Ike Barinholtz

Let's be real.

Let's be real.

Let's be real.

We met in, I can tell you pretty much like the exact year is like 1996. I had just started taking classes at Improv Olympic, which was your former theater. And you guys had just left like five months before I started to go start UCB. Maybe it was a year, but whatever. You guys had left and UCB was already kind of like the cool thing.

We met in, I can tell you pretty much like the exact year is like 1996. I had just started taking classes at Improv Olympic, which was your former theater. And you guys had just left like five months before I started to go start UCB. Maybe it was a year, but whatever. You guys had left and UCB was already kind of like the cool thing.

We met in, I can tell you pretty much like the exact year is like 1996. I had just started taking classes at Improv Olympic, which was your former theater. And you guys had just left like five months before I started to go start UCB. Maybe it was a year, but whatever. You guys had left and UCB was already kind of like the cool thing.

And I remember they were like, hey, there's a Amy Poehler and Matt Besserer coming back to teach a workshop. At ImprovOlympic at like 11 a.m. on a Monday. So I had a day job and I lied to my boss. I was like, I have the flu. And I went and no one – like for some reason it was just me and three other people. And Matt Besser was like, yeah, we can't do this with this few amount of people.

And I remember they were like, hey, there's a Amy Poehler and Matt Besserer coming back to teach a workshop. At ImprovOlympic at like 11 a.m. on a Monday. So I had a day job and I lied to my boss. I was like, I have the flu. And I went and no one – like for some reason it was just me and three other people. And Matt Besser was like, yeah, we can't do this with this few amount of people.

And I remember they were like, hey, there's a Amy Poehler and Matt Besserer coming back to teach a workshop. At ImprovOlympic at like 11 a.m. on a Monday. So I had a day job and I lied to my boss. I was like, I have the flu. And I went and no one – like for some reason it was just me and three other people. And Matt Besser was like, yeah, we can't do this with this few amount of people.

And so I remember you were like, why don't we just smoke a joint in the green room?

And so I remember you were like, why don't we just smoke a joint in the green room?

And so I remember you were like, why don't we just smoke a joint in the green room?

And I was like, this is the coolest person I've ever met in my life. Like, I'm obsessed. This is incredible. And then you guys came back and did the workshop. And I remember the first half of the workshop was you teaching us just getting in there and doing scenes. And I was like, this woman is the greatest improv teacher I've ever seen in my life. Like, oh, my God, I love her. She's the greatest.

And I was like, this is the coolest person I've ever met in my life. Like, I'm obsessed. This is incredible. And then you guys came back and did the workshop. And I remember the first half of the workshop was you teaching us just getting in there and doing scenes. And I was like, this woman is the greatest improv teacher I've ever seen in my life. Like, oh, my God, I love her. She's the greatest.

And I was like, this is the coolest person I've ever met in my life. Like, I'm obsessed. This is incredible. And then you guys came back and did the workshop. And I remember the first half of the workshop was you teaching us just getting in there and doing scenes. And I was like, this woman is the greatest improv teacher I've ever seen in my life. Like, oh, my God, I love her. She's the greatest.

And then the second half was Besser. who was trying to teach us the Mortal Kombat form, you know?

And then the second half was Besser. who was trying to teach us the Mortal Kombat form, you know?

And then the second half was Besser. who was trying to teach us the Mortal Kombat form, you know?

And the group of improvisers that were doing the workshop, we were all bad. We were all, like, very young and green and trying to get – and the form wasn't going well. I'll never forget Matt Besser, God bless him. He goes at one point, he goes, no, I should have done something else.

And the group of improvisers that were doing the workshop, we were all bad. We were all, like, very young and green and trying to get – and the form wasn't going well. I'll never forget Matt Besser, God bless him. He goes at one point, he goes, no, I should have done something else.