Now that he has a baby, Kyle Mooney doesn't leave a certain Los Angeles radius much if he doesn't have to. And he is happy with that. The “Saturday Night Live” alum spends most of his time in Pasadena, Glendale, Highland Park and, especially, Eagle Rock, where he lives with his wife and young daughter. “I felt like the 'artsy' character was something I could relate to,” Mooney says, explaining why he was drawn to the neighborhood. “Highlands Park 1734854704 It's a little like what Silver Lake did when I was 20, but we were really impressed by the Eagle Rock neighborhood. “I think it’s pretty special and picturesque in an incredible way.”
In Sunday Funday, the people of Los Angeles tell us step by step their ideal Sunday in the city. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Mooney has been revisiting the past lately, both on and off screen. The actor and comedian made his directorial debut with “Y2K,” a horror film set in the early years of history that imagines a world where machines truly rise up against humanity as feared at the turn of the millennium. The film, which is now in theaters, will be available to watch at home on December 24.
Outside of work, Mooney has been revisiting the past lately. He recently rekindled the love of baseball that was born during his childhood in the minor leagues. “It's a very nerdy sport, but for some reason it does something for me, it's something that tickles my brain,” he says.
Mooney's ideal Sunday includes baseball trivia, the spiciest hot sauces, and multiple walks around the neighborhood. “Sundays have a very special place in my heart because when I worked on 'SNL,' that was my only day off,” he said. “So we would really take advantage of it and try to include as many fun things as possible.”
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
8:30 am: wake up “late” in the morning
Throughout my 20s, I used to try to sleep as late as possible so that if I woke up at 4pm, I could get away with it and only have to pay for dinner. And then when I was on “SNL,” the schedule is designed for late nights, so you're pretty used to sleeping in as late as you can to handle it. [working] until dawn.
Our schedule now is basically based on the baby. My wife and I disconnect every other day from who wakes up with her. He usually gets up around 6:00 am, sometimes as early as 5:30 am. So if he could sleep until 9 am or 9:30 am, that would be great.
8:35 a.m.: Baseball trivia games in bed
When I wake up, I always play this. [mobile] game called Immaculate Grid which is a baseball statistics game. It is simply remembering the statistics that the players have had and [recalling] the history of baseball. When baseball season starts, I have like three other friends. [who also play] and we send each other our scores. So I'll play that and then hang out with the baby.
I loved baseball when I was a kid. I got really into collecting cards and their history. There's a Ken Burns documentary about baseball and they produced a big old book that my dad read with me at bedtime when I was in fourth or fifth grade.
I really got back into baseball the last couple of years (I'm from San Diego and I'm a Padres fan) and it was a strange feeling to have the Dodgers in the middle of a World Series run and to be wearing a San Diego baseball cap. I've never felt like a bad guy before. This year was the first year I thought, “You know, I'm not actually going to wear my hat.” [in public].”
10am: Me time while the baby naps
I try to go to the gym when I can, but if not, I like to go running around the neighborhood. Being able to say I jogged a mile or a mile and a half feels like a victory.
When I go for a run, I always listen to music and sometimes try to edit a playlist. That's something that relaxes me. I turned 40 last year and my wife and I shared a birthday party, so there was a lot of preparation involved in creating the playlist. Around this time, on these jogs I would add songs to a massive playlist that was like 14 hours long and then make cuts, whittling it down until it was like six hours of music that we could hand to the DJ to take. The music I like the most for a party atmosphere is 80's R&B and funk, maybe Italo disco and Yacht Rock.
11 a.m.: Venture outdoors for brunch and margaritas
One of the places near us is called RelentlessThey are great. They have a great margarita. And we almost always get cauliflower wings. From time to time they also have natural wine, which is something that both my wife and I really like. They are always good at making scrambled eggs for our baby who sometimes eats which is a big win.
We also like to go to Hermosillowhich is a bar in Highland Park that has great food. I love their cheeseburger, hot dog, and fried pickles. They have a great outdoor area where you can hang out with the kids and there are a lot of families so you don't feel like you're ruining anyone's time by having a rowdy kid. Sometimes we also go mijares in Pasadena for margaritas, chips and salsa and classic, old-school Mexican cuisine.
11 am: Alternative plan? Have a fiery meal
We also sometimes go to tthe greyhoundwhich is a bar and restaurant in Highland Park and Glendale. Today they have a great selection of wings and various sauces. Last time I got the hottest one. I like to try any “fire, extreme danger, high voltage” wings, especially if I'm in a new place. When we order takeout, if we're ordering Indian or Thai food, I put a note like, “Please make this as spicy as possible.” One of the spiciest dishes I have ever tasted was in Jitlada and they have competition around them. That was one where I probably had four or five bites and thought, “Actually, I can't stand it.” I think it's only happened to me twice in my life where I think, “I can't go any further.”
I recently did a Hot Ones Versus with Fred Durst, who is in our movie. I was suffering. They say we had their spiciest wing. I was grabbing them when I didn't even have to, just enjoying them. I said “it's not that spicy” but I looked like a clown with a big red ring around my lips.
3:00 p.m.: Second walk of the day.
Both in the morning and [before dinner] In the evening we will work on a walk with the whole family. I put her in the Baby Bjorn and we walked around the neighborhood and looked at birds, puppies, and squirrels. One of the really awesome parts about Eagle Rock is that it's full of nice people, so we see a lot of familiar faces and know a lot of the people we run into. And my wife and I can catch up on the gossip if we want.
4:30 p.m.: dinner time
Going out to eat twice a day, I don't know how often we do it. A place we love to go to a lot is colombo down the street from us. It's definitely walkable, but we usually just drive because it's quite hilly. I love Colombo's, we just discovered our order: I like the sausage and pepper plate, the steak, the fried mozzarella. My wife tends to make her own pasta with angel hair, garlic and butter. And then, if I can bear it, I'll order a martini cocktail.
6 pm: Gradual relaxation at home
Let's hope the baby ate dinner. If not, we'll do something for you. Maybe we'll allow ourselves to watch a little television, all together. Right now she is very interested in “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” and will also watch “Ms. Rachel.” And then we'll get her ready for bed, read her some stories and sing some songs. And then, depending on our level of exhaustion, we sometimes invite friends over to play Quiplash or something.
Usually we'll just try to watch a movie on demand or rent one. We are very bad at finishing them the same night. It almost always takes two days to the point that we sometimes pay double to see it.
We're in the Christmas zone right now, so we'll probably start revisiting the Christmas classics: There's an animated movie from the '70s that Rankin/Bass called “'Twas the Night Before Christmas” and it's essentially about a broken clock. And I love “A Garfield Christmas.” I'm also a fan of “Love, Actually.” And there's always a black and white Christmas movie I've never seen, so sometimes we find something that's old but new to us.
8 pm: YouTube rabbit hole before bed
I like to shower [before bed] and sometimes I go to baseballreference.com and learn about some baseball players. It's just something I'm constantly studying for competition with my friends.
I can really entertain myself on the Internet for several hours. A recent search on YouTube was “80s Christmas specials.” I'm really obsessed with the idea that there are all these specials that aired on TV that just became lost media, they're not on DVD or streaming or anything like that. “Flash Beagle” was an early 1980s Charlie Brown cartoon that was a parody of the movie “Flash Dance.” Snoopy is dancing with a tiara and for some reason I'm obsessed.
