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"FacebookPinterest\n\nImprov fanatics are already clued in to the hilarious antics of Chris Gethard. He's become a stand-out among the Upright Citizens Brigade and the underground comedy scene for a few years now. Now the funny man is taking his show to a bigger stage with former SNL pros Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell on Comedy Central's Big Lake\u2014a sitcom about the misadventures of a burned out teacher (Parnell), a fun-loving ex-convict (Sanz), and a former Wall Streeter (Gethard)\u2014which premieres tomorrow at 10PM. We swung by the set during filming to get the trio's take on dieting, how to be an asshole, and what it takes to make a living in comedy these days.\n\nSo how did you all get involved in the project?\n\n SANZ: Well, Chris [Parnell] and I were always aware of each other maybe doing it, and I think before we signed it was important both of us did it together. We were actually hired at SNL on the same day. We used to be in scenes together a lot, but were never teamed up, so this is a good opportunity for that. Gethard being cast was just the cherry on top, if he doesn't mind being called the cherry [laughs].\n\nGETHARD: Yeah, Horatio and I have done a lot of stuff together at Upright Citizens Brigade. We do a show called ASSSSCAT pretty much every Sunday that we're both in New York, so it helped having him there when I did the callback.\n\nPARNELL: And when Horatio and I auditioned Chris for the part, we quickly saw that he was the stand-out.\n\nChris Gethard, this is your first time doing TV and you landed a lead part on a Comedy Central show. That's a big leap. What's it been like?\n\n GETHARD: It's been a few strange, overwhelming months. I felt good about the callback and was driving to my parents house when I got a call from three agents, a manager, and a lawyer telling me that I had got the part. When I got to my parents' house, I had no idea how to react. My dad was like, \"We need to do something! We need to get an ice cream cake! I'm going to get an ice cream cake.\" And, so, that's what we did. We ate cake. I've been doing comedy for 10 years and this is definitely the biggest break I've ever had. It's like, oh my God, a chair with my name on it\u2014and from what I've been told, my dressing room once belonged to Jennifer Hudson. It's like, look at that: another underdog.\n\nParnell, you play a disgruntled high school teacher on Big Lake. I heard you were actually a teacher fresh out of college. You bringing a lot of real life experience to the table?\n\n PARNELL: Yeah, I was a teacher. My high school [drama] teacher, asked if I wanted to teach in their program for a year. Working with the kids involved in the theater and television studio was fantastic because they're serious and committed. I just wasn't cut out to be an authority figure. You have to lay down the law and discipline. I was terrible at that. Whereas my character, also named Chris, started out very Dead Poet's Society, and then threw his back out jumping on a desk and got addicted to painkillers. Now he's burned out\u2014and he's kind of realized that all high school kids are just assholes.\n\nHoratio, you've lost like a whole person in weight. How hard has it been keeping it off?\n\n SANZ: Well, like any fat person, I still masturbate about pizza and stuff like that [laughs]. But, yeah, I lost between eighty and one hundred pounds, depending on what day you saw me the fattest. It took about a year and a half. At first I wasn&amp;amp;#x2019;t trying to lose weight\u2014I was just not drinking and eating pastrami sandwiches at four in the morning\u2014then slowly it started pouring off me. I still go to the gym and run and then I&amp;amp;#x2019;ll go to the steam room as a reward. You meet a lot of nice old guys\u2026 and you get to see how low their testicles hang.\n\nGotta be hard working on a TV set like this. You've got about every food imaginable at arms length. \n\n SANZ: It is tough. The catering woman, Angel\u2014she works on the 30 Rock set and she was brought in by Alec Baldwin, I think\u2014comes in with these fresh Italian cookies and bagels and all these cakes. It&amp;amp;#x2019;s ridiculous! I just stay away from there when I can.\n\nParnell, I feel like every time I turn on the TV I see you or hear your voice. Archer, 30 Rock, commercial after commercial. But yet, for all the success you've had as a comedian, you're not so well-known that you've had to sacrifice your privacy. It's kind of the best of both worlds. How have you managed that?\n\n PARNELL: Well, the only thing I ever did consciously was not hire a publicist. I don't pursue talk shows or much press either. It doesn't come naturally for me. On the one hand you want to be more successful and keeping working, but, on the other, I do love that I still have my anonymity, which is something a guy like, say, Will Farrell does not have.\n\nGethard, NY Mag called you \"The World's Nicest Comedian.\" I'm curious. What's the meanest thing you've ever done? \n\n GETHARD: When I was at Rutgers, I once drove to Princeton to break into a stranger&amp;amp;#x2019;s dorm room and threaten him. He had sort of hacked my computer in a very benign way, didn&amp;amp;#x2019;t know him at all, but I tracked down his personal information and found out where he lived, and I went down to get the guy. I made him cry. Which was crazy, because he was really scared of me and I was in a weird way psyched. Only at Princeton can a guy who looks like me be the bully. Me becoming a nice guy though\u2014it's kind of a recent development. If you asked my brother he'd be like, \"That guy's a dick. He's a HUGE dick!\"\n\nSpeaking of dicks, you're all seemingly nice guys on set. Who's the crustiest once the camera is off though?\n\n PARNELL: Ah, it's probably me. I'm a little more of a curmudgeon.\n\n SANZ: No comment. That Jack McBrayer though\u2014a real A-hole!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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