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<p>Entries in Interviews (59)</p>
<p>Wednesday May 26 2010  Inside With: Halle Kiefer</p>
<p>Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 12:19PM  By: Meredith Haggerty</p>

<p>Whether breaking down the obsession with Elena Kagan’s sexuality on her blog Mustang Halle, dissecting Glee for The Awl (I'm really into Glee recaps, okay??), or expressing serious concern about the BP oil spill in her web series Halle and Jess, Halle Kiefer is all over the internet making you laugh. In real life, she is an improv and sketch comedian, with the group Blood Money, and does stand up, including having her own awesome new variety show, Nice!, at Legion in Williamsburg. I asked Halle to give us a little insight into the life of a very funny, very busy up-and-comer.</p>

<p>Mustang Halle, your Tumblr, is extremely popular. So much so, that you were featured in Housing Works' Tumblr reading series, and subsequently The New Yorker. How has Tumblr, and the responses you've received, affected what you do?</p>

<p>“Extremely” is certainly a super nice and subjective term for it; thank you! Tumblr and the reading got me in touch with a lot more people who laugh at the same things I do. I feel like it's been helpful for me personally because it reminds me to write and write and write, since I am lucky enough to have a captive audience of people who are interested in reading my material. I like having the obligation to them, and in turn, people can tell me if they actually like my material pretty much as soon as I post it.</p>

<p>Your web series with comedian Jess Burkle, Halle and Jess, is now in its second season. Where did Halle and Jess come from?</p>

<p>Jess and I have been friends since the third grade, so I feel like it’s been a long time coming. I remember in middle school I worked with Jess to choreograph an elaborate dance sequence to the song "Sing Sing Sing" that we wanted to add to our production of Peter Pan. The director said no, which at the time seemed totally unfair, but in retrospect was probably her way of preventing us from being pelted with batteries while we were on stage. The videos are born out of that same chemistry and sense of humor we’ve shared since we were 8. After both moving to New York and entering the comedy world, we wanted to create something that would make us work together on a consistent basis. For the most part, we just riff on current events and the Marmaduke movie.</p>

<p>You are The Awl's awesomely intense Glee recapper. Is it hate-watching or love-watching for you?</p>

<p>It’s such a fine, fine line. I feel like at this point it is love-watching. I think? Yeah, I think so. There are just too many great elements (Jane Lynch, the singing, Jane Lynch) for me to look away. I also generally love TV and writing show reviews, so it’s easy for me to get so worked up that the difference between affection and hatred becomes irrelevant to me.</p>

<p>How did your improv group, Blood Money, come together?</p>

<p>My teammate Jim subbed into my Improv 101 class at UCB and we immediately started improv-crushing on each other. When he started a team with some classmates last fall, he asked me to join. They are all such talented comedians; I consider myself preternaturally lucky that we all support and "get" each other to the degree that we do. I feel like I am in a remarkably functional relationship with 6 people who I just want to kiss and bear-hug all the time.</p>

<p>Your new show with Dan Chamberlain, Nice!, just had its debut at Legion in Williamsburg. Can you tell us more about the show?</p>

<p>Dan and I were really jazzed to start a show with a little bit of everything: stand-up, improv, sketch, general weirdness. It’s a great space and we also both live nearby and wanted to do it in Brooklyn, something convenient for people living in the neighborhood. The first show went so well I’m already having heart palpitations thinking about keeping it consistently good. On a more selfish level, I think we were both interested in forcing people to watch us host as vampires and middle-school students and basically act like cretins. We’re really happy with that.</p>

<p>A lot of comedians today, including yourself, use a variety of mediums (sketch comedy, standup, blogging and the vlogging). How do you think experimenting with so many different outlets has shaped your approach to comedy?</p>

<p>In my mind once you realize that there are all these options available to you, it really motivates you to figure out what medium will work best for whatever bit you are trying to do. Working on a bunch of different kinds of projects had forced me figure out how to use my time wisely, why a joke that works in stand-up might not in a video, etc. Sort of a "if you want something to get done, give it to a busy person" type of thing. I also have a miniscule attention span (like we all do, right?) so having different projects helps fulfill that need for variety.</p>

<p>What other upcoming projects are you working on?</p>

<p>Oh well, let’s see... I’m being published in a sex writing book this summer edited by writer/Tumblrer Meaghan O’Connell (don’t worry; my story is mainly embarrassing, not sexy), Blood Money Sketch is writing a new show, I’m working on writing more reviews, and am in the zygote-y stages of a book. Other than that, just a lot of stand-up and sweet, sweet summer loving.</p>

<p>The Apiary | Post a Comment | 8 References tagged Halle Kiefer in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Interviews Wednesday May 19 2010  Inside With: Gabe Liedman</p>
<p>Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 12:17PM</p>

<p>By: Meredith Haggerty</p>

<p>Be it stand up, videos, or blogging, Gabe Liedman is one of the most hilarious guys running around today. His stand up show, Big Terrific, which he co-hosts on Wednesday nights at Cameo with Max Silvestri and Jenny Slate, has become one of the marquee shows in the city to attend and perform in. I sent a few questions to Gabe about his celebrated show, his experiences, and, of course, Glee.</p>

<p>Big Terrific was recently named the "2010's Best Stand-Up in New York," by New York Magazine, which was kind of a big deal because it sort of affirmed the passing of the comedy torch from Manhattan to Brooklyn. How did it all come about?</p>
<p>Jenny and I had a show running at Rififi before it passed away, and Max had one running at Sound Fix in Brooklyn. We were all friends, and neither of the shows were weekly, but we figured with three hosts, we'd be able to pull it off every week. Almost two years later, we've built an amazing little institution, and we are all super proud of our baby (none of us will ever make a real baby).</p>

<p>Stand up, writing, or videos: Do you have a favorite medium to be funny in?</p>
<p>Stand up is definitely home base for me. Even in my videos and writing projects, I basically always "play" myself anyway. My standup is super personal, and I like that. When I get compliments on it, it makes me feel like everyone else is as big of an asshole as I am, because they relate.</p>

<p>You've been performing with Jenny Slate as a duo for years, but you also work alone. How do you find working in a pair versus performing solo?</p>
<p>Working in a pair with Jenny is awesome, because as well as we work together, our joke writing is super different. She comes up with shit that would never occur to me, and vice versa. I'm always like "what?!" about jokes she thinks are totally normal. Doing my solo stuff has been eye-opening, because for a long time I didn't know if I'd even be funny without her, but I am! And my voice and point of view have kind of surprised me, now that I'm writing 100 percent of the jokes. Also, I never thought I'd write over an hour of standup in a year. I've been really surprised in a good way by my solo stuff.</p>

<p>To make a huge and sweeping generalization, the stand up scene is a lot of straight guys. How do you find audiences react to a gay man/straight lady comedy duo? Do you think you attract a different crowd?</p>
<p>I am always kind of scared to do my super gay material in front of straight crowds and straight comedians, but it always goes over well. I even have a bit about anal douching, about how my ass is a pussy that fills up with shit every day, which gay guys don't even talk about with each other. But the truth is, funny is funny. It doesn't matter. And if someone doesn't wanna laugh because I'm gay and that might make them gay or something, well, I'm the least of their problems. As for the other dude comics, no one's ever been weird or rude to me about my sexuality, unless they haven't seen my act. And again, if that's the case, fuck 'em, they're the ones not having fun. We do get a lot of gays at Big Terrific, but I don't know if that's because of me, or because of the neighborhood... Either way, there's tons of straight people too!</p>

<p>Speaking of things that are gay, you've been writing hilarious recaps of Glee on Videogum. What do you want to see happen on the show in these final episodes?</p>
<p>I'd love to see a whole episode about Brittany; she is the best. So funny, SO good at dancing, I can't get enough of her. Maybe a good lesbian affair between her and Mercedes, where Mercedes sings every song and Brittany does all the talking and dancing? Also, no doy, if Puck kissed Kurt I'd die, in a good way!</p>

<p>Finally, what's next for Gabe Liedman?</p>
<p>Up next? You'll be seeing me a lot on TV, as a talking head. Apparently I'm good at that! Also, I'm working on a bunch of funny-ass writing, new jokes and scripts, you know. I know that's super vague but a girl shouldn't jinx herself, am I right? What I'm saying is don't worry about it, everything's going great!</p>

<p>--Meredith Haggerty crushes dreams for a living, but in her free time she is a nerd about jokes. She is a former SNL intern, and blogs sometimes laughable stuff here.</p>

<p>The Apiary | 3 Comments | 11 References tagged Gabe Liedman in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Interviews Thursday Apr 22 2010  INSIDE WITH: LIZA LIFE COACH</p>
<p>Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 10:45AM  Cheri Oteri as Liza Life Coach | Photo courtesy of AMC</p>

<p>By: Keith Huang</p>

<p>Got problems? Let Liza Life Coach (née comedian Cheri Oteri) sort it out for you. Liza's mantra couldn't be simpler: "People have problems. I have answers." And for the past two months, Liza has been aptly addressing troubles of all stripes via the Internet and, more notably, on AMC.</p>

<p>Oteri, perhaps best known for her illustrious five-year stint on Saturday Night Live (1995 to 2000), has lately been shooting around town some hilarious, high-end video shorts that play during AMC's Monday night-movie programming. What we also love about Liza is that many of our fave New York-comedy types (Heather Lawless, Eliza Skinner, Chris Smith) have been getting to work with her. To get a better sense of Liza's approach to Life Coaching, The Apiary dropped her a few questions about work, life and whether Life Coaching is her true calling.</p>

<p>Can anyone be a Life Coach?</p>
<p>I don't think so! Let's look at the statistics, shall we? Only 14% of the world’s population actually cares about other people. Of that 14%, 9% are too shy to tell other people what to do. Of the remaining 5%, half don’t have proper marketing skills, half of that half couldn’t free up the three days for Life Coach training and certification, half of that half have other issues, like poor hygiene, a persistent cough, or a criminal record which would rule them out. And half of that half are traveling and couldn’t be reached for comment. So if my math is correct, there are only 26 people in the whole world who are qualified to be Life Coaches! It’s a pretty exclusive club, believe me!</p>

<p>Photo courtesy of AMC Since becoming a Life Coach, what's the toughest question you've had to answer?</p>
<p>The toughest question I’ve had to answer is: "Where were you the night I found out my husband was gay?" The second toughest was from an eight-year-old client who asked me to explain "time zones."</p>

<p>What's the difference between a Life Coach and a psychiatrist?</p>
<p>It can be as much as $300,000 a year! I honestly don’t think that’s fair, because psychiatrists work on your past and Life Coaches work on your future. Do you really think you can change the past by talking about it? If that were true, by now I would have gone to the prom with a guy who didn’t sniff glue and drive his mom’s Chevette! Let’s get real, your past is over! But for most people, the future hasn’t happened yet. And that’s where we Life Coaches can make a difference!</p>

<p>Do you ever feel like you can't ever turn off your job? That you're constantly wanting to life coach people?</p>
<p>It’s true, I am always Life Coaching, trying to make the world a better place one person at a time. I think people appreciate it in the long run, even though in the short run they might say things like, “Mind your own business, bitch!” or "What don’t you understand about 'Last call, lady?'" I think with my personal program "Liza Life Coaches the World!" I have made important progress everywhere I’ve gone except the DMV.</p>

<p>Is Life Coaching your calling?</p>
<p>You bet! I have been a Life Coach my entire life, although I didn’t know it, and, sadly, did not charge for it. I sometimes think about how much money I would have today if I started charging people for advice at age six. Because the truth is, if you are a true Life Coach you can’t escape it. It’s like having a giant worm living inside you that is full of insight, compassion, tough love, nurturing skills, action plans, a flair for marketing, positive personal power, a great wardrobe, and free weekends and holidays. You can’t live without that worm any more than the worm can live without you! And that’s what Life Coaching means to me!</p>

<p>RELATED</p>

<p>* The Official Liza Life Coach Web Site</p>
<p>* Liza invites you to Share Your Problem with her!</p>

<p>keithhuang | Post a Comment | 2 References tagged AMC , Cheri Oteri , Liza Life Coach in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Interviews Tuesday Apr 20 2010  Inside With: Amanda Meadows and Geoffrey Golden, Editors of The Devastator</p>
<p>Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 11:31AM  After reading about The Devastator, a potentially sweet new satire publication that's panhandling for loose change on Kickstarter, we pledged a couple of bones and then prodded its editors for some inside details.</p>

<p>Who are you guys and what is your deal?</p>

<p>Geoffrey: I'm Geoffrey Golden, a comedy writer and editor in Los Angeles. I've written for Cracked, National Lampoon, MadAtoms, Comedy.com and a number of big time Hollywood movie factories.</p>

<p>Amanda: And I'm Amanda Meadows, a writer and editor also in Los Angeles. I've worked with CollegeHumor, McSweeney's, and Comedy.com, with a little ghost writing mixed in. I currently work for a publisher, but I realized in order to make a book our way we had to go rogue.</p>

<p>So what is The Devastator all about?</p>

<p>Geoffrey: The Devastator is a quarterly book of comics and satire. We're all about making fun of pop culture, and taking ourselves very seriously.</p>

<p>Amanda: Each book is 48-pages, full color, and explores a new topic. Our first book tours the seedy underbelly of the cartoon world.</p>

<p>How'd you get James Urbaniak and some of these other contributors involved?</p>

<p>Geoffrey: I produced a web series pilot that James starred in, which is making its way around "the town." He loves classic print comedy, like old school Mad Magazine and National Lampoon, so James was excited to be involved.</p>

<p>Amanda: We were huge fans of R. Sikoryak's parody work, and interviewed him last year when Masterpiece Comics came out. Later, we realized Bob knew James Urbaniak and our screenwriter friend Todd Alcott, who did a hilarious piece on Walt Disney for us. So it seemed natural to invite Sikoryak to contribute. I've known David Malki ! since the early days when we were handing out Wondermark postcards to bewildered strangers at Comic Con. Given how busy he is now, we were psyched that he could do a new piece just for The Devastator.</p>

<p>Do you have any experience doing this sort of thing? How much does it cost to print an issue?</p>

<p>Geoffrey:Lots. Amanda works full-time in publishing. We were also both school paper geeks in high school and we have a lot of combined professional experience in comedy editorial. As far as the cost, we're raising $4500 to print the book and send our 20+ contributors small, appreciatory checks.</p>

<p>Where will it be distributed?</p>

<p>Amanda: The Devastator will be available for download on iPad, Brain-o-Vision, and normal computing machines next month. In June, some of our favorite Los Angeles and NYC independent booksellers and comic book stores will carry the book.</p>

<p>It's kind of scary how if you don't reach your funding goal at Kickstarter, you lose all that money and your dreams are totally shattered FOREVER. Do you have a well-heeled benefactor on call, ready to pledge at the last minute of the last day?</p>

<p>Geoffrey: Nope! There's no Uncle Scrooge on speed dial, unfortunately. (Besides, he's notoriously stingy, except when it comes to buying adventure-tech.) We're relying on the interest of backers to shatter-proof our dreams. They will be rewarded handsomely for their support, with goodies like t-shirts, books, signed posters and original artwork!</p>

<p>The Apiary | Post a Comment | 3 References tagged The Devastator in Interviews Tuesday Apr 06 2010  INSIDE WITH: MIKE BIRBIGLIA</p>
<p>Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 10:00AM  Mike Birbiglia | Photo courtesy of Mike Birbiglia</p>

<p>By: Keith Huang</p>

<p>On Thursday, standup statesman Mike Birbiglia makes his way back home to Carolines for a four-day headliner "special engagement." According to a recent Tweet, the never-not-working comic says he'll be performing all new material. But before he launches into what promises to be a weekend of raucous laughter, The Apiary shot him some random questions for which he had some very good answers.</p>

<p>So I saw the Final Four bracket you filled out for the Georgetown University blog -- pretty brutal. Have you ever won a bracket pool?</p>
<p>You can win those things? As a Georgetown alum, I was a little biased in my picks. I will not be opening one of those $3.99/minute gambling hotlines anytime soon. Incidentally, on the one I didn’t submit, I had Butler beating Michigan State.</p>

<p>Who do you have opening for you these days? And who are the up-and-coming comics are on your fave list?</p>
<p>My friend Sean Conroy has been opening a number of shows for me lately, as well as Boston-native Joe Wong. He's a scientist-comedian. Another new comic who's great is Geoff Tate out of Cincinnati. Lots of great New York guys Joe Mande, Gabe Liedman, Max Silvestri ... others.</p>

<p>Nowadays when you Google "Mike Birbiglia," what you find online could fit in the Library of Congress. Back in the day, what was one of the first things you remember finding your name in when you Googled yourself?</p>
<p>Mainly Google would just ask me, "Did you mean 'bibliography?'" I actually used to be a big "Ask Jeeves" guy, but then they fired Jeeves. I heard he threw a fit. Started wandering the streets answering questions people weren't even asking.</p>

<p>I've read that you've been spending a lot of time preparing your new book. How far along are you with the book?</p>
<p>I have been working hard on Sleepwalk With Me and Other Stories. I’ve written a lot of words so far, but they keep telling me it’s more than just the number of words, it’s the words you choose, and how you arrange the words. I’m like, “Eh, I’m pretty sure you just need to write enough words.”</p>

<p>Are you going to have a traditional book tour?</p>
<p>I will have a traditional book tour, with special shows, signings, all that kind of stuff. I’m REALLY excited about the book, though. I think it’s the best writing I’ve done. But who knows, maybe people will hate it, and, by proxy, me.</p>

<p>How would you describe the standup scene in New York today compared to when you started? I ask this because it seems that nearly all of your contemporaries who stuck with it have gone on to do some incredible things (like yourself)...</p>
<p>It’s true. Almost everyone I started with who stuck with it is in every movie or television show I see. I sometimes talk about this with my friend Eugene [Mirman]. His advice for aspiring comics when they ask for advice is "start doing it and then keep doing it for like 10 years." I think that’s pretty accurate.</p>

<p>And, finally, what are your Top 3 Favorite Tweets of yours ever?</p>
<p>Here’s 4 ...</p>

<p>* "did a bar mitzvah. a bar mitzvah is like a wedding except you don't have to get married. maybe tiger woods should have had a bar mitzvah."</p>
<p>* "Millions of people around the world loved the movie 'Up.' One guy said, "We are so doing that, but with our child." #balloonboy</p>
<p>* "After Meet the Press, I'm planning to watch 'Meet the Press 2: 'Meet the fuckers' starring Sarah Palin."</p>
<p>* (after tiger woods’ famous voicemail was released) "hey....twitter followers...if you could just pull down your avatar....my wife found out i have 25k followers. thanks. huge."</p>

<p>--Don't miss Mike Birbiglia headlining at Carolines starting THURS, APRIL 8 @ 8PM. He'll be performing through SUN, APRIL 11.</p>

<p>keithhuang | Post a Comment tagged Carolines , Mike Birbiglia , stand-up comedy in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Interviews Friday Mar 26 2010  Inside With: Lee Camp</p>
<p>Friday, March 26, 2010 at 10:30AM By: Matthew Filipowicz</p>

<p>Have you ever watched the Fox News channel and gotten so mad that you wished that you could tell off the right-wing hack host to his face? Well, Lee Camp has done just that. He’s also been on Comedy Central, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, CNN, PBS, and MTV. He writes and produces short comedic videos for the Huffington Post and is a contributing writer to a little newspaper called the Onion.</p>

<p>His fans include Janeane Garafolo, Roseanne Barr, John Oliver, Dick Gregory, and the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Wesley Clark. Not a bad group.</p>

<p>Lee is taping a DVD March 26 at the Tank in New York City (the show is sold out, an encore performance has been added April 29). I recently sat down with Lee, via email, to discuss standup, politics, and his upcoming projects.</p>

<p>MATT: So, you're filming a live DVD, "Chaos For The Weary", March 26 at the Tank. What topics can audiences expect at the show?</p>

<p>LEE: My audience at the DVD taping can expect to hear me talk a lot about the finer plot points of "Jersey Shore" as well as whether Kate Gosselin's new haircut was a bad career move. No, god, that would be horrible. My audience can truthfully expect to hear a lot of cultural criticism, a lot of questioning how our society ended up the way it has. But there's also a ray of hope in there -- I give a lot of solutions to our problems. For example, I suggest we solve our energy crisis by burning reality TV stars such as the aforementioned Miss Gosselin. I also suggest we put tracking devices around the necks of people who take the bible literally or believe ghosts are walking around. So basically the audience will leave the show motivated to fix our crazy world yet also questioning whether we should simply fire bomb this flying space rock of ours and start from scratch. I like to leave them on a high note like that.</p>

<p>MATT: You're going to be featured on Showtime's "Green Room with Paul Provenza". What is that show and how did it come about?</p>

<p>LEE: "The Green Room with Paul Provenza" is an amazing new show that's kinda like "Inside The Actor's Studio" with only stand-up comics as guests and a lot of cursing. Paul talks with four of the nation's greatest comics during each episode. Then at the end of an episode he has on a lesser-known comic for a few minutes. So I got to be on the end of the show with Roseanne, Bob Saget, Sandra Bernhard, and Patrice O'Neal. It was truly a highlight of my career. Roseanne started a standing ovation for me -- which, as a comic who's trying to push the envelope a little, she's like a god. So the moment was mind-blowing for me. And how did I end up there? Well, Paul has been a friend/mentor/fan of mine since I met him at the Montreal Comedy Festival in 2006. Then when he got to do the show, he wanted to have me on to talk about my now-infamous moment on Fox News.</p>

<p>MATT: Speaking of the Fox News appearance, you famously appeared live on the network and proceeded to tear it a new one. If you could confront any current Fox host, who would it be, and why?</p>

<p>LEE: I guess it would feel most useful to confront someone like Huckabee, you know, one of the hosts that feels like they actually have a rational thought in their head -- even though that thought is completely misdirected. I mean, when you're dealing with someone like Glenn Beck, you're just dealing with a freak show. He's not interested in any kind of truth or objective reality. Confronting him would be like trying to shout facts at a sword-swallowing clown who's on fire. I don't think it would really get through to him.</p>

<p>MATT: Back to Paul Provenza. You’re also featured in his new book "iSataristas", tell us about that.</p>

<p>LEE: I'm awe-struck to be in "iSatiristas!" (which comes out May 11) because essentially Paul interviewed every amazing edgy comic in the entire country (and famed photographer Dan Dion took tremendous photos). The book has everyone including Stephen Colbert, Lewis Black, Conan O'Brien, David Cross, Paul Mooney, Doug Stanhope, Janeane Garofalo, and so many more. It's even got George Carlin's final interview before his death. This is, like, the book I would've killed for when I was just starting comedy -- and I'm IN the damn thing. I'm thrilled. It's like being a little kid who gets to meet Santa AND Santa wants to sleep with you. ...I'm sorry -- Was that analogy off-base? I grew up Jewish. ...Point being, if you consider yourself even the slightest fan of comedy, you should buy the book. ...or steal it. ...Abbie Hoffman taught me that.</p>

<p>MATT: You're well known for your political and social comedy. What's your overall take on the Democrats and the Obama administration so far? Any hope left?</p>

<p>LEE: First of all, I think we all need to agree that having Obama in the White House is 100% better than Bush, or McCain, or whichever greedy right-winger you can find. But I, like many on the left, think Obama is backing down too easily and too often. I mean, more troops in Afghanistan? Really? Aren't we just running up the score now? Shouldn't we pull our starters out of the game? Look at it this way -- if this were the U.S. versus Afghanistan in football instead of war, the fans would've gone home long ago. No one wants to watch Ray Lewis beat the fucking pulp out of a little league team. And of course Obama has many corporate backers who are influencing at least some of the shots. I honestly believe that no truly major change will come about in this country until we get the money out of campaigns. Right now it's just too easy to buy elections, and it's going to get worse unless we stop it. Also, there was a time in our history when communities had a say in whether corporations had served their community well. And if the corporation harmed the people, it lost its charter. We need to go back to that, and until we do the American flag will continue to be covered in brand names. The truth is little green men have indeed taken over our entire society without so much as a whimper from us -- those men are the faces on our dollar bills. And we all know what little green men ultimately want -- anal probes. ...I feel like I'm having a bad analogy day? No?</p>

<p>MATT: One last thing, Kelly Carlin, George Carlin's daughter, is going to do a special introduction at your DVD taping. How did that come about?</p>

<p>LEE: Yeah, I'm so outta-my-head excited about that. She's an incredible woman, and I met her on the set of "Green Room." But I didn't know who she was. She came up to me and said she loved my stuff and thanked me for what I said on Fox News. And then when I found out who she was and she said "I think my father would've loved your stuff too," I pooped myself a little… But just a little. Nothing crazy. Anyway, months later I asked her about doing a video intro for my show, and she said she would love to do it in person. For a comic, it's like being in the presence of royalty.</p>

<p>Catch Lee Camp live, 7:30 PM, Apr. 29, at the Tank. Tickets only $5.</p>

<p>Matthew Filipowicz is a comedian, cartoonist and satirist whose work can be found at http://matthewf.net.</p>

<p>kristymangel | Post a Comment | 5 References tagged lee camp in Interviews Tuesday Mar 16 2010  Inside With: David Stern and Dan Powell, Executive Producers of Ugly Americans</p>
<p>Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 3:08PM</p>

<p>Next in our series of interviews with the Americans behind Ugly Americans: the executive producer duo of David Stern and Dan Powell.</p>

<p>Tell us a little bit about yourselves.</p>

<p>David Stern: I started on The Wonder Years for the first three seasons, moved to The Simpsons for a few seasons, Monk, Oliver Beene... and a bunch of other stuff you probably haven't heard of. As far as Ugly Americans goes, Dan hooked me up with Devin Clark after they had created the web series "5 On," and I developed it from there.</p>

<p>Dan Powell: I was an Associate Producer at The Daily Show when Comedy Central hired me as a development exec in 2004. I bought 5-On as a web series in 2007 and wanted to figure out how to translate the basic concept to primetime, so I approached David after I found out he wrote my all-time favorite episode of The Simpsons ("Duffless", for the record). When the show got picked up to series, I talked to him about bringing me onto the production, and he agreed just to stop my pathetic groveling.</p>

<p>What do you do in your day to day roles on Ugly Americans?</p>

<p>David: I write and oversee all the scripts as well as oversee production.</p>

<p>Dan: I help David with day-to-day oversight of the entire operation, but my focus is more on the elements of production from the table reads through delivery, so he can focus more of his attention on the writing, which naturally is what drives the show. Although I did co-write one of the episodes ("Treegasm", airing 3/14). Also, I embezzle petty cash, but that's not part of my official job description.</p>

<p>Is the series wrapped up already -- are you in wait and see mode?</p>

<p>David: The first seven episodes are virtually wrapped up. But I am currently writing another batch of seven for hopefully a second order.</p>

<p>Have any good stories from the production process?</p>

<p>David: I have only good stories from the production process but none of them are interesting.</p>

<p>Dan: Since this is for The Apiary, I know a lot of the readers are familiar with Kurt Metzger, who voices our zombie character "Randall". Randall was originally designed to be this small, squirrelly character. But after we cast Kurt, we had to totally redesign the character so that the voice would match. I think he's definitely the heaviest zombie I've seen in pop culture (except for maybe that hillbilly zombie in "Zombieland"). It raises a lot of questions about how much Randall has to eat to stay that heavy, what with his flesh deteriorating at a rapid pace.</p>

<p>Another interesting nugget is that Kurt has such a disturbingly lewd vocabulary in real life, whenever we needed Randall to say something tasteless, we found ourselves going with what Kurt ad-libbed in the booth -- it was almost always more off-putting what was originally on the page.</p>

<p>Randall (Voiced by: Kurt Metzger), Leonard (Randy Pearlstein), Mark (Matt Oberg), Callie (Natasha Leggero), Twayne (Michael Leon Wooley), Frank (Larry Murphy)</p>

<p>How did you go about wrangling talent and staff for the show?</p>

<p>David: Anne Harris and JoAnn Grigioni were instrumental in casting the show. They're really tapped into all of the local talent in New York City. As far as the writing staff, I slogged through 150 scripts sent by every agency in town and whittled it down from there.</p>

<p>Dan: The voice talent was basically culled from the New York comedy community, though we were lucky to find Michael Leon Wooley ("Twayne") at a reading for Trey Parker and Matt Stone's forthcoming musical about Mormons. We were literally looking for someone who sounded like the plant in "Little Shop of Horrors", and then during Michael's audition we found out that he actually voiced that role in the Broadway revival. That was pure coincidence. Michael also played the voice of the alligator in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog", which was released after we cast him, and it was really surreal to hear the demonic Twayne's voice coming out of that lovable reptile.</p>

<p>Here's a question I hear a lot around my office which sounds like something I should ask, "What are your benchmarks for success?" The Jeff Dunham Show had ratings and got canceled, Michael and Michael has diehard fans and they didn't get renewed. What does Comedy Central want out of a new series?</p>

<p>David: I can't speak for Comedy Central but as far as I am concerned we've already won. I've got seven killer episodes produced and seven more on the way that I am really proud of. I'm having a blast and getting paid for it.</p>

<p>Dan: Comedy Central wants instant and immediate success and will settle for nothing less. Just kidding... (sort of). Seriously, having worked there for 5 years I can say that it's a narrow window to find stuff that fits the DNA of the brand, but is still successful on a ratings level. They sincerely want to deliver cutting edge comedy but, ultimately, it's a business that needs to deliver profits. Comedy Central will have their own benchmarks for success, and most likely it will be a combination of the ratings (vs. cost) and how the senior executives feel about it creatively. For our part, I agree with David -- we delivered seven episodes that we are thrilled with, and so we already feel it's successful. Obviously we hope the ratings echo that sentiment.</p>

<p>Is there a watch party people can attend?</p>

<p>Dan: Just a party in your brain when you watch the show. Our first season's seven episodes start rolling out Wednesday at 10:30pm EST, behind new episodes of South Park. Enjoy!</p>

<p>Ugly AmericansTonight 10:30pm / 9:30cPreview - Christ Angelwww.comedycentral.comJoke of the DayStand-Up ComedyFree Online Games The Apiary | Post a Comment tagged Dan Powell , David Stern , Ugly Americans in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Interviews Monday Mar 15 2010  Inside With: Devin Clark, Animator and Series Creator of Ugly Americans</p>
<p>Monday, March 15, 2010 at 3:30PM</p>

<p>To get pumped for the premiere of Ugly Americans, we chatted with the braintrust behind the show. First up: animation wiz and series creator Devin Clark.</p>

<p>Hi Devin--how exactly did you get an animated series on Comedy Central??</p>

<p>Oh, man! The dicks I had to suck! Thousands! Really, it was no short road. A couple years ago Comedy Central was looking for web content for their on-line portal, Motherload. I had previously done some network animation and branding work for Comedy Central. So, they were already familiar with my work. Plus, getting a meeting for a web show is far easier then a TV series. You don't need the backing and support of a entire production company or the allure of big name actors. For someone starting out in the TV business it ended up being the perfect way of making a connection with the network.</p>

<p>Where did the concept for Ugly Americans come from? Was this something that's been running around your head for years?</p>

<p>Living in New York for the last 10 years, I've gotten into the habit of drawing while waiting for the subway. A couple years ago I was taking these big sheets of paper, splitting them into 8 panels, and drawing 8 of the same type of creature all talking about a single topic. For instance I had things like 8 demons talking about religion, 8 zombies on sex, and 8 robots on money. It was all weird creatures making little comments on these esoteric topics. I've always liked the humor that can be derived from taking something horrific or absurd and normalizing it. It is most likely the product of watching so much British humor as a child. Those 8 panel comics became a key element in pitching a web show 5-On to Comedy Central. 5-On was the seed that, with help of our showrunner and Executive Producer David Stern, grew into the world of Ugly Americans.</p>

<p>5-On: Demons on the Environment</p>

<p>Animation seems really hard. How did you get started? And where did you learn how to do this stuff?</p>

<p>I've always been drawn to the moving image, especially animation. When I was 10 or 11 I took my dad's old super-8 camera and started making my own stop motion films with paper, clay, toys, and what ever I had lying around. I've been experimenting, playing with, and working in time based media ever since, be it film, video, animation, or live action.</p>

<p>What's been the most surprising or challenging thing you've encountered about the production process on Ugly Americans?</p>

<p>I think the biggest challenge was keeping a fresh perspective on things. Sometimes, a scene feels right just because you've gotten used to seeing it that way for so long. It's crucial to step back and make sure everything is actually working. It can be very difficult to do that in the midst of the chaos of production.</p>

<p>How long does it take to create one episode? Are you able to write in current jokes the way South Park does?</p>

<p>South Park has a unique production process that allows them to turn around an episode very quickly. In order to maintain the visual style and level of animation we wanted in our show, we had to take a more traditional approach to our work flow. Scripts to voice records, radio play to storyboards, layout to animation, and finally sound design and scoring takes about 5 months per episode, and that doesn't even include the writing period. However, we are able to work on multiple episodes at a time. At some points in the production we are working on all the episodes at once.</p>

<p>What are some other animated series or shows that you watch, enjoy, or recommend?</p>

<p>It may sound lame but honestly, ever since I started making TV, I haven't had any time to watch TV. However, right before I was sucked into the melee of animation production, I was keeping up with Venture Brothers, Metalocalypse, Superjail, and Futurama.</p>

<p>Do you see yourself as the series' lead character, Mark Lilly - the voice of reason in a crazy world? That's what he is, right?</p>

<p>Not at all. I'm more of the evil, bloated, demon-mother birthing an army of bizarre creatures for Mark to deal with. "Here is a man-sized bunny with a horn growing out of his head! What do you think of that, Mark?!"</p>

<p>Ugly AmericansWeds 10:30pm / 9:30cPreview - Fun Bagswww.comedycentral.comJoke of the DayStand-Up ComedyFree Online GamesUgly Americans premieres on Comedy Central Wednesday, March 17th at 10:30 after South Park.</p>

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