I've worked on other shows where the sense is like, "Well, don't change it too much," you know? But on this one [ Too Much Tuna], Nick [Kroll] and John [Mulaney] - beyond being amazing performers - are also writers, and wanted to keep improving upon the show, particularly the play within a play. I think the writing just got funnier and funnier.
Alex TimbersI think the things that I enjoy most about directing theater, or works that are really visceral in terms of comedy and have a sort of rock and roll aesthetic.
Alex TimbersI think it all started with the tuna sandwich, and then, on the road, gearing up for New York, Nick [Kroll] and John [Mulaney] had the idea of having a tuna puppet, which became Tony Tuna, and their friend Cammi Upton designed that and did a great job.
Alex TimbersThe show [ Too Much Tuna] changed a lot, actually, which is risky when you get positive critical feedback.
Alex TimbersI got an email from Nick [Kroll] that he and John [Mulaney] were looking to put on the stage show with two of their characters from Kroll Show and could I help at all. And they were doing it [off-Broadway] at the Cherry Lane and they had been performing it at UCB, just sort of testing it out. I worked on it for a little bit downtown and it was a great experience.
Alex TimbersWhen I was thinking about what we could do in terms of what production values of Broadway might be able to add to the show, I had this thought that it would be really cool if we had a coup de thรฉรขtre. What would they want? And then I was like, an amazing, enormous tuna puppet that was like 30 by 40 feet would be pretty incredible. So I called up Basil Twist, and he got really excited immediately and started sketching out his idea, and I think it's a real highlight of the show.
Alex Timbers