The name might not ring a bell yet but you have no doubt seen his work. Comedy director, writer and editor Neil Mahoney has been the man behind the camera for all of your favorite shorts and videos. His credits include Tiffany is Busy, Raaaaaaaandy Declares War on Justin Beiber, The Freeloader’s guide to Easy Living, Bob pitches a Movie, Brody Steven’s Interview Challenge, Hard ‘n Phirm music vids and lots lots more. Neil recently co-directed the feature length comedy musical, Freak Dance, with UCB’s Matt Besser. This dance movie spoof (don’t let the word “spoof” throw you, some serious dancing happens throughout) is brimming with your favorite comedy stars including Amy Poehler, Horatio Sanz, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Andy Daly, and Tim Meadows. Neil talks to SO about all the directorial trials and tribulations which go into creating a hilarious piece of art. So put on those hipster glasses and learn more about the man who has mastered making us laugh.

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Serial Optimist: Hi Neil! What are three of your favorite things to do besides work?

Neil Mahoney: I follow Ice Hockey, which I did as a kid, and have only come back to recently. It’s a sport that is satisfyingly unfunny, completely un-ironic, and spectacularly heroic. I just got my bicycle out of storage, where it’s been for the last year. I look forward to riding it. Otherwise I’m a bit of a social parasite, in that I like to tag along with people to stuff I’m not at all interested in to see what I can learn.

SO: Go Kins! Champs! Where did you grow up? How would you spend your weekend as a 21 year old?

Neil: I grew up in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It’s awesome there. I love it still so much. When I was 21, I lived in Boston though, so my weekends usually revolved around seeing bands or putting on music shows with my friends’ bands up there. I went to Emerson College, but was anxious about making new friends, so I pretty much spent all my time across town with all these guys who went to Mass College of Art, Museum School of Fine Arts whom I either grew up with, or were newer friends of my friends. We’d drink beer and play music and make weird art projects. Those dudes had a pet squirrel for a couple weeks, and it would crawl in the pouch of your hooded sweatshirt and just chill-out while you watched TV.

SO: That’s one nutty group! Ba dump bump.. Can you tell us a little about how you got your start in comedy? Was comedy always the goal?

Neil: Comedy was always my goal, but not out of any deep need for attention, respect for the craft, or because I was some historian about stand ups. It came from a simple association between laughter and enjoyment of life- I want to have a good time all the time, and when you’re having the best time, you’re laughing. I’m kind of an analytical person, and liked to figure out “joke systems”, like how Dennis Miller runs reference-similes after set-ups and so on. My enjoyment of comedy early on came from trying to guess punchlines and twists. I fully embrace that this makes me sound like a colossal bore.

My senior year of college, I liked this girl, and she convinced me to spend my final semester in Los Angeles. I applied for an internship with Mr. Show, because Mr. Show meant a lot to me. I probably wouldn’t have had the balls, except I expected to hate everything about Los Angeles, and was going to need some powerful antidote. That show was the first time I realized that I had a “sensibility” when it came to comedy. It felt like a new form that gave you something extra if you paid close enough attention, and it referenced other stuff I was into, like underground videos, bands and older comedy. I worked with Mr. Show and Dakota Pictures until after Run Ronnie Run. Then I left show business to work at a magazine because I was caught in the middle of a lot of mess at the end of that, which kind of soured me on the whole thing. I came back when Bob offered me a job on the live tour, and was pretty sure the magazine (While You Were Sleeping) I worked for was about to go under. (It did.)

SO: Isn’t it always a girl and a show. Grin. Is there a particular movie you could call your favorite?

Neil: All time favorite? Not really. A byproduct of being involved in this for a living is I kind of have to keep changing focus in how I entertain myself. This week I’ve been thinking a lot about this 60’s British film called Peeping Tom that I fell in love with in school, and haven’t watched since. I almost called it my favorite just because it’s an itch I need to scratch. It’s cool and ahead of it’s time, where a guy goes around murdering people and filming himself doing it in those phenomenal bespoke suits of the era.

SO: Time to put that flick on the Netflix queue. Have you ever played a role in a video/film you’ve directed?

Neil: I was excited to throw in “Hitchcock cameos” early on, but since then I’ve decided that it’s tacky, and have refrained whenever possible. I do like acting though, but I stress out and obsess so much when directing that I don’t think I could handle any more responsibilities. I also love/hate yelling at the screen about how disgusting I look on camera because in my head, I’m much more attractive than the camera reports.

SO: Damn cameras! What are some bad habits that you’ve seen actors develop that you’ve had a hard time dealing with? Have you ever encountered someone who had absolutely no talent? And did you have to break it to them?

Neil: Wow, I really don’t think I’d ever be so bold as to tell anyone that they’re talentless. I’ve had hard times with performers doing ‘too much’ or being ‘too big’, which is really bad for comedy. Yet being able to go really broad and crazy with a character is an amazing skill and very necessary, but knowing how to incrementally turn down the intensity is a crucial element. Playing stuff real is so much less work, and is so much funnier in the end. It amazes me when someone can’t play a part subtly. They’ve never gotten away with lying about anything ever. Telling actors to “Just throw the line away, say it like it you don’t think anyone is listening” is my code for “you’re not doing it right, nor getting any better, and I’m running out of time.” Sorry to anyone hurt by that revelation.

When people are just technically bad, like can’t remember lines, or can’t hit marks, I empathize more than anything and try to figure out how to help. I can’t imagine that kind of pressure when you’re on take nine and insensitive crewmembers are rolling their eyes at you. I empathize mostly because by the time they’re in front of me; if I don’t get something useable, we’re both going to look stupid, and we’ll both blame me.

SO: What sage advice would you give someone who wants to get into directing?

Neil: Spend a little time working in all departments. It’s important to know and respect what everyone’s doing, because that way you know what’s possible. I’ve done everything on set besides Hair and Makeup, and sadly I think that opportunity has escaped me, because I love to softly caress people’s faces. Secondly, from my own experience, doing hands-on editing of your own shoots is invaluable, because the amount of hassle you go through in an edit to fix a really simple directing mistake is a terrifically rehabilitative punishment.

SO: Do you write a lot of what you direct? Do you enjoy writing?

Neil: I usually throw in a joke or two for whatever script I’m facing, but I have also enjoyed the more limited job of just trying to facilitate someone’s idea. I like connecting with people over jokes like some people are into cars, looking at all their parts, and trying to figure out how to supercharge them, or make their rims spin. I love writing, but don’t do it often because it’s not as collaborative and I have relied on that for motivation. I like being the guy who types. When Peter Atencio and Jonah Ray and I did the Freeloader’s Guide series, I got to do all the typing, and that show is still one of my favorite working relationships.

SO: Careful! That carpal tunnel is murder. How difficult is the transition from directing shorts to a feature length?

Neil: I went from hurried micro budget shorts, to a hurried micro budget feature. All the same stresses were there, but on the feature they were just emphasized at different volumes. Freak Dance was a full on sing-along-dance-along musical that we shot entirely in 13 days. We had crew people turn down the job because it didn’t seem possible. They said it couldn’t be done well in “two weeks” and I would remind them “I wished we had two weeks, but we only have thirteen days.” I had to be put on steroids afterward because I was so exhausted I was starting to get weird old-person viruses. We wouldn’t have even come close if it weren’t for such a great cast, Besser’s motivation, and a really awesome producer named Inman Young.

SO: Who are some of your favorite people to collaborate with?

Neil: Peter, Jonah, and Inman stand out as mentioned, but on the “it’s been my honor” side, getting to work with any of the Mr. Show guys is really rewarding. When I met them I was a very shy college kid, and now (dare I assume) they respect me and appreciate the ways in which I can help them deliver. Getting to regularly do stuff with Zach Galafianakis has been unbelievable too. In a very nuts and bolts kind of way, he’s Christ-like in that he really raises up those around them to feel better, and do better. Working with Besser on Freak Dance was great, because he hates a lot of the parts of filmmaking I love, and vice versa. He could go in and tell people to do some really graphic sexual shit that I’d be too embarrassed to ask for, and that was a huge lesson for me to remember that I was in charge on set, and actors are in charge of their lives, and I can’t “make” anyone do anything.

SO: Actors, be warned.. What video has landed you the most recognition? What’s had the most YouTube hits?

Neil: If you Google image search for me, an image of Tiffany Amber Thiessen comes up first, so that one is pretty big. Lauren Palmigiano wrote it for Funny or Die. I did an Intervention parody with Amy Heckerling that’s also pretty up there. Aziz and I did one in about three hours has a gazillion hits because we put Justin Beiber in the keywords. Work-wise, I did a video with Bob Odenkirk called “Bob Pitches a Movie”, which had a lot of show business people excited for a while. I haven’t really been “recognized” for any of them, and am still pretty surprise when anyone can name something I helped make. I have only been recognized publicly once though, for The Freeloader’s Guide. It was awesome because I was having breakfast with my friend and he was talking about how he was king of that restaurant, and all the staff loved him, and he always gets a great table – then the waiter goes nuts because he recognizes me from a five year-old web video with 1200 views.

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SO: BURN!!! I caught Freak Dance on VOD. It was hilarious! What was the greatest challenge you met directing this movie?

Neil: Schedule. See above. It almost killed me. I had been sleeping about three hours a night and had terrible stomach problems the entire time. About eight days into shooting, I snapped at our Assistant Director in front of the cast, which is a TOTAL dick move, undermining the guy who is literally there to be “the bad guy” for Besser and I, and taking all the heat from production for delays, etc. I felt terrible about it, but before the day was over I yelled at the cast for bringing their phones on set to take pictures. I’m not a yeller. I hate conflict. This is all very uncharacteristic. The next morning, at the start of day meeting, I tried to apologize to everyone publicly, but started crying. I am a crier. This is much more characteristic.

SO: Aren’t you glad that wasn’t caught on tape?! No Christian Bale moments for you! Was it difficult casting dancers and comedians?

Neil: The majority of comedian casting was done when we got approved to keep the cast from the stage show, then it was a matter of fleshing out the cameos with all our favorite UCB folk, like Amy Poehler, Andy Daly, Matt Walsh, Tim Meadows, Paul Rust, etc… Casting dancers was harder, in a way, because the people who ”didn’t get it” missed by MILES. Matt, Kathryn Burns and I had a girl come up and lap dance our whole table, which was gross and sad because that has probably got her jobs in the past. We were upset we didn’t have enough parts to feature all the people we loved. I still think about the one and only fat dude that came in to audition because he had so much soul, and could do that Re-Run stuff and had this awesome hair. In the end it was much easier for us to hire existing crews of people because they could kind of come in with routines already worked out, and the solo performers were harder to place.

SO: If only casting videos could part of DVD outtakes. Comedy gold. What’s next for Neil Mahoney? Do you have any other future movies or videos you are working on?

Neil: Freak Dance came out on iTunes and DVD and all that Tuesday, so that’s pretty exciting. Around the same time a video I directed for Chris Hardwick is going online that we got to shoot up at Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucasville. I got to meet all my favorite Droids. After that, just pitching shows, trying to get more people to let me direct their things, and losing a few pounds.

SO: Love the Nerdist and love the movie. Everyone watch it now! Thanks Neil!

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SO Note: Follow Neil @NeilMahoney, look for Freak Dance on OnDemand and iTunes!