Tracy Morgan sat down for a remarkable interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air yesterday. (Clay Patrick McBride)

by Linda Holmes

I find Tracy Morgan hysterically funny on 30 Rock, and I love his tendency to go off in public and say nutsy, hysterically weird things -- as he does on Twitter at times. And as he did in Playboy recently, though I'll have you track that one down for yourself. And as I'm sure he does in his new book, I Am The New Black.

But his interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air is a revelation. I have no idea, really, how to integrate this interview into my understanding of him, because it's so intensely personal and so serious and so thoughtful. I have always taken him to be one of those Robin Williams-y guys who is almost incapable of being "off" for any period of time, but this seems to be a completely straightforward, utterly normal discussion that I, for one, absolutely was not expecting.

So often, you hear famous people go from interview to interview and say the same stuff to everyone, but this is the only interview remotely like this that I have ever heard with this particular guy. Definitely one to check out. You can hear the interview after the jump.

Continue reading "Get This: Tracy Morgan Is A Real Guy" >

Carrie Fisher's show Wishful Drinking covers a lot of territory, including some of the Hollywood people she's known. (Joan Marcus)

by Michael Portantiere

Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking, her one-woman show based on her book of the same title, is a wry, hilarious, insightful, and occasionally touching theatrical memoir of the woman who grew up as the daughter of celebrity parents (Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher); went on to become a film icon with her role of Princess Leia in the first three Star Wars films; struggled with manic-depression and substance abuse; and had emotionally fraught relationships with Paul Simon, the super-famous musician to whom she was very briefly married, and agent Bryan Lourd, who left her for another man after they had a child together.

A few chapters of her life were previously covered in the semi-autobiographical novel and film Postcards from the Edge, and now she's earning critical acclaim and deep audience affection for letting it all hang out in Wishful Drinking, which is playing at the Roundabout Company's Studio 54 after previous engagements in other cities. I had the golden opportunity to speak with Carrie just before one of her recent performances, and I asked her to complete these sentences.

"If Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine had been unavailable to play me and my mother in the film of Postcards from the Edge, I would like to have seen ... "

At the time? My mother playing my mother, and Debra Winger playing me. If the movie were made today, I'd like Mary Louise Parker to play me, but I don't know who's out there now who could really play my mother. It's a hard role. That's why my mother is so good at it.

"My favorite holiday to spend with family is ... "

[Laughs] It's hard to answer that! [Pauses] I'll say Christmas. I mean, we always have to have Christmas together. I don't know if it's my favorite, but it's the one that we do spend.

"The popular song whose title best reflects my life is ... "

"Mad World."

"The best and worst things about the Star Wars experience were ... "

I guess you could say the best thing was that it made me into a star, and the worst thing was that it made me into a star.

"Some interesting things that most people don't know about Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford are ... "

[Laughs] Well, if there are such things, then there's a reason they're not known, which is that Mark and Harrison don't want them to be known. I will say that Harrison is a wonderful person when he's intoxicated, but Mark ... is not.

Tacky Princess Leia memorabilia, Carrie Fisher's celebrity crush, how to sabotage a marriage, and lots, lots more, after the jump.

Continue reading "Carrie Fisher Finishes Our Sentences About Family, Work And That Bikini" >

Jane Lynch plays Sue Sylvester on Glee. (Matthias Clamer / Fox)

by Linda Holmes

You probably know Jane Lynch, who plays the brilliantly evil cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on the so-happy-it-hurts Fox show Glee. She's also appeared in many (many, many) other projects: Best In Show, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Julie & Julia, A Mighty Wind ... we could go on and on. We really could.

She came in to NPR West for a conversation with All Things Considered co-host Melissa Block, and we were so excited to hear she'd be around that we asked if she wouldn't mind answering what we're calling Five Unlikely Questions.

Happily, she agreed:

Who would win in a knock-down cage match between a cheerleading squad and a show choir? And what fate should befall the losers afterward?

The cheerleaders would squash the show choir by stomping on their windpipes.This would result in a bunch of shallow-breathing singers who would soon form vocal nodes. The Glee Club would be hobbled.

Given Glee's structure, and your hopes to eventually get to sing on the show, we have to ask: What's the best song to use as the soundtrack in a plot to destroy your enemies?

"Rose's Turn" from Gypsy. Key phrases: "Thanks a lot and out with the garbage, they take bows and you're battin' zero." And "Mama's gotta let go!!!"

If all the characters you've played were running for president against each other, which one would you vote for?

I would probably vote for Laurie Bohner of A Mighty Wind. Pornography and good old-fashioned American folk-singin' would walk hand in hand. And then I'd have to leave the country.

In the last year, you've starred on series called Glee and Party Down. What's behind your sudden interest in relentlessly upbeat titles?

We're in a recession, people. "Lighten up" is what that's saying.

Your Internet Movie Database entry shows about 70 credits in the last five years. That's roughly one new credit every three to four weeks. Do you have a clone?

Yes. Glenn Close does roughly three-fifths of my work.

Bonus round: You told Melissa Block that you're happy to "be home" on the Glee set, to have a long-term gig and a trailer to settle into, complete with a pillow and a candle you brought in yourself. Which leads us to wonder: What would Sue Sylvester say about your decorating taste? And who would she hire to pretty up that trailer?

Sue would have Jack LaLanne design a mini-gym around a 75-pound medicine ball. No candles or pillows please -- too damn sissy.

by Linda Holmes

If we assume the existence of Johnny Depp, we can assume that there will be a resulting desire to locate a next Johnny Depp.

This is partly because Johnny Depp doesn't do just any old thing. On his resumé, alongside the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise and Edward Scissorhands and so forth, you will find the odd Secret Window and other flukey bad ideas.

But it would certainly be nice if there were, say, two of him, which is part of the reason there has long been a booming industry in anointing The Next Johnny Depp. So far, it is an industry with a zero percent record of success.

Steven Lovekin/Getty Images

 

Joe Jonas
Who said it: People
Accuracy: People kind of makes it sound like Joe Jonas (one of the Brothers) considers himself the next Johnny Depp, but in fact, all he says in the piece is that he likes Depp's work. Considering that his first big "acting" project was The Disney Channel's Camp Rock, and that he's following it up with Camp Rock 2, it's safe to say he has a way to go.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

 

Megan Fox
Who said it: USAWeekend.com
Accuracy: This really happened. As I understand it, the suggestion is that because Megan Fox has only been in silly movies and is mostly talked about in terms of being hot, she is just like Johnny Depp was when he was on 21 Jump Street. I have absolutely no idea how, under the formulation used here, every good-looking actor from bad movies is not "the next Johnny Depp."

More non-contenders, after the jump...

Continue reading "Six Tragically Misguided Attempts To Name The Next Johnny Depp" >

Betty White: Seen here in a much-previewed scene with Sandra Bullock in The Proposal, she hasn't slowed down a bit, and it's a very good thing. Kerry Hayes/Touchstone Pictures

 

by Linda Holmes

While watching The Proposal, I thought to myself, "It's nice that we seem to be having a little Betty White moment." She's been doing a lot of press for the movie, including this lovely clip from the folks at Hitfix:

It wasn't until I looked up her credits that I realized the degree to which the lady (now 87) has not slowed down.

A long and glorious career full of dirty jokes directed at Gene Rayburn, and what she's signed on for next, after the jump...

Continue reading "Betty White: What Movie Doesn't Need A Hilarious Grandma?" >

by Linda Holmes

There is absolutely nothing even remotely funny about George Clooney's trip to Chad with Dateline to document refugee camps. The fact remains, however, that even in terrible conditions, Clooney manages to keep his head, in part by clinging to his sense of humor. In the above clip, he shows you around where he's staying before closing with a better-than-average Andy Rooney impression.

Hat-tip to the sharp-eyed folks at Best Week Ever.

by Marc Hirsh

Every time I see Ricky Gervais appear on a talk show, awards ceremony or what-have-you these days, I always find myself thinking the same thing: "Yep, still funny."

I've watched too many once-hilarious people decay into bitterness, self-parody or irrelevance long before they ever get it into their heads to call it quits. Robin Williams is the gold standard, of course, having been reduced to manic schtick years ago, but you can also find a good example on the current season of Dancing With The Stars, where David Allen Grier spits out forced punchlines with an unbecoming desperation.

Gervais is right around the point in his career where things could easily start going south, which is why I get exceedingly nervous whenever he pops up. "This," I worry, "could be where he starts becoming Ben Stiller."

If that moment is coming, though, it's certainly not in Gervais's upcoming Sesame Street appearance, outtakes of which have been circulating this week and are in the video above.

In fact, those outtakes offer a clue as to the possible reason he's managed to avoid the fate to which so many of his comedic brothers and sisters have fallen victim: he still finds other people funny. Not himself, other people. Stephen Merchant, Jon Stewart, someone's hand covered in red carpet, whoever.

It's the difference between disrupting the award you're presenting by wandering around aimlessly in a Joaquin Phoenix beard and cracking up because Elmo's giving as good as he's getting. Maybe as long as what makes Ricky Gervais giggle goes beyond simply "Ricky Gervais," he'll still be funny.

But I'll still worry.

After the jump, another example as Ricky Gervais visits Jon Stewart...

Continue reading "The Ricky Gervais Outtakes: Elmo Tickles Someone Else For Once" >