RACHEL BLOOM Interview!

(photo shamelessly ripped off of Google)

Heart.  On.  Not only is she hilarious, beautiful, and smart, but she's a hell of a nice lady.  I sent her a list of questions and she gave me some thoughtful answers.
Outstanding.
 Maya Angelou would be proud (see quote in sidebar for reference clarification.)
On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 9:47 AM, :

Hello, Here they are for what they're worth.  Feel free to add any information you'd like to and if there's something you'd rather not answer, that's totally cool, too. So, for the three housebound chronic masturbators (yes, Cory, Mega T, and Psyentist, I meant you) who are kind enough to occasionally check for new tit pics on my blog in between visits to giantesses.com andcumswappingatheistwhores.com... 1.  First off, a little background info as you're new on the scene.  Who is Rachel Bloom?  Where are you from?  Where did you grow up? What did you study at NYU?

I'm a NYC actor/writer and comedian. I grew up in Manhattan Beach, California, a beach community about 20 minutes away from downtown LA. I moved to New Yorkto study drama at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, where I received my BFA in drama. I started out as a musical theater student in the CAP21 musical theater studio, and then moved on to the Experimental Theater Wing. I also took numerous writing classes when I was there, including an awesome tv writing class through the dramatic writing department. My greatest comedy training happened at NYU, where I was on the sketch group Hammerkatz for 4 years and later ended up directing it.

2.  You mentioned during prior correspondence that you're an atheist...Awesome.  Were you raised in an atheist household or was this an epiphany you arrived at on your own?  If so, how?   I find this particularly interesting as I was raised in the Bible Belt and attended church regularly until the age of 15 and, though religion never made sense to me, it was a struggle that involved much study and thought to finally truly realize, "Oh my fuck, what a racket!"

I guess I was raised agnostic? I'm Jewish by blood, but I never really went to temple or anything like that, although I was raised to have an appreciation of the culture. When I moved to NYC, being a comedian just supported my already iffy views on the whole thing- I feel like most fellow comedians I know out here are either atheist or agnostic. When I was more agnostic, I found that I would make mistakes and say "Oh well, it will work out for the best because that's the plan of the universe." But being more of an "atheist" (and that term is still hard to define for me), it meant acknowledging that the universe is random; bad shit happens for no reason. It allowed me to own up to my actions a lot more and take control of my life.

3.  Do you see any parallels between the society in "Fahrenheit 451" and our modern day American culture.  Discuss.  Cite examples to support your statements.  (did I mention I'm a recently retired middle school English teacher?)

Haha. Well, I went to both a very liberal high school and college, so I wouldn't be the best person to ask about censorship in this country. I mean, we did The Laramie Project my junior year, and I was secretary of the school's gay/straight alliance. 

 I don't see censorship in this country as much of an encouragement to be stupid, which is much more dangerous in my opinion. Part of the reason I made "FMRB" a typical sounding pop song is it parallels the dumb pop stuff being made while the content is about something very intelligent. The reason I don't like a lot of reality tv is because, to me, it's watching a bunch of stupid people do a bunch of uninteresting stuff, and then rewarding those stupid people fame/fortune for being uninteresting. Whenever I go on this rant, my friends look at me and roll their eyes saying, "We watch it BECAUSE they're stupid." So whatever. But look, there have been dumb people and dumb things in every generation. I mean, women of the Victorian era were laughably frivolous. Always giggling behind their noserags.

4.  What was the first Bradbury novel you read and how did it affect you?  What is your favorite?  Why? I had just finished re-reading "Something Wicked..." like I do every year about this time, my harbinger of Fall, when I saw your vid.  I was so fucking tickled to find another female Bradbury fan.  Usually, it's me and a gaggle of 15 year old boys in the sci-fi section at the second hand comic store.  I'm 39.

This was the first time in these questions I realized you were female. Is it weird that I suddenly feel more comfortable? Hey, female Bradbury fan!

 The Martian Chronicles is one of my favorite books of all time. Even though there is a linear narrative, the short story form allows Bradbury to introduce all these different mind blowing sci-fi/fantasy ideas. (I say sci-fi/fantasy because Ray himself has said that the Martian Chronicles is more fantasy). Even better, it's not so much the ideas that are important in the book as how humans, with all their faults, deal with these ideas. So the premises are fantastic, but I'm also emotionally engrossed.

5.  Penn Jillette totally wants to bone you.  Congratulations!  Does he have a chance?

Joke answer: mmmm damn yes. Real answer: I have a long-term boyfriend with whom I'm very in love, so no. Sorry, America.

6.  You are: A) very talented  B) very pretty C) intellectual and D) built like  a brick shithouse.  Do men find you intimidating?  Women?  If so, how do you handle it?  Do you give a shit?

First of all, what is a brick shithouse? Is it a brick house that stores shit for later sewage filtration?  Is it a brick house where the bricks are hardened shit? 

Um...I don't know how intimidating I am because, if I may say so, I'm a very nice person. Not only that, I'm a silly, goofy person. Not that I'm exactly like this character, but my friends say they definitely see flashes of Liz Lemon from 30 Rock in me- just to give you an example of that kind of adolescent boy quality. As far as the boobs go, it's a running joke between me and my friends that we don't know why my boobs are so big, and that they're a phenomenon to be studied/poked/played on like the bongos. If anyone would ever be intimidated by me and lash out, I'd probably just be really nice. I'm also afraid of confrontation. Can't we all just get along.

I've definitely had problems with guys who I thought were friends but, when I turned them down for a date, stopped talking to me.

7.  What's next for Rachel Bloom?  Goals? Dreams? Desires?  Will you indeed be running for President as Penn Jillette has suggested?

Haha. Well, I'm just going to continue to write as much as possible. I have a tv pilot that I want to finish soon (the more people I tell about this pilot, the more pressure there is for me to finish this pilot). I plan to release more music videos as well as sketches I've written. I'll keep you posted!! 

Hope she does.  She's totally fucking lovely.  Love me some large breasted, intellectual, atheist sci-fi fans.  LOVE.  Rock on, Rachel!  We're looking forward to seeing what else you come up with.  

In case you missed it (shame on you!!!), here's Rachel in "Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury."
Love for Rachel from Penn Jillette and  a pic of the man himself, the object of her  (and fine, my) carnal, literary desires, Ray Bradbury, checking out her vid.  

 Take notes, there will be a quiz later.