Amy Schumer interrupts up-and-coming comic's performance to 'practice' SNL routine
These days, Amy Schumer has come to believe that she owns the stand-up stage. In order to test out her new material, Schumer hijacked a rising comedian's performance.
The 36-year-old 'I Feel Pretty' star showed up unannounced on Tuesday night at Carolines on Broadway hoping to practice her “Saturday Night Live” monologue right between the headlining set of up-and-coming comedian Brendan Sagalow. His performance was a part of the Best of the Breakout Artists Comedy Series.
“She basically came in and went to the manager and asked if she could get up [on stage]. The manager said Brendan has just gotten up. She asked for 10 minutes and the manager was explaining how he was doing a long set,” a source told Page Six, to which the comedic actress replied, “But, I’m Amy Schumer!”
Schumer confronted another comic after targeting Sagalow asking her if she knew Sagalow's identity. The comic explained to Amy, who already follows Sagalow on Instagram, that the show meant a big a deal for him and that his parents were in the audience.
However, according to the Page Six source, "After he said that, she literally barged on stage.”
The footage of the entire incident was posted on the comedy club's Instagram page, which then deleted their post. In the video, Schumer can be heard shouting “Brendan! It’s Amy Schumer, can I do 10 minutes really quick?” to which Sagalow responded, “Of course,” before welcoming her onto the podium.
“It was pretty f–ked up, but I think it was pretty amazing,” the source said.
Schumer's set “went well overall. The crowd was happy to see her, and Brendan crushed when he got back on stage … despite such an odd thing happening,” another audience member reported.
On Wednesday, Sagalow spoke about his experience on his podcast, called The Stupid Little Podcast:
“I’m five minutes into my set, I’m doing some crowd work … and then from off to the side, I hear, ‘Hey Brendan! It’s Amy Schumer! Can I do 10 minutes?’ In the middle of my set … I look over and it’s Amy, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, of course!’ I had no other reaction … When I’m walking off I’m like, ‘OK …’ But I’m actually happy — I’m like, ‘This is a good thing! This is a great thing!’ Everybody thinks I’m friends with Amy, she knows my name, she said she follows me on Instagram, which she mentioned. She said she ‘loves Brendan as a comic.’ She doesn’t. You put the quarter in, you play the game.”
He further added, “Everybody was like, ‘You should be mad, what a bitch, that’s an awful thing to do.’ Which … it is. It is a pretty s—tty thing to do at my first headlining set with all my friends and family there, but I think it’s a good thing … I thought it was awesome, because everybody else’s headlining set at Carolines, nobody talks about it.”
Sagalow responded to a request for comment by Page Six, saying, “I’m happy I could give Amy the time on my show. A lot of people thought it was a sh–ty move on her part to interrupt me and I talked about it more in depth on my podcast, The Stupid Little Podcast, but I thought it was awesome. It didn’t throw me off one bit, I know what I’m doing on stage.”
That being said, Sagalow claimed that he was not remotely offended. In fact, he said that he was delighted that Schumer's appearance added exposure to his show. "I thought it was awesome, because everybody else’s headlining set at Carolines, nobody talks about it.”
But Schumer's bullish move was not taken well by others in the audience, including an insider who spoke to New York Daily News: “She interrupted the guy on stage and said, ‘mind if I do 10 minutes?’ That is so rude and galling. You just don’t do that.”
Having said that, a source reportedly close to Schumer told Page Six that Schumer is "good friends" with Sagalow and that she had texted him beforehand, letting him known of her appearance.
Schumer potentially represents everything that is considered wrong with liberal Hollywood. From bulldozing the stage of a struggling comedian to "practice" her script, to playing the lead role in a movie titled "I Am Pretty" that has been labeled as markedly divisive by several critics.
A representative of Schumer declined to comment on the issue, so did Carolines on Broadway.