Blog friends, I’m so happy for you to get to know one of my favorite Twitter friends, Cassie St. Onge. She’s a comedy writer and awesome chick. Here’s an IM interview that we did. The transcript has been edited for readability.
Shannon: i’ve been trying to get to know some twitter friends outside of the 140 characters and post those interviews on my blog. thanks for taking time to chat w/me.
Caissie: Of course!
C: Thank you for asking me.
S: I think we met on Twitter back when Twitter allowed you to see the replies sent to other people and I noticed Paul F. Tompkins was talking to you and followed you. Who are some of the people you’ve “met” on Twitter?
C: I’ve met some GREAT people on Twitter, including – but not limited to, Bill Corbett & his beautiful wife Virginia, Kevin Murphy, John Moe, Joe Randazzo, Michael Kupperman, Kelly Oxford, Peter Serafinowicz and the amazing Ted Leo & his equally amazing wife, Jodi. Lisa Jane Persky and her husband Andy Zax. Nina Bargiel & her husband Will. I’m sure I’m leaving some incredible folks out. Too many to name, but some of these “meetings” have crossed over into real life friendships, which is wonderful.
C: Damn. See, I forgot Jenna Stern. Damn!
S: See, I just thought you knew many of them in real life already.
C: No, those are all people that I first met, usually through mutual friends I think, on Twitter.
S: So, let’s start with something basic. Your name is spelled in a unique way and pronounced like “Casey,” right?
C: Yes, that is correct. Casey, but spelled in a needlessly confusing manner.
S: I hope I’m not alone in originally thinking it might be pronounced like Cassie.That extra I changes everything.
C: No, you are not even close to alone. I think most people believe that I’m a “Cassie” until I awkwardly correct them. Sometimes I never do.
S: Ok, so I’m confused on where you live. Brooklyn or Wesport, CT?
C: I live in Westport, CT. Former Park Slope resident, but moved over seven years ago.
S: You were a writer and producer on Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins which was canceled. Would you have been on the staff of that show if it had continued without Paul?
Caissie's son, Eli, on set of BWE meeting one of my faves
C: I don’t think so. I was part of a small team that developed BWE w/PFT when we were being told that we were making a pilot for a show that would be the old BWE’s COMPANION. (Team was me, Paul & Nelson Walters, mainly.) We were also told not to expect anything to ever happen with the pilot because that’s how things usually go. So, we made it, shot it, edited it & sent it up the chain at VH1 & they came back to us saying they loved it so much they were just going to change BWE to this new show we’d made. Nobody was more shocked than us. We were happy too, until it became clear that VH1 wasn’t really going to support this major change with any advertising or promotion. Then it got scary.
S: Oh, yikes. I didn’t realize that’s how the format change had happened.
C: After they took us off the air, there was a lot of talk about rebooting the old BWE and I did meet with someone once about what it would take to get me back there, but it wasn’t official. I had some very specific (probably unmeetable) criteria & I was never invited back to help develop the reboot, but even if I was, I probably wouldn’t have gone back if I could help it.
S: Awkward for everybody.
S: I still look forward to a show like that hopefully coming out of that same team but maybe appearing elsewhere.
C: It really was awkward for everybody. I too hope that I get a chance to work with Paul & Nelson (in particular) again, because they became two of my best friends for life. Truly. I was already good friends with this guy Matt Pearl who worked very hard on the show too. I miss sooooo many of the great performers we had & would do anything with any of them in a second.
S: I could talk about BWE and PFT and all of the people you worked with there all day but I want to go back to how you got started. What did you go to college to study?
C: I was a film major in college, but what it taught me about the entertainment business was…honestly…nothing.
S: I think that might be true for most of us.
S: College just shows you can stick with something for a while most of the time I think.
C: Yeah, it’s a shame because my time might have been better spent reading classics and watching great movies and shows. What are you gonna do?
C: I spent a lot of time learning how to put film in a camera inside a blackout bag, which is something I’ve never had to, nor ever will do!
S: So the earliest job that I know that you had was as David Letterman’s assistant. What other jobs did you do before that?
C: Before I was David Letterman’s assistant, I was a nursing assistant in a rest home. It was good preparation.
S: Haha. DL must have thought so as well. How did you get the job as Dave’s assistant?
C: I was actually an intern in his office first. I came to NYC hoping to get an internship with the writing staff there. I met with the writers & they were really nice, then the internship coordinator told me they’d already chosen their intern weeks ago. She said, “I have one more person for you to meet.” So, I met with Dave’s executive assistant and Dave for a brief minute. They asked if I could drive a stick shift, I answered no and I thought that was it. But a few weeks later I got a call telling me they’d chosen me, even though I couldn’t do the one thing Dave’s intern was required to do.
C: So, I guess I got lucky.
S: Drive a stick shift? Ha. That takes on a whole new meaning given his recent scandals.
C: Totally. But, he literally meant drive a stick shift because it was the intern’s job to gas up & park his bazillion dollar cars.
S: Speaking of….
S: There’s been so much scandal with Dave and his assistants in the news including the Vanity Fair article by Nell Scovell. If my math is right, you worked there slightly after she left. Did any parts of her article ring true for you in terms of what you witnessed and the work environment?
C: I was there shortly after Nell left & the woman who was swept up in the scandal was someone I know & consider a friend. Here’s what I can say. When I first heard about everything, I was very defensive of Dave and outraged on his behalf. I’m not saying I was never the focus of that kind of…interest…when I was there, but NEVER from him. I actually thought of him as a pretty good role model and someone I really looked up to. Now, all that being said…there have been moments since everything happened where I’ve been like…am I still thinking of this like the 22 year-old girl that I was? Was I taken less seriously there because I was a woman that wasn’t banging anyone? Perhaps. It’s really difficult to answer that with any certainty. I do feel that it was a political place based on a lot of things including gender, sex, personality – tons of things really
S: It seems your opinions are sort of similar to Nell’s.
C: Yeah, I mean, I wanted to be a writer and I didn’t feel like that was going to happen for me there in the way that I wished it could happen, so that’s when I moved on.
S: I wonder, in your role as an assistant, what were a handful of your responsibilities other than gassing and parking cars?
C: Well, I never had to gas and park the car because I couldn’t, so I got out of that. One of my favorite duties was writing his personal correspondence. He was very old school and sent letters for everything. It was really my first lesson in getting someone’s “voice” and learning how to write jokes. Also, he personally went over ever single one before signing it, so it was “writing” for him in a sense. Once I was confident doing that, I was able to translate that into monologue joke writing.
S: that’s interesting. but you didn’t write monologues for him, that was for the future, right?
C: No, actually I did submit jokes on a freelance basis & got paid per joke that he used. I still have the contract that I signed for that arrangement because it was so monumental to me to be a “freelancer.” I think my first joke to get on the air was about Yasser Arafat.
S: That’s a fun memory.
C: Totally. I also liked it because it was so democratic. You submitted your jokes and he basically saw all together, so if your joke got chosen it was because it was good and not because he liked you or whatever.
S: I believe your next job was as a writer on The Rosie O’Donnell Show which would have not only been a change in job title but work environment. i assume writing in a predominantly female environment was easier. do you think having primarily female coworkers (as Oprah does as well) is a kind of reverse sexism? Or not?
C: Working at Rosie was a totally different vibe because it was for a totally different audience. Truth be told, I’m not sure that her staff was any more female-heavy than the Late Show staff was at the time. More female writers certainly, but overall staff percentages were probably the same. Of course, it was a very gay-friendly staff, but Late Show was as well.
C: Oh, to answer…I think sexism is such a tricky claim to make. In some cases in some places it’s so obvious a woman didn’t get the job because she was a woman…but in TV, the argument can always be made that the woman just wasn’t a great fit (i.e. not funny or talented enough) – it’s difficult to dispute.
S: so how did it work to be part of a team of writers on TROS – were you assigned segments you were responsible for, did everybody collaborate on the whole show or some other arrangement?
C: We would meet with Rosie every morning & afternoon and pitch our individual ideas (sometimes two of us would team up, if we felt like it). If she said yes, then you wrote it. If she said no, you kept trying until she said yes to something. Because if she never said yes, you’d probably be out of a job before too long.
C: It was a very free environment, and if you weren’t proactive, it could be tough.
S: the show itself was incredibly fun (much like how i feel about ellen’s show now). was there a lot of fun backstage as well? i know rosie’s reputation for being tough but it seems like once she respects you and gets you, things could be a lot less difficult.
C: Like any show, particularly a live one, there was typical backstage drama because you’re trying to pump out an hour every single day and things sometimes went haywire. We had a lot of turnover too – people leaving or being let go. But I think you hit it on the head. Rosie was tough because she was the one with the vision for the show and she knew how she wanted it done and she was right. I think if it weren’t for her bringing back that kind of variety show, Ellen wouldn’t be where she is today. Rosie was also really good to the staff. She made sure there was daycare for people’s kids, and food when we worked late and paid vacations so we didn’t have to find new jobs during hiatus. It was pretty sweet.
S: when my kids were little, i always wanted to work somewhere with an on-site daycare. i believe you had one of your sons while working there. were you able to bring him to work with you?
S: i wanted to ask that question even before you mentioned the daycare as a perk. i had a child around the same time rosie adopted parker and really wanted that perk at my job too 
C: Yes, for the first year he was at home with my husband, but then he was a daycare kid and it was great. It was great for everyone, I think, including people that didn’t have kids because it was like a family. I loved it.
C: The celebrity guests were forever in the daycare visiting the kids. My son remembers Destiny’s Child visiting and a certain lady teaching him to say, “Beyonce is my fiance!”
S: haha. now he should do the single ladies dance.
S: your job at TROS ended in 2002. I know you’ve co-written 2 books in the 8 years since plus worked on BWE. what other projects have you worked on?
C: Alan Katz, who I co-wrote the little bookies with was actually another writer on TRODS, which is where we met. When he first met me, I think he thought I was going to be his assistant and not a cowriter (because I was YOUNG) so when we came back from hiatus and he started, he was in shock a little. But we became lifelong friends & sometimes do little projects together. He’s a successful children’s author now.
C: I’ve worked everywhere on your TV box. Pilots for NBC talk shows, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Food Network, Trio, Bravo – just everywhere. I’ve also written a couple of commercials starring some famous ladies. I think I’ve developed a mini-reputation as a famous lady commercial writer or something.
C: Oh, I also write for Joan Rivers sometimes. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
S: i never appreciated joan rivers until kathy griffin. i love kathy and kathy loves joan.
S: your husband is a fiction writer and your kids are so creative and hilarious. i always imagine your household is a big ball of fun.
S: tell me about your sons and what they are into.
Caissie's son, Lincoln, in his beach attire
C: Hmmm. My house is loud, I’ll say that. My husband is an amazingly talented award-winning author with a book coming out soon. My younger son Lincoln is a full-fledged sci-fi/comic book fanboy geek. He loves Star Trek and the Hulk with the burning passion of a thousand suns.
C: My older guy, Eli, is very unique. He used to be a little performer always “on” – but now that he’s a preteen, he’s little too cool for school. He’s into shooting and editing little videos. He reads a lot. He likes Facebook. He likes to cook. They’re all excellent artists where I live.
S: creativity and school don’t always go together unless the school can help channel it into a good direction. do they have creative outlets to get into at school or is school kind of boring for them?
C: My older guy was diagnosed with ADHD a few years back, so a traditional school setting and traditional teachers may never be his thing. But, he does participate in plays and he is really successful doing artistic things in school. Luckily, Westport really focuses on the arts as much as anything, so it’s not totally painful for him. They both hate school in the normal amount, I think.
S: i could talk to you for a whole other hour as we haven’t gotten into so many things but i just have a few random questions before we sign off.
C: Of course!
S: favorite sources of pop culture news?
C: I love buzzfeed.com and while I kinda hate celebrity gossip, wesmirch.com is a good source for it. Of course, if anything happens, it’s on Twitter.
S: do you watch The Soup?
C: I don’t watch The Soup. When I was at BWE, it was just to avoid ever comparing what we were doing with what they were doing, but I’ve watched it. It’s not my kind of humor, I guess.
S: academy award noms haven’t come out yet but what movie do you want to win for best picture?
C: The Squeakquel! But seriously, um…The Hurt Locker, maybe? Although I don’t think it has a chance in hell.
S: i have it rented via iTunes rental but haven’t watched yet. look forward to watching it.
S: best part about driving a prius?
C: I love most things about driving a Prius, except that people can’t hear it & they just walk around with their head in the clouds in a parking lot while I’m trying not to run them over or scare them.
S: last question – what upcoming work should we keep an eye out for on TV or otherwise?
C: Get Starz & watch season 2 of “Party Down.” Rent all the seasons of “The Might Boosh” and watch them without ever getting off your couch. Get Peter Serafinowicz’s DVDs & watch that. Watch “Look Around You.” The British stuff is great & it’s kicking our ass in terms of innovation & risk-taking, I think. And in joyfulness, actually. Also, The Best and the Brightest is a new movie that will be coming out sometime soon and it does, in fact star, some of the best and the brightest, so go see that. It’s really fun.
C: The MIGHTY Boosh
S: i will do that. i trust your taste.
C: Thanks!
S: thanks for talking to me caissie. it’s been fantastic to break out of 140 characters to get into stuff a bit more.
C: Thank you, Shannon. I had a blast!!!
C: See you on the Twitter!