Interview: The Pajama Men

American duo The Pajama Men have won a devoted flowing around the globe with their surreal, often dark sketch comedy. The shape-shifting double act return to Bristol early next month with a live, comic existential meltdown that takes place as two comedians attempt to stage an epic, historical, romance novel in under an hour.
Here are the Pajamas, aka Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez, to reveal more about their uniquely bonkers world.

Your intricately woven story threads tend towards the surreal and the macabre – how have you ended up in this particular niche?
Mark: I think we’re both attracted to darker and maybe more bizarre elements because they tackle our own fear of the unknown – and reflect, indirectly, how incredibly bleak the world can be. That said, our shows also include everyday, not-so-surreal characters and situations – and plenty of hopeful scenarios to temper the darkness. Above all, it’s funny. That’s our main focus.

What comedy acts, performers, films etcetera have influenced your style?
Shenoah: Let’s see… Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Guest, Fred Willard, Eddie Murphy, Maria Bamford, Christopher Walken, Rosie Perez, Tom Waits, Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey and many others. I think our biggest influences, though, are the people we meet and their idiosyncrasies and dialects. Somehow, though, they all seem extensions of who we are as well. You start with yourself, add strange ingredients and twist it into a bizarre little man (or woman).

What’s lured you into sketch comedy rather than straight stand-up?
M: What I love most about performing sketch – or our particular improv-sketch hybrid – is that our interaction on stage creates new ideas and comedy that we probably would not have arrived at on our own. It’s impossible to predict what will happen. A major challenge of sketch is that the core concept of a particular bit might not be working and you’re forced to continue the act even though it’s failing – we try to subvert that by being able to change anything on the fly. 

How much of your act tends to be improv, and how much pre-planned?
S: It really depends on the show and the night. If we find something new onstage we go for it – in fact a lot of our material is developed that way. So yes, we do mesh together improv and scripted. We know the story and the transitions and the order of the scenes, but we don’t go off a written script. This casual relationship with text allows a lot of room for discovery.
Downside? Sloppiness. If you’re making things up on the fly you have to be sharp or it can bog down. For us, it’s always been a risk worth taking. What will happen the night you come? Will it all fall apart?

Give us a brief sneak intro into one or two favourite current sketches.
S: Well, I don’t want to ruin any surprises, but I’ve been getting a kick out of playing a character who’s so fat he can disguise himself as a beige lake. A centaur with expensive tastes ain’t the worst thing to have in your show either.

The Pajama Men play The Lantern on September 2. For more info, visit www.colstonhall.org/shows/pajama-men-2-man-3-muskateers