You know Rob Corddry as the star of hit movies and former Daily Show correspondent. We know Rob Corddry as one of our old writers. Corddry used to write a column called True Stories by Rob Corddry on SuicideGirls.com where hed write about then topical news like the debut of the iPhone and the release of The Ten.
Weve interviewed Corddry over they years for films like Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and his show at the San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival. We caught up with Corddry again for his latest movie, Rapture-Palooza, and he was very happy to see us.
Rapture-Palooza is about life on earth after the rapture. The Anti-Christ (Craig Robinson) runs things now and our heroes (John Francis Daley and Anna Kendrick) are trying to do some good in a world where all the good people literally got raptured up to heaven. Corddry plays a neighbor who tries to stop the kids from upsetting the status quo, despite their good intentions. Basically, its a dirty comedy about the biblical apocalypse and the Anti-Christ as a horndog.
Corddry does funny movie roles like this, Hot Tub Time Machine and Pain & Gain, but his real baby is the TV series Childrens Hospital. He created the comedy as a web series and now it is entering its fifth season on Adult Swim. However, success hasnt turned Corddry into a media trained self-promoter. If anything, hes dirtier than ever as we talked porno, Nicolas Cage movies and religious propaganda.
SG: Welcome back to SG.
RC: Awesome. I was expecting a hot chick. Yes, I was happy to see you guys on the list.
SG: Have you kept up with Suicide Girls since you moved on?
RC: Oh yeah, definitely. My membership ran out but I follow more Suicide Girls on Instagram than I do people I know.
SG: Who are some of your Instagram Suicide Girls?
RC: Okay, I can just run through the list right now easily because guess what? They Instagram a lot. One of my favorites, by the way, I think shes new. She might not even be official yet, ThugXWife. Her name is Britney something. Hot as shit, my friend. I will show you. I mean, forget it. Milloux, Yasmina Suicide, shes a favorite. See, on a Sunday its tough because everybodys tweeting their families from a park or something. Oh, heres one doing a whole shoot with Alissa Brunelli shooting.
SG: So you keep up!
RC: I keep up with the community.
SG: Is your humor still as edgy as it was when you wrote for SG, talking about competing movies giving you AIDS and shoving an iPhone up your butt?
RC: Yes, for sure, but my humor is definitely more, I think, focused now. That was the thing I was doing right before I got the idea for Childrens Hospital. Because they were pretty much like, You can do whatever you want, my whole thing with that time was Im going to write like I did in sixth grade basically, like stream of consciousness absurdity almost. And then put some order to it later. I look back on it and its hard for me to read. Its not very good but the more focused ones are the better ones.
SG: I did notice a lot of typos. Did they just leave those in?
RC: Most of it was probably me. It was like Kerouac typing on one long sheet of paper, very rarely looking up from the computer and judging myself.
SG: Were you that sharp in sixth grade?
RC: I was a big Monty Python fan from way early on and my friend, Mark Pappas and I, would write these stories in sixth grade. Basically my teacher, still the best teacher Ive ever had, Guy Evans, Weymouth, Massachusetts, I think hes a principal now, or hes retired but he used to be. Favorite teacher, he would make us write a story using all our vocabulary words for the week. So most people were like, I woke up and tripped on my bureau. But me and Mark Pappas - - Mark Pappas and I, first of all. See how focused I am now? Mark Pappas and I would write these long, absurd, crazy stories involving our vocabulary words and they were really funny. I wish I could have access to them now, and Mr. Evans would make us read them in front of the class because they were nuts. So that was very much my first foray into nonimportant comedy.
SG: When they do these comedies like Rapture-Palooza where every role is filled by a comedian, does that start with one or do they go after everyone at the same time?
RC: I have no idea. I dont remember quite how I got [attached]. I was friends with Craig already from Hot Tub and he was a producer so I imagine he had some say in getting me involved. The producers at Mosaic and Lionsgate were big fans. They like our world. Theyre young guys and they like comedy, and theyre into the scene that Huebel and I run around in, and Scheer, Tom Lennon and all those guys.
SG: Do you know all your pals are going out for it too?
RC: I dont think anybody went out for it. I dont think anybody auditioned for this.
SG: But did you know they were getting involved?
RC: Yeah. Thats sort of the way it always works but I dont know who got involved first. It was also not a reason to do the movie. I would just do it with Craig Robinson alone and the script was awesome. Im not one of these people that waits to see how good its going to get, waits for the cast to come in before they do it.
SG: Did doing a religious comedy bring back your This Week In God segments from The Daily Show?
RC: Well, first of all, I take so little credit for the This Week in God segments because that was one of those things like, Well, Colberts gone, someones got to do this. Why dont you do it? So I never felt ownership of that, and I was sure people were going to be like, Fuck you and it would no longer be a segment. I guess it just kept on chugging along a little bit, but Im fascinated by religion and comedy is my bread and butter, so I do enjoy stuff like that, but Ive never made the connection until now.
SG: Do you hope or expect Rapture-Palooza will piss off really devout Christians?
RC: Its not hard to piss off really devout Christians but that should never be the reason. If thats the reason you do something like this, it comes across. It gets a little precious. I am very good friends with some devout Christians and most of the devout Christians I know are really smart people. Theyll also have a good sense of humor.
SG: Or maybe theyll be happy that the Anti-Christ is so vulgar it proves them right.
RC: Well, you know in the bible, the Anti-Christ becomes the Anti-Christ not just because of the tattoo on his head and because hes the son of the devil, but hes also from a place of wealth. Hes charming, hes good looking and people love him and thats how they infiltrate apparently in the bible. Thats why everybody was saying, Oh, George [W.] Bush is the Anti-Christ, because he basically fits the suit.
SG: Have you heard about Nicolas Cage doing a Left Behind remake?
RC: Nooo.
SG: Thats true. Hes signed to do a big studio movie of the Left Behind book. How awesome is that going to be, Nicolas Cage in serious a rapture movie?
RC: But thats a Christian based rapture. Is that the drug hes taking now? Look, Ill watch Nicolas Cage do anything because say what you want, the man does not half ass his work. Ill be the first one in the theater for that.
SG: For me, the crazier the better with Nicolas Cage.
RC: Does it get better though than like Willie Aames playing Bibleman? Did you ever see that?
SG: No.
RC: And is Nicolas Cage really going to do any better than Kirk Cameron did?
SG: You know, I cant find the Kirk Cameron one. I can find Left Behind II but I dont want to see that before the first one.
RC: Really? Oh boy, I understand. Its stressful, its stressful. Im glad youre a purist.
SG: With Childrens Hospital, do you think about full story arcs for the season now?
RC: No, but the first season of Childrens is a lot like my Suicide Girls stuff in that it was largely unfocused and just an engine for jokes. I almost stubbornly and arrogantly eschewed story and character development, with middle fingers raised. But as you go on, I discovered and learned a lot about jokes and the best joke engine is story. That said, I think we tell a pretty tight story in 11 minutes now. The only thing we definitely dont do and wont do is tell a seasonal arc anymore, just because people dont watch shows like that. Or this show theyre not going to watch like that. I dont want them to feel like they cant watch Left Behind II if they havent seen Left Behind 1.
SG: What funny storylines are coming up?
RC: Well, the next season takes place on an army base in Osaka, Japan because our hospital got turned down, and rather than go and get another hospital we were like, Screw it. Who cares? Lets do it somewhere else. Lets just take a big huge leap and make a big choice. So we decided to do this. They open up a pediatric clinic on a World War II era army base in Osaka for children, because theres been two wars and soldiers love to fuck. So theres a lot of kids and they need them to be taken care of living on these bases. And also theyre tenting the hospital for 14 weeks for termites so theyve got to do something.
SG: You dont normally do specific spoofs on Childrens but are you thinking about MASH?
RC: No. No, the minute we said that and decided on it, minute two we started getting as far away from MASH as possible and didnt want to make any overt references. Nothing, because no one knows MASH. You and I know MASH but 90% of our audience has no idea who Alan Alda is. Its hard doing a show on that channel.
SG: My favorite segment you did on The Daily Show was your J.K. Rowling skit. Would you have thought about doing one on Stephenie Meyer or E.L. James if you were still on?
RC: Yeah, I mean, I would probably do anything. I dont get that whole thing, the whole Fifty Shades of Grey thing. My wife read the book, she doesnt get it either. Its just not dirty enough for her I guess. The shit Ive seen, a little bondage? Fuck you. I read The Story of O when I was in fifth grade. Seriously, my dad had it with all his Playboys, and this is like the sequel to The Big O, that 70s written by Anonymous porno book, and it is a hardcore novel. I read it in the fifth grade, and I think I probably had my first orgasm without touching myself, and was sick for the next three days. Like I was home from school, like really sick, like it stirred me up. It fucked with my insides and Ive probably never been the same since. It definitely hurt me. Porno is bad for children.
SG: What was it like when you went back on The Daily Show as a guest?
RC: Nothing is more satisfying than that. Its definitely like coming home in a way. Like I dont go to high school reunions, I dont go to alumni homecoming things at my college. I dont care about that stuff but this is like a family that Im very proud to be in. I love homecoming parades at The Daily Show so it was so satisfying and lived up to all my weighty expectations.
SG: Could you go back to doing a show like that after youve established a career in acting?
RC: I dont know. Yeah, I guess. I dont really think about it like that. My M.O., and it sometimes gets me in trouble, my M.O. is just do cool shit. So yeah, sure. That grind, its easiest on the correspondents, but its hard to take news in the morning and make it into a joke at night. Just doing a daily show, like a late night show in general, is a grind that Im not ready for now. Yeah, I would definitely entertain something like that.
SG: You mentioned Monty Python earlier. What are your favorite comedies?
RC: Well, I tend to really love stuff that my friends do. Anything that was an offshoot of The State, any of their movies. Like Wet, Hot American Summer is probably one of my favorites and Id say Wet Hot American Summer is right up there with Caddyshack and the other stalwarts. But my favorite movie of all time which also happens to be a comedy is Arthur, the original. I hate that I have to say the original.
SG: Did you see the remake?
RC: No. I auditioned for it.
SG: You did? For which part?
RC: Bitterman, Luis Guzmans part. I had a character read with Russell Brand in a hotel room in Hollywood, and it turned out we did not have great chemistry apparently. Nicest guy in the world, I just knew it wasnt going to work out.
SG: Very smart too.
RC: Oh, super smart.
SG: So what was the disconnect between you?
RC: We were improvising a lot and I was on a different page and was struggling to get onto his page. As a seasoned improviser, thats what you do. You make your partner look good in a scene and by virtue of that you will look good. Then I realized too late that this is an audition, man. You should try and look good. I was helping him along feeding him alley oops and stuff. I just dont think I really shined as I could have.
SG: With all the people getting their starts now in internet comedy, and maybe inspired by The Daily Show, do you think they may not understand that foundation, that even if it looks like an ambush youre working together for the joke?
RC: We dont. We dont work it out with them. Theyre not in on the joke for the most part, those guys. But were also not mean. I dont like it when its mean-spirited. Sometimes it is mean-spirited on The Daily Show. Oftentimes the dance was wed tell them what the storys about and everybody loves Jon Stewart. Nobody thinks that Jon Stewarts not going to be on their side. So they think were on their side, and then its confusing to them because its irony. Inherently you take the opposite side of what you actually believe and thats what highlights the point. It would be very confusing to people that we, one, hated. Like the idiots that we do not agree with and we would basically woo them by being on their side as an ironic character. Wed get kicked out of interviews sometimes.
SG: But they knew they were doing an interview for The Daily Show. It wasnt like you set it up as some deceptive outlet.
RC: Right, but everybody wants to be on TV and everybody loves The Daily Show. Sure, but there is a disconnect. There is a cognitive dissonance that is hard to describe but you could see it happening. As a perfect example, we only had one camera when I was doing it so we had to turn the camera around after I was done with the interview and I would just re-ask the questions that I asked. Now we wouldnt re-ask fake questions. I would sometimes change the tone of my questions and you could see them turn white, like, Oh God. Oh, what did I answer to that? Oh, now I get it. Theyd get it then and theyd shake their heads, like You got me. It was rough.
Rapture-Palooza opens June 7.
Weve interviewed Corddry over they years for films like Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and his show at the San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival. We caught up with Corddry again for his latest movie, Rapture-Palooza, and he was very happy to see us.
Rapture-Palooza is about life on earth after the rapture. The Anti-Christ (Craig Robinson) runs things now and our heroes (John Francis Daley and Anna Kendrick) are trying to do some good in a world where all the good people literally got raptured up to heaven. Corddry plays a neighbor who tries to stop the kids from upsetting the status quo, despite their good intentions. Basically, its a dirty comedy about the biblical apocalypse and the Anti-Christ as a horndog.
Corddry does funny movie roles like this, Hot Tub Time Machine and Pain & Gain, but his real baby is the TV series Childrens Hospital. He created the comedy as a web series and now it is entering its fifth season on Adult Swim. However, success hasnt turned Corddry into a media trained self-promoter. If anything, hes dirtier than ever as we talked porno, Nicolas Cage movies and religious propaganda.
SG: Welcome back to SG.
RC: Awesome. I was expecting a hot chick. Yes, I was happy to see you guys on the list.
SG: Have you kept up with Suicide Girls since you moved on?
RC: Oh yeah, definitely. My membership ran out but I follow more Suicide Girls on Instagram than I do people I know.
SG: Who are some of your Instagram Suicide Girls?
RC: Okay, I can just run through the list right now easily because guess what? They Instagram a lot. One of my favorites, by the way, I think shes new. She might not even be official yet, ThugXWife. Her name is Britney something. Hot as shit, my friend. I will show you. I mean, forget it. Milloux, Yasmina Suicide, shes a favorite. See, on a Sunday its tough because everybodys tweeting their families from a park or something. Oh, heres one doing a whole shoot with Alissa Brunelli shooting.
SG: So you keep up!
RC: I keep up with the community.
SG: Is your humor still as edgy as it was when you wrote for SG, talking about competing movies giving you AIDS and shoving an iPhone up your butt?
RC: Yes, for sure, but my humor is definitely more, I think, focused now. That was the thing I was doing right before I got the idea for Childrens Hospital. Because they were pretty much like, You can do whatever you want, my whole thing with that time was Im going to write like I did in sixth grade basically, like stream of consciousness absurdity almost. And then put some order to it later. I look back on it and its hard for me to read. Its not very good but the more focused ones are the better ones.
SG: I did notice a lot of typos. Did they just leave those in?
RC: Most of it was probably me. It was like Kerouac typing on one long sheet of paper, very rarely looking up from the computer and judging myself.
SG: Were you that sharp in sixth grade?
RC: I was a big Monty Python fan from way early on and my friend, Mark Pappas and I, would write these stories in sixth grade. Basically my teacher, still the best teacher Ive ever had, Guy Evans, Weymouth, Massachusetts, I think hes a principal now, or hes retired but he used to be. Favorite teacher, he would make us write a story using all our vocabulary words for the week. So most people were like, I woke up and tripped on my bureau. But me and Mark Pappas - - Mark Pappas and I, first of all. See how focused I am now? Mark Pappas and I would write these long, absurd, crazy stories involving our vocabulary words and they were really funny. I wish I could have access to them now, and Mr. Evans would make us read them in front of the class because they were nuts. So that was very much my first foray into nonimportant comedy.
SG: When they do these comedies like Rapture-Palooza where every role is filled by a comedian, does that start with one or do they go after everyone at the same time?
RC: I have no idea. I dont remember quite how I got [attached]. I was friends with Craig already from Hot Tub and he was a producer so I imagine he had some say in getting me involved. The producers at Mosaic and Lionsgate were big fans. They like our world. Theyre young guys and they like comedy, and theyre into the scene that Huebel and I run around in, and Scheer, Tom Lennon and all those guys.
SG: Do you know all your pals are going out for it too?
RC: I dont think anybody went out for it. I dont think anybody auditioned for this.
SG: But did you know they were getting involved?
RC: Yeah. Thats sort of the way it always works but I dont know who got involved first. It was also not a reason to do the movie. I would just do it with Craig Robinson alone and the script was awesome. Im not one of these people that waits to see how good its going to get, waits for the cast to come in before they do it.
SG: Did doing a religious comedy bring back your This Week In God segments from The Daily Show?
RC: Well, first of all, I take so little credit for the This Week in God segments because that was one of those things like, Well, Colberts gone, someones got to do this. Why dont you do it? So I never felt ownership of that, and I was sure people were going to be like, Fuck you and it would no longer be a segment. I guess it just kept on chugging along a little bit, but Im fascinated by religion and comedy is my bread and butter, so I do enjoy stuff like that, but Ive never made the connection until now.
SG: Do you hope or expect Rapture-Palooza will piss off really devout Christians?
RC: Its not hard to piss off really devout Christians but that should never be the reason. If thats the reason you do something like this, it comes across. It gets a little precious. I am very good friends with some devout Christians and most of the devout Christians I know are really smart people. Theyll also have a good sense of humor.
SG: Or maybe theyll be happy that the Anti-Christ is so vulgar it proves them right.
RC: Well, you know in the bible, the Anti-Christ becomes the Anti-Christ not just because of the tattoo on his head and because hes the son of the devil, but hes also from a place of wealth. Hes charming, hes good looking and people love him and thats how they infiltrate apparently in the bible. Thats why everybody was saying, Oh, George [W.] Bush is the Anti-Christ, because he basically fits the suit.
SG: Have you heard about Nicolas Cage doing a Left Behind remake?
RC: Nooo.
SG: Thats true. Hes signed to do a big studio movie of the Left Behind book. How awesome is that going to be, Nicolas Cage in serious a rapture movie?
RC: But thats a Christian based rapture. Is that the drug hes taking now? Look, Ill watch Nicolas Cage do anything because say what you want, the man does not half ass his work. Ill be the first one in the theater for that.
SG: For me, the crazier the better with Nicolas Cage.
RC: Does it get better though than like Willie Aames playing Bibleman? Did you ever see that?
SG: No.
RC: And is Nicolas Cage really going to do any better than Kirk Cameron did?
SG: You know, I cant find the Kirk Cameron one. I can find Left Behind II but I dont want to see that before the first one.
RC: Really? Oh boy, I understand. Its stressful, its stressful. Im glad youre a purist.
SG: With Childrens Hospital, do you think about full story arcs for the season now?
RC: No, but the first season of Childrens is a lot like my Suicide Girls stuff in that it was largely unfocused and just an engine for jokes. I almost stubbornly and arrogantly eschewed story and character development, with middle fingers raised. But as you go on, I discovered and learned a lot about jokes and the best joke engine is story. That said, I think we tell a pretty tight story in 11 minutes now. The only thing we definitely dont do and wont do is tell a seasonal arc anymore, just because people dont watch shows like that. Or this show theyre not going to watch like that. I dont want them to feel like they cant watch Left Behind II if they havent seen Left Behind 1.
SG: What funny storylines are coming up?
RC: Well, the next season takes place on an army base in Osaka, Japan because our hospital got turned down, and rather than go and get another hospital we were like, Screw it. Who cares? Lets do it somewhere else. Lets just take a big huge leap and make a big choice. So we decided to do this. They open up a pediatric clinic on a World War II era army base in Osaka for children, because theres been two wars and soldiers love to fuck. So theres a lot of kids and they need them to be taken care of living on these bases. And also theyre tenting the hospital for 14 weeks for termites so theyve got to do something.
SG: You dont normally do specific spoofs on Childrens but are you thinking about MASH?
RC: No. No, the minute we said that and decided on it, minute two we started getting as far away from MASH as possible and didnt want to make any overt references. Nothing, because no one knows MASH. You and I know MASH but 90% of our audience has no idea who Alan Alda is. Its hard doing a show on that channel.
SG: My favorite segment you did on The Daily Show was your J.K. Rowling skit. Would you have thought about doing one on Stephenie Meyer or E.L. James if you were still on?
RC: Yeah, I mean, I would probably do anything. I dont get that whole thing, the whole Fifty Shades of Grey thing. My wife read the book, she doesnt get it either. Its just not dirty enough for her I guess. The shit Ive seen, a little bondage? Fuck you. I read The Story of O when I was in fifth grade. Seriously, my dad had it with all his Playboys, and this is like the sequel to The Big O, that 70s written by Anonymous porno book, and it is a hardcore novel. I read it in the fifth grade, and I think I probably had my first orgasm without touching myself, and was sick for the next three days. Like I was home from school, like really sick, like it stirred me up. It fucked with my insides and Ive probably never been the same since. It definitely hurt me. Porno is bad for children.
SG: What was it like when you went back on The Daily Show as a guest?
RC: Nothing is more satisfying than that. Its definitely like coming home in a way. Like I dont go to high school reunions, I dont go to alumni homecoming things at my college. I dont care about that stuff but this is like a family that Im very proud to be in. I love homecoming parades at The Daily Show so it was so satisfying and lived up to all my weighty expectations.
SG: Could you go back to doing a show like that after youve established a career in acting?
RC: I dont know. Yeah, I guess. I dont really think about it like that. My M.O., and it sometimes gets me in trouble, my M.O. is just do cool shit. So yeah, sure. That grind, its easiest on the correspondents, but its hard to take news in the morning and make it into a joke at night. Just doing a daily show, like a late night show in general, is a grind that Im not ready for now. Yeah, I would definitely entertain something like that.
SG: You mentioned Monty Python earlier. What are your favorite comedies?
RC: Well, I tend to really love stuff that my friends do. Anything that was an offshoot of The State, any of their movies. Like Wet, Hot American Summer is probably one of my favorites and Id say Wet Hot American Summer is right up there with Caddyshack and the other stalwarts. But my favorite movie of all time which also happens to be a comedy is Arthur, the original. I hate that I have to say the original.
SG: Did you see the remake?
RC: No. I auditioned for it.
SG: You did? For which part?
RC: Bitterman, Luis Guzmans part. I had a character read with Russell Brand in a hotel room in Hollywood, and it turned out we did not have great chemistry apparently. Nicest guy in the world, I just knew it wasnt going to work out.
SG: Very smart too.
RC: Oh, super smart.
SG: So what was the disconnect between you?
RC: We were improvising a lot and I was on a different page and was struggling to get onto his page. As a seasoned improviser, thats what you do. You make your partner look good in a scene and by virtue of that you will look good. Then I realized too late that this is an audition, man. You should try and look good. I was helping him along feeding him alley oops and stuff. I just dont think I really shined as I could have.
SG: With all the people getting their starts now in internet comedy, and maybe inspired by The Daily Show, do you think they may not understand that foundation, that even if it looks like an ambush youre working together for the joke?
RC: We dont. We dont work it out with them. Theyre not in on the joke for the most part, those guys. But were also not mean. I dont like it when its mean-spirited. Sometimes it is mean-spirited on The Daily Show. Oftentimes the dance was wed tell them what the storys about and everybody loves Jon Stewart. Nobody thinks that Jon Stewarts not going to be on their side. So they think were on their side, and then its confusing to them because its irony. Inherently you take the opposite side of what you actually believe and thats what highlights the point. It would be very confusing to people that we, one, hated. Like the idiots that we do not agree with and we would basically woo them by being on their side as an ironic character. Wed get kicked out of interviews sometimes.
SG: But they knew they were doing an interview for The Daily Show. It wasnt like you set it up as some deceptive outlet.
RC: Right, but everybody wants to be on TV and everybody loves The Daily Show. Sure, but there is a disconnect. There is a cognitive dissonance that is hard to describe but you could see it happening. As a perfect example, we only had one camera when I was doing it so we had to turn the camera around after I was done with the interview and I would just re-ask the questions that I asked. Now we wouldnt re-ask fake questions. I would sometimes change the tone of my questions and you could see them turn white, like, Oh God. Oh, what did I answer to that? Oh, now I get it. Theyd get it then and theyd shake their heads, like You got me. It was rough.
Rapture-Palooza opens June 7.