John Mulaney's wife texts him GIFs of himself
The fact that John Mulaney is one of the top working comedians today is fairly indisputable. His 2018 stand-up special Kid Gorgeous is a triumph, each of his hosting outings on Saturday Night Live were season highlights, and his most recent turn as a Sondheim surrogate for Documentary Now!’s parody of Company is a work of mad genius. In a recent interview with Vulture, in which Mulaney discusses everything from becoming a meme to firing Louis C.K.’s former manager Dave Becky, we’re reminded that, in addition to his many achievements, John Mulaney is also just incredibly nice and cool.
“It is very funny when my wife or a friend, after I text something stupid, will send me a GIF of myself as a way to put me down,” Mulaney says of the fact that numerous clips and quotes from his recent special have been repurposed as memes and reaction GIFs. One popular trend involves using a series of Mulaney’s jokes to describe everything from bands to movies to great works of literature.
“I saw one of them that was Shakespeare plays, and I was embarrassed because I didn’t know enough about the plays to get how the quotes of mine matched up,” Mulaney says. “So I sort of appreciated it, but kind of felt very uneducated.”
As the discussion turns to more substantial matters, Vulture asks Mulaney about his decision to stop working with manager Dave Becky after the 2017 New York Times report about Louis C.K.’s sexual misconduct indicated that Becky was not only aware of the allegations, but perhaps pressured victims to keep quiet. Soon after that, Mulaney quietly fired Becky without so much as a press release because he didn’t feel he “had anything noble to add” and that making a big public display of his decision would have been “an unhelpful use of everyone’s time and taking up oxygen.”
“I don’t think my thoughts and opinions matter in any way compared to the women who have been directly affected by these actions,” Mulaney says. “ I say this not at all to be evasive, but just to not talk anymore as a male in comedy who has not had to experience this. Other people should. Women’s opinions matter, and mine does not.”
Read the full interview here.