What do these situations have in common, you ask? The answer is that they all coexist in the improvisational universe of Christopher Guest, the gifted comedic facilitator whose films are fueled by the talented and close-knit troupe of actors he has been working with for more than a quarter century. Counted among its core members are Bob Balaban, Ed Begley Jr., and Fred Willard, all of whom appear in Guest’ s latest project, Mascots. Like its forebears, the film examines a subculture of eccentric characters— in this case sports mascots— who come together in preparation for a major event: the World Mascot Association Championships. Many familiar faces are present( Jennifer Coolidge, Michael Hitchcock, Jane Lynch, Parker Posey) along with a host of fresh ones( Christopher Moynihan, Chris O’ Dowd, Zach Woods). Guest himself makes a brief cameo as Corky St. Clair, the diva theater director of Waiting for Guffman fame(“ I’ ll tell you why I can’ t put up with you people: because you’ re bastard people”), much to his cohort’ s delight.
“ Getting to be in the presence of Corky St. Clair is an incredible experience,” says Bob Balaban over the phone.
“ I have always loved watching Chris be that character,” Ed Begley Jr. agrees.“ It’ s really hard not to laugh at him when he plays Corky, especially at the end of the day when you’ re all tired and ready to fall apart. Here it is, 2016, and like a starving man I’ m just so in need of that wonderful, delicious meal that is Corky St. Clair. To see Corky again is such an elixir and such a gift.”
It’ s telling that Guest’ s reparatory players are also among his biggest fans. Balaban, Begley, and Willard have no shortage of glowing things to say about their fearlessly deadpan leader, and judging by his repeated casting of them in his films, the praise goes both ways. More than the thematic solidarity that Guest’ s films exhibit, it seems their uncanny personnel has truly allowed them to endure. Begley and Willard both appeared alongside Guest as he began to cultivate his signature style playing the daft but endearing guitarist Nigel Tufnel in the 1984 rock and roll lampoon This Is Spinal Tap, which was directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by Guest himself. Willard, the odd man out in the band of misfits, appears as an out-of-touch military officer, and Begley plays the Tap’ s ill-fated original drummer whose horticultural demise he cites as a personal addition by Guest.
“ He was always very interested in my garden,” Begley says.“ So the fact that he put in a bizarre gardening accident, it just opens up your mind as to what happened. The weedwacker? The tiller? It conjures up all kinds of possibilities and images that are funny and interesting.” It’ s just the type of idiosyncratic adlib that has become the hallmark of a Christopher Guest movie.
Balaban, who had worked with Guest in the late’ 70s, would join the troupe on Waiting for Guffman, playing an apathetic musical director. Guffman also marked the start of Guest’ s fruitful creative partnership with Eugene Levy, which would yield the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show parody Best in Show, A Mighty Wind’ s over-the-hill folk revue, and the dry, jaded look at Hollywood award culture For Your Consideration. Next came the 2013 HBO series Family Tree, which featured O’ Dowd alongside longtime Guest collaborator Michael McKean; and now, Mascots.
“ Chris is very supportive, and I’ m always really thrilled when he calls to have me in a new movie,” says Willard over the phone from his Los Angeles home.“ It’ s going to be something very creative that you can create yourself. You can say something that’ s in the back of your mind or go off on a tangent, and you know if it doesn’ t work it’ ll just not be in the movie. But sometimes [ he ] surprises you.” In lieu of a typical screenplay, Guest provides his actors with story outlines for his films, laying out situations and character traits that invite further interpretation. According to the director, Willard is particularly well attuned to the freedom of an improvisational format.
“ Everyone is watching Fred work,” Guest told Charlie Rose in 2003.“ It’ s like kids at a party. [ He’ s ] one of the strangest people ever, truly from another place. We roll out entire mags, and Fred will be the one who will say,‘ I’ m not finished.’ And everyone kind of looks around, [ like ],‘ No, we realize you’ re not finished, but we actually have to move on.’” Guest paints Willard as a sort of improv unicorn, and apparently finds him so intrinsic to his films that he doesn’ t always feel obliged to write him into the script. Such was the case for Best in Show, in which Willard played the aforementioned baseball-obsessed dog-show announcer.
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