Actors Sebastian Maniscalco & Omar J. Dorsey talk to The Inside Reel about playing to the reality in humor, finding the balance in comic candence and finding moments and empathy in details in regards to their new comedy series: "Bookie" on Max.
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00:00 [Music]
00:28 You can only find the humor of a situation by playing almost to the reality, I would think,
00:33 about what these guys are going through at any given point. Could you talk about
00:37 sort of finding that cadence between you two in these situations they get into?
00:42 For me, I think the chemistry and the cadence that we had as a duo was very natural. I felt like,
00:55 man, I felt like we were running a book for two or three years prior to even doing this show.
01:00 That's the way it felt with Omar and myself. So, yeah, it felt very natural. The timing and
01:08 the comedy wasn't forced. It came out of the relationship. There's a lot of times even,
01:14 you know, Omar's character, Ray, whether it be a wink, a nod, you almost kind of read that
01:22 and like they've done this before. So, yeah, for me, it was quite, I don't want to say easy, but
01:28 man, Heaven, Ray, and for whatever the reason, whatever the chemistry was, it just felt like
01:35 we've been buddies for a while. Nothing pisses me off more than people.
01:40 What kind of job do I got? Nobody pays me.
01:49 What if I make this right with some baseball memorabilia? Guys, I've got Babe Ruth's autopsy
01:56 report. I'm going to tell you something I never told a client ever. You shouldn't bet on sports.
02:03 When you guys were building, were you talking to Chuck about like what this idea could be? How
02:09 did that sort of come together? If you don't hear me asking. Yeah, this is Chuck's idea.
02:15 I pitched him an idea about a TV show around my life. He came back and said, me and Nick Buckeye
02:21 have an idea about a bookie in Los Angeles navigating the pending doom of legalized
02:26 gambling. How would you feel about playing that character? And I was like, man, that sounds a lot
02:31 better than playing me. Yeah. So it, you know, this is all them. This is all their idea. This is
02:40 Nick Buckeye, who is a gambler himself, knows the ins and outs of the gambling world,
02:46 bookies and what have you, the lingo. And the writing is so specific and so true to the world
02:56 of gambling that, you know, and anything Chuck Lorre does is elevated anyway. And we felt
03:02 extremely comfortable being a part of it. Hi, honey. We got a problem. Go. Go? I'm not one of
03:15 your scumbag losers. What do you need? Fifteen hundred. I just gave you three grand. My Invisalign,
03:23 hello. Why are you doing that? I like your snaggletooth. Also, Anthony's tuitions too.
03:29 At what point is his father going to kick in a few bucks? His father's in a psych ward
03:32 eating with a spork. Hang on. Yeah. 703. Go 703. How's your day going? Oh, life's a cabaret.
03:43 Now I was talking to Sebastian. The fact is, like, you guys have a certain cadence, but
03:47 each one of these characters has their own deal, their own psychosis, their own deal,
03:52 the things they're dealing with. Could you talk about finding that with Ray? Because Ray
03:57 is sort of laughing at the situation, but sort of not laughing at the situation.
04:01 So it's sort of finding that tone. Yeah, for sure. What it is, is these guys have been working
04:06 together for so long and they know each other. So whenever Danny might go off the rails verbally and
04:16 just speak, Ray knows. Ray knows that, "Oh, Danny, he'll calm down in a second," or whatever.
04:25 But also, Danny knows that whenever Ray is on his high horse or whatever it might be,
04:32 he knows where all the bones are buried. He talks about the baby mamas. He talks about,
04:39 he knows how to just jab them just a little bit because they're friends. They're best friends.
04:47 He knows how to get under his skin. But they work well together. They're a perfect tag team.
04:54 You know? So, yeah. And they have a cadence. And they have a way that they communicate with each
05:01 other that makes it work perfect for them. Go. Package rams over 52,
05:08 titans plus six, diamond each. That's all I got. Thanks.
05:12 All right. You're down. Good luck, 703.
05:14 All right. I'm sorry. I'll come by later. You know, if you let me open up a checking
05:21 account, I wouldn't have to bother you like this. Honey, what are the two conditions I
05:24 gave you before we got married? No banks, no musicals.
05:27 I love you. Bye-bye. It's about the details. Obviously, the yacht
05:33 rock pisses Ray off so much, it's unbelievable. But it's sort of seeing that thing about what they
05:39 love on their own, but what makes them comfortable is what makes them work as a team, because it's
05:45 about those intersections. Can you talk about that? Yeah.
05:50 Yeah. It's the dynamics between them. You know, like Danny wants to hear a yacht rock. You know,
05:55 Ray's like, "Man, this isn't rap music. This is old people music." You know? Which is funny,
06:00 because in real life, I'd rather listen to a yacht rock than listen to rap music. You know?
06:04 That's the fun of playing the character. But our office is the car. And you know how it is
06:13 in any office or any locker room, whoever holds control of the radio is really the king. So we go
06:20 back and forth, because whoever has the control of the radio is the real boss. That's how I look at
06:25 it. But yeah, and it's that way with Danny and Ray the whole time, though. You know, and that's
06:31 what also makes it so much fun with them, because it's the difference. It's the odd coupleness of it,
06:37 you know? Which is what I think that Chuck and Nick really envisioned when they were creating
06:42 these characters. I can't do this anymore, Danny. This is small-time bookie shit.
06:48 Any matter of time before California legalizes sports betting.
06:53 If and when, what's our edge? That you extend credit to low-life degenerates?
06:59 I have personal relationships with my clients.
07:01 Biggie the Ossuals are here. Well, for that, I'll go over to Sebastian, the aspect, because
07:08 every single character Chuck has created, I mean, going back, and I like the fact that there's that
07:12 throwback to Charlie in the first episode, but it's about heart. All these characters have heart.
07:17 Now, whether or not they show it at given times is to be seen. But can you talk about finding
07:22 that sort of empathy? Like in Danny, you see those moments where he's like, you know,
07:27 I know my clients, I know what they want, you know? But you know, he's sort of on a path to ruin in
07:33 that way. But can you talk about that and finding those details that jumped out at you about Danny?
07:39 Yeah, so Danny, you know, his wife's kid is kind of one of these oddball kids, you know,
07:47 he likes anime, he's, you know, he's dressing up as D-Gray and, you know, being a stepfather,
07:57 you know, to come into that situation, he could be, you know, what the hell are you dressing up
08:02 like this for, you know, but he's sympathetic to the kid. So you see the heart and Danny there,
08:08 where gives him $20. Yeah, it smells like shit. But you know, here's a $20 bill. Yeah, so so yeah,
08:16 it's funny, you say with Chuck with the heart, there are moments of, of like, you feel a little,
08:24 you know, sympathetic towards these guys, you know, race characters, delivering cash to his,
08:32 to his baby mamas, you know, he's holding the kid up on the balcony, Hey, big man, you know,
08:37 he's bringing over. What did we bring over a PlayStation to one of your sons in the thing?
08:43 So you feel like, yeah, they're, they're, they're in this illegal world, but they're still trying to
08:50 maintain their responsibilities as men. So, you know, you kind of just an everyday guy, you feel
08:59 like, hey, you know, maybe you got an ex wife that you got to support or what have you and maybe
09:04 your stepfather to a kid that maybe is doing things that are a little bit off, off the beaten
09:10 path. And you're seeing a sentimental side to these guys that maybe is unexpected. That was good.
09:20 Throw it like you're going to jail forever. Take my life.
09:25 You take my bet. I don't take all of you fishing on my boat.
09:32 You threatening us? Yes. Are you stupid?
09:36 No.