Sandi Sieger chats to The Pajama Men – Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez – on why they perform their comedy shows in their pajamas, life in New Mexico and what they think of Australian culture.
Welcome to Melbourne. How does it feel to be performing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival?
Thank you! It feels great. We’ve performed at the MICF a few times and absolutely love it. We must, because we keep coming back. -M
How did you break into comedy? Was it something you worked towards, or did it ‘just happen’?
I remember acting out scenes I’d make up for my family when I was a little kid. I was really loud and always talking in different voices. The trick was figuring out how to be funny and not just annoying. That can be a pretty fine line sometimes. -S
You’re from New Mexico. Tell us what life is like over there.
New Mexico’s great. It’s full of contradictions. If you want free loving hippies and spiritual journeys you’ll hardly have to dig deep, or if gang violence is your thing, or meth amphetamines, you can have those too. -S
What is your show about? And why do you love pajamas so much?
The show is about the strength of will and the dangers of procrastination. We still haven’t finished writing it. As for the pajamas: living a life doing theatre and comedy wasn’t quite ego-destroying enough, so we thought we would add an element of wearing something totally unflattering and frumpy while on stage. -M
Is this your first time in Australia?
No. But we can pretend it is. That might be fun. -M
What are your thoughts on Australia? Can you make any observations on Australian culture?
I find Australians really engaging. And it’s such a beautiful country too. I hope you like our show (which is completely effin’ ridiculous, by the by) so we can keep coming back. -S
Pajama Men – Just The Two Of Each Of Us
Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio
Dates: Until Sun 21 Apr (No Mondays)
Tickets: Prev/Tue/Conc (except Sat) $28, Group (8+)/Laugh Pack $31, Full Wed/Thu/Sun | $33 Fri /Sat $38
Times: 9.00pm (Sun 8.00pm)
Bookings: Ticketmaster, at the door, artscentremelbourne.com.au | 1300 182 183
