# Marcello Hernández

- **Show:** Good Hang with Amy Poehler
- **Published:** 6 Oct 2026
- **Source:** https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9484130312.mp3
- **Transcript:** https://podcasts.opennash.com/shows/good-hang/marcello-hernandez-0888d8/
- **Provider:** OpenNash Podcasts (machine-generated)

## In brief

Marcello Hernández argues that the best way to work is to make it fun. The SNL cast member says working is "bad and weird," so he fills it with scooters, hallway slides and bits. Amy Poehler and Sarah Sherman both say that loose, team-minded energy is his real strength, and it shows in his stand-up, his physical comedy and his love of sports.

The episode moves between praise and self-doubt. Hernández is a confident performer who deflects compliments and admits he is a bad texter. He also says his writing is weaker than people think and plans to study sketch writing. His story, from restless Miami kid to quitting college soccer for stand-up, shows how he got there. Poehler's closing advice is to enjoy where you are.

## Key insights

1. **Hernández treats fun as his work strategy** He says working is "bad and weird," so he brought a scooter to the office and slides down the table-read hallway. Poehler says visible fun relaxes a whole cast and makes the comedy better.
2. **Soccer suited his energy better than baseball** He says he did cartwheels in the baseball outfield and was moved out, because his parents' goal was to tire him out. Soccer's constant running worked, and he played through the start of college.
3. **A teacher and one competition redirected him** A drama teacher had him perform a monologue and took him to a competition in Tampa, which he won. At college he later won an amateur stand-up contest paying $500 to host, and chose to quit soccer.
4. **His SNL path ran through a shaky festival set** He says his six-minute Just for Laughs set was the one that led to his SNL audition, and he was visibly shaking. He had to talk himself into doing it.
5. **He admits sketch-writing gaps and plans study** Sherman says his jokes are well written, but he says he is not a great writer and came from stand-up rather than sketch. He credits colleagues for helping with structure and plans a sketch class.

## Questions this episode answers

### Who is Marcello Hernández?

He is a comedian and cast member on Saturday Night Live who started in stand-up. In this episode he talks to Amy Poehler about his upbringing, how he got onto SNL, and why he thinks work should be fun.

### Why did Marcello Hernández quit college soccer?

He couldn't do both soccer and stand-up. After he won an amateur contest that paid $500 to host at a comedy club, he decided to pursue comedy and told his teammates himself.

### How did Hernández get his SNL audition?

He says a six-minute set at the Just for Laughs comedy festival led to the audition. He was very nervous, and he got the job a few weeks after the callback.

### What career advice does Amy Poehler give?

She tells him not to take anyone else's advice, because only you know what is right for you. She also says to enjoy where you are now instead of always chasing the next goal.

### Does Hernández do comedy in Spanish?

Yes. He has been touring in Spanish, and his family thinks he is better in Spanish. He says Spanish-language comedy is growing and that punchy American-style stand-up feels fresh to those audiences.

## Facts

- **Marcello Hernández** [0:23:50]: "I was playing baseball and the ball would never come to where I was, cause they had me in the outfield"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:24:26]: "You get home, you are tired, and so soccer became my love."
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:25:10]: "Cuban is more salsa, and then, uh, Dominican Republic, they do merengue and bachata"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:27:06]: "She was so like, um, sad and embarrassed of what happened in Cuba, that she wanted to be fully American."
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:28:11]: "the school in Ohio, John Carroll, and the school in California, Occidental. They both wanted me to play there"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:29:08]: "I'll take you to Tampa and you'll compete in this thing. And I went and I won."
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:33:17]: "let's start a scholarship, so I started a scholarship at my school, at the college I went to"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:37:23]: "500 bucks to host at the Funny Stop Comedy Club in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:39:29]: "And then I get this thing for JFL, I go to JFL, it's my 6 min set."
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:40:17]: "I put headphones in and I listened to Always be my Baby by Mariah Carey"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:49:39]: "And then her doing it bad is so hard to like, sing bad on purpose. And she does it so good, it's so funny."
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:54:25]: "My family, my girlfriend, my my dad, they think that I'm better in Spanish"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:55:09]: "She's a titan of standup in Mexico and she's a woman and she's like, broken a lot of barriers"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:55:40]: "they did like long stories with a big punchline, or there it was political, it was like SNL"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:58:06]: "she cuts my hair, she's the only person my mom lets to cut my hair"
- **Marcello Hernández** [0:59:53]: "I was short, my nickname in the house was Pulga, which means flea, that's my name in my house."
- **Marcello Hernández** [1:02:22]: "I'm probably gonna take a sketch writing class this summer"
- **Amy Poehler** [1:05:27]: "don't take anyone else's advice, don't listen to anybody"
- **Amy Poehler** [1:08:38]: "get a subject and you have to talk for a minute, um, as if you were an expert"
- **Sarah Sherman** [0:07:21]: "he did a Sebastian Maniscalco sketch where, like Sebastian is like a lawyer, he does like a backflip in it"
- **Sarah Sherman** [0:05:16]: "him and Cam Patterson will be like doing like backflips. They'll put like all the chairs in on 17 together in like a big tower"

## Transcript

**[0:00:00] Speaker 7:** I hope I don't have to cancel again tonight.

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**[0:01:05] Amy Poehler:** Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Good Hang. Very excited about our guest today. It is Marcello Hernández. You know, Marcello from SNL. He is a great stand up, he's a real charm machine, and we love Marcello and we have so much fun in this interview. We're gonna, we're gonna talk about so many things today. We're gonna talk about soccer, we're gonna talk about summer school. We're gonna talk about, uh, the fact that his mom decides who cuts his hair.

**[0:01:29] Amy Poehler:** We're gonna talk about, um, he's bad at texting. And he's gonna try to constantly and consistently compliment me through this thing. And I'm gonna really, really fight back. So, um, we're gonna have a good time today. But before we talk to Marcello, we always find somebody who knows our guest, who wants to speak well behind our guest's back. And and give me a question to ask them. And we are back with our friend Sarah Sherman, Sarah, a fellow cast member with Marcello at SNL and a real peach.

**[0:01:58] Amy Poehler:** And we're gonna get her on Zoom and see, um, see what she thinks. I should ask him. Look, wow, some interesting Photoshop. This episode of Good Hang is presented by PayPal. Brighten up the start to the festive season by getting ahead of the holiday rush. Shop your favorite online stores with PayPal this holiday, like Sephora for gift sets, Target for toys and electronics, and TikTok Shop for fashion, apparel and gadgets. Check out with the flexibility to pay now or pay later, and split your payments with Pay in four with no interest, no late fees.

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**[0:02:47] Speaker 6:** get up, what do you say? And I never wanna do something good. Hey,

**[0:03:03] Amy Poehler:** Wow, for people that are listening and not watching. Sarah just popped up on her Zoom with a Marcello screen saver. She's in between two gorgeous pictures of him.

**[0:03:12] Sarah Sherman:** Sup lady, can we buy you a drink?

**[0:03:17] Amy Poehler:** Look at that punam, as as one would say,

**[0:03:20] Sarah Sherman:** Isn't he so cute?

**[0:03:21] Amy Poehler:** he really does have a real puppy quality.

**[0:03:24] Sarah Sherman:** Do we have the same hair? By the way, he would, by the way, kill himself if I said that.

**[0:03:30] Amy Poehler:** Sarah, you know that I like to compliment you and you like to deflect.

**[0:03:35] Sarah Sherman:** I want it, I want it today, that's what I want.

**[0:03:38] Amy Poehler:** you have great hair.

**[0:03:40] Sarah Sherman:** Thank you, thank you. I do go into getting a haircut and I say, do your worst, so I'm glad it comes out good.

**[0:03:52] Amy Poehler:** Sherman, it is really good to see you I miss and

**[0:03:55] Sarah Sherman:** you guys.

**[0:03:57] Amy Poehler:** we we miss you. We our time together on the pod was so fun. We still talk about it. But Marcello I is probably the the um cast member I feel like I kinda know the least about. And um, tell me when you, when you guys 1st met, how, how you were already at the show.

**[0:04:21] Sarah Sherman:** I met him on the show. This fucking brat shows up. He is gonna be so fucking mad that you guys got me for this. He's gonna be like, could've gotten Kevin Hart, Sebastian Maniscalco, Adam Sandler, and you got fucking Sarah. Our relationship started, cause I'd be up all night on writing night, like writing like a maniac, and he would be like, chill, dude, relax, you're good man. Cause I feel like I'm a very I'm like a homework girl.

**[0:04:51] Sarah Sherman:** And you know, having someone reflect that back, having like a fun guy with like major puppy dog energy, being like you can relax, you can take it easy, sis.

**[0:05:03] Amy Poehler:** it's funny that you say that that is like when I was thinking about what I wanna talk to him about. Like, he definitely always looks like he's having fun. It's very like, little little brother energy, like you guys, let's not forget that this is fun.

**[0:05:16] Sarah Sherman:** I would die without him there because he is, he's always having fun, like writing night at three zero a m. He's him and Cam Patterson will be like doing like backflips. They'll put like all the chairs in on 17 together in like a big tower on top of like the writing table, and like, do like backflips over them. But he's really, um, he's very menche, like he's very, you know, like he's, he's really tight with his mom, you know, he, you know, he's like such a good guy.

**[0:05:43] Sarah Sherman:** Cause of how, like, well, he takes care of his like family. And like, you know, uh, the little brother energy is like, cause he cares. Like, he'll call me, like on a Wednesday at eight zero pm. Like during a hiatus, when we're like, you know, I'm not, I. I'm like lying on my couch, like rotting. And he'll be like, All right, bro, what? What clubs are you doing tonight? Like, are you getting up there? what are you doing?

**[0:06:07] Sarah Sherman:** Come on? And I'm like, I'm lying down, watching X files, and he's like, let's hit the cellar, what do you put your Avails in? Do s do some shows? Like, he's like, weirdly, like, encouraging, and he like, he'll like, telepathically feel if I'm like, feeling kind of like shitty and like, activate.

**[0:06:26] Amy Poehler:** Do stand ups do that for each other, where they kind of, like, encourage each other to keep getting up and trying new stuff.

**[0:06:32] Sarah Sherman:** Marcello does. I feel like most stand ups are such fucking bloodsuckers that they like, hope nobody else is getting up so they can hog all the stage time.

**[0:06:41] Amy Poehler:** I wanna talk to him about the fact, like he was a really good soccer player, like really cares about sports, like, has a good connection with a lot of, like, is hosting the SPS, all this stuff like, is a is like a jock.

**[0:06:52] Sarah Sherman:** He's a jock bec in a way where, um, I think I can't believe I'm gonna be complimenting him so much. I'll get you he, um, he's a. It's really great at SNL because he is like, kind of like a team player in like a real way. Like he's really good at, like involving people in bits and like and sketches, and like he, you know. He gets everyone's voice really well, and he's really good at including other people in his bits.

**[0:07:21] Sarah Sherman:** And in a way that's extremely generous, in a very team player way, even though he is a standup, and because he is a jock, he's really athletic and his like physicality like is unbelievable. He did, he did a Sebastian Maniscalco sketch where, like Sebastian is like a lawyer, he does like a backflip in it, he does like a back handspring, like a Russian teenage gymnast. He's, he did a backflip in, like a Jack Black sketch, too.

**[0:07:52] Sarah Sherman:** He's like, he's physically unbelievable and like light on his feet, and like doing backflips, you know, so many at 20. backflips. I can't explain it like that's what he do. He is like a newborn puppy who, just like popped out of the womb, did a backflip. But then, like, you know, he'll come to my office at like 10,000 pm. He's like, I'm ordering Thai food, do you want anything? And I joked like, Yeah, give me a beats pill, and he got me one

**[0:08:21] Amy Poehler:** What's a beats pill?

**[0:08:23] Sarah Sherman:** a little speaker. He's just like, he's, he's just generous like that. It was like 4 min ago he was giving me a wedgie, and now I have like a 300 speaker in my office. When I was kidding, by the way,

**[0:08:40] Amy Poehler:** Okay, what? Um, what question do you think I should ask Marcello today?

**[0:08:44] Sarah Sherman:** I had like three questions Okay, great, about one, What's your fucking deal, dude? two, Oh, are you gonna stay? Not answering my text? Look at your phone, Marcello. Um,

**[0:08:58] Amy Poehler:** I have experience with that. Marcello is really bad at texting.

**[0:09:02] Sarah Sherman:** cause he's well, I have his location on, so I'll be like, why isn't he fucking texting me back? And then I'll look at his location. And he's doing like a children's fundraiser in Costa Rica. I'm like, Oh, Okay, respect, respect, respect, um, and I always know where he is at all times, so he can never betray me. Um, my my question is, he is s. He's a very, um, inherently social person and gets like, um, he gets very energized by other people.

**[0:09:30] Sarah Sherman:** He's all like, he literally kind of, like, can't be alone for more than 5 s, which is why he's so fun, um, but legit, he's an amazing joke writer, and he's extremely productive and prolific. Like he just put out an hour of stand up, he already has another. He's constantly touring. And I just like, don't understand when and where he has the time to do that. So I'm like, it's kind of a bad question, but I'm like, I literally wanna know when and how is he writing jokes?

**[0:10:02] Sarah Sherman:** Cause also he mi I. I have a feeling, cause I've asked him this before, and I think he was just like, shut up, you know, whatever. But it is like a serious question, cause I I have a feeling. He writes a lot on stage, cause he's so like physical and like, gets really energized by an audience. But his jokes are actually good and well written.

**[0:10:20] Amy Poehler:** you're making a good point, right? Which is that sometimes when someone's not always, but like when someone's doing physical stuff, it's like a vibe. And if you read it on a page, it wouldn't really feel like a like, a crafted joke. But you're saying he can do both

**[0:10:34] Sarah Sherman:** He has legit, well written jokes, you know, and he always kinda makes this joke, like at SNL, you know, he's like, you know me, like, I, you know, I'm. I'm like a bad sketch writer or whatever. Cause y, you know, you just get into like a way at SNL where you're like, you've decided you've called yourself something like, you know, when you did therapy on me, like crazy, when I was like, I'm a good actor or performer, you know, whatever.

**[0:11:00] Sarah Sherman:** But he'll be like, Oh, you know, like, I can't write it. But it's like, then when he actually puts his fingers on a keyboard and writes, it's hila. Like he is a really good writer and all of his standup, it's like, really tight, good, he has set up punchline jokes. So in my head, I'm like, so he's writing it down, but I'm like, when, where,

**[0:11:21] Amy Poehler:** I love this question, cause it, it, it, uh, it. I think that there's a underneath it. There's just this idea of, like, figuring out what we're, like, allowed to say about ourselves, like, what do we actually? What would we dare to say? We're good at? Basically? Hm,

**[0:11:40] Sarah Sherman:** that's good, yeah, come to think of it, I did ask a good question, didn't I?

**[0:11:47] Amy Poehler:** now the the the Gen Xer in me wants to know, how did you get his face in the Zoom screen, and how do you do that?

**[0:11:53] Sarah Sherman:** Listen, I'm, I'm a professional and I'm also a magician as well, so a magician never reveals the secrets that she does really well.

**[0:12:00] Amy Poehler:** Shermy, I I love talking to you. I wish we could do it every week. It's so fun. Thanks for doing this. I think he's gonna be so happy.

**[0:12:09] Sarah Sherman:** Are you guys seeing him now?

**[0:12:11] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, he's coming in in, like, um, he'll be here in like a half an hour.

**[0:12:14] Sarah Sherman:** Don't always an up yours

**[0:12:17] Amy Poehler:** Thank you so much for love you doing it. Okay, love you too, talk to you soon. Bye bye. Folks. As we head into fall, we welcome yet another season of change, changing leaves, refreshed wardrobes and new routines. But one thing that doesn't need to change your phone. The smartest upgrade this season isn't a new phone, it's a better wireless plan. Switch to Visible, the ultimate wireless hack. You get unlimited 5G data and unlimited hotspot powered by Verizon for just 25 a month.

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**[0:13:18] Speaker 6:** what?

**[0:13:21] Amy Poehler:** Wow, Marcello is here and he has a gorgeous Do you have, um, gorgeous flowers.

**[0:13:28] Marcello Hernández:** you have like a a a huge vase? Marcello, I can move it further than you. No, these are for you. They remind me of you. sunflowers. Yeah, cause you've brightened so many people's lives. And um, I think I, um, it's the least I can do.

**[0:13:49] Amy Poehler:** well, let's get started. Why is Marcello bringing me flowers? Why do you feel the need to bring me such thank you Of for these gorgeous flowers?

**[0:13:57] Marcello Hernández:** course, of course, I'm sensing a weird energy. Like you're not so happy about the flowers, or

**[0:14:04] Amy Poehler:** So happy, but I feel put them on like the floor. No, I feel like this is some kind of Mia culpa. What's happening?

**[0:14:10] Marcello Hernández:** no, no, Mia, mia, Mia, happy, Mia, Mia, grateful to be here with you. Um, You came, and and so many people, they give people's, they give people their flowers, you know what I mean, like, you're giving giving you the me flowers, literally,

**[0:14:26] Amy Poehler:** they're beautiful. You came in very shy.

**[0:14:29] Marcello Hernández:** I know, dude, it's so good to see you. And yes, I do have a mia culpa. If people are wondering,

**[0:14:36] Amy Poehler:** Do you?

**[0:14:36] Marcello Hernández:** I do with you. Yes,

**[0:14:38] Amy Poehler:** what is it?

**[0:14:38] Marcello Hernández:** cause you texted me and I didn't answer. I took too long.

**[0:14:43] Amy Poehler:** What did I text you about?

**[0:14:44] Marcello Hernández:** I don't even wanna think about it. I don't It's a big even remember what mistake. It's one of my largest regrets.

**[0:14:48] Amy Poehler:** no it. I'm getting to know you and what I'm realizing is that you're not a great texter. That's okay.

**[0:14:55] Marcello Hernández:** no, but I w- I'm working, I'm doing the work, and, um, I'm big on dude, a cat.

**[0:15:00] Amy Poehler:** wait, did you just catch I got a a fly

**[0:15:02] Marcello Hernández:** not a fly. No, I did not kill an animal. via mic It was a. It was a flurry, something,

**[0:15:08] Amy Poehler:** like a fuzzy?

**[0:15:08] Marcello Hernández:** um, yeah, fuzzy, yes, um, but um, no, it's, it's, um, I, it's so bad, and um,

**[0:15:16] Amy Poehler:** Does it bother you to be a bad texter? Like, did you actually care? I care a lot, You do? Does it? Uh,

**[0:15:22] Marcello Hernández:** especially when, like, especially when it's somebody like you that I'm like, I can't believe I. You texted me like, I, I. I think about it often of like, you worked your whole life to get to a place where an an Amy Poehler could or would text you. And then you have the balls,

**[0:15:42] Amy Poehler:** ghosted, ghosted.

**[0:15:43] Marcello Hernández:** the the the go nas And also to go. Sorry, I didn't see. Who are you? A friend from college? Sorry, I didn't see this. also, your response And um,

**[0:15:53] Amy Poehler:** months later was like, Oh, I was so tired. It was something like, it I was was something like, like, I haven't had any sleep. I haven't, I know it's

**[0:16:04] Marcello Hernández:** but I ap- I apologize. tough, no, it's And I got here on time. I really I rode a bike,

**[0:16:08] Amy Poehler:** appreciate. Wait, you rode here,

**[0:16:10] Marcello Hernández:** I rode here on a bike. wait, I. It saved me 9 min on the commute

**[0:16:14] Amy Poehler:** people should know it's very hot out with today.

**[0:16:16] Marcello Hernández:** the flowers. One hand, I risked my life. That's a lie, but Wow, thank you for I sent them in a car. that. They're I didn't wanna get them in trouble. beautiful flowers Yeah, shout out and that we to my assistant, Maddie you made your assistant, God, she's you made in the car,

**[0:16:30] Amy Poehler:** your assistant ride a bike she's in with a flower.

**[0:16:32] Marcello Hernández:** the no, she's in the car, she's in the car with the flowers.

**[0:16:36] Amy Poehler:** When you're riding a bike in New York City, do you have people be like, Hey, Sometimes do they, like, they recognize I like you? that, that's my favorite Yeah,

**[0:16:41] Marcello Hernández:** type of interaction. Hey, hey, Marcello, Yes,

**[0:16:47] Amy Poehler:** you can, you can ride away, Marcello. There's so many good things happening for you. 1st of all, congratulations on being like almost a a vet at SNL. Like, I know, like, you now, you know, like you're in that sweet spot, oh God, right? Where you know how it works, like you, you're not terrified anymore. There's people that are newer than you. Like, it's a nice, nice place to be in, right?

**[0:17:11] Marcello Hernández:** and so so, yeah, I'm not so confused anymore. I know the schedules and stuff yeah, cause it is pretty good,

**[0:17:16] Amy Poehler:** a weird place to work and it has I know its own set of rules. And like, now you kinda know it, and you like, people know you and there's

**[0:17:22] Marcello Hernández:** this is so surreal to be talking to you is like this. It is crazy, you have to understand it.

**[0:17:26] Amy Poehler:** all right, all right.

**[0:17:26] Marcello Hernández:** I know that for you, you're like, I mean, you could I'm just Amy, be but you're not, well, you, you are a you are a force of nature. Dude, I was watching all of your, uh, every award show that Amy dude, you are you, you, you're so funny. You had a guy massaging you, you had you, then you kissed him. Uh, that guy that,

**[0:17:44] Amy Poehler:** was Bono. yeah, Bono, Bono's Yeah,

**[0:17:45] Marcello Hernández:** massaging her and kissing. I'm very Hispanic. And then, um, you, you, you had the thing with George Clooney, where you're like, flirting with him, Oh man, so freaking good. The

**[0:17:56] Amy Poehler:** you never.

**[0:17:57] Marcello Hernández:** hoodie, the great one, uh, gr, one of the great gifs

**[0:18:00] Amy Poehler:** Oh my god. Is that of hi in how we say it? Cause I never history, Gif know.

**[0:18:03] Marcello Hernández:** Gif doesn't matter.

**[0:18:03] Amy Poehler:** Great, okay, well, this leads me into my 1st question. Okay, great, Because what I got from your special is so funny, you watched so great.

**[0:18:10] Marcello Hernández:** it. You crammed it yesterday. L I crammed it, Yeah,

**[0:18:12] Amy Poehler:** loved it.

**[0:18:13] Marcello Hernández:** thank you.

**[0:18:13] Amy Poehler:** You are like a product of, like a matriarchy. You have grown up around women, sisters, your mother's a huge part of your life and your comedy.

**[0:18:23] Marcello Hernández:** oh yeah, I don't know what it is. I think it's, um, the um. The hang with the boys is so funny. I laugh so much with my boys, but like, a hang with women is just so, um, it's funny. But it's also like mentally challenging well, yeah, and I mean, we're, we're, um, emotional. You're learning about yourself. I have a lot of lesbian friends too that I that I really connect with, yes, they like, like, cause I'm a lesbian in many yeah, ooh, ways.

**[0:18:51] Marcello Hernández:** say more. What do Do you know what

**[0:18:52] Amy Poehler:** you mean?

**[0:18:52] Marcello Hernández:** I mean? Cause I grew up around women, so I'm kind of a woman in some ways. I get jealous, I get petty, I do, I get jealous and petty. My girlfriend has to deal with that. I do. I get weird. I go, I didn't like that, I say that sometimes, I go, I didn't like that, I go. When you did that, I didn't like that oh, I love and it made me that. feel bad. And I hope that In the future, in the future, when you are in a situation where you could do something like that, that you'll act differently.

**[0:19:21] Marcello Hernández:** For my sake, I talk like that's a really that sometimes. good communicating, by the Oh yeah, way. my mom has really trained me,

**[0:19:26] Amy Poehler:** Have you ever been to therapy? um, a little bit, Uh, huh,

**[0:19:29] Marcello Hernández:** I've, I've experimented. Sports psychology. I liked.

**[0:19:33] Amy Poehler:** I wanna talk about that because you are a big, you're a jock. I'm a jock. Yeah, And you know, I can tell from the way that you like, a PR, like you love a team and like, that is the thing I have to say. Like, when in in figuring out, like, what to talk to you about today, like I've. When I was around you and got to be at SNL and you were there, you can tell right away.

**[0:19:53] Amy Poehler:** The people that like to have fun, and I know that sounds so stupid and simple, but it's easily forgotten at any job. Is like, Okay, I got the job now, like, and then all you think about is like, losing the job, or the job sucks, or the job's hard, or whatever. You forget the fun part, cause, and there's something about you that really radiates a lot of fun and you love being part of a team. oh yeah.

**[0:20:15] Amy Poehler:** And Like you like I, the team to win.

**[0:20:16] Marcello Hernández:** yeah, and I don't like to work like in in a in, like in a very po, like in a positive way. I work very hard in my life, but I don't like to work. Working is bad and weird, so everything but work is always usually my goal when I'm working. I got a scooter, my girlfriend had a s a foot injury, I, she had a a scooter, I got her a new scooter, and then the old scooter.

**[0:20:38] Marcello Hernández:** I took it to work. Now there's a scooter at work. Now, if you gotta go to the bathroom, you jump on the scooter, that's fun, you're there in a couple minutes. Now fuck, people are scooting up and down the fuck, halls, that's fun.

**[0:20:46] Amy Poehler:** that's fun.

**[0:20:47] Marcello Hernández:** You know what I mean,

**[0:20:47] Amy Poehler:** God, I love that.

**[0:20:48] Marcello Hernández:** sometimes I do seal, do you know, seal with that long table that we do table read in? Were you I do seal.

**[0:20:53] Amy Poehler:** flying across?

**[0:20:53] Marcello Hernández:** I run through that hallway and then I seal and see if I can get fully across.

**[0:20:58] Amy Poehler:** Okay, you know who, uh, did a version of Seal many, many years before you is Jimmy Fallon.

**[0:21:03] Marcello Hernández:** Of course, that's my kind of guy, Yeah, and that's my kind of guy. he is, The other thing that I love about not working, or like, trying not to work, is, uh, this is like, maybe this is a sick thing for me. But um, looking in the eyes of someone who's trying to work, who you are not letting to work, the frustration s. It brings me joy in you like a way that's dark. Um, and then they'll do it to me sometimes, and then I can laugh and understand it.

**[0:21:33] Amy Poehler:** okay, you talk about, okay, yeah,

**[0:21:37] Marcello Hernández:** It's just you have to know. Sometimes

**[0:21:39] Amy Poehler:** yeah, everything here is fake. I love Um,

**[0:21:42] Marcello Hernández:** when something cause you. Im. Imagine how dirty I would get with syrup, you know how syrup is so gross and it stays on you forever,

**[0:21:47] Amy Poehler:** yeah, but that doesn't. It's

**[0:21:48] Marcello Hernández:** and then you just get

**[0:21:48] Amy Poehler:** all nice.

**[0:21:49] Marcello Hernández:** the joy of trying, but without happening. Sorry,

**[0:21:52] Amy Poehler:** Um, you, okay, you, uh, focus up, sorry. okay, so you,

**[0:21:59] Marcello Hernández:** Who wants to have some fun on the Amy Poehler show today? You're trying to work, aren't you? You're trying to work, girl? I have I some questions know I've prepared.

**[0:22:09] Amy Poehler:** I am too. No gracias, Marcello tried to work. what's over here? Your Um, don't

**[0:22:14] Marcello Hernández:** phone is dirty, girl, look at that thing, dirty ass phone, Amy Poehler on the 115th floor of the Spindash building. Crazy. This is an old phone, doesn't even work,

**[0:22:31] Amy Poehler:** doesn't even. doesn't even turn on, It's turned off it's off, if you don't of course, ask because of course, we're recording,

**[0:22:38] Marcello Hernández:** of course it is, of course. Meanwhile, my butt's vibrating.

**[0:22:41] Amy Poehler:** okay, listen, you do this bit in your stand up, which is so funny to me. When you're talking about your mom making you dance. What I love about it is not only because you love to dance, I love to dance and I like. I wonder if you have a relationship to like, you love to move around, you like, you're an energy guy. From and from a li, from a young age, you were that way. Did your mom know that you were that kind of kid from an early age?

**[0:23:10] Amy Poehler:** And she would get you into sports and moving and dancing because she knew you had to, you had to get it out.

**[0:23:15] Marcello Hernández:** Yes, 100, 100. My parents goals always throughout my life was to get me tired. Does that make sense? So all the activities I ever did were always with the ultimate goal of will he go to sleep? And um, it was tough because there's a lot, there's a lot of batteries in here, you understand? So I started playing baseball and then baseball, the I was in the outfield and 1st of all pants, right in the sun, like it's so hot for what,

**[0:23:45] Amy Poehler:** and long socks.

**[0:23:46] Marcello Hernández:** for what? We're in Miami, wearing pants in the sun. This sport doesn't make sense.

**[0:23:49] Amy Poehler:** people don't know you grew up in Miami.

**[0:23:50] Marcello Hernández:** Yes, of course, so I was playing baseball and the ball would never come to where I was, cause they had me in the outfield. And then so, apparently, according to my family, I don't remember doing this, but I was doing cartwheels in the uh, in the in the outfield and playing with insects and stuff. And so they took me out. My mom said, Gee, I gotta take you out of baseball, cause you're kinda making us look bad as a family.

**[0:24:10] Marcello Hernández:** too much downtime We're, we're

**[0:24:11] Amy Poehler:** out there.

**[0:24:12] Marcello Hernández:** Hispanic, you're half Cuban, half Dominican. They were like, this kid'll be good, and then you're a nuisance. So then I did soccer, and soccer is a perfect sport for a child with ADD that's unmedicated and with a lot of energy, because the ball never stops moving.

**[0:24:26] Amy Poehler:** oh, so much running.

**[0:24:26] Marcello Hernández:** It's so much running. You get home, you are tired, and so soccer became my love. Cause I was like, it's constant um thing. I would get so exhausted on the field and then my parents liked it, and then I played that, you know, until college,

**[0:24:39] Amy Poehler:** yeah, you were a really good player, that was good. Yeah, you went to college to play it.

**[0:24:43] Marcello Hernández:** yeah, I did, I did.

**[0:24:44] Amy Poehler:** And like, when, when, what was the what? 1st of all, what was your position?

**[0:24:48] Marcello Hernández:** I was in the I was a winger, which is the guys that have to run all the way up and then all lot of the way back. running, lot You know,

**[0:24:52] Amy Poehler:** of running. And you and when you were you, you s you mentioned your dad's Dominican, your mom's Cuban. I love when you talk about the differences culturally between those two things. What, what is like, the what are the biggest? I know they're stereotypical, but they're oftentimes very true, like the difference between those two cultures. Cause you're it's. in the middle of both.

**[0:25:10] Marcello Hernández:** The food is pretty much the same. Cuban is more salsa, and then, uh, Dominican Republic, they do merengue and bachata, so bachata is one, two, three, stop, one, two, three, stop. And then salsa is like a crazy. My foot goes there, your foot leaves my, your my foot returns, your foot leaves. It's more like math, um, and then the way they talk is different. So, like, for example, in Cuban Spanish, there's like, a uh, uh, oye, oigo.

**[0:25:36] Marcello Hernández:** Lo que está pasando es que nosotros somos de Cuba, y en Cuba nosotros hablamos guau guau, like that. And in Dominican Republic, it's a little higher and faster, so it's like, y nosotros los dominicanos somos una una, una. Un tipo de persona que como que nosotros no nos metemos en problemas. Si no hay problemas, yo no quiero problemas, yo me quiero salir del problema. Y entonces los cubanos son como, no, papi, yo no puedo dar, me digo, yo no puedo dar, me digo algo, algo que me va a reflexionar negativamente.

**[0:26:01] Marcello Hernández:** Entonces yo me voy a quitar, me voy a quitar de esa cosa. Y entonces los dominicanos me miran. No, yo no puedo estar ahí, yo no me voy a meter ahí, yo no me meto ahí. Yo no, yo, yo no estoy loco, yo puedo estar que tenga un par de cositas que yo hago mal, pero yo no estoy loco. And that is kind of the difference.

**[0:26:15] Amy Poehler:** But what's so amazing about that is you're making music to me, cause I can't speak Spanish. of course, And the music, s the Dominican. M music sounds like New York, of course, cause so many Dominicans in New York fast. Yeah, fast, and the Cuban music sounds like Desi. That's what we, that's who we knew when we were growing up. Desi and Es was the only Cuban that we were like, we knew. Did your family watch I Love Lucy or care, or did your parents have any ver like, did they care about Desi?

**[0:26:43] Amy Poehler:** Do you? Did you?

**[0:26:43] Marcello Hernández:** My mom's personality can be very Lucy sometimes. My mom is like my mom would always say my mom came from Cuba and it was difficult cause they took her stuff, you know, Cuba, the communist government. And so, um, when she came to America, she w she really leaned in to being American. Like for years, she would tell us we're all gonna change our last name to Smith. Um, cause she was like,

**[0:27:06] Amy Poehler:** that happens.

**[0:27:06] Marcello Hernández:** I'm American now, I don't wanna be Yeah, a lot of Cuban anymore. people wanted to assimilate, And they didn't wanna be like, she didn't wanna. She was so like, um, sad and embarrassed of what happened in Cuba, that she wanted to be fully American. So she would say stuff, you know, like, Eh, blondes have more fun, and I am just a dumb blonde. Like she would say that all the time because she just thought it was, you know, being American was that.

**[0:27:29] Marcello Hernández:** And um, she, she loves, I love Lucy, she loves, like, you know, having fun. My mom is like, Uh, my mom has a little bit of Yorkie energy sometimes, um, and then also she can be very tough and hard. And um, yeah,

**[0:27:45] Amy Poehler:** okay, but I wanna talk about your soccer part, because, okay, you're getting, how do you get to college from S with soccer?

**[0:27:51] Marcello Hernández:** girl. So the other thing, too, is the pressure of your friends, like you always wanna look good to your friends and to your family. And so I was like, I need to play college soccer because I've worked so hard at soccer, all my friends know me as a soccer guy, so if I don't play college soccer, that's bad. So I emailed every school, I was sending emails, s

**[0:28:08] Amy Poehler:** do you have recruiters come and see you? I edited And my own videos, I hm, hm,

**[0:28:11] Marcello Hernández:** did played in all these tournaments. And then, um, the school in Ohio, John Carroll, and the school in California, Occidental. They both wanted me to play there and they were like, you know, we can figure out some sort of academic scholarship. And then my mom said, you can't go to California because you'll be too far. And I don't know what you will do when you are that far. And if I can't go see you easily, that'll be a problem.

**[0:28:32] Marcello Hernández:** So she didn't let me go to California, but she let me go to Ohio. And then, right before I went to college, my senior year, my drama teacher asked me to memorize a monologue, and you had I,

**[0:28:42] Amy Poehler:** never performed before.

**[0:28:43] Marcello Hernández:** No. I learned a John Leguizamo monologue and a monologue from class action. And um, it was

**[0:28:48] Amy Poehler:** John Leguizamo used to have some really mombo mouth, great Mambo mouth.

**[0:28:51] Marcello Hernández:** she calls me chocolate eyes, I call her my albino beaver. It was crazy. It was about a a Cuban cabana boy meeting a white woman That's at a hotel and right, that's right, falling in love. Um, yeah. And and

**[0:29:02] Amy Poehler:** your teacher recommended that you do really interesting. So they saw something in you, and he goes, like, Hey, yeah,

**[0:29:08] Marcello Hernández:** he goes, If you do this, I'll get you out of school for like three days. I'll take you to Tampa and you'll compete in this thing. And I went and I won. I was the best monologue contrasting monologues, cause it was funny, cause it was like the 1st one was about. The 1st one was so sad and very real, about a gang member that hid his gun under his bed and his little brother found it and shot himself, and so that's the 1st monologue.

**[0:29:32] Marcello Hernández:** And then I go, he shouldn't have done that, he shouldn't have, he shouldn't have gone into my room. And then I get up, Hello, it is me, Ramon, the Cuban cabana boy. And then that then you get into this thing about having sex with an old American woman. Um,

**[0:29:57] Amy Poehler:** and but it goes. It goes to show that people love to laugh, they love to laugh man, they love and you gotta to laugh.

**[0:30:03] Marcello Hernández:** do that. 1 s You Yes, you can't, can't, you you can't do can't do that it any other way, one. 1st, um, and so. But I did that. I felt like, oh, I like performing, I like being in front of people. That was like the 1st time I really felt like this was cool, that was cool. You must What I did.

**[0:30:17] Amy Poehler:** have, when you were younger, been told a lot like, you're funny, you like, you, like, you like a good performer. Or Marcello like you. They must have known that you had this extroverted personality, but in you never.

**[0:30:26] Marcello Hernández:** school, they call that excessive talking mischief. Um,

**[0:30:30] Amy Poehler:** that's right. We have a lot of people in here talk about like the one. There's just like one or two teachers that said, Hey, like, Ryan Kugler was here and he had a professor like, encourage him to write a screenplay. And like people that just say, like, you should, you should try this thing. I see something in you.

**[0:30:45] Marcello Hernández:** And I get so much joy from taking teachers to SNL. I've taken quite a few teachers to SNL. So this guy, the 1st guy that taught me how to write a script, is this, uh, script guy. C named Bob Knoll at my college. And, uh, he told me, What's your favorite comedy movie right now? And I go, I love the 40 year old version. He goes, I want you to write the same, write that movie, but change something about it.

**[0:31:08] Marcello Hernández:** And so I wrote the 40 year old version. But the main character is a woman. Um, and, uh,

**[0:31:13] Amy Poehler:** A part for a woman. Thank you, Marcello.

**[0:31:14] Marcello Hernández:** yeah, you're welcome. Finally. Well, I have it, you could, you would be perfect for it. Oh my god, we should make it. Um, and so I brought him to SNL and he got to hang out. And then I had, um, I had a a a theology teacher who Mr. Franzis is based on, um, that. She was like, you know, my body's full of Alloibera because I was burned from my toes until my head. And um, uh, Angie, and so I love her, and so I brought her to SNL.

**[0:31:42] Marcello Hernández:** Um, and then the coolest one was, um, so, eh? My freshman or sophomore year, I took a fundamentals of, uh, Shakespearean performance class. And there was this guy, uh, Bo Smith and his partner, Tom Roche, and they were this lovely gay couple and they were so fun and cool. And they had this class. And they'd be like, you can perform whatever you want. And then one day, everyone's gonna try some Shakespeare. And so people were doing, you know, monologues from famous movies, you know, Wolf of Wall Street or whatever.

**[0:32:07] Marcello Hernández:** And then, um, one day he noticed, like everybody was acting kind of like, soft, you know, like they weren't really giving it up for him. And he goes, and he's like, you know, in his late 60s at the time, maybe a, and so he goes well. If you're not gonna show me what I wanna see, then maybe I'll show you myself. And he's in his late 60s. And takes off his tie, puts it down, takes off a necklace, puts it down, then gets up and he goes.

**[0:32:34] Marcello Hernández:** I will be performing King Lear. And he just goes, he goes, rah, rah, yeah. He gets on his knees, he starts screaming and, ah, just goes crazy. And everybody's like, Oh my god. And then it, it changed us completely, like everyone started to really give it to him and perform. And um, I, uh, I,

**[0:32:57] Amy Poehler:** what did you do?

**[0:32:57] Marcello Hernández:** I did, oh, I did a bunch of crazy stuff in his class. I, I did what every whatever he wanted, and then, uh, I started performing my stand up for him. I would write a little stand up and do it in his class, and then I took his class again. And then, um, they were let go from the school, the two guys, and it was heartbreaking, cause I was like, you guys are the greatest. This, I just wanna see you be good and whatever.

**[0:33:17] Marcello Hernández:** Um, and so now, all these years later, the college has called me back and they're like, what do you wanna do? Like, you wanna you should do something for the school? You know? A And I go, Okay, great, let's start a scholarship, so I started a scholarship at my school, at the college I went to. And um, it's for kids that wanna do what I did, and it's, and it's called the Bo and Tom Uh scholarship Marcello.

**[0:33:39] Marcello Hernández:** by Marcello Hernández. And so now all these scholarship recipients so far, we've had two. They meet with me and Bo, because Tom has passed, and they meet with me and Bo, and they get to meet Bo. And like, he tells them all the stories, and he's a fascinating guy, and I found him in Cleveland, Ohio. And so I have, you know, so much love for those teachers and also Bo. Uh, the teacher that told me to memorize that monologue, he came to SNL with his wife and his son.

**[0:34:04] Marcello Hernández:** ugh, I gave him a full tour, so awful. I love I, I, I, the the full circle moment They must be. So, of like, that is priceless. that's awesome. And, Yeah,

**[0:34:12] Amy Poehler:** uh, have you ever?

**[0:34:13] Marcello Hernández:** did you have a teacher,

**[0:34:14] Amy Poehler:** I had a few? I had a few, like, uh, like a lot of English teachers that told me I was a good writer. Or like, we had a really good UM drama teacher who, like, we just put on really good productions in our school and stuff. My, I feel like my teachers came a little bit later, when I, like, started improvising and doing sketch in Chicago. Like teachers who, like, basically, just like, treated me like somebody who could do this as a job, which I never thought I could do.

**[0:34:40] Amy Poehler:** and you, um, You never, no, you founded, yeah, okay, but you hold but okay, on, you no, no, no, but founded but did you ever do sketch? an institution, Did you ever do sketch?

**[0:34:50] Marcello Hernández:** you're the founder of an of a comedic institution. Does he does that register to you? okay, Marcello, back Do you know how

**[0:34:58] Amy Poehler:** to you.

**[0:34:58] Marcello Hernández:** many opportunities you created by doing that? Okay, we're Do you know how much you gave in, we're back?

**[0:35:04] Amy Poehler:** in college with you now, we're back to college.

**[0:35:07] Marcello Hernández:** Like, cause? There's so many people that have been good comedic actresses and that have done great shows and have grown. But how many of those people have founded an institutute for people to grow and come out of? How many alumni have you to thank? okay, so listen, I mean, it's just

**[0:35:29] Amy Poehler:** we're okay.

**[0:35:30] Marcello Hernández:** something to behold.

**[0:35:31] Amy Poehler:** Let's go back to Ohio. Did you ever do sketch? Speaking of sketch and improv? Did you ever God, you're do

**[0:35:39] Marcello Hernández:** impressive. I mean, a fascinating woman.

**[0:35:43] Amy Poehler:** Marcello?

**[0:35:44] Marcello Hernández:** Sorry, just I'm, I'm, I'm impressed. Apologize and let me say your computer's banged up, the phone is all dirty. Leave me, Like like, leave me. This you should is so Gen Z be in a

**[0:35:54] Amy Poehler:** of you. castle, This is so gen in a castle z.

**[0:35:57] Marcello Hernández:** on a throne with a brand new computer.

**[0:36:00] Amy Poehler:** You know, I do agree, I Apple do agree.

**[0:36:02] Marcello Hernández:** Give her the new stuff, man, give her all the new stuff. She's got dents on the computer. I feel like getting into Sebastian, You are a little, the computer looks like it was thrown off a truck. Pick it up, Amy Poehler.

**[0:36:19] Amy Poehler:** we have.

**[0:36:19] Marcello Hernández:** The phone looks like it has been in the mouth of a toddler. It's sticky, it's sticky. Oh my god, Marcello Oh my god, I'm sorry,

**[0:36:35] Amy Poehler:** Sebastian. We we interviewed him. It was so fun, I we did it in front

**[0:36:39] Marcello Hernández:** love, I'm. of a live I need to stop doing audience. him because He, he's so fun it's addicting, to do. I bet it's addicting,

**[0:36:44] Amy Poehler:** you're so good at it. addicting. Also, you've got really got his physicality down.

**[0:36:49] Marcello Hernández:** I love it.

**[0:36:49] Amy Poehler:** And is it true that you did, like a back handspring when you did him, or like a back flip It's of some kind?

**[0:36:53] Marcello Hernández:** some crazy stuff. Okay, I Yeah, Shia, wanna talk about that, LaBeouf, thank God okay, but just in Ohio.

**[0:36:57] Amy Poehler:** okay. You quit, you quit soccer. You're like, I gotta do stand up. Was that sad? With the team? Must have been bummed.

**[0:37:06] Marcello Hernández:** they were ba, they were bummed and more disappointed in me for Why did you giving up

**[0:37:10] Amy Poehler:** have to quit?

**[0:37:10] Marcello Hernández:** on them, cause I couldn't do both. I was doing a lot of stand up, I won an amateur comp. I got good, like I didn't get really good fast, but I got like, okay, very fast. yeah, cause Um,

**[0:37:22] Amy Poehler:** you're a hustler, you know how to. I, yeah. And Yeah,

**[0:37:23] Marcello Hernández:** I was doing a lot of sets and then I won an amateur competition. 500 bucks to host at the Funny Stop Comedy Club in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. And I go, Oh, I'm the real deal. And then, um, so I, I had to quit, cause I was like, I wanna pursue this, I think I could be good at it.

**[0:37:38] Amy Poehler:** What did your mom think?

**[0:37:39] Marcello Hernández:** She, she was excited about it. She She was like, I think

**[0:37:41] Amy Poehler:** was?

**[0:37:41] Marcello Hernández:** this is what you're supposed to do. She also never understood soccer. She's like, it's too fast and people kick you and I don't want you to be kicked. And my dad was like, you shouldn't quit. I think you could be a good soccer player. My stepdad was also very supportive. Um, and then, um, when I quit, this is when, like, like, it's this is like a balls dropping moment is. Um, when I quit, I was crying and I told the coaches I quit and they were like, Great, we get it, you know, obviously we'll miss you on the team, but um, we're not gonna tell the team.

**[0:38:10] Marcello Hernández:** You are gonna go downstairs right now, clean your face gosh. up, do whatever you have to do and then go tell the boys that you're quitting the team. And so I was like, I'm so sorry guys, I just gotta, I wanna do something, I'm gonna do comedy, and um, I just think you guys are gonna do great and I'm just sorry and I love you guys. And then I just had to shake the hands of like 27

**[0:38:33] Amy Poehler:** You have to good game guys. I it for the old

**[0:38:35] Marcello Hernández:** had to good game it. guys. And like, most of them were like, that's so weird. And then, you know, a couple of them were like, I love you buddy, good luck, whatever. But that also also lit a fire under my butt.

**[0:38:47] Amy Poehler:** yeah. And and then you y. Just for laughs is what gets you the SNL audition. Yeah, 6 min, Just for laughs is a comedy festival. You go up there, you do really well, you get seen, you get the audition. What is your audition story? Everybody has an SNL audition story. What's yours? so, dude, Yeah,

**[0:39:05] Marcello Hernández:** I've never been so nervous. Like I was. I was hosting at the stand comedy club every almost every every night at the time I was a host, so I wasn't I. I. I realized that you could get way more spots on shows if you just host, you could do your stand up. And it's tough because you're doing a cold open, but you can do stand up way more times than you can just do a spot. If you say I'll host, so I was like, I'll host everything.

**[0:39:29] Marcello Hernández:** And then I get this thing for JFL, I go to JFL, it's my 6 min set. If you watch it back, I'm shaking, like, if you just watch it, like, focus on my hands and stuff. I am fully, like, shaking up there for the whole 6 min, cause I was really, really scared. I had to look myself in the mirror before and be like, you just gotta do this, you gotta do this. Um, and then after that, I got the SNL audition, I go to the audition thing.

**[0:39:55] Marcello Hernández:** I do a bunch of jokes about how my mom escaped communism and that I can't complain and that whatever. And then I call my mom after and I go, Mom, I don't know, cause they didn't laugh that hard, cause it's at like, UCB. And like, I think some people there, they don't think cosmic. Communism is that bad. Like, and so I feel scared that they think I'm like some right wing nut. And she's like, It's okay, Marcello, they understand your message, it's okay.

**[0:40:17] Marcello Hernández:** I'm like, whatever. Then I got the call back and then, um, I, uh, I got the call back. And um, I put headphones in and I listened to Always be my Baby by Mariah Carey, but, uh, by Brass Tacks, so it's like a lot of S sacks. It's so good. And um, I'm blasting it in my ears while I wait, cause they make you wait and on repeat over and over again, the same song.

**[0:40:42] Amy Poehler:** while you're in the dressing room Yes, and at 30 Rock.

**[0:40:44] Marcello Hernández:** yes, and so I'm in there like this, back to the door. And then, um, the only thing I hear is at one point I hear, and I turn around. And a woman has been there for like a few minutes, trying to call my attention. Um, Sam, uh, Miner, who's a talent on the talent team? And um, I was like, Oh, okay, sorry. And then someone told me I had to get makeup on, and I was like, I don't think so, and they're like, Oh, you should get some makeup on.

**[0:41:12] Marcello Hernández:** And then I got some makeup on, and then I first went out.

**[0:41:14] Amy Poehler:** time ever getting makeup on, Yeah, for probably. Yeah, yeah,

**[0:41:17] Marcello Hernández:** sure. And then no one laughed. Um, somebody coughed, and then my mom, I call my mom, and I'm like, I don't know what to notoriously do. quiet. Cold room

**[0:41:25] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, cold room.

**[0:41:27] Marcello Hernández:** and then, um, that's it. And then a few weeks later, I got the call that I got the job and I was like, this is awesome.

**[0:41:33] Amy Poehler:** Where were you when you got the call? Do you remember?

**[0:41:35] Marcello Hernández:** Um, yeah, I was like, at my apartment, um, my friend's apartment that I was living in. And um, I call my mom. And then we cried for a bit, and then I was like, I'm gonna make $1 million. And then it turns out that you don't make that.

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**[0:44:27] Amy Poehler:** This episode is brought to you by eBay Live. Here's how it goes First, you're watching the eBay live stream, telling yourself, I'm just looking. And then boom, you see a vintage Rolex go for an absolute steal. Suddenly, a rare Beanie Baby pops up, adrenaline hits, and you're bidding. You might lose that first one, but you bid again and win, and that winning rush, incredible, because you beat everyone to it. Meanwhile, on eBay Live, you don't just watch the action, you're in it.

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**[0:45:21] Amy Poehler:** It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate, North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. You're like the first Gen Z cast member, technically.

**[0:45:41] Marcello Hernández:** Is that true?

**[0:45:41] Amy Poehler:** Do you identify as Gen Z?

**[0:45:43] Marcello Hernández:** No, because I'm too close. I'm not far enough removed from the immigrant struggle to, like, truly enjoy my Gen Z life. Cause you had this great thing that I I saw when I watched the show, which I do quite often. And um, where you say, like, millennials only care about money, yeah, boomers only care boomers only care about

**[0:46:05] Amy Poehler:** about money.

**[0:46:05] Marcello Hernández:** money. Millennials are like, Where's Well, the money?

**[0:46:07] Amy Poehler:** don't skip over Gen X, everybody does, Gen X but boomers only care about money. Gen X is like, should we only care about money? Millennials where are like, where is

**[0:46:17] Marcello Hernández:** is the money?

**[0:46:17] Amy Poehler:** the money? And Gen Z is Gen Z is like, like, what is what is money?

**[0:46:20] Marcello Hernández:** money, right? And so I am like, Um,

**[0:46:23] Amy Poehler:** You're the where's the money?

**[0:46:24] Marcello Hernández:** I, oh, no, I only care about the I'm a boomer, so, you're a boomer, I'm a boomer, I see, cause I think Gen Z plus immigrant struggle equals boomer. I'm a young boomer in young many ways. I boomer, didn't get to have mental health. You know what I mean? So I, that's boomer vibes,

**[0:46:42] Amy Poehler:** you're right.

**[0:46:42] Marcello Hernández:** and my mom is probably a boomer. What's a boomer,

**[0:46:47] Amy Poehler:** No, your mom is Gen X, your mom is my age. And

**[0:46:50] Marcello Hernández:** But my mom is a boomer because of because the immigrant thing.

**[0:46:52] Amy Poehler:** it well, what? When you say the immigrant thing, it's like, because you're first gen, you just feel this need to, like, you just cannot complain about the same stuff that Can't complain, people. Yeah, nothing is real, everything yeah, but is just what about you is Gen Z? Cause I think there are a few Gen Z things.

**[0:47:05] Marcello Hernández:** I'm really good on the phone. I mean, Incredible, I can do whatever you need on the except for phone, I can texting, reset everything. Like except for texting texting is bad. That's back. a Gen Z thing, probably, too,

**[0:47:13] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, big time.

**[0:47:13] Marcello Hernández:** not answering.

**[0:47:14] Amy Poehler:** There's like a nonjudgmental vibe sometimes to Gen Z that you can feel where they're like, whatever, do your thing, yeah, I have you do you,

**[0:47:22] Marcello Hernández:** some of that.

**[0:47:22] Amy Poehler:** you do. I feel like that,

**[0:47:23] Marcello Hernández:** But my sister is, like, definition of Gen Z,

**[0:47:25] Amy Poehler:** uh-huh, she's younger than you.

**[0:47:26] Marcello Hernández:** yeah, but she's an architect and she's, uh, now doing interior design, and she's so quiet and so reserved. And then. But also she has her moments with her friends where she, like, is like, fun and talkative. But she's like, in our house, she's like the quieter one. And, uh, that's my. That's a theory my mom has that if the first child you have is insane, that the next one will be quiet, she says. That. that And

**[0:47:51] Amy Poehler:** probably is true.

**[0:47:51] Marcello Hernández:** the other day, we went to my friend Lila's house and her baby is so nice and sweet and quiet. And she goes, That next one is gonna be a disaster. And I think it could be real. Do you have? How many do you have I'm two, now? I two boys, met your boys, you did. They I met your boys,

**[0:48:04] Amy Poehler:** were very excited to meet

**[0:48:05] Marcello Hernández:** they're cute boys, dude, you got them. some good boys,

**[0:48:07] Amy Poehler:** They're well, you know, they're at the age now where they're watching SNL and they wanna see people that look like like them. They wanna see people their age and they wanna like, you know, there's nothing like, even if you're on SNL, your kids just don't wanna watch like classic old. They're just like, I wanna watch people that look like me. That's what SNL's about, is this feeling that, like, young people are in charge over there.

**[0:48:31] Marcello Hernández:** your relationship with, like Maya and Dratch, and that it's so cool and so awesome. Dratch makes me laugh in a way that I can't even explain, and the Same way that she laughs her laugh, is priceless.

**[0:48:45] Amy Poehler:** it is. It's like magic. And the headphones thing, Who's the best laugh? Oh, I know, the headphones

**[0:48:51] Marcello Hernández:** it's like, I can't. It was so good.

**[0:48:54] Amy Poehler:** fucking so good.

**[0:48:55] Marcello Hernández:** She's like, I can't, I can't

**[0:48:56] Amy Poehler:** It's incredible.

**[0:48:56] Marcello Hernández:** figure it out.

**[0:48:57] Amy Poehler:** I owe Dratch so much money for She's that.

**[0:48:59] Marcello Hernández:** so funny.

**[0:49:01] Amy Poehler:** Domingo was a huge hit. Like, congrats on having a recurring like you need something sometimes. It's had like, you,

**[0:49:07] Marcello Hernández:** nothing to do with that. God gave me that, God and Keira O'Sullivan Keira and Jimmy and Jimmy,

**[0:49:11] Amy Poehler:** wrote it right, and they're

**[0:49:12] Marcello Hernández:** they gave me that.

**[0:49:13] Amy Poehler:** Keira O'Sullivan and Jimmy Fallon. Great writers like at SNL, like, so important to that show, write so many monologues, write so many pieces. And and why do you think? is it? why do you think that sketch just took off? I mean, is it just the bad singing? What is it that makes that so delicious, that I think Ariana sketch? Grande is so Yeah, yeah,

**[0:49:33] Marcello Hernández:** good. We wa like, watching her at a table is mind

**[0:49:37] Amy Poehler:** she's so talented. it's mind blowing, she Yeah,

**[0:49:39] Marcello Hernández:** sings so crazy. And then her doing it bad is so hard to like, sing bad on purpose. And she does it so good, it's so funny. So that that gets you through the first part of the sketch. And like, the girls were so funny, Heidi and, uh, Ego, and all of them coming in after, so funny. And and Sarah and everybody. And then and then at the end, they're talking about this guy the whole time and you're like, all right.

**[0:50:11] Marcello Hernández:** Well, now there there has to be a reveal. And then I come out wearing like in a little hair goatee and like a version of my hair. And then I sing what I still feel is a very catchy tune yeah, catchy of tune. of just, um, da na da da da na da da. And then I Well, it's think that's what a spresso, it's happened. It's a. It's not just exactly

**[0:50:37] Amy Poehler:** just a catchy tune, it's a very popular pop it's huge, song.

**[0:50:41] Marcello Hernández:** one of the biggest pop songs of the t of the of our time, Some could of the time that argue, some we are in. could argue, yeah, And so I think that it was just a perfect storm. And then I think it's very SNL for the audience to reward the guy that did the least in the sketch. it's called that, Did nothing pretty much came in for 3 seconds and okay, but that's the thing

**[0:51:06] Amy Poehler:** but I'm just gonna, I'm gonna, um, praise you for a little bit. Because praise from get ready, Amy Poehler get ready, Marcello, because Pounder. that that is a perfect exa. That is a perfect example of you enter that sketch having fun, like you're enjoying it, like we're enjoying it, and you're like ease and coming into it. And you do this with most of the stuff that you do. Like, you don't let us forget when you're performing, like, can you believe we're all watching this?

**[0:51:34] Amy Poehler:** This is like comedy, like, how did we all get here? How did you get in the audience? How did I get? Like, it's very, very infectious. Like I always say, like, I always want people to seem relaxed. I don't really care if they have the best jokes or if they're the funniest. I just want them to seem like they're having a good time and they're relaxed, and I can. Nothing makes me more stressed than when I can feel like the mirror neurons of, like, someone else's stress.

**[0:51:57] Marcello Hernández:** yeah, I feel that.

**[0:51:58] Amy Poehler:** And you always do that on the show, you be like, you act like you've always been there, like everything is super fun. And

**[0:52:06] Marcello Hernández:** that's the power of fear, that's the power what do you of fear.

**[0:52:09] Amy Poehler:** mean? How do you f- you do? You're so scared, Fake it? uh, probably. You're just Yeah,

**[0:52:13] Marcello Hernández:** so scared of it going wrong that you're like, if it goes wrong, I'm gonna go wrong swinging to the rafters. So, like, I just go absolutely insane. My biggest note at dress is calm down, cause there's some stuff you guys haven't seen where I really lose it out there. Not like in a bad way, but like,

**[0:52:34] Amy Poehler:** you push it.

**[0:52:35] Marcello Hernández:** Oh, yeah, there was a thing about, uh, huh, there was a thing that we did that. It came out on the show about, um, with Coleman Domingo, where he's a teacher and he's like, nothing matters. Um, come up with a number, and I'm like, eleven, eleven, T4, and then, um, and then, uh, he's like, and who would be? who would be? uh, you know, a a number bigger than eleven, whatever the question was. And then I get up and I go, Ah, ah, eleven, T2, and I get.

**[0:53:04] Marcello Hernández:** It did it so big that all the Or it was records were like, like, Marcello, just fu- just please, just stop. And um, that's a note that's chased me my whole life since just write it kindergarten. down, just. But I, Just stop.

**[0:53:23] Amy Poehler:** I. But that is my favorite kind of note, though, because the opposite is way worse.

**[0:53:28] Marcello Hernández:** Yeah, right, well, I can't do the opposite, I can't.

**[0:53:30] Amy Poehler:** Um, you have done so many funny things on the show, your stuff with Bad Bunny has been so funny and

**[0:53:34] Marcello Hernández:** So grateful.

**[0:53:35] Amy Poehler:** Pedro, so much good stuff. And Who was do you

**[0:53:38] Marcello Hernández:** your bad bunny? who was the guy, the person that came to the show okay? Well, that you

**[0:53:41] Amy Poehler:** we'll get to me in a second.

**[0:53:42] Marcello Hernández:** okay? How long are we gonna be here? Let's do like 4 Well, we've h and then you got like, find what's good.

**[0:53:47] Amy Poehler:** but but what? But do you feel like you're funnier? And that's

**[0:53:50] Marcello Hernández:** What's up?

**[0:53:51] Amy Poehler:** that's a timer up there and that says how long we've been going.

**[0:53:53] Marcello Hernández:** We've been going for an hour? Yes, so I No,

**[0:53:55] Amy Poehler:** have so many more questions.

**[0:53:56] Marcello Hernández:** I wanna hang out, I'm not leaving. How about that? What will you do? Turn the cameras off?

**[0:54:04] Amy Poehler:** Okay, but bad bunny, wait, do you think you're funnier? and do you think, do do you do you think you're funnier in Spanish? Okay, do you think in Spanish?

**[0:54:16] Marcello Hernández:** I'm fast in Spanish.

**[0:54:17] Amy Poehler:** fast in Spanish, and you write in Spanish?

**[0:54:20] Marcello Hernández:** Um, sometimes, yeah. So I've been doing stand up in Spanish, I've been doing a c a little touring that's co. Oh, in Spanish,

**[0:54:24] Amy Poehler:** that's cool.

**[0:54:25] Marcello Hernández:** and it is so fun. My family, my girlfriend, my my dad, they think that I'm better in Spanish, which is, uh,

**[0:54:36] Amy Poehler:** what do you think is the D? offensive. What do you think is the difference? What just the facility of the language?

**[0:54:40] Marcello Hernández:** I guess, I think, um, Spanish comedy is interesting because, um, it's developing. There's so many good young comedians that are doing it in Spanish. Uh, Angelo Colina is one that travels with me or has done, you know, shows with me. Um, Laura Bolivar has done a bunch of shows with me here, Santiago Espinosa, uh, Pedro Gonzalez, um, and, uh, Sofia, eh, Sofia Rivera, who's, uh, um, Nina de Rivera, who's, um, a Mexican standup who really was like a like a.

**[0:55:09] Marcello Hernández:** She's a titan of standup in Mexico and she's a woman and she's like, broken a lot of barriers, cause she's was the best and the biggest. Um, and is, um, and uh. I find that the reason that those stand ups like her worked so well so early on is cause stand up in Spanish for years, like Alvarez, Guedez and um, legendary, like Latino comedians in Spanish. In in the Dominican Republic, we had like, boruga and um, uh, eh, Jochi, and there's a bunch.

**[0:55:40] Marcello Hernández:** And they they did like long stories with a big punchline, or there it was political, it was like SNL, where you dress up like a political guy and you go, blah blah, and then the people go crazy. And so when you do an American style like of stand up, punchy, observational, observational punchy. Yeah, stuff, I think the audience is. It's a refreshing feeling. And so I feel that when I'm like, doing a Spanish set with all Hispanic people and we're all laughing.

**[0:56:08] Marcello Hernández:** And especially today when Latinos are going through a lot and we just get to be in a room and scream in Spanish, it feels very powerful. yeah, Pedro. And and I'm so lucky.

**[0:56:17] Amy Poehler:** and I gotta say, Marcello, like, in general, the the cast right now on the show is like, really putting the variety in variety show. Like, everybody's very, very different, and there's a vibe that's like, everybody's kinda bringing the stuff that they can bring. And watching you guys do that, it it was very, very exciting. Cause the show, you, you know, needs to feel like it's a reflection of the time. And that is like, and there's

**[0:56:42] Marcello Hernández:** Latinos are having a moment, they're. we're having a moment, let us have a moment.

**[0:56:47] Amy Poehler:** Do you ever have an SNL stress dream? Have you had any? Do you have a recurring stress dream? What is it?

**[0:56:54] Marcello Hernández:** it's, um, not getting to the thing, like not getting to the floor, or That's mine, it's too far. too, that's Yeah, mine, you're too far, too late. too far, too late Yeah,

**[0:57:03] Amy Poehler:** running down the stairs. have you almost My name

**[0:57:05] Marcello Hernández:** ever? did you over? ever almost ever miss one?

**[0:57:07] Amy Poehler:** No, I've never missed a have you.

**[0:57:09] Marcello Hernández:** No, but I almost did once.

**[0:57:12] Amy Poehler:** yeah, missing a cue.

**[0:57:13] Marcello Hernández:** Yeah, like, no, no, like. I was in the beginning of the sketch and I was almost not out there. Yeah, and Jenna's like, you know, screaming, and she said, Marcello, and I'm coming from a place where she can't see me. So it was even more nerve wracking, cause I was there and she didn't know yet she was looking for me.

**[0:57:28] Amy Poehler:** this is for on the li, this is on the live show.

**[0:57:30] Marcello Hernández:** Um, whether it was live or dressed, I think

**[0:57:32] Amy Poehler:** it doesn't matter.

**[0:57:33] Marcello Hernández:** it doesn't. Ha, it doesn't need to be.

**[0:57:33] Amy Poehler:** I definitely have been. I've gone out into a scene with the wrong wig, where I've been the wrong character. And then I've come out and and I've been dressed a certain way. And then I was like, and then I looked up and I was wearing the W wrong wig. And we had to, like, switch it in, like 5 s, oh my god, so exciting. But those are the kinda things that like, but but yeah, your dream is that you don't make it.

**[0:57:54] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, okay,

**[0:57:55] Marcello Hernández:** oh, and I wanted to tell you that I've been hanging out with Jodi so much oh. Jody McCouso, that I Jodi who runs the hair Mike.

**[0:58:00] Amy Poehler:** department at SNL, who whose voice is an inspiration for Bronx beat,

**[0:58:05] Marcello Hernández:** Sweat a weather.

**[0:58:06] Amy Poehler:** sweat a weather.

**[0:58:06] Marcello Hernández:** And so, um, just getting to, like, she cuts my hair, she's the only person my mom lets to cut my hair. Wait, hold Um, on, yeah,

**[0:58:14] Amy Poehler:** your mom is in charge of who cuts your hair. Did she used to cut your hair?

**[0:58:17] Marcello Hernández:** no, she's always taken me to the person that does it, and then, uh, well, Jodi has done it very well, so she's like, Jodi can do it from now on. But, uh, hearing her so much has, like, like, I've been at SNL long enough. Where if you guys didn't do her voice on the show, uh, somebody would've, because you're with her enough that you're like, Oh, this is just she's exactly that person. she is So you're telling me it's so good, it's so, so good,

**[0:58:45] Amy Poehler:** okay. So speaking of the people that you work with who love you, and, um, one of them is Sarah Sherman, and that is who we talked to today. And I, she said, you would be bummed. She was like, he wants Kevin Hart, he wants us to talk to, you know, other people. But you got me and we got her, and we love her here, and she loves you, whether you believe it or not. And her 1st, she had a couple questions for you.

**[0:59:11] Amy Poehler:** 1st of all, she spoke so well about you.

**[0:59:12] Marcello Hernández:** really, sissy. That's the kind of person she is. yeah, you She just talks guys have a very good behind your back, yeah, and to your and I like that, and to face, my face, it's violence,

**[0:59:21] Amy Poehler:** well, and to your face. She said, Yeah, cause her 1st question was like, What's your fucking deal, dude? really. That's That's what?

**[0:59:27] Marcello Hernández:** her 1st question.

**[0:59:30] Amy Poehler:** What's your fucking deal?

**[0:59:30] Marcello Hernández:** 1st of all, what's? I'll tell you what my deal is, my deal is, I'll tell you what my deal is. Cause I I know this is not just coming from her. This is a big question. There's some new cast members that feel this, they go, What's your fucking deal? And I'll tell you what my deal is. My deal is that I was not given the opportunity to be soft in my house. I see You're mean to me my whole life, my family.

**[0:59:53] Marcello Hernández:** I was short, my nickname in the house was Pulga, which means flea, that's my name in my house. I'm short, so they call me dwarf in my house, and nano means dwarf. That was my name in my house. Okay, so if you are a little girl that wears rainbow clothes, that's your name, that's who you are. I call people, I say it like I see it. So, you know, Tommy Brennan is a good looking kid. I say that he's good looking and that, me, he might be dumb, because that's what he looks like.

**[1:00:20] Marcello Hernández:** You say it that's a love and and by language. love language, and a lot of people, they misinterpret it, cause I d I can. Some people can think it's mean, but I don't think that. I think that's how my family talked to me. So

**[1:00:30] Amy Poehler:** Gen Z love short, I just want you to know, Gen Z love yes, but short guys,

**[1:00:34] Marcello Hernández:** do why? right? Why? That's cause they the question love, they love short out of guilt, out of kings. guilt of of what they've done No, I to the shorts for years. Now they're trying to be nice, and you know what, now we don't care, as on behalf of the shorts, we don't care, short. we don't care what you wanna say to us. Short king, like, I need that. I taught myself to be self, to have self esteem, cause you wouldn't give it to me.

**[1:00:54] Marcello Hernández:** Okay, I see Women in their bio talking about must be 6 ft to ride this roller coaster. Shush,

**[1:01:03] Amy Poehler:** you're right, you're right, they don't deserve it'll deserve you,

**[1:01:05] Marcello Hernández:** me now. they don't deserve Now I'm supposed to say, you, thank you, oh, thank you, please. okay. And um, What's your deal?

**[1:01:11] Amy Poehler:** Sarah's 2nd question, Why are you not answering my texts? We already talked about that.

**[1:01:17] Marcello Hernández:** Sarah's just a complainer, right? And so, and sometimes I can, sometimes I do have the bandwidth, but right now I'm too busy to You're too be too bandwidth. busy. But I, I will say this about Sarah. I watch her on podcasts when I'm like, bored, I'll watch Sarah on a podcast. Sarah has jokes per minute, Sarah's always You, you trying to do a joke.

**[1:01:37] Amy Poehler:** guys both are very you. G- Yeah, she has so many, you guys are both really quick She's quick, I like and you're so her. quick. And then M she, uh, sweetly. Her 3rd question was like, basically, like, you have written so many great jokes, you have really well written jokes. You're a physical person, you have a ton of charisma. Like, you know how to work a room, like it's I'm gonna cry not,

**[1:01:58] Marcello Hernández:** in front of Amy Poehler.

**[1:02:00] Amy Poehler:** but you have really, really good. Let that take this compliment in, and you have really, really good jokes, and you are very, very good writer. And she wants to know, like, how do you see yourself as a writer? like, do you see yourself as a writer? and can you accept that you're a good one?

**[1:02:16] Marcello Hernández:** Um, I don't know, um, but um,

**[1:02:21] Amy Poehler:** You're not gonna answer this question.

**[1:02:22] Marcello Hernández:** I don't know. I'm just like, Um, I don't feel like I'm a great writer. I, I, I'm. I'm probably gonna take a sketch writing class this summer. Cause of that fear of like, cause also I just watched, like, cause Sarah. A lot of the people at the show, they know sketch, and I came so hard from stand up that I don't know sketch that well. And watching people like Mikey and Streeter and Colin and, uh, Bowen, and

**[1:02:49] Amy Poehler:** and know how to like structure and heighten.

**[1:02:51] Marcello Hernández:** and you like all of the stuff you've done and Maya and all. Like so many people that have come from th that came from sketch to the show that are so. Ashley Padilla is such a great sketch writer. And I'm like, athletically jealous of like that ability, and I think that she's right. Like, I can write jokes, but the format and the the character reveal and all that stuff is stuff that if it wasn't for Jake Nordwind and Mike Decenzo, who have been, like, really with me a lot.

**[1:03:23] Marcello Hernández:** Um, and Asha Ward is like, I would not be, I wouldn't, I wouldn't get anything on, cause I'm just jokes. And so I'm learning, I'm trying to learn more and more of, like, what that thing is. And

**[1:03:36] Amy Poehler:** But I think that's really cool. Like Sarah was on here, she's now her going in her 5th year, and she was like,

**[1:03:41] Marcello Hernández:** so I'm going in my 4th year.

**[1:03:42] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, you're a year behind her. And it's like, that's when you start being like, should I practice my backhand? Like, what's the thing? Like? Like, I, I've got on, I've got some stuff on. People know who I am. I'm like playing to my strengths. Now, I'm playing with good people. Now I know how this place works. And then you can start being like, all right, can I start trying some stuff that, like, maybe I don't necessarily go to automatically?

**[1:04:04] Amy Poehler:** But like, it's cool, it's a cool trajectory of being on that show. And and being an artist, basically, that's what a good artist does is they keep trying new things, seeing what works, like learning from good people, getting better, that's what they do.

**[1:04:18] Marcello Hernández:** yeah, and you what, like you did the show,

**[1:04:21] Amy Poehler:** Look, he just he's now, he's talking about me.

**[1:04:23] Marcello Hernández:** of course. Well, what, what am I to do? What am I to do? What is what type of psychotic person sits with Amy Poehler and goes, Let's talk about me? You have to be who Denzel like, Um,

**[1:04:36] Amy Poehler:** Denzel, if you're watching, I'd love to have you on.

**[1:04:38] Marcello Hernández:** yes, Denzel should come by, he would kill this. Oh I would my gosh,

**[1:04:41] Amy Poehler:** love to have Denzel.

**[1:04:42] Marcello Hernández:** um, so cause you did the show, right? And this is something, by the way, that I have to ask you, um, in person, because I've been petrified to text you after our debacle. So you did the show, you had this, you know, obviously incredible transition into TV, and you've done so many funny parts and roles, and you've written and you've done it all. What, like advice do you have for someone that like me, or like Sarah, or like any, or like, you know, Ashley, or even Bowen?

**[1:05:14] Marcello Hernández:** That just left the show? And so many people that looked up to you and have seen you as like a beacon of like. That is a funny lady that has worked hard and is successful. What do you say to us?

**[1:05:27] Amy Poehler:** let me ask you one question the the after the show, do you wanna do more? D is the hope to do more, like written stuff, more film, more TV and stuff like that. Yeah, then I would say my advice, if that was what you would wanna do, is two things is like, don't take anyone else's advice, don't listen to anybody. I know, because Who is you,

**[1:05:49] Marcello Hernández:** the person you really wanna? Advice from? That says something like well, you that?

**[1:05:52] Amy Poehler:** only know, you only know what's right for you. Just like, and um, I would say, enjoy where you are as best you can when you're there. I just think that simple idea of enjoying where you are and not. I mean, I, I, I don't always take this advice either. But this idea of like, if I get here, then I'll get here, and if I get here, then I'll get here. And it's like, and we can do that our whole lives.

**[1:06:18] Amy Poehler:** We can always be like, this is good, this is great, but like, I want more sketches, or now, okay, I've been on for seven years now, I wanna like. It just never ends, the dissatisfaction of our job, and that's motivating, and that's good. But I would say, I think the real win is being actually where you are in life and trying as best you can to enjoy it. It's like the hardest thing in the world to do, but the few times I've done it, my whole life has changed.

**[1:06:46] Marcello Hernández:** And what do you do when you're like, what is an example of you enjoying Like where you are?

**[1:06:50] Amy Poehler:** being like, actually, well, for the way it looks like for me, I I bet it looks similar for you. Is that I'm actually like looking around and laughing with the people I get to be with, and not like the way, worrying, like, yes, just like being in, being in my body, in real, in real space and time. I know it sounds esoteric, but as far as career advice, who fucking knows? Like, in five years, we may have to do fucking comedy on the moon and TV will be on your phone and books will be a a snack that you eat.

**[1:07:24] Amy Poehler:** And like, we don't like, who knows what's gonna be in the how we're gonna make con. I mean, I'm doing a podcast, I know, so like, what, you know, if you told me I didn't even know what podcasts were,

**[1:07:34] Marcello Hernández:** I know, and by the way, so it's one of the best ones. Award winning crazy.

**[1:07:39] Amy Poehler:** so, as far as career, who knows? Okay, yeah, whatever, thank Okay, okay, you. I do it's not. It wasn't

**[1:07:44] Marcello Hernández:** love it very much.

**[1:07:44] Amy Poehler:** good advice.

**[1:07:45] Marcello Hernández:** No, it was, it was. I'm gonna live in the moment, but and I I don't know I or how quick you're gonna wrap enjoy the moment, up. Yeah, enjoy it, yeah,

**[1:07:52] Amy Poehler:** cause, like, life is a dream and we're all gonna die, you know?

**[1:07:55] Marcello Hernández:** um, you played a game here with Fred,

**[1:08:00] Amy Poehler:** Yes, what game do we and play? You wanna play it?

**[1:08:02] Marcello Hernández:** I want to play it with you.

**[1:08:03] Amy Poehler:** Okay, which? which game was it?

**[1:08:04] Marcello Hernández:** It's a game where you tell someone to pretend they're an expert

**[1:08:08] Amy Poehler:** let's play it. about something, Okay, okay, okay, and then they are I can't wait. Okay, okay, okay,

**[1:08:14] Marcello Hernández:** And I'm gonna, and I I. I watched Fred and I loved his so much, and he did a lot of stuff that I liked that I might incorporate into mine because it's so good. So But maybe you go okay, okay, I'll 1st, I go 1st. So tell you,

**[1:08:25] Amy Poehler:** to remind people that didn't listen to the Fred Armisen episode, Fred and I, we. It's a great game where we play, where, well, I don't know if we play it, but we just I made him play They go it.

**[1:08:34] Marcello Hernández:** no, no, no, big red, no, okay, Where you yeah,

**[1:08:38] Amy Poehler:** get a subject and you have to talk for a minute, um, as if you were an expert.

**[1:08:42] Marcello Hernández:** I have my phone, yours is dead, and it's it's from 2004. How dare Here we go.

**[1:08:46] Amy Poehler:** you, how dare you? Okay, so you have. I

**[1:08:49] Marcello Hernández:** of course.

**[1:08:49] Amy Poehler:** have to try, and you have to re try to be convincing, you have to be. You can't be like, jokey, you have to be like you're giving a talk on this thing. Okay, okay,

**[1:08:57] Marcello Hernández:** I tell you yours. so yes, Okay, yes yes, um, okay. Uh, you are an expert on, um, corn. Three, two, one, go.

**[1:09:15] Amy Poehler:** Before you start talking about the individual varieties of corn, you really have to understand what corn means to America, and what corn means to America is a sense of community. It means that we as a nation are coming together to create a crop that means we will be okay. Corn represents safety and security, and so the varieties of which I'll talk about all of them today. of course, Um, th. They, in many ways, represent our relationship to corn in general.

**[1:09:52] Amy Poehler:** How we've gotten to know it, how we've gotten to grow it, and and how we use that incredible crop, which has sustained our forefathers, how we've used it to find out about ourselves. So let's get started. 1st with

**[1:10:13] Marcello Hernández:** God damn it, you got so good, I mean, I don't that's really know. good.

**[1:10:20] Amy Poehler:** I felt like I was bullshitting. We're all a kernel, Okay, now you go, we're all of we're all all on. all kernels. Okay, You are an expert on, um, uh, the invention of penicillin. okay, count me down, Here we go.

**[1:10:35] Marcello Hernández:** um, so penicillin in, uh, many ways, is a reaction, right? um, penicillin is a reaction to the effects of the penicillin before penicillin. Alcohol, right? For many years, alcohol was penicillin, but what's the deal with alcohol, right? You drink it, you drink it, you drink it, you numb yourself in the pain, but there's an emotional experience. The beauty of penicillin is that it gives you all of the benefits of alcohol without the hangover and the emotional moments.

**[1:11:17] Marcello Hernández:** You know, and, um, a lot of people don't know this, but um, in, uh, 1879, um, Jeffrey L. Sillen, he goes, he goes, What are we gonna do, right? He f- he figures this out, and then he goes, How do we get it in people? Something like a pen, and that's actually penicillin was backwards, also the creation of the syringe. whoa, I A lot of people did not don't know that. Yeah, know that and that's a minute and 15.

**[1:11:55] Amy Poehler:** you had me until you said, and he goes, Jeffrey L. Sillen and Jeffrey, and he goes, What are we gonna do?

**[1:12:07] Marcello Hernández:** I think I I bet I was at a minute before that, but wow, corn, you were very good with corn Uh, I and thank you for penicillin.

**[1:12:14] Amy Poehler:** started it wrong.

**[1:12:15] Marcello Hernández:** W- You knew science was not my thing. I went to summer school for chemistry as well, and I failed and he goes, that, and he goes, What are we gonna and then Jeffrey

**[1:12:22] Amy Poehler:** do? L. Sillen, he What are we gonna goes, What are do?

**[1:12:25] Marcello Hernández:** we gonna do? And that's big. One of the biggest questions in science is, when Jeffrey,

**[1:12:30] Amy Poehler:** That is one of the biggest questions it is in science.

**[1:12:32] Marcello Hernández:** one of the biggest. What are we? what What are we gonna do? When, whenever are we gonna something is an

**[1:12:37] Amy Poehler:** do?

**[1:12:37] Marcello Hernández:** obstacle has arrived, every major scientist in history has said, What are we gonna do? And so that's, you know, and I'll tell you what we're gonna do here today. Wrap this up. A lot of people in the comments here live are saying, keep going, We don't have we want more.

**[1:12:56] Amy Poehler:** live comments.

**[1:12:57] Marcello Hernández:** See in the comments, Hey, chat, I know, guys, I wanna stay. Let the record show. It's like a lot. Oh my god, a super chat, 500 bucks, 500 bucks. If I stay, thank you, Lizard King 45, thank you buddy.

**[1:13:12] Amy Poehler:** And then what are you watching right now, listening to? Who makes you laugh, Marcello?

**[1:13:18] Marcello Hernández:** How much time do we have? I'm two, Not a lot. That's just a fact.

**[1:13:22] Amy Poehler:** just need one.

**[1:13:23] Marcello Hernández:** One thing I'm watching, okay,

**[1:13:25] Amy Poehler:** What are you liking, watching,

**[1:13:27] Marcello Hernández:** watching, right?

**[1:13:27] Amy Poehler:** listening? You listen to? I know you're a bit of a culture vulture, I can tell.

**[1:13:30] Marcello Hernández:** I do. I do love listening to you. I listen to you in, uh, shorts, Yeah, you I watch the shorts,

**[1:13:35] Amy Poehler:** watch it on your phone. I know,

**[1:13:36] Marcello Hernández:** all the shorts. I understand, Um, to have a laugh, um, to have a laugh is. It's tough. I I know, I, I try to stay like, I almost try to, like, keep. I know Do you ever do that? it's yes. It's hard Yeah,

**[1:13:47] Amy Poehler:** to. That's why I ask, cause I'm like, I wanna watch more comedy, I watch a lot of dark stuff and I need to like. Is there a video? is there a there's a video, video that you play that you love?

**[1:13:57] Marcello Hernández:** there's one. This is kind of,

**[1:13:58] Amy Poehler:** It's just on your phone.

**[1:13:59] Marcello Hernández:** yeah, it's only for me. Um,

**[1:14:00] Amy Poehler:** I can look it up on my laptop, too. to play it. Um, No, we don't have that capacity here.

**[1:14:06] Marcello Hernández:** um, I. I recently watched this video of a guy who can cry on command Ooh, and he's talking about how his, um, he's,

**[1:14:16] Amy Poehler:** is this on TikTok?

**[1:14:17] Marcello Hernández:** yeah, I'll show you. It's really crazy. And um, he's, he's just crying, cause his tire is flat and and it's like, really intense. And I laughed so hard. Marcello, we We gotta go, I know it sucks. It's Marcello, like when you go to your aunt's house and you're like, I knew it, you're my aunt, and I, I knew I love you and I like to be at your house. And then you go, I know, but I have a life as well, and you go, Okay, I get it.

**[1:15:00] Marcello Hernández:** Send me back to where I came from.

**[1:15:02] Amy Poehler:** But I love visiting my nephew, I love when he I know brings me flowers, I did bring you it's so nice.

**[1:15:07] Marcello Hernández:** flowers. They're big, too. They're absolutely gorgeous, Thank you,

**[1:15:10] Amy Poehler:** they really are gorgeous. thank you so Thank you, Marcello, you're much. the 1st person to ever bring me flowers on the show.

**[1:15:15] Marcello Hernández:** Is that true? And I want that to go down in history. Thank you to Amy Poehler. I'm so inspired by you. I'm serious, you have to. You do it to people all day long. It's almost like what you do with this podcast. And I think it's ridiculous to give people compliments, cause it sucks and it's weird and it hurts. It makes me feel weird when I get a compliment, I've noticed, so I like to attack with it.

**[1:15:34] Marcello Hernández:** I've noticed, And you don't like it either. Look I know at you,

**[1:15:36] Amy Poehler:** we didn't.

**[1:15:36] Marcello Hernández:** you don't like it either, huh? No, honey, you're not This I found gonna compliment in an institution. me, you're not complimenting Yes, you deserve it. me. No, You are powerful, you are smart, you have thank a good family, you, Marcello. It you have created is for being a world for yourself. here. Thank you so You did podcasting

**[1:15:48] Amy Poehler:** much for being here.

**[1:15:49] Marcello Hernández:** for a week and then got awards. You are insane, Thank you you're so funny so much, at SNL, you are an example thank you so much of how it's supposed

**[1:15:56] Amy Poehler:** for coming.

**[1:15:56] Marcello Hernández:** to be. And so many We have comedians in the

**[1:15:58] Amy Poehler:** to go.

**[1:15:58] Marcello Hernández:** world have you to thank This room for the platform is gonna be used you gave them. by somebody else, And I'll tell we have you, yeah,

**[1:16:03] Amy Poehler:** to go.

**[1:16:04] Marcello Hernández:** okay, and I just wanna say a couple more things. And Amy Poehler, the w, the Thank the, the longevity

**[1:16:08] Amy Poehler:** you so much.

**[1:16:09] Marcello Hernández:** of what you've done. To start where you started and then get to Thank you so here from SNL, they much. go, Okay, she did SNL. Now, God, return what, what? these lights, Now? What? we're renting Parks and Rec, these lights, you're a and we gotta get savage on Parks

**[1:16:18] Amy Poehler:** em back. and Rec, dying of We gotta get laughter, dying of laughter, em back. I'm

**[1:16:20] Marcello Hernández:** dying of laughter. so sorry, You s you. You create Marcello, thank you, stars, you create thanks, stars. Think about the people on that show thank you with you, it's

**[1:16:26] Amy Poehler:** so much. Marcello.

**[1:16:26] Marcello Hernández:** it's Nick Offerman, it's it's Aubrey Plaza, and you're with them and you're playing back and forth. And the people are laughing, We've cut the people don't the feed, turn it off, we've cut the feed, don't touch it.

**[1:16:36] Amy Poehler:** we've cut the feed. You did We've cut the feed long okay, all ago. Don't right, whatever, look at the clock, no, the it doesn't matter.

**[1:16:42] Marcello Hernández:** clock's bright ring, blinking red. A woman just wrote WTF, and I say a woman because it's just this is what's here.

**[1:16:51] Amy Poehler:** I have a button under my desk It's your team, and I just press it. It's a security it's a security button and someone's gonna button. They're coming, aren't come and get me they? And you know quickly.

**[1:16:57] Marcello Hernández:** what? I want her to drag me out of here. You Now should be on I'm getting mad, every Bravo show now I'm actually getting you'd get a lot, mad, now I'm actually you're getting upset. getting mad. Yeah, Okay, okay, it's time to go, I'm go, okay, hear my no, hey, okay, let's go, I'm okay. Thank you. I wanna say a shout out, quick shout out to my mom, to all the Latinos out there. Keep it, keep grinding, baby.

**[1:17:15] Marcello Hernández:** We are not we going anywhere.

**[1:17:17] Amy Poehler:** do need you to leave.

**[1:17:18] Marcello Hernández:** And, uh, that's, um, and, uh, you know Security what I mean to my sister,

**[1:17:22] Amy Poehler:** is on the way.

**[1:17:22] Marcello Hernández:** my my dad, my stepdad, all the men in my life, my uncle Babido, rest in peace. I love, I loved you, and I still love You're really you. And my little making people uncomfortable sister is so

**[1:17:32] Amy Poehler:** now, you're right.

**[1:17:33] Marcello Hernández:** talented and my girlfriend is beautiful. And thank you guys, man. Wow, Woo, Marcello, thank you come on in and you guys gotta get this woman a phone.

**[1:17:46] Amy Poehler:** thank you so much, Marcello. That was so fun and a wild ride, and thank you for the flowers and so many hard laughs. And, you know, leave it to Marcello to, um, introduce me to a woman in comedy that I've never heard of. So, uh, for this polar plunge, I'm excited to, uh, dig deep into the work of Sofia Nino de Rivera, who, uh, is a, uh, uh, an actress and stand up, um, born in Mexico City and um, who performs in English and in Spanish, and who is really, really funny.

**[1:18:19] Amy Poehler:** So check her stuff out. And thank you, Marcello, for introducing me, uh, and all of us, to a whole other world of great people to laugh at and laugh with. Thanks for checking out this episode of Good Hang and we'll see you soon. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, Alea Zaneras, Bridget Gearlings, Paige Garbarini, Belle Roman, and Drew Van Steenbergen.

**[1:18:53] Amy Poehler:** For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

**[1:19:00] Speaker 9:** All I ever wanted was really good.

**[1:19:03] Amy Poehler:** This episode is brought to you by Caesar. Dog parents, what do you have on the menu tonight? If you're looking to serve your favorite four-legged friend high-quality wet dog food they'll be genuinely excited about, we say just eat Caesar. Whether it's a protein-rich beef recipe on Monday or a savory chicken and vegetable dinner on Wednesday, Caesar offers a variety of delicious meals made with freshly crafted, slow-cooked ingredients, all designed to support your dog's everyday nutrition without compromise.

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