My brother and I are huge basketball fans and we did our share of playing in our youth. We even attended 76ers basketball camp when we were kids, but my bro and I got our share of people calling us chink and saying that we should go back to where we came from. (Meanwhile, we’re both born here) I hope those idiots who made me cry watch Jeremy Lin and feel like dumbasses. Because they are, yo.

P.S. ESPN…are you serious with that ‘Chink in the Armor’ headline? You are seriously dumb.

P.P.S SNL, love your skit this week.

And also, shout out to everyone involved in the short ’1800 Get YOUR SH*T Back,’ including Nina Daniels, Chad Jasper, Mikio Nakazato, Melissa Barlow, and Christopher P. You’re beyond awesome.

Of course, my big break happened when I convinced my uncle (Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo) to let me intern at his studio. I started out there doing typical intern stuff, cleaning, errands, etc. but when I was given opportunities to write music for projects I gave it my all and did well and soon I was a full-time composer. I really learned my craft at his studio, Mutato Muzika. In a single day, I’d score music for commercials, video games, TV, and films. It was high energy and quick deadlines. I loved it. Writing at such a fast pace really comes naturally to me now. I don’t sit in front of a keyboard and wonder. I sit down, throw my hands on an instrument, hit record and trust my gut.

That’s awesome. BTW, I love the mullet that you wear in ‘Thunderdikk.’ Do you wear it out in public? Why or why not?
Ha, no I don’t get dressed up and parade around in that outfit. That look, that band, started as a reaction to working on Sunset Strip and watching people walk by who clearly wished the 80′s hair metal days had never ended! Then I had to write some 80s rock for a commercial and I thought, “Wow this is kinda fun”. So I called up my buddy J.P. who is a real rocker and told him we were starting a rock band called Thunderdikk and we were only gonna write songs about partying, sex, and rock and roll. It all came together way too easily and we’ve actually had great success getting our songs into tons of TV shows.

Okay, let’s talk about your art that is shown in galleries all across America. And your current one here in LA. Tell us about it. What are your influences when you create?
Well, I just put together a group show at the Angel City Brewery Gallery. It was a Christmas show, of sorts. The influence for this show was Krampus, an Austrian folk legend. His story is that he comes with St. Nick but instead of giving out presents, he punishes the bad kids. He is a really interesting character and there are many depictions of him floating around out there. Typically he looks like a rascally, hairy, devil fellow. I portrayed him in a few typical Christmas scenes and a few atypical scenes. In the largest drawing, Krampus has knocked the father and Santa unconscious and is spanking the mother while the children watch. Another features him collecting three brats for punishment on Christmas Eve. A few more modern sketches feature Krampus as more of a neighborhood nuisance, pissing in the pool, tagging, etc.

Haha. Thanks for introducing us to Krampus. So, as an artist/composer, what is your process when you’re asked to score a project? Is it something that flows naturally or do you have a way that you approach it?
Well, it really differs from a video game to a film, for example. Let’s focus on a film. generally the director and/or producer will tell me there thoughts about what emotions they might want the music to evoke and what moments in the film can be accented by the music. Often they will have already put in some ‘temp” music that comes close to the mood they are thinking, such as a song from a band they like.

So I take those things into consideration, watch the scene and start with an instrument that I feel is appropriate. For instance, a marimba. I will pull up a marimba on my keyboard and play along to the scene, trying to play the sound of “sadness” or “danger” or whatever.

You’re married to the uber-talented Lisa McIntyre, with whom you have another band. Tell us about that. Also, how do you separate work from home life when you’re both working on music together?
Yes, we have a band together called Hellbeast of The Night. We call it good music for late nights and bad choices. It’s rock music that makes you want to dance, essentially. As far as the separating home life from work, well, I don’t know. From my side, I just try not to push our music into what we are doing all the time. We work on it when we want to and I think that is a healthy attitude. I have a much higher tolerance for being in the studio than my wife does, so when she gets restless, we stop and I work on something else. I’m always juggling a few albums.

I think the trick is to remember that your relationship is what is important and doing music together should just be a fun activity. I don’t mean to minimize the importance of our band in our lives, we do take it quite seriously, but if it starts to be something that is too stressful for the relationship then it’s just not worth it.

You’re living your dream, but do you have advice for artists that haven’t made it yet or are just stuck?
There is no substitute for hard work. If you are just stuck, take a class or some lessons in the field that you are in. For instance, I take music lessons on new instruments all the time. Or sometimes I will just study a particular style on an instrument I already play. Right now I am taking piano lessons, focusing only on old boogie-woogie style blues. I am also taking vocal lessons to become a better rock screamer. The point is to learn something new or to approach your art in a different way, but above all, just keep doing it!

Some fun ones…

Last meal on earth?
My mom’s fried chicken, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Secret to a good relationship?
Mutual thoughtfulness and respect.

Jon Stewart or Colbert?
You can’t go wrong with either, but I am a huge Colbert fan. If I was asked to perform on Colbert, my head would explode.

Thanks for the interview Silas, and if you’d like to check out more his work, check out his website.

It’s weird that with the holidays over and 2012 on the horizon, I feel like my life outlook has changed a lot. I’ve learned a crapload about life, but there’s so much that I don’t know jack about. Which is what I’ll probably explore with my writing and comedy.

And if you’re going through some tough shit in your life, just know that THINGS DO GET BETTER. Figure out how to deal with your situation in a positive way even when things seem really bleak. Uh..trust me, my life is not perfect now, but I have things to be happy about now. I’m not a bible thumper, but prayer, running, and writing jokes have gotten me through many tough times. Maybe it’ll do the same for you.

Oh, and to all you peeps who’ve visited me at Boo’s Philly Cheezsteaks and Hoagies, thanks for being so cool. And if you wanna listen to the NPR piece, I’ve embedded it below. (P.S. Things are getting better for my family since the piece aired. In case you were wondering)

Case files of our clients…

Those 80′s Bamboo Earrings…GURL…these are 99 cents.

And of course, some stills from our shoot. My character name is Grace “Lakeesha” Lee. For realz.

Anywayz, just wanted to show you my mom’s Thanksgiving centerpiece from church and also some pics from the Boo’s Philly Cheesesteak opening today. Thank you to everyone (friends/family/customers) who came out and we’re down to do it all again for @shopsmall biz tomorrow. Really awesome!

Feel free to follow Boo’s on Twitter and like them on FB.

Dudes/Gals, I’m tired and in need of some vino. Or perhaps a shot… (Thanks Geraldine/Eric/Dillon..love you guys!!!)

The duo have definitely paid their comedy dues with Flierl working on everything from ‘Joey’ to ‘Conan,’ as well as directing/writing several short films shown at Film Columbia and Cannes. Chernoff has written for Adult Swim, MTV, has appeared on ‘The Sarah Silverman Program, Jimmy Kimmel, and ‘The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.’

I had a chance to ask Alison and Scott a few questions about their current gigs at ‘Conan’, spoofs, and a couple of random questions, of course.

So you two just met right? Just kidding. How did you guys come up with the concept to read TV Guide letters in a funny web series? And also, tell us a bit about yourselves, like what hood you grew up in.
While working together at “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien,” we used to read TV Guide letters out loud to one another at rehearsal. We always cracked ourselves up and would talk about bringing them to life, and then during our forced hiatus between “The Tonight Show” and “Conan,” we had the free time to make our TV Guide dreams come true.

Alison: I grew up in Connecticut and attended Ithaca College in upstate NY.

Scott: I grew up in Los Angeles, but always considered myself a small town boy, like Steve Perry once sang. I went to college at UC Santa Cruz, but the bright lights of web series lured me back to LA.

You guys also work on ‘Conan.’ What’s a typical work day for you like? Do you read Shakespearean sonnets to each other during your lunch breaks?
We work on and help with comedy bits all day, write and read a lot of emails, go to rehearsal and then eat cupcakes in the green room during show tapings. We prefer reading TV Guide Letters over Shakespeare. They have more staying power.

How do you pick which shows to spoof? Why not ‘Hart of Dixie’ or ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta?’ Do TV Guide letter writers not write passionate letters about those shows?
We don’t choose by show, we choose by the awesomeness of the letters. The more the letter makes us laugh, the better.

Ali, you tweeted this. retro episode Hilarious. Which of these episodes are your favorites? Scott, we need to see more of Skip Dalton and that wig. Will he return in a future episode?
Alison: Though I love all of our episodes, my favorite is probably “NCIS,” a musical episode, featuring singers/dancers in the show’s demographic of over 50, singing an original song containing quotes from letters raving about NCIS.

Scott: Every episode is like a little baby to me. They keep me up all night editing and I can’t choose a favorite. My least favorite is the one where I eat soup (CSI Miami). In regards to Skip Dalton, we may have to comb through old issues to see if Skip wrote any more letters, but Skip does hold a special place in my heart and I’m pitching Alison on a spinoff series for him right now. Maybe he becomes a fashion detective…

Congrats on being featured in Huff Po, and both of you performed at the ‘Cross Section Comedy Show’ recently.  What’s next for the two of you?
TV Guide Letter Theater is being featured at the Los Angeles Comedy Festival and people can see it on the big screen on November 17 at Acme Comedy Theater. After that, we’re assuming Oscars. And we’re also writing a pilot for a completely new project having nothing to do with TV Guide, though we hope for it to one day be featured in TV Guide and have people write letters about it. Lucrative TV deals are welcome.

Your TV deals are on the horizon. Fo sho. And some random questions…
Who is the most annoying person on twitter?
Steve Martin. Okay, we get it, you really love us. There’s other people to retweet.

Quotes you live by:
Alison: “A witty fool is better than a foolish wit.”
Scott: “A witty fool is not better than a foolish wit. In fact, it’s far worse.”

Last meal on earth:
Alison: Sushi and ice cream.
Scott: Chili dog at Carney’s which is a hot dog place located inside a train.

LA or NY
LA.

One more question. My parents are opening Boo’s, a cheesesteak/hoagie shop.
A) Will you be coming to the shop?
Yes times two.

B) Cheesesteaks or hoagies?
Both.

Thanks you guys. And for more with Ali and Scott, follow them on twitter.

@scottchernoff
@2degreesofalie
Oh, and Steve Martin…if you so desire
@SteveMartinToGo