Amy Poehler

DVD, TV Review: ‘Parks and Recreation’ Delivers on Early Promise With Great Premiere

BrianTT — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:35:02 -0600

CHICAGO – Improving with every episode of its short first season, now available on DVD, “Parks and Recreation” returns tonight with the best episode of comedy in tonight’s much-hyped cavalcade of premieres. Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider, and the rest of the cast and writers of “Parks and Recreation” are doing everything they can to turn their comedy into the next NBC must-see show. Do your part and tune in.

Television Rating: 4.0/5.0

DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0

Very few comedies come out of the gate without a few flaws. The first month of “30 Rock” didn’t have nearly the comic timing that made the third season an Emmy darling. It takes time to develop pacing, comic chemistry, and characters that the audience care about. Watching the first season of “Parks and Recreation,” you can see those essential ingredients start to click by roughly episode four, “Boys Club”.

Parks and Recreation
Photo credit: Universal

What happened by episode four? The team behind “Parks and Recreation” found the heart of the show. Just as Michael Scott on “The Office” needs to be more than a drooling moron and Jim and Pam bring a necessary emotional, relatable core to that hit show, “Parks and Recreation” suffered at the start for a lack of characters worth caring about. Not any more.

Poehler stars as Leslie Knope, an ambitious and hopeful small-town government worker in Pawnee, Indiana who dreams big but lives small. Most of the first season centered around Leslie’s attempts to turn an abandoned construction site into a park after meeting the lovely local nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) and her moronic boyfriend (Chris Pratt).

Like “The Office” set in the world of small-town politics instead of paper production, “Parks and Recreation” features a cast of unusual workplace characters including Leslie’s odd colleague Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), gruff boss Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), and a cute city planner named Mark (Paul Schneider).

“Parks and Recreation” features the same dry wit, workplace humor, and awkward pauses of “The Office,” but it started to develop its own identity over the course of the first season and opens the second one truly feeling like its own series.

Parks and Recreation
Photo credit: Dean Hendler/FOX

Written by Norm Hiscock and directed by the great Paul Feig, the premiere of “Parks and Recreation” is the best episode of the series to date, entitled “Pawnee Zoo”. In a series of publicity events for the local zoo, Leslie decides that she’ll stage a wedding for a pair of penguins after hearing that they mate for life. The small problem is that the two penguins at the local zoo happen to both be male and Leslie becomes the local poster child for gay marriage. Celebrated at the local gay bar The Bulge (which features a hilarious dance scene with Leslie) and asked to resign by the conservatives in town, Leslie is stuck in an awkward situation. Meanwhile, Ann faces an uncomfortable decision after Mark asks her on a date.

It feels like the renewal of “Parks and Recreation” has reinvigorated the writers and actors on the show. Next week’s episode, “The Stakeout,” directed by the great Seth Gordon, is just as good as the premiere and arguably even funnier.

Parks and Recreation
Photo credit: Dean Hendler/FOX

Poehler’s timing has never been better than it is in the premiere and the supporting cast is becoming more likable every single week. It’s way too early to say that “Parks and Recreation” is the best show on Thursday nights, especially with the great “The Office” and “30 Rock” in the conversation, but it’s much closer to those already-classic comedies than anyone thought it would be after the premiere. Much like Leslie Knope, “Parks and Recreation” could surprise you.

Very surprising is the excellent season one DVD, which includes commentaries and deleted scenes on every single episode, along with an extended cut of the season finale.

Commentary participants on season one include creators Greg Daniels & Micke Schur, Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman, Paul Schneider, Chris Pratt, Amy Poehler, and more.

Check out the season two premiere and then go back and catch up with life in Pawnee. Not only will you see a few very good episodes but you’ll see the development of a series from good to great.

The second season premiere of ‘Parks and Recreation,’ which airs on NBC, stars Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, and Nick Offerman. The show was created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series returns on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 7:30PM CST.

‘Parks and Recreation: Season One’ is released by Universal Home Video and stars Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, and Nick Offerman. The show was created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. It was released on September 8th, 2009. It is not rated.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Talented Comedy Stars Rescue ‘Spring Breakdown’

BrianTT — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:42:45 -0600

CHICAGO – When Tina Fey made the jump from “Saturday Night Live” to “30 Rock,” she was planning on taking her talented co-star and friend Rachel Dratch to the award-winning show. Before the season began, Dratch was replaced by Jane Krakowski and the rest is history. But there was a promising comedy with a great cast on Dratch’s resume that all of us thought would bring her back to the spotlight called “Spring Breakdown”. Now that comedy is being quietly released straight-to-DVD/Blu-Ray. There’s no justice in the comedy world.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

It’s not that “Spring Breakdown” is a comedy masterpiece that necessarily deserved a wide audience, but while watching it I was struck by the disparity between the sexes. Male-driven junk about horny boys looking for sex like “Fired Up,” “Sex Drive,” or “Miss March” automatically gets a theatrical release, but if a female-driven film isn’t seen as a typical “chick flick,” it’s tossed into the bargain bin.

Spring Breakdown was released on Blu-Ray on June 2nd, 2009.
Photo credit: WB

The double standard seems especially unfair given the pedigree of the talent on display in “Spring Breakdown”. Dratch, Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, Jane Lynch, Amber Tamblyn, and Missi Pyle are funny, funny women. The lackluster final act and some odd pacing problems and weak production values from director Ryan Shiraki sink the film in the end, but it’s better than half the junk in theaters and deserved a better fate.

Spring Breakdown was released on Blu-Ray on June 2nd, 2009.
Photo credit: WB

Dratch plays Judi, best friend to Gayle (Poehler) and Becky (Posey). All three girls are what you would politely call geeks. They sit around playing silly games and looking forward to “make your own pizza night”. They are socially awkward at best. Judi’s fiancee (Seth Meyers) is clearly gay, Gayle gets turned down by a blind guy (Will Arnett), and Becky works for a monstrous politician (Lynch).

When the politician’s daughter (Tamblyn) decides to head to South Padre Island for spring break, her mom tasks Becky with keeping an eye on her. Gayle and Judi come out of their shell - the best bit is one in which Judi thinks she drunkenly slept with a studly guy even though she just got into the wrong bed after a few too many shots - but Becky still struggles with social acceptance. The whole affair ends with an oddly conceived talent show (because spring break parties always have talent shows) where the girls get one more stab at social glory.

“Spring Breakdown” has plenty of jokes that fall flat and the whole thing looks a bit too much like a TV movie, but each of the talented lead actresses and most of the supporting ones find at least a few moments that connect with the funny bone. It’s worth a rental, especially for fans of the cast, and almost certainly would have made back its meager budget in theaters. Like the awkward girl who can’t even get laid at spring break, life isn’t always fair.

“Spring Breakdown” is a Warner Brothers Blu-Ray release, so it naturally looks and sounds good in HD. There’s nothing overly remarkable about the video and audio but they also aren’t deeply flawed enough to mention. It’s a standard Blu-Ray transfer.

The special features are pretty standard as well with a commentary by Shiraki and Dratch, additional scenes, and a gag reel.

‘Spring Breakdown’ is released by Warner Brothers Home Video and stars Rachel Dratch, Parker Posey, Amy Poehler, Amber Tamblyn, Seth Meyers, Sophie Monk, Jonathan Sadowski, Missi Pyle, and Jane Lynch. It was written and directed by Ryan Shiraki with a story by Dratch. The Blu-Ray and DVD were released on June 2nd, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

TV Review: Amy Poehler Brings the Funny to ‘Parks and Recreation’

BrianTT — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:11:57 -0600

Television Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The Emmy Award-winning team behind NBC’s massively successful “The Office” returns to the mockumentary format with the similar “Parks and Recreation,” an effective comedy starring Amy Poehler of “Saturday Night Live,” Rashida Jones (“I Love You, Man”), Aziz Ansari (“Observe and Report”), and Paul Schneider (“Lars & the Real Girl”).

Poehler plays the overly optimistic but socially challenged Leslie Knope, a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department in Pawnee, Indiana. Like a lot of people in low-level government, Leslie means well but she’s forced to deal with a daily flow of red tape.

Parks and Recreation
Photo credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Leslie’s unusual colleague Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) sort of helps her in her regular battle with angry townspeople and her troublesome superiors. For example, Leslie’s boss Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) doesn’t even believe in government and essentially tries to do as little as possible. Leslie regularly has to turn to the cute city planner Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider) for help.

The season premiere features what will clearly become a passion project for Leslie after she meets local nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones). Ann’s boyfriend fell in an abandoned construction site and Leslie promises her that she’ll fix the situation by building a park on the giant pit. Easier said than done.

With its awkward pauses, workplace setting, and dry wit, “Parks and Recreation” has been cut from nearly the same cloth as “The Office”. Poehler’s Leslie often feels a bit too much like an alternate universe version of Steve Carell’s Michael Scott with a little less idiocy and a little more charm and it almost feels like the two shows could not only share jokes but entire plotlines.

But is that a horrible thing? Don’t go to this park looking for originality, but Poehler, Jones, Ansari, and Schneider are very talented people and it seems a little like nitpicking to rip one well-written show for being too much like another well-written show.

Parks and Recreation
Photo credit: Mitch Hadadd/NBC

Like a lot of episodes of “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation” is not as much laugh-out-loud as it is a regular smile. It’s enjoyable, not hilarious. It’s also an expertly-paced, well-done premiere that hints at great potential. Of course, I could point at dozens of comedies that went downhill after their premiere, making it way to early to tell if “Parks and Rec” will be as consistent a show as Greg Daniels and Michael Schur’s other hit program.

“Parks and Recreation” is not great, but it’s also not bad and it displays enough talent both on-camera and off in its series premiere to give this show a shot. Much like Leslie herself, as she dreams of being the first female President and gives her all to projects her co-workers loathe, “Parks and Recreation” could surprise you.

‘Parks and Recreation,’ which airs on NBC, stars Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, and Nick Offerman. The show was created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series premieres on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 7:30PM CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Horton Hears a Who’ a Playful Movie, Average Blu-Ray

BrianTT — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:20:20 -0700

CHICAGO – Fox animation tries to keep pace with DreamWorks and Disney with their high budget, extras-packed release of “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who”, an entertaining animated adventure but a Blu-Ray release that does nothing to rise above average.

With a mediocre video and audio transfer, a frustratingly organized collection of special features, and the fact that the highlight of the package is essentially a commercial for another movie, the Blu-Ray release of “Horton Hears a Who” has to be considered a disappointment, even if the film itself is more consistently enjoyable than most adaptations of the legendary author.

Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who is available on DVD/Blu-Ray on December 9, 2008.

Jim Carrey voices the title character, a playful pachyderm named Horton who happens to hear a sound coming from microscopic speck of dust. Horton discovers an entire community known as Who-ville existing on that floating orb and realizes that he holds their fate in his giant hands. Steve Carell voices the Mayor of Who-Ville, the only Who who knows that the strange changes in his world are due to Horton and the inhabitants of the world above. Horton needs to find a safer home for the Who-ville speck of dust but the Sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) stands in his way. Meanwhile, the Mayor has a loving wife named Sally (Amy Poehler), 96 daughters, and one lonely son named JoJo (Jesse McCartney). Can the giant elephant and the creature who lives on a speck of dust work together to save the day?

“Horton Hears a Who” is far from the most clever animated script of the year but it’s well-paced enough to be consistently enjoyable for its brief running time and the voice work helps the film stand out. Carrey and Carell are predictably excellent and expressive but Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, and the rest of the cast work together seamlessly and creatively. There’s also a surreal nature to both the character design and script for “Horton Hears a Who” (for example, the movie ends with a cast sing-a-long to REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling”) that’s refreshing for a genre that’s typically predictable.

“Horton Hears a Who” was not as critically successful as “Kung Fu Panda” or “Wall-E”, but that doesn’t excuse the sometimes-shabby treatment Fox continues to give their animated features on Blu-Ray. The HD video in 1.85:1 widescreen is certainly not bad, but when it’s compared to “Panda” or “Wall-E” it looks shockingly flat. The colors simply are not as vibrant or three-dimensional. The audio is also below average for animation on Blu-Ray with a 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio track that isn’t bad but isn’t memorable either.

Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who is available on DVD/Blu-Ray on December 9, 2008.

What’s most frustrating about Fox Blu-Ray is the way they have chosen to organize their special features. While other studios are trying to find new ways to present featurettes and commentaries on the next-gen format, Fox is taking a step back, usually choosing to emphasize quantity over quality or organization.

Looking at the back of the BD case for “Horton Hears a Who” will entice fans of the film to set aside time for the extensive list of special features but a large majority of them run under five minutes long before bouncing viewers back to the menu screen. Why not collect them all into one behind-the-scenes documentary? It’s hard to believe that there’s a single viewer out there who enjoys two-to-three minute featurettes like “Meet Katie” or “The Elephant in the Room: Jim Carrey”. Other featurettes include “Bringing the Characters to Life”, “That’s One Big Elephant: Animating Horton”, “Bringing Seuss to Screen”, “A Person is a Person: A Universal Message”, “Our Speck: Where Do We Fit In?”, and “Elephant Fun: The Facts”. None are memorable.

Far more interesting will be the deleted footage and animation screen tests, the commentary by directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino and an all-new “Ice Age” short called “Surviving Sid”. Featuring John Leguizamo and his character from the first two “Ice Age” movies, “Surviving Sid” is a cute, 8-minute film that all fans of that franchise should enjoy. There’s also a preview for the third “Ice Age” movie, coming out early in 2009. Hopefully, the inevitable Blu-Ray release for that film is more impressive than the one for “Horton Hears a Who”.

‘Horton Hears a Who’ is released by Twentieth Century Fox Home Video on DVD/Blu-Ray and stars Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Isla Fisher, and Amy Poehler. It was written by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio and directed by Jimmy Hayward & Steve Martino. It will be released on December 9th, 2008.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: British Comedian Steve Coogan Rocks Sexy Jesus Character in ‘Hamlet 2’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:10:50 -0600

CHICAGO – Steve Coogan is a British comedy icon. Forging a career from creating an array of characters, though, he’s not as well known in America (except to BBC cultists).

He brings this talent for characterization to the lead role of an American high school drama teacher in the new film “Hamlet 2”. Coogan adds some peculiar quirks to the depiction of the clueless soul who seemingly will do anything to project his dramatic “vision”.

“Hamlet 2” star Steve Coogan in Chicago on July 30, 2008.
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

Steve Coogan stars in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

In a recent HollywoodChicago.com interview with Coogan, he philosophized about the nature of his comedy and how he hopes it can translate both in “Hamlet 2” and within the larger entertainment scope as his career progresses.

Describing the roots of his basis in developing characters, Coogan went back to his childhood in Manchester, England.

“As a kid before cable or VCRs, I used to use an audio cassette recorder to tape TV shows,” Coogan recalled.

He added: “[I did it] just to get the audio tracks. Also there was a lot of comedy on records. I would listen to Monty Python and older British comedy like Tony Hancock and The Goon Show.”

Steve Coogan (center) and Skylar Astin (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

Rating: 2.5/5.0

“Often people would describe their favorite moments on the TV shows or records,” he continued. “I would say: ‘No. You’ve got it wrong.’ I would start to mimic what was accurate on those shows. I would enjoy the retelling of the stuff. I would enjoy people’s reaction to it once I did it.”

“Hamlet 2” is a bit of a departure from the British scene. It depicts Coogan as Dana Marschz: a down and out American actor forced to teach bad drama in a high school in Tucson, Ariz. His student body consists of two worshipful pupils who do stage recreations of movies like “Erin Brockovich”.

When Dana is forced to take some rougher students into his classes, it’s within the context that the school system is about to cut the drama department entirely. What is necessary is a big production. It must be something the bureaucracy can’t ignore.

Dana Marschz will come up with the sequel to one of Shakespeare’s best. He’ll call it “Hamlet 2”. Coogan added: “What attracted me to the character of Dana was that it’s a funny part.”

Steve Coogan (left), Elisabeth Shue (center) and Amy Poehler (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Focus Features

Melonie Diaz (left), Steve Coogan (center) and Phoebe Strole (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

He continued: “He is vulnerable, which was a departure from characters I’ve played who are unlikable. I am attracted toward dysfunctional people because I find them more interesting. It’s a challenge to play someone odd or dysfunctional and still make the audience care about them.”

While Dana plots his masterpiece, his marriage dissolves around him. Still, the plucky and gullible dramatist forges on.

His play will revolve around a time machine (so the dead characters in the first “Hamlet” can be revived), musical numbers and the character of “Sexy Jesus” for the big finish.

“We talked about how to make Jesus sexy,” Coogan explained. “That’s why we settled on the jeans and T-shirt. The hair was always kind of cool.”

“It did make me a little nervous to play Jesus,” he admitted. “I did wonder whether (writer/director) Andy (Fleming) was just trying to be provocative to annoy Christians in a certain way or if it was just funny. I wasn’t quite sure, but in the end, I just did it.”

Coogan also talked about playing Dana as an American and the differences between that freedom and the more repressed British psychology.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Hamlet 2” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Patrick McDonald.

“As a generalization, I think Americans are less repressed than British people,” he said. “Culturally, people from America come from somewhere else, so there’s the risk factor within the personality that makes them more free.”

“There is no subtext with Dana,” Coogan added. “The challenge was how to make it interesting when he’s so big and demonstrative – without making it over the top – especially in contrast with the other characters in the film who are more grounded.”

In his final thoughts, Coogan mentioned why he sometimes has trouble being pigeonholed in the way he’s cast in movies.

“I like variety. I don’t like to repeat myself,” he said. “In this marketplace, that is difficult because representatives sometimes don’t know how to sell me. I do so many different things. But it satisfies me creatively.”

“Hamlet 2,” which is written and directed by Andrew Fleming, features Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, David Arquette, Elisabeth Shue, Amy Poehler, Melonie Diaz, Phoebe Strole and Skylar Astin. The film opened on Aug. 22, 2008.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Changes on Horizon For Chicago-Native Conan O’Brien Writer Kevin Dorff

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 09:25:11 -0700

CHICAGO – Kevin Dorff spent his Sunday in Chicago kicking back and watching the Bears game.

Jim Zulevic and Kevin Dorff (on right) at Second City.
Photo credit: Second City
A Chicago native and Emmy Award-winning writer for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” for seven years, the current WGA strike has shut down production and provided him something of a forced vacation.

For nearly a week, he has been back in the city that started his career when he first began taking classes in the early 1990s at what was then called Improv Olympic (now iO).

Within a few years, he was performing on Second City’s main stage.

On Tuesday night, Dorff will be performing alongside Horatio Sanz, Matt Walsh, Ed Furman and others at the Lakeshore Theater for “Horatio Sanz and the Kings of Improv,” which is presented by the Upright Citizens Brigade.

“These guys just love to play,” Dorff said – speaking of the ensemble – in an interview with HollywoodChicago.com.

He has performed with them all many times in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago over the last decade. Dorff added: “Matt and Horatio would just upend some milk cartons and perform on them. That might be a new show we’re working on. I don’t know.”

All of the performers have a connection to Chicago and originally were seen on the stages of Second City, iO, the Annoyance and other comedy clubs around town. In New York, the players can be seen regularly at the UCB Theatre as part of Sunday night’s ASSSSCAT Improv show.

Horatio Sanz.
Photo credit: iO West
Tuesday’s show will closely follow the Armando Diaz Experience format for improvisation made popular at iO.

Originally created by Adam McKay, David Koechner, Dorff and the namesake Armando Diaz, the “experience” is an improvised long-form show based on a performer’s personal monologues. Who will be doing the monologues on Tuesday has yet to be decided.

“It’s not very structured,” Dorff said. “We’re really good at working together. We’ll rely on what we’re feeling at the time. We might do a shared monologue experience and bring a lot of order out of that.”

He bases everything on what he learned training with iO founders Charna Halpern and Del Close. Dorff finds himself working with a lot of the same people again and again.

When Tina Fey was casting the pilot episode for the hit show “30 Rock,” she called on Dorff for a role in the cold opening. Robert Smigel knew Dorff from working together on Conan O’Brien’s show and cast him in an episode of “TV Funhouse”.

Even some of the other writers on “Late Night” were on Dorff’s first improv team in Chicago. Other work comes the old-fashioned way: auditioning. Last summer, Dorff called in to meet with famed comedy casting director Allison Jones for this season of “The Office”.

The result was a role as an ex-client of Dunder Mifflin who was unimpressed with character Michael Scott’s gift basket. Writing for “Late Night,” however, takes up 50 to 60 hours a week and the majority of Dorff’s time. He’s not complaining.

Frank Caeti (MADtv, on left), Armando Diaz and Kevin Dorff (on right).
Photo credit: ImprovMatchGame.com
“We love what we do. We’re happy to go in early and stay late. We’re happy to sleep on couches in our offices,” explains Dorff of his life before the writer’s strike, which began on Nov. 5.

He admits to only having an anthill view of the complex currently between the WGA and the major studios.

Dorff added: “What some people forget is that nothing going on. Nothing is being made and it’s affecting everyone down to the PAs and interns who are trying to learn about what it’s like to work in this business.”

Of the more than 10,000 members of both branches of the writer’s guild, only a few hundred are comedy writers.

“It’s weird how serious these [comedy writers] are taking this,” Dorff said as he became more dynamic on the subject. He says the frustration comes from not being able to do what you love.

“It has been a long time since the contract has been updated,” Dorff said. “It’s based on a VHS-rental model. They need to bring it in line with the current generation of media. I can’t even find a Blockbuster [any more]. Can you? I hope [the strike is] as short as however it can be.”

WGA negotiations are set to resume on Nov. 26. Beyond that, there are changes on the horizon for Dorff’s career at “Late Night”.

Matt Besser and Amy Poehler.
Photo credit: iO West
Ever since it was announced that Conan O’Brien would be taking the reigns of the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” when Leno steps down in 2009, it has spawned questions about changes in everything from the content and location.

“You’d have to ask [NBC Universal President] Jeff Zucker about that,” Dorff said while explaining that all the decisions are to be worked out with the producers of the show. The writers are only more concerned with the day to day.

Dorff added: “We do shows five nights a week. When we go in on Monday, we have no idea what’s happening on Thursday much less in 2009.”

Dorff instead puts his faith in Conan O’Brien. He added: “Conan’s instincts are great,” Dorff said as he described his admiration of the host and executive producer as a comedy writer. “His work ethic is infectious. He makes people motivated.”

Right now, though, he is more concerned with being back in his hometown and performing with old friends. Last week, Dorff, Rachel Dratch and Tim Meadows sat in on an improv set at Second City after doing a panel at the Chicago History Museum.

When the rest of the kings of improv are in town and they meet up for dinner, they might decide to make an impromptu appearance at iO. After all, these are people who just love to play.

“That’s the best thing about being in Chicago,” Dorff said. “People just pull up their sleeves and get to work.”

Kevin Dorff will be performing with “Horatio Sanz and the Kings of Improv” on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago. Tickets are available here or by calling 773-472-3492.
By Dustin Levell
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com