In one month (June 7-9th) SketchFest NYC is returning for it’s third year. SketchFest NYC is one of many Sketchfests (sketch comedy festivals) popping up around the nation and Canada since 1999, the first of which was Sketchfest Seattle. There are festivals in Chicago, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, etc. The talent is supreme and the community something I will cherish for the rest of my life…sniff. Seriously. So in these next few weeks leading up to the fest, I’m going to shout out some of the women in the festival circuit. Some of the ones that will be here IN ONE MONTH for you to see and laugh at. For more on SketchFests in general check out this site, www.sketchcenter.com and for info on the upcoming SketchFest NYC, list of performers, tickets, volunteering, etc, visit… www.sketchfestnyc.com
And now, I’d like you to meet Karla, a fantastic duo from LA made up of smart magic, Megan Kellie & Marion Austin Oberle. You may have seen them on the internets when they worked with John Landis on the Great Sketch Experiment for Jib Jab or at any of the many other festivals they’ve been to, Chicago SketchFest, Seattle Sketchfest, San Francisco Sketchfest, LA Fest of Sketch, Sketchingham. Or you might have caught their show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre here in NYC last November. And if you haven’t seen them yet I highly suggest you see them Saturday, June 9th at 8pm.
Where do you come from and what brought you to LA?
MARION: Megan & I both moved to LA from Chicago. We came to LA
because the streets are paved with gold and you can take naps under palm trees while being very thin and famous.
MEGAN: I come from the Midwest originally (mainly bedroom community Indiana) and what brought me to LA was a combination of being sick of always saying “one day I’ll move to LA” and Marion saying “let’s do a show” and a 1995 Honda Civic.
How did you get to sketch comedy? Why? Do you prefer it to other types of comedy or performance and why?
MARION: I took the el and then transferred to a bus. That bus was called “Brick” which was a 5-person sketch group. The group was made up of improvisers (Tim Mason, Cayne Collier, Sue Salvi and of course Megan & Marion). I think sketch is a natural progression from improv. I enjoy sketch because I love to write and I think sketch is more accessible to people than say, Oscar Wilde. Sketch is like eating at a small plate restaurant; you get to have a little of
everything with out leaving the theater too bloated.
MEGAN: Mostly the same way as Marion. We are both trained and once-upon-a-time Equity actresses who share a mutual rage for people who worship Ibsen. Or we both love performing so much and don’t want to be irrelevant or boring or have cliché lines we hate. Sketch is a good way to do that. 2-person sketch is even a better way to do that, because it’s easier to schedule rehearsals. If you think we are irrelevant or boring, you can send us an email.
How do you generate your material?
MARION: Usually we write stuff on our own and then bring it in talk about it and rewrite it. We also improvise a lot of our scenes. We will come in with an idea and the figure out the beginning, middle and end and then just improvise it. We’ve been doing this more lately. It might be because we are lazy. Who knows, but it is fun and keeps stuff really fresh.
MEGAN: All sorts of ways. Usually we go “okay, write three scenes.” Right now our assignment is “okay, write some stuff that doesn’t sound like therapy.” Our show is slowly getting more improvised around beats with things that just make us laugh. I mean, honestly, “this would be funny” is probably our main way to generate material.
Do you have any specific influences people (or places or things) that you look up to as performers, writers, etc?
MARION: Yes! There are so many things that influence us that it is hard to list them all. Here is a sampling: Larry McMurtry, Michel Gondry, Smack the Pony, and, of course, The Muppets.
MEGAN: Marion and I both read a lot. I like anybody who tells the truth and shows that people are weird and bizarre and heartbreaking, like Douglas Coupland or Jonathan Safran Foer or Larry McMurtry. Also Ricky Gervais and Chris Rock and Julia Sweeney and Nas and Fast Company and Yahoo News. People who are incredibly good at things that I am not interested in due to personality formation, like learning computer code. We also inspire each other by bizarre shit each other thinks which makes sense after it is explained. Like Marion watched that Planet Earth show and thought, “Why do humans get plastic surgery?” I am trying to make this a scene. Also, our own mamby pambyness and dread. Also we are both devil’s advocate little sisters who doodle and ignore things (sometimes) and think we’re right a lot. I also find it very inspiring to actually live your life and not just make theories about it, even though I would prefer to make theories.
Is there a label you can’t stand or love being put on you/your work?
MARION: Love: Absurd, sad, smart, beautiful. Hate: women’s issues comedy
MEGAN: Love: Fun, playful, chaotic. Hate: Skit.
Have you come up against any struggles being a woman in comedy, either general or specific?
MARION: Because we are two women people often label us as “women’s comedy,” but there are many all male groups that are not labeled as “male comedy” or asked “how does it feel to be a male comic?” That is too bad. It would be fun if male comics were always asked that. Like: “Do you think you provide a voice for the middle
class white male 20-something?” I think the whole thing is more of an issue when we go to small towns, like Bellingham, Washington. In LA everyone is an actor/comedian/writer/musician and us being women is more viewed as a “hook” someone could sell us with.
MEGAN: Also, you have to understand the business of being a Hot Woman ™. Denying the Power of the Hot Woman ™ will make you miserable. Hot Women who know they are Hot Women have a very different life than toady women or Hot Women Who Have No Idea. Namely, no, they don’t need a sense of humor to survive mentally. I have been there when gentlemen laugh very very hard at something not funny that a Hot Woman says. It is confusing. Still, I have wanted to make out with very funny guys, which may be very confusing for an incredibly Hot Guy. I usually assume a Hot Guy is gay or crazy (sometimes true) and I think guys probably assume a wickedly funny woman is gay or crazy (sometimes true). It’s confusing. I’m pretty normal, honestly. So when guys talk endlessly about bjs or “putting it in her ass,” which I hear in comedy seriously, like constantly, I want to be a school marm and shame them.
Also, sometimes smiling and being polite (very female attribute) comes across as Huge Moron.
Also, when I am in a foreign country, even though it is insane, my tiny rat brain truly believes everyone really speaks English and that’s what they speak at home to say, “I love you” or “sit” or whatever. In front of me, they maintain the charade. I think people think that with women and minorities. The whole “what’s it like being a woman!” is like we were men for a while and thought “I think I’ll try being female” or God was like “here you pick” and we decided White! Female! American! and someone else was like Half-Asian-Half-Latino! Male! Canadian! Although I should disclose that I use my vagina to type.
Do you see any certain trends within sketch comedy? Do you see any trends in sketch comedy specifically with regard to women?
MARION: Hmm.. the only thing I can think of is that people try to look either hot or ironic in the press pictures.
For us New York centric comedians/actors, explain the benefits you find to living and working in LA? Maybe a different way to phrase that is… What are the pluses and minuses of living in LA?
MARION: I think the biggest plus is that you can actually pay your bills working in the industry. That is to say, there are many more opportunities because 90% of everything is filmed out here. You can do commercials, you can be a PA, you can make costumes, you can be an assistant producer, or whatever–the point being your day job doesn’t have to be completely outside of the entertainment business. The great thing about that is you don’t have to pretend your goal in life is to work at an accounting firm. Everyone understands that you are pursuing your dream.
I don’t like the fact that LA has the worst smog of any city in the USA. That feels creepy.
MEGAN: People are nice here and it seems less racially segregated, especially compared to Chicago. It is convenient. It is spread out so you don’t feel the spazzy someone-will-push-me-on-the
-subway-tracks feeling. However, you do feel the “I will be killed and left for dead on the highway” feeling. The weather is nice because there is hiking here, but you begin to lose track of the time because when everything happened, it was sunny out. It can be hard to get people to tell you the truth about your show or to push you to be better and seriously, audiences are hard to come by. You have to push yourself.
Also, you may one day find yourself saying “I like your look” or discussing your own “look” and you may eat a pound of Reese’s Pieces afterwards to deal with that.
Just relax and move here. Or don’t. It’s cool. No worries. Did you lose weight? Let’s cleanse!
Pardon me for this blunt question but, I think its good for comedians/writers/artists to talk honestly about these things… Does Karla pay the bills? If not, what pays the bills?
MARION: Karla pays some bills. Karla pays more bills the longer we are around. But, you know what, life is expensive! So for additional bill paying purposes, Marion works for an improv theatre and does commercials on the TV.
MEGAN: Mainly, a computer and a phone pays the bills. If you can manage this magical cocktail, you can do office work.
Do you find a comedy background to be a plus in your other television experience?
MARION: Yes and yes and yes. Right now every casting director
I meet says, “It’s a really good time to be a comedian.” Of course, before I moved out here everyone was saying, “It’s a really good time to be Hispanic” so who knows what will be “hot” next!
MEGAN: I don’t know. Doing comedy has taught me invaluable lessons about writing. Also, I really respect people who can do good comedy. You can bullshit your way through drama sometimes, especially if you’re teaching it, but it’s harder to be fake and actually funny.
Is there a long term goal or philosophy you’d like to share?
MEGAN: You may be randomly hit by a car, so have a good time, take care of yourself, when is the last time you did something you like, don’t worry, remember, sometimes you need to just have a dinner party. Also, don’t be full of shit.
Is there a special nugget of advice, or perhaps a golden turd someone dumped in your lap that helps you deal in a business of rejection and judgment?
MEGAN: There are so many.
1. Don’t be an asshole.
2. At a temp job for a financial firm, a seriously powerful and seriously smart guy said to his underling “don’t be obsequious.” This blew my mind, once I looked up obsequious.
3. Deal with your stress. It’s okay. Its just stress. I worked at another temp job with a woman who was an accountant all day, worked at Blockbuster all night, and was also a single mom with like a 3-year-old son. And she was happy and nice. So relax with your “my headshots are terrible” or whatever.
What do you like to do? What is your favorite bar? Restaurant? Place to see comedy? Place to see music?
MARION: In LA there is a bar called the Star Lounge. It’s really fun and small and always has a huge bowl of candy. That is great. I think we usually like dives. My favorite restaurant in LA is Real Food Daily. Honestly, I am in a nesting phase in life where my main joy is being at home with my husband and two cats. I know it’s lame but I don’t care. We just bought a new couch so I need to spend some quality time on it.
Are there any groups/bands/books/shows/street performers who are women that you would like to shout out and have more people know about?
MARION: Triplette and MEAT for sketch. The Ditty Bops for music.
MEGAN: Elizabeth Zimmerman for knitting. Anne Lamott for reading. Betty Dodson for sex purposes. I just heard Lily Allen for music. Sabrina Ward Harrison for your art journal thingie. Also supernaturale.com and the whole DIY movement in general will help you geek geek geek geek geek out.
You can check out Karla at their website www.hikarla.com, on their myspace page http://www.myspace.com/karlaland. And see them live at SketchFest NYC Saturday, June 9th at 8pm.
Thanks for reading. My name is Becky Poole and in the spirit of full disclosure, I am a producer for SketchFest NYC. Yay! That’s all.