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There's a situation goin' on at Go Comedy!

The highest-rated series in MTV's history gets spoofed when Ferndale's Go Comedy! Improv Theater launches its weekly original comedy "Jersey Show Season 1 (Abridged)" beginning Jan. 6. While poking fun at the phenomenally successful "Jersey Shore" might seem simple and easy to do, Lesley Braden-Phillips talked recently to Between The Lines about the highly detailed process she and co-creator Kathleen Lietz followed to craft their finely-tuned comedy – and what theatergoers can expect every Thursday night through Feb. 24!

You're the co-author of (and one of 10 actors in) the upcoming "Jersey Show – Season 1 (Abridged)" at Go Comedy! Are you a fan of the show it spoofs: "Jersey Shore"?
Well, originally I wasn't a fan. Until this past year, I had no idea this culture existed. In fact, I purposefully avoided taking the bait for a long time, but one Saturday in the spring I found myself flipping through midday programming and couldn't move past it. I had stumbled upon one of MTV's signature marathons of Season 1 and I settled in.
At this point I'm definitely a fan. Bottom line, "Jersey Shore" is very entertaining to watch.

I've seen a couple of episodes, and quite frankly, it's like watching a train wreck; you can pretty much figure out what's about to happen in every episode – the cast is that predictable.
I agree. It is like watching a train wreck. Oh, and the train is covered in the green, white and red colors of the flag of Italy and a hot pink Ed Hardy graphic T-shirt – you know, to class it up.
There's no doubt that the cast makes it easy on the post-production team by telegraphing the storyline of each episode. In fact, it's almost formulaic when the purpose of every episode is to drink and party until something explosive happens between house mates. However, they do keep it fresh by keeping the fashions coming and the tans deepening.

So what's the appeal of "Jersey Shore"?
For me the appeal is MTV's default position as a network of…excess. Too much, too fast, too often…did I mention too much? The cast mates or stars of "Jersey Shore" all possess huge personalities.

That almost makes it too easy to spoof, then, doesn't it?
To spoof the show you have to make it even bigger than it already is. That was the question: Can we make it much, much bigger?

So what prompted you to create the show?
(Co-author) Kathleen Lietz and I had been talking about writing a comedy or parody with a topic that hadn't been broached. We each had a handful of shows in various stages of completion, but we really wanted to create something together from scratch. We have very similar taste in comedy and both enjoy the art of storytelling.

One day we were working out some ideas, and we had one of those "water cooler" moments where I recounted a ridiculous moment from Season 1 of "Jersey Shore." Within minutes we were watching clips online, and Kathleen was hooked.
It seemed unlikely that no other improv theater had staged a parody of "Jersey Shore," but we couldn't find evidence of a production, so we started working on it immediately.

Was there a specific goal you and Kathleen set out for yourselves when you decided to create the show?
One of the goals was to create something very funny that anyone could enjoy. We wanted fans to appreciate the attention to detail we added with certain references and jokes, but we also wanted to create something that would act as a primer for nonfans.

Is there cultural or social statement you're making with your script?
I think Americans have already made a social statement about "Jersey Shore" by making it the highest-rated series in MTV's history. To use the word "escapism" seems too easy, and I no longer buy into the theory that we watch shows that make us feel more intelligent by comparison.
I do, however, subscribe to the belief that we watch shows like "Jersey Shore" because it's entertaining to watch people live by their own rules with overt confidence.

Given how much source material you had to pull from, was the script ridiculously easy to put together? Or were there challenges you didn't expect?
Great question! Kathleen and I always knew we wanted to create an abbreviated version of the first season, but we never expected it to be as challenging as it was. Kathleen would say, "You can't write material this funny," so we tried to use as many of the incoherent one-liners as possible. There is such a problem as having too much material to work with.
In the beginning, we marveled at the ease of the task in front of us because the dialogue and (I use this word loosely) "plotlines" were already there. However to really start the process, we had to transcribe every episode word for word to see what we had to work with. The process was daunting, and we soon realized that a lot of what was said on the show lacked sentence structure and basic grammar. Solution: Write it that way!
However, as we got into the process, it became very challenging to work all of the personal mini-monologues into a scripted show. Plus we wanted to incorporate the cast's improvisational skills into the show to take it over-the-top.
We never expected it to be so difficult to integrate (their) antics into the flow of a 50-minute show, but in the end Kathleen turned the problem into the solution. To use a word from the show, the key was to take the things we loved about it and "smush" them together.

So what's the show about? What can we expect to see in the comedy?
The show, "Jersey Show Season 1 (Abridged)," is just that: the entire season boiled down to the major highs and lows.
In addition to the eight house mates, we added two narrators to help navigate and play not only the memorable but also the trivial fringe characters from Season 1.
The plot – again I use that word loosely – takes us from the first meeting to the hook ups, the insults, the clubbing, the fighting and the making up – complete with a big Italian helping of hair gel, bronzer and Jersey fashion. The fashion is worth the price of admission.

You and I talked about the show a few months back – and you mentioned the show wouldn't get produced until you had the perfect cast for it. How difficult was it to cast the show? And how long did the process take?
Once we announced the project, people started calling. There was a lot of interest. The chance to play such large characters and wear outlandish fashions is any actors dream.
We held auditions right before the start of the holiday season, so we offered actors one-off auditions to be flexible and an entire afternoon in November as an open call. We had a great turnout, which only added to the difficulty of casting a show like this.

Which character was the most difficult to cast? And why?
I added my input in the casting process, but ultimately Kathleen made the final decisions. I don't think any one character was more difficult to cast than another. I will say that casting a show based on real people, especially ones with known, dare I say "iconic," physical attributes is very challenging.
Having said that, there isn't a thing we couldn't fix with fake abs, spray tan, makeup, wigs, hair extensions, high heels, copious amounts of hair gel and great costumes.

Once you got into rehearsals, were there any surprises? Or changes you didn't expect?
I think Kathleen and I were surprised by how funny it was to hear the script read out loud the first time, but as I mentioned, we went through a lot of script changes during rehearsals. We found out early that reality television doesn't exactly translate well to the stage. We didn't expect the script to evolve as much as it did with improvisation, but it did in an organic way.The final product includes a lot of scenes that were improvised and then scripted.
The only surprise was finding out that no matter how deep you think your fake tan is, it still isn't enough under stage lights. We really have to go crazy with the bronzer!

And how difficult has it been for author Lesley to separate herself from actor Lesley – especially since the director is also your co-author?
(Laughs) Kathleen would agree that it was – and maybe still is – very hard to separate Lesley the actor from the co-author, but I trust her as a director and I admire her writing skills.
When the time came for me to just focus on my character I retired my Jersey thesaurus and Kathleen took over as head writer. In the end, Kathleen took nonsensical reality television dialogue, original writing and fused it together with improvisation to create a hilarious final product.

What's been the most fun part of the process for you?
The fun started six months ago when Kathleen and I started watching the show and writing "Jersey Show." It's been a great experience developing the script over time and working with talented actors and improvisers.

And what should we look out for when we come to Go Comedy! to catch the show?
Look for the larger-than-life characters you've come to love or love to hate. Come to laugh with the "Jersey Show" cast – and at them.
As they say on the "Jersey Shore," "We've got a situation going on."

PREVIEW:
‘Jersey Show Season 1 (Abridged)'
Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale. 8 p.m. every Thursday through Feb. 24. $10. 248-327-0575. http://www.gocomedy.net

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