Center Stage: Joe And Deano

Joe Sib and Deano Jones met in a bar called The Continental on the lower east side of New York City in the mid 90’s. Sib was singing for the southern California pop/punk band WAX (ever see the Spike Jonze video with the guy running on fire? That was WAX); Deano was the singer/guitarist in the NYC band Clowns For Progress. “When I met Deano for the first time, he was dressed in a white tuxedo and had full clown makeup on. I thought he was a little insane,” Joe remembers. Deano says, from his new home in Austin Texas, “We were the guys in our bands that set up the gigs, made the shirts, booked the tours and kept everyone in the band entertained by telling jokes or stories.” Joe adds, “When you are driving around the country with a van full of guys going from one city to another, there ends up being a lot of time to kill.”

A little over a year ago Deano began acting and doing improv & sketch comedy in Austin’s exploding improv scene. Deano has been cast in over 10 scripted and improvised main stage plays, 2 short films and a national TV commercial. In 2010 Joe began performing a one man show called California Calling. California Calling is a 70 minute rollercoaster ride through Joe’s stories about growing up in the 80’s as Punk Rock hit the suburbs of Northern California. Joe has performed the show all over the U.S. with sold out shows at both the Hollywood and Northern California Improv Comedy Clubs and most recently in January headlining a night at San Francisco’s Sketch Comedy Festival.

How did The Joe and Deano Minute come together? Joe says, “I came down to Austin to do a show at Cap City and stayed with Deano. He had just bought a new camera, lights, a ton of stuff. Before I knew it we just started filming these skits.” “We just wanted to see for ourselves if there was something there,” says Deano, “It’s like a band, you just get together and crank something out – don’t over think it. Just go for it.” Deano adds, “We just made these up as we went. I mean, at this point, if it’s hard, then it’s not funny. It’s still just rock and roll.”

Visit the duo’s Funny Or Die Page for more, and watch these clips now.