Interview: The Walsh Brothers

Posted by Maximum Fun on 1st February 2007

I’ve already sung the praises of The Walsh Brothers this week, but I thought I’d offer a little insight into these two great comics. I interviewed David, the elder Walsh, via email.

Did one of you start performing before the other? Has it always been a duo?

We started performing separately. Our first times were probably within a month of each other, and both were inauspicious beginnings.

I think I went up first in college at a coffeehouse thing and had the plug pulled on me for being offensive (coincidentally chris did the show a year later and they loved him and gave him a mug full of treats and mentioned how they had a comedian the year before who was awful and offensive and the worst (the worst?) and chris said, “that was my brother.”

Chris’s third time on stage he opened for Michael Winslow and Bill Bellamy in front of 3,000 kids and they booed him the second he emerged from the wings. The boos and screams were consistent throughout and actually went up a couple octaves when chris decided on a little piece of physical comedy.

I was sitting in the audience with my mother videotaping the show (which is now in a swiss vault called our nightstand) and right before he disappeared behind the curtain (the stage was immense) a gentleman two rows in front of us, stood up and exclaimed, “Yeah we showed your ass… you faggoty ass bitch.”

We have been performing together for almost 3 years now.

Did you have any models for your act? Was there something you were shooting for?

Unfortunately, we have no models for our act. I think it would be easier if we did. This maniac who we love convinced us to treat the stage like a sandbox: go out there and fuck around. Which is great and helped us develop. The only thing is we’ve never learned how not to do that. So the shows we put on ourselves are what we do best. When we’re in a situation with boundaries (tv stuff/showcase sets) it’s not the best.

Is there something about Boston? Some quality that it has that’s reflected in your work?

This is a hard one to answer. Clearly we’re from Boston and we sound like we’re from Boston and Boston Boston Boston.

It seems to be a nature/nurture thing. Clearly Boston and its whatever is reflected throughout our work, but is it because we have lived here all our lives or the other thing.

Tell me a bit about your upcoming road trip, and why you’re doing it.

Everything we have ever known is pretty much our little neighborhood. Until [we performed at] Aspen last year, we had never been west of Hershey, PA. When we decided to move to LA, we figured we’d take our time getting to our future home because we don’t know how long we’ll be there. See Amazin’ America.

We booked ourselves in comedy clubs across the country for a few months, leaving time for adventures and funnin’.

What’s the worst thing that each of you has ever done to the other?

There’s not really a worst. we don’t have that type of relationship that most people associate with brothers. we reserve the meanness for everyone else.

I’m older and because I always found Chris to be the funniest person in the world (he’s an entertaining machine) I always wanted him around to make me laugh. It ended up being jackassy stuff but he loved it. Still does.

I’d tell him to kiss beautiful and non-beautiful women on the ass; strip naked and walk through crowded places like a sasquatch (the “naked yeti”); trip with popcorn running through a crowded theater during key movie scenes….

The Walsh Brothers perform Saturday night at 7PM at the UCB Theater in New York. The Sound of Young America is proud to sponsor their show. For reservations, click here.