Pistol Party To Throw Down The Gauntlet For Your Honor
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 9, 2010 6:20PM
Paul Robinson and Kevin Carroll are the Fashion Police.
Suburban dads will meet fashionistas; Meatloaf will meet the Muckles; Macho Man Randy Savage will meet Mindy Tindle. Some friends will eat soup. Pistol Party and their PBRs, props, and costumery are throwing a blow-out at Chemically Imbalanced Comedy (CIC) this week (June 10-12), and you’re invited to bust a gut while watching the silly madness unfold, your $6.99 12-pack of cans snugged firmly between your feet (if your neighbor is can-less, please, share your bounty).
The group is an amalgamation of sorts; sketch group Think Tank, along with comic friends John Leadley and Drew Frees (and often, Will Miles), began throwing their “components into a blender” a year ago, says Think Tank member Paul Robinson, thus expanding the Think Tank sketch-only format to include one-character monologues, stand-up comedy, and short film.
Together for about four years, with performances in a half dozen states, time slots in the last three years of Chicago Sketchfest, and stand-up showcases and black box theatres throughout Chicago, Think Tank is two parts old college pals Robinson and Kevin Carroll, with Chicago sketch pals Brent Bridwell and Peter Stepnoski. “Our friendship has always been the basis for being able to create like-minded material. We do everything together and that wouldn't change even if comedy went away. But, it sure makes comedy a lot easier,” Robinson says.
Miles, who can often be seen collaborating with one or more members of Pistol Party on various projects, recalls first meeting everyone three years ago at Chicago Sketchfest and immediately clicking. “I love those guys and I will always work with all of them…I was just some funny writer a couple years ago but they've since helped me grow into a mediocre performer,” he quips.
Robinson describes how Pistol Party initially came into being: “Julia [Pishko, bartender at the Town Hall Pub] approached us about doing a monthly slot and we have been friends with Drew [Frees] and John [Leadley] for a very long time and had talked about doing a show together for years. We were all really excited about doing a seamless show where, instead of having your traditional "host" intro each act, everything just flowed. Stand-up, sketch, music, lights, sounds, and costumes, all creating a big crazy intense hour of assault on the senses. The Flaming Lips have always been a big influence on the celebratory concepts (glitter, confetti, music, fog, lights, etc.). We had a live drummer on stage play one month who really wanted to blow fire while he played but that seemed a little too dangerous for such a small bar. Still want that to happen someday though,” he says.
As for the new multimedia direction the group has embarked upon, Stepnoski, the “video wizard” of the group (as named by Robinson), says, “The group has many different intentions as far as creating content. We have made videos that are stand alone short films, an episodic series, and content made specifically to intertwine with themes for live shows. The most current video ‘Soup’ was taken from a live scene and then applied to a shooting board. We decided to enter this film into the Indie Incubator Film Festival and won the ‘Most Bizarre’ award, which was the most appropriate award we could have received that night.
“Soup was the second video that we have submitted to any kind of competition. The first video that was submitted was a short music video called "Humper Dumper," performed by a character named Slarv Chestal, played by Kevin Carroll. This was thrown into this year’s Chicago Sketchfest video contest being sponsored by Atom.com. We actually were one of the two winners. This was sort of a catalyst. We had done a few video things in the past and integrated them into our shows, but it was the first time that we felt confident enough to step off the stage and still tell a good story.”
Stepnoski continues: “Collectively we strive to have a visceral experience with our audience. It's important that people walk away with something. Not with the intention just to shock them but have their minds opened to something else, something that they never knew was even there. We use a multitude of devices to create this experience, tons of props, grand costumes, strobes, fog and bubble machines, videos, bunnies, rabbits, candy, toilet paper guns, contests, confetti, trampolines and, at times, even raw meat. When you’re dealing with an assault on the senses, it’s nice to be able to change pace and re-shift the focus of your audience and sort of ground them. One way we do this is with our videos. It pulls the audience out and then throws them back in. The running order of our shows are planned out much more like a band's set list as opposed to a traditional theatrical running order. It's very important that we flow and have hidden themes sprinkled throughout the show. It's nice to take such care in these devices because people who come to the shows a lot can feel like they are more invested.”
Although July will mark the one year anniversary of the Party, this three-night stay at CIC is not an anniversary celebration, per se. Robinson says, “Each month we take risks and try new stuff and it's always fun but we wanted to boil that stuff down and present a much more polished body of work [for CIC]. Also, we like making exciting events so this was a good excuse to get a bunch of people together for laughter, beer, and probably a lot of post-show shenanigans.”
Pistol Party’s three-night stay at Chemically Imbalanced Comedy begins Thursday through Saturday, June 10-12, 8 p.m., 1420 W Irving Park, $12, BYOB. Tickets can be had ahead of time through Brown Paper Tickets, key word “pistol party”.