Sara Schaefer, 6/17: Most Romantic Comedy Show Ever

I’ve been a fan of Sara Schaefer’s show Sara Schaefer (Is Obsessed With You) since the first one I attended, and one of the things I love the most about it is Sara’s unabashed enthusiasm - for her show, her audience, herself and life. She’s honest about her ambitions and her fandom, and Friday’s show showcased her adoration front and center with guests Lisa Loeb and Sara’s fiancee, novelist Chris Genoa. The writing was really sharp, and the highlights were a little play on Lisa’s cat eye glasses (Sara was wearing similar glasses and this guy busts in and is like “I want you to play Limelight, etc.,” mistaking her for Lisa), Lisa’s music, and her interview with Chris. I think the best moments in general on her show are usually the Law & Order guest because you get this sense that they are going into totally unrehearsed territory and there can be a tiny bit of tension between Sara and her guest and it’s funny because you can tell they’re both tumbling into an area blindly and don’t know how it will end. Anyway, Sara showed a clip and talked about being on VH1's Best Week Ever and poked fun at her own grandiose plans, while also tying it all together at the end. It’s a little hard to explain but there’s just a real sense of fun to the show, and even though Sara’s name is in the title and she is the host, the other cast members, especially Amanda Melson and Kara Lee Burke, really round out the show and make the office segments and playfulness come full circle. They had this thing where there was “future Dan” and “future Sara” and they just manage to poke fun at very common insecurities and frustrations. My favorite thing about the show is that it lacks pretension; Sara just throws herself wholeheartedly into her role, but is also able to adlib and show genuine emotion. The interplay between her and Chris was not only totally adorable but really funny; with her teasing him about his literary dramatics. Underneath all the humor on that show is something very good-natured and honest. I’m gonna end this here because it’s hard to explain it any further. I hope that the tape of the show winds up in some very powerful hands and makes the show really take off. Thanks to Erik from Juvie Hall for getting me in too.