Michael Breen, as Ross Cellino, and David Rafailedes, as Steve Barnes, in a two-person comedy, ”Cellino v. Barnes.” Photo: Andrew Breen

Two New York comedians see the lighter side of the bitter dispute between Buffalo personal-injury duo Ross Cellino and Stephen Barnes.

Comedians Michael Breen and David Rafailedes have written their own play, “Cellino v. Barnes,” in which they portray the feuding lawyers. After performances in Buffalo and Los Angeles, the two-man show, directed by Hayley Huntley, is set to play Aug. 3 at the Bell House in Brooklyn.

A poster for the play

When reached for comment, Cellino said his siblings told him they enjoyed the show and he plans to see it this year. Barnes didn't return a request for comment.

The New York Law Journal spoke with Rafailedes about the writing process and how he and Breen prepared to play lawyers who most New Yorkers know from their ubiquitous marketing presence and advertising jingle.

What motivated you to turn this legal drama into a play about two lawyers?

It's more a comedy than a drama. My writing partner, Michael Breen, is from Buffalo, where Cellino & Barnes are based. He said everywhere he went, strangers at the bar—everyone—was talking about them breaking up. They're like hometown heroes. We started reading about the breakup, and it was just too juicy, too funny, not to write about.

The show's marketing material says it's “loosely based” on the dispute. How deep into it did you get? Were you poring through court documents?

All our research came pretty much from other news stories. I've read them all. We hit, I believe, a lot of the major plot points about their breakup, but we're taking a little nugget of fact and kind of blowing that out in silly, extreme places.

Have you seen Cellino or Barnes in the audience? Have you gotten legal threats?

No, none at all. When we started doing it, we saw a lot of people buying tickets were coming through the law firm, and we said, 'I hope they don't hit us with a cease-and-desist.' But when we performed for the first time in Brooklyn, several people from the firm came. When we did it in Buffalo, several of Cellino's family members came. They really loved it; they told us it was super funny.

Do you come down on the side of Cellino versus Barnes?

We keep it kind of open. When we started out, we tended toward Barnes being the villain. But they both tend toward extremes.

How did you develop these characters? Did you see them in court? Just from commercials?

We'd read in the paper that Cellino said, 'I'm gonna burn this place to the ground.' The character comes through. Someone who worked on their commercials reached out to us and said we nailed the personalities. I also watched a video of Barnes delivering a hyper-detailed speech on medical malpractice—he's just so intense and straightforward. The mannerisms are there, but the accent is more mine.

So do these characters complement each other, like Abbott and Costello?

They absolutely complement each other. Cellino is positioned as a more fun guy, and Barnes really wants to take over the world.

This interview has been condensed and edited for style, grammar and clarity.