WAMG Talks ALLELUIA! THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL With Chantal Claret And Jimmy Urine

By Melissa Howland | August 22, 2015

Come one! Come all! Gather around, because the carnival is back… ALLELUIA! THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL that is! In celebration of the new film, I spoke with two of the films stars – Chantal Claret and Jimmy Urine. You might know them from their music careers, but I promise you, they steal the show in the carnival! This was a real treat for me, not only as a fan of their music, but as someone lucky enough to call them pals! Check it out as we talk about acting, The Hoff, and get a bit ‘old timey’ with slang!

After triumphant collaborations on 2008’s REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA and 2012’s THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL: EPISODE ONE, cult filmmakers Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrance Zdunich are back with the second installment to their fantasy-musical film franchise. In ALLELUIA! THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL, Lucifer sets a plot in motion against Heaven and all hell breaks loose.

I feel like I should be one of those people who asks ‘What’s your favorite curse word?’  

CHANTAL CLARET: I think it’s fuck for both of us.

JIMMY URINE: I think it’s fuck, fuck and fuck. [Laughs]

It’s pretty fuck. [Laughs] How did the two of you get involved with ALLELUIA! THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL? 

JIMMY URINE: Well, they reached out to us. They were looking for, sort of, a pair of people and they thought that we would be a good match. They reached out through my agent, and we were like ‘Yes!’. It’s a chance to work together…

CHANTAL CLARET: You should specify your touring agent and not an acting…

JIMMY URINE: I don’t have an acting agent. [laughs] They were just trying to reach us…

CHANTAL CLARET: Yep! Through “my people” [laughs]…

JIMMY URINE: … and we thought it was wonderful. We love to be around each other, and do stuff around each other, so we thought that would be a real gas. Plus, it was a musical, so we were like ‘Yeah. This is kinda cool. We know how to do musical stuff…

CHANTAL CLARET: By the way, when you say ‘a real gas’ you’re really dating yourself.

Thank you! ‘It was a real gas!’ 

CHANTAL CLARET: A real whoopsie-daisy! A rigmarole ’round the old rin-tin! [laughs]

JIMMY URINE: It sure was daddy-o! It sure was!

What is the best part of acting with one another? 

CHANTAL CLARET: I think that’s it… acting with each other. We love being together. It’s our favorite thing in the entire world. It’s so fun. I love giving Jimmy notes on how he can improve his performance. [Laughs]

JIMMY URINE: I love jumping on all of her lines!

CHANTAL CLARET: Oh, it’s fun! It’s so great having a partner in crime to do everything with…

JIMMY URINE: I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t with ‘My wife!’ [said in his best Borat voice… just to give you the full, fun context!]

CHANTAL CLARET: I would have done it anyway!

JIMMY URINE: Oh, she would have [laughs]… I don’t know how you would. After we did it we… When the cameras were off we would go “What are we gonna do next?’ and “How are we gonna…’

CHANTAL CLARET: We sort of treated it like the weasels in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? and the ‘we are siamese’ cats from LADY AND THE TRAMP, and also the eels from THE LITTLE MERMAID. Anything that was, like, bad guys hanging out with each other… We also added the fact that we were in a relationship, like, our characters are in a relationship…[laughs] I don’t know how people meet each other for the first time and go into professional acting.

JIMMY URINE: I don’t really think we weren’t professional. It was more ‘How would I have done this if it wasn’t my wife?’

CHANTAL CLARET: For us, it helped a lot. We see each other every day, and we were just constantly rehearsing…

It’s so funny, because both of you are completely hard-core on stage, but you’re the most loving, ridiculously adorable couple on the planet! 

CHANTAL CLARET: [Laughs]

JIMMY URINE: Ironic, isn’t it!

CHANTAL CLARET: You know, oxymorons… What did you call yourself? [To Jimmy] ‘I’m a dichotomy’ and I go “I’m an oxymoron!’ and that’s why we’re the perfect couple.

How has performing on stage helped you as actors?

CHANTAL CLARET: 100%. I mean, especially for this, because it was so musical. It was the perfect progression because we started off… We’re not the most confident actors. Especially on the first thing that both of us have done… It started off so perfectly, because both of us went in first, and sang the song…

JIMMY URINE: We were in a recording studio, so easy! Boom!

CHANTAL CLARET: Yeah! Then, the first thing we shot was our song, so that was life doing a music video. By that point we were comfortable on set…

JIMMY URINE: … and with the cameras and everything…

CHANTAL CLARET: So when it came down to us ‘actoring’, as I like to call it, we were comfortable, and it really helped that we were doing it together.

JIMMY URINE: It also helped that it wasn’t, like, a Shakespeare role, or a serious role. It was comedic, and fun. We like to be like that on stage, so that felt comfortable.

CHANTAL CLARET: Plus, it’s so incredibly campy…

JIMMY URINE: Very ROCKY HORROR [PICTURE SHOW]…

CHANTAL CLARET: Yeah, and very big, so that was helpful for us because we’re both big, and we’re capable of that!

One thing that I thought was weird… I guess I didn’t really think about it too much until I was prepping to interview you kids… is that there are a ton of fake accounts on social media pretending to be you. How do you deal with that? 

CHANTAL CLARET: We ignore it.

JIMMY URINE: We ignore a lot of it. For me, I don’t have a Facebook, so that makes it so much easier because anything that says Facebook isn’t mine. All of the Jimmy Urine Facebook accounts are fake. I think there’s a James Euringer one, where we just grabbed the name, and it’s run by my internet guy, but I’m whatever about Facebook. For Twitter, I’m verified so you know that’s me. Most people will take your name, and they off it by one letter, and then use your same icon… and that fucks with you…

CHANTAL CLARET: That confuses me sometimes. I’m like, ‘Oh. But James wouldn’t say something like that!’ and then I double-check and I’m like ‘Ahh!’. I’m totally fine if they’re role-playing as us, then I’m ok with it. If they’re pretending to be us… that’s when I report it. If you wanna pretend to wear my skin, you can go ahead, but if you actually wanna wear my skin…

JIMMY URINE: … then we’re gonna come and get ya! But yeah… You can go ahead and pretend that you’re my hair…

CHANTAL CLARET: There was one called ‘Chantal’s Jew Nose’ that I took down…

JIMMY URINE: That one had to come down.

David Hasselhoff in this film? Did you get to do any scenes with him, and how was your experience? 

CHANTAL CLARET: Uh… yeah! First acting scene, wha?! I hassled the Hoff. So, the thing is… I’ve actually met The Hoff before. When I did Leno [The Tonight Show With Jay Leno] Hoff was the guest. My first interaction with him on this film was me going “Hi Mr. Hasselhoff!’. he was in the makeup chair, and he was everything you wanted him to be, and more! “I’ve actually met you before. We were both on Leno, and I made you pogo when I was performing. I made you pogo, and I was there with my band’ and he goes ‘Was I singing?’ [laughs]

WHAT?! [Laughs]

CHANTAL CLARET: … and I was like ‘I was singing’ and ‘And we had cocoa sticks?’ and I was like ‘No!’ [laughs]. It went on for a really long time. Listen, I didn’t expect him to remember me by any means, but I thought maybe he might have some recollection of being on Jay Leno and jumping up and down, but maybe not. Maybe there was a time he pogoed. But, he was incredibly sweet. He was so nice. He told us amazing stories about ‘Knight Rider’…

JIMMY URINE: Yeah, that’s the thing… He is The Hoff, and he owns it, but you don’t have to feel like ‘Oh. I don’t wanna say anything.’ He will just come up to you and go “Hey! Let me tell you about the time I was on ‘Knight Rider’ and you’re like ‘This is exactly what I want to hear!’. It just comes right out of his mouth. He knows all of these crazy stories, and …

CHANTAL CLARET: At the very end he was like… this is after hours… he goes ‘So, wait a second. You were on Leno. You were performing with your band, and I was there as a guest?’ and I was like ‘Yes!’, and he was like ‘Ok.’ and he goes ‘Did we have fun?’ [laughs]. I said, ‘Well, I know I certainly did, but I can’t speak for you.’ [laughs]

I snorted twice through that story… 

JIMMY URINE: It’s so good. He’s become this iconic figure… almost a fictional character.

CHANTAL CLARET: He’s so awesome! I have now hassled The Hoff twice. Maybe a third time if he’s at the premiere. Maybe I get something if I do it a third time.

JIMMY URINE: I think if you hassle him three times you get something… but it could be like Candyman, so be careful!

CHANTAL CLARET: Maybe he’ll come live with us…

Chantal, I need your official reaction to ‘Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp’…

CHANTAL CLARET: The best, ever. Jimmy hasn’t watched it yet. I’ve watched it twice.

JIMMY URINE: I just got back in town. I’m gonna make her re-watch it.

CHANTAL CLARET: It’s not making me watch it. I will gladly watch it a third time! It’s the best. It’s everything that I wanted it to be and more. Michael Showalter directed the show that I’m doing, and I flipped my shit, and flipped out on him. I geeked out, and not even in a cute, or funny way. I loved it.

Speaking of love, you went on for a guest appearance on Judd Apatow’s new show ‘Love’, and they’ve now written you in.  

CHANTAL CLARET: Yeah, I think it’s officially a co-star. I think that’s how it was billed. Now, it’s like a reoccurring role.

That’s awesome. How was it working with Judd Apatow? 

CHANTAL CLARET: I’ve only met him a couple of times, and he was super nice. It was the most fun… I mean, bringing THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL into it… that was the perfect preparation for doing this show. If I would have had to go in cold doing a Judd Apatow tv show I would have shit my pants!

JIMMY URINE: … been a nervous wreck!

CHANTAL CLARET: I would have shit my pants every single day! It was the most fun thing ever! We were just very fortunate in the two projects that we’ve gotten to do. We’re working with such great people, and they’re both so fun. I have been told that this is not always the norm, but I’m having such a blast doing all of this!

ALLELUIA! THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL’s cast includes David Hasselhoff, Emilie Autumn, Marc Senter, Paul Sorvino, Brea Grant and Ted Neeley, among its many stars. The sizzle reel here gives plenty of background on this unique, one-of-a-kind show: http://www.thedevilscarnival.com/sizzlereel and tickets are currently available for all cities while supplies last at: http://www.thedevilscarnival.com/tickets.