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We all know that animation and humor go hand in hand. However, marrying the fine art of stand-up with live art by animation pros can create a whole new kind of performance magic. Just ask Brandie Posey and partner Sam Varela, who along with Emmy-nominated animation director Mike Hollingsworth (BoJack Horseman, Tuca & Bertie) and Mike L. Mayfield (The Midnight Gospel, Big Mouth) have been the masterminds behind the live show Picture This! for over a decade.
‘I love seeing comedians and artists in awe of each other as they witness each other’s talent. Normally comedians and artists don’t get to interact much in the TV world, so it’s really cool to play matchmaker and see people that connect at our show go on to work together in the future.’
— Picture This! co-producer Sam Varela
Stand-up comedy scene veterans Posey and Varela first came up with the idea of Picture This! because they wanted to create a project where animators and comedians worked together on stage. As Posey recalls, “There used to be a show where people would get drawn during their sets, and I thought that the concept could be taken a lot farther with the right changes. Sam had some great insights I wouldn’t have thought of from the producing side, so we set a date to try it out and brought in some artist friends to draw. After the first show we knew we had something special on our hands.”
Spontaneous Combustion
As they started to workshop the show, they began working regularly with toon pros Mayfield and Hollingsworth. “Once the four of us joined forces, we started pushing ourselves to take the show on the road to festivals and try to grow the show,” says Varela. “We had no idea we’d still be doing this show almost 13 years later on two coasts having survived a TV pilot, COVID lockdown and the competitive live show scenes of both L.A. and New York.”
Hollingsworth says he loves the way the show mixes the adrenaline rush of a live comedy show with the visual punch of a great cartoon. “To animators, I describe Picture This! as the Warner Bros. cartoon Duck Amuck, but in real life,” he says. “The relationship between Daffy Duck and the animator in that classic cartoon is recreated when the Picture This! stand-up comic is teamed with the Picture This! artist in front of a live audience.”
Posey and Varela love the way each edition of their show can take both the audience and the performers in wild new directions. “My favorite moment in a show is watching a comedian who has told a joke a hundred times get surprised and delighted at a fresh direction that the joke ends up going,” says Posey.
Varela agrees, “I love seeing comedians and artists in awe of each other as they witness each other’s talent. Normally these creatives don’t get to interact much in the TV world, so it’s really cool to kind of play matchmaker and see people that connect at our show go on to work together in the future.”
Picture This! has allowed Posey and Varela to work side by side with some of their childhood animation heroes. “I was a weird kid. I really resented when my friends started watching live-action TV! Batman: The Animated Series is a masterpiece. My stand-up comedy heroes are Kyle Kinane, Maria Bamford, Billy Connolly and Eddie Pepitone. I couldn’t get enough of Strangers With Candy and the Upright Citizens Brigade TV show.”
“One of the coolest parts of Picture This! is that I’ve been able to meet creators that shaped my childhood,” says Varela. We’ve had Craig Bartlett (Hey Arnold, Rugrats) and Adventure Time creator Pen Ward regularly draw on the show. We’ve even had the legendary actors like Billy West, John DiMaggio and Carlos Alazraqui do the show! As a comedy nerd, I’m so honored that comedy heroes like Maria Bamford, Emo Philips, Nicole Byer, Roy Wood Jr., Andy Kindler, Ilana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, Chris Gethard, Jon Glazer and many more have done the show!”
Posey and Varela hope to keep expanding their project in the future. “We’d love to take a crack at TV if anyone’s reading and is interested in making that happen!” says Varela. “You never know where a live show will take you. I’m just excited to keep spreading the novelty and joy of live animated comedy to audiences far and wide!”
You can enjoy Picture This! at the World Animation Summit at The Garland hotel in N. Hollywood at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, November 3.
For more info, visit picturethisshow.com.
