With so many streaming services available today, it is important for a channel to specialize while still offering variety. DROPOUT from CollegeHumor is a streaming service that offers a variety of comedy shows. Kingpin Katie is a little different. It is essentially a parody about the underground drug world, but it is a lot more serious than other shows on DROPOUT. AiPT! spoke with Katie Marovitch the new show’s star.
AiPT!: What was the inspiration behind Kingpin Katie?
Katie Marovitch: The first mention of me doing cocaine (though just for the record, I don’t actually do cocaine) was in the sketch “Canceling Plans Showdown” back in 2016. It was literally a throwaway joke that caught on and became canon in the CollegeHumor universe.
AiPT!: How would you describe Kingpin Katie?
Marovitch: Kingpin Katie is a complicated character. She wants more than anything to be loved and respected by her dear colleagues. She’s desperate to have people like her and to feel included. However, she’s certainly not a “good” character. She knowingly sells women cocaine and lies about it. She never even addresses the effects she might be having on their lives. Ultimately, she’s very selfish.
AiPT!: The show flows very smoothly. Is it tightly scripted or more free flowing?
Marovitch: Betsy (who plays Cheryl) and I both come from improv backgrounds, so we definitely improvised and played around with certain lines and scenes. Jess Ross, the other writer of Kingpin Katie, is a comedic genius and I truly feel like everything she wrote was just the funniest and couldn’t have been improved upon.
AiPT!: How did you get started with CollegeHumor?
Marovitch: I was a production intern! I interned for five months before becoming an office PA, then the assistant to the head of development, then the assistant to the president, then the writers’ assistant/kind of a “junior” cast member, then a full-time cast member. I’ve seen it all, baby!
AiPT!: Kingpin Katie definitely is funny but it is also CollegeHumor’s first try at a darker story. Do you feel any pressure?
Marovitch: Yes! Of course! I am desperate for people to like it and to like me.
AiPT!: Having your show on an online platform allows for more freedom but a being on a network or a streaming service my open the show to a more mainstream audience. If you had a choice, what channel or streaming service would you like Kingpin Katie on?
Marovitch: I think it only makes sense to have Kingpin Katie on DROPOUT, since it’s a CollegeHumor running joke. The platform launching allowed us to really expand the world of this joke. Buy, if it weren’t on DROPOUT, maybe it could be on HBO. Then we’d choose to go a little sexier probably. Not with my character, obviously, but with the other characters.
AiPT!: CollegeHumor has many former staff members that have gone on to work at Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, and Last Week Tonight. If and when you move on, what would be your dream job?
Marovitch: I want to do whatever Sarah Schneider has done/does/will do. She’s my comedy inspiration. One day we may meet and I’ll be truly so embarrassed I wrote this. Maybe I shouldn’t write this.
AiPT!: Are you working on other projects?
Marovitch: I’m mostly acting in other people’s DROPOUT shows as well as sketches for the YouTube Channel. I would love to start writing a new show for the platform. I’m also working on a personal project–a short film in the horror-comedy genre–that I’m extremely excited about. And I’m always writing stuff!
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