Selena and Leah sat down to discuss their love/hate relationship, with their erudite referee along to egg them on.
Referee: The name of the show is “Comedy Rivalry.” Tell us a bit about the Weston/Wayland rivalry. Is it quite heated?
Selena: Indeed it is! Warriors and wildcats have been brawling sine time immemorial, as we all know. Weston and Wayland football play against each other on Thanksgiving day and are rivals in all other sports, too. Thankfully, Leah and I never played against each other in high school sports, since Leah played basketball and lacrosse, and I played field hockey. And by “played field hockey” I mean that I provided comic relief and enjoyed dress up day at school. I am awful at sports that don't involve sprinting to the sounds of Axl Rose's voice.
Leah: The Wayland/Weston rivalry (notice I led with the good one) is a monster. It is Eastern Massachusetts' Montagues and Capulets. There was very little intermingling outside of North Wayland kids running into Weston kids slummin’ it at the Rt. 20 Friendly's trying to score a Fribble. Growing up in Wayland and playing against Weston, there was always a lot at stake. I recall us winning most of the contests we were involved in. I could prove that with stats I suppose but I'd rather not. Selena Coppock has a tendency to cry in public.
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| Selena Coppock, Weston HS '98 |
Referee: How did you two meet?
Selena: A few years back at a show at the Laugh Lounge in New York City, we were on the same line-up. I’d never met Leah, but I told a joke that references Weston, and I heard a loud “Boooo!” from the back. Turns out it was Leah, and a friendship was born. She doesn't mess around about Wayland pride! But in all seriousness, we’ve become great friends over the years and it's nice to know that if I'm ever at a comedy party and I use words like "wicked" or "packie" or "jimmies," at least one other person will know what I'm talking about.
Leah: That's correct. I booed her and I'd do it again. In fact, that is generally how I greet Selena. She's come to appreciate it. It's my verbal hug. We're great pals. Though we met in New York, there's something about a finding a Bostonian in New York City that speeds up a friendship. We are like minds. Mostly what we like is drinking, stand-up comedy and Boston-themed movies with over-the-top accents. During a showing of "The Town" at the Times Square Regal, we spent 125 minutes loudly ridiculing Blake Lively's terrible Boston accent and Ben Affleck's inability to enunciate, all while dressed in "Wicked Pissah" t-shirts. What can I say ... people in New York hate us everywhere we go.
Selena Coppock has a tendency to cry in public. — Leah Dubie
Referee: How did you dream up the concept for this show?
Selena: We love jokingly talking smack about/to each other, and I was thinking about how I could make some of my own breaks and produce my own stuff. I was trying to think of different theme shows with a fun gimmick and I thought about the Weston/Wayland rivlry. The rivalry show seemed like a no-brainer, so I asked Leah about it and she was 100% in immediately. We reached out to Tim because we both love Mottley’s, and things moved really easily from there. We’ve been promoting a lot and we’re both really fired up.
Leah: This show concept is really cool actually. In addition to the stand-up performances which will be hometown themed, we've got a great Wayland vs. Weston showdown to kick off the night. It's going to be intense and I'll probably wear eyeblack. I don't care that this show happens at night. Selena needs to know I'm serious.
Referee: Are you excited to come back to Boston for one night only?
Selena: I can’t wait. The show is going to be so fantastic. We have our great friend Garry Hannon coming up from NYC to do some time, and Boston’s own Maria Ciampa is going to be our fearless host. It’s a night of big talent and big laughs, start to finish. Plus, I have a whole notebook of jokes about Dairy Joy, and I can’t wait to throw ‘em out there. Dip Tops, what!?
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| Leah Dubie, Wayland HS '95 |
Leah: I am excited! Party at my mom's house! You're all invited but please take off your shoes and remember that she's got to work in the morning even though you don't Leah! This show is going to kick so much ass! We've got the comedy dream team assembled. Garry is another hilarious Bostonian living in NYC and Maria is still holding strong here in Massachusetts. I'm not certain but I think she's on the city council and that's why she's chosen not to join us in New York.
Referee: Do you find the comedy scenes of Boston and NYC quite different? How did you adjust to NYC?
Selena: The NYC scene is obviously much larger than the Boston scene, but a lot of the same rules apply. You’ve got to just be out there — writing, hanging out, hustling, networking, performing — and eventually you’ll be considered part of the scene. It just takes time. I’m glad that I did my first two years of stand up in Boston, where I could figure it out without making TOO much of an ass of myself. I’ve been living in NYC for a little over four years now and I love it. It was certainly an adjustment at first. The pace and energy can be a bit daunting initially, but now I know how to use it to propel me forward.
I have a whole notebook of jokes about Dairy Joy, and I can’t wait to throw ‘em out there. Dip Tops, what!? — Selena Coppock
Leah: Yes. They are different. I started in New York and only performed in Boston once I started doing "the road," which is hilarious to me that Massachusetts would be "the road." Adjusting to non-New York crowds took a bit of time. I never thought my loud parents from Waltham and the lunatics I grew up around could be shocked by anything that would come out of my mouth, and typically they aren't, but it's still this funny balance of liberal values and what is proper that is sometimes difficult for a NY comic to adjust to. I've got it down now though. It's easy because usually my mom is there staring at me in the front row. If anything was too much for her then I will hear about it on the ride home. Another glamorous part of stand-up comedy ... when I do hometown shows I don't tend to rent a car. I get my 60-year old mom to drive me (and my posse) around. This posse is mostly made up of 60-year olds FYI.
Referee: Which is a more bad ass mascot, the wildcat or the warrior?
Selena: To be completely honest, it’s a tough call. With the wildcat, you’ve got a jungle cat who is WILD. So wild that the word “wild” is part of his name. Wild isn't just his middle name, like all those jerks who say stuff like, "Danger is my middle name." It’s half of his name — straight up. But the warrior is not only a Native American killing machine, it’s also a terribly racist throwback mascot. See? Tough call.
Leah: I don't care how wild this cat is, it's a cat. At most it's going to weigh 20 lbs if it's fat. 20 lbs is a warrior baby. It's a baby killing machine. Even our adolescent killing machines can run wild over these wild cats. Meow. Ooooooh, I'm scared. What's that? Oh, that's just one of my many tomahawks I carry around on my human torso. It's not even a fair fight. I actually feel bad for this cat and I want to pat it and feed it Fancy Feast which makes sense because it's used to a fancy life in Weston.
Referee: How did you get into stand up?
Selena: As a kid in Weston, I was always involved in performing, be it acting in school plays (under the tutelage of the brilliant John Minnigan) or singing with The Pralines. In college I continued singing (the Hamilton College Hamiltones — what what!?) and I was part of the improv comedy troupe. I really loved improv and hated stand up back then — I thought stand up was mostly Andrew Dice Clay-type misogyny. I moved to Chicago after college to study improv and ended up back in Boston for a few years, where I continued to do improv. I dabbled in stand up almost by accident, but quickly fell in love and realized that it was just a better match for me than improv. So I did two years of stand up in Boston, then got laid off from a publishing job in Boston and decided to make a move.
Leah: I always loved stand up. As a kid, I went to the Comedy Connection and Nick's Comedy Stop as much as most 14-year olds went to the movies or the mall. I always knew I wanted to do stand up but didn't actually take the stage until after I graduated from college. From there I've had a continued "love" affair with comedy. I still love it but we've been in couples counseling a few times because comedy is very selfish. Wait no, that's me.
Leah Dubie is a stand-up comic, writer, and host, who has been called "Smart and Opinionated" by Time Out NY. Her jokes have been featured alongside naked ladies in Playboy Magazine. Her musings have been heard on FREE FM, Sirius OutQ, The Joey Reynolds Show and broadcast on a broadband channel in the back of NYC cabs. She has performed at the Boston Comedy Festival, Gilda's Club and was a semi-finalist in the NY Comedy Competition. She works regularly as an on-air host and comedic commentator. Her television credits include Tru TV's "The Smoking Gun Presents," WE "Cinematherapy," LOGO's "Out In The City" and Here! TV's "Hot, Gay Comics."
Selena Coppock is a comedian, writer, and host as well. She has studied both improv and sketch comedy extensively, training at ImprovOlympic (Chicago), The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (NY), and ImprovAslyum (Boston). Since shifting her focus to stand-up and sketch comedy, Selena has earned spots in a multitude of comedy festivals, including the Boston Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Competition, Detroit Comedy Festival, North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival, the Out of Bounds Festival, and the Ladies Are Funny Festival (Austin, TX). Her comedy writing has been featured in McSweeney’s, The Collared Sheep, and Rock Bottom Stories. She has also been featured on "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet" (FOX), TheApiary.com, Comedysmack.com, Collegehumor.com, and in The Boston Phoenix, Boston Metro, and The Boston Globe.
Comedy Rivalry: Selena Coppock vs. Leah Dubie at Mottley’s Comedy Club, Fanueil Hall www.mottleyscomedy.com for tickets
January 6, 2011
$12
8 p.m.
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