Teal Sherer (of The Guild fame) is back with a second season of her successfully Kickstarted comedy web series, My Gimpy Life, directed by Sean Becker. What new, ridiculous things will people say when they meet our star? Which other “famous types” can we expect to see? Find out in this world premiere of the trailer and then hit the jump for our exclusive chat with Sherer!
The Mary Sue: For those who may not have heard of My Gimpy Life yet, give us the short sell.
Teal Sherer: My Gimpy Life is an online comedy series about the awkward situations I’ve encountered in Hollywood as an actor with a disability.
TMS: Talk to us about the process of getting Season 2 off the ground and what’s changed as far as formatting this time around?
Sherer: The response to the first season was amazing. Even though we didn’t find a mass audience, we had a really supportive and loyal group of core fans, and the show got mentioned by NPR, The New York Times, lots of great blogs like yours, and it even got used as part of disability and media curriculums at colleges like the University of Arizona and Xavier University.
That being said, we still had trouble finding funding to do more episodes. It was our Executive Producer Steven Dengler who then suggested we look at crowdfunding. The process of running a campaign like that was exhausting, but it made our community of fans even stronger. When our goal looked to be in doubt, it was so gratifying to see strangers campaigning so passionately to help us reach it. And through that we found another great partner in Russell Winkelaar, who is our other EP this season.
So this time around we’re doing four episodes totaling about forty minutes, which is slightly longer than season one, even if it’s technically one less episode. And this season is a little different in style too; each episode is less of a standalone this time and more a part of a serial story so that the forty minutes could really be considered one, long episode.
TMS: Time out: Some pals recently called ahead to a restaurant to see if it was accessible for wheelchairs (because I use a motorized scooter) and they said yes. When we arrived there was a GIANT step. Does this happen to you, too?
Sherer: Yes! It’s so irritating. I’ve arrived at restaurants to find that their only accessible entrance is through the kitchen, which means I have to awkwardly wheel myself through an obstacle course of cooks and kitchen appliances to get to my table. It’s especially sexy if you’re on a date. Also, restaurants will say that their bathrooms are accessible when they are not. It really sucks to find this out after having several glasses of wine.
TMS: Yes, I have certainly been there. So, can we expect to see more dramatized versions of real-life encounters you’ve had or are they more fictionalized this time around?
Sherer: There’s plenty of my real life in these episodes, even if it’s something mundane like getting dressed to go out, but this season Gabe Uhr (writer/producer) and I started exploring the relationships between fictional characters. I don’t have a roommate or a circus boyfriend so a lot more is made up this time around, but there are still real, relatable moments. But we didn’t want every episode to be all about disability issues again, even though we’ve got more ideas for those types of episodes.
TMS: Who’s back to hassle you this season?
Sherer: Brent Bradshaw is back as my stand-up roommate. And of course Daryl Crittenden is returning so we can see where my love life goes.
My friends Felicia Day, Marissa Cuevas, and Teale Sperling, aka “The Other Teal,” are all back too. And this season since we’ve established a world and characters people like, there are even some scenes without me.
But the big news is that we added a bunch of super talented new guest stars to the show, like Mindy Sterling (AUSTIN POWERS, A.N.T. FARM), Mitch Silpa (BRIDESMAIDS), Geri Jewell (DEADWOOD, FACTS OF LIFE), David Barton Harris (DISASTER DATE), and Carlos Knight (SUPAH NINJAS). Plus Sandeep Parikh and Robin Thorsen (THE GUILD) will be in an episode.
TMS: So when and where can people see it?
Sherer: Our new episodes will come out on Mondays, starting February 17th and you can find them on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/MyGimpyLife
TMS: And you can catch up on all of Season 1 right here!
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