0423 - Peeing Man

I have a real treat for you all today. This gentleman encounters Homer in a restroom and is star struck by his resemblance to Herb.

It's a small appearance, but I'm still amazed by this: I was able to secure an interview with this character! Not Dan Castellaneta, who voices him, but I interviewed the actual character who had a minor scene in this episode! Are you confused? Don't be, it's very simple. I caught up with him over Zoom.

Firstly, I have to ask: what's with the purple hair?

Yes, it was all the rage back then. The producers supposedly had this obsession with giving characters unusual hair colours, so my agent got me to dye it. I don't know why I chose purple, it went back to a normal colour shortly after shooting.

Tell me about your time on set.

It was all such a blur. I was only there for one day. I suggested to Wes (Wes Archer, director of this episode) that I could come back as a call back later in the episode but it never stuck. I get asked a lot about how I could pee on command but if you watch the episode closely you'll notice neither of us actually urinate, I think the censors wouldn't allow it. I only had to act a little bit, I was actually star struck seeing Homer Simpson in person. You have to remember, The Simpsons was huge at the time and here I was, a part-time actor, standing beside someone the entire country could name. It was surreal.

What was Homer like?

He was very nice and accommodating. A bit more laid back than you're used to on the show. I only spoke to him a little bit - obviously he was the star of the show, he was very busy, I get that. I have no idea how he still does it after all these years.

Do people still ask you about the show?

Not as much as they used to, but occasionally. In the mid 90s it was a huge deal, I got asked about it all the time. I had a cousin call me the night the episode aired saying "Did I just see you on The Simpsons?" and I said to him "Marty, how did you even know, you could only see the back of my head!" For a while there it was a little crazy, there was talk of me getting a guest role on Frasier too, but it never panned out. I keep telling my kids "You know, Daddy was on The Simpsons once!" but they don't really care. It's a nice memory though.

Do you still watch The Simpsons?

I caught it when I could back then, me and my then-girlfriend had a big viewing party for the episode I was in. Sometimes I'll catch it in a hotel room or something. Once I cut back on acting and opened the shop (note: Peeing Man now owns a vacuum cleaner repair business), I ended up watching less TV in general.

If they asked you to come back for season 36, would you?

Maybe. Acting isn't a priority for me anymore, but if they flew me out to film a cameo, I'd consider it. I'm not sure the fans are demanding I return though.

You never know! I cover a lot of characters, I'm sure "Peeing Man" is someone's favourite.

*laughs* I doubt that. I wish I was known as something else though, it's weird that my biggest claim to fame is peeing.

It's closer than most get to the show. Thanks so much for your time.

Hey, thanks for having me, if you're ever in the area, you can get 25% off any vacuum cleaner repair.

EDITORS NOTE: It may be that doing this for over three years has driven David insane.

This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.