Girlcomic.net talks with Amy Poehler from The Upright Citizens Brigade.

What does Amy Poehler, the female member of the number one improv group in America - the New York City-based Upright Citizens Brigade - find sexy?

"Bill Clinton," says Amy. "We did a show for Hillary Clinton's birthday party, and Bill was there. He is fucking so charismatic and so sexy. What woman wouldn't want him? It was a room full of celebrities and you couldn't take your eyes off him."

One of the definitions of sexy in Webster's dictionary is:
sex·y (s k s )
adj. sex·i·er, sex·i·est
Slang. Highly appealing or interesting; attractive: "The recruiting brochures are getting sexier."

That's how Amy Poehler may describe Bill Clinton, but that's how we'd describe Amy Poehler. When you watch Amy on stage with the UCB, it's hard not to focus on her. Maybe it's because she's the only chick in the group. Maybe it's because she's the shortest one by at least a good foot. Maybe it's because during a scene about a husband and wife who are having sexual problems, Amy blurts out that her husband insists on having "dirt intercourse": "He claims that we need to have dirt intercourse, in order for my vagina to develop its own bacteria-fighting agents!"

Ms. Poehler, along with improv fans everywhere (and, we might add, improv fans are among the most obsessive comedy fans. They know the ins and outs - no Sex Issue pun intended - and the rules of improv. They watch performances both to laugh and to make sure that the troupe is following the rules) know that successful improv is about the group dynamic, not one star stealing the show.

Just say yes
Amy shies away when we tell her that she's just so damn magnetic on stage. "I mean, this is the worst analogy, but [UCB] is like a basketball team - you know when to pass and when to shoot it in. You know who to go to. I think a good sketch group or improv group is one that when you walk out, you go ‘They were really good. They are a collective. There's a reason why they should be together.'" Of course. Amy's sexiness is a result of her ability to be generous on stage, her willingness to let her co-stars lead a scene or get the laughs. She can't help it if you still just want to watch her and wait for her next time she invents an expression like "dirt intercourse."

So where did she learn to pass the ball so well? Was she just born with humility, charm, and that old team spirit? Maybe. But Amy also studied with improvisation guru Del Close. Think of any comedic actor whom you treasure, or your favorite early 1980s Saturday Night Live cast member, and most likely they're a Del Close disciple. "The biggest thing Del taught me was this idea of trying to say ‘yes' all the time, instead of taking an idea and being like ‘that's so stupid' and censoring yourself. I could get philosophical and say not just on stage but in your life too." Amy says that Close taught her "the idea of ensemble and what it means to work with other people."

Dude, fuckin' pah-ty
Offstage, Amy Poehler makes you feel like a long-lost friend whom she really is interested in seeing. She has not one phony bone in her body. Unlike other Gen-X celebrities who know that they should be "down with the people" but who remain reserved, observant, and slightly condescending, Amy has a genuine air of "What's up dudes?"

Amy walks into a room or on a stage with the proverbial six-pack under her arm - it's time to party. So how did she get this way, or rather not turn into a bitch once she got to quit her day job? "My family's from Boston, so they have that way about them. Everything's a joke. Never take yourself too seriously. They'll say, "Oh you think you're funny?'" On the brink of her celebrity she had to sit her family down to let them know that it's not cool to brag anymore. "I used to be on Late Night with Conan O'Brien as this character that I did," she explains. "My dad would get on the Internet comedy newsgroups and write, ‘I'm Amy's dad and she's going to be on Conan tonight!' I had to have a big, scary talk with my father."

She makes sure to start off the interview by telling us that we're doing a great thing with this Web magazine and that she's so down "with the ladies." She gives us props (not literally) for being stand-up comics. "I think stand-up is mother...fucking...hard," she insists. "It's way harder than being in a sketch or improv group - there's no one there, you know. It's all you, man."

Unlike with Catherine Zeta-Jones, whom it's impossible to picture sitting on a toilet, you know that a celebrity like Amy Poehler burps and farts. But still, you get this sense when hanging out with her that she's cooler than you are. She has her period-stained underwear like the rest of us ladies, but she still possesses that something that separates her from the average person. What is that something? Sexy-ness! Sexy-ocity!

You still haven't heard of the UCB?
The Upright Citizens Brigade - if you still think that improv is just a party-game art form, go see them - consists of four funny people: Matt Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Amy Poehler. They work with a unique form (long-form, that is) of improvisation. A UCB show generally begins with a monologue told by one of the members, while their castmates sit on stage, watch the monologue, and allow their subconscious to go wild. After a few minutes of the monologue, the cast takes off and begins improvising scenes. The audience goes crazy with laughter and is psyched when they recognize how the UCB incorporated the monologue themes into their scenes. This is no audience shouting "anal sex!" No timers, buzzers, or fake blues songs sung. This is acting and thinking fast.

When people say improv, half the ears in our culture hear Whose Line Is It Anyway? What the hell is improv anyway? "Improvisation is almost like the retarded cousin in the comedy world," Amy explains. "We've been trying forever to get improvisation on TV. It's just like stand-up - it's best when it's just left alone. It doesn't translate always on TV. It's best live."

Improvisation is like that old sexy-librarian cliche. Look closely, and the glasses and proper attire can be more of a turn-on than a stripper can. Stand-up comedy has a sexy past. Think Eddie Murphy. Think Lenny Bruce. Drugs, scandals, women - sexy! But listen to the story of any improviser who came up on the Chicago scene and actually got to hang out with Del Close, and their sex appeal level goes up. Amy passed on this great urban legend: "When Del was dying, Bill Murray threw a big party for him. They had a jazz band and stayed up all night drinking chocolate martinis. The next day Del died. He held out long enough to party, and he decided when he wanted to go."

Sexism does not = sexy
So it had to happen sooner or later. We had to point out the obvious. We had to remind Amy that she was a chick. She's a chick in a group of dudes doing comedy! We had to know: Is the improv world more enlightened in its attitude toward women? Is improv like Sweden? "The guys never stopped me from feeling powerful, even though I'm so much shorter and littler than them." Amy also teaches improv and notices, "Girls will say, ‘Why do I always end up playing the girlfriend in scenes?' I say, ‘'Cause you're always making yourself the girlfriend. You've got to give yourself something else.'"

Of course, before she found her niche, Amy had to sit and listen to people like her first agent, who said, "Now, what are we going to do about your hair?" Amy drifts off into a bitter place and says, "I remember looking at the pictures of the guys in photographs on the wall behind her, seeing those big, old, fat, slob comedians and thinking, ‘Are you kidding me?'"

What would Del say? Amy clarifies, "Oh no, he was quite misogynist. But he was just kind of a misanthrope. He hated everybody equally."

Amy finds that she encounters sexism on a subtle level in her dealings with television networks. The Upright Citizens Brigade television sketch show was cancelled from Comedy Central's lineup. "All that's on that network now is tits and robots. And it's not even funny." Amy has a solution: "I want to pitch a show where a woman's tits fight each other like robots."

Even though their TV show was cancelled, the UCB still performs in New York City every Sunday night in their show called A.S.S.C.A.T. 3000 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Even the theater has a sexy history. Located in an area that borders Manhattan's Chelsea and Fashion districts, it was once a burlesque house. "The first year was crazy," Amy tells us. "We had to clean up the whole place. There were lockers overflowing with bikinis and Prince tapes. There were signs hanging, outlining laws about having to cover your nipples while serving drinks." See? We were right. There is just something sexy about the Upright Citizens Brigade.

This interview was conducted before Amy became one of the newest members of the cast of Saturday Night Live. Way to go!

The Upright Citizens Brigade performs every Sunday night in New York City in A.S.S.C.A.T. 3000 at 7:30 and 9:30 PM. For theatre and schedule information go to www.ucbtheatre.com/schedule. And check out http://www.uprightcitizens.org for more hilarity.