Nick Cutelli Opens 'Shaken Not Heard' Sketch Show at The Second City in Chicago

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Nick Cutelli (right) with Ben Dungan

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (10/31/2011)(readMedia)-- When Nick Cutelli was in fourth grade, he discovered his desire to make people laugh. Now, several years later, Cutelli makes people laugh professionally as a writer, director and performer of comedic routines and musicals at The Second City in Chicago.

He recently opened a new sketch show he co-wrote and directs, "Shaken Not Heard," which takes a comical look at the ridiculous behavior everyone exhibits that is perceived as normal. Cutelli co-wrote and directs the play, which is playing at The Second City's de Maat Studio Theatre. He said he was inspired to write "Shaken Not Heard" this summer after completing "Summer of Our Discontent," a sketch show he helped write and performed in at Studio Be.

"I was just ready to take it up a notch and write my own show ... I just felt that it was time to really put myself out there. I had all these ideas and characters that I wanted to try," he said.

Cutelli said he could not have done it alone, and he knew he wanted to work with Ben Dungan, a graduate of many well respected sketch/sitcom writing programs in Chicago.

"I just thought he had a great mind set, and we work well together in creating material," he said.

Cutelli said his other inspiration for writing the sketch show came from his everyday life. He also wanted the show to be based on humor from other cultures while also featuring a PG rating. He based the characters on real people who he knows and has observed.

"The comedy focuses more on strong relationships and points of view, because in our minds, we can do no wrong," he said, laughing.

Cutelli does not seem content to work on only one project at a time. Along with "Shaken Not Heard," he is working toward getting accepted into Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival 2012. With The Team, he worked at Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival 2011. Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival is one of the largest sketch fests on the planet, with sketch teams from around the world applying to participate. Cutelli is also working on a new sketch show with Dungan which is scheduled to open in the winter. Also, his sketch group The Team are discussing coming together to produce a new show. Right now he is also performing at The Second City's de Maat Studio Theatre with a musical improv group called "Clown Car to Sicily." The group takes suggestions and improvises a complete made-up 30-minute musical based on the suggestion.

"I love Chicago, and I love comedy," Cutelli said. "I don't like to think of it as a job. Comedy is the hardest art form to perform/create. I love every aspect about it."

Over the summer Cutelli was also on The Second City's musical house team Infinite Sundaes. They performed musical improv short-form games and full musicals in The Second City's Donny's Skybox Theatre.

"That was a summer run where we performed every Sunday night," he said.

Cutelli, of St. Louis, Mo., received his bachelor's degree in acting and directing from Southeast Missouri State University in May 2006 and spent the next year and a half in St. Louis working as an actor in theatre, modeling and doing film work.

"I owe the Southeast Department of Theatre and Dance a lot, because they really helped to shape me into the artist I am today. I could write a novel about what I learned there and how I use it out in the real world today. My directing style/performance style is based mainly on Dr. Kenn Stilson's (professor and chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance) book that was required reading when I was at Southeast. Before I left, I did make sure to take a copy with me that I still refer back to all the time. I'm just waiting to get the call to come teach a workshop at Southeast or perform," he said.

Cutelli said that while he was in St. Louis, he saw a two-week intensive session offered in fall 2008 for improvisation and sketch comedy on The Second City's website and could not pass up the opportunity.

"I decided to sign up for the class and book a trip to Chicago to see what it was all about," Cutelli said. "I packed up some clothes and my computer and moved to Chicago. It was a bold move, because I went by myself, but I regret nothing."

After Cutelli completed the two-week session, he began taking acting, directing and producing classes and auditioned for the conservatory studies program. Cutelli graduated from the conservatory studies program in January 2010. In March 2011 Cutelli graduated from The Second City's Musical Improvisation program, in which he learned the art of musical improv.

"Improvising complete musicals/songs in a scene, it's amazing, because you never know what the piano player is going to play, and you have to create a song using various tools/formats of music," he said.

Cutelli has put on several improv and sketch shows in his time at The Second City. Some of them include "Le Coq Plastic A Farce," "Lessoned Learned," "Scumbag Millionaire," "Social Retardation: There's an App for That" and his most current show, "The Team." More recently, he worked on "FedExpectations," a show for the advanced sketch program which played in The Second City's de Maat Studio Theatre; "Peter Pandemic," a sketch show he helped write and perform in with The Team at The Second City's SkyBox Theatre; "Viking Women Saga," a sketch show that was based off an old black-and-white B-rated movie that played at Stage 773; "The F Word," a sketch show at The Second City's Donny's Skybox Theatre; "Planes across America," a sketch show at The Second City's Donny's Skybox Theatre; and "Clown Car to Sicily Said Cheer the F$%K Up," a musical sketch/improve show performed at The Second City's Donny's Skybox Theatre.

Cutelli said he and his fellow cast members spend each week preparing for upcoming shows by having a pitch meeting to discuss the previous show's good material and mishaps and watch tapings of the shows to see audiences' reactions.

"Going into the week, we then start to focus on and develop the strong material from the last weekend's show and throw in ideas and material for the show the following weekend. A few days before the show, we run a few scenes and play around with a few ideas," Cutelli explained. "Nothing is ever set in stone because the show is improv and all made up on the spot."

The Second City encourages originality in its students' comedic shows, so each member of the cast is responsible for creating material as well as performing in the shows, Cutelli said.

"I get to develop my own ideas and material there. I can try out anything I want. I don't really have to follow a script, because I get to write my own script, and it is always changing," Cutelli said. "I enjoy that everything we focus on is entertaining the audience and making them laugh."

Cutelli said the advice he received from professors and the experience he gained in theatre while at Southeast is invaluable to him in his time at The Second City, and he encourages current and future Southeast students to take advantage of the opportunities the University offers.

"Get your degree and jump into the real world. Take a chance in life because you never know what's going to happen," Cutelli encourages Southeast students.