American comedy duo planning mischief for Australian visit
IF听there鈥檚 one thing that the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras should never be without, it鈥檚 good old- fashioned fun and laughter.
US queer comedy duo Jeffery Self and Cole Escola of 听听听and 听fame are 听during the festival, and the Star Observer checked in on what mischief the boys were planning while gracing our fair shores with Desperate Houseboys.
Their latest show evolves around how the two lovable larrikins essentially pull a 听, by pulling up their New York roots and moving to Sydney for a month, with the hope of making it big in Australia due to their 鈥渆xotic American backgrounds鈥�.
From wig-related tomfoolery through to otter puns, Escola鈥檚 alter ego and 鈥淏roadway legend鈥� Bernadette Peters, and both boys baring more about themselves to their audience than just their clothes, there鈥檚 definitely something both real and exotic about this duo – even though they refer to themselves like that to openly mock their 鈥渨hite guy鈥� look.
Self himself has authored a couple of comedic novels, such as 听听and听听over the past couple of years.
Self suggested he fell into writing by having idle time when Escola was away.
鈥淪ort of the reason why I started writing books was that when I was living in a different city to Cole, I needed
to do something writing-wise and didn鈥檛 have my writing partner,鈥� he said.
Self and Escola bounce off each other like a tennis ball hitting a racquet, there鈥檚 a comedic genius within these two whenever they are in public together that is reminiscent to that of the ABC鈥檚 classic comedy program Aunty Jack.
While primarily sketch scene artists, both the comedic duo are just as much at home doing stand- up improvised comedy routines as they are doing much more structured performances or sit-com for television.
Self said: 鈥淚鈥檇 say that there are more things for gay audiences now than there was before, to a degree. But I guess the biggest thing is the fear about losing what鈥檚 cool about queer entertainment, which is sort of like being 鈥榦utsiders鈥� who have got to make and do their own things.
鈥淚f you look at the early movies of John Waters, you鈥檝e got a lot of queer people not being afraid to be outsiders…. and I think that鈥檚 something that you see a lotinwhatColeandItrytomake.鈥�
Soon after this, Escola then stated that while they weren鈥檛 largely conscious to the role of politics within their comedy routines, it had undoubtedly influenced the activist nature of a couple of their routines throughout their show.
INFO: Desperate Houseboys is showing at the Seymour Centre from February 18-28 from 9pm as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival. The Star Observer is a proud media partner of the festival.
Show information and tickets can be found .
