Amy Schumer sat in a meeting room in Denver’s Four Seasons looking rather prim and proper in a smart cocktail dress. The comic, writer and Comedy Central star was in town for an early publicity push for her romantic comedy, “Trainwreck,” opening Friday.
While her fashion ensemble might strike some as so tasteful it must come with a smirk, it would be foolish underestimate Schumer’s business acumen or thoughtfulness simply because her Comedy Central show, “Inside Amy Schumer,” can be so brilliantly dirty.
A mix of stand-up routines and sketches, the show is often clever about the bravado and vulnerabilities of the generation of young, (white) urban women winked at and nudged by shows like Lena Dunham’s HBO series, “Girls,” and Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson’s “Broad City,” also on Comedy Central.
Written by Schumer and directed by comedy impresario Judd Apatow, “Trainwreck” was hit that elusive G-Spot (a rom-com for gals and guys) at the South by Southwest film festival.
In “Trainwreck” — which strikes a fair amount of autobiographical notes — Schumer plays a don’t-tie-me-down men’s magazine journalist assigned a profile of a sports medicine surgeon. Bill Hader plays the doc. Did we mention her character knows zip about sports?
We didn’t have time to ask about LeBron James’ surprisingly charming turn as the doc’s friend. But we did find plenty to talk about.
Denver Post: What a funny movie. I’m so used to going into a comedy, especially a romantic comedy, with the mantra “please be funny, please be funny, please be funny.”
Amy Schumer: I’m even more jaded than that. You’re just so used to being burned by these movies. I’m not saying I think we escaped all of the devices — some of them seem pretty necessary — in romantic comedies but…
DP: “Trainwreck’s” debut at South by Southwest turned out be anything but a trainwreck. How was that?
Schumer: I don’t think I was prepared for how fun it would be. My sister (Kim, a comedy writer) was there. A lot of people who made the movie were there. It was maybe one of the best nights of my life. The crowd was so incredible. I was surprised that the audience was laughing at some of the set-ups. They were laughing through the punch lines. They were missing jokes. In my stand-up I’d say “No, don’t laugh.” I’ll do that a lot. Or I’ll set it up, make it sound like you heard the punch line. You’ll go “hah” (she makes the sound of a half-hearted laugh). Then I’ll say the real punch line.
DP: You write stand-up. You write for television. Now you’ve penned a movie. Are there differences?
Schumer: Jokes or stories that would work in stand-up, I feel like you can just see them when they show up on TV or on a movie screen. You’re like “Oh, that’s a well-crafted joke.” I can see the writing. The jokes for my TV show, I think of as being trapped in a nightmare, like “Twilight Zone” episodes. I wrote one scene last season of a girl waiting to surprise her boyfriend. You don’t know where I’m waiting but I can hear my boyfriend in the room talking about how he’s not attracted to me anymore, that I’ve gained weight. And you realize I’m in a cake for his birthday and I still have to pop out.
DP: You’re very interested theater, would you like to do more of that?
Schumer: I have a theater company in New York called the Collective. We meet Monday nights and we workshop stuff — playwrights, screenwriters — we produce some originals or shorts. I haven’t done a play now in two years. But before that I was constantly doing theater. It’s what I like more than anything.
DP: So what should we know about Judd Apatow?
Schumer: That he is the most fiercely loyal husband and father I’ve ever met. And that he’s an amazing collaborator. He’s just picked out these people over the years — I’m going to put you in this. And people are like “Who’s that?” I wanted my sister to help me with this movie and be on set all the time and be a producer and he was like “yeah.”
DP: I read that when he first read “Trainwreck,” he told you it was nice, then sent you back to write something truer to you, right?
Schumer: This is the advice I give people when they ask me about writing: Don’t try so hard to get it right. When I was first trying to write “Trainwreck” and there was the possibility of him making it, I tried to write what I think he’d like. He just guided me back to myself. Even on set while we’d be filming a scene, he’d say something like “Just talk about your dad.” And I’d be oh s—. It would trigger something.
DP: “Trainwreck” sounds like it was emotionally risky. But isn’t stand-up all about risk?
Schumer: Stand-up is a pretty controlled environment, believe it or not. And I think a lot of comedians really value control. I think a lot comedians have been hurt and that’s why they’re like, “Let me figure out this beast that looks uncontrollable.” This feels way more risky to me — just feeling completely vulnerable and not knowing the outcome. A lot of it was out of my hands. It was just trusting people. Yeah, this felt way more risky.
DP: Who in your daily life makes you laugh the most?
Schumer: My sister. She’s a total monster. Yeah, she just kills me. We make each other laugh so hard. On the crew of my TV show there’s this guy I had such a crush on and he just wouldn’t even look at me. It was just blinders. My sister knows this. So one day, Kim’s like “Omigod, he’s looking at you.” And I’m like, “Really?” And I turn about and he’s sleeping on all the equipment. He was out. Not only was he not looking at me, he was sleeping on the job. I give it right back to her. Whenever she’s picking up her dog’s crap, I’ll take a picture while she’s not paying attention and post it.
DP: Professionally make you laugh the most?
Schumer: I think standup-wise, makes me laugh most. Anytime I’m around these two performers, Jon Glaser and Kyle Dunnigan, who are both in the movie. They both wrote on my show. They make we laugh to the point where it’s not fun anymore.
DP: That side-splitting thing hurts.
Schumer: Just stop. Cause it’s not fun. It becomes like torture.
DP: You’ve been the beneficiary of mentoring. And you just mentioned the two guys who write for your show. What do look for in younger comedians?
Schumer: Someone who’s a hard worker, who loves comedy and has a respect for it. There’s such a strange entitlement with a lot of comedians and actors – and jealousy – but then yo run into some people and you can just see something in them where you feel connected. We all grew up loving comedy, where you know everything that’s ever been on SNL, every comedian special. Someone who’s just funny or you see is going to be funny.
Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567, lkennedy@denverpost.com or twitter.com/bylisakennedy
