Friends with Glue ft Katie Rich
Friends with Glue is a recurring series of spaces where we get to know our writers, producers, and special guest actors of the Glue Factory Show. Through these conversations we want to shine a light on the people behind the laughs with the goal of further inspiring creativity in our community.
This week we welcomed the comedic force that is Katie Rich, writer and voice-actor on our very own Glue Factory Show, which will sit proudly alongside her impressive slew of writing credits including SNL and Chicago Party Aunt, which she created along with Glue Factory Showrunner Jon Barinholtz.
Quick production update:
101 is in the final stages of articulation tweaks, where the magic really happens. It’s one thing to lipsync a horse’s jaw to a script, it is another to add in the fluttering of ears, blinking of eyes and the tilting of a head to add depth and emotion to a conversation. There has been a slight delay with the audio due to covid restrictions, but we’re still primed for a special screening this month and plenty of teasers from the world and series as a whole are coming. Did you check out this week’s ‘Glue’s Clue’s’ in the Discord?
Special Guests
We’re getting set to lock in the final special guest. Trust us — it’s worth the wait. This means we should be able to announce all our voice actors in the next fortnight.
A huge amount of work has gone into bringing in these crazy talents and we cannot wait to finally share this with the community, and we know it will generate a whole new level of excitement. Stay tuned folks, this is going to be huge! 👀
Katie Rich
It was an absolute privilege and pleasure to have Katie Rich join us and share her story. She is incredibly sharp and funny, but also so welcoming and inspirational. Katie’s key messages all centered around her ethos that it is never too late to take a leap.
Katie started at Northwestern University at 23, and attributes her knack for comedy to her Italian family. It’s not that they were funny per se, more that she had to be funny (and loud) to get a word in. Her earliest ventures into comedy, while fun, were not instant classics. She worked incredibly hard, and was refreshingly candid in her reflections on the ebbs and flow of self doubt.
Landing a role on the writing team at SNL only came after a string of knock-backs but she stuck at it. Her message was loud and clear, put in the work and you will see it pay off!
FEMALES TAKING ON TRADITIONALLY MALE DOMINATED SPACES
Being a female in comedy can be daunting, just as it can in the tech and NFT space. Katie’s pertinent reflections of her own experiences of female comics often needing to overcome a self-conscious questioning or even apologising for a lack of experience was searing and so analogous to the crypto and NFT space.
The reality is that we’re all just learning, whether it be comedy, crypto or NFTs and there is no need to apologise for the learning process rather it’s something that should be embraced. Indeed, when Katie first became involved in the show and started learning about NFTs, fellow Glue Factory Show writer Colton Dunn, who is a bit of a crypto aficionado, talked her through some things and even offered to set up a wallet for her. Katie politely declined, and took the time to do her own research, read up on NFTs and how to search and shop on OpenSea. While she was able to lean on Colton for support, her message was clear — dig in, do the research, and you’ll build confidence and know how to make your mark, even if it’s just for your own self.
THE WORLD OF IMPROV COMEDY
It was great to hear Jon run us through structures of improv comedy and how it differs and both relate to stand up comedy. One of the biggest factors of improv comedy is the ‘Yes, and...’ rule. It’s working with a partner or the audience, and affirming their ideas whilst also building on them to create a hilarious collaborative story. This really resonates with the core values of the Glue Factory Show, and it was fun to muse on the synergy between improv comedy and how we are using web3 to harness and unlock community creativity and storytelling — through our Community Writers’ Room and now our Community Creators’ Room, which are available to all verified horse holders in our Discord.
CREATING THE GLUE FACTORY SHOW
One of the big takeaways for the community was just how much the writers enjoyed the process of creating this show. While the writers’ room was a bit different, having to be conducted entirely on Zoom, it meant that the team could really zone in on the creation process.
This was a very unique project as the writers had complete creative freedom. Katie commented on flexibility allowed by this model, in comparison to other writing rooms such as SNL, where your writing must align with the regular weekly format and need to respond to immediate current affairs and events. Here our writers were able to use the provocative art to springboard and explore some crazy and wild ideas. The writing process closely mirrored the structure of the writing assignments within the Community Writers’ Room, with the writers each given writing assignments to fill out each episode.
Katie also gave some great insight into her character Crystal, who is a real straight talking kinda gal and a strong female character. We’re going to see some fun times play out between her and Byron. It was also fascinating to hear Jon and Rob’s reflections on their own characters, and Jon’s musings, that you often inadvertently write or act part of yourself into your character.
Listening to the banter flow between Katie, Jon and Rob, we’re super jealous we didn’t all get to eavesdrop on their writers’ room. It was truly a joy to hear them rift and flow together, and listening to Katie speak was especially uplifting and empowering. Glue Factory co-creator Lauren best likened this Twitter Space to a warm hug. Katie’s message of endurance was a pertinent reminder that the old adage to keep trying and grinding rings true, and has led to her incredible success.
POAP
Everyone who tuned in to the Space can claim a special POAP. If you were on the space you would have heard the secret word — you’ll need this to claim! Simply fill out this form and enter in the secret word, your ETH address and your social handle before Tuesday 18th of January. We’ll then whitelist your address and you will be able to claim the POAP for FWG #2!
POAP for FWG #1 will be avilable early next week too.
Bibu Studios
Our friends at Bibu gave away an awesome LED Bag, which allows a whole new way to rep your NFTs! Congratulations to Glue Gang regular Berserker who won this week’s prize and can now rock his Glue Factory NFTs IRL.
Like what you see? So do we! That’s why we’re partnering with Bibu to run another giveaway for the Glue Gang. Keep an 👀 out on our Twitter this weekend for more details on how you can snag the ‘world’s first LED pouch to shill your NFTs’.
