With "Inspector Ike," A Downtown Theater Persona Takes to the Big Screen
Ikechukwu Ufomadu discusses the evolution of "Ike"
“Alright. Who did it?”
Dressed in a neat blue suit, his beard carefully trimmed, Inspector Ike strolls into an off-off-Broadway theater and poses the question to the assembled cast as though asking the time.
“You do it?” he asks, pointing to one actor. He steps over to the next: “You do it?”
Inspector Ike is a 70s-set affectionate Columbo spoof that seems destined for cult status. Graham Mason’s low-budget film bills itself as a long-lost Saturday Night Mystery Movie. Following the continued exploits of “New York’s greatest detective” Inspector Ike, it screens at Nighthawk Prospect Park March 26th and 27th.
Like Columbo, Inspector Ike is structured as a “howcatchem.” The movie opens with jealous understudy Harry Newcombe (Matt Barats) killing the star of his play Chip Conrad (John Early, of Search Party fame) in hopes of finally getting a lead role. Harry uses an excruciating piece of experimental theater for his alibi, slipping away while his girlfriend sleeps through most of the 24-hour piece. Inspector Ike is called in to crack the case.
The movie was built around actor and comedian Ikechukwu Ufomadu. For years, Ufomadu has performed various iterations of his ‘Ike’ persona in New York’s comedy and downtown theater scenes. There was Ike At Night, a live talk show riffing on Johnny Carson; Nightcap by Ike, a cabaret piece at Joe’s Pub; and during the shutdown, “A Toast to Tuesday,” in which a tuxedoed Ike celebrated our least-discussed day of the week.
I spoke to Ufomadu about his new movie, how the Ike persona has evolved over time, and how his comedy is changing post-shutdown.
The character of Inspector Ike originated with a live show in 2018. What was the format of that show? Did you immediately want to develop this persona more?
Graham [Mason, the director] had approached me with this idea of Inspector Ike. We originally wanted to pitch it as a series of shorts. There would be a murder and, in the Agatha Christie mode, it would be a whodunit, and each short would have been Inspector Ike interviewing one of the suspects.
Instead, this opportunity came to do a live show for Comedy Central. They have these “Corporate Retreats” where you get an evening at Uprights Citizens Brigade to just put up…something. So we had a series of interrogations throughout the night, and then an improvised ending where Inspector Ike decides on the spot who did it. It was a lot of fun. It felt like there was more to explore.
A producer who came to that show had connections to BRIC and Factory 25. Once the idea of a micro budget feature came about, I brought up Columbo as a possible reference point. So then, in the Columbo mode, Inspector Ike became more of a “howcatchem.” You see the murder, the audience knows who did it, and you’re just watching this cat and mouse chase. How will Inspector Ike figure it out?
You have a background in downtown theater. Did the idea of setting this movie in that world and satirizing awful experimental theater come from you?
I think that setting came from Graham? It’s funny, it’s all kind of a haze. We’d just meet for coffee and talk about ideas and things we could do. Then Graham would script out the idea, and come back, and then more dialogue and talking out ideas, just this back and forth.
It was not [my idea], at least not consciously on my part. Although you know, the subconscious is a powerful thing. So maybe something was communicated.
There is a lot of Columbo in Inspector Ike, though you bring your own unique energy to it. I had trouble deciding whether Ike was a genius, or was just stumbling upon clues. How did you approach him as a character?
He has hints of otherworldliness? Things that are maybe intended to throw the Harry character off a bit. Inspector Ike always seems kind of…is “happy go lucky” the right word?
He’s always coming in like, “Hey, how’s it going everybody!” It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to make a show of, look how smart I am. But he doesn’t downplay his smarts either. He just sort of presents himself as is. Keeps his cards close to the chest, and then, at the opportune moment, lays out what he’s got.
How does he compare to past iterations of your Ike persona? With Ike At Night for instance, you were playing off Johnny Carson, and other late night hosts of that era. There was more listening involved.
That was often cited as one of Carson’s strengths, knowing when to cede the spotlight and to just listen. Yeah, there was a lot more listening with Ike At Night.
They both come out of older entertainment archetypes. Coming from experimental theater, I became fascinated with late night TV, and wondered what it would be like to put that on stage. Who is the kind of person who wants to make people laugh, but can only do so in a suit and while sitting down at a desk? Who has to enter through a curtain, like it’s just the proper way of doing things? What is that, what does that mean?
And then Inspector Ike of course comes from Columbo, the beloved television icon who never mentions his first name. Which makes him a little magical or otherworldly. He talks about his family and his wife, but you never see them. It’s weird, but he doesn’t pretend like it’s weird on the show? It’s just the way it goes.
How about the quarantine version of Ike, who delivered the “Toast To Tuesday”? That had a very serene energy, I found it really calming.
I don’t know if I really thought about the persona so much that was being performed? Though I certainly don’t go around talking about Tuesdays. Well, actually, it depends on the conversation partner. I am fascinated by the calendar week.
Maybe it’s that the persona sort of follows the concept. If the persona is water and the project is the cup or glass, with its own particular shape, I often start with the concept first, like: “It would be fun to have a toast to Tuesday.” Just because Tuesday doesn’t seem to get much respect, as a day? It’s not the weekend, it’s not Monday, it’s not Friday. Even Wednesday is “hump day,” and Thursday is sort of the lead-in to Friday. But Tuesday is just kind of, there.
And if it was a toast to Tuesday then, it felt like I should be wearing a tuxedo, and it should be some kind of an event. It is a toast, I should be generally kind of upbeat and happy to be there.
So yeah, I think the persona follows the structure or container of the idea. I don’t know if I’ll always work that way, but, yeah.
Is that approach starting to be less interesting for you?
Coming out of the…well, are we coming out of the pandemic? I don’t know. As time progresses since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the reopening of live comedy shows, I’ve been trying to come up with more material. And I started to notice that I’m always starting with a big concept. But I've become curious about, what if I don’t have that, and instead just sort of pursue little curious thoughts I have? And then do a little more waiting to see what kind of idea might emerge down the line.
What’s ahead for Inspector Ike? It has several screenings coming up, but no streaming release as of yet.
Eventually it will go to streaming, as all things do. When that is, I don’t know. At times I was like, maybe we should just put it out there? It was filmed in 2019. But, one cool thing is that it is billed as this lost tv movie from the 70s, and so the slow rollout, and needing to be in the right place at the right time, almost adds to this experience of it as a lost TV movie. Somehow in this age where everything is immediately accessible, this has the feeling of turning on the TV finding that your favorite show happens to be on. So that makes me feel a little more patient with its slow rollout.