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Comedian/Actor Janeane Garofalo is currently between projects. Following her much-publicized departure from the cast of Saturday Night Live, she's back, hosting her very own Comedy Central series, Comedy Product, as well as resuming her role as the talent coordinator, Paula, on The Larry Sanders Show, not to mention her ongoing correspondent position on Michael Moore's irreverent Fox news magazine TV Nation. Whew! But, no matter how busy she is, Janeane always finds time for an episode (even a rerun) of ER. In fact, that's exactly where we found her, sitting on a chaise, sipping an Evian, with remote control in hand.
Garofalo now resides in a Hollywood Hills bungalow that she shares with Redd Kross keyboardist Gere "Fingers" Fennelli. Ironically, Garofalo is a "replacement" roommate, inheriting the room from comic Margaret Cho (who cashed in on her now-canceled sitcom to buy her own spread). Unfortunately, BAM had to interrupt Janeane's very private ER experience to find out what this now-labeled "alternative" comedian is really about.
BAM: BAM readers really want to know, Janeane, exactly what posters were hanging on
your bedroom wall when you were 12 years old? Peter Frampton?
JG: No. I had Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Springsteen, and, uh, "Hang in There, Baby,
Friday's Coming." Nothing too corny. And I'm being very, very honest; I'm not trying to be cool
just for BAM. When I was young, I never enjoyed the Osmonds, Shaun or David Cassidy. I
never had Teen Beat.
BAM: Come on, 'fess up, you never snuck in a Hardy Boys episodes every once
in a while?
JG: I only watched the Hardy Boys for pure kitsch value, even at that age. That's
one thing I can be proud of -- and there's not much of my childhood to be proud of -- I was a
fucking dweeb.
BAM: So, you weren't very popular in school?
JG: I couldn't have bought a friend.
BAM: But didn't you have some sort of clique in high school? Did you hang out with the
stoners? Or maybe the theater department?
JG: I was absolutely right down the middle. I was totally invisible.
BAM: Did you ever have any musical aspirations?
JG: If I had my druthers, I would much rather be in a band than do comedy. When I was
in college, I tried to learn to play bass, because I really wanted to be in a band. But I had to give
it up; I have no discipline whatsoever, and it really hurt my fingers! Thankfully, music and
comedy do mix now.
BAM: It seems comedians have almost invaded the Hollywood music scene. Luna Park
now hosts "UnCabaret," showcasing "alternative" stand-up comedians from Julia Sweeney to
Bobcat Goldthwaite. Roseanne even tries out her new material there, as opposed to standard
comedy club circuit.
JG: Stand-up clubs are not the place to be anymore. There are so many bad comics that
an intelligent person who would go to the average comedy club is gonna be bummed out and
really insulted by the low caliber of entertainment. Now, luckily, there's a groundswell of
alternative venues where people are doing comedy -- like bookstores, coffeehouses, rock clubs --
where you have comics that don't cater to the lowest common denominator.
BAM: And acting seems to be a different trip from doing stand-up, which is just you and
your own material on a stage.
JG: It really depends on what kind of person you are. Most actors I've come in contact
with are not that cool. Not that I'm "cool" or anything. It's just that it's rare to meet an actor who
is laid back, doesn't sweat the small stuff, and can kinda go with the flow. They are very serious
people -- often very humorless people -- and can't come out of their own heads long enough to
enjoy anything that doesn't concern themselves.
BAM: What about some of the actors you've worked with on SNL? What was it
like working with John Travolta?
JG: Really nice. We did a vampire sketch that poked fun at the rumors about his
homosexuality. He thought it was hilarious. It doesn't bother him at all what people think...
whether he is or isn't. After you spend a lot of time with him, he does become progressively more
effeminate. But you know, that doesn't mean anything.
BAM: What's next?
JG: Well, I'm still doing Larry Sanders. I'm also working on a Kids in the
Hall movie in which I play a science groupie. I've finished another film with Uma Thurman
called The Truth About Cats and Dogs, and I also did a movie with Demi Moore called
The Gaslight Edition.
With so many projects in progress, Janeane Garofalo certainly is busy. In fact, it's now apparent why one hour of a blissfully vapid hospital TV series can be valued so dearly. Basically, this woman has been working nonstop since her appearance on the short-lived Ben Stiller Show garnered her critical acclaim. Also, lest we forget, Garofalo made her big break into the feature film arena with the Gen-X slacker film, Reality Bites. One might even go so far as to say she is subsequently responsible for launching the career of that bespectacled whining annoyance, Lisa Loeb. "Oh yeah," responds the comic dryly, "I forgot."