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Aisha Tyler's AMA Will Make You Fall In Love With Her All Over Again (Plus: Her Take On 'Batman V Superman')

By Petr Navovy | Social Media | April 7, 2016 |

By Petr Navovy | Social Media | April 7, 2016 |


Once, way back in the mists of time, Aisha Tyler was a Pajiba 10 contender round these parts.

Then the universe stopped making sense and she fell off our radar a little bit.

Now, in partnership with Reddit, I’m here to put that right.

Here are some of the great answers from last night’s AMA:

How often do people scream LANAAAAA at you in public?

Also, if you stare into Colin Mochrie’s head long enough, can you see into the future?

so much that it turns into white noise, after which I hear birds tweeting and the soft murmurings of my mother’s voice.

and then I black out.

Colin Mochrie’s head IS THE FUTURE

Hi Aisha -

I’ve met you a couple times (and you always remember my name - how?!) and every single time I turn into a tounge-tied shitshow of awkward but you seem to handle it with grace and kindness. That leads me to wonder…

What’s been your most awkward encounter with a fan? Did that encounter alter the way you approach meet and greets after that?

Hey Erik! Well, I love my fans so I just try to be open and kind. I know how much I jibber and melt when I meet people I admire (I almost fainted meeting Doug Liman and I think he has a restraining order against me now) so I try to be chill. Most awkward has been the guy who takes your hand and won’t release it for many sweaty minutes until you have to pry your cold, deadening fingers from his grip. And then you feel like an asshole because you dashed the guy with the kung-fu grip’s dreams.

I just spend my time trying not to be an asshole.

How much of Lana Kane is based on you? In the “Meet the Kane’s” episode they flashback to the science fair and it looks just like your own science fair pic in your book:)

Yep they definitely took the likeness of baby Lana from my own 8th grade science fair photo. But in the beginning she looked nothing like me and was based on a waitress at a Hooter’s in Atlanta, because classy. Since then, she has morphed into me slowly.

She is now haunting my dreams.

We’ve made out a couple of times.

What show do you enjoy doing the most? And why is it Archer?

Because Archer is awesome. But YOU KNEW THAT

hi big fan of your work! what advice can you give to a fella who’s in his mid twenties and feels like a complete fuck up in life?

This is going to sound simplistic but I really believe this. I’m serious.

EVERYBODY FEELS LIKE A COMPLETE FUCK UP AT SOME POINT.

We all feel like frauds most of the time. Someone who goes around thinking they’re awesome all the time is an asshole and their last name is probably Trump.

Just get up tomorrow and take a mulligan. The past is the past. You’re a new you today, with new goals and a new approach and you are going to start kicking ass starting now. Blow it? Start over. And keep starting over, every day, until you feel like you’re making some headway. I wrote an entire book, Self-Inflicted Wounds, about all the ways in which I have fucked up. Seriously. A book. And it wasn’t even a comprehensive accounting.

I’m kickstarting my first feature right now. 10-plus years ago, I directed my first short. It was TERRIBLE. It will never see the light of day. Did I give up? No. I just kept making stuff and making stuff until I got better. The next six shorts were better. And now I’m about to make a movie.

Quentin Tarantino will admit that his first efforts were complete crap. Now he’s one of the greatest directors of all time.

Success is not the absence of failure. Success is persistence through failure.

Get out there.

Right after you have some cheetos or whatever. Cheetos are delicious.

Who was your favorite actor to work with?

Christopher Walken. Hands down. The entire time we were shooting Balls of Fury his nails were polished and he told filthy stories and he tricked me into buying him birthday cake.

He’s the best.

Do you have a preference on bourbon?

copious is my preference. copious.

Hey Aisha!

You have been very vocal and even defensive about your love of Batman vs Superman on Twitter, to the point where many have asked you if you had been paid to promote it.

I personally think everyone is free to enjoy what they want to enjoy, but I was wondering if you could explain why you went to such lengths to (seemingly) convince people it was a good film?

It’s okay to enjoy something and accept that it’s objectively not great, and similarly it’s okay to enjoy something and argue that you consider it great… I was wondering if you could clarify which of these camps you fit in more?

Blah blah blah… big fan of your work on Archer, WLIA, etc.

haha thanks for the kind words.

I guess why I’ve been so vocal and defensive is because the detractors have been so virulent and dismissive. I genuinely liked that movie. This is true and full disclosure: I don’t work for anyone associated with making or promoting that film in any way. I moderated the Warner Brothers panel for the DCEU movies this past summer for no compensation whatsoever, because when I was a little kid I collected Dark Knight and Watchmen GN and because I love Zack Snyder and David Ayer (I loved End of Watch and I have seen DOTD 2004 like 30 times). I was and am genuinely excited about those films and that universe and if I wasn’t I wouldn’t have participated (I have PLENTY of shit to do). I went to the BVS premiere on my own dime, because I was stoked to see it.

So. Maybe I’m vocal out of love. I thought BVS was clever, I thought it was funny (maybe not as funny as Avengers but that’s not Zack’s thing) I loved the introduction of WW and I am SUPER stoked for Aquaman and Cyborg, and I felt like the criticisms were petty and even some of the canonical criticisms disregarded the fact that DC canon, and indeed comic book canon, is constantly morphing and changing (how many times have X-Men died? How many times has the world ended and then all of a sudden we’re back on earth and people are grabbing Starbucks? Just look at the new 52).

So for me, this was Zack’s take on this world, and I liked the meditation on ultimate power and it’s nature, and whether one can be a hero and still maintain one’s humanity, and whether violence is required to keep peace. I don’t know why people kept whining that “Batman and Superman are supposed to be FRIENDS” when it’s made very clear in BvS that Batman and Superman are meeting for the VERY FIRST TIME and in this version of the DCU Batman has been Batman for a while, but the world is JUST MEETING SUPERMAN. And Batman has fundamental issues with what he represents, and what he could accomplish if he were evil. That aspect of it, to me, both served canon and extended and explored it. And I liked the big ideas at the center about the fight against terror and what it might cost us to win.

Anyway. As you can see, I loved it. I’ve seen it twice and I’ll probably go a third time. I even liked Jesse Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg-off-his-meds LL.

But hell. I’m just one woman.

Any favorite fighting game a la Tekken, Mortal Kombat, etc.? I remember you saying you can bust ass on Halo from the Aisha Tyler is Lit special, but wondering if other genres fit in to your video game playing.

I tend to love fantasy combat, but stayed away from Skyrim as the general consensus was that it was a life eater. Top three are Fallout, Gears, and Halo. I really love combo shooter/RPGs, (thus Fallout) and loved The Last of Us as well. I’m not a big fighting game person. Metal Gear Solid is always a winner, as is any Rainbow 6 title. And I loved TWD for the iPad and cried at the end like a poopy infant.

As a comedian in jobs all over the spectrum how do you feel about the current state of “political correctness”? (however people mean it these days) Do you ever feel like you need be careful about what you say now?

Thanks, huge fan!

I dunno. As a comedian in a club I think you have a lot more leeway than you do on TV. People are drunk and trying to get laid so they’re not too focused on being offended. The internet just STAYS offended so you can’t win there. Mainly I think the issue is intent. I try not to be a dick. If I keep that in mind I can pretty much say anything.

I try not to make fun of babies though.

Unless they’re being assholes.

I can never think of a question for these things. If you were me, what would you ask you?

Why I’m still typing this shit myself

You can read the full AMA here.

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Petr Knava plays music.