The Leonard Lopate Show with Amy Poehler and Ian Roberts - July 28, 2003
(This was transcribed by me and it took far longer than it probably should've.
You can stream it from here.)

Leonard Lopate: I'm Leonard Lopate and this is WNYC, 93.9, AM 820. We're online at wnyc.org. Its members have appeared individually on The Daily Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Saturday Night Live but together they are the Upright Citizens Brigade, a longform improvisation comedy troupe from Chicago. The group, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts and Amy Poehler, moved to New York City seven years ago to perform and teach here. Soon they were writing and starring in their own series on Comedy Central and they opened a theatre in Chelsea. That theatre has since become known as a place where New York's premiere improvisers and comedians come to perform and where aspiring improvisers can learn their craft. I'm very pleased to welcome two members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, the only two not named Matt--
Amy Poehler: (laughs)
LL: --Amy Poehler and Ian Roberts, to the show today. Hi.
AP: Hi.
Ian Roberts: Hi.
LL: So how and when was the Upright Citizens Brigade formed? Were you both original members?
IR: Uh, no.
LL: Neither of you?
AP: No.
IR: No, I-- I was. Uh, Amy-- Amy's a little younger. A little.
AP: I'm a-- I'm a lot younger.
IR: A tiny bit younger. And so, uh...
AP: Many years younger.
IR: It was started in, uh, 1990 in Chicago.
LL: Mmhmm.
IR: And, uh, when did you come around, Amy? '95?
AP: Uh, I moved to Chicago in '93 and at that time, um, the Upright Citizens Brigade was a-- a kind of, uh, evolving and changing group of, uh, people who were doing sketch and improv, um, primarily under the tutilage and, uh, of-- of Del Close, who was kind of our mentor in Chicago.
LL: Now is he-- there's a lot of improvisation that goes on in Chicago for some reason and so little here until recently, although we've had these improv hits every so often over the years, over the span of my lifetime, but then it never seems to really catch on here. Is Del Close one of the key figures for everybody in Chicago or just for this group?
IR: Everybody.
AP: Yeah.
IR: He was, uh-- there's a place--
LL: He's the reason Chicago is...is improv central?
IR: I-- you know, I think it kind of-- it's probably, if you go a little further back, it's probably Second City but, because they used improvisation as a writing tool, but as far as improvisation as performance in and of itself, yeah, I think that's pretty much Del. So, everybody has Del to thank.
LL: But, when you write, don't you improvise? Don't all collaborative writing experiences turn out to be improv on some level? Where somebody says, "Hey, uh, we should have him say this" and the other one says, "No, no no," like that.
IR: Well, in a way, I guess you could say every process in life starts with improvisation--
LL: Yeah.
IR: --since it's not done and then you pluck it out of the air done, but, uh, so yes, but I think we use it a little more, um, obviously that we will fully improvise a scene and then take the concept from that instead of having an idea of where we want to go and then figuring it out as we go.
LL: But, you-- you-- you, uh, talked about sketch improvisation and then you talked about longform.
AP: Right.
LL: There's a big difference, isn't there? Sketch is easier to do, I'd imagine.
AP: Well, they're very different animals. We, um-- we had, um-- we used to do a show on Comedy Central where we did written, um, pieces and we wrote sketches that we, um, refined and rehearsed and worked on, and then at our theatre we also have longform improvisation where we basically take a suggestion from the audience and we improvise off of that for a while and that was inspired by Del and his work in Chicago. 'Cause Del was really one of the first guys who believed that improvisation, like you were talking about, is not only a tool, but it's-- it's not a means to an end, its own end; its own performance piece.
LL: Well, it's used in acting schools.
AP: Right.
LL: Except that people aren't expected to be funny.
IR: Right.
LL: What's the difference?
IR: Well, I think that when they teach it-- say the, like, the Mizner technique is probably the most used improvisation technique in acting, and I think that's just to give you spontaneity within the text you're given. So, uh, the kind of improv we do is much closer to a writerly endeavor because you're actually creating content and one of the main things that we teach in comedy improv is to find patterns. And patterns is what all comedy has. We call it a game and so we're basically writing on our feet whereas the improv that's used for acting is just to give you sort of emotional spontaneity but not create material.
LL: But the content is something that the group has to be able to provide. It just can't be one person.
AP: Well, that's why I was--
LL: Is that true or do you pick up cues from others?
AP: Well, that's why I always loved improvising because it was such an ensemble, um, action. It was hard to do it alone and you really had to depend on everybody to kind of create together. And there's--
LL: It's like jazz where--
AP: Yeah. Sure.
LL: --there's this dialogue that occurs between the different instruments.
AP: And it's very-- it's...it's off-- it can be, not always-- but there's a certain sense of democracy to it of, like, give and take and...and, um, and all working together for...for the common goal and all that stuff.
LL: Del, uh, Close--
AP: Or maybe that's Communism, I don't know. (laughs)
LL: (laughs) It is and you know what happened to the Soviet Union.
AP: (laughs)
IR: Oh, no! The UCB is going to fall I think is what I just heard!
AP: (laughs)
LL: First the walls are going to come down.
IR: Yeah.
LL: Uh, explain the Harold.
IR: Okay, with the Harold, uh, you get one suggestion from the audience. Then you never hear from the audience again unlike, uh, shortform improv. They keep coming to the audience to get inspiration. We'll take the one word and then they-- there's an opening where you flesh out that one bit of information into a lot-- a bunch of information. Um, then, once you have all this information, you start doing scenes that deal with this different information that's been generated in the opening and then those scenes will all come back in time dashes or analogous scenes. So either we'll take that scene that we started with and then take it further in the future, or go back in the past and see what would happen with this same sort of dynamic that was in that scene, or you'll do an analogous scene which has that same sort of dynamic, that game, whatever makes it funny, but you change the time period, you change the location, you change the characters, you change the occupations-- something like that, and, uh, there are also, within all of this, what we call group games where it's where the whole group ends up doing scenework together. And then, ideally, and this is what makes it the most special as far as the longform improv form, is that you then connect all the scenes at the end. And so, if you were to diagram it, it would look like a football, starting with one suggestion and blossoming out and then coming back to tie everything together and show how everything's related.
LL: How long can you keep an improvisation like that going?
IR: I think they tend to be about a half-hour.
AP: Yeah.
IR: How long could it keep going? I imagine hours.
LL: Yeah.
IR: You know, but--
AP: And this-- yeah. And it's kind of a-- you know, it sounds complicated but it's just basically a blueprint for...for Del's idea of longform being its own piece and the idea of, you know, um, all the great things about improvisation: saying yes, agreeing, um, making choices, being specific, being honest. All of those things are included in that...in that piece.
LL: You're also, um, mostly working with four people, although you do invite other people--
AP: Mmhmm.
LL: --to join you. So is that the ideal unit, four people?
AP: It kind of depends. We've-- we've worked with three, two, uh...ten, twenty.
IR: You know, it's funny. I guess I'd throw out, I find six to seven to be very nice.
LL: Mmhmm.
IR: You know, there's enough where you get to hang back, get a rest, people-- there's enough people to pick up where you leave off. That's one of the best things about improv is that, um, you know, they talk about group mind and it literally is like where you leave off, it's like, "Ah, I'm-- I'm dry," someone else picks up. You're never left hanging.
LL: When you came to New York, did you come with the intention of starting a theatre?
AP: Yeah. I think we did.
IR: Did we? See, I don't know.
AP: (laughs)
IR: I-- I-- I--
AP: Maybe I'm being revisionist, but...
IR: No... I-- I mean, we came out here. The one thing was, we had a good group but it's very hard to move beyond stage in Chicago because there's no industry. There's no television and there's no film so we wanted to-- we knew we had to move to either New York or LA.
LL: Other than Oprah.
AP: Yeah, all the John Hughes movies had already been shot.
LL: (laughs)
IR: Yeah, yeah, we were done with--
AP: We missed that wave.
IR: We were hoping for Baby's Day Out 2 but it never came.
LL and AP: (laughs)
IR: So we had to move. But, um, well, there was this, as far as-- so there was this much commitment to theatre, though. We picked New York over LA because it's very hard to sustain a run in LA. It's usually just an individual showcase. It's not really a theatre town. We wanted to always be up and running, always have a show going.
LL: Are you developing a style that's different from Chicago? Is it pretty much the same sort of thing?
AP: Um, you know, they're very close cousins. Um, the ImprovOlympic is the theatre that we learn and study from and that Del created along with Charna Halpern in Chicago and we, um, very much copied their idea and model for our classes and for our theatre but there is a certain, um, flavor to the Upright Citizens Brigade and...and the longform improv community in New York that's a little different and--
IR: I'd say we're very much comedy first. Like you already made the point that, you know, acting has improv but it's not funny. Our-- our theatre is a comedy theatre first and improvisational theatre second. I'd say maybe a...quarter or less of our shows are actually improvised and all of the improv we do is always comedy. It's always comic improv. And that-- and that's--
AP: Or attempt-- attempts at comedy.
IR: (laughs) Yeah.
AP: (laughs)
IR: And that's always-- and that is very dependant on what we call "finding the game of a scene."
LL: So, some nights can be a lot funnier than other nights?
AP: Oh, sure, yeah.
IR: (laughs)
AP: Oh, gosh, yeah.
LL: And what happens when--
IR: Yeah, we go from-- all the way from 97% funny to 100% funny.
AP: (laughs)
IR: So some days, if you're unlucky enough, sometimes you'll come up with a 97% night.
LL: (laughs) Well, what happens on the nights when you realize that things just aren't going well?
AP: Mmhmm.
LL: Or on, conversely, the nights when everything is going so great that you just can't believe it?
AP: Well, in the nights-- or, you know-- and even when we teach classes we talk about this, that I think you really do find your true, uh, sense of self as a performer actually when a scene is not going well rather than when it's going well. When it's going well, it's-- everything works. It's easy. Pistons are firing, but when things are-- when people are not communicating or the audience is not responding--
IR: Yeah, for instance, if a scene's not going well, I'll step out and say, "I think this is Amy's problem."
LL and AP: (laughs)
IR: "I think-- I think Amy's not picking up on what I'm giving her."
AP: (laughs) Right, right. And I'll like--
IR: That's the way I respond to it.
LL: (laughs) You just blame everybody else. It's never your fault.
AP: Yeah, blame is really good. Right, exactly. Misplace blame and...um, but no, but in those moments you really do learn how to kind of commit because that's half of the problem or-- or-- or the-- or the challenge is to commit to something that isn't going well.
IR: You know what's something too, though, about, um, the-- the degree of success that in that David Mamet book, um, True and False. He talks about actors coming up and beating up on themselves when they get offstage and he said, "I've had plays that I have written and had my money invested in and believe me, if it had gone badly, I would be very, very worried." And he said, "The night when the performer thinks they've done awfully and when they think they've hit a home run," he said, "I see no difference." And I think that that's normally the case with a show as a whole. You walk off sometimes thinking, "Oh, rotten show." It just means you were a little off. There's eight people up there and I'd say on any night-- well, the only show I do anymore over there is...is our Sunday night show, ASSSSCAT-- you-- you'll walk out and you may not feel good and you have eight people come up and say, "That was, oh! That was amazing! That was--"
LL: --great.
IR: "I've never seen anything like that!" So, basically, it doesn't-- if you've got a bunch of people that understand the rules and know how to do it, the show never goes badly. You may have a slightly off night but that's about--
AP: Congratulations, Ian. It's ten minutes into the show and you've mentioned Mamet. You said you wanted to get that in so you got Mamet in.
IR: Yeah. I've, uh, read, uh, David Mamet.
AP: (laughs)
IR: Not just his plays but his, uh--
LL: But David Mamet also says, "Just read the lines as I wrote them and don't try to find anything of yourself in them."
AP: Right.
IR: You can't do that with improv, can you?
AP and IR: No.
AP: You can't.
IR: No, I mean, you know, you're providing--
LL: 'Cause you're writing at the same time.
IR: Yeah.
AP: Sure, yeah.
LL: Now what happens, Amy, when, uh, you join the cast of Saturday Night Live? Does everybody feel like you're abandoning ship and you might be lost?
AP: Um, no, you know--
LL: And your head is getting too big?
AP: (laughs) Maybe people do feel that way. I would-- you'd have to ask them.
IR: Only physically. Her head--
AP: (laughs)
IR: Her head got two inches-- like the circumference got bigger.
AP: Yeah.
IR: And the-- a little bit of a melon head now.
AP: You can't tell--
IR: But her ego is in check.
AP: You can't tell 'cause we're on the radio but I'm actually in a chair that's, like, ten inches higher than Ian's.
IR: Yeah.
AP: Because I insist on a higher chair.
IR: Yeah, she asked for-- she's got some apple boxes--
LL: You're the star.
AP: Yeah. I mean, whatever, it makes sense. No. Um, but, you know, it's such a different animal over there. There's very little improv in terms of when you do the show. It's all very tightly scripted due to camera shots and stuff like that.
IR: When she says "a different animal," it's sort of like we're like a noble tiger and it's like a...a ferret. A mangy ferret--
LL and AP: (laughs)
IR: --when she says it's a different animal.
LL: I-- can you-- can you improvise during rehearsals at least?
AP: Oh, yeah! Quite a bit. And you improvise a lot during the writing process and there's quite a lot of people on the show now that have come from, um, Chicago and have the same kind of vocabulary so that helps a lot in the process.
IR: There's actually four people there that all stayed at the same place we did in Chicago.
AP: Yeah.
IR: Rachel Dratch, Horatio Sanz, Tina Fey, and Amy--
AP: Yeah.
IR: --are all from Chicago and studied at ImprovOlympic.
AP: Yeah.
IR: Actually Horatio used to be an Upright Citizens Brigade member as well, so...
AP: That's right.
LL: And, uh, Toronto is also another great comedy center. What is it about these cities? Is it that they have nothing else going on?
IR: The people-- I think they're lazy and no one wants to write.
LL and AP: (laughs)
LL: Oh, I see.
IR: No, no, what is it? What-- I don't know.
AP: I don't know. I-- I don't know. There's something about Chicago, it-- that is just become kind of epicenter for, uh, spont-- spontaneous theatre or whatever.
LL: But once it happens, then people are attracted.
IR: Yeah, well-- well-- well, this town's--
AP: Yeah.
LL: You come from other places, right?
AP: Yeah.
IR: I think once you've got some, uh-- once you've got some base, like I think the Upright Citizens Brigade-- I can think of probably three theatres that have sort of been spawned off of our theatre, so I think if you get a fairly successful theatre that people enjoy what they're doing, uh, people go off and start more, so...
LL: You said, Ian, that you're only appearing now on the, uh...the ASSSSCAT shows on Sunday nights, which is probably your most popular show-- the group's most popular show. It also features guests from--
AP: Sure.
LL: --some pretty other famous comedy venues like Saturday Night Live,--
AP: Right.
LL: --Conan O'Brien, Second City. How did it start and how did you come up with this name, which is A-S-S-S-S-C-A-T?
IR: Well, ASSSSCAT-- one thing, it...it's sort of-- it's all the, uh-- it is, like, sort of the older, lazy guys. It's all the people that've been doing it forever, we're friends from way back and we wanted it to be a very loose night. So, uh, the name comes from something that happened about twelve years ago. Matt Besser was doing a show at a theatre and he was committed to having a show there every week. Oh, sorry. And, uh-- and, uh, one week the woman he was doing a show with couldn't do it so he said, "Hey, guys, come on. We'll-- we'll-- we'll improvise, but I need you to take it seriously because this guy, you know-- I have to bring a show in every week and it has to bring in an audience." So we promised we would take it seriously and proceeded to get, uh, drunk and at one point left Matt Besser on stage by himself in, um, an improv igloo and no one joined him and we yelled across the stage to each other "ASSSSCAT." Why? I don't know. I don't know what that meant, but we just-- and so the word became symbolic for a show that you're sort of doing for yourself, uh, with no regard for the audience.
LL: Mmhmm.
IR: And, um, that's--
LL: And that's why it's so popular.
AP: (laughs)
IR: I guess. That's the philosophy of the show is...is just-- it's for us to--
AP: (laughs) People love to be-- people love to be ignored.
IR: It's for us to have a good time and, uh, you know, I think we all have enough residual skill that, uh-- (laughs) that it comes off as a...as a good show.
LL: If I suddenly challenged you to do an improvisation on the spot, how would you go about it? Would you have to whisper to each other for a few moments?
IR: No.
AP: No, we would just start. Um, you know, that-- one of the things that people always ask us after the show still, people that have seen us many, many times, is that they assume that we...we plan or that we--
LL: Or that you have certain things that you fall back on.
AP: Sure. "Oh, you guys are always-- but you guys always play the teenagers in love, right?" Or...or "that doctor scene always happens in the second half," and that never works. Anything that's ever planned is, um-- is, uh, is always, like, failure because it's just, uh-- you're always doomed to fail, like if we improvise right now. (laughs)
IR: (laughs)
LL: But it would be harder on radio, wouldn't it? Because so much of what you do is visual?
AP: I--
LL: I'm giving you an out.
AP: Well, Nichols-- you know, I used to listen to Nichols and May when I was young and that was like, to me, just like, you know, radio improv basically--
LL: Mm.
AP: --and it felt like it and--
LL: And they were as brilliant as--
AP: Oh.
LL: --at it as anyone. You would've wished that they could've continued their careers instead of him going off--
AP: Mmhmm.
LL: --and directing all these fancy plays and television shows.
IR: I'll say-- I'll say this. If we were to improvise right now, it would be the most, um--
AP: (laughs)
IR: --life-changing experience for anyone who's listening to it right now, and it would be as much of something that is--
LL: You're scaring me.
IR: --created on the spot. It would be-- it would be perfect.
LL: Well, here's what I'm going to do.
AP: (laughing) Oh, no.
LL: We're-- we're going to take a little break. (laughs)
AP: (laughing) Oh.
LL: I'm going to let you think about this during the news break.
IR: I'm-- I'm going to re-commit and say "perfect." It would be perfect. I stand behind that.
LL: Maybe we'll come back and maybe you'll do it and maybe you won't. How's that?
AP: I'd-- I'd love that.
IR: Let's do it.
AP: Let's keep the audience guessing.
IR: It's going to be amazing if it happens.
AP: (Amy is hysterical)
LL: You recently held the fifth annual Del Close marathon in honor of your mentor with over a hundred different groups--
AP: Mmhmm.
LL: --around the country performing. Um, can you learn from watching from other people-- watching other people?
IR: Yes.
AP: Yes. I think that you learn from watching great people and playing with great people and, um, we were really lucky. We had so many great groups come to the theatre and we-- we improvised for the entire weekend...for fifty-four hours straight, so--
LL: Which must be exciting for someone like Ian who says improv is like a drug.
AP: Mm.
IR: Yes.
LL: Really.
AP: Yes, very true.
IR: And believe me, I-- I know how to compare it to a drug. I can compare it to five different drugs with--
LL and AP: (laughs)
IR: --complete confidence.
AP: (laughs)
LL: Well, uh, you're going to have to go cold turkey for a few moments--
AP and IR: (laughs)
LL: --because we're going to take a little break here and we'll come back with more. My guests are, uh, Ian Roberts and Amy Poehler, two of the four members of the, uh, the group called the...what the heck-- the Upright Citizens Brigade.
AP: I know, it's difficult to remember.
LL: I almost forgot because you just...just so-- you're so un-upright citizens, aren't you?
IR: (laughs)
AP: Well, doublespeak, Leonard.
LL: It's...it's ironic, right?
AP: We'll explain it after the break.
LL: Okay, the other two, of course, are Matt Besser and Matt Walsh who decided that they had more important things to do at this time.
AP: (laughs)
LL: This is WNYC. Stay with us.
[news]
LL: We're back on WNYC, 93.9, AM 820. We're online at wnyc.org. My guests are Ian Roberts and Amy Poehler, two of the four members of the group called the Upright Citizens Brigade. The other two are Matt Besser and Matt Walsh and, um...I wonder about the odds of...of four people getting together and two of them having the same first name.
AP: (laughs)
LL: How did that happen? Were they original members?
AP: Yeah.
IR: Yeah.
AP: Yeah. Um--
LL: Oh, that's why they didn't care.
AP: We all star-- yeah. The...the...the group-- you know, the four of us, started back in...in...in Chicago in the early '90's and moved to New York in...in '96 to kind of do shows and...and open a theatre out here.
LL: And it's really done well for you, hasn't it, because, uh, you've been in movies. Ian, you've been in Bring It On. Amy, you've been in one of the-- the, uh, great movies of all time, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo.
AP: Mmhmm. The--
LL: Also--
AP: --the instant classic.
LL: Also Wet Hot American Summer.
AP: That's right.
LL: And then didn't you do a film of your own called Martin and Orloff?
IR: Uh, yeah. Uh, it was written by, uh, Matt Walsh and, uh...uh, my wife and myself. And-- but it is not actually an Upright Citizens Brigade film.
LL: Mmhmm.
IR: It was-- but all four members are in the film. But then the Upright Citizens Brigade has done a movie and it...it's called, uh, Girls Not Gone Wild.
LL: (laughs)
AP: Yeah, we shot it in two weeks in Los Angeles and we improvised it, so it's...it's an improvised movie.
LL: Like Shadows-- uh, those John Cassavetes films.
AP: Yeah! We just kind of, uh, had some ideas for set-ups and then improvised most of the scenes.
IR: And it's actually very close to--
LL: And will either of these films ever be distributed?
AP: (laughs)
IR: They will both be distributed and they will destroy, uh, Big Fat Greek Wedding at the box office.
AP: (laughs)
IR: Uh, yeah--
LL: You heard it here.
AP: (laughing) Yeah, right, right.
IR: I think they will-- I think they will both-- they will both see the light of day somewhere.
LL: Ah. Well I, uh, I suggested that you do an instantaneous, uh, improv.
IR: I remember.
AP: Well, you--
IR: I told you it would be amazing.
AP: You-- when you say you suggested, you held my arm really hard and you said, "You're gonna do this."
IR: Yeah, she's got--
AP: So I guess we're gonna do this.
IR: You have--
LL: I threw down the gauntlet.
IR: You have-- you have five red marks on your arm, Amy.
AP: My arm is bruised.
LL: So, what would you do? 'Cause-- since we have not discussed the topic or anything.
AP: We have-- I-- we have not.
LL: No.
AP: During the break, we have not discussed anything.
LL: No, we've really been very honorable.
AP: Yeah, we really have.
IR: I-- I put myself in a glass case. That wasn't not to hear suggestions. I just had a glass case with me.
AP: (laughs)
IR: But, uh-- but, because of that, we couldn't discuss it. They kept trying. They kept knocking on the glass case saying, "Come on, we've gotta discuss this" but I said, "No, I'm in my glass case and I'm just hanging."
LL: Now, would you automatically think radio because you're here on radio? Or would you try to do something totally different?
AP: We're gonna do really quiet physical, um, sound and movement, um... (laughs)
IR: Yeah.
AP: We're gonna do really intense facial, uh...uh...stuff--
IR: Yeah.
AP: --over the radio.
IR: I think-- I-- I'm-- I'm gonna commit to being nonverbal.
LL and AP: (laughs)
LL: See, I made that commitment years ago.
IR and AP: (laughs)
LL: There are some people in this business who are totally nonverbal and they're big successes.
IR: Shields and Yarnell!
AP: (laughs) Yeah, that's a good--
IR: I remember-- I remember--
AP: That's a good-- that's a good--
IR: I remember the variety show.
AP: You know, all the kids love-- still love Shields and Yarnell.
IR: Oh, are you kidding?
AP: (laughs) I know.
IR: (laughing) Basically, if Shields and Yarnell is playing a stadium, I'm there. (laughs)
AP: Um, well, it is-- it is-- um, we had brought up Nichols and May but it is a very specific difference between improvising for, like, a radio show and being on stage, obviously, because you're-- in fact, sometimes we've had our improv scenes played on radio and...
LL: They don't make any sense.
AP: (laughing) They don't make any sense, um, as far as, uh, what the-- why everybody's laughing. Um, and if we--
IR: When I-- when I improvise on radio, I'm the size of a Barbie doll.
AP: Really? You think about it like that?
IR: No, I am the size of a Barbie doll.
AP: (laughs)
LL: And you're naked right now, too.
IR: Yeah!
AP: Yeah, Ian.
IR: Well, prove-- prove I'm not! Right now I'm telling you I'm naked, I'm the size of a Barbie doll, I'm sitting in a toy piece of furniture up on top of the console here at the radio station.
LL: So, where did the name Upright Citizens Brigade come from?
IR: I don't remember. (laughs)
AP: Well, I think, you know-- I...I think, if I r-- if legend has it--
LL: It's meant to be ironic, I'm sure.
AP: Yeah, it's meant to be--
IR: Oh, Rick Roman.
AP: Um, it's meant to be like, the uh-- uh, you know, the...the kind of evil corporation name, like almost doublespeak. Um, Upright Citizens Brigade was always a big, um-- a...a word-- a...a title that almost sounded like something important.
IR: We used to describe it as "Upright Citizens Brigade: A Subsidiary of the Russell Corporation."
LL: (laughs)
IR: (laughs) And the Russell Corporation was just a bit of a picture of some smoke-belching factory and, uh...
LL: So do you see yourselves doing this the rest of your lives? Is this something you can do--
IR: Yeah.
LL: --in...into your nineties?
IR: Yeah, I really do think I would improvise for the rest of my life unless people won't let me anymore (laughs) like I can't get on a stage. But it's just-- it's so fun! Like the-- the what do you call that? Uh, the return for what you put in is amazing.
AP: Mmhmm.
IR: You know, you can-- you can--
LL: You-- you mean you work so little--
IR: Yeah!
LL: --and you make so much money for it.
AP: (laughs)
IR: Oh, no, that's not at all what I mean.
AP and IR: (laughs)
IR: But, uh, for-- for the satisfaction you get-- like, you can rehearse your butt off for four weeks and the difference between the quality of that and something you got up and you improvised is negligible considering what you, you know-- how little you have to put into it.
LL: I guess we're not gonna get that improv, are we?
IR: Oh, what are we gonna do? Let's do it!
AP: I feel-- I feel like we just did. Okay, um...
LL: Okay.
AP: Okay.
IR: Give-- give us a suggestion.
AP: Give us a suggestion.
LL: Ready? Oh, I gotta give you a suggestion?
AP: Give us a word.
LL: Okay, uh...Bartok.
IR: Bartok. What is that? Is that, uh-- is that a--
LL: Bella Bartok.
IR: --composer?
LL: Yeah, yeah, it's a composer.
AP: Okay, composer. Um. (clears her throat) This is gonna be, by the way, exactly like Nichols and May.
LL: (laughs) They talked about Bella Bartok dying--
AP: Oh, there you go.
LL: --on Central Park West. That's what reminded me of it.
AP: Oh, boy.
IR: So, um, I'm assuming that was meant to be atonal?
AP: Uh, no, I've been rehearsing for-- I'm sorry, did it not please you?
IR: I didn't say it didn't please me. I thought it-- I thought it was avant-garde but you're saying it wasn't meant to be atonal.
AP: Oh, well, I-- it was supposed to be just like a child's lullaby.
IR: Oh. Do-- do you dislike children or...?
LL: (laughs)
AP: No, I love children. I just, um--
IR: All right, I--
AP: Maybe I should play you something else.
IR: Okay, go ahead.
AP: (clears her throat) Uh, this is, uh-- I thought this might be a nice wedding song, maybe? Or, uh--
IR: Just so I can listen to this in the right vein, uh, you-- you believe in the, uh, the sanctity of the marriage?
AP: Yes, of course.
IR: Okay, great, then let me hear. I just want to--
AP: (at this point, Amy makes a screeching noise that could never be transcribed. Ever. This is followed by mildly retarded circus music.)
IR: Okay, that's enough. Um--
AP: What do you think?
IR: You're sure you're not--
AP: It's pretty amazing, right?
IR: I am amazed, I'll say that. Um, did you mean-- is it meant to be avant-garde? Are you--
AP: If avant-garde means awesome, then yes.
IR: Avant-garde doesn't mean awesome, no.
AP: Oh.
IR: Um, what it would mean is that, uh, you're on the cutting edge of-- I don't understand-- I don't like it.
AP: Mm, well.
IR: I don't like it. That's what I guess I ultimately have to say.
AP: Mm, well, you're fired.
IR: You can't fire me. You're trying to get a recording contract.
AP: Well, I still feel that I could-- you're fired.
IR: You can't fire me during an interview process!
AP: Get out of my office.
IR: This is my office!
AP: Hmm. Well, so you think! My pencils are in your cup now, so get out of here.
IR: Oh. How did I allow her pencils to get into my cup?
AP: (starts to laugh)
IR: All right.
AP: (clears her throat) I want to--
IR: By universal law, this is technically your office because you have taken over my pencil cup.
AP: Yes. Send the next applicant in.
LL: (laughs)
IR: You will hear from my lawyer. Those pencils can be removed. I have friends in high places.
AP: I'd like to see you try it.
IR: (laughs)
AP: And...
IR: Awesome.
AP: Awesome scene.
LL: (laughs)
AP: People that are listening, your minds have just been blown and your lives have been changed.
LL: And it probably reminded--
IR: And if you didn't get it, it's because you're not smart enough!
AP: (laughs)
LL: And that did remind me of something that was played at my first wedding.
AP and IR: (laughs)
LL: Amy--
AP: Well, Leonard was enjoying it, everybody.
LL: (laughs) Amy Poehler--
AP: (laughs)
LL: --and Ian Roberts, two of the four members of the Upright Citizens Brigade. You, uh-- if you want to see the Upright Citizens Brigade for yourself, their theatre is located--
IR: (pretending to be a fan) Hey, guys, that improv was great!
AP: (pretending to be a fan) Hey!
IR: Hey, we're still-- we're still working here. Close the door.
AP: (laughs)
LL: Their theatre is located at 26th Street and 8th Avenue. They have shows seven nights a week and check out their website for more information, ucbtheatre.com. You also can see Amy on Saturday Night Live and when do you-- when does the new season start?
AP: Uh, the first, uh, show is October 3rd.
LL: Mmhmm. Already thinking about it?
AP: Uh, have not thought about it at all, Leonard.
LL: Mmhmm.
IR: You can see Ian in his condominium if you peek through the window. Most nights I'm there!
AP: (laughs)
LL: That's-- that sounds-- that--
IR: (pretending to be a fan) Hey, guys, I know you're still going but that was awesome! I love you guys! Great improv!
LL: That did sound like an expression of envy, didn't it, Amy?
AP and IR: (laughs)
LL: Thank you both so much for being with us.
AP: Thank you, Leonard. It was a pleasure.
IR: Thank you.