Joking around with Rob and Nate Corddry

Two brothers. Two Daily Show ”reporters.” Two pilots picked up for next season. Too much funny for one Massachusetts family to legally possess. Nate Corddry, 28, is ready for prime time with NBC’s SNL-inspired drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, while his older brother Rob, 35, will anchor Fox’s midseason sitcom The Winner, ”about a guy coming of age at 32.” EW sat the brothers down for a little verbal roughhousing.

ROB [To Nate] Way to dress up for the interview.
NATE [To Rob] Way to put on 40 pounds.

We take it sibling rivalry shaped your comedy?
ROB Our parents knew we were going to be comedians, so they packed in all these family dinners so we’d humiliate each other and ourselves. It was a ”kill or be killed” kind of thing.

What’s funny about growing up in Weymouth, Mass.? Do they call it ”the W” now?
NATE They call it ”the ‘Mouth.” Or the W… I don’t know if it’s a Massachusetts thing, but everyone is sarcastic.
ROB Even if they’re not funny, they’re sarcastic. [In Boston accent] You can say anything — ”Shaddap, ya kumquat!” That’s considered hilarious. I think it has to do with being descended from Puritans and having winter nine months a year. We have a friend from San Francisco. Grew up in this hippie kind of way, very earthy guy, very funny. He once told me, ”You can be very hurtful.” And I was like, ”I’m sorry. You’re right.”
NATE My freshman year in college — and this was in New England — I’m sitting in the cafeteria surrounded by my new friends, my new roommates, and I’m just goin’! I’m doing jokes! I’m ripping into these guys! Isn’t comedy supposed to be mean? And they’re like: ”You’re an a–hole.”

The Corddry brothers or Rob comma Nate?
NATE That was a big question with both of us on The Daily Show. We were on different paths.
ROB Nate was doing a lot of theater. He comes out of the Williamstown Theatre Festival track. And I come out of the Upright Citizens Brigade track. While he was doing important theater, I was doing, uh, vaudeville.
NATE Our paths are crossing at this moment. And I’m sure they’ll take off again in different directions. But now that we’ve worked together on a national show, I’m sure our chances to work together again are significant.
ROB I also want to manufacture a feud.
NATE I think that’s something Quaid brothers really missed out on.
ROB No, I’m thinking more like the Davies brothers’ feud. Totally made up by the publicist. They haven’t spoken in 25 years just to keep that up. I don’t think I could keep that up. Christmas would be so awkward.
NATE I know.
ROB What’s great is, I’m about to have a baby. And Nate’s pilot [Studio 60] is definitely going. So Uncle Nate’s going to be right around the corner. I only booked this pilot so I could get Nate to babysit.
NATE So nice of Fox to book that.
ROB They’re soooo dumb.

Tell us about the Corddrys, the early years…
NATE Lewis Black taught me stand-up. He used to teach [at Williamstown] every year. He used to host a late-night cabaret. We had all these amazing Broadway stars. And he would play a bit part in one of the shows. He’s written, like, 500 plays. And he would teach every apprentice stand-up.
ROB The other day [Black] told me, ”Tell your brother ‘You’re welcome for your career.”’… My Williamstown experience consisted of going up to see Nate and taking Ecstasy and getting really drunk. I learned a lot. I credit my success to? f—ing a lot of apprentices. No, no, that didn’t happen. ”CORDDRY F—S APPRENTICES.”

How did your Daily Show characters develop?
ROB You mean the dumb frat guy who will date-rape your daughter?
NATE You know, before the interview my agent said, ”You’re gonna be fine! Just let them know you feel blessed.”
ROB We’d like to thank all the Jesuses… I’d like to thank ICM, even though I’m not represented there. And William Morris.

What are you guys up to next?
ROB I’ve got a part in Blades of Glory [the Will Ferrell-Jon Heder figure-skating comedy]. We’re both doing a lot of tiny roles in otherwise great movies. But his [The Nanny Diaries] involves Scarlett Johansson. So by the time this comes out, you’ll probably have had sex with Scarlett Johansson. Right?
NATE You’ve got to give me an over-under here.
ROB Oh, like, 99 percent.
NATE I’ll try not to blow it.

Nate, how’ve you been preparing for your role on Studio 60?
NATE I’ve been watching West Wing and Sports Night episodes nonstop since I got the audition. It makes you want to walk down hallways really fast.
ROB Would you call yourself the Jimmy Fallon character?
NATE [Snickers]
ROB I’m serious! One of the young hot guys?
NATE I’m one of the young white guys, one of the up-and-comers.

So what do you see in the future? Emmys, maybe?
ROB I touched an Oscar once. Friend of mine has one, for writing. He said, ”You want to touch it?” I said ”Yeah,” and he let me touch it. And as soon as I touched it, he said, ”Now you’ll never win one.” So: I’ll never win an Oscar, I’ll never f— Scarlett Johannson.
NATE Blessed. We feel blessed.