The Ken Marino Interview

Actor, writer, director, fake fireman: Marino is a man who wears many hats. He was in town to promote his new webseries “Burning Love,”  that was produced with Yahoo Screen and  pokes the fun at reality dating shows. The show is so pitch perfect at the parody that some intelligent folks (to be read with sarcasm) are mistaking it for an actual show. Check it out HERE. 

I met Mr. Marino outside of Nerd HQ after a panel that he had done with Paul Scheer. He was in bright yellow firemen pants with red suspenders and without shirt. I did not get a photo to chronicle. I am upset with myself.

David Pinson: When it comes to working with Yahoo Screen, did you approach them or the other way around?

Ken Marino: We had a project and we went to them through Abominable and Red Hour Films. We put it out there and a couple of people were interested. Yahoo made the most sense and were the most enthusiastic about it.

DP: What was your filming schedule for “Burning Love”?

Marino: We shot the whole season (14 episodes) in 8 days. We had one added  day to grab a little bit of someone who couldn’t be there but the majority was filmed in the 8 days.

DP: Amazing! So whoever is in charge of scheduling is pretty badass?

Marino: It was pretty intense and it was like going into war but it was fun. Having all those funny people to work with it was actually pretty easy because everyone was so talented.

DP: How lucky are you? You surrounded yourself with all those gorgeous and hilarious women(and Ken Jeong in drag), each vying for your affection.

Marino: Well my wife (Erica Oyama) actually came up with the idea… but what was your question?

DP: I didn’t really have a question, I’m just saying you’re a smart man.

Marino: Well you know, it’s always weird, as an actor, being in projects where you have to kiss someone else if you are married or in a relationship but it really is just work. It can still be weird for the significant other. But this one was easier because my wife was like “Well, I wrote this thing so I’m going to have to get over that pretty quick.” So it was actually a little therapy for her.

DP: Well, “Burning Love” does a great job at nailing the tone and ridiculousness of reality dating shows. What makes it work is that nearly every scenario and every sentence could actually be found on those shows.

Marino: That’s the thing. You could go way over the top with it but its so absurd already that you just have to tweak it a little bit. Sure there are some “bigger” choices like the woman running around with no pants or Agnes (Helen Slayton-Hughes) being 80 years old. But our mantra for the show was if you turned off the sound you’re going to think you are watching a reality show. What’s crazy is, even with the sound up, if you go to some of the comments on the episodes, there are a good number of people who think its real. And they are livid, really angry that reality television has gotten to this place. And it blows my mind but I love it. It is a testament to the show that we were able to make it feel real.

DP: Well congratulations. You pulled a “Spinal Tap”.

Marino: (Laughs) Thank you.

DP: Now future projects. You work on “Children’s Hospital” (on Adult Swim Season 4 premieres August 9^th) and you and your wife have written some episodes, correct?

Marino: Over the course of several seasons we have written 5 or 6 episodes.

DP: Are the two of you working on a feature film script? I know you have partnered with David Wain on screenplays in the past. (“The Ten,” “Role Models” and “Wanderlust”)

Marino: Well, I have several writing partners. Erica is one of them, David is one of them. Joe Lo Truglio. Sometimes I write with Mike Black. And sometimes I even write by myself. But Erica and I have a couple of things that we are working on, sure. The hope is to keep it in the family.

DP: Being that you helmed “Burning Love” are you now looking to package a project with you as director?

Marino: It depends on who you sell it to. It would be great to direct but its hard to control. But the hope is to direct material that Erica and I write.

DP: So your career started with”The State” back in the mid-90’s and the show had a huge cast of very funny people. It’s unbelievable how the entire crew has kept growing and now, collectively, you are all a part of this huge creative force. It’s unprecedented.

Marino: It’s crazy how everyone has stuck around and put together some interesting stuff. It is unusual and I recognize how unique and special it is. And how lucky we all are. It is not common. You look at Tom (Lennon) and Ben (Garant) and what they’ve done…

DP: Which is probably the craziest example, writing huge blockbusters like “Night at the Museum” and “Herbie: Fully Loaded”.

Marino: It’s insane. Writing big family movies but, at the same time, they have “Reno 911!” which is their voice unfiltered. But they are able to write the big movies and navigate through that whole process. And it is a difficult process but they are pros. They wrote a book about it. They are really smart guys. Then there’s David (Wain), Mike Black and Showalter. Kerri Kenney. Mike Jann is still working and Kevin Allison has a podcast out of New York and his own theater. Joe Lo Truglio, oh my god…

DP: Joe is all over the place. And so is he penis, thanks to you. (Mr. Lo Truglio is naked throughout “Wanderlust”)

Marino: Well, his prosthetic penis.

DP: Who was in charge of gluing that poor thing on him? Does he just go in the restroom and take care of it himself?

Marino: No.  It’s quite an ordeal. There was a guy who specializes in that specific prosthetic and had just did one in another movie for a guy with a really small penis. That’s his thing. And you take it and start by attaching it, up around the butt, to the tail bone.

DP: Of course. That’s where I would start.

Marino: It ran up his butt crack. It was crazy.

DP: You really gave it to him. Fake weiner running up his butt and he’s bald…

Marino: Well we wanted the guy to be doughy. Joe was in good shape at the time but we wanted him to be super-loveable and super-sweet. And Joe is amazing and is willing to transform himself for the character.

(At this point, a friend of Mr. Marino’s approaches and says “Hi”. Ken informs her that he is doing an interview. She apologies. I say “No, really, that’s fine.” Then as she walks away I lose my train of thought. Crickets in my brain begin their orchestra of chirps.)

DP: I lost what I was saying…I think I had one more….

Marino: Well, where are you from?

DP: Here. San Diego. North County.

Marino: You grew up here?

DP: Yep. I actually tried my hand at acting and moved up to Los Angeles for a couple of years. Put up some sketch comedy shows with some friends. Heavily influenced by you guys, “Kids in the Hall”. It was perfect because I’m 36 so I was in my early twenties when “The State” originally ran. Sketch is a good beginning point. Working on five minute pieces and monologues.

Marino: That was my schooling. Write little things that you can produce and edit. Make your own mini-movies. That was our comedy college. Our own “produce your own things” college.

DP: So are you excited by this latest trend of being able to get material out so fast on the web and that it is viewed as a legitimate way to distribute?

Marino: It’s good for actors. Absolutely. Actors want to do fun stuff and go. Now, as the director on “Burning Love,” I was editing it for months and months. But it’s a great venue to get stuff out there on the cheap. And while it’s not all about the money, you have incredible creative freedom. That’s worth it. You can bounce back and forth between that and the bigger paying gigs and the ones with more creative freedom.

DP: It’s an exciting time.

Marino: It’s the Internet and the technology. Cameras are so advanced that anyone edit and do everything. You can make your own movie for nothing. All you have to do is put the time and energy. And working under the umbrella of Yahoo has been great because the Internet is huge and this has been a great way for people to find “Burning Love”.

DP: Well, thank you. And one last question, to be completely inappropriate, how big is your d!@k? Flaccid.

Marino: I’m not going to be setting any records. It’s nice but…

DP: So you haven’t measured?

Marino: Well we have all measured. Flaccid, I would say, 9 inches.

DP: Stretched or on the table?

Marino: That’s on the table and erect, like, 2 and a half feet.

DP: Congratulations. You got nothing wrong with you.

Marino: Can you imagine?