WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm pallid crossly This is the Cali Crossley Show. Today we talk to comedian and actor Rachel Dratch. Born and raised in Lexington Massachusetts the self-described. Class clown made her way to Chicago's famed improv shop Second City. From there she landed a coveted spot among comets a seven year run on Saturday Night Live. While there she created one of the show's most memorable characters the insufferable Mocha Debbie Downer. A woman who could bring down a collective good mood with a gloomy observation Dratch eventually hung up Debbie's duds and left for SNL for a short lived stamp on 30 Rock. In her new book she writes about life after 30 Rock and now dropping in at a local bar changed everything. From there we look at a program out of Charlestown High School that received White House honors for helping the Chinese immigrant community. Up next comedy and community. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Barbara Kline. Syrian government forces have

reportedly fired into neighboring countries. NPR's Greg Clark reports four people were killed and three others wounded today in separate incidents in Turkey in Lebanon in the first attack of its kind. Turkish officials say a Syrian refugee camp near the Turkish town of Killis came under sniper fire today from a border crossing. A few hundred yards away in Syria two people including a Turkish medical killed and four others wounded. Turkish authorities summoned Syrian diplomats to Ankara to demand an end to the firing. Camp residents later protested the response by Turkish police who they accuse of failing to defend them in a separate incident. A Lebanese news cameraman was shot dead inside Lebanon while working close to the border with Syria. The shots reportedly came from Syrian territory. The latest attacks come as international efforts to end the bloodshed remain stalled grounds Clark. NPR News Beirut. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency says Tehran might agree to scale back production of highly enriched uranium at upcoming talks with world

powers in Istanbul. The U.S. says suspending enrichment and closing an underground nuclear facility are top priorities. South Korean intelligence officials say they have evidence that North Korea is preparing for a third nuclear test. Has more. The reports includes satellite images taken earlier this month of what appeared to be new underground tunnels in northeast North Korea. Pyongyang conducted nuclear tests from this location twice before. South Korean government analysts who study these images say in the report that excavation at the site is in its final stages because of dirt piled at the tunnels entrance. Scientists say tunnels are filled before a nuclear test. This information was released as North Korea prepares for a rocket launch as early as this week. For NPR News I'm too awfully Cyc hotel in Seoul. The two suspects in last week's shootings in Tulsa Oklahoma appeared in court this morning by closed circuit TV. Bond is set for more than nine million

dollars each. They'll be formally arraigned next week. In the meantime Brad Gibson of member station G.S. tells us the local community is adopting a wait and see attitude. I think right now people in Tulsa especially African American community are taking a sigh of relief that this thing looks to be over. They now want to know exactly whether this was a racial hate crime or not. And I think right now that the district attorney is going to go into this based upon the evidence that he has in front of him. And more on the murder charges and less on the racial aspect of the case Brad Gibson reporting from Tulsa on Wall Street at this hour the Dow is down 116 points the Nasdaq is off 29 the S&P down 15. This is NPR from the WGBH radio newsroom in Boston I'm Judy you will with the local stories we're following. Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren has raised more than twice as much as Republican Senator Scott Brown during the first three months of this year. Warren reported raising six point nine million dollars compared to

Brown's 3.4 million. Brown now has about 15 million in his campaign war chest compared to about 11 million for Warren about 64 percent of Warren's donations came from out of state. Brown's campaign hasn't said how much of the money raised this year came from in-state donors. The Middlesex County D.A.'s office is investigating the deaths of two people found at a home in Hopkinton Police have reportedly been at one hundred forty one Hayward street all morning. Authorities are expected to say more about the investigation this afternoon. Sanogo has agreed to pay two point two million dollars to settle allegations that it sought payment from the state for hazardous waste cleanup at gas stations. While it was being reimbursed for those costs by its insurers Attorney General Martha Coakley said today that Sunoco received money from a state funded established to speed up the clean up of environmentally dangerous leaks from underground storage tanks. But Sanogo failed to disclose that it also got insurance settlements to cover cleanup costs. Support for NPR comes from

CSX transporting 2 billion pounds of goods to market by train and working to help move the economy forward CSX how tomorrow moves. Boston sports it was 100 years ago today that the first exhibition baseball game was played at Fenway Harvard's team took on the Red Sox on April 9th. Thousand nine hundred twelve members of Harvard's baseball team will mark the event by taking part in batting practice at Fenway this afternoon. Well have cloudy skies today highs in the 50s partly cloudy overnight lows in the 40s. More clouds tomorrow highs possibly to 60 right now it's overcast and 53 degrees in Boston. I'm sure you'll you'll find more news at WGBH news dot org. Good afternoon I'm Kelly Crossley. Joining me in the studio is actor and comedian Rachel Dratch. She's a Lexington native who was part of the famed improv shop Second City. From there she made her way to Saturday Night Live and she's with us to talk about her new book which chronicles life after Saturday Night Live when the roles started to

dry up. Her book is titled Girl Walks Into a Bar comedy calamities dating disasters and a midlife miracle. Rachel Dratch Welcome thank you. We love having locals on the show as I have you here from from Lexington Yeah. For people to recognize that you are a local girl. I am and I want to talk to you about your comedy journey if you will. It starts right here in the state of Massachusetts when you were kind of doing shtick early on. Yeah you can stick it in a room. Yeah you know I was just into you know the school plays and kind of I was sort of a class clown type but nothing like I wasn't a child actor and lest people get the wrong idea I was not even on community auditions if anyone remembers that show. But anyway I know that. Then yeah then I went to college and I joined the improv group there and that's sort of where I thought oh maybe I'll try this. You know I'll just give it a shot and then I moved out of Chicago to try to be in Second City and then I kept kept with it kept with

it. We should say that your college was Dartmouth So yeah it was another local thing. Yeah yeah. Where you first realized that you had a talent for it and then you had to Second City but I got to talk about something you say is a theme in your life you call it second time. Oh yeah time track. Yeah yeah. Well yeah I mean during when this was happening I wasn't calling myself but when I when I look back I realize that I had this pattern of like not really getting anything the first time. And so you know like I moved out to Chicago to do the Second City Training Center and you know from what I heard everyone gets in. Well I didn't get in and I was just like you know I just moved there is what am I doing you know but I stuck it out and. And then like you know Second City touring company and the mainstay and I said Oh I had two years and I just never sort of get anything the first time so I sort of became this thing I got used to like Don't give up just because you know get it the first time. So what was your addition process like for Second City and people should understand this is totally improv. I mean you really got to be on your game to be there.

Yeah well Second City it's sort of a little ladder you climb up so you know after you kind of get the whole improv scene in Chicago then you're just in for touring company and then eventually I got in there and then tour I toured for like two and a half years and then you get eventually moved up to Mainstage. So that's where I was for almost four years and that's where you get seen for SNL. If you're lucky you know you never know when they're going to come through there so yeah. And a lot of pals that names we know now. DEROSE Amy Poehler Jimmy Fallon Do you found wasn't it. Yeah ok but yeah yeah. But yeah a lot of people that you may know came out of Second City along with me or a little before me. Yeah exactly. It was like a little class even before you have to Saturday Night Live. Yeah totally I mean it was cool if the whole community and every kind of helps each other up. You know so so you get the call you get the big call you finally and your dream job at Saturday Night Live. And so you made it once you got there right. Yeah it's all puppies and rainbows you know it was a really fun place I mean it's like your

dream job as a comedian so you know I still have these pinch me moments you know where after I was hired there. So yeah it was so fun I mean the live audience and you never know what's going to happen and you never know who's going to drop by and you're walking down the hallway and there's pictures of John Belushi and Gilda Radner you know it was totally appreciated that I was at this big comedy legacy the whole time and again the second time thing readers suddenly hit because you didn't get it the first time. What was your audition process like. Well as you know you kind of just create your own audition so they tell you you know basic guidelines like three characters three impressions. But you know if you're really good at impressions you could do more of those or vice versa. So you just kind of go in they just say three to one go you know and then you just do your little routine you've worked so that's what I did. What was your routine. Well I did a couple the only character I did for like I did the Boston character for my audition is that Andy's back then and it was heaven. I don't know why we changed.

But anyway yeah I did and I did Calista Flockhart was one of my projects which back then Allie McBeal was huge and so those were the only two that made it on the show everything else. That intimidation you've never seen. Never saw the light of day if you can still come back with we will win. I want to give people a chance to remember Denise who was part of Denise and sully or Sully and Denise who Jimmy Fallon played Sully and people from this area can really appreciate it if these are character set right in the Boston area so here is my guest Rachel Dratch with Ben Affleck who was in the in the SNL hosts hosting at night and this is Sully and a nice skit with Jimmy Fallon and you playing sell you nice. I'm in so much trouble. My dad loves me he's all wet. Yes. How does that control. I can tell you the kind of enjoy the kind of a good judge Hal. Wrote. That we used to we had already given for a bit as. To how cool he was. A car like yours

is that a real father. Yes it's called the Dream can't jump because it made it in jail. That's awesome. Your cheeks are red. A wicked boy. Did you get a lot of response from people from this area when you did that. Oh God yeah. You know every we have people seem to like that from the Boston area. Yeah I would throw in little local names Helen McAuliffe was my high school boyfriend so I threw that out yeah yeah throwing names and places and blah blah blah and yet people seem to dig it from here. I'm going to get you to read a little bit about the just the whole process of you during the week because you created these characters and we see them and it looks like you just whipped it up on Wednesday and it's on on Saturday but in fact the whole process is a little bit crazy that Tuesday. OK. What if your extra day this boy it's arduous is not just white which is a little bit about that process.

OK OK so this is after you win the readthrough table you've written your scenes and they've all been submitted off in a scene that you found funny at all is in. Oh it's sort of a scene that you found not funny at all isn't do not question someone probably thinks the same about your scene when it gets in. It is all subjective and will make you insane. But this week your scene is in. Yeah. Tell your friends you soon learn. Don't tell your friends. There is still a gauntlet to run before you are on TV. You see Lorne in the producers pick a few more scenes for the dress rehearsal that will make it to the live show. There's a dress rehearsal at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday in front of a live audience. And judging from how you're seeing goes there could be cut before air. After dress rehearsal everyone crams into Lauren's office at about 10:30 PM to sit on the floor couch arm and up on the bulletin board the list of scenes that are in is on one side and the scenes that were cut are on the other side the bad side. Some weeks you are all over the show before dress rehearsal and you walk in to see your three scenes are on the bad side of the board so you end up on the bench that week. But lucky for you this week your scene is still in you. Tell your friends wait don't tell your friends. You see GENTLE READER You are seeing is that the end of the show it's the last scene of

the night because the show is live. The timing is only an estimate. Quite often the last scene of the show is cut for time. I just felt so bad for you thinking how many times were you maybe standing there being cut for time. Yeah well it happens to everyone there like you know you're this big character you can't wait for everyone to see and then you're standing there in the costume and they run through your scene is cut and then you're just like. Time for good night. Yeah that's sort of a weekly thing happened to somebody there. One of the characters that you created has become a part of really the American lexicon. Yeah I know. That's right and that's where we are NPR's Debbie Downer is one that you know we just remember quite fondly and survives long past your seven year stint. I got to give people a chance to hear you playing Debbie Downer here's my guest Rachel Dratch as Debbie Downer bringing the whole mood way down.

Oh yeah. I want to hold you to rule for me with all the refined sugars through eating America's experiencing a virtual epidemic of juvenile diabetes. Guys I want to say something that really means the world to have all my family here for my birthday. A special thank you Uncle Frank for fun all the way in from North Carolina. Go for a good thing jeans out of the picture. Jeanne who is Jeanne. Hurricane Jeanne told the latest in a string of deadly storms that left thousands of Floridians homeless. They're still counting the fatalities in Haiti. Whoa. Whoa. I have to say that I have learned to channel Debbie Downer but now I announce it so people know I say I don't mean to be but you know I think that Tim do you think you're the original one that really fit so many people that we may know in common.

Speaking of people that folks know in common that you know from your life and comedy in that scene was Amy Poehler I heard her voice and the fun fact for everybody is that you both worked at the same ice cream Chadwick's in Lexington. Different times though. Yeah that's our little common claim to fame. I love it. Yeah. I wanted to get the Saturday Night Live Scenes in our conversation. You know up early end it because your book is really much beyond Saturday Night Live it's. It's talking about what happens to your life after you leave. Not just while you were there. And there's a lot of stuff I didn't know for example I had I don't know how I missed a 30 Rock Concert. But I wasn't sure if I should even put inks like people would even know that some people but I put in the book I really debated about that. But yeah well tell us about one of those. OK so I leave SNL. I was supposed to be on 30 Rock while I was on it but I was supposed to be Jenna on 30 Rock which is one of the leads. And so we did the pilot and then after the pilot I got the call saying that I was going to be replaced as Janet was going to do a little character parts instead which

actually I mean when I got the call I wasn't to like. I mean I was just like oh OK. Because the little character parts actually seemed more me. So that was sort of fine with me but then what happened was it was like all over. There were stories ever I don't know how you missed it but there are stories everywhere. And it just kind of became this thing on me like I left SNL and then I was like the person that got kicked off the pilot. So that was more of a bummer than the actual because like as an actor doing it as long as I have like you're kind of used to these Pilar placements happening. It goes along with the territory. So that was sort of. Yeah that was my exit from SNL was this kind of sort of stigma. And then it's like I don't know everything just kind of slow down I don't know if it's because of that or not because of that whatever but you know I wasn't really getting offered a lot of roles and so I wrote about that in the book that's how I started the book is this like well what am I going to do instead of all this acting stuff I've been doing like I don't want to just waste all the time so I spend the time doing things I didn't have before

like dating and I don't know. You have to look at the book. Oh yeah let her talk about that dating in just a minute. Let me remind everybody that my guest is actor and comedian Rachel Dratch we're talking about her new book Girl Walks Into a Bar comedy calamities dating disasters and a midlife miracle. You're listening to a 9.7 WGBH Boston Public Radio. This program is on WGBH thanks to you and the Boston Pops led by Keith Lockhart and joined by many exciting guests paying tribute to a wide range of American musical genres. Broadway film gospel and more May 9 through June 16th. Boston Pops dot org. An antiques road show with family heirlooms a yard sale bargains and long lost items salvaged from attics and basements. Experts reveal the fascinating stories behind these hidden treasures. Monday night at 8:00 on

WGBH too. And the growing number of WGBH sustainers who manage their contributions to public radio with the help of monthly installments and automatic renewals learn more about the ease of sustaining membership at WGBH dot org. I'm Marco Werman. The world is people the world. For more about three days I guarantee you that all of us will we will be will be deaf the world is ideas. What can I do as a musician at least. Two is to compose and go to concerts to support to people of Syria. Join us and hear the world. Coming up at 3:00 here on eighty nine point seven The WGBH. Join Brian O'Donovan host of a Celtic sojourn and singer songwriter Robbie O'Connell for the exciting John through Ireland southern counties immerse yourself in Ireland's natural beauty and rich history by day and enjoy traditional Irish music sessions by night. It's an Irish summer during a nine day journey

this September through some of the most historic and scenic places in the Emerald Isle to register or to learn more visit WGBH dot org slash learning to. Hear a question has a great question and that's a great question. It's a great question. Rick great question on fresh air you'll hear unexpected questions and unexpected answers. You're on eighty nine point seven. Maybe age. Welcome back to the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just joining us my guest is actor and comedian Rachel Dratch from Lexington Massachusetts. Most of you probably know her from her seven year stint on Saturday Night Live but we're talking about her life after she left SNL. It's the subject of her new book Girl Walks Into a Bar comedy calamities dating disasters and a midlife miracle. So Rachel you're done with SNL and past the 30 Rock experience and you decide to concentrate as every single woman

should on getting out and getting a good relationship and dating. Now you have to. Make a kind of SNL as an excuse like it is you are really busy but I use it as a big excuse that like why I wasn't really going out there getting out there. So then when that was over I was like OK I have no more excuses. You know I tried to go on some dates. I make it seem like I was on this big rampage. There's actually three dates in the book but those kind. That was dumb again. No I talk about in the book like I kind of get out there and then you know screw this man like you know go back to my comfort zone my friends and anyway that's kind of a wave that goes up and down. But yes I went on a few dates and what I liked about it is that as you're talking about describing of course you're funny so there there that those experiences are very funny and I want you to read one. OK. And but the other thing about it is you know you're used to being in the spotlight and what you've portrayed here albeit in a comic way is what so many of my girlfriends and I have talked about so much. Oh it's for real. OK

read a little bit OK. OK from the gin. OK. OK this is like you're talking to a guy at a party that you know excited about or something. OK. When you were in a committed flirting relationship with a guy at a party and telling your friends about him in your head and then you hear that word fiance the f bomb at that point your brain sends an emergency emergency alarm to your mouth. You have to expertly and swiftly through a smile onto the projector that is your face. Oh you're in games when the wording when inside you are saying oh no way are you kidding me. The fine art of keeping that painted on congratulatory smile while your innards are imploding is a true skill. This particular time I felt like I was in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. You know when your whole body cracks into pieces and slowly falls to the floor in chunks leaving just a cartoon smile suspended in mid air. You're engaged fantastic says the mouth. Then all your teeth fall one by one until just one tooth is left swinging with a tiny little cartoon swinging noise to accompany it.

OK you got to give us another one. There is one more idea. Yeah OK yeah. 122. OK OK. He didn't call back. Oh yeah I'm a cartoon imagery. He didn't come back two days passed another beam falls off the host. I was leaving town that day and I needed to look up a phone number that I had saved in my voicemail so I listened to my saved messages. Oh what do you know I had saved a garbled message from when I was walking down the street. Only now that I was in my apartment I could hear it a little more clearly. Hi Rachel sorry it took me I want to get back to you. I had a baby a couple days ago. Blah blah blah white noise white noise what. No I could not have heard that correctly. I actually thought wait a minute he's a producer and writer. He was probably referring to some project he was working on like I've been so working on. I've been so busy working on this thing it's my baby. I listened again.

Nope. Sure enough this guy just had a baby. It took me a while to get back to you had a baby a couple days ago. Well I didn't have the baby but it's my baby so I've been on the front lines here blah blah blah. Oh my God I was stunned. A baby this dating thing really wasn't working out at all. So you had a few more of those priceless experiences and then back to the time of your book Girl Walks Into a Bar you meet a guy in a bar. I said guy a nice guy. I had to encourage people that they're going to meet someone at bar the accept moment like a thousand bars this is what I loved the book is you're saying that everybody was telling you you'll find them when you're not oh yeah. Which I say in the book I always hate when people say oh how when you're not looking. Because no single person would ever tell you like a single person knows whatever you have to look it's not like I don't know I still haven't cracked the code. But but anyway yeah I mean there are plenty of times when I wasn't looking and nothing happened anyway but yes this particular time I wasn't looking walked into a bar met a dude.

Do I tell what happened not yet. Just just keep them in uncertain hope ok you can meet a nice guy. There's hope yet. Yeah. And he wasn't engaged and you know he wasn't gay and he was so many of the other things that your former dates at Exactly. Yeah baby yeah yeah yeah yeah. You know what I love about people who are able to be funny is to take these you know somewhat painful experiences and write them up so the rest of us can sort of enter into the experience. Yet again if we've been there and so what made you decide to write this up because you're sitting at home trying to figure out your life and you decide oh right this well you know what I had so much time on my hands like I was spending a lot of time you know watching like Oprah and Judge Mathis and stuff and then at the end of the day what do I have to show for myself besides that I know about small claims court. And finally as if something weird or funny or whatever happens I should just try

to write it up as a little story. So that's how he sort of started and then saw a bunch of these things kind of sat around these stories and then the girl walks into a bar then like about a year later I had this life plot twist that then kind of provided the big plot twist for the book I guess. So yeah that's sort of why I started writing out of kind of nothing going on. This is going to sound like a naive question but you know I did not assume that everybody who is funny can write. You actually can write. Thank you. I mean it was sort of an experiment you know started as like try and see but. Lot of the stories I wrote up as if I was to tell a friend like I would write up pretty much exactly how I had to tell a group of people and then other ones that we took more like talking about the now it's not like a beginning middle and punchline punchline. It was more like OK would I want to talk about it. That was a little harder because that was less like a story you just sit around and tell people over drinks or something right. Exactly. All right so as we've said the book's title is has collected comedy calamities dating disasters. We've discussed that. But let's get back to the

comedy calander just before we go to the last part and that is at the time that you're sitting around you've met the nice guy but in between there in the bad dates you're getting calls for horrible parts. Well I mean. Justice but yeah the part this is right at the beginning but I the parts I was getting offered were like I mean you know 65 year old obese manly lesbian parts like every part was a lesbian. Nothing that's bad I've played in my time and I make a point also in the book of saying like I know lesbians come in all shapes and sizes and varieties of hotness but I was not going to play the lipstick lesbian let's just put it that way. So yeah every part was just kind of like you know gnarly a gnarly lady walks in there it was then it was like Rachel play that you know so there was not a lot of call for that in Hollywood. In addition to like every time you look you're like great so I'm seen as a old large lady a

manly lady by Hollywood. So I sort of had this I don't know typecasting thing going I didn't quite understand it but was it because you played all kinds of parts on SNL. Is that because you were so expressive you have a very pretty that you might express it. Chalk it up to that oh you know I still haven't cracked the code on that one so I really don't know what that is. But yeah I mean I said in the book also like I always thought it played like the wacky friend. Yeah I sort of found I was too out of a type to play the wacky friend because like nowadays like the wacky friend is like this super beautiful woman who they throw glasses into jelly. Oh she's the friend you know I kind of. But yes I find I was like too odd for that. So hence my you know lesbian secretary. But you know I haven't seen you in Bridesmaids there was a whole you know well you know what I mean it's had a whole Yeah yeah posse of very 90s and there yeah you know. So I you know I you know I was like I don't want to make it seem like this is it this is how it's going to be. Well actually

I did just get cast in a pilot right when the book came out as a more like you know regular Jane or whatever you want to be part of it's called Lady friends but they might be changing but its written by Kari Lizer who wrote New Adventures of Old Christine and I was I played the odd friend so you know not super just a little bit. You'll see if it gets picked up. Anyway yeah. Well I mean I'm always fascinated by how these decisions are made and we know we those of us who follow this have read so many stories about how they approach the first person they turned it down and then the next person gets it and it's the greatest for them so yeah you know that's how it works now. So you got the comedy disaster comedy calamities rather the dating disasters and now we're up to the midlife miracle. Well hold on to your hats listeners because yeah men like America OK so I was 43 dating this guy that I met in the bar John and I will call him John.

And so he lives in California. He was in town on business and so we had this long distance relation going for about six months and you know wasn't too serious but we we were talking on the phone every day but you know who knew where it was going to go. And then six months into dating him just two months shy of my forty fourth birthday I discovered I was pregnant which was the biggest shock of my life because I kind of let go of the idea of having kids. You know when I was 40 41 42 I've always wanted kids but as I was getting older I thought like OK well I guess I'm going to have because I don't want to do it on my own. And so I just sort of thought I was you know over the hill as far as that was concerned but found out that I was not over. And here I was I knew I was going to have the baby I didn't know what his involvement he choose to do but. So here I was with someone that I had you know dated for six months but long distance like I don't know how many days with others present and having a baby with him so that's kind of the second part of the book is the unique situation.

I'd love you to read part of the scene when you you know realize that you are pregnant. On page 156. OK OK. Oh this is me taking the pregnancy test. OK. I've never done this before. Never even had a scare. I wasn't even the least bit nervous about the outcome. Three minutes later I went back to check the result with no ceremony no heart racing no slow lifting of the stick to grandly. The result I picked up the stick ready to check this off my list as a possibility. Two lines OK that must mean not pregnant. I looked at the guide two lines pregnant what. And then my heart did start racing. I began to pace around the apartment and speak aloud to myself oh my god oh my god oh my god. I frantically called Meghan back no answer no. I called another friend from the Lexington gang. Debbie I say is if I'm being murdered. What is it. No it's nothing bad. Mid hyper ventilation. I'm pregnant. If you look to my internet history that day it would read menopause menopause symptoms signs of menopause and then effects of alcohol consumption in early pregnancy.

You're listening to WGBH and online at WGBH dot org. My guest is actor and comedian Rachel Dratch. We're talking about her new book Girl Walks Into a Bar comedy calamities dating disasters and a midlife miracle. Now you say in the book and I want you to read this part that you had a little bit of warning even though you're surprised here. Yeah a little bit of warning that maybe you could get pregnant. It's 150. Oh my God this is the crazy thing. OK. Oh yeah. OK. This is from a chapter called this little piggie. Here is a small sampling. As I mentioned John brought bacon lip balm to the dinner the night he met me out with my friends. When he came to my apartment the movie Amityville Horror It was on TV and I said oh this is the woman Jodi the pig. Jodi was the scary six foot pit that looked in the family's windows. Later John called my feet ham hocks. I'm not proud of that. After he went out to dinner my friends on the second

night we had gone to the bar the bush pig and across the street from shul bread's the barber we met. There's a huge pig painted on the apartment building where his niece was living with her boyfriend. There was the park often San Fran on July 4th weekend where the poor coop Holmes and when John came back to visit a month later we were sitting on the train platform and a guy came up to me and said I worked on the Martha Stewart show where you and I guess we were a guest and you made a ham with her. John I turned to each other and exclaimed What is it with these pigs. There's a tech service called KGB to which you can text any question they'll write you back with an answer. So we're on the train and John texted What is the symbolism of a pig he received an answer back in a few moments. Oh my God he said chuckling. What does it say. He held up his phone for me to see. I looked at the word on the screen fertility of course didn't believe it at that moment I was just like I was like a month into us dating. So I see that fertility now is thinking like I am 43 I don't think you know I didn't want to emphasize it like you know I'm too old. I just kind of like change subjects I'm not going to be a problem.

But yeah we did have this big sort of cosmic warning because we saw these pigs and then when I went to prison I meet a lot of those pigs and that I had the fertility ward. So Rachel as I read the book and I think about it I thought I wonder if you would ever consider doing a standup act. Well I don't do standup because I find it's too scary. I like being on stage with a bunch of people. But I did think of maybe you know performing this book somehow and you know I'm like one person shows like you know going to stories on stage. Yeah exactly. I might do that. Yeah because I was thinking about the actor and comedian John like as oh my oh yeah yeah. Now typically when people do those one woman show somebody has some true thing happening in the middle as he does I mean he has a lot of deep stuff and yeah. But you know you have a regular life pretty much. Oh I can tell much yeah I can tell some funny stories yeah. How how stuff happens. Thank you. Be up for it. Let me talk to you about women in comedy because that's always a subject that we've had here when we've had other women comedians here. You know the SNL thing is it's almost an

ongoing joke no pun intended about how it's a struggle for women on that show. Does it continue to be we see them but you know yeah you know I get asked us a lot and I never if I never found a problem to a woman in comedy I mean I think maybe once you leave sketch world then you're going to get a lot less work. Well I don't know that's a whole other. That's a whole other show and book a topic. But I will say like sketch on SNL like it was never I never felt a disadvantage I mean a lot of times it's actually an advantage because you know you're there with like 10 doods and maybe three women or whatever I mean you can stand out a little more if you're a woman and on SNL I think. And it was never like well we're not going to put this on because you know what it's like you know because no one left. That's why I was like well but yeah I never find her fun to be a problem it is that I think in the old days though like I'm not disparaging that like I think that that was probably true that it was a lot harder back then. But I just happened to be there at a more civilized time I guess. I was working with an organization and brought in James Downey is a veteran writer on Saturday Night Live he

showed us a clip from with Norm McDonald doing the whole thing that was very almost well on the edge of offensive about women. And at the end he said well you know it's written by a woman. Oh no kidding we don't have women here at SNL. Well you know as a joke. Yeah I was. I missed that. Really good yeah. Do you think it's better for women in general you know I always look at the women in Last Comic Standing and other shows and they never make it to the you know let's be crazy. Yeah the stand up world I don't know I can't really speak to that but I don't know you know I've been asked a lot because bridesmaids did so well it's pretty brainless right resurgent thing up but then I think back to like when I was little watching comedians you know there was Carol Burnett and Lily Tomlin and Gilda Radner like I had all these female comedy role models and you know back then I mean that Miller could carry a movie you know or like like or Goldie Hawn or whatever like now I think it's a big deal if a movie has you know just women leads like what it's doing well but back then it was more commonplace I think so I don't know probably goes in waves

but I don't really think it's like women are really coming into their own I think they've always been there just when people choose to pay attention kind of thing. Were there any characters that you created that you wished had come to fruition on it you know. Yeah well yeah there's a few that never saw the light of day. There was one like this child star kid this boy named David Mack Wilson and I tried to put a talk about this in the book because I tried to put him up so many times like you know I thought he was going to be my next big thing you know and he just never made it. But like every actor on the show has poor character sitting in the closet. Never. Society. But yeah that happens there. What kind of responses are you getting to your book. I know a lot of women can respond to a lot of some of what you've written both in the not the calm not being on SNL they were not on the part. Yeah yeah well first before I even wrote the book just my story I found that women in their late 30s early 40s like they kind of laid up when they heard my story because I think you're so used to

hearing so much negative you know doomsday stuff about having a baby later and you know I was so used to it so people like women are really into my story that way. But then also I think the other response I've gotten is people are kind of surprised I was surprised because I set out to just write this funny story funny book and there's all these little like emotional parts in it that crept up on me and people have told me that you know they say they've laughed and cried but I mean that's what I didn't expect for myself and then I guess that's what people are telling me today. Well even if you were considered and I'm putting this in air quotes old you know to be having a baby you're pretty young. These are air quotes. Write a memoir. I mean a memoir you think about you know some crotchety you know I never thought like memoir when I was writing and I just thought like I'm going to write what happened after you know and this baby story and so yeah I mean it goes in the memoir category when you look you know but I don't think of it as you know my memoirs.

OK yeah you've got more to write because you want to get it right. I always think of it when people use memoir I have to say that often I'm looking for the tragic thing that happened yeah. Like the guy who did running with scissors you know I don't want to. You know you know for someone trying to realize a whole lot and you know didn't have parents try to kill them or some just a whole other thing right. One of the things that you wrote in the book this was pre-pregnancy that I did have to say we single women related to is going to the baby the baby shower and it's about Baby Shower time now you know going into June because we have the wedding and everything and I have to say this is just spot on I have to have you read a bit of it even though later on you have to admit when you had your own baby shower you were like yeah OK maybe I like you. I tried to race through the gifts for the sake of the single ladies. Who are you talking about there are people who love it and then in this section on page 136 you don't understand people who hate. Oh yeah and I thought this was great. Yeah OK. I never liked going to baby showers. Here are people who like baby showers. Women in their 20s grandmas to be people who already have babies. People who love to look at stuff.

These are the shower people here are people who hate baby showers. Women in their late 30s or early 40s who think they might want kids but haven't met the right guy yet aka me. Also people who don't like looking at stuff and having to pass it around and say oh it's a sure only it's a tiny shirt or oh it's pants only they're telling me aka me this deadly combo made me really have to steel myself to go to a baby shower in a room with OK. In addition to the many clothes and smiling stuffed animals there was also this category with which to contend things you've never heard of and I've no idea what they do that start a big discussion among the mommies in the group. I would sit quietly as a chorus of mommies over things I didn't even know existed. Oh yes you're going to need that the nipple pepper. I used it all the time. I would have been lost without the nipple prop.. You need to have a nipple proper next gift a red tent howl of excitement rises up among the mommies. Oh yes the swaddling wizard. Oh my God. That was invaluable to me when I had Mattie.

You cannot live without the swaddling wizard. The doctors tell me if I had used the swapping wizard Logan would have ended up on the spectrum. I just think it's a great every time I look at it that I realized something that didn't catch the first time which is the red tint. That's a great reference for those of us who read that read and liked the book and it's really pretty good. You know people always say that comedians have sort of anger underlying them or great amounts of depression but you seem to have kind of a basis of sloppiness even if you have various bouts of neurosis. How do you mind that. How do you make money I think you know. I got I don't know I mean like most of my comedy friends are all pretty you know normal big air quotes. No I mean I don't know like I know this probably. Maybe it's the way you kind of deal with like I mean for example if something bad would happen I go on a bad day. Yeah. When the bad it was happening I wasn't psyched about I was like I just could make a great story. But I'm like you know a week later it's kind of like that's what DOES make a funny story like if you have a perfect

day we're going to go it's great. There's nothing there's no big story. So you need this kind of like trials and tribulations to turn into comedy gold. I don't know but I gotta say like most of the ladies I know from SNL and I mean everyone sort of like a regular chick like they're fun. They might be a little more funny that way. But I don't know they're just kind of regular gals you can hang with they're not like you know crazy comedian that running with scissors. No far as I know. Yeah OK we have to say that you had the baby and his name is Eli and he's awfully cute for music you can't tell on the radio but yeah. And your life has changed because of that right. Yeah but I mean actually it's funny as people say like how are you balancing you know like nothing a balance on the other side. I mean like I was writing the book but it's you know the career sort of stayed you know well as it was like not every day work so I mean I actually turned out to be a sort of blessing because I got to spend so much time with them and I felt like because I was

older like I've already done you know the traveling and the parting and the. It's like doing heroin or the. But I mean I was like going out and all that stuff I was kind of over that. So yeah I really enjoyed being a mom which sounds so cheese ball coming out of my mouth but it's like so yeah it's it's been really fun I feel extra lucky because like I said I don't think you know I sort of let go of the idea so I think I'm extra appreciative I guess. And I want everybody to know that you even make fun of being a mom they have to read the book. But being sure in those early days of trying doing everything it's yeah as you said maybe going through it at the time was not funny but later as yeah it's pretty funny in the book. Rachel Oh thank you. All right last question coming from this area anything that sort of. That you know is sort of ingrained. Do you look at things from a maybe New England Massachusetts sensibility or am I just thought I don't know how to answer that Ellie. She's I don't know I mean for some I think I think Bostonians are really funny

just naturally but maybe that's just because I grew up here. Maybe everyone's funny but I think like maybe they're better informed than your average Joe I don't know that. And the other continent but I don't know I don't know I don't have any good theories but I do think there's a sense of humor in the water here. But at least I've been in the water. I'll end it with that didn't sell much. Rachel Dratch I loved your book and it's a great title. I've been speaking with actress and comedian Rachel Dratch about her new book Girl Walks Into a Bar and you can catch it tomorrow she has a book signing at noon at the Bee Jays in Northborough and tomorrow night at 6:00 and the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brooklyn. Coming up we'll talk about a program in Charles Town that received honors from the White House last week. This is eighty nine point seven WGBH. Boston. The.

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Welcome back to the Calla Crossley Show. It's time for our recurring segment local made good. I'm joined by Chou Wong and emailing Chu is a youth program associate for the Chinese immigrant student leadership program and Oeming is a junior at Charleston High School and a peer mentor in the program. The Chinese immigrant student leadership program which just received White House honors. They are fresh from their trip to the White House and they join us to talk about the visit and what the Chinese immigrant student leadership program entails Welcome to you both. Thank you so much for having us Kelly. Oh Chu. How did the leadership program come to be I know it's a partnership between Charleston High School and the Boston Chinatown neighborhood center. So there's been a incident that's been happening and since high school and the Boston Centanni Birth Center has this ongoing relationship that's already been established. And so then we thought about what are some

community resources that could come in and provide the support and meet these. Type of like services that could that we could give to Charlestown High School bullying against whom the bully against the Chinese immigrant student. So then we just thought a Since B C and C the Boston Chinatown neighborhood center has experience in Youth Leadership Program so we thought oh but so great a way that we could help and create this program together. OK very good. So tell us where were all of the young people almost eight kids but I want to say that the young people come from who are in the program hard work where they come from. They're from different parts of China. There are students from Hong Kong from Shell food and all these different places. And who noticed when was there enough evidence or somebody was aware of I guess it was the bus in China Town neighborhood center noticed that the kids were

having some issues and thought about doing this program is how it came about. Well we've also worked really closely with them initiative and also along with the teachers the teachers have been telling us about these things and we just thought of what can we do about it. So that's how it came to be. OK so your winning entry it was a little bit of a contest to go to the White House. There were 200 entries into this contest. You all were chosen as one of 10 and your project was a video called my voice their voices so tell me what that what that means and what that was all about. Right my voice there my voice their stories their stories. Yeah OK. So basically we were able to identify three challenges that they were going through this video contests who were really trying to figure out here different API Asian-American Pacific Islanders experience across the country. And so I worked very closely at Charlestown High School at the Chinese immigrant students there. I was very moved very touched by that how these students can overcome their struggles in the three struggles that they were able to

identify and share with us was number one being able to find a community to fit in the sense of belonging. The second one was how language is the barrier for them how they have to learn a whole new language here. And then the third one was to was really about. If I'm like that at the time I know it's a little nerve wracking you know come to you in a second day. Well let me tell you that while you think about the third one we have a clip from the video that I want to play and so here's a clip from the youth video submission to President Obama's champion Champion of Change Initiative and that was the contest that you I entered here we are all wrong we always begin. I must get to speak. With you because I don't want. My wife and. I few. People. I. Mean. I don't know how much. It is. Hard to move on.

So language was a big thing that was identified in the in the in the video. And so I am guessing that that was a lot of the source of the bullying and about the language. It could be it could be although like unfamiliarity the lack of interaction among different students. And also I just thought of that there was you know the struggle of adopting into a new country. But yes I think it's just really not being able to learn about not being familiar with each other's struggles not being able to see common ground. It could be different factors. You know this is a wonderful honor that you get chosen by the White House one of 10 groups for the Champion of Change program. And a lot of people may be thinking oh well that's nice but you know hey some census data really underscores why it's important to sort of address these issues at the local level. Asians are the fastest growing race group according to the most recent census data in the U.S.. Yeah. So if we're

going to talk about immigrants coming in and trying and finding their place and really being a part of the community you know has to start in some way like this. Right. So I want to turn to emailing. How have you enjoyed being a part of the program. Oh I feel so happy to be bought off the pole as a peer mentor. Again how my classmates to translate languages into English. I help them to do homework. Yeah how important is it for those kids coming in new to see you and be able to connect with you. Oh well I have been here for two years. I know that when I came to the United States I didn't speak English weather so. But I do a lot of homework and really a lot of books. So I know which way is the

best way to learn English. So. Oh it's just good. Yeah so I just want to tell ha ha ha do learn English. She won't tell me about the White House visit was exciting. It was amazing it was really intensive we had to gather a lot of logistics trying to bring all of the youth in the program to go there there's a total of 13 youth who we brought with us. We've been able to meet other panelists who all who are also being honored just awful receiving photographing like signature from President Obama just being able to meet all these white house key officials there. It was just absolutely amazing. Yeah I once in a lifetime experience I guess not just for all of the kids I can only imagine you know what that must mean. Such an honor. And we should say that Champions of Change program really has touched on so many groups over the years. I didn't realize this underneath President Obama since he's been in office. So I've been in a variety of youth

programs that are locally based that are being recognized for this for the work that they do. Yeah. I mean we were definitely very lucky to be chosen by the public because there was the public voting to see like which one was their favorite videos who they were able to connect with and we been invited to be part to attend at the White House. So yeah it's an absolute honor. I gotta say. And what is it done for the students in the program since then because this is about leadership too so I think. It's definitely been able to help them bring out their voice. You can hear about the experiences the struggles that they've been going through. Also having belief that they can do something that they matter and that the society wants to hear what they are doing and what kind of contributions that they can have. So I think that's really empowering to be able to receive all this attention and support from community members friends family school is wonderful.

And with regard to other schoolmates as some of the bullying some of the initial reason for putting the program in place lessened. That's a very good question. I think that's something that will we'll need to way over time to see. But what I can tell you is that this program has been able to provide a safe space for the students to really voice out these concerns how can we address these issues together. What do you want other kids who are maybe in the same position but without a program like this to hear and to take away from the experiences of these young people. I definitely want them to know that you know fight I'll find an ally. Talk to a peer classmate reach out. They're not alone going through this and just really support one another. Be a person to listen to what they're going through and just share experiences together. Well next month is Asian Pacific Heritage Month. We couldn't wait till then to tell you all congratulations So congratulations.

I've been speaking with two Hmong and Oeming Chou Huang is a youth program associate for the Chinese immigrant student leadership program out of Charlestown High School. And Oeming is a junior at Charlestown High School and a peer mentor in the program. The program was honored by the White House last week by President Obama's initiative. Champions of Change and the president's program recognizes ordinary Americans who aim to make an impact in their communities. As we do here on local make good. You can keep on top of the Calla Crossley Show with WGBH dot org slash Calla Crossley follow us on Twitter and become a fan of the Calla Crossley Show on Facebook. Today Show was engineer by Jane pic produced by Chelsea Merz will Rose live and Abbey Ruzicka. We are a production of WGBH Boston Public Radio.