Today I chat with a comedy fella who wears many hats: right now he's an Emmy-winning writer for "The Colbert Report," which has been on fire lately. You may have caught him in the unexpectedly-funny Sonic ad campaign with his colleague, fellow actor and Chicago improv staple TJ Jagodowski, He's appeared in several films, too, including The Promotion, Stranger Than Fiction, the Weatherman, and oh yeah, this one.
Where in your house do you keep your Emmy?
On the mantle above my fireplace. Not my choice - my wife put it there - but I kind of like it. Having an Emmy makes me feel good and having a fireplace makes me feel great so having my Emmy above my fireplace really cuts out the need for therapy.
What have been some of your favorite contributions that have made it on-air thus far at the Colbert Report?
I wrote the first "Monkey on the Lamb" piece (about a monkey that had evaded its captors) and came up with the graphic of a monkey riding on top of a lamb firing a pistol in the air. On the other end of the spectrum I co-wrote the John Edwards Word that we did in our shows from Philly. This was before we knew he had a woman in his life for each of his two Americas.
Have you any jokes that didn't air that you're still fond of?
Another guy and I wrote a whole 4 minute bit about Stephen wanting to be a fashion critic simply because he would get to criticize people. We liked it but it never went anywhere. Probably for the best.
Was there a sense of relief once the Presidential election was over or was there a sense of "Shoot, now what do we write about?"
Relief. The show does so much more than national political coverage. I think some of the best moments on the show are the ones that are about Stephen and his egomaniacal culture warrior posing. The social satire in his character is stuff that you don't see everywhere else. Plus a segment like "Cheating Death" is always so damn hilarious that I'm glad we'll be able to do more of that again.
I've seen you on the show a few times which I feel is rare for writers--how did you grab your screen time?
I have done a lot of voice over in the past so I tend to do some whenever the show needs it. As for the on screen time - the only time I've been on the show was as myself in the bit where Stephen was mad at me for going to see Don Rickles. And for anyone who doubts that was really me at the show, it really was. My wife and I went to see Rickles in the fall of '06 in Vegas and it happened to be when they were shooting his concerts for the HBO special. A shot with me in the audience made it into the final cut of the special and so we used that on the show.
How did you audition for the writing job?
I submitted writing when the show was initially staffing back in August of '05, then again in December of '05 when they added two people and then a third time in September of '06. After three attempts I thought I hadn't gotten the gig and moved on. Then in early March of '07 I got a call completely out of the blue offering me the job. It was a huge upending of my life but one I was thrilled to undertake.
What type of writing samples do you submit for a gig like that--sketches? One-line jokes? A potpourri?
The submission is stuff you'd see on the show. Usually a Word, a Threatdown or a Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger or some combo of those. If someone is thinking about submitting (which we only take when we're actively looking for people) they should practice writing bits for the show.
What's your favorite item from the Sonic menu?
Hands down - Popcorn Chicken. Second place - Macaroni and Cheese bites but they're not always on the menu.
How are those commercials made? Are they at all improvised?
The ad agency writes what we refer to as "scenarios" and give us a stack of maybe 20 index cards with a scenario on each one. They might say something like "TJ really likes the new Double Angus Burger and wants to know who Angus is. Pete tells him that Angus isn't a guy, it's high quality beef. TJ feels like this Angus guy should be getting some more credit for making such great cows." (I just came up with that!!! See how easy it is?) Then we'll run through that general idea, hitting the points they want us to hit about the product and its price or whatever and just keep improvising it until they feel like they're got enough to work with and we move on. Each product has maybe 15 or 20 scenarios written up for it but most of the time there are about 5-7 that work really well so we focus more on those.
Your wife is also a creative humor type person. How often do you two collaborate?
All the time. We're constantly asking each other for ideas and feedback. Deb [Dowling] is great because she's so instinctively funny and really knows what makes something funny but has enough of a different sense of humor from me that I can always ask her for input and know that she's going to come up with something I would never have thought of. I don't know if I do that for her. I'd like to think I give her a few good ideas then just get out of her way. She's a really great stand up. last year we wrote a sketch show with 2 other people and that was really fun. I think she's brilliant.
What's made you laugh lately?
I just watched this video on You Tube of a family singing "That's What Friends Are For" at a kid's bar mitzvah back in 1993 and it was priceless. So many amazing things are going on there and they're beautifully, unscriptably real. As far as produced comedy goes I really liked Role Models. Great gags, solid characters and a decent amount of heart without being cheesy. I was very impressed. John Lutz makes me laugh everytime he's onstage as does a guy in NYC named Chris Gethard who tells just about the best personal stories I've ever heard.
How would you say the comedy scene in Chicago is different from that in New York?
It's fatter. Literally. People don't care as much what they look like so everyone weighs 15 pounds more than their NY doppelgangers. It's also less self-aware. People do shows and take risks in Chicago and they know no one is watching. You do your thing and if you get really motivated beyond what Chicago can offer you then you move. In NY people have come here because on some level they know they can make it from here. So there's maybe 25% of an eye towards "what can I do with this?" or "who will see this?" My favorite performers here are the ones that have made some amount of success and don't care anymore. They're not trying to impress anyone and it's awesome. Still, NY is nowhere near as bad as LA where you have models taking improv classes so they can learn to speak in full sentences.
When you're back home in Chicago, where do you go out?
Wherever my hosts take me. I usually go to Second City and see friends so that means Corcorans and the Ale House. Or the bars around IO - Mullens and Bar Louie. Last year after the CIF party ended at IO I engineered a mass exodus up to Oakwood '83 on Montrose and Damen. Amazing 5am bar that is enormous and almost always empty. Like Carol's used to be but without live music.
Was there any particular reason you took classes at IO in Chicago, and not Second City?
Yes. Because Ed Herbstman told me to. He was a year ahead of me at Northwestern and along with 6 or 7 other people was in the Mee-Ow show (Northwestern's Improv and sketch show) all three years we were at school together. I was never able to make it into the group since those guys took up all the spots but with them graduating I knew I'd have a good shot. So I asked Ed where I should take classes and he told me Improv Olympic. I must have just trusted him implicitly because I didn't ask anyone else and went straight to IO. That was April of 1995.
What are the perks and downfalls of shooting movies in Chicago?
The biggest perks are that you don't have to travel for a shoot and you get to be in a "real" movie. The downside is that you wind up with a small part since all the principles are from NY or LA. TJ and I got to do three days on Stranger Than Fiction and that was pretty huge. But it's great that the city is seeing so many movies shot there. It deserves the attention.
I read in an interview that you originally planned being a photographer when you graduated from college: do you still take pictures as a hobby? What were/are your favorite subjects?
That is true. I still take pictures all the time. In fact my wife just got me a Diana F, which is a reproduction of an old Russian camera from the 60's called the Lomo. I had never heard of it but she picked it up for me from a shop here in Brooklyn. I've always been a street photographer/photojournalist kind of guy. I love taking pictures of people in the street or on the subway or at big public events when they're not paying attention. Nothing is more interesting to me than someone who doesn't know they're being watched or doesn't realize the environment unfolding around them.
How does it feel to be the 223rd person interviewed for Zulkey.com?
Pretty good. Suck it #224!