Take a bow, Paula Pell. Better yet, make it a pratfall. The 57-year-old Illinois native, previously celebrated as a key writer for "Saturday Night Live," has suddenly emerged as one of TV's most adept physical comics.
In "A.P. Bio," which returns Thursday for its third season, her character manages to get her pantyhose snagged on anything with a sharp point. In "Mapleworth Murders," streaming on Quibi, she comes across as a hybrid of Jessica Fletcher and Inspector Clouseau, literally stumbling her way into crime scenes.
"I was such a ham when I was a little," Pell said recently by phone, sharing how she used fake passing out to get a laugh from family members and friends. "Everything was shtick. There was an old vaudeville comedian inside the body of this chunky girl."
Pell thought her years of training at Orlando's Seminole Community College, followed by a stint with the Florida-based improv troupe SAK Comedy Lab, gave her a good shot of getting cast as a "Saturday Night Live" regular. Instead, producer Lorne Michaels hired her in 1995 as a writer.
For the next 33 years, she would dedicate herself to making others shine, particularly Kristen Wiig. Her famous creations include the Spartan Cheerleaders, Justin Timberlake's Omeletteville mascot and Debbie Downer, the Rachel Dratch character that would have thrived in these pandemic times.
"She was based on a lot of people I know that love giving bad news," Pell said. "They're not malicious. They just love being the first one to tell you that somebody died."
Despite rising behind the scenes, eventually earning the title of co-head writer, Pell resisted wedging herself into the sketches.
"You have to take care of your actors. They don't want people scheming about how they can get on-screen," she said. "I totally got that, but I was extreme about it. I kind of hid my performing side."
