We recently connected with Danger Junior and have shared our conversation below.

Danger, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Interestingly enough, Danger Junior was formed out of a literal necessity for laughter, joy, and smiles. We all met at an exceptionally cold and hostile place of work. One of the most immediate and accessible ways to break through this drudgery within such a depressing environment was to do little bits and sketches for each other. It started with silly voices and simple mimery… just to get us through the harrowing work day. After some time, we learned about PROPER improv comedy, and the laughs started to naturally flow. Even the pigs and cows seemed to be giggling behind their cold eyes, despite their grim and twisted fate. Before too long, we had thoroughly researched and mastered more advanced improv techniques such as object work, gift giving, callbacks, edits, and just having our scene partners’ backs. A few heralds later, other workers at the meat packing plant encouraged us to book a show at a local chuckle hut. Now, five years later, Danger Junior is an award-winning comedy troupe, with dozens of subscribers on Youtube.

Danger, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

What really CAN be said about such an enigmatic and boundary defying improv / sketch comedy troupe such as Danger Junior? How can we describe our shows without you being there to witness the performance? We’re the schrodinger’s cat of Nashville-based improv comedy. Can ANYTHING really be said? With words? I guess we’ll have to try…

Danger Junior has been described as revelatory, but we don’t like to think of ourselves like that. We simply ruminate on the truths that have existed for time in memorial. Humans are simple creatures, with a desire.. nay… a NEED… to laugh and connect and just have a really good time. And is there anything wrong with that? What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with partying like a freaking crazy person on Saturday night? So long as you brush your teeth before church on Sunday morning, you’re on the right path as far as we can tell. But we don’t like to tell…

Our clients and fans come to us with a serious problem: banality. The banality of everyday life. And we don’t claim to fix the problem for them… we simply give them the tools for them to fix it for themselves. To quote one of our many favorite authors, we’re in wherein Rome wasn’t built for a day, and neither was our improv comedy troupe. It has taken so much time and lots of hard work for us to create a powerful and lucrative creative comedic engine. That’s the main thing you gotta realize. That it’s not going to be easy. You cant get rich without breaking a few eggs. Believe it or not, if you want to make it as an influencer or a creative or a songwriter or a comedian or a dancer or a painter or something, you’re going to have to work HARD every day. And boy have we broken a few eggs… but hey… Wherein Rome ;)

As far as our influences and inspirations go, here is a short list:
-Film Director Robert Zemeckis
-Fram Treshir
-Local Nashville Actor Bob Daniel
-Ringo Taphhat
-Garth Marenghi
-Frudge Buxtler
-Tim Allen (Santa Clause)
-Porko the Geek
-The Saber Twins
-Buddy G’shrimpsh
-The Torld Brunchfoot Experience
-and the electronic trance-hop band Massive Attack

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A big lesson we had to unlearn was that not everyone who is nice to you or treats you well is actually your friend. Sometimes when a person says they’re your friend, that just means they want something from you. And they have a smile in their eyes when they do it. But watch out for the knife they’re holding behind their back…

Danger Junior has had our fair share of Benedict Arnold’s and Jezebel’s that have tried to derail our greatness. When you’re a bright light in the same way that the work of Danger Junior is, it’s easy to attract pests, like moths, who gather around you and try to hide your shine. We’d love to tell a relevant story, but the events in question are the subject of an ongoing litigation, which we’ve been advised not to discuss.

Suffice it to say: make sure you really know your employees, even if they seem like a friend or potential soulmate, and make sure they really understand the type of creative endeavor they’re undertaking. Is this the type of creative business where employees can expect to have lots of free time and get compensated for EVERY hour they work, or is it more the type of business where the work is its own reward? Is this the type of creative business where employees kiss and make love? Or is it really more like not that type of thing? These are the type of things you have to be really upfront about.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Our mission couldn’t be simpler: To fundamentally change the way people think about and interact with the entire world through a comedic lense. We don’t want to toot our own horn, but at the same time, we are fully aware of the level of talent and intellect that makes up this comedy group. We are constantly reminding ourselves that we are a collection of once-in-a-generational talents and thinkers and stuff. Every day, we tell each other that we are not afraid of our genius; that we fully claim it. And sometimes the audience says so too. It serves as brilliant inspiration. We are special, and we own it. So why not shoot for the moon? You all know where you’ll land if you do that, even if you miss… and that’s the stars. You land among the stars. But you have to shoot for the moon first. Our goal is to get as many people shooting for the moon as possible. Why not us? Why not Danger Junior? If we shoot for the moon, maybe lots of people will bear witness to our attempt to shoot for the moon. Maybe lots of those lovely, beautiful people witnessing us ravenously pursuing a creative art-life will follow our lead, follow us on social media… or be inspired to subscribe to our Youtube. If we shoot for the moon, maybe, just maybe, that will then inspire millions of other people to then also shoot for the moon too.

Oh, and we’d also like to make a whole bunch of money while we do it ;)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dangerjuniorproduc.wixsite.com/dangerjr
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dangerjrpr/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dangerjuniorproductions
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/thedangerjunior/