Alia Shawkat, star of TBS' sleeper hit 'Search Party,' finds an audience for her happily offbeat qualities

Alia Shawkat swears the baby grand piano in her living room isn't for show, just as the paint splatters on her orange corduroy jeans aren't a fashion statement. She's a classically trained pianist who's learning to play jazz and a self-taught artist who shows her work at small galleries in Los Angeles and New York.

"They're not props, but I understand why people might think they are," she says and laughs. "I was a child actor. I'm on a [sitcom]. We're in Hollywood. It all must be for effect."

Normally, yes. But Shawkat, 28, who got her start as Maeby