Adam Pally Uses His First-Ever Comedy Special to Go Deep About Truth

I don’t know if Adam Pally liked this interview. I think he did, but I can’t say for sure. At one point — maybe two — I inadvertently insulted him, but I think we’re cool. Adam Pally is everybody’s best friend.

On Friday, Pally’s (The Mindy Project, Happy Endings, Sonic the Hedgehog) first-ever comedy special, An Intimate Evening with Adam Pally, premieres at 9 p.m. on HBO and HBO Max. “Equal parts stand-up, documentary and rock concert, Adam Pally plays with the truth — and his guitar — in a one-time-only performance,” the logline reads.

Pally’s schtick is not quite stand-up, and though he dons a guitar for most of the live performance, it’s not what you think. There are no silly songs, just earnest covers strategically placed throughout the set to move along its storytelling. And it probably accomplished that for the 200 audience members at the live taping at the Bell House in Brooklyn. For the vast majority of people who will ultimately consume the Pally performance at home, it won’t be the same experience.

Pally and the documentary’s director Brent Hodge failed to get the rights to, well, any of the cover songs Pally plays. (Pally, the son of lounge singers, is a legitimate musician; when we spoke via Zoom, no fewer than six guitars were visible. So that’s where the Mindy money went!) Their legal failure doesn’t mean viewers won’t find enjoyment in those muted moments, however, as the inability to gain clearances becomes part of a running joke that serves the documentary.

That’s kind of the special in a nutshell. Pally goes with the flow as well as anyone, which puts an interviewer at ease — as that’s when inadvertent insults can happen. It’s chill: Adam Pally is my friend. I think. You decide; read our Q&A below.

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I didn’t know what to expect from this special, which seems like partially the point. The trailer suggests the performance may have been a shitshow — but it was, in fact, a good show.

I guess then I’ve done it. I’ve set the expectations for something I’ve made so low that people are surprised that it even exists. In some ways, I take that as a huge compliment. I don’t know if I have a brand — a comedic brand — or anything like that. But I think a lot of the times I’ve gotten the chance to do something like this, I tend to do something self-effacing or meta or talk about the actual thing I’m doing, which some people like or some don’t. So this felt kind of on brand, I guess for me.

The special has a bigger point, this theme of truth. I wonder, though, because of your casual, affable style, if you don’t get credit for the depth.

I feel seen in this interview — I feel like you get me. I think I’m always grappling with how much someone’s attention is worth, and whether I’m worthy of that attention. I don’t take it lightly that people would be paying attention to it. I think that leads to a lot of thought, and if you’re not thinking about that then you’re truly an A-grade narcissist. But you have to sometimes be like, “Is my voice worth it? Is my opinion worth it?” It’s OK to have an opinion, but to put it out there, to do your work in public, is there a reason for it? I struggle with that a lot, because making people laugh is sometimes viewed as a less-than-honorable pursuit. Like the idea that a joke is cheap. To me, a joke is high art. A great joke is something like a great album, and a great comedian is like a great musician or great artist. You can hang “Who’s on First?” in a museum, right next to the Mona Lisa. To me, they’re equal parts cerebral and artistic and genius.

Is [this special] worth something to someone? I don’t know. Or is it just what I do? This is something that I felt compelled to do. I think all those thoughts went into making this, and all those thoughts go into a lot of my comedy. They tend to kind of run the gamut of, “Why?”

It can be a lot of work to look like you’re not working hard.

Sometimes people say good style is when you’re wearing something that looks like you’ve worn it for 30 years. I do try to do that. I try to make everything feel lived in. I toured this concept in this show for a long time, and really perfected it. I was all over in small places, really small venues. Not purposely, it just felt like that’s where I could book. That led to every night being different. I’m a child of jam bands. I love the Grateful Dead and Phish and and Dave Matthews Band and Pearl Jam — I love a new set every night.

I came up through improv. Stand-up comics have to do the same set every night, which would frustrate me. What I love about improv is that it’s different. But straight improv can sometimes be really tough to watch, and it doesn’t translate to movies and television, which is ultimately something else I wanted to do. I was thinking there has to be a way to make it feel special and different every night, while having it be the same and well-rehearsed and well-timed. I know where the jokes are, and I know how to take the audience for a ride with me — like a concert.

With the central theme of truth, were all of the recorded voicemails and phone calls between you and director Brent Hodge authentic, or were some of those moments planned out?

I can’t answer that because I truly don’t know the answer. Brett never told me when we were recording when he was recording. So whether that makes it authentic or not — after I saw the first cut, I knew that every time I talked to Brett on the phone, he was recording me. So you could take that answer however you want.

The time you got upset with him over music rights, were you legitimately angry?

At that point, I knew I was being recorded — but I was also legitimately upset.

At what point did you decide — or realize — the show was about truth?

About five years ago, I was doing short guest spots on my friends’ shows. I started to bring my guitar because it was all I had, and the spots started to evolve. Around that time, there was a big question about stand-ups and authenticity. How authentic you had to be or how authentic you are, or if these stories happen to me or someone like me, or if I’m confusing it in my mind. It was a hot time. So I started telling these long stories and forming punchlines for them. Then the music kind of supported them. In a lot of ways, to me, it doesn’t matter [if it’s true] unless you want it to matter. I know that sounds strange, but if someone’s telling me a story and it’s funny, they put themselves in the protagonist position for a reason, then I’m judgmental of it. But if they’re just getting a laugh on it, like this is the way to get the point across, or this is the story — that’s how people write movies.

I was trying to exonerate that, and saying, “You know what, none of it matters because we’re all struggling, we’re all the same.” Really the only truth — the only real honest truth for any performer — is that they just want people to look at them and be seen. If someone tells you otherwise, they’re lying. So that was the truth I came to and I was trying to explore as many avenues into that answer as I could — to pull as many cars into that garage as I could.

You said earlier you don’t know if you have a comedic brand. I think you do. I think your brand is “Everybody’s Best Friend.”

My agent would hate to hear that. My publicist is literally like, “[Groans] There goes leading man!” Actually, when I say “agent” and “manager,” it’s actually my own brain. I’m way too fat to be a leading man.

(Laughs.) That’s actually not the way I meant it. You can play a lead, like on Mr. Throwback, which as you know I really liked. But you have an aura of being everyone’s pal — meaning everyone in the audience. Like Ike Barinholtz, whom of course you worked with on The Mindy Project.

No, no. I was kidding. That’s very nice of you, again. To be compared to Ike is a huge, huge, huge— well, he’s big in stature. [Note: Barinholtz is about 6-foot-2 to Pally’s 5-foot-10.] It’s a huge compliment. He’s the greatest. I was just telling someone today, one of the things I loved the most about working on Mindy was watching Ike and Dave Stassen and Mindy [Kaling] work. Truly, I learned from watching them — “Oh, you can run a show and be funny and be on it and get your voice [on it]?” So to have my name brought up in any sense with Ike is a true compliment.

I’m surprised to hear you say [I’m so likable] because I feel like — I don’t know if I have a brand, but I guess it would be maybe chaos? Mindy Kaling once called me a Loki, like a bit of a troublemaker. But I’m trying, especially as I get older, to channel those powers for good.

I just can’t picture you in an argument with somebody.

I do hate confrontation, so that’s fair.

Mr. Throwback is a good example. Your character isn’t a good guy — not at first — but he’s still lovable, and not in an antihero-type way…

Yeah, yeah.

Do you want to play a real villain?

You want to talk about chewing scenery? I mean, I would dig in. I would hope to one day be afforded those opportunities to really stretch and grow. But I’ve been so lucky. I’ve been banging around for almost 20 years. I would love to play a real villain and be given that opportunity, and I know I would do a good job with it. But at the same time, I don’t turn my nose up at any work, really. I need to work. I like to work and I need to work. So I’m so thankful. If someone sees me as the best friend, that’s great, because hopefully I’ll do something different in that best friend role that you can’t imagine anyone else doing. That’s the goal of everything I play — every thing I put out, and every comedic thing I do, or anything I do in general. I would hope that you would say, “No one else could do that.”

Were you crushed by the Mr. Throwback cancellation? It was bizarre how quick Peacock was to pull that trigger after all of the marketing behind it.

You know what? It did what it did — and it’ll do what it’ll do. And you know what it really did? Everybody that worked on it is now working on something else. I’m the only one that’s not. And that happens on almost every job that I’ve been lucky enough to have. I think I’m proud of that the most. Usually people after working with me go on to do really great things — and whether that’s because they (laughs) saw the way I did it and didn’t like it, or because they took a little bit of me with them, I think it’s a nice pattern in my career that I would hope to continue. Everybody on Throwback from the writing staff to the cast is thriving.

Steph [Curry] landed on his feet.

Look, he does Throwback and Jimmy Butler shows up. [Note: Butler was traded from the Miami Heat to Curry’s Golden State Warriors in February.]

My daughters and I enjoy the Sonic movies and Knuckles spinoff, which gives you a bit more to do than the films. I understand Idris Elba has had a stellar dramatic acting career, but I cannot be convinced that Knuckles is not his finest role.

I honestly don’t know what the plans are for the franchise. It’s the greatest gig. Truly the best job. Idris is funny. In person, he is very funny. He makes me laugh all the time. To the premiere I invited my aunt and uncle, and they were a little nervous; they didn’t know where to go. I was trying to tell them on the phone where to go. But I was doing interviews — it’s kind of hectic, so was like, “Just go to the theater.” I show up, do the red carpet and then I bump into Idris and he goes, [doing an excellent Idris impression] “Adam, this is your uncle.” He had already been hanging out with my uncle. He’s like, [back to Idris impression] “Your Uncle Robert is very funny!”

That’s a very good Idris impression)

Well, I spent enough time with him. He’s a funny guy. His his tone is perfect — he nails it. I hope he does more comedy. He makes me laugh in real life. I feel like there’s a comedy out there for him, and it’ll be a huge hit.

For Knuckles, are you mostly acting opposite a tennis ball or like a stuffy of Knuckles?

It depends on what the scene is. It runs the gamut from a child in a green suit to a tennis ball, to a live puppet with, like, full animatronic features.

No real echidna?

Haven’t thrown in a real echidna. They know not to. I remember doing a scene with a snake once in Champaign, ILL. I am really good on set. Like, really good. You can beat me up, put me in a cage, feed me through a tube, whatever. I’m an actor’s-actor. I’ve worked with David Caspe, who directed and created that show, a million times. And I remember after we did the snake scene, he came over to me and was like, “Wow, you really hated that snake.” There’s some things I can’t act through.

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An Intimate Evening with Adam Pally premieres on HBO and streams on HBO Max at 9 p.m. Friday.