Staff Favorite Moments: Head Writer/Executive Producer Matt Roberts | Letterman

hi my name is Matt Roberts I was an intern at Late  Night with David Letterman and I worked at Late   Show with David Letterman from 1993 until the end  in 2015 starting in the ticket office and ending   as an executive producer and the head writer this  show was where I wanted to work from the time I   was 11 years old I don't know where to begin with  all of the things that dazzled me the thrill cam   jumps out as something that just seemed so bizarre  and despite it being such a silly idea it probably   did evoke something Of A Thrill in 11 or 12 or  13 year old me whenever that actually came along all right the dancing waters was another  thing that I just thought was so   silly and delightful and the ensuing  parade that became larger and larger foreign was somebody who you knew that he worked  on the show but he was insanely funny   William Shatner had done this elaborate  interpretation of Rocket Man so Chris   Elliott came on the show and basically just  did the same thing it's lonely out here in Mars ain't a place to raise a kid now in fact it's cold as hell there wouldn't be anyone there  to raise the little boogers I did and I think it's gonna be a long long time till  touchdown brings me around to find I'm not the   man they think I am at all no no I'm a rocket  man I loved the performance it was insane but   then what I loved even more afterwards when  crisscross to the desk and did panel it was   as if Chris had intentionally just allowed  the segment to come to a complete standstill   and I don't understand what he is is he a  puppet or is he a machine I don't know toy as interns we had different assignments at  a certain point you'd be covering the front   phones while the main receptionist went on  her break little did I know they had planned   a segment on the show secretly called uh  let's meet the interns and so during the   act one as I'm sitting there answering phones  and watching the show up on the Monitor and   he picks up his phone on the desk and starts  dialing a camera comes around the corner and   suddenly it's on I'm talking to Dave and  I think if I'm not mistaken I might have   had tragic early 90s facial hair what are  you studying in Maine I'm studying English you know Matt it's a good thing we don't  have you hooked up to a polygraph have you   ever stolen office supplies no of course  you have what time do I arrive each day uh   six A.M so one of my good friends from College  actually came and worked for the show as well and   he was a writer and I was a researcher and we were  roommates one night we came home and uh we had   been completely robbed when the staff found out  that we were robbed well they did what only uh our   show would do which was they made a remote out of  it and it was Dave takes Matt and Doug to replace   their stuff at Macy's the upside of it was that of  course by doing that piece we would get paid seven   or eight hundred bucks right so that each so then  that starts to get you closer to being able to   replace a few things I remember thinking I need to  go say something to Dave to thank him for this uh   this generous gift and this gesture I just  remember walking into his office and I just   said you know very earnestly you know thank you  so much that means so much that you did this and   we really appreciate it and then it just sort  of felt like it was that moment when you know   you have to kind of leave but then it felt weird  to not say anything else so I just remember in   the moment saying God bless us everyone it made  they laugh and then I I just walked out do you   need an answering machine yeah you get a lot of  messages you guys oh they get no messages these   guys I would play this joke on my mom mom would  be ironing in the kitchen the phone would ring   and I would say oh good at mom I was very ill  and then I would grab the iron and do the hello do you have any idea math Doug any idea  who hit you guys who knocked you off any   thought actually there is really  you have kind of a suspect in mind I may be the only person that  doesn't love the staff hypnosis piece   just because I find it mortifying I can only  describe the experience of being hypnotized   it's not like a trance like people think it's  not like you don't know what's going on you   know exactly what's going on it's almost like you  have had every sort of sort of self-consciousness   taken away in the same way that you might if  you'd had like several drinks Marshall silver   suggested to me that anytime Dave referred to  money that it would make me sort of laugh make   me a little bitter make me sort of get irritated  by how much money they've made I know that uh I   get a lot of money but one of the benefits of  having all of that money is the facility the   research facility you know so I don't feel  so badly making that kind of money when I   can provide services like that for people like  yourself and others who work on the show you know   are you kidding about what I mean like with  the amount of money that you make we could   be like in a palette we had a research Palace  right I mean you you enjoy the benefits of my   wealth by working here and knowing me you have  a really wealthy friend that's kind of a Croc so much and I'm you you work okay so  you work a few more hours than me right   but let me ask you this what do you care  you got a shirt on your back you get three   meals a day you have a place to live you  have money for dates but I don't have I   don't even have one million dollars you have  you don't deserve it I deserve 13. no I know I know but you could give me one and you I'm not gonna pick favorites among the writers  because there just have been so many great   writers on the show but Steve Young regularly  generated ideas that just made me laugh so much   and we're just so unexpected like it just kind  of came out of nowhere he was especially funny   writing for Jerry Mulligan the one thing  that stands out is uh something where he   came out and led the crowd in a sort of a call  response pertaining to the recently discovered   Higgs boson particle how does finding the  Higgs boson change our understanding of   the universe an excellent question thank  you Paul let's get busy all right guys okay ready let's go Higgs now just the balcony  now just the ladies hey now you Dave Higgs not playing along okay one more  everybody Higgs love you guys hangs out   remember to vote to me the theoretical  physicist People's Choice Awards   one bit I had a hand in creating called the  weekend late show that was meant to Lampoon   the fact that you sort of get the bee Talent  on the weekend versions of anything it ended   up being something that Dave was very tickled by  in the promos for the weekend Late Show there was   only ever one actual Talent who we brought in  to to appear in a promotion as a guest on the   upcoming weekend Late Show if the star name is on  The Late Show then who would be the second tier   star that the weekend Late Show would get and the  obvious choice to us seemed to be Donald Trump Jr   and over here in our cookery Nook we have Donald  Trump Jr who's going to show us how to make his   billion dollar meatballs Mamma Mia do you make  them with beef pork reveal I use all three whoa   we did the 4am show we decided to do a remote  with Amy Sedaris down in the West Village where   she lived just so happened that like you know the  stretch of Christopher Street we were on had a lot   of shops that specialize in adult novelties and  entertainment this is the hanger need I say more once you're still open all right the hangar  it's a it's a gate it's for guys Dave the drug front right um let's see oh there's the  beach that they give massages and   um waxing for men and women full release among my favorite guests Nathan Lane always came  ready to deliver in a big way whether there was a   performance involved or whether it was just  being hilariously funny Dave liked to tell   an apocryphal story about Merv Griffin which  involved mirv coming down to the casino floor   then slapping a Kino boy we decided there was  no better person on the planet to uh recreate   that moment in song than Nathan Lane who was  more than game a number from the new musical   simply marvelous Nathan Lane and the cast  and kids from the show come on out folks excuse me sir you um you know you can't  go into the Kino Lounge dressed like that   Hey kid do you know who I am no I love you bastard if you spit much  faster love will go and pass me bye how do you know who I am  kitten yes sir Mr Griffin God so we finally get President Bill Clinton booked on  the show we wanted him to be on the show forever   the show had not been super gentle on him from a  comedic standpoint for a long time a tremendous   amount of care was taken to make sure that we  wouldn't even inadvertently brush up against   anything that might make President Clinton  feel uncomfortable or like we were teasing   him or whatever else President Clinton comes out  and references how great the band sounds and so   Dave just as a complete kind of non-sequitur just  reacting to that says uh oh yeah do you still are   you still playing the saxophone in the wake of  everything that we know occurred with uh Bill   Clinton let's just say that the word blow did not  come up anywhere in any of the notes or would not   have been an approved lyric I still feel like too  if you watch the moment I feel like you can see it   kind of flash over Bill Clinton's face that he  goes oh good God what did I just say thank you thank you thank you very much thank you you get a chance to play the saxophone much  anymore I do I set up a music room and my   house up in traffic on is that right blow  away and sometimes I play Harlem nighttime great so for the last show there was an idea that  we would take we would start with the clip of uh   the famous clip of Gerald President Gerald Ford  saying our long National nightmare was over and   then it would go through every president and  then it would end with President Obama saying   our long National nightmare is over David  Letterman is retiring President Obama made   an appearance on the show and that was when we  shot it backstage in the green room so we shoot   it everything's Perfection but when Dave says  you're just kidding right President Obama goes and then I was in the position  of having to say Mr President yeah I think that's what that's the one right  there and he said yeah you don't think that'll   seem mean do you and I said no I I think because  you're doing this for us it already suggests that   you you know we're all on the same page here so I  think it I think it'll be fine I fellow Americans   our long National nightmare is over   our long National nightmare is over our  long National nightmare is over hour long   National nightmare is over our long National  nightmare is over Letterman is retiring you're just kidding right Martin Short among the best talk show guests  of all time without a doubt and super fun to   collaborate with Marty and I developed  this ritual of uh going out to dinner we   would get a back table because Marty wanted  to be sure we were hidden away because he   would bring out his laptop and we would work  out the whole segment over dinner and maybe   some martinis and cosmopolitans so when Marty  would come out and say today you know you look   fantastic that was usually a result of each of  us making lists and lists of the new trends and   see which ones made us laugh the most and  then they would all end up going into the   the segment have you had a rib removed no what  is it is no I just take care of myself I watch   it's a new chin yeah have you had another bypass  I don't have too much work done I won't thing no Marty always wanted to do something musical to  finish his segments I specifically remember one   the premise of the bit was just that it was  Marty making an entrance flying on on wires   Marty came in for rehearsal and he was all rigged  up in the harness and everything else as it turns   out they make a harness that pivots but if you  should flip forward into the harness you could   actually fall out of the harness on our first  take when he started to pitch forward he could   feel himself sliding out of the harness and had  to stop himself by like grabbing one of the the   metal cables and just slicing a huge just a huge  gouge in his hand right just bleeding everywhere   Marty was a hero about it all and just you know  we've bandaged it up and was hilarious as always   me through this room and make my entrance  with finesse so your fly is open ma'am I'm   looking down your dress from this vantage  point the Moon is but a shining wafer   wait that's not the moon I see  it's head flare off Paul Shaffer make this to the funny man I love most Mr Show Business how  about that oh Marty come on everybody Mike Wallace also cussed at me on the phone one  day I just remember things got a little things   were a little bit rockier than they normally would  have been with Mike Wallace and so the next day   I just remember getting a call at my desk Mike  Wallace just goes Matt what the [ __ ] was that foreign

Channel: Letterman

Views: 61,173

Keywords: letterman, david letterman, dave letterman, interview, letterman interview, letterman official, letterman late show, letterman late night, late night, stupid pet tricks, stupid human tricks, top ten, late show, top ten list

Id: ZDUs_l5BSCA

Length: 18min 28sec (1108 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 06 2023