The Baronesses from IFC's 'Baroness Von Sketch Show'
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Take Five: The Baronesses From IFC's 'Baroness von Sketch Show' 08.02.2017 With Key & Peele over and Inside Amy Schumer on indefinite hiatus, there's been a severe lack of sketch comedy on TV. Thankfully, IFC's Baroness von Sketch Show is coming to fill the void. Already a massive success in Canada, the all-female sketch show arrives stateside August 2 at 10 p.m. ET on IFC. With a lightning quick pace and a focus on grounded situations torn from everyday life as a woman, it fits perfectly alongside IFC's "slightly off" brand aesthetic. Before the premiere, Daily Brief had a chance to sit down and chat with the Baronesses themselves: co-creators, stars, writers and executive producers Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora Browne and Jennifer Whalen. Daily Brief: I heard you weren't part of an existing ensemble before the show, which is unique. How did you come together and what was that process like? Aurora Browne: We've known each other for many, many years. Carolyn Taylor: Three of us have known each other for a long time. Meredith MacNeill: I'm the newbie. Browne: Yeah, it's only been six years. MacNeill: Wait, it's been six years? No. I didn't meet Carolyn until 2012. So, five years. Jennifer Whalen: It's getting there. Taylor: Not to be like "one of the things I'm good at," but, one of the things I'm good at is chemistry. Knowing Aurora from Second City, she's a stellar actor, and knowing Jen was a stellar improviser and writer, it was a no-brainer to bring them in. MacNeill: I knew no one. I was a single mom living with my parents. Browne: Carolyn assured me, you're going to love this woman. MacNeill: I was coming from the U.K., and I met Carolyn during my first job in Canada and was like, I have an idea…! What's the weekly process of writing and brainstorming sketches? Taylor: We come in Monday morning, and all of us have lived our various weekends, and we come in with stories. You'll never believe what happened this weekend, whether it's something to do with child care or… Whalen: ...Something awkward happened to me at the grocery store. Taylor: Or something you've been carrying with you for 15 years and you're like, I need to talk about this thing that happened when I was 20. MacNeill: Everyone pitches their ideas and you know you've hit on one when everyone chimes in. Like, I have a lot of facial hair and have to tweeze it, and then it's like 'Ahh!' You come in with a relatable truth. We're privileged to have amazing minds around the table, and we start riffing, and build, build, build. Browne: Sometimes you have an idea, you write the sketch, and that's all it is. But just as many times you have an idea for a sketch, somebody else has a great idea for the blow line, somebody else says, 'Can I do on a pass on this?' and edits. It's so collaborative. Everybody's giving their best ideas into the sketch. Taylor: Kind of like hockey. Someone scored the goal, someone got the assist and someone got it all the way down the ice, and someone came up with the idea of what the play was going to be. Not to lean on hockey that I actually don't follow. Tuesdays we write. By Wednesday afternoon we have our first read. Anyone who originated the sketch, they cast it between the four of us. Aurora, I want you to play the woman who cries all the time. Meredith, I want you to be the person who tells her it's okay to cry, and Jen, you're the person who says it's not okay. Then you get notes back, and we get a second read Thursday. You get another chance. In a lot of rooms you get one chance. It gets read and if your scene dies, it goes into the garbage. We don't have anything that goes into the garbage. MacNeill: We built the room on total positivity and vulnerability, so no one is afraid to share. Even if this sketch isn't good for right now, it gets put into limbo, because we believe there's something there. Whalen: It's often this little part was gold, and someone will take that part. Or someone will point out, I think your sketch is about that. It's a generous room in that way. Lots of rooms, people are like, I'm not going to say anything, because I want to get my thing in. But to your hockey point, our whole team wins. MacNeill: This is totally cliche, but there's truth in cliches. Every product is way better with more brains on it. Taylor: Friday afternoon I give notes. We have piles: this one is good to go. These one's needed notes. This one goes to limbo. The good to go's go away on a shelf. Next week starts and we keep building our good to go's. Do you have a formula for each episode? Taylor: There's not a specific formula, but certain aspects recur. There's always going to be blackouts. Those are ones where the joke can be told in 30 seconds and we don't need to belabor it. That acts as a palate cleanser from a long scene. We'll always have a big group scene at the top, maybe one high production scene per episode, where we go into space or we're on the Titanic. Most of its relatable, grounded in the real world, and then at least one per episode goes to a different place. Whalen: We think of it as a mixed tape. You got to have your love song. You got to have your sweaty dance song. You got to have your emo oh god song. We all worked on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which is a topical news- Browne: I didn't. Whalen: You didn't. MacNeill: It feels like you did. Whalen: It's like SNL in that they have taped sketches they play to the audience, but there's also a live component. When you're sitting with a live audience, you see what hits and what doesn't. You learn to serve the joke. The other stuff you don't need. We never want to lose the people. Sometimes you think a sketch is great, but actually it's this one joke that's a gem. You don't need all that other stuff, nobody has an attention span anymore. What our show does really well giving the one joke. MacNeill: I just realized I failed as a writer. I take one joke and don't stop. Some of you got your start in improv, which has exploded over the past couple decades. Does it excite you, or do you miss when it was a smaller community? Whalen: It's amazing. It's a great life skill. It helps in confidence, public speaking and pitching in a room. You feel more comfortable and can think on your feet. Most of us have taught it. The people who take it are really interesting. I've had everyone from a Mom who's like my kids think I'm funny and they bought me this course, and by the way, she was hilarious, to a woman who's like I just got out of an abusive relationship and I'm finding it very hard to stand up for myself, and she got something out of it. I also think 'Yes and' is a great way to live your life. MacNeill: I didn't come from a background of improv or Second City. I was classically trained in the U.K. When we all came together as a team, I was nervous. As we started to work together, the way I approached the process seemed different, but there's a lot of similarities with the end result. I'm not saying RADA [Royal Academy of Dramatic Art] and Second City are the same or it's been the same journey… Browne: I have a BFA from an acting school, York University. I didn't synthesize what they were trying to teach me until I was on Main Stage at Second City for two and a half years improvising every night because you're in the moment that the acting school is trying to get you to be in, all the time. Taylor: If you're not trying to think of a funny thing to say, and you're just playing the truth of the character, suddenly… Whalen: Improv is magic. Check out the Baronesses' special brand of magic when Baroness von Sketch Show premieres August 2 at 10 p.m. ET on IFC..