www.therescignos.com /TheRescignos /user/TheRescignos which, with a wink and nudge, they refer to as their ‘anniversary special’. The Rescignos is a truly postmodern experience—a show within a show finding Paul and Robbie playing hyperbolic versions of themselves. “The characters of Paul and Robbie are an exaggeration of who we are in real life,” says Paul. The fictitious brothers host a variety hour, where songs are punch lines to jokes established by dialogue. Their song lyrics and music are penned by longtime friend Mike Hadge, but Paul writes the duo’s parody numbers. They also cast friends in the ensemble, and the group has performed together from the very beginning, further creating the nostalgic, familiar feel of a television variety program. While The Rescignos derive their structure from TV classics—think campy opening credits, voiceover narration, commercial interludes, and sitcom-esque joke setups—the boys infuse the show with modern songs and content. Paul feels this method successfully hooks audiences. “The structure is very oldschool but the material is contemporary because you see it and something is familiar.” Each performance is filmed, and clips are uploaded to the Rescignos’ YouTube channel, but the boys are mindful of what they post. “We never want to put anything on the Internet if it’s not great,” said Robbie. Even with the allure of viral video, Paul and Robbie’s theater roots give way to their preference for the intimacy and connection of a live audience. “We are open to our videos going viral,” joked Robbie, “but we can’t favor that versus people seeing us in person.” The Rescignos recently filmed and uploaded a music video onto YouTube, entitled, “I Will Never Leave You…Ever,” which is a clever spoof on the late Broadway musical, Side Show, which features a pair of conjoined twins. They are also writing material for a spring show, but in the interim, the boys are “allowing themselves to be surprised by life,” reports Robbie. Paul adds, “The show doesn’t necessarily have to be huge. We do this to have fun, and if the audience enjoys it, great— we’ve done our job.”
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