The Burlington Union - April 22, 2004
Poehler pays a casual visit


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BHS English teacher Kathy Dalton pals around with former student, Saturday Night Live actress Amy Poehler, last week in the cafeteria. - Staff photo by David W. Smith

Amy Poehler, a Saturday Night Live cast member and Burlington High School graduate, does not suffer from shyness.

Friday morning Poehler, at BHS to visit with students, bounced from group to group chatting with anyone who caught her eye at a cafeteria reception in her honor. She gabbed with students about Saturday Night Live and whether Jessica Simpson was really as dumb as she appears on TV (she's not), posed for pictures and talked with former teachers about high school memories and plain old news from her hometown.

"Hey Mom," she called across the room to mother Eileen, a special education teacher at BHS. "Jimmy's [Restaurant] is moving to the Victoria Station building."

For Poehler, a 1989 graduate whose comedy career has blossomed to cast membership on the late night comedy institution and two upcoming movie roles, returning home is neither difficult nor awkward. Coming to Burlington is always fun, she said, although the 7:30 a.m. start time was not to the liking of someone who keeps late-show hours.

"I have really fond memories of this school," she said during a quiet moment before the cafeteria flooded with students and school staff. "You never forget your high school teachers."

The cafeteria is a lot nicer, she said, and it's very strange to call your teachers by their first name. The school's smell is the same, Poehler added without commenting whether that was good or bad.

"Nothing's the same and everything's the same," she said.

In school, Poehler said she was a bit of a floater, trying sports, drama and other extracurricular activities. She never thought of herself as particularly funny. In fact, she wasn't voted class clown - she was to be remembered as third runner-up for the position of most casual student.

"I never knew if it meant casual clothes, casual attitude ..." Poehler laughed.

Earlier, she met with several groups of students from drama and media classes, gently kidding students and speaking about memories, celebrity and following your creative muse.

"Life is really too short to be doing what you hate," Poehler said.

Dressed in black with blue sneakers, the petite and cheerful comedienne kept things low key, and slowly formulated answers to some difficult questions. Students wanted pointers on developing their own means of creative expression, and she encouraged them to look to those they admire, no matter what you strive to be successful at. For example, years ago she had the opportunity to meet one of her heroes - SCTV actress Catherine O'Hara. The woman was very gracious, Poehler said, and has been a great inspiration toward development of her comedic skills.

"Good writers are influenced by good writers and good artists are influenced by good artists," she said. "There's no shame in openly caring [about what others have accomplished.]"

Her motto, Poehler said, is to stay relaxed about what you do and not worry too much about where it's leading.

"Do it for the process and worry about the job thing later," she said.

Her mother, who has taught in Burlington for 16 years, recalled the shock when Amy first announced, after attending Boston College, she was going to Chicago to pursue improvisational comedy.

"We were concerned," she said. "Both my husband and I come from the steady job school," said Eileen.

Even after Amy found steady work with the Second City troupe - a comedy company that's been a training ground for sketch comedy shows like SNL - she and her friends decided to pack up and leave for New York City, essentially starting all over. Poehler and colleagues started the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe and landed a sketch comedy show on Comedy Central.

Poehler began making guest appearances on SNL three years ago, and carved out a niche for herself through impersonations of celebrities like Kelly Ripa and sharons Stone and Osbourne. She was promoted to full cast member status in January 2002.

"She's managed to do exactly what she's always wanted to do," said Eileen.

She was also a bit surprised when she first saw her daughter perform in "Once Upon a Mattress" at the high school her senior year. Amy was quite good, she said, and had always been the type of person who enjoyed being the center of attention.

"People were a little leery when she got the lead in the class play," said Eileen. "She was a cheerleader."

Kathy Dalton, a Waltham English teacher, had Poehler in class for three of her four high school years. The two became close while struggling through a newly-instituted TV production class together. It was a lot of laughs, Dalton said, and Poehler always demonstrated a highly-developed sense of irony combined with a love of learning.

"It makes me so proud to see she's still the fine human being she always was," said Dalton, who plans to retire at the end of the year.

Poehler declined to tell students stories about her mother, and said anyone who's attended Eileen's classes already knows all there is to tell.

"My mother's the best in the biz," said Poehler. "If all of you had my mother as a mother you'd all be successful."

Poehler, who is married to actor Will Arnett of the show "Arrested Development," will appear in two movies, "Envy" and "Mean Girls," this spring.