More than just a few good laughs
Rob Riggle on the Marines, comedy and making the two meet
The Metro – May 7th, 2009

CHECK HIM OUT LIVE
Rob Riggle performs Friday at 10 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre as part of the AltCom Fest for the full schedule, visit www.altcomfestival.com.

INTERVIEW. Rob Riggle’s comedic résumé includes enlistment in the Upright Citizens Brigade, a tenure at “Saturday Night Live,” and perhaps most notably, his recruitment as a war correspondent for “The Daily Show.” Somehow, through it all, Riggle has remained an active member of the Marines. Joining the Corps to further his aspirations to be a pilot, his rank is Lieutenant Colonel. Though he never ended his military service, Riggle eventually left flight school to pursue comedy.

To try and create a timeline, when did you enter the military?
April 25, 1990. That was my official entry date. I had my pilot’s license when I was an undergrad and I got a guaranteed flight contract from the Marines as a theater and film major. My options were be a waiter upon graduation, or go fly planes.

Do you feel that you are more of a comedian or a writer? When did you realize that you had it in you to be a comedian?
Writers, no matter how funny they are, unless they get up and perform it, they’re missing the key element of being a comedian. So, yes, I consider myself a comedian. I guess I started in junior high making people laugh. In high school I was voted most humorous in my senior class, and I was a theater and film major at the University of Kansas. I just had a passion for acting and comedy. Like I said, I also flew planes and I enjoyed that. What happened was I got far enough on my flight program and was close to getting my wings and I thought, "If I continue down this path I will be flying planes for the rest of my life and will never have tried comedy." I will never know if it would or would not have worked out. And that thought haunted me. So I said, "I’m going to try it. If I fail, I fail, but at least I’ll know. That way I won’t have any regrets." That’s when I left flight school. Then I had to fulfill my ground contract with the Marine Corps, so they made me a ground officer. They looked at my college résumé and saw that I was into radio and TV so they sent me defense information school and I became a public affairs officer. I finished my commitment to them in three years and I was free. I was on my way to Chicago and I was going to study at Second City and I was going to be a bartender, I didn’t care what I had to do, but I was going to try comedy. Then the marines came back and asked, “What will it take for you to stay in the Marine Corps?" I said, “Well, if you can get me to New York or Los Angeles I will consider staying, but I’m going to continue doing this comedy thing.” The next morning they had orders for me to go to New York City, so I extended for another three years on active duty. I worked in the public affairs office there. It was basically a 7 to 5 job, and I spent every night doing comedy.

What does being a public affairs officer mean?
It could mean anything. When I was stationed in New York, I was pulled from New York and brought to Kosovo and Albania. When I was activated in 2001, I was sent to Central Command and then to Afghanistan. So when you’re a public affairs officer you basically belong to the command element of any Marine Unit. You can get pulled and attached to any marine unit because you’re an individual. Now I work in the Los Angeles Public Affairs office, so who knows what will happen down the line. Right now I do a lot of film and television work as well as media training.

So were you essential in the Marines as being the lighthearted guy who had a joke ready when people needed it most?
It was really weird because when I’m in my Marine uniform, I’m a Marine and I try to conduct myself as a Marine officer, but at the same time I’m not going to lose perspective. I’m not going to change that I am, and I’m a pretty lighthearted and fun guy.

Was there any room for humor in the Marines?
Whenever there was I tried to squeeze every drop I could. Whenever I was relaxing or whenever was appropriate. It’s just like any other organization or any business or any police department or fire department. When you’re on the job, you’re on the job, but when you’re off you’re relaxing and having fun.

How did the military affect you as a comedian?
It gave me a lot of great character studies. I ran across a lot of guys that took themselves very seriously. Those guys were always hilarious to me because they were such jerks and such idiots. It’s like, “Really? Really?” Now I have to watch you and mimic everything you do. You meet awesome people. You meet dummies. It gave me thick skin too. If you’re going into showbiz, you’re going to be told “no” a million times. That can tear your self-esteem down pretty quick if you don’t have thick skin.

So what was it like going to Iraq for "The Daily Show"?
That was an awesome experience — truly, truly awesome. I got the idea and I told the producer what I was thinking and he loved it. Then we pitched it to Jon and Jon was like, “Sure if you really want to do this.” Then I got on the phone and called Horatio Sanz and Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer I called them because those are people I love and love working with comedically. I said, “I’m going to Iraq and doing USO tour, do you want to come?” and they said “yes”, without missing a beat. I had the USO show and we went to six or seven forward operating bases. I mean the people who are really on the pointing end of the spear. These people are really out there and not green zone safe areas — I’m talking forward operating bases. We did these shows and then we’d get on a helicopter and fly to the next base and do a show and play basketball with the troops and sign autographs, take pictures, whatever they wanted. Then we’d get up and get on a helicopter and go to the next base. A lot of those guys were on 15-month deployment so we were the only show they were going to see. It meant a lot to us and it meant a lot to them to get to see someone perform.

Did you get any backlash from going over with "The Daily Show"? Was there any negative criticism about going over there and treating thing satirically on the show?
No. I mean, I can’t speak for everybody, but no one said “darn you for going over there.”

Was it a frightening situation?
During one of our shows we heard explosions and machinegun fire. Yeah, there’s always apprehension in a war zone.

You’d seen combat before, right?
Yeah, as a Marine in Kosovo and not so much in Afghanistan, but somewhat when you’re in cities driving around.

Do you remember your first comedy gig?
The first thing I ever did was standup. I tried that first. I went up and did five to seven minutes at the Comic Strip on Upper East Side in New York and I don’t remember anything because I was having an out-of-body experience because I was so terrified. It came and went. I didn’t bomb, people enjoyed it, but I was thinking I hated it. I hated it. I was scared. Then I went and saw the Upright Citizens Brigade do their "Assscat" show on Sunday night and I thought, "That’s it, that’s what I want to do." So I instantly started taking classes and then it felt right. After doing improv and sketches for seven years and catching breaks and doing Conan and "SNL" I thought I could go back to standup and understood writing and comedy better. It’s paid off big dividends because I think the standup has benefited. I think it’s an amazing life form.

How did you get "The Daily Show" gig? Do you remember the interview?
It was an awesome experience. I was in California at the time and I was working with NBC and I auditioned for "The Daily Show" and they told me they were looking at thousands of people, and I thought, "OK, I gave it my shot." Then I didn’t hear anything for two or three weeks and they were replacing Ed Helms and [Rob] Corddry. They found John Oliver and then they invited me to read in the studio with Jon. I was happy about getting a callback, but I was still managing my expectations because they were looking at other guys. So I went in and read with Jon. We hit it off. They thought it went well, I thought it went terrible. I was in the green room and the producers said, “How would you like to be a correspondent on 'The Daily Show?'" I screamed. And I think I screamed a dirty word, but it was in pure joy, which I think they understood. But that was it. I think I spent the rest of the day calling everyone I loved that I was going to be on "The Daily Show."

Why did you stop?
Well, quite simply, my family. My entire time on "The Daily Show" I was commuting back and forth. For two-and-a-half years I was commuting and I had kids and a wife and it got to the point where I couldn’t spend three years away from my family. Then CBS came along and made me an offer and the timing was right so I went to Jon. He knew my situation from day one, and he was thrilled. He high-fived me and was very happy for me. It was all good and no bad. I still maintain a great relation with them today. Just a few weeks ago they did something special about me in their “Moment of Zen”. I wish I could have stayed longer.

Tell me about what you're working on with CBS.
I’m developing a pilot for CBS and I’m currently shooting a movie and I have a movie coming out in June called “The Hangover,” and another movie coming out in June called “The Goods,” and standup of course.

What about this AltComedyFest in Boston? Why Boston?
I saw that Eugene Mirman was going to be there and I saw that the Upright Citizens Brigade was going to be there. So when I saw that, I said, “Yes, are you kidding me?” I was excited and honored.

Why is it called “AltComedy”? I mean musicians hate the Alt label. Didn’t it start in music by people wore plaid and flannel shirts? Do you guys all wear flannel?
[Laughs] I have no idea, but god bless them.

You’re known for your sketches, but what does Rob Riggle focus on when he does standup?
It’s funny, I don’t talk about politics and I don’t talk about the Marines. I’ve been there and done that. It’s more about storytelling and things that have happened in my life. It’s not traditional setup-punch-setup-punch, it’s more about the storytelling.

Nolan Gawron