Dec 7, 2022
Comedy as a genre relies very heavily on timing to deliver jokes at a full impact. Horror also relies very heavily on timing as well to deliver jump scares or truly unsettling scenes. So it makes sense a lot of great comedy writers and actors can make the leap from one genre to the other or straddle the line. That is exactly what College Humor heavy hitter Josh Ruben has done. He has moved over from being Precious Plum's Mama to being the king of Shudder.
On today's show, Josh Ruben chats with Dan about just that. Horror and Comedy are two huge tentpoles of this conversation. They talk about Josh's super power of timing in his acting and directing films like Scare Me and Werewolves Within.
Josh Ruben talks about a few horror scenes that have stuck with him since they first buried themselves into his mind. The range of the scenes is very interesting that leads to a brief side bar about Joe Dante and spitting puppets.
The two get the chance to talk about some of the techniques and shots from Scare Me. The use of lightning is a hot topic in the interview. Josh also talks about how he is his hardest critic. It's an interesting look at how someone who is directing themselves views their performance.
They also got to chat about his most recent performance in A Wounded Fawn. Josh talks about how his background in comedy helped him push himself into a much harder performance as the audience will see in the film now available on Shudder. The film is a deeply unsettling but incredible next step for Josh as an actor.
Josh also talks about his upcoming graphic novel DARLA coming next year with Invader Comics. The premise sounds incredible so keep your eyes open for that one coming early 2023!