How 2 Broke Girls led to a comedy act
Actor who fell into standup to kill time between seasons brings act to Yuk Yuk’s
For years, Jonathan Kite was just another struggling actor and sketch comedy performer kicking around Los Angeles with a big beard and a bigger dream. Then, almost by accident, he found himself cast as the perverted chef Oleg on CBS’s popular sitcom 2 Broke Girls.
Now he’s a sought after actor, but also a standup comic who brings his lovably oddball act to Yuk Yuk’s in Toronto Thursday to Saturday. It’s a strange little story, the type that would suit a standup act well.
Kite never intended to audition for the role that launched his career. After auditioning for another show, he asked a casting director what else she was working on and she mentioned 2 Broke Girls, but she warned that “there really wasn’t anything for me because the only available part was for a 45-year-old bald Russian guy.”
The comic chuckles recalling the story in advance of his trip to Toronto. “She asked if I could do a Russian accent and since I could, she told me to come in. I knew I had to make an impression, so I dressed the way my character dresses on the show and only spoke in the accent. I got lucky and got the part. Everyone was surprised, myself included. I didn’t think I had a chance.”
Kite stumbled into standup as something to occupy his mind between seasons of the show.
“You can’t take other jobs when you’re on a sitcom because your schedule is very particular, almost like university semesters,” says Kite. “There aren’t a lot of things that shoot within that schedule, but I’d been hanging out in comedy clubs anyways because many of my friends are standups and one day someone said, ‘Have you ever thought about trying this?’ I figured, ‘Why not? Let’s give it a shot.’ ”
Much like his unexpected slide into a popular sitcom, Kite took to standup with ease even though it wasn’t planned.
Thanks to the sitcom’s success, audiences started lining up for his shows immediately, although the humble comic is quick to point out that TV familiarity only gets you so far.
“There’s a misconception that if you’re famous in one area, you’ll be widely accepted in every other area,” he says. “The fact that they’ve heard of you might put asses in seats, but after that you really have to stand on your own merit and your own material.”
Fortunately, that material came naturally to the actor. In particular, he quickly discovered (again, almost by accident) that he had a natural skill for celebrity impressions and amassed a catalogue of over 100 voices such as Vince Vaughn, Christian Bale, Tom Hanks and Seth Rogen.
“When I was a kid I did a few impressions that I called my Branson Missouri Five,” he quips. “There was a high school teacher who I did well enough that I used to talk substitute teachers into letting me take over the class in character when he was absent.
“The celebrity voices I forced myself to pick up when I was on a sketch show a few years ago. I’ve really come to love it and I like doing people who I’ve never heard before. I love the guy at the water cooler who does Christopher Walken or Al Pacino, but onstage you have to do people that audiences aren’t used to like Liam Neeson or Ian McKellen.”
Be warned that if you go to see Kite at Yuk Yuk’s you might not immediately recognize him from 2 Broke Girls. He tends to trim Oleg’s unkempt hair and beard combo between seasons for anonymity.
“It’s funny, I can disappear into a crowd easily, but that’s all hair based,” laughs Kite.
“Now that Lost is off the air, I’m the only guy with a beard on network television. When it’s short people will say, ‘You must get this a lot, but do you know the show 2 Broke Girls? You look just like the chef.’ As soon as my hair is long, they spot me from across the street.”