'Brooklyn' star Peretti aims for laughs on Netflix

Not only is One of the Greats the name of Chelsea Peretti's new stand-up special, it's an apt description of the comedian, too.

After writing for Parks and Recreation and appearing on Louie and Kroll Show, Peretti, 36, became a breakout character in Fox's cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, playing spacey, deadpan office administrator Gina Linetti (Sundays, 8:30 ET/PT). USA TODAY caught up with her ahead of Greats' premiere on Netflix Friday (3:01 a.m. ET/12:01 PT):

Getting the itch: Just out of college and doing temp work in New York, Peretti remembers performing stand-up for the first time in the back room of a bar. "I had written some jokes on a piece of wrapping paper which I still have somewhere," she says. "They were kind of office-job jokes from temping. They didn't go that good, but one of the comedians tried to hit on me, so the next week I went back and made fun of that. With open mikes, it really is a camaraderie between the comedians, so he slammed me back, and then I felt like, that's what gave me the (stand-up) itch: having this camaraderie of mocking each other."

Her real-life Boyle: On Brooklyn, her character Gina sleeps with gawky detective Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio) – assignations they try to keep from their co-workers, but are eventually revealed. Peretti can relate: "When I was younger, there was this guy in New York that I was not that into, but he had a cool apartment and he cooked for me. So when I thought (about) what draws Gina and Boyle together, I feel like, a) she knows she can call the shots with him, and b) he probably cooks great food for her."

Meeting Khal Drogo: At a recent Emmy Awards, Aziz Ansari introduced Peretti to Jason Momoa, who played Dothraki leader Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones. "He's very tall and Aziz was like, 'She's a fan, she wants to take a picture with you,' " she says. "He was kind of looking at me like, 'OK,' and then I was like, 'Look, the lock screen on my phone is your character!' And he was like, 'Oh (shoot), well let's Khal Drogo it up!' He had to lean down like 20 feet to take a picture with me, but I just love Game of Thrones, so it was pretty exciting."

Grade-school crush: Before they co-starred on Brooklyn together, she and Andy Samberg went to the same elementary school in Oakland. "I had a crush on him," Peretti says. "I used to call his house and hang up on him and stuff. I'm trying to spread the rumor, too, that he had a huge crush on me, but it was pretty one-sided. Just say that he had a big crush on me."

Reclusive instincts: If Peretti wasn't a comedian, she would be a florist, she jokes in Greats. If that didn't pan out, she would turn to her next dream job: a novelist. "I'd like to just go live somewhere kind of rural or rustic. Just live there for a couple months and write things, then return to society so I could fulfill my reclusive instincts as well as my social."

Dogs and destinations: Like Gina, Peretti is fervently obsessed with many things, including her rescue dog (a big star of her social media accounts), VH1's Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood, and short-term rental app Airbnb. "I'm very much into like, fantasy getaways, so I'll just browse Airbnb and bookmark places in case I ever go somewhere," she says. "It changes my idea of travel, like, 'Oh, do I stay in a hotel, or do I have my own apartment?' "

If she and her dog could text each other: "I feel like I'd be like, 'I love you so much.' And he'd be like, 'I have to (poop),' " she says.