Dropout has an all new series for board game fans with the delightful Becca Scott leading “Parlor Room” as host. “Parlor Room” features Scott bringing together a cast of comedians to play a different board game each episode. The series captures the hilarity and chaos that Dropout is known for while also getting fans interested in different games. In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Scott explained the goal of “Parlor Room” and what sets it apart from other Dropout content.
Becca Scott:
The goal is to make people feel like they’re in the room with us to really get to have a great time with [us.] We’re not trying to gaslight anybody into figuring out what weird game we’ve tricked them into. Yeah, no, I would never Sam Reich anyone. I wouldn’t dare, who could ever be so cruel. No. We’re just here to have fun with our friends.
Reich is infamous for his long cons and tricks with “Game Changer” especially after the season seven premiere. When it was jokingly pointed out that this answer makes her seem more suspicious, Scott hilariously responded, “Unless I’m playing the long game. Because I’ve been here for all the time.”
Becca Scott Explains “I Love Everything Dropout Does”
Scott is well known for her experience with board games and creating board game content with Geek & Sundry and now her own company Good Time Society. Scott has worked with Dropout on numerous shows including “Dimension 20” and “Game Changer.” During our interview Scott shared why she pitched “Parlor Room” to Dropout and her excitement to work with the company.
Becca Scott:
I love everything Dropout does. I love them as a company. I love the moral compass of this company and the fact that they profit share. I would do anything for any of them, and I have been making board game content for over a decade. It just was the perfect fusion. I pitched this concept to them and they said, yeah, okay, let’s try it. And I said, are you for real? You’re going to let me do this. That’s crazy.
Scott’s experience crafting board game content proves a definite asset. She knows what to bring to the table to make “Parlor Room” engaging, with new games and casts each episode. Scott also has a goal for the series and how it could hopefully inspire fans.
Becca Scott:
I’m trying to remind people how much fun games can be. You don’t have to sit for three hours and learn the rules, but although those games are worth playing too, and I love those games, but it’s a really nice way to be with your friends without a screen that I think is really healthy for our brains. I mean, as much as people should watch this content and that is one a screen, but I want you to come on through the screen and just sit with us and hang out. Forget your cares and just enjoy these beautiful people in a room together.
Each episode is carefully crafted from the cast to the game that they play. Scott explained how they decided upon the main guest, who chooses the game, and the rest of the cast to play with them. The chemistry at the table is paramount when crafting an exciting episode and engaging experience.
Becca Scott:
It was a collaboration between me and the whole production team. We put a lot of love and care into deciding which episode would have which main guest and which other guest cast would perfectly fit the chemistry of that table. Who knew each other or who knew someone at the table. So we knew it would fit cohesively and everybody would feel at home there. Then choosing a game that we thought everybody would shine at or have something really funny to contribute to or just be hilarious to watch struggle in.
Parlor Room Is The Perfect Show To Reunite The Seven Cast
One episode that “Dimension 20” fans will be especially excited about is the reunion of the cast of “Dimension 20: The Seven.” The cast includes Scott, Rekha Shankar, Aabria Iyengar, Erika Ishii, Isabella Roland, and Persephone Valentine. Scott shared why she was excited to bring this cast back together to play on camera once again.
Becca Scott:
I love these people so much. It’s just an absolute delight anytime I get to be in a room with any one of them. Getting all of them in the room, the vibe is electric. We truly bonded for life on the set of “The Seven,” and the text thread still pops up every now and then. It was just so great that we could get everybody around one table at one time.
Scott teased another stand out episode that “Dimension 20” fans should look forward to that stars Iyengar, Valentine, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Jasmine Bhullar. She revealed that they play Thirsty Sword Lesbians which cultivates a “horny slumber party vibe.” These are the vibes that ingratiated many “Dimension 20” fans to “The Seven” which could bring a similar energy to both these episodes.
Becca Scott:
Truly, every single [episode] I think is a standout in its own right. I think that Dropout fans will be especially into Thirsty Sword Lesbians, which Persephone Valentine ran. We have Jasmine Bhullar and Aabria Iyengar. And of course Brennan Lee Mulligan in it with a brilliant moment that made it into the trailer, people have seen about his flaming bush. The horny slumber party vibes are strong at that one. But I had so much fun in every single one. I think Cash and Guns and Taboo were particularly bonkers.
Bringing The Game Night Vibe To Life On Screen
Capturing the essence of game night is at the heart of “Parlor Room.” Similar to how “Dimension 20” feels like an invite to the D&D table. “Parlor Room” brings that same invitation and welcome to fans when experiencing these comedians playing other board games. Scott revealed that one of the most helpful tools to this was the ability to rehearse which gave the casts a chance to immediately jump into playing the game on set.
Becca Scott:
Another thing that I learned from this process is the value of rehearsal, even for an improvised game, because we did just casual rehearsals at my house where we played through the games ahead of time. Sometimes not everybody can make it to those, but the times when we had had that practice, people come in just so ready to win this game and have their ruthless game face on. That is when the most insane moments happen.
And then there were other ones where people warm into it, which is fun to watch as well because then it’s the ramping escalation of things going off the rails. But inevitably, every single one of these games got stupid and crazy and fun, and I can’t wait for all of these episodes to come up.
One of the cornerstones of game nights are the snacks. “Parlor Room” takes inspiration from this aspect with the segment “Board D’oeuvres.” In this segment the main guest brings a unique snack for the group to try. Hilariously Jordan Myrick, who hosts “Gastronauts,” was less than impressed by the snack presented in the premiere episode.
Becca Scott:
Well, we can’t all be “Gastronauts,” but we were looking at what could elevate this to be different than other shows I’ve done, and other board game content on the internet. We thought maybe structure and segments is part of that. So we were experimenting with the snack break because what game night doesn’t have incredible snacks? These are weird funny people so we asked them for their weird, funny snacks just to see the reaction.
Some of [the episodes,] we didn’t even get to present the snack because the games were so electric. I think Board D’oeuvres was a delight, and our producer [Devi Rawal] as a wrap gift gave everyone a tiny cutting board that says Board D’oeuvres on it. So that was extra special as well. There was a lot of love between all of the crew on this show.
We talked about other segments and I was like, it doesn’t feel, it doesn’t relate to the show. So no, just Board D’oeuvres, just to kind of give us a little bit of an intermission and who knows, maybe in the future we’ll get to experiment with other things.
Parlor Room Helped Becca Scott With Good Time Society’s Blood On The Clocktower
Scott recently ran a wildly successful Kickstarter for a Blood on the Clocktower series on Good Time Society. She revealed that in the wake of this success production on the eight episode series will begin soon. “Parlor Room” actually features a Blood on the Clocktower episodes which proved to be surprisingly helpful in planning her upcoming project.
Becca Scott:
Oh, I definitely learned a lot specifically on shooting our Blood on the Clocktower episode. I really liked the way that we shot in the round from three directions. Instead of that sort of proscenium stage view, people are watching in the room with us. I feel like it really helps, as you said, when you watch D20, you feel like you’re sitting at that table, and that’s what we wanted for this.
I’m definitely going to bring that. I’m doing, on my own channel Good Times Society, an eight part series about Blood on the Clock Tower. I definitely just learned so much with getting all the resources that we had at Dropout and I know exactly what I want to do with that in the future. The way that editing can really elevate board game play through in a way that just makes it so enjoyable to watch.
Becca Scott Reveals Why Working On The Parlor Room Set Was So Rewarding
Scott also touched on the hilarious antics of the cast when playing Wavelength in the first episode as they began overthinking every answer in each round. Scott joked, “I didn’t know a pillow could be so dangerous” in reference to Myrick’s argument. She also discussed Jessica Ross’ infamous Hootie and the Blowfish round. “I have brought that example up every time I’ve played Wavelength. Hootie and the Blowfish is not a 75% good band, and I will, sorry, Hootie, but that’s not where I go to with that.”
Even before production began on “Parlor Room” Scott was excited to collaborate with Dropout. However, once production began there was an element that was surprisingly rewarding. Scott shared why it was so meaningful to work with a “predominantly non-male and fem crew” especially given her experience on other sets.
Becca Scott:
Truly, I wanted to cry at how powerful it was to get to create something so fun that didn’t ask too much of anyone and got so much more in return. We had a predominantly non-male and fem crew, all of our camera team, a producer, and it just had a really nice vibe of there’s a lot of women that work on crews in Hollywood, but we don’t often work on the same crews.
So getting to have that vibe, it was just a very comfortable, very empowering space that made me really happy to be a woman in this industry, which is not always the case on set. And so just really happy that we could foster that energy.
Scott already has ideas for other games to feature if “Parlor Room” gets a second season. “Parlor Room” is the perfect addition to Dropout’s stable of comedic content. Scott is a fantastic host bringing fun-filled casts together in a way that is not only entertaining to watch, but inspiring for fans as well. This is the perfect series to show great games for people to play together and why game night is such a blast.
The first episode of “Parlor Room” is available on Dropout now.
