TV INTERVIEW: KELLY CARLIN

Just When She Thought She Was Out, Comedy Pulled Her Back In…

By: Team Buzzine

July 14, 2011

Growing up with George Carlin as your father might make you imagine that Kelly Carlin has been embedded in the bedrock of the comedy world from birth, but in fact it meant exactly the opposite. After years of avoiding the entire scene, it was not until the outpouring of support she received from other comics after the death of her father that Kelly re-entered that world at all. The fact that she is now serving as talent producer for the second season of The Green Room is a testament to both a shared vision of comedy and a deepening friendship with both its host and executive producer. Buzzine’s Nicole Rayburn sat down with Kelly at The Vanguard in Hollywood, California to talk more about the show and about her families -- both private and professional…

Nicole Rayburn: You were here at The Vanguard last year for the first season of The Green Room with Paul Provenza…

Kelly Carlin: …in the audience.

NR: Were you involved with the show at all?

KC: No, I was just an audience member.

NR: But after then seeing the show, something obviously happened, so how did you come to be helping produce this new season of The Green Room?

KC: Paul and I were starting to become friends then, and he had the first show, and I showed up with a little pin – it was a jester pin that my dad had – and I wanted to give it to Paul, and I gave it to him before the show. And this year that’s happened, I have become very close with Paul and Barbara [Romen – Executive Producer]. Like, we’ve become family, family, family. And about four months ago, they approached me and said, “Do you want to be the talent producer for this thing?” And I’m like, “Um…what? I don’t do this.” But they said, “It’s us! You’re gonna work with us the whole time!” I’m like, “Okay, I’ll try.”

NR: So you had not done it before…

KC: No. I’ve worked in production as a kid; I’ve worked with my mother, who was a talent producer, and she executive-produced all of my dad’s HBO shows, so I worked on a lot of those, and I worked in TV a lot. But I’ve never been at this level and running things like this.

NR: So you had a concept, but it wasn’t quite like going from, “Oh, I’m a plumber and I’ll try talent coordinating…”

KC: I gave up television and working in mainstream industry 15 years ago. I decided I didn’t want to have any part of this town because it’s completely screwed… but I’d become a writer and performer, and I do my own thing, so the whole idea of going into production was like going backwards – ew! But I get it now. It’s not going backwards, what we just did. It’s amazing what we’re doing here.

NR: That’s awesome – that the love of Paul and Barbara brought you in and you’re having a great time…

KC: And trusting them, really, and his vision. Because what he believes about comedy and his vision for making people understand the importance of the art of comedy is something I’m very dedicated to, especially since my dad died. So we’re very much on the same page in that way. So this show is probably the only show I would say yes to.

NR: As far as the cast and being the producer of the talent, do you already know everybody?

KC: No. I didn’t know a single comedian before my dad died, and since my dad died, a lot of amazing people have come into my life, three of which have been on the show this week – [Garry] Shandling, Lewis Black, and Richard Belzer. All three of them called me the first week after my dad died and said, “We are here for you, anything you need.”

So I knew them, I knew some of the other ones and could help get them, but sometimes Paul puts out a name and I’m like, “Who’s that?” Because I don’t know a lot of comics. I don’t hang out in comedy clubs – I hate comedy clubs. I hate the whole scene. Never grew up in them…

NR: Which is really amazing and surprising to everyone, I’m sure, because you just assume… And also, from last season, you were hanging out with Rain Pryor…

KC: And we had just met at the show. We were Facebook friends, and we became Facebook friends after my dad died, and then they brought her out and we met in person that night.

NR: This is totally wild. Nobody would think this. We’d just assume you guys grew up together knowing each other…

KC: My dad was a loner, and comics generally are, and my dad came up at a time when there weren’t comedy clubs. There weren’t communities of comedians. My dad made it in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s when there were colleges, and then he became a theater guy – he went to theater. So when we would travel with him when I was a kid, we would just go to a theater, and he’d have his opening act, and it would be me and my mom and him, and that’s it. There were no clubs.

And then growing up as a teenager, I didn’t care – it wasn’t a part of my world, and I just knew I never wanted to go near being a stand-up. That’s very dangerous. And my dad actually forbade me. He didn’t want me to have to live the life, have to deal with hecklers, all that kind of stuff. So I really stayed away from the comedy world.

And obviously my father did not. [Laughs]

NR: Will you do this again with Paul?

KC: I absolutely would, yeah. I’ve had a great time, and it’s been very satisfying to watch the fruits of our labor – it’s been really, really satisfying.

The Second Season of ‘The Green Room with Paul Provenza’ premieres new episodes on Showtime every Thursday night at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT beginning July 14, 2011.