This week’s episode of Two Friends: A Nice Time Hanging Out With People Who Know Each Other Well is extra special because the two friends in question aren’t just friends, they’re both from Michigan. Isn’t that fun? The Daily Show correspondent Michael Kosta and the Grammy-nominated musician Mayer Hawthorne caught up live on our Instagram account to talk about Kosta’s recently released Comedy Central special, Detroit. NY. LA. It turns out Hawthorne made a pretty major contribution to the show: a custom track that serves as the intro music. Kosta played the jazzy number for the Instagram audience before revealing that the only specification he gave his friend was that the song had to say his full name. “I wanted it to feel like old-school comedy-club vibe,†Hawthorne said, adding that he drew inspiration from Jeff Scott, the house piano player at the Comedy Store in L.A., whose performances had a big effect on him. “I was like, ‘Fuck the comedy, this guy is the star.’†And Kosta confirmed, “He cannot read a note of music, but he can play the fuck out of the piano.†Hawthorne replied, “I wanted it to feel like something that Jeff could’ve played, and next time you play the Comedy Store, you have to get Jeff to play the song.â€
The two Michiganders also chatted about turntables, the fact that Hawthorne is friends with Snoop Dogg, and their shared love of NPR news, and they revealed that if you can return either of their serves, you can probably beat them in tennis. A good factoid to keep in your back pocket for the day your doubles team goes up against Kosta and Hawthorne.
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