Interview: Craig Ferguson

Guy Macpherson: What about writing this monologue? Is there a lot of pressure every day to come up with something new?

Craig Ferguson: That's the meeting I've just come from. Yeah, there's a horrible amount of pressure every day to do it. It kind of hangs over you every day. But at the same time it's the challenge of every day. I mean, it's a real thrill when it's right. When it doesn't quite come off, I think it's still good to do because at least we had a crack at it (laughs), you know what I mean? When it doesn't quite work, it's one of those rare things in American television that you can actually see someone fall flat on their ass. And it's not edited out. I think you take all the fun out of stuff when you don't see things fall on their ass. Johnny [Carson] never cut out stuff that didn't work. He would do it.

GM: It almost seemed like he would purposely put in stuff that didn't work.

CF: Peter Lassally, my producer, was with Johnny for 30 years. And I asked him if Johnny put stuff that wouldn't work, because I thought the same, and he said, "No, he never, ever did." It was always (laughs) just annoying... Not annoying, but he just turned a sow's ear into a silk purse.

GM: And it humanizes the host, too.

CF: I think so. I think it allows... I don't need people to think that everything that comes out of my mouth is the funniest thing that's ever been said by a bunch of crack writers in Hollywood. There's a kind of distance that that creates between the host and the audience, which I don't think you really need.

GM: And you're charming enough to get away with it and quick enough on your feet to come up with something if you do tank.

CF: You have to be. That's the one thing. You better be fast. Because if something dies, you better cop to it and think of something quickly.

GM: How much of it is spontaneous?

CF: It changes from night to night. Some nights 90 percent; some nights, you know, 40 percent.

Interview: Craig Ferguson / The Comedy Couch / June 16, 2006