Marc: Paul, stop fidgeting.

Paul: I'm nervous

Marc: About what?

Paul: The interview man, this is the big time.

Marc: Uh, Paul, we're interviewing ourselves.

Paul: I know man, I want us to be impressive.

Q: Can we begin?

Paul: Sure, hey, what do I have to do to get a Sprite around here?

Q: So, uh, "Killing My Lobster" huh? What's that all about?

Paul: The name is a phrase that got made up after knocking back one too many Pimm's cups. It means "don't kill my buzz" or "stop bumming out." For example, if you're at a party and it's starting to get really lame one might say, "dude, this is really killing my lobster." Or if somebody is being particularly annoying, a younger sibling for instance, one might say, 'hey, sibling, you're killing my lobster.'

Q: Did you think trademarking it was really necessary?

Marc: I'm sorry, our lawyers won't let us answer that one.

Q: Where did you all meet?

Paul: Most of us met at Brown University. A few of us started a sketch comedy group there called "Out of Bounds" and realized we worked much harder trying to do stage ridiculous sketches than we did on our schoolwork. A few of us ended up out here in San Francisco in the summer of '96 and since then have lured more friends from college, and hooked up with of actors, writers, film makers, and artists who didn't even go to Brown.

Marc: Maura claims to not even have heard of it.

Q: Why are you doing sketch comedy?

Paul: Because we couldn't think of what else to do with the 10,000 sketches we found. Our shows aren't new material. The truth is we found a 70 lb chest sitting outside of Klaus Von Bulow's house in Newport, Rhode Island. Bill Donoghue and Brian L. Perkins opened it hoping there would be buckets of cash, instead they found 10,000 sketches. So, here we are, working our way through them. Such is our burden.

Q: Why are you performing in San Francisco as opposed to New York or LA?

Marc: There's a critical mass of people here interested in theater and film that is smart and original. More than that there are a lot of people here who want to make culture themselves, there's a ton of bands, and a lot of artists, and a generally really vibrant community here who also happen to have a really good sense of humor, which works out well for us. If they were hungry for Brecht, I don't know what we'd do.

Paul: Also, we can rent theaters here for a tenth the price they'd cost in New York. I'm from Manhattan; I asked, then I left.

Q: What projects does Killing My Lobster currently have it's claws in?

Paul: You know, we get a little tired of the Lobster metaphor in every question or headline, but since we know you it's ok. We've got a couple of cool projects on tap for the Web - can't really disclose much about 'em yet. We also produce the annual Hi/Lo Film Festival here in San Francisco that spotlights films that are high concept, but low budget. That's coming up again in March.

Marc: We're also working on some more short films, so we'll send those out to film festivals and try and reel in a big movie deal along the way.

Paul: And we've found some cool spaces for our next few live shows. Those will be happening over the next several months - be on the lookout for our posters. There's also the Vancouver Fringe Festival later in the year, and Maura does floral arrangements. Seriously. We're really busy.

Q: Thank you.

Marc: No, thank you.

Paul: No, thank you.