John Mulaney Talks ‘SNL’ Jokes Rejected by Josh Brolin and Mick Jagger

Carly Thomas
·3 min read
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John Mulaney is revealing the actor and singer who rejected his Saturday Night Live jokes during his time writing for the sketch comedy show.

On a recent episode of Hot Ones, when asked what hosts had the worst reaction to one of his sketch pitches, the comedian recalled Josh Brolin and Mick Jagger not being fans of some of his jokes.

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“Josh Brolin went, ‘Well this isn’t funny,’ as I was writing something and I started to walk him through it,” he said of the Avengers actor during one of his times as host. “It was so matter-of-fact, I wouldn’t even call it the worst.… It was such a gentlemanly exchange of ideas.… He did me quite a service.”

Mulaney rose to prominence for his work as a writer on NBC’s SNL from 2008 to 2013. He has gone on to star in and produce comedy specials, work as a voice actor on several projects and even returned to host the sketch comedy show, becoming a member of its “Five-Timers Club.”

The comedian then recalled a joke he had written for the Rolling Stones frontman when he hosted in 2012: “Hey everyone, I’m Mick Jagger, so mothers lock up your daughters, and daughters lock up your mothers.” But Mulaney said the singer didn’t find it that funny, saying, “He listened [to the joke] and said, ‘Nah, I don’t like that.’ I actually remember I made Seth Meyers read that one.”

The Big Mouth voice actor previously talked about writing SNL sketches with Mick Jagger during his Netflix special John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City. After remembering the singer telling him one of his jokes was “not funny,” Mulaney quipped, “I mean, people say that on the Internet, but never to your face does a British billionaire in leather pants go, ‘Not funny!'”

Later during the Hot Ones interview, Mulaney also shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence in comedy writing. The use of AI in Hollywood is one of the biggest concerns for the Writers Guild, which is currently on strike following failed contract negotiations with studios and streamers.

“On the picket line, I’ve heard more and more about AI,” the comedian said. “I believe there is a profound difference between knowing you’re hearing a joke from a person, and knowing you’re hearing it from AI.”

As for whether he sees the technology taking over the way comedy is written in the future, Mulaney added, “I have heard AI jokes that are solid. I wouldn’t call them crossing over into good, but they’re solid. Maybe AI could replace that 15th joke in an awards show monologue.”

Earlier this month, Mulaney was a guest on the 500th episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, where he talked about his early interest in comedy, what happened with his short-lived multicamera sitcom Mulaney and more.

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