Mocking a reviled despot, the pitiful human blunders leading up to the Lincoln assassination and the insanely sinister motives behind Columbus’ arrival in the New World, just some of the historical material that makes ELIZABETH SHAPIRO’s Crossroads of History delightfully engaging. Every Thursday class is in session on History Channel’s Night Class, a block of late night comedy specials which includes Shapiro’s Crossroads, Great Minds with Dan Harmon and How to Lose the Presidency. Shapiro is both creator, producer and star of the Crossroads project that unveils those critical points in history you may have never known about. The former Yale grad/opera singer/actress/writer/producer is full of surprises as she goes in depth about Crossroads, her thoughts on the musical Hamilton, and her penchant for Wolfie inspired desserts. Enjoy!
COMEDY CAKE: How did the “Crossroads” series evolve from an idea in your head to this wonderfully engaging part of “Night Class” on History?
ELIZABETH SHAPIRO: First of all, thanks! So glad you are digging the show. The show started out as just a single idea: I wanted to do a short film about the second time that Hitler applied to art school and was rejected. It was an event that always fascinated me – because it was the moment Hitler finally gave up his dream of becoming a painter and went in a – er – very different direction…. Here is this moment that is so incredibly important – and yet it must have seemed insanely mundane. Little did the admissions officers know they were royally fucking the entire world. These accidental – and forgotten – villains of history fascinate me (as an admitted huge nerd). So I got a bunch of my comedy friends together – and we filmed what turned out to be the pilot of the show. It was such a blast to shoot that we all started thinking about how to turn this into something bigger. I’m a big fan of dark comedy – and, fortunately for me (not so much for humanity), history is ripe with morbid comedic fodder. I became fascinated with the idea of finding these other incredibly fateful moments in history – that for some reason have largely gone untold.
CAKE: Did you set out to both entertain and educate an audience that may not be familiar with some of these pivotal moments from our past? (BTW, you have achieved both beautifully.)
ELIZABETH: Aw shucks – thanks. Yes, that was definitely the goal. I’m a big fan of Monty Python – and comics like Eddie Izzard who are able to so effortlessly make history hilarious – so it’s definitely a type of comedy that I’m drawn to. I’m not one of those comics who draws much inspiration from my own life (because it is sadly pretty boring) – so I look to other places for inspiration. I think history is the most important subject in a lot of ways. For some reason we talk about history like it’s in the past and irrelevant to our lives. But we are living the consequences of it. It’s no more in the past than the pizza I binged on last week is in the past. Yeah, sure it technically happened last week…but consequently, now my pants don’t zip up. I liked the idea of reminding people that history is consequential – and very present in our lives.
In the course of researching and writing the show – I was also shocked to find out how fragile the equilibrium of the world is. It’s scary – but important – to realize that one moron can truly fuck up the world in an instant. More often than not, the folks who change the world (for good and bad) are random folks you’ve never heard of – who don’t make it into the history books (be it Archduke Ferdinand’s driver who took a wrong turn and caused WWI….or the old as fuck Union Soldier who accidentally saved the Union).
CAKE: How did you go about choosing which historical crossroads would captivate your viewers the most?
ELIZABETH: Mostly just doing lots and lots of research. I tried to pick moments that weren’t just fateful – but also had interesting characters that had been lost to history. John Frederick Parker is a great example – a hilarious and tragic character who’s largely been forgotten. He was Lincoln’s alcoholic bodyguard and the reason Lincoln got assassinated (cause he left his post the night of the Ford Theater to get wasted in the bar next door… where John Wilkes Booth was also getting some liquid courage!) John Frederick Parker is one of these guys who just kept failing upwards. He was a raging alcoholic who had fucked up at every turn on the DC police force – but just kept getting promoted. My favorite JFP story – is when he was found passed out on a trolley car. His superior asked him to explain why he was passed out and not patrolling the streets as he was supposed to – and JFP’s response was, “he had heard ducks quacking on the car – and had gone on board to investigate.” This is the guy who was then entrusted to protect Lincoln, and the rest…is history.
CAKE: What percentage of the series is improvised?
ELIZABETH: It depended on the episode. We had to shoot each episode in a day – so there wasn’t as much time for improv as I know we all would have liked a lot of times. But we definitely got a fair amount in. When you have improv geniuses on set like Paul Scheer and John Michael Higgins (to name just a couple) – you let them riff. I actually met Paul on set of “The League” which is all improvised (I played his girlfriend in one of the episodes). So I knew that he and I had a good improv chemistry. I’m a huge fan of improv – so try to incorporate it as much as possible in my work.
CAKE: What have been some of your favorite scenes in taping Crossroads? Any bloopers that made you laugh out loud?
ELIZABETH: So many fun scenes – honestly, this show has been such a joy to create and work on. The Lincoln episode we shot was an overnight shoot – and we were all staying in a haunted hotel – so the cast decided to get drunk after we wrapped and have a séance. No ghosts appeared that night – but – then when I was looking at this one photo I took of Angela Kinsey and Brian Baumgartner, there was this weird white shadow which was mysteriously in the picture….
CAKE: Spooky!
CAKE: Were you involved in deciding which actors/comedians would play each role? I would have never thought of Josh Fadem in the role of the Führer, but it totally worked!
ELIZABETH: I know – he nailed that part. I basically stalked him to get him to play it. I knew he would kill the role (no pun intended) – but I think originally he was slightly apprehensive about playing – you know – Hitler, being a Jew and all. But I couldn’t get him out of my head for the role – and so I harassed his agents and friends to get him to do it. Fortunately, instead of taking out a restraining order – he decided to play the part!
In answer to your question – yeah, I was involved in all of the casting. We lucked out in getting insanely talented folks to be in each episode – from Lou Diamond Phillips to Jack McBrayer to Michael Mando to Ben Feldman to Wayne Knight….
CAKE: Have you had to tone down any of your scripts or were you given a lot of freedom with the content?
ELIZABETH: So much freedom – it’s been amazing. Maker and Trium (my producing partners) have been super supportive about the edgy tone of the show and dreams to work with. There have been a couple jokes that have been axed for being too offensive (one Anne Frank joke, in particular) – but mostly the stuff that gets cut are the jokes that are just super nerdy to the point where no one finds them funny but me. (What? No one else finds jokes about medial s’s in olde English typeface hilarious?) But yeah, mostly, I’ve been able to do whatever I want. It’s been wonderful.
CAKE: If given the opportunity would you consider swapping series with Dan Harmon for an episode and working on an episode of Great Minds? What “mind” would you pick to dissect first?
ELIZABETH: Ah yes – that sounds like so much fun. He already did Beethoven who probably would have been my pick – largely because I had the biggest crush on him in high school. Yes, that’s right – while other girls had posters of boy bands in their bedrooms – I had a bust of Beethoven who I was madly in love with. He was my ‘NSYNC. (Not even a little bit joking.) So casting aside my necrophilia fantasies ….I’d have to say Cleopatra. She was one amazingly badass bitch. She was brilliant and fascinating (she spoke like 9 languages) – and presided over an incredibly progressive city of Alexandria. (Women owned a third of the real estate – and had birth control…in 45 B.C.). She was captivating – despite the fact that she wasn’t actually attractive (despite what Hollywood wants to tell you). Unfortunately, she’s mostly just known for being the Yoko Ono of Rome – and for her romance with Mark Antony. But she’s way more interesting than that – and I’m sure would be one fun lady to get wasted with. (Her parties were legendary). She even created a drinking club called the Society of the Inimitable Livers.
CAKE: Now that’s one free-spirited woman!
CAKE: When you were researching the characters you’ve focused on in “Crossroads,” did you ever feel a bit of compassion for these poor souls?
ELIZABETH: Oh yes, all the time. I adore people with flaws – they are the most fun folks to write (and play as an actor). But I also definitely had fun screwing with some of the more insidious folks in history (looking at you, Columbus).
CAKE: Having been a student of opera, will we be getting a taste of your vocal skills in any upcoming episodes?
ELIZABETH: Ha ha – I wish. There was one episode where I was going to sing an opera song about anal fistulas… but we ran out of time to shoot… so that got cut. I’m always looking for ways to combine opera and comedy. So far, the only way I’ve really been able to to do it – is I sang the opera opening to Jackass 3D (which is definitely one of my proudest credits). But hopefully if there’s a season 2….
CAKE: Fingers crossed!
CAKE: Speaking of singing, have you already seen Hamilton? The musical seems to have brought lesser known historical figures into the limelight again. What do you think this means for history storytelling beyond Broadway?
ELIZABETH: I would LOVE TO SEE HAMILTON. (So anyone reading this and has any ability to get me tickets – please tweet me at @lizzyshaps) Between Hamilton and Drunk History, Great Minds – there’s so many folks finding innovative and hilarious ways to marry comedy and history. It’s an exciting time to be in that arena. I am a HUGE fan of Broadway. My background is theater (I did a million shows at Yale and in regional theaters) – so it’s incredibly exciting to see shows like Hamilton and Book of Mormon reinventing what musicals can be. I’d love to find a way to get back to performing on the stage. It’d be fun to try to team up with some one to write an edgy musical or opera. Which segues perfectly into….
CAKE: Lin-Manuel Miranda, are you reading?!
CAKE: If you had the chance to make opera uber cool to the uninitiated, which storyline would you love to work with first?
ELIZABETH: Oh man – you are reading my thoughts. I am desperate to find a way to marry my love of opera and comedy. I’ve got a TV idea in the works – so hopefully that will work. Opera is a hilarious and quirky world. One of my friends who works at one of the best opera houses in the world (which shall remain nameless) was telling me about an opera singer who blow-dries her pubic hair before she goes on stage. It’s a fabulous and funny world – so I’d love to explore it.
CAKE: That’s one hell of a blowout.
CAKE: What projects do you have lined up (that you are allowed to gush about)?
ELIZABETH: Well, I’ve got two TV pilot scripts that I’m really passionate about – both that Red Hour are producing (Ben Stiller’s company). One that Ben Stiller is attached to direct. They are both dark but grounded comedies. This is such an exciting and limitlessly creative time for TV – so that’s definitely the medium I’m most interest in at the moment.
CAKE: If we were having a proper pre-show meal before a performance of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” (we are now official opera bffs, btw), what dessert would be your pick to nosh on?
ELIZABETH: First of all – can’t tell you how excited I am to have someone who wants to come to the opera with me! Mozart had a very naughty and bawdy sense of humor (the lyrics to his songs are DIRTY) – so in honor of him, I’d suggest the kind of x-rated desserts you eat at Bachelorette parties – like cupcakes with chocolate penises on them. I think Wolfie would approve of that.
CAKE: Tea time is on!
Mentions: Watch Crossroads of History on HISTORY Channel’s Night Class Thursdays 11:30/10:30C. Follow Elizabeth on Twitter, if you dare. Also, get this genius woman hooked up with some Hamilton tickets STAT!