Novak indulges large crowd -- That's what she said

By Aitor Zabalegui

BJ Novak was a stand-up comedian before working on NBC's "The Office." In fact, it was his comedy act that initially got him noticed by the series' developer, Greg Daniels, who later cast him as the show's first character, Ryan Howard.

"It wasn't necessarily the jokes I was telling, but the pauses in between that (Daniels) liked. He said he liked my pauses -- they were perfect for this 'temp' character, he told me," said Novak during the question-and-answer session after his stand-up routine on Monday in Leavey Center.

It was probably one of the biggest venues that Novak, or most comedians, had ever performed at, which Novak made sure to mention with a humble "that's what she said" reference.

By opening his routine with that classic line, it seemed he was dispelling any notions that he was on stage that night in front of a packed crowd for any reasons other than his work on "The Office." He gave fans of the show their due, decidedly opening up the air for what followed to be a clever and interactive routine.

Several times, albeit at the slightly racier moments of the show, Novak made sure to echo a preliminary disclaimer that his views did not necessarily express the views of Santa Clara. This disclaimer has been re-emphasized at university-sponsored shows ever since the illustriously-vulgar Bob Saget performed at Leavey a few years ago.

Novak insisted, however, that inversely, the views of Santa Clara do not necessarily express his own views, which was greeted with uproarious applause from the audience -- perhaps Novak has heard of "The Vagina Monologues."

Another highlight of the show was Novak's introspective look at the lives of the 72 virgins promised to suicidal terrorists in heaven. He described a grueling, forfeited life of devotion and faith for these women, eventually culminating in their titular reward in the afterlife.

Arguably the best part about his routine was that Novak purposely incorporated duds into his act. Claiming to be testing out new jokes for the audience, Novak let the crowd's reaction determine which jokes he should keep or toss out into a conveniently-placed recycling bin on stage.

He also made fun of his own jokes that didn't go over well with the crowd. One long, dry bit including a particularly-shy puppet was eventually salvaged when Novak encouraged the crowd to take pictures and post them online, purporting him as a gifted ventriloquist.

When I caught up with Novak after the show, he mentioned a chance meeting with Ricky Gervais, the creator of the original, British version of "The Office," where he described to the famous comedian the puppet bit mentioned above. "It had him doubled over, and I remember thinking, 'If I can make Ricky Gervais laugh, he'd be the only one,'" he modestly recalled.

Novak didn't even get to the green room for this chat, however, until at least a half an hour after his show ended. He answered countless questions from the audience regarding "The Office," with some people even inquiring about his involvement in the new Quentin Tarantino movie, "Inglourious Basterds," which is slotted as one of the headliners for this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Novak introduced questions as "the last one" on three occasions, and even stayed on stage afterwards to greet, sign autographs and take pictures with what seemed like half the audience.

Novak commented on how his work on "The Office" has affected his stand-up routine and whether or not people expect to see Ryan Howard when he comes on stage. "Sometimes I get up there, and people don't think I'm going to do stand-up. I feel like people expect me to give a talk or something," he said laughingly.

Novak also said that before "The Office," he had to go on stage and immediately convince people to like him, "just to get them to not walk out of the club," he said. Having people know him from the show, Novak said it is incredible for him as a comedian to "already have that connection and automatically have people willing to listen to me."

Luckily for those in attendance, it wasn't just his television credibility that made him worth the listen.

Upon thanking Novak for a great performance and for being such a personable guy, he responded, "Thanks, that means a lot to me. I try to be as least like Ryan as possible at all times."

Contact Aitor Zabalegui at (408) 551-1918 or azabalegui@scu.edu.