Ep529 - Zach Woods & Brandon Gardner, Co-Creators Mike Judge’s ‘In The Know’

Zach Woods got his start at the Upright Citizens Brigade doing improv. Brandon Gardner followed a similar path, eventually shifting to playwriting and sketch. The two continued to share work and support one another as they moved from New York to Los Angeles. 

For their latest collaboration, In the Know, where they’re listed as co-creators with Mike Judge (Office Space, Silicon Valley), the story follows Lauren Caspian, the third most popular host of an NPR-like interview series, who happens to be a stop motion puppet. 

As improv veterans with similar taste, the collaborative writing process somewhat follows the classic “yes, and” structure. “I think it’s easy for me to think where it can go positively before I’m critical,” says Gardner. “It’s not a partnership where I’m nervous to have an idea.”

The casual and polite interaction can go one of two ways: “I’m very trusting of his taste. Do you like this? If he says ‘yes,’ I’m 100 percent confident in the idea. If he says ‘I’m not sure,’ then I’m also confident in knowing there’s another way.”

The writers describe the UCB approach to improv as “playing everything to the top of your intelligence,” continues Gardner. “Why is the character doing that? It’s not to be funny. To them, it makes sense, so how do you treat the character respectfully?” (Paul Rust made a similar point in the interview for Love). 

Woods adds, “Even if I have an idea that doesn’t feel right, if we have divergent impulses, neither of us wants to win. We want to figure out where those impulses intersect. We take each other's reservations and confidence very seriously.”

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on hundreds of interviews here at Creative Principles.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!