i think lorne michaels turned to me because i was tall. like "you want to play bush? i heard he's tall." (laughter) i'm like, o.k. >> rose: two or three months, he's not going to win the election and eight years later you're still doing bush. >> and i'm watching that first race as it gets tighter and tighter and it's getting close to the debates and i'm thinking oh, i've got to try to get him down in a way because it looks like this guy is... >> rose: going to be there. >> it's going to be tight. anyway, as it all evolved and climaxing with this... with the broadway show we got to do last year, it was really funner night to go out there. >> rose: did it change over the eight years for you? >> in terms of, like, technically i just got better. >> rose: you locked in. >> and found for of his mannerisms and it really changed once i got up on stage with him because i never... on "saturday night live" you just stand in a spot and maybe turn and look or you sit, but i had to move and that's where i found a whole new level to this guy that i didn't know was really in me in a

lorne michaels, by the way, made you guys, kind of -- >> he did. >> jimmy: right?pinocchios. [ light laughter ] >> jimmy: now, i should ask, when geppetto arranged you pinocchios together, did you start in canada? >> yes. >> we did, yes. toronto. we all met, and we did a club show in toronto. >> jimmy: i mean, was the show on a kind of not -- >> the show went on here at the same time it went on in canada. >> jimmy: it did? hbo was -- >> in fact, we originally had hbo signed on before we had the cbc in canada. >> jimmy: really? >> it's a boring story. >> it is a true boring story. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: no, i like this. i like knowing this. and did you think you were going to catch on as big as you did in america? >> no. actually, lorne brought us here for six months, to new york, to toughen us, which meant we were just going to be an obscurity and get sad and listen to everything he said, so -- [ laughter ] >> jimmy: but, i mean, i remember everyone saying -- >> what? you know -- "i squish your head," you know. >> that was my character! [ cheers and applause ] >> j

my parents, lorne michaels, my trainer, my nutritionist -- [ music gets louder ] ♪ my agent -- no, nogets louder ] [ jimmy yells over music ] my agent -- ♪ [ music gets louder ] [ listing names ] my wife, my wife, my wife! i got to thank my wife! ♪ thank you, thank you!" ♪ [ cheers and applause ] [ soft music plays ] ♪ [ laughter ] "thank you, guy standing in front of me on our crowded elevator to work this morning, who i basically spooned with standing up. [ laughter ] if only the elevator was playing some ke$ha instead of that muzak, i would have been all up in that piece." [ laughter ] ♪ "thank you, mole on my hand. at first i was disappointed you were there, but now you're growing on me." [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] ♪ "thank you, cool ranch doritos, for being so delicious, that i almost forget that you make my breath smell like dragon barf for the next seven hours after i eat." [ laughter ] [ applause ] ♪ "thank you, slayer, for performing on the show this week. slayer's a pretty bad ass name. but, you know what's an even more bad ass name? slater." [ laughter ] [ cheers