In the Moment with Carrie Clifford

Carrie Clifford lives in Los Angeles where she works as an actor and writer. She is originally from Boston, but doesn’t have an accent. Carrie studied improv in Chicago at: iO, Second City and The Annoyance. In LA, she trained at The Groundlings and Second City. Her two-person improv show, Razowsky & Clifford, performs regularly at iO West and at improv fests across the country. She is half of the stand-up act: Sky & Nancy Collins who have appeared on: Last Call with Carson Daly and Last Comic Standing. Carrie can be seen in Broken Lizard’s latest movie, The Slammin’ Salmon. She has appeared in a variety of TV shows like: Hollywood Residential, Trust Me, Carpoolers, Lovespring International. Carrie is currently dealing with an addiction to Twizzlers.

How were you first introduced to improv comedy?

In college (Colgate University), there was an improv group and I loved going to their shows. Part of me wanted to audition for that group, but I played lacrosse at Colgate and there was no way I could do both. After college I moved to Chicago. A friend of mine from work suggested we take an improv class as a way to meet guys! Apparently her sister had a ton of cute guys in her improv class. So we started taking classes at Player's Workshop. I didn't meet any potential mates, not one, but I fell in love with improv.

How did Razowsky and Clifford originate?

I knew Dave from Chicago, but I don't think he knew who I was. Dave was the Artistic Director of LA's Second City and one of the best improv teachers around, in my opinion. He ran a great program for Second City graduates. I took Dave's class, and at some point, he said to me, "Let's do a show together." And I was like, "Hell, yeah!" We got a slot at iO. Had one rehearsal. Then did our first show in May of 2005. And the rest, as they say, is history.

What is the form for Razowsky and Clifford and how does it inspire your scenes?

Basically, to start our show -- we each grab a chair and move around the stage until an audience member says "stop." The position of the chairs inspires that first scene and then we edit each scene by moving the chairs to a new position. Dave does an exercise in his classes based on moving the chairs. It's fun to see how much inspiration the positioning of two chairs can provide. Not only can it help determine the location of the scene, but also the proximity of the chairs to each other can dictate a lot. The whereabouts of the chairs on the stage is interesting to play with. It's fun to think, "I haven't been down stage left in awhile, let's see what will happen."

What do you enjoy the most about playing with Dave Razowsky?

Oh gosh, there is so much! I can't just name one thing. He is so playful. I have so much fun, in every show, and really isn't that what this is all about. I know he'll support me in whatever I do, and likewise I'll support him. We work so well together, yet we have very different styles. Dave is genius in his space work! The man can sew a wedding dress or weld the space shuttle. He does amazing space work in every scene. I, on the other hand, will often get through a scene and have not touched a damn thing! Dave likes to touch and feel and be emotional, I do not. The more emotional he gets on stage, the more stoic I get. It's a balance. And then the scene needs to change and the whole dynamic shifts.

Razowsky and Clifford have made improvised short films like Ovened Bread, Mediterranean Diet, and Mammoth in real settings. How do you like improvising for the camera compared to in front of an audience?

We love making those improvised shorts! They are each shot with two cameras and in one take. My husband, Paul Boese, shoots them and essentially improvises as he arbitrarily goes back and forth between two cameras. Paul also edits the shorts. Obviously, we don't have the audience reaction, which makes the process different from the stage. I love that we are still creating something from nothing. We haven't been working from a premise. We just start, so it is really similar to our show.

You perform sketch and stand up comedy with Clifford and Kidd and Sky and Nancy Collins. How does improvisation help you with your writing?

Amy Kidd and I met at Second City. We definitely use improv when we're writing, be it sketches or scripts. I do Sky & Nancy with Marc Evan Jackson who I also met at Second City. We do stand-up as a couple from Orange County, CA. The stand up is ultimately very scripted, but we often arrive at a joke through improv. It's great having an improv background on that stand-up stage -- things don't throw you as much.

Can you tell us about the two latest movies you will be appearing in (The Slammin' Salmon with Will Forte from SNL and Freeloaders with Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall)?

I'm not sure that Freeloaders will ever see the light of day. Hopefully that changes, but I think there are some issues between the producers and the director. I do know there is a screening in LA on October 1st followed by a Counting Crows concert (Adam Duritz is a producer, and the movie is basically about people freeloading off him). We'll see what happens. Slammin' Salmon, on the other hand, is out on DVD! It's the latest movie from Broken Lizard. It was really fun to work on. I've been friends with the Broken Lizard guys for years -- we all went to Colgate. The movie takes place in a restaurant and I play the hostess. I got to do a lot of improvising. My scene with Will Forte was cut out, but I do get repeatedly fondled by Michael Clarke Duncan! He plays the owner of the restaurant, so it was pretty inappropriate for him to fondle his employee. Michael was being too polite -- I had to give him lessons in groping and assure him he could be ruder!

Do you have any other projects coming up?

Gillian Vigman and I sold a series to Funny or Die Presents on HBO. It's called Baby Boss. It will air in January. Gillian and I play executive assistants working in an office where everyone else is a...baby boy. We got to improvise with babies. I'm talking little babies, the kind that don't talk yet. Six-month-old to sixteen-month-old baby boys. At one point we had eleven crying babies. It was pretty awesome. It can be quite exhausting improvising with babies and you truly never know what's going to happen. Gillian and I have been friends since college. She was in that college improv group I spoke about earlier. Look at that, I ended with a callback!