Thursday, November 06, 2003

Hey, Robert just put the article that he'd written on ICBINC for Wirehed magazine up on the Retrocrush forum. The magazine folded before the article got to run but it's cool to see the flattering things he writes. I was pretty hopped up on sugar durring the interview. Robert always gives me cokes and cookies at his house and then I'm a spaz. Most of my friends hide the sugary sweets when I'm around and offer me valium as a snacking alternative.
Here's the Article:

If you’re one of those people who remember how good Saturday Night Live used to be, or fondly recall the initial 2 years of In Living Color, it’s probably been disappointing to find an alternative comedy source to fill the void. Luckily, a few hundred Sacramento residents, and soon most of California, have discovered that the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Comedy troupe’s live performances bring to mind the best of television’s greatest subversive comedy shows right in front of your face.

ICBINC was started by Keith Lowell Jensen, Sacramento’s resident writer and funnyman, who has performed numerous stand up comedy dates both as himself, and his sleazy alter-ego Francois Fly. While serving as the host of The Crest Theater’s infamous Trash Film Orgy series, Jensen has delighted thousands with skits featuring on stage eviscerations, live sex change operations, and giant size Godzilla style Monster Wrestling Match complete with the requisite scale model of downtown Tokyo to destroy.

Their shows mix traditional live sketch comedy with modern innovations like live video interludes taped by Sacramento filmmaker Jonathan Morken, and conspiracy laced music from the hilarious Xenophilia. Some of their more popular skits include a boy who confesses his horse-dressing fetish to his shocked parents, and a side-splitting tribute to Mexican Wrestling movies and giant cockroaches (don’t ask, you have to see it to believe it).

When asked why folks should come out and see one of their performances, Jensen replied, “Never mind the art and the comedy innovations. Ben Miller is scantily clad, and Amber Kloss is playing a HO, that’s why I would come and see it. That’s two things consistent in every show.”

They’ve been entertaining local audiences for 2 years now, but they’ll soon be playing dates in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Keith says they decided to take their show on the road, “because nobody seemed to like us in Sacramento.”

So far the audiences have been pretty responsive. When asked to comment on how much laughter they can generate in a night, Jensen replied, "we try to perform close to AA meetings.” When told that didn’t answer the question, he started laughing uncontrollably and wet himself.

Surprisingly, Sacramento is also home of a rival sketch group, The Free Hooch Comedy Troupe. When asked why someone should choose ICBINC over them, Jensen answered, “Shut up, we don’t want to give them any press!” Keith then held a knife to his neck and threatened to kill himself if we didn’t print his motto, “I’m not a playa hata, I’m a playa celebrata!”

You can find out more regarding ICBINC at www.notcomedy.com, to get their latest show dates.

No comments: