We have a natural impulse to want to spend time with late-night hosts. We want to be on their couch. We want to buy them a beer. We want to take them fishing and go halvies with them on a condo in Bermuda. I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time with almost all the late-night giants (Jimmy, the tests came back negative. Thank God!), but I’m equally fascinated by the writers and producers behind the curtain, the ones who keep their bosses cool, calm, collected and comical.
K.P. Anderson is one of those guys - and one of the most enjoyable to spend time with. The Cambridge, Minn. native helps oversee “The Soup,” “The Dish,” “Web Soup,” “Sports Soup” and, for all I know, the national defense system of Albania. Despite his busy schedule, he was kind enough to spend a recent afternoon with me, sharing insights into how he made it big in Hollywood after years of struggling as a comic both on the road and at Johnny Rockets in Los Angeles. I’ve got a short profile of him running in Sunday’s paper (you may have to buy a paper to read it immediately; it’s been saved as a “only in the Sunday paper” feature for four or five days), but space restrictions kept me from sharing some of Anderson’s most insightful tips on how to be a success in La-La Land. Here, then, are some nuggets for you to keep in mind if you want to follow in Anderson’s footsteps:

1) IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU. Anderson, a standup for years, started taking a behind-the-scenes role when Bill Maher caught his act, liked his material and invited him to write for “Politcally Incorrect,” which was airing on ABC at the time. During the first week, the rookie got less respect than the coffee boy. Than something remarkable happened: Bill Clinton got horny. A couple hours before the live taping, news broke that the president had gotten some, um, favors, from an intern named Monick Lewinsky. Maher quickly ordered his writers to come up with some topical jokes - fast. Anderson happened to come up with a gem, something about Clinton’s troubles may force him to hold his next State of the Union address on the “Jerry Springer Show.” The joke was picked up by major talk shows and Anderson seemed to be on his way. Except he wasn’t.
Anderson admits that he screwed up by being more bent on writing jokes about “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll,” instead of paying attention to the theme of the show and Maher’s delivery.
“You have to understand the host’s voice and personality. I learned that from Bill,” Anderson said. “You have to ask yourself: ‘Is the voice and tone being captured?’ They need to own what you’re doing.”
It was a hard lesson to learn. Maher fired him - then rehired him nine months later - and let him go again. Since then, Anderson has learned that his sensiblities is less important than the sensibilities of the guy signing the checks.
2) NEVER PASS UP AN OPPORTUNITY TO WALK THE DOG.
Anderson got a call one afternoon from Ralphie May, a very funny standup who might have a juicier career if he was more interested in work and less interested in downing two steak dinners in one sittin. May wanted to know if he wanted to meet him at a dog park with their pets. Even though the location was a bit of a hassle, Anderson made the trip - and ended up waiting almost an hour for the comic. He never showed up. When Anderson returned to the house, his phone was ringing. It was Ralphie. Hey, come back, he said. I’ve got Jay Mohr with me. Jay, of course, is one of the smartest, and sometimes snarkiest comics, out there (He currently stars in CBS’s “Gary Unmarried”). Anderson begrudgingly make the trip back. It was a smart decision. After some, um, recreational intake (we’ll let you fill in the blanks), Mohr asked Anderson - out of the blue - if he would be interested in being the head writer for a new sports/comedy show. The show didn’t last long; the relationship did. That experience reminded Anderson that friendship with VIPs can be fun; it can also be really good business.
3) DON’T LET IT STEW; HAVE A BREW. “If there’s a problem,a hundred times out of a hundred, it’s because of miscommunications,” Anderson preaches. The Minnesotan is no saint. He’s butted heads with plenty of people, including his producing partner on “The Soup.” But he says it’s important to recognize that you’re not going to love everybody all of the time, and that sometimes you have to agree to disagree (a particularly hard lesson for us Minnesotans). A recent example: (this gets a bit racy, so you may want to discontinue reading write now if you’re not a fan of vulgar jokes or you’re a big fan of Paris Hilton) Anderson conjured up what he thought was a great joke for “the Soup’: What if a dumpster rolled onto the set, filled with Paris jokes that Joel McHale would pick from? And what if McHale feigned frustration and called for the dumpster to be taken away? And what if Anderson, offstage, would say the immortal words: “Come, dumpster.”
Anderson thought it was hilarious. The censors begged to differ. After the VP of the studio nixed the joke, Anderson tore out of the studio and went across the street for a couple beers. After spewing his genius to the bartender and sulking, he returned - cleansed. “You can’t let these thing manifest themselves and become an emotional thing,” he said.
If you have that ability - to rage and then let things go - you’ll have a better chance to make it in Hollywood.
I look forward to seeing Anderson in LA later this summer. I’ll even put up with his “genius rantings” - as long as he buys the beers.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.