Sketch Comedy Group Elephant Larry Presents ‘Con Air’

I spoke with the boys of NYC-based sketch comedy group Elephant Larry (Alexander Zalben, Geoff Haggerty, Stefan Lawrence, Chris Principe, and Jeff Solomon) before the premiere of their brand new sketch comedy show, “Elephant Larry Presents Con Air.” The themed show is a set of all-new sketches inspired by and set in the world of the 1997 blockbuster film Con Air, which asked the question: “What would happen if you took the world’s worst convicts and put them on one airplane? Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

What would be even more awesome is adding some sketch comedy to the action. Sure, the movie had Nicholas Cage, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, John Cusack, and more of the biggest stars of the ’90s. But “Elephant Larry Presents Con Air” has… Elephant Larry. The sketch group has been performing together since 2002, and was selected as one of Back Stage’s “Top 10 Comedy Best Bets” in 2004. There are no elephants involved, nor is anyone in the group named Larry.

Read the full Q&A for more about Elephant Larry, Con Air, and learning to be funny. “Elephant Larry Presents Con Air” debuts April 11 at 8 p.m. at The PIT in NYC.

How has being a part of Elephant Larry and the sketch community led to more creative opportunities?

Stefan Lawrence: Sketch comedy isn’t exactly a cash cow. This is definitely a way for us to do exactly what we wanna do. So I don’t think we’ve ever even considered doing it any other way, because it’s a way for us to have total control over the kind of stuff that we like.

Video Interview with Elephant Larry

Q&A with Elephant Larry

In preparation for SketchFest NYC, amNewYork spoke with Chris Principe, 27, and Jeff Solomon, 26, two members of the New York-based five-piece sketch comedy group Elephant Larry, which formed in 2002.

There is nobody named Larry in the group, nor are there elephants.

They will be performing Saturday, June 9 at 10pm.

How do you define sketch comedy?
Jeff: I think what’s funny about sketch comedy is that people tend to know what it is, and not know that they know, actually. So if you say, “Oh, it’s like Saturday Night Live,” they’re like, “Oh, that thing, yeah.” And then if people don’t like SNL, you say, “It’s like SNL, but funny.”

Chris: [SketchFest] is cool, because you get to see a lot of different groups, and yeah, it’s all sketch comedy, but there are so many different ways to take it that you don’t realize. And especially for outsiders, people who aren’t familiar with the form. It’s so much more than Saturday Night Live.