Bill Murray dives in a dumpster pool for Letterman, takes GQ to his own private comedy school

Bill Murray. So great. So funny. Still funny. Before diving into a dumpster pool parked outside Late Show with David Letterman yesterday, Murray exclaimed: "You can't wade in, baby! You can't wade in!" Then added: "Louuuuu Piniella!" as he dove into the murky water, and cut himself on the side of the head. Roll the clip!

Conveniently, this week GQ Magazine featured a sit-down interview with Murray in its annual "Comedy Issue," and here is what he had to tell them about finding comedy gold in them thar screenplays, and in life in general:

But you asked how you get the comic pitch. Well, obviously a lot of it is rhythm. And as often as not, it's the surprising rhythm. In life and in movies, you can usually guess what someone is going to say—you can actually hear it—before they say it. But if you undercut that just a little, it can make you fall off your chair. It's small and simple like that. You're always trying to get your distractions out of the way and be as calm as you can be [breathes in and out slowly], and emotion will just drive the machine. It will go through the machine without being interrupted, and it comes out in a rhythm that's naturally funny. And that funny rhythm is either humorous or touching. It can be either one. But it's always a surprise. I really don't know what's going to come out of my mouth.

And why he has remained a Chicago guy living in New York City, and not Los Angeles:

No, no, no. Never. It just never took. It's like the first day you check into a hotel in L.A. there's a message under your door. The second day, there's eleven messages under your door. The third day, there's thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy messages. And I realized that they just want fresh blood. They. Just. Want. Fresh. Blood. You gotta get the hell out of there. And you really feel, if you live in New York, that you're three hours ahead of them‚ÄîI mean that literally. It's like, Oh man, we gotta help these people! And the longer you stay there, the less ahead of them you get, and then you're one of them. No way, man. Not for me. 

If you haven't read it, well, just go read it already!

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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One thought on “Bill Murray dives in a dumpster pool for Letterman, takes GQ to his own private comedy school

  1. I would love to see Bill go full force in Ghostbusters 3. The original AND the sequel are two classic comedies and set the tone for a lot of comedy and comedians for the past near twenty years. But if we had to JUST have Bill Murray in Ghostbusters 3 for a cameo then so be it, it shall still rock. It’s a proven fact that Bill Murray cameos can make a good movie great and a bad movie watchable.
    Here’s the Top 4 Bill Murray cameos:
    https://www.digitallizardproductions.com/daily-fournication-07.22.10–top-4-bill-murray-cameos.html

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