“I’m going to compare ourselves to some greats now, so please forgive me – Burns and Allen. We know who we are and we know how to set each other up.”
Jane Lynch arrived to the 116th dinner interview at Hugo’s Restaurant in West Hollywood ready to fix the blinds, quiz me about my life, and wait patiently for her lunch partner Kate Flannery to show up. She eventually did, approximately 15 minutes late and apologizing profusely, exactly as Jane had predicted.
Then the two world-famous comic actresses shared plenty for the next two hours.
They talked about how their friendship that began in Chicago’s improv scene in the late 1980s evolved into one of the most joyful double acts in American cabaret, built on total trust, complementary instincts, and a shared love of the music their parents grew up with. Jane the persnickety one who builds a cage around the show, Kate the spontaneous one who rattles the bars – and both of them completely fine with that.
They also sang a Catholic school hymn about eating the body of Christ at the table, which I wasn’t expecting, but you can click to hear within the interview.