Questions and Answers: NYC Comic Pauly Confusion

What/who inspired you to do what you do?

When I was young um I always loved to be the center of attention. My parents had HBO and I always got to see Robin Williams, Rodney Dangerfield...I always knew when I was young what was funny even though I didn't always get the adult content...

Where have you done comedy?

I've done stand up in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, South Carolina..

Where is your favorite place to perform and why?

Well, I mean I love New York, I just think the whole spirit of stand up is here. You feel the great history here on stage. You have a great mix: tourists, New Yorkers, etc. I love the smaller clubs and venues, low ceilings, great for comedy.I've been on shows with Robert Kelly who became big. I've been on shows with lots of different performers. New York's kind of a small town and after awhile everyone is gonna get their shot.

What are the perks of being a comic? What are the peeves?

Well, the perks are if you're in a party and going out after the show, people want to buy you drinks and take you out after,,,if you're on the road you get a place to stay...the down side is this can lead you to get in trouble and lose focus and when people find out you're a comic people always want to put you on the spot and wind you up like you're a toy and turn you into an entertainment thing and not a person.

Is it lonely on the road?

Yeah, it can be. It depends, if you go to certain towns where you're not with friends and your used to New York where you can get whatever you want whenever you want, you can't and you can become a prisoner in your hotel room. There are fun times, depends who you're with and where you're going. Once I went to a place by Virgina Beach and it was at a nice condo and hanging out at the beach and I hung with a cool girl, you know it all depends. Some people don't mind being alone, but I can't.

Does being a comic heighten or hinder your relationships?

My personal relationships with women? It's difficult to have a serious relationship. Women don't like that you're not going to be around at night, and the whole trust issue...where you'll meet people after the show. When you're a comic, there's pressure to always be there...

Ever have a heckler? If so, how do do handle situations such as these?

All kinds, drunk hecklers, those who didn't know, people laughing at the wrong time, you have to address it real quick, and be funny about it and move on. It's a control thing...you have to remain in control, you can't let someone divert your attention and throw you off your game and the audience will respect you for how you deal with them.

Ever been on TV or Radio?

Radio, yes. 2005, I was on a morning show, did some improv Man Cow in Chicago and WOR with Joey Reynolds. University television, streamed on part time there. Went on Blind Date, a Reality show and I did a commercial for ESPN.

Tell me a little about your material and how you develop it.

Like most comics, I have some things I always use, but I like to do little changes so you never see the exact same because I like to rip about the things that are going on but if I'm making new material, I take advantage of how I feel, the vibe, the audience...when you're too strict with your material and rely too heavily on it, the audience can see this.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I'm 31 right now. I'm not a five year plan type of guy. Before my 40th, I plan on and will host the Oscars and that's one of my big plans.

Questions and Answers with Comedian Sean Murphy

What/who inspired you to do what you do?

When I was 13 or 14, I saw the movie Lenny starring Dustin Hoffman and I thought it was cool. I was doing acting at the time in high school...George Carlton, it seems silly now to say he was dirty but when I first heard him I was spellbound and even though I didn't start comedy until I was 25 that fascination was always there.

How long has your career lasted?

5 years.

Where have you traveled with your talents, what's your next destination? If you could choose your next destination?

At some point I've thought about moving to LA. I was seriously considering moving last summer but that didn't fall through. I was managing a comedy club part time here in New York but I was having a little too much fun..acting crazed like a vodka crazed Caligula

Where is your favorite spot to perform and why?

My favorite spot still is the New York Comedy Club,,,even though I'm not there, I feel very comfortable, it feels very natural to perform there.

Who is your favorite obscure artist/comic/performer to work with? Famous?

I don't work regularly with anyone famous but I've worked with Donnel Rawlings from the Dave Chappel show and he's fun to work with. I love working with Steve Marshall, he's a really funny guy and he's really supportive of younger up and coming comics.

Tell me some perks of being a comic. What are some perks? What are some peeves?

The main perk is the instant gratification and seeing something work right away. Right now, I'm writing a short story and you don't know. Whereas with comedy, you know right way but then there's the constant struggle with liking material that the audience doesn't and choosing to abandon it or not.

What's it like being 'on the road'?

Never been on the road. Done road shows in Penn and New Jersey but never on the road...don't know what it's like.

Does being a comic heighten or hinder your chances of having a meaningful
relationship?

I would say hinder. One, you work at night and you work weird hours. Two, you meet a lot of people and there's a lot of temptation and three, the competitiveness of it all can kill a relationship.

Ever had a heckler? If so, how did you handle it?

Of course, I've had plenty of hecklers but I've manage to turn it around or had hecklers get sided with the audience and there's nothing you can do about it.

Ever been on TV? Radio? Describe one or both.

I've been on the Man Cow, I did a character for them. I was on the Game Show but I don't have any real comedy show credits.

Are you consistent with your material or do you like to change it constantly, what are the ingredients?

I constantly try something new but I always want to change it.

Where do you see yourself in five years from now?

On a pirate boat off the coast of Somalia but that's wishful thinking. I'll probably still be doing comedy.

See this incredibly funny Irish  Irish-American comic talk about his NY experiences at the Laff Riot Comedy Club, Joe Franklins and New York Comedy Club.

Michael Buckley

Michael Buckley is a New York based actor, writer and comedian. In addition to his work with The Roast Guys, Michael performs in comedy clubs throughout the Northeast. Michael just finished a successful run of NEMESIS, which he wrote and starred in at Theatre 54 in NYC. Other New York acting credits include Bloody Lies at the Midtown Inernational Theater Festival, Fat Suit (which he co-wrote with Jay Casale) at the Sage Theater, David and Goliath at Merkin Hall, Treaty 321! at the Lucille Lortell and Gangstapella at the 78th Street Theater Lab. National Tours: Grease starring Cindy Williams and Eddie Mekka, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and South Pacific. On television Michael has a recurring role as the arrogant but lovable Harley on the popular PBS show, Cyberchase and appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman as a member of the world famous (fictional)singing group Perfect Pitch. He studies acting with Robert McCaskill. Film work includes roles in Gypsy 83 starring Sara Rue, Mona, sexpotjesus and the forthcoming film Heterosexuals starring Natasha Lyonne.

What/who inspired you to do what you do?

I'm not really a big fan of having a real job..I've never had a real job. My brother is an accountant, I'd kill myself if I had to do that. I was always the fat kid no one picked in gym class.

You're lying!

No, I'm serious, it's just something I've always been good at.

How long has your career lasted?

I've actually been a working actor for eight years and I only started to do comedy for a year. Because of my experience as a writer and an actor I think it hasn't taken me as long to catch up whereas a regular comic would take years to get good.

Where have you traveled with your talents, what's your next destination? If you could choose your next destination?

I've been all over the country and Canada. I'm lucky. I'd love to book a gig in the Bahamas, that would be pretty sweet.

Where is your favorite spot to perform and why?

Um...probably at my family dinner table.

Who is your favorite obscure artist/comic/performer to work with? Famous?

I'm not at the point of my career where I've met too many famous people. The most famous person I've worked with is Shirley from Laverne and Shirley...I'd love to do a movie with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, or do comedy with Lois CK,,,he's an amazing comic.

What's it like being 'on the road'?

I've done out of town gigs with comics. I've done three national tours as an actor. My first professional tour was Greece..we did that all over.

What character were you?

Danny.

Does being a comic heighten or hinder your chances of having a meaningful relationship?

(laughing) I wouldn't say...well, define meaningful. I've certainly had a lot of meaningful relationships that lasted one night through comedy. In all seriousness, I don't think it would effect if I was in a serious relationship. Whoever I'm with will probably become part of my act,,nothing is off the table. If she's okay with that then it's all good.

Ever had a heckler? If so, how did you handle it?

Ah, yeah. It happens a lot. You're the one with the mic in your hand, you've got to have the last word. I grew up Irish Catholic,,,there's nothing a heckler can say/do that could damage me more then what I got growing up at the dinner table.

Ever been on TV? Radio? Describe one or both.

I have a reoccurring role on PBS called Cyber Chase...it's a kid show. The first twenty minutes are animated, I play a real person and I'm the main characters' jerk cousin. Every episode teaches math and my character always gets what he's got coming to him because in addition to being a terrible human being he's also awful at math.

Are you consistent with your material or do you like to change it constantly, what are the ingredients?

Always changing it and always trying to find a better, more efficient, fewer words to say the same thing. I'm always messing around in my notebooks, always.

Where do you see yourself in five years from now?

Oh, god, ah, I will rule the world...I don't know. If I'm still making a living in entertainment, I'll be happy. I don't need to be Tom Cruise but that would be nice.

Check Micheal out in person. He gigs everyweek @ Comedy clubs such as Charlie O's and Joe Franklin's in NYC!!

Questions and Answers: NYC Comedian Graham Keay

What/who inspired you to do what you do? Um...I don't know...I guess when I was a kid, I'd watch comedy on TV with my dad. We didn't have cable at the cottage so we'd rent a lot of Bill Cosby VHS tapes.

How long has your career lasted?

Right now, two years. In college, I majored in history with a minor in film. I did history because it was the only thing I was interested in. In class, it was like a soap opera of things that really happened.

Where have you traveled with your talents, what's your next destination? If you could choose your next destination?

I have performed in um Ottawa, Capital of Canada (where I'm from) and Vancouver, Canada and Budapest, Hungry...and obviously New York,,,and New Jersey! Isn't that exciting? New Jersey? One time I even got to perform in Connecticut!

Where is your favorite spot to perform and why?

My favorite spot to perform is at Yuk Yuc's actually no, Absolute Comedy Club in Ottawa because it's where I started and it's just very nostalgic. Every time I go back there I get to see how far I've come. I never know week to week how far I progress but where you go back home you really get to see the difference. It's like if you were a kid and you get sent to boarding school and then you come home for the holidays and your parents notice how tall you've grown. You get to see how small you once were and now you are bigger.

Who is your favorite obscure artist/comic/performer to work with? Famous?

Obscure would be um...well, my favorite famous is Dave Chappel but there's lots in NY, it's hard to choose...I like working with Matty Goldberg, I like working with Danny Lobell and I really like working with Halie Boyle, she's going to be famous,,,she's different than anyone else.

Wow, Dave Chappel?

About a year ago, I was working at a comedy club and that's the same comedy club Dave worked at before he moved to New York. He found out that club was closing and came back to visit his old stomping ground and he walked in with a back pack and headphones, no one was with him, he was very humble...he laughed at my jokes and called one of my jokes an instant classic and he said he hadn't laughed that hard since he hung out with Chris Rock in Eddie Murphy's house. Then he talked to me for like ten minutes after and said I was talented.

Ever see him after that?

Yeah, one more time and he remembered my name...it was really weird.

Tell me some perks of being a comic. What are some peeves?

I like the hours. I like staying up late. I like hanging out with friends. It's like being in seventh grade again. I get to BS with my friends,,,it's not about the drinking. I mean there is some drinking but not really and I really like sleeping in..I really like sleeping in. Overall, the biggest perk is performing, your job is to have fun...you're only really ever funny when you're having fun, you have to have fun. Peeves would be it's hard to keep a girlfriend because you have opposite hours of a normal person...I hear gun shots outside my door, the gun shots peeve me off. And...I don't know the money can be bad sometimes...

What's it like being 'on the road'?

Being on the road is fun because you're with friends, it reminds me of going to away games like when I played hockey in high school, farting on friends the whole way and then when you get there you try to sleep with someone but when I was a kid I didn't try to do that.

Does being a comic heighten or hinder your chances of having a meaningful relationship?

Hinder! Hinder!

Ever had a heckler? If so, how did you handle it?

Everyone has had a heckler...I just watched Richard Pryer, "Here and Now" and he was being heckled the entire time and he handled it the way I wish I could handle it, they just laugh it off and continue on, they don't get into a fight, they know they're funny and they just continue to be funny. A heckler is just somebody who's sad that the spot light is not on them.

Ever been on TV? Radio? Describe one or both.

Both. I have my own radio show at the university and I was on Comical Radio which is a radio show here in New York. I was on Danny Lobell's Radio show and then I've been on Canadian television..I commented on the world hockey championships.

Are you consistent with your material or do you like to change it constantly, what are the ingredients?

Most comics stick with the main ingredients and stick with it for a long time,,,cuz it takes a long time to come up with a joke. I'm always writing but I'm always using old stuff..I never throw old stuff out.

Where do you see yourself in five years from now?

Five years? Writing this blog.

What do you mean?

I'm gonna take over. I'd like to be on TV regularly. I think I will be.


This guy is REALLY funny. See him live at the following NYC venues: NYC Comedy Club, The Comedy Village, Comedy Corner, Joe Franklin's.