The State Thomas Lennon the State Thomas Lennon Call Me Old Fashioned

The benefits of being an improv sketch comedian—especially one working during a global pandemic—are not lost on Reno 911! star Thomas Lennon. Having played dozens of eccentric characters throughout his career (most notably a flamboyant police lieutenant), Lennon, like many impressionists, felt a call to action when Netflix's Tiger King premiered final month. Fortunately for the 49-year-old, all the accessories needed for a convincing portrayal of Joe Exotic were already in his closet. After sorting through a variety of blonde wigs, handcuffs and prison jumpsuits, Lennon showcased his transformation during an interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

"Not only did I have a full setup to do Joe Exotic, I had many, many options," Lennon jokes. "A life in sketch comedy has led to me having pretty much all the stuff you need to have a functioning sketch one-act testify in my business firm."

By now, Lennon'south wife, Jenny, and x-year-old son, Oliver, are not fazed by his DIY backyard shenanigans—which is to say that the star has adapted rather seamlessly to self-isolating life, developing new characters on Instagram and creating brusk-course teasers to celebrate the impending return of Reno 911! The six-season sitcom, which debuted on One-act Key in 2003, premieres its long-awaited reprieve today, May 4, cheers to the newly-launched mobile streaming service Quibi. For Lennon, promoting the new season—which volition consist of 25 episodes, ranging half dozen to 8 minutes apiece—has meant Zoom calls with all of his returning cast members and finding ideas for the bear witness's own TikTok account with Quibi executive Doug Herzog. "The phone call started with I have integrity, I'm never going to do anything stupid on TikTok," Lennon recalls of one conversation, "and it ended with me basically agreeing to do a trip the light fantastic toe-off betwixt my Joe Exotic and Lt. Dangle."

While a mockumentary cop show might play differently because the events of the last decade, Lennon believes the new season contains the best episodes they've ever done. "All the questions you have about, 'What the fuck would they do today?' volition be answered," he says. That includes the render of old pranks (Dangle's wheel being stolen) and relevant gags, like local teenagers filming some poor firearm practice with their phones. "To have anybody back together was a existent joy," Lennon says. "And we're much closer now than probably we were then. I think nosotros've all grown a lot comedy-wise."

In the midst of isolation, and in between interrupting his fake colleagues on Zoom, Lennon has institute enough of other sources of laughter. Here, he takes us through the last eight things that have fabricated him express mirth.

i. Oh Hullo: The P'dcast

Courtesy of Simplecast

There were a couple times listening to Oh Hello where I honestly felt similar I might be having a stroke or something, because my laughing was and so intense. Somehow not seeing them actually takes it up a notch, which I recollect is really weird. It'south even improve because of the intimacy of them in your ears. [Nick] Kroll'due south totally fake pitches for ads like Subway or Quizno's..."You like sweaty meats? And puffy breadstuff? Quizno's!" I believe one of the pitches was, "If you're in the Cincinnati aerodrome and it'due south 1994… Quizno's!" I never thought they would be then smart. I know those guys are brilliant, just the fact that their podcast is about [investigating Princess Diana'southward death], and so when the music kicks in, information technology'southward just fucking wonderful. The other wonderful thing almost Oh Hi is I didn't realize how sort of mean [John] Mulaney's character is. [Laughs.]

2. TikTok

At that place's a lot of TikTok that's merely young girls in yoga pants dancing around—which, by the way, the world needs that as well, god bless. But sometimes it feels like an FBI check to see if you lot click. The one that I just watched today, information technology's my favorite thing I've always seen. Information technology's ii girls drinking wine, set to Enya. One'south holding a glass of wine with her mouth below the stem at the base. They both lean back and she puts the glass of vino into the girl'south mouth backside her. I think it celebrates everything skillful near America correct now. There's another kid who's killing me on TikTok who does conversations of Obama and Trump, he's then proficient. At that place's likewise a guy, @iammoshow, the cat rapper. He's fucking wonderful. He does exactly what you think. He'due south got cats and then he does some dancing and rapping with them. There's nothing else like that. This is an era where people are so funny that I near can't believe information technology. The creativity that's flourishing right now considering of the horrible circumstances, people are getting funny equally fuck in their garages.

3. Rob Huebel's Instagram feed and Human Giant sketches

His Instagram is magnificent. I think my favorite video was a "How to," where you take a piece of aluminum foil and and so y'all get your family to close up for three minutes. I retrieve Rob'southward tapped into a beautiful level of agony. They're highly relatable videos. Rob's been on Reno 911! with [his sketch one-act group] Homo Giant. The Human Giant exorcism scene, at the time information technology made me express joy harder than anything I'd ever seen. When yous see another sketch group that'due south really, really adept, information technology doesn't always make you happy. [Laughs.] At that place'south a groovy Homo Behemothic sketch for this time of celebrity, which is chosen "Viral Videos." It'due south a sketch about a dude who cuts his penis off to get famous on the Internet, and the next guy who gets famous is someone who makes funny faces. It'south a real bummer for the guy who cut his dick off.

4. The Zoom Where It Happens

The funny thing most "The Zoom Where it Happens" is it'south i of those ideas where [y'all remember to yourself], You guys were simply a couple minutes ahead of the curve! I thought that was the existent "Hamilton" bandage, merely I recall information technology'south merely Broadway people. I remember it came out two nights before we had shot our Reno 911! Zoom meetings. It's actually a trip. [Our Reno Zoom] was so unscripted that information technology was a little stressful. The joke of, "We tin't hear each other," "Shut up!" "Who'south pooping?" In that location'due south a very fine line in those pieces between what was just actually happening and what's the graphic symbol. My prop of a giant glass of blood-red wine, that's not simulated. The only difference in doing sketch comedy at home is all the giant glasses of red wine are existent.

5. My #HandyTom Instagram character

HandyTom is a [character] I've been doing. A big part of my HandyTom stuff is I really do take a crazy OCD, then I did spend a whole twenty-four hours with the steam cleaner on. I was literally the shittiest Avenger you've ever seen, with yoga pants, a steam cleaner and a Camelback stuck in my mouth to hydrate. The weird thing is that in that location'south a sure kind of crazy that does well during this [quarantine]. I took apart a doorknob, put information technology back together—it was 7 hours of piece of work and I was listening to Liz Phair. It worked amazingly for 24 hours, and and so the adjacent day the doorknob roughshod off over again. I screamed so loud they could hear it on the international space station.

6. Porcupine Racetrack

This is a niggling self-promotional. David Wain, from MTV's The Country, took this old sketch of mine chosen "Porcupine Racetrack" and he had all of us film ourselves singing information technology. It actually choked me up to meet the whole grouping together even though we're not really together. Nosotros've been preparing to practise curt-course comedy with no resource since 1988. Little short things that yous shoot yourself—that was the thing about The State was it was ever practice it yourself. We all went to NYU Picture show School, then everybody was handy with technical things. Unbeknownst to me, I was preparing to do short, crappy comedy from a phone. I've been shooting a sketch almost every day of some kind. My wife came out in the backyard and I was merely in like a metal speedo doing weird weightlifting.

7. We Rate Dogs Twitter Feed

I could look at that every day. In a time of turmoil and scariness, everything they're doing at "Nosotros Rate Dogs" is fantastic. They're all wonderful. You've got to be existent conscientious with "We Rate Dogs" because it'southward a major rabbit hole. Suddenly it turns into the night and you didn't realize what happened because you were looking at "We Rate Dogs" all day. The dog ratings—10 is the highest score, simply the lowest that they will requite a dog is 12 or 13 I believe. It's the best.

8. My son this morn

Courtesy of Thomas Lennon

Oliver jumped into a beanbag chair in front of me and then farted into it. And and so he said, "Oh, what was that?" At that place's no manner to expect it up online, but it made me laugh. Granted, it was like shooting fish in a barrel stuff. This was low-hanging fruit. Information technology's not his all-time stuff, only sometimes if yous but know your audition. He found my male child lookout uniform from the '80s in Chicago, where I weirdly was a Life Lookout, 1 brusk of Hawkeye, and started wearing it. The weird affair was, when he wore the uniform, he started turning into a actually useful guy. It's only this bizarre thing. Similar usually, he'southward dancing effectually and farting and doing weird stuff, and then he puts on the boy lookout man compatible and he's like, "Begetter, what tin I do for y'all?"

I can probably dribble [parenting] into one idea. In that location's your kid yous accept who'due south a lilliputian cute baby and you love them and they make messes. And then, one solar day—and it sneaks up on y'all—you can teach your child how to reset the Wi-Fi router, and and so it's like you've got a niggling pet who fixes the Wi-Fi! He's the canary in our coal mine, the coal mine being the Wi-Fi. Yous volition beloved them more.

A few things that make Tim and Eric laugh.