Northwestern alum Kristen Schaal, Communication '00, came to campus Thursday to perform stand up along with parody rock duo Flight of the Conchords and NU sketch comedy group Mee-Ow. Schaal, who plays Mel on the HBO show Flight of the Conchords, phoned in to the Daily to give her take on coming back to NU, the nation's funniest unknown comedians and her favorite post-show traditions.
Matt Spector: First off, are you excited to come back to Northwestern?
Kristen Schaal: Yeah, I'm totally thrilled. I'm so excited to come back to Northwestern. The last time I came back was the year after I graduated. I came back to see Mee-Ow and Griffin's Tale. So this would be my second time back.
MS: Are you nervous to perform in front of everyone?
KS: Did the expectations just get really high since I left?
MS: Yeah, I guess.
KS: I guess I'm not nervous. Are you guys hecklers?
MS: I don't think so.
KS: Okay, then I think it'll be fine. I don't think I'm gonna let them down.
MS: How did you originally get hooked up with the Flight of the Conchords guys?
KS ;It was sort of a timing thing where I was doing an HBO Comedy Festival at the same time they were developing the show. So we just connected through that. But I had never met them before. And I also didn't really audition either.
MS: You also didn't really audition?
KS: No, they liked the stand-up that I did so I got it.
MS: What's it been like working on the show?
KS: It's really fun. Everybody's really nice and funny and cool. It's just a fun job to have.
MS: What made you want to transfer to Northwestern?
KS: In high school I was doing like a Improv troupe and my teacher that recommended NU - I had never even heard of it -so yeah that's how I heard of it. And I just heard that there's sixteen productions that the students put up each year and it seemed like a great place to go so I just focused on that school. And eventually transferred into it. I had a great time at Northwestern, those were definitely some of the best years of my life.
2008 Woodie Awards
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