Q&A with David Cross and Jon Benjamin of "Freak Show"

Five questions with DAVID CROSS and JON BENJAMIN:

By Amber Holubec


Do you prefer writing, stand up, movies or TV?

DC: You know, I get asked that question a lot, and its a meaningless question. I don’t mean that to be insulting, it’s just there is no rather. No one’s ever gonna say to me, ‘If you want to do a TV show, you can’t do stand up.’ Or, ‘If you do stand up, there is no way you can ever appear in a movie again.’ You know, I get to do all of it, so there’s no rather. I would just like to do all of it. Kinda at the pace I do it at.
JB: I will say, I exclusively want to do animation. And if anyone has the balls to come up to me and ask me to do film or television, I will personally punch them in the face.
DC: But with an animated fist.
JB: My assistant’s fist. Then I will fire him for punching someone.

Are you worried to being compared to other shows on Comedy Central?

DC: Well, that was a concern because it’s animated, and it’s going to follow “South Park.” The show we think we really resemble the most is “Mind of Mencia.” I think Tuck and Primi are two sides of Carlos Mencia.
JB: “Mind of Mencia” may be easier to comprehend and funnier.
DC: It’s like a smartened up, reversed, mirrored image of “Mind of Mencia.”

How did you decide on which freaks to include?

JB: It was basically the first ones we came up with. And we’ve come up with more since.
DC: We’ve got some ready to go if there is a second season. There’s a lot ready to go. We’re ready to crank them out.
JB: There’s a lot in the works. It’s pretty exciting.
DC: You have a lot to look forward to. A lot! Let me say it again. A lot!

Can you describe the writing process of the show? Is there a lot of improv in the voicing?

DC: There is, actually. We encourage that. We have to get everything down as it’s written, at least once correctly, but then we encourage everybody to riff around. There are a number of scenes that are a result of riffing around. A lot of Tuck and Benny stuff are just riffs.
JB: Mrs. Hartsdale is riffed a lot. We work pretty hard on the scripts, so there is a lot of script, but some improv.
DC: We’re all friends in there, and once everyone gets there in the recording sessions, its always fun, and it would be stupid to not take the extra couple of minutes and grab it. I mean we’re working with some of the premiere voice talent in North America.

Was the idea originally intended for Adult Swim?

JB: We pitched it to Cartoon Network before, but they declined. We told them the idea and they said no. We sent them the page! A lot of it comes from the idea that this is a superhero parody, which it’s not. People over-simplified the show. At that point, I guess if we could have described it better, I think. Clearly, if you watch all the shows it has nothing to do with that. That was their snap judgement.
DC: I agree.