Matt Besser is one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade and, as such, is seemingly part of just about every show there. His usual shows currently include America’s Best Comic, F’d Up and Illegal Videos and ASSSSCAT. Along with Matt Walsh, he will also be premiering an especially filthy sketch during next Saturday’s Dirtiest Sketch in LA Contest.
Last weekend, there was a DVD taping of four ASSSSCAT shows at the UCB-LA. Can you give us any special behind the scenes details? Is it going to be distributed regularly, or are we going to have to get Netflix for this one too?
We shot four shows to put on a DVD to be released by Shout Factory. We hope it goes well so that we can release a couple of these a year. This is the first step in us becoming a comedy label which will release stuff by many of the acts at our theater.
The shoot went really well. All the monologists were excellent. We were pretty uptight during the first show because of the cameras and lights but we got used to it after that. In the second show during a Paul F. Tompkins’ monologue, an audience member who was sitting on stage suddenly had to get up and leave. I feel a little bit sorry for him because he was probably having stomach problems but it made for much hilarity when Horatio Sans came back later in the show doing the guy as a character. The best show was the third show with Tom Lennon and Kate Walsh. That will probably be in its entirety on the DVD and then we’ll take the best of the other three shows.
There’s a video on your MySpace page that’s just about to creep past 100,000 views. Since that’s official UCB product, are there any more coming out? Are there any plans to steadily produce these official UCB videos?
On my new MySpace page I have a video where I am MySpace Tom telling people how to best trap friends with their profiles. I got a lot of comments on the video and many of them were ruthlessly negative. So now I’m working on a video where MySpace Tom responds to the negative comments. I’d like to do that character on a regular basis.
The UCB will launch our new website in the next couple of months where our plan is to have a new video every day which features performers and shows from our theater.
UCB-LA has quickly become the center of comedy in LA. Did you foresee such a quick rise in such a comedy-saturated market? Any plans to expand further, with either more theaters or more classes? Is the Del Close marathon ever going to head out this way?
We have the best comedians in town at the cheapest ticket price with no drink minimum. What more could an audience ask for? It’s great because even beyond the community that is the performers, there is also a community of audience members/fans.
We’re now looking for offices that will centralize all of our classes. The theater is doing well but it is still in the red, so opening another theater would not be too wise right now. Our dream to put a theater on the moon is ongoing.
The marathon is such a large project that our LA theater needs to settle in a little more before we try something that big. The all night CDR and Offensive Week are in the same spirit and we’re very happy with those.
In your opinion who is the greatest living improviser today? Who is your favorite person to improvise with?
I’m not just being diplomatic when I say that there is no single person. I sincerely like improvising with Poehler, Roberts, and Walsh more than anyone. We’ve just been doing it so long and so much that it is very easy and therefore fun. Nobody cracks me up more than Horatio. After that it’s Chad Carter, Andy Daly, and Sean Conroy. So I guess I’m living the dream. Who I miss improvising with, would be Adam McKay, Kevin Dorff, and Neil Flynn.
So far, both Brian Huskey and Seth Morris have appeared in those Mac vs. PC ads. Are you next up? Is the UCB getting any free Macs? Or at least personalized autographed photos from that dreamboat Justin Long?
Yeah! What about me?!!!!
Most important question: What can you tell us about Undead or Alive: A Zombedy?
It is written and directed by Glasgow Phillips. I play an evil sheriff who turns into a zombie and then hunts down Chris Kattan to try to eat him and steal his gold. Brian Posehn also does a poignant portrayal of a zombie farmer. I was lucky that in this movie’s zombie rules I don’t lose my power of speech. I know very little about the release of this movie but it is being premiered at SXSW at midnight on Saturday, March 10.
What’s on your plate for 2007?
- For the last month I’ve been improv coaching Kanye West for an improvised sitcom that he is developing for HBO. In the show I have been cast as his chauffer.
- “Walk Hard” is a rock biopic parody starring John C Reilly and directed by Jake Kasdan. I’m the guitarist in the band, with Tim Meadows on drums, and Chris Parnell on bass.
I’m supposed to produce videos for a website but the deal refuses to close so I can’t really say right now. In the meantime I’ll continue to make videos for mattbesser.com and my myspace.
- I’m doing a parody of Last Comic Standing with Andy Daly called America’s Best Comic. We do it once or twice a month at the theater in LA.
- Writing an Amy Poehler movie for the WB called “Safety First”.
Please head over to www.MattBesser.com for a complete bio, a kick-ass photo slideshow, and an all-new video section with the brilliant “Mark Dunn, King of the Three Way” short.