Outside Bet
THE HOUSE I Could Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler’s improv-heavy gambling comedy be the funniest film of the summer?
Ineed more clumping!” first-time director Andrew Jay Cohen declares, cutting a scene of Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler and their assorted neighbours entering an amateur basement casino for the first time in The House. TF is on Stage 23 of the Warners backlot, in October 2015, and we’re transported from the unseasonably warm LA sunshine into the set of a makeshift gambling den, where the blackjack table is a felt-covered ping pong table and golden streamers hang wonkily from the ceiling.
“More clumpage,” nods Ferrell as Poehler sings a clump ditty to the tune of ‘Thong Song’, prompting numerous improv riffs on the word ‘clump’. And that’s not even the improv that’s happening during filming… But it’s that comedic play that Cohen is looking for from his experienced cast in this tale of a suburban couple (Ferrell and Poehler) who realise they can’t afford their daughter’s college fees so open an illegal casino in their neighbour’s cellar – with disastrous results.
“My predilection is: I love to go down the rabbit hole with actors,” admits the writer/director. “If an actor will come up with something on the spot, I will push them further – especially these people. It’s an embarrassment of riches… sometimes, I have to literally step back and keep my mouth shut and let them keep going – and just let it happen.”
Cohen has certainly learnt from the best, starting out as Judd Apatow’s assistant on Anchorman before producing on The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Talladega Nights, then going on to write both Bad Neighbours scripts with his co-writer, Brendan O’Brien.
That enthusiasm for chasing laughs off-script is something Ferrell thinks will ensure audiences get a bellyful when they see the final film. “I’ve never worked with a more energetic, exuberant director. Sometimes, you just hear him off-camera going, ‘Yes! Yes!’ And I’m worried he’s ruining takes and we’ll have to loop a lot of it, because you’re going to hear him in the background,” laughs Ferrell during a break.
“I love it. It’s a great way to remind you of how lucky we are to get to still make movies and make comedies like these that make people laugh.”