Ellie Kemper lived in Chicago for three months in 2001. She was 21 years old, approaching her senior year at Princeton University and taking a level one improvisation class at ImprovOlympic under the iconic TJ Jagodowski.
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“It was the best thing I could have ever done with my time that summer,” said Kemper, who stars in Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and before that, played Erin Hannon for five seasons on NBC’s “The Office.” “But I have to say, I’m a little bit nervous [for our show this weekend]. I feel like you won’t be able to fool a Chicago crowd. Not that they’re rude; they just won’t politely laugh.”
Up Comedy Club will host “Ellie Kemper and Friends” for four long-form improvisation shows (8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. each night) on Friday and Saturday as part of the 2nd Annual 26th Annual Comedy Festival.
As far as a Chicago audience not laughing? Not likely, thanks to Kemper’s comedic timing and charm. Roles in “Bridesmaids” and “21 Jump Street,” appearances on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Colbert Report,” performing with the People’s Improv Theatre and Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City and being named one of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch” don’t hurt either.
Kemper, 35, is the purest glistening beam of light in an entertainment industry that can be so astonishingly cloudy and fictitious at times. Proof of this couldn’t be more apparent in her leading role in “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” written and created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock.
Kemper plays a 29-year-old woman transitioning into living a normal big-city life after spending 15 years in an underground bunker constructed by the leader of a doomsday cult in Indiana. Despite the tragic premise, Kemper couldn’t make her character—and the show, for that matter—more relatable and unmistakably addicting as the 13 episodes press on.
From her always-genuine smile to her bubbly yet firm demeanor, Kemper has a way of injecting fresh air and conspicuous humor into everything she does. And we’re only going to continue to see more of her face into the future. We talked by phone prior to her trip to Chicago; here are the highlights.
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Ellie Kemper and Friends
Go: 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at UP Comedy Club (230 W. North Ave). Sold out.
Fest details: 26comedy.com
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I’ve heard you talk about how much you enjoy playing grounded, more believable characters onstage, and that your comfort level as a performer is higher when you do. Can you talk about that?
I’m not name-dropping, I promise. But if you don’t succeed with it, it’s probably not even name-dropping, but when I auditioned for “Saturday Night Live” [in 2008, the audition exercise] calls for five characters. And that is hard for me. Because my strength lies in playing more grounded characters who are more relatable. The more extreme, exaggerated characters are not my strong suit. What I loved about the Improv Olympic class [in 2001 in Chicago] and with my Upright Citizens Brigade and Peoples Improv Theatre experiences was the amount of listening and responding. Those are the themes and shows I’m most comfortable with. You are creating and learning about those characters as you go along in the scene with your team partner. You’re taking that and building it from there. I don’t like playing a character with a “game” about them or an exaggerated feature about them.
When you first started doing improvisation, did it seem like your true calling right away for you? Or was there quite a bit of fine-tuning?
I took a ninth grade acting class that devoted some time to improvisation, so then when I went to college, during my sophomore year, I auditioned for the improv group and felt right away that I could be good at it. I don’t feel like I’m good at most things. So when I had the reaction that I was good at it, knowing right away when I’m not good at something, I trusted that my instinct must have been right. I played field hockey and sat on the bench in college so my “not-good versus good” sensor is very sharp.
Uh, yeah. I think I share that superpower with you. I know very quickly when I suck horribly at something. So when I don’t feel that way? I go all in for whatever it is.
[Laughs.] I’m very well-versed with what I’m not good at, which is most things, actually. Like stand-up [comedy], for example. I don’t know if I could be good at it. I don’t feel like naturally I would be. Improvisation feels like a more natural fit. People often ask me, “Isn’t that terrifying not knowing what you’re going to say?”
Hell no, I prefer there to be no lines or expectations. [Laughs.]
I know! It’s great. It’s natural. It’s easier for me. The audience is in it, creating it with you. I sound like such a nerd.
Nerd alert! No, but seriously, whenever your name has come up in conversation when I’m talking to other actors or comedians, they rave about how easy it is to collaborate with you and how genuine and likable you are. That says something. Have you always been that way?
OK, that is the nicest thing you could have said. So, thank you for even telling me that. It’s like my work with Scott Eckert, [fellow Princeton graduate] who I’ve written a lot of shows with [over the years]. It’s just a natural fit. We have a similar sensibility; we know what each other likes. It’s effortless in that regard. Maybe that’s why improv is a good fit [for me]. To get nerdy again, that’s what improv is. It’s creating and building a piece with the whole group.
I think it has a lot to do with how easy it is to converse with someone, too though. Being able to express an idea is key. And not easy.
Absolutely. Great improvisers—and no, I’m not including myself in that group—are really generous, good people. They’re easy to talk to.
How often are you getting up onstage now? Your schedule seems nuts.
I’ve done a horrible job of getting onstage to perform improv while I was on “The Office.” I wasn’t performing at the UCB Theatre as much as I should have in Los Angeles. I didn’t have much free time while we were shooting the first season of [“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”]. But since the winter, I have been able to get in shows more. But I certainly want to do more. It’s a muscle in your brain, as you know. It can get flabby if you don’t keep up with it. You realize how much you love improv by doing these shows. I think to myself, “There’s a reason I have always loved doing this.”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” has been such a huge hit. The reviews and word of mouth are all just so overwhelmingly positive. It even won a Webby Award. When you read the pilot, written by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, could you tell it was going to be something special?
Yes. My immediate reaction was, “It’s Tina and Robert. I would trust whatever they did.” They are brilliant writers and yes, that sounds so obvious. But from reading the first pilot, it’s tricky. I understand it’s a comedy. [But the premise comes from] a place that is thoroughly dark and upsetting. But if anyone can pull it off, it’s those two. I wasn’t worried, but it’s so different than a lot of comedies and where they choose to go. And while you’re making the show, you feel like you’re, well, not “in a bubble,” but no one has seen episodes yet. [After filming the first season], I felt like, “We’re done now. I hope that everyone else likes it.” We did our best job with it and when the winter passed, I forgot other people were even going to see it. But with all the episodes being available all at once, people did respond well to the show. It’s been a delight to have people respond to it like they have.
The act of binge-watching a television series has really redefined visual media for the future. What’s your stance on it? Do you do it a lot yourself, too?
As someone who has resisted a lot of technology, and I’m not saying that to make a statement, I’m just too nervous to embrace some of it, and yes, that’s a flaw of mine, but as far as streaming devices? Yeah, I’ve gotten right on board with that. I am one of those annoying people that’s like, “I don’t have cable. I have Apple TV.” That’s how I consume TV shows these days. It puts power in the hands of the viewer, watching whatever you want to watch. As an avid consumer, I am also an advocate. I think it’s changed TV viewing for the better.
Take me back to that first time you took the stage in a comedy setting. Can you give me the CliffsNotes version of where it was and how it went?
Wow, that’s a great question. I’m trying to go back to it in my head. I don’t remember the first [audience] suggestion or anything, but I’m trying to think of the show itself. I think it was a series of shows over a long weekend, called the “Winter Formals.” I don’t specifically recall the first show, but I remember the shows over the course of the first year. I was blown away by how much the audience liked the shows from my group, QuipFire! I hadn’t seen a show of theirs, so I didn’t know the love the crowd had for the group. Performing for a crowd that wasn’t scary? That makes getting into it easier.
I’d love to know what your goal growing up in this industry was. We all have it, ya know? What did you close your eyes and see yourself doing once you “made it” or whatever you want to call it.
Yes, I remember that mentality very well. It was to have a part on a television show. I don’t think it was more specific than that. But when I moved to New York City, I was taking improv classes right away so that eventually I could perform at their theaters, which would hopefully lead to writing my own shows and getting them seen. I was very lucky with commercials. It took a while to get my first one, but then I got a lucky stream from there. That was nice, because it takes care of your rent and expenses for the time being. But I will say, it’s hard to reach a goal if you don’t have one.
ELLIE’S LIKES AND GRIPES
Podcasts she’s loving right now: “Ronna & Beverley,” “How Was Your Week?” with Julie Klausner and “The Best Show” with Tom Scharpling.
Her childhood obsession: “At age 12, I was very interested in Native Americans and I was hoping that it would be discovered that my ancestors were the first people to cross from Siberia through Alaska. … played “Dances with Wolves” on loop. I loved that movie.”
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Her least favorite audience suggestion during an improv show: “Anything dirty. It’s just stupid. And they think they’re funny. And it’s not. A drunk person shouting something dirty. Ahh.”
Least favorite accent to try onstage in a scene: “There are so many. I can’t maintain an accent. I’d say any Asian accent. It always sounds offensive and I don’t mean for it to.”