James & Ernie recalibrate for the times

The Navajo Times entertainment desk has been asked by readers if the popular comedic marriage known as "James & Ernie" is kaput.

The answer is simple - no.

"I find it amazing that you would be asked that question," chuckled Ernest David Tsosie III, one half of the duo. "I mean, there are other pressing things out there like starving rez dogs. I'm just being goofy."

The pair has not stopped tickling people with their brand of reservation humor, but Tsosie and partner James Junes are testing new ground for their talents.

"What people don't realize is we were doing solo comedy shows about a year before we actually started working together," Tsosie noted in an interview Tuesday.

"It's funny because no one remembers when we did that," Junes added. "Everybody looks at us like we sleep together, live together, eat together."

The onstage chemistry the two achieve is unique, but each man has other talents.

"This is our ninth year together as a comedy duo," Tsosie said, and he senses some audience fatigue. "I know that Navajo people on the reservation are burned out with James and Ernie.

"There's that pressure to come up with new material all the time, like a band trying to write a new song before doing the next show. That's a lot of pressure," he admitted.

In 2007, Tsosie took a couple of months to do a play in Salt Lake City, where he performed a hard-edged dramatic role to strong critical acclaim.

"People didn't know that while he was away, I was doing solo performances during that time," Junes said. "It was a blessing at the time because it helped with getting new material together for the duo."

Solo performing gives the two a chance to experiment with their comedy routines and also to work towards other career goals.

So it would be more accurate to describe what the two are going through as an evolution.

"For us it's not all roses and coffee," Junes said. "But when we perform in other places they treat us good. On the rez, we're just like everyone else, but in places where they haven't seen us they treat us really good.

"For us it's about breaking new grounds," he added.

"We're both doing more standup now and that's like mainstream now," Tsosie said. "For our duo act, we did away with the props."

Both admitted that the props, while they served a purpose in the beginning, became a liability because their presence told repeat viewers - and almost everyone in Dinétah has seen more than one James & Ernie show - what was coming next.

"With standup it's helped us be more centered on stage," Junes said. "With the props we were always looking at it like it was a must to use them, so the props just went out the window."

The recession also makes solo performing a better bet now, Tsosie said, because bookings for the team have slowed drastically.

"We have still duo shows like this weekend in Alamo," Junes said. "Then we have a performance and speaking engagement at Monument Valley, Utah, later this week."

"I was kidding around earlier, saying that we should do a farewell tour," Tsosie chuckled. "Then about six months after that, do a reunion tour..."

"...Yeah, then have a stand-in for Ernie when we do a performance and then Ernie can have a stand-in for me," Junes joked, alluding to reunion tours by some bands that are much publicized but often lack original members who helped make the group a hit.

"I'm just amazed that so many bands are now making a comeback from back in the day," Tsosie said. "Some of these bands out there, when they come back they make a big comeback."

Nonetheless the duo is astounded at how their celebrity status has changed from, say, two years ago when they were the hottest act in town. Back then, each would be swamped with admirers wherever he went, while now only the children flock around, they said.

Outside the rez, they added, their act is still marketable, and they've got enough material recorded to produce another couple of DVDs.

"We might go to a third and fourth DVD...just bootleg them ourselves at the flea markets," Tsosie joked.

Thanks to their popularity they both were able to explore other mediums such as acting. Both also devote time to encouraging young people to strive and achieve, and to avoid drugs and alcohol.

Tsosie, for instance, teamed up with Navajo martial artist Reggie Mitchell to form BRAVE Natives, a motivational program established to combat violence among young people.

"It's not just about anti-violence anymore," Tsosie noted. "It's evolving because there are so many other issues out there like methamphetamines and depression. Suicide rates are still high and depression is a big issue right now."

Junes does motivational speaking for Native men on topics ranging from fatherhood to sobriety.

Junes and Tsosie both are concerned about the values young Natives may be absorbing from films and music, and see a need to do some pushback. They want to help young people combat self-defeating attitudes, such as the notion that it's cool to be depressed, unmotivated, and disconnected from life around you.

The cathartic rage of heavy metal has given way to the quieter "why bother?" of Goth culture, but both are just trends. They may reflect your feelings if you grew up around domestic violence, poverty and related problems, but they don't show you a way out, the two men say.

"It's a spiritual battle," Tsosie said. "There are new types of evil out there. There's this attitude of 'what goes in must not come out.' It seems like that is the attitude now with the emo-genre."

The pair that spoofed reservation life with such precision now wants to reach the youth with a serious message: What you see and hear can be cool, but don't let it hinder you from building a life for yourself. Remember what's real.

Information: www.jamesandernie.com.

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