Before Best Week Ever comedians Chuck Nice, John Mulaney, Laurie Kilmartin, and Mike Britt took the Cecilian Hall stage at Seton Hill University (SHU) on October 5, they prepared in the Maura Lounge. While Kilmartin and Nice snacked on a cheese tray, Mulaney read an old Setonian, and Britt played pool, editor Valerie Masciarelli asked some questions for the Setonian Online.
By Valerie Masciarelli,
Editor in Chief
Before Best Week Ever comedians Chuck Nice, John Mulaney, Laurie Kilmartin, and Mike Britt took the Cecilian Hall stage at Seton Hill University (SHU) on October 5, they prepared in the Maura Lounge. While Kilmartin and Nice snacked on a cheese tray, Mulaney read an old Setonian, and Britt played pool, Setonian editor Valerie Masciarelli asked some questions for the Setonian Online.
Q. How did you get involved with Best Week Ever?
Laurie Kilmartin (L.K.): Probably all of us did the same way. They bring you into audition for them and they give you a ton of topics and you write jokes and tape them, and hopefully you get on the show. That’s how it worked for me.
John Mulaney (J.M.): Everyone was seen doing comedy in and around New York.
L.K.: Yeah. Right, right. We’re all sort of New York comics. I think they bring in everyone at once to see who fits.
Chuck Nice (C.N.): I blew the executive producer…away. I blew him away.
Q. Have you ever received any backlash from or upset someone with the jokes you’ve told?
L.K.: Not that I know of.
C.N.: I don’t think that we’ve ever taken the time to care, so we wouldn’t know.
J.M.: I got an email once from the girl who did the “Obama Girl” in that video. I got a MySpace message from her.
C.N.: Whoa!
L.K.: What did she say?
J.M.: On the show, I said I’d give a year’s salary for five minutes with that girl. She wrote me back, “What do you make in a year?” Not a lot. It was an embarrassing figure to write back.
Q. How do you choose your material?
L.K.: I think we just go by what the audience laughs at. They actually sort of pick it themselves. We throw it all out there and see what sticks. I don’t want to answer for the others, though.
C.N.: Mike Britt, how do you pick your material?
Mike Britt (M.B.): I don’t think of anything in particular. I just keep my mind open.
Q. As comedians, how important is it to stay updated on current events?
C.N.: For comedians, it’s a powerhouse. That’s what this show is.
L.K.: We read the USA Today pie charts every single day.
J.M.: This show helps to stay up on pop culture more than anything. I personally see shows I think I would never watch otherwise, but I’ll watch them and talk about them on the show.
Q. Should people be so involved in the lives of celebrities?
C.N.: Yes.
M.B. and L.K.: No!
M.B.: No, what they should be involved in is the comedians who are involved in the lives of celebrities.
L.K.: People should follow our careers so we don’t have to call them out.
J.M.: We did a show in Providence where we made a joke about Beyonce, and a girl yelled from the audience, “She’s a professional, leave her alone!” And that’s a good example of someone who thinks they’re friends with a celebrity and needs to defend them. So we can see how personally people take it.
Q. How do you prepare for a show?
C.N.: We normally like to eat a cheese plate. That’s how we normally prepare.
J.M.: Mike shoots pool…
C.N.: Yeah, Mike shoots pool, I eat cheese and crackers–
M.B.: And then we don’t have any pesty ass reporters around, if you really want to know.
J.M.: An evening with Mike Britt.
C.N.: For the record, I think you’re delightful.
J.M.: That’s C-H-U-C-K…
Q. What impressions do you have of SHU so far?
L.K.: I have a feeling that Jesus icons are going to start crying sometime during our show. We’ll be profane.
J.M.: We’re going to try to keep it down for the chapel above us.
C.N.: We don’t want to defile the chapel with our presence.
L.K.: Would you rather be interviewing, like, Donald Rumsfeld right now?
Reporter: …No…
L.K.: No? Okay.
C.N.: Then we’re all fine.
Q. Are you expecting a good show?
L.K.: No… Yes! We’re joking, I don’t know if that’s coming across.
M.B.: “Are you expecting a good show?” That’s a weird question.
J.M.: Why is that a weird question?
C.N.: Because we’re giving the show…
M.B.: Actually, we plan on sucking…heavily.
Q. Is there anything you’d like to add for the Setonian?
C.N.: We think it’s going to be a great show. We’re very happy to be here. I think nuns rock!
M.B.: It’s going to be off the heazy!
L.K.: And we think there should be locks on the bathrooms.
C.N.: Yeah, absolutely.
J.M.: Lock up them bathrooms because that could be where Larry Craig is.
L.K.: That’s right, he’s back.
J.M.: He’s back. He won’t go away, you don’t know. You don’t think he’ll come out here, but he will. He has airline tickets.