Video summary
Craig Ferguson credits Peter Lassally as a transformative figure in his career, describing him not just as a producer but as a mentor who possessed immense moral authority due to being a Holocaust survivor. Having grown up emotionally unavailable himself, Ferguson found in Peter a guiding force akin to Mr. Miyagi from the movie *The Karate Kid*, whose wisdom fundamentally shifted Ferguson's perspective on life and show business. This relationship was pivotal because it introduced Ferguson to late night television through an unconventional lens; unlike others who revered the format as sacred ground, Ferguson viewed hosting with skepticism, comparing his initial hesitation to being a real estate agent trying to sell something he didn't fully understand or care about.
Peter's influence extended deeply into daily interactions and professional discipline on set, offering specific advice that shaped Ferguson's approach to performance and comedy. Early in their collaboration, Peter addressed Ferguson's "creepy laugh," insisting it be stopped because it was unsettling for the audience, a piece of feedback that led Ferguson to alter his stage persona significantly. Furthermore, Peter instilled a sense of accountability regarding joke selection; when Ferguson instinctively wanted to keep every ad-libbed bit regardless of quality, Peter would challenge him by asking if the joke was truly worth airing or if it deserved only as much reward as a mediocre one—a laugh that could be replayed anytime. This rigorous standard helped Ferguson pivot his career trajectory and learn valuable lessons about responsibility in entertainment.
Despite some initial doubts from executives who questioned whether a forty-two-year-old like Ferguson could successfully launch a late night show, the project proved viable under Peter's guidance. The partnership was unique because it bypassed traditional industry reverence for the genre; while others deified late night television, Ferguson admitted he never watched shows before or during his tenure and felt uniquely unqualified to discuss them by conventional standards. However, this lack of pretense allowed him to focus entirely on the craft Peter taught him, turning a skeptical outsider into a respected host who learned that taking one's work seriously was essential for success in an industry often driven by ego and superficiality.
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Peter Lassally. Do you know who Peter
is?
>> The producer.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Peter
>> That's interesting. He He produced the
Late Late Show.
>> Yeah. He He had produced Letterman. He
was a legend of of that kind of thing.
He had produced Johnny Carson for 35
years.
>> Oh, right.
>> He had done Dave and And so, the way of
what I learned from Peter
just about anything about any kind of
performance or just being uh
active politically. And by politically,
I mean, you know, in in life and in show
business.
He uh He was a real kind of Mr. Miyagi
for me. I mean, he really turned me
around with all that.
>> Then what do
What When you say that, what do you
mean?
>> Well, he was
>> fascinated.
>> He was the guy who brought me into late
night, right? I had
>> He like found you, so to speak?
>> Sort of, yeah. I I'd been a guest on
Craig Kilborn's show.
>> Mhm.
>> And I had just been, you know, kicking
around with Craig and just talking and
stuff and
>> What were you doing work-wise?
>> Uh The Drew Carey Show.
>> I hereby join you in CIVIL UNION.
>> HOORAY! TIME FOR THE HONEYMOON, DEAR.
THANK YOU, DARLING. I'M FINALLY AN
AMERICAN. I CAN'T WAIT TO GET FAT AND
BUY GUNS.
>> UH
I WAS SEEING THE ENGLISH BOSTON GUY.
>> WHAT I THOUGHT. OKAY.
>> I
>> I literally was like, I knew I I knew
you were doing something. I just didn't
know what it was. Yeah.
>> that, really, and doing some independent
movies and stuff and
and working as an actor and writing and
and then
I never thought about late night. Cuz
late night's such an odd thing to me
because
I never had any
I didn't come to it the same as anybody
else. To me, it was like being a [ __ ]
realtor. You know, it was like
>> Well, it's funny if you're not from
America I'm Trevor Noah had the same
reason. Like, I can't believe it.
>> this briefly as well. It was like, what
the You know, I I never really got it.
Um like the deification of it and the
the I I was like, man, it's a nice job.
>> have some good news. It's over.
>> Yeah, well, I don't
>> It's a as a couple weeks from now, if
not already, it's over. The deification
period.
>> I I It's funny cuz I get asked about it
a lot. I get asked about late night and
I'm like, I am uniquely unqualified to
discuss late night. I never watched it
before I did it. I [ __ ] didn't watch
it while I was doing it. I wasn't doing
it. I'm [ __ ] I'm not interested. So,
it's like I I genuinely know less than
just about everybody.
>> Yeah. So, what about Peter time?
>> But Peter
Peter had immense moral authority.
And it was very important. I grew up
This is a kind of convoluted way of
explaining Peter to you, but it's
important and it's
for me to understand
>> Peter's alive now?
>> Uh he is. He's very, very old.
>> Okay.
>> But Peter
uh
was a Holocaust survivor.
>> Mhm.
>> Uh Peter was in concentration camps when
he was a young
young adult, really. He was in there
till he was about 15. Peter was at the
same high school and was at the same
class as Anne Frank.
And I mean, it was
it's like
you know, when you complain about oh,
your my childhood in Scotland was some
people but emotionally unavailable. I
mean, he he could really take control of
that for me.
Plus, he had such an understanding of
how to survive in difficult situations,
given the difficult situation that he
the first one he approached. And And he
would say some very interesting things.
First of all,
about late night he would say to me,
"You're in somebody's house. Don't yell
at them."
You know, don't don't shout and stop
that. And then he said to me in within
my first 2 weeks of doing the show, he
said, "You know, you've got a creepy
laugh."
He went, "Yeah, you got to stop doing
that." And I was like
He said, "Look, I I love you, but you
got to stop doing your creepy laugh.
It's creepy."
>> Was he right? I don't
>> Yeah, thank he he was.
I used to go
like that. I don't know I think I I I
had to alter my creepy laugh or
something. And And I did. I I really I
was became very aware of it. Um stopped
laughing in a certain way on stage.
And he would say interesting things
about jokes. When I hear people getting
into
trouble
for things they jokes they've done. And
you know, I've certainly been in that
category as well, but
Peter would always say if we if we had a
joke that we'd done on the show or
someone had ad-libbed something, which
is nearly every night because we kind of
worked in that way.
He would say if we were going to cut a
joke out it's
I would always kind of go, "No, we have
to leave the joke in." And and Peter
would always say, "Is it Is it worth it?
Is it that good a joke?"
>> Yeah.
>> And the answer nearly always is, "No,
it's not that good a joke, is it?"
>> Also, like what's the reward for the
best joke?
>> Yeah, a laugh. You know, that's it. And
we can play it again.
>> When and okay, now what's the reward for
a mediocre joke? A laugh.
>> Pretty much the same thing. So, it it
kind of
my I can kind of draw a few lines
through my life when things changed. And
this is not in chronological order, but
Peter is definitely one of them where,
you know, the world pivoted for me a
little bit around this individual. And
and there's a lot more accountability
after Peter. I learned so much.
>> glad for it? And so, it wasn't a
adjustment a professional adjustment. It
was a
>> It was that, too. But but
>> the the unintended consequence was like
you were changed.
>> Yeah, I think that's right. He He would
say as well, he said, "The best thing
you can do." And he said,
"When I was trying out for the show,
I you know, I was just like [ __ ]
around. I wasn't paying much attention
to it." And he said to me, "I want you
to take this seriously." As if I
remember the first time I met him. He
said, "I want you to take this seriously
because if I'm right He said this is
what he said, he said, "I have very few
discernible skills, but one of them is
finding people like you. And if I'm
right, you're lightning in a bottle.
So, you must pay attention to what I
say." I was like,
"Okay, crazy old man. I'll
And it just it's something so unlike
anything I'd ever heard in show
business. You know, it wasn't like
>> cinematic. It's very serious.
>> It It being in a movie. And
as you say and
cinematic like being in a movie exactly
um
and and so I it kind of landed and I
thought I'm going to listen to him.
>> How old were you?
>> I was 42.
>> Yeah, cuz that's old you're a old to me
like look here if I it's like something
you'd say to like a young female.
>> Right, exactly. I wish I'd met him when
I was young but I didn't listen to him
when I was young. And it was funny cuz I
remember I was 42 at the time I'm 64
now. So the idea of I remember like some
NBC executive at the time saying I would
not worry about Ferguson he's too old to
start a late night show. I'm like
am I? I don't I don't know but I don't
know but I I was 42. I don't think
that's too old to start.
>> And it did well, right?
>> The show?
>> Yeah.
>> It did okay. Yeah, it did all right.
>> Hey.
You should like and subscribe.
Mhm.