I like the radio show “Studio 360” for its kooky interviews. Comedienne and multifaceted creative force Jenny Slate provided an especially fun one this weekend.
Jenny, now 32, graduated as valedictorian from Milton Academy in Milton, Mass., and suffered through the dubious distinction of being hired and fired by “Saturday Night Live” at a young age. The daughter of a poet and a ceramic artist, she is creative enough to keep reinventing herself.
Just for no reason, she made an oddball video that went viral, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” which her husband filmed using stop-motion. It’s about an extremely awkward and self-deprecating snail.
You can read more about Jenny at wikipedia, here. Listen to the interview at Studio 360, here, and look for Jenny’s “Catherine” series on YouTube. It’s even more offbeat than “Marcel the Shell.”
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
My favorite kind of quirky! 🙂
The short “Catherine” episodes on YouTube are about this young woman working in an office where nothing happens, but even questions like,”How many pens will you need?” have a vaguely portentous tone. In the Studio 360 interview, Jenny said she and her husband thought up the series after they got annoyed by Verizon ads that made nothing at all sound momentous.
I’m going to look up the “Catherine” episodes.
I watch television (with ads) approximately every 10 months, so I’m not familiar with the Verizon ads, but I feel like I know the feeling. What’s interesting, is that her sarcasm resonated with me, despite the fact that I didn’t recognize the references. She’s very clever, and I DO admire clever young people. Probably because I wasn’t one.
I have a feeling you were plenty clever then, too.
I was brainy, but way too naive, gullible, and melancholy-sentimental to be clever.
Jenny also did stand-up comedy at a young age. Not too many of us clever enough for that!