Lauren Lapkus: From Comedy Bang! Bang! to ‘Another Happy Day’
The Last Laugh
The Daily Beast
4.6 • 661 Ratings
🗓️ 2 October 2024
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Lauren Lapkus grew up with one goal in mind: someday joining the cast of ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Now, nearly 20 years into a comedy career that has included scene-stealing roles in everything from ‘Orange Is the New Black’ to ‘Jurassic World,’ she has finally been able to “let go” of the way she thought things would go and fully embrace her unique place in the comedy world. It helps, Lapkus explains in this episode, that she has now landed lead roles in both broad comedies like 2020’s ‘The Wrong Missy’ (opposite David Spade on Netflix) and her latest, the darkly comedic postpartum depression dramedy ‘Another Happy Day.’ Lapkus also discusses how the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast opened new doors for her and what it was like to go up against Kate McKinnon for that coveted spot on SNL.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is The Last Laugh. I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast. A little story before we get started. |
| 0:11.4 | About seven years ago, I got the insane opportunity to sit in on the taping for the 500th episode of one of my all-time favorite podcasts, Comedy Bang Bang. |
| 0:22.0 | It was part of an oral history of that show that I was writing for The Daily Beast, |
| 0:26.1 | and let me tell you, being in the studio while seven of the funniest improvisers on the planet |
| 0:31.8 | did their thing for nearly two hours, was among the most surreal experiences of my life. |
| 0:38.3 | Over the past few years, I've made an effort to have each of the comedians who are on that |
| 0:42.5 | recording as guests on this podcast. |
| 0:45.6 | And I've finally done it. |
| 0:47.6 | Comedy Bang Bang Host Scott Ackerman, Paul F. Tompkins, Nick Kroll, Jason Manzuchus, |
| 0:53.0 | Mary Holland, John Gabris, and now with today's episode, |
| 0:57.3 | Lauren Lapkis. Lauren is here to talk about her starring role in the new film Another Happy Day, |
| 1:03.8 | available now wherever you rent and buy movies. We also get into her breakthrough role opposite |
| 1:09.1 | David Spade in The Wrong Missy, |
| 1:11.8 | how she thinks now about losing out to Kate McKinnon after they auditioned for SNL together, |
| 1:17.3 | and a lot more. |
| 1:18.7 | But since we begin our conversation by talking about Comedy Bang Bang, |
| 1:22.2 | I thought we could start by listening to a clip from that 500th episode |
| 1:25.8 | that honestly probably won't make any sense |
| 1:28.8 | to anyone who is not a listener of that podcast. |
| 1:31.8 | But it made me very happy when I got to hear it in the recording studio in 2017 and still |
| 1:37.9 | makes me laugh now. |
| 1:39.5 | We have a new segment that Todd wants to do called Oyoyoyoyoyoy. |
... |
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