Paget Brewster is the Best Drunk Historian
And there are a lot of wonderful people on Comedy Central’s ‘Drunk History.’
Paget Brewster, the brilliant actress behind the notoriously stoic Emily Prentiss of Criminal Minds, makes a point to come in as a historian every season of Comedy Central’s landmark show Drunk History, much to the delight of viewers and creators alike. She always embraces her duty to be truly drunk, and often spends part of the story lamenting that she needs to either throw-up or pee (“I’m not gonna throw up, but I am pretty… gonzo bonzo”). Her commitment and genuine sincerity in storytelling is also refreshing and entertaining, and probably why she’s such a fan favorite (other than the fact that she is, in fact, Paget Brewster).
Brewster’s first episode, 1x06, covered some of the highlights of Detroit, Michigan, including Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle’s feud of sorts, as well as the infamous Ralph Nader and General Motors fight. She was an expert on the Kellogg Brothers, namely the invention of Corn Flakes.
Her Season 2 work included the role of Emma Folsom in the season finale, as well as a narrator in episode 2x04, “Baltimore,” in which she recounted Allen Pinkerton’s Lincoln Assignment with such conviction that it was as if the task of protecting the president was her own.
In episode 3x11, “Inventors,” Brewster shared the story of Mary Phelps Jacob (later known as Caresse Crosby), the woman who invented the bra. Jacob got frustrated enough with corsets that she sewed a bra, patented it, and opened the Fashion For Brassiere company, before eventually selling the rights. “Here’s the thing about Mary Phelps Jacob… She never gave a shit,” Brewster explained, regarding Jacob’s ambivalent reaction to the bra taking off after she sold the idea for $1500. Phelps then opened a publishing house with her husband, named her dog Clytoris, and spent the rest of her professional days running the company and writing erotica.
The Roosevelt family centric episode of Drunk History premiered this month, and it was even better than viewers were hoping. Brewster covered the story of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (played by Busy Philipps) and the Communist Sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko (played by Mae Whitman). Brewster emphasized the fact that Pavlichenko was 25 at the time and had already killed 309 people back in her home country, spurring Brewster to add “when I was 25, I think I plucked off all my eyebrows and dressed like Prince.” This was perhaps my favorite Drunk History moment for Brewster, and that’s saying something considering she once paused the narration mid story to bring Derek Waters into her closet and have him put on her grandmother’s Halston robe. Brewster’s depiction of the two women was certainly entertaining, and her drunken recount of Pavlichenko’s Chicago speech was surprisingly poignant and accurate. However, it was the ending of the story, when she shared the pair’s reunion in Russia years after the sniper toured the U.S. with Mrs. Roosevelt, that truly put her at the top of the unofficial best drunk historians list.
Brewster’s depiction of the two women was certainly entertaining, and her drunken recount of Pavlichenko’s Chicago speech was surprisingly poignant and accurate.
Eleanor Roosevelt and Lyudmila Pavlichenko sat across the table at Pavlichenko’s small apartment, along with the American “Political Minder” meant to keep Roosevelt from talking to people, which made the entire situation uncomfortable. The two women managed to sneak away and immediately fell apart, hugging and completely ecstatic to see one another. They were both crying, and so was Brewster. It wasn’t just drunk-girl-weeping-in-the-bathroom crying; rather, she’d recounted a remarkable but often forgotten moment in history, and that was beautiful. “These two incredibly powerful, smart women saved millions of lives by engendering the American public into joining the war effort,” Brewster sobbed. “And it was such an important part of history, but it’s just two women happy to see each other…”
