Alicia AtoutĀ is one of, if not the premier interviewers in the professional wrestling scene today. Since founding AMBY in 2013, Atout has become a household name in both pro wrestling and music for her in-depth interviews and conversational approach to interviewing. It’s not only earned her the opportunity to interview some of wrestling’s top stars but work in a backstage capacity with Impact! Wrestling, AEW, and, currently, Major League Wrestling.
Recently, Atout joined me to discuss her interview prep, as well as her personal favourite interviewers. She also chatted with us about developing her acting skills as a backstage interviewer.
Researching her interviewees:
āBefore interviews, I always try to research just to know whatās going on with people. Like, Iām sure you know this, (but) just so youāre on top of what theyāve been up to, if thereās anything you really should cover, anything they want to promote, too. So, I do a decent amount of research, probably about like an hour, hour and a half per guest, so I always try to sneak that in the day before so itās fresh in my mind as well.”
“You can know someone inside and out, but at the same time when youāre doing five interviews in one day, itās so easy to mix up whoās been where, you know what I mean, like the little things like who likes Doritos over Cheetos or whatever it might be. Thereās a decent amount of prep that goes into it, and at the same time, if itās a guest that Iāve had on for like three times, like Chelsea Green, we follow each other, we keep up with what each other has been up to, so with her, itās like āokay, I want to talk about blank, blank and blank, here are bullet points, letās just go into it and have a conversation.ā So, it differs on the guest, it differs on how many times Iāve spoken to them and my relationship with them, but I try to go in with some kind of baseline to guide everything through.ā
Developing her acting skills as a backstage interviewer:
āNow that I get to actually act off of stuff and have more fun with it and really play off of all the guys Iām in the locker room with, itās a blast. As far as kind of training for it, I think itās just one of those things Iāve adapted really naturally and luckily I just didnāt suck at, (because) when I was first told āyeah, thereās going to be more acting,ā or āyou have to react to this a certain way, you have to get angry, or sad,ā Iām like āoh, gosh, I don’t know how to do this.ā Literally, the word that ran through my mind was āahh, shit.ā Luckily, it just kind of came naturally and when it comes to that locker room, I feel very comfortable with everybody, so I also donāt feel like if you do mess up, or if they mess up, no oneās judging each other in that sense, which is really nice to have.ā
āIt was very organic as far as the acting goes. Luckily I was able to pick it up pretty easily, and I donāt really get anyone really saying anything negative about that aspect of my job, which makes me so happy because probably in the three years Iāve been doing wrestling stuff, what I was definitely most nervous for.ā
Which interviewers she enjoys watching:
āItās interesting, because when I first started there werenāt a lot of people I watched, simply because I wanted to craft my own style. Because I end up doing all the research, I find when I watch other people interview, I donāt really discover too many things that are new about a person. So, I donāt know.”
“The only real people that Iāll tune in to – and Iāve seen (Chris) Van Vlietās stuff for research, and we interviewed each other and it was so much fun to do, but Iāll watch Renee Youngās stuff once in a while; having reruns on TV and that kind of stuff, because I think her approach is very similar to (mine) where itās just you sit down, you shoot the breeze with someone and thatās that. Otherwise, itād just be old Mean Gene promos whenever those come on, because theyāre just so fun and so full of attitude and frustration, and I just think that heās the best.”
“Those are a couple, but itās weird – as an interviewer, I donāt go down that interview rabbit hole. I think itās maybe because Iām so consumed with it myself, I just donāt care as much to listen to other people do it. I donāt mean that as a dig whatsoever, thereās so many people who are good at it, (but) for me itās like, āokay, Iāve heard so many people answer these questions, Iāve already heard them answer these questions, Iām just going to step away,ā and thatās when Iāll try to get in my TV time or something like that.ā
Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used.