It's kind of a bummer that the Los Angeles comedy scene is oftentimes overshadowed...

By Lizzy Caplan on 05/14/2008

Filed under: Lizzy Caplan

It's kind of a bummer that the Los Angeles comedy scene is oftentimes overshadowed by those in New York and Chicago, because there is some really funny shit going down over here. For this first blog, I'm interviewing comedian/actor extraordinaire Derek Waters whose Drunk History youtube videos are sweeping our great nation. As they should be. He basically gets a friend very drunk and then asks him to talk about a historical event. There are dramatic reenactments featuring Jack Black, Michael Cera and other people you've heard of and most likely enjoy. He also has a midnight show, LOL, the last Saturday of every month at the UCB theatre in Hollywood where he shows Drunk History and other comedy shorts that will make you slap your knee.

This interview is in the form of an ichat conversation. There's something kind of weird about phones, yknow?

DW: hold on..i'm gonna grab a smoke and take my shit on the patio

LC: don't shit on your patio. and nice headshot icon by the way...boy am i intrigued by YOU

DW: don't tell me what to do..it's my shit lizzy
that's my 23rd headshot..retouched 8 times

LC: fine shit on your shit patio. in fact, i demand it. it's gorg

DW: what is your icon? from GQ? gay

LC: it's coquettish, lay off. it says 'i'm shy....but also perhaps ready for anything"

DW: it's too small for me to tell that. ichat is something i haven't done since the 90's

LC: you were a pretty futuristic kid. i've heard

DW: all my friends would be listening to nirvana, soundgarden and stone temple pilots..i would be in my house blogging

LC: just blogging away....which brings me to my first question....are you locked and loaded?

DW: yeah

LC: that isn't the first question....i'm asking if you're prepared for the question

DW: i'm ready. can we cuss?

LC: i guess

DW: i just wanna make the readers lol their asses off

LC: i know....what if i just asked you all the questions from the Proust questionnaire they always have in the back of Vanity Fair? that would be so lazy. sorry ok here we go

LC: how long have we known eachother, derek waters?

DW: 3 years?

LC: that sounds about right.

DW: yes.

LC: derek waters, i like you. and i'll tell you why. you tell a good story, you're a solid story teller and i pretty much get to hear a doozy everytime i see you. you've got an ear for eavesdropping on douchebags or something, and you seem to surround yourself with people who are either naturally funny, accident-prone or just sort of weird. is that why you wanted to do this for a living?
and by 'this' i mean making comedy shorts and doing shows that people have never heard of.

DW: haha. yeah, I like to surround myself with people that are like me, or completely different from me..i just wanna be an old man that has good stories, and i think being around all kinds of people might help that

LC: like your grandpa who we hung out with in Baltimore!

DW: yes! grandpa shores is my hero!

LC: i dug that guy. huge balls.

DW: too soon

LC: ha. so Drunk History...how'd you come up with the idea? and please don't put me to sleep with your answer

DW: my favorite kind of comedy is when people are really passionate about something but can't achieve it
i love reenactments..and drunk people. my friend was really drunk telling me about how when otis redding died in the plane crash, how he knew he was gonna die..the story went on forever..and i kept picturing otis redding next to him..saying "shut up man, i had no idea"

LC: haaa

DW: i wanted to shoot that..but everyone gets drunk and talks about music..so i wanted to do something that no one really talks about when they are drunk..stuff that matters. like history. are you asleep?

LC: no, no wide awake
you really like drunk people? that only works bc you're drunk like what? 75% of the time? 80%?

DW: too soon. i'm never drunk..i just look and sound like it and type like it

LC: ah check. you've got that drunk accent

DW: yep

LC: obviously your narrators are barely speaking english as they bang out these stories, but i gotta say, hearing a historical event told in today's vernacular really does make the incidents seem more personal...therefore more relevant. it's as if the gross drunk guy at a bar breathing whiskey on your face for once has something INTERESTING to say. you're bridging the gap here, waters, making the unfun fun. not unlike the mothers who arrange their obese children's vegetables into smiley faces and unicorns and whatnot. do you feel like Drunk History is making an impact on how young people digest historical events?

DW: i don't know..but i do know i keep getting emails of other people making them

LC: oh yeah? that's pretty sweet

DW: yeah, i don't know how that makes me feel

LC: Flattered/Pissed combo platter?

DW: yeah, i guess i'm flattered

LC: do you think the HBO John Adams miniseries would be more, less or equally gripping if they were inebriated?

DW: well, i can't say more interesting, but maybe more people would watch it.i think people like to hear something important with a distraction.

LC: what do you mean?

DW: at least for me, i find it easier to understand something I can't relate to if there is something there i CAN relate to or feel for. In school, you're forced to learn certain things. In the videos, you're glued to see what happens and what is said next.

LC: do you think the movie The Real Cancun would be more, less, or equally fucking AWESOME if they were sober?

DW: i've never seen it

LC: get outta here!

DW: you want me to leave this chat?

LC: no! no! i was speaking figuratively you see...I'm a blogger now

DW: i guess i gotta see it to answer your question

LC: you've done the Alexander Hamilton duel and the Ben Franklin kite incident thus far. what's next?

DW: well, the new one that is coming out at the end of May is about George Washington and Martha Washington's favorite slave

LC: don't be racist yeesh

DW: ...who escaped and George Washington sent a search party out to find her. and it's all told by an amazing drunk girl.

LC: aren't they all?

DW: the story is beautiful and i've never heard about it..and it's pretty dead on

LC: I'm excited. that sounds great. what are you gonna do with them? what's the dream?

DW: my dream? I guess just keep doing them. I wish they could be on TV..but it's not very tv friendly. i just like making them and working with people i love

LC: they could be cable-friendly, no?

DW: maybe

LC: yeah but they're hilarious and borderline brilliant and everybody should see them. i say borderline so you don't rest on your laurels

DW: haha ok. thanks

LC: I'm sure you don't encourage the narrators to vomit, but are you secretly happy when they do? it raises the stakes a little

DW: i hate vomit more than anything...

LC: i was getting off a plane last week and this woman was standing on the jetway with her toddler daughter..who i had actually noticed before only because she had this really angry face. angry baby face. anyway, her mother was completely head-to-toe soaked in Angry Face's vomit. it was on her cheeks and everything. i thought of you. and then told the woman to get that baby off the sauce

DW: ...but when they do, it does make me go "oh okay i guess they are drunk"

LC: adds a splash of reality is what you're saying

DW: that baby story made me vomit

LC: yes! i unlike you, live for the stuff. for vomit.

DW: yeah splash of reality. it's hard cause sometimes they aren't drunk and just trying to be funny the whole time

LC: really?

DW: well, when you put a camera on anybody they want to be funny naturally

LC: have you had to fire people?

DW: i've never fired anyone..but i've made some and haven't use them. is that firing?

LC: i guess not exactly. kind of cutthroat though

DW: i'm very cutthroat..you know me

LC: pirate cutthroat

DW: shut up

LC: this is my last question
if you HAD to pick....
who would you rather french kiss? your mom or your dad?

DW: my step dad

LC: not an option!

DW: give me a better last question

LC: who would you rather have in a drunk history...CCH Pounder orrrr S. Epatha Merkerson?

DW: i knew that was coming. i can't decide. I like epatha bc she was on pee wee's.

Tags: lizzy caplan