Despite receiving widespread acclaim for her hypnotically lived-in breakout role on the cult Freevee series Jury Duty, Edy Modica continues to be Hollywood’s best-kept secret. Her debut stand-up special, borderline one-woman show, I’m Just Like You (And It Sucks), is soon to debut on YouTube after an exclusive run on VEEPS, and it feels like a culmination of everything she’s been building towards thus far. After years of being the queen of the indie short film (both in front of and behind the camera), a Zelig of the alt-comedy podcast scene (including appearances on Office Hours Live and Joy Tactics), and a performer of various types of live comedy, I’m Just Like You is the clearest statement yet from one of the boldest voices in comedy.
Filmed at The Slipper Room, a notable burlesque revival theater in NYC (fitting for such an animated performer), the eye-popping stage design is complemented by the retro-cool Modica, who makes herself right at home and kills for an hour, channeling Megan Boyle’s open-wound honesty and Vicki Lawrence’s commitment to the bit.
Interviewing Edy Modica has been a goal of mine for some time, and it finally happened. I was lucky enough to speak with the multi-hyphenate over Zoom. Despite me being a generally anxious person, her presence was immediately disarming, like FaceTiming an old friend. Her warm smile and expressive face as she told stories and eagerly answered my questions made me re-question the sanity of the industry for not pushing her into character actress stardom by now.
junkiesRpeople: What was the collaborative process like between you, director Ben O'Brien and DP Alex Bliss for the look of the special?
Edy Modica: It was awesome. I met up with Ben to direct because the company that paid for it, Irony Point, was sending me a bunch of different comedians, and it was like… I don't wanna work with any of them. And then I met up with Ben, and he hates the industry and was like, “I hate money.” It's like, “Okay, I love you.” And he's who thought I should go on tour, and that was just so helpful. I really wanted it to look classic. Like, the red curtain, and he was like, “What about ABBA music videos?” And then we started looking, and then I was like, “What about Meatloaf?!” So we were looking at 80s music videos. Soft… I wanted it to look amazing!
JRP: And it does. Did you have an inspiration for your makeup and wardrobe? It's striking. It reminds me of a Russ Meyer film, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls or something.
EM: My dream! I kind of just found the pieces slowly. I had those yellow boots and I bought three different versions of this mint green, all-feather tube top. And I feel if something is that hard, it's not right, you know? I bought one, but it didn't fit. Then I bought another one, and they were $100 each. For some reason, I was like, “I need to wear that.” And then I randomly ordered the green sweater on eBay and when it came, I was like, “Oh, this is the outfit.” It came to me slowly.
JRP: You always have the coolest eye makeup. The eyeshadow, I loved it.
EM: I loved it, too! I'm addicted to clothes.
JRP: Do you have a home club where you work out material?
EM: Not really, I never really did open mics or clubs. I feel like whenever I get asked to do a show at Union Hall, or LIFE WORLD—any of the places in New York that are alternative—I just try stuff out when I do a show.
JRP: How often do you get on stage?
EM: A few times a month. It really depends. Sometimes I have four shows in a week, and sometimes it's a little spread out. But then if I'm not getting the time, I’ll just book a show, and I'm like, “I guess I'll just try to do as long as possible.” It's not a normal way of doing it, I feel like.
JRP: I was looking through your old Tumblr and saw your drawings and homemade comics, and I noticed you used to incorporate animation in your work. Do you still draw?
EM: I do! That's so funny. I used to use it as a way to fill up time… but I haven't in a while. I love cartoons and graphic novels and stuff.
JRP: Do you have a favorite graphic novel?
EM: Yeah, it's called Acting Class by Nick Drnaso. It's a newer one. He’s fucking amazing. He's crazy. But also… The Megahex series by Simon Hanselmann, have you ever seen those? It's a witch and a cat and they smoke weed together, they're degenerates. You would love it.
JRP: I think one of the things that makes you so unique is your ability to absorb the essence of the people around you and reflect that through your work. You've talked about how your characters, like Nicole, often come from observing and people-watching. When you were 13, you made the local newspaper for playing Yente in Fiddler on the Roof and the article specifically mentions that you practiced the voice of a Jewish woman with a Brooklyn accent by listening to your mother speak around the house. Would you say you're interested in telling the stories of people who wouldn't normally be the main character, or wouldn't typically get their stories told. Is that a goal for you?
EM: Those are always my favorite characters. I was just watching Waiting… that movie with Ryan Reynolds, and Andy Milonakis is in it as one of the… he’s such a small character in that world, but I want to follow him, even though that whole movie, everyone is crazy.
JRP: I read somewhere that your short film Nicole is being developed into an HBO pilot, is that still happening?
EM: Yeah, I don't know… it's been three years, and we're getting close to finding out if they're gonna let us make it a pilot. Just the pilot. They paid me just to write the pilot, and that's been a 3-year process.
JRP: I know when the project was being pitched to Adult Swim, they ultimately passed because they didn’t agree with the “aimless” direction of the character. Is that a battle you’re fighting with HBO as well?
EM: No, I feel like that's… okay. It's hard because of course, when you're writing something, you want to know what the main characters’ wants are. What do they want? But I love this character because she really doesn't know, and that is affecting her in its own way. There's so many people in my life like that.
JRP: At one point you wanted to direct a feature version of your short film Waiter Movie. Has that been scrapped?
EM: Basically I had never written a full script, and I wrote it because Brain Dead [Studios] funded the short, and then they ran out of money. I thought that we were gonna be making a feature with them, but then that didn't happen. And I have the script, and I've re-read it, it needs so much work. I would love to make it one day, but not right now. Or I need help! I can't do it alone. I need someone pushing me and being like, “I actually want this to happen.”
JRP: How much actual desire do you have to be a director? I just watched the recent music videos you made for Wish Castle, I loved those.
EM: Thank you! I like acting. I feel like my wanting to direct comes from… if it's my idea, I'm like, “I see it. I want to be in control of it.” But I don't really have that much of an interest in, , how to get a shot. I don't care about the camera. I'm more interested in the acting side of it. That's why I've directed with people in the past, just so that I can focus on one thing. But I would do it, I would love to do it!
JRP: Not to box you in or anything, but would you consider yourself a comedian or actor first?
EM: I want to be an actress. But I'm so funny! (laughter) I feel like I use doing stand-up as just a way to perform. I think I'm… I don't know how to answer that. I'm both, man! I love live performance and the instant gratification that you get, where it's like, I just performed, and now… Have you ever heard when they say, you're only as good as your last performance?
JRP: Yeah.
EM: So, if I did a good job, that's gonna keep me going for a week. I'd be like, “Ugh, I'm so good at this.” But if I'm bad, I'm ruined.
JRP: I'm surprised you don't try to get on stage, like, every night.
EM: I know! It feels… I don't know why. I love being asked to do things. When I'm asked to do it, I'm like, “Yes, I would love to be there and figure it out!” But I haven't really done the club scene where you're up there every night trying new stuff for random people.
JRP: Have you ever auditioned for SNL?
EM: I auditioned twice, but then I stopped, because I just don't want… I think it's bad.
JRP: I agree…
EM: The show is not good! [laughter] I wanna be in good things. I'd rather have no money, and be in my friend's thing, and have so much fun than be in this corporate world. I'm not standing up there next to, like, Kim Kardashian, smiling. I can't do that. I care about the world.
JRP: Not to be a negative nancy, but is there a project you've auditioned for and still look back on like, “I really wish I would've gotten that one.”
EM: Yeah, almost every fucking thing! Especially recently, after Jury Duty, I got to this level where it's like, “Okay, now you're gonna get more auditions,” but to them I’m still in the middle. To them–I don't think I am. I'm like, hello?!
JRP: Are you typecast, do you think?
EM: I wish they were typecasting me! They're not anything casting me. There was honestly something that I really wanted, you know the HBO show Task? I auditioned for that soon after the Jury Duty success, and it was more of a serious role, but I thought, “I could do this in my sleep.” And I thought I did such a good job, but I didn't get it. That's one that I think about. And, I'm sorry, I'm remembering now…
JRP: Please, please go.
EM: You know the show You? Dude, the writing on that show is so funny. I auditioned for a pair of twins, they're identical twins, and you know how there's a slate at the end? Like, where you say, like, “Hi, my name is Edy, I'm 5'4",” whatever. In that, I said, “This role is amazing, and I really want it. Please.” And it was so dramatic, it almost feels like a parody. One of the twins, she's missing an ear, or she got her ear ripped off, so there was a line where she goes, “Oh, this? Reconstructive surgery.” Then she talks about how she got kidnapped and brought to the beach. It was so dramatic.
JRP: You would've killed that!
EM: That’s the most I've ever wanted a role, and you get paid twice if you get cast as twins.
JRP: That's crazy, I didn't realize that... You wrote on Letterboxd that the Inde Navarette role in Obsession would be a dream role for you.
EM: Yes!
JRP: Would you rather play the final girl or the villain in a horror movie?
EM: That's an amazing question. I feel like the final girl… it's not as fun, but you get to be, like, (Edy starts panting and gesturing like a final girl) for so long. Do you feel like she was the villain in Obsession?
JRP: I mean… She was painted as the villain, I guess. But it was a fucked up situation…
EM: Yeah. I feel like getting to play someone who is hurt and that's why they're acting out would be really fun.
JRP: So, your sexual deviancy is on full display in this special, and I think it's great that comedians can use that brutal honesty and self-deprecation to help normalize certain topics and empower themselves and the audience at the same time. I think you excel at that, and the fact that you're doing it with your parents in the front row is incredible. How long did it take you to reach that level of comfort, on stage and in life in general? Was that always who you were?
EM: The first time I did stand-up, I told this story about finding a lump on my vagina. I was on a trip with my dad, and I called my mom and told her about it, and she said, “Put your dad on the phone.” And she told him to look at it. So then we went into the bathroom, and I showed it to him, but I showed him from the back, because I didn't want to, like, spread it for him. I told that when I was, like, 19 on stage. I feel like I've always known what I think is just the most embarrassing stuff is the most interesting to talk about.
JRP: Was it surreal to be directed by Jo Firestone in a nude production [2015’s Body]?
EM: She wasn't really around when we were actually naked. I think we just wanted someone who we looked up to talk to about it. But she wasn't that really boots on the ground with that.
JRP: One of my favorite things you've done is A Real Sexual Relationship with Eric Rahill, an amazing short film. You guys have worked together a bunch, and you have wonderful chemistry. Did he come up in that same Julio Torres, John Early, etc. scene that you came up in?
EM: He moved here later, I think from Chicago. But I'm trying to think when we became… I remember when Jack Bensinger moved here, and he came later.
JRP: I feel like in another world, you guys would be an iconic 2000s sitcom couple.
EM: One thousand percent yes. Like The King of Queens.
JRP: King of Nyack. (laughter)
EM: That's my favorite thing I've ever done, that movie. That was so…
JRP: You wrote it right?
EM: Well, we, like, improvised it. I just love acting, and getting to actually do it feels unmatched.
JRP: You have a couple of films with Accepted director Steve Pink on the way. How did that come about?
EM: I did his movie Terrestrial…
JRP: Is that out yet?
EM: It's coming out in October, I think. I honestly think the person that they wanted, I've gotten, like, 4 parts this same way, the person slash model that they wanted drops out, and then they're like, “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Oh, that girl from Jury Duty!” and I'm like, “I'm not doing anything, I would love to come!” And that's how that happened, too, and then he really liked me!
JRP: What's the last online rabbit hole you went down?
EM: I'm really into infections, like toenail infections, and then my newest thing, I've been having… I think I have this thing called nasal vestibulitis. It's basically, like, I get sores in my nose and I was watching an hour-long medical video about that. I’m obsessed, if I have pimples, I'm dissecting, I'm squeezing… I want to be doing surgery on infected skin.
JRP: I totally understand the urge to pick.
EM: It's all I watch. My entire Discover page is that.
JRP: Speaking of toes, not to be a creep, but you deserve a higher WikiFeet rating. I just have to throw that out there, I'm sorry.
EM: Literally? You think I don't know that?
JRP: Okay, as long as you know… On the Joy Tactics podcast, you told a story about meeting some kids on the subway and that led to FaceTiming with rapper Xaviersobased. I loved that story, my interests colliding! Do you have any sort of relationship to hip-hop? I enjoyed your freestyle rap on the Business Casual podcast.
EM: I like random… you know who I love? KARRAHBOOO.
JRP: Oh, okay! Wow, that's awesome.
EM: She just came out with a new EP [NOT DA 2], so I've been listening to that. I have random hip-hop artists that I like, but I'm not really in the world. I like KARRAHBOOO and Babyxsosa, those are my two girls. I have a KARRAHBOOO shirt with her mugshot on it.
JRP: Oh my god, you know ball! Wow. I wanted to mention the buzz for Club Kid. I've been seeing a lot of good things about it. What's your role in that?
EM: Jordan Firstman's character and the kid are looking for someone and they go to this super gay party, and I'm at the party, and I'm like, “Ew, there's a kid here!” It's a small role, but it was really fun.
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junkiesRpeople is a film and music writer who currently resides in Providence, RI. He first rose to prominence as the key grip on John M. Stahl’s Leave Her to Heaven (1945).