Two Girls for $5 is a comedy duo birthed in Boston and performing all over this great nation. Self described as a “portrayal of lonely ladies who do desperate things”, they have a way of making that fun to watch (and read!) instead of just sad and uncomfortable. You may have caught them during their run last year at The PIT or more recently at the LA Comedy Festival. They will be performing as part of SketchFest NYC’s Thursday night line-up. 11pm to be exact.
Let’s start with the basics. Where are you from? Where do you live now?
Daiva: I grew up in Florida and Maine, now live in New York
Cathleen: I grew up in Gaithersburg, MD. I currently live in Boston.
What do you do besides Two Girls for $5?
Cathleen: I sell shoes for cash! I work within the sketch and improv Community in Boston and beyond doing all sorts of projects. I do the occasional dramatic play to cleanse my soul.
Daiva: I work as a wedding planner with my mother, which I find magically ironic, considering the show that Cathleen and I do. Our show is about women desperate for love but who have a hard time finding it. For example we have a silent piece set to Adagio for Strings - which is a parody of the end scene of Platoon but with bridesmaids.
So Cathleen, what was your favorite soul cleansing dramatic play/role?
Cathleen - I did a show called P.S. Page Me Later which was a multi-media collection of scenes based on pieces from Found Magazine. One piece in particular, written by Steve Almond, was a monologue where I played a woman desperately trying to get sexual/emotional attention from her husband who was home on leave from the war. It was a lovely snapshot of a dysfunctional relationship.
How did you get to sketch comedy? Why? Do you prefer it to other types of comedy or performance and why?
Cathleen: I started off like many who do sketch, as an improviser. I studied at Second City Chicago in the 90’s and floated around that scene for a few years. I moved to Boston in 2001 to work at Improv Asylum, a sketch/improv theater. I really enjoyed the collaborative experience of sketch writing and felt that it was a satisfying way of incorporating the creativity of improv in a more consistent and solid vision. Daiva and I used to do one improv scene per performance in the early stages of our show - we quickly abandoned it because it always ended with me mounting Daiva as the lights faded…awkward.
Daiva: After mime school, I came back to Boston and took classes at the Improv Asylum. I then joined their mainstage cast and after awhile, discovered I preferred perfecting the delivery of a punch line to being frozen with fear during an improv scene because I had no idea what to say. Then, when Cathleen and I started writing the show together, and we figured out a way to merge improv and sketch (excluding our scripted improv scene phase) it became even
more satisfying.
Wait a second, Daiva! Mime school?! That’s awesome, is that true? Tell me about it!
Daiva- Yes, it’s true. At 22 I ran away to Marcel Marceau’s School of Mime in Paris. It was pretty intense. We learned the usual stuff like, how to pick up something really heavy, how to walk against the wind, and how to get trapped in a shrinking invisible box…but then we also did a lot of poetic things. I was amazed by how much you could do…silently. I think it helped my acting out a lot, especially my comedy. We have two silent pieces in the show, and it feels nice to throw a little mime into our repertoire.
Do you have any other specific influences people (or places or things) that you look up to as performers, writers, etc?
We really look towards the people who are doing comedy right now the performers who are working their way up like us. There is so much excitement and energy within the sketch/alternative comedy scene both online and on stage. It’s a unique time for performers and writers.
How do you generate your material?
We watch Oprah, eat Good n’ Plenty’s and drink wine. Then the magic happens…
Do you prefer red or white? Any particular varietal?
We like red wine when we’re working. After a lot of research, we’ve found that the $11 and under bottles pair best with Good N’ Plenty’s. We get cranky if the Good N’ Plenty’s aren’t fresh but we eat them anyway.
How did you come up with your name, what does it mean?
We used to call ourselves DCDC, which were our initials combined. It didn’t take us long to realize that DCDC as a name for a comedy group sucked so we started to think about new names. I was teaching an improv class in Boston and was telling my students about our show. One of the more macho guys in the class said “two girls for five bucks? I wouldn’t miss that.” It was catchy in a trashy sort of way - we stuck with it.
Have you come up against any struggles being a woman in comedy, either general or specific?
You get labeled as a woman in comedy. Are you a hot girl who says
inappropriate things? Are you a lesbian who says inappropriate things? Are you a fat girl who says inappropriate things? I suppose men do as well but it seems to count more for women. Women are also considered culturally handicapped when it comes to comedy so people have a tendency to assign you more credit than you deserve for being funny, as though it is incredible that a woman could carry the focus of an evening of comedy or be a headliner.
Do you see any certain trends within sketch comedy? Do you see any trends within sketch comedy specifically with regard to women?
Ladies are doing very smart comedy right now. It’s fantastic!
Do you find a comedy background to be a plus in other television or
entertainment industry experience? Please explain.
Absolutely. Comfort with improv and comedic timing can carry you far in the world of entertainment. If you have a strong comedy background, chances are you have a good stage presence, which can translate to TV and film pretty well.
What is next for you? Or What do you look forward to in your career as Two Girls for $5?
We would love to develop our show for TV and film, so we’re always keeping an eye out for those opportunities. But we do really feel at home with our live show. It would be a dream come true to have a fully produced stage production in New York. And by fully produced, I mean someone else pays for it and we get paid to do it.
Is there a special nugget of advice, or perhaps a golden turd someone dumped in your lap that helps you deal in a business of rejection and judgment?
Cathleen: I operate under the mindset that if you do something long enough you will inevitably succeed. I think people “don’t make it” because they stop doing whatever it is they are trying to do. If you can live without fancy things then you can keep the struggle going as long as need be.
Daiva: an acting teacher once said, “it’s never about you. They have an image in their head of what they want before you walk in the door. You’re either it, or you’re not. Just because you don’t get the part doesn’t mean you’re not good enough.” It’s a lot like dating…
Any fun stories or triumphant tales?
We once performed in a puppet theater as part of a fundraiser for Magicians Without Borders. Turned out to be one of the best audiences we ever had. Those magicians can do some amazing things…
Are there any other groups/bands/books/shows/street performers who are women that you would like to shout out and have more people know about?
We love the two lady duos - Somebody’s in the Doghouse and The Steamy Bohemians. We’re also big fans of Becky Yamamoto and Giulia Rozzi. We saw LA comic Morgan Murphy a few weeks ago, she was pretty rad.
When you were little, what did you “want to be when you grow up”?
Cathleen: An archeologist who performed on Saturday Night Live.
Daiva: I wanted to be a mermaid…or a lobsterman.
Check the ladies out at SketchFest NYC on Thursday night 11pm or at their website. www.twogirlsforfivebucks.com