How much do you miss “The Daily Show,” especially during election season?
I miss it a lot. I miss the people. I miss my friends. I shared an office with John Oliver for three years and I loved every minute of it. I miss hanging out with him. I miss just showing up at work and doing bits with him. We would sit in our office and just do bits for hours without getting any work done. Just trying to crack each other up. Calling each other. This is how close we sat together. And I would call him on my phone, he’d be working and I’d call him, I’d make stuff up, I’d go, “Hey, John, we got the lab results in.” And just go on a bit. And he would play with me. And it was fun. And I miss the writers and I miss the producers. I miss Jon. It’s a really good group of people over there and I miss them.
Video/Q&A: Rob Riggle of '21 Jump Street'
You’re still a part of the Marines. At what point after meeting people do you usually remind them you can kill them with your bare hands?
How long have we been talking?
About 10 minutes.
I can kill you. Just so you know that.
How would you do it?
I would lean into their personal space and just whisper, ever so slightly into their ear, that death could happen at any minute.
Plus:
On Chicago: “I love this town. I want to go out [when I’m here]. This is a great nightlife town. Last night the first thing we did, we got in and we had to go to a screening and a Q&A which was great, great people, a lot of fun, and we went to Kingston Mines and listened to some music and just had a blast. Some people [recognized us] and some people didn’t, and it was great. But everybody let us be and we had fun and we danced and we listened to great music, and it was just a blast.”
His guilty pleasure band: “I can’t get enough of Avril Lavigne. I dig her music. I do, I just do. So there it is; I’m out. I’m exposed. She’s got great songs. What’s the one I’m listening to right now? It’s on my iPhone, I’ll have to find it for you. It’s good. Awesome! … You heard me sing in ‘The Lorax.’ You heard how bad that was. I’m doing you people a favor here [by not singing].”
On active duty Navy SEALS acting in “Act of Valor”: “Uh, it’s tricky. I haven’t seen it yet. I’m excited to see it. I want to see it. And I’m gonna see it. As far as them doing it, awesome, I guess, it’s interesting, ’cause it’s all uncharted water. So it’s that thing where, like, ‘OK, I guess? Awesome.’”
Watch Matt on “You & Me This Morning,” Friday at 7:30 a.m. on WCIU, the U
mpais@tribune.com. @mattpais
