Exclusive: SNL's Taran Killam Talks Spies, Super Heroes, and More
When he’s not busy making the world laugh as a featured player and writer on “Saturday Night Live,” comedian Taran Killam spends his time with his other passions: gaming and comic books. As he prepares to launch his first foray into the world of comics with the upcoming release of issue #1 of “The Illegitimates,” he’ll be the guest of honor at an exclusive event at Loft One NYC. We had a chance to catch up with Taran in the days leading up to the shindig, discussing everything from his inspiration for the comic book to the backstory behind his Xbox Live gamertag.
Xbox Wire: Hi Taran, thanks for taking the time to speak with us today. We’re glad to hear you’re enjoying Xbox One.
Taran Killam: It’s my pleasure, I love it. I just got the full demo of everything. I’ve had it for about two weeks and I’ve been kicking butt in “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” but I had no idea the Xbox One could double as my best friend!
XW: Yep, you can talk to it and everything! Let’s kick things off with your comic book. We’re huge comic fans and didn’t realize that you’ve been hard at work on a comic book. What’s it about?
TK: It’s called “The Illegitimates” and it’s about a super-spy named Jack Steele, who’s the world greatest spy and also a lady-killer. He gets on in years and is killed in a mission, and the agency he works for is running around and chaotic and they say “We don’t know what we’re going to do, what’s our back-up plan?” Their head of intel tells them that the back-up plan is that over the years they’ve been monitoring Steel’s sexual activities with femme fatales and female agents and they have been anonymously monitoring and nurturing the bastard offspring that he’s had with these different femme fatales and female agents. There are five in particular that they’re going to bring together to take their father’s place to save the world.
XW: How did this come about? Did you always want to do a comic book?
TK: I’ve been a comic book fan my whole life, starting with issue #1 of Jim Lee’s “X-Men” and it’s always been a huge part of my life. I love comic books, I love the art form. Another love of mine is James Bond, and even more than that I love the super-spy genre. I love gadgets and saving the world and sneaking into places like going to galas and tropical locations and fighting bad guys. Growing up, my family was very big James Bond fans. We had the VHS boxed set and I think at some point I realized that every movie stopped with him left alone with a girl, either on a beach or in a hotel or on a destroyed train. It just felt like the theory of ratios led me to believe that he wasn’t always using protection.
XW: Haha, that’s great. So, let’s talk Xbox One. What was your …read more