Jenny Slate, Max Silvestri and Gabe Liedman launched a new podcast earlier this month called Need You. And they’re starting out strong with some pretty high-profile guests — most recently, John Mulaney.
In the interview, Mulaney talked about his love of old-school etiquette, and how sometimes, those rules can really come in clutch.
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“I do love etiquette, and I think it really sets people free. Like some of the actual old etiquette is quite helpful,” Mulaney explained to the hosts. “You think it’s going to make your day more tedious, but it’s not. It’s actually much more of a like, ‘No no, you don’t have to do that.’ A lot of times that’s the advice which I like. I just talked to a woman out of going to a funeral, and I felt great about it.”
There was a request for clarification, and Mulaney happily obliged: “Dan Levy’s wife Rachel wanted to fly from Los Angeles to Tampa to go to a funeral of a close friend’s parent. I said, ‘That’s not one you fly for.’ It was also messing up a lot of things in the travel and was going to mess up a lot of things in her life. I said, ‘That’s not one you get on a plane for.’”
That wasn’t the only advice Mulaney tossed out on the show either. He also provided advice for a caller who had an etiquette question on what she should do when her husband farts loudly in the background of her work Zoom call.
After a round of riotous laughter (who doesn’t love fart jokes), Mulaney offered up his suggestion. “Definitely do not mute and go off camera — that would mean everyone would think you farted and you died,” Mulaney replied. “I think it’d be like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to get seven units to the Denver people by Friday. That was Hank.’ I would do it unbroken, and everyone would think you’re so fun. I mean, I don’t know what kind of place she works in. If she works in one of the last snooty places, but I feel like candor is so appreciated that if she just tossed it out.”
It’s a fun interview. And for those who’ve developed a deeply unhealthy parasocial relationship with the comedian, I think he called in from his bedroom. Juicy.