Interview With Rob Little of Fire Me ... Please! by Syrone Harvey
Rob Little, recent $25,000 winner from the CBS reality show, Fire Me…Please, gave fellow competitor, Marion Oberle, a real run for the money with his outrageous attempts at getting “fired” as close to 3:00 as possible. With off-the-cuff humor and ease under fire, Rob’s appearance was hilarious and entertaining.
Hi, Rob. Since Fire Me…Please is a new reality show concept, what was it that drew you towards auditioning for the show?
The possibility of getting paid $25,000 to get fired. I’ve been fired before, but no one has ever paid me.
What qualities do you feel you have that helped in landing the show?
Being fired before was my most helpful quality. I have a knack. I worked for IBM and they fired me just because I sent the entire staff an email telling them to quit their job and follow their dream.
We understand you have a background in both comedy and acting. Can you share with us, your experience?
I have been performing Stand Up Comedy all over the country for the past 7 years. IBM helped me decide to make it full time. Then I was named Michigan’s “BEST Up and Coming Comedian,” a finalist in both the Seattle and San Francisco International Comedy Competitions and I was featured in the Chicago Comedy Festival. None of them fired me, so I figure I’m on the right track.
I also did IMPROV at Second City Theater. Now I’m a recurring sketch player on “The Best Damn Sports Show Period", have performed Stand Up on SiTV’s “Latino Laugh Festival: The Show”, and appeared in sketches on "Last Call with Carson Daly” and Fox News.
Did you have previous skill in working within the food industry before getting hired at Firehouse BBQ?
When I was 16 I worked at a Bakery/Diner where I grew up in Pinconning, MI. Being a chubby kid I liked to steel the donuts at the end of the night and bring them home to my family. It was like Christmas every night in the Little household. See my whole family is chubby, we just got our family portrait done by aerial photography.
I also worked at McDonalds for 3 years where I won 3 major awards in the McDonalds national magazine called, “Crew Magazine”. I won Mr. McSmile, Mr. McOpener and Mr. McService.
Then I did a photo layout for the magazine… like the poster for “American Beauty”. You know, where the girl was naked covered in rose petals. Bad idea because I was pretty chubby then.
So I was laying there naked, with French Fries all around me and pickles over my nipples and a large breakfast burrito, excuse me, GRANDE breakfast burrito covering up my unmentionable…
I was hot. I would try to pick up that issue if I were you people.
How did supervisor Torch and co-worker, Cowboy react when you walked in and introduced yourself?
With words they had to BLEEP. I told them right off the bat that I was out all night drinking and I had the runs so don’t expect a lot out of me. Torch was a by-the-book type of guy so I knew this would drive him crazy!
What were the biggest challenges and funniest moments of the Fire Me…Please competition?
The biggest challenge for me was trying NOT to get fired … to hold out as close to 3 p.m. as I could. The guys wanted to fire me when I walked in the door … I have that effect on people … so I had to strategically drop bombs where I could throughout the day. Marion’s supervisors were a lot more tolerant and she could get a lot crazier!
For me the funniest moment was when I told Cowboy that I didn’t wash my hands after going to the bathroom and my hands were already in the meat.
What do you REALLY think about “sweet tea”, NASCAR Racing, and Country music?
To be honest I never really liked Sweet Tea growing up. You can put lucky charms in sweet tea and I still won’t like it. I’ll eat the soggy Lucky Charms, but I won’t drink the Sweet Tea.
NASCAR: Have you ever gone to a NASCAR race? It is definitely one of the most fun things you can do while dressed. And believe me; a lot of the people get so excited that they don’t even keep their clothes on. THANK YOU hot southern ladies! It’s like Mardi Gras at 200 miles per hour!
And COUNTRY MUSIC: I heard that song, “Save A Horse, Ride a Cowboy” and I don’t think I have ever wanted to be a Cowboy more in my life. They get lucky all the time.
What type of reaction did you expect once you revealed the hoax? How do Torch and Cowboy feel about you now?
Torch actually took awhile to cool down and even speak to me. They told me they thought I was coming back in to kick their asses so they locked the back door.
Once it was said and done though, they were taking pictures with me and asking where I was performing so they could come out to see me. They are both very cool guys and I know if we lived in the same town they would be great buddies and would want me to work with them everyday … well, maybe not.
Since the show has to be edited down to only 30 minutes for each competition, we obviously missed a lot that happened over the course of your day. Can you tell us about some of the things we missed?
Well my favorite thing was that there were pictures of the owners through out the restaurant. I met the owners the night before so I knew who they were and they were really cool. I went up to one of their pictures and asked the manager who this weirdo looking guy was. The manager said, “Oh that is one of the owners, isn’t he queer looking. I just agreed with him and kept him talking. He was lucky HE didn’t get fired.
Cowboy said he had a really stupid girlfriend so I ripped on her and had him ripping on her too.
At one point, I was trying to turn Cowboy and Torch against each other. Telling Cowboy that I can’t believe how mean Torch is and that we should try to get him fired because he and I were doing all the work.
Also when they said they had nicknames, I told them they could call me Mr. Fuzzy Pickles and made them call me that for like the first ½ hour.
They told me to take out the trash and I just stayed out there for like 20 minutes.
I was ripping on a ton of customers too. This one guy had a huge afro and I teased him and told him he looked like an over grown poodle. The managers yelled at me for that.
A cop came in and asked about all the hidden cameras and they told him it was there new security system. And the cop said they were fake and that the owners were just trying to make the guys paranoid. So I started making faces and stuff into the cameras saying that they WERE fake and that we should drink the beer that was in the coolers.
They were mopping the floor and I slid across it. Then it got really busy and the floor was wet and I totally wiped out and was really moaning. The guys wouldn’t even come to help me. Customers were staring.
Have people recognized you since appearing on the show? What type of response have you received?
Yeah. People come up to me and tell me they want to fire me. Thank God they aren’t club owners. I did notice my CD sales have shot up though!
Who are your favorite comedians?
I have a bunch but Brian Regan is definitely one of my favorites along with Ellen Degeneres, Pablo Francisco, Kevin James, Mitch Hedberg, Dane Cook, Nick Swardson, Jim Gaffigan, and of course the greats like Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.
Aside from winning $25,000, were there other pay-offs being on Fire Me, Please?
I’ve become quite the celebrity back in my home town of Pinconning, MI. It’s the cheese capital of Michigan and now I hope to become their Cheese King!
What plans do you have for your future?
To make $100,000 next time I get fired.
It was great having the opportunity to talk to you! Thank you for your time. We wish you all the best in the future! Is there anything else you would like to add?
THANK YOU very much. And to your readers … Come see me perform. My tour schedule is on my website, www.roblittle.com and you can even order a Cd and look at some video.
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