Robert Smigel Explains Who Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Won’t Roast
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The post Robert Smigel Explains Who Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Won’t Roast appeared first on Consequence.
If you ever wanted to watch Triumph the Insult Comic Dog face off with “Weird” Al Yankovic, Rob Schneider, and Mythbuster Adam Savage, good news: Comedian Robert Smigel, famous for a number of projects but perhaps best known as “the hand up Triumph’s ass,” has just released an edited version of Let’s Make a Poop, the live game show taped at the San Francisco comedy festival Sketchfest this year.
Speaking with Consequence via phone, Smigel says that while he didn’t have as much control over the taping of the show as he would have liked, “I felt like it was the most enjoyable show I’d done live in like 20 years. If I had really shot it more carefully, I might have tried to sell it somewhere — I didn’t feel it was in that kind of shape, but I still think it’s worth sharing. So I decided I would share it just on YouTube for free.”
Let’s Make a Poop lets Triumph do what he’s been doing since 1997 — deliver brutal putdowns in a wide range of circumstances, from real-life political campaigns to the line for the premiere of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Triumph has been featured on multiple talk shows as well as his own series; the Sketchfest show stands out, Smigel says, “because it had this unusual dynamic of having ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic there and having people sing his presumed song parodies. And that all played out really well, live on stage. I had a really hot audience and a really good time, and Rob Schneider was a funny target.”
Including Schneider in the show, Smigel says, was a choice he made despite the fact that the SNL alum’s politics have shifted in a rightward direction in recent years. “I am always for putting people on, as long as there are no restrictions for Triumph,” he says. “As long as Triumph can tear into the person. And I feel like I tore into Rob pretty well. That’s kind of the point — the people you want are rich subjects.”
There was a past Sketchfest show, Smigel adds, where there were guests he wanted to feature “that were of a similar ilk, and they didn’t want them. They just were like, ‘No, the audience will be too upset.’ I’m like, ‘You don’t get it. The whole point is that I’m gonna tear into this person. And it’ll be very satisfying.'”
Smigel understands “why people have this impulse. Everything is so heightened now, and people don’t even want to give platforms to… The word ‘normalized’ is a very popular word now.”
And there is a class of person, he continues, “that I wouldn’t give a platform to, even to make fun of. People that I feel are like grifters, and are saying things that they don’t necessarily even mean — they’re saying it to cultivate a certain audience. I didn’t feel like Rob fell into that category, but there are people that do, and I wouldn’t interact with them, even as Triumph. I would just be like, ‘No, I don’t want you to get anything out of this. I don’t want you to come away feeling like you got exposure or credit for laughing at yourself.'”
Smigel adds that this group includes (but is not limited to) “certain people that make a name for themselves to sell books as so-called political pundits, people who go out of their way to say things that are just lowering the bar for discourse. Crossing the line. And they’re not doing it in a funny way, like Triumph might do — they’re not entertaining. Some of them think they are. But they’re really not funny enough to justify that. They’re just fanning the flames of paranoia and anger.”
Someone Smigel says he would have featured in Let’s Make a Poop is commentator Ben Shapiro: “Triumph would have a field day with Ben Shapiro. I don’t know if San Francisco’s audience… I don’t know if they would’ve let me do it. But I like putting people on and ridiculing them if they’re willing to take it. And I feel like that guy has always been consistent. At least, he feels like he genuinely subscribes to what he says. That’s a lot more tolerable to me. A lot of people find him obnoxious, but he tries to speak intelligently…”
Smigel trails off, realizing: “Now [this interview] is going to be, like, ‘Smigel Defends Ben Shapiro.'” (Just before we finish our conversation, he asks me not to lead this piece with that. You’re welcome, Robert.)
The list of people Smigel would have Triumph tackle is much longer than the list of people he won’t, it seems: Ted Cruz was another name he mentioned as a past Triumph target, noting that “Ted Cruz is one of the most disliked politicians in the country, and it’s one of the most popular Triumph bits that I’ve ever done.”
That sketch, he says, was produced for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, “an audience that would certainly be offended by a guy like Ted Cruz being normalized. And when Triumph covered him, the audience went crazy for it. So I feel like if you understand Triumph, you’re going to understand why Triumph is speaking to people you, you find objectionable. There are people who cross the line, and there are a lot of people who I think go up to it, and are fine for Triumph to make fun of. Ben Shapiro and Ted Cruz, I would put in a similar category. I would actually find Ted Cruz probably more objectionable, to be honest with you. If I had to pick, if I had a gun to my head.”
And Smigel confirms that given the chance, he would take a one-on-one between Triumph and Donald Trump. However, he laughs, “That’s not gonna happen.”
Triumph’s most recent project, prior to the release of Let’s Make a Poop, was a perhaps-too-late Oscars FYC campaign on behalf of the Netflix animated film Leo, which Smigel co-wrote with Adam Sandler and Paul Sado: To promote the original song “When It’s Us,” Smigel released a series of videos featuring Triumph as well as Judd Apatow, Conan O’Brien, and Marc Shaiman, along with his version of the song’s “Oscar performance”:
“I spent like four years working on a movie, which I’ve never done before, put everything into one basket,” he says of working on Leo. “Thankfully, it was successful, and I really enjoyed making it, and just as a joke, I thought it would be fun to spotlight one of the songs this way, with an absurd petition campaign that would obviously be way too late.”
In fact, nominations for this year’s Oscars closed on January 16th, and Leo was left out, but Smigel says “I got friends and colleagues calling me with very positive comments, and it had a 91% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, and then it broke Netflix’s records for animated movies. To me, that’s a way more important win than getting nominated for an award that’s completely subjective.”
Also, adds Smigel, “It’s fun to have fun with that. Triumph gets to be my vessel for any time I can sense a really bad instinct — I can hand it off to Triumph and then he can act it out for me and remind me of how stupid it is.”
Thus, we get an FYC campaign for “When It’s Us,” which wasn’t even the song Smigel submitted for Oscars consideration (he chose “When I Was Ten,” because “that was the one that Adam [Sandler] loved the most, and a lot of people at Netflix did too. And they said just to submit one: ‘You’ll have a better chance'”).
The campaign also gave Smigel the opportunity to promote musical artist Tiffany Topol, who sang “When It’s Us” on the soundtrack. “It’s always nice to spotlight friends who I think are talented,” he says. “I also love to just plug her own album, called Sophomore Effort. It’s available wherever artists are exploited.”
Looking forward to his own projects, Smigel says that “There’s always a lot of stuff out there that I’m pushing, and a couple of them will stick, and that’s what I’ll do for the next few years. That’s the goal.”
Right now, that includes talking to Netflix about more projects involving Leo — “it was a character that really resonated with kids, and I enjoyed doing it. So I’m looking forward to that.” There are also more Triumph projects on the horizon, including potential coverage of the 2024 Democratic and Republican national conventions.
“I’ve had one offer already to do [the conventions],” he says, “And I’m trying to figure out the best way to do it. Try to find some fresh take on Donald Trump, if that’s remotely possible. If I don’t get the shit kicked outta me, I’ll consider it a victory. It gets scarier every year.”
“If any year deserves Triumph…” I say.
“Oh my God, every year deserves Triumph,” he replies. “That’s how fucked up we are.”
You can watch Let’s Make a Poop now on YouTube.
Robert Smigel Explains Who Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Won’t Roast
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