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Carly Ciarrocchi//Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal |
We last visited with Wilmington native and Archmere Academy grad Carly Ciarrocchi in 2014 when she co-hosted Sprout’s “The Sunny Side Up Show.” We reconnected with her via conference call from 30 Rock in NYC as her new gig, “The Big Fun Crafty Show” (airing Monday–Friday at 5:30 p.m.), debuted on Universal Kids. The unique reality series tasks competitors, ages 7 to 12, with creative crafting challenges. Ciarrocchi, 31, who lives in Brooklyn, also hosts the Emmy-nominated “Sprout House,” which airs daily on the same network. Both jobs take full advantage of her talents as a writer, singer, actress and pure energetic force. During our chat in May, she dished about former puppet pal Chica and her new buddy, Snug.
Tell us about your new show.
I’m super-proud of what we made. We shot it in Canada in the fall. It is the first arts-and-crafts reality competition show for kids. It is a real celebration of creativity. There isn’t anything else like it on TV. It’s a really good choice for family viewing.
You have a knack for landing cool projects.
I think I excel at the art of finding extremely fun things to do for a living.
What’s a typical day like?
We were shooting two episodes a day, and we have the kids and parents on the set. So from the second I walked in the door, I was pretty much on from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“Sunny Side Up” ended last year. Do you miss Chica?
(Laughs.) I do miss Chica. She is a very special chicken. On “Sprout House,” we have a dog named Snug. He’s his own animal. He’s hilarious and super-smart and super-fun.
Do you write for Snug?
I do. I write for me, for Snug and a third character called T.J.—our bud who comes by from time to time. So I am part of the team that writes the sketches and the music for “Sprout House.”
How do you stay so energetic?
Part of it is definitely natural. My whole family is like this. We just exist in a natural state of high energy and mostly joy. But I treat my life as if I was an athlete training for a race or a game. I get really good sleep, I eat well and I exercise a lot.
You have also developed a musical career.
I’ve been able to do a lot of musical stuff with Sprout and Universal Kids, but also with Tim Kubart (a former “Sunny Side Up” host), who also has a music career. I have helped him write music and appeared as a vocalist on his record “Home,” which won a Grammy for Best Children’s Album in 2016. I’ll be on his record that will be out in the fall. I do a little bit of rapping on that. I was also able to do a lot of live shows with him and his band.
Do you have any hobbies?
I belong to an all-women’s boxing gym in East Harlem. That has been a really important part of my time in New York. It’s an incredible and empowering community, and I love training with a small group of women that I know so well.
Have you had the chance to work with any big-name celebrities?
Recently, we had Jimmy Fallon come through. We got to do some silly stuff with him. Isla Fisher came through this year on “Sprout House.” And on “Sunny Side Up” we had Mariska Hargitay and Kate McKinnon, and those were two of my favorite guest appearances.