00:30Now, Riggle's new memoir, Grit Spit and Never Quit, A Marine's Guide to Comedy and Life, explores his journey. Our Ashan Singh sat down with him today.
01:00A big part of what you learn in the Marine Corps is how to be part of a team.
01:04And in comedy, especially long-form improv comedy, you're on stage with an ensemble, a group of other comedians, and you're trying to serve the comedy.
01:15Not necessarily yourself, not necessarily anything you're doing, because it's not about you.
01:19It's about whatever the scene is about and trying to make that the funniest, best scene.
01:23So, there's a lot of teamwork involved in that as well.
01:25Yeah, I think when people think of the armed forces and the rigidity of it, I feel like improv doesn't necessarily come to mind.
01:32Oh, no. It should come to mind, because...
01:35How do you adjust to the free-flowing nature of that world, right?
01:37If you're talking about comedy in the military, yeah, those are two separate lanes, right?
01:42But, if you're talking about thinking, reacting, improvising, you do have to adapt.
01:49In the military, you have to adapt every day to every situation.
01:53And when you improvise, you get on stage, you don't know where the scene's going to go.
01:57You don't know what's going to happen.
01:58You don't know what your scene partner is going to say and or do.
02:01So, you have to be able to respond, reply, think on your feet, write on your feet.
02:05So, mindset-wise, there's a lot of similarities.
02:08Yeah, you talk a little bit about after 9-11, realizing that you may be putting your life on the line in Afghanistan again.
02:15What was it like going to such a dangerous place during that time?
02:19And how did experiences that we see from the United States that we look at as harrowing, how did that inform your comedy?
02:26You know, if you're going to be in the Marines, you've got to have a thick skin.
02:30You've got to be able to overcome failure.
02:33You've got to be able to get up when you're knocked down.
02:36You've got to be able to do a lot of things, a never-say-die attitude.
02:40When you get into a life in the arts, there's a lot of similarities.
02:44You get knocked down a lot.
02:45You get told no a lot.
02:47There's a lot of obstacles thrown in your way.
02:49And you have to decide what you want, and then you have to get up and dust yourself off and get back in there.
02:54For sure.
02:55You mentioned improv at the UCB, being one of your first loves.
02:59You studied acting and performing at the university level.
03:02When did you realize that you might be able to do comedy professionally as a career?
03:07Oh, I wanted it.
03:09There's a difference between knowing you can do it and wanting it.
03:11And even when you got that first job, you still don't know if that's going to be enough.
03:16You know?
03:17You just have to commit, I think.
03:19You have to commit to the life, which is not easy to do.
03:22And when I say that, you still have to have a day job.
03:24You actually returned to the Middle East in 2007 as a part of the USO tour when you were a correspondent on The Daily Show.
03:32I mean, you were still in the Marine Corps Reserve at the time.
03:35What was it like coming back to the battlefield, but from a different perspective?
03:39Well, I remember whenever I was deployed, I never got a USO show.
03:44I never got a single show at all my deployments.
03:48I was, you know, I've always felt ripped off.
03:49So I kind of made a little personal pledge to myself that if I ever got into a place or a position where I could go do a show, a USO show for the troops, I was going to do it.
03:59What have you learned about yourself through your career, especially as now you're not just in your second, now you're in your third act as an author, right?
04:07Yeah. You know, there is no finish line. That's one thing I did learn.
04:12You know, people think you get to a certain level in your profession, whatever it may be, and maybe you can coast or maybe you can sit back or maybe you can rest on your laurel.
04:23Not a life in the arts. If you're not growing, you're dying, right?
04:27So you need to find ways to grow. And that can be in a lot of different ways.
04:32I just want to ask you, what is your pitch to young people and people all over the country to continue serving our country and especially the Marine Corps?
04:40You should always think about serving something a little bit bigger than yourself.
04:44You know, whether that's through your faith, whether that's through the Peace Corps or the Marine Corps.
04:49I personally believe that this country is fantastic.
04:52We're not perfect. No country is.
04:56You can look all over the world. I promise you, no country is.
04:59But we're pretty good and we have a pretty good idea and we have a pretty good basis and we I think we do OK.
05:05We can always improve. So this is a great country to serve and protect.
05:09Rob Riggle, thank you so much for your service and congratulations on the memoir.
05:12Thank you very much.
05:14Is no finish line a great message for us all.
05:17Our thanks to Ashton for that conversation and Rob Riggle's new memoir, Grit Spit and Never Quit, A Marine's Guide to Comedy and Life is Out Today.
Sé la primera persona en añadir un comentario