It's hard not to think of a "deez nuts" joke when you hear about A Pair of Nuts. That seems fitting, considering comedians are usually a little nuts and these guys clearly appreciate a joke about balls. The comedy duo are bringing their 2011 tour to the 305 for one night only this week.
Currently on the road, traveling to thirty cities, Yamil Piedra and Johnny Trabanco are happy to be heading home for a night. The Nuts have been performing as a duo since the late '90s and have been featured on such shows as Tosh.0 and VH1's Money Hungry and they recently won a Suncoast Emmy Award for writing a Spanish language sketch on MegaTV's El Vacilon. Sure, you'll see them on TV in the future, but it's best to experience comedy live. We communicated with the nuts who told us a few things about trying out new stuff and racists on the road.
New Times: Are you excited to be coming home for a show?
A Pair of Nuts: As the old saying goes, "There's no place like home." We love traveling and being on the road, but there's no feeling like performing in our hometown. People know we're from Miami, so we feel that love and energy that they bring, they're part of our show just as much as we are. And believe it or not, they help us figure out what works and what doesn't, 'cause when we perform here, we consider ourselves to be mad scientists and Miami is our guinea pig, 'cause we try out new stuff.
Do you have any good stories from the road?
Doing the college circuit takes us to a lot of small towns in the middle of nowhere. This one time we were eating at a restaurant in Covington, GA, and this older gentleman took interest in us cause he noticed we were from out of town. With a Southern accent he asks, "Ya'll ain't Muslim are ya?" Which we of course replied "no" and just looked at each other, but imagine if we were Muslim. How uncomfortable would that old man have been? We told him we were there to perform at Oxford College and again he comes out with an interesting statement, "You know that school is full of liberals. A lot of Asians." All we can really do in situations like that is laugh about it. I'm sure when he got home that night and went to our website he enjoyed such classics as "Gayo," "Colgay," and "Chonga Chat." After he saw them he probably said, with a Southern accent, "Well lookie here, I was socializin' with 2 queer Latinos."
What was it like being the grand marshals of the King Mango Strut Parade? How'd that happen? (I'm so jealous! I missed it this year! It's the best!)
The committee who picks the grand marshals were fans of our work and the Strut's slogan is "Putting the NUT back in CocoNUT Grove," so who better than the Nuts? They asked us to come up with something crazy, so of course, in typical Nuts fashion, we strutted around the Grove in the back of a truck dressed as beauty pageant contestants complete with crowns, flowers, and sashes that read "Big Bald Nut" and "Lil Hairy Nut." It was a lot a fun and an honor being chosen, especially following such great past grand marshals as a cock, a dead guy, and a guy who won a bid an eBay.
What do you think it is that makes you guys funny?
We think it's a mixture of chemistry and absurdity. We've been performing together for almost 13 years now and it's obvious on stage. People tell us all the time we have this amazing chemistry and people love watching that. When they see us having fun up there, they have fun along with us. And the absurdity comes into play because of the ridiculous stuff we come up with, whether it be on stage or on video. Stupidity has worked quite well for us all these years, so don't expect these grown men to ever grow out of that. We like having fun, so we're sticking to it!
Who makes you laugh? Who's the funniest person ever?
There are so many influential comics, that it's hard to just name one. Andy Kaufman, Mitch Hedberg, Richard Pryor, Chevy Chase, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Chris Farley, Bill Murray, Phil Hartman, and the list goes on and on and on. And it doesn't necessarily have to be famous people who make us laugh, Yamil's mom and dad are hilarious and Johnny's dad always cracks us up. But the funniest person ever would probably be a hybrid of the two of us. If we can somehow figure out a way to combine our semen and find a willing surrogate mother, that would be ideal. Any takers?
The show will take place at the Area Stage (1560 South Dixie Highway) inside the former Riviera Cinema on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. Tickets are only $15 and you can buy them online at Area Stage Company.
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