Aubrey Plaza and Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation stars coming to D.C. for Bentzen Ball

Two actors from NBC's Parks and Recreation will be in town this week to perform standup comedy as part of the inaugural Bentzen Ball. Aubrey Plaza (April) and Nick Offerman (Ron) answered some of my questions by e-mail. Enjoy their responses and click here if you wat to buy tickets to see them on stage. They're performing a couple of times each.

Also, make sure to read my first story about the Bentzen Ball and check out the responses from Patton Oswalt and Lizz Winstead.

Aubrey Plaza

BS: Have you ever performed in D.C. before? If so, what do you like about doing stand up in D.C.? If not, what are your thoughts on coming in?
AP: I have never performed in DC before. I am really excited to come in and make our president laugh. Obama's coming to my show, right?

BS: Did you come in for the inauguration?
AP: No. But a group of comedians from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York came down on a bus. I almost went with them but ended up watching it on my television in Queens. Too much information.

BS: Did your experience on "Mayne Street" (on ESPN) give you an extra sports knowledge?
AP: Not really...they always had famous athletes guest star on the show and I never knew who any of them were. My dad got really angry about that.

BS: Nick Offerman will be performing in the festival as well. How are you a better comedian than him?
AP: I don't think your publication is long enough for me to answer this question in its entirety.

BS: How is he to work with on "Parks and Recreation"?
AP: He is lovely but [his] mustache is a real piece of work. I have never seen a director cry like that.

BS: You and Nick have the same birthday, June 26 (mine is June 22). Will you two be doing any joint birthday events in 2010?
AP: Yes. We are going to have a joint birthday at a laser tag arena in Pomona County. (He doesn't know yet. But he will do anything I say.)

BS: What are your thoughts on taking part of this big festival?
AP: I was really honored to be asked and I feel really lucky to be performing with such great people. I cant wait. Also, I love DC. I think its a great place to walk around and explore. And learn. And buy things you couldn't in other cities...like postcards with Mary Lincoln's face on it.

BS: Is performing in a festival any different than performing a usual stand up gig?
AP: I don't know. This will be the first real festival I have performed in. I'll let you know after. Maybe.

BS: When Aziz Ansari was in town a few weeks ago he performed in a synagogue. Have you ever done comedy in a synagogue?
AP: Never. I have actually never even been IN a synagogue. But I imagine it's like doing a show for a bunch of other comics. Or for your mom's friends. I don't know. I've never been in one.

Nick Offerman

BS: Have you ever performed in D.C. before? If so, is doing comedy in D.C. different then any other city? NO: I am actually pretty new at the comedy thing, so I've only performed a few times at the The Upright Citizen's Brigade in New York and LA. My background is in straight theater in LA and Chicago.

BS: Why should people buy a ticket to come see you?

NO: Because otherwise they might have to read a book? (or) If you have to ask, you'll never know.

BS: Did you come in town for the inauguration?
NO: Christ Almighty, no. I'm a Ralph Nader man.

BS: What do you like least/most about D.C.?
NO: I'm a sucker for the monuments and the museums, especially the Smithsonian. I love the old parts of Georgetown. I love the Proper Topper store, they have the most kickass hat selection this side of Luxembourg, not to mention a delightful array of sundry items.

BS: What are the best/worst things about performing in a festival?
NO: This is my first. I performed in a Kabuki theater festival in Japan in 1991, and the best thing about that was that everybody wanted to get you drunk all the time. The worst thing was that then the same men that bought you sake would want you to make sweet Tokyo love. Apparently, "kabuki" is the traditional theater form, but it's also the word for "prostitute", so when we would meet people and say, "we are kabuki actors", they heard it as, "hello, we will perform sex acts for pay".

BS: You were in an episode of the West Wing. Will you visit the White House while you're here? Walk by it at least?
NO: I have gotten very close to the White House in the past, but Martin Sheen told me that the set from the West Wing was actually much nicer than the White House, so I don't want to risk being let down by the shabbiness of the real thing.

BS: Aubrey Plaza will be performing at the festival as well. How is it working with her on Parks and Recreation?
NO: She's hilarious. We usually don't get much interaction on the show, but we recently had a really fun story line in which I had a hernia that rendered me immobile, and she comes back to the office late at night to take me to the hospital, and she throws a marker at my head to see if I'm faking, and she gets really kind of dark and twisted. She has a really weird, dark sense of humor, which I share, so we get along very well. Our story in the hernia episode reminded me of doing a strange, modern Samuel Beckett one-act.

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