Rachel Bloom: “The way that I learned comedy was not rigid, but this very specific technique taught by the Upright Citizens Brigade”

"I went from being a person who was doing moderately successful videos online and working as a moderately successful TV writer and aspiring to do this to having a Golden Globe." - Rachel Bloom

Actress Rachel Bloom

“I went from being a person who was doing moderately successful videos online and working as a moderately successful TV writer and aspiring to do this to having a Golden Globe.” – Rachel Bloom

Rachel Bloom is one of the more interesting success stories in acting in recent years. Bloom became an internet sensation with her comedy songwriting, which eventually resulted in a Showtime pilot for a series titled My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Though Showtime passed on the pilot, the CW picked up the show and it has been a cult success ever since. Bloom spoke to Moviefone about the success of the show and how it has impacted her career.

Bloom explains that despite what many others feel about acting, Bloom believes comedy takes much tighter control of material than drama. She says, “Well, to me, comedy has an even tighter craft than drama. The way that I learned comedy was not rigid, but this very specific technique taught by the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, which is the idea of, ‘What’s the game of your scene?’ Playing out the game to it’s fullest extent. So to me, broad comedy actually has the most firm structure. It’s when you start to get into drama that I think, for me, the structure almost gets a little looser.”

Of course, Bloom has the series to thank for making her a star — and she does not forget it. She says, “The show has changed my life in so many ways. I went from being a person who was doing moderately successful videos online and working as a moderately successful TV writer and aspiring to do this to having a Golden Globe. Really within a year I went from having a dead Showtime pilot to winning a Golden Globe. So it’s just insane.”

Still, even with the success of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Bloom is looking forward to her future opportunities. She says, “I’m doing a lot of voiceover right now. There have been so many opportunities like countless guest spots of television shows that I’ve done. Being on the Tony Awards. I think getting interest to maybe write Broadway shows. I mean, it’s opened up a whole world and all stuff that I wanted to do that I dreamed about doing before I had the show. So it’s all in the same vein. I mean, it’s nothing that’s out of the ordinary. I’m not getting offers to be on The Bachelorette or anything.”

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