Neil Arsenty: I guess the other big comedic thing I've been doing is the video podcast Midwest Teen Sex Show, which just filmed a pilot/presentation for Comedy Central in August. That's a totally different beast in itself making that show.
Neil Arsenty has found his niche in the Chicago sketch comedy scene writing and performing with both Cell Camp (which he co-founded) and Robot vs. Dinosaur. He’s trained at Second City and i.O. Chicago and performed in Blewt Productions’ long running Don’t Spit the Water. His ever expanding background in musical and comedic theater, interactive street performance, and improvisation have also found breeding ground in a variety of short films and web videos including the insanely popular podcast series Midwest Teen Sex Show which has just finished shooting a pilot for Comedy Central. In between all that, Neil found time to write a short piece titled “Still There: Love at the Office” which you can find over in the Briefs section of this issue.Knee-Jerk: Tell us about Cell Camp. What do you do? How do you do it? How did it come to be?
Neil Arsenty: Cell Camp is a comedy troupe from Chicago. We've been around for about 3 years. Richie, Matt and Marla wrote a Writing 5 show at the Second City Training Center three years ago and Kate and I auditioned for it. That's where we all met. We just kept performing in sketch shows together at Donny's Skybox at Second City afterward. We've done five sketch revues total there (four officially as Cell Camp). Josh and Vinnie auditioned to be part of the troupe in February, so they're the new guys and they're awesome. Each one brings something new that we've never had in the group dynamic. Now we're all developing new material for the stage, as well as the Internet.
K-J: Tell me all about the upcoming Dying to Find the Cure for Murder: A Cell Camp Benefit.
NA: Well, we got to thinking: If murder is so bad, why isn't anybody trying to find a cure? Here we have millions of people dying of murder every year. So we're setting out to rid the world of that. We are also going to be performing in a few sketch comedy festivals this fall so we're hoping to raise some money for that too. Really all of the money we raise for the benefit will go towards that, but we're at least raising awareness of murder.
K-J: What’s the process like for writing material for Cell Camp? What’s a typical writing session or rehearsal like?
NA: Basically we all write scenes on our own and bring them to the table each week. We'll give each other ideas and notes to improve on. If one of us has an idea but isn't sure where to go with it, we'll improvise it on its feet to see where it goes from there, if anywhere. We'll often add lines to completely scripted scenes.
K-J: Does it seem like certain members of the group have different strengths they bring to the table in both writing and performing? What would you say are yours?
NA: I would say my strength is character work more than anything. I like writing scenes, but my strength is more getting a character and seeing how far I can push the limits of how that character is written.
K-J: How do you know when material is working? Is there a specific instance you can tell me about?
NA: If it makes us laugh, it may not work on stage for one reason or another. We had a very funny scene that Richie wrote about a murderer who is caught because he kept updating his Facebook status. We laughed a lot in the read-through of the scene, but when we ended up testing it for an audience, it didn't really work. If it always makes us laugh (and always makes the audience laugh) even after performing it a zillion times, then we know it really works. There's a scene we did two years ago called "Automated Drive Thru" that we just did again at a festival in Columbus in July that still really makes us laugh.
K-J: What do you feel is more rewarding, experiencing reactions when finally performing your own material or seeing others in the group interpret lines you’ve written?
NA: I think a bit of both. I know there are characters we've done in the past that people have written and never imagined would be performed in such a way that would make the characters so memorable. Kate is probably the best at that. She has a character named Sidney Simon who was not originally written with the traits that Kate conceived that made her really memorable. I think this group is really gifted in that we can trust each other to perform amazing characters even if we didn't write one down on paper.
K-J: Do the members of the group have different, even drastically different comedic influences? How do you feel they mesh? Are there influences outside of sketch comedy (music, drama, literature, etc.) that you see in your work?
NA: A lot of us share influences. We almost all come from a Second City background and grew up on Saturday Night Live. Many of us like the quirky sketch of Mr. Show, Upright Citizens Brigade and Kids in the Hall and the awkward comedy of The Office. There are also those of us who are fans of Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, but that's really limited to the male portion of Cell Camp. Kate and I were theater majors in college so we've done a lot of gay ol' musicals and plays too so we have a lot of characters under our belt already, as do the lot of us who have performed (and still are performing) in other sketch and improv groups around the city.
K-J: Are members regularly turning each other on to new things? Anything you’ve recently discovered and been following?
NA: The sketch comedy scene in the mainstream is pretty weak right now, but yes, if we see something we like, we'll share with the others. Richie is a huge fan of Summer Heights High, which I also think is great but don't have HBO to watch it. I just recently discovered Spaced this year, which was on television in the UK ten years ago. All the episodes are on Hulu. Definitely a must for geeks, though. Timeless.
K-J: Tell me a bit about other comedic outfits you’ve worked or are working with. What do you see as the main difference or strengths make Cell Camp unique?
NA: I guess the other big comedic thing I've been doing is the video podcast Midwest Teen Sex Show, which just filmed a pilot/presentation for Comedy Central in August. That's a totally different beast in itself making that show. When we made the podcasts (which has currently been on hiatus since June) we really brainstormed over the Internet via emails and then met once a month to film the ideas we came up with. I guess the biggest difference is the comedy made for MTSS is short-form mainly-improvised bits for video. Like, that cast would probably never do a live show in front of an audience. I still learned a lot from MTSS that helped me with Cell Camp and vice-versa.
K-J: How has Chicago treated you in regards to working in the sketch comedy field?
NA: The blessing and curse with Chicago is that it's known as being a breeding ground for comedy, so the field is overwhelmed with improv and sketch troupes. There's plenty of venues to play, but getting people to come is the hard part. I think this is true with stand-up comedy too. A lot of time you're performing for the other performers who are on the bill that night. People can see comedy anywhere at any time in the city, so the rub is to convince those people that your group has something unique and special that you can't get from just any group. We've been doing shows in Chicago for almost three years and there are still a lot of people in Chicago who have no idea about us. We're hoping this murder benefit will get people talking; where else would you see a fundraiser to find a cure for murder?
K-J: Are there any other projects you’re involved in we can look forward to?
NA: Cell Camp is going to be performing at the Los Angeles Sketch Comedy Festival in November and maybe a few others in the winter, including Chicago in January. The MTSS pilot/presentation is under review by Comedy Central for the next few months. Honestly, I have no idea if I'll be brought in as a part of any television series if it gets picked up. I'm working with some of the gang from MTSS on a new video podcast like Sesame Street for adults (How To Do Your Taxes, Learning Self-Defense, etc.). I am also working on starting an old timey radio show similar to The Goon Show that I'm hoping to get recorded live and put into a regular podcast.
Dying to Find the Cure for Murder: A Cell Camp Benefit takes place Friday, October 23rd at 9:45pm at Studio Be located at 3110 North Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL 60657. You can follow Neil’s exploits (and enjoy a selection of his videos and films) at neilarsenty.com. Keep tabs on other upcoming Cell Camp projects at cellcampcomedy.com.
