My Summer on "All That"
By Kyle Sullivan

Many people spend their summers camping, or traveling, or watching TV. I spent this summer learning the craft of sketch comedy. No, I didn’t sit in front of the TV and watch endless reruns of the old Saturday Night Live on Comedy Central. For nine weeks I was one of seven new kids creating characters and performing sketches for The All New All That, a sketch comedy show on Nickelodeon, now in its seventh season.**

When the cast first met everyone else was bursting with excitement. For me this was just another job. (I’ve been acting since the age of 2 1/2, when I chased golf balls in a spot for Security Pacific Bank. Many commercials and a pageful of guest spots and recurring roles later, All That seemed like the next step on a fairly steady career path for me.) For my fellow cast members, this was a real turning point in their lives. Most of them were new to the business or had only a couple of credits under their belts. On the day I met Geo, Lisa, Chelsea, Brian, Jack, and Shane, each cast for a certain look and for their quirky individual personalities, I was immediately dubbed the “Old Pro.” We all became great friends instantly.

Before we started shooting, we were put through three days of intensive coaching. The network wanted to introduce us to the techniques and skills needed for sketch comedy and get us working as a team. These “workshops” gave the writers the opportunity the “get into our heads” so they could develop characters specifically suited to our individual styles and talents.

I learned plenty in those three days. I had a lot of experience, but not in sketch comedy and not in front of a live audience. I’m usually the quiet geek who sits in the corner and plays with his palm pilot. That summer I learned to leave my fear at the door. On the last day of workshop I actually cross-dressed as Shirley Temple and lip-synced to “Good Ship Lollypop.” No kidding. “It takes a real man to dress up as a woman,” said Robin, the Line Producer. From that point on I was recognized as the “he’ll do anything” kid, which was clearly apparent when we started shooting.

Our first live show surprised everyone; most of all me. As a hot-wired, coffee swigging talk show host, Buzz, together with my equally frenetic co-host (Lisa Foiles as Kaffy,) I nailed our spoof on Regis and Kathy Lee in just one take; an unprecedented achievement on this show. “Sugar & Coffee” became our most popular sketch. We did four segments, tying for top repeat with “Harry Bladder.” You guessed it. That’s our “Harry Potter” send-up, with me as Harry.

Our live shows included celebrity guests. We danced with Britney Spears, P. Diddy, Usher and Barenaked Ladies (the band,) slimed Frankie Munis (who I already knew from working on “Malcolm in the Middle,”) Kenan Thompson and Amanda Bynes, and even “skateboarded” with Tony Hawke.

All in all the summer was fantastic. At our wrap party in September, we aired the first episode. Watching it allowed me to sum up the entire summer in my head. We had really become a comedy team. In front of those cameras and all those kids who filed in each Friday afternoon and dared us to make them laugh, I caught the enthusiasm of my castmates and they gained my poise. We pulled it together and shot thirteen episodes of a really great show.


** Watch for us Saturday nights starting in January at 8:00pm on Nick.