Laughing Until it Hurts: Winnie (Irwin) and Rachel (Ben) of the Kinsey Sicks

By Gregg Shapiro
April 16, 2003

Kinsey Sicks perform in two Windy City Media Group shows, Thursday, April 17 and Saturday, April 19 at Circuit. 7:30 showtime, best to arrive by 6:45 for seating; Tickets $30 at (773) 871-7610. Circuit is at 3641 N. Halsted. Co-sponsored by American Airlines, Bud Light and House of Blues Hotel. Friday, April 18, they perform 8 p.m. at College of DuPage, McAninch Center, 425 Fawell Bklvd, Glen Ellyn, (630) 942-4000.

I guess I could say that you had to be there, but both Irwin Keller and Ben Schatz of the Kinsey Sicks had me in stitches when I recently interviewed them. You'll just have to take my word for it. While you're at it, you can either take my word for it when I say that a show by The Kinsey Sicks is one of the most complete theatrical experiences you will ever have, or you can actually see them when they perform in your city or town.

The "dragapella" evening has male energy (members include Irwin Keller, Ben Schatz, Kevin Smith Kirkwood and Chris Dilley), female energy (the members' drag personae include Keller's Winnie, Schatz's Rachel, Kirkwood's Trixie and Dilley's Trampolina), touching dramatic moments, side-splitting comedy, and some of the most remarkable a cappella harmonizing you are likely to hear in your lifetime.

Gregg Shapiro: How long does it take for you to transform into Winnie?

Irwin Keller: It's taken my whole goddamned life (laughs). On a nightly basis? About an hour. It's kind of like becoming a Klingon or something.

GS: How long does it take you to transform into Rachel?

Ben Schatz: Physically?

GS: Yes. Spiritually, emotionally.

BS: Physically, it takes about an hour. Emotionally, it takes about two seconds, and sometimes less than that. Which is most unfortunate for my personal life.

GS: Your parody lyrics are right on the money, striking a balance between humor and homage. When did you first discover that you had a knack for writing parody?

BS: I don't know if I've discovered it yet.

GS: Oh, come on. You must know that they are wonderful.

BS: I'm just teasing. I'm pretending to be modest so that people will like me more. It's funny, I can remember being in third grade and writing parodies. I did it in college, I did it for years, but it never occurred to me that it was a marketable skill. When we started with the group, when we did our first street performance, I don't think we were doing very many parodies at that point. Over time with the group, I discovered that if I work hard I can vaguely pass mediocrity.

GS: You definitely succeed, because they are delightful. Are there any songs or songwriters that are sacred or is it open season when it comes to parody?

BS: Oh, it's open season. It's open season in terms of what I'm willing to write. It's not necessarily open season in terms of what the group is willing to accept. There are many, many more things that I have written that the group has not (laughs) seen fit to inflict upon an audience.

GS: Have you heard Mark Weigle's cover of the Kinsey Sicks song "AZT"?

IK: Yeah, I heard a rough cut of it when he first recorded it.

GS: How does it feel to have a Kinsey Sicks song covered by another artist?

IK: It's fabulous (laughs). It sounds so great. I love Mark. Mark and the Kinsey Sicks are longtime friends. I was thrilled that he wanted to do it. What's funny is the way in which music undergoes a transformation when it becomes something a cappella. I became so used to hearing what we sing and how we sing it and how it sounds as an a cappella piece. Then I heard it with a band and they made it sound like a Jackson Five.

GS: Totally fleshed out.

IK: It was hilarious in a very different way. It has that Motown sound to it. I was laughing out loud; I thought it was so wonderful.

GS: Speaking of Mark, you co-wrote the song "Leaning Close," on the Sicks In The City disc, with Weigle. What was it like writing a song with a non-Kinsey member?

IK: (laughs) I don't know what conclusions to draw from it. It was wonderful doing this with Mark. I had written lyrics and music, but I was very unhappy with the music. I was at a block and I didn't know how to move forward. I called Mark on the phone and said, "What do you do when you get writer's block?" He said, "Are you going to be home for a while? I'll come over" (laughs). He got in his truck and drove in from Vallejo and came upstairs with his guitar. He read the lyrics and he said, "I can hear what this could sound like." I didn't sing him what I had written. He went into another room and came out about 25 minutes later and said, "I think I have the first three lines of each verse." He played them for me and they were gorgeous. I said, "Get back in that room!" (laughs) That's how that happened. He made it so easy. There was something about this. It was not just sitting down and writing a song generically. It was something that I needed to say and I needed to get it written. Mark is somebody that I really trust and with whom I've talked about my father. We've had those kinds of conversations before and I felt like he was just trying to be a vehicle for me to get this stuff out.

GS: Kinsey Sicks have a rigorous touring schedule. What's the best part about that?

IK: Oh, there's a good part, huh? There are some hidden parts that are fun. First of all, the performing is great. Every day there's a little trepidation because it's a new venue and a new audience and you're not certain what they will be. It's not until you are somewhere in the first or second song that you really get a handle on who these people are and how they're going to react to the rest of the show. There's an excitement, not an anxiety, about that. The other hidden fun parts are what The Kinsey Sicks are like, stuck in a van, driving intra-city. That's truly fun. We sing and make gross-out jokes--what a surprise! We listen to a lot of music when we're doing that. That's become fun. The hanging out in what would otherwise be dead time.

GS: What's the worst aspect of it?

IK: I'm really tired of airports. We have a lot of luggage. Those wigs take up space, honey. We have a lot of luggage, all of which requires explanation. We're almost always selected for extra searches.

IK: Some security people are amused by it. Some aren't. Either way it's just this looming thing. There's that, and being away from home. Being away for stretch after stretch. Then getting home and having it take three days of resting before you can appreciate just being home again.

GS: Ben, what is the best part of the touring schedule for you?

BS: I'm fresh meat in more cities?

GS: And what's the worst part?

BS: I have to eventually return? Can I give you a serious answer? (Laughs) The first was Rachel's answer. The best part is, in a way, that we're fresh meat in new cities (laughs). I love having devoted fans, but it's also a joy to go places where most people haven't seen us and get that amazing delight from people who are first discovering us. The touring itself is not a joy; it's the performing that's a joy. I love, love, love performing with the group. The difficult part is the disruption of our personal lives.

GS: How does such a schedule affect your romantic life?

IK: It's easier for me because I have a partner. We do this long-distancey thing. Knock wood, it's non-problematic for us. We're really happy to see each other when I get home. I know that for the other girls it really is a huge impediment. The way it's unfolding is that they can date, but it's really hard to start up a relationship.

GS: Kinsey Sicks have had a regular summer engagement in Provincetown.

IK: (Laughs) We're not doing it this year, but we did it for two summers running. It's interesting. I'm not a resort person (laughs), so there is something about spending three months in a place where, in general, I'd prefer to be home. Provincetown has its ups and its downs and one of the exciting things is being around a community of performers. This is also how we felt when we were running our show in New York. We had a chance to see what other people were doing and vice versa.

BS: Provincetown has been tremendous exposure for us. It's been really good for our careers and we've expanded our fan base enormously. There's also a great pool of talent there and it's been exciting to be more a part of a community. It's also a hard place to perform because people are expected to bark or basically sell their show on the streets. When you are singing a cappella on the streets for an hour it can be physically and emotionally difficult.

GS: Are there plans to celebrate the Kinsey Sicks' tenth anniversary?

IK: I had totally not even thought about that. Wow! You're right. Dec. 30 is coming up. Depending on when you date from.

GS: Because there are two-the 1993 formation anniversary and the 1994 first performance anniversary.

IK: Right! Over the winter months, this year, we made a point of booking ourselves a run here in San Francisco, just so we can be home. We're going to be running for seven weeks at the New Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, doing a quasi-holiday show called Oy Vey In A Manger. But you're right; we should definitely do something special!

GS: One of my favorite Kinsey Sicks songs is "Why Does Celine Go On?" Will you be going to Las Vegas to see the extravaganza?

BS: I'm putting that at the top of my agenda.

IK: We might have a booking in Las Vegas later in the year, so I imagine we would go. Chris/Trampolina, who sings that number, is, despite the sarcastic tone, a big Celine Dion fan. He's an unwilling fan. He's sort of (laughs) repulsed but hugely attracted. He would go in a minute.

---SIDEBAR---

You've Come a Long Way, Irwin

by Tracy Baim (4/16/2003)

Kinsey Sick's Irwin Keller has an interesting Chicago connection. In mid-1987, he and other University of Chicago GLBT students were subjected to threats and harassment, including through the U.S. mail-which meant police became involved. At least one of the perpetrators was believed to be a staff member of the right-wing campus paper Midway Review. Keller, co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Law Students Association, was quoted in The Chicago Maroon student paper as follows: "I was horrified at the posters and embarrassed for the University community. These flyers show that there is a sick individual out there who needs help very badly. The posters would have been merely pathetic, if not for those horrible AIDS references. In this time of crisis, any mention of AIDS with anything but compassion is obnoxious and inexcusable." I wrote about the incident in the May 7, 1987 Windy City Times. Later that month, Outlines newspaper was founded, where I continued reporting on the activism of U. of C. students--two of those harassed worked for Outlines. I, too, was threatened by a group calling itself "The Great White Brotherhood of the Iron Fist." Their terror on campus and off (especially in Hyde Park, where U of C is based) continued into the next school year.

Keller's mother is still very active in Chicago-area PFLAG, as was his father until his death.