Tom Flanigan interviews Brian Stack

Whether he’s portraying F.D.R. or a creepy airline passenger, Tom Flanigan (above) nails it in the Second City e.t.c.’s stellar Studs Terkel’s Not Working. Every week on The Tonight Show, he gets to watch his idol Brian Stack (in photos) do the same. Stack cut his teeth in the mid-’90s in touring and e.t.c. shows like Farewell My Compuserve and Baby Richard Got Back before finding success writing and playing God—among many other characters—for Conan O’Brien.

Tom Flanigan: Do you have a favorite memory from the touring company?
Brian Stack: I think my favorite tour was through the ski towns of Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho. I had never been through that part of the country before, and I just fell totally in love with it. I still have memories of Jay Johnston trying for about a half hour to casually sit Indian style on the ceiling of the van. He just became obsessed with trying to do that, and I remember Adam McKay was doing a running commentary.

TF: How did you get hired for Late Night with Conan O’Brien?
BS: The circumstances were very, very odd. I had decided it was just time to leave Second City. I still loved it, but it just felt like it was time to go. I got a call from a couple of the Conan writers like Brian McCann and Tommy Blacha who I knew from Chicago. Tommy had broken his leg and was laid up at home, and they wanted someone to come out just to fill in. So my break was literally due to an actual break.

TF: How did Second City prepare you for TV?
BS: Occasionally things will go really wrong during a taping, and it’s been fun to see if you can just roll with it. I was dressed as God once and I was coming down the stairs and I slipped a little because of the sandals, and Conan said, “God, have you been drinking?” It didn’t even throw either of us because we both came from improvisational backgrounds.

TF: Do you have advice for anyone trying to get from Second City to television?
BS: Amy Poehler was asked this question in an interview. She said, “Plan on not owning anything or making money for ten years. If you can hang on and you’re talented, then your friend will give you a job.”

Flanigan works the e.t.c. stage Thursdays–Sundays in Studs Terkel’s Not Working. Check out Stack’s writing and oddball characters on The Tonight Show.

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C.J. Toledano interviews Jeff Garlin | Chelsea Devantez interviews Stephnie Weir | Seth Weitberg interviews Andy Cobb | Abby McEnany interviews Pat O’Brien | Sam Richardson interviews Keegan-Michael Key | Tom Flanigan interviews Brian Stack | Second City’s connections to Chicago theater | Second City ruined my life | Life after Second City | A brief history of the Second City | Second City’s best anniversary programming | Second City lists | Second citizen