Talking improv, Dimension 20, and love with Dropout’s Brennan + Izzy

Brennan Lee Mulligan and Isabella Roland are going bigger. The Dropout power couple, also currently starring in the deliriously fun Dimension 20 season Never Stop Blowing Up, released their new long-form improv comedy special, Bigger, on Dropout last Thursday. It’s 45 minutes of Dropout’s power couple making each other (and the audience) howl with side-splitting laughter, through ridiculous prompt after ridiculous prompt.

The idea was somewhat jokingly pitched in an episode of Dropout’s Dimension 20 talkback show Adventuring Party three years ago, with the title Bigger because it’s “the only note we’ll never get.” Fast-forward a bit, and the idea is a reality. The couple filmed the special at the independent comedy theater The Elysian in LA, and the version on Dropout combines two 70-minute live performances into one seamless 45-minute show.

Polygon spoke with the stars of Bigger about working together as a comedy couple, expressions of love for each other through Dropout programming, how to make each other break, and a little about Never Stop Blowing Up.

This interview is lightly edited for length and clarity.

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Polygon: I’m curious — is this your first press tour together?

Isabella Roland: This is our first.

Brennan Lee Mulligan: This is our first. We have been, I think, interviewed as the cast of other D20 seasons. Maybe we did something for Burrow’s End or something during the pandemic for The Seven.

Roland: No. I don’t know if I’ve ever done press in my life.

How does it feel?

Roland: I think this is my debut.

Mulligan: You’re doing great.

Roland: This is my… what’s that… ca-…

Mulligan: Ca-….

Roland: What’s that word?

Mulligan: Your debutante?

Roland: Yeah yeah yeah.

Mulligan: Cotillion!

Roland: Cotillion.

Mulligan: There you go. We got it. Got there!

Cutting down Bigger from two 70-minute shows into a 45-minute special, was there anything that had to get left on the cutting room floor that you were particularly fond of, or any bits that didn’t make it in that you liked a lot?

Roland: I don’t think whole bits. Jonah Ray and the editors did an amazing job of cutting out the chaff. Getting rid of awkward silences or moments that maybe just didn’t play very well for the camera. I feel like they create a sort of language, putting live shows into a recorded media. They just make it cohesive and clean and nice and feel like you’re at the show.

Mulligan: We had a blast doing both shows. And I think everything that got left in was the best possible entree for new fans coming in that maybe have not gotten to watch live improv.

Roland: Yeah. There was a bit… sometimes you take some really big swings onstage. It’s Bigger. The only note we’ll never get. And sometimes, we really deliver on that. And there was a bit where we were Meryl Streep? We were in the show and were like, “That. Killed.” And then you watch it and you’re like, “Well, maybe you sort of had to be there.”

Mulligan: To be clear, you were Meryl Streep. I was a bog witch.

Roland: Oh!

Mulligan: I was! I was a witch!

Roland: That makes sense. [pause] Were you a bog witch and I was Meryl Streep in Into the Woods?

Mulligan: No, you were just the actress Meryl Streep.

Roland: People are going to be like, “We’ve gotta see the Meryl Cut.” And we promise: You don’t.

The subtitle for Bigger is “The only note you’ll never get.” Obviously, you got to do the show. Does doing this make you wonder if there’s a limit to what Dropout will let you do?

Roland: Porn.

Mulligan: There’s some legal hurdles there.

Roland: I dare you. Live-streamed porn.

Mulligan: There is an amount of trust that Dropout puts in the performers, especially in this last year, where Dropout is experimenting with what you’d call semi-scripted programming, like Smartypants and Thousandaires. So I think we continually see that Dropout is really happy to make investments in the creative visions of its talent. So, you know, I don’t think it’s limited even to just me and Izzy, I think Dropout is excited for all the things that its talent could dream of doing. And that’s why it is, in my opinion, and I’m biased, I think the most exciting place for entertainment on the internet. I think the stuff we’re doing is really cool, because I think it’s a company that really believes in its performers and sets them up to succeed. And I really love that.

Roland: Get ready for scripted porn.

Mulligan: [Laughs.]

Something that I think is very fun is that Bigger is coming out at the same time as Never Stop Blowing Up. From the outside, both of these feel like expressions of your love for each other through Dropout content. Does it feel like that from that inside as well? And what does it feel like to have that kind of opportunity, to do these kinds of things for work with each other and for each other?

Mulligan: Dream come true.

Roland: Unparalleled.

Mulligan: Unparalleled.

Roland: A goofy, goofy world.

Mulligan: I’ll say this too. This was one of the first things we did together after starting a family. As working people, when you also are starting a family, a lot of time is spoken for. There’s a lot of obligations; chores need to get done, work needs to get done, care needs to be provided. And so to have moments of pure insanity and play and joy that you are obligated to do for work is like a cheat code in a family. If we had not gotten to do the special, there would have probably been a conversation — we need to go cut loose and let off some steam somewhere. Let’s go do something wacky and crazy. And we got to do that. And it was actually part of work. That’s a miracle. That’s a privileged position, and an honor to be able to do.

Roland: It really just feels like stupid, stupid luck. It feels unfair. But I’m very grateful for it. It’s funny, because we will watch the new episodes of Never Stop Blowing Up. And literally yesterday, I was like, “Do you remember this dog fight thing?” And Brennan was like, “What dog fight???” And I was like, “You came up with a purebreed dog fight!” And it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. And this is all happening to me for the first time. And Brennan was like, “Same.” We also get to live it, we get to have the wonderful experience more than once. You enter a fugue state.

Mulligan: I also think that doing these shows together, it comes from a place where even if we lived in a horrifying timeline where me and Izzy were not together, it would be an honor to do improv with her. And it would be a joy to do improv with her. And it’s very fun because within these things, I would say they don’t feel necessarily like extensions of our personal relationship. Instead, it feels total extra, cherry-on-top, this amazing thing that you also get to explore. It’s amazing, in any partnership or relationship, to get to see a whole other facet of someone. So when you get to perform with your partner and see that side of themselves, it’s just such a gift. So very special.

Roland: And it’s crazy that we are, in reality, a fake PR couple. And this has worked out really well.

Mulligan: Izzy pulled up to my apartment five minutes before this, because this is an act. We have the people that Taylor Swift uses.

Roland: We’re James Franco and the anime pillow.

Mulligan: And the body pillow from 30 Rock? [laughs]

Roland: Wait, no. That’s the real couple.

Both: We’re Jenna Maroney.

Well, it’s working, so congratulations on that.

Roland: Thank god.

One of the things in both of these shows that comes across is your energy working together and your enthusiasm for working together. It’s so sweet without being saccharine or cloying. And you mentioned, Brennan, that in the dark world where you two aren’t together, that it would still be great to work together in this way. But I’m curious how your chemistry and comedic synergy has evolved over the course of your relationship, and what you feel like you can do with each other as a scene partner that you might not be able to do with someone else?

Mulligan: When you’re onstage with someone doing improv, that’s a very vulnerable thing to be doing, no matter what. And I do actually think that the trust you build with someone by building a life with them is something you can use on stage, but when I’m on stage with you, you are my improv partner, and that relationship is the first and foremost thing. And we’re going to have a great time, we’re going to kill. In other words, I don’t step onto the stage with Iz and go, “There’s my wife.” I go, “There’s Izzy Roland, the funniest person on the planet, let’s go kill.” But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that probably, subconsciously, you’re using a whole bunch of tools that are at your availability because of the time and trust and care you have for each other.

Roland: At this point, there are clear… what is it, a layup [does tennis serve motion]? He’s about to serve something. And he’s communicating to me This is the serve I’m about to do so you can… tennis or basketball reference.

Yeah, sure, or badminton. We can go all the way.

Roland: Or badminton!

Mulligan: Yeah yeah yeah. Basketball, you serve the ball and then…

Roland: …and then you strike it—

Both: Down.

I’m a former sports journalist, and you’re nailing it, Izzy.

Roland: Of course. But yeah we do have a sort of language. And in terms of the arc, it’s funny because I think what sort of sealed the deal was we did an improv show together right before we started dating.

I’m wondering how this feels different than that, in that context.

Roland: That was sort of… [looks at Brennan]

Mulligan: [looks at Izzy] Hey.

Roland: We can say it… foreplay. We were in whatever space we were in, it was great, Michael Saltzman was also in that show, it was very fun. I think it was sort of Ooooh, we do connect in a very strong way. And it was a really fun show in a place that did once have bedbugs. And then we did our first show together as a couple doing two-prov and that was not as good, which is funny. But then once years had gone by, and we were well established, it was like, now we’re in it.

Mulligan: And one show is just one show. But I think to that point, there’s a lot of trust. And then physically as well, when you’re performing with someone that is a partner to you, you’re like, “OK, jump on my back and we’ll throw each other around.” And there’s a lot of physical trust there. And I think the only liability is, I remember we did that one show at that nightclub, and we were so tapped in that there were a couple times that we would start laughing because we telepathically knew what the other person was about to say and thought it was funny and broke. And the audience was not participating or involved.

Roland: That was voyeuristic.

Mulligan: [Laughing] That was voyeuristic. We actually talked afterwards.

Roland: We have to sort of lay it out a little bit more.

Mulligan: I know that you know that I know that you are going to do this, but we have to help bring them along.

Do you try to catch each other off guard then? Are there ways that you know that OK, she’s not gonna anticipate this, or he’s not gonna see this coming?

Mulligan: It’s just helpful to have intention going into a show. Making that adjustment, where if you see it coming, remember to check in with yourself about whether or not the audience sees it coming. But there’s also a moment where Iz really snipes me in this show, just from a place of knowing each other, which I really, really enjoy and thought was so funny. Do you know the moment I’m talking about?

Roland: No.

Mulligan: This is a full spoiler.

Roland: Use one word.

Mulligan: I’ll use one word: monologue.

Roland: Oh yeah.

Mulligan: Very funny. When you say “Everyone’s been monologuing at me.” That moment was suddenly going, like, Fair, very fair. Honestly, a lot of these unrelated mythical characters do seem to share this trait.

Roland: You gotta fill the space.

Mulligan: You gotta fill the space.

Roland: I feel like we did do that to each other a lot in Never Stop Blowing Up. It’s a lot of you delivering tropes that I find very hilarious. And then I guessed one of your big plot points. I can’t remember a single proper noun, but I did guess a full story arc.

Mulligan: That was so perfect, you saying Laguna 5000 [instead of Long Beach 5000] is the funniest thing.

I lost it.

Roland: I’m too method. And for anyone who says it’s pregnancy brain, watch Ify in the most recent episode, OK? OK?!

Mulligan: I think it’s one of those things where a strong relationship creates the foundational things you need for good performance. And that relationship, in our case, is a marital and romantic one. But I think that for anyone who’s looking to perform, if you find those people that make you go, Oh, I’m safe with this person, there’s trust here, that is the critical, critical thing. And so you go to the table with those people, and the ability to understand each other and read those tiny cues. There’s just something about really getting… If your partner is laughing, it feels like that’s the greatest feeling on Earth. It’s a very cool position to be in to be able to create art and entertainment with your partner.

What is the thing your partner does that most frequently makes you break?

Mulligan: There’s actually several consistent things. Any expression of dismay or horror Izzy does is hysterical. If I share a story, Oh, someone did something that was untoward, Izzy has the most expressive comedic face on the planet and will be like, [wide-eyed] “WHAT!” That always makes me laugh. Or hyperbole, any hyperbolic statement of either enthusiasm or lack of support breaks me every time. Like our friends are going ax-throwing at an outdoor ax-throwing range and Izzy will be like “I’ll be dead in the cold earth.” That gets me every time. I’m sorry to tell this story. We went to the Ren Faire one time, in Pasadena.

Roland: [shaking her head] Shut it down.

Mulligan: Everyone who loves the Ren Faire, if you work at the Ren Faire…

Roland: You’re stupid!

Mulligan: No, you have my support.

Roland: You’re stupid.

Mulligan: [Blocking off Izzy] No, this is my core demographic. You’re wonderful.

Roland: Cancel your subscription! And make it less dusty. And no lines!!!

Mulligan: We got to the Ren Faire, and got out of Aabria Iyengar’s car…

Roland: Which made me want to vomit. Aabria’s car. Tesla: Bad!

Mulligan: We got out, and we looked at the Ren Faire…

Roland: In what, Pomona? Give me a break.

Mulligan: Pasadena.

Roland: Pacoima? Rosemead? I don’t know where it is. Somewhere over there you don’t want to be.

Mulligan: And Iz went “Oh, they put the mall outside.” Which made me laugh so hard.

Roland: But it’s not The Grove, where you want to be.

Mulligan: We also had a very funny [moment]. The way in which our personalities horseshoe together, horseshoe theory is very real. Because there was a blacksmith with swords. Erika Ishii ran up to us and was like, “Oh my god, are you guys gonna buy a sword?” And we both turned to them and went “No!” But then we looked at each other because we had the same answer. Oh, we agree.

Roland: Not for the same reason.

Mulligan: Because Iz was like, No, I’m not gonna buy a giant sword. And I was like, No, I’m not gonna buy a sword off the rack, I’m going to work with a blacksmith to design a blade.

Roland: I’m going to inherit it from the warrior who I didn’t know was my dad.

What about for you, Izzy? How does Brennan consistently make you break?

Roland: Never Stop Blowing Up is very inspired by one of our favorite types of media, which is when you start to ask a question about the logic of something and the movie or TV show goes, “Relax! Take a load off, have some fucking fun already.” And so when Brennan just taps out of his brain and word associates. When the Sidewinders came out it was like, Oh, the rails. Are. Off. And that really made me happy because you know, he’s very cerebral and everything connects and makes a lot of sense a lot of the time. I can’t believe there was even a plot for Never Stop Blowing Up that kind of made sense. But when he starts to go fuck you, fuck it and just says any words, the first words that are begging to just pop out. That really gets me.

It’s been really fun to see you let loose in that way with this one, Brennan, just fully embracing the ridiculousness of the world.

Mulligan: To be honest, there’s a big part of the logic-loving, make it make sense where, especially coming from an improv background, if you love cleaning up, you have to make a mess.

Roland: What if you love to make a mess and hate cleaning up?

Then you’d be a good partnership, it sounds like.

Mulligan: There you go.

Both: Whoa.

Mulligan: But I also feel like there’s a good thing, I think people clock this with Ally Beardsley a lot, which is, I spend a lot of time doing logic cleanup. And if I come and make a big mess, it’s very funny to watch people go, Wait, don’t do that. We should clean this up a little bit. Not you. Not you! I do love those moments where it’s like, Let’s go cuckoo. Because my joy in that is let’s freefall and say as much random shit as we can. And then 20 minutes from now, we’ll have a real mess on our hands and the joy there will be making that make sense.

When Bigger started with an exploding hamster in the microwave, did you know you were set up for success right then?

Mulligan: Yeah.

Roland: Mmmhmm.

Brennan, can you confirm or deny whether the All-Hamster will be appearing in a future Dimension 20 campaign?

Mulligan: My plan is to unite not only every Dimension 20 universe, but every actual fact of every Dropout show, it’s all going to get tied together. So the All-Hamster will absolutely be incorporated into the multiverse, meta-contextual 400 episode final season of Dimension 20. After which, I’ll be about 70 or 80 years old at this point.

Roland: I’ll be long dead.

Mulligan: Oh my god.

Will that include the Meryl cut?

Both: [Laughing]

Do you guys have any future projects together that you’re hoping to work on?

Mulligan: Funny you should mention that, because this August we’ll be doing a live-streamed live show at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles, raising money for D(e)ad, a movie starring and written by one Isabella Roland. I am also in the movie, and it is an incredible dark comedy supernatural family movie about a family where the father dies and comes back as a ghost to haunt everybody but his daughter. It’s funny and heartfelt and beautiful.

Roland: Brennan is in it. Vic Michaelis is in it. Zac Oyama is in it. Claudia Lonow, my mommy, is in it. My stepdad is in it. My grandparents are in it. Nick Marini is in it. Craig Bierko is in it. Bing bang boom.

Mulligan: We’re raising money for production on that, it’s very, very exciting. And then the movie will probably have a fun journey ahead of it, assuming the project is successful and people back it, it will be edited and put together and go to festivals, watch parties, stuff like that.

Roland: Oscars.

Mulligan: Oscars. And depending on festivals and stuff like that, hopefully it will have a digital home somewhere in the future where folks can come and watch it.

Bigger is now streaming on Dropout.