More Randy On Funny People DVD
Here’s an example showing Judd Apatow is a pretty smart guy: he’s put some great Randy extras on the Funny People DVD. I didn’t see Funny People in the theaters because of the tepid reviews and the how long it is but, like many people I suspect, I enjoyed immensely the Randy video’s that were released online to promote the film. Now the DVD becomes desirable for the Randy material. Here’s Aziz Ansari talking about Randy in a recent interview (via Aziz himself):
Can you talk a bit about working with Judd on your Randy character? Did you write your own stand-up material or did he have bits scripted for you? How did the whole process of creating Randy come about for you?
Aziz Ansari: Judd and I talked a bit about what he had in mind for Randy and the early ideas he mentioned were about him being really cocky and very conscious about things like merchandise and how much money he made per gig. That attitude reminded me of those new young hip hop superstars like Soulja Boy, and that really became my inspiration. That’s what triggered the ideas about the dance, the DJ, idiotic catchphrases, etc. Those to me are the defining aspects of Randy and it was not a shot at any particular comic, like many people think. Another notion that stuck in my head was the idea of the comic that kills with audiences but it is despised by the other comedians backstage. These guys are at every club, talking non-stop about their dick and their dumb stories about going down on girls, etc. This kind of was the jumping off point for when I started writing material specifically for Randy. Initially I started doing my own standup and just “Randy’ing” it up, but then I started writing Randy specific bits and that was really fun.
And here’s Aziz talking about the stuff on the DVD:
Now this Funny People DVD is just jam-packed with extras including this three-part Raaaaaandy documentary. Can you talk about the making of that? Was that done during regular production of the film, or was that something that came up afterwards?
Aziz Ansari: We were having so much fun with Randy that I asked Judd if myself and Jason Woliner, a collaborator from Human Giant, could make those documentaries. He was into the idea and let us run wild with it. It was shot after production stopped and many people that worked on Funny People worked super hard to help us make it happen and Jason and I love them all very much. The version on the DVD actually has some extra bits that haven’t been seen before and is actually one long piece that tracks Randy’s journey to getting a spot on the Jimmy Kimmell Live. It also features appearances by two of my favorite people ever – Nick Offerman and Eric Edelstein
I think the Randy material is enough to place Funny People on my Christmas list. And a Randy movie would be clutch.
Holla at me