USELESS FACTS AND WORTHLESS TRIVIA

TO CLOG YOUR BRAIN AND WASTE YOUR TIME

Everything below is true except for three items.

 Try to guess which ones!

Michael was born a breech baby.

Michael’s first appearance in front of a live audience was during a third grade production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”  He played “Happy,” but he wanted to play “Dopey.”

Michael’s first job as a teenager was working at a cardboard box factory where he assembled boxes and then filled them with “El Marko” magic marker displays.

Lyons Township High School, Michael’s high school alma mater, is also the alma mater of NBA star Jeff Hornacek and international star David Hasselhoff.    

During junior high and high school Michael was a semi-professional magician.  Thankfully, he grew out of that phase by college.

While attending Northwestern University, Michael interned at CBS affiliate WBBM Television, WBEZ radio, and WGN Television.  At WGN his duties included keeping stats for Cubs baseball and holding cue cards for “Bozo’s Circus.” 

While attending UCLA’s film school, Michael was a tour guide at Universal Studios.   Other tour guide alumni include director John Badham, studio executive Michael Ovitz, Warner Bros. Vice President of Casting Tony Sepulveda, singer Jack Wagner, and First Lady Bess Truman.

Another early Los Angeles jobs included being a driver for producer Norman Lear, writing copy for the back of VHS videocassette boxes, and proof-reading government Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) manuals.

During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Michael volunteered at Pride House, a Los Angeles drug rehabilitation center for teenagers.  Another volunteer at that time was Brad Pitt. 

“Where the Day Takes You” was Will Smith’s first movie role.

Michael’s hometown of Defiance, Ohio is the setting for his screenplay “House Arrest” starring Jamie Lee Curtis.    Defiance is also the setting for the film “The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio” starring Julianne Moore, based on the memoir by Terry Ryan.    L.A. Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley is also from Defiance.  

Michael’s character in “Waiting for Guffman,” pharmacist and town councilman Steve Stark, is named after one of Michael’s best friends from Northwestern University.   The real-life Steve Stark is currently the executive producer of the NBC series “Medium” starring Patricia Arquette.

In “Waiting for Guffman,” Michael was originally cast as a minister who auditions for “Red, White, and Blaine.”    Bob Odenkirk was to play one of the town councilmen.  Their parts were switched a few weeks before filming due to a scheduling conflict with Odenkirk.

Michael’s hair in “Best in Show” was inspired by a style that Matthew Perry was then wearing on “Friends.”

Michael and Parker Posey’s characters in “Best in Show,” Hamilton and Meg Swan, were proud owners of a weimaraner named Beatrice.  Her real name is Peaches.

The orthodontic braces that Michael wore in “Best in Show” were custom-fitted onto plastic retainers that slipped over Michael’s teeth.  Parker Posey’s braces were actually real, as she decided to correct a slight imperfection in her bite while filming the movie.  Both set of braces were provided by Los Angeles orthodontist J Alan Bloore.

In “Serenity,” to achieve the look of Dr. Mathias falling on his sword, Michael was harnessed to a suspended wire, which lowered him into camera frame.    The harness gave Michael a nasty case of groin rash.

The Groundlings Theatre’s roster of notable alumni include Will Ferrell, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Coolidge, Kathy Griffin, Phil Hartman, Tim Bagley, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reubens, Michael McDonald, Cheri Oteri, Mindy Sterling, Chris Parnell, Chris Kattan, Jon Lovitz, Will Forte, Mary Scheer, Ana Gasteyer, Rachael Harris, Pat Morita, Phil LaMarr, Daniele Gaither, Cassandra Peterson, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Laraine Newman, Conan O’Brien, Maya Rudolph, Julia Sweeney, Kristen Wiig, and Billie Holiday.

In the Rilo Kiley music video “Silver Living,” Michael appears as a priest who “marries” band members Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis.

Michael regularly sees ghosts in his attic and believes that in a past life he was an Eskimo named “Nanchu” who had seventeen wives and was later eaten alive by an angry pack of seals.