Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Hello. Today,
we're doing a bit of a case study, really, looking
at career agility. We're analyzing a performer
who I think uniquely bridged this gap, you know,
between very niche, disciplined improv comedy.
Right. The small black box theater stuff. Exactly.
And then, boom, high stakes, mainstream studio
work. Film, TV. A pretty rare trajectory, actually.
We are diving deep into the sources around Dorothea
Lauren Allegra Lapkus. Lauren Lapkus. Yeah. Our
mission here really is to sift through her professional
biography, all these articles, interviews, career
summaries we've got. Lots of material. And pinpoint
how she did it, how she took that foundational
skill, improv, which often stays pretty niche.
And made it, well, essential. profitable even
across these huge platforms she's not just another
successful comedian there's a strategy there
she's almost like uh an anomaly in modern entertainment
and the thing that hits you first is just the
range the visibility if you were watching prestige
tv back then you definitely know her as susan
fisher The correctional officer in Orange is
the new Black. Oh yeah, seasons one and two.
Kind of awkward, sharp. Memorable character.
But then, if you watched network sitcoms, totally
different vibe. She was Denise in The Big Bang
Theory. Right, towards the end of its run. And
for the HBO crowd, she played Jess in Crashing,
Pete Holmes' show. His ex -wife, yeah. Much more
raw, grounded feel to that series. So that's
already three very different corners of TV. And
then you layer on the huge blockbuster. Jurassic
World. 2015, Vivian. That global hit. It's just,
that combination is kind of staggering, isn't
it? Critical darling, ensemble show, massive
network sitcom, and a tentpole movie. It really
is. The sources nail it down. She's fundamentally
a comedian and actress. Been active since 2005.
Yeah, that's nearly two decades of building this.
That longevity doesn't happen by accident. It's
about constantly applying those skills. Okay,
so let's unpack that. You can't really understand
the output, the success, without digging into
the training, right? No way. Nobody just jumps
from, you know, local theater to a universal
studio set. We've got to start at the beginning.
Evanston, Illinois. Absolutely. So, Dorothea
Lauren Allegra Lapkus, born September 6, 1985.
Evanston roots. And the key thing the sources
point out isn't just where she was born, but
what she was watching. Ah, the early influences.
Yes. She credits watching tons of TV sitcoms,
like reruns, syndicated shows. Okay. And, crucially,
Saturday Night Live. That seems to be what really
sparked the comedy bug for her. So she's studying
it almost, not just watching passively. Seems
like it. Like vocational research, as you put
it. And you see that turn into action pretty
quick, even in high school. At Evanston Township
High School, she was in this annual student show,
Yamo. Yeah, Yamo, which for anyone who doesn't
know, is a pretty big deal at that school. It's
not just a play. It's student run, writing, directing,
performing, new stuff every year. Huge undertaking.
That kind of experience right there. It teaches
you stage stamina, sketch structure, really foundational
stuff. But it wasn't just school activities.
There's a more formal training element that kicks
in early. And this is maybe the most important
part of the foundation. During her senior year
of high school. While still in high school. Yeah.
She starts taking improv classes at the IO Theater
in Chicago. Okay, let's pause there. IO. That
name, along with UCB, gets mentioned constantly
in comedy history. What does training at IO actually
mean for her skill set? It means she got grounded
in long -form improv. which is very different
from, say, short -form games you might see on
TV. How so? IO, especially under Del Close's
influence, really championed The Herald. It's
about building entire interconnected scenes,
characters, worlds, all from one suggestion.
It's less about quick jokes. More about character
exploration. Patience. Exactly. Deep character
work, empathy, sustaining a reality, building
something together. Okay, so she's honing that
world -building skill in Chicago. And she keeps
it up through college. Right. She goes to DePaul
University, graduates 2008, degree in English.
Interesting. The English degree connection. Lots
of comedians have that humanities background.
Seems to provide a good grounding in narrative,
maybe. But yeah, while she's getting the degree,
the sources are clear. She's doing improv basically
every night. Wow. So it's like a dual education,
analyzing text by day. And creating characters
on the fly by night. The English degree gives
her maybe the structure. The improv gives her
the spontaneous execution. Makes sense. So post
-graduation 2008, she does the thing, moves to
New York City. A classic path for an aspiring
performer. And immediately gets into the upright
Citizens Brigade theater scene, UCB. Right, which
is another crucial step and a bit of a pivot
from IO. Okay, explain that pivot. If IO is about
the long -form world, what's the UCB focus? Why
is that transition significant? UCB, especially
at that time, was very focused on finding the
game of the scene. What's the unusual thing here?
How do we heighten it? So faster, sharper, more
analytical about the comedy premise itself? Yeah,
you could say that. It's about identifying that
core comedic idea and really exploring it, escalating
it. So moving from I .O.'s world building to
UCB's game finding, that gives her a really powerful,
comprehensive toolkit. She can build the character
and drive the scene's comedy. Precisely. But
here's where it gets interesting strategically.
The sources all flag this. She's in New York
in the legendary UCB scene for only 15 months.
Yeah, that's really short. Then she packs up
and moves to Los Angeles in 2010. Now, I gotta
ask, leaving New York UCB that quickly, isn't
that moving away from the pure stagecraft focus
towards, well, the industry, towards getting
work? That's a really sharp observation. And
yeah, I think the sources imply exactly that.
For a lot of improvisers, New York is about maximizing
stage time artistic development. In pure, maybe?
Kind of. Moving to L .A., especially that fast,
signals a clear commercial ambition. She was
likely trading some of that intense UCB -NY stage
time for visibility. Visibility to agents, casting
directors, the whole machine out there. Exactly.
Pilot season. The infrastructure is just bigger
in L .A. for screen work. It was a calculated
risk leaving NY so soon. And the sources suggest
it paid off pretty quickly, right? Almost immediately.
She gets to L .A. in 2010, within about a year.
The momentum starts. Yeah. She lands those crucial
first gigs, commercials, Snickers, Jack in the
Box. Things that need quick, memorable character
work. Perfect for an improviser. Plus, a sketch
on Jimmy Kimmel Live at the L .A. pipeline right
there. Prove you could pop on screen. And those
smaller wins, they do one big thing. They get
you representation. Exactly. Those commercials,
the Kimmel spot, they led directly to her getting
an agent, a manager. Which then leads to actual
series work. Right. A supporting role in Are
You There, Chelsea in 2012. That show didn't
last long, I remember. No, but it did matter.
It got her inside a studio production, on set
experience, valuable reps. It set the stage for
the next thing, which was... Much bigger. Much
bigger. Correctional officer Susan Fisher, Orange
is the New Black. Yeah. I mean, that show is
a phenomenon. One of Netflix's first huge original
hits. Changed everything. And she was there from
the start. Season one, season two. Yeah. And
came back briefly later on. 2019, yeah. And that
character, Fisher, it felt like such a perfect
use of her training. Well, Fisher is grounded,
but also awkward, deeply human, empathetic. She
wasn't just a punchline machine. No, it was a
dramedy, a complex world. Exactly. Lapkus brought
that kind of deep, believable character work,
the I .O. stuff, into this high stakes ensemble
drama. And the show got massive recognition,
including for the cast. Oh, yeah. 2015. She and
the whole OITNB cast won the Screen Actors Guild
Award. Outstanding performance by an ensemble
in a comedy series. That's huge. SAG Awards are
voted on by other actors. It's major validation
from peers. Absolutely. It cements her as a key
player in a top tier ensemble. It says her approach,
that blend of realness and comedic timing was
vital to that show's success. OK, so the SAG
Award. Validates the ensemble work. But then
comes the test of applying those foundational
skills, the UCB game finding maybe, to a totally
different arena. It's a blockbuster. Jurassic
World. Vivian, filming in Hawaii, New Orleans.
This is a massive four -quadrant movie meant
for everybody. Yeah, $150 million plus budget.
Universal Pictures. This is the big leagues.
And this is where that improv training becomes
really interesting, strategically. How does what
you learned in a tiny Chicago theater help you
on a set like that? Well, the sources give us
a fantastic insider detail here. A lot of her
scenes, especially with Jake Johnson. Who played
Lowry, the control room guy. Right. A lot of
their interaction was apparently improvised.
Wait, really? On a movie that big? With dinosaurs
and effects and everything, they let them improvise?
Seems so. Which sounds counterintuitive, right?
Every minute on set costs a fortune. So why allow
it? What's the benefit for the production? I
think it comes down to efficiency and authenticity.
Okay. If you have actors trained like Lapkus
and Johnson, who can generate funny in -character
dialogue on the spot that fits the scene's needs.
Then you don't need writers standing by to punch
up lines. Exactly. They're the punch -up. They
can find moments of genuine chemistry and humor
faster than going through rewrites. You can actually
save time and make the characters feel more real,
more spontaneous. So improv isn't just being
funny. It's actually a valuable production tool
on a massive scale. That's the key insight. It
makes an actor with that background incredibly
valuable. They're not just saying lines. They're
creative partners who can elevate the material
in real time. That's a huge advantage. And you
see that kind of blend, maybe scripted framework,
but room for improv in her TV work, too. Definitely.
Look at Crashing on HBO, 2017 to 2019, playing
Jess, P. Holmes' ex -wife. That show felt very
naturalistic, almost loose. Right. Based on Holmes'
life, demanded that kind of emotional honesty.
Probably used lightly scripted outlines, allowing
actors like Lapkus to fill in the nuances. But
then she flips again. She proves she can handle
the total opposite environment. The multicam
sitcom. The Big Bang Theory. Playing Denise,
Stewart's girlfriend at the comic book store.
Eight episodes, 2018 -2019. And that contrast
is really telling about her range. Crashing is
all atmosphere, character moments. Big Bang is
tight scripts, hitting jokes for a live audience,
precise timing. Totally different muscles. And
she excelled at both. She'd also had earlier
series regular experience on Clipped. Oh, right.
That TBS show in 2015 with Ashley Tisdale and
George Wendt. Yeah. Playing Joy the Receptionist.
Yes. Ten episodes there. And then more recently,
lending comedy and drama again as agent Phoebe
Donegan on Good Girls. Right. The FBI agent.
She was in quite a few episodes of that. 17 across
2021. The sheer variety of the screen work is
just wow. But as the sources keep hammering home.
It's only half the picture. Exactly. Her most
unique impact, arguably, has been in the audio
space. Yeah, this is where Lauren Lapkus becomes
a really fascinating case study. The screen credits
are impressive, sure, but the audio empire she
built alongside it, that's something else. Especially
because, as you said, she apparently never expected
to get into podcasts at all. Which is kind of
funny because she's become one of the most prolific
and, frankly, innovative people in comedy podcasting.
Well, think about the timing. The big comedy
podcast, Boom, sort of post -2014, it created
this perfect lab for her skills. How so? A lab?
Well, improv thrives on audience reaction, collaboration.
But audio, it strips away everything else. No
costumes, no blocking, no sets. Just voice, character,
persona. Cure performance in a way. Low stakes,
high output. Exactly. She could refine characters
constantly without the pressure of a TV or film
set. And the prime example of that innovation
has to be with special guest Lauren Lapkus. Oh,
absolutely. Ran on Earwolf 2014 to 2019. The
premise alone is just genius. Explain it because
it's wonderfully meta. OK, so instead of Lauren
hosting and interviewing a guest. The guest comes
on pretending to be the host of their own podcast.
Right. Whatever bizarre podcast concept they
invent. And Lauren shows up as a character being
interviewed on their fake show. So she flips
the whole format on its head. Completely. And
think about what that does for her creatively.
She never has host burnout. She doesn't have
to prep interview questions or guide the conversation.
Her only job is to invent and perform a new character.
Every single week. Pure invention. Instant character
creation. That's an incredible workout for those
improv muscles. And look who played along. The
guest list was insane. Paul F. Tompkins, Andy
Daly, Nick Kroll, Betsy Sodaro, Scott Aukerman.
Basically, the Mount Rushmore of improv podcasting.
They all jumped into her weird sandbox. That
trust speaks volumes about her ability. It's
like high -level artistic jamming disguised as
a silly podcast. Totally. But then, she pivots
again. 2020, she launches a new show, Newcomers,
with Nicole Byer. On HeadGum. And this one feels
very plugged into, like, the modern listener
experience, the feeling of being overwhelmed
by pop culture. It's such a brilliant concept.
The premise is simple. Lauren and Nicole watch
huge, iconic film franchises. Things everyone
else seems to know inside out. For the very first
time. And they talk about it. It's literally
the beginner's mind. applied to pop culture canon.
It taps right into that feeling of, am I the
only one who hasn't seen Star Wars? Yeah. Or
whatever. Exactly. And they act as guides, consuming
decades of lore and give you this fresh, funny,
immediate take. They remove that barrier of assumed
knowledge. And the scope. They didn't just dip
their toes in. Oh no. They went in. Star Wars,
Lord of the Rings, the entire MCU. Fast and Furious.
Tyler Perry's whole universe. Batman movies.
It's staggering. They subject these cultural
monuments to this hilarious newbie critique.
It's kind of like what we aim for here, right?
How do you quickly make sense of a huge amount
of material? Yeah, it's expert distillation through
a comedic lens. And they bring in great guests,
too. John Gemberling, Demi Adjouib, PFT again,
Betsy Sedaro. drawing on that same improv community
to help navigate. It all connects back, which
leads to her other major podcasting pillar, just
being an incredible guest herself. Right. This
is what I think of as her R &D lab strategy.
Her appearances on other shows aren't just guest
spots. They're workouts. You mean like on Improv
Free Humans? Yeah. 42 appearances between 2012
and 2023. And comedy, bang, bang, 58 times since
2012. Wow, that's nearly 100 recorded top -tier
improv sessions over a decade. Just think about
the volume of character work that represents.
That's how she stays so sharp for the screen
roles. She's constantly practicing in public,
basically. It's deliberate practice, building
that character library. If a TV show needs a
quirky receptionist or an intense agent... She's
probably got dozens of variations already tested
out on CBB, RI4, Air. And the output doesn't
stop there. She has other long running shows,
too. Freedom with Aukerman and PFT. Still going,
right? Yep. Since 2018, over 170 episodes. Three
friends riffing, essentially. And Raised by TV
with John Gabrus. That ran for a good while.
71 episodes reviewing old TV. And then there
are these other shorter run experiments, too.
Like Lap Time with Lauren Lapkus in 2020. Psychic
Pea Show back in 2015. She co -hosted Wild Horses.
The perspective. And she crosses over to appearing
on shows about the industry like going on. I
was there, too, to talk about making Jurassic
World. OK, so she uses the audio world for everything.
Character practice, format, experimentation,
career reflection. It's all intertwined. It really
proves she sees every platform as a chance to
hone that core skill from IO and UCB creating
compelling characters. And that skill is ultimately
rooted in live performance. which she clearly
hasn't abandoned. Not at all. That seems to be
the constant anchor. The sources are clear. She
still performs improv regularly. She's a cast
member at UCB's main show, ASCOT, right? Yeah,
the legendary long -running Herald show. Very
structured, demanding, based on guest monologues.
Keeps you incredibly sharp. And she's also in
that all -female improv group, Wild Horses. With
Stephanie Allen, Mary Holland, and Aaron Whitehead.
They perform, they tour. So being in both a UCB
flagship show and an independent team that keeps
her connected, keeps the live performance muscles
working, it's like her gym routine. Exactly.
And that live work feeds directly into her more
structured sketch comedy projects. Like that
Netflix special, The Characters. Right, 2016.
Netflix picked a handful of comedians and gave
each of them their own 30 -minute sketch episode.
She wrote and starred in hers. That's a massive
vote of confidence from Netflix, basically saying,
here's half an hour, show us your best original
stuff. A huge platform to showcase her specific
comedic voice, her best character creations to
a giant audience. And that kind of work gets
noticed by the industry too, beyond the SAG award.
Yeah, she got a primetime Emmy nomination, Outstanding
Actress in a Short -Form Comedy or Drama Series.
For what? For the earliest show, that Funny or
Die web series with Ben Schwartz back in 2016.
Ah, okay. So getting Emmy recognition for short
-form digital work while also doing network TV
and starring in blockbusters, that really highlights
her ability to succeed at every level. It's conquering
all tiers of the media landscape simultaneously.
And there's one more tier where that improv background
is a massive asset. Voice acting. Oh, absolutely.
Animation. Yeah. It demands instant, distinct,
sustainable character voices. That's pure improv
skill application. And she's built up a pretty
hefty portfolio there. For sure. She was the
voice of Lotta in Harvey Girls Forever. on Netflix.
52 episodes. That takes vocal stamina. And for
the sci -fi fans, she's Jennifer Sharan in Star
Trek Lower Decks. The Andorian officer. 10 episodes
of that so far. Being able to create those distinct,
sometimes alien personas just with your voice
is perfect for her skill set. Plus recurring
voices on big shows like American Dad and Big
City Greens. Right. She's become a go -to voice
actor. because she's versatile and efficient.
She can probably nail a character voice quickly,
saving time in the booth. Okay, one last area
the sources touch on is her willingness to jump
into the unscripted world of reality and game
shows. Yeah, which shows a different kind of
confidence, right? Handling pressure, being quick
-witted, but as herself, mostly. The biggest
example has to be who wants to be a millionaire.
Right, as a celebrity contestant. And she won
big for charity. How much? Half a million dollars.
$500 ,000. That's serious pressure answering
those questions. Wow. And she pops up elsewhere
too, like nailed it. Yep. Hell's Kitchen, Family
Feud, the $100 ,000 Pyramid, Celebrity Wheel
of Fortune. So she's comfortable across the board,
food shows, game shows, team competitions. Seems
like it. Willing to just jump in and play, be
funny, even if it means looking silly sometimes.
Okay. So before we wrap up and try to distill
the main takeaway, we should probably quickly
mention the personal milestones the sources include,
just for context. Good idea. provides a fuller
picture. The sources note her first marriage
was to Chris Alvarado, another improviser. Married
in 2014, separated early 2016, divorced later
that year. Correct. Then she married actor Mike
Castle in October 2018. And they've started a
family while she's kept up this incredible work
pace. Yeah, they have two daughters, the first
born in July 2021. And the second just recently,
May 2024. So, yeah. Managing an incredibly demanding
multi -platform career and a young family. That's
a lot. It really is. Okay, so let's bring it
all together. What's the so what for you, the
listener? If we're connecting this back to our
theme of quickly gaining and applying knowledge.
I think the sources paint a really clear picture.
Lauren Lapkus built this amazing career by leveraging
a very specific, rigorous improv foundation.
That two -pronged approach. IO for the deep character
stuff. And UCB for the sharp scene structure,
the game. And she used those skills to succeed
across every level of media. Yeah, she took what
she developed in low stakes, high rep environments
like the podcasts with the special guest Comedy
Bang. Bang. Her R &D lab. Exactly. And turned
that into a tangible advantage in high stakes
arenas. Winning a SAG award for a complex ensemble
drama. Or being trusted to improvise dialogue
in a massive blockbuster like Jurassic World.
She treats the stage and the podcast like development
and the screen work is the polished execution.
It's a really smart system. Okay, so that leaves
us with our final provocative thought for you.
Building on these strategic choices she made.
Given that her success seems built on this constant
learning, adapting, moving between formats, live
stage, scripted TV, spontaneous audio. Which
of those platforms do you think is the most crucial
training ground now for the next generation of
comedians trying to build a similar multi -platform
career? Is it still the intense rigor of... Live
improv? Like performing on ASCAD every week?
Is that the ultimate forge? Or maybe the discipline
of hitting your marks on a network sitcom. Does
that constraint teach the most valuable timing?
Or is it the wild freedom of niche audio, like
newcomers or character podcasts? Does that low
-stakes experimentation actually build the most
versatile, hireable skills for the future? Where
are those foundational skills best honed today
for what comes next in entertainment? Something
to think about.