As comedian Judah Friedlander’s shtick makes abundantly clear, he is the World Champion. Of what, exactly? Who knows. Perhaps it’s this ambiguity regarding Friedlander’s championship status that has allowed him to retain the unchallenged title for the last seven years. The self-proclamation has also given the comic—who may be best known for portraying slovenly TV writer Frank Rossitano on the hit television show 30 Rock—carte blanche to make outlandish claims of improbable athletic feats and inhuman sexual prowess. Prior to his four-night stint at D.C. Improv, The A.V. Club caught up with the World Champion to discuss hooking up with chicks, the importance of staying in character, and whether Steven Seagal could beat Jean-Claude Van Damme in a fight.
The A.V. Club: You make your signature hats yourself. Which hat are you the most proud of?
Judah Friedlander: Well, there’s a few. And sometimes I make these hats up literally last second so that they add to the scene, never distract from it. Or, the hat reveals something about my character. Like, I wrote one hat that said “Kayfabe.”
AVC: What’s “Kayfabe?”
JF: Only one other person out of the entire 150-person cast and crew knew what the word meant. It was one of our camera guys. It’s a professional wrestling term—it refers to staying in character. So, if you went to see Hulk Hogan fight Sgt. Slaughter at Madison Square Garden as rivals and later that night you go out to a bar and see them hanging out and high-fiving, that would be considered “breaking kayfabe.”
AVC: Did you grow up on wrestling?
JF: I became a wrestling fan in college. So, I was more of a wrestling fan as an adult than when I was a little kid. My best friend in college was a huge wrestling fan. I remember in college we used to wake up every Saturday morning to watch Saved By The Bell. Then we would go back to sleep and then wake up at noon to watch WWF wrestling.
AVC: Who is your favorite wrestler?
JF: If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Mick Foley, Mankind. I actually got to meet him this year at a horror movie/sci-fi convention. It turns out he’s a big 30 Rock fan.