SuicideGirls has been giving a lot of insight to the people who are behind the scenes in modern comedy. People like Troy Miller, Neal Brennan and now Nick McKinney are not the names that are on everyones lips when you mention sketch comedy but without those three people we wouldnt have some of the funniest stuff on television. McKinney is another Canadian who started out in the sketch comedy troupe Vacant Lot, had a show on Comedy Central that Lorne Michaels produced back in the early 90s. Since then McKinney has been a producer/writer/director on Michael Moores The Awful Truth, The Daily Show and Insomniac with Dave Attell. McKinney also is the brother of Marc McKinney one of the founders of The Kids in the Hall.
McKinneys work has been so well received that he recently established his own production company, Borderline Productions, with partners Dave Hamilton and Mala Chapple. Their latest work is three comedy specials called Straight Plan For The Gay Man which is the first stand alone parody of Bravos Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Three very straight guys known as The Flab Four take an innocent gay man and transform him and his apartment into the ultimate straight man.
Here is the schedule for when Straight Plan For The Gay Man airs on Comedy Central
Daniel Robert Epstein:Howd you find the four guys who are the Flab Four on Straight Plan For The Gay Man? I know three of them have appeared at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Nick McKinney: I knew of them through UCB and Ive been down there a few times. But essentially we held a casting call in conjunction with Comedy Central casting. I said I was looking for people who had an improv rather than a standup background. Its an unscripted show that takes place in the real world so I wanted people that could roll with it. We ended up with three guys from UCB [Curtis Gwynn, Billy Merritt and Rob Riggle] and Kyle [Grooms] who is a standup comedian.
DRE: How did you find the gay guys?
NM: Just another open casting call through sort of unconventional means. We hired a local casting agent who put ads up on Craigs List and queer friendly websites. It was largely done through the internet. We didnt explain completely what the show was because we didnt want people coming in with preconceived notions. But we essentially solicited fabulous gay men who might want to take on the task on passing themselves off as straight for a day.
DRE: Were any of the gay guys people who auditioned to be on Queer Eye?
NM: Not that I know of.
DRE: Was the show harder or easier to do than what you thought?
NM: Our production schedule was pretty nuts just from a practical point of view. But it got easier once we laid out what the groundwork was going to be which wasnt that hard because there was no script. There were a few things for me that the show was and wasnt.
DRE: Like what?
NM: I didnt want to do a show that was gay bashing. A show that was inclusive and would mine its humor by playing with straight stereotypes. Also to not put the gay subjects in the position that the people on Queer Eye usually are where they kneel at the altar of wisdom whether its good or bad. They never react or comment on it, I wanted some interplay to be there. But all that said, once I created this thing I wanted it to work in the real world. This was a real process and they really did spend four days fine tuning the worst of their inner straight guy to see if they could pass themselves off in the end.
DRE: There is also lot of subtext implying that the straight guys are a bit gay as well.
NM: There is a lot of teasing on both sides. I really didnt want to deal with the stereotypes that all queer guys are pussies and all straight guys are jocks. There is a gray area there in the real world and the comedy world so if you just amplify it a bit then you get that weird does he or doesnt he kind of approach. The main thing to me is that the show is inclusive, no gay bashing and it still stands up as a good solid parody of the best and worst Queer Eye. Things like the shameless product placement and the false sense of mission urgency.
DRE: When did this concept come up?
NM: It was pitched to Comedy Central just as a one or two line idea. Then they brought it to me and my company to develop and execute it. I first heard about it in mid to late September. We were shooting about five weeks later. It was a very quick turnaround.
DRE: How hard was it to control the four straight guys? Did you have to ever reel them in?
NM: It was 50/50. I said the same thing to those guys that I said to our queer subjects which was Dont act. Try to avoid acting. There were all people I cast because they had strong personalities and were naturally funny. They didnt have to be anything but themselves for it to work. There were long shoot days so sometimes it was a matter of pumping it back up and other times it was a matter of reining it in.
DRE: Is it nice to get guys out there who arent so handsome?
NM: Well I think its a few things. One thing I liked about them is that for the most part they didnt have a whole lot of TV experience. I like working with new talent because theres an energy there. I think they are a good looking bunch of guys in their own way.
DRE: So you have only done three specials. Is it going to get picked up as a series?
NM: There was never any intention for it to go beyond three hours. Its a parody and as such you could only stretch the premise so far. I think three one hours stretched it about as far as it could go.
DRE: Did you get any free stuff out of it?
NM: Yeah I think I got a couple of beer glasses. Like I said we sort of went out of our way to play up that shameless plug factor so we actually did get a lot of sponsors. The Dodge Ram, our straightmobile, was donated to us. There is also some weird Rolling Rock stuff kicking around our office like neon signs and such.
DRE: Was there anything too wild to go on the air?
NM: There was nothing that was censored but there was stuff I chose not to put in the shows. That was mostly because we shot a lot of stuff so some stuff fell by the wayside. There werent any entire ideas removed but maybe some little gags.
DRE: What do you think of the actual Fab Five?
NM: I think they have charm. That show is so easy to parody so I dont see how one episode of Queer Eye is much different from another episode. I think they have a great template and those guys can operate within it. But episode to episode its all very similar. Theyre likable, brassy or sassy. Honestly I find the ideas that they traffic in a little too conventional.
DRE: Did you guys get any kind of letter from Bravo?
NM: I think there was a letter of inquiry sent but youd have to check with Comedy Central. I think it ended there.
DRE: When did you put together Borderline Productions, your production company?
NM: Well my two partners and I have been working on things together for the past four years but the company officially became a company in May of 2003 and its been a busy first year.
DRE: What else are you doing now?
NM: Were doing a 6 episode travel series for Spike TV and the working title is The Ultimate Guy's Vacation. Its based on viewer submissions about what they think the best holiday should be. We have three travelers who go out and experience these adventure holidays around the world. Weve been to New Zealand, Thailand, Australia and my partner is in-between Rio and Zermatt filming the last two. Thats been a pretty wild ride. We also still do Insomniac [with Dave Attell] one hour specials.
DRE: Why did Dave Attell decide to end the regular series?
NM: It was becoming very hard to shoot the show in the States. I produced and directed the pilot so Ive seen it since the beginning. I think the charm of the show was that Dave is sort of the everyman who is the fly on the wall. He was undone by his own celebrity. It got to the point where if we were filming in a town people would follow us everywhere; it was like we were leading a parade. On top of that when people did talk to Dave they were very camera savvy and had their ten second sound bite ready or they wanted to talk about the show. So now were doing quarterly one hours for Comedy Central. Were going further abroad like were filming a show in Rio during Carnivale. Then in March were going to Tokyo. We hope to keep doing those because the network likes them and it puts Dave in a place where he can be the consummate fish out of water guy nobody knows.
DRE: I was going to ask what your family Thanksgivings are like because of you and your brother but Canadians dont have that holiday.
NM: We do but we have it a month earlier than you. Its not as a big of a holiday. Its not particularly wild and wooly, its just like everyone elses.
DRE: Why does Canada breed sketch comedians?
NM: I think part is it geography. Most Canadians grow up within 75 miles of the US border even though weve got this enormous country. Nobody ever explained Manifest Destiny to us. Were raised on American culture because of cable. In Canada there are only three networks so you see a lot of American TV and you learn an awful lot about America but you know it isnt yours so its a lot easier to take the piss out of it.
DRE: What about specifically your family?
NM: Were just weird [laughs]. Honestly I have no idea my brother and I started doing stuff at around the same time but we were 2000 miles apart. He was in Calgary and I was in Ottawa and Toronto. Everyone in my family is funny but no one is doing shtick at the dinner table.
Me and my brothers common background was [Monty] Python. We both memorized every single Python album there was. That was what we did when we were kids. We werent generating bold new characters. We could quote verbatim just a good 12 hours of Python.
DRE: Did your brother send Lorne Michaels to see Vacant Lot?
NM: No. we were doing shows at the same club that The Kids had come out of in Toronto, The Rivoli, which is a place people used to frequently scout. I think the guy who found us was named Jim Biederman. He saw our show and liked it. So we got flown to New York for comedy boot camp for four months to learn how to write for TV then we went back to shoot the show in Canada.
DRE: How did you end up behind the camera?
NM: When the Vacant Lot wrapped up after its short but glorious run, Vito Viscomi who was part of the cast, and I moved to New York because we were the two guys who were never really comfortable with acting. We liked writing more. The other guys moved to LA. Vito and I produced an hour long live webcast online show for Microsoft with Marc Maron which was their first attempt at online programming. We did 13 of those out of Catch a Rising Star. It was a great show, we had people like Phil Hartman on but unfortunately the only people who saw it were the executives from Microsoft. I like to think of it as the $6 million mistake because the one thing Microsoft had was a shitload of money to throw at problems. Then I went on to work for Michael Moore as a writer but writing for Michael you also end up with a lot of field producing experience. Thats when I started transitioning behind the camera.
DRE: So its really been the Insomniac show thats made you well known in terms of how well known you are.
NM: If at all. I was working on The Daily Show off and on for two years and Michaels show [The Awful Truth] taught me a lot. But definitely Insomniac has been the longest run Ive had, it got me the executive producer credit and put me in the position to start Borderline.
DRE: What do you think your specialty is?
NM: My specialty or my interest? Because theyre not necessarily the same.
My background in Canada was half comedy and half documentary. So Ive ended up doing that. Most of the shows were doing now are, I hate the term reality TV because its a misnomer, but I enjoy dealing with real things. I dont think my future is in scripted comedy. I like the immediacy of Insomniac or Straight Plan. You just wind it up and let it go. It keeps your brain active because youre constantly looking for opportunities. Thats our companys niche. In terms of my interest Im interested in long form documentaries and thats something Id like to get back to. I created, wrote and researched a film for six years in the Arctic [The Herd]. Maybe not necessarily doing stuff for film in the future. I dont know if Im that high faluting anymore so maybe for TV.
DRE: Straight Plan takes advantage of New York comedy people.
NM: I love New York. Thats not to say I hate LA but I like New York because it makes you constantly deal with people. Its a stimulating place and there is so much talent here.
DRE: Is there much difference between the talent in New York and the talent in LA?
NM: Yeah its the same thing I like about Toronto. When I was there doing sketch comedy it wasnt like we had to get something together so somebody would give us a TV show. It was just a bunch of people fucking around on stage because we enjoyed performing. In LA people tend to skew towards getting something going fast and dont give themselves a chance to develop their own take on things. In New York I think stuff is fresher.
DRE: Did you go to college?
NM: No Im a high school dropout. I started doing comedy when I was 15. I was doing sketch, improv and writing really bad one act plays.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
McKinneys work has been so well received that he recently established his own production company, Borderline Productions, with partners Dave Hamilton and Mala Chapple. Their latest work is three comedy specials called Straight Plan For The Gay Man which is the first stand alone parody of Bravos Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Three very straight guys known as The Flab Four take an innocent gay man and transform him and his apartment into the ultimate straight man.
Here is the schedule for when Straight Plan For The Gay Man airs on Comedy Central
Daniel Robert Epstein:Howd you find the four guys who are the Flab Four on Straight Plan For The Gay Man? I know three of them have appeared at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Nick McKinney: I knew of them through UCB and Ive been down there a few times. But essentially we held a casting call in conjunction with Comedy Central casting. I said I was looking for people who had an improv rather than a standup background. Its an unscripted show that takes place in the real world so I wanted people that could roll with it. We ended up with three guys from UCB [Curtis Gwynn, Billy Merritt and Rob Riggle] and Kyle [Grooms] who is a standup comedian.
DRE: How did you find the gay guys?
NM: Just another open casting call through sort of unconventional means. We hired a local casting agent who put ads up on Craigs List and queer friendly websites. It was largely done through the internet. We didnt explain completely what the show was because we didnt want people coming in with preconceived notions. But we essentially solicited fabulous gay men who might want to take on the task on passing themselves off as straight for a day.
DRE: Were any of the gay guys people who auditioned to be on Queer Eye?
NM: Not that I know of.
DRE: Was the show harder or easier to do than what you thought?
NM: Our production schedule was pretty nuts just from a practical point of view. But it got easier once we laid out what the groundwork was going to be which wasnt that hard because there was no script. There were a few things for me that the show was and wasnt.
DRE: Like what?
NM: I didnt want to do a show that was gay bashing. A show that was inclusive and would mine its humor by playing with straight stereotypes. Also to not put the gay subjects in the position that the people on Queer Eye usually are where they kneel at the altar of wisdom whether its good or bad. They never react or comment on it, I wanted some interplay to be there. But all that said, once I created this thing I wanted it to work in the real world. This was a real process and they really did spend four days fine tuning the worst of their inner straight guy to see if they could pass themselves off in the end.
DRE: There is also lot of subtext implying that the straight guys are a bit gay as well.
NM: There is a lot of teasing on both sides. I really didnt want to deal with the stereotypes that all queer guys are pussies and all straight guys are jocks. There is a gray area there in the real world and the comedy world so if you just amplify it a bit then you get that weird does he or doesnt he kind of approach. The main thing to me is that the show is inclusive, no gay bashing and it still stands up as a good solid parody of the best and worst Queer Eye. Things like the shameless product placement and the false sense of mission urgency.
DRE: When did this concept come up?
NM: It was pitched to Comedy Central just as a one or two line idea. Then they brought it to me and my company to develop and execute it. I first heard about it in mid to late September. We were shooting about five weeks later. It was a very quick turnaround.
DRE: How hard was it to control the four straight guys? Did you have to ever reel them in?
NM: It was 50/50. I said the same thing to those guys that I said to our queer subjects which was Dont act. Try to avoid acting. There were all people I cast because they had strong personalities and were naturally funny. They didnt have to be anything but themselves for it to work. There were long shoot days so sometimes it was a matter of pumping it back up and other times it was a matter of reining it in.
DRE: Is it nice to get guys out there who arent so handsome?
NM: Well I think its a few things. One thing I liked about them is that for the most part they didnt have a whole lot of TV experience. I like working with new talent because theres an energy there. I think they are a good looking bunch of guys in their own way.
DRE: So you have only done three specials. Is it going to get picked up as a series?
NM: There was never any intention for it to go beyond three hours. Its a parody and as such you could only stretch the premise so far. I think three one hours stretched it about as far as it could go.
DRE: Did you get any free stuff out of it?
NM: Yeah I think I got a couple of beer glasses. Like I said we sort of went out of our way to play up that shameless plug factor so we actually did get a lot of sponsors. The Dodge Ram, our straightmobile, was donated to us. There is also some weird Rolling Rock stuff kicking around our office like neon signs and such.
DRE: Was there anything too wild to go on the air?
NM: There was nothing that was censored but there was stuff I chose not to put in the shows. That was mostly because we shot a lot of stuff so some stuff fell by the wayside. There werent any entire ideas removed but maybe some little gags.
DRE: What do you think of the actual Fab Five?
NM: I think they have charm. That show is so easy to parody so I dont see how one episode of Queer Eye is much different from another episode. I think they have a great template and those guys can operate within it. But episode to episode its all very similar. Theyre likable, brassy or sassy. Honestly I find the ideas that they traffic in a little too conventional.
DRE: Did you guys get any kind of letter from Bravo?
NM: I think there was a letter of inquiry sent but youd have to check with Comedy Central. I think it ended there.
DRE: When did you put together Borderline Productions, your production company?
NM: Well my two partners and I have been working on things together for the past four years but the company officially became a company in May of 2003 and its been a busy first year.
DRE: What else are you doing now?
NM: Were doing a 6 episode travel series for Spike TV and the working title is The Ultimate Guy's Vacation. Its based on viewer submissions about what they think the best holiday should be. We have three travelers who go out and experience these adventure holidays around the world. Weve been to New Zealand, Thailand, Australia and my partner is in-between Rio and Zermatt filming the last two. Thats been a pretty wild ride. We also still do Insomniac [with Dave Attell] one hour specials.
DRE: Why did Dave Attell decide to end the regular series?
NM: It was becoming very hard to shoot the show in the States. I produced and directed the pilot so Ive seen it since the beginning. I think the charm of the show was that Dave is sort of the everyman who is the fly on the wall. He was undone by his own celebrity. It got to the point where if we were filming in a town people would follow us everywhere; it was like we were leading a parade. On top of that when people did talk to Dave they were very camera savvy and had their ten second sound bite ready or they wanted to talk about the show. So now were doing quarterly one hours for Comedy Central. Were going further abroad like were filming a show in Rio during Carnivale. Then in March were going to Tokyo. We hope to keep doing those because the network likes them and it puts Dave in a place where he can be the consummate fish out of water guy nobody knows.
DRE: I was going to ask what your family Thanksgivings are like because of you and your brother but Canadians dont have that holiday.
NM: We do but we have it a month earlier than you. Its not as a big of a holiday. Its not particularly wild and wooly, its just like everyone elses.
DRE: Why does Canada breed sketch comedians?
NM: I think part is it geography. Most Canadians grow up within 75 miles of the US border even though weve got this enormous country. Nobody ever explained Manifest Destiny to us. Were raised on American culture because of cable. In Canada there are only three networks so you see a lot of American TV and you learn an awful lot about America but you know it isnt yours so its a lot easier to take the piss out of it.
DRE: What about specifically your family?
NM: Were just weird [laughs]. Honestly I have no idea my brother and I started doing stuff at around the same time but we were 2000 miles apart. He was in Calgary and I was in Ottawa and Toronto. Everyone in my family is funny but no one is doing shtick at the dinner table.
Me and my brothers common background was [Monty] Python. We both memorized every single Python album there was. That was what we did when we were kids. We werent generating bold new characters. We could quote verbatim just a good 12 hours of Python.
DRE: Did your brother send Lorne Michaels to see Vacant Lot?
NM: No. we were doing shows at the same club that The Kids had come out of in Toronto, The Rivoli, which is a place people used to frequently scout. I think the guy who found us was named Jim Biederman. He saw our show and liked it. So we got flown to New York for comedy boot camp for four months to learn how to write for TV then we went back to shoot the show in Canada.
DRE: How did you end up behind the camera?
NM: When the Vacant Lot wrapped up after its short but glorious run, Vito Viscomi who was part of the cast, and I moved to New York because we were the two guys who were never really comfortable with acting. We liked writing more. The other guys moved to LA. Vito and I produced an hour long live webcast online show for Microsoft with Marc Maron which was their first attempt at online programming. We did 13 of those out of Catch a Rising Star. It was a great show, we had people like Phil Hartman on but unfortunately the only people who saw it were the executives from Microsoft. I like to think of it as the $6 million mistake because the one thing Microsoft had was a shitload of money to throw at problems. Then I went on to work for Michael Moore as a writer but writing for Michael you also end up with a lot of field producing experience. Thats when I started transitioning behind the camera.
DRE: So its really been the Insomniac show thats made you well known in terms of how well known you are.
NM: If at all. I was working on The Daily Show off and on for two years and Michaels show [The Awful Truth] taught me a lot. But definitely Insomniac has been the longest run Ive had, it got me the executive producer credit and put me in the position to start Borderline.
DRE: What do you think your specialty is?
NM: My specialty or my interest? Because theyre not necessarily the same.
My background in Canada was half comedy and half documentary. So Ive ended up doing that. Most of the shows were doing now are, I hate the term reality TV because its a misnomer, but I enjoy dealing with real things. I dont think my future is in scripted comedy. I like the immediacy of Insomniac or Straight Plan. You just wind it up and let it go. It keeps your brain active because youre constantly looking for opportunities. Thats our companys niche. In terms of my interest Im interested in long form documentaries and thats something Id like to get back to. I created, wrote and researched a film for six years in the Arctic [The Herd]. Maybe not necessarily doing stuff for film in the future. I dont know if Im that high faluting anymore so maybe for TV.
DRE: Straight Plan takes advantage of New York comedy people.
NM: I love New York. Thats not to say I hate LA but I like New York because it makes you constantly deal with people. Its a stimulating place and there is so much talent here.
DRE: Is there much difference between the talent in New York and the talent in LA?
NM: Yeah its the same thing I like about Toronto. When I was there doing sketch comedy it wasnt like we had to get something together so somebody would give us a TV show. It was just a bunch of people fucking around on stage because we enjoyed performing. In LA people tend to skew towards getting something going fast and dont give themselves a chance to develop their own take on things. In New York I think stuff is fresher.
DRE: Did you go to college?
NM: No Im a high school dropout. I started doing comedy when I was 15. I was doing sketch, improv and writing really bad one act plays.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
i met nick a while ago when insomniac filmed in boise and my hubby brian worked on local crew. he was such a nice guy...and even paid for my food at the greasy spoon we were at.