Actor John McGivern stars in the Madison Repertory Theatre's production of 'The Santaland Diaries,' a play based on the writings and experiences of David Sedaris when he worked as an elf at Macy's Department Store. Aside from acting, McGivern is a comedian who has appeared regularly on Comedy Central and HBO, performing in incredibly successful shows like 'Sheer Madness,' 'Fully Committed' and 'The Odd Couple,' as well as appearing in Disney's 'The Princess Diaries.' He lives in Milwaukee, where he is a regular on WKLH 96.5 FM's Dave and Carole Morning Radio Show.
The Daily Cardinal: Was acting something you always wanted to do? For instance, when I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut.
John McGivern: I never wanted to be an astronaut. I initially wanted to be a teacher, a priest. You see, I come from an Irish Catholic family. At 30 I decided to be an actor.
DC: Did you have any formal dramatic training?
JM: Yeah, I went to the Academy Theatre in Atlanta. I studied there for a year, and interned for another. After that, I went out into the world'I thought I could do it.
DC: Did you always act in Milwaukee, or did you try New York or L.A. first?
JM: No. You know I lived in Chicago for a long time, then I went out to Los Angeles, lived there seven or eight years, then I moved back to the Midwest. Milwaukee's my home town; I was raised here, and I moved back here three years ago.
DC: When did you decide to start doing comedy?
JM: Well, I started writing my own stuff back in the early 90s, and I wrote 'A Midwest Side Story' when I was living in Chicago, and somebody got a hold of it at Comedy Central. They brought me in to do a special, and then another special, and I wound up on HBO in the late 90s. It was really so much more of story-telling than 'standup,' and I would sit on a stool and talk about growing up in the Midwest in my Irish Catholic family, and going to seminary, and it [was] really just stories that [were] so much more 'sit down' than 'standup' comedy.
DC: Well, you have had formal acting training. Have you had any formal comedic training?
JM: I don't think they have formal comedic training. I think they should, because I have certainly sat in comedy clubs and gone, 'Wow, you need training.' But, I don't think they do, and it's nice that I haven't had to do it. You know, in the year 2000 I spent 42 weeks on the road going all over the country'and it's so nice, I really haven't had to go out and do standup, and I'd really rather not, to be honest with you.
DC: Do you think comedy can be taught?
JM: Well, I don't know if comedy can be taught. I teach a course at UW-Milwaukee called 'telling tales' and it's about getting a story only you can tell, because you're the one who's lived it. And you can teach a format that works. If you're looking to do standup comedy and you're not funny, its not going to work. But, I think you can teach someone to really tell a story, and that's half of it I think. But, if you try to be funny and aren't, that's OK, you can still tell a good story.
DC: Have you learned from being a practitioner of comedy?
JM: Yeah, the more familiar you are, the better. And you won't really know until you're out there in front of people; you need to take into account what the audience wants to hear, what they think is funny. In Madison, when I do 'The Santaland Diaries,' I'll also be telling some of my own tales about growing up in Milwaukee, and it will be interesting to see what works on these pieces'what Madison likes. That's what's great about what I do. It's really exciting and frightening and scary, and I'm always like, this is pathetic; and then you go out there and it works.
DC: So your comedy is just stories? You do not tell any jokes?
JM: My stuff is so not 'jokey.' You know they're filled with laughs, and I do stuff on the radio in Milwaukee, WKLH morning drive time, and I'm a part of their cast, and on the NBC affiliate, and people will come up to me on the street and be like, I have a really great joke for you, and I'm like, 'No, not jokes, it's not my thing.' Or they say, 'Tell me a joke,' and I don't know any jokes, I'm sorry'I just know what's funny to me.
DC: Do you think it's harder to be a comic that is openly gay?
JM: Well, I'm out as a storyteller, I am out and gay in my community, and it is weird going on the road to places like Des Moines, Iowa, where they introduced me as the first openly gay comic, and I told them I am not the first openly gay comic. And they said, 'Well, here you are,' and I said, 'Ha, sweet Jesus, help me!' And that's the stuff that makes [it] into my stories.
DC: Would you say that because of your sexual orientation you have been typecast?
JM: I'm not sure if it's really typecasting. On the radio or TV, I speak about my day'??so I'm typecast as me, and I certainly talk about my partner and my mom, and from my perspective, which is that of a gay guy. In Los Angeles, I did gay specials, and there it was limiting, but not in Milwaukee.
DC: Now it's kind of a clich??, but a lot of actors and comedians held jobs as painters, dishwashers, waiters and house cleaners before they were successful. What kind of jobs did you have?
JM: You sound so gleeful asking that question. Well, yes, that's exactly what I did. I worked as a waiter until 1990, so it's been 15 years. But yeah, I did waitering and I did like the worst theater ever ... I've been all types of weird stuff, I worked in Snowcamp, NC, I was in a piece about the Quakers during the revolution'who cares!
But I would do anything for anybody who wants me to be an actor. I was working! And I look back on that, and it's so much of what makes me today. Sure, I would've liked success earlier in life, but you do what you can.
DC: What are your thoughts about 'The Santaland Diaries'?
JM: People really love this work; people love 'The Santaland Diary,' and it is a wonderful cross-eyed look at the holiday hype, which I am very happy to take part in.
