Interview: Friendly comedy from Good Neighbor

The Good Neighbor guys, as you may find them walking on your block. Photo courtesy the guys themselves.

Do you ever think to yourself: "man, I could really go for some good, wholesome sketch comedy". You know, sketches about imagination, pranking your gay (?) roommate, being retarded-but-not, celebrity babies having...babies...

If so, look no further than right next door, because Good Neighbor has what you're begging for. You might recognize these hilarious LA-based sketch comedians from one of their numerous shows around town, or perhaps their internet video hit about a pint-sized Jamie Lynn Spears.

Well, the guys are back and they've got a sequel to their smash video sensation, and it's as good (or better) than the last. Be sure to check it out, while we drop some knowledge from the fellas themselves.

So where did Good Neighbor get its start?

Beck: We all met in our first year at USC. Kyle, Nick and I were all selected into the school's sketch and improv group, Commedus Interruptus, and we became friends from there. Dave and Kyle were friends from high school and Dave would come to USC on the weekends to hang out and bring us 40's (big ol malt liquors). Come graduation, we decided to keep the group together so we formed Good Neighbor and went on tour and started putting up more and more videos.

Dave: I also brought weed.

Nick: One of the first nights I met Beck, I tried to tackle him in an intersection.

How is the LA comedy scene treating you guys these days?

Dave: It's difficult to stand out in L.A. as comedians, because there are a lot of great, established live shows to compete with. We've received wonderful responses to our shows, and as we perform more and more throughout the city, our shows continue to improve, and our popularity gradually increases. We've made a bunch of friends in the comedy scene over the last year or so, and we've had the opportunity to guest perform in all sorts of cool shows.

Nick: Yeah, we had a really successful run at the UCB theatre that I think finally put us on their radar. Some LA friends brought us up to SF for the Sketchfest and Robin Williams came backstage to congratulate us and watch us undress.

Kyle: I kinda wish more comedians out here were aware of us. We're pretty big in certain parts of the country. A few high schoolers have sent us emails saying that we're the hot topic at lunch time. Apparently they quote our stuff, and they initiate Facebook chats with me a lot.

I know that you've gotten a fair amount of buzz with your Jamie Lynn Spears parody video. How has the process been with trying to keep that momentum going?

Dave: It's a tough process. We haven't had anything come close to being as popular as the Jamie Lynn parody, but there's definitely a steady boost in views with everything we put out. We've been trying our best to consistently produce new content, in an effort to build our fanbase, but we're not really at a place right now to quit our day jobs and live off of our internet videos. The only thing we can do is keep putting as many videos out there, while working on developing bigger ideas for film and television on the side. Eventually we won't have to resort to celebrity parody to boost our popularity.

It seems like a video like that can sometimes be a double-edged sword, because you get exposure from it, but it's not necessarily in the vein of what you usually do.

Kyle: Yeah. A lot of those 12 and 13 year-olds who liked the Jamie Lynn video probably hoped we'd be putting out funny Baby Jonas Brothers vids. Instead they got hom0erotic / nostalgic / magical stuff. It's all good though, because for every few thousand persons that enjoyed the Jamie Lynn video, we get a new fan. The fun part is, a lot of our videos are shot in a cinema-verite / documentary style, and a lot of the young kids think they are looking at a real situation occurring, even though it's obviously a sketch. It's really fun reading their comments, because they are complete idiots. No, I am kidding. Actually, no, I am not kidding.

So what are you currently working on, and where can we see you next?

Dave: We're currently focused on some live shows coming up throughout Los Angeles, while continuing to make new internet videos for our cyber buds. We're working on developing a couple of potential TV shows, and starting to think about our first feature film, tentatively titled StormFriends 2: Rise of the Slashers.

Nick: The very next place to see us would be at "Who's Available Tuesday Nights," February 17th at The Westside Eclectic. We're a big part of the show that week, so if you haven't seen us before, that's a great opportunity. Also, every Monday in March we're hosting "The MisBegotten Video" show at El Cid. We basically get to share our large collection of obscure VHS and strange internet finds from our friends. Our good buddies from "Your Girlfriend" just showed us this incredible overly dramatic breakup film that an acquaintance of theirs made back in college. It's incredible. We love that type of stuff.

What is your process when creating your content?

Kyle: It changes from sketch to sketch. Usually one of us will have some vague idea, and we'll pitch it to someone else or the group and get feedback to make it better. Sometimes one of us, or two of us will have a complete sketch written out. Other times we'll improvise something we thought about, and hope to figure out an ending. Or we'll develop a character and try to find a situation for him. A lot of times we'll shoot a bunch of options and force Dave to figure a way to put it all together. On stage, we change endings all the time. I don't think we're ever really completely happy with a sketch, except for maybe 92 All Stars.

Nick: That's not true.

I know you guys have tried to integrate with the UCB Theatre here in LA. How successful has that partnership been for you?

Beck: I think the UCB has been great to us. We love that theatre and the stuff they put up. Our show, "You're Weird" had a good run in the fall, and recently we've been a part of regular shows like 'Dirtiest Sketch Show' and 'Comedy Death Ray Sketch'. Hopefully we'll continue to be more involved over there.

Where are some other places that you guys like to check out comedy around town?

Nick: For sketch and improv, UCB is our fav. The Walsh bros are doing cool stuff with The Great and Secret Awesome show at the Improv Lab on Melrose. I love going to Comedy Garage. (NOT to be confused with Garage Comedy) It's a house party/comedy show in Burbank. It's only once a month, but I make it a point to never miss it. Twelve Shiny Nickels is another awesome BYOB stand up show in Hollywood. Sunday Sunday Sunday for you UCLA dudes is an awesome show at Ultimate Improv in Westwood. It's not BYOB (if you're sneaky, every show is BYOB.)

Also, for you peeps looking for stand-up on the first and third Thursday of every month, you can't beat this free show called Basement Party. It's at the Ramada Inn on Vermont Ave at 9:30pm. It's got an amazing host. I can't believe they haven't made it into a movie or given the guy a trophy or something yet. That guy is really doing some amazing stuff.

Kyle: The Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax is the best place to see weird and cool movies, if that counts.

Having started with Commedus Interruptus at USC, how do you feel taking a more sketch-only approach to comedy?

Kyle: I think we're still a really improv oriented group. The best stuff we do on film or on stage is usually ad-libbed, at least that's the stuff that makes us laugh the most. We were doing sketch shows at the end of each semester in college, so that lent itself really nicely. We're still performing or reworking material we developed in college, probably because that's when we peaked. I definitely miss having a weekly platform to improvise, and I also miss the babes, but 3 of us still live in the same house by campus, and we've snuck into the Freshman cafeteria three times in the past couple weeks, so not much has changed.

Nick: Except that Dave is too tall to sneak in now.

Who are some of your current favorite comedians?

Nick: Right now, Brody Stevens, Sean Conroy, Kyle Kinane, Maria Bamford, Douggpound, Wendy Ho, Moshe Kasher, TJ Miller, Jordan Rubin, Rebecca Donahue. In terms of sketch groups, I always enjoy The Birthday Boys, A Kiss from Daddy, Summer of Tears, BoggleWarp, MarkMarkandMark, Bird Brain Bros and Tim and Eric.

Beck: I think I agree with everything Nick said.

Dave: Tim & Eric, Stella, Lonely Island, F.Armisen, K.Wiig, B.Odenkirk, D.Cross, Z.Galifianakis, M.Bamford, DJ Douggpound, Paul Rust, Chris Lilley. AND WEIRD AL!!!!!!!!!

Kyle: Tom Bergeron from America's Funniest Home Videos. Baby from Dinosaurs, actually I guess he's not current. Our comedian friend Cornell Reid has a really funny joke about people wearing Looney Tunes gear to Disneyland. Matt Furie is an artist, but his comic book made me laugh a lot. Charlyne Yi. Nick Thune and Nick Swardson are cool, and have been supportive of our stuff. A lot of our friends are really funny too.