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Interviews
6

Talking to Jake and Amir About Their Web Series, CollegeHumor, and More

by | February 20th, 2013

If Facebook Likes, YouTube views and autotuned remixes are to be believed, Jake (Hurwitz) and Amir (Blumenfeld) are two of the most popular people on the Internet. Since 2007, they've been producing their eponymous web series for CollegeHumor, which follows their comedic double act as mismatched cubicle mates through some truly absurd and ironically not-safe-for-work situations.

Over the years, their show has grown up along with the Internet: transforming from a low-budget hobby to a legitimate comedy force. Through their prolific output, they’ve found a dedicated following, created hundreds of truly hilarious sketches and shown every other web series how it should be done.

Tell me a little about the first episode you guys ever made.

Jake: I guess it was like five or six years ago, and we made it on one of those little handheld digital cameras. I think it was like a Sony SD700 or something? It was ten seconds long, completely unscripted and I think me and Amir just sort of — I held the camera on myself and we panned back and forth to each other — so it was very low budget and probably not funny if we watched it now.

Amir: Well when we were first making the first ten videos, it was very bare bones. We were using Jake’s digital camera, like a Cannon PowerShot and I was using iMovie. We didn’t really know how to act, we didn’t really know how to edit, we didn’t know how to shoot anything. So the audio was awful and the video was barely watchable. Somehow we were able to evolve from there. READ MORE

Yes And
1

Talking to Charna Halpern About Working with Del Close to Create Longform Improv

by | April 25th, 2012

On paper, Charna Halpern is intimidating. Really intimidating. Through her partnership with Del Close, she co-founded ImprovOlympic, developed The Harold and helped launch the careers of everyone from Chris Farley to Matt Besser to Rachel Dratch. Oh, and she introduced Amy Poehler to Tina Fey.

In person, Halpern is a warm, Midwestern, cool aunt type. She drives a convertible, brings her dogs everywhere, and never hesitates to say exactly what's on her mind. Her no-nonsense demeanor may make you forget she's a kingmaker and a legend until she offhandedly mentions getting high with Del Close. Someone give this woman a reality show. READ MORE

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