The Lampshades

Wed., June 16, 7 p.m., $20-$25, Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., 215-496-9001, heliumcomedy.com.

by Katy Bergen

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Published: Jun 8, 2010

[ office space ]

Kate Flannery has a love/hate relationship with lounge singers. They're sad. Into themselves. Annoyingly energetic. Still, she finds delight in examining their process. Fortunately, the Philly-born actress explores their world often — usually in a red jumpsuit. When Flannery isn't playing the alcoholic sexpot Meredith on NBC's The Office, she is Kassie Chew, one-half of The Lampshades, a faux lounge act she created with Scot Robinson in the early '90s. Flannery describes Chew as a "nauseam of energy," completely invested in what the audience thinks of her. Robinson's Hori Pismo is her "laissez-faire" co-singer; he's the detached, apathetic one with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of Scotch in the other. "I feel like bad lounge you can only bear for about 30 seconds and after that, the joke is done," Flannery says. "We sort of weave weird songs together." (Picture Robinson reading a dead celebrity list as Flannery sings Donna Summer's "Last Dance.") Part of the fun is figuring out the relationship between the two contrasting, comedic characters — "We're still not a couple!" Chew blurts out between sets. "I think anyone that knows lounge singers will be pleased with what we do with the genre," Flannery says, "and anybody who doesn't know about lounge singers will be introduced to this crazy, narcissistic kind of sad world." And, for anyone keeping score, The Lampshades are still not a couple.

Wed., June 16, 7 p.m., $20-$25, Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., 215-496-9001, heliumcomedy.com.

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