WIT NEWS ITEM | FIST Interview: Grandma Molly and Her Wayback Machine

FIST INTERVIEW: G'MA MOLLY AND HER WAYBACK MACHINE

POSTED 3.28.08

The Tournament of the FIST has entered its final phase: The WIT team bracket. Looking to make some serious noise on their way to the finals, Grandma Molly and Her Wayback Machine are the team with the tournament's longest name. They also boast a potent blend of veteran experience and wily newcomerness in cast members Molly Murchie, Ben Mauk and Honora Talbot.

WIT.com grabbed a moment with the team ahead of their Saturday Night showdown with fellow WIT players The Pay Attention to Us to learn a little more about what makes them tick...


Grandma Molly and Her Wayback Machine, hello. It feels ridiculous to use that as a proper name...

Molly: How dare you? The gall. Wow. We are extremely proud of the time travel technology we have developed just for the FIST.

Ben: Say it fast and it's just "Grandmachine."

Honora: Jealous much?

Who are you and how did you find each other? Introduce yourselves...

Molly: I'm Molly Murchie, the Grandma of the title. I met Ben sometime last year when he was visiting from Cornell where he was a Whistling Shrimp, which my husband Colin was as well when he was in college. They were talking at RFD, and I was looking around the room and occasionally nodding. He and Honora invited me to be on their team and I said of course, because I sup on the energy on the young.

Ben: I'm Ben Mauk. Yes I know Molly through her husband and enemy, Colin, who is my "improv father" in a thematic sense. I met Honora at auditions last fall. Both of them impressed me so much that I asked them out to improv. It was like getting two homecoming dates at once when they said yes.

Honora: I'm Honora Talbott. Yep, Ben and I met at auditions in the fall, and we thought it would be fun to do FIST together since we were both new to WIT and, yes, the youngest ones. We figured we'd might as well go for the Gold (a.k.a. Molly Murchie) in asking for our third member because, hey, what did we have to lose? Certainly not our dignity or reputation. We had neither. So I was definitely shocked when Molly accepted. And from that day forward, my only goal was keeping Molly in the group. I still expect her to come to her senses and quit any day now. Oh, that reminds me, gotta send some flowers to her office today.

One of the teams in the friend's division is under the assumption- from your name and your team picture- that you guys are doing historical or period piece humor. Confirm or deny.

Molly: Confirm, in part. We'll be using a historical event or era as an inspiration. It must be noted that if we don't know anything about the event or era named, we'll just do whatever we like and pretend we're right. For example, Paul Revere was instrumental in the War of 1812, as far as we're concerned.

Ben: Deny. "The past isn't over. It isn't even past." Barack Obama said that. What does it mean? I'll give you an example: I still haven't paid Molly for that hat.

Honora: Depends on whether or not you know your history. I don't. But if you don't either, maybe you'd consider what I'm doing as "period piece humor." A word of advice: trust Molly and Ben.

How did you decide on the name and the format?

Molly: We decided on the format over beer and wings at Stetson's. The name evolved from the idea that I've been around so long that I can remember what it was like back in ancient Greece or similar.

Ben: Molly had the "I'm old" idea. Most important, she is old at heart. I had originally wanted to do a medieval morality play but I think that got nixed as not having enough to do with Huey Lewis's "The Power of Love." Also, Molly has mentioned two area bars in this interview. We are not drunks.

Honora: Yeah, I think I had mentioned wanting to explore doing scenes in different historical times since I don't do that very often, and we spun off from there. Then I quickly realized in rehearsals that I'm actually embarrassingly bad at historical scenes because I remember nothing. But our name was too glorious to give up.

So the name is pretty much based on the premise that you're old, Molly? That's pretty harsh...

Molly: Harsh, but true. I'm 10 years older than both of my teammates. At our first meeting, they were talking about a hilarious video on YouTube of Lionel Richie and some deaf girl and a crappy sculpture. I REMEMBER SEEING THAT WHEN IT WAS NEW. Oooold! Ooooold! Ow, my hip! It aches when I'm outraged.

Ben: That video was "Hello" and the girl was blind, not deaf, grandma. I am not so young that I don't remember my '80's schlock.

Honora: Baby, age is just a number. As you can probably tell, we first wanted to call our team "Grandpa Ben and his Wayback Machine" since he's an old man at heart, evidenced by his usage of the word "schlock." But you know, audiences wouldn't "get" that.

Now that the competition has entered it's final bracket and the WIT teams are getting in the fun, how are you feeling about the FIST in general?

Molly: Pumped. I'm excited to see my fellow Jackies perform with different people. And just in general, it's fun to see performers I've known or worked with for years and years doing something crazy 'n' different.

Ben: We are just passing through history. But FIST, FIST is history.

Honora: And history is Grandma Molly and her Wayback Machine.

Nice Raiders reference, Ben. Molly, you were a part of last year's Shock and Awesome team. How is this year's team- and this year's tournament- different?

Molly: This year's team is different in that it a) involves fewer flags, and b) isn't shortform. In general, it's a lot less meta and manic, but still very silly and fun.

What's your secret weapon?

Molly: Oooh, I'd say lack of knowledge of history.

Ben: Wikipedia.

Honora: Starlight mints.

What's your achilles heel?

Molly: Oooh, I'd say lack of knowledge of history.

Ben: And fact-checkers.

Honora: Allergies to starlight mints.

Who have you seen so far that's impressed you? Who is left that you're looking forward to seeing?

Molly: I really liked seeing Safeword from Baltimore. I'd met them at a workshop a while back, and they're a funny bunch. And I'm looking forward to seeing Dar, Blunkeet, and Hilbiern because Rich couldn't adequately explain their name. Oh! And Blue Cop Town has mustaches, and I love a good 'stache!

Ben: Sadly I haven't gotten to see many matches.

Honora: I really enjoyed GW's "Recess," and was sad to learn they lost their second round.

Molly, the draw seems to have put you up against your husband Colin's team, The Pay Attention To Us on Saturday night. That's a definite first for the FIST. What's life like at home right now? Who will win?

Molly: "Seems to have"? Yeah, right. This is a stone-cold set up. Home life is chilly and reserved, so no change there. We are slowly trying to degrade one another's performance energy and abilities with germ warfare. He gave me his cold. I'm home sick. He continues to cough pathetically all the time. I don't know who will win, but I'm bringing my lawyer equipped with divorce papers should we lose.

Ben and Honora, does Molly's inner turmoil complicate things for you guys?

Ben: Molly's inner turmoil is our inner turmoil. There's no I in "Grandma Molly and Her Wayback Machine," except for the one in "machine." We are coping.

Honora: Excellently said, Ben. Ben and I are also currently trying to marry Dan Hodapp and Brian Coleman before the round so that we can fully support Molly and bring our divorce lawyers along, too. I interpret their silence as weakness.

Do you guys play like you practice, or save it all up for game day?

Ben: We believe in regular rehearsal.

Molly: It's hard for us to find time to rehearse, but when we have, we've pretty much taken it to the limit, minus the Starlight Mints.

Honora: We've rehearsed a fair amount, but I save up being able to look Molly in the eye for game day.

If you could impart any wisdom to the other teams in the tournament, what would it be?

Molly: Wear comfortable shoes.

Ben: That thing I said about passing through history.

Honora: Do something you're good at. Just kidding- what ben said.

Favorite historical figures?

Molly: I love our more flamboyant presidents. Teddy Roosevelt is fantastic. Warren Harding and Mrs. Harding were cuh-ra-zee, though he was a terrible president. Napoleon is a fun one.

Ben: Right now? Dock Ellis, Phineas Gage.

Honora: John Adams. Because I'm watching the HBO miniseries based on the book I have yet to read. Told you I dug my own grave.

Great. Thanks for all of that. Any final thoughts before Saturday night's domestic dispute?

Molly: I need to go take some vitamin c. And check in with my lawyer.

Ben: History is written by winners. The Pay Attention To Us is going to have to sell their story to Howard Zinn.

Honora: Sorry, have to polish the Wayback Machine. She gets finicky.



You can check out Grandma Molly and the rest of the FIST teams at Flashpoint between now and April 12th. But don't wait too long... the tournament is winding down and tickets are getting scarce!

WANT MORE FIST INTERVIEWS?

Click here to hear from the FIST Commissioner!
Click here to meet student team Princess Trainwreck!
Click here to learn more about the FIST theme song!
Click here to get to know Baltimore's Safeword!
Click here to see what happens when WIT co-workers face off in battle!