In the last few years, comedy has become more and more like indie rock. Many comedy acts have been playing indie rock venues, and indie labels have begun releasing comedy albums. Comedians like David Cross and Patton Oswalt were some of the first to take this approach with their work, and now many have followed suit. Never has the collision of indie rock and comedy been more apparent than with Seattle’s Pleaseeasaur, who will be performing tonight at the Conservatory in Oklahoma City.
Pleaseeasaur is composed of JP Hasson and Thomas Hurley III. Hasson is the actual performer, while Hurley handles projections, stage props and costume designs. The duo’s unique musical sound often takes the shape of late night infomercials or public service announcements.
“Pleaseeasaur’s ever-expanding field of inspiration is similar to that of a deep-space vacuum…where equal parts surreal lunacy, pop orthodoxy, literary syntax, infomercial music and sheer idiocy are culled, cultivated and transformed into classic Pleaseeasaur song form…then dispensed with glee to pleasure seekers of every ilk amongst their rapidly growing world-wide cult following,” the duo said on its MySpace.
Because the duo is a unique blend of indie rock and comedy, they tend to play shows with both comedians and bands, but aren’t sure which they prefer.
“It really depends on the band or comedian,” said Pleaseeasaur’s JP Hasson. “If it’s going to be a comedian, we prefer Neil Hamburger. It works best when it’s like a theme night. It’s no good if we are playing with some emo band from Omaha that’s really loud.”
Listening to group’s music, it may be hard to tell what has influenced them.
“I have been influenced by a lot of both music and comedy,” Hasson said. “The Dead Milkmen were always my favorite band. Also comedian Albert Brooks, specifically for Pleaseeasaur a lot of the stuff is influenced by late night infomercials.”
The group is currently signed to Comedy Central Records, who released their latest CD/DVD combo, “The Amazing Adventures of Pleaseeasaur.”
“Some people from Comedy Central saw us in New York with the Presidents of the United States of America back in October of 2005,” Hasson said. “They had a really great time and loved the show. They offered us a deal just a few days later. It was a really quick process.”
The DVD portion of “The Amazing Adventures of Pleaseeasaur” features lots of the duo’s music videos as well as a 30-minute cartoon.
“The cartoon kind of strings all our music videos together,” Hasson said. “We did all the art and stuff for the cartoon and then took it the guys at Adult Swim who did ‘Sealab 2021’ and ‘Frisky Dingo,’ and they made it move. They animated it for us. We actually met those guys at a Neil Hamburger show in Atlanta.”
