Micah and Myq share comic vision
The new Thursday-night hosts at the Comedy Studio, Myq Kaplan and Micah Sherman of the Micah Myq Club, are a bit of an odd couple. Kaplan, 28, writes some of the best one-liner, quick-hit comedy in town. Sherman, 25, has more of an improv background as a stand out performer with Improv Asylum.
But they share a similar comic sensibility, a love for fast-paced Marx Brothers-like silliness that dabbles in video, music, and sketch. Talk to them together and their chemistry is clear and quick, if not always logical. There is a short pause before the wheels start turning when they are asked what makes the pairing work.
"Oh," says Micah. "Uh . . . pork. I don't know."
"Micah likes pork," Myq chimes in.
"You're the beans to my pork," says Micah.
The metaphor's a little shaky, but apt nonetheless. Like the best partners, they will follow each other's lead, no matter where it's going, or even if it seems like it's not going anywhere. They've only known each other for a couple of years, and only performed together a handful of times over the past few months.
In fact, the pairing seems to have come about somewhat by accident. Comedy Studio owner Rick Jenkins remembers a night when Sherman was hosting and introduced Kaplan. There was something about their interaction that just worked. "The introduction turned into a banter, which turned into a bit, which turned into a running joke," he says. "The excitement was electric."
As Kaplan points out, each fills a gap in the other's experience. "I'm a writer and Micah's a performer, and if you have to pick one thing that you are and one thing that you're not, I'm a writer and not a performer," he says. "Micah's a performer and not a writer, and putting those together we come up with one amazing person who's bad at both."
Both comics are just starting to make inroads in the entertainment business. Kaplan is a regional finalist in Comedy Central's "Open Mic Fight." And if you look closely, you'll see Sherman dressed as a sub in a D'Angelo's commercial with Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. But they are both active in the local scene, having hosted other shows in the past. And they will continue the tradition of previous Thursday-night hosts, bringing in friends to do sketch, videos, stand-up, or whatever they might be trying to hone.
"I trust nearly everybody that I've done shows with here and that I'm friends with," says Sherman. "So if people want to come and work something out, they are invited to. It's going to be a club."
"Members only," adds Kaplan, "and everyone can be a member."
Trying to pin them down about anything more specific is a difficult task. They know the show will have a loose, improvisational feel, and they're sure audiences will get their money's worth. "It's only an $8 show," says Sherman. "You can go in with the expectation of laughing $8.50, and then you're gonna laugh like $12.50."
"And then you're gonna be like, wow, more quarters for laundry," says Kaplan.
"Micah Myq Club" is at the Comedy Studio Thursdays at 8 p.m. Tickets $8. Call 617-661-6507 or go to TheComedyStudio .com.
