Witness… The Dirty Job

Remember last week when I said we were gonna get political this season? Well what’s more political than a takedown of capitalism? Woo!!!

But we’ll get to that in a moment.

For whatever reason, there’s this movie that has stuck in my head ever since it came out. I never saw it and have no plans to ever see it, so I guess the reason it’s taken up real estate in my memory is because it just looked so god awful? Who’s to say? In any case, that movie is titled P2. It was released in 2007 and stars Rachel Nichols and Wes Bentley. It’s about an office worker who works late one night and ends up locked in the building’s parking garage. She is subsequently stalked by a creepy garage attendant, and 90 minutes of less-than-thrilling thriller ensue (I presume, anyway). I was never inspired to rehash the plot of P2, nor was I in the mood to ever parody it. But whenever and however the story for “The Weekend Cleaner” popped into my head, I definitely knew I needed to acknowledge the similarities, for fairness purposes, I guess.

As I briefly alluded to last week, one thing I knew I would be doing this season is casting some of the fine and funny folks I met two years ago while taking the Summer Intensive at iO in Chicago. As a lot of these were written before I had met said fine and funny folks, no part was specifically tailored to any of them. In fact, some others were in my head as I wrote “The Weekend Cleaner,” but as is often the case, they didn’t seem too suited for the roles upon completion of the script. That, and I honestly wanted to find spots for my iO companions, so that took precedent.

Actually, I had a fantastical idea that I could record this episode in Chicago at iO. I’ve missed the city and the people severely since that amazing summer and have been wanting to find a time to visit, and how cool would it be to commandeer one of the offices in the building, set up a bunch of recording equipment and watch the magic happen in real life as opposed to remotely?! I mean, a group of us were allowed to use an office a couple hours each week to do a small Dungeons & Dragons campaign (my first time playing the game, no less!), so it didn’t seem out of the question. Not only that, but maybe while visiting iO, I could teach a special workshop for students there maybe may haps perhaps possibly pretty pretty please??? I sent a message to someone who works behind the scenes at iO through Instagram, but I unfortunately never heard back. Alas.

Max Riechek and Katie Terres were two of my group members. Max went to school in the city and lived up in Evanston, and he and Katie knew each other before the intensive and actually planned to do it together, along with Katie’s other friend Zach (who you’ll meet in a few weeks). The two of them were also part of that D&D campaign I mentioned above, with Max basically playing an edgelord insult comic that spent a lot of the time attacking Katie’s character unprovoked. My character, an old and weathered Tabaxi mage, definitely did not abide this self-flagellation of our party, but me, Andy, found it quite hilarious. Not sure how Katie felt about it, though.

Katie Terres and Max Reichek, playing D&D at i0, Summer 2023.

I think this photo sums up their friendship pretty well.

In any case, I knew I wanted Katie and Max to be in an episode together, and landed on them for the roles of Shira and Mr. Wrong, respectively. When it came to the non “voice over” characters, I decided to branch out from my intensive group, but stay in the iO family. Sarah Joy Shockey was someone I first saw perform as a part of Voila: The Improvised Musical, a show that became appointment viewing each week while I was there, and Sarah was a big part of why— her energy and clear love for the sport of musical improv was infectious, and for someone who is honestly terrified of doing musical improv such as myself, I’m grateful she made it appear more accessible. She also took a liking to Katie after the latter took a musical improv workshop taught by the former, and invited Katie, as well as Zach, to sit in on a couple performances during the last couple weeks of the intensive. Sarah has since left the show, but Katie remains a regular cast member of Voila. Their friendship and rapport would, I felt, lend itself nicely to the relationship between Liz and Shira.

Sarah Joy Shockey and Katie Terres performing in Voila at iO, Summer 2023.

I think this photo sums up their friendship very well.

As for Edgar, the titular janitor, I needed someone who could handle both the naive innocence and potential unpredictability that came with the character. Who better to pull that off than Brad Pike, one of the boldest, wackiest and funniest performers I saw at iO and have probably ever seen. Brad is no stranger to going places others would never dare. He is quick, random, and the opposite of shy when it comes to discomforting moments. Case in point, his annual (?) end of year list of possible improv team names that are all at once gross, outlandish and hilarious (ex.: Pansexual Santa, Damp Sandwich, Titty Masala, Little Boy Divorce, Humblefart, Cuck Car, Lil John 3:16… I could go on and I will: 5 Skunks of the Apocalypse, Dr. Kevorkian’s Death Cab For Cutie, Gummo Boy Bath Water, Wookie Goldberg…). He was the perfect choice.

Brad Pike (up in front) performing with Devil’s Daughter at iO, Summer 2023.

I think this photo sums up Brad’s performing style pretty well.

Recording for the episode took place over Zoom on August 29, 2024, and now, a little over a year later, it is here, and I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.

I will, however, end this entry with a little addendum to my episode intro. As you heard, I go on a tirade against wealthy people, or at least wealthy people who seem to care more about the “wealth” part of their title and less about the “people.” But then, nary a moment later, I equate their judgment of those less fortunate to the judgment the less fortunate have towards them. In an effort to get in front of any non-controversy, I just want to clarify: I don’t mean these two things to be equal. In retrospect, with the way I wrote and delivered the intro, it does sound a bit like whataboutism, which— in spite of everybody doing it in one form or another, myself included— I fucking hate. Just because people on both ends of the spectrum may engage in a similar type of behavior, that doesn’t mean their various impacts are similar as well. One form of judgment causes insurmountable harm, while the other just causes anger and resentment, things that can be easily handled. Guess which one I think capitalism is.

Maybe it’s human to see others a not human, either out of some systemic prejudice or self-preservation/every person for themselves mindset, but that doesn’t make it right (we’ll actually touch more on this in a couple weeks). I don’t expect nor do I want us all to hold hands in a circle and start singing “Kumbaya” together in perfect harmony. But if I had one wish, it would be that everyone is able to treat people with the humanity they deserve, something I feel is sorely missing today. Most of all, I hate bullies, but I hate resentment more, and I am someone who easily carries a lot of resentment. That’s what this episode is about at its core. It just so happened to fit nicely into a tale that occasionally satirizes socioeconomic status. But it’s like I tell my impov students/the teams I coach: the surface level thing is fine, but when you get down to the core of what is really driving somebody, then you can really play with them. At their core, these stories are all about things I see or want to see in myself, and hopefully, you get something out of listening to that kind of self-indulgence. (Guess I can’t be unapologetically analytical about the art I make. Oh well.)

—Andy