June Diane Raphael attends party entertainment

in dark comedy “Based on a True Story” On The Peacock Show, a married couple launches a true crime podcast featuring an actual serial killer. Their main rival is an established podcast called Sisters in Crime, hosted by the very funny Joan Diane Raphael and Jessica St. Clair.

“I’m definitely a consumer of true crime,” says Rafael, “and that’s what the show does so well: It asks us to investigate the impulses that drive people to consume it. That’s why I wanted to play the character.” , because the way these podcasts exploit our fears is definitely worthy of irony.”

Raphael was a solid comedian best known for his performances as jane fondaThe oldest daughter in the Netflix series Grace and Frankie.She also co-wrote the script for the 2009 film Bride Wars with her husband and co-hosts a podcast Paul Scheer and Jason Manzukas Titled “How Is This Made?” it tries to unravel the meaninglessness of the film.

When asked about the worst moment of her career, Rafael replied: “Being an actress is a series of stigmas. The whole job is really embarrassing yourself, letting yourself be physically and emotionally abused.” Laughing, especially in comedy. Acting without vanity is the goal, so there are plenty of stories to choose from.

“That is, when I and casey wilson (Co-wrote Bride Wars with Raphael) We started doing comedy skit shows in New York. “

Raphael tells the story from there.

my worst moment…

“The show was on Upright Citizens Brigade. We just graduated from NYU and were looking for a way to present ourselves and get representation. So we wrote this skit show, and we played all these different characters.

“We all do multi-day work because we don’t get paid to do gigs. But you get exposure. It was 2004 or 2005. Time Out New York gave us a good review, and then we got an e-mail from UCB Email, saying we’ve been contacted by a name called Bunny, and she wants to talk to us about doing paid gigs on the Upper East Side.

“Now again, we never got paid to perform.

“So we called her and she read the reviews and her granddaughter also saw the show and loved it – I was obviously speaking to a much older woman – and she said, ‘I’m running A party, and I’d love to take you there to perform. I’ll pay you $3,000.” Her address is excellent It’s beautiful, and it sounds like she’s rich—I mean, her name is Rabbit—so we’re like, “We’ll go there!”

“We planned to do two or three sketches. We packed our costumes. We arrived two hours early. To this day, I’ve never seen an apartment like this in New York. It had multiple floors and huge ceilings. When we walked in , they directed us to the service entrance.

“We went up a series of back stairs and into a room of a guy named Nora who was going to be in charge of the technical aspects of our show. We had music to go with one of the sketches. So I said, ‘We can meet Nora. Pull? I need to give her a cue, she needs to know when to press play.”

“Finally there was a knock on the door and Nora came in. She was 80 years old and in full maid uniform, just like Downton Abbey.” She looked more ready for a sketch show than we did. She said, “Girls, what can I do for you?”

“So I told her, ‘We brought our own speakers, can you hit play at this hour?’ And I said, ‘Where’s the bunny? Will she introduce us?’ And Nora said, ‘Wait a minute, I go to her. “

“Now, early plastic surgery is not what it is today. It was clear that Bunny was an early adopter. So she came in and Kathy and I tried not to react, but her face looked wild. “It’s going to be fun, I’m going to have a cocktail party for my friends,” she said. “

“I said, ‘How many people are going to be here?’ She said, ‘Ten. ’ I said, ‘Okay. Can you introduce us? Or how do you think we start the show?’ She said, ‘I think it would be hilarious if the party was going on and you two started it! ’ I said, ‘Oh no, I think this might be really weird and confusing. Can we just say we’re comedians?’ She said, ‘No, it’s going to be funny you two just started. ’ I thought, My God. Okay.

“We played little girls in the first sketch, so we had braids. The sketch was about these two Les Miserables-obsessed girls, which is why we needed the music.” Finally, Nora came up and said: “Time is up. “

“But Nora is not only in charge of vying for talent—that’s us—but she’s also working hard for the party. So she’s talking to us over a tray of cocktails: ‘Go down the stairs, it’ll take you to the living room, and start Bar. “

“Kathy and I came down—like the characters—people were talking, socializing, going about their own business. There was some other music that was cutting in, so I tried to tell Nora, ‘You can get the rabbit to turn off the other music? “

“There was no natural stage space—it didn’t make sense—so we found a spot in the living room and started the scene. But no one could hear it because they were talking to each other. I realized that none of the jokes in this sketch made sense because They have not heard of this setting.

“I tell you, people are scared of us! These two grown women with pigtails talking like little girls? We look crazy. So we start sketching again and people start a bit listen to us. But no one laughed. Not a hint of laughter. If anything, it’s mild curiosity and disdain for being interrupted.

“Then it’s Nora’s time to cue the music. But what Kathy doesn’t realize is that Nora is right behind her with a tray of cocktails in her hand, trying to get past Kathy who is dancing and doing these moves. Nora moves to the right, Casey moves to the right; Nora moves to the left, Casey moves to the left. Now people start laughing hysterically because of Nora, And not because of Casey. Nora is now part of our scene! Nora’s comedy is the only one that fits this kind of scene.

“When we were done, I heard a guy clapping. Then there was a round of applause.

“At this point I was sweating all over; I was so nervous and panicked about what we had done, how humiliating it was for me, my body felt like it was being hollowed out. At the end of the scene, we We were both lying on the floor, and when we stood up, I looked down and there was a line of sweat. It was like the body line of a policeman, but just me and my sweat.

“Then we went back upstairs, changed into old lady costumes, and came down again. I’ll never forget the second time I went down the stairs, a man was leaning against a huge pillar, holding a glass of martini Nijiu, he looked back to see us, then turned to his friend and said, ‘Here they are’ come again.’ (laugh)

“To this day, Kathy and I say to each other: Here they go again! You don’t want us, you don’t understand us, you don’t know why we’re here – but we’re back. The rallying cry of our careers. Because if we can go through that experience again — and it won’t be much better the second time — we can literally do anything.

“After the sketches were done, Nora came upstairs, handed us the check, and said, ‘The rabbit loved it.'” Maybe the rabbit did. I remember her standing at the piano watching, with a wild smile on her face.

“As we ran out of the service entrance, of course, I was thinking: I hope in my life I’ll never see a single person in that room (laugh).

“But thanks to Rabbit, he gave us a chance. She was our first paid job! So, I will always hold a special place for her in my heart.”

takeout…

“The idea is: Here they go again. Bombing empowers you even when it’s clear that what you’re doing isn’t going well.

“Now, this isn’t happening in front of millions of people. But everything we’ve done so far has been well received, and then these people stare at us with fear? I realize: Oh, you can bombard enough, Blowing up to the depths of your being, then getting back up and moving on. It’s so valuable.

“In this way, the check will be cleared.”

Nina Metz is a television and film critic for the Chicago Tribune and writes a regular series of articles, “My worst moment.” Actors recall their worst moments and how they shaped their careers.

nmetz@chicagotribune.com