The Pajama Men have been living on the same wavelength since they met each other in high school.
"Even though I was a punk rock kid and Mark (Chavez) was a physics nerd, we seemed to jell straight from the beginning," said Shenoah Allen, one of the Pajama Men. "We have a way of getting into each others' heads. We have an ongoing telepathic match."
The Pajama Men are putting on an improv show at the Stove Gallery every Saturday at 8:30 p.m. through Nov. 22.
The Pajama Men have been touring Canada for the past seven or eight years, and since attending the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2004, the duo has taken on a notable role in the global comedy scene.
"The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland is a huge event that puts on 2,000 shows every day for a month, bringing in a crowd that nearly doubles the population of the city," Allen said. "This festival usually makes or breaks comedians. Scouts saw us there and, I guess, were impressed. Since then we have joined The Second City, a theater in Chicago that has launched the careers of many profound comedians."
Theaters in London and New Zealand are taking notice of the duo.
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"We have a great time up on stage," Allen said. "We are always trying to incorporate the audience, maybe include them in a game or an interview. There is no greater feeling than having things click up on stage."
The Pajama Men don't bother with fancy costumes.
"We always go out in our bare feet," Chavez said. "We love the feel of the stage under our feet."
Allen and Chavez never run out of material onstage and are pros when it comes to going with the flow.
"Every night is different," Allen said. "Just recently, in Scotland, we were improvising for a drunk crowd. By the end of the night, people were wanting to embrace us as we performed. It just got way out of control. Another time, my penis fell out of the flap of my pants while I wasn't wearing any underwear. Nobody seemed to notice though. You never know what is going to happen at one of our shows."
To add a dynamic dimension to their performances, the Pajama Men invite bands like Luminous Craft and Le Chat Lunatique to accentuate dramatic or funny scenes with music. Every week a different band plays, providing a tone and musical context for the show.
"It's good for the mixing of the arts," said Chavez. "Dominick Campbell, the main man behind Luminous Craft, has a beautiful voice. Le Chat Lunatique has a swing element to them."
The Pajama Men have also been working on television projects.
"We are currently test-marketing a cartoon that we wrote called 'One Square Mile of Earth,'" said Chavez. "All of the characters are animals. Our animator, Jeff Drew, is an amazing filmmaker and gives a lot of life to the characters. Right now we have our show on the Internet. After meeting with CBS, we hope to make it a full 22-minute program. We are also working on another show called 'Maple Maple Town,' a real-life show in which Shenoah and I do all of the characters."
Pajama Men
Stove Gallery
114 Morningside Dr. N.E.
Saturdays at 8:30 p.m.
Through Nov. 22
$15 or $12 for students and seniors
