Ike Barinholtz is going full dumbass.
That’s how The Mindy Project writer-star describes his latest character, Chris Chatman, who he’ll play for his newest project, The Chris Chatman Do-Over podcast, beginning Jan. 11.
The weekly show, which is being billed as an original improvised comedy, is the second of three installments in a series of podcasts from Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions and Audacy. The first, which launched in September, is Say More with Dr? Sheila, which stars Poehler as a fictional, world-class therapist/life coach, who has questionable methods and credentials and sees new couples each week. Barinholtz is among the many recognizable voices who have appeared as fictional guests on the popular podcast; though in his case, he was setting up a standalone series as Chatman, a controversial shock jock host.
Related Stories
The premise of The Chris Chatman Do-Over is that Chatman’s hit podcast was canceled but he’s listened, learned and, now, is back on air, desperate to finally win over a few female listeners. Even just one. In each episode, Chatman and his co-hosts, Frankie (played by comedian Lisa Gilroy) and the Professor (Neil Casey), tackle hot-button issues with expert guests, inevitably offending listeners in the process. Poehler, as Dr? Sheila, will appear on episode one of 10. Other guests include Fred Armisen, Ashley Nicole Black, Jessica St. Clair, Busy Philipps and Ego Nwodim.
“Here at Paper Kite Podcasts we try to create shows that lift people up and encourage them to be their best selves,” noted Poehler, who serves as an executive producer. “We also make The Chris Chatman Do-Over. Enjoy!”
Ahead of the series’ debut, Barinholtz talked with The Hollywood Reporter about his inspiration for his character, his hopes for the series and why the prep process can only be described as having to subject his brain “to just Chernobyl levels of poison in preparation for this.”
How did this project begin for you?
Well, this was probably a couple years ago, and Amy Poehler reached out and was like, “I have an idea for a way for funny people to perform that does not require us doing improv shows late at night.” And listen, Amy Poehler could pretty much call and ask for anything, and the answer’s going to be yes. But I talked to her and to Liz Cackowski, who’s an old friend, and they told me about the world they were thinking about establishing. Amy told me about Dr? Sheila and then Liz told me about the one she’s going to do with Emily Spivey. [Women Talkin’ ‘Bout Murder, a satire of the true crime genre with the duo as murder podcast hosts, will launch later this year.] And then they said, “We think you’d be really funny doing a take on one of these just awful podcasts that are catering exclusively to men.” The minute they were like, “A stupid guy podcast,” I was like, “Oh my God, please, can we start recording right now?” They say America doesn’t make anything anymore, that we’ve become a consumer-based society, but that is not true. We now are leading the world in podcasts hosted by dumbass guys.
Are there one or two that you’re using as a model?
Oh, there’s so many to choose from – so many different varieties, so many different types of bad advice. And to jump into that, I knew was going to be very, very fun. And I had never done anything like this before: a long form improvised thing, and so I was instantly in. And so I just kept nagging Amy over the last couple of years, like, “Hey, when are we going to do that?” We finally managed to get it going right around the strike.
So, what did the prep process entail? A lot of “dumbass guy podcasts,” I imagine…
I mean, I’ve listened to many of them over the years. First of all, I’m part dumbass. I also have a lot of friends that are just pure-blood dumbasses, and a lot of times they’ll send me clips of this dumbass saying something incredibly stupid or this other complete moron saying something really harmful, and they’re like, “This is interesting. You should listen to it.” (Laughs.) So, I was pretty familiar with the world, but I definitely did do a deeper dive. And that’s the thing about YouTube, you type in “dumbass guy on podcast” and you’re going to start hearing podcasts from guys even dumber than you imagined. It’s like the multiplicity rule. The fourth Michael Keaton is just very stupid. But I don’t think Chris [the character that Barinholtz plays] is that dumb. I think he’s part dumb, but he also has some intuition, and he understands a little bit about human nature. But yes, I did subject my brain to just Chernobyl levels of poison in preparation for this.
Had you ever considered hosting a podcast before this?
I’ve been approached over the years. A couple of different people and podcast companies have reached out and I always wanted to do one. In fact, three years ago, I had the best idea for one, and I was so excited about it. It was going to be based off of the Billy Joel song, We Didn’t Start to Fire. Every episode is about one of the things he talks about in that song, and I’d talk to an expert. So, let’s say it’s Harry Truman, I’d talk to an expert about Harry Truman, and then I’d get one of my dumb friends to just be on the show with me. I was so excited for it and then I checked and there’s a podcast that has the exact premise.
Of course there is.
Exactly, of course there is. But yeah, I’ve been waiting to do one and then when Poehler called with this, I was like, “That’s the one. That’s the one I want to do.” And the fact that we get to be totally fake and fictitious, it just lets you go nuts and be as dumb and funny as possible.
Going in, how much of each episode is scripted?
There’s a rough script. It’s a little in the vein of Curb [Your Enthusiasm], in the sense that we know in this episode we are going to be interviewing, like, Craig and Carla Kakowski, who are incredibly green, eco-friendly people, and maybe we’d be given one or two things to kind of throw out there. But then, at the end, we’d maybe go back in and be like, “Hey, can we just do a little riff on this real quick?” So, there wasn’t a ton of structure. They really let us just run wild, which was so much fun. Like Amy had said, it was all of the fun of doing an improv show, but you don’t have to get home at 10:30 at night.
This Chris Chatman character, was he pitched to you, or is he born of your imagination?
That was their initial premise – a guy who got in trouble and now is getting a second shot, and in order to get this contract [for a new podcast], he needs to gain 1 percent female listenership. That was such a funny premise to me. This aggrieved white guy, but he’s not coming in and whining about it, he’s not doing the, “Oh man, I got canceled. It’s not fair” thing. He’s trying to move past it. He’s like, “Listen, this is the world. I get it. Do I like it? No. But I get it.”
As a podcast character, this was an easy yes. Would you be as willing to take on a disgraced character like this had it been live action?
I guess in this world that we’re living in now, people would say it’s safer if it’s just your voice. So, Lewis Kay [his publicist] would probably disagree, but, to me, yeah, I would [be just as willing] because if you’re playing a character, you get away with saying a lot. If Amy was like, “Hey, I want to make this into a live action show, I’d have no problem with that.” Because who cares at this point.
Is TV the end goal?
Who knows? If for some reason, this takes off and people really respond to it, and Amy’s like, “Hey, let’s make into a TV show,” great. For me, the most fun would be if we were able to do live performances. With an early showtime start! We’re not starting at 8:30. (Laughs.) But to perform live with people you love, doing something where you’re playing a character that is loose enough where you can go nuts, that’s very fun to me. So, I hope people like this enough that we’re able to take this on the road.
Do you approach a character differently when it is just audio?
It’s definitely more freeing. You don’t have to deal with any of the bullshit of being on camera, like the 6 AM start time to de-puff my eyes. You just roll up to the studio. And I do think it gives you a little less inhibition. And it’s funny, when I looked at some photos of us doing it, I noticed I had this slightly laid-back posture – normally, I’m all curled up like a question mark, so it’s clear I’m more relaxed. It’s one less thing to be judged on.
The show is about to launch, what do you want people to know going in?
There are so many podcasts right now, and I’m not throwing shade, but a lot of the podcasts are just actors talking about themselves, and I want people to know that this is not one of those podcasts. I’m not going to interview someone and be like, “So, how’d you get started? Oh, cool. So, you’re from Atlanta. Okay, cool, cool.” I think we’ve reached the point where every American has been interviewed on a podcast. This is a chance for you to listen to something that is totally fake. It’s totally made up, and the purpose of it is not to educate you or make you feel bad about what you don’t know. It’s just to make you laugh really hard.
Before you go, I have to ask about your dad. The last time you and I spoke, you revealed that your lawyer dad had decided, at 70 or so, to audition for a TV show. That show turned out to be Freevee hit Jury Duty, and he was fabulous as the judge. So, what’s next for Alan Barinholtz? I want the real scoop…
Well, he’s definitely going to the Emmys and the Independent Spirit Awards and all of these award shows. And he’s so funny, he’s asking me, like, “What do you wear to the Independent Spirit Awards?” I’m like, “I don’t know, Dad, I’ve never been nominated.” He’s really living his best life. As for what’s next, my brother Jon and I are cooking up something with the old man. It’s still in the very early stages, but it’s perfect for him. So, the future is bright for that young ingenue.
This remains one of my favorite Hollywood stories…
It’s crazy. And it was wild when we’d picket together. Multiple times people would come up to me and just hand me their phone and be like, “Can you get a picture of us?” And I’m like, “Yes, yes, of course.” And I’m happy that this is happening. There will be a point though where I’m like, “Okay, enough.” (Laughs.)
