In this brief 10-minute interview, Patrick unpacks the guest-star format of the series—comparing its recurring-character dynamic to a dark Saturday Night Live sketch. He shares what it’s like staying in the same Airbnbs with guest stars like Kate Siegel, balancing absurd cringe humor with sheer terror, and how British comedy like Peep Show continues to inspire the show's awkward, razor-thin line between awkwardness and menace.
Chris: Hey Patrick, how are you today?
Patrick: Great! How are you doing, man?
Chris: I'm good, I'm good. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to do this, man. I really appreciate it.
Patrick: It's my pleasure.
Chris: So, I had a realization when I was watching Season 3 of The Creep Tapes that hadn't occurred to me—and I feel like an idiot for this not clicking sooner—that this series is essentially an SNL sketch. You have basically a Wayne and Garth, or Pat, or whatever it is where you take the celebrity of the week that shows up that's hosting the show, that gets to come in and hang out with this recurring character every week. And it's almost the structure is very similar to a sketch comedy, like a recurring character. Is that something you guys had thought about in the making of this?
Patrick: You know, it's funny. I mean, that's not something that we like thought about deliberately when we were planning the show and what it could be. It was just kind of a residual aspect of, you know, just this dynamic and this idea. I mean, it really started with, okay, what does a television version of this look like? And it was, you know, realizing that we had these tapes that we see at the end of the first episode, and that being sort of a jumping-off point as a structure for an episodic TV show.
And then the fact that we've got this character that's also this kind of chameleon, Zelig-like guy who can kind of inhabit all these different characters and bounce around, and, you know... You know, there's other versions of that archetype in cinema and TV, but it was so fun to like realize that we had our own like mini version of that. And then getting the chance to bring these guest stars in and work with them every week, and go like as deep as we go with them—which is, you know, pretty like immediate and intense, the work. Like, we're all living together in these places. We're living in these Airbnbs, a lot of the time we're living in the same house or environment that we're shooting in, too.
And so we get super close very quickly with them, you know, and we're cooking meals together. And I got to say, like, outside of the work itself and outside of like the final product, that's like half of the joy for me, is just these experiences of getting to work with these people that, more often than not, we don't know that well, you know? They're like people who either we've worked with in the past maybe—like Robert Longstreet in Season 2, I did an episode of Room 104 with him—
Chris: Yeah.
Patrick: Mark did an episode of Room 104 with James Earl, who plays Mo in Episode 2 of this season. But some of these folks are like people we were just like fans of, like David Dastmalchian or Kate Siegel, you know, who've just kind of like been in our orbit, but then finally we were like, "Oh, here's a perfect opportunity for us to work together."
And yeah, that's been—that's been like, I would say, one of the greatest joys of the whole show. Outside of like getting to continue to play with this character, which I feel like still has like endless possibilities, it's really like getting to do this work with all these amazing, interesting people.
Chris: Well, to me, the magic trick of the show is that it has the energy of the stuff that you make when you're in high school and college, where it's three friends getting together and it's like, "Okay, we don't have a cinematographer, so we're going to shoot for each other, and we'll just go back and forth. What's the excuse for each of us having to hold the camera? This is what we have, great, we'll work with that. And we're just going to make something this weekend, whatever it happens to be."
But this show isn't that. It's clearly thoughtful, and it's planned out. And the things that you're able to pull off on it, they have the energy, like this punk-rock energy of just do-it-yourself, but it also is something that clearly there's energy put into it before you get there that weekend and you're doing the filming.
Patrick: Oh, I appreciate you noticing that, because there is! And, you know, even from the first film, I'd like to say that that balance between being incredibly organized and deliberate with our like structural choices and our approach to this, but also completely embracing the absurd, stupid, stupid... [laughs] parts of our psyche and our soul, is like, that is Creep. That has always been Creep for us, and that has been since the beginning.
And that is something that Mark and I kind of just like hold dearly, and it's kind of very—it's sacred at this point that we get to do that, because we also recognize that we're not able to do that in any other version of what we're doing, you know? Like maybe when you're writing alone, but then you're not getting to have the joy of collaborating with someone. You know, sometimes you feel that on set on a bigger production, but like inevitably, that's just a much more planned-out and structured experience. And, you know, it's still incredible, and I feel incredibly lucky every time I get to do that and totally in my element.
But this is like another thing, you know? This is something where I feel like we've found some cheat code in life, and we're just trying to extend it as long as we possibly can.
Chris: Well, you kind of backed into some of these things by accident, I would imagine—like the mask, and the tub stuff, and, you know, Tubby Time, and all these little things that are the calling cards. To bring it back to the SNL thing, this is the catchphrase that you have to have in every episode, but then you're able to fuck around with what they mean each time. And each time they show up, they are completely different. And so, it's this character that's doing this to entertain himself later on, that he's just making these videos so that he can get a kick out of it. He's the one that's delivering these catchphrases to himself.
And I love that this is a show that if you put any amount of weight on it and just really put it under a microscope, it would probably collapse right away, but that isn't what this show is designed for at all.
Patrick: Yeah! Yeah, no, it's funny because when we do get criticism for the show, it's always like—it's always about something that we weren't attempting to do, you know what I mean? [laughs] And so it's like, okay, I'm sorry I didn't do that thing you were hoping we were going to do that we didn't actually really try to do, you know what I mean?
Like, if we're trying to do anything, it's just entertain, make you laugh, make ourselves laugh. Obviously, unnerving an audience is something that just comes from that, and that just comes from the kind of humor that Mark and I like and the dynamic that's been created with this character, you know?
But I really appreciate you saying that, because I think it's absolutely true and something I think about a lot when I'm stepping back for a second and looking at what this thing is that we created. And, you know, I've never seen a show or a movie about a serial killer where his entire goal is kind of like wasting people's time before he murders them! [laughs]
And hopefully doing it in an entertaining way! And, you know, I just think that that's something that's so unique and funny and just totally absurd. And so, yeah, I appreciate that take on it, because I do think you sort of hit the nail on the head in terms of like our goals here.
And also, like, we're trying to be inclusive with all that stuff. Like, the show is never saying we're smarter than our audience. We're never trying to dupe anyone. We're really trying to say like, "Hey, we're having a party, come join us, and let's get weird together."
Chris: It absolutely has that feeling. And the other thing that I think you've absolutely tapped into that very few people or creations have, is the social awkwardness of—you know, comedy you see that a lot, and like British humor, you see that kind of uncomfortable silence. But the line between that and a sociopath is just—it's razor thin. And you get to go to both sides of that, where you never know exactly when he's going to snap and say, "Okay, I've had my fun. This is going to be the part where it truly is revealed how long we're going."
And there's—that's one of the joys of the episode. It's like, okay, when is he going to let them know? Because you sometimes have episodes where half of it is the chase between them once they figure it out, and other episodes where it's the last 30 seconds of it, you know? So I just adore how much you've been able to get out of this concept that I—legitimately, I love being wrong—I didn't think there was that much in this well! And so I love that I'm so wrong about this!
Patrick: Well, we're pretty like hard on ourselves, and, you know, we want to try to push this as much as possible and not like rest on any laurels or anything. And so, like, whenever we're coming up with these concepts, you know, they need to have a reason to exist. So that is something that we're definitely considering, too.
And it's funny you mention the British comedy, because the show Peep Show was actually a huge inspiration for me, at least, when it came to thinking about the show. And Sam Bain, who co-created that show, he wrote the film Corporate Animals for me that we made with Demi Moore. We're actually writing a new project together now. And so like, that sensibility has definitely always been right there in my heart.
And then, in terms of like that switch, you know, it's funny because like that's the thing that I always feel like my heart kind of sinks sometimes, you know, as a creator or as a viewer, when it comes to that moment in these episodes. Like I'm thinking about in our first episode in Crystal, when, you know, we've been sort of goofing around for probably like 20 minutes, and then we have this amazing single-take shot of Kate Siegel realizing that she's in a bad situation and trying to get out of it. And it's like—like a breathtaking performance that is very dark and sad, and feels almost cruel to be throwing on an audience member after disarming them with just utter stupidity for the previous 20 minutes!
Chris: Oh, it's so disarming, you're not expecting it. And I could literally talk about this all day. I know we're at time right now, but I'm just going to leave you with: on the Kate Siegel episode, the Tommy Lee Jones joke is probably one of the hardest I've laughed! And I can't believe I didn't see it coming! It was just so obvious, and it just crushed me! [laughs]
Patrick: [laughs] Okay! Thank you, thanks man!
Chris: Awesome. Thank you, Patrick. It was great to meet you. Congrats on the show.
Patrick: Great to meet you, too. Thanks for having me.
Producer: Thanks, Chris.
Chris: All right, thank you very much, appreciate it.
Patrick: Have a great day, Chris.
Chris: You too. Bye-bye
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