The comedy team of Paul Gibney and Tim Gore has been around for more than year now in Hoboken. They made their debut at The Goldhawk, where they are monthly regulars.They combine stand up, improvisation and social commentary into their act. Mixing classic comedy styles with modern topics, Gibney and Gore have dedicated themselves to returning the classic two-man comedy magic.
We recently caught up with G&G for a quick Q&A:
EM – Where are you from?
PG – We both live in Hoboken now. I’m a Jersey boy who grew up in Morristown.
TG – I’m originally from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
EM – Who are your influences?
TG – I think our biggest influences are a lot of the old acts like Tim Conway and Harvey Korman, Cook and Moore, Burns and Allen, and, of course, Brad Hall.
PG – Hope and Crosby, the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, Bob Newhart.
EM – Why did you become comics?
PG – It’s the easiest job in the world. In the clubs, your worknight is 10 minutes long.
TG – Not to mention the cheap beer while you’re working. Besides, it’s fun making people laugh.
PG – It’s immediate gratification. Acting, you have to wait till the end of a show. Music, you wait till the end of the song. Comedy, you get that reaction right away.
TG – It’s a real time-saver.
EM – Where have you performed?
TG – We started out in Washington D.C., working the colleges, clubs, and theaters.
PG – Here in Hoboken we have our monthly show at The Goldhawk and we also do the comedy clubs in the city.
TG – And, of course, we’ve played a cemetery in Philadelphia.
PG – Yes, we have. We won’t be doing it again. It’s not the comedy-rich environment that you might think.
EM – What is your favorite day of the week?
TG – Payday.
EM – What makes you laugh?
TG – Kim Jong-Il, Pol Pot, and The Family Circus.
PG -I like clever wordplay, witty banter, and the work of Charles Nelson Reilly.
EM – How would you describe your comedy?
TG – That’s tough. Adult without being blue, intelligent without being inaccessible.
PG – Funnier than whatever you’re doing most Wednesday nights.
EM – What are your favorite bits?
TG – I just wrote a bit on six-minute dates and Speed Dating that I really like.
PG – I really love our old-time vaudeville piece…and the skit where I viciously malign Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler. We should do that one a lot more.
EM – Are you looking for mainstream exposure?
PG – No. We hope to become comedy monks. Cloistered away, performing before fewer and fewer people until eventually no one shows up. Then we won’t even show up. It’s very Zen.
TG – One day they’ll write books titled How Paul & Tim Saved Western Comedy. But, seriously, if by mainstream you mean, "make more money than Carrot Top," then yes.
EM – Plans for the future?
PG – We’re doing a corporate show in North Carolina this summer.
TG – And we’re working on putting up our full show in New York this fall.
PG – And we plan on crashing Inside the Actors’ Studio later this year to see if we can get James Lipton to be obsequious to us.
EM – What is the best part of your job?
TG – When people come up after a show and say "I really liked this particular skit" and they have reasons why. It means we’ve made a real connection.
PG – I like seeing repeat audience members. It’s great to know that they enjoyed our work so much that they want more.
TG – And did we mention the cheap beer?
PG – That’s very important as well.
Gibney and Gore’s next show is at The Goldhawk on May 28 at 8:30 p.m. The venue is located at 936 Park Ave. in Hoboken. For information call (201) 420-7989 or visit
www.thegoldhawk.com. q