UCLA alum moves into new ‘Office’
By Rodney Tanaka
Former UCLA student Andrea Abbate pays her sons $50 for every
joke they write. "That’s how they’re saving up for college," Abbate
says. "Hopefully they’ll get to UCLA if they write some good
jokes."
Abbate’s own success also depends on her ability to make people
laugh. She performs at comedy clubs around the country and is
featured on the new CBS sitcom "The Office."
The show focuses on four secretaries in a Chicago office. Abbate
plays Mae, a former Club Med instructor with little office
experience.
Abbate’s success on the comedy circuit caught the attention of
CBS. She began to develop projects for the network, and she was
hired to work on the ensemble cast of "The Office."
"I like my character because she’s very ballsy, very outspoken,"
Abbate says. "Maybe she’s not correct all the time in her
viewpoints, but I like the fact that she’s not afraid to say what
she thinks.
"That’s a great prototype for women to be, to have a strong
spine and speak your mind," she continues. "Honesty and courage are
great skills no matter what your job is."
The secretaries come from diverse backgrounds. One is a working
mother, another is an MBA student unaccustomed to the real world
and another is a career secretary devoted to running the
office.
"These characters are all diverse and yet they get along and
there’s a lot of fun between them," Abbate says.
A recent episode focused on Mae, as a young executive threatens
to buy the company. When he arrives, Mae realizes she had a torrid
affair with this man while working at Club Med.
"Now I’m privy to more information about buying the company than
anybody else because the guy is courting me," Abbate says.
"Everybody that’s usually in power is coming to me when normally
I’d be low man on the totem pole."
Many stand-up comedians have successfully moved their act onto
television comedies. Abbate shares this distinction with Tim Allen,
Ellen DeGeneres and Roseanne.
Abbate’s stand-up comedy career began with an ending: her
divorce. Abbate frequented comedy clubs on the lonely nights that
her two sons were visiting their father. She first stepped onto the
stage in 1989 and has been performing ever since.
"When you’re shooting a show in front of a live studio audience,
it’s very similar to the live audience at the Improv," Abbate
explains. "Stand-up comedians are familiar with performing in front
of a large audience and how to do everything possible to make a
small laugh bigger."
"It’s the only art form that I’m aware of that has 100 percent
free speech," Abbate says. "As long as you can make your punchline
funny you can talk about anything."
Stand-up comedians can also re-word jokes or ad-lib on the spot,
as she witnessed while guest starring on "Full House." "During the
week of rehearsing one script I saw Dave Coulier think of four or
five jokes that he just did ad-lib," Abbate says.
Abbate does not allow her busy schedule to interfere with
raising her children. "If every mother raised their kids not to be
prejudiced, it would be gone by the next generation," Abbate says.
"My sons may not have the traditional family life, but they are
really beyond their years as far as knowing every person is the
same."
Well, almost all people. One prejudice Abbate may allow is an
affinity for a certain southern California university and disdain
for their cross-town rivals. "I still have a hatred of USC," Abbate
asserts. "They’re still the enemy in my book."
TELEVISION: "The Office" airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. on CBS.