The Point Radio: Ladies Who Make Us Laugh – Eliza Coupe & Sarah Colonna

Two funny ladies share their stories here . First, Eliza Coupe talks about her adventures in series TV (HAPPY ENDINGS, BENCHED) and her delightful new indy film, THE LAST TIME YOU HAD FUN. Then, meet Sarah Colonna. She’s a stand up comic, TV writer (CHELSEA LATELY) and a NY TIMES best selling author about to hit the chart again with her new book, HAS ANYONE SEEN MY PANTS.

We’re here just once this week, but right after the holiday we are back with a sneak peek at the new season of GHOST ASYLUM, shared by the guys who still have the goosebumps to prove it. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

Transcript

The Point Radio. Hey, it's Mike Raub. There are a couple of funny and fascinating ladies who not only perform, but write direct and so much more and have a firm grasp on their careers and where they're headed. Meet Elijah Koop and Sarah Colona, and trust me, you will be dazzled.

Let's get to The Point. This is The Point, The Point Radio. Get The Point Radio. From things like scrubs to bench to especially the happy endings, Elijah Koop has quickly become a lady that makes us laugh.

The latest project is an indie film called The Last Time You Had Fun. It's basically about people who are older and don't have fun anymore, and they don't really know that they don't have fun anymore, but it's a divorced guy and a woman who's kind of in a strange relationship with her, which is my character. Then there's someone who's married and is very unhappy.

And then Demetri Martin's character is also, I think he's got a baby on the way. Or was that in real life? In real life he had a baby on the way. I can't remember. But it's basically just a group of people who are, they may be different in different

stages of relationships, either they're broken up or they're married, but all are not very happy and all need to have a good time. And so they go out and have more kind of like high school type fun, but they're in their 30s. A lot of Elijah's characters in the past have been what you may call sassy and confident.

This time though her character is a little damaged and she told me that that came from exactly where her personal life was at the time she did the film. Well, to be completely honest, I had just actually gotten divorced from my ex-husband who I was with for 13 years and I was like 17 when I started dating him. And it was, you know, we're on great terms.

I mean, I just sent him a birthday card on Monday. So we're on great terms, but it was going through a divorce and also knowing what that feels like to be in a relationship. And every relationship has crazy things that happen, especially a young relationship. So I could relate a lot to my character in this movie.

I think it was almost ironic how… I almost felt like when I read the script, I was like, did someone decide to look into my life and say, oh, you need to do this for therapy? Like I sort of felt like it felt like I was doing this movie for therapy and that Mo Perkins and her husband knew.

And so they were like, I was like, did someone bug the house? I was like, so can… I was like, this is too close to home. So it was very much like I was going through a part of… And I never felt pain like I felt when I got divorced.

I've never felt kind of pain in my life. And I think that, you know, on a totally selfish actor note, it made me a better actor because I have more to draw from. But on a personal note, it was the hardest thing I've ever gone through in my life. So I think that, you know, I was ready for something like that.

And I kind of wanted to work through it. So who are her comedy gods? Well, my biggest inspiration was Jim Carrey, as far as comedians go. Jim Carrey was like… He was the first person I saw when I was growing up in New Hampshire.

And I was like, wait a minute. This guy is just as weird as I am and he's getting paid for it. Okay. That's something I want to do. So I just really, you know, I thought he was amazing.

And then I grew up… My dad really loved Laurel and Hardy and the Three Stooges. And so I watched a lot of that. I loved physical comedy and I was obsessed with Charlie Chaplin. And I did like my whole eighth grade report on Charlie Chaplin.

I was obsessed. And then, you know, as I've gotten older, of course, my taste has changed a little bit. And now I'm, you know, things are… I don't know. I mean, I think Will Ferrell is a genius and I admire him so much.

And I got the chance to work with him very briefly on Anchorman and was just… He's probably the most… You know, he's just the kindest, nicest, most generous and like such a giving actor, even in a small tiny scene like he and I had. He was just very…

He made me feel like you were just as important as everyone else there. And that's a pretty cool thing. When it comes down to it, what makes Elijah laugh? My humor is… I think I have very like observational humor.

Like I'll see things and then I come up with… I'll take… Like on my Instagram, I started doing like things I take pictures of and then I just like create a little like story that goes along with it. And that makes me laugh.

I have a very dry sense of humor. So you know, basically just every British person makes me laugh. I think that maybe it's because I'm from New England that we have a similar sense of humor. But I don't know. And I don't know what else makes me laugh.

I mean, so many things make me laugh. But my husband makes me laugh. He's hilarious. And my dad makes me laugh. My dad is probably one of the funniest people on this planet.

And the fact that he didn't become an actor is crazy to me. But at the time, I guess that wasn't in the cards. And so yeah, that's what makes me laugh, I guess. As far as a dream role goes? Well, my dream role, I'm actually writing right now.

So hopefully we'll all get to see that. I was going to ask you, did you have some aspirations for like writing, producing, that kind of thing? Oh yeah, big time. I mean, acting is only kind of…

I'm realizing is just one of the things that I want to do. And I actually think that I find more happiness in writing. And I tell I got into the business. I wrote a one person comedy show and it was in New York and then it went to the Aspen Comedy Festival.

And that's how my whole life exploded as far as in this business. So writing was actually how I got into the business. And I've gotten away from that a little bit because it's actually a great problem to have. I've been getting so many acting jobs. My younger brother is my writing partner and he and I are collaborating on a bunch of things.

And I want to write and I want to produce for sure. And then maybe eventually I want to direct, but I'm not going to get one thing at a time. So what's next? Well, right now I'm kind of just… I've passed up, which I can't believe I'm able to say this, as a kid from New Hampshire

who was once a bathroom attendant in New York City. The fact that I'm passing on jobs right now that are being offered to me for TV shows. I think there's nothing right now for acting wise that's coming down the pipe because I'm focusing more on writing. So hopefully within the next year or two my own creations will be getting out there.

So that's what's next for me right now. See, Elijah, in the last time you had fun, along with Demetri Martin and Mary Elizabeth Ellis, it's available on demand and on iTunes too this month. Check your local cable system. Always the very latest in pop culture.

There's a little bit of news coming from the set of Doctor Who and that in the form of a familiar face, especially to fans of Game of Thrones. Maisie Williams, who plays Ira Stark, of course, in Game of Thrones. As a part of an upcoming episode, Doctor Who returns to BBC and BBC America in the fall. BBC has ordered a reboot of one of the most beloved comedies of the 90s.

Coach will be coming back to the network, a sequel to the original series. It ran from 1989 to 1997 on ABC. Creator Barry Kemp will write and produce the series. Craig T. Nelson will return as the star and word is expected later on about which other cast members will be coming back to the reboot.

This week General Hospital celebrates their 52nd anniversary by redoing the original episode that aired on April 1st, 1963. The current cast will play those parts. The same script will be used as it was used then and it will be shot in black and white as well.

That episode will air on April 1st this week or you can catch it on ABC on demand. Kevin Eastman has signed an exclusive contract with IDW, making them the home for all of his future products. Most recently IDW has been the home of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, both with the new material and also a reprint as well.

You can look for some of Kevin's new projects to be announced between now and Comic Con. New on the internet this weekend, a teaser trailer for The Walking Dead spin off, which we now know will be called Fear the Walking Dead, and for Deadpool fans, a synopsis of the upcoming film as well as a nice shot of Ryan Reynolds in the costume as well turned up over the weekend.

Of course that film is set to hit theaters early next year. The team that's produced the Oscars for the last three years will not be going for a fourth time. Craig Zayden and Neil Marron have said that they are not going to return for next year's broadcast.

The most recent Oscars, by the way, were the lowest audience in years for ABC with an average of about 36.6 million viewers. It was a great season send off for The Walking Dead, racking up some 15.8 million viewers for their final 90 minute season finale of the year. Season five has been a pretty good one.

In fact, the most watched episode ever of the series was the first one of the season that ragged in some 17.3 million viewers as well. Add the Hawg Girl character to the cast of that yet unnamed Arrowflesh spin off that the CW has been talking about. The part went to Broadway actress Sierra Renee, who's only done a couple of turns on television.

She joins a cast that also will include characters Heatwave, Captain Cold, allegedly some version of Black Canary, Firestorm, and of course, The Act. The point, the point. There are lots of ways to describe Sarah Colonna, stand up comedian, actress, new writer for television and New York Times bestselling author.

Now she has a new book that will be headed to that very same spot. It's called, Does Anybody See My Pants? This one is about being in my later 30s and trying to manage my personal life when I felt like my professional life was going pretty well and still do and I'm working and I'm on the road a lot touring, doing stand up.

And then I just found that my personal life sort of began the fall apart because I wasn't paying any attention to it. And that's a lot with dating, but then there's also just with friends and trying to go on vacations and finding out that like, oh, hey, it's not as easy when you're 36 to find a friend to go to Mexico with me for three days because they're married and their husband's

like, no, you're not going to Mexico with Sarah for three days. So there's a lot of stories about that. There's a couple more, you know, a little more serious stories where I'm, you know, losing a grandparent and having to put a pet down. But, you know, I try to put a funny twist on them and make them fun and, you know, just

have stories that I think everyone, I think everyone can relate to everything in the book. I think it's stuff we all go through regardless of what your job is. So I just found myself going, hey, this is like, I'm struggling here and I think I'm going to write about it. So hopefully people enjoy it.

So is it easier to write material for stand up or for a book? You know, I don't know what I guess, I guess stand up probably comes a little easier. As far as I'm out doing it more and I'm on stage and I can sort of develop, you know, I kind of keep changing my material while I'm performing and, you know, through writing more while I'm on stage and you get instant feedback.

So with writing a book, it's a little more difficult because there's no instant feedback. You're not sure how it's going until you turn it over to your editor and they tell you, you know, what's good and what's not, basically. But the cool thing about writing a book for me is that because I do so much stand up, you know, those are shorter stories where you're obviously getting to the punchline and keeping

people entertained. Whereas with the book, you get to expand more and write more details. And I really enjoy that part of it. How about writing for other comedians? Is that easy or is it better to write for herself?

Definitely for me, I think. I mean, I, you know, I used to, I was a full time writer on Chelsea, so I was writing stuff for her all the time and for other comedians. But I found that I found it pretty easy with her because I sort of got her sensibility and I knew I like I could hear almost things that she would say in my head.

And I know, you know, for the most part, not always. Sometimes she'd go, no, I would never say that. And I go, oh, sorry. And then I'm going to cry in my office. But for the most part, I found it not too hard, but I would say it's probably easier to write

for myself just because I know nobody knows me better than I know. Something else on Sarah's plate, her regular podcast. Yeah, I do a podcast with Josh Wolf, who's another comedian. He was on Chelsea as well, and I've known him for years and years and years. And I have a blast doing the podcast.

It's called Off the Rails. And that's because that's what we do. We try to talk about one thing and then all of a sudden we're not talking about that anymore. We're talking about something ridiculous. And, you know, and then we cover obviously things that are going on in the news as you

should and as you have to. But it's fun. It's fun to do a podcast because, you know, there's again, there's nobody there's nobody really monitoring you telling you what to do and you can kind of have a little more fun with it and do your own format and talk about what you want to talk about.

And we have like an hour and a half to do it. So it's sort of a nice freedom and a different way. And, you know, co-hosting it with someone. So there's two different opinions and it's kind of a nice thing to do. It's very different than stand up and whatnot for us.

As a child, was she already always headed for the stage? Was she the funny kid in the family? It wasn't really the one that was like always out trying to make people laugh. But I knew I just I just I don't know. I just like doing it.

I don't know if there was ever really a good moment where I was like, oh, I'm funny. But I definitely always was a little goofy, but I was quieter. So I think my mom always says, like, you know, she kind of makes fun of me because she's like, you weren't always like the outspoken loud one. You're always a little quieter.

And I was like, I guess I'm saving it for the stage, you know, balancing all parts of her career, writing and performing. What would be Sarah's dream job? I would say it would be, you know, I don't know if it's going to sound unoriginal, but it could be combining all those things together and just doing a show based on my stand up

in my book and and then getting to star in it. And, you know, and hopefully that's what's going to happen. As for what's next? I'm going on tour with it. So I'm on tour right now with and all my dates are on SarahColonna.com.

But I do so I do a stand up tour with it. And I am working an idea on an idea based on the book to try to sell to TV. So that is definitely what I'm working on. And then I have another book idea in mind. So I'll probably start working on that right away.

Has anybody seen my pants by Sarah Colonna available right now in good bookstores and, of course, at Amazon.com and see a lot more of Sarah right now at SarahColonna.com. For now, get lots of sleep, though, because you're going to need it when we're back. We're going to talk to the guys who are known as the most passionate paranormal team in America.

The cast of Ghost Asylum is back to tell us exactly what's going to scare our pants up this season. And there's a lot more to all waiting for you on websites at comicbigs.com. Michael Davis world.com. Get the point radio dot com and the iTunes five guests.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram under the point radio. We'll see you right back here. Get the point radio dot com.