Stamford Comedy Duo Reaches Final Round Of NBC Show

STAMFORD, CT — Performing on stage in front of a televised audience of millions may not sound comforting, but it is where Chris O'Neill and Paul Valenti feel most at ease. After 20 years of performing together, the comedy duo still knows how to center themselves just before going on stage.

They look at each other, focus, take a couple of deep breaths, then walk out on stage with confidence.

"We feel the most calm when we're on stage," O'Neill said to Patch. "Everything offstage is kind of out of our control, but once we step on stage, it's just back to the old routine."

That confidence has helped them get where they are today: in the final round of the NBC comedy competition, "Bring the Funny," in which stand-up, variety and sketch comedy acts compete to win through weekly performances and subsequent eliminations.

During Tuesday's episode, O'Neill and Valenti impressed judges Kenan Thompson, Chrissy Teigen and Jeff Foxworthy with a sketch in which Valenti is told not to eat a plate of cookies. After assuring he will not touch the tempting treats, he is seduced by a giant cookie to the tune of John Legend's "All of Me."

According to O'Neill, the idea for the sketch came from a relatively simple place.

"Paul likes cookies, so we just thought it would be funny to watch him get seduced by one. It's one of those weird ideas that pops into your head that I think usually, when people have them, they don't say out loud," O'Neill said. "A lot of our stuff starts off with something being super silly, and then we look for the twist. How do we turn this on its head and fool the audience by making it a little more shocking, with some kind of crazy twist?"

Foxworthy was particularly impressed by the set, calling it the best of the season.

"I've never seen anybody do that," Foxworthy said during the show. "I don't even know what you call it, and I could not quit laughing...that's what 'Bring the Funny' is all about, that right there."

The pair was even presented with a plate of cookies by Legend himself backstage after the set.

"It sounds like a weird acid trip," O'Neill said. "Paul got seduced by a large cookie in front of a huge audience and Jeff Foxworthy was laughing and slamming the table, and then John Legend fed us cookies...it's like, what the hell is that?"

Valenti was most pleased with the audience's reaction to their set.

"The greatest feeling for me is when I hear an audience laugh," Valenti said to Patch. "Whatever stuff they're going through, we can make them forget. For me, laughter is such a high; it makes me feel so good hearing that from other people and making them happy."

Making it to the finals is an epic payoff for the pair, following decades of performances at venues around Fairfield County and New York City.

The two met in 1999 while O'Neill was attending Stamford High School. Valenti, a Greenwich High School student, was attempting to put a comedy group together, and O'Neill offered up a large auditorium he had blocked off for his own comedy show as a venue for the group.

They then spent much of the year writing, promoting and trying to determine what their comedic "voice" was. O'Neill said the group was so devoted to the idea that they spent all their collective money on a stretch limousine to drive them a block down the street to the performance.

Realizing they had a great repertoire, O'Neill and Valenti began performing together in improvisational comedy shows and even found a mentor, Suzi Lynch, who Valenti referred to as the duo's "Yoda," the wise Jedi Master from the Star Wars franchise.

"Chris and Paul are two of the hardest working guys in the industry," Lynch said in an email to Patch. "They look to the world as a jumping off point to the absurd, then translate it masterfully into the unexpected and, hence, the funny. I am so proud of them, but truth be told they are their own best coaches; they respect each other's talents."

The duo's final performance and voting will take place over two episodes in September. No matter what the final results end up being, O'Neill and Valenti have certainly had a fun ride competing on the show alongside other very talented comedians.

"It's been a fun ride. We've been very humbled by the whole experience, and we've just taken every moment and really enjoyed it," O'Neill said. "It's just really cool to see 20 years of work, as silly as the work is, paying off."