The comic doesn’t want kids but explains why he really wanted to make a special with them.
one of the girls asked him.
Otherwise known as the Sack Lunch Bunch.
Jeffrey Neira/Netflix
One of my theories is that kids think that theyre older than theyve ever been.
They believe theyre adults, Mulaney ruminates to EW.
Id talk to them and theyd say Why dont you want kids?
Id say Theyre great, but I love what I do.
And I love my wife and spending so much time with her and we have a really fortunate life.
I get to travel, do stand-up, and our relationship is so wonderful.
Its just something I wouldnt want to change.
During our conversation, he mentions the song There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.
Its entertainment for children that was a bit existentially anxious and bittersweet.
Mulaneys goal forSack Lunch Bunchwas to never talk down to the kids that were watching.
Why are you crouching on the floor talking in a high voice?
I dont recall needing that as a kid, Mulaney says.
In the news there would be stories of What should we tell our kids?
and What are our kids thinking?
I just thought, you might ask them?
you’re free to make it an open conversation.
John and Marika have wanted to work with kids for a comedy bit for a while.
That never took off.
That didnt take off either.
Id be a fool not to work with them again, he says.
Thats very much in the same vein as something your frequent collaborator Nick Kroll has done withBig Mouth.
You and Nick both preface that you guys arent necessarily trying to educate.
First and foremost, its about entertainment.
I have a lot of friends that have kids.
My dad talked to me like an adult, for better or worse.
I dont mean about adult subjects.
He would be like How are you?
What grade are you in?
He never got down and said Hey, whats your toy name?
I thought there was kind of respect for children and the amount of complex thought they can handle.
What I personally wanted to do was just that.
When I was 8 in 1990, my friends were afraid of tarantulas.
What are kids afraid of now?
A few kids said tarantulas.
I dont mean Im some sociologist.
It was interesting to see the universality in their anxiety to when you talk to adults about anxiety.
And if you aim to like some large Venn diagram of audiences, youll also fail.
I thought,what would I enjoy now,andwhat would I have liked if I were 10?
What we wanted to avoid was kid stuff, kid stuff, kid stuff, one joke for adults.
You know, my parents tended to listen to Peter, Paul and Mary and so did I.
It wasnt like were not going to be dirty because I disapprove of it.
Its talk about existential dread that parents and children could watch together.
It sounds like a joke tagline, but that kind of was the operating principle.
A big part of this variety special has to do with music.
I know Eli Bolin helped write much of the music.
How did you collaborate with him?
Do Flowers Exist at Night?
I to this day cant think of them at night.
I was laying in bed and was wondering, do flowers exist at night?
I thought they must, but I was trying to picture a tulip at night and I couldnt.
I said, Im going to look at the yard tomorrow night.
But I would always forget, which the song details that.
And I still to this day cant picture flowers at night.
So Eli Bolin wrote all of the music.
Marika and I would write lyrics, often with him.
Wed get the style and go from there.
With Do Flowers Exist at Night?
I wrote that on one subway ride.
It was a lot more moodier, prog rock.
I thought, this was a very fun atmosphere.
I really wanted Anna to do something in it.
I was going through different songs.
And then we were talking about this David Byrne one.
I played it for her.
I said, Well theres all these cutaways.
I said, Who do you want to be?
And she said, Some guys wife.
Im like, Oh yeah.
And I very much wanted to interview her about her fears.
I know a lot of them, being married to her.
I wanted Anna around.
Everyone who came and did a cameo brought so much fun to it.
The kids were just as effectively hilarious.
And so, you have Anna come to set a lot of the days.
I wanted that feel.
Its the best experience Ive ever had.
John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunchdebuts Dec. 24 on Netflix.
