this. Yeah, I'm the same. I'm very much about...

Trying to remind everybody and myself of our commonality and how much we all have in common as opposed to where we disagree. Yeah, me too. It doesn't seem American to me. I have to say, having British parents and having lived in Canada, one of the things that I always love about America is this sort of sense. Like, if you make anything, this is the best place in the world because nobody...

In Canada, it's really much in Britain, less so in Canada now, but...

It's who do you think you are? In America, it's very, who do you want to be? And it just, this kind of cynicism just doesn't feel like it's in America's nature. You know what I mean? America's nature is let's go do it, man. Let's make it. That's what I love about, you know, I became a citizen, took the oath, take it seriously. My kids are American. You know what I mean? I love the United States. They're sort of out of character right now.

It's very strange. Agreed. That's the America that we all know and love is Jimmy Stewart, right? And Frank Capra. And I think it's there. I think it's there as much as it ever was. But, you know, there are elements that want us to believe it's not for the sake of ratings, for the sake of selling newspapers, for the sake of their own political agendas or the sake of selling you something. You know, I think it I don't think anything's changed except how we perceive it and what we're sold.

Well, I can tell you, as somebody of English heritage, cynicism, who do you think you are as opposed to who do you want to be, which is America's true nature. The can-do thing is so infectious and so right on. And so what we all, those of us who are lucky enough to be allowed into this country, we

and have lived in other countries. We admire that so much. And I know it's corny, but it's true. Being somebody who's made things his entire life, I'm so grateful to the United States for just having the whole mindset of let's go make something. It's possible.

You know, if you were to have a restaurant in New York, you know, in any other place in the world, they'd go, you know, the restaurant business is hard. In New York, they go, really? What kind of food is it? You know what I mean? I love that. And I think the entertainment, this is what I'm saying about this Matt Lucas thing. It's really like, it's what Lauren used to talk about when he would watch Johnny Carson, no matter how shitty things were, when he would watch Johnny Carson, it was just this continuity. When I saw the Queen's speech,

When I was a kid, it was like, oh yeah, this is the queen, we have the queen, whatever. But when her speech, her coronavirus speech, moved me to tears, not just because it reminded me of my parents, but because of the dignity of the continuity, the decency of it, you know what I mean?

So now I don't paint the colonel anymore. I paint the queen. I've painted like 30 portraits of the queen. Would you be eligible for the knighthood? Well, I have the Order of Canada. I have the Order of Canada. I know, it's amazing. It's unbelievable, which I got on my birthday two birthdays ago. And one of the greatest. It's a medal, and it's also you wore it on your lapels, if I'm correct. Is that right? Yeah, I wore the medal on the Golden Globes.

And some people were like, he looks like Dracula because it's a big metal. But I'm like, I'm so proud of Canada. And I'm so proud of getting that thing. I mean, you know, I grew up in government housing, Jack, you know. It's kind of a huge deal, you know. Yeah, hell yeah. And it was international. And I just thought, you know what? If they're going to bestow me with that honor, I'm going to wear it proudly. And, you know, I get to have OC after my name. So I have letters in my name, you know.

New letters. So it's Mike Myers OC. It's huge. And you have a street named after you. I do. Is this true? Is it Boulevard Avenue? It's Mike Myers Drive. Drive? And then there's a part of Kennedy Avenue in Scarborough called Mike Myers Way.

The easy way. We're going to do it right. The Mike Myers way. Hi, I'm Mike Myers. Yum, yum. Yum, yum. And we'll be right back after this.

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But, dude, you realize that Paul McCartney came up at dinner and told us that Wayne's World was a classic. I know. I wanted to say, no, Sergeant Peppers is a classic. Are you out of your mind? No. It's all crazy, dude. It's unbelievable. I can't believe it. But now I have kids, and I can't believe that. I know. You're right in the thick of it, man. I am. It's the best. And isn't it funny what it does to your ambition? Yeah.

Well, it also, it does. I mean, it's, I'm also like grateful for everything that's happened as well. So that also, I don't feel like I wasn't rewarded or approbated for my efforts. And now it's just sort of like, okay, I have a choice of,

you know, being super ambitious or hanging out with these kids. And this has been the great thing for me of, of this whole quarantine is getting to know my kids in such a great way where in a weird way, it is one big, thank you, baked potato, you know? Yeah, for sure. I, when I, I, it's the same when I, when my boys were of that age, it's, I find it to be the best age, but then I,

As a parent, everything you go through with your kids is new and different. And I love where we are now. We're back at home together, Mike, Matthew, and Johnny. They're grown men and have their own careers. It never ends. You think it's going to end, and it doesn't. It just becomes different. And I'll tell you the other thing, Mike, is you're smart enough.

And, you know, understand where you your place in your own life and always have in such a great way that you're never going to have the regrets that some have or they just weren't or couldn't be there for their kids. It's the best investment you can make. And it and it completely pays off. Well, this is I would have to say that's a big influence on my dad, which is wherever you go, there you are. You know what I mean?

So when I was at Saturday Night Live, I didn't think about anything other than that's what I'm doing. And you know what I mean? And so when these three little kids, you know, this is where I'm at and I'm loving it. So very grateful. I don't know why this just popped into my head, but another memory of us was the very first audience screening, at least the first one I ever went to of Wayne's World. And, you know, people forget, you know, it's such an iconic movie. People forget that it was

There was not very guaranteed that that movie was going to do well. Nobody really knew what the fuck was going on. And it was very much you and Lauren and Dana. And I was along for the ride and happy to be there. But we went. We were paramount. Packed screening and Bohemian Rhapsody came on. And the place...

as the podcast, the title, it literally exploded. I've never been in an audience screening of anything ever and had seen a reaction like the audience did when Bohemian Rhapsody came on. Do you remember that? I'll never forget it because it's a mixture of disbelief and relief because it's like no guarantees in anything in life. You know what I mean?

Well, and you and I never talked about it. I only heard it after the fact that there was a lot of pressure to not use Bohemian Rhapsody. Yeah. Which is why I loved when you showed up in the movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, as the guy shitting on it made me, it was so delicious. I just can't believe I got that call, too. You know? It was like, do you want to do that? And I'm like, hells yeah. Of course I do. And they're like, well, I said, what's the character? And they were like, well, what do you want to do? I'm like, holy shnikes. I'll tell you what I want to do. And then...

was fun because I basically got to do the character I wanted to do. And about a song I love about, you know, it's just all kinds of unbelievable magic. It's crazy kismet. It's really crazy kismet. Cause I can, I can see the studio going, you know, what would have been the song of the day? You know, it was guns and roses and some, and I love guns and roses. Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti guns and roses. It just didn't happen to be.

The song that was that me and my brothers played in Scarborough, Ontario. You know what I mean? And I had a vision for it. And to Lauren's credit, he went along with it. You know, Lauren went, no, the kid has a strong vision. We'll support it. You know? Well, that's really the key to making anything is, you know, I talk to young filmmakers and young actors is you have to have a point of view.

You have to be willing to fight for it. And then if you have an ally who can help you win those battles, you're so far ahead of the game. I'm grateful to it. I'm grateful to Loren. I can't believe Loren believed in me as much as he did. You know what I mean? Did we have battles? Of course we had battles. Because, you know, he's super smart. Loren's super smart. But at the end of the day, he believed in me far more than he didn't. And I'm grateful for that. I always will be.

The other side of that stuff that I always think about is when somebody starts questioning your vision, and if they question it long enough and hard enough, and God forbid it's somebody you respect and somebody who's smart. You go, fuck, is this the hill I really want to die on? And then you start second-guessing yourself, and then maybe you give up.

Right. And maybe you've now convinced yourself, well, it really is a jump ball. Right. And you give it to them. Here's the scenario that never happens.

Hey, the movie didn't work, but you remember those jump balls you gave us? Yeah. You know what? You were a mensch, so we're going to make another one. No, no. That scenario never happens. That never happens. No. That's a great piece of advice to give somebody, by the way. Right? Because it's true. Yep. And in success, all things are forgiven. And in failure, all favors are forgotten. Ooh, I think that's a good one. Yeah, that is a good one. Making out of that. Yeah.

And I love what NASA says about failure. They don't use the F word ever. They always say, they call it early attempted success, you know? Oh, really? Yeah. That's amazing. That's what we like about America. Am I imagining this or that when I did young number two in, in, in the Austin movies that, that,

When I was doing my Robert Wagner, it was my Robert Wagner was predicated on knowing the names of all the maitre d's at the restaurants. Do you remember this? Oh, do you know Gigi at the Palm? He's fantastic. No, but you know, you know, when people say, oh, you're going somewhere, I got the hookup, you know, and they never have the hookup. You know what I mean? There's only two people who actually have the hookup and that's Lauren and Robert Wagner.

So at the end of Austin Power, he said, Mike, are you planning on going somewhere after all this? I said, yeah, I was thinking of going to Venice. Oh, let me hook you up. I'm like, okay. You know, it's not going to be a hookup. And sure enough, I got literally the best room at...

Oh, God. Chip Riani's. He goes, I'm going to hook you up with Chip. The Chip Riani. The Chip. Oh, come on. It's too good. I'm going to hook you up with Luigi. Luigi at the Chip. And I was like, nobody's going to really hook me up. So I get there and like a boat picks you up and takes you to the Chip Riani. It's so beautiful. You can't. It's not real Venice. You know what I mean?

You're like, good work, humans. It's how I felt when I came to Manhattan. Good work, humans. And I got taken in. I was met by Luigi. And he said, write that this way, Mr. Myers. And there was staff lined up who bowed to me and were taken to this room. And I know how much I was paying a night. And I literally got the bottom floor of the Cipriani that had a view of everything, anything for you, Mr. Myers. Right?

Robert Wagner called ahead. Mr. Wagner called. And literally, I got what would be the cheapest room, and I got the most expensive room. And I was like, the dining room is really hard to get into, and it's like, there's Sting, and there's all these different people. Matsu, you know...

Nobu Matsuhitsa is over there. And it's all this stuff. Best table in the house. And I was completely hooked up. How are things going with your chocolate consumption? Because, you know, there's nothing better than chocolate fueled Mike Myers. Literally, there is no greater.

Nothing better than chocolate-fueled Mike Myers. It's my favorite Mike Myers of all the Mike Myerses, of which there are many. Well, you're very kind. Thank you. I had fish food before this interview and a coffee. Yes! To shoot in coffee. So I had low energy, and then I had some chocolate ice cream, and then I was ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding, ring-ding-ding-ding-ding.

Suddenly you can remember proper nouns. I know. Isn't that funny? That's the first thing that goes are proper nouns. It's on the... I think you'll find, Mike, the first thing that goes are proper nouns. Then I would say IMDB credits. The second thing is adverbs. For example, I'm moving with speed. Can't think of it. Quickly? Yes, quickly. I do. The third thing. That was a riff, was always Lauren...

numbering the assessment. So the first thing when you do a Lauren impression is number it. The second thing you do, we played that game. Remember of did Lauren say it or could Lauren have said it? Oh, absolutely. It's the greatest game in the world. Yeah. I actually wanted to, Amy Poehler and I were going to do,

A Twitter account. A fake Lauren Twitter account. Oh, that's so good. And she was too scared. Isn't it? She was too scared to do it. Oh, she should have done it. He knows we all love him. Should have done it. He knows we love him. We talk about him constantly. He knows we imitate him. Who in the world gets talked about more? No. Everybody talks about Lauren Michaels.

I would love to be talked about that much. I know. And to be quoted like that? Mm-hmm. We would come in, when I was doing Perks and Rec, we would do, and what's great is I have this, I've worked with all these generations of people who knew Lorne in different, I mean, you're one era of Saturday Night Live. Amy's totally another era. Right. And yet the one constant is Lorne's quotes. Yeah.

And they're good. They wanted her to do the Golden Globes again with Tina. And this is a great one. And she didn't know if, and they'd crushed it. Right. And they thought, well, is it being, you know, should I do it again? Whatever. And so I called Lorne and says, I don't think you should do it next year at all. I think you should do it next year and the year after that. Yeah.

How am I going to miss you if you never go away? That's a good one. That's one of his. Mike, as you get older, you find yourself being drawn to wood. Well, at the end of the day, it gets dark.

I love that we got to spend time doing this, but we need more. We need more of it. We need to get our kids together. I mean, give Kelly my love. I haven't seen her in forever. How is she? Is she good? Fantastic. We're here in quarantine. You know, we wish this wasn't happening, but feel very grateful that we can all hang out. And, you know, it's one of those things of bad news that this horrible thing is happening. Good news.

In my case, what I'm grateful for is just having so much time with the kids. So that's been great. Yeah, I'm the same. And they're good people. They're the best people you'd ever want to know. That doesn't surprise me. Of course, we wanted healthy kids. Everybody does, and we're very grateful that they're healthy. And we wanted kids that are attentive. But I didn't ever dare wish for eccentric kids, and I have all three. They're smart.

They're healthy and they're eccentric. I love that. They came out who they are. It's pretty amazing. Silly. They're silly too, which is good. Thank God. It sounds like you have, you all have already understood the great quote about parenting, which is parents will do anything, anything for their kids, except let them be who they are. Right. Right.

But what do I know about anything? You don't know anything about parenting. It's just a constant, like, what do I do? What do I do? Look, at the end of the day, you're still Mike Meyer. Ha ha ha.

I never said that, says Bernie. This is our mutual manager, Bernie Brillstein, who is a legend. Legend. When Bernie died, a type of show business died with him. Would you not agree? It was the last vestige of the larger than life. Fun show business. Frankly, like a Colonel Tom Parker. Back to the Colonel. Yeah. Bernie was a five-ticket ride. Mike, you called him up. You called him up one day.

asking some advice and maybe a little bit of vulnerability. Yes. It was right after my dad died and I was talking to him. He came over to Saturday Night Live and I was sitting there and I was devastated, you know, after my dad died and he went, Mike, you got a hit movie. Your dad's up there. He's seeing it. You know, he's seeing it. He's seeing all of it. He's happy for you. This is a good time, kid. It's a really good time. I said, thank you, Bernie. That means a lot to me. He goes, because at the end of the day,

you know, we're in the Mike Meyer business. I was like, Myers, it's actually Myers got my name wrong. But he crazy never said that. But I was amused beyond belief.

I forgot about that. That fucking asshole keeps saying I said that. I never said that. How about I didn't? I didn't. He did. He knows he did. Somewhere up there, he knows. He does. He did. That's okay. It doesn't matter. It's just really funny. That's all. Look, and at the end of the day, the notion that I would have a podcast with Mike Meyer on it...

that I would be talking to somebody who's played the Colonel. It just tells you that all you need is a Canadian dollar and a dream. Mike, the first time you play the Colonel, you just want to look like him. The second time you play the Colonel, you're hoping you have the voice down. And the third time, you've eaten all of the food they've provided from the Colonel. The fourth time...

It's finger licking good. The fifth time. You're licking more than the fingers. And then the seventh time. I think once you know the 11 secret herbs and spices, a little bit of mystery is lost. All right. Let's end this. I love you, man. I love you. Rob, talk to you soon. Bye. I'm sad now.

I'm sad that I don't get to see my buddy as much as I love it. You know how you run into an old friend and you go, God damn, that person really is great. We got to spend more time together. That's what I'm feeling right now. Mike and I need to do the umpteenth iteration of Lauren's List.

I'm sorry, by the way, for boring you all with that. I'm sure you're all like, we don't care. Stop talking. I know you guys know Lorne Michaels. Big whoopty fucking do. Move on. Talk about something we care about. Forgive me. I'm sorry that we did that. But I hope you did enjoy it as much as I did. And I hope you got to see a side of Mike that I know that very few people get to see and just how thoughtful he is and how his mind works. How about how his mind works? Look, there are a lot of funny people.

But of all the funny people, nobody's mind works like Mike's does. And I think that really came through in our talk. So I'm really glad. Anyway, thanks for listening. And next week we got another doozy. So don't forget to download that one. See you on that podcast. Literally with Rob Lowe. You have been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe. Produced and engineered by me, Devin Tory Bryant.

Executive produced by Rob Lowe for Lowe Profile. Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross at Team Coco. And Colin Anderson and Chris Bannon at Stitcher. The supervising producer is Aaron Blair. Talent producer, Jennifer Sampras. Please rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts. And remember to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.

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