Booth & Pat

On Friday, June 4th, we started at DON'T TELL MAMA at 7:00 pm to catch BOOTH & PAT: TWO GUYS, ONE GUITAR, NO STANDARDS. The title just about says it all! Booth & Pat (Booth Daniels & Patrick Frankfort) are heading to the Hollywood Fringe 2010 (June 21st through 26th) and their 2-show run at MAMA'S was sort of a "dress rehearsal". Those who follow me on TWITTER are already familiar with their unique style and quirky outlook on life - I re-tweet their daily "Little Known Fact" items most every day. The show was a raucous, wild, no-holds-barred hour of original parody songs, off the wall humor, and a lot of subjects one never hears about in cabaret. I love creative, talented, leading-edge performers, and I love what these two guys do! With energy, nonstop action, and total abandon of all inhibitions, this pair kept the room roiled with laughter (and a few catcalls). More intricate and (at times offensive) than a episode of Family Guy the brilliance of the writing, the precise and spot-on timing and up-to-date (sometimes "too soon") commentary was explosively funny. While they did a tribute set at the end of the show to the Smothers Brothers, that comparison is too tame. These two total-talent guys are breaking new ground in both cabaret and comedy. Los Angeles, known for it's earthquakes, is in for the shock of their lives!

- Stu Hamstra - Cabaret Hotline Online

"We kind of like that our category gives us flexibility" --Booth & Pat

When comedic musical duo Booth Daniels and Patrick Frankfort, better known as Booth & Pat hit the stage, they hit you with infectious energy. Their shows mix music of all genres with a theatrical flair, engaging the audience not just with catchy tunes but also endearing banter. Their act has been successful in New York, earning them regular spots in major comedy clubs and festivals. The Apiary sat down with the comedians to discuss their dramatic training, some of their favorite shows and the joys of winging it.

A: How did it all begin?
B&P: Kind of by accident. Patrick had a gig one evening and asked Booth to lend a hand with vocals that night. The act that was supposed to show up after us never did, the booker kept signaling us to stretch -- our original half hour gig spread to nearly an hour and a half, all the while we filled with more songs that we didn't know we knew and bizarre banter that surprisingly cracked up both of us and the audience -- it sort of fed itself. We didn't go into this with an 'act' in mind, however after doing it on its feet without a net, we knew we had a great onstage chemistry and vocal blending that we wanted to do more with.

A: How long did you know each other before teaming up?
B&P: Nearly a decade. We were roommates for four of them and during that time the only productive thing we accomplished as a team was heckling bad late-night TV. We'd occasionally help the other one out on a solo project on occasion, but never had worked together until this.

A: What is your official genre?
B&P: We're a comic music duo -- although for a while we were trying to figure out just exactly where we fit in the performing world. During our journey, we've crossed over from music clubs to cabaret spaces to stand-up clubs to sketch comedy competitions. We kind of like that our category gives us flexibility -- it allows us more freedom to slide into any lineup or venue.

A: What was the best thing about performing at the Los Angeles Comedy Festival back last November?
B&P: Just being a part of it was amazing for us, not to mention doing our act for an untested region, and seeing what bits click with West Coast audiences.

A: Do you each do solo work as well?
B&P: We're both trained musical theatre actors (we met at the Boston Conservatory of Music). Individually, we've been on regional and touring productions around the country for years. Booth's a studio singer and a voiceover artist. In addition to being an actor/singer/songwriter, Pat's part of the sketch comedy troupe, City Hall. But even with all of our independent projects, we've been putting a lot of time and energy into B&P, and it's been paying off.

A: I hear that you've been appearing regularly on The Joey Reynolds Show for a few years now?
B&P: Yeah, we're coming up on the 2-year mark soon. Joey's been one of our staunchest supporters, it's been amazing to be part of his "gang." Plus he usually puts us on with some of our favorite stand-up buddies so we always have a great time.

A: What can people look forward to when they attend one of your shows?
B&P: People can look forward to experiencing two guys who share their comedy through music, and revel in finding the humor their odd perspectives and misfortune, and allowing the world to laugh at them for all of it. And along with the tunes, constant verbal sparring and bashing amongst each other. Oh, and there's also the occasional dick joke.

A: You were on the D-List Radio Show that got them kicked off the air. What really went down that night?
B&P: Nothing that would have prompted the station to censor and then fire them. We were beyond shocked when we heard about that -- can't begin to imagine how it was for them. That was the first time we had done the show and the first time we'd met Daniel and Matthew.

Frankly, we thought they were brilliant. The show moved fluidly, their guest lineup was eclectic and above par, the space in the East Village was ideal, and they gave compelling, edgy radio. We did an interview, a song, clicked with them on-air doing some fun back 'n' forth banter, and we also got to see them riff with each other and the other guests -- sure, their content pushed many a limit, and no topic was out-of-bounds, but nothing that should have warranted management to pull the show.

East Village Radio is a completely open channel -- it's not even FCC sanctioned! And considering that they were doing a "shock-jock" format, the two of them were doing what they were hired to do. They were one of the best things on that station, and their firing was a tremendous loss. We felt it was short-sighted, unfounded, and ridiculous.

A: How has your style evolved over the years?
B&P: It's still evolving, frankly. Part of our process of creating music and shtick is somewhat organic, so we're constantly surprising ourselves -- both in rehearsal and onstage. It really keeps us sharp and in sync with each other, but it also just lets us play with formats and audience response. We don't always know what's gonna happen next, but it's become part of the style.

BONUS QUESTION: What are your favorite cookies?
Booth: Chocolate Chip.
Pat: Macadamia Nut and White Chocolate Chip

--Andrew Singer is a contributing editor for The Apiary. - The Apiary

Booth and Pat is the New York-based musical sketch comedy act of Patrick Frankfort and Booth Daniels, a dynamic duo whose original songs have a fun spirit, though their material is somewhat sophomoric in tone and would seem funnier if it was the result of an improv situation rather than having been written in advance. But they have a great energy and a terrific closing number combining songs with such inspired nonsensical lyrics as “bibbidy bobbidy boo.”
-Jay Handelman - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Look for another chance at The Duplex to enter (at your own risk and risqué), the wacky and wonderful world of Booth Daniels and Patrick Frankfort, not for the prude or politically correct. BOOTH AND PAT are fearless and embrace their inner goofy rebel nerdy iconoclastic selves. With an act where the conceit is that they are getting on each other’s nerves and interrupting or derailing each other’s best and worst musical intentions, they are a satirical mini-miracle. It’s R-rated for “Ranting” and “Rude” and “Rebellious” and “Ridiculous” and “Ribald” and “Really Riotous.” Gleefully playing dumb and dumber, they push each other’s buttons and push the envelope, too. Mocking music styles by just doing them, with original songs in the mixed-up mix, mocking and mock-serious, it’s wild. If they were ice cream, they’d have to be a banana split because they are bananas and side-splittingly funny when the jokes land (some may thud, causing better ad libs) or maybe they’re a sundae just because their show is on a Sunday (July 20… but then a Friday on August 29; you see, they’re unpredictable).
-Rob Lester - Cabaret Exchange

In the internet sensation, “2 Girls 1 Cup,” two girls do things to a cup and to each other that just shouldn’t be done. Similarly, in Booth & Pat: Two Guys. One Guitar. No Standards, two guys do things to each other and to popular songs that just shouldn’t be done, really. But in both cases, you can’t help but want to see more.

Booth & Pat is a courageous blend of cabaret, stand-up and improv. The duo take popular songs ranging from the Beatles to the Spice Girls and parody them with their own unique mix of self-deprecation, dick and poop jokes, and a love of music combined with a tolerance of pop culture.

The one-hour show explores the friendship between Booth and Pat and their relationship to their careers and their various sexual encounters. While it didn’t follow any strong thematic structures, I found their strong suit was in clever rendering of the pop songs and the way they pulled the songs together to tell a story. In their version of “Let It Be,” Booth and Pat throw in all the songs that use the same chord progression.

The duo are clearly trained performers and singers who love what they do. My biggest concern was that I felt like they were playing for a bigger venue and didn’t take advantage of the intimate space of a small theater.
-Freddy Puza, LA Theatre Review - LA Theatre Review

The last time I reviewed the cabaret antics of singing comedians Booth Daniels and Patrick Frankfort, a/k/a Booth & Pat, the description, "The Smothers Brothers on crystal meth," entered the picture. In their new gig, Slow Children Playing, which has one more scheduled performance at The Duplex on June 20th, it seems the boys have upped the dosage.

The combination of Pat, the dim-witted guitar player with a goofy smile and a delusionally high regard for his appeal to the ladies, and Booth, the hyper-intense voice of reason and understated sarcasm, was merely very, very funny six month ago. But now, like a classical duo that just needs time in front of audiences to evolve their playing into making music, Booth & Pat are developing into a well-oiled laugh-riot machine. The quirky absurdity of their verbal give-and-take slickly glides on new layers of polish without losing any of the spontaneity that made it work so well in the first place. These guys are hilarious.

When they do covers, there's always a twist, like their riff on Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback," where they imagine all the out-of-style things they can bring back. ("I'm bringing dial-up back / Those slow connections are where it's at.") What seems to begin as a normal rendition of Lennon and McCartney's "Let It Be" turns into a medley of every imaginable song with the same chord structure. Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" is slowed-down and sung with such heartfelt sincerity that the song itself becomes the joke.

They also do Frankfort's original tunes, the best of which has him emoting, "Where have all the straight girls gone," (sounding just enough like Paula Cole's plea concerning cowboys) after a history of girlfriends break it off with him by saying they're lesbians. I can't give away big joke from Frankfort's new idea for a wedding song, but it's extremely inappropriate and extremely funny, as is Daniels' shocked reaction.
The pair keeps topping themselves with a medley of popular songs that feature nonsense lyrics ("coo-coo-cachoo," "hi-de-hi-de-hi," "doo wa ditty ditty dum ditty doo," etc.) and a big Spice Girls medley is terrific fun.

But what makes the act really work is the frequently hilarious between-song patter that establishes the on-stage personas which carry over into the musical performances. With nary a punch line they deliver solid character humor that brings a 21st Century edginess to the old tradition of comedy duos.
-Michael Dale, Broadwayworld
- Broadway World

The classic showbiz tale generally has a star getting laryngitis and an understudy getting a big break. For Booth Daniels and Patrick Frankfort, it was more like this: Somebody blew off a gig, so, well, we can’t let that empty stage go to waste, can we?

Last fall Mr. Frankfort, above left, a singer-songwriter with a comic side, was booked for a solo engagement at the Mean Fiddler on West 47th Street and asked Mr. Daniels, above right, a longtime friend from when both studied musical theater at the Boston Conservatory, to provide some backup vocals. When another act on the bill didn’t show up, Mr. Frankfort, 31, and Mr. Daniels, 34, began winging it to fill the time, and the audience seemed to get a kick out of their easy, goofy rapport.

“I think through sheer stubbornness we refused to leave the stage,” Mr. Frankfort recalled. That was the genesis of the act they call simply Booth and Pat, a pairing that is part cabaret, part stand-up comedy, part improv. They have since appeared at spots including Don’t Tell Mama, and on Thursday (and again on June 27) they will roll out a new full-length show at the Duplex that they’re calling “Slow Children Playing.” Expect routines that defy genre labels. Their take on “Let It Be” starts out pleasantly tuneful, but somehow they get distracted in the chorus and toss in a sampling of every other song that ever used the same chord progression (of which, it turns out, there are a lot).

Some musing about their favorite lyrics turns into a medley of every gibberish lyric you can think of, from the “Minnie the Moocher” refrain to “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida.” Then there’s Mr. Frankfort’s song “The Straight Girls.” It’s what a guy writes after more than one woman dumps him by announcing that she’s a lesbian. “It’s fashionable to be gay,” Mr. Daniels said, offering his sidekick some comfort as they described the origin of the song. “Or,” Mr. Frankfort replied, “maybe it’s just fashionable to date me and turn gay.”
- NEIL GENZLINGER - The New York Times