Chelsea Peretti of The Variety Shac
I’ve decided to funny up this blog a bit since that’s the whole point of it. I’m going to be doing interviews with some of my favorite comedians talking about their current jobs and of course, their video game habits. That is, if the comedians I’ve emailed respond.
Well, today, one of them did and here is the first in my series – Chelsea Peretti of The Variety Shac.
Chelsea Peretti is the creator of Black People Love Us, the NYC Rejection Line and she’s 1/4 of The Variety Shac, an all female comedy extrava-frickin’-
ganza. She’s been seen on VH1, MTV2, AMC and Comedy Central. I first encountered her (at least knowingly) on Invite Them Up, a weekly comedy show hosted by Bobby Tisdale and Eugene Mirman and which was recorded for an album on Comedy Central Records. She’s very funny and it’s a treat to be able to interview her (with my keyboard).
IRONIC GAMER: Tell us a little about “CP.”
CHELSEA PERETTI: Grew up in the Bay Area. Love good food.
IG: Explain the Rejection Line.
CP: The Rejection Line is NY phone number (212-479-7990) that my brother and I set up. It’s free of charge, and you can give it out to people who are hitting on you aggressively, like: “Lemme get your number, lemme get your number.” When they call, they’ll get a pre-recorded message: “Welcome to the NY City Rejection line. Unfortunately, the person who gave you this number, does not want to talk to you or see you again…” Then there’s a phone tree of rejection specialists: they can press 1 for a Comfort Specialist, who recommends frozen Snickers, 2 for a sad poem by a kindred spirit (”I, Lighthouse”) or 3 “to cling to the unrealistic hope that a relationship is still possible.” Many phone lines “inspired” by ours have since cropped up all over the country.
IG: Have you cherished your time in The Variety Shac?
CP: Yes, it’s a labor of love. Completely rewarding collaboration with people I think are very funny.
IG: And why no ‘K?’
CP: Because we’re like 3rd graders who made a club. Each letter stands for one of our names!
IG: Is Shorties Watchin’ Shorties the easiest money you’ve ever made?
CP: No.
IG: Is it hard to write exactly 30 seconds of stand up?
CP: Yes, because you feel like you deserve so much more time than that.
IG: What experience do you have with video games?
CP: Used to smoke pot and play James Bond with my favorite ex-bf in Philly. I loved shooting him in the face and body with my gun.
IG: Can you tell us a bit about the video game you wrote for?
CP: Yeah, I don’t know what stage it’s in right now. But at the time I wrote for it, it was the first title for a new company and was being developed by Atari. It was a comedic, character-based game. I was one of the first two writers, but eventually we had a writing staff of 5. We created characters, wrote dialogue, and did crank calls during breaks.
IG: Besides inventing Tetris and being the enemy in GoldenEye: 007, are the Russians really good for anything?
CP: They are good for being part of my genetic background.
IG: Black people famously love Madden Football for the PS2 (and you),
what other games do they love and why?
CP: Mind games.
Thanks a lot Chells!*
*Chells, I hope it’s okay that I call you Chells.
photo: zach klein
