Quinta Brunson

Summary

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Episode Featuring Quinta Brunson

Release Date: April 8, 2025

In this engaging episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Amy welcomes Quinta Brunson, the multifaceted comedian, writer, and showrunner behind the critically acclaimed sitcom "Abbott Elementary." The conversation delves deep into Quinta's journey in the entertainment industry, her influences, the creation of her beloved characters, and the importance of representation in media. The episode is enriched with anecdotes, humor, and heartfelt insights, making it a must-listen for fans and aspiring creatives alike.

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1. Introduction to Quinta Brunson

Amy opens the episode by introducing Quinta as a "funny and smart" mogul who is instrumental in revitalizing the sitcom genre. She emphasizes Quinta's role as a driving force in the industry, highlighting her leadership and creative prowess.

Notable Quote:

"Quinta is not only funny and smart and gracious and a seemingly great boss, but is a mogul. Is kind of just a incredible driving force in an industry and kind in many ways saving it from extinction." ([00:00])

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2. Early Connections and BuzzFeed Experience

Quinta shares her foundational experiences at BuzzFeed, where she collaborated with fellow creatives like Kate Peterman, Zach Evans, and Ash Perez. This period was pivotal in honing her comedic writing and understanding large-scale audience engagement.

Notable Quotes:

"Quinta, to me, has always been so amazing at how forward-thinking she was. She was really adamant that the Internet was a stage for her to play in." ([06:07])

"Writing for BuzzFeed was the best way to learn how to do it for massive audiences, which is a skill that I still see writers, peers, they don't technically teach you that in school." ([24:13])

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3. Influences from Classic Sitcoms

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around the classic sitcoms that shaped Quinta's comedic sensibilities. Shows like "Coach," "Mary Tyler Moore," "King of Queens," "30 Rock," "Parks and Recreation," and "The Office" are mentioned as key inspirations.

Notable Quotes:

"Coach was a show that was very formative for me. I forgot my mom and I, we loved Coach." ([14:12])

"I see a destination for your characters. But very important to me when it comes to making a sitcom. When I visit sitcoms like Parks or the Office and I think about where those characters began and where they end, that is what inspired me to tell that story about a different set of characters." ([16:33])

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4. Character Development and Representation in "Abbott Elementary"

Quinta delves into the intricacies of creating Jeanine, a character inspired by herself. She emphasizes the importance of authentic representation, especially for Black women in media, and discusses the challenges and responsibilities that come with it.

Notable Quotes:

"Jeanine started in a place where I think I think a lot more about Janine than I think shows up on screen... But I knew from the beginning this is a girl who had a weird relationship with her mother." ([17:24])

"I don't think it's slovenly or bad. Jeanine looks in the mirror and thinks, 'This is a good outfit. You did it, girl.'" ([17:24])

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5. The Power of Female Friendships

The episode highlights the strength and significance of female friendships in Quinta's life. She credits her relationships, especially with her colleague Kate Peterman, for providing unwavering support and shared experiences that have been instrumental in her personal and professional growth.

Notable Quotes:

"Our friendships are super important. We all kind of remember for each other." ([29:32])

"Kate and I particularly have been through so much together as friends, as women, as comedy writers." ([29:41])

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6. Navigating Fame and Public Perception

Quinta reflects on the challenges of fame, particularly the blurred lines between her public and private personas. She discusses how audiences can become deeply connected to characters, leading to intense reactions both positive and negative.

Notable Quotes:

"People asking me on the street... It's like the opposite effect of someone being like, 'I don't like what you're doing with Gregory.'" ([21:05])

"Watch it because it's storytelling, and it's AI so it gets it wrong a lot. And it also makes me feel good." ([56:03])

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7. Embracing Vision and Determination

Quinta emphasizes the role of vision and determination in her success. She speaks about her strategic moves, such as leaving Philadelphia and leveraging her BuzzFeed platform, which were crucial steps towards mainstream recognition.

Notable Quotes:

"I made every single move in my life so that this could happen to me, including leaving Philadelphia." ([33:34])

"Vision, you can feel, see something. You're working in accordance with something. I'm a big believer in that." ([33:34])

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8. Light-hearted Moments and Humor

The conversation takes delightful turns with humorous exchanges about corporate slang, AI-generated cat videos, and playful banter about athletes. These segments showcase Quinta's wit and Amy's comedic rapport.

Notable Quotes:

"Do you know the comedian Lisa Beasley? She does a corporate character called Corporate Aaron." ([03:27])

"Quinta, you're the captain of a huge ship." - Joke about being increasingly in charge ([11:24])

"Don't go up to Quinta and pick her up." ([50:44])

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9. Finale: Promoting "Abbott Elementary" and Reflecting on Comedy's Impact

As the episode winds down, both Amy and Quinta reflect on the comforting power of comedy, especially during challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic. They advocate for the importance of shows like "Abbott Elementary" in providing joy and solace to audiences worldwide.

Notable Quotes:

"Comedy is like a comfort. There's some kind of giant warm feeling I get from being a part of anything that special." ([42:40])

"Please watch 'Abbott Elementary.' It's on Hulu." ([42:25])

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Conclusion

Amy Poehler's conversation with Quinta Brunson offers a deep dive into the making of "Abbott Elementary," the importance of authentic representation, and the enduring influence of classic sitcoms on modern comedy. Through laughter and insightful dialogue, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of Quinta's journey and the impactful work she continues to produce.

Final Thoughts:

"Quinta Brunson, you are amazing and so talented, and it means a lot that you came. And you're the best, Quinta." ([57:05])

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Join the Conversation: For more insightful discussions and to catch episodes featuring your favorite celebrities and creatives, subscribe to Good Hang with Amy Poehler on your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Amy Poehler]

Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. I'm so excited about our guest today. It is the incredible Quinta Brunson, who is not only funny and smart and gracious and a seemingly great boss, but is a mogul. Is kind of just an incredible driving force in an industry and kind in many ways saving it from extinction. No pressure, but anyway, I'm so excited to have Quinta here to talk about all of those things and to hang. And we always like to do something at the beginning of our shows where we gather people together that know Quinta, that have worked with her, that know stuff about her that we would never know and ask them how they feel about her and what they think I should ask her. This episode is presented by the Toyota Girls Grand Highlander. Life's journey brings constant change. Filled with exciting surprises, new chapters and grand challenges. And the Toyota Grand Highlander is more than a vehicle. It's your partner in embracing all life throws at. You blinked and the kids have grown up. The third row can fit three adults. From daily routines to life changing adventures. The Toyota Grand Highlander is up for every grand challenge. Learn [e-mail] GrandHighlander Toyota Lets go places.

[Quinta Brunson]

Get up. What do you say?

[Amy Poehler]

Let me just tell you who I have here with me. I have Kate Peterman. Kate's a writer on Abbott Elementary. Hi, Kate. Hi. Zach Evans, also writer, creative director in la, founder of Create Repeat, an online community for creatives and also a buzz future feed alum. With Quinta Hezak, we have Ash Perez. Hi, Ash. Ash. Also a buzzfeed. I guess like we. You could say a Buzzfeed alum. Right?

[Ash Perez]

Buzzfeeder.

[Amy Poehler]

Buzzfeeder. Okay, welcome. And then we have the big boss, Andrew Gaultier. French name. Congratulations Andrew. You were the head of Buzzfeed video when Quinta and all and. And Zach and a lot of you were. And Kate and Ashley were all making content together. This is not a deposition. Nothing you say will be used. But welcome to Good hang. How's everyone doing?

[Zach Evans]

Feel a bit like I'm. I'm in a performance review with Andrew. But besides that, great.

[Amy Poehler]

Andrew, do you like to do performance reviews? Speaking of performance reviews.

[Andrew Gaultier]

Yeah. Because I think a lot of. A lot of performance reviews are just like criticisms. And I think I always tried and I think we always tried at Buzzfeed to focus on positives. You know, we wanted to like be an incubator for talent. So it was, you know, focusing on what people were best at.

[Amy Poehler]

Andrew, I can say that's a lot of corporate Speak. You just threw at me. You said incubator.

[Kate Peterman]

You said incubator.

[Quinta Brunson]

You said it.

[Amy Poehler]

Let's go around before we start and say some of our most fun corporate slang.

[Kate Peterman]

I'd like to circle back and piggyback off of what Andrew was just saying.

[Zach Evans]

I. Yeah, follow up on that, Kate. I would just like to plus one all of your comments on that as well.

[Kate Peterman]

I just want to ping that plus one real quick.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you guys know the comedian Lisa Beasley?

[Quinta Brunson]

Mm. Mm.

[Amy Poehler]

She does a corporate character. That's so funny. She does a. On TikTok. She does a character called Corporate Aaron.

[Ash Perez]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, yeah. She did it during COVID that incredibly long, nasally beginning of a meeting where she's like, it's 9:29, and I guess we'll get started. And she has, like, tons of vocal variety, and she's definitely trying to get the meeting started, and she's really upset, and she has a lot of stuff to get through. It's not easy. It's not easy.

[Quinta Brunson]

Anyway.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, Kate, why don't we start with you? Tell me how you and Quinta met.

[Kate Peterman]

We met in college. I met Quinta when we both got on the same improv team at Temple University. Foul play. Cause our mascot was the Owls.

[Amy Poehler]

I'd love to hear that you did, like. I did very nerdy improv stuff because.

[Kate Peterman]

Oh, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

I think sometimes in comedy, there are two types of people. There are the cool people, and then there are people that did improv. And you write for Abbott. How long have you been writing for the show? And what's that like?

[Kate Peterman]

Since the first season. It is sick because I remember being with Quinta on her, like, balcony at this old apartment, and she was like. She had just gotten home from Philly, and she was like, I was visiting my mom, and I just really want to do this show about teachers. And this was, like, years before Abbott actually happened. So it's been in, like, it's cool to see it go from that idea. And then I was in the pilot with her and getting there to film and seeing her, like, walk around calling the shots, and just. Because I got there, and I was like, it was my first ever time, like, whatever. And so I was so nervous and trying to be professional. And then she just turns the corner was just like, KP and just, like, nice and loud. And I was like, oh, this is so fudgeing.

[Amy Poehler]

Cool. I'm interviewing Quinta today. I'm going to ask bunch of, you know, stuff that maybe we, you know, one would expect me to ask, but Is there anything you think I should ask or. Or. Or any. Anything you think she'd like to even talk about or something you think people would want to hear from her?

[Kate Peterman]

Ask her if she now knows if Bon Jovi and Jon Bon Jovi are two different things. She asked me in confidence, like, in a little whisper, she was like, are Bon Jovi and Jon Bon Jovi the same guy? Like, as if she had to go talk to him and it was for no reason. And it's so funny to me.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, that's a great one. Okay, Zach, moving on. How do you and Quinta meet each other?

[Zach Evans]

I Met Quinta in 2014 at Buzzfeed. I was an intern at the time. It was my first job out of college, and she had just got brought in to do a couple comedy videos with our friend Justin Tan. Quinta, to me, has always been so amazing at how. How forward thinking she was. She was really adamant that the Internet was a stage for her to play in. And, you know, of course, we all grew up wanting to be on SNL or. And wanting to go this traditional route, going the stand up route. And she did all those things. And I truly believe she could have done it any path, but she decided to go this Internet direction. And truthfully, I don't think she gets enough credit for being that first one of the first people to make the leap from being an Internet personality to being in the mainstream and dominating.

[Amy Poehler]

Thank you, Zach. That was awesome. Okay, Ash.

[Ash Perez]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

Tell me your origin story and your question.

[Ash Perez]

Okay. My origin story with Quinta is that we sat next to each other at BuzzFeed and notoriously, probably unlike these people, where Quinta's original thought was Kate is tight, Quinta did not like me. My fun fact of my whole life is that the character of Janine is based off me or loosely based off of me on Abbott.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you have confirmation of that?

[Ash Perez]

Yeah, it's. It's. She said it in interview. She said it in Variety, so I have it.

[Kate Peterman]

She said it in the writer's room.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. Okay.

[Ash Perez]

I have two questions. One is a serious one, and then one is going to make her groan, and she's going to know why I asked it, which I'm so excited for. So the first one is just as an avid student of comedy, what are the top three sitcoms that influence your sense of comedy? Like, so much of my memories of Quinta, we used to, like, she used to come over to my house and we used to watch old I Love Lucy episodes and just like, talk about, like, what structured the comedy or we would watch pilots to stuff and like, just like an actual student of comedy in a way that I think is so valuable and that people don't necessarily know. Especially because she got her start on the Internet. She has a deep, deep lexicon. So I would love to hear her answer to that. And then do you think you would have been as famous if you had ordered a medium instead of a large?

[Amy Poehler]

I can't guarantee it's going to make the cut, but I, I am curious to know the answer.

[Ash Perez]

Well, her first, one of her first viral videos ever for He Got Money was her. She orders a popcorn.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, the popcorn and the Skittles a.

[Ash Perez]

Large and so become very much like. And that was, I would say, one of her very first, like memes along with got Money.

[Amy Poehler]

So great. Okay, thanks, Ash And Andrew, maybe this.

[Andrew Gaultier]

Is corny, but I would actually be interested in what, you know, 2014 Quinta would think about Quinta now. You know, if you went back in time a dozen years ago while she was at BuzzFeed, like, how would she react?

[Amy Poehler]

All right, well, thank you so much for your time. It was really nice to see all of you again and to meet some of you for the first time.

[Andrew Gaultier]

Thank you, Amy.

[Quinta Brunson]

Bye. Thank you.

[Amy Poehler]

Thank you.

[Quinta Brunson]

Thank you.

[Amy Poehler]

Thank you for your time. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card is a no fee credit card that gives you daily cash back every day. That's 3% back at Apple and 2% back on every purchase made with Apple Card using Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval. Variable APRs for Apple Card range from 18.24% to 28.49% based on creditworthiness rates as of January 1, 2025. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more at applecard.com this episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is almost here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost? Well, you can't get a summer blockbuster delivered, but you can get a block of cheese. A cabana that's a no. But a banana that's a yes. A day of sunshine no. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost all. Almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now for alcohol. You must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. C app for details.

[Quinta Brunson]

Woo hoo hoo.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, Quinta Brunson is Here. Quinta, I'm so grateful you're here. Thank you for doing this.

[Quinta Brunson]

I'm grateful you are here and that you were born and that you exist.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm grateful that you were born. What day were you born?

[Quinta Brunson]

I was born December 21, 1989.

[Amy Poehler]

Capricorn.

[Quinta Brunson]

Sagittarius. Oh, shit. I'm directly on the cusp. Directly on it. So you're not wrong. Cause some books do say Capricorn, and then so much on the cusp. I'm right at like, 11:38 or something. I asked my mom, she was like, I don't know what time you were born. I was like, okay. Sorry for asking. But she said it was between, like, 11:30 and 12. So directly on the cusp, which is good, because I think if I was full blown Sagittarius, I would have been a stripper. I think if I was full blown, nothing wrong with it. But I'm just saying that I would have been a stripper. And then if I were a Capricorn, I would have been Elon Musk. I would have been really like.

[Amy Poehler]

I feel like there is a total mogul vibe that I get from you.

[Quinta Brunson]

I know. I'm not gonna capitalize on it.

[Amy Poehler]

Why not?

[Quinta Brunson]

I don't wanna be a mogul.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, okay, let's talk about this, because you kind of are already, so it's. You're not.

[Quinta Brunson]

What do you think classifies a moon?

[Amy Poehler]

Well, this is a really good question. I feel like you are the captain of a huge ship.

[Quinta Brunson]

One ship, though.

[Amy Poehler]

That's true. But, you know, that's just because you're acting. Once you stop, once you get off set and have to do those hours, you're gonna be the captain of, like, four ships.

[Quinta Brunson]

We've talked about this, Amy.

[Amy Poehler]

I know.

[Quinta Brunson]

I just wanna do my thing.

[Amy Poehler]

I just so relate to this grind that you're on. And also, Quinta here to say it is phenomenal what you are doing. That show is number one saving and has saved sitcoms.

[Quinta Brunson]

Thank you.

[Amy Poehler]

It has its.

[Quinta Brunson]

It is proof.

[Amy Poehler]

It is what everybody points to.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah, I do. Yep.

[Amy Poehler]

As a speck. As a. As a comp for how comedy can still work on broadcast tv. And there's not many left.

[Quinta Brunson]

No. I hope that changes. I do, and I do admire the other sitcoms that are out there maintaining. They don't grasp the same kind of attention that Abbott does. But I do think there are other producers and showrunners out there attempting to do good work, specifically on network television. And there's a show, Ghost on cbs. That has a bigger audience than we do. It just doesn't garner the same attention. So I just always try to acknowledge that there are other shows trying. But I do also understand that Abbott occupies a very unique and specific space. So, you know, it's funny because we're four seasons in now, and I really want, like, counterparts, you know, I want. I live for a renaissance. I don't enjoy The Feeling of St. Denis is a show on NBC. And I feel like that. But so much of this, and maybe I don't know if it was like that back then, but so much of it is about timing and when and presentation. And so much goes into making something an overall success. Now that I don't call myself lucky because I think about all the things that go into it. But I do think you have to think about so many different factors to make your show a success at all.

[Amy Poehler]

Totally. And I know you're a big student of the sitcom. You're a big comedy student in general. What were the shows that you cared about growing up? What were the sitcoms that you think about and what were the ones you thought about when you were making Abbott?

[Quinta Brunson]

Coach was a show that was very formative for me. I forgot my mom and I, we loved Coach. And it just reminded me how much Coach was on in my household. That was like, if that was on, we were stopping and we were watching. I'm not sure if it was on Nick at Knight yet, but that was a big show for me. Mary Tyler Moore Durr, King of Queens. Very big for me. I just. I don't know why, but one of the biggest influences in my life. I still love that show to this day. 30 Rock. Huge.

[Amy Poehler]

I know you're a big 30 Rock fan. I know that about you.

[Quinta Brunson]

It's so ridiculous. Little show called Parks and Rec. The Office, of course. Martin Living Single. Curb youb Enthusiasm. I don't know if that counts. Cause it's not networked. But always Sunny. Same kind of bucket as Curb. I'm forgetting things.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, I'm sure you're asked this question, but what do you think? I always thought that for me, what drew me to a sitcom was the fact that I could picture in my mind what the characters were doing when I wasn't watching them.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yep.

[Amy Poehler]

And that's exactly what happens on Abbott.

[Quinta Brunson]

Definitely. That's a big part of it. And I think it's important if I can see the end of their journeys in the sitcom. And I don't know. That doesn't mean I know when it's gonna Come. But I see maybe that's just important for writing. You know, you see a destination for your characters. But very important to me when it comes to making a sitcom. When I visit sitcoms like Parks or the Office and I think about where those characters began and where they end, that is what kind of inspired me to tell that story about a different set of characters. I also think, like, worlds you can that really have a day by day engine, you know, like there's something. There's some silly thing I would say Friends was huge for me too, because it was when I started to really grasp onto plot lines that were so, you know, Monica lost her earring. I think that was like, big for me for some reason. When it's like you can make a whole plot about. But that's like a day to day of a friend group. And that's what happens in Abbott. Just day to day issues that we turn into hilarious conundrums and situations.

[Amy Poehler]

I read something that really struck me, felt so familiar when you were talking about Janine, your character on the show, that you wanted her and her look to feel appropriate with her job and her town, which. And I felt that because I remember when we were first starting to build Leslie Knope's character, like, I really wanted her hair to be very blonde. And because she's getting her hair done in Indiana. No offense to the great stylist in Indiana. I bet there are many now. But, you know, like, she's not going to get low lights at the best salon. She's trying what she can. She's like. She's not quite getting it right.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. And that's beautiful, though. That's so human.

[Amy Poehler]

And you're doing that. You've talked about that with Janine. How are you doing it with Jeanine?

[Quinta Brunson]

Jeanine started in a place where I think a lot more about Janine than I think shows up on screen, which honestly is what you want. I don't need the audience to think about her as much as I do. But I knew from the beginning this is a girl who had a weird relationship with her mother. Maybe her mother didn't teach her how to, like, take care of her hair or even her dress comes from. I want to be the opposite of my mother because I don't think my mother's a good person. So I should dress like a good person, which is the opposite of how she dresses, which is kind of. But Janine doesn't believe it's slovenly or bad. Jeanine looks in the mirror and goes, this is a Good outfit. You did it, girl.

[Amy Poehler]

You did it, girl.

[Quinta Brunson]

You did it. You did it.

[Amy Poehler]

She does that trick where she turns to the. You know, and she takes one accessory off to.

[Quinta Brunson]

I feel like she goes, you look exactly like Halle Berry. And it was like, no, you don't. But she believes she does. And I think that's sweet. I think when the character believes so deeply that the show doesn't care what the audience thinks. That was a challenge with Jeanine, because I'll be real with you. You know, she's a black character. Black audiences have so few still representative characters on screen. And black womanhood alone is so touchy. So when a lot of women were seeing Jeanine not present as they wanted her to, that became tough. And I understand it. But I think it's important for us to have characters who are more realistic than they are. The absolute best representation of us. I think it creates layers for us, not only on tv, but in the public eye. When I was thinking about her, I wasn't really thinking about representation, but she became representation. I don't know if you dealt with that with, like. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

I think it's always the interesting struggle about playing comedic characters is you want them to be flawed and have stuff to learn. And the minute people, either yourself or other people, start to get in your head about what they should be representing. What it often does is limit the way, honestly, that men get to play characters, which is they get to play these, like, really flawed people with a lot. And I think it's often the burden that women are made to carry, which is we're supposed to be a lot of things at once, which few people are. So it's kind of. It's hard to do both. It's hard to play somebody funny who's also, like, really got it together.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And is very, you know, like on chapter 10 when you meet them.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

And I think Jeanine, it was like, one of the most exciting things about that show was you could see, oh, we're really gonna go on this ride with her. Like, we're on this ride with her. Yeah.

[Quinta Brunson]

And it's. Sometimes I think it's hard to get people on the ride. Cause they don't know they're on the ride. And I think Abbott really started where I was like, this is going to be a ride. And I feel like that goes into thinking about things. This is going to go for seasons. I want to tell stories here. We gotta start. We gotta start somewhere we cannot end. You know, where we want to get to in season 10 and I think when audience members don't know they're on a ride, it can be very frustrating for them. And maybe this wasn't always the case before the Internet, but now, I don't know if you dealt with this on Parks. I have had people come up to me on the street and go, I don't like what you're doing with Gregory's character. And.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. And you're like, oh, thank you so much for caring. You're caring all over me.

[Quinta Brunson]

Thank you so much. What? It's insane. It's become a real direct, like, oh. And then that person went, I messaged you on Instagram about it.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, I tried to get in touch with you, and I wanted you to know that I like what you're doing with Gregory's character.

[Quinta Brunson]

She really came to me in a club, mind you, like, very much like, oh, I'm so glad I'm seeing you. I sent you an Instagram message. I like how you pretended you didn't see it, but now I got you in person. I don't like what you're doing.

[Amy Poehler]

I was just like, aren't those times times where you wish you were, like, the enigmatic film actress who people feel nervous to approach?

[Quinta Brunson]

I do. I do. I very much do.

[Amy Poehler]

Because television people feel like, really, really, you're part of their family.

[Quinta Brunson]

You're part of their family, and we love that.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, you have this incredible claim, like, I don't think it's spoken of enough, that you took advantage of the window kind of, you know, your 10 years after I was coming up, which was basically that there was this buzzfeed video window where people were producing stuff online, early online.

[Quinta Brunson]

Buzzfeed was interesting because it was so international that you were aware that, like, oh, man, people in Japan are watching our stuff. We're being dubbed in different languages. So you were aware of that. But for me, I was never very proud of my online presence. I felt like, as someone who came from improv and sketch, I was still performing at IO every night. And then I realized that my improv group, we realized people were coming to see our group because of my online presence, and we were more used to. All right, guys, we got 10 people in the crowd tonight. Let's go crazy. That's three more than last week. We're killing it.

[Amy Poehler]

No parents.

[Quinta Brunson]

It's so good. And then all of a sudden, we have a packed IO for when we're like, what is going on? But they're coming because they're actually paying attention to. When I post, I have a show at IO tonight. And, like, people were coming. I was like, what are these people doing here? And they're like, you said you had a show. I was like, oh, you get so used to know. I don't know. But you were part of, like, the heyday of ucb. But I'm just saying, like, in my world, it was like, if you got eight people in the audience, it was.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, oh, a hundred. That was our always trying to get people. But you were kind of ahead of your time because there was this feeling to your point, like, where that content didn't count. Like, it almost felt. Yeah, like a side gig while you were trying to get the gig. But now, however many years later you look at it now, and it's like the way that everybody is discovered.

[Quinta Brunson]

I came to just appreciate it as another stage. If you can get on a stage and do standup, get on an improv stage and do improv, why can't you make a video to garner an audience? Isn't that what we want to do as performers anyway?

[Amy Poehler]

Totally. Totally. And also, it's. It's a way to just practice writing.

[Quinta Brunson]

Absolutely. Absolutely. That's what it really did for me. I had taken writing courses. I had studied comedic writing. But I do think writing for BuzzFeed was the best way to learn how to do it for massive audiences, which is a skill that I still see. Writers, peers, they don't technically teach you that in school.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Quinta Brunson]

I think it's something you learn by doing.

[Amy Poehler]

I think you're right. And I think what improv and sketch teaches you is just, like, picking your battles. Like, you find people that write stuff and they don't want to change it, and they want to kind of lock it in. And there's the one thing with sketch and improv is your ideas, they just are thrown away over and over and over again. And you get this muscle that you haven't had your last good idea.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yes, absolutely. Which is so freeing.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Quinta Brunson]

It makes you a more collaborative person and makes for better work. And I think so. BuzzFeed definitely did that. We made, which was insane. We would make, like, three videos a week that were going to be shared and seen by, like, millions and millions of people. And if one bombed, it was like, I'm already on my next video. I'm gonna. You know, I'm already. I've moved on.

[Amy Poehler]

You're like, I don't know what you're talking about.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah, literally. I can't remember half the things I made there, which is both good and bad. But I Feel like you probably can't remember half the sketches you did for.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, God, no. Yeah, well, speaking of Buzzfeed.

[Quinta Brunson]

Oh, no.

[Amy Poehler]

I lost my glasses.

[Quinta Brunson]

Oh, are you just getting glasses? Oh, I got scared it was a. What's gonna come from under the table?

[Amy Poehler]

Check out my new glasses from buzzfeed. Oh, actually, I'm going to take a lip. A lip balm break if you want to take one, too. Quinta and I brought our lip balm.

[Quinta Brunson]

Lip balm and water.

[Amy Poehler]

And kept it. Kept it close. And I'd love just to take.

[Quinta Brunson]

Oh, this is my camera.

[Amy Poehler]

Get in there. Hold on. Yours looks better because it has a little wand. Mine is my grubby little finger.

[Quinta Brunson]

But, no, it's cute. That's how the girl puts it on in the Sephora commercial.

[Amy Poehler]

She does it with her finger?

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. What else are you going to do with it?

[Amy Poehler]

I just love once again to ask Laneige if they ever want to sponsor y'all.

[Quinta Brunson]

Sponsor Amy.

[Amy Poehler]

This is a lip sleeping mask for now. I'll turn it to the side so I won't sully your brand. But I want you to know that I've stuck my disgusting finger in that pot many times, and it's always.

[Quinta Brunson]

And not just at night.

[Amy Poehler]

Right? Not just at night, baby. It's Lip sleeping mask. It's not just for night.

[Quinta Brunson]

It's not just for nighttime.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, so we do this fun surprise thing where before I talk to you, I get on a zoom with some people that know you.

[Quinta Brunson]

Whoa. I know.

[Amy Poehler]

And just to talk about you and. And really to like, get some perspective on what I think I should ask. So earlier today, I was talk. I was on a zoom with Kate.

[Quinta Brunson]

No way. Did Kate freak out? She's the best. She loves you so much. Did she pretend she was.

[Amy Poehler]

She was very cool. Everyone was very cool.

[Quinta Brunson]

That is so funny. Oh, my God.

[Amy Poehler]

I was on a zoom with. Oh, kid. So it was like.

[Quinta Brunson]

It was.

[Amy Poehler]

It was like a Buzzfeed reunion. It was Kate. It was Ash.

[Quinta Brunson]

No, Zach. Which one?

[Amy Poehler]

Evans, stop.

[Quinta Brunson]

These are people who probably were freaking out, Amy.

[Amy Poehler]

They seemed very cool.

[Quinta Brunson]

They seemed cool because they probably got it together first. But you need to know that this probably.

[Amy Poehler]

And then your old boss. Andrew.

[Quinta Brunson]

Andrew Gaultier.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, French last name.

[Quinta Brunson]

He's so hot. Guys, not a pro. I don't work for him anymore. I can say that.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, you're right.

[Quinta Brunson]

He's a sweet man.

[Amy Poehler]

And they. Oh. So we were talking about. It was really cute. And it's kind of like talking. Well, behind someone's back is the Go. And they were so happy to do it. And we were just kind of talking about that time there and your time there. And it was really cute. Cause everyone was kind of going back to when exactly what you were saying when you were producing a lot of stuff, and everyone was trying to figure out where to live. And it's a very tender time. And the people that were there and a lot of, you know, like Kate especially, or people that you still work with and who kind of. Kate told this amazing story about, like the. One of the first days on set and how she can remember you saying, I want to. I think I want to do this show, you know, about teachers, like. And then, you know, smash cut to crazy it happening.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. I have such a random weird. So someone. This is so fast. Someone tried to sue me to say me, wb, abc, and say that they came up with. And my memory is shit. There's something to know about me.

[Amy Poehler]

Same really bad. I think it's. Cause we have to learn lines.

[Quinta Brunson]

I think so, too. Kate's memory is locked the fuck in. And Kate was like, no, no, no, no, no. I will go into that courtroom for you. Because she was there the moment I had the. I knew that it wasn't true, but I had nothing to back it up. And it's okay. That's all we have. I was never gonna have to back it up anyway, but I'm just like, damn, I cannot remember. Kate, like, remembers time, date, where, when.

[Amy Poehler]

Incredible.

[Quinta Brunson]

Incredible. So she's my best friend, but she's also just incredible for stuff like that. She has the memory that I don't have, which I need a lot.

[Amy Poehler]

You. I think we share this in common, too. Your female friendships are super important to you.

[Quinta Brunson]

Super important.

[Amy Poehler]

Like why. What do they do for you?

[Quinta Brunson]

Oh, that's a good question. Oh, man, that's such a good question. I don't know what they do for me.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, you just said something that I feel like. If I may, I feel like a lot of women in my life would testify for me. Yes, they really do. They experience life with me. And we all kind of remember for each other.

[Quinta Brunson]

For each other. Yeah. And maybe Kate and I particularly have been through so much together as friends, as women, as comedy writers.

[Amy Poehler]

Kate wanted me to ask you this.

[Quinta Brunson]

Kpisha.

[Amy Poehler]

Kp. Are you aware now that Bon Jovi and Jon Bon Jovi.

[Quinta Brunson]

Shut up, Kate. Shut up. Don't go through Amy to do that. That's not nice, Kate. That's not okay, Kate.

[Amy Poehler]

But can we.

[Quinta Brunson]

That's not okay.

[Amy Poehler]

Kate. Are you Aware that Bon Jovi.

[Quinta Brunson]

Okay, I don't know white people. I know you. I know Tina Fey. I know. That's it. I know white people in comedy.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, you don't need to know that.

[Quinta Brunson]

You feel me? You don't need to know that one black girl. I just, like, don't know some people. I don't. I understand the name Phil Collins. I don't know what Phil Collins looked like. I don't know that he's different from.

[Amy Poehler]

Sorry to that man.

[Quinta Brunson]

That Kiki moment.

[Amy Poehler]

Unbelievable.

[Quinta Brunson]

Was so on point. Unbelievable how I move through life if they're not in comedy. Truly.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Quinta Brunson]

I don't know.

[Amy Poehler]

I actually think that's also a wonderful way, like almost a gentle form of rebellion, which is. I have to say, my generation was told that we had to know a lot of these people for sure.

[Quinta Brunson]

For sure.

[Amy Poehler]

And now we don't really need to know them. It's okay.

[Quinta Brunson]

It's okay. And also, you were working in pop culture, too. I mean, SNL is still essentially working in pop culture. You have to know. I don't have a reason to know who. I'm not crazy. It's crazy to be in a band called Jon. Is he Jon Bon Jovi? Is the band Bon Jovi?

[Amy Poehler]

See, she doesn't know.

[Quinta Brunson]

I couldn't tell. And it's crazy because now I'm going.

[Amy Poehler]

To blow your mind even more. His original name.

[Quinta Brunson]

Come on.

[Amy Poehler]

Was Jon Bon Jovi, and then he changed the band name was Bon Jovi, a shortened version of his real name. So then he started going by Jon Bon Jovi. But true fans know that it was Bongiovi.

[Quinta Brunson]

You know, everything you just said sounds crazy, right? And the thing is, I'm supposed to know this, but then I'm supposed to deal with people who can't tell me and Keke Palmer apart or say my name or can't. I just can't. If you know about Bongi Aviovi and I'm too difficult. It's two syllables. Quinta, Same person. I don't understand. Anyway, so that was tough. And I don't. You know what else is crazy? John? Wait, I lost my point. But I was gonna say something about Jon Bon Jovi Jovi Band.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm trying to think of a band name, like, who could I compare it to that had a band that was named after their last name? Oh, well, there's another bunch of white boys. Remember Hanson?

[Quinta Brunson]

I understood that. I understand that. You know who. I got mixed up for the longest time. Not anymore. But there was no reason for Me, as a young girl in Philadelphia, to understand the difference between. Between Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts. There was no reason for me to know the difference.

[Amy Poehler]

You might have a little bit of face blindness.

[Quinta Brunson]

I do.

[Zach Evans]

I do.

[Quinta Brunson]

I do have that. And they know. I know. Sandra knows now because that's my girl. Of course I can tell you guys apart now, but when growing up. No reason for me to know that.

[Amy Poehler]

Sure.

[Quinta Brunson]

And when people are like, you don't know. No, I don't.

[Amy Poehler]

I like that. I'm glad that you. Yeah. You absolutely do not need to know.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. I can't believe Kate.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, okay. Ash. Ash. Three sitcoms who have influenced you. We talked about that. And then Andrew asked, what would 2014 Quinta think of Quinta now?

[Quinta Brunson]

Oh, Andrew.

[Amy Poehler]

I know. It's such a. And such a managerial question, too.

[Quinta Brunson]

Oh, Andrew. Andrew's so lovely. I think 2014 me would be like, exactly. Period. Because I was a very determined. Knew where I was going. Girl. I do not like to do that thing where people pretend I'm like, I had no idea, like, this could happen to me. Like, no. I made every single move in my life so that this could happen to me, including leaving Philadelphia. I knew specific things had to happen. And even the way I came into Buzzfeed, I had vision. I was like, I see where this place is going. I see what I can do here. I see how not only it can help me, but how I can help it. And I think it's a means to something much larger. So 2014 me didn't exactly know this, but I think that's the beauty of vision. You can feel, see something. You're working in accordance with something. And I'm a big believer in that. I think.

[Amy Poehler]

You know what? I love that you're doing, too. And from. From here on out, I guess we would call it like the chalamet in terms of, like, I want to be the greatest, but. But. But what I.

[Quinta Brunson]

That kid. Go ahead.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. What did you think of that moment? I loved it. Oh, no.

[Quinta Brunson]

What I thought was so interesting about that moment, whether. Whether. Because he can hear us. Whether it was coordinated or not. I thought him mentioning Viola Davis in his speech, I was like, that is fucking smart.

[Amy Poehler]

Hundred percent.

[Quinta Brunson]

Whether it's coordinated or he really, really meant it. Very smart to do.

[Amy Poehler]

Smart kid.

[Quinta Brunson]

That alone had me.

[Amy Poehler]

Me too.

[Quinta Brunson]

Had me. And in a way that I don't care if it was like, I'm gonna say this because. Or I genuinely, really mean it, because even if you were gonna say it because. Yeah, just say It. Because. Because mention Viola Davis.

[Amy Poehler]

100%.

[Quinta Brunson]

And I.

[Amy Poehler]

It was. At the very least, it was the example of someone paying attention.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And I think. I think that not to gender it, it happens to men too. But women are especially required to be very surprised by their success and really be. They're asked all the time, can you believe it? Can you believe it? Like, how does it feel? And you and I, I think, share this similar thing, which is it feels good. I've been working really hard. I imagined it would happen for me. I've been there along the way. I've watched it slowly grow. It hasn't been overnight. And it was, you know, and yes, of course, luck, and yes, of course privilege, and yes, of course time, all of that stuff. And also, I believed it could happen. And so now there's sometimes an expectation of people want the kind of ingenue vibe of, how did I get here?

[Quinta Brunson]

Oh, my God, the lights, the cameras. I just tripped and then I was here. I can't believe it. Oh, my. I'm not doing that. One thing I love about. I've always appreciated about you is you also do that without sacrificing your sense of, like, whimsy. You have. I don't know, you just. You still have fun and you don't apologize for that either. And I think that's really cool. When I went to see you and Tina at the in Vegas, and that was so fun. Cause actually, Ash and Kate came with me and I told you that was like our Super Bowl. But you tried. You. You did what I would. Storytelling standup and seeing you do new things. I was like, like, yes, yes, yes. You are not apologizing for the fact that you have this show or all the things that you've done, but you also are having enough fun with trying new things and you just have fun. Like, you have a smile on your face. You're not like.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, this is kind of honestly why I'm doing this is because it's kind of like, I wanna talk to people. I have a good time. I listen to a ton of podcasts. I don't think that because you get to a certain level of something that you're supposed to get really tight and get worried about trying new things. You're supposed to do the opposite. Cause you're feeling like you're lucky enough to be confident, you're lucky enough to have some currency or some people who believe in you. So that's when you're supposed to keep. Stay flexible, trying and failing over and over again. And I think you are similar. Like, we learned it early. We learned it with improv and sketch. You're just supposed to keep trying things.

[Quinta Brunson]

You're supposed to keep trying. I think I have seen a lot of other women who are in similar positions become harsh over time because. So if you're gonna be that confident now, you almost have to take up a harsh demeanor or something.

[Amy Poehler]

That's right.

[Quinta Brunson]

So you have to, like.

[Amy Poehler]

That's right.

[Quinta Brunson]

Be masculine. Like, if you're going to say, I'm good at it and I know it, then you better be masculine, too. Don't you dare smile ever again since, you know you're so good. But it's. It's some. It's weird. Like, I. And I'm. I'm really interested in watching women push back out loud. Not just talking about it, but actually doing it. Which is why I say I like to see you, like, smile so much, because to me, that is the act of doing it. And, like, have fun in front of people's faces. It's weird. It's almost like that kind of makes people angrier than anything else. When I am, like, having pure, unadulterated fun, I feel a small sense of, like, how dare you?

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, it's a revolutionary act as a woman to have fun. And the other thing is that I would say about you, that I said behind your back is quinta plays loose. And what I mean by that is a good athlete. You're. To me, you're, like a good athlete.

[Quinta Brunson]

Amy, don't talk sports to me right now. I'll fall in love. I love sports.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, this is a podcast. We should probably only be talking about sports.

[Quinta Brunson]

You want this thing to do well.

[Amy Poehler]

But you play so loose because you are so good at what you do, and you are in charge, but you would, like. You have the. You just have that ease. And you have it when you. When you act. You have it when you're in giving a speech. I mean, your Emmy speeches when you win are so good because they are exactly what you say. You are in the moment. You're not.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

You're not going, who, me? I didn't even know. It's like, this is a correct choice you chose. You just go, thank you for choosing the winner. That I am the winner. But you're also super gracious to everyone who is in your category. You give. You know, you put things in context, which few people do.

[Quinta Brunson]

Oh, thanks, Amy.

[Amy Poehler]

And. And it's really relaxing to watch you.

[Quinta Brunson]

Thank you.

[Amy Poehler]

You're welcome.

[Quinta Brunson]

I love sports. So Much. Oh, my God.

[Amy Poehler]

I love sports, too.

[Quinta Brunson]

My honor to be called the Josh Allen of.

[Amy Poehler]

I. I don't know who that is.

[Quinta Brunson]

No, he. He. He. He's the. He's the quarterback for the. Not the Giants. Sorry. Not the Jets. The Bills. Sorry. Thank you.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, the Bills. Oh, he's so nice. He's dating Haley Seinfeld.

[Quinta Brunson]

I never even knew that information.

[Amy Poehler]

I know that he's dating Haley, and he did a very sweet thing where he knew every. All the young children that he visited at a recent hospital. He knew all their names. I don't know his stats.

[Quinta Brunson]

You know, he's controversial, but as a player. Yeah. People think he's. I'm not gonna.

[Amy Poehler]

Whatever, but he has a beard.

[Quinta Brunson]

This is what I think about sports players. No one. I don't need. Don't tell me. I don't need to talk to them. I don't need to know about their personal lives. I'm trying to do this with the Eagles now. Do not look at them. They don't perceive them. They do football. Well, don't come over here. Okay?

[Amy Poehler]

I'm the exact opposite. I don't care so much about the football, but I want to know.

[Quinta Brunson]

You want to know everything.

[Amy Poehler]

How's it going with Mom? See, you know, like, I want to know. I want to know.

[Quinta Brunson]

That's the problem, people.

[Amy Poehler]

What do you do in the off.

[Quinta Brunson]

Season going into Josh Allen's life? No, let's talk about what he does with the best, with the football on the field. That's what's important to me. I hear you, but anyway.

[Amy Poehler]

But that's like the Olympics, though. When the. When the. When the thing starts. When the. When the. Whatever they're competing in starts, I'm like. But I like all the stuff when they're back in their hometown.

[Quinta Brunson]

I feel you. I mean, I guess it is important. I just.

[Amy Poehler]

I guess I'm only talking about the Eagles.

[Quinta Brunson]

I just don't want people to ask, congratulations on your.

[Amy Poehler]

On your win, by the way. That must have been exciting.

[Quinta Brunson]

It was. So much has happened to me in the past 10 years, but I would say top five is the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. Wow. I know.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm feeling so good. Quinta, is there anything. I mean, we have to just, I guess, promote Abbott, which.

[Quinta Brunson]

Please watch Abbott Elementary. It's on abc, which is a network on television.

[Amy Poehler]

We all know where it is. It's so cool.

[Quinta Brunson]

It's on Hulu.

[Amy Poehler]

And, I mean, I know during COVID I had so many people come up and say that Parks got them Through. And I know the same for Abbott.

[Quinta Brunson]

Totally.

[Amy Poehler]

I just, I took that at the time as this bigger feeling that comedy is like, is a comfort. And there's some kind of giant warm feeling I get from being a part of anything that special.

[Quinta Brunson]

Same.

[Amy Poehler]

Did you get the same experience and people say that to you?

[Quinta Brunson]

Absolutely. And it is a mark that you get to leave with the world. Not on the world, but with the world, which is so special. There was a girl that came up to my co stars on the street, Cheryl and Lisa. I can't stop them from walking around on the streets. I try. I can't do anything about it. We just filmed in Philly and I had one thing. I was just like, hey, guys, maybe don't walk around here because very recognizable. Maybe just take it easy. No, they go to get their nails done. They're walking to different stores. I can't control them anyway, so. But a girl walked up to them and Cheryl took a video of this girl talking about how on our show, because Philadelphia has a huge Muslim population, we try to represent the city as much as we can. And we had an episode that featured a young Muslim girl in her hijab and this girl was crying, came up to Cheryl talking about how much that meant to her. It's like the opposite effect of someone being like, I don't like what you're doing with Gregory. It's someone being like, you don't like, get like. She said she was already a fan of the show that wasn't going anywhere. But then to see that like shifted her shit. And I think that is like the power of a sitcom. We're making you laugh and then we're making you cry and we're in your house with you either in the binge format or once a week. And it's that laugh that's special because I can be in the house with the drama all the live long day, but I'm like scared of people after I watch them on a drama for too long. Like, oh, God, you scared the hell out of me. Even though they're very nice people, it's like, y'all are scary, but the laugh is like, you cannot. You cannot.

[Amy Poehler]

I think it's holy. I think it's holy.

[Quinta Brunson]

I think so too. I don't want to be corny, but.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, I love being corny. So I think it's straight up holy.

[Quinta Brunson]

Maybe I'm about to be in my cornier.

[Amy Poehler]

Come on in. Come on over. I'm in it and it's great. And you can just Say things like, laughter is holy. And everyone goes, oh, oh, that's. But you know Anne Lamott, you know Anne Lamott, the great writer, she says that laughter is carbonated holiness, which is like, kind of how it feels for me. Like, when laughter actually happened. It feels like you're getting some. Some kind of spiritual thing is happening.

[Quinta Brunson]

So spiritual.

[Amy Poehler]

I agree. Why is that corny?

[Quinta Brunson]

It's so the same, too. Every. It's. It's the same everywhere. It's in the same. It was a mean girls line about math being the same in every country, but laughter is that to me, except.

[Amy Poehler]

For French people, I don't get.

[Quinta Brunson]

I'm so proud of Abbott making French people laugh. There is almost nothing I'm more proud of. By the way, I just was saying this to my friends the other day in our group chat. I was like, the fact that, like, French people, they love Abbott, they watch it and they like it. It's like, weirdly, one of our biggest markets. Whoa. I'm so proud.

[Amy Poehler]

That's incredible of me.

[Quinta Brunson]

Those that make me proud of me, that French people are like, oui, oui. I enjoy the show. That is a Prince Barm. I wouldn't stop watching.

[Amy Poehler]

I wouldn't be that proud of it because French people are so embarrassing. And I don't think people talk about it enough, I find. French people are.

[Quinta Brunson]

In what ways?

[Amy Poehler]

French people got two strikes and they're just. In what ways? The way they. How French they act all the time.

[Quinta Brunson]

The way they walk, the way that they talk, the way they dress.

[Amy Poehler]

There used to be a really.

[Quinta Brunson]

Amy has a Kendrick like feeling towards the.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, no, I'm probably feeling like I'm not as cool as them. And so I'm acting out because Fred Armisen and I used to do a bit where we wanted to do a sketch called French Teenagers. And it was just like, really cool. French teenagers, like, with leather jackets, like, doing back flips and smoking cigarettes.

[Quinta Brunson]

Totally.

[Amy Poehler]

I love that French people are cool, but they're embarrassing, too.

[Quinta Brunson]

They're embarrassing. I got to meet him for the first time. What a nice man.

[Amy Poehler]

You've never met Fred?

[Quinta Brunson]

Never. That was also what was cool about the SNL50 was like, people I never met before. And he was talking to Tim.

[Amy Poehler]

Tim Meadows.

[Quinta Brunson]

Tim Meadows. And so I was going to say hi to Tim, but I did not know he was talking to Fred Armisen. And I did the thing that I hate where I just assumed that. Which is so bad to say. But I was like, oh, he's probably talking to a writer. I Won't interrupt, but I'm just gonna say hi to Tim. And I was like, hello, Tim. Da, da, da. And Fred goes, hi. I was like, holy shit. I thought you were a writer. That came out wrong. My bad. What's going on, man? It was so. But he was so sweet and kind. He was a nice man. He was a nice man. Zach Alphenak is nice man.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, he's the nicest guy and so funny.

[Quinta Brunson]

You like Peyton Manning? Love thug. I.

[Amy Poehler]

He's a good time, too.

[Quinta Brunson]

Love him.

[Amy Poehler]

Loves. He's just like. He's so funny. Naturally funny.

[Quinta Brunson]

He's so funny.

[Amy Poehler]

He's so. You know. And I'm sure you've worked with this already. Like, at snl, there's athletes that come. Come through, and they're like, I'm really funny. And you're like, okay. But Peyton is genuinely, genuinely funny.

[Quinta Brunson]

Really a really nice man. He became my MVP of the weekend, not gonna lie.

[Amy Poehler]

Did he carry you around like a football?

[Quinta Brunson]

No, it's just that as soon as I walked in and I saw so many wonderful people that I do know, but when I walked in, I had a coffee in my hand. He was like, hey, where'd you get that coffee? And I was like, sorry, man. I bought it from the hotel. I knew it might be a little crazy. He's like, I should have did that. And it was just so human. And then I got to talk about football with him at the park. It was just, like, super sweet.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you do what sometimes happens with guys like that where they're so giant and you're little. I'm little, too. Where sometimes I find myself just kind of, like, touching them without knowing, like, you're a tree.

[Quinta Brunson]

I also feel like we aren't the same species. I don't feel as though. And I know we're both human. No, you know, I know we're both human. I'm saying. But, you know, there's like, oh, I'm a. I am a domestic dog. You are a wolf.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes, exactly.

[Quinta Brunson]

You know, so maybe it's the same species.

[Amy Poehler]

And I feel. I think it's an instinctual thing where. Sounds like I was talking to Jason Momoa, and I found myself putting my, like, hands like. Like, help. Like. Like a. Like a time.

[Quinta Brunson]

Like.

[Amy Poehler]

Like a little.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

An animal, I guess. Just trying to hang on, to touch it.

[Quinta Brunson]

Jordan. You know who Jordan Maliana is? He's a football player. He came to my set the other day. He's massive. He's massive. Football players are big. He's a Big football player.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Quinta Brunson]

And he's just huge. And I'm just looking up and you just.

[Amy Poehler]

Did you get your little paw?

[Quinta Brunson]

Your hands are just on his shoulders, like. I'm so sorry. I don't mean to. Why am I touching you? But I know.

[Amy Poehler]

I feel like big men must get that more than you think, which is people just going, hey. And touching it.

[Quinta Brunson]

People touch us a lot too, though.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. They pat us.

[Quinta Brunson]

Go, hey, little buddy. They do.

[Amy Poehler]

They do. You get a little pat on the head or you get a little.

[Quinta Brunson]

Have you ever been picked up against your will?

[Amy Poehler]

It is one of my least favorite things.

[Quinta Brunson]

Least favorite things in the world.

[Amy Poehler]

People are laughing.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. Why are y'all laughing at us?

[Amy Poehler]

I've gotten picked up. It's a very. It's a comedy improv thing. You get picked up in scenes and it's. I don't know how to explain it other than pure rage.

[Quinta Brunson]

It is insane to have your feet lifted off the ground against your will. If I'm going on roller coaster, I signed up for that. If I'm doing something, you know what I'm saying? But to just be lifted. And me, I'm so sturdy. I think I'm super. Like, I'm 10 toes down all the time. To be lifted off my 10 toes is so disorienting.

[Amy Poehler]

Unless it's the right person.

[Quinta Brunson]

It's the right person.

[Amy Poehler]

And then you're like, oh, my God. You're like, what? How can you lift me?

[Quinta Brunson]

But it changes my whole purview. I think I'm so big and I'm so strong. And someone lifts you up. I'm like, I'm a pet. I feel like, you know, you pick your pet up and they don't have any. That's what happens. Happens to me.

[Amy Poehler]

Or you go. Or you say, put me down. Put me down. Then you feel very stressed.

[Quinta Brunson]

When people are like, why are men. So I get it. Because as a woman, I'm a little iffy about my height sometimes. So, yeah, I mean, whatever. I get six foot men, but nothing wrong with the.

[Amy Poehler]

I think you identify as tall.

[Quinta Brunson]

That's what I would say. I do. That's why getting picked up throws me off so much.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes.

[Quinta Brunson]

Because I do identify as tall. And that's a break in reality for me. It is. I really feel like it's my cat. My cat feels super tough. He thinks he runs shit. And then I pick him up and he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, don't be picking me up. I run this house. No, you don't. I can pick you up. So that's what. That's why it throws me off when someone picks me up, because I'm just.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, oh, I don't like it either. Well, you heard it here first. Don't go up to Quinta and pick her up. And do not give point and give any thoughts and try to not say who she reminds you of.

[Quinta Brunson]

No, that was a you thing.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, that's a me thing.

[Quinta Brunson]

That's a me thing. Okay, you can say it. I'm not.

[Amy Poehler]

That's just me. So before we wrap up, I'm doing something, you know, I'm asking because again, this is. We're attempting to have a good hang here. And I'm asking people like, what are you. What are you going to right now that's making you laugh? You know, what is the thing that you go. You look up, or a place you go, or a person you talk to, or a thing that you know is kind of the way that you escape.

[Quinta Brunson]

I regret to say that there's this. These videos online. I don't really watch TikTok.

[Amy Poehler]

Really? Why?

[Quinta Brunson]

I just don't. I never really.

[Amy Poehler]

Incredible.

[Quinta Brunson]

So there's these videos I'm learning of this cat. And it's an. And I don't like it because it's AI.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, look, this isn't a shame based. I mean, there's no shame here.

[Quinta Brunson]

I'm shaming me.

[Amy Poehler]

For example, it's an AI Cat.

[Quinta Brunson]

Hold on, I gotta check this out. And he, like always is. He starts his day.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, already. Okay.

[Quinta Brunson]

He starts his day.

[Amy Poehler]

What's his name?

[Quinta Brunson]

Hsin. I don't know how to pronounce him. He is from Asia.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Quinta Brunson]

And he.

[Amy Poehler]

Hsin. Cat.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. Do you see him?

[Amy Poehler]

Hsin.

[Quinta Brunson]

H. Sin.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, let's see. Oh, Hsin. Yeah, Cat. It's a breed of cat.

[Quinta Brunson]

Can I think.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, let's look at it.

[Quinta Brunson]

No, you're gonna have to search for him in TikTok.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, very good. Stand by. I'm gonna look him up.

[Quinta Brunson]

And he always begins his day. He wakes up and he decides. He goes to the market and he buys some vegetables, and then he goes and finds. Are you looking at him? No, that's not.

[Amy Poehler]

No, hold on. Oh, this cat.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, so we'll put him up here. But he.

[Quinta Brunson]

So he. He will like a chicken or a rabbit.

[Amy Poehler]

He's finding a chicken in this one.

[Quinta Brunson]

Is he? And so what he does.

[Amy Poehler]

And he's also.

[Quinta Brunson]

And then he cooks the chicken.

[Amy Poehler]

And he cooks so.

[Quinta Brunson]

But he always. He drugs them first. He invites them over for a drink, and then they drink it and they pass out. He's drugging these friends.

[Amy Poehler]

Wait, okay. This is a whole story.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. And then he cooks them and he eats them. And he. Then he even has a little funeral for them after he cooks them, and it's like, you killed him. And he has his friend, the lion, who he calls over to eat. Cause I think the lion is the only apex predator in his life. Cause he cooks and eats. Sometimes he drops a bomb in the ocean, and then he kills a shark. He has shark meat that day. And the caption is always like, I was in the mood for something different today. Or the caption's like, met a friend today. And you think it's gonna end well this time? Nope. He cooks. Whatever. One time he met a crocodile and was like, this is seeming like a budding friendship. Now he's in jail.

[Amy Poehler]

He's in jail.

[Quinta Brunson]

He gets. There are consequences. But his friend the lion always bails him out.

[Amy Poehler]

Mm.

[Quinta Brunson]

Sometimes he whacks someone over the head and then he eats them. But sometimes they get him back. Like this fox whacked him over the head once. And I was like, finally, this cat is getting what he fucking deserves. This little fucking maniac. But then he calls the lion. The lion comes and whacks the fox. They have fox for dinner that night.

[Amy Poehler]

And you watch it.

[Quinta Brunson]

I watch every single one. Because I don't look up anything else on TikTok. My algorithm is just this cat. And every time I'm like, I hope this little bastard gets what he wants. But then when he is in the hospital, I'm very scared. I'm like, please go to the hospital. Please let him leave. Yeah. Cause he really gets beat up sometimes. I hate how much they're wearing also.

[Amy Poehler]

I know what you mean. As I'm watching it. What is weird about it is it's like the cat is giving another cat a bath. The cat is a human. He has human qualities.

[Quinta Brunson]

Human qualities.

[Amy Poehler]

But looks like a cat. And now is eating a chicken that he made.

[Quinta Brunson]

That he made.

[Amy Poehler]

And it's a really fat cat.

[Quinta Brunson]

Yeah. And so he changes sizes, too, throughout scenes. And it's like, why in this scene are you bigger than the lion? I'm interested in how he perceives himself to other animals. And he saves a baby every once in a while. Cause you see him saving a baby.

[Amy Poehler]

He doesn't eat the baby.

[Quinta Brunson]

He doesn't eat the baby. The first time he saved a baby, though, I thought he was gonna eat that baby. But he's all And I think that's like him being like, see, I'm cool. But no, you are a psychopath. You are drugging other animals and eating them. And so that's.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, that's how you escape. Yes, that's how you escape from working too hard. But I get why you like this because it's story.

[Quinta Brunson]

It is storytelling, and it's AI so it gets it wrong a lot. And it also makes me feel good. I have a friend. Ash actually told me. Ash told me that Ash has a friend that works in AI and that person was like, look, the day AI really figures it out, the day everyone should be really scared, Alzheimer's will also be solved. And I was like, oh. Because if AI can really get that close to how our brains really function, we will have then also had the keys to figure out Alzheimer's. And so that brings me comfort and it brings me fear.

[Amy Poehler]

Because I like what you just said. I mean, and also I like that that's the kind of thing that an expert would say on a podcast. But. And I'd be like, what?

[Quinta Brunson]

I heard it from a friend who.

[Amy Poehler]

Heard from me who said, that's hilarious.

[Quinta Brunson]

Okay, Quinta, love you.

[Amy Poehler]

Thank you so much.

[Quinta Brunson]

Love you too, Amy. Bye.

[Amy Poehler]

Thank you so much. Quinta Brunson, you are amazing and so talented, and it means a lot that you came. And you're the best, Quinta. And yeah, you know, this is the end of the show where we go a little deeper on something that brings me joy or changes my brain. And so we mentioned Lisa Beasley at the very top of the show when we were talking to some of Quinta's friends who worked at BuzzFeed. And I just want to mention her again. Lisa Beasley Experience is where you can find Lisa B. Experience is where you can find her. And she's just a hilarious comedian, does a ton of characters. And she did that really funny character, Corporate Aaron. Check that out. If you haven't seen it, it's just corporate speak at its best. And the maddening pace in which people deliver non news in workspaces. It's really funny. And so is she. And yeah, so if you have not seen her comedy, check it out. And always check out the great quinta on Abbott and check us out always here at Good Hang. Thanks for hanging. Okay, bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weissberman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show, the show is produced by the Ringer and Paper Kite for the Ringer, production by Jack Wilson. Cat Spillane, Kaia McMullen and Alaya Zaneras for Paper Kite. Production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. This episode is presented by the Toyota Grand Highlander. Life's journey brings constant change, filled with exciting surprises, new chapters and grand challenges. And the Toyota Grand Highlander is more than a vehicle. It's your partner in embracing life throws at you blinked and the kids have grown up. The third row can fit three adults. From daily routines to life changing adventures, the Toyota Grand Highlander is up for every grand challenge. Learn [e-mail] Grand Highlander Toyota let's go places. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is almost here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost? Well, you can't get a summer blockbuster delivered, but you can get a block of cheese. A cabana that's a no. But a banana? That's a yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now for alcohol you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.