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Jamie Kaler, the stand-up comedian and actor originally from Boston has been on TV for over a decade with appearances in everything from "Will and Grace" to "The New Adventures of Old Christine" but we were given the chance to talk to him about starring in TBS's "My Boys" (Tonight at 10:40pm) as well as sneak a few questions in about his work on Seth Green's amazing "Robot Chicken".
Listen to the entire Jamie Kaler interview here:
LAist: Last fall we had the chance to interview your co-star Jim Gaffigan - he talked about how great it was on the set of "My Boys" and the people he was working with there. What's it like working with him? Are the feelings reciprocal?
Jamie Kaler: He's the best, I've developed such a mad crush on him - he's really my favorite person of all time. Everyone asks about him because of all the people on the show he's the most well known and he's hilariously funny but he's no funnier than anyone else on that set. I'm pretty amazed by the depth of that cast, everyone is hilarious. He's a fantastic stand-up, but when it comes to acting I feel like I'm looking up at the rest of those guys. Kyle is so funny, and Reid, and Jordana, Kellee, it's just an amazing cast every day - I'm just one of the cogs that help it run.
LAist: The second season is when I first started watching the show and I was struck by a similarity between "My Boys" and "Entourage" a bit.
Jamie Kaler: I can totally see that, it's shot the same way, I love "Entourage". Another similarity is that each member of the cast has their part, you can follow each character's storyline but together the story is amazing. In "My Boys", which is definitely a situation comedy, we all have our nine-episode arc but then we all still have our moments in each episode.
LAist: There's something about your character, Mike Callaghan, that's very Eddie Haskell-ish, always having an angle.
Jamie Kaler: He was totally my role model for this [laughs] no, I remember Eddie Haskell, and there are these moments where my character is a jackass or the idiot for an episode. Now I might sometimes feel like an idiot or be an idiot but there's no way I'm as much of an idiot as Mike, he tries to be the best at everything and it's like "you're not, man". He's always got an angle, and that's kind of like Kramer in a way, he was right at whatever he was doing, even though what he was doing was insane.
LAist: I definitely enjoy the energy your character brings to the scene. When Mike Callaghan comes in, you know something is going to happen: he's going to say something rude at the bar, or....
Jamie Kaler: The thing is he's totally innocent, he's not mean, he's just gruff, like Jackie Gleason was always playing the mean guy but at the end he would admit his mistake - he tries so hard but it just goes amiss for him. The show creator [Betsy Thomas] said to me, "you're the engine".
LAist: You just finished a promo tour for the show through the Northeast, how was it visiting your old haunts in Boston?
Jamie Kaler: It was timed so amazingly well, the Celtics had just won the championship and their parade literally went by the front of my hotel so I got to see them all. Then I went to the Red Sox game that night and was invited to a private party in center field because the Celtics' Paul Pearce was throwing out the first pitch and I got to hang out with all the Celtics, it was amazing. It was an insane weekend.
LAist: I might have to edit out this chunk where we've discussed the Celtics.
Jamie Kaler: Well being a fan is more about the camaraderie than it is about the team. So for me it was a great run with the Celtics but it was pretty amazing what the Lakers did and to tell you the truth I think this is set up for next year because as soon as Bynum comes back they are going to be amazing and they will be great for years to come.
LAist: I wanted to ask about your involvement with "Robot Chicken"
Jamie Kaler: Well I'm very proud of that, I love that show. Seth Green does a great show and I was flattered to be a part of it. It's really fun, you go in and do voices for 20 minutes and you're done, you never see anything until the final product is complete but it is really really funny stuff. It's so concentrated, it's only 15 minutes long but it feels much longer, when the joke is done it just moves on. When the vignette is over it jumps to the next one, there's no dwelling on it or any attempt to beat more out of it.
LAist: What else are you up to?
Jamie Kaler: I'm back doing standup and on tour. I'm doing a show here at theMbar in Hollywood on July 26th, you can get more info at my MySpace page or JamieKaler.com
"My Boys" is on TBS on Thursday Nights
Pic of Jamie Kaler from JamieKaler.com
