Paul Feig recalls how he and Robin Williams were once rivals on the stand-up comedy circuit.
Speaking to Jesse Tyler Ferguson in an all-new episode of Sony Music Entertainment’s Dinner’s On Me podcast published on Tuesday, Oct. 8, the Bridesmaids director, 62, recalled a time before his fame when his career was almost “sabotaged.”
“I was in the era of when Jay Leno was out there and [Jerry] Seinfeld was out there and, you know, and I, and Robin Williams, I mean, yeah, I got sabotaged by Robin Williams a couple of times when I was finally got to be a performer at The Improv,” Feig said of his early days at the comedy club franchise that originated in New York City in 1963.
According to Feig, though he was getting his foot in the door, he still “wasn’t one of the main guys” during this time. “So you’d kinda have a later spot,” he added.
Next, Feig shared how the late actor reportedly blew his chances one evening.
“I remember like once, it’s my time to get up and there’s a full audience. I was like, so excited and they come up like, ‘Oh, you know Robin just wants to get up and do a quick set first.’ I’m like, ‘Well cool,’ ” Feig said.
“He did an hour and he finished it. Everybody left except for one woman who was waiting for her husband to come back from the bathroom,” he added.
Although things may not have gone as planned for Feig that evening, he did find success later.
During the conversation with Ferguson, 48, Feig recalled a life-changing moment when a project he’d been working on was green lit.
“It was huge, I mean it was life changing,” he said of NBC acquiring Freaks and Geeks, adding that he was in London when he got the good news.
“I remember I was on the tube and had this little notebook and I wrote in the notebook, I think I’m about to get everything I’ve ever wanted out of my life in my life,” the Jackpot director explained.
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“And it was just like, I couldn’t believe it because I’ve been struggling for so long. So, it was great. I remember when the first episode came out, the reviews were unbelievable. They were just glowing, glowing reviews.”
Feig went on to direct 14 episodes of The Office, and earned two Emmy nominations and a Directors Guild of America Award for his work on the sitcom.
Before ending the conversation, Feig shared that his latest project, A Simple Favor 2, is “almost finished.”
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