A morning at a Russian bathhouse with Blunt Talk creator Jonathan Ames

The writer, performer, and creator of Starz's new comedy series reflects on storytelling and the purpose of life

Jonathan Ames
(Image credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

I'm sitting with Jonathan Ames — writer, performer, and creator of HBO's Bored to Death and Starz's Blunt Talk — at the entrance of a Russian bathhouse on East 10th Street in lower Manhattan. It's a less than conventional place for an interview — but when I asked Ames to meet me at his favorite place in New York City, he didn't hesitate when he chose it. "When I'm in New York, the baths are my life. I come here almost every night," he explains. "After trying to write during the day, I come to the baths, sit in the heat. Further ideas might come to me."

On any other day, we might be chatting inside, wearing nothing but towels in a room so thick with steam we can hardly see each other. Unfortunately, this happens to be a day when the bathhouse is open exclusively to women, so we settle down to have coffee on the front stoop instead.

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Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.