IN THE MAGAZINE

ASSSSCAT'S TEMPORARY, ONE-NIGHT ONLY, FUNNY STORIES - PART 1

The Vice Interview

INTERVIEWED BY VICE STAFF,
PHOTOGRAPHED BY DOUGLAS THOMPSON

Improv comedy is the bravest, most immediate form of making up stories that there is. It’s not always the funniest, or the smartest, or the best, but it’s always the bravest. The dawgs who do this shit have big balls, yo.

Among improv people today, the gold standard is a group called Asssscat, who perform a weekly show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City. Asssscat includes writers and performers from SNL, 30 Rock, Colbert, Human Giant, Conan O’Brien… alla’ that funny stuff.

The basic theory of good improv is, we think, about letting go, accepting looking stupid, and making mistakes then turning them into gold at the drop of a dime. Most people who are great at improv, like Asssscat, learned this stuff first- or second-hand from a man named Del Close, who is to improv comedy what George Washington is to America or Thomas Edison is to, oh, you know, quadruplex-telegraph repeaters.
Anyway, on a good night, watching Asssscat perform is like being in a car speeding downhill with no brakes—in a funny way. They pretty much know the secret that unlocks the enchanted world of laughter, so we decided to try and get them to tell us…



AMY POEHLER

Amy Poehler is a cast member on Saturday Night Live and one of the founding four people who made the Upright Citizens Brigade. She’s also been in a lot of movies and… Look, you know who Amy Poehler is.

Vice: Were you good at improv from the very beginning?

Amy Poehler: Oh God no. I was lucky to study with great teachers and perform with people who made me better, but I don’t think much of my “early stuff” would make my greatest-hits album.

But you were fortunate to be able to see some of the best. What was the first improv show you saw?

Well, the very first was a freshmen-orientation thing at Boston College. The group was My Mother’s Fleabag, and I eventually became a member and was officially hooked. In the early 90s there was great stuff like Lois Kaz with Miriam Tolan and Kevin Dorff.

Was any particular group the one that made you say, “I want to do this”?

Probably the biggest influence was the Improv Olympic group The Family, which was made up of Matt Besser, Adam McKay, Ian Roberts, Neal Flynn, Ali Farrahnakian, and Miles Stroth. Those are still probably the best improv shows I have ever seen.

Did you ever tour around America in a troupe?

I was in the Second City touring company with Tina Fey. We went to Waco, Texas, once. We went to the Branch Davidian compound and a David Koresh devotee preached to us in a burned-out bus.

Do you have a favorite Del Close-ism? We like that thing about mistakes being a gift.

He also just challenged you to play to the height of your intelligence. He told us to “treat your audiences like poets and geniuses.” He also encouraged risk. “Fall, and then figure out what to do on your way down.”

It seems like you tap into this whole area of humor in women characters that other people overlook. Like the bitchy kid, the professional woman... It seems like a lot of people can’t capture what’s funny about those people.

I don’t know. I guess man or woman, everyone can be a glorious idiot.

What is the biggest obstacle to being a good performer? Stage fright? Trying to be funny?

Sittin’ down when my pants are too tight.


TO BE CONTINUED
ASSSSCAT’S TEMPORARY, ONE-NIGHT-ONLY, FUNNY STORIES | 1 | 2 | 3 |

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