Even for an accomplished comedian like John Mulaney, every joke can't be a winner — and sometimes the bombs can be a bit brutal.
On the latest episode of Hot Ones, the former Saturday Night Live writer and veteran stand-up comic revealed some of the most humbling reactions to his SNL pitches that were rejected by celebrity guests.
Speaking over a plate of increasingly diabolical hot wings, host Sean Evans asked Mulaney about the worst times he'd been shot down by SNL hosts, without the need to name names. With about a half-second of hesitation, Mulaney replied, "Josh Brolin." Although in the long run, the Avengers: Infinity War actor may have done him a favor with his frankness.
"Josh Brolin went, 'Well, this isn't funny,' as I was writing something and I started to walk him through it," Mulaney recalled. "He went, 'Yeah, no, but that's not funny.' And it was so matter-of-fact, I wouldn't even call it the worst. I found it very refreshing."
Reconsidering the situation, Mulaney noted that Brolin's candid feedback came "early enough on Tuesday night that I didn't precede with it" for that week's show. "It was such a gentlemanly exchange of ideas," he added, that Brolin did him "quite a service."
Mulaney went on to discuss the time that none other than Mick Jagger axed one of his SNL gags. "The joke was, 'I'm Mick Jagger, so mothers, lock up your daughters — or should I say daughters, lock up your mothers,'" Mulaney explained.
But the Rolling Stones frontman "listened and he went, 'Nah, I don't like that.'"
Fortunately, Mulaney reserved the actual gift of being rebuffed by Jagger for his SNL colleague Seth Meyers.
"We were going over a bunch of jokes and we got to that one," Mulaney said. "When we got to that one, I just handed it to Seth. 'That one, you can read that one.'"
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Watch Mulaney's full Hot Ones episode above.
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