The Biz Interview: Peter Carlone of Peter ‘N Chris
Peter Carlone is one-half of the sketch comedy duo, Peter ‘n Chris, who take their impeccable timing to the stages of Pacific Theatre this weekend as part of Side Show. Peter spoke to us about his beginnings into the sketch comedy arena and some of his most memorable performance moments.
What can you tell us about The Mystery of the Hungry Heart Motel and the concept for it?
Peter ‘n Chris and the Mystery of the Hungry Heart (PnCatMotHH for short) is a great extension of how Peter ‘n Chris adventures go. For me, it’s all about the adventure and also about what movies or genres we can poke fun at along the way. At some point, Chris and I were thinking about how great it would be to have a Halloween show in our roster, so we decided to give it a try!
What inspired you to choose sketch comedy and how did you develop your skills?
Vancouver doesn’t have a lot of opportunity in terms of mid-range theatre, or even professional for that matter. So I got more into it simply as a way to have something to do! As far as developing skills I would say that it comes mainly from doing it!
What are some of your most memorable sketch comedy moments?
We were in Montreal and performing at a cabaret event. The act before us was very disturbing. It was essentially this guy plugging his ‘sexy hypnosis’ show, using an obvious audience plant as his hot girl volunteer. He sounded more like a porn director than a performer, and the piece ran way too long. We followed that and were credited with ‘saving the night’ in that we didn’t make people feel sad and gross.
What are some of the biggest challenges that come with creating your own sketch comedy?
For me, its the familiar and recurring fear right before doing a brand new sketch of “oh no, is this funny at all?”
What advice would you give for someone who wants to get into sketch comedy?
Go for it! You will learn a lot about yourself very quickly, and it’s like working out, it gets easier the more often you do it. Or something. I don’t know, I don’t really work out. Does working out get easier?
Are there any books or specific authors that have been influential to you so far in your creative journey?
Absolutely, I’ve always liked The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and most Douglas Adams stuff) because of the style of his adventures. Always absurd, full of inventive characters. Also Neil Gaiman, he’s really good at developing a mythology in his stuff, a lot of backstory and well thought out plotting.
What can you share about any future projects that are in development?
Nope. They are top secret.
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Watch Peter ‘n Chris perform their hit show Mystery of the Hungry Heart Motel and then see how well they can keep up with Pacific Theatre’s improv team when they jump on board for Side Show Comedy Improv on February 10th and February 11th, 2012. For details, please visit PacificTheatre.org.
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