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Thursday, May 4, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS

‘Veep’ star talks politics

Matt Walsh 

discusses political 
satire and comedy

By SHIR AVINADAV

Daily Arts Writer

“That came out wrong,” was 

uttered not by U.S. Press Secre-
tary Sean Spicer, but by “Veep”’s 
Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh) 
after a gaffe that earned him one 
of Selena Meyer’s (Julia Louis-
Dreyfus, “Seinfeld”) famous 
glares. Though the bumbling 
former White House Press Sec-
retary is often compared with 
Spicer, the series refrains from 
commenting directly on its 
uncanny parallels to the current 
administration. In a conference 
call interview with the Daily, 
Walsh explained what makes 
the comedy so salient, while 
discussing his character Mike 
McLintock on the show.

The Emmy Award-winning 

series, lauded for its hilarious 

cast and sharp satirization of 
American politics, has become 
even more of a topic of conversa-
tion in its sixth season following 
the 2016 Presidential Election.

“I think a lot of people are 

more engaged now,” said Walsh 
of viewers. Rather than taking 
a partisan stance, however, the 
show aims to influence people’s 
perception of politics overall.

“I think that comedy can 

be effective in humanizing 
what’s sacred, so hopefully it 
just reminds people that it’s just 
human beings trying to push 
ideals through in a very flawed 
system,” Walsh stated.

According to Walsh, the 

Armando Iannucci (“In the 
Loop”) created series, taken 
over by David Mandel (“Sein-
feld”) in its fifth season, has 
served as a cynical portrait 
of American politics from its 
inception.

“The show has always lived 

and died by its insults,” Walsh 
said of the show’s crassness, “I 
think that was one of Arman-
do’s first observations (of D.C.) 

… and that was one of the things 
he wanted to satirize.”

With the profusion of crude 

insults being hurled around, 
the absence of references to 
presidents beyond Reagan and 
Selena’s undefined party affili-
ation may escape notice. That’s 
what makes the show different 
in Walsh’s opinion.

“It operates on this fiction, 

which I think gives us a lot more 
latitude to comment on the 
greater truths about what’s hap-
pening,” Walsh said.

For Walsh, telling the truth 

through comedy is one of the 
most rewarding parts of being 
on the show and of being a com-
edy actor.

“I love the power of mak-

ing people laugh,” he said. “It’s 
very rewarding to be on the 
stage and write something that 
can get this huge response from 
people.”

Walsh’s 
experience 
with 

comedy started at an early age, 
ultimately leading him to found 
the Upright Citizen’s Brigade 
alongside comedians like Amy 

Poehler (“Parks and Recre-
ation”) and Matt Besser (“The 
UCB Show”).

“I think comedy and improv 

and sketch are about life experi-
ence,” Walsh said of his improv 
experience. “I think ultimately 
you have to develop very keen 
listening habits.”

He fostered those habits as 

a psychology major at North-
ern Illinois University, where 
his training would later on 
help him “identify patterns 
in behavior” that helped him 
develop characters like Mike.

“I feel like I’ve had a hand 

in creating Mike’s evolution 
and creating … the details of his 
backstory and the details of his 
character flaws,” Walsh said.

Mike’s flaws are especially 

visible in his new role as a par-
ent this season.

“I think he feels older, and 

he feels more overwhelmed,” 
Walsh said. “I think in Mike’s 
situation he feels unfulfilled 
just being a dad, because he’s 
not creatively stimulated.”

This season, Mike is faced 

with an unruly child whom he 
adopted from China under the 
impression that she was three 
years younger than she really is, 
in addition to the birth of twin 
babies, all while dealing with his 
recent unemployment. How-
ever, Walsh claimed that yet “of 
all the characters, Mike has the 
happiest life outside work.” 

Walsh related Mike’s arc for 

the season: “I think as always, 
Mike’s main obstacle is work-
ing for a terrible boss — also, 
it’s a tough business (politics) … 
for Mike I think it’s always that 
struggle between personal hap-
piness and professional happi-
ness, and I think that continues 
this season as well.”

As for the show, Walsh 

praised the writers for their 
imagination and fearlessness as 
well.

“What I love about our show 

is they’re willing to rip up the 
premise,” Walsh said in citing 
Selena’s 
unexpected 
ascen-

sion to the presidency then to 
herdevastating loss in the bid 
for reelection following a his-

toric Electoral College tie as an 
example.

Often, scenes in the script 

are revised using improvisation 
during rehearsal — a method 
Walsh claimed helps identify 
what’s not working in the script. 
During filming, Walsh said 
there are few free takes (after 
which the scenes as written 
have completed shooting), but 
that those opportunities provide 
Walsh with the chance to fur-
ther put his improv chops to use.

Additionally, Walsh cred-

its his comedic prowess on the 
show to the exchange between 
castmates.

“I 
think 
most 
comedy 

involves a scene partner, and I 
think that’s where great come-
dians show themselves — is 
their ability to listen and use 
what their partner’s giving 
them,” he said.

“Mike McLintock has been 

one of my favorite roles, and 
it’s such an honor to come back 
as an actor and as a returning 
character,” Walsh added of his 
experience on the show.

Delaney soars

By SAM ROSENBERG

Daily Arts Writer

It’s remarkable how quickly Ama-

zon’s “Catastrophe” became one of 
the best new comedies of the 2010s. 
Usually, it takes some time for TV 
comedies to attain critical success 
before they find their footing. But 
for some reason, “Catastrophe” — 
which first aired in 2015 on British 
network Channel 4 — has consis-
tently delivered on each of its 18 half-
hour episodes. Co-creators and stars 
Rob Delaney (“Life After Beth”) and 
Sharon Horgan (“Divorce”) have 
taken a wild premise — an American 
man impregnates an Irish woman 
in London after a one-night stand 
— and fleshed it out with an honest, 
unflinching and hysterical look into 
marriage and family dynamics. Now 
in its third season, “Catastrophe” 
unspools the complexity of its protag-
onists and their unconventional rela-
tionship — while remaining hilarious 
as ever.

Unlike Season Two’s time leap, 

season three of “Catastrophe” begins 
right where it left off: The schlubby 
Rob (Delaney) asks about a receipt 
for a Plan B pill from his wife Sharon 

(Horgan), who drunkenly engaged 
in a quasi-affair with a stranger the 
night before. Though the infidel-
ity storyline only lingers for that first 
episode, it leads to an ongoing tension 
between the two hapless lovebirds 
that plays out as both entertaining 
and unnerving.

“We communicate on a wave-

length,” Rob tells his eccentric friend 
Chris (Mark Bonnar, “Undercover”) 
in the second episode. Even with this 
casual aside, the 
pain and lack of 
communication 
between Rob and 
Sharon goes much 
deeper than Sha-
ron’s 
one-night 

fluke. As each episode shows, the 
couple is still grappling with learning 
how to be fully-functioning adults, 
parenthood and marriage being 
the biggest obstacles to attaining 
that ideal. Along with confronting a 
thread of issues like house mortgag-
ing, job hunting and family discon-
nect, Rob and Sharon must come 
to terms with their own personal 
qualms that threaten to destroy their 
already dysfunctional marriage. 

What makes these characters so 

absorbing and different from any 
other TV couple is primarily due to 
the dynamism of Delaney and Hor-
gan’s on and offscreen partnership. 
They write and act out their roles so 
well they could easily pass for being 
a real-life couple, simply replaying 
their everyday experiences for a TV 
audience. Delaney infuses both a boy-
ish smugness and gentle vulnerability 
in Rob, while Horgan paints Sharon 
into a complex, frustrated wife whose 
indecision often conflicts with ambi-
tions of her own. Together, they’re 
comedy gold with a wicked hint of 
gravitas.

Despite a bit of a lull in the middle 

of season three — episodes three 
and four are not the strongest of the 
bunch — almost every moment feels 
like an important contribution to 
“Catastrophe”’s characters and over-
all narrative.

After being fired for a misunder-

standing involving a sexual harass-
ment complaint, Rob’s desire to find 
work is upended by his arrogance and 
day drinking. The arrogance aspect 
makes for some great comedic mate-
rial, as he zig zags his way through 
failed interviews with prospective 
employers. But the drinking aspect 

lands as much more troubling, and 
keeping that bad habit a secret from 
Sharon makes for a disheartening 
reveal in the season finale.

Meanwhile, Sharon struggles to 

make sense of her own self-worth, 
whether it’s being an underappreci-
ated elementary school teacher or an 
undervalued daughter and sister. But 
despite her vulgarity and immaturity, 
Sharon gains some closure with her-
self when dealing with her dementia-
riddled dad Des (Gary Lilburn) and 
childish brother Fergal (Jonathan 
Forbes, “Black Mirror”).

These moments of tenderness and 

melancholy, interspersed with Rob 
and Sharon’s shenanigans, pull hard 
at the heartstrings. It’s difficult to 
incorporate drama in a comedy with-
out making it seem trite, but “Catas-
trophe” tramples those expectations 
with grace. Season three’s unexpected 
cliffhanger is no exception; it’s as jaw-
dropping as it is heart-wrenching.

Despite being more serious than 

the first two seasons, the third season 
of “Catastrophe” still maintains its 
raunchy roots. It welcomes the return 
of Ashley Jensen (“Ugly Betty”) and 
Eileen Walsh (“Pure Mule”) as Sha-
ron’s kooky friends Fran and Kate, 

as well as a brief but amazing guest 
appearance from Domhnall Glee-
son (“Brooklyn”) as Rob’s reluctant 
recruitment consultant. Continuing 
the role of Rob’s mother from previous 
seasons, the late Carrie Fisher (“Star 
Wars: The Force Awakens”) delivers 
one of her greatest final performances, 
imbuing a sinister mix of black humor 
and pathos in her attempt to curb Rob 
from destroying his family with his 
alcoholism. 

With these layers lifted, “Catastro-

phe” gradually sheds from its risqué 
cocoon and blossoms into something 
much more substantial and potent. 
After all, the core of “Catastrophe”’s 
plot is the constant threat of disaster 
and how to handle those kinds of situ-
ations. As messy as Rob and Sharon are 
on their own, they find a way to come 
together even in the darkest of times. 
Their evolution from restless strang-
ers to a married couple is a journey 
that challenges the two to acknowl-
edge their imperfections instead of 
repressing them. But perhaps it’s their 
instinctual ability to achieve peace 
within themselves and one another 
during intense, earth-shattering fights 
that makes them, and “Catastrophe,” 
great to watch.

 TV REVIEW

 TV INTERVIEW

Catastrophe

Season 3 Review

Amazon

 

