A Spider Kelly show is not just about music. It's about comedy.

John McNulty, Kevin Stacey Eric Bishop and Chris Hescox entertain the masses on Thursdays at The Phyrst, 111 1/2 E. Beaver Ave., and Saturdays at The Dark Horse, 128 E. College Ave.

Mixing songs not heard on the radio such as "16 Days" by Whiskeytown, "Can't Hardly Wait" by The Replacements and "Timebomb" by Old 97's with band originals like "Bullfighters" and "Babylon," Spider Kelly -- named after the boxing coach character in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises -- harmonize, strum and crack jokes to their loyal fan following.

"When Spider Kelly started, we played more originals and obscure covers. It became difficult to get bookings," Stacey said. "This time we made an effort to be more accessible, but without whoring ourselves."

Bishop and Hescox were playing together in bars when they found McNulty and decided to form a band. Stacey replaced the original bassist in 1996. Spider Kelly has been playing together since spring 2000.

McNulty, Bishop or Hescox usually writes the band's original songs.

"We haven't written many originals as a band but we're working on [it]," McNulty said. "We all write songs individually so it will be cool to see what we come up with collectively"

Deciding who sings what can be difficult for any band, but Spider Kelly handles it diplomatically.

"Sometimes when one of the guys picks a song that he wants to play, he'll make it clear that he wants to sing it," Stacey said.

"When all else fails, we make Eric sing it. He can make his voice do anything -- it's like being in a band with Mel Blanc [the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters]," he said.

Bishop thinks of the process differently.

"We usually engage in those one-handed knife fights, a la Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' video," he said.