Class Act Comedy

Steve Rannazzisi, currently starring in FX's hit TV show the League as "Kevin," the league commissioner, is now touring the country performing stand up and you can see him in and around Chicago this weekend. Steve is at Zanies, Chicago tonight (Friday) and Sunday (Feb 19th): showtimes and tickets, and at Zanies, St. Charles Saturday (Feb 18th): showtimes and tickets. I'm a big fan of the League, but I had as much fun talking with Steve about his Punk'd days as I did with discussing what goes into making the League a great show. It was also interesting to hear how he was discovered at an open mic in Hollywood.

When did you first start doing stand up?

I did it maybe one hundred times in New York before I actually moved to LA. Most of those shows were what they call "bringer" shows, "Hey bring seven people and we'll give you ten minutes on stage." It's just a way they fill the club up. I don't really consider it "starting, starting" and becoming a true stand up until I moved to LA and got a job at the Comedy Store (as a doorman).

Is it true Ashton Kutcher saw you perform at the Comedy Store (Hollywood) and asked you to be in Punk'd?

Yes. He came with a couple of his friends. I was hosting the open mic there one night and they were in the audience hanging out. A lot of audience members were talking so there were a lot of fires I had to put out. I talked to a lot of people very quickly and they saw something that would be a good angle for the show. I went in and talked to Ashton, read with Jason Goldberg (Executive Producer) and that's how I got Punk'd. It's crazy.

Did you expect people of that status (Ashton) to be at an open mic?

Not necessarily, but we kind of had an idea that they might have been there scouting out some people because the show Punk'd you couldn't get an established comedian or anyone with any recognition whatsoever because that job is a lot harder when people know who you are, you can't really do it. They really wanted some fresh, off the boat people.

So what he saw in you was your crowd work?

Exactly. Improvising is tough enough when you have two actors improvising, but it's even tougher if you have one who's improvising and another one who has no idea what's going on. That's the closest way you can do it, with an audience, because the audience member doesn't really know what they're doing so they're just saying stuff and you have to react. It makes things harder, but for the job it was perfect.

What was your favorite moment from Punk'd that you were involved in?

Tracy Morgan was my favorite one ever. I played a tow truck driver and he valeted his car, the valet was B.J. Novak actually, and the valet took his car then told him it was being towed. He told him it was being taken to Barstow. I don't know if you've been to LA, but Barstow is like halfway to Vegas. And he lost his mind, "There's no way you're taking my car to Barstow!" And I was like, "Well you can come with me." Just his reaction... he was so genuinely upset because he had just gotten the car, "No I don't want the car going to Barstow!" I told him he could bribe me which was fantastic, then he said (in a Tracy Morgan voice), "This is extortion." His reaction at the end when Ashton came out was pure joy.

Tracy Morgan Punk'd

Who were some of the other people you Punk'd?

I did Missy Elliott, Ashanti, Taye Diggs, OutKast, Lara Flynn Boyle... those are a couple

You were also in the Groundlings, if you had choose would you say you like stand up, improv, or sketch the best?

I don't know. I feel like stand up is the purest form because you're writing your own thing and you're coming up with the ideas for the audience. Improv is fun because you don't really know what's going to happen. Especially when you have good improvisors you work with like in the League, because every take is different, it's never the same thing, that's never going to happen. Every moment is being created in that specific moment for that moment. In sketch you can take a lot of time and write the sketches, but you can create some real types of characters with sketch. So all three of them have their benefits, and I enjoy all three of them almost equally.

How much improv is involved with shooting the League?

There's a very detailed outline, Jackie and Jeff Schaffer come up with these very specific outlines of where they want the show to go, but there's freedom for us to talk the way guys really talk and conversate the way people and friends talk to each other. It makes it seem very natural and very conversational, because it doesn't look like we're waiting for the next person to say their line. That's what makes the show so great is that we have five of the best improvisors in the world. Every take is different, you have to be on your toes at all times. It's just fun, it really is.

With shows like the League and Curb Your Enthusiasm, do you think some of the best comedy comes from improvisation?

You'll be in the middle of a scene talking and you'll have these ideas, "Oh this is great." I'll give you an example, two years ago we did an episode about a marathon and Paul Scheer came in and he was drinking this stuff, it looked like a Gatorade pouche or something like that, it wasn't in the outline, he just had it and was drinking it. We're like, "What are you drinking?" I could see him in his mind go, "This is the moment when you create something funny," and he goes, "Sports Performance Utility Nutrition Kick." So I know he used all those words for a specific reason, it spells out SPUNK... SPUNK is great. Once that door's open, anyone can come in. "What kind of SPUNK do you like?" "I like the black SPUNK..." "Why?" "Because it has the biggest kick..." Every door is open and it's just so much fun. You can sit there for ten minutes and just go back and forth and you know you're doing well when you can see the camera guys' shoulders moving because they're laughing and trying to hold the cameras still. So that wasn't in the script it just happened because Paul is excellent at his job and everyone else is doing their job. It allows for moments like that. That's the beauty of it.

Do you think more and more shows will incorporate the outline with improvisors format?

I really hope so. I've done both. I've done network shows where it's heavily scripted and they want you to stick to it and there's a benefit to that, there's a lot of wonderful, gifted writers out there and they write fantastic scripts. I think the best way to do it is to write a really great script or great outline, and then just hire really talented people. Shows can try it, but you're only as good as your weakest improvisor. We have five or six really great improvisors, it's hard to do if you don't have that. I've watched bad improv before and there's really nothing worse in the world. It's horrible to watch, embarrassing.

What do you love about Chicago? and What do you hate about Chicago?

First of all, the food. I did a pilot for NBC three or four years ago and we shot in Chicago for three weeks. I think I gained eleven pounds in three weeks. Think I ate at Gibson's probably ten times, I ate at that pancake house about forty times. I grew up in New York, I've been to Vegas, I've been all over the place, and I think the food in Chicago might be the best. It really is fantastic. The people are awesome, it's easy to get around, the subway, great comedy city, the only thing that sucks is that it's literally freezing, it's a freezing hell. You know that going in, so it's not a surprise. But I remember last year, right around this time, it was so cold that I walked to Gibson's about eight blocks, I left at seven o'clock at night and when I got to Gibson's I had a steak and a couple of glasses of wine and then I walked back at about ten at night and it was so cold I had to stop at CVS just to warm up, I didn't need anything, I was like, "If I don't get in something warm soon I'm going to die." I was convinced of that. I walked into CVS and just aimlessly walked around for ten minutes then made the rest of the four block trek home. It was freezing.