Andy Richter, 42, may be best known as Conan O’Brien’s
sidekick on "The Tonight Show." But to at least two people – Richter’s
eight-year-old son, William, and his four-year-old daughter, Mercy – he’s
more than the main attraction. He’s the center of the universe. Richter, who also
voices the characters of Ben on the Nickelodeon show "The Mighty B!" and Mort
on Nick’s "The Penguins of Madagascar," recently talked to Babble about the
universal appeal of fart jokes and the secret to a long, healthy marriage
(hint: it involves fish. And shrinks). — Tammy La Gorce
So the big news for you this year is that you’re back working
alongside Conan after a nine-year absence, during which you tried your luck on a
couple of other TV series. Are you happy to be back side-kicking?
I’m thrilled, actually. I work with someone I actually like
and respect and am friends with, as opposed to being out in the world in a
situation where I might not enjoy the company of who I’m working with as much,
and where people get to tell me whether I’m funny or not.
Tell us about your
kids.
I have a son who’s going to be nine in November, and my
daughter just turned four. Both kids are really sharp and really funny. My son
is big – everyone always thinks he’s eleven. And not that he’s terribly
behaved, but they expect him to act much older than he is because of his size.
Right – there are
downsides to being big, even for boys.
Parents are like the drapes in your bedroom – you barely even
notice them or what they do.
Yeah. We went to play putt-putt golf the other day, and
there were these tiny Asian kids, much smaller than him, hitting the ball much
better. He didn’t understand why, and I told him, "Those kids are probably
twelve years old!"
Do your kids get your
sense of humor? Do they think you’re funny?
All you have to do to make them laugh is throw pee and poop
into the conversation or make fart noises. They love that. When my son started
to get to the age of liking jokes, every one we would make involved pee or poop
or farting. We thought, "Oh my God, we’ve raised a frat-house monster." Then we
took a trip to preschool: that’s what makes all of them laugh. It’s universally
funny.
What about your work
on "The Mighty B!" and "The Penguins of Madagascar?" Do the kids
think you’re incredibly cool because you’re on those shows? Are you
brag-worthy?
No, not really. My son is starting to become aware a little
bit that I have a fun job, that
it’s kind of neat to do what I do. He brought a friend to the premiere of Madagascar 2, and that was cool. But his
eyes are opened to the fact that I’m the guy who keeps him from eating ice
cream in the morning.
What’s interesting is that I think my daughter thinks of the
cartoons as a real environment, one we kind of coexist in: she knows they’re
made up, but she also thinks of them as real. And it’s that way with all kids,
probably. They often have family parties at Nick, and my son met Tom Kenny, who
does the voice of SpongeBob. But he still thinks SpongeBob is a real creature
out in the ocean somewhere.
So they think of you
sort of as a fun cartoon character rather than a celebrity?
As far as them thinking I’m cool, they really don’t, because
they think of me as their parent. Which is how it should be. Whenever I hear anybody
say, "My dad is my hero," I always think, "I don’t know what you’re talking
about." Parents are like the drapes in your bedroom – you barely even
notice them or what they do.
What’s your favorite
show for kids?
I have to say "Mighty
B!" is pretty great, and "Penguins" is
pretty great. Both are the kind of things I can watch and have watched without
a child in the room. Lately my son’s been really getting into "Dr. Who" on the BBC. There’s also another BBC show I started
recording called "Primevil" which, the
basis of the story is time holes are opening up all over the place and
dinosaurs are coming out, and there are secret agent police squads and dinosaur
cops. We’re really into that.
With my daughter, I’m very proud and very happy that she
loves "Looney Tunes" and "Tom & Jerry" – the old
cartoons. She prefers them. It’s not anything we really forced on her. I know
parents who are like these aesthetic cops – they insist their child should
watch an episode of "My Pretty Pony" or
whatever. I certainly don’t turn on "Barney" and say, "Come and watch this insipid garbage."
