Getting To Know: Russ Feder
Welcome to Magnet's "Getting To Know" series! We're using our blog to highlight our fabulous performers and writers and we can't wait for you to meet them. Want to see them all? Click here.
Whats your name?
Russ Feder
Which team or show are you on?
The Commotion
Where are you from?
Long Island, NY
How did you get into improv/sketch comedy?
I grew up watching SNL, Mr. Show, and Monty Python all the time. In the early days of Comedy Central, the British version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? became my favorite show on television. I wrote some sketch soon after college with my old team, The Evil Audubon Society, and took improv classes over at UCB. Later, I took Musical Improv classes at the Magnet, and here we are!
How long have you been performing/writing?
Well, I've done musicals and plays since middle school, and I have a degree in Theater, so I've been acting for about 21 years, writing for 10, and improvising for eight.
Who in all the world would be your ideal scene or writing partner?
It was my dream to be Dana Carvey as a kid, so it would be incredible to work with him. And Paul F. Tompkins is the Funniest Person Alive, so I'd love to goof around on a stage with him. That dude makes me laugh like no one else.
Who would you most like to impersonate or write for?
I've done a pitch perfect George Costanza impression since I was in eighth grade, so I'd love to yell at Jason Alexander and have him yell back at me for a while.
What makes you laugh the hardest?
When I see people I know and love perform. If I like you as a person, I'll respond to a B-plus joke like it's the funniest thing I've ever heard. And I'm a BIIIIIIG laugher. Sorry, rest of the audience.
Describe the soundtrack to your life!
There's an embarassing amount of Billy Joel, but that's what happens when you grow up on Long Island. Plus, there's a steady diet of Punch Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, and, if I'm doing things right, at least one Queen song a day.
What's something you'd ask when meeting someone for the first time?
"Their name, for I am a gentleman!
I'd then promptly forget their name, for I am a narcissist."
Where can we find you on a Saturday night?
Either at home, with friends, or at a show. Weird time to decide to flirt with me, Questionaire.
If you could choose one animal to go extinct - which would it be?
Mosquitos should go extinct! Why do we even have them?
