Richard Kind travels to The Second City and “Spin City” during laugh-stacked Genesee Q&A

Photos by Andy Argyrakis

Veteran actor Richard Kind has nearly 300 roles under his belt on television, movie screens and Broadway, yet seems to take a humble, almost self-deprecating approach to popularity.

For example, when he came to the attentively restored Genesee Theatre for a conversation with WGN-TV’s Pat Tomasulo, followed by an audience Q&A, the title of the program was “How Not To Be Famous.”

Of course, Kind is obviously known to a certain extent after being seen in “Spin City,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Mad About You,” “Argo,” “A Serious Man,” “Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind” and voicing plenty of Pixar films, to name a few, but insists he’s more of a journeyman than an immediately recognizable A-lister.

In any case, the moderated portion of this relatively rare appearance shed light on starting right here in Chicago at The Second City, which he considered a Harvard-level education for the craft, where everyone from a pre-fame George Clooney to an already established Michael J. Fox dropped in to experience their expertise firsthand.

As far as Fox’s visit was concerned, he even joined Kind on stage to play a totally improvised gay couple to prolonged howls of laughter, an animated tale the latter recounted to the former when trying out for “Spin City,” but was met with an apology by the A-lister for not being able to remember the encounter, let alone the entire decade of the 1980s, due to over indulgences.

Fans and fellow acting friends, including fellow local Bonnie Hunt, also learned a few of Kind’s general philosophies, such as the unrealistic expectations and dangers of child stardom or the double-edged sword of having extremely handsome looks when getting started, yet without enough acting chops, quickly fading away.

As prepared and on point as Tomasulo was interviewing the headliner whenever he could get a word in edgewise, attendees took the reigns by the second half for a random assortment of questions and statements.

Amongst the morsels learned were the fact Kind was the sole performer in both a “Stargate” movie and TV show, his favorite voice over role was Bing Bong from “Inside Out,” he was particularly disappointed about no longer being part of a possible musical production of “The Princess Bride,” plus he knows better than to prank bestie Clooney because he’ll always try to outdo the most outlandish idea imaginable.

Combine the two sections, and the Genesee got a personable portrait of a man many had encountered in countless contexts, but probably never really knew until this hilarious, insightful and illuminating night.

For additional information on the Richard Kind, visit Instagram.com/RealRichardKind.

Upcoming concerts at the Genesee Theatre include The Grass Roots, The Buckinghams and The Box Tops (Feb. 7); “The Sweet Caroline Tour” starring Jay White (Feb. 8); Uptown: A Celebration Of Motown And Soul (Feb. 14); Blind Melon (Feb. 15); Howard Jones and ABC (Feb. 20); Air Supply (Feb. 21); “Drumline” Live (Feb. 23); Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone (Feb. 28); The Moody Blues’ John Lodge (Mar. 1); Jim Henson’s “Fraggle Rock” (Mar. 2); Illusionist Rick Thomas (Mar. 6); KC & The Sunshine Band (Mar. 7); Old Crow Medicine Show (Mar. 15); Here Come The Mummies (Mar. 20); “Ancient Aliens” Live (Mar. 21); An Evening With Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Mar. 22); Michael Blackson (Mar. 27); Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (Mar. 30); Daryl Hall (Apr. 3); MJ Live (Apr. 4); The Brit Pack (Apr. 10); “The Addams Family” (Apr. 19); Voyage: Celebrating The Music Of Journey (May 1); “Sesame Street” Live! (May 16) and Brit Floyd (May 30). For additional details, visit GeneseeTheatre.com.

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Richard Kind travels to The Second City and “Spin City” during laugh-stacked Genesee Q&A

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