Horace and Pete Guest Star Explains the Excitement of Joining Latest Louis C.K. Project
Liza Treyger in Horace and Pete's
Louis C.K. has announced that more episodes of his new self-produced series Horace and Pete are coming, starting this Saturday. Episode two is being produced right now, he said in an announcement, to be delivered to all of us on Saturday morning. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, last Saturday we all woke up with the surprise that Louis C.K. had created episode one of “a thing” and you could watch it for $5. We threw down our fiver expecting a web series of some kind- not even sure if C.K. himself would appear– and sat amazed watching an all star cast put on a magnificent hour plus “episode” (more like a play) with Louis in the lead role, and a cast filled with brilliant performances.
C.K. sent his mailing list subscribers some more detailed information about the new series on Thursday afternoon. “Horace and Pete is a new show that I am producing, directing, writing, distributing and financing on my own,” she said. “I have an amazing cast: Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco, Alan Alda, Jessica Lange, Aidy Bryant, Steven Wright, Kurt Metzger and other guest stars. Also Paul Simon wrote and performed the theme song which is beautiful.”
Liza Treyger Explains the Excitement of Joining ‘Horace and Pete’
The youngest of the guest stars, or at least the youngest stand up comedy talent- Liza Treyger– appeared on SiriusXM’s Bennington Show this week, and was bubbling about the amazing experience guest starring on episode one of Horace and Pete. Liza has been performing for years, and is considered one of comedy’s brightest emerging talents. Just in the past year alone she’s performed at SXSW, recorded her first half hour special for Comedy Central, and taped Joking Off with MTV2, but Liza told hosts Ron Bennington and Gail Bennington that being a part of Horace and Pete was “the coolest thing that’s ever happened.”
She kept her comments about her part in the series short, not wanting to spill any secrets or share anything she wasn’t supposed to say, but admitted to being overwhelmed by it all. She knew nothing about the project until the day she arrived at the table read, somewhere around a month ago. “No one knew anything,” she said. She walked into a room and suddenly found herself at a table with comedy stars and Hollywood giants like Steve Buscemi, Steven Wright, Alan Alda, Jessica Lange and Edie Falco. “Because I’m a comic I show up right on time. If you say 5, I’ll be there at 5,” she said. But when she walked in, everyone was already there and ready to work. “All these people were just ready with their waters, scripts out…. I couldn’t in my wildest imagination know that these people would be there.” Everyone was amazing to watch, she said–“People I’ve looked up to for my whole life! It was just nuts!”– but for her, Steve Buscemi was probably the coolest, she said, admiring how he can play a lead powerhouse, a loser, a psychopath, or a loveable person. And of course, watching C.K. work was an experience all its own that she called “incredible” and “out of control genius cool.”
Liza Treyger in Horace and Pete
Louis C.K. Releases More Details About ‘Horace and Pete’
The response to the first episode has been great, at least according to C.K. As part of his Thursday email announcement, he explained why he delivered the new project under a veil of secrecy. “Part of the idea behind launching it on the site was to create a show in a new way and to provide it to you directly and immediately, without the usual promotion, banner ads, billboards and clips that tell you what the show feels and looks like before you get to see it for yourself.” It’s pretty brilliant thinking, and hit the mark 100%. Part of the thrill of watching the first episode was having no idea what was coming. Many fans weren’t up for a blind purchase and waited to hear what others had to say before purchasing, but for those of us who just clicked blindly and waited to see what would unfold, it was an exciting experience.
C.K. added, “as a writer, there’s always a weird feeing that as you unfold the story and reveal the characters and the tone, you always know that the audience will never get the benefit of seeing it the way you wrote it because they always know so much before they watch it. And as a TV watcher I’m always delighted when I can see a thing without knowing anything about it because of the promotion. So making this show and just posting it out of the blue gave me the rare opportunity to give you that experience of discovery.”
Louis said the show is being shot in a multi-camera format with an emphasis on a live feeling– and he’s succeeded, moments in you feel that you are watching a play. Adding to the live feeling, they’re actually making the show as we’re watching it, week by week.
The cost of the initial episode bothered some fans who felt a $5 tv episode was a little costly. The reason is simple. “The show is fucking expensive.” Putting it in his own elegant C.K.-way, “Horace and Pete is a full on TV production with four broadcast cameras, two beautiful sets and a state of the art control room and a very talented and skilled crew and a hall-of-fame cast. Every second the cameras are rolling, money is shooting out of my asshole like your mother’s worst diarrhea. (Yes there are less upsetting metaphors I could be using but I just think that one is the sharpest and most concise). Basically this is a hand-made, one guy paid for it version of a thing that is usually made by a giant corporation.”
Future episodes will come down to $3, and to sort of even things out a little, episode two will be a bargain $2 but anyone whose complaining about paying $5 to see an hour play, no commercials, stocked with this amount of talent should just sit this one out or wait until it hits some secondary market some day like Hulu. At the very least, you can chip in and watch with a buddy.
Here’s the link for the website. Episode two, shooting now, arrives Saturday morning.
