Comeback kid
A failed sitcom could end your career, but for John Mulaney, it was just the beginning
David Letterman had just accepted the Mark Twain Prize for Humor last month, and was paying respects to the performers who honored him with jokes on the Kennedy Center stage. When he got to John Mulaney, the late-night legend said, “This is the future of comedy, ladies and gentlemen.”
About 12 hours later, Mulaney has traded the formal wear for a baseball cap and sweater as he sits over morning coffee and oatmeal a short walk from the Georgetown University campus, where he first threw himself into comedy.
“I can’t,” he says, searching for a response to Letterman’s comments. “I’m too embarrassed to repeat that myself.” Then Mulaney describes it as “if you could imagine him to say anything you’d ever want, what would it be?”
The likable and self-deprecating 35-year-old comic does stand poised to take the mantle Letterman described. In three years, he’s released a critically-acclaimed stand-up special, offered a beloved portrayal of a crotchety old man opposite Nick Kroll in “Oh, Hello on Broadway” (filmed for Netflix) and is now on his “Kid Gorgeous” stand-up tour, selling out massive venues. And all those hits follow his biggest career failure: “Mulaney,” his poorly-reviewed 2014 Fox sitcom, that went off the air after just 13 episodes.
Mulaney created and starred in the semi-autobiographical show about a comedian and his roommates in New York.
“I don’t like to say I’m glad it didn’t work because a lot of people lose a job,” Mulaney says, and pauses. “But I’m glad it didn’t work. It was like, the best thing that ever happened.”
As soon as “Mulaney” was canceled, he hit the road, eventually filming “Comeback Kid.” The 2015 Emmy-nominated special explored the typical markers of adulthood, like marriage and house-hunting (“This is an on-fire garbage can,” his real estate agent would say. “Could be a nursery.”)
A month later, Mulaney was playing George St. Geeland to Kroll’s Gil Faizon. The pair of self-involved Upper West Siders got a cult following in regular sketches on Kroll’s TV show and eventually moved to an
“Oh, Hello” stage show, in which they spoofed old-fashioned showbiz tropes and pranked guests like Steve Martin and Chris Pratt.
Kroll and Mulaney met when Kroll, then a Georgetown senior, cast Mulaney, a freshman, in the university's improv troupe. “Honestly when I met him, I was like, this guy's so funny, I'm going to hold on tight. I've sufficiently done that for a long time,” Kroll says.
Doing spots on VH1's “Best Week Ever” taught Mulaney how to write topical jokes for TV. “SNL” hired him as a writer at 25.”I don't know how I'm ever going to do this,” he recalled feeling. “But, a lot of it was the same skill set. Just now you're in the fancy building on the high floor.”
He was with “SNL” for six years, becoming a celebrated writer and helping co-create the popular Stefan character, played by Bill Hader.
Then the sitcom, executive produced by Lorne Michaels, came along. When it failed, Mulaney remembers Kroll saying “I'm sorry, but it's really funny how much your show bombed.”
“Narratively-speaking, it's a funny thing to happen to a character,” Kroll says. “It happening to my incredibly dear friend, after seeing how hard he worked on it, was terrible, but also watching him bounce back from it was an amazing testament to how strong of a guy he is and how deeply funny he is.”
These days, Mulaney also voices for Kroll's animated Netflix show about puberty, “Big Mouth,” and writes episodes of “Documentary Now!” for Hader and Fred Armisen. As for stand-up, Mulaney still tells personal stories, in a funhouse mirror kind of way. And while he's hasn't shed his polite persona, he's tapped into a grumpier energy. “I'm more comfortable yelling at things.”
OPENINGS
Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Thursday Studio 33 Art and Frame Gallery, 140 Bank St., New London Holiday exhibit with original artwork by area artists. Runs through Jan. 12. Hours 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat.; (860) 460-6263. Opening reception 5-7 p.m. Friday Lyme Art Association, 90 Lyme St., Old Lyme Annual holiday show and sale by member artists. Runs through Jan. 5. Hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.; (860) 434-7802. Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Friday Six Summit Gallery, 6 Summit St., Ivoryton A book release and solo show featuring works by Katia Jirankova Levanti. Hours vary, call for details; (860) 5818332. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Friday Marquee Gallery, 74 State St., New London An equine photography exhibition featuring works by Pat Schoenfelder and resident artist Nina Chung, with an auction to benefit Horses Healing Humans. Runs through Dec. 16. Hours noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat. and by appointment; (860) 428-4903. Opening reception 6:30-9 p.m. Friday Spectrum Gallery, 61 Main St., Centerbrook Original artwork with views of the challenges and beauty of winter. Runs through Jan. 14. Hours noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat., noon-5 p.m.; December hours noon-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun.; (860) 767-0742. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Saturday Maple and Main Gallery, 1 Maple St., Chester Eighth annual exhibit with paintings and sculptures by artists all over the state. Runs through Jan. 21. Hours 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.; (860) 526-6065.
MUSEUMS
— Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme; also “Oscar Fehrer: Reflecting and Reflections,” “A Room of Her Own,” all through Jan. 28; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.; (860) 434-5542.
— Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London; through April 1; 10 a.m.5 p.m. Tues.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun.; (860) 443-2545.
— Mystic Museum of Art, 9 Water St.; through Sat.; also “John Boone: Pairs” through Nov. 11; “Wendy Edwards/Jerry Mischak” in the 15 Water Street Gallery through Sat.; a painting by Charles H. Davis, through Sat.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily; (860) 536-7601.
— Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Ave.; through through Dec. 31 in C.D. Mallory Building; International Marine Art Exhibition through Dec. 31 in the Maritime Gallery; “Contemporary American Marine Art” through Jan. in the R.J. Schaefer Building; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily; (860) 572-0722.
— Slater Museum, 108 Crescent St., Norwich; through Jan. 15; also “Bela Lyon Pratt: Sculptor of Monument” through Jan. 15; hours 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.; (860) 887-2506.
— Artists’ Cooperative Gallery of Westerly, 7 Canal St.; through Nov. 26; hours 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun.; (401) 5962221.
— Classic Framers, 2 High St., Westerly; through Jan. 31; hours 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Fri., 10 a.m.2 p.m. Sat.; (401) 596-6820.
— Cummings Art Center and Shain Library, Connecticut College, New London; through Dec. 8; also “A Story of Resilience” through Dec. 8 in the Joanne Toor Cummings Gallery; hours 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.; (860) 447-1911.
— Gallery at the Wauregan, 200 Main St., Norwich; through Nov. 30; hours 3-5 p.m. daily; (860) 608-2661.
— Hygienic Galleries, 79 Bank St., New London; through Nov. 18; also “Rich Flavors, Poor Taste” through Nov. 18; 2-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri., 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun.; (860) 443-8001.
—Lori Warner Studio/Gallery, 21 Main St., Chester; through Jan. 3; hours 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.-Mon., 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; (860) 322-4265.
— Maple and Main Gallery, 1 Maple St., Chester; through Nov. 30; hours 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.; (860) 526-6065.
— Norwich Arts Center, 64 Broadway; through Nov. 25; hours noon-4 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.; (860) 887-2789.