Out of Bounds Comedy Festival 2009

Don Hall is a producer, director, teacher, writer and actor and was the Executive Director of Chicago's WNEP from 1993 - 2006. In addition to his work with WNEP, Don performs and directs around Chicago frequently. Don has produced over 70 World Premieres for WNEP Theater (including productions in New York and Scotland) as well as Associate Producing Chicago Improv Festivals 5 through 8 and producing CIF 9. He is also the Events Coordinator for Chicago Public Radio and National Public Radio's irreverent game show Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
Don has said of himself that he is "an angry liberal and a dissatisfied artist." His blog, An Angry White Guy in Chicago, is his near-daily take on what is right and wrong with the world, and should not be missed.

We caught up with Don in between rants and axed him a few questions about Chicago and WNEP. It should be noted that the opinions expressed by Don Hall are solely his and not the opinions of Out of Bounds, any of its subsidiary holders or parent companies, both of which it does not have.

OOB: So, Why you so angry?

DH: Stupidity and hypocrisy.

There's just so much stupid out there it makes my brain reel. And smoke. And explode.
Grasping desperately to an economic ideology that has been thoroughly proven to be horses**t? Stupid.
The acceptance of rampant mediocrity in our television shows, movies, theater, and music? S-T-U-P-I-D.
"Jersey Boys"? Jesus. Really?

OOB: Tell us about why you created WNEP.

DH: Joe Janes, Jeff Hoover and I landed in Second City classes together and after our 18 months of Comedy College, we decided that we could do at least as well as some of the crap that was being thrown up (and mean that as both 'produced' and 'vomited') on local stages.

Further, I had been an Equity actor and had quit theater altogether out of a complete sense of despair that multiple productions of "The Music Man" was all that commercial theater had to offer. The improv thing opened my eyes to more control of the theater I was involved in and part of my rationale was to use the company to produce things I had never seen done before with a Henry Rollins aesthetic.

After 17 years, we just keep plugging away and we keep doing things that inspire me and the members of the company.

OOB: What do you do as a Producer for the Chicago Improv Festival?

DH: Nothing anymore. At CIF 9 I insulted Michael McCarthy and Bernie Sahlins because they were trying to throw their "famous" weight around and acting like c**ts and Pitts dumped me like a fat girl at the prom. I haven't been involved with the festival since - in fact, if you look at the CIF website you'd never know that I associate produced the thing for five years and produced it in 2006 - I have been scrubbed from the history.

I can't be too upset about it, though. I REALLY insulted McCarthy and Sahlins and Pitts had to side with political power over friendship for the festival.

OOB: Anything you're looking forward to for CIF 2009?

The Doubtful Guests. Stashwick is consistently the best thing in anything he's involved in.

OOB: Describe the most vivid dream you've ever had.

DH: I'm standing on the side of a river bank and the wind is so gale force strong that debris is whizzing past my sight so fast that I can barely make out the other shore. On the the other shore is a figure. I can't quite make out who it is but I think it's me. I try to signal him/me but he/I can't see me.

Then it repeats.

Any projects you want to plug?

DH: Come see the live tapings of NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!
Come see WNEP Theater's Tenth Annual SKALD Storytelling Competition.
See me play a psycho torturer in The Mammals' Devils Don't Forget in May.

Labels: Chicago, comedy, donhall, improvfestivals, interviews, WNEP

by Bearded Lamb, Friday, April 17, 2009

- Interview: Don Hall -

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