By Jamie Painter
Alex Borstein and Lisa Kushell currently co-star on the Fox comedy series "MAD TV." Previously, the two Los Angeles natives performed together in the sketch comedy troupe Acme Comedy Theatre.
Kushell's television credits include the Showtime spoof "Tonya: Battle of Wounded Knee" and guest roles on "Seinfeld" and "Dream On." In addition to training with the Acme Players, she also studied with Second City. Borstein's television credits include "Reporting From Earth," "Comedy Kids," "Kids in the Hall Comedy Challenge," and "Late Date with Sari." She has performed standup at such venues as the Montreal Comedy Festival, the Laugh Factory, the Comedy Store, and the Improv. In addition to performing, Borstein has also written for the TV animated series "Casper," "Histeria," and "Monster Farm."
The two comediennes spoke last week over lunch at Farfalla and shared stories of rising throught the ranks and how working with a group like Acme strengthened their skills.Alex Borstein: We have actually known each other for 11 years, which is kind of a fluke. We both grew up in the Valley and went to a theatre camp together at Cal Stage Northridge called Teenage Drama Workshop. We met there when we were 14 or 15, and since then we've weaved in and out of each other's lives.
Lisa Kushell: I started training there when I was 11. I knew I wanted to do comedy when I was 13, and I've been going that way ever since. I started in sketch comedy and wrote my first character monologue when I was 14. Then I was in a troupe that my brother and his friends started called Upstage Comedy, and that went on for three or four summers. I knew that I wanted to do comedy the first time I saw Whoopi Goldberg do characters on HBO.
Alex: I knew that I wanted to be black the first time I saw Whoopi Goldberg.
Lisa: Did you want to start out doing comedy?
Alex: I was loud and obnoxious, and the drama workshop was just fun. It was a place where my folks could put me during the summer and I could vent and then come home and nap. I always figured I'd be doing some kind of comedy, but I never really thought I'd do this for a living, just because I didn't think I could. I come from this Jewish background of doctors and lawyers. I went to college and I studied rhetoric at San Francisco State and thought I'd go into advertising. I moved back down to Los Angeles and I started working at an ad agency in 1994. I did that for two years.
Lisa: I went to UCLA for two quarters and realized I hated it. I told my parents after the second quarter, "I am not going back and there is nothing that you can do to make me. I'm going to pursue acting." They were so supportive and said, "Just promise us that you will really pursue it, because we believe in you."
I started at Acme when I was 19, pretty soon after I left college. I had a friend who was at Acme and she saw me in this two-person show and said, "You have to come try out for this sketch comedy troupe I'm part of." I went and saw a couple shows and liked it, and I was at Acme for three years. It was a really good experience for me. It helped my writing a lot. How did you find out about Acme?
Alex: My older brother said, "I want to take an improv class. Take it with me." So I did it really as a favor to him. We both took a class in 1995, and then the time came to audition for the company and we both auditioned. That was lovely when I got in and he didn't. (He did get in on his second audition, thank God.) I was still working at the ad agency as a copywriter, which I loved, but it just wasn't enough. Acme started taking over more of my interests, so in June of 1996 I left my job. I teamed up with one of the performers at Acme, Erin Ehrlich, and we've been writing ever since.
Lisa: I would definitely recommend to anyone to get involved in a group like Acme, either for classes or to perform or both. A, it's a showcase. B, you learn so much. It changes the way you audition. It changes the way you feel about yourself. You're going to meet people who are brilliantly talented who you can team up with to write or perform. And if you want to be a performer, I believe you have to be working constantly and you've got to make time for it.
"Mad" Audition Tales
Alex: I went to all the comedy festivals, which I totally recommend. You meet so many people, you learn so much, and you see what's out there. So I put together a group of five people from Acme and booked us at the Big Stinkin' International Improv Festival in Austin, Tex last April. We performed nine sketches and represented ourselves as Acme Comedy Theatre. That's where I was seen by the casting people for MAD TV. I had to travel thousands of miles out of Los Angeles to be seen by casting people who work around the corner for Acme.
Nevertheless, they liked all of us and all five of us got auditions. I was lucky enough to get a callback and then another callback and I had a series of six auditions that stretched out over a month. So at one of the final auditions, I walk in and there you were. It was like, "What the shit?"
Lisa: I had been with an agency for three years that did nothing for me. Actually they had sent me out on an audition for Seinfeld, which I booked, but it still gave them no faith in me. I never got sent out on anything after that. One year later, I get a letter from my agent that said I was dropped. I was planning on dropping them, and it was such a slap in my face. It was like a bad breakup where you wanted to break up with the person for a year and they break up with you first.
So then I was talking to M.D. Sweeney, the director and founder of Acme, and he said, "You know, Alex is going to producers for MAD TV," and I said, "I heard they were auditioning. I should really get myself an audition." I asked who was casting that, and he said Liberman/Hirschfeld. They had cast me for Seinfeld. I did what I consider to be the bravest thing I've ever done in my life--pick up the phone. I called Gayle Pillsbury, the casting director, and she remembered me and was really sweet. She's the kind of casting director you want to audition for, because she actually pays attention and laughs. I got myself an audition and three weeks later I had the part.
I spent so many years making excuses for myself. "I can't do that yet," or "I need to make money, so I have to wait tables." Don't be afraid. Picking up the phone to call Gayle--you're not allowed to that, you're not allowed to do things unless it's through an agent--that's bullshit. Do whatever you can for yourself. You can't wait for your agent or your manager or your brother or anyone to do anything for you.
Alex: I don't have an agent. There's nobody that got this for me but me. It's really about numbers and how often you're in front of people and how much you're doing. It's like playing the slot machine. It goes around so many times and something is going to come out. It may not be a huge jackpot, but something will come out.
Lisa: The bottom line is that you're not going to get discovered. That doesn't happen. It's going to happen through an audition or through a festival or showcase. And if you're not out there nobody is going to see you. You've got to stick with it.
Alex: It's a long-term investment. BSW
