The Groundlings Theatre celebrates 50 years of wild and wacky characters
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
There's a small theater in Los Angeles that has left a big imprint on American pop culture. It's called The Groundlings, and this year it celebrates 50 years of improv and sketch comedy. Now, maybe that name doesn't ring a bell, but if you've watched any TV or movies in the past few decades, you've more than likely seen and probably laughed at a Groundling.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE")
PAUL REUBENS: (As Pee-wee Herman) I'm trying to use the phone.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FRIENDS")
LISA KUDROW: (As Phoebe Buffay, singing) Smelly cat, smelly cat. What are they feeding you?
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JENNIFER COOLIDGE: (As character) Hey, what is it that you said back when I couldn't fit into my white spandex pantsuit for my wedding?
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON")
JIMMY FALLON: (Singing) People wouldn't lie about my tight pants. I got my tight pants. I got my tight pants on.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY")
WILL FERRELL: (As Ron Burgundy) I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books.
MARTÍNEZ: Paul Reubens, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Coolidge, Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell are just some of the hundreds of actors who have honed their skills at The Groundlings. That theater on Melrose Avenue is a comedy Mecca. But here's the thing - you can't just show up, say some funny things off the cuff and become a Groundling. First, you've got to pass several improv and comedy writing classes at The Groundlings School. Then you have to get voted into the main company. Legendary "Saturday Night Live" comedian Phil Hartman had to wait more than a year after his audition to start performing in shows. Phyllis Katz is one of the founders of the theater and the school.
PHYLLIS KATZ: It's pretty competitive. It's a very long process, so for some people, it feels like a five-year audition. So it can be crushing if you don't get in. I wish it didn't have to be that way, because it's not a measure of who's the most talented. It's like a microcosm of the rest of show business. And for every person in The Groundlings who became a big celebrity, there were 50 more who came through the doors who were very exciting. And it doesn't mean they weren't talented.
MARTÍNEZ: Was there anyone you ever saw walk through the doors and take part in the program there that you thought, wow, they're going to just be amazing, and you turned out to be right on them?
KATZ: Oh, over and over again. And some of them - they're still amazing. I had Lisa Kudrow in an intermediate class, and I saw that from the first day. Paul Reubens' audition - you see a light go on sometimes and somebody in a class or in a show. And to me that's the point of it all. Suddenly you've done something you've never done before, and it's brilliant. And I've seen it in people where you didn't see anything for 10 classes, and in the 11th class, this thing, this light goes on. It doesn't turn off again.
MARTÍNEZ: Katz was initially drawn to the group because, first, they were really funny and had more women than other improv troupes.
KATZ: And they weren't just playing the girlfriend or the mom. They were doing all the crazy things that I think some of us did when we were improvising, but I had never seen a troupe do that, pay that kind of attention.
MARTÍNEZ: She joined The Groundlings before they even had a theater.
KATZ: Some of the places we played were so small. There were more of us on stage than people in the audience. We worked at one place, the White House theater on Pico, that was a swamp. There were mushrooms growing on the carpet.
MARTÍNEZ: I recently visited The Groundlings' theater - no mushrooms on the carpet as far as I could see - and I spoke to several members of the main company about why the place has had such a big influence on comedy culture. Alex Bonifer points to the group's star-studded history.
ALEX BONIFER: I teach here some mornings, and I'm usually the first person in the building, and so when I'm turning on the lights, I do like to come and sit right here and just kind of feel the energy and the spirit and all of the laughs that this place has produced. And I do feel like - I'm not into crystals or anything like that, but I do feel like it charges me up, in a way, like, to remind myself that Pee-wee Herman was created right there, like, 5 feet from us, and Phil Hartman used to - you know, got discovered right here, 5 feet from us. I like to kind of just be in that energy and that spirit.
MARTÍNEZ: And that energy can be grueling. Groundlings alum Kevin Kirkpatrick says the school's training regimen is like comedy military service, where the main weapon is finding characters.
KEVIN KIRKPATRICK: It brings in a certain kind of awesome weirdo that wants to play weird people and who isn't here just because, well, I'm cute and funny, but who's here 'cause, like, I want to disappear into a very weird character. To do that well takes a huge amount of talent.
MARTÍNEZ: The relentless rehearsal and performance schedule can be exhausting, but Michael Churven says it actually helps.
MICHAEL CHURVEN: You bomb so much, and your best teacher is your last bomb. I've never learned so much as when I failed miserably on the stage, 'cause you learn firstly to just let it go, which I think is a key ingredient. And secondly, it forces you to think, OK, what was missing in that sketch?
MARTÍNEZ: And the training doesn't just help the performers in their acting careers. For some, it's had some offstage benefits. Emily Pendergast played Jonah Ryan's wife, Beth, in the hit HBO series "Veep."
EMILY PENDERGAST: One of the best things it's taught me, improv and Groundlings, is now I listen to understand versus listening to respond. And so I think that's, like, a really great life lesson.
MARTÍNEZ: Listening to understand - that's a key component of the acceptance principle yes and, which is one of the foundations of improv. Groundling Jay Renshaw says that phrase also holds a lesson for society.
JAY RENSHAW: I think for sure we don't say yes and enough. I mean, there's a lot of no but, I think, in the United States, definitely. I think we could all stand to say yes and a little bit more, because even if you feel like you have something to add that's more important, you can still agree with what someone has said and try and build upon that.
MARTÍNEZ: The divisiveness of our nation's discourse is only one of the things that have changed over the years. Another is the stuff we find funny. Something that was OK to joke about when The Groundlings started half a century ago might not fly today, but early Groundling Phyllis Katz says the comedy has evolved.
KATZ: I think mainly what has changed is that the times have changed, and comedy is reflective of the times. Even if it's a scene about a couple breaking up, which you could have done in the 1920s, it's going to reflect the language of the times. It's going to reflect the current day.
MARTÍNEZ: And that language of improv comedy is something The Groundlings have done really well for 50 years.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEQUILA")
THE CHAMPS: Tequila.
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