Al Madrigal
TheStarScoop.Com talked with Al Madrigal about Gary Unmarried, stand-up comedy, and found out why he's such a stand-up guy: he has nothing but praise for his co-stars!
The Star Scoop:
Tell us about Gary Unmarried.
Al Madrigal:
It's your traditional family sitcom with Jay Mohr as the lead, Gary. It's on CBS, which is the place for traditional family sitcoms. It's really is a great place to be. It's probably one of the best jobs in Hollywood. I'm the envy of all my friends.
The Star Scoop:
You play Dennis Lopez.
Al Madrigal:
You come in, say some funny stuff, and walk away. It's just wonderful. I aspire to do much more. As far as an acting gig, it's wonderful.
The Star Scoop:
The show recently won an award. Why is it so popular?
Al Madrigal:
If you look at all the shows that are on, it's a blue collar show. Gary, myself, we're house painters. You look at all the other shows that are comedies that are on the air, we're just regular people. It's very relatable. It's not really surprising that we would win a People's Choice.
The Star Scoop:
What should people expect from Gary Unmarried?
Al Madrigal:
It's really funny. There's a lot of jokes. They've done a great job. There's a lot of stand ups on the show, a total of about eight or nine stand ups on the show. It's a very funny show, and it's interesting when you watch a show like this. Critics are sort of down on the laugh track. If you watch the show, what you should look for is the actors actually have to hold for the laughs. The laughs are real. There's a studio audience in there really laughing.
The Star Scoop:
Does the group of standup comedians affect the dynamic of the show?
Al Madrigal:
With Jay being a standup, just a comedic actor, everyone just really gets along. I've done shows where no one interacts, and on this show, everyone's having a great time. Jay does an amazing job of really engaging everybody and whether you're a visitor, if you came to the set, he would make a point of really making you feel comfortable and making sure you had a great time. We have a lot of stand up comics that are very happy to be there... I'm just happy to be learning from Jay Mohr. Jay is a very funny comic actor, Paula Marshall. There's the Kathryn Newton and Ryan Malgarini are the kids, and they're both just incredibly funny. We're really lucky to have very funny people working on the show.
The Star Scoop:
Tell us more about your standup work.
Al Madrigal:
I'm all over the place. I'm in Atlanta, I'm going to Australia to do stand up. Manhattan. When I'm not filming, I'll travel all over the country and do standup comedy. I'm on Facebook and Myspace. I just starting Tweeting. I have no idea. I really don't think anyone cares, but apparently they do. I love going out and just doing standup. I do standup, like five sets a week in L.A. and the Laugh Factory.
The Star Scoop:
Where do you see yourself in the future?
Al Madrigal:
I'd love to still be on Gary Unmarried. I have this little deal with Nickelodeon, making a children's picture. I'd love to do something like that, where I could write, produce, animation. I've been having a really good time doing that. Standup...I couldn't ask for anything more. I worked a regular job prior to this, working for my parents' family business. I'm super appreciative of where I am, happy to be doing what I'm doing. If I can continue, I'll be thrilled.
The Star Scoop:
For those who have never watched Gary Umarried, why should they tune in?
Al Madrigal:
I watch it, and it's not because I'm too close to the show. I think it's a very funny show. It's a great sitcom. It certainly has potential to grow. Because we won the People's Choice Award, that should inspire a whole new crop of viewers. I discourage people from just trying a pilot episode and then kicking out after that. The people who wrote the pilot had no idea who they were going to cast in it. It's very difficult to get it perfect on a pilot. We came close. I thought it was a very funny pilot. But it does need a chance to grow. You look at Seinfeld, Everybody Love Raymond, they were not huge hits when they started. They were close to cancellation, both shows. They needed a chance to evolve. Hopefully people who haven't seen it will check it out, and people who gave us a chance should give us another chance.