during its run, stiller produced a satirical mockumentary whose principal was fellow actor mahoney. stiller's comedic work was well received by the cast and crew of the play, and he followed up with a 10-minute short titled the hustler of money, a parody of the martin scorsese film the color of money. the film featured him in a send-up of tom cruise's character and mahoney in the paul newman role, only this time as a bowling hustler instead of a pool shark. the short got the attention of saturday night live, which aired it in 1987 and two years later offered stiller a spot as a writer. in the meantime, he had a bit role in steven spielberg's empire of the sun.