Carley Moseley gets big laughs performing with Second City
By Anthony Stoeckert
From the Princeton Packet
During a sketch in Second City’s “Paved & Confused 2,” Carley Moseley plays a news anchor who gets more and more frustrated with the election news she is reporting on. It’s a character Ms. Moseley finds herself resonating with.
And with an election like this, who could blame her? Who wouldn’t benefit from spending a few minutes telling an audience just how fed up they are with this year’s campaign?
“It’s very therapeutic for me,” says Ms. Moseley, a 2006 graduate of Princeton High School and a member of one of Second City’s touring companies. Along with five other cast members and a music director, Ms. Moseley has recently toured North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Florida, and now she’s coming home to Jersey, for two performances of “Paved & Confused 2” at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, Oct. 29.
“I’m very excited to be coming to the East Coast,” she says. “I never get to come to New Jersey, I can’t wait.”
This is the right show for New Jersey. Second City describes “Paved and Confused 2” as a celebration of “electioneering in the Garden State” and as a look at the presidential circus, New Jersey, and politics.
“It certainly is political, but we try and find the humor in what’s going on, which is increasingly tough but increasingly important as well,” Ms. Moseley says. “There are certainly times when it feels, for us, very cathartic, to do a show that pokes fun or touches on political things. And there are plenty of things that are not overtly political.”
Trump-Clinton is one of the craziest, most surreal elections in history, and new developments come out every day. Because of that, Ms. Moseley says “Paved & Confused 2” is a living and breathing show so that it remains current. She says the cast worked hard in writing the script, but that changes are made to reflect the latest developments.
“Also, all of our training in Second City itself is built on improvisation, so having that under out belts is really helpful (in) keeping the show as current as possible,” she says. “And for us, it’s fun to challenge ourselves to be relevant and be on top of the news and incorporating that, even just a line here and there, it’s really fun for us. And it’s important to us, we care about this work a lot.”
Ms. Moseley is the granddaughter of Caroline and Roger Moseley. Caroline Mosely, who died this past summer, was well known in town for her work as a writer and editor with Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Studies. She also taught guitar at the Princeton Adult School for more than 40 years. Caroline and Roger sang with the University Chapel Choir, and hosted gatherings of the Princeton Folk Music Society.
“She was just the funniest and smartest person in my life,” Ms. Moseley said. “Getting a good laugh from her was so great.”
She and her mother, Martha, are involved with Anchor House Ride. Martha just did her 20th ride this summer.
“I’m way behind, kind of at three-and-a-half (rides),” Ms. Moseley says. “I had to leave a ride halfway through one summer for work with Second City, actually … It’s such an incredible organization, and run by the nicest and best people you could meet. It’s been so great to get to know them and Anchor House as a place through her. And I’ve been really thankful that I’ve been able to participate in the rides, even if it’s just for half of one.
While attending Princeton High School, Ms. Moseley acted in school plays. After high school, she went to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. During college, she joined a sketch comedy group. In her senior year, the group visited Chicago to see a performance by Second City, the legendary comedy group that has launched the careers of such famous names as Alan Arkin, John Belushi, Martin Short, Tina Fey, and many others.
“It was so eye-opening because I loved writing comedy, I loved performing comedy at Vassar,” Ms. Moseley says. “I kind of always thought it was this thing I would have to give up. And then when I came out here (to Chicago), like I said, it was just so eye-opening to see this kind of whole world existing. There’s just so much performance at every level.”
After graduating with a degree in art history, Ms. Moseley moved to Chicago, and started training at Second City, while also working for an arts foundation. Eventually, she decided to devote herself fully to comedy and performing.
“It got to a point where I was doing a disservice to both comedy and art history, trying to do both at once,” she said.
After finishing a year-long program with Second City, she auditioned to become a member of the group. Her first job with Second City was working on a cruise ship.
“It was exactly as bizarre and great as you might be imagining,” she said.
After that, she was an understudy at Second City’s two stages in Chicago. She also would go out on tour with one of Second City’s touring companies before getting her current gig a few months ago.
It’s been a process that involves a lot of work and although she liked working in the arts, she’s confident she’s made the right decision.
“I feel like I’m doing what I want to be doing, and that’s very exciting,” she said.
For tickets and information on Second City’s performances of “Paved and Confused 2,” go to www.njpac.org or call 1-888-466-5722.
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