There's a good family of actors in 'Portlandia.' It's a small community with people who pop up again and again. The show's a little weird show, and you want to grow with the people who are in it, like Dana who plays the chicken waitress, and Ellen who was the adult babysitter.

Jonathan Krisel

Categorized in : You Good People Family

There is no 'recycle too much.' That's an oxymoron.

Jonathan Krisel

recycle much too too-much

In your twenties, you might want to be radical and change the world, but in your thirties, you might just want to be happy and ground yourself.

Jonathan Krisel

be-happy yourself you change

I think any person who is starting out in a creative endeavor is not going to be good at it right out of the gate.

Jonathan Krisel

person good think creative

Comedy is like horror - you have to shock something in the viewer's system to make them feel it.

Jonathan Krisel

something feel you comedy

Things that people are doing constantly but aren't thinking about. That's the ultimate 'Portlandia' concept.

Jonathan Krisel

doing things people thinking

Everything on TV is perfect, and it's so boring.

Jonathan Krisel

tv everything boring perfect

My brand of comedy is taking a serious approach to silliness. Small moments of modern life and human behavior make me laugh. At least that's where everything starts, and then my other through line would be a dry absurdity that exponentially spirals out of reality.

Jonathan Krisel

laugh me life reality

I know, especially in my family, people's feelings get hurt over the tiniest things. I'm sure that's true in every family. But, for instance, one year, I came a little bit late to Thanksgiving, and I was supposed to bring a salad. And I just brought a bag of lettuce, and put it in a bowl. Five years later, I heard that my mom was incensed.

Jonathan Krisel

thanksgiving family mom people

Portland is utopia. My favorite thing would be it's earnestness. I am earnest, too.

Jonathan Krisel

favorite too i-am utopia

I am huge fan of Australian comedy. 'Strictly Ballroom' is one of my favorite movies. Definitely the British Commonwealth's sensibility is where I draw a lot of my influences.

Jonathan Krisel

i-am movies where comedy

I like dry-to-the-bone stuff. I don't know what it is. I was raised on PBS showing weird British comedies.

Jonathan Krisel

i-was-raised weird like know

'Fawlty Towers' was a huge influence on me. I mean, it was so slapstick, too. 'Are You Being Served?' was on 15 times a day, it seemed like, and I loved it.

Jonathan Krisel

loved day me you

My dad did show me interesting movies at a young age. I remember he showed me 'A Clockwork Orange,' and my mom said, 'I never want to see this movie in my house again.'

Jonathan Krisel

me dad mom age

I went to film school, and I came in when video art was king, weird stuff was king, and there, you don't have a script as your bible.

Jonathan Krisel

king you bible art

Certain shows, when it's all comedy, it's like when you eat something that's too sweet and it just tastes gross. You need that salted caramel.

Jonathan Krisel

need you comedy sweet

Louie Anderson thinks my thing is the absurdness of reality. That's what we do on 'Portlandia' all the time. I try to bring that absurdness of reality to everything.

Jonathan Krisel

everything try time reality

I always look at 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.' They talked about how they wrote this movie with horses, and then they realized that horses are super-expensive and time-consuming. 'Why don't we just change it to coconuts?' That's part of my process.

Jonathan Krisel

look always change process

I loved 'Welcome to the Dollhouse.' That was one of the most influential movies ever. You know that genre with the nerdy girl, and she redeems herself in the end. Like 'Napoleon Dynamite.' And in 'Welcome to the Dollhouse,' she doesn't. She sucks. It's like, that's what's real. That's what's heartbreaking.

Jonathan Krisel

loved you welcome girl

You can tell a lot about a person by what comedians they like.

Jonathan Krisel

person tell like you

A huge part of making something work is getting along with people you work with. You want them to succeed; you want them to bring their ideas to life as much as possible.

Jonathan Krisel

you work life people