The Other Late-Night Redhead: A Q&A with Chelsea Lately staff writer, comedian Brad Wollack

What is the substance of choice in the writer’s room?
Well despite what many people think, we don’t really drink at work. And we don’t do drugs or any of that. So we basically rely on coffee, water, and a lot of soda. And pretzels! For some reason pretzels have become a big thing for us. And we look forward to birthdays because Chelsea loves birthdays and we always get a cake.

Can you tell me a bit about the writing process/schedule at the show?
We get in around 9:15 and we gather stories from the day before that we’ve compiled and see if anything has broken overnight. We gather round and watch clips from different TV things we’ve seen or are interested in viewing for our cold opening and select a clip and riff on that for a bit. Then we go to our conference room and go through the daily topics and Chelsea says yea or nay and if she says yes, we basically just start riffing jokes and it ends up being who is screaming the loudest. I would love to be a fly on the wall. All of us just screaming over one another.

I know for a lot of other late night shows, the writers spend a lot of time alone, pounding out jokes before recapping with the group. Seems like this is not the case at Chelsea Lately.
It’s a really collaborative process. That’s really important. I think you’re going to get better jokes that way. People always go, “Well, what would you want to do next?” I’m having a great time here. “How about SNL?” Everyone who works there says it’s miserable. Why would I want to do that? I love it at Chelsea Lately. And viewers say it shows that we have a good time together, and that’s really an important thing. It makes for a better show.

Do you wish the sketch comedy bits were a more prominent staple of Chelsea Lately?
Interestingly, I was a writer for Chelsea’s first show on E!, which was all sketch-based. And I loved that stuff. And the beginning of this show, during pre-production, before we went on the air, we were able to do more of that stuff. I think it is great if it is done well and you put the time into it. But it is a lot. It is a beast on and to itself. And it’s also a matter of not having Chelsea’s time. She is really, really busy. But yes, short answer. Yes, I do wish we could do more but there are a lot of reasons we can’t.

Which comedians comprise your favorite round-table trio?
I really like Jo Koy. He makes me laugh a lot. I really love most people. I really love Chris Franjola, Josh Wolf, Jen Kirkman, Sarah Calonna. Loni Love. I love everyone. Oh, I guess I went over three. You just know some people are going to read this and kill you if you forget them.

Did you love Loni after she raped-kissed you on television?
I was just bummed that I didn’t have a better comeback after I came up for breath. So I had to tweet my line instead which was: “Loni Love tongue-raped me on the show tonight it tasted like fried chicken.”

How do you feel when Chelsea exposes almost nude pics of you on the show?
I don’t care. I really don’t. My appearance has become a source of a lot of conversation when I’m on the show and has really become a benchmark or hallmark for my “character.” I’ve just learned to embrace it. I have an incredibly beautiful, gorgeous, caring wife, and so clearly it is not that bad.

Why didn’t you invite Chelsea to your wedding?
I did! I was the one staffer who did! Jen Kirkman didn’t and one of our post-production guys didn’t. So there was big trouble. I don’t know why you wouldn’t invite Chelsea! She gives incredible gifts. Plus, she is a lot of fun.

My sister, who by the way, loves you as one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, has noticed that you wear a J. Crew purple checked shirt often. Her husband also has it and she wanted to know–how much do you love that shirt?
I love it! And please include this in the interview. I love everything J. Crew and that’s pretty much all I wear on the show. I am basically a J. Crew junkie.

Hoping to get some free clothes from this interview?
They are already very supportive at J. Crew. I feel like I should pay them back.

>>>VIDEOS: Brad Wollack on Chelsea Lately: Dissed by a baby, dressed down by Chelsea and blending in at the BET awards…

Dana Schuster is a NYC-based writer/editor. She works at Hearst Magazines International as the International Editions Editor of Harper’s Bazaar, O, The Oprah Magazine and Robb Report and has written for The New York Times, The New York Post, Cosmopolitan international, Harper’s Bazaar international, The New York Press, The Huffington Post and Time Out New York magazine, among other publications. She graduated from Yale.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.