We are Emily Axford and Brian Murphy from CollegeHumor, Adam Ruins Everything, and a new sketch comedy show called Hot Date airing Wednesdays at 8 on Pop TV. Ask us anything!

My favorite thing the two of you have ever done is the series "My Elf Girlfriend." I still go back and watch those every so often - sooo hilarious! My question is, why did you make so few of those, and would you ever consider making more?

We would LOVE to make more. "My Elf Girlfriend" came out around a time that CH was pivoting away from doing series, so we only got to make a few before they stopped greenlighting new ones. But now that CH is doing series again, we've talked about doing more episodes. We've been playing a lot of D&D so we'd be PUMPED to get back in that elf tree.

Who's the hotter CH couple Murph and Emily or Jake and Amir?

it's a coin flip.

Hi Em and Murph! Congrats on the AMA! Can you walk us through a typical day while shooting Hot Date? You must have been busy.

We did mostly overnight shoots, so on a non-busy day we would sleep til noon, show up on set at 2 and then it would be a flurry of wigs, memorizing scripts, and shooting until about 4AM. On a busy day, we would also have to write to meet our deadlines for the later episodes, so we were doing all that plus waking up early to write and writing during our meal breaks

How many of the old CollegeHumor folk do you keep up with? Do you still write with them or is it more of a friendship/business relationship than a comic one?

We work with Adam on ARE and Sam's the head of CH, so we hang out with those guys a lot. We see Jake & Amir from time to time, but they're obviously very busy. I consider the early CH cast to be lifelong friends but we don't get to see each other a lot. Dan Gurewitch is a very good friend and very good at keeping in touch.

For each of you, What’s your favorite swear word?

love calling someone a shitbird

And finally, if heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

"what up shitbird?"

Mario or Sonic?

Luigi

I thought you hated luigi after lavagate.

It wasn't Luigi's fault!!!

Brian- how did you first ask Emily out?

Emily made the first move on the dance floor w/ some bumpin and grindin

What's a good sketch structure? How do you properly end one, and how do you hate to see one ended?

A sketch can be too predictable if you follow the rules to a T, but will be too unfocused if you throw them out all together. Anyone teaching sketch comedy will show you how to find the "game" of a sketch and how to heighten it, but in addition to that, you have to make your dialogue funny and find ways to surprise people. Giving your "straight man" funny lines is a good way to set your sketch apart from the standard, since most people will just have them there to call out weird things. I personally like to beginning a sketch with something dumb and conversational that never comes back, and end it with a really strong line or heightened emotion (aka me screaming).

also barfing is always funny

What's your writing process like?

We outline together, then I spend 15 manic hours painstakingly writing my half while Emily painlessly writes 4 versions of her half. Then we edit together.

What’s was your favorite sketch to film for college humor?

Bonus: Was there ever a scene so hilarious that you couldn’t get through it without laughing?

There is a scene in the show where we're arguing about who should have picked up condoms and Emily ad-libbed "I'M NOT THE ONE WITH THE DAMN WIENER!" She then incorporated it into every scene going forward to get me to break.

What a hot date ?

is hot

Who is the greatest sketch comic ever? Who is the Richard Pryor/Wayne Gretzky undisputed champ of the format?

Jack Handey & Tina Fey are my favorite writers. Performance-wise? Eddie Murphy almost single-handedly kept SNL afloat in the 80's and doesn't get enough credit for that. Of the past couple decades, Amy Poehler is the performer who sticks out to me as being all around the best.

What is your favorite food?

deep dish pizza, heavier on cheese than sauce

Critters or bots?

CRITTERS

Loving the show, thrumming for the podcast.

Would you accept a naked brownie for the secrets to all of Bill McCay’s books?

(All my friends are horrified at browniegate. Horrified. Maybe it’s a British thing?)

I would eat the driest brownie on Bahamut's green earth to learn the secret of McCay's puzzles.

What is a sketch you made you are particularly proud of, and why?

Furry Force is one of my favorites and I thought it was really cool that the furry community embraced it

Hi Murph and Emily! I've been watching CollegeHumor since 2010 and you two have always been a highlight for me, but I'm completely unprepared for this AMA..

What's a topic that you want to see on Adam Ruins Everything?

PS We need a follow up to Hardcore Casual Gaming Rap.

Thank you for the kind words! I hesitate to recommend an Adam segment, since I wouldn't be surprised if he'd already covered it in some way that I'm forgetting. I'd love to see him talk about music streaming services and how they screw over bands.

Ever set out to consciously make a viral video? How did that go for you?

Early in my CH career, absolutely. Before game streaming and a lot of the current video game comedy stuff, there wasn't much humor targeted at gamers. There was a brief period of time when you could do a sketch about video games and it would reach #1 on Digg regardless of how good it was. There was definitely some viral video math going on when pitching some of those early videos.

Which of the Hot Date sketches would you say was the most autobiographical?

Definitely the "Adult Disney Fan" one. I went there all the time as a kid so I've got a soft spot for it, plus I get motion sickness now on bigger rides so it's the only place I can really ride rollercoasters. Emily thinks it's weird but she's a filthy space mountain casual

What's your favorite college humor prank war prank?

Half court shot!

Congrats on all the recent success! With Hot Date blowing up as much as it has, do you fear you won’t have enough time for smaller passion projects like 8 Bit Book Club?

I see you 8 bit book bud. We've found ways to make 8BBC work better for our schedule, mostly by splitting big books into 3 parts instead of 2 and doing more live readings. By the Light of Bahamut, we shall keep doing it.

You are both so talented and good looking. What's stopping you from being the next hollywood A-list couple?

I eat at 7-11 too much

How long does it take for you to shit, shower & shave?

5 seconds flat

Hi Emily and Murph! Hot Date has been great, and I think about the pregnancy test video constantly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9pv2L0Taf4) and NOT just because I work at CH.

Anyways, what are your thoughts on My Hero Academia?

I haven't seen My Hero Academia!!!

Can you each give us the full description of your most favorite D&D character you've created?

I made the mistake of learning how to DM, so now I never get to play a character again. I do play in one campaign as a Dwarf paladin who had to give up his heart to serve his god, so now he's depressed but he doesn't need to sleep at night so he's got that going for him.

I wanted to ask if you see Adam, could you let him know I said hi? Also what are your favorite colors?

I do not see Adam at the moment but I will tell him you said hi. My favorite color is red.

some of my favorite videos were the extreme challenges between murphy and kevin, what one was the most fun to do/watch?

The Twilight Trivia challenge was really fun for me, since I won and Kevin had to wear a dog shock collar. We messed around with it so much that we both became used to the pain of being shocked and it became our default for live shows.

thank you for the reply! long time fan, wish you lots of success in the future!

Thank YOU

Is a hotdog a sandwich?

yes

What were your thoughts on parallel thinking accusations leveled against Amy Schumer? Did you see similarities with her sketch and the College Humor one in particular?

I'm not sure of the sketches in question, but I usually give people the benefit of the doubt.

I love Adam Ruins Everything. What was your favorite episode to write?

We actually don't write on the show, but my favorite episode to be a part of was probably the pregnancy episode. There is a lot of scaremongering around pregnancy and I thought it did a good job debunking some dangerous myths.

How did you start working for CollegeHumor? Also, how’s your day going?

I worked on a humor magazine in college with former staff writer Kevin Corrigan, who helped me get a job as an assistant when I graduated back in 2008. My day is good! Currently in my parents' basement on Reddit, as Thanksgiving is meant to be enjoyed

So glad you guys are doing an AMA! I'm a huge fan!!

How do you handle critiquing each others work? Has there ever been a sketch or a joke that one of you was really proud of that the other just totally shot down?

If we like an idea, we'll be like "great idea!" and if we don't, we'll be like "Hm. Interesting." We really only pursue ideas that we're both 100% on board with, which leads to a better product in the end. The only downside is when you spend all day brainstorming something and are met with a "Hm. Interesting." I can't think of a particular joke that got shut down. If I can't convince Emily to go along with one of my "brilliant" ideas, it probably wasn't that brilliant to begin with and I ultimately end up forgetting it.

Not a question, just wanted to say that Emily was always my favorite on CollegeHumor, and I really appreciate the consistent comedy that you guys put out. Do you have your own YouTube channel? I definitely think there would be some online fanbase for you guys to do vlogs, sketches, even just miscellaneous stuff like reviews and opinion pieces.

Thank you for the kind words! We don't currently keep up a YouTube channel, but we've got our podcast 8 Bit Book Club that we do every week with Caldwell Tanner. We're gonna be in some new CH projects coming up too.

Emily, are you continuing the Unflattering Murph contest? Murph, how do you feel about the Unflattering Murph contest?

I like the Unflattering Murph contest and feel like I could win it. There was a scene last week where I had a lazy nipple and nobody submitted.

How in the world did you guys decide to commit yourselves to the entertainment world?

Always wanted to write comedy and my first job out of college was an assistant at CollegeHumor. Luckily, I got to come up with the company and learn as they were moving into TV. I would never have the guts to just move out to LA and wing it.

Of all the CollegeHumor sketches you have written, which one are each of you most proud of? Also can we expect any more past and present CollegeHumor cast members to appear in future episodes of Hot Date?

Really loved the Jake & Amir Double Date series that we wrote with them and Furry Force, which I wrote with Adam Conover. As for the TV series, we shot in Chicago, so unfortunately, there aren't too many CH cameos. Siobhan shows up later in the season though!

What makes for a funny, durable comedic character?

They should be exaggerated but based on truth. The ideal response is for the audience to be like, "I've met that person!"

What are your favorite movies to binge on during the Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hannukah/Candlenights season?

Emily and I watch bad, made for TV Christmas movies on Netflix since we live in LA and it's the only way we can see snow.

What was it like working with the crew behind College Humor?

They're the best!

What was the most fun you've had working with them?

All-Nighters my first few years were very fun. I usually sat at the front desk answering phones, so being there after work hours allowed me to finally hang out with everyone and participate in the videos. When Dorkly first launched, we used to all go to PAX together. Those trips were really fun! We hung out at the Harvard Lampoon castle one time and met Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Are you still working on getting sliced Brian?

hahaha I'm currently at my fattest. Whenever I'm busy with work I tend to go full tilt on all my food vices. Haven't been training jiu jitsu either so I'm pretty much a mess.

What was each of your favorite sketches? I’m a huge fan and have watched most of CH’s videos

We both loved working on the Double Date series with Jake and Amir and I'm very proud of Furry Force.

Hey guys! Love all the stuff you have been doing, I feel like I see you everywhere now and it's fantastic to see your success continue to grow!

If you were to write a DND-esque book for 8BBC starring yourselves, what character trope would you most want to be that you don't associate yourselves with already? (sorry Paladin Murph). Also, thoughts on names?

I know I can always count on you guys to make me laugh, so I can't thank you enough for that!

Emily would be a chaotic good elf, maybe a druid? She's a wild card. Caldwell is a good, amiable dude and a talented artist, so I'd go maybe halfling bard. If I can't be a paladin, I GUESS I'd be a fighter with battle master spec cuz I'm boring and like telling people what to do.

Also I would be a dwarf cuz I'm grumpy and don't like going outside.

What's your favorite burger place?

Au Cheval in Chicago! Stout in LA is a close second.

Merv, after you walked 50 miles to your parents house, did you actually have a doctor diagnose your knee as sprained at a bar?

Yes. Either that or some dude lied to me so he could touch my knee.

How do you do?

Pretty good, you?

Hey you guy's! Emily you are my favorite collegehumor employee ever and Murph your pretty alright too. You both have showed up on J&A'$ if I were you podcast as individuals but why never together? You guys have great entertainment chemistry and I think a lot of people including myself would agree it would probably be a good episode, not to mention if those coy divas were daring enough to say... NO! murph could just kick them in the back.

I'd love to double date on If I Were You, but I don't think I've seen any episodes where they've had two guests on. Maybe they'd be down for it? Tweet at those boys!

Can you please stop making "Adam Ruins Everything"? The guy is more annoying than Guy Fieri

I will pitch him "Adam Ruins Flavortown"