Our latest Baker's Dozen victim is with actor Shawn Card! Now, some of you may be asking yourself Who the hell is Shawn Card? Okay, probably even most of you. Well just calm down, because he's about to tell us! So enjoy 13 questions with Shawn Card:
1) Please tell our loyal 13 readers who the hell you are.
First of all, you must really be desperate for interviews if you’re talking to me, but I’ll play along and try to sound entertaining and like I know what I’m talking about.
Well, my name is Shawn Card and I was one of the founders of a site called Metal Sludge and wrote as Jani Bon Neil, Ozzy Stillbourne, bastard boy floyd, and Donna Anderson. I’m no longer with the site and currently I’m out in Los Angeles acting and doing video production. I also have my own video production company and I directed/edited Lit’s DVD “All Access.” And finally, I also run their website, www.litlounge.com, and their MySpace profile at http://www.myspace.com/litlounge
2) What are you currently up to? This is your only chance to plug your shit.
This question really sounds familiar but I can’t put my finger on it. Anyway, I’m just going on auditions, getting ready to do level 2 at The Groundlings this Fall, working on some websites for people, and working on a new Lit video. I’m in a TV show for the BBC called “Only In America” where I play police officer Dwayne Pipe and that’s supposed to air on October 15th. It’s actually on cBBC, which is one of their channels over there.
3) Even though you’ve done a lot of music related projects, this is a site about TV, so we’re going to ask you a bunch of TV crap too. For instance: What’s on your Tivo season pass?
Good question! As of right now, I have:
WWE Raw
WWE Smackdown
Penn & Teller’s Bullshit
The Showbiz Show with David Spade
South Park
The Sopranos (when they start airing new shows)
The Office
4) You play Officer Dwayne Pipe in the new BBC comedy “Only in America.” Did you get to travel all over the United States? Or were all of your scenes actually shot on some sound stage in Canada?
Neither unfortunately. We did it all in L.A. over the course of a few days. I actually got sunburned during it because I was out in the sun all day and forgot to put sunscreen on. I’m not sure, but chances are you’ll see Officer Dwayne get redder and redder as the 1st season goes on!
Here's Shawn on the set of "Only in America" doing his best Barney Fife.
5) What’s your favorite British comedy? Or do you not have one because you don’t “get” British humor like 99% of Americans?
Right now my favorite British comedy is “The Office.” I also like “Mr. Bean.” And I definitely get British humor and like it a lot.
6) How long do you think it will be before an American network remakes “Only in America?”
Instead of remaking “Only In America,” I hope an American network sees the show and wants to give “Officer Dwayne Pipe” his own spinoff show!
7) What TV show should hang it up and call it a day?
99% of the reality TV shows, though I did like “Dancing With The Stars” because Kelly Monaco is hot. And Celebrity Fit Club 2 was good, as was Hogan Knows Best but for the most part, I’m totally over reality shows. Let’s start with “Real World” because that kinda started it all and is anything but ‘real.’ Not that I really care that much but that’s the best I came up with.
8) You produced a lot of footage for rock band Lit’s DVD “All Access”. How did you get into the Lit camp?
I was actually a fan of Lit since 1996 and really loved their first record “Tripping The Light Fantastic.” I was supposed to see them play in Toledo in 1997 but couldn’t make it to the show, so I didn’t end up seeing and meeting them until February 1999. It was when they were opening for Silverchair. I met the band after the show and everybody was very cool. They knew I did video production and I said it would be cool if I could do some stuff for them. They were coming back to Detroit a month later with Eve 6, so I asked them if I could film that show when they came back to town. So I filmed the show in March, and then they were back in Detroit in May and I filmed that too. I did Chicago a week later with them and the rest is history. I’ve filmed probably 500 + hours of Lit and put the best stuff in the DVD “All Access,” which is now in stores by the way! I have to say working with Lit doesn’t even seem like work. They’re really genuinely nice guys and we’re all good friends.
9) The Last of Shawn Card:
• Last audition you went on = A commercial for Harmon, which is a iPod holder for your car.
• Last “big role” you lost out on = The lead in “Wedding Crashers.” It was down to me and Owen Wilson and he beat me out. Actually, that’s a complete and total lie. I probably wouldn’t have been allowed to be an extra on that movie. I just wanted to write that to see what it felt like to say something like that. And it kinda felt nice. But I don’t know really. It depends on what you consider “big.” I guess the last “big” thing was an indie movie that was going to film in a jungle somewhere and that was in May.
• Last time you hooked up with a real hot chick just because of your association with Lit = That would be during their last tour last Fall 2004. Lit needs to tour more!
• Last celebrity you shook hands with = Chris Kattan at my improv class a month ago.
• Last CD you bought = I bought 3 today. Bon Jovi’s “Have A Nice Day,” Disturbed’s “Ten Thousand Fists” and….uh, the soundtrack to “Desperate Housewives.” Look, that wasn’t for me! Don’t look at me that way. It was for a friend of mine who has worked on the show. Really!
• Last time you listened to Tuff = Probably early 2004.
• Last time you cried = When I got your initial email about wanting to do 13 Questions with me.
10) Are you prepared to become a huge star in England, but not have anybody give a crap about you in the States? Much like Robbie Williams or Eddie Izzard?
That would work perfectly fine for me. If they need me to come over to England to entertain kids or something, I have no problem with that. It would be cool to be able to make a living at acting but be below the radar in the U.S. where you’re not having paparazzi taking your photos every 2 minutes.
11) After doing some extensive research, we found out that “Only in America” is actually a “kid’s show.” So, we’d like you to rate the following classic children’s shows on a scale of 1-10. Feel free to explain your rating:
Well, I don’t think it’s a “kid’s show” like the shows listed below. I was told it was more for teenagers. Yet what do I know? I haven’t seen the footage yet. Still, I like your question and will do my best.
• The Muppet Show = 10. I grew up watching The Muppet Show and they had cool musical acts like Alice Cooper. I always liked the humor and the two grumpy old men.
• The Electric Company = I was more of a fan of it’s predecessor Sesame Street. I don’t why though. I’ll give it a 5.
• Sesame Street = 10. I grew up watching that show. Good stuff!
• Fraggle Rock = I never got into Fraggle Rock. I think it was on HBO and we didn’t have HBO at the time or something. It looked cool and had ‘rock’ in the name, so I’ll give it a 7.
• The Great Space Coaster = I never heard of this show so I looked it up on IMDB.com and it said, “A kid's fantasy/variety show about three friends who leave Earth each day in their 'Space Coaster'. Each episode featured several musical numbers (usually dealing with the various issues and problems kids face every day), plus news reports from Gary Gnu and book reviews from Speed Reader.” Huh? I don’t know why I missed out on it. Maybe it was on too early in the morning for me or was up against wrestling on another channel. I don’t know. I give it a 8 because it sounds like the ride “Space Mountain” and I’d give Space Mountain an 8. There you go.
• Spongebob Squarepants = 10. I’m not totally up on my Spongebob but my friends that have kids swear by it, so that’s good enough for me.
• 3-2-1 Contact = Sorry, no clue on this one either, but I’ll add up 3-2-1 and give it a 6.
• You Can’t Do That on Television = Another one I didn’t watch but at least I heard of it. I like the rebellious nature of the name so I’ll give it a 6 as well. As you can see, I’m just pulling shit out of my ass.
What we can only assume is Shawn's headshot for Soap Opera auditions.
12) If you could be adopted by any TV family (past or present), who would it be?
My immediate answer to that would be The Sopranos, but on second thought, that not exactly the safest family to be apart of! So I’ll say The Dukes of The Dukes Of Hazzard because that looks like a fun family to hang out with and was one of my favorite shows growing up. I’d also say The Huxtables from the Cosby Show because that definitely seems like a fun house to live in.
13) You are also studying improv comedy with The Groundlings. Please give us your thoughts on the following alumni:
• Pat Morita = I know him from Happy Days and The Karate Kid. I’ve never really heard much about his Groundlings days, but he’s a great character actor.
• Phil Hartman = Great! My teacher at Groundlings worked with Phil there and always raved about how good Phil was. He held everything together and stole every scene he was in.
• Jon Lovitz = I’ve always liked him. He does stand-up a lot at The Laugh Factor on Sunset and I should check that out sometime. Not that you necessarily care, but I’m just trying to fill up space here.
• Paul Reubens = He developed his Pee Wee Herman character at The Groundlings. My improv teacher Kip King played Pee Wee’s dad at the time. And I have to say I did watch Pee Wee’s Playhouse. I give it a 9, just in case you wanted to know.
• Will Ferrell = My biggest influence at the moment! I love Anchorman and have repeated lines from that movie way too much. Will’s great and I’d love to meet him someday.
• Chris Kattan = He’s great! I’ve been taking an improv class with Chris’ dad (who was an original Groundling) for 2 years now and Chris drops in on the class from time to time. He’s always very funny, cool, and full of good information.
• Lisa Kudrow = I’ve never really seen her do any improv but I know the character she does on HBO’s “The Comeback” was a character she started at Groundlings.
• Cheri Oteri = I always liked her on SNL and wondered why she isn’t in more things currently.
So there you have it, folks! Now you know more than you ever needed about Shawn Card! Because we used to visit Metal Sludge all the time, we made these 13 questions quite similar to the ones seen there. Kinda of a tribute. Anyway, make sure to keep an eye out for "Only in America" if you live in England. If you live in America, I guess look for him waiting tables. Nah, just kidding, I'm sure he's on the fast track to success and will soon be a huge TV star who will always remember this defining moment in his career - TAG's 13 Questions!
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