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November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! How About Those Gender Roles in Improv, Eh?
by Liz McKeon - 0

By WICF Editor Liz McKeon  

Happy Thanksgiving, ladies of comedy! Happy Thanksgiving, fans of comedic ladies! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone outside of the U.S. who has to work today (my apologies).

I'd like to direct your attention to a brilliant podcast hosted over at our sponsor ImprovBoston's site, "Fireside Improv." You know the wonderful WICF Contributor Rachel Klein, you love her. Now you can hear Rachel, along with the brilliant David Marino and Andy Short, expound on all the improv geekiness you've been missing in your life.

On the most recent episode, "Gender and Improv," the group tackles the important questions about women's roles in improv and how gender roles play out on and off the stage. Check out "Fireside Improv 9 - Gender and Improv" on the ImprovBoston Radio page.

For some choice quotes to share around the dinner table, my money's on: "I came back to improv as a married woman, mother of two. I noticed the difference that made as to how some men in the improv world would look at me versus an attractive single female counterpart of mine ... less onstage than ... you know how, when a man meets a women — you tell me if this is not true — they think maybe there's a chance I'll sleep with her? The quotient of that goes down with certain attributes." -Rachel Klein
"Is Being married one?" -David Marino
"Being married is one, but, like, ugh, she's had babies. That's a whole scary world. So there's this whole bed-able quotient that reduces [our chances onstage.]"

Or chew on these two bon mots from Rachel:
"Men don't have to be representative of all men when they speak, but women represent all women."
"People are more willing to look at tubby, middle-aged men than at tubby, middle-aged women."

I'd like to make a shout out to Patti Jane McCauley McLoughlin, for the deviled eggs and conversation. Happy holiday!
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November 17, 2011

It's Not a Competition
by Unknown - 11


By Contributor Barbara Holm


A few days ago, I worked the door at a comedy club and I also did a short guest spot on the show. The good thing about working the door at a comedy club is that you get to hang out and talk to other comedians a lot. The bad thing about working the door is that you’re stuck in the box office for an hour so you have to talk to other comedians a lot. As I was setting up the cash register, a more established road headliner comedian walked through the doors. Let’s call her Sally.

I said, “Hi, Sally,” (No I didn’t, because that’s not her real name, but just leave the fourth wall alone and go with me, okay?) politely as she came in.

Sally’s face went white with horror and her eyes grew big and she yelped back cheerfully, “Hi!” She disappeared into the show room and came back five minutes later and said, “Hey, Barbara.” I figured she’d forgotten my name earlier, which was fine. We didn’t know each other that well. With an overcompensating smile on her face, Sally said, “I guess I’m closing out the showcase. I’m doing my [regular] set. I’m sure you alternative hipster comics will hate it but you’ll be too busy talking about your ironic hoodies to worry about it.” She winked.

What I should have said was, “No, you’re great. We love your set.” What I actually said was, “This isn’t an ironic hoodie; it’s a UCB hoodie.”

There are not a finite number of spots for female comedians on a show bill.

I don't respond well to catty girl comments. I can’t digest an insult wrapped in a compliment burrito, especially not from people I don’t know that well. Admittedly, I can be incredibly self deprecating, but I try to draw the line when it makes others feel uncomfortable.

Sally blinked. “What’s UCB?”

My face fell, devastated that I would ever have to answer this question. “The Upright Citizen’s Brigade. You know … Amy Poehler, Matt Besser-”

Sally interrupted me, “Oh yeah, of course I know.”

Another comedian, one of my very funny friends, Jesse, approached the ticket booth and quietly started rifling through his notebook while mumbling something about feeling frustrated. “Don’t worry, Jesse,” Sally said, loud enough for the entire bar area to hear. “Barbara here will be your comedy groupie!”

My eyes went black with rage, and I felt an Eowyn from Lord of the Rings-style vehement anger as I looked at her and quietly said, “I ain’t no fucking comedy groupie.”

A comedy groupie is a woman (notice there is no derogatory word for it if a man does it) who is a fan of comedy and has sex with headlining comedians. This person is usually not a comedian herself and has also been referred to as a “starfucker,” “chucklefucker,” and other horribly offensive names. Cute young girl comics will occasionally have this title incorrectly thrust upon them. I am a comedian; I am not riding on my sexuality to get booked on shows, nor am I in comedy for any reason other than to get funnier.

A group of audience members came up to the box office so I turned my attention to them and Sally went down to the green room. When the audience members left, the show started and the box office became very slow. I picked up my copy of Mindy Kaling’s book “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” (which is wonderfully well written and hilarious) and started reading. Sally came back to the box office.

“I’ve been asking about you downstairs,” she said. I looked up from my book, raising my eyebrows. “They say you’re really funny, but I said you’re too thin to be funny.”

I closed my books and folded my arms. This was another backhanded compliment designed to make me feel insecure about my comedic abilities. Deadpan, I said, “Oh, there’s a weight requirement to writing a good joke?”

I can’t digest an insult wrapped in a compliment burrito, especially not from people I don’t know that well.

Sally didn’t answer this and instead indicated my book. “Oh my gosh, that book is too cute. The cover is sickeningly adorable. Of course you’re reading something that cute.”

Defensively, I said, “What could you possibly have against Mindy Kaling?”

“I don’t know who that is.”

I gasped in horror. I was disturbed by the fact that anyone in comedy, let alone someone with a swagger, could not know who Mindy Kaling was. Luckily, before I could say anything, the manager came to tell me to come down to the showroom and get my butt on stage. I packed up the cashbox and headed down. I did really well on the show. Sally, however, bombed. As she was putting on her coat after the show, I said, “Good seeing you, Sally.”

“Good set, Barbie!” she said, in a nasally sarcastic voice.

“What is your problem with me?” I asked.

“I don’t have a problem with you,” she said, her voice rising to a higher pitch to imitate mine.

I shrugged and turned to leave. I hate that female comedians can be so passive aggressively competitive. We aren’t in competition with other women in our profession; we’re in competition with everyone. Men might try to pit us against each other so that they don’t have to compete with us, but we should never do it to ourselves. Women in comedy should work together, help each other up. It’s easier if we support each other instead of using high school passive aggressive backstabby language. There are not a finite number of spots for female comedians on a show. It’s hard enough for us to learn the complexities of the beautiful world of joke writing without having to compare ourselves to every other woman in the show. Also, the people who make comics feel jealous or competitive are exactly the people you should be friends with because they’re funny and ambitious and will push you and support you to be your best. We don’t need to put each other down to look better. I don’t know what’s going to happen with my or Sally’s careers, but I do know that I will never treat a younger funny female comic as a threat when I could be trying to make a friend.



Barbara Holm is a stand-up comedian from Seattle, Washington. She has performed at Bridgetown Comedy Festival, The Women in Comedy Festival, and Bumbershoot Festival. She has been described as clever, creative and unique.
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November 16, 2011

Geeking Out With ... Keisha Zollar
by Unknown - 0


By Contributor Pam Victor

“Geeking Out with … ” is a series of interviews with well-known, highly experienced improvisers. It’s a chance to talk about stuff that might interest only hardcore improv dorkwads like me. For an extended, full-frontal geek-out version of this interview, please visit my blog, My Nephew is a Poodle.


When I saw the all-African American troupe The Jamal at this year’s Del Close Marathon, I was excited by the much-needed cultural expansion they bring to the improv world. I couldn’t help but to be particularly awed by Keisha Zollar’s firecracker performance. In addition to her total commitment, she added verve and vivacity to every scene. Zollar improvises with such apparent fearlessness that no boundary seems safe in her realm. And I, for one, am grateful for that.

Keisha Zollar has been performing improv since her college days at the University of California (San Diego) when, on a whim, she tried out for the short-form troupe “When the Script Hits the Fan.” Upon graduation, Zollar decided to pursue a career as “a serious actress,” so she moved to New York City to attend the MFA program at The Actor’s Studio in The New School. But the lure of comedy always beckoned her, so her first audition upon graduation was for the short-form group Chicago City Limits. She got a callback and took that as a sign to get back into improv. After two and a half years touring with a short-form troupe, Zollar trained at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre and the People’s Improv Theater. In 2009, she became the Diversity Coordinator at the UCBT. These days, Zollar divides her time hosting The Soul-Glo Project at UCB, and performing with Nobody’s Token, Doppelganger, and an indie, all-female Harold team called 8GH, to name a few of the many comedy pies Zollar has her fingers in.

Pam Victor: Well, let me say thanks for doing this interview. Just so you know, I've been doing improv for almost a decade. I founded my own troupe in western Mass. over eight years ago, and I produce a comedy show up here among other things. So that's where I'm coming from ...

Keisha Zollar: I kinda stalked you.

Pam Victor: So you know how many guys I fucked in high school?

Keisha Zollar: Hmmmmm.

[Um, seriously, Pam? Awkward much? My ability to start an interview off on the weird foot is almost pitch perfect. Alas. Enter immediate, quasi-professional, backpedalling mode.]
Pam Victor: So when did you find long-form?

Keisha Zollar: About 2006, I took my first class with Ari Voukydis at UCB…[but] I dropped out at level three. I felt isolated.

Pam Victor: That's intense, Keisha. I'm sorry you had that experience.
Keisha Zollar: Eh. It wasn't malicious. It was just people going towards what they were used to. I was this early twenties, black girl, and there were very few women and even fewer people who weren't white.
Pam Victor: So you've hit upon a very important point here. Improv is predominately a young, white, male show.

Keisha Zollar: It is, even more so in NYC. It’s also the economics of it all, so middle class to upper, and rich, white men. In NYC, you have to have the money to take classes or the free time to be an intern. I see the financial [issue] as a barrier to entry ...
The lack of females in improv has always been the greatest mystery to me personally. Growing up, my mom was and is one of the funniest people I know.
I think [the lack of diversity] is a perfect storm. Improv is a personal thing where you pull from your experiences, and if people can't relate to you, they kinda discredit you — not intentionally. And if you can't afford to take the classes, you cannot even be discredited!           
The lack of females [in improv] has always been the greatest mystery to me personally. Growing up, my mom was and is one of the funniest people I know.

Pam Victor: Well, I'm quite certain the fact that there are fewer female improvisers than male has nothing to do with whether women are funny or not.

Keisha Zollar: YES!!!! I think there is an inherent laziness in humans to go for what they know.
Pam Victor: I think you hit the nail on the head, Keisha. I think that since men started out dominating the improv scene — and since improv requires so much trust and intuitiveness — the men would relate more to the men. They would subtly reject the women's offers.

Keisha Zollar: Men have had an unfair balance of power in the history of this country. Shit, we are still figuring that out.

Pam Victor: Seriously. I almost never improvise with men. Not by design, but by circumstance.

Keisha Zollar: I tend to perform with either women or other black performers.

Pam Victor: In addition to the fact that I think you guys are incredibly skilled improvisers (and I’m not just blowing smoke up your ass — I really mean it!), I personally love the cultural diversity The Jamal and Nobody’s Token brings to the festival circuit. What are the advantages for you of playing with an all African-American troupe?
Keisha Zollar: Well, the best part of being in an all African-American troupe is not having to explain any cultural things. Yes, I listened to R&B more than pop. Jesus is big with black people, gospel too, [plus] church and music and food and more. We have the same cultural rhythm, and it's pretty bad ass.
I think there are scenes that can expose painful truth through humor, but you really need the diversity to do them justice.
I started playing with a great group of women called Mrs. Jones, a group of black women, and the shared experiences ARE awesome. First off, I LOVE playing with ladies. I don't feel weird making a joke about my body or feelings. Also playing with black women ... when something racial comes up, no one's buttholes tense up. There tends to be a level of sensitivity because we know what it's like to be the outcast. So if we push an issue, it is because we are intentionally doing so!

Pam Victor: Well, and you have the advantage — so to speak — of being able to go there. Know what I mean?

Keisha Zollar: YES!!!! Women handle rape scenes differently, in my experience, than men. And black people handle a slave scene differently. I think there are scenes that can expose painful truth through humor, but you really need the diversity to do them justice.

Pam Victor: ABSOLUTELY. But here's the thing, we are talking about how it's more fun and easier and more comfortable to do improv with people who share common experiences with ourselves. But if we only do improv with people who are like us, then how is improv as a big unit going to become more unified?

Keisha Zollar: Well, I think it is a balance. I also try to play with people VERY different from me whenever I can. I think you find your voice and empowerment when you are playing with like players, and you find freedom and the stretching of your abilities and thoughts when you play with people vastly different from you.
Keisha Zollar
Pam Victor: Well said. And please don't think for a minute I'm saying it's your responsibility as a black woman to unify the improv world. It is a two-way street. I'm talking from my own experience as a female improviser who often feels more comfortable working with other women, but also frustrated by those same limitations.

Keisha Zollar: I think it's a constant balance. I think the male-heavy or -only groups have the same tendencies — there are just a lot more of them. They form groups from people who are similar, and then they start going for the people who are most different for the creative challenge.

Pam Victor: So who are you performing with these days? Where can we see you?

Keisha Zollar: I am still performing with Nobody's Token and Doppelganger. I also play with 8GH, which is an eight-lady Harold team (indie). In addition, I actually host a show highlighting diversity in comedy called the Soul Glo Project. The Soul Glo Project is a UCB show.

Pam Victor: It seems like UCB is very supportive of your efforts to diversify the improv scene.

Keisha Zollar: THEY ARE! And Nate Dern, the new AD, is amazing. He cares about diversity. He's made more considerations and has supported and welcomed, and is welcoming, diversity. He sees that diversity isn't about the minorities getting a chance, but about fostering the best comedic talent, and giving diverse talent ways to express that. He sees the struggle.

Pam Victor: So there are reasons to be optimistic about the coming diversity in the improv world.

Keisha Zollar: Yes. Nate gives me a lot of hope. And others, too.

Read the rest of Pam's interview with Keisha Zollar at My Nephew is a Poodle.
Photo credit: Jeff Hausthor
Pam Victor is the founding member of The Ha-Ha’s, and she produces The Happier Valley Comedy Shows. Pam directs, produces and performs in the hot, new comic soap opera web series "Silent H, Deadly H". Pam also writes mostly humorous, mostly true essays and reviews of books, movies and tea on her blog, "My Nephew is a Poodle."
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November 15, 2011

Bullish: How To Make Money From Being Hip As All Fucking Hell
by Unknown - 0

By Contributor Jen Dziura 

This article originally appeared on TheGrindstone.

When I was a kid, I assumed that everyone on television was rich. Because showing off your dancing beagle on whatever program was the ‘80s equivalent to The Ellen DeGeneres Show obviously represents both a huge financial windfall as well as a sustainable business model.

We now live in an era in which it is painfully clear that fame does not equal money. Ashley Hebert made $30,000 for The Bachelorette (a tiny fraction of what she’ll soon be making as a dentist). All the other Real Housewives are jealous that Bethenny Frankel actually had a business plan all along, and a product (Skinnygirl Margarita) that other human beings would actually like to purchase for their own pleasure and consumption. I was in a pilot for a TV show on a major network and was to be paid a few thousand dollars per season if it took off – the idea being that, obviously, being a logic expert who helps people figure out how to steal cake would help me to advertise similar services in real life.

I’ve written before about how being attractive is helpful, but does not translate into money as readily as a person might think. Being awesome (or hip, cool, popular, famous, etc.) also does not just convert itself into money the way one might assume.

Read the rest at TheGrindstone.


Jennifer Dziura (jenniferdziura.com) writes career and life coaching advice for young women at TheGrindstone and TheGloss. She believes you can make money without being a douchebag. She believes in working harder and smarter now so you can have "balance" when you're wrinkly and covered in diamonds. She believes in starting businesses on zero dollars, selling expensive things to rich people, and laughing very hard at people who try to "manifest their dreams" without learning any real skills or shaping the fuck up. She likes to help. Jennifer also performs (sort of) educational one-woman shows about philosophy and punctuation. Her "The History of Women in 30 Minutes" is appearing in the Women in Comedy Festival.
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November 14, 2011

Good news -- You can still apply for WICF through Friday! Giddy up!
by Liz McKeon - 0

Applications for shows are now open through Friday, November 18th at 11:59 pm EST. Go to womenincomedyfestival.com/apply to submit — and good luck!
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How To: Reintegrate Into Society After Doing the Comedy Thing
by Liz McKeon - 1

By Contributor Maggie Maye


After taking a year off to focus on comedy (i.e. after not being able to find a job for a year), I've officially suited up and rejoined the workforce. It's been a bit of an adjustment, to say the least. The following is my experience so far. This shouldn't be taken as a decision map; if you get offered a job, by all means take it before they realize you're a comic and horribly unqualified for the position. I'm still crossing my fingers to make it past the 3-month probationary period.

Pro: Money, obviously.
Con: I work in sales, so that money doesn't come without a hustle. Additionally, since I have to talk to clients all day, I don't have time to look at cat videos on YouTube like everyone else does at their day job. As a side note, if you or any of your friends want to get your business on the front page of a search engine, hit me up. I can help. I work for the industry leader in search engine optimization and I'll hook you up with my discount (end shameless promotion).

Pro: I have to be more responsible. Since I have to fit more into my day, I have to make sure I'm not wasting a ton of time during the day. Also, since I'm working so hard for this job, I feel guilty unless I'm putting in the same effort for comedy.
Con: That responsibility hasn't exactly permeated every area of my life. Today, I had pretty much run out of deodorant, so I scraped the last remnants out of the container and rubbed it on my armpits like it was lotion. My pits still smell shower fresh, but so do my finger nails.

Pro: It's a full-time, 8-5 job, so I am awake way more.
Con: I'm awake way more.

Con: Since I spend 8-10 hours here, it cuts down on my writing time.
Less of a con: When I wasn't working, I wasn't writing for 8-10 hours. So, technically, this job is cutting into my Roseanne reruns and Cheeto-eating time. So I have to train my mind to make time to write. I write during my lunch hour and will jot down things as they come to me during the day. And they have Cheetos in the vending machine, so I'm good.

Pro: There are a bunch of people here, which is cool. It's an untapped resource of new people to invite to shows.
Con: If they go and talk during the whole thing, you'll have to answer to the other comics about why your work friends can't behave.
Other Pro: For the most part, they'll behave and be really nice. Nice enough that you'll happily agree to perform at their barbecue this weekend.
Another con: You'll end up performing at a barbecue.
Better pro: They'll probably let you eat some of the barbecue. And it's going to be delicious.



Maggie Maye. Photo Credit: Dustin Ashcraft
Maggie Maye has always had a knack for making people laugh. From her first time on stage, she knew she loved stand up even more than she loved candy. Well, actually, it’s a tie, but still, that’s a whole lot.
Maggie has been called "one of the hottest up and coming comics in Austin." She's been a finalist in the Funniest Person in Austin contest and was featured in Austin Monthly magazine. I'll bet you can probably guess where this broad lives. She's also been a featured performer at Fun Fun Fun Fest, Art Outside, the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, and the Ladies are Funny Festival.
She has had the opportunity to work with some comedic badasses, such as Pablo Francisco, Felicia Michaels, and the legendary Paul Mooney, who not only told her she was funny, but gave her the nickname "Black Barbie." Also, this 6-year-old once told her she was the funniest person ever. So she also has that going for her.
If you see her perform, expect for Maggie to use her charm, wit and backhanded form of observational humor to make you laugh and think.
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November 10, 2011

WICF Takes Manhattan Tours to The PIT - WICF w/ The Scene Tonight at 9:30
by Liz McKeon - 0


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I’m the Scared Woman Who Saw the Awful Ashley Madison Ad on the Floor of the Subway
by Unknown - 0

By WICF Performer Mindy Raf 


Reposted from Mindy's tumblr. 


This Ashley Madison ad on the back of a New York Metro greeted me this morning on the train.

Sorry it’s a crappy picture. The slogan reads, “Life is Short. Have an Affair.” I’m sure there’s a better version of this on Whe web somewhere. In fact I went looking for one and found this Jezebel article, "I’m The ‘Scary’ Model In That Awful Ashley Madison Ad." 

 The message, “look airbrushed/have ribs removed to earn/keep man,” “you’re only worth your weight,” isn’t a new one. I see it all the time and I don’t snap pictures, or look up the company, or feel so dirty after. So why did I find this one especially disgusting?

Maybe it was what the "scary" model, Jacqueline, said about “female body shaming” and knowing that “this sort of behavior [eating disorders] can easily be triggered from the careless cruelty of advertisements like the one in question.”

Maybe it was the check boxes, itemizing women like some product to be thrown out.

Maybe it was the asinine, hacky, cringe worthy slogan, “Life is short. Have an affair,” the uninspired fat vs. skinny, ugly vs. hot angle.

Maybe it was because the ad wasn’t just the message; it was a blatant, literal call to action of that message.

Maybe it was because it took me back to my fourteen year old self crossing her arms over her stomach every time she sat down, putting her mom’s foundation on the sides of her underarms to look like the girls in the magazines who didn’t have any lines on their skin (no side boob creases at all!), and my mother telling me over and over again I was beautiful and me thinking, “Yeah, but not perfect.”
I guess it was all those things. And I guess it’s always going to be a struggle, as a woman, to feel like a whole person and not some flat image next to a check box. In time, though, I was able to see myself the way my mother saw me, beautiful because of so many things not having to do with the size of my body or how flawless my skin looked over it.

I hope the young girls who see ads like this can too, someday.




Mindy Raf. Photo credit: Anya Garrett.
Mindy Raf is a writer, comedienne, and musician based in Brooklyn, New York. She has written for CollegeHumor, VH1, TNT's "Embrace Your Grace," The Daily Comedy Network, and was a contributor to the My Parents Were Awesome anthology. Mindy is also a soon-to-be-published novelist with Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin. She was nominated for an ECNY award as "Best Musical Comedy Act" as her popular alter-ego Leibya Rogers, and recently released a full length vinyl comedy album, "LeibyaFair Live!" Mindy was thrilled to be a part of the 2011 Women in Comedy Festival, SketchFestNYC, and the Bridgetown Comedy Festival where she was named a “stellar surprise” by The Portland Mercury. She currently writes/records new songs weekly with her Web project Mindy's Music Mondays.
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November 9, 2011

Geeking Out With … Chris Gethard
by Unknown - 0


By Contributor Pam Victor

Introducing “Geeking Out with … ”
This will be a series of interviews with well-known, highly experienced improvisers. It’s a chance to talk about stuff that might interest only hardcore improv dorkwads like me. And probably you (and I mean that in the most sincere, loving way.) For an extended, full-frontal geek-out version of this interview, please visit my blog, My Nephew is a Poodle.


The first time I met Chris Gethard, I was handing him a demi-cup, lace bra in the ImprovBoston green room. He and his troupe were embarking on a cross-country comedy road trip in an RV, and I asked if he would deliver the bra to another comedian I hardly knew in L.A.
“Did you put perfume on it?” Chris simply asked in response to my request.
I blushed and snatched the bra out of his hands to smell it in confirmation of what I already knew. (Why did I need to smell my own bra in front of Chris Gethard?! To this day, I still can’t answer that question.)
“Actually, it’s essential oil,” said the fragrance-free gal from western Mass., before choking out, “cinnamon.”
And that was pretty much the sum total of our interaction.
The whole bra/RV stunt was an attempt to perform again with a comedian who once plucked me out of the audience to have a date on stage during the Del Close Marathon several years ago. Believe me, it’s not a pro-feminism story I will be writing in to the Smith College Alumni Quarterly any time soon. But I will say that, to his great credit, Chris Gethard successfully transported my lingerie across the continent.

Since the age of 19, Gethard has been at Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre, where he teaches classes and performs with The Stepfathers. He has a host of choice gigs on his resume, such as guest writing for Saturday Night Live and the "Onion News Network," multiple appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and last year, starring in Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s sitcom on Comedy Central, Big Lake, which also featured Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell. These days, he has his own cable access show The Chris Gethard Show, billed as “the most bizarre and often saddest talk show in New York City.” Recently, we sat down to chat virtually about improv. And neti pots. Gethard was suffering through a sinus infection.

Pam Victor: Sorry to hear you’re sick. I’m just getting over something. I’m a neti pot user.

Chris Gethard: Oh, I do the neti pot too. I’m at the point though where I know it will hurt really badly. You ever have that? Where the sinuses get so bad that the neti pot is like pouring glass into your own head?

Pam Victor: Yes. That’s when I stop doing it usually.
(Opening an interview with neti pot stories: Worse or better than smelling your own bra? You be the judge.)

Pam Victor: How did you get into improv? What’s your training?

Chris Gethard: Well, I started in high school. A teacher who knew I was kind of a wise ass sort of twisted my arm into signing up for her drama class, and we just did improv the whole time. I was pretty immediately obsessed. [Then] I went to Rutgers, auditioned for their short form troupe, and had a year of just desperately trying to get into this short form group. I fought and fought to get in … took me three semesters to get in. Then was like ... obsessed with it, but [short form] burned out fast. I enjoyed short form, but I figured out very quickly that there were tricks to it, and I felt the ceiling of it fast.
Chris Gethard!
So after my sophomore year, I started taking classes at UCB. My first class, I think, was a week before my 20th birthday … and from there I was just obsessed. I’m lucky; my group in college was good and motivated. Everyone was good, but there was a crew that all went to UCB, to long form, that I lead the charge on. And I think all of us are still doing it professionally.
Pam Victor: I get the obsession thing. What about improv obsesses you so much?
Chris Gethard: The thing about improv that obsesses me so much is that any show could be your best show ever. Every time you step on stage, you might hit a rhythm you’ve never hit before, say something funnier, connect harder with your teammates, whatever. It’s addictive, but I find myself chasing it even after eleven years of doing it at UCB.
Pam Victor: Are you a risk-taker in real life?
Chris Gethard: Yeah. Big time, to a stupid degree. I am mocked for it.
Pam Victor: So that’s where your style of comedy come from, you think? That sense of, “Let’s get Chris to do it ... he’ll do anything”?
Chris Gethard: I don’t know. It’s definitely hard to know how you’re viewed on stage, but I actually think on stage I tend to be the one more in control. I think I lean more straight man/pointing things out. I’m not very good at characters or object work. Most of my characters are very similar to me. But that’s where being a semi-strange person gives me an advantage, because I think I’ve had a decent amount of life experience, so playing close to myself isn’t a hindrance. I am pretty good at adjusting and playing most situations with a certain degree of integrity.
Opening an interview with neti pot stories: Worse or better than smelling your own bra? You be the judge.
I think, eleven years in though, I focus more on taking my attitude from improv [than performing it], the things I’ve discovered with it, and putting them into things like storytelling, my talk show, and stand up. Improv is my base that I apply to everything.

Pam Victor: That last sentence makes me smile. Ok, The Chris Gethard Show, your cable-access show. Tell me about what you’re going for there — it’s so unlike anything that’s out there right now, sort of Theatre of the Absurd, sort of Fellini, sort of Howard Stern. It’s fascinating.

Chris Gethard: Thank you! We’ve definitely all built it together over time, all the people on camera and organizing it on my end … when you’re comfortable with each other and you let your guard down and realize that the people up there with you are your safety net, your limits can really get stretched. So we get really revealing. We sometimes get violent. We see how far we can push each other.

Pam Victor: UCB seems very masculine energy. I don’t know if you read the WICF piece or not, but Joe Bill and I have been going back and forth a lot lately on masculine vs. feminine improv.

Chris Gethard: I would say one of the biggest assets of the UCB is that I think it’s unquestionably the punk rock theater. It’s a little dirtier and less polished, but very, very ballsy and in your face … if you divide comedy up by masculine/feminine, it’s probably fair to say that UCB is on the masculine end of the spectrum.

Pam Victor: Can you tell me about how you are trained for that there?

Chris Gethard: You know, the game is at the core of the UCB style and philosophy, the idea that you can isolate one central core funny idea in each scene, that each scene can have its comedy defined by one core principle that you then make a pattern out of. And I think on some level, there’s a math-like quality to that … on some level I wonder if that might give UCB that more masculine energy. It’s based on patterns and there is something of a formula in the way they teach people to communicate.

Pam Victor: So that’s your go-to on stage? You’re listening for the game of the scene?

Chris Gethard: It’s not even a go-to. Game isn’t a go-to, that’s not even the way to phrase it. It’s a language.

Pam Victor: Ok. So for me, personally, defining and develop the relationship between characters is what I think of as my go-to. How would you phrase it?

Chris Gethard: I kind of don’t get when improvisers say relationship is at the core of their scenes. I literally don’t understand it because that’s like saying that breathing air is at the core of living. That’s a starting point. People knock UCB, knock the game style, say relationship is the alternative, but relationship is a given. Game basically says, “Focus on what’s unique about THIS relationship.” What’s interesting or weird or funny or unique about this particular relationship? And how do you extend that to apply to all other aspects of the world these characters live in? And on top of that, I think if you only think about relationship, you cut off the part of your brain that does presentational things, abstract things, all the things that happen in improv that don’t even happen between two characters …
The thing about improv that obsesses me so much is that any show could be your best show ever.
I get defensive sometimes. I think sometimes we get a bad rap in the improv community … but I think sometimes people say, “UCB is aggressive and loud and fast and no one listens,” but I don’t think that’s true. You have The Swarm, one of the most patient teams ever. You have Respecto [Montalban], balls to the wall rockstar improv, and they all have at their core this engine driving things, called game.


Pam Victor: You wrote on Facebook once, “The question behind every comedic choice I make on stage, every joke I write is, ‘Would this make teenagers in northern New Jersey laugh?’”

Chris Gethard: Yeah. I just want weird kids to like what I do, anything I come up with, that I put my name on or whatever. That’s in my head, “Would me and my brother have liked this if we randomly found it in 1995?” Like we used to find shows on the UHF channels and public access channels.

Pam Victor: You consider yourself to be a “weird kid?”

Chris Gethard: One of the weirdest!

Pam Victor: Last question: You gallantly transported my cinnamon-scented, ivory, lace, demi-cup bra from Boston to L.A. First of all, thank you. I envisioned the bra ending up in a truck stop somewhere in Texas or gathering road dust on the side of the road in Nevada. But you got it there and into the hands of its intended. Where did it travel?

Chris Gethard: Your bra was tucked away safely and secretly in the bag where I store my laptop. My laptop is where I keep everything I’ve ever written, every project I’m working on, every outline for a show idea for my talk show that I have. What I am telling you, no bullshit, is that for some reason I took the cross-continental transport of your underwear VERY SERIOUSLY. I put it where I knew it would be safe.

Pam Victor: Wow. The treasure chest of hiding places. I really thought it would be hanging from the rearview mirror with shit written on it. Thank you.

Chris Gethard: No, no. You gave me a mission, and I executed it. It was my pleasure.

Read the rest of Pam's interview with Chris Gethard at My Nephew is a Poodle.


Photo credit: Jeff Hausthor
Pam Victor is the founding member of The Ha-Ha’s, and she produces The Happier Valley Comedy Shows. Pam directs, produces and performs in the hot, new comic soap opera web series "Silent H, Deadly H". Pam also writes mostly humorous, mostly true essays and reviews of books, movies and tea on her blog, "My Nephew is a Poodle."
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November 8, 2011

WICF Takes Manhattan Starts Tonight! AND -- Last Day to Submit for WICF 2012!
by Liz McKeon - 0


Have you submitted your show for WICF 2012 yet? You have until 11:59 PM EST TONIGHT!




Also, just a reminder — WICF Takes Manhattan starts tonight! And coupon code WICF gets you $5 off when you purchase tickets online for Wednesday's show at The World Comedy Club - www.theworldnyc.com/wicf


The Lineup

Tuesday, November 8th, 9 PMThe Friars Club (Private Show - Friars and Guests Only)
Stand-Up Comedy Featuring:
Hillary Buckholtz, Maria Ciampa, Cory Kahaney, Kelly Macfarland, Glennis McMurray, Kate Wolff, Jenny Zigrino, Plus Special Guests

Wednesday, November 9th, 8:30 PM
Stand-Up Comedy Featuring:
Michelle Barbera, Jane Borden, Hillary Buckholtz, Maria Ciampa, Gaby Dunn, Erin Judge, Asie Mohtarez, Phoebe Robinson, Plus Special Guests

Thursday, November 10th, 9:30 PM
The People's Improv Theater (The PIT)
Improv Comedy Featuring:
First Act: Cathleen Carr, Maria Ciampa, Leah Gotcsik, Rachel Rosenthal, Elyse Schuerman, Rachel Wecht
Act Two: Michelle Barbera, Micah Sherman
The Scene Players: Nicole Byer, Grace Helbig, Dan Hodapp, Bob Kulhan, Sasheer Zamata, Keisha Zollar
Buy Tickets ($5)
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