Interview Michael McCarthy

Comedy writer Michael McCarthy has played a hand in a slew of influential shows both onscreen and onstage, ranging from Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street in the '80s to Second City mainstage shows like Winner Takes Oil and Economy Of Errors in the '90s. In 2002, McCarthy introduced Big News, a news-driven sketch show, at iO West in L.A.; it built a reputation strong enough that it was recently imported to iO here in Chicago. Big News is essentially The Daily Show meets SNL, but more fast-paced; and unlike many other sketch shows, it's new every week, with sketches based on the week's news. The A.V. Club spoke to McCarthy about his latest creation.

A.V. Club: Why did you create Big News?

Michael McCarthy: It came out of the frustration I was feeling about what was going on politically. It was pre-invasion of Iraq, but we all knew it was coming; post-2000 election, which was appalling; and then the people in charge during 9/11, with fear, fear, fear everywhere. I felt that this was my training—I should get busy doing this. The format of the show is as it's always been, a series of sketches based on the events of that week. We've never repeated a sketch.
AVC: So it's humor as a coping mechanism?
MM: Yeah. I can't afford the therapy to cure me, so it's a great way to work stuff out. My niche has always been political stuff. There was an immediate consensus and enthusiasm for it. [In 2002] any criticism was perceived as unpatriotic, and I couldn't believe it. There were very few people saying anything. Hollywood is loaded with frightened people—very smart, but very adept at waiting to see what the consensus is. There are some people you would wish to offend. When I do my show, I don't want white supremacists to be happy with it. I'm not interested in whether they buy beer at the bar or not.
AVC: Whom else would you hope to offend?
MM: It's not Paris Hilton, not Britney Spears. Neocons, certainly. They've done phenomenal damage to the country that's going to take years to undo. Lobbyists. They've effectively made themselves the fourth branch of government, and when a government is in bed with corporations, that's fascism. I went to the Bulls game the other day, and every second and every inch was filled with advertisements. I was recalling the various producers and networks I've worked for. I would get into more trouble for slamming Budweiser than I would the Catholic Church. They would air my indictment of the Catholic Church, but they would censor me saying Bud Light tastes like piss. That wouldn't make it. In a general way, what are we giving up? I have to back off, because some days I start frothing at the mouth, and it's not very funny.
AVC: What's fair game for the show, topic-wise?
MM: There are four distinct categories, the most important being Chicago itself. Then national, international, and there's always room for goofy. It's important to make sure that it's not all righteous indignation at whatever happened that week—that there be some element of silly.
AVC: What's your role in the show?
MM: I'm sort of the laissez-faire MC. I remind the audience of the news events. Every week is different. We've created a situation that has circumvented actor vanity. There's no time. They have 48 hours. There's a very quick turnaround. Nobody counts lines or anything like that. Next week is an entirely new show. You're not stuck in a performance for four months. It's a kind of controlled panic. The energy is really awesome—the actors are so awake.
AVC: Are there any differences between audiences in L.A. and Chicago?
MM: The Chicago audience is much more informed, and they get subtler things. You don't have to bludgeon them with, "Hey, there's this place called the Middle East. Arabs and Jews not getting along that well." You don't have to frontload so much. I love when an audience gets it on several levels.
AVC: What's been the best fodder of the year?
MM: In its ramifications and its long time coming, it'd have to be the loan crisis. We were living in a fool's paradise, with refinancing and all this money, easy credit, and now the chickens have come home to roost. The idea of not admitting recession—it's amusing to see. The Bush administration is supposed to know how to deal with business. More and more, I feel like we've had a 12-year-old in the cockpit of a plane I'm flying on. You open the door and there's this kid saying, "Look at all these buttons! Woo!"