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Other CIF Interviews:

Susan Gaspar of The Free Associates

Don Hall of WNEP

Yuri Kinugawa of Yellow Man Group

Stan Morse of Liquid Radio Players

Mick Napier of Annoyance Productions

Joey Slotnik, Lauren Katz & John Lehr of Slotnik, Katz & Lehr

Dan O'Connor of TNN's Lifegame

Interview by Jeff Catanese

Dan O'Connor is one of those fellows you'd be apt to call the nicest guy in the world.  Easily giving of his time, pleasant in his manner, and riddled with boyish charm, hehas you routing for him onstage and off.  I managed to snag Mr. O'Connor for five minutes at the Lincoln Tap Room after his very successful set.   -JC

How are things going on Lifegame [the upcoming improv television show on the National Network]?

Good.  We just finished some auditions in LA, and we’re going into rehearsal next Wednesday [May 9].  We’ve got a really good crew.  Only three have done the form before, myself, Brian Lohmann [also of LA TheatreSports], and [Edie, Rudy?????].  So we have to get the new people ready.

Have you solved the problem of how to translate improv to television?

Not yet.  But our rehearsal process will involve working all that out.  They [the producers] are letting the improvisers in on that whole process so that we can create the best show possible.

What other problems are you working on?

We are trying to make the show a bit lighter than the stage version was.

So not as sentimental?

Well, not so involved in the emotions of the guest.  We are going to be more careful about who we pick.  After some shows, ladies would come up to us as we were collecting donation for Equity Fights AIDS and grab the baskets and say, “You are going to get that woman help aren’t you?”  You try to tell them, “Look, I don’t know that woman, I don’t know who she is…”  So we’re going to try to avoid those guests.

Talking about your set tonight here at the festival: LA TheatreSports performs so many different formats in California, why did you bring Triple Play?

Actually, Triple Play was requested.  They saw the format out in LA and asked if we would bring it here.  I love coming to Chicago and New York with formats like this because so many improvisers get caught up in one school of thought and don’t realize that there are many other ways to do things.  Each one as valid as the next.

Like a Harold, for instance?

The Harold is one way of doing improv, but it’s not the only way.  A lot of people think that because I’m with TheatreSports that I preach [Keith] Johnstone [author of Impro and Impro for Storytellers].  In truth, I’m all for any way that improv gets done.  I don’t get caught up in thinking that there is only one way to tell a story.

Are these regional differences?

There are so many improv troupes performing longform formats all along the West Coast.  Calgary, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA, there are new things being tried and invented that most of the country doesn’t know about.  That’s why I love coming to festivals for this.

Again, regarding the Triple Play set tonight: you performed a Shakespeare play, a Sondheim musical, and a “Dungeons & Dragons-type movie.”  Why the Dungeons & Dragons?”

When we perform Triple Play in our home theater, we usually perform a ‘70’s cop movie in that slot.  But we knew that we were going to have this huge stage to play with, and we wanted to use it as much as we could.  Besides, Brad [Sherwood] had not performed with us for a while so we were able to play with the format a bit.

Are you staying for the entire festival?

Regrettably we have to go back to LA tomorrow.  I have to make some money.  I spent three months as an unemployed actor in New York, so now I have to recoop my losses.  But I’ll be back in New York next week to rehearse Lifegame, then it’s back to LA, then back to New York to shoot the show.

Be careful, you’re becoming bicoastal.

I know.  I always thought that meant you were making money, but I was wrong.