Name: Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Comedy, Improv Life Lessons and the Second City
Uploaded: 2023-11-01T12:00:00Z
Duration: 5 min 1 s
Description: Before Julia Louis-Dreyfus starred in “Veep” and “Seinfeld,” she started at the Second City. For WSJ. Magazine’s Innovators Issue, the actress discusses her first job scooping ice cream and the lessons she’s learned since. Photo: Carter Ross

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Before Julia Louis-Dreyfus starred in “Veep” and “Seinfeld,” she started at the Second City. For WSJ. Magazine’s Innovators Issue, the actress discusses her first job scooping ice cream and the lessons she’s learned since. Photo: Carter Ross

https://m.wsj.net/video/20231027/4bded020-1f1b-4130-a497-8064b274d0ae/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Comedy, Improv Life Lessons and the Second City

This ice cream scoop is . If you have a thing of warm water and you keep dipping it in, it's just a better scoop, obviously. Thank you.

Huh.

Interviewer: Tell me about your very first job.

My very first job was working as an ice cream scooper at Swensen's Ice Cream Parlor. I think I was about 14, possibly 15.

Interviewer: What did you learn on your very first day?

To be honest, on my very first day, I really learned how hard it was to sort of work a job like that in the service industry, and I was working, you know, whatever it was, an eight-hour shift. I was exhausted, and my right arm was really sore.

Interviewer: What were your job responsibilities?

Well, my job responsibilities were to scoop ice cream, period. I zeroed in on how much I liked ice cream, and I sort of used that to do the scooping with. Except, one day, and I will admit to you, it was my final day , I was asked to man the cash register, but nobody had told me how to work a cash register. And then all of a sudden the thing ran out of receipt paper and I had to run and go find somebody, and I left with the register drawer open. Yeah, I did.

Interviewer: Was anything stolen?

Fortunately, everybody who was in line, they were all very honest, so nobody ripped off the cash register, but when I came back, the manager was there, who was 18. He said, "What do you think you're doing, young lady?", he said to me in front of all these people, and I was completely intimidated by this 18 year old, and he made me cry, it was just terrible. I mean, he was right, I did leave the register drawer open, so that was the end of my life at Swensen's.

Interviewer: What do you think you learned from that experience?

Not to have an 18 year old boss, and truthfully, after working there just a few days, I found ice cream to be completely repulsive. I did.

Really?

Yeah, It was just gross to smell it all day long and, you know, it lost its allure. Now I'm back to loving it.

Interviewer: Did you even get a paycheck?

Yeah, I did, I got a paycheck, I'm sure I did. Oh yeah, that was great, to actually get paid was really very, that was a good feeling. I can't tell you how much it was for. I don't know what I bought with that money. I hope it wasn't more ice cream.

Interviewer: I know you also got your start in comedy at Northwestern and then at Second City.

Mm-hmm. When I went to Northwestern, I sort of further, shall we say, honed my improv skills. It was already sort of part of the kind of thing that I liked to do, that is to say, make sketches and things like that, but it became more of a technique that I was aware of and it's informed my life ever since.

Interviewer: How has improv informed your life?

Improvisation is really a great, well, it's a great life skill because it really does require listening, because if you don't have a script and you're just creating stuff out of the ether, you have to really be involved in the scene, you have to really be listening to the people you are with in the scene in order to behave appropriately or honestly or authentically, and so it's a great acting exercise, called listening.

Interviewer: How do you deal with stage fright?

Well, it is in fact adrenaline. It's sort of like gas for my engine, and I guess too much of it can take you outside of yourself, but just the right amount can be useful.

Interviewer: Was there someone who was a big influence on you?

His name was Sheldon Patinkin. He's since passed away, but he was one of the founders of Second City. He was an extraordinary human being, very generous, very funny, and incredibly wise. He was a huge mentor for us.

Interviewer: Was there a lesson that you think about every day from him?

Not thinking about solely your own performance, but really being part of a team or of an ensemble, even if you're starring in it, doesn't matter. The advice that applies to all performance and really sort of the human experience is to be thoughtful, to listen, and to be generous, whether you are in a scene with another actor or, of course, if you're in a relationship, that works as well.

Interviewer: And what's a piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

Oh gosh, one piece of advice I would give my younger self is to just relax, it's gonna be okay, and also trust your instincts. You're right. And that's the end of my masterclass on ice cream scoops.