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IAmA CollegeHumor Web Series. We are Jake and Amir. Ask Us Anything
We hope we're doing this right... Any mistakes we are making are purely accidental. We will answer anything. Except for questions about "Rampart."
Our videos can be found here: www.jakeandamir.com
VERIFICATION: http://www.jakeandamir.com/post/17236038361/we-are-doing-an-iama-chat-over-at-reddit-com#disqus_thread
Amir: ImAmirBlumenfeld Jake: JakeHurwitz85
Forthewolfx1427 karma
I am curious, do the cameras give anything away? Are there any reasons they are there? Also Amir, how did you get on Louie?
ALSO: Big fan, If you couldn't tell from the name. You guys rock!
EDIT: Jake and Amir questions. How hard was it to shoot sneaky? And who wrote the amir rap with the flinstone vitamins?
ImAmirBlumenfeld45 karma
Hey hey! I never saw the cameras in the basketball prank. I didn't think anything of my friend Neil shooting stuff. In the audition tape one I filmed the thing myself. And in the human giant prank... i just figured they were shooting a sketch.
I got Louie just by auditioning... I guess I came across as a "Young Nervous Writer." probably because I was.
ALSO: Thanks!
EDIT: It was hard shooting sneaky... we tried it 5 times in a row and chose the funniest one. Here's a rare picture of the production of it: http://18.media.tumblr.com/BtoOI10C5m10rfxmvfTnwatIo1_400.jpg
And I believe Jake wrote the flintstone vitamin rap. Though maybe we wrote it together.
Arkadii453 karma
Sarah moved on to SNL recently. Do you guys ever consider careers outside collegehumor? If so, what? How long to you see yourselves doing this?
aywwts4142 karma
Aw, Sarah is gone? I was sort of hoping the entire staff of college humor would grow old and die with me and make me feel forever young as some sort of stagnant shoal on the turbid seas of my perpetually fading youth...
ImAmirBlumenfeld307 karma
Hahah, she still comes back occasionally to shoot stuff, but odds are we're not all going to stay at CollegeHumor forever. I hope we all go on to bigger and better things and one day people look back at old CH videos and think "wow, all these people became successfulll... Except whos that tall nerdy guy Pat? I heard he killed himself."
JakeHurwitz85546 karma
First dinner tonight question! That means we go out with you. You're paying though.
ffunyman415 karma
Oh man. I have so many questions! I'll try to tone down my fanboyism and just ask a few.
What inspired you guys to do an AMA? Have you ever used reddit before?
How far in advance do you finish the videos before you post them?
Favourite movies? Favourite actors/actresses?
And lastly, I've always wanted to visit New York and it's been a desire of mine to get some form of tour of the college humor office and dork out and take photos with all you guys. How unlikely of a possibility is this? Would it be weird?
You guys rock so much!
You gotta learn to be ffunyman
ImAmirBlumenfeld35 karma
My girlfriend suggested it when she saw that Tim and Eric did one. I've looked at Reddit but never posted...
we shoot 8 videos in a couple days so some are shot the day before they're posted and some take 4 weeks.
Favorite movies: American Psycho, A Few Good Men, White Men Can't Jump
Favorite Actors: The actors in my favorite movies.
We can't really give tours of the office because it would disrupt the people who actually work here... but if you run into us, say hello! I've never said no to a picture...
JakeSteam366 karma
Amir, have you ever seen Jake naked?
Jake, have you ever seen Amir not-naked?
JakeHurwitz85697 karma
You've seen my dick. Remember when we went skinny dipping in Florida?
ImAmirBlumenfeld347 karma
Does anybody know what this means: "Ask the OPs to provide proof, and upvote those who do!"
Also, is there anything we're doing wrong? This is our first reddit IAmA!
[deleted]230 karma
Just provide proof it's you. The Jake and Amir facebook update about the AMA should do, so you're all set.
swedishmousehafia277 karma
How long were you guys working in comedy before you got involved with College Humor?
ImAmirBlumenfeld504 karma
I got involved with CollegeHumor when I was 19. The only job I had before that as working as a tutor.
JakeHurwitz85478 karma
I wasn't at all. I went from working in an ice cream store to being an intern at CH.
ImAmirBlumenfeld907 karma
Jake. Unless you're talking about Chess boxing. THen it's also Jake.
Skyrekon227 karma
Amir: What is Jake really like around the office? Jake: What is Amir really like around the office?
ImAmirBlumenfeld22 karma
Jake is a cool dude with a cool attitude that gets along with everybody. JUST like his character.
CatholicGuy218 karma
No question. But the 8 part girlfriend series was really, really good. I love you guys.
lemonyellowblack193 karma
Do your off-screen personalities reflect the personalities characters in Jake and Amir or are they just characters?
What are you favorite foods?
Also, you guys are awesome! Keep it up.
JakeHurwitz85405 karma
I think both of us aren't entirely accurately represented in the series. Amir is loud, and goofy and very funny. But he's not quite as dumb as his character.
Also, my character tries to be mature and rational (most of the time) while in real life I'm neither of those things.
steedamustang05167 karma
I asked this on /r/JakeAndAmir awhile ago, no one knew.. what is the deal with shouting "Henry" at random times? It's hilarious and I love it but might there be some reason for it?
huge fan, favorite episode is Celebration followed closely by Shaving. keep up the good work!!!
gduffs153 karma
Why is Jake so negative in all of the new Jake and Amirs? I loved it when he was more light! bring back happy jake!!!!
[deleted]147 karma
How do you guys come up with the ideas for your videos? Are there ever any times where you improvise?
JakeHurwitz85362 karma
We just slip in and out of character all day, and when something makes us laugh we try to write it down. That and sometimes Amir will text me, or I'll text him with a random idea we had out of the blue.
We always improvise when we shoot, but we usually know where the script is going. There's a beginning, middle and end before we start shooting, (most of the time.)
I_CONQUER_VAGINA132 karma
Was working with Ben Schwartz as awesome as I imagine it? Love the videos, keep up the superb work.
JakeHurwitz85225 karma
It was, he's an amazing improviser and a good human being.
EDIT: I also want to mention that Ben co-writes all of the videos we do with him.
allothersnsused126 karma
Amir, be honest. How many of those pranks with Streeter were real? I always was suspicious of the fake-proposal one, but the half-court shot one at the Maryland game has to be one of my favorites of all time. Don't take this away from me...
JezusGhoti111 karma
I've been a fan since the very beginning. I still think the best episode you guys made, and the one that humanizes the Amir character the most, is Amir's Birthday. What episode do you consider to be your best?
ImAmirBlumenfeld160 karma
We have a section on jake and amir which is our best videos... But im not sure which one is the BEST OF THE BEST.
SwissArmyCheese108 karma
How did you get the toy soldier up Amir's nose!?
Or at least the amount of tissue that was up there.
Edit: Thanks for the reply guys!
ImAmirBlumenfeld190 karma
I stuffed tissue in my nose and pulled it out gradually... The toy soldier was trick editing.
JakeHurwitz85162 karma
We just cut away and reloaded his nose every time he ran out of tissue.
bunsmagee107 karma
What color is your underwear? (Extra points if you can answer for each other)
Broojo02103 karma
Are you best friends in real life or just friends? (Or not friends but I seriously doubt that).
JabasMyBitch91 karma
Has there been any talk about getting a jake and amir tv show? i think it would be great!
JakeHurwitz85223 karma
Amir doesn't like them! Sorry bro. Had to out you. We thought it would be a funny character trait if Amir's character was obsessed with junk food from McDonald's. And then when we went to stock up for a video Amir said nuggets were the only things he could stomach.
igsky83 karma
Been a fan of you guys for about 3 years now!
You guys have been doing this for such a long time and developed your characters to quite an extent. Do you feel that because of this, brainstorming episode ideas have become naturally easier? (e.g think of certain lines you just know instantly that it's something either of you in character would say)
ImAmirBlumenfeld124 karma
Good question! It's easier to write lines but harder to come up with premises... It's like The Simpsons. Where can they possibly go that they've never been? Sometimes we feel that way writing for Amir. What can he do that he hasn't done yet?
monolithburger82 karma
I once met you Amir in a bar in New York.
My buddy's like: "dude, that's the guy from College Humor" and I said "Yea, I bet he knows nothing about NASA", so I went over to you guys and we had like a 20 minutes conversation about the NASA program.
So yeah, Hi Amir. It's me the NASA guy from 3 years ago.
b991878 karma
What episode was the hardest to keep a straight face while filming? Also, who came up with #124 Cockmeat Sandwich Panini style with chips and a free soda. I mean it better be free, I'm eating cockmeat after all.
JakeHurwitz85112 karma
They're all hard. I can't remember now, but maybe it was the Fired DVD commercial, that was one time when I thought we may have to scrap a joke because I can't get through it.
The cockmeat thing was an alley-oop. Most of our jokes are. I think I said cockmeat panini? But Amir added it better be free, I'm eating cock meat. I think. Maybe it's the other way around.
xander1568 karma
do you guys still have fun shooting the episodes, or has it become more of a job?
JakeHurwitz85150 karma
It's the most fun I have. It's exhausting to shoot 4 in a row sometimes, but it's the hardest I laugh ever, so I know it's worth it.
JakeHurwitz85181 karma
We used to run together. We kind of can't do anything together without slipping into Jake and Amir characters though, so in a way, everything we do is CollegeHumor related.
[deleted]64 karma
What is the origin story for Jake and Amir?
It seems like the series is much more personal to you guys than a lot of the other stuff you produce for College Humor.
JakeHurwitz85150 karma
It's super personal to me. But I don't know how anyone else at CH feels about it. We started Jake and Amir by just shooting dumb videos of each other at our desks with cheap digital cameras.
Now we still get to shoot stupid videos, but with way more expensive equipment.
scottykn0ws63 karma
I hope you guys keep doing Jake and Amir forever, but do you have any projects you would like to develop beyond this?
JakeHurwitz85118 karma
We have aspirations to write for TV and movies, but we also love Jake and Amir and aren't planning on stopping it any time soon.
cheesydood61 karma
What's the longest "one take Jake" has spent on a single scene? What was so difficult about it?
JakeHurwitz85112 karma
There have been plenty 20 minute shots that should have taken 2 minutes. No specific one stands out, but pretty much every quick cut episode has one.
jumpstart0258 karma
What was your guys' long term goal when setting out with the series, and what are they now after so much success?
ImAmirBlumenfeld144 karma
Our long term goal was to make as many people laugh as possible. So far so good. There's still billions of people to go though!
SI5257 karma
Amir, any chance there will be more Hebrew in the near future? Maybe for Passover?
ImAmirBlumenfeld337 karma
Ribs. Or sweet potato fries.
OR CHICKEN NUGGZZZZZ FROM THE DEEEEZZZZZZ
ololitschris51 karma
Who wrote the majority of the "Aardvark rap"? And how did you come up with Ace and Jocelyn?
lovelychica1649 karma
Are you guys going to be doing more of these Q&A things on here in the near future? I really like it!
ImAmirBlumenfeld126 karma
We liked it too! Maybe so. I dunno how Reddit treats multiple IAmA's from the same author...
lucxsmith41 karma
Are you guys planning another long episode like "Fired!'? Episode was worth the money btw!
ImAmirBlumenfeld71 karma
Thank you! We'd love to make another 30 minute special. That was our most fun thing to shoot.
egotrip40 karma
How much of the videos are actually one-time improv moments that you catch on film?
ImAmirBlumenfeld76 karma
usually 1-2 bits per video are one time improv moments that made us laugh during editing.
JakeHurwitz8589 karma
Rick Fox and Ben Schwartz are two of my favorite humans, let alone guests on the show.
Hoodie Allen has been in some of my favorite episodes as well.
ImAmirBlumenfeld82 karma
We love all our guests. How can we choose between Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, Allison Williams, Rick Fox... whos your favorite?
shank102031 karma
Hey guys, huge fan. I watched Fired, so I know a couple of you guys' favorite videos, but I was wondering what is your ALL TIME favorite video and why?
JakeHurwitz8569 karma
I blank every time I am asked this question. I love Prom though, I think I just like seeing Amir in a tux.
Also, the first 12 seconds to Mime still make me laugh.
JakeHurwitz8566 karma
Not terribly often, but when it happens it's always really fun and exciting. Neither of us would ever be a dick to a fan, so come say hey if you see us!
starboardhippo18 karma
I saw an interview where Jake said he was living in LA now trying more acting. Jake and Amir is still obviously filmed in New York. How do you guys film the episodes now? Jake, do you just do Jake and Amir now and have stopped your other collegehumor duties?
JakeHurwitz8533 karma
Pretty much. I fly back to New York for a few days every month to shoot Jake and Amir videos. In LA I spend most of my time on video chat with Amir, working on writing 8-9 videos at a time.
ImAmirBlumenfeld884 karma
Jake got locked out for commenting too much. Anybody know how to prevent that?
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