Killing My Lobster crawls to L.A.

Friday, October 2, 1998

Killing My Lobster crawls to L.A.

COMEDY: Troupe hopes to lure in West Coast fans with original
sketches

By Louise Chu

Daily Bruin Staff

It grabs the attention of the skimming reader. It demands
repetition for the casual listener. It confuses the hell out of
passers-by.

The unusual appellation of San Francisco sketch comedy group
Killing My Lobster stirs an undeniable interest in those that come
across them and offers an appropriate introduction to their bold
comedic style.

"Basically we were all playing this game at a party called
Celebrities," said Marc Vogl, co-founder of Killing My Lobster.
"One thing lead to another, and somebody started talking about
Lauryn Hill and The Fugees. Then Paul just yelled out, ‘Killing my
lobster!’ We think he meant something else."

Paul Charney, another co-founder and inspiration for the curious
name, said, "Every time someone did something to bum you out,
you’re just like, ‘Oh, dude, you’re killing my lobster.’ And we’re
all from the East Coast, so it was nice that we invented our own
West Coast lingo."

Originally formed in Brown University out of an amateur comedy
troupe called Out of Bounds, the five original cast members
migrated to San Francisco, where they threw themselves into the
fertile comedy scene.

After booking their first gig on Valentine’s Day in 1997, the
fledgling performers – without a name or a definite plan – settled
on using their personal catch phrase to represent themselves.

"It just stuck," Vogl said. "But it wasn’t a premeditated,
what’s-going-to-hook-in-all-the-seafood-lovers kind of thing."

The collective has since grown considerably, adding three new
cast members, with a total of 10 people collaborating on each show.
They have played throughout San Francisco and parts of the
Northwest and built a cult following that hopes to expand into Los
Angeles, where they will perform for the first time this weekend at
the The Flight Theater.

"Some of the people that you’ll see in L.A., it’ll be their
first time doing a show with our group," Vogl said. "But one of the
nice things about it is that every show is different, even in terms
of who’s on stage."

There is also an unpredictable mix of show themes, as well as
actors. Past Lobster shows have focused on topics including
communication and dysfunctional families. Their latest, "Killing My
Lobster Gets Some Action," centers around the timeless subject of
sex.

"Everybody’s done jokes on it, so we wanted to challenge
ourselves to find out if there was anything remotely original we
could do," Vogl said

This constant evolution reflects their quick-paced brand of
humor. It also creates a diversity in the material that keeps their
act fresh and lively, something they feel is lacking in other
sketch comedy shows out there.

"The thing that I get really frustrated about with ‘Saturday
Night Live’ is that they’re predictable," Vogl said. "Sometimes
they come up with stuff, where I’m just blown away, and it is
great. A lot of the time, I’m actually getting kind of bored,
watching their shows. And the thing we work really hard at is we
just will not let our audience get bored for a second."

The result is a variety of sketches in the tradition of
"Saturday Night Live" but with a more experimental style and
greater artistic freedom that thrives in Killing My Lobster’s
independent nature. The group handles all aspects of their shows,
from the writing to the publicity. While a lack of formal
representation can hurt entertainers, they have found a "nurturing
atmosphere" in their adopted hometown of San Francisco.

"The (San Francisco) audience wants to just try and see stuff
that they haven’t seen before." Charney said. "And that’s what’s
great about San Francisco: it has a history about it – very
liberal, creatively as well as politically."

Their latest show, "Killing My Lobster Gets Some Action" enjoyed
a successful run at the San Francisco Fringe Festival. As they
bring the show to Los Angeles, Vogl and Charney are wary of the
"L.A. cynicism" that is stereotypical of the Hollywood
audience.

"I’m really excited to take it down to L.A. and see because
there’s certain stigmas and reputations about L.A.," Vogl said. "I
know there’s a lot of people who are in the industry, but there are
also people who are trying to do their own thing, like independent
filmmakers and people who’ve got their own theater company and
production stuff. So I’m keen to see if we can tap into that side
of L.A."

Comedy: Killing My Lobster appears at The Flight Theater on Oct.
2-4. Tickets are $8. For more information, log on to
http://www.killingmylobster.com.

Juliet Gray

Killing My Lobster, a comedy group from San Francisco, will be
visiting Los Angeles from Oct. 2-4 at The Flight Theater.

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