A Sundae at Tribeca
A fun fact about me is that I’ve sat on the same toilet that has graced the butts of many comedic legends… such as Kristin Wiig (who was also a nanny for Bob and Naomi!) and, of course, Bob Odenkirk himself.
Which is my way of telling you that I have been in this industry a very, very long time.
One of my many jobs back in the day was as a nanny for Bob and and his wife, manager/producer, Naomi Odenkirk. This was the Breaking Bad season 2 era, so you can do the math on the timeline. I was young, I was grinding, and doing whatever it took to stay here and keep building. I did not know then that my first feature film set would be on the Netflix Original Girlfriend’s Day, starring… Bob Odenkirk.
We just keep meeting, ya know?
Bob was an early supporter of the show since its Life with Caca days, so it’s pretty meaningful that in mere weeks I’ll be sitting across from him and David Cross with 165 episodes behind me.
Life is funny like that.
Their documentary, Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu, explores thirty years of their friendship through one brutal hike, and the kind of comedy that can only come from truly knowing someone.
The whipped cream on top
Coincidentally, Alex and I hiked the Inca Trail for our honeymoon three years ago. Not exactly a swim-up bar toasting to our early marital bliss kind of sexy, but I’m so glad we did it.
The hike is no joke. The classic Inca Trail is about 26 miles over four days, and the altitude is the thing nobody really prepares you for. You top out at Dead Woman’s Pass — yes, that’s the actual name — at over 13,800 feet above sea level. Your lungs just don’t work the way they’re supposed to. Every uphill feels twice as long as it should. There are stretches of uneven stone steps that go up and up and up with no logical end. We got rained on for the majority of the hike. Nature becomes your bathroom. You rejoice at the sight of an already-set-up tent and fall asleep by sunset. And then you wake up, sometimes before sunrise, sore, and do it all over again.
On the final morning, though, you walk through the Sun Gate at dawn and Machu Picchu appears below you in the mist. It’s breathtaking, show-stopping, miraculous — like, HOW did they build all of this? You marvel at the love and care Peruvians have placed in maintaining this heritage site, and you realize it was all worth it.
Blisters. Altitude headaches. Montezuma’s revenge and all. (ask me about it and I’ll spill all!) It’s absolutely spectacular. 10/10, a must-do life experience.
The cherry on top
But wait, there’s more. To make it all even more miraculous: about a week after we got home, I found out I was pregnant. So I did the whole thing unknowingly carrying the earliest formation of a new human at 13,000 feet. When I say this documentary induced a visceral reaction in my body, I mean it. And also, a slow clap for women. We are preeettttty phenomenal.
Needless to say, this will be an up-close and personal conversation about how Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu got made, about comedy and friendship, and what it means to keep creating across decades.
This one means a lot to me. I hope you’ll be there.
Capacity is limited. Please RSVP as soon as you can. Paid Substack subscribers get VIP priority. DM me if that’s you. :)
Presented by our pals at GreenSlate with Portrait and Theorem Media. Brunch and beverages will be served after so you’ll have time to connect with fellow industry folks.
As always, thanks for doing this life thing with me!
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