FUNNY BEFORE MONEY
COMEDIANS PURSUE THEIR PASSION BEYOND THE PAYCHECK

By Chuck Crisafulli
Excerpt from The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly International Edition)
July 15 – 21, 2003

Austin Tichenor is not by nature an uptight, prickly authority figure, but he has made a decent living playing such characters in small roles on TV series including Fox’s “24,” ABC’s “Alias” and NBC’s “The West Wing.” It is hardly unusual for an actor’s roles not to match their temperament – that is, after all, the point of acting – but viewers who catch Tichenor as a somber lawyer or government functionary might be surprised that, away from the soundstages, he devotes his skills and passion to commanding a small comedic empire.

In terms of Hollywood industry, comedy is dealt with largely as a profitable business. But for many performers, comedy is a beloved art form – and if paying jobs do not satisfy their artistic urges, then they find their own ways to obtain that satisfaction. Throughout the comedy landscape, in small theaters and offbeat venues, comics with talent that does not get tapped fully in mainstream film and TV work – and performers with sensibilities and points of view that might not be entirely “broadcastable” – are finding interesting, often hilarious ways to work out their deep-seated drive to be funny.

Tichenor, a writer and performer for the Reduced Shakespeare Company, has – with co-managing partner Reed Martin – created and toured such ambitiously themed comedic stage shows as “The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)” and “The Complete History of America (abridged).” The RSC is in Washington for the summer, staging “All the Great Books (abridged)” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and will take that show to next month’s 57th Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. A U.K. branch is running three of RSC’s shows on London’s West End, and much of the group’s work can be seen and heard on various CD, video and DVD releases.

“I spend my time with the Reduced Shakespeare Company doing nothing but comedy. And on TV, I play nothing but humorless lawyers, doctors and stern, Caucasian guys in ties – which is fine because in each case, I’m being an ensemble player, but I’m using very different skills,” Tichenor says. “But no matter what work comes my way in film or TV, I don’t foresee ever leaving the RSC because it’s too much fun and too important a creative outlet – it’s the ultimate ‘day job.’”

Adds Martin: “There are some towns, like D.C., where we are actually famous – we count as celebrities. Then there’s everywhere else, including Hollywood, where nobody’s ever heard of us.”