Rob Michael Hugel's new web series I Hate Being Single is becoming a fast favorite amongst those who have discovered it, and we're here to pass it along to you. Hugel has created the opposite of the MTV brand of hipster caricature portrayed in I Just Want My Pants Back, and manages to cover the H-word nation in a much more refreshing way (yes, it's possible). So sit back, grab a Decaf Noir from Blue Bottle, and embrace his five minute masterpieces.
How did I Hate Being Single come about? I've always been doing TV production work, and I had just been working with the web series Broad City, as their director and editor, and cowriter for some episodes. The process had been really inspiring and I've always had ideas about telling stories about first year I lived in Brooklyn. Being new to town, getting over a breakup, trying to make friends or find my footing socially was full of ups and downs. It felt like things had a lot more weight in general. I wanted to make a web series that was as close to my personal experiences as possible as a starting point for a story, and then change it however would be the most fun for the show. I knew it would take place in Williamsburg because I love my stop (Graham Avenue) and I'd felt like I'd never seen a show that really captured Williamsburg in the way that I see it.
You say the banker episode [above] is based on a true story—this really happened to you? Are you still friends with the banker? I used to go to this Chase and the guy was so nice. I mean, I know he was trying to get me to sign up for a credit account at first but he was also a super cool dude. He did tell me what my name meant, he recommended I check out Pizza Brothers, and a dvd shop down the block... he was super nice! So I would stop by if I was passing by and had 15 minutes to hang out. He didn't try to keep selling me stuff, he was always super supportive about being an actor and made me feel really important for following my dreams. I know it's cheesy but it's great to hear! Eventually he came out to a standup show I co-host in Brooklyn at The Gutter. When I emailed him about another show and the email bounced back, I called Chase and they said he had left the branch and didn't say where he went. And he's not on Facebook. I was hoping to find him by now because he knew the episode was going to happen and I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it.
How much of the show is based on your own life, and how much is a satirical look at a specific demographic and neighborhood of Brooklyn? I think 90 percent of the show is based on my own life and the rest is just the skewed angle I would use to make it funny or entertaining. As you can tell from the banker story it's very close!
The demographic and neighborhood are only a part of the show, because it's the world I know. I want to celebrate my neighborhood more than trash it. I try not to make jokes that feel like a complete blanket generalization and hopefully most of the silliness lands on me. In episode 1 there's a whole conversation about hipsters where I basically say, If you think those guys are hipsters then you must think I am, too. That's genuinely how I feel most of the time, and I'd bet other people do too. My point is that I'd be an idiot not to acknowledge that it's what some people think of me based on my appearance alone, not to mention taste in movies or music. So I like Wes Anderson movies and I wear Ray Bans and drink a cup of coffee and some other cliche thing that is totally normal and not worthy of a joke. It doesn't mean I have a trust fund. The thing that always bugs me is the generalization that if you look a certain way, you're a snob or a jerk. I've met some of the nicest people who might happen to have a handlebar mustache. Why are we so hateful and angry over silly things? I'll get off my soap box now.
One part of my life that isn't included in the show is my acting and comedy career. I left it all out. And the fact that I have a girlfriend, but that still informs my writing because a lot of situations in the show reflect how I would feel if I was single all of the sudden.
Is this the antidote to the faux hipsters that have taken over prime time television? Or will all portrayals of hipsters be false because no one really knows how to define them? I don't think there's an antidote but I think more voices could be heard and some people would like to see a different take on the typical hipster joke that has been beaten to death. It's become really easy to throw in the words ironic and hipster into any sentence and call it a joke. It's like Mad Libs.
I think that as long as it's trying to be defined, it's going to be an inaccurate portrayal because trying to define "hipster" is really the impossible task. Watch me try: artists, people who party, people who look weird, people who like fashion, people who look nerdy, people who look cool, people who look old timey, musicians, people with glasses, people with beards, people with plaid, people with skinny jeans, people who are skinny! With all of those generalizations, who isn't a hipster? All I am trying to define is the slightly off center world portrayed in my particular show. I hope people identify with it and don't feel alienated. That's my goal, to take the specifics of my life, make them entertaining, and see if people respond. When someone posts on Facebook and says: "I was just having this conversation!" it's the best thing ever, better than donuts from Peter Pan Bakery.
I think Portlandia does an awesome job at holding a mirror up to hipster culture without being mean spirited or judgey. They know the culture and hone in on specific micro scenes. I love it. They capture something real rather than a lazy idea of what some hipsters are doing. It's coming from the inside out.
Do you think your character on the show is realistic—are twenty-something guys in Williamsburg/Greenpoint really just looking for girlfriends? I wouldn't say it as a blanket statement! I think both types of guys are out there. I know my character is realistic because he's based off me, but I can't say I'm representative of all of Williamsburg. Most of the time the character feels like an outcast because it seems like the rest of the world is more into then bar/single life. It's like the opposite of I Just Want My Pants Back. Those kids have sex non stop! I never thought I was a prude but dang. Again, it just depends on who you hang out with I guess. There's a scene for everyone in NYC and you have to find where you feel most comfortable.
Also we haven't seen the whole story of IHBS and whether or not the character Rob changes throughout the show. By season 9 he could be a playa, have a kid, and do meth! Probably not though but it'd be fun. I do a great Jesse Pinkman impression.
How often will the episodes come out? New episodes every Tuesday until late May. Some are called "Rob's Room" and are short improvised scenes in the character's bedroom. The full length episodes are 5 minutes each and more plot driven.
You mention you are involved with UCB, and had some involvement with Broad City. How did you get into the comedy scene and start working with the people you're working with? I started taking classes at UCB soon after moving up in late 2006. I didn't know a single person doing comedy until I started in class. It was my first intro to acting and comedy together aside from goofing off with friends all my life. I've been a part of the community ever since and grown with a lot of performers. After a few years of taking classes and doing teams you get a bubble of people who are like you and with different skills and people who are doing it for the long haul really bond after a while. You see the same people everywhere and eventually realize that you're friends.
I met the Broad City girls through the community but didn't actually get to know them until they hired me to edit their first episode. They found me through a post I made on an improv message board saying I do video work. We clicked and started doing all the episodes for a while. Through working with them I learned a lot about how supportive people can be and how much people appreciate your work if you make the effort. It gave me more confidence to do something on my own.
A lot of people helped make the Season Finale episode of I Hate Being Single. From volunteering on crew, to being extras, they donated through Kickstarter and raised $6,000. It's an insanely important part of the process. I'm really proud of it because if I didn't know all these people from years of improv classes and whatnot I doubt we would've raised enough money and it just wouldn't have been the same. Most of the funding came from small donations from lots of friends who believed in my stuff. Come to think of it that's another thing people shit on too much. Kickstarter.
And are you working on anything else right now? I co-host a standup show with my girlfriend/comedy partner Shannon Coffey called Bread and Butter. It's free on the first Wednesday of each month in the back room at the Gutter. I'm an actor on the UCB sketch team Onassis, who perform a new sketch show once a month on Maude Night at UCB Theatre. I'm slowly co-writing a pilot with collaborator and friend Matt Cook, who co-created another web series that's releasing new episodes weekly called Nights in Ultraviolet. I'm also editing the finale episodes of the I Hate Being Single season for this summer and taking notes to write season 2. Also starting to write another web series and a one man show to do at UCB in the summer.
