Feature: Jane Lynch, Paul Sorvino at 2013 Chicago Film Critics Awards Press Conference

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Joe Piscopo, Special Presenter and Entertainer

Joe Piscopo hasn’t lost a step as he did a few routines for the audience at the awards show. His energy and timing was as sharp as when he worked on “Saturday Night Live” as part of the troupe that came immediately after the first cast of the show. It was only he and Eddie Murphy who survived that sixth season in 1980, when new producer Jean Doumanian nearly derailed the show with her changes. He was on SNL until 1984, and created many memorable characters, including his spot-on impression of Frank Sinatra. He attended the awards as the presenter of the “Commitment to the Craft” award, introducing his co-star Paul Sorvino from the soon-to-be-released “How Sweet It Is.”

Joe Piscopo at the Chicago Film Critics Awards, February 9th, 2013 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Piscopo commented on the infamous 1980 season: “It was a near death experience. Jean Doumanian was a great film producer for Woody Allen, but I could not figure out why they cleaned house like that and gave her the show. I didn’t want to do it, and I was making more money just doing commercials. I thought of myself more as a utility guy, but my agent Chris Albrecht, who later produced so many great shows for HBO, told me I had to go on SNL. For ten shows we died, and it was the worst. I do this bit in my routine, I talk about walking down the streets of New York City during that season, and people would say, ‘hey aren’t you on Saturday Night Live?’ I’d say yeah, and then they would shout back, ‘you stink, get off the show.’”

Nadine Velazquez, Special Presenter, Featured in “Flight”

Adding glamour to the night’s roster of guest presenters was Nadine Velazquez, a native Chicagoan who ended up finding a successful career in acting years after earning a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Columbia College (she admitted that the degree did little for her screen career). She had the distinction of being featured in one of last year’s most memorable nude scenes, getting dressed in front of Denzel Washington during the first scene of Robert Zemeckis’ “Flight,” yet most audiences would most likely recognize Velazquez from her recurring roles on such small screen hits as “My Name is Earl” and “The League.” She told the press that her experience on “The League” has had a particularly strong impact on her evolution as a performer.

Nadine Velazquez at the Chicago Film Critics Awards, February 9th, 2013 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

“It’s been really nice to watch the comedians that come on the show and be able to improvise with them,” Velazquez said. “I think that’s helped me in my performances without me even realizing it. I just worked with Michael Cera on ‘Arrested Development,’ and though a lot of that show is scripted, you still really need chops in improv.”