Danny McBride returns to discuss his debut short story collection Thrilling Tales of Modern Men, revealing how his mother's church puppet shows were his first exposure to the creative process of writing and performing for an audience. He and Conan explore the structural overlap between comedy and horror — both genres rely on pacing, misdirection, and the precise timing of a payoff — a philosophy that shaped McBride's work on the 2018 Halloween reboot. McBride also admits he initially told co-writer David Gordon Green not to reboot Halloween, only to change his mind and end up pitching John Carpenter directly at his house.
Key Moments
Danny McBride
“I'm seeing her in our kitchen writing these scripts and like, you know, running the lines and then a few days later I'm at church like looking around watching people watch it and respond to it. And, you know, I just thought it was cool. I think that was like the beginning of me sort of like even understanding like oh this is like something you could do. You can you can write things in your kitchen and people might respond to it.”
McBride describing how watching his mother write and perform puppet show scripts for their Baptist church was his earliest understanding of the creative process.
“I think when comedy is written where there is such a disdain for what you're joking about, it could kind of become boring. I think it becomes more unexpected if you're confused as the audience of where you even kind of sit with this person.”
McBride explaining his philosophy of writing flawed characters with empathy rather than contempt, referencing Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals, and The Righteous Gemstones.
“with a joke, you'll you know, you obviously want to pace things out so that the punch line gets the biggest laugh. And I think it's the same way with those scares. You think about how you know, oh, we'll make them a little scared here and then we'll let them off the hook here and then boom, we'll hit them here. So I think there is a little bit of that is similar is the yeah the architecture of trying to make sure you get the result that you're going for.”
McBride drawing a direct structural parallel between writing comedy and writing horror, prompted by Conan noting his work on the Halloween franchise.
“I was like no way. We you shouldn't relaunch Halloween. It's a terrible idea. I love Halloween. Don't do that. Uh but then as we were thinking about it I was like well I mean if someone's going to why don't we give it a shot and let's see if we could.”
McBride recounting his initial reaction when David Gordon Green approached him about co-writing the 2018 Halloween reboot.
“David and I had to go to John Carpenters's house and pitch him what we wanted to do. And it was sort of like I've never really been nervous about pitching an idea ever. I was just like, they don't like it. they don't like it. But suddenly, as we're like knocking on his door, it's like, oh god, I think I'll be crushed if he doesn't like what this idea is.”
McBride describing the unusual and nerve-wracking experience of pitching the Halloween reboot concept directly to original director John Carpenter at his home.
Danny McBride is a writer, producer, and actor best known for creating and starring in HBO series Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals, and The Righteous Gemstones. He also co-wrote the 2018 Halloween reboot alongside director David Gordon Green. McBride recently published his debut book of short stories, Thrilling Tales of Modern Men.
Takeaways
1
Watching an audience react is its own creative education McBride credits observing his mother's church puppet shows — not participating in them — as his first creative education. Seeing how a piece of writing, performed days after it was drafted in a kitchen, could move a room gave him a concrete model for what storytelling could do. Passive observation of audience response can be as formative as active creation.
2
Pitching to your hero demands genuine creative conviction McBride describes pitching the Halloween reboot to John Carpenter at his house as the only time he'd ever felt genuinely nervous about a pitch. The experience revealed that creative confidence evaporates when the stakes are personal and the authority figure is someone whose work shaped your own. Having a clear, specific vision — not just enthusiasm — was what got Carpenter's approval.
3
Empathy for flawed characters makes comedy richer McBride argues that comedy written with pure contempt for its subjects becomes predictable and boring. When audiences are genuinely uncertain how to feel about a character — Kenny Powers, the Gemstones — the comedy lands harder because the emotional stakes feel real. This is a deliberate creative philosophy across all his shows.
4
Comedy and horror share the same structural architecture Both genres depend on pacing, tension release, and the precise placement of a payoff — whether that's a punchline or a jump scare. McBride points to Jordan Peele and the film Weapons as examples of comedians who crossed over effectively because they already understood this structure. Recognizing the overlap is what gave him confidence to co-write Halloween.
5
Boredom in church trained an entire generation of comedians Both McBride and Conan independently describe enforced silence at religious services — Baptist and Catholic respectively — as the incubator for their imagination. With no screens and no escape, their minds ran wild. Constraint and boredom, rather than stimulation, may be underrated conditions for developing a creative inner life.