In our series in which interviewees talk about a film that has made an impact on their lives, US comedian and writer Sophie Zucker unpacks Josie and the Pussycats, directed by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan

I grew up watching Josie and the Pussycats at sleepovers, but the first time I really understood it was about 10 years ago with college friends. It’s a live action remake of the cartoon by Hanna-Barbera [based on the comic book by Archie Comics]. It’s high camp, but also social satire. It was a flop at the box office [when it came out in 2001], but later gained this cult following, of which I am a part. It’s a musical comedy about an all-girl rock group trying to fight consumerism and how homogeneous America had become.

At the time I didn’t know that you could make a film like that: fun and indulgent. It showed me that you can put everything you want into a project, you don’t have to define it by one genre, and that’s very much how I write. If I want to put songs in [my show], I’ll put some songs in. If I want the audience to walk away thinking “she taught me something about modern dating”, I’ll put that in. I try to use every part of my brain and Josie and the Pussycats definitely feels like a movie made by someone who was using every part of their brain.

I trained as a classical pianist when I was growing up and started writing my own songs – funny, silly songs – when I was 12. I figured out somewhere along the line that I didn’t want to do just music professionally, but being able to incorporate it into my comedy feels like I didn’t waste all that time – or my parents’ money – on piano lessons. It wasn’t until I started doing improv at college that I realised I wanted to be a comedian.

My new show, Taste, feels like a sister to [2023’s] Sophie Sucks Face. There’s a delusional main character – which is the point of view I like to write from – and a narrative element, but that’s where the similarities end. I’m a writer at The Daily Show and I’ve been writing punchline setups every day for the past two and a half years, so I wanted to use that skill to create a show that was less one-woman musical and more stand-up.

Taste is a pretty scathing takedown of this one kind of guy who’s a very hip, casual misogynist. I go in pretty hard and I don’t think there’s a light, fuzzy takeaway at the end. Fans of Josie and the Pussycats will like it. [That film] is for cool, smart girls and that’s who I want to pay attention to my comedy.

By Danielle Goldstein

Sophie Zucker: Taste runs 30 July – 24 August at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. sophiezucker.com

This article appears in the Summer 2025 issue of JR.