The Latest With Maya

Comedian, Writer, and Director Ben Thompson | The Latest With Maya

• Maya • Season 3 • Episode 44

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0:00 | 34:41

 A conversation with Ben Thompson.❤️ 


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SPEAKER_02

It's the latest. Oh, what's the gonna book?

SPEAKER_01

Hi, Ben. Welcome to The Latest with Maya. Ben Thompson is a stand-up comedian, writer, and director. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm so excited to be talking with you.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks so much for having me. This is great.

SPEAKER_01

Um, so who has had the biggest impact on the person you have become?

SPEAKER_00

Uh it's it's probably the most obvious answer, but it's my parents. Uh I always joke with them that uh I am exactly who they made me to be, uh, all the good parts and the bad parts. Um but they uh they they always had such wonderful sense of humor and sense of humor, and they uh they always encouraged me to chase my dreams just like they chased theirs. And so uh yeah, it's uh they've been massively supportive, and so much of what I do, and so much of the what I do in my comedy is is a reflection of them and how they raised me.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I love that. Yeah, yeah. Um so is there someone who inspired you to pursue comedy?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it was uh it was my parents in a lot of way, but also it was um I when I went to when I went to college, I played uh I played soccer there, and um a lot of the guys on the team were always talking about it, you know. Growing up, uh I was the soccer kid, and then when you go to college, you are one of 30 soccer guys, and so I didn't really have an identity, and I was just ended up being one of the funnier ones, and I was making fun of people, and they're always you know talking about how I should do stuff with it or making fun of me that I was trying to do comedy in front of them when I shouldn't have been, and so uh yeah, those guys were just being able to make those guys laugh, and then those guys have been so supportive throughout uh my career here that uh yeah, in a lot of ways I do it for them, and they've uh yeah, they this is their fault, just as much as it is my my parents. But uh at the same time, you know, there's a lot of comedians that I looked up to, a lot of uh YouTube YouTubers who did sketch comedy, you know, that I watched when I was younger, and I just remember thinking like that is the coolest thing in the world. I hope to do that one day.

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow, I love that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's uh it's cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. Um yeah, so where uh do you find inspiration for your comedy? Is everything and everyone fair game?

SPEAKER_00

Definitely, it's so funny. People always, you know, something funny will happen with uh, you know, people in my life and they'll go, oh, this will be a bit, or this will be something you'll make fun of. And I always tell them it's never what they think it is. Like whatever I'm going to make fun of from this interaction, it's not the funny thing that happened. It's usually the mundane thing, or it's the uh the thing that you would, yeah, that just seems like an everyday thing or seems normal is usually the thing that I think is funny or the thing that I think is worth being made fun of. And that's just how I've always been as a person is I just I think that everything is ridiculous. So it's uh it yeah, it it's the it's the normal interactions of stuff, I think the stuff that we take for granted uh that I love to make fun of. And with a lot of the sketches and a lot of the shorts I make, it's yeah, it's me, you know, making fun of things that happen in movies and TV shows all the time that we never think of. You know, it's the stuff that we go, oh yeah, I guess that does happen a lot in TV shows and movies, but I've never thought to make fun of it. So my inspiration doesn't come from like big comedy happening to me. It's yeah, it's me finding uh the ridiculous and the silly in the stuff that you would never think is ridiculous and silly.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I love um your videos on uh if horror movies were life.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I find those so funny.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, and then and you know, that those are good examples of just you watch enough scary movies, and I'm not even a big horror movie fan, but I've just you know, you see enough of them that you know I every time I watch a movie and someone walks up behind somebody and they don't hear them. I think if that was my house, I would hear them in a heartbeat. Like my floors creak. I don't know what homeless is where they don't have creaky floors, but I would not be caught by surprise. I would have heard them from a different room. Uh so yeah, it's yeah, exactly. I'm glad I'm glad that you responded to that. That's so nice.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um so uh who do you consider to be the gold standard of comedy?

SPEAKER_00

Oh wow. Um Jerry Seinfeld has always been you know, uh he's on my mount rushmore to be that ubiquitous and that universal. I mean, the fact that you know he can do five minutes of jokes on just grocery stores, he's just he's endlessly relatable. And I think every comedian, whether they like his style or not, is trying to be that way. Uh, he's the gold standard. I think Bill Burr is the gold standard. And then as far as you know, writing and directing, uh, you know, I I've always been a huge fan of Aaron Soderbergh, Steven Soderbergh, uh uh Quentin Tarantino, uh the Cohen brothers, it's uh and then on the comedy side, like guys like Jimmy Taitro and guys like uh Shane Gillis, Jared Keiso. It's uh yeah, the it's the it's uh the those guys have been able to come up with a career that was not laid out in front of them. They've been able to go out and find it and find their niche. Um so those are those are just a few of the names that I look up to and go, if I could be as half as good as that, I'll be happy.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, yeah. I um I love uh Jerry Seinfeld and I love um Jimmy Taetro. Um Home Economics is one of my all-time favorite shows.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

He's so funny, isn't he? He's so funny, and it's uh he's so impressive to me as well because he gets put into this box of, you know, the bro. He gets put into this box of, you know, the yeah, the uh that broy dude type, and he gets into that box and then he makes so much more out of it. And he he does stuff that's so smart and so silly and goofy, and he yeah, he's done an amazing job of going beyond his typecast, which I think is also just so remarkable.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely. Um yeah, so what is uh your most memorable moment from one of your stand-up shows?

SPEAKER_00

Uh one of my most memorable moments, man, there's been so many, and also so many I want to forget. Um uh I'd say one of the most memorable was uh the first time I got to perform at the comedy store uh here in Los Angeles, which you know obviously is one of the most famous comedy clubs in the world, and uh I won an open mic contest to be able to perform there. Uh I got to perform there and I followed a guy who was working on his Jimmy Fallon set. And I was only a year into comedy at this point. I was so green, and it was just I can't believe I get to do this. I'm at the comedy store in front of a couple hundred people, and uh the host got my name wrong. I still I got up and I I I did well enough. I did well enough on the set, and I was happy about that. And then the next day I was at my day job and I was working as a cashier, and someone came up to me and they said, Hey, were you at the comedy store last night? And I said, Yes. And she goes, Oh, I was in the audience, you were really funny, like keep going. And it just being able to have that impact on someone was uh was so memorable. Just uh, you know, it's like, oh, this is why we do it, like this is cool that they're not, you know, I can't be terrible. At least I wasn't the night before.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um so is there uh someone who without fail always makes you laugh?

SPEAKER_00

Oh my goodness. Um so many. Uh you know, I have I have a lot of really funny friends, um, a lot of up-and-coming comics, guys like uh like like Colin Coghlin and Opie and uh Gary Lelly and uh Phil Moya, East Engage, like these are all my friends that are all up and coming that are so funny. But as far as you know bigger names, uh Sebastian Manascalco always makes me laugh without fail. He is just how physically gifted he is as a comedian. I can't not laugh at him. Will Farrell is perhaps the funniest person in the history of the world. Put him in put him in any situation, he's gonna make me laugh. And you know who I think is also incredibly funny is Ryan Gosling. Ryan Gosling is he is so funny, and he's his timing is incredible, and he goes for it. If you know, he's my guy. Can't wait to go see Hail Mary. It's yeah, any anytime he's on screen, even if it's a serious role, I know he's gonna make me laugh, and he gets me every time.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Oh yeah, I love Ryan Gosling.

SPEAKER_00

He's the best, isn't he?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he is. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I am uh pop culture obsessed, and I go in stages of shows that I cannot stop watching. Um is there a show that you are currently obsessed with?

SPEAKER_00

Ooh, currently obsessed with? I'm obsessed with this show called Shortsy. It's a uh it's a Canadian show. It's a spin-off of a show called Letter Kenny. And uh it Shorty, it's it's my favorite show right now. It's about hockey players, and uh the other co-creator is the co-creator of uh Heated Rivalry as well. And uh Shorzy it it is so funny, and the reason it's so funny to me is it they have uh no other show or movie has better depicted athletes and sports like this show has. So I fully recognize that it's like super funny to me as someone who's been in those locker rooms, and even I don't think they're even trying to be funny half the time, but just knowing how these guys interact, uh seeing that on screen is it just it takes me back to playing sports, and it's the best. So it's that show. I've just finished watching Ted, the second season of Ted. Um I just I love that they're going for it, they're just they're not pulling any punches. Uh, and then I I need to I'm starting to get back on Always Sunday in Philadelphia. I'm slowly getting back into that show. Um, so though, yeah, I've you know, comedy first, always. I'm always so into those shows, and those are the those are the ones that I'm watching. Which which ones are you watching?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I love that. Um there's so much that I'm watching. I'm watching um I'm watching Ugly Betty. Um yeah, I this is the first time I'm watching it. I've never seen it before, and so I'm obsessed with that. So I'm watching that, and I started watching um the new show Scarpeta. Oh yeah. Um Amazon Prime, that's really good. Um, and then on Apple, there's the new show Imperfect Women. Yeah, that that's also really good. So there's so much I'm watching right now, I'm kind of losing track of it.

SPEAKER_00

I know what you mean. It's hard, isn't it? It's hard. You look around and you go, wow, I have so much to watch, and I only have so much time. Yeah, it's impossible.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00

Do you have a favorite show of all time?

SPEAKER_01

Oh I have I have a few.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, great. Hit me.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so there's Will and Grace, lovely, friends, uh, psych, um, white collar, and royal pains.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh, what an interesting array as well. You cover all the spectrum. That's amazing. I mean, I don't know that there's that many people in this world who love white collar and friends at the exact same time. That's that's amazing. I think Matt Bomber is he we have undervalued him as an actor. I think that he's he is so good. Um it's awesome. That's great. Those are great shows.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. Yeah, and I mean home economics is also in there, too.

SPEAKER_00

So, so good. So funny.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um, do you have a favorite show of all time?

SPEAKER_00

I have a, yeah, I have like four or five that kind of are my rotating. Uh the show community.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, The Office, Family Guy, The West Wing. Those are kind of my I know, I which, yeah, like the first three kind of make sense, and the fourth one is weird. But uh, yeah, those are my four go-tos whenever. Um yeah, I love those shows. Those are the shows that especially Community and the West Wing, those are shows that you know, that I watch and I go, I want to live in that world so badly. Like I just wanna, I those are like my friends, those are that's my family. I just want to go into the screen and hang out in that world that those creators have created.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Uh yeah, those those are my favorite for sure.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I love that. Yeah, oh I forgot, I forgot to add a show too. There's also um the new adventures of old Christine.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's so good. Oh my gosh, and then I forgot Seinfeld. Oh my gosh, we forgot about yeah, Julie Wee Dreyfus. Uh yeah, those are yeah. Oh gosh, she's so good. She's so good.

SPEAKER_01

She is, yeah. I I have um my family and I are constantly quoting um just a bunch of the shows I just mentioned. We're constantly quoting psych and friends and and yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's so funny you mentioned that, you know, just going back to my parents. My parents were the same way. They were constantly quoting their favorite TV shows and movies, and it became a joke with my brother and I that the older we got, the more there was just all these phrases that my parents would say all the time. And we, as you know, kids, we didn't know that they were quotes, we just thought they made them up. And the older we got and the more we watched, we realized they were just stealing famous movie lines and TV lines. So we have a running notes document uh that every time we hear a line from a TV show or movie that we realize our parents stole, we add it to the list, and it's like a hundred long, and it's it's so we're always like, Really? You we thought you made that up. And they said, No, we stole that from a movie.

unknown

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01

I love that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I I can totally relate. So just yeah, we communicate through a movie and TV quotes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I um you know when uh my sister and I first watched Friends with our mom, it's uh she didn't realize how many references to friends she made when we were growing up, but as we were watching it, she realized.

SPEAKER_00

Um exactly. You just look over and you go, that's from that?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's so funny. Oh, that's the best. That's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It is, yeah, that's just my brain's just filled with different quotes. Um just that I reference in like every conversation.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, and I think you know, that's why I love shows like Family Guy and shows like Community, where they they reference stuff all the time. They're always quoting, you know, they're always influenced by other TV shows and movies. And I think they get a bad rap for that as like, oh, they're mooching off of other people's success to make their own. But TV shows and movies are just such an integral part of our lives, and they're such a big part of our world that I don't think you can ignore them. I think that they you have to, yeah, you you have to uh acknowledge them just like any piece of re culture. Like they are a part of our culture so integrally, which is you know why I like doing those horror movie sketches is you know, I think yeah, that's just that stuff is just so much a part of our culture that um you know, I remember Bo Burnham, uh the comedian talking about that, how like he every comedian makes fun of their reality, and his reality is performing, so he only makes fun of performing. And I feel the same way where it's like, you know, write what you know. Well, what I know is TV shows and movies, so the only thing I can write about is other TV shows and movies by making my own TV shows and movies about TV shows and movies, which is probably convoluted, but yeah, it's you know here I am trying.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I love that. Um so what is uh the biggest obstacle either personally or professionally that you've overcome?

SPEAKER_00

Um probably myself. Uh I I uh I have the ability to get in my own way uh a lot of times. You know, I'm uh uh I can be a victim of of ruminating and ruminating on the bad things too much that keeps me from trying other things and going after stuff. Um you know, some sometimes I oh you know, I can be an overthinker, which can can stall me out. And then I've always just been someone that's taken, I take on as much as I possibly can all the time, which can sometimes be bad for, you know, you don't get to take those moments to sit back and reflect on what you're doing, or take a you know, take a bird's eye view of what's happening and take a bird's eye view of your progress and go, okay, this actually isn't working. Should I try something else? Sometimes, you know, you can get in your own way by just working so hard, working so hard, working so hard that you don't take a step back and go, okay, what am I really doing? What am I really working towards? Um, so you know, I have no I have no enemies, I have no uh there's no I have no big bad that uh I have to to get over. It's it's uh it is me versus me a lot of times.

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow. Yeah. Um so if you had a warning label, what would yours say?

SPEAKER_00

If I had a warning label, what would it say? Uh it would it would probably say warning. Uh even if he looks like he wants to be here, he probably doesn't.

SPEAKER_01

I love that.

SPEAKER_00

I I tell people all the time I will do most things, but I don't want to do anything, usually. I don't really get how much TV.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I love that.

SPEAKER_00

We should make them. Should we make those labels?

SPEAKER_01

I think so. Yeah. Cool.

SPEAKER_00

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think uh I need that too. Yeah. Um yeah, there was uh I was in the store the other day with my mom, and there was

SPEAKER_00

this like book that I don't remember what it was called but there's like something in it that was like how to um like how to flirt and there was like a list of these things I was like hold on I'm reading this for a second and the top one was like I forget what the first one was but then right below it was look approachable and like the first two already I don't do either of those yeah you're like I'm already out I'm already out yeah I can't look I can't look approachable if I'm not approachable it's just not gonna happen I can't change the space I don't want to be here that's all the time like it looks like he you look man you really like you don't want to be here I'm like I don't I really don't I'd rather not be at all yeah it's so funny that's great you gotta recognize that you know yeah all right first two things I'm out not gonna get the look yeah yeah and my mom started laughing when I was like hold on I'm reading this yeah just because yeah I think there's most places I don't want to be at either so I don't look approachable so it's hard to fake isn't it it's hard to fake but we have to we get we have to pretend like we want to be there or else we're the weird ones even though you look around and you go I don't think anyone wants to be here we're all just pretending we want to be here and then you get in your own head and now yeah this yeah yeah this this is exactly how how I am where you're just like you look at sometimes you're out somewhere and you're like I don't think any of us want to be doing this right now but we all think we have to if we all just admitted that we'd rather not be here we'd all be much happier yeah yeah can't do it you can't do it it's part of being an agreeable human we all gotta pretend yeah it's fine um so what uh genre of movie would your life story be told as oof I hope a comedy uh I I hope uh it's it's certainly not dramatic enough to to be a drama uh you know it's probably you know hope it hopefully it's not a horror movie that would be pretty ironic um but yeah I would I would hope that it would be a very silly unserious uh comedy that um people just have a good time at that would be that would be my hope yeah I love that yeah yeah I've always wanted my life story to be both a musical and a rom-com oh great answer that's what I oh that's what I should have taken can I take your answer yeah oh that's great oh I love a musical it's it is yeah I sh oh that's what I should have said great answer yeah thank you yeah um yeah I will like burst into song if there's um uh if there's like music at uh a storm at that a song comes on that I love I'll just start singing and yeah I know don't you watch the don't you want to just break out into song and dance sometimes yeah whenever you're feeling something out in the world yes wouldn't life be better that way if you just sing what you're feeling yeah tap dance on a car you know just just musical things yeah definitely and like in Lala Land how everybody's in the traffic jam and just gets out and sings and dances exactly I would love to pass the time that way yeah why can't we do that? It's a shame yeah exactly um so do you have any irrational fears oh gosh so many so many irrational fears my most irrational fear I am so scared of going to jail there I which I've never gotten in trouble in my entire life ever like I am not that person I am such a dork like I have never been cool enough to like get in trouble but there's just something about jail and prison that just terrifies me beyond belief. Like there's movies that I want to watch that are prison movies that I cannot watch because it's just like too creepy. But like you know bugs and snakes and the fun stuff I have no problem with those I have no idea why but for some reason it's jail. I can't explain it. Or maybe I just did but it's weird.

SPEAKER_01

It's such a weird thing well my brain's pretty much just one big irrational fear so I cannot explain that it's tough like you I mean you know better than anyone like you just can't explain it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah you can't like oh gosh am I yeah my girlfriend and I were watching a movie the other day where you know this guy got wrongfully convicted and he's in jail and like my hands were getting sweaty like you would have thought I was like you know about to go skydiving. I'm just watching this fake person in a fake jail I have no idea why yeah um yeah so what uh subject could you give a TED talk on even though you are totally unqualified on that subject what subject could I give a TED talk on even though I'm completely unqualified for um yeah probably probably filmmaking you know I I I could I could sit up there and sound real good but I don't know anything it it like I I actually don't know if I know anything about anything I think that other people know things and I'm just repeating what they're saying. I don't I don't know if that means that I know it or if I'm just recounting other things people know but that's probably one thing where like you know I could talk about the filmmaking process you know forever and then someone could come up on stage right after me and go, here's all the reasons he's wrong but it would sound really good if I talked about it. I love that um so what uh three words best describe you three words that best describe me uh uh I'll I'll be positive and say hard working it's just it's a muscle that I've always just had I've just been able to put my head down and get stuff done um I would say uh skeptical I'm always just skeptical of everything and everyone all the time for for good for good and for bad I've just all you know it's like uh oh what's that meme of that dog who's doing this like that's just me in my in my head all the time uh and then the third I would say is curious I'm just always interested it's um I love talking to people who are good at what they do and learning from them I just I I love I love taking in information because I am not I'm not smart I'm just I I just uh I'm never gonna figure anything out on my own like I just have to take it from everybody else so it's just I love any information I can get and take in is is yeah a paramount to me so those those those are my three words I guess hardworking skeptical and curious I love that those are great words thank you appreciate it yeah um so I just have uh one final question for you um so today what are you most grateful for poof I am most grateful to today today like I'm most grateful that uh like I've got uh I have nothing to do tonight I'm very grateful that I have nowhere to be I don't have to talk to after you I have no one else I have to talk to today it's fantastic this is gonna be the highlight of my day I get to end it on a peak um but uh these days I'm just I'm so grateful for uh the opportunities I get to do what I do you know when I first uh left college and moved to LA you know you have an idea of what your life is gonna be and you have all of these goals and I'm trying to get into a better practice of reminding myself that I'm doing what I came out here to do and uh I'm doing the thing that I really you know you always say it's gonna be something it's never what it's going to be and so I'm trying to remind myself that I'm I'm doing what it is even though it's not the level I want to be at you know last night I got to I I got to go on stage I got to do you know I got to uh feature for a great headline comedian down Orange County and then I'm here talking talking to you which is amazing and then uh after you know after we're done I'm gonna edit uh the next uh the next uh sketch that's coming out hopefully this week and then I'm gonna cast the next horror sketch we're gonna do another horror sketch here soon uh and then I've got another shoot this weekend and I'm gonna get to play some soccer this weekend so it's like all these things that you know you have an idea of what your life's gonna be I'm just grateful that I I'm actually doing it uh and so it yeah I am I'm grateful and thankful and uh trying to be cognizant of the fact that um you know in one way or another I'm I'm living my dream yeah I love that yeah thank you what about you what are you grateful for today right now this second I'm grateful to be talking with you um and I'm grateful for my family and yeah and like my friends and also after this I'm gonna go watch an ugly betty so perfect there you go grateful that you guys what yeah what's ugly betty streaming on right now it's on Disney Plus boom grateful for Disney yes aren't we all aren't we all grateful for Disney yeah yeah we have to be yeah we run the world now we have to be grateful for Disney yeah definitely yeah yeah Willem Grace is also on Disney so I'm I'm very grateful for Disney that I can perfect yeah just rewatch it all the time so exactly gotta do it yeah um well thank you so much for joining me today I've had the best time talking with you you've made my day oh you've made mine thank you so much this was a blast uh you're the best thank you so much for reaching out and making this happen this was so much fun thank you yeah I I've had the best time talking with you you've made my day you too thanks thank you um and I hope you have a great rest of your day you too thank you um and that's a wrap on today's edition of the latest to admire it's a little