Street Beat

STREET BEAT

LOCAL FEATURE

MR. FUNNYMAN

by Ernie Thomas

Given N.W. Indiana music scene’s shaky state of being these last few years, for any band to survive and thrive for ten years solely playing the local club circuit is quite an accomplishment. The small number of bands who have managed to remain unscathed and unaffected by the many variables that have affected the once bustling scene, can now count among their numbers – Mr Funnyman – a quintet that claims a home base in Crown Point.

The group has been entertaining local music fans since 1992 with virtually the same line-up, only drummer Scott Kelly, now a three year veteran of the band has not been with them since the inception.

Taking their name from an old “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch featuring Eddie Murphy, the group was actually a spin off of the Purdue University Calumet show choir, which twin brothers Jason and Jeremy Andrews and their cousin Andy Hescher belonged to during their college years.

The brothers, who respectively play guitar and bass, had been playing together since their teens, often times with the guitar-slinging Hescher sitting in. Ultimately, the three formed a short-lived band called, Homemade Sausage.

The notion to broaden their musical interests from strictly jazz and show tunes as part of the campus group, to jamming rock ‘n’ roll, struck them after keyboardist Rob Martinez joined their Purdue ensemble. The four became fast buddies and the notion of forming a band seemed the next logical step, so Mr. Funnyman was born.

“We had a hard time trying to come up with a name that didn’t make us sound too heavy,” remembers Jason, who is seven minutes “older and wiser” than his brother. “We were watching Eddie Murphy do this comedy bit and it just sounded like the perfect name for us.”

Once the core four added a drummer to the mix, the band quickly escalated through the club ranks and soon began headlining all the major rooms of the day, including the now defunct Club Dimensions, where they regularly filled the venue’s huge wooden dance floor to elbow rubbing capacity.

What won over regional club audiences to Mr. Funnyman was the group’s diversity of style and sound. Their ability to cover a broad spectrum of popular music was because all members had stellar vocal talents, which allowed them to shift effortlessly and seamlessly from one style to another.

The same is true today, as all band members save Kelly, take their turn at the microphone during a typical Funnyman set. Another “ace in the hole” is Martinez. “We have the ability to cover a lot of classic stuff that other bands can’t really do well, because Rob is an incredible keyboard player,” said Andrews.

“We have about 50-60 songs we can draw from, so every show is always a little different,” he adds.

Aside from blending vintage rock epics by Styx, The Who and Tom Petty with newer fare by Train and U2, the musical road traveled by Mr. Funnyman at shows can often detour into the outer areas of country and funk, with songs like Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” and Hank Williams Jr’s “Family Tradition,” to Parliament’s “Flashlight.”

The group also performs at many community festivals and private parties. “When you do shows like that, you have to be able to do a little something for all tastes,” said Jason. So we have learned to switch gears and styles.”

For kicks one night last year while performing as part of a multi-band show at the Lake County Fairgrounds, the guys played only Pink Floyd music in their set and the response was overwhelming. “We just thought it’d be fun to do,” confessed Andrews. Fans were so impressed at Funnyman’s uncanny ability to recreate the British prog-band’s songs, that the band have started to before a limited amount of “Pink Floyd Tribute” concerts.

“We don’t do the Floyd show very often, but if a club wants to book us to do just Pink Floyd, we will do that,” said Andrews, who added that a standard Mr. Funnyman show also includes at least one of two Floyd shows.

As for what the ten-year-old band would like to accomplish in their next decade together, Andrews said some original music is in the works. “We don’t play out as much as we once did. When we started out, we were all single guys, but now we all have wives and kids and careers, so we only play out a couple nights a month by choice,” he said. “That leaves us a little extra time to write songs and play around with them.”

A couple of originals are already in the works. Andrews said they would like to start “trying them out on people” in upcoming shows. “We don’t expect some big record deal or anything,” he laughed. “But after all these years of doing covers of other people’s songs, it would be nice to see what we could come up with between us.”

When asked if he expected another ten year run for the band, Andrews commented –– “Sure...why not? We are all the best of friends and we have a lot of fun playing music together.”

Likening his time on stage with his band buddies to “therapy,” Andrews gives the impression that he and the others would be miserable without having the opportunity to jam out every once in awhile.

“There are times when I’m like –– ‘Only another week until the show, I can’t wait!’ –– and when you feel that good about something you just never want it to end,” he concluded.

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