The Boys is pretty much known for its dark humor. The Amazon series, which can get quite gruesome and bloody, has some zingy one-liners and more than its fair share of dirty jokes. However, series creator Erik Kripke recently revealed that one of his favorite jokes in Season 2 didn’t come from the writers at all, but one of the show’s recurring actors.
The Boys’ Eric Kripke and his team of writers have a wicked sense of humor and that's never been in doubt. In Season 1, Billy Butcher even delivered the line, “I've got my phone linked to the find your shithead friends app” and another about the Spice Girls, so the well of jokes runs pretty deep. However, in Season 2’s fifth episode, it was Colby Minifie who ad-libbed the best line in Kripke’s opinion and he was very proud to give her credit when sharing behind-the-scenes stories. Here’s what he revealed about the joke on Twitter:
The single best line of the episode (maybe the season), for my money? Ashley: ‘I tindered my way through Barcelona. Everyone in that city ate MY paella.’ Which was AD-LIBBED by Colby Minifie! The writers didn't write it, she just came up with it! Genius.
For some context, the joke in question came during Ashley’s conversation with A-Train. After he refuses to say the lines written for him in a script, Ashley offers him an ultimatum. A-Train either leaves on his own or risks getting fired and facing the wrath of Vought for breaching his contract’s morality clause, which restricts him from taking Compound V. Ashley then regales him with the story of how she coped with unemployment and thus the ad-libbed line about Barcelona and Tinder was born.
I agree with Eric Kripke, it really was a great joke and Colby Minifie’s delivery of it was especially brilliant. I’m sure Ashley is pretty terrified of unemployment now that she’s stepped into Madelyn Stillwell’s old position of managing The Seven. The job is fairly volatile and she could be fired (or worse) at any possible moment. She’s also losing her hair, which is a clear sign of stress, and I don’t know how much more she can take at this point.
The Boys showrunner went on to add that his favorite joke from Season 1 was another ad-lib. It turns out that Jack Quaid’s line about playing his butt like jazz was also not written by the writers. Of course, Erik Kripke had nothing but praise for that line as well. Take a look!
Honestly, I think it’s pretty great that Eric Kripke shares these behind-the-scenes tidbits with fans. It’s always fun to learn about what goes into the making of the things we watch and I think it makes fans more appreciative of the writers, cast, crew, and the entire creative process in general.
The Boys Season 2 is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. For more on what to watch this fall, be sure to check out our 2020 TV premiere guide.
