David Cross
Tags: David Cross, Todd Margaret, Arrested Development, Mr Show
David Cross is so deadpan, you might not even be able to tell he’s joking. Certainly when you type his text out and read it, it feels totally straight. That’s why it’s funny. He says things that are inappropriate or ridiculous in casual conversation, then moves on. It’s not that he’s “on” like a lot of comedians who aren’t comfortable unless someone’s laughing. Cross might prefer if you didn’t get it and reported a sarcastic remark as fact. Not so fast, David Cross - we’re onto you.
His new show, The Incredibly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, gives Cross another vehicle for that type of humor. The IFC series stars Cross in the title character. He created and wrote the show about an energy drink salesman sent to England to head up the company’s U.K. sales force. Todd keeps lying about his accomplishments, his abilities and even his home address. It makes his bad decisions worse when he tries to cover for his fibs.
Fans might not recognize Cross with normal skin tones. His most famous role could be Tobias on Arrested Development, where he painted himself blue as an aspiring Blue Man Group performer. He also created Mr. Show with Bob Odenkirk and popped up on The Colbert Report as liberal radio personality Russ Lieber. He’ll also be seen shortly on Arrested creator Mitch Hurwitz’ new show Running Wilde with Will Arnett, who also costars in Todd Margaret.
Consequently there's double the reason to talk to Cross right now. As Fox revealed their plans for adding Cross to the cast of Running Wilde, the man himself is gearing up to launch Todd Margaret. Relaxing in a hotel room at The Beverly Hilton, Cross kept most of his attention on Todd Margaret. The beard he sports on Running Wilde was the only reference to his Fox show.
FT:
Did you try out other female names for the last name?
DC:
No, that just popped into my head and I was like, “Let’s go with it.” It just fits I think.
FT:
Is it ever addressed in the series?
DC:
You know what? It was in the script but in editing, we took them all out. I think one stays because we couldn’t cut around it but we did have in every script somebody going, “Margaret? That’s a girl’s name.” Every episode had that but we took it out in editing.
FT:
Why’s that?
DC:
It was a different joke for the show. It felt a little wacky and as we were editing it we were taking some of the overt wackiness of it out.
FT:
Did you want to go blue and let Will Arnett drop F bombs?
DC:
Yeah. Will’s character is probably the most fun to write for because he says the most vile, awful, heinous, sexist inappropriate shit. Those were really fun things to write for and IFC’s been great at saying, “We’re not going to bleep it. Write what you want.” There are a couple of words we can’t use that have different weight in the states than they do in the U.K. Specifically “cunt” which in the U.K. is like saying, “Oh, you jerk.” Here, I don't know, women have a problem with it. I don't know what it is. So we were encouraging ourselves to push the envelope on awful stuff that Will says.
FT:
Is there a different version for the U.K.?
DC:
Outside of maybe two or three things that I fought for and then IFC just said, “No, we like it better this way,” there are maybe two or three things but it’s pretty much the same thing. Although Channel 4 and all the stations in the U.K., you get to show more of the show because they’re not dependent on ad revenue. So there are some differences but that’s just in the stuff we get to show, the time. It’s not content differences.
FT:
When Todd chugs energy drinks and starts ranting, did you just improvise or did you write that whole thing out?
DC:
Well, we kind of had the advantage of taking the stuff I riffed in the pilot, because we reshot that, and then taking the best bits out and then making that the script for the pilot reshoot. So the only thing that was improvised was the Barack Obama thing I think. Over and over again, all day, I loved it. I love the energy drink, the cheap shit energy drink that we actually got that we put the labels on. I love that it was about 97 degrees Celsius in the café when we were shooting and just getting to do it over and over again all day was just a treat.
FT:
What did it actually taste like?
DC:
Whatever the cheapest they can get by the gross. I don’t even know what the real energy drink was.
FT:
Did you have a spit bucket?
DC:
No, because we were able to cheat a lot of it but I had to down a couple of them and you see it. I definitely let a bunch spill. Meisner, heavy Meisner.
FT:
Is lying always funny?
DC:
Unless you’re in politics. I mean, it’s funny when you work for the treasury or the banking industry. They love it. They love lying. Or in the pharmaceutical industry. Then it’s a rip snorter.
FT:
On TV, is it funny?
DC:
Oh, then no. No. Absolutely not.
FT:
Why does Todd keep trying to cover up?
DC:
He’s just one of those guys that that is in part why it’s so frustrating. You watch him, because any of us would at some point when they’re confronted with this would just go, “Okay, yes, all right, look, I’m sorry. I lied about this thing. You’re right, I screwed up but come on, let’s start over again.” He just never takes the golden opportunity that’s handed to him, especially from Dave’s character who clearly doesn’t believe anything he’s saying. He gives him a couple of outs constantly. In episode one I go, “I live at 21 and 50 Church Avenue.” Then I come to the office, he’s like, “Hey, I went on Google Earth, 21 and 50 Church Avenue.” “Oh yeah?” “Yeah, when were you going to tell me? How long were you going to keep that a secret from me?” “What?” “You lived in a hospital?” Because one of them’s a hospital and instead of going, “All right, I made that up,” I just go, “Oh, yeah, my dad was bipolar so whatever.”
FT:
Isn’t it harder to keep coming up with those explanations than to just admit it?
DC:
In real life, of course but you have to have a very bright, sophisticated genius writer to do that and we were lucky enough to get me.
FT:
How do you describe your comedy? Is it even possible to articulate it?
DC:
Well, you’re absolutely right so I just don’t describe my comedy. I let others if they choose to do it but I don’t. I agree with you, it is a hard thing to quantify. Also, when people write about the science of comedy, it’s just boring and detrimental almost.
FT:
If I used words like extreme or surreal would I be on the right track?
DC:
No. I don't think so. That’s up to you. It’s also subjective and I’m inside of it. I don’t see it as surreal. I can point to a Magritte painting and I can look at certain films and say, “Oh, that’s surreal” but comedy is not really. I don't think it’s really surreal.
FT:
Has this become a double PR tour for you, with Running Wilde?
DC:
Not really. People have asked questions which I think are understandable and inevitable but the focus is on Todd Margaret and the Running Wilde guys were here a couple days ago. My connection with that show is much different. This one I created, I wrote and I star in. That one I’m guest acting on here and there. Absolutely ecstatic that I get to be part of the show but that’s just acting.
FT:
If that took off, would it make Todd Margaret a limited series?
DC:
No, Todd Margaret is my absolute most important thing to me right now creatively. I mean, I have my butterfly collection but no, Todd Margaret is first and foremost. I have a story to tell. I want to tell it. I know where it goes. I had a blast writing it and shooting it. Literally, this is trite as hell, but the best cast and crew you could ever hope for. I think IFC is going to, I imagine, continue to support it and be excited about it. This is what I want to do. Eventually I’ll have to do something so I earn some money. I can’t go for years without making any money but I would do this until the story was satisfied. It’s so gratifying. I’m very proud of it.
FT:
Being a solo project, is it more in your voice than other things you’ve done?
DC:
No. I mean, the idea, the initial idea came from me but outside of that, I cowrote it with Shaun Pye. Outside of basically the pilot, it’s very collaborative. Between IFC, RDF and Channel 4, they’re all very encouraging and pretty much like, “Yeah, do what you want. We trust you.” Also there’s nothing autobiographical about it at all. It’s just this funny cool story. Maybe if I didn’t do standup it would feel more solo but it’s not.
FT:
Is the Russ Lieber thing over?
DC:
Oh God, yeah. I haven’t done that in years and years. That sort of had an unofficial ending I guess.
FT:
They must have realized they didn’t need to fake a rival for him because he’d get real ones in politics.
DC:
Right, right, as the show kind of found itself.
FT:
Have you ever seen Tobias costumes for Halloween?
DC:
Oh God yeah, I see pictures all the time. I’ve seen that a lot. This one guy got Tobias tattooed on his calf. That’s very odd.
The Incredibly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret premieres October 1 on IFC.
The Incredibly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret premieres October 1 on IFC.
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