Tina Fey Schools Google's Eric Schmidt on Improv Comedy
Tina Fey taught Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt the rules of comedy improv last week during her appearance at Google's headquarters in Mountain View. In the hour-long chat that followed Lady Gaga's visit in March, Fey promoted her new book Bossypants, which Schmidt called the "funniest book you'll ever read," and spoke about the challenges facing female professionals. An alumnus of the Second City comedy troupe and ImprovOlympic in Chicago, Schmidt tried to put her on the spot with a snap improv session:
Schmidt: "Stop, I've got a gun!"
Fey: "The gun. The gun I gave you for our wedding anniversary, Eric? How could you?"
Schmidt: "We're not married"
Fey: "Ah ha. 'We're not married' is a denial, We've learned our first improv lesson."
Schmidt: "This is the problem with an engineer trying to learn improv."
Fey goes on to say that in improv, "when you create something out of nothing, the first rule is to agree." She adds that her early years learning the comedy technique changed her world-view and helped her write her book.
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Other moments bloggers latched on to was her conversation on gadgets. She uses an iPad, "computers" and an iPhone, which the pro-Android Schmidt chided her for, saying "We want you to use a more powerful phone." Elsewhere in the interview Schmidt asks her if she'd like to start acting in more serious roles to which she answers yes, as a judge on Law & Order. Fielding a question from the audience, Fey says she would "absolutely" consider bringing Schmidt on for a cameo on 30 Rock. Here's the uncut video:
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