Some Time With... Andy Goldberg!

Hey there, Fana Ritos. Welcome back to an all new episode of How Rude Tanner Ritos. Today we have the actor who appeared on season four, episode fourteen, Working Girl as DJ's photographer boss. Not only has he appeared on numerous TV shows, he is also one of the founding members and the director of the longest running improv comedy show Off the Wall. Please welcome the extremely talented Andy Goldberg.

Hi Andy, Hi good, How are you good?

Welcome to our podcast, How Rude tan Ritos. We're so excited at here.

Thanks for having me.

Yeah, we just watched the episode that you were on, which was a Working Girl, Working Girl. That's right, Working Girl, where you played DJ's boss, and we were like, oh my gosh, this is hilarious. And then we found out you had been Jeff's roommate and you did all this and problem we were like, we have to have them on.

So we're so glad you're here. Yeah.

I need a big honking microphone like you guys have.

Tell us how did you become an actor? How did you like? What it was? The you know, genesis of.

Oh well, I guess that started in summer camp. I think my first joke you know, I was a shy kid and I had trouble making friends. But I memorized this joke from Boys Life magazine, and for some reason, I did it with a French accent at I don't know, nine years old. Did I ever tell you about the time I killed the bear blindfolded? How the bear ever became blindfolded is beyond me? And for some reason, all the kids were like, oh my god, he can talk with a French accent.

You know, it was hilarious. It's impressive.

I don't know where I got that, Maybe from a I don't know if you know Maurice Chevalier.

Oh yeah, yeah, I made movies, you know when I was a kid. Anyway, that got me started and I got hooked.

I guess that's kind of how it happens.

Did you ever think you'd be on a Full House rewatch podcast talking about this.

Role you did something years ago?

No, not in a million years.

What do you remember about that week on Full House? Do you remember your audition, how you got the role, what the week on set was like.

You know, I was pretty good friends with Jeff.

We were roommates for I don't know a couple of years. I guess.

Okay, wow, how did you guys meet?

Well, there was a my improv group is called Off the Wall, uh huh, and we had what year was this episode?

Do you?

Ninety one? Yeah, ninety ninety one, oh.

Ninety one, Okay.

Off the Wall started in nineteen seventy five, and Jeff was in the workshop.

Oh, and he was renting a house.

I think it might have belonged to his parents, and he needed a roommate, you know, to help share the expenses if I wanted to do it, and I want Yeah, sure, So we became roommates, and we had kind of a revolving door of third roommates.

Which are told the other stories.

But I were really good friends and we would cook together. Jeff turned me on to a butternut squash with apple sauce.

Ooh okay, that sounds delicious. Yeah.

Anyways, so you know it was we all kind of hung out.

We you know, there were a lot of the shows on Paramount Lot and that.

Kind of thing.

So I don't remember if I auditioned, honestly, or if he just gave me the role. I honestly can't remember. The main thing that's just so weird to remember but I like the wardrobe they gave me because I thought they were nice flattering colors.

Oh okay, which is as an actor a godsend, because I mean, Andrew, you know you poor you. Every week you hated what you were wearing. But there is there's nothing like, you know, like something that you just really don't like on You're like, oh, I just yeah, I can't.

Well, you looked you looked great.

So yeah, you guys looked the same. It's amazing. Obviously you're older, but I mean you look so youthful.

Thank you, Thank you growing up with John Stamos and that's all that Greek yogurt.

And yeah, it's true just by the proximity.

Actually it's he actually is the fountain of you if you just have to like touch him and it.

Yeah.

So I mean I love that you and Jeff like started in this business so many years ago, as like, you know, writers and improv artists.

How long have you been doing? I mean it is off the wall still going, have you like what is?

I love improv comedy, So I'd love to hear more about that.

The Wall is still performing And in September we're going to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary.

That's incredible, it's amazing.

What are you doing to celebrate a special show?

I've tentatively got us booked at the Improv on Melrose, Okay, where we performed for fourteen years, So we'll probably go back there and you know, bring me in some past members that don't perform with us anymore.

But right, we love him, enjoy working with and that kind of thing.

Nice.

Yeah, we're just getting that going now. And you know, printing hat and T shirts.

And right, all the merch, merch, merch, all the merch.

Off the Wall had some really significant talent. I mean so many talented people such as yourself, but also big names like Robin Williams, John Ritter, Gary Shandling, like so many huge names.

Yeah.

The sad thing is that our fiftieth anniversary is it. Robin's gone and John's gone and Gary.

Yeah, and yeah, a lot of time, a lot of time has passed. But whoever comes back will be welcome and we're excited.

Absolutely. We were having workshop one night. It was a Thursday night workshop that d.

Marcus started off the Wall and she was having her workshop when we're there, and Susan Elliott, who was in the workshop, comes in and she brings this guy with him with her and he's wearing a brown suit and suspenders, and it's a very odd guy, and he's talking with a Russian accent. And he gets up on stage and he's got a Russian accent, and then he goes into a whole bunch of other characters and it's Robin Williams.

And so Dee said, hey, you want to be in the.

Show this weekend, because we were having a show every weekend, and he did, and he stayed with us for.

A year and a half.

Oh wow, Wow, it was an amazing time.

He was just I talk about somebody who's mind never stopped, you know. I was constantly, constantly great, loved watching his stuff.

And so a lot of people would come see us, you know, because they heard about Robin. I mean, we were very popular at the time. We got great reviews and Variety and Hollywood Reporter and La Times, so we were always pretty crowded. But once word got out that Robin was there, the place was packed. And one night Norman Lear came to the show.

Oh yeah, we see Norman at Jeff's house all the time.

Yeah, oh okay, And and it intermission, Norman comes up to me and I think, well, this is my big break.

You know, he's he's about to discover me.

It comes up and he goes, boy, is that Robin Williams funny?

I mean, I can't imagine being in an improv group with Robin Williams, you know what I mean, Like he's his own improv group. He's and to like go toe to toe with that, or to just even you know, be able to keep up.

I mean it was. Yeah, Robin was just absolutely hilarious.

But we got some footage from back then that nobody's ever seen.

Oh oh wow, great stuff. So trying to figure out exactly what to do with that.

Yeah, oh I bet people would love to see that.

Yeah, anybody out there has an idea.

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And do you still teach improv?

Do you like, are you still involved with, like actually doing some of the theater stuff, or have you kind of decided that that's not your deal anymore.

No, I still perform in all the shows, and I teach a couple of classes. I have an advanced class in a beginning class and have done that for years just because it's fun to do and it's a whole community.

Yeah, improv is super fun today terrifying, but fun.

Have you done it?

I have? I have, I've done it before.

I have a couple of friends that have different improv shows. Pretty pretty Pony And then a friend of mine had something at the improv I can't think of the name of it.

But they would have.

I've done a couple of guest things and it's not nearly as much work as they're doing, and it's still terrifying because you just have to not doubt and just go.

Yeah, yeah, you just have yes, and that's what it's about. Yeah, we often have the guest stars at our shows, So if you want to join us sometimes we'd love to have you.

Oh yeah, that would be so much fun. I would absolutely love to do that. That's your jam, Jody, it is. That's yeah. I love I love doing that kind of stuff. It's fun.

Oh okay, well yeah, okay, Well I'll reach.

Out please do yes, reach out through Maddie, will get our information and an exchange.

Well, this is fun.

There we go.

What would you say to like actors that are trying to.

Sort of get started in improv because it's kind of a different animal sketch comedy. Improv comedy is its own sort of beasts, Like, what would you recommend people do or don't do if they're trying to kind of get into that scene?

You know, when Off the Wall started, there were I think three improv groups in Los Angeles. Now there's probably three thousand, so I don't know, try and hook up with somebody knows what they're doing. Yeah, there are some places I always like to think that I'm teaching how to do improv and some classes, not to mention any names, they're teaching you how to do it, but you're also trying to get into the show.

Yes, I know of which you speak and yes.

And which is great, you know, because people made it the Saturday Night Live from the show.

Yeah, but.

You know, learn the basics of it.

I would highly recommend my book Improv Comedy.

Okay, I love it. Where can people get that?

It's on Amazon? Okay, got it forward by John Ritter and.

Quote by Gary Sham and also an interview with Brian Kranston, who took quicklib.

Oh wow cool, So.

I'd start there.

Okay, you know it's to me, improv is about playing the moment for real. I think all comedy is funnier when you play it for real, that you're not trying to joke the joke, you're not trying to make up something that's so crazy, you know, just play the moment and create characters.

I think that's a big part of it, is creating.

Characters because people who are most remembered for comedy, have a character that you can kind of mess them up with, right, or several of them. You know, if you look at Saturday Night Live, all you know, they all play all these characters, and that's what people tune in for is to see them play the character, not to just really be themselves.

But if you play the character for real, trying to think what.

I So it was a character on Saturday Night Live and she just played it so real that you thought it was an actual person, and you know, right, funnier that way.

Yeah, the ridiculousness of the reality of it rather the like forcing sort of shoehorning the joke in there.

I get that.

Yeah, you don't need jokes if you're you know.

Right, you don't need jokes if the situation is ridiculous.

And you within that situation.

Right, Oh, start writing this stuff.

So there's prep work involved here, Like I always assume for improvisation you don't prep at all, You just do. But you're saying that you should come up with like these characters ahead of time in your mind so that when you perform it just it comes out more naturally.

I think you can have a bag of tricks.

So that you have these different characters and you know they you've worked on, that you've developed and maybe through improv or maybe from just driving around in the car talking to yourself. But once you have those characters, then a situation comes up and you go, oh, you know, my so and.

So character would work perfect there.

I think that works for auditions for commercials and TV shows and all you know stuff like that.

It's something that you can realistically play right.

And it's also then it's a little less terrifying, probably because you're like, oh, okay, I have a file to dig through of you know what I mean of things, rather than like I'm just completely free for all.

Yeah.

I think people enjoy improv because there isn't a lot of preparation enough to memorize lines in that regard.

You just show up right once.

Once you know how to do it and you're comfortable doing improv, then it's you know what times you show eight o'clock, I'll be there five minutes.

Eight Yeah, exactly. So what are off the wall shows like, like when people come to see and where are you guys? Where do you guys perform at?

Currently we're at a place called the Fanatic Salon in Culver City, Okay. And it's a cute little theater. It was actually a hair salon at one point and they into a theater, so they just put an extra the word hair and it's called Fanatic Salon.

I love it.

That's great, but it's a great place. A lot of people perform there. I started another improv group called Mostly Organic Okay, and they're somewhat younger, so they they open for us. And then so you get two shows, two for the price of one. And our show is all audience suggestions. So we take ideas for scenes, we improvise songs, we get styles of music to imp We try to deal with current events. We you know, it's.

Like my friend Jeremiah Watkins does a show called stand Up on the Spot at the Comedy Store that I've done a couple of times, and you just you go up and you people just yell out things and you're like, Okay, let's make a joke out of this, you know.

Yeah, I mean we have formats for things.

We have games, you know, change of emotions where you just get a lot of emotions from the audience and play different emotions.

And oh that sounds like so much fun aymphony.

Of social criticism where we each get a topic, you know, current topic or topic in the news, or right riff on. Okay, I like that, So it's it's unstructured structure, my favorite kind.

Do you ever get up there and just totally blank and you're like, uh, I got nothing? Or do you rely on your your fellow members to help you out and try to or like what happens if you mess up? Can you even mess up in improfit?

Well? Sure, yeah, okay.

But the thing that I really love about Off the Wall is that, and I think de Marcus started when she first cast it, but there's only been I think less than twenty members in fifty years. There have been a lot of guests, but once people get in the group, they either have to become really successful to leave or die or both in some cases. But people just stay because it's a really tight knit group and you know, hopefully, I think we're doing some good stuff there. But to

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Yeah, what are some of your favorite projects that you've worked on throughout the years, I mean other than the off the wall like improv stuff, and.

What are some things that you've yeah, yeah, and off.

Obviously, well a full house of course, it's.

A highlight yep, right, I.

Guess that was a co producer director of a movie and probably nobody ever saw it, and it was one of the last things John Ritter did because I asked him if he would be part of it, and he goes, well, talk me into it, and so I guess I did. And we shot an entire feature film in thirteen hours with people bringing cameras and they were shooting.

We got a big house and we.

Were shooting upstairs, one scene downstairs, another scene simultaneously, and it got edited together. It was a murder mystery. It's called Man of the Year and at the end of the ending away.

But spoiler alert, right.

Yeah.

I was such a John Ritter fan even as a kid. I loved watching Yeah, fun.

And a sweet, sweet guy.

Yeah.

Anyway, that was just an amazing thing that I would love to try to do again because it was improvised, there was an outline and we knew all the scenes right, kind of like I was on Curby Your Enthusiasm and the same thing, ye, where it's.

All you know, you know the beats, Yeah I did.

I did a show like that for a couple of seasons that was super fun where it was like, okay, you know what the episode is generally about and where you need to get from.

Point A to point B in the scene. But how you do it right? Figure it out, have fun?

Yeah, exactly, you know.

So so that was a lot of fun to do, except for the part where I had to pull up next to Larry David on Sunset Boulevard and there were police in front of us and behind us, you know, to you know, and every time he would slow down, I had to slow down.

If he sped up, I had to speed up. And of course, you know, he's the start of.

The show, so it was up to me to right right make it even anyway, it was a challenge, but I love that show and it was, you know, so.

Funny, so great, so great.

Things they don't tell you about being an actor is that you also have to do things like that where you're like, also, you'll be acting and saying lines and doing this, but also you're going to be a.

Pace car for right, and you're like, oh, okay, sure I can do that. I put it on my special skills.

Sure, yeah.

Andy.

I'm curious if you had any sort of friendship or relationship with Bob Saggett or Dave Coolier. Is there any crossover between stand up comedy and improv, or did you know them from that one episode on Full House.

Bob and John used to hang out at the Improv and so I knew them from there, and I got to see them both again at one of Jeff's birthday parties.

Bob was so sweet.

I hadn't seen him in years, and he just remembered everything and was so friendly. Yeah, And when Bob passed, I sent a note to Jeff you know about it, and Jeff wrote back that he said that I was a partial inspiration for Danny Tanner. Oh and I never knew that.

What an honor.

That's good.

Yeah, And so I guess, you know, from when we were roommates and the way I behaved maybe in the kitchen, I don't know.

Were you U neat and fastidious?

Yeah, we, Jeff and I would sing a song while we were cooking. Oh week clean, then go weekly, then go so that by the time the meal was over, we would have everything cleaned up so there wasn't a.

Big mess at the end.

So that's, oh my gosh, that's funny. Well now we know, yeah, yeah, for Danny Tanner.

I don't know who the other inspirations were, but you know, I guess that was a partial one.

Right, well, I love that's so cool.

Oh well, Andy, thank you so much for joining us today. This was so cool to get to talk to you about all your talents and your group.

Yeah, you got to get out there.

This is cool to see the fiftieth anniversary shows.

Oh my god, it sounds amazing.

Yeah in September okay, and uh yeah so and I'll be in touch and maybe sometime I.

Would love it. That would be so fun.

Okay, Well, thanks for having you guys.

Bye.

Right, Well, now we know actual for Danny Tanner because of the Cleaning Go song, Danny didn't sing that.

That would have been great.

Maybe they too expensive, Maybe that that song too anyway, Yeah.

I forget. That's why they should have gotten the publishing rights to it. Yeah, totally. Yeah.

I didn't know any of that stuff, that he was roommates with Jeff, that he was the.

Inspiration for Danny ee. Yeah, like that's incredible.

Yeah, and fifty years of an improv that's really impressive and it sounds like so much fun.

Yeah, I definitely would love to go to the show.

Oh my gosh, I hope you get to Yeah, go and I'll come see you.

That would would be fun. No, you can jump up there too. Yeah, I'll just heckle. I'll just see in the audience and hell, okay, that's actually more fun for me.

Seriously, Well, that was such a fun episode. Thank you guys for listening. We love having all of these different people that are related to Full House in one way or another and sometimes in multiple ways. But we love having you guys listen, So thank you so much, fan Ritos.

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Looking for that we could uh that we could supply in our little Howard merch Uh.

Fun, So I want to go beyond the T shirt. So, yes, we want to go beyond the T shirt.

Yeah, that's that sounds inappropriate in some way, and I don't know why.

But it does. It's on a brand for HRT, so yeah right, uh but yeah, check that out.

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And remember the world is small, but the house is full. Oh no, I forgot. It's improv. It's improv. It's improv. Great nominal character.

The whold is small, but the house is full of improv actors.

Improv actors. So trying to come up with the tagline troop.

Yeah, exactly, trying to come up with a tagline and just failing miserably.

That's what it's full of.

It's full of poor improv actors. He's gonna hear this and be like, I definitely should not have her come to the show. Okay, we might want to record some alts here. Yeah yeah, yeah, right, make me sound better, because that was after doing a whole thing with an improv like comedy troupe leader.

I screwed that up. That was I think it was just I was, well, we.

Was recording for like four hours, so yeah, it's it's the end of the day, so you're you're allowed. You're allowed, all

Right, I'm gonna go do some improv by myself in the mirror, Okay,