Long Islander and “Chelsea Lately” Comedian to Perform at Westbury
If you have ever watched the “Chelsea Lately” show on the the E! channel, you have probably seen comedian Chris Franjola. A Ronkonkoma native, Chris is one of Chelesea’s comedy writers, a frequent “round table” guest on the show, and performs in many of the skits as well. His impersonation of Bruce Jenner during a spoof of the Kardashians is hysterical.
I was lucky enough to talk with Chris about the show as well as his upcoming performance at the Theatre at Westbury.
LI Exchange: I write about things to do on Long Island.
Chris Franjola: Oh, really. That must be tough. You’re able to find things to do on Long Island? Congratulations.
LI Exchange: So I guess this is why you left Long Island.
Chris Franjola: I really do enjoy going back to the island; when I was back there at Christmas I wound up at a Cheesecake Factory in the Smith Haven Mall. Maybe I should have read your column.
LI Exchange: How did you get started in comedy?
Chris Franjola: I was working as an apprentice electrician in New York City and just started doing stand-up at night. Then I came out to LA to pursue it further, made some friends, stayed in it, and now things are going well.
LI Exchange: You write for “Chelsea Lately” and appear on it as well. All of the comedians on the show seem to be very friendly with each other.
Chris Franjola: Yes, I am one of the writers, am on the show, and go on the tour with Chelsea and the “Comedians of Chelsea Lately”. We all get along really well which is rare on a television show; we actually do like each other, hang out after the shows and go on vacations together, too.
LI Exchange: When I watch you on the show, I can almost see your mind working before you comment on the story you are all discussing. Do you get the topics ahead of time?
Chris Franjola: A lot of the others will prep before hand but I don’t like to do that; I like to make it up as I go along. We get the topics in the morning; we go through websites, etc. and try to find celebrity-based stories to talk about.
LI Exchange: Do you enjoy doing celebrity-impersonations?
Chris Franjola: Fortunately, I don’t do as many as say, Heather (comedian Heather McDonald) does; she is great at it. I just get anybody who is tall, not so much an impression, I just have the right height. Actually we just filmed something that will be on in a couple of weeks, where the real Bruce Jenner shows up. He and I compete, I am in my Bruce Jenner-1976 outfit and he puts his on and it’s pretty funny. The Kardashians are pretty good sports-we make fun of them, but they are always nice, they come over and help us out with it.
LI Exchange: The roundtable discussions can get pretty rough on celebrities-I wonder if you alienate anyone.
Chris Franjola: We alienate quite a few. But if we hear someone is interested in coming on the show we try not to talk about them. We have since layed off Jennifer Aniston a little bit since she is a fan of the show. She came on as a guest and was nice to us.
LI Exchange: Tell me about the upcoming Westbury performance.
Chris Franjola: We’ll be there on the 27th; I will be with Whitney Cummings and Jo Koy. Those guys are really funny. It should be a good show. Chuy (Chuy Bravo, Chelsea’s “assistant”) comes out in the beginning and introduces everybody. On this tour we actually give him a t-shirt cannon so he can shoot t-shirts into the audience. It gives him something to do.
LI Exchange: Any chance of running into you and Chuy on Long Island?
Chris Franjola: Maybe at the Cheesecake Factory at Smith Haven Mall. I’ll take Chuy over there.
“Comedians of Chelsea Lately” March 27th 8 pm
Theatre at Westbury
Brush Hollow Road
Westbury, NY
Tickets available through www.livenation.com
“Chelsea Lately” can be seen on E! Television, weeknights at 11 pm
