John Mulaney

[magazinewhore]

NO! No. No. No. No. No. I'm going to assume that's not true.

[laurenj]

All that's going on with John Mulaney reminded me of this special I watched awhile back, where John has a genuinely panicked reaction to Hasan Minhaj texting his dad 16:30 mark

Also, a kinda sad moment where Hasan tells John he should be texting his dad back, his dad had been texting him and John wasn't responding to any of them.

It's a cute special, but that moment seems extra interesting in retrospect. I wonder what his relationship with his dad is like.

[Ginger]

Yeah, he seems to have a weird relationship with both of his parents. His wife basically confronted him during a Mother's Day weekend to tell him, "You are really fake with your mom."

Because what's weird is that I think it comes mostly from him, not from his parents. In serious interviews, he's indicated that his parents have always been loving and supportive of him. But he seems to have a very big internal fear of letting them down. I mean, the wild substance abuse is something he knows would horrify his parents.

I can only imagine how they feel watching him leave his wife and take up with an actress.

[laurenj]

Jun 3, 2021 9:50:58 GMT -4 Ginger said:

Yeah, he seems to have a weird relationship with both of his parents. His wife basically confronted him during a Mother's Day weekend to tell him, "You are really fake with your mom."

Because what's weird is that I think it comes mostly from him, not from his parents. In serious interviews, he's indicated that his parents have always been loving and supportive of him. But he seems to have a very big internal fear of letting them down. I mean, the wild substance abuse is something he knows would horrify his parents.

I can only imagine how they feel watching him leave his wife and take up with an actress.

I think it makes sense that the weirdness comes from him BECAUSE his parents were loving and supportive. It'd be easier to blame them for his addiction troubles if they were awful. But when the parents were good to them, but the kid spins off into drug addiction or trouble with the law anyway, there's an extra layer of guilt for what they're doing to their parents.

And if the news is true that he'd already relapsed by the time that special was taped, it makes sense why he'd not be answering his dad's texts, which from the one that was read aloud, were just nice, supportive messages about his appearances on shows.

[Ginger]

Aug 19, 2008 9:02:06 GMT -4 laurenj said:

I think it makes sense that the weirdness comes from him BECAUSE his parents were loving and supportive. It'd be easier to blame them for his addiction troubles if they were awful. But when the parents were good to them, but the kid spins off into drug addiction or trouble with the law anyway, there's an extra layer of guilt for what they're doing to their parents.

Yeah, and he's mentioned that his siblings are all well-adjusted and straight-laced, just like the parents, so he's the odd one out in terms of having that crazy side. Self-esteem seems to be a universal problem with comedians and that's probably what it all comes down to.

[peace47]

Speaking of his family, I seem to remember that John did an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show awhile back where they were talking about Catholicism, and Stephen mentioned that his confirmation name was in honor of a brother who had died (in the plane crash), and John chimed in with a “me too.” At the time, I thought John meant that his confirmation name was also in honor of a *deceased* brother. I remember that light Googling didn’t turn up anything at all about him having lost any siblings, so maybe I misunderstood the reference (maybe it was just in honor of one of his living brothers, or another relative who died).

I haven’t watched all that many interviews with him, so what I gather about his relationship with his parents mostly comes from his own material. And to that end, him joking that his parents “loved” them, but didn’t “like” them, and his infamous “one black coffee” story about his dad made me think that he did have some issues about his parents maybe not being quite as warm as he personally needed (like, not that they were bad, or atypical of 80s parents, but you know, just a little bit more reserved). His dad was (not sure if he still is or is retired) an M&A partner at a very prestigious, nationally renowned law firm. I was impressed when I learned that.

[Ginger]

There are four adult Mulaney children. Chip Mulaney III became a lawyer like the parents. John's little sister did improv and was a writer on SNL for a while. Mulaney child #5 died shortly after birth (never came home from the hospital) and that's who John paid tribute to with his confirmation name.

I feel like I knew a lot of parents like how John describes the Mulaney parents - Irish Catholic, very devout, a little reserved. That "one black coffee" story could totally have happened in my family - on road trips, we'd eat sandwiches and fruit that we brought with us, and stopping at McDonald's was just to use the bathroom.

[Ginger]

He's gained weight.

His wife must looooooove seeing pictures of Olivia doing the walk of shame out of the house she and John purchased as newlyweds, and which she decorated.

[scarlet]

Subtle!

[Ginger]

Well, there were rumors that they were never dating and the report was wrong. Couldn't let that stand!