Pamela Adlon and Tony Hale Swap Stories on the Challenges of 21st Century Comedy (Video)

“Veep” star Tony Hale had a question Wednesday for Pamela Adlon, who stars in, writes and directs her FX hit “Better Things”: “At the end of the day, are you just wiped?” The question came during the comedy spotlight panel at The Grill, TheWrap’s annual summit on entertainment and business. It turns out, Adlon has a routine that keeps it all together. “I eat lunch for breakfast,” she said. “At lunch, I go to a dark room, I take off my pants and my bra. I throw a piece of black over my eyes. I usually fall asleep for at least 10 minutes. And then I’m great for the rest of the day. If I don’t do that, like, I’ll forget to s—.”

It turns out that Hale’s “Veep” castmates also had routines — to keep from laughing so hard that they couldn’t shoot scenes. He said that the show’s lead, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “digs her nails into her skin to stop from laughing.” He said she also gave him some helpful advice to keep him from breaking up during scenes. “She turned to me and said, ‘Tony, you know you’re not watching the show, you’re in the show.’” Watch the full Spotlight on Comedy panel above.