Episode 4: Paul Feig

"Episode 4: Paul Feig" is the fourth episode of the Ronna & Beverly podcast. Hosted by Ronna Glickman and Beverly Ginsberg, the guest is Paul Feig. He is frequently referred to in other episodes of the podcast.

## Intro Song

Beverly sings an opening song to the tune of "America the Beautiful" with the lyrics "America, America, God shed his grace on me and you and you and you." Ronna and Beverly discuss other patriotic songs. Beverly does not refer to the podcast explicitly in her song, which she will go on to do in later episodes, almost always incorporating the word "podcast" into her intro songs.

## Animated Inanimate Object

Beverly reveals that if Paul Feig were an animated inanimate object, he would be a flute, a regular flute with feet and little hands with white gloves on them. It has little eyeballs with floating eyebrows.

## Ronna & Beverly's World

The ladies begin the podcast by discussing the 4th of July. They were the guests of Carroll and Carol Vinick. They went on a power boat (about 20 feet long, despite Beverly's guess that it is 400 feet) that the Vinicks keep docked in Marblehead Marina. They are members of the Corinthian Yacht Club. They talk about the food, the fireworks, and Beverly mentions that she got very tipsy. Ronna says she took her gorgeous Loro Piana wrap with her, which was cream colored, and she was cautious about wearing it. Beverly was wearing a tank top with a cat on it holding a towel that said Happy 4th of July. Ronna had warned her it would be cold. Beverly got a sunburn on the boat, because she used the same tube of Bain De Soleil Gelee that she has had since 1984. She was weeping later because she was so cold. Beverly describes that Ronna lent her her pashmina. (It's not a pashmina, Ronna interjects, it's a cashmere wrap.) She wrapped it around her shoulders. When the fireworks started, she got excited, and she jumped and down, forgot she was wearing the pashmina, and it flew off her and away, into the water. Ronna says that her $748 Loro Piana wrap that she had purchased at Neimans not a week before ended up in the Marblehead Harbor.

When it first flew off, Beverly reports, she thought it was a ghost. When Ronna asks why didn't she grab it, Beverly replies that you don't grab a ghoul. (It's transparent, your arm would go right through it.) Ronna says luckily it's still in stores, and Beverly says she replaced Ronna's pashmina (Ronna tells her to stop calling it that), and Beverly starts digging through her purse to retrieve it. When she gives it to Ronna, Ronna asks why it's not in a Neimans' bag. Why is it in a clear plastic bag? Beverly tells Ronna that she overpaid. Ronna says this replacement isn't even cashmere, it's a silk blend of some kind. Beverly said she was going to replace the pashmina, and outside Copley Plaza, there was a Persian, Arab, or Farsi man (Ronna points out that Farsi is a language) who was selling pashminas at 3 for $10. Ronna said that on the night she lost it, Beverly said she felt terrible and would replace it and didn't care about the cost. Ronna says she'll call Neimans and put the Loro Piana on hold. Beverly says that Ronna will owe her $3.50 for this replacement wrap if they don't take it back.

They then move to the interview with Paul Feig. They tell him they saw the movie Bridesmaids. They went with the ladies from Shirat Hayam -- Barbara Eschelbach, Barbara Sidman, Barbara Leventhal, and Judy Perlow. Ronna doesn't describe herself as friend of Judy's but she's part of the sisterhood at Shirat Hayam so what are you going to do? She didn't sit next to her. Judy carries a rolling bag everywhere she goes. They all liked the movie except for Beverly who thought it was too dirty and who goes on to criticize it several more times during the conversation.

They discuss Paul Feig's filmmaking, and Ronna points out that Jordan is top of his class at NYU. Jordan's at Tisch. Rachelle is at Arizona State University, Beverly and Ronna explain (Beverly first calls it University of Arizona). Rachelle doesn't know what her major is going to be. Beverly suggests that maybe Paul Feig could use her in his movies as an extra, like in a bikini scene, because she's beautiful, natural.

When the conversation moves to the fact that Paul Feig is an only child, Ronna says that for some, that can mean poor socialization. Jordan is an only child, and he's terrific. Beverly says he's a goth. Ronna replies saying he's very artistic. He wears a little eyeliner, he's wearing a waistcoat, he's not wearing a waistcoat, he's wearing sneakers, he's wearing some sort of a European sneaker with a Velcro. He likes to shop. While Ronna is describing this, Beverly is muttering softly about how Jordan has dark eyes, looks like a heroin addict, black, jet black. It's hard to make out what she's saying.

When Lainie comes up in the conversation later, Paul Feig asks Beverly whether she wants Lainie to be in a bikini, like Rachelle. Beverly replies that Lainie is so unattractive right now. She's really at her worst. Beverly describes it as heartbreaking for a woman like her who's looking at her daughters and wishing them to be beautiful. She has so few wishes in life. Ronna asks what are the others. She replies that she would like to go on a romantic vacation to Euro Disney. And she would like to be not just in the audience but called up on stage on The Price is Right and win both showcases, with Bob Barker as the host. When they point out that he isn't the host any longer and Drew Carey is, Beverly says it was an old wish. She hasn't thought about her wishes in a long time. She's been focused on other people. She gives a lot of her soul and her life to other people. She decides her wish is to never get breast cancer. Ronna and Beverly engage in a brief discussion about whether the wish for her daughters to be beautiful is a wish for her or for them. Beverly says she wishes for them that they be beautiful for her.

Later on in the conversation, when Beverly says she's too busy to be in a book club, Feig asks her what she does. She says she's busy. She goes to Trader Joes in the morning. She has to check her email. That can take a long time. She has to take out Rachelle's dog for a walk. Then she has to watch Private Practice. She watches a lot of TV.

Beverly reveals that years ago, after the Fonz but before anything else, Henry Winkler groped her in a public place. She doesn't think he knew it. His hand was open. She backed up against it. He didn't pull it away. This happened at Copley Plaza.

When Feig asks whether a lot of celebrities come through Boston, Ronna replies that all they're doing is making movies in Boston lately. In Marblehead, last summer, they made that dumb movie together, she says. "Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and that fat one who I can't stand. That fat one who they keep saying 'He's funny. Give him another thing. Give him another thing.'" Paul Feig says, "Oh, Kevin James?" Ronna continues, "Who cares? Who cares? Who cares about Kevin James? Are you kidding me?" Feig says people love him. Ronna disagrees. "They keep putting him in things, and I'll tell you something underneath all of that, I can tell with him, you see a look in the eye, he has a very negative demeanor and I wonder to myself how he treats women. I have very big questions about Kevin James. He's very angry. He's not a jolly fat person which is what people want to see. No one wants to see an angry fat person."

Beverly then reveals that she has a secret power of looking at a man and seeing what animated inanimate object he would be. (See above.) She then tells him she has synesthesia. Feig says someone sent him a script about synesthesia, and Beverly gets very excited. Ronna says she thought it was made up. It's not made up, Beverly explains. "Do you see words flying out of my mouth?" Feig asks. Beverly replies, "I'm not insane." She tells them that if she's looking at the New York Times that are stacked up nearby, she sees the "New" in New York Times. Now she knows it's black ink on white paper. But the N is orange, the E is yellow, and W is blue, wavy blue. There's no meaning to colors, but they are the same each time.

Ronna asks when Paul Feig will be shooting next, because Jordan needs three-month lead time to work on the film. When Feig asks whether Ronna sees him being a P.A., she says he'll be Feig's personal assistant on set. Feig says he already has one.

Near the end of the interview, similar to the last couple of interviews, there seems to be a point where Beverly turns hostile. She starts yelling at Feig to do something with his life. When Feig asks for her favorite movie in the last year and a half, Beverly answers Dreamgirls (which was longer ago than that). She said she doesn't really go to the movies. She did take Shira and the triplets to see a movie. Ronna mentions she really enjoyed Fantastic Mr. Fox. The interview wraps up.

When it returns to Ronna and Beverly alone, Beverly is eating something. She explains that she got ice cream out of Ronna's freezer because she's nervous because Ronna doesn't understand that Beverly was doing something nice for her because she lost something of hers. Ronna is astonished that Beverly would consider buying a pashmina off the street as doing something nice for her. Beverly explains that she views everything in life as a learning experience, a teachable moment, the world is always teaching her. She explaisn that she was trying to help the world teach Ronna to not pay that kind of money for something like this. She's helping the world teach Ronna that she pays too much. It's an outrage. "Next time, shop smart!" she insists. She says she's happy to replace the Loro Piana wrap. It's not about the money.

In a brief discussion about the vast assortment of ice cream in Ronna's freezer, Ronna mentions that Jordan loves cookie dough and rocky road.

At the end of the episode, they thank their producer and schlep Michael Constantini and the two poor musicians who wrote the theme song Noah Lebenzon and John Ross Bowie. They explain that as part of their book tour, they can be seen in Los Angeles once a month at the Upright Citizens Brigade.