- What's your guilty pleasure? - Mmm.
Like huffing the top of a baby's head.
- Yeah. - Gimme that baby!
Ooh, God! Why do they smell so good?
[uplifting music]
♪ ♪
- [blows]
Thought I was dead, didn't ya, bitch?
Sorry, I was daydreaming.
Thinking about my next guest, Maya Rudolph.
When I think of Maya, I think of magic
and the magical world she creates.
We are about to get into it
and find this woman's spirit flower.
♪ ♪
♪ It's another day ♪
♪ That the Lord has blessed us ♪
♪ Da, da, da, da, da ♪
Good day, Maya Rudolph.
- Good day, Maurice Harris.
- Welcome to "Centerpiece." - Thank you.
- My warm, fuzzy place. - Mmm.
- Got Mom on the ones and twos,
AKA the organ.
We've got Pauli on the drums.
MAYA: Hi, Pauli. [drum plays]
- Let's get "serrus."
- Please remove your glasses and prepare for liftoff.
- It's an important step.
[laughter]
And now let's take a journey to the center!
[laughs robustly]
When and where were you happiest?
- Hilts Avenue.
[organ playing]
Westwood, California. - Okay.
- We used to have this great pool,
my childhood house,
and birds-of-paradise.
We'd get in the raft.
We would pretend with my dad that it was like a little tropical island
that we were going to.
The best memories.
- Where did that imagination come from?
- I remember very clearly being with a friend,
and she was sad, and I didn't want to see her sad,
but I didn't want to experience the sadness.
- Okay. - So I made her laugh.
And I remember thinking, "I'm good at this.
This is what I feel more comfortable with."
- How old were you when that moment happened?
- I think I was like seven, eight.
- As children, we decide who we're gonna be as adults
and how to protect ourselves.
- Yeah, I don't know how to be a mom
because I don't have my mom.
I don't know how to be a woman because I don't have my mom.
I don't know how to be an adult
'cause I didn't have that mirror.
- So how did you press forward?
- Comedy.
- That pain that we have to experience
to get us to such a beautiful place... - Mm-hmm.
- And where you're able to just share your magic,
I just think that's, like,
incredible!
[band plays]
If you were a flower, what would you be?
- I wouldn't be a typical flower. - Okay.
- I love a flower that looks like it's plastic but it's not.
- Okay. - Like bright...
- Uh-huh, uh-huh. - But it's like so bright,
that like, "Is that a flower?"
- Uh-huh.
♪ ♪
And now, let's go deep.
[birds twittering]
[chime]
- Ooh. - Dramatic lighting change.
Do you like it hard or soft? - Hard.
[band plays note] Soft.
[band plays] [laughter]
- Land or sea?
- Both!
Give me an island!
[band plays]
- Prince or Michael Jackson.
- Prince.
[band plays]
- Boop, boop, boop. And lastly...
my favorite question of all,
you've done many impressions.
You've done Beyoncé.
You've done Whitney.
I'd even throw Rachel Dolezal up in there.
- I mean, one can dream.
[laughter]
- But can you please grace us
with an impression of me?
MAYA: I've never been asked to do someone
right in front of them like this before.
That is messed up, sir.
But by the way,
I'm gonna try. - Okay.
[laughing]
- Uh!
[laughs]
Right?
- We're out of here.
- Yes, yes? - Yes, yes. You nailed it.
You nailed it. You nailed it.
Girl, it's time to process.
Maya talked about floating past birds-of-paradise
as a young girl,
dreaming about who she would become one day.
Her limitless imagination and endless capacity
to share joy, laughter to people around her
are truly otherworldly.
I mean, it's insane.
Her centerpiece will be an exotic technicolor paradise.
A dream resurrected for that special, funny little girl
who still lives inside of her.
[birds chirp]
[drum plays]
This is your big moment. MAYA: I'm nervous.
- Thank you for your time, your energy, opening up.
I wanted to take a moment just to reflect
your creativity, your magic,
your energy back to you through flowers.
- Wow. No one's ever done that for me before.
- Well, here we are.
Gentlemen, gentlemen. Start your engines.
- What's happening? - And one,
two, three, four... MAYA: Oh!
MAURICE: Five, six, seven, eight. MAYA: Oh.
Oh, she pretty!
Why do I feel like I'm gonna cry?
Do we have a baby?
- Come to your island, your oasis. MAYA: Oh.
MAURICE: I wanted your pink ocean.
You are a tropical paradise.
MAYA: All of this feels so familiar
and also like a dream.
MAURICE: Now that we're in our magical, brand-new boat,
I think we need to go somewhere.
But... - How are we gonna do that?
We don't have any oars. - Oars!
I think our words, our vocals...
♪ Me, me, me, me, me ♪
- ♪ Me, me, me, me, me ♪
- We're gonna get there with the music.
Hit it, DJ!
[dance music plays]
- Ooh! - There's a mic.
- Of course there is.
- ♪ Row, row, row your boat ♪
♪ Gently down the stream ♪ - ♪ Row, row, row your boat ♪
♪ Gently down the stream ♪ - ♪ Merrily, merrily, merrily ♪
♪ Life is but a dream ♪ - ♪ Merrily, merrily, merrily ♪
♪ Life is but a dream ♪ - ♪ Row, row, row your boat ♪
♪ Gently down the stream ♪ - ♪ Row, row, row your boat ♪
♪ Gently down the stream ♪ - ♪ Merrily, merrily, merrily ♪
- ♪ Life is but a dream ♪
♪ I said row, row, row your boat ♪ - ♪ Life is but a dream ♪
- ♪ Gently down the stream ♪ - ♪ Row, row, row your boat ♪
both: ♪ Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily ♪
♪ Life is but a dream ♪
- Hallelujah! - Praise it!
[laughter]
- And cut!