UCB's Elaine Carroll on Mad Men

Sunday night's Mad Men episode (SPOILER ALERT) featured the "man date" of the century -- Don Draper and Lane Pryce hitting the town! The advertising executives' romp through Manhattan included a menu of Texas-sized steak, a late-night showing of Godzilla, and UCB's very own Elaine Carroll as a "Barnard girl" with a $25 fee.

Elaine Carroll

Elaine recently moved to Los Angeles from New York. She received her BFA in Acting from Marymount Manhattan College, where she got the comedy bug as co-founder of the sketch group Dutch West. Elaine can be seen in numerous videos on College Humor and was formerly on the UCBNY Maude Team Gramps. She is currently a member of the UCBLA Maude Team The Space Program.

Elaine also created the very popular (and hilarious) web series, Very Mary Kate, the unofficial life and times of Mary Kate Olsen. More information about Elaine can be found on her website.

UCB Comedy asked Elaine about working on one of the most buzzed-about shows on television.

Elaine in her Mad Men gear

Q: How did you get a role on Mad Men? What was the audition process like?
The audition process was surprisingly normal. There was only one round of auditions, and the episode was shot the following week. The sides for the audition were different from the actual script. They change it up so that they don't give anything away.

Q: What was it like working with Jared Harris and Jon Hamm?
It was amazing. Everyone was extremely friendly. Jared Harris and Jon Hamm are both really kind and professional. It was weird, though. Jon Hamm kept trying to make out with me. (This is less of a fact and more of a faint, wistful daydream.)

Q: Did you get to meet any of the other actors on set or Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner?
I met all the other actors at the table read. Matthew Weiner was there, as well as the entire staff of writers and producers. It happened to be Christina Hendricks' birthday and Matthew Weiner had the whole room singing Happy Birthday. (The cake was great too.)

Q: Any fun anecdotes from shooting?
I had my own trailer, the hair and make-up crew was great, Jon Hamm kept trying to make out with me. (Still not a fact.)

Q: What does Jon Hamm smell like?
A cigarette burning in God's ashtray.

Q: Inquiring minds want to know about the clothes.
The clothes on that show are breathtaking. They're authentic down to the last detail, and yes, I would have loved to keep the earrings, but I had to give them back.

Q: What’s up next for Elaine Carroll?
There's gonna be a second season of "Very Mary-Kate" on College Humor!

Elaine in the UCB Comedy video, The Undermining:

The Undermining	UCBcomedy.com
Watch more comedy videos from the twisted minds of the UCB Theatre at UCBcomedy.com

UCB and TGS: Jon Gabrus

Listen up, comedy fans! "UCB and TGS" features some of UCBComedy.com's funniest writers and performers that play "TGS Writers" on the hit television show 30 Rock. You know, the people on the receiving end of Liz yelling "BLERG"?


"Working on 30 Rock is the only job that I have had where I get pissed if I have to miss a day," says UCB standout Jon Gabrus. "It's exciting to be even a minor part of such a huge, awesome, talented cast and crew. Everyone on that show is nice and awesome at their job -- it's a production like none other."

UCB audiences know Gabrus as a member of the UCBT weekend team The Law Firm and from his performances with the group Outlook of the Poet. His ongoing UCB show, Blackout Drunk, centers around terrible and true stories of things that have happened to him when he has been wasted -- like the time he ate a dead snake.

Reserve tickets

Gabrus eats much better fare on the 30 Rock set, with mixed results. "There is a lot of farting," says Gabrus. "We eat like kings from craft services, and then six guys sit in a small room for nine hours -- it gets a little weird."


Despite any gastrointestinal issues, Gabrus mentions that summer hiatus is making him sad, as he loves kicking back with the other "writers" when they are waiting to be called on set. "I got to know these dudes so much better over the course of the season. I need my Anthony Atamaniuk fix real bad."

Gabrus on UCBComedy.com:

UCB and TGS: Sue Galloway

Listen up, comedy fans! "UCB and TGS" features some of UCBComedy.com's funniest writers and performers that play "TGS Writers" on the hit television show 30 Rock. You know, the people on the receiving end of Liz yelling "BLERG"?

Sue Galloway is 30 Rock's resident scene stealer as Sue LaRoche-Van der Hout, The Girlie Show's "Girl Writer" of European descent (French? Dutch? French AND Dutch?).

Sue and Keith Powell, who plays "Toofer"

Sue says of her first day on the 30 Rock set, "I called my boyfriend at the time, John Lutz, because I was pretty sure he was going to be there too. John and I traveled all the way out to Queens from the Upper West Side together for the first day and it was great. The TGS writers spent long hours together there the first few seasons. LONG! But we all enjoyed each other's company. And I enjoyed John's company so much that I married him!"


A veteran of the UCB stage, Sue has been in shows such as the Real Real World, Beneath Gristedes, the Harold team 1985, and her one-woman show Homebody. Her current improv team, The Law Firm, joins the Friday night line-up on May 7, 2010. (Check it out!)

Sue's other New York theater credits include: Free To Be Friends (co-writer and performer - NY Fringe), Beaver (Horsetrade Theater Company) and Rosemary with Ginger (Actors Studio). Additional television credits include: Babylon Fields (CBS), Fat Guy Stuck In Internet (Adult Swim), Munchies (Fuse), and The Nighttime Clap (Fuse).

Sue is also a freelance joke writer for SNL's Weekend Update and a lifetime member of the Actors Studio.

Watch Sue in the video Do You Work Here?:



Late for Lunch:

UCB and TGS: Nate Smith

Listen up, comedy fans! "UCB and TGS" features some of UCB Comedy's funniest writers and performers that play "TGS Writers" on the hit television show 30 Rock. You know, the people on the receiving end of Liz yelling "BLERG"?

The role played by UCB powerhouse Nate Smith on 30 Rock has been dubbed "Johnny Reaction" by fellow UCB writer Geoff Garlock. "That sums up my role on the show," says Nate. "No talking, just a lot of looking the way somebody looks after somebody else just said that thing. I love doing it."

On 30 Rock, Liz Lemon once referred to the TGS staffers that surround Twofer and Frank as "the writers who never talk," but on set the "fake writers" are known by another name: "the UCB guys." Nate says, "Having where we come from be acknowledged by the crew feels like a compliment."


Nate definitely fits the title of a "UCB guy." He has been part of dozens of shows on the UCB stage and currently performs with the Harold team Badman. Nate also regularly directs at the UCB, including Cool Your J, Highly Evolved Human, I Laughed Until I Died and sketch shows for Maude team Slow Burn. He is also a founding member of the indie improv and sketch group, Rogue Elephant, who have performed their extremely popular monthly show for over five years. (Their huge fan turnout will soon force them to relocate from Under St. Mark's Theatre.)

Nate recently starred in UCBComedy.com's racy new video, Atheists Having Sex:



He also penned this sketch for the UCB show Beneath Gristedes:



And look for Nate in a lead role in the upcoming independent feature, Hello Lonesome, directed by Adam Reid!

As an actor, writer, director and documentary producer/editor (the man does it all!), Nate has a lot going on -- and his many projects can all be found on his recently launched website. Check it out!

UCB and TGS: John Murray

Listen up, comedy fans! This is the first post of a new feature, "UCB and TGS," which will feature some of UCB Comedy's funniest writers and performers that play "TGS Writers" on the hit television show 30 Rock. You know, the people on the receiving end of Liz yelling "BLERG"?

Next time you watch 30 Rock, look closely: UCBNY favorite and all-around great guy John Murray has been acting on 30 Rock since the second season. Initially, John thought playing a TGS writer would be a one-time gig, but he now makes regular appearances on the show. "It's a cool job," says John. "I get to work with the best actors on television and hopefully make a scene funnier by reacting to what they're doing. Every day, I learn something new about acting or how a television show is put together by simply sitting back and watching the cast and crew."

For John, one of the highlights of working on 30 Rock was the chance to perform with the cast as part of 30 Rockprov at the Del Close Marathon. "It was the perfect mix because UCB got me the role and there are so many improvisers that work on 30 Rock," notes John. "It was also nice to do scenes with people who star in the show and react by well... talking."

When he's not dodging projectiles launched by Liz Lemon, John lends his acting talents to an array of UCB Comedy videos, including a video with the Beta team Diamonds, Wow! and the new UCB Comedy web series How to Make A Situation About You. He also cites Monkey King, written by former "TGS Writer" Sean Clements, as a personal favorite. (Sean has since moved to L.A., 30 Rock is filmed in New York.)







John Murray is no stranger to the UCB stage, either – he started taking classes in 2004. He recently joined the house team Death by Roo Roo and can be seen performing with them every Saturday night. “Right now, all I do is look forward to Saturday so I can play with those guys,” says John. Prior to joining Roo Roo, John was a member of Bastian, which as of 2009 became the longest running Harold team in UCBT history. He is also a member of the Maude team Stone Cold Fox.

Spotlight On: Sue Galloway

This week's featured performer is Sue Galloway, a writer/performer/all-around-funny-lady at the UCB New York who can be seen performing regularly with improv Harold team The Law Firm, has appeared on various television shows, and is a freelance joke writer for Weekend Update and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Here's some of her work, showcasing her distinct and unique (two great traits for comedians to have) and definitely funny (also a great trait for a comedian to have) style:

Do You Work Here?

Dir. Will Hines, Wri. Sue Galloway, Sta. Sue Galloway and Charlie Sanders

Susan and Her Instruments

Dir./Wri./Sta. Sue Galloway

Sue Is Late For Lunch

Dir. Will Hines, Wri./Sta. Sue Galloway

Hooray Sue!

Got any suggestions for more great UCB performers to be featured? Let us know!

SHHH... Don't Tell!!

SHHH... Don't Tell.

I'm at work right now and I'm blogging. That's why I'm whispering. You should read
this blog in a whispery way. If you read it too loudly, I'll get in so much trouble.
Temping is kind of my dream job and I don't want to screw up any chances I'll ever
have of being a permanent temp on a permanently temporary basis that is temporarily permanent.

A Week of Kindness' Mike Still is interveiwed on ComedyNerds.com. Take a listen.
But shhh. Keep the volume on super low. I'm serious. Don't screw this up
for me. I used to dream about being a temp while watching SNL growing
up.

Also, my real father, Matt Jones, is interviewed on AMCTV.com.
Read it quietly and make sure to keep that Excel spreadhsheet open so you can switch
screens right away when your boss or Nurse Ratchid comes wandering in to tell you what to
do so she can say "thank you" in a really condescending way.

Check out some of Mike's videos and Matt's videos.

Shhh! Six-inch voices!

I'm on a plane.

Hi everyone. Are you on a plane? I am. On a plane from LA to New York for the world-famous (or maybe just world-familiar?) Del Close Marathon. It's in the air, and it's a little bumpy right now but I've been assured that it's gonna be fine and that the plane's not gonna explode or hit a mountain or anything. Want to play a game? This one's called "Guess Matty's Phobia!" It's a game about guessing what my phobia is-- just a little something to distract myself from the fact that I'm bouncing around in a giant soaring tin can miles above the ground with very little padding to break any possible fall. Clues in there? Maybe! Let's begin!


To play, just answer this simple question:
Can you guess Matty's phobia? You have three techno-seconds (a techno-second is the amount of time it takes to read and scroll through a line with periods on it).


...



..



.


Time's up. What'd you answer? Did you answer aerophobia, or fear of flying? Scroll down to see if you're right!







No. That's not correct. The correct answer was "yes." And that phobia is aerophobia, or fear of flying. People, my life might right now be in the hands of this man.

I'll post again soon, barring Desmond not typing in the numbers or a Langolier attack.

Summer's the best! Here're some videos not really related to summer!

Hey everyone! I'm happy. Why am I happy? Because it's nice and beautiful and sunny outside, and that gives me an excuse to eat lots of frozen yogurt. And what better activity is there than than kicking back with a cup of Menchies and watching some videos? Here are a couple recent UCB Comedy Originals, the first being one I originally wrote with my Maude team Up, Up, Up! and filled with a bunch of performers from the LA theatre who I know from personal experience are awesome talented people, the second from the New York theatre with a bunch of performers I've never met personally but am sure are awesome talented people. Enjoy!

The Sports Show


The Cornish Game Hen Maneuver


Happy summer!

Nate Dern, From UCB Comedy's American Apparel, Everyday Sexy video, in HeebMagazine.com

After getting through of the trauma of a Jewish sleep-away camp (seriously, some of the kids who go there are far to young to overhearing their counselors fingering each other while pretending to be sleeping), most young, former Jewish practitioners read Heeb Magazine.

I was stoked to see that Nate Dern, who played Dov Charney in UCBNY's American Apparel: Everyday Sexy, was featured on heebmagazine.com.

Read the article here.

Shalom!

For All You Utilitarians Out There...

So, this video was totally featured on Gawker the other day. I love you, Dov.

Like Butter

Watch UCB Comedy's hilarious new video, Butter Water!

New Videos!

Hey Peoples.

We've got some new original comedy videos. Check them out at UCBComedy.com.

My Top Five Favorite Pranks on UCBComedy.com

5.) Sexual Negotation from Crossballs. My favorite kinds of pranks are when someone having nothing to do with the prank says or does something totally outrageous. For example, when I was in Boston, there was this guy I used to talk to at a bar called Remingtons. (There's your shout-out!) I pulled one of those I'm-going-to-tap-your-left-shoulder-but-really-I'm-on-the-right-side-of-you moves and the guy I did that to got so shocked that he pulled out a gun and shot me in the foot. It was such a spontaneous moment, I couldn't help but laugh. I still giggle every time I shower and see that bullet lodged in my foot. In this episode, Mary Birdsong pisses off a career woman for not using her body to get ahead in the workplace. However, another guest on the show, a reverend (not an actor), says some of the most outrageous, sexist things, that even a hardcore feminist would say, "Ok. That's pretty fucking hilarious."

4.) ImprovEverywhere's Chekov Prank. Yes, I was a theater major which is one of the reasons why I love this video so much. You know that douchebag who acts smart in front of other people but in reality is so dumb? This one is for them.

3.) Suicide Prank. Another gem from ImprovEverywhere. Will Hines plays a man about to jump... from a ledge that's about a foot high. What's great about this prank is that it's not only funny, but it brought a community together and makes you really appreciate life. I'm actually crying right now. Seriously crying.

2.) Vertigo. Can I put one more ImprovEverywhere in here? Yes I can. It's my post. ImprovEverywhere sets up a fake U2 concert in this prank, which is arguably the post publicized scene they have ever caused. I feel like this one brought ImprovEverywhere into everyone's consciousness and if I'm wrong... then... fuck you, it's really Bono up there.

1.) Child Prodigy Prank. It was really hard to pick my number one, but after thinking about it I had to go with this one. Matt Besser and Amy Poehler pretend to be parents of a musical prodigy and have a meeting with a school for gifted children. Their son's instrument? Playing songs on a touchtone phone. How they managed to keep straight faces is beyond me. Maybe the next time I pull a prank, I shouldn't bring along a professional tickler.

What are your favorites?

(Aprils Fools! I don't care. )

(Just kidding, I do.)

We're a bunch of skinny wieners.

For your sake, I hope you got that blog subject reference.

Some of you may remember that, not long ago, we were nominated for those Oscars of New York comedy, the ECNY Awards. We said we wanted an award, and we meant it. Meant it bad. And you know what?

We got it. We won. That's right, UCBcomedy.com is the reigning champion for the ECNY Awards' Best Website. Along with a bunch of other UCB performers who won awards, UCBcomedy.com is inarguably better than other things. Who do we have to thank? You, the viewer/bored guy at work. And ourselves. High fives all around. Now hows about they make a "Best Blog Peripheral to a Comedy Website" award? We want more awards.

And in honor of awards, here's a video related to awards featuring at least one sexy shirtless dude. Enjoy!



We're the best!