NEWS
Star of the Comedy Roundtable
23 Jun 2012 By Nicola West (Editor/Writer (UK))
Hollywood star Ben Stiller, brought three of his funniest friends to Nantucket yesterday, for his comedy Round Table.
In an auditorium absent of air conditioning, the fans who could hack the 86 degree temperatures, were fortunate enough to see the comedy superstars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jim Carrey and "SNL" castie Bill Hader for the 4th annual All-Star Comedy Roundtable at the Nantucket Film Festival.
Amongst the anecdotes and funnies there were confessions: "I was never funnier than back in the lunchroom in high school with my friends," said Hader, who plays hipster correspondent Stefon on "Weekend Update."
Jim said he learned to be funny to make his mother, who he said suffered from depression, laugh.
"I wanted to make her feel better," said the "Cable Guy."
Rock, who is shooting "Grown Ups 2" on the North Shore, admitted he lives by this comedy mantra: What Would Richard Pryor Do Sober?
"He was the funniest guy who ever lived," he said, adding that he can’t imagine what a force the late Pryor would have become if he shook the monkey off his back.
The wildest story of their early days in the biz, hands down, went to Carrey, who told of being hit with a urine-soaked rag when he opened for the Canadian rock band, Goddo. Ew.
Speaking of "SNL," Hader said one the high points of his career was doing a "Weekend Update" sketch this season with Ben Stiller as "Zoolander."
"I almost cried," he said.
Hader, come to find out, has known Stiller since 1995. They met at his friend’s house at Thanksgiving dinner in Tulsa, Okla., when Ben was dating a friend of a friend. They chatted, Ben took a look at a short film he did, and then took him to see "Casino."
"I think I laughed during the Sharon Stone-Joe Pesci sex scene," said Hader.
Later, Stiller wrote a letter ("my assistant did") to get Hader into college and, "one day I turned on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and there you were," Stiller said. "I thought, wow, the kid made it."
The group also discussed how technology has affected the film process, with Jim acknowledging the changes..
-- Source: Nantucket Film Festival. With thanks to Priya Baboota. Click to comment this article.
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