Madison's newest entries into the burgeoning short video comedy scene is a video troupe called Rhymes with Stomach. It's members - Mark Kump, Chris Waelti, Adam Waldron and Mike Schmidt - are familiar faces to those who have been following the Stand Up comedy scene in Madison over the past two years. On Friday night, they'll take their collective and individual comedy aptitudes to the stage for their first group performance at the Klinic on Park St.

I thought I'd find out a little bit more about the group and I sat down with members Adam Waldron and Chris Waelti to enjoy some tea, talk about why improv is lame and those "Chad Vader guys," and discuss the cocksmanship of Pete Sampras.

NM: Welcome, thanks for stopping over. Would you guys care for some Jasmine Tea?

AW: This is an interview, right? I mean, it isn't some elaborate ruse to have an orgy with Chris and me.

NM: No, it isn't. I just don't keep beer at my place.

AW: Because if it was, I wish you would have warned me. I've got winter balls in full swing right now and I would have run a trimmer through them for you.

CW: That's very thoughtful of you, Adam. I don't think you've seen his balls recently, but it is a real quagmire down there.

AW: (To Chris) When have you seen my balls recently?

CW: I haven't- we're riffing here.

AW: Oh, we are?

CW: Aren't we?

NM: Tell me about Rhymes with Stomach. I know all the members from the standup scene, but I wasn't aware that you had a collaborative side project.

AW: We asked you to be a part of it and you said no.

CW: You said you don't like to collaborate with other people.

NM: For the purposes of the interview, please answer the question.

CW: We are a video comedy and stand up comedy troupe, I guess. With a little bit of sketch for good measure. We don't do improv. I don't want to get lumped in with improv.

AW: I second that notion. We do make a lot of shit up on the spot, we just don't want any credit for it. Improv is the J.V. of comedy.

CW: The guys that do it are fuckin' bassplayers.

AW: So to speak, right? That's a fun insult.

CW: I'm not wrong. Fuck improv.

AW: We've sort of had a mutual appreciation society with the Public Drunkards (a sketch comedy troupe from Madison that also shoots short videos for the internet) and every time I would watch them, I just wanted to get involved with the fun. Even though I never asked, it seemed like they were full up. Mark Kump had been learning video editing through WYOU and he had done a few things on his own and the rest of us sort of horned in on that.

CW: You left out that we've all been player hating on the Chad Vader guys for about a year now. I thought it was just awful because they seemed to keep beating a dead horse in terms of the premise, but it is an internet sensation and I guess you have to go with what works. I just wonder if they have any other ideas.

AW: You haven't seen McCourt's in Court yet?

CW: No, what is that?

AW: It is one of their other offerings. It's OK. If you are a fan of the jump-cut editing technique, you'll love it. It's like a clinic on it. There have to be 40 jump cuts a minute on the McCourt's in Court.

CW: It must take forever to edit.

AW: I know, so you should respect that.

CW: I do. I hope I don't come off like a dick there. Those guys are way farther down the line than we are. Maybe they are farther than we'll ever be. It just didn't seem wildly creative -from a premise or execution standpoint. Now that I am a little further along in learning about video. I've actually come to appreciate what they do from a technical aspect. Those guys are a great film company and I know I'd love to get to that sort of level of proficiency. In my mind, the money they are able to make from Chad Vader has probably gone a long way to helping them become a better film company.

AW: Maybe we could blow off "Rhymes with Stomach" and start writing for those guys.

CW: I probably just blew our chances. That'd be a sweet heel turn, though. Triple H would love that.

AW: He would and he isn't exactly easy to please. He'd love it like he enjoys hiding a sledgehammer under the ring.

Aw: To answer the question, it is what happens when 4 funny guys hang out and write material. I love doing it because it allows you to think in a different way when it comes to writing material. You don't have to rule anything out because the audience won't find it relatable. You can show it instead of describing it.

CW: It's like the ultimate form of prop comedy.

NM: You guys have a very small internet presence. Is that something you've done purposefully?

AW: Oh god no- not all all. It is lamentable, actually. It's just that none of us are all that good with computers yet, so we;ve got the basics like putting up a YouTube channel and a MySpace page, but we haven't gotten too far beyond that.

CW: I think we will. It's just one of those things where you don't want to be putting the cart before the horse. We've got enough stuff up so people can find out about us if they Google us and other people can find us accidentally, but it isn't something we've done a great job of marketing just yet. I think that will come when we get a little bit more confidence in ourselves.

NM: That should change soon. You guys are good enough to put a little more effort into promoting the videos.

AW: Thanks, I think that too. I just didn't want to seem like a raving egomaniac.

CW: We really should get on the website thing.

AW: Let's just focus on the quality of the work first.

NM: What can the audience expect of the show on Friday night?

CW: We've acquired a video projector, so there will be a few videos screened. We'll all be doing a little of our stand up. There will be some sketches, probably a few awful costumes , some swearing. Dave Labedz's (another local comedian) band will open the show, he's a musician as well.

AW: He's a fucking entertainer.

CW: Absolutely, he just turned 21 and he's got major talent. He's going to get so much tail in his life. Like a Pete Sampras level of ass.

AW: Is Pete Sampras known for his ass getting abilities?

CW: I don't know. He married that actress that played the teacher/love interest in Billy Madison.

NM: Bridgette Wilson?

CW: Yeah, that's right. So I don't know about quantity of ass necessarily, but he's going to be getting some championship-level ass in his life.

AW: "Wimbledon Ass"

CW: Exactly. Maybe there will be some "Wimbledon Ass" at the show. There should be a lot of people. We've been on a promo blitz. I guess you never know who is gong to show up.

AW: Probably not any of the guys from Chad Vader

CW: Maybe to fight us.

AW: That'll be worth it for the experience.

CW: You know who else is going to be there?

AW: A couple of shady characters who hang out at the bar?

CW: Yes, or at least a crackhead trying to sell you some socks or a flash drive.

CW: No shortage of those at the Klinic, that is honestly half of the appeal of the place.

AW: The other half is the palpable sensation that you are hanging out exactly where your cool uncle probably hung out in the late 1980's, after he became legal drinking age and quit hanging out at the park, carving in the Poison logo into benches, picnic tables, and teeter totters.

Rhymes with Stomach appears at the Klinic, 520 S. Park Street, Friday December 7th at 8:30.

Chris Waelti and Adam Waldron also appear at the Klinic every Wednesday at 9:30 pm to host a live Stand Up Comedy show together.