LOL WITH IT: "I will destroy this city with black fire!"

Ryan chats with BlackHawk's Brian O'Connell, who's performing tonight as part of Philly Improv Festival.

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LOL WITH IT: "I will destroy this city with black fire!"

POSTED: Friday, November 9, 2012, 12:42 PM

Filed Under: Comedy LOL With It

One of the headlining acts at Philly Improv Fest — running now through Sun., Nov. 11 — is BillyHawk, an L.A.-based duo of iOWest-trained improv-ers Brian O'Connell and Jeff Hawkins. This week, O’Connel sat down with me over a pint of fine local Märzen to explain why he thinks you might shit your pants if your attend their show tonight at the Prince Music Theater (1412 Chestnut St.).

City Paper: So what's the BillyHawk back story?

Brian O'Connell: Jeff and I [took] classes together at iOWest in Los Angeles. We both really seemed to click in Level 5 with instructor Miles Stroth. He coached us on a team called The Happy Time Rainbow Bunny Squad, where we dove pretty deep into the long form known as “The Deconstruction.” That team faded away and we sort of drifted into other stuff, [until] one day I just called him up and was like, "We should play together again." And now here we are!

CP: What type of character does your improv have?

BO: The "work" we like tends to be harsh but not abrasive. We enjoy laughs and entertaining an audience, sure, but what we really want is for an audience to care. We want you to cheer and shit your pants in wonder. Part of the reason we do this show is because we don't have the opportunity to explore many dark truths with our other groups. We tend to put ourselves out there [by] talking truthfully about our lives, so that can be a little scary. We got a pretty good review in Phoenix a few years back: "Billyhawk was even able to mine the comedy gold from a scene about blood cancer, which is not easy to do." We felt pretty good about that.

CP: Who are your inspirations?

BO: I'm a total Miles Stroth whore. I'm sort of known in the community as "Miles Jr." and I make no bones about it. Aside from the dream gig of teaching at iO, I'm also pretty lucky to be teaching a forms workshop for Miles (milesimprov.com). iO is where I teach from "the Bible" but Miles has allowed me to teach whatever I want, to build on what he taught me and to expand from there. It's been invaluable in my growth as an artist. I believe the secret to being a better and more interesting improviser is being a better and more interesting person. Part of that is being well read, but [the other] part is about acceptance and forgiveness.

CP: Have any side jobs that are keeping you busy?

BO: When I'm not doing Billyhawk, my main jam is Dr. God (drgodcomedy.com). We perform regularly at iO and travel to festivals, but we're actually more of a production company that makes movies and TV series. Right now, a movie I directed, Angry White Man (angrymanmovie.com), is being shopped through our sales agent, Circus Road Films. It's a comedy that stars Matt Berry, Scoot McNairy, Steve Agee, Mary Birdsong and Bob Hardison — who also wrote and produced it. Brian Mandle (Foot Fist Way) produced it with Bob and was the DP, as well. We shot it on 35mm for nothing and I think it's funnier than shit.

CP: Any thoughts on the Philly comedy scene?

BO: I like Philly's scene because it is a real "no bullshit" zone for doing the work. I've been coming here for six years and I never have to turn up my nose or shake my head and say, "What the fuck is the horseshit you're doing?" When it comes to long form, no one here is doing any pandering to the audience. I mean, I've met some super-talented people here, like Alexis Simpson, Meg Favreau, Matt Holmes, Nate Edmonson, Kristen Scheir and on and on. I'm fortunate that some of them live in L.A. I get to work with Alexis and Meg every day, directing their sketch show Bone Mouth. But I figure it's a fair trade, since L.A. gave you back Maggy Keegan. Maggy is like my sister — someone who makes me want to be a better person. If Philly doesn't take care of her, I will destroy this city with black fire.

(ryan.carey@citypaper.net) (@slackerDIYtoday)

Photo by Chelsea Coleman

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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