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You know Jeff Hiller, or you recognize his face.
His cat has a goodInstagram.
Tell me everything about your cat.
I have been waiting for so long for someone to ask me about this.
Her name is Beverly.
My husband is a visual artist, so hes always placing her on an orange background.
We have this one orange chair and hes just obsessed with it.
Actually the shelter named her Beverly, and it was a very good marketing decision.
My husbands last name is Goldberg, and mine is Hiller, so shes Beverly Goldberg-Hiller.
She sounds like such an Upper East Side woman.
I want to slap a pearl necklace on her.
I like that interrogates it.
Yeah, underneath one of those lamps in a cop show.
I got a little stressed about it.
It feels like the ultimate buck of the system.
Maybe thats just because I grew up in Texas.
I would consider you our generations Frank Nelson, the eh-yesssssss guy from Jack Benny.
Playing snippy customer service people.
I do that a lot.
I do ita lot.
How do you feel about it?
Well, I mean, mama wants to work.
As long as the laugh isnt about that, Im fine.
Im fighting the patriarchy by being not necessarily the most masculine person in the world.
Oh my God, thats so true.
Im working on not doing that.
Its not great to start with yelling.
I had to work on it so hard!
For three years, every scene I did on my first Harold team was me screaming at someone.
You were at UCB very early.
You were one of the first visibly queer people at UCB.
Did you feel tokenized?
Did I feel tokenized?
I felt Other, for sure.
That was like step 6 and I was on step -1.
When I started coaching improv, I noticed that I was constantly coaching all-women groups.
There werent a lot of people who werent young, straight, white men in their 20s.
The theater has done a lot of work to change that, and things have changed quite a bit.
Do you prefer acting or improv?
I love doing this play.
I love being on a set.
I love all of that.
But I really need improv.
I will work hard to get to an improv stage, because its something I really love doing.
Its something that feeds me.
How does it feed you?
My one concession to myself is I get a really expensive gym membership.
You know, those weirdos?
Thats what it feels like to me.
You go, your brain is firing on all cylinders.
Its the immediate thing of Is this funny?
and you immediately hear from the audience whether or not its funny.
Its not just you writing and wondering whether something is right or wrong.
I find that thrilling.
Right now youre starring in a show where youre replacing the author.
Its a little bit intimidating, because its not just an author.
Its not one guy who did one thing.
Drew Droege is, in the alternative comedy world, a pillar.
Its intimidating because I am a comedy nerd and I geek out on his work.
That said though, this actual show isnt difficult to access because its so smartly written.
I get it, on a gut level, exactly whats happening throughout the entire show.
Its not like I have to sit down with a dramaturg like its Shakespeare or something.
[Droege]s real, hes of the moment.
And you have done Shakespeare, so youre allowed to make that comparison.
But I had to sit down with someone before I did it.
What is that process like?
Someone had to sit with me and explain it truly like I was a child.
But you always get this dramaturg whos super excited and passionate.
They suck you in and go Wow.
This Shakespeare guy was smart!
He was smart, but he wasnt snooty.
No, in fact hes really raunchy, just bawdy.
Theres that one section ofHamletwhereevery word is a pussy joke.
And fishmonger is a straight-up pussy joke too.
Theres all these parts about taking a crap.
In the end, Shakespeare is Drew Droege and Drew Droege is Shakespeare.
Im looking at my notes and the next question just saysPlaaayyyying Hoooouuuuuse.
Isnt it such a good show?
And so terrible that its not going to be around.
I love that show, I was super honored to be on it.
I love those women.
Theyre super smart, theyre super funny, theyre also super kind.
I love their kids.
They both have really menschy husbands.
They also have really cute Christmas cards.
Lennons was really great this year.
She was holding her son and her cat, and even the cat was smiling.
I was so moved by the fact that the cat was smiling.
I saw it and was like How is even your Christmas card great art?
Youve worked on a lot of shows with women who are the star and showrunner.
TheresPlaying House, 30 Rock, Nightcap.
Broad City, Difficult People.
And they all totally and completely trace back to some friendship that I started at the UCB.
One hundred percent of them.
And you know what?
Im fine with that.
I will ride coattails, baby.
If you got a TV show, who would you want to bring in as a guest star?
Who would you shine that light on?
Im writing a part right now for this woman Im a superfan of.
Its almost bizarre how much Im a fan of her.
Shes a Broadway dancer, he name is Deidre Goodwin.
I have a great friend named Jenn Harris, I would get her on in a second.
Wow, Im only saying women.
Should I say a man?
Im not going to apologize.
I like funny women.
Weve talked about Broadway dancers, weve talked aboutWicked.What is it about singing and dancing thats so fun?
Theres that old cliche about musicals when the emotion is too great to speak, you sing.
And when its even greater, then you start to dance.
We watch entertainment for escapism, and what better way to escape than to see someone singing songs?
Dont you just die every time you watchCrazy Ex-Girlfriend?
And to see what Kat [Burns, choreographer ofCrazy Ex-Girlfriend] is doing with the routines.
And how each season theres a different opening.
Kat has made an entire career out of dancing in comedy.
That is insane and amazing.
She can make things funnier by taking the dancing seriously.
She makes the dancing intoreally good dancing.Thats what makes it so much more interesting, so much more dynamic.
Its not people phoning it in.
Its real; it sucks me in.
As for the music, its just so beautiful.
Whenever I hear people start singing, I get a little weepy because its so beautiful.
I dont really have an explanation as to why.
Its just too beautiful for words.
It makes the world seem better.
Photo by Russ Rowland.
