Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris O’Neill.
Hi Chris, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We met at our local community theater back in 1999. Paul wanted to put together a sketch comedy troupe and asked if I wanted to start one with him. I had no idea what that was or meant, but I was like, “Sure!” We realized we love the same styles of comedy. We love Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton, and we’re huge fans of “The Kids In The Hall,” so we tried to blend those two styles into what you see today. Paul would call comedy clubs in NYC and pretend to be our “manager.” They didn’t care who we were as long as we brought people. So, we’d book shows and write our act on the train going into the city. We bombed a lot, but we were so excited that we were performing in NYC that we didn’t care! We took some comedy classes with a woman who would become and still is our comedy mentor. She taught us about editing our act, how to use blackouts, and that “less” was “more.” Those lessons would help us mold what our act is today.
We moved into a 16×8 studio apartment in Manhattan, sleeping in bunk beds, but luckily, over the years, we figured out our style and began finding success at comedy festivals across the country. We took our act to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2011 and ended up being nominated for “Best Newcomer,” which gave us a lot of momentum moving forward. We returned the following year when a casting director for “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway came to one of our shows. She asked us to audition when we returned to NYC. I was lucky enough to land the lead role of Elder Cunningham, which took me on their National Tour and eventually Broadway. Since then, we’ve been finalists in NBC’s comedy competition, “Bring The Funny,” and went on an international tour, filming some short movies and pilots along the way. And now we’re in Texas, super excited to back at the Comedy Arena!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think our act has evolved from the ground up. There was a lot of trial in error along the way, but we’ve always been on the same page and locked in with each other. Part of the fun is having those shows that don’t go well. It’s the only way you learn. Not only do you learn about what works and what doesn’t, but you also learn how to overcome those obstacles. How to keep going forward and taking the bumps and bruises that come along with it. It’s part of the game, and we love all the twists and turns that come along with it. It’s not an easy business, and like anything, there are plenty of ups and downs, but it’s been a lot easier going through this crazy all of it with a guy like Paul. He paid me to say that last part.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I think the one thing that sets us apart from the other acts is our attention to detail and our use of silence on stage. We’re huge silent comedy fans and love studying up on the greats. When we first started performing together, we’d write long sketches that just seemed to go on forever. That’s when our mentor, Suzi stepped in and helped us along the way. She was the first person to watch something we were doing and bluntly said, “I don’t get it, why is it so long, there should be a blackout here”, etc.
One day, we were on stage showing her some new sketches, and she went to the light booth and said that she’d blackout when the sketch needed to be over. We’d be in the middle of our bit, and all of a sudden, blackout. We couldn’t understand why she thought we needed to shorten our bits and cut out a lot of what we thought at the time was “funny material.” This was a hard lesson to learn, but it paid off a few years later, right before we went on to perform a sketch that we had done dozens of times before. I looked at Paul and said, “What if we just black the sketch out HERE?” which would have cut out half of the sketch. Paul was cool with it, and when that blackout hit, it was like BAM! The crowd lost their minds with laughter. It was that moment where we were like, “SUZI WAS RIGHT!!!” That changed everything for us. Our writing and editing took on a new life that night. From then on, things made sense to us. We had found our style and discovered that “less was more.” We relied on physicality and telling stories with our bodies and facial expressions rather than a long-winded scene.
It was the single greatest lesson we learned in comedy, and it was all thanks to our dear friend, Suzi Lynch.
Alright, so before we go, can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
We love collaborating with everyone. People can reach out to us on Instagram (@chrisandpaulshow) with any ideas, questions, or comments, so many of our projects, friendships, and fun ideas have spawned from us, and others just reaching out! We always appreciate it when people share any of our videos or show dates with people who they think would enjoy us! You can always check on any upcoming shows, videos, news at our website “chrisandpaulshow.com“
Contact Info:
- Website: chrisandpaulshow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisandpaulshow/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thechrisandpaulshow
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5_fiOlOEADbAkqSPaTZ2kg
