Exclusive interview with SHU alumus Kevin Nealon – Former SNL star talks to Spectrum about his time at Sacred Heart, his career, and upcoming show on campus

Emma Levine

A&E Editor

When I saw a slight chance of getting to interview Kevin Nealon I jumped at it. Fortunately for Spectrum (and myself), I got the chance to talk to the comedian, actor and Bridgeport native about his time at Sacred Heart, his upcoming performance at the Edgerton, and some of his upcoming projects.

I know you were a marketing major at Sacred Heart, what year did you graduate and what made you want to go into marketing?

I graduated in 1975, with a degree in marketing.  I thought business would be a good background because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.  I knew I wanted to be a comedian but it didn’t seem that logical at the time to pursue that, I mean in hindsight I should have gone to NYU and studied film or something like that but you know it all worked out for the right reasons.

I’m not sure if you have been keeping up to date with Sacred Heart news, but the university has drastically changed over the years. If you have been keeping up what do you think of the changes?

Well, I went by there a couple years ago and I was astounded by how much it’s changed, I mean I hardly recognized it. I recognized the original building which was all there really was when I was there. The library was pretty new when I started going there. And I remember I used to sit out by the parking lot of the library before a mixer at Sacred Heart and I would listen to my 8-track tape in the parking lot and listen to you know like Crosby, Stills and Nash, and then I would go into the mixer.

I heard you played football here, did Sacred Heart have their own football team back then?

No, no, they had a soccer team.  I was on the soccer team for three years, and then I managed well, I think it was called managing, the baseball team for a year.  I did that to get some money off of my tuition and basically what I did was I washed their jock straps and their towels. (Laughs)  Also, I was heavily involved in table tennis at Sacred Heart. I don’t know if they have it anymore but we used to play schools like Yale and other schools of that caliber, and we had really FOrgood players on the team.  It was an intramural thing and we used to play forever outside the gym.

Aside from those memories, do you have a memory of something crazy or funny that sticks out in your head that happened at Sacred Heart?

One thing I always remember about Sacred Heart is that I would always go to the coffee houses they had in the lounge.  I spent many, many nights just playing with candle wax at the tables just listening to different performers and it was there where I saw one of my first stand-up acts. I saw Ace Holleran, from Blackrock, and he got up and did about 10 minutes or so in the corner and I thought that was really interesting, and at the time I was also going into New York to check out stand up comedy clubs.  But I do remember going to those lounges a lot because I wanted to be a musician but I never had the nerve to get on stage, it seemed too intimate for me You know? Comedy seemed like a better deal. (Laughs)

Can you tell me why you decided to do this performance for St. Joseph’s and why you chose Sacred Heart as the venue?

Well, by the way, next year I’m going to do a fund raiser for Sacred Heart at St. Joe’s High School. (Laughs)  No, I’m doing it because I wanted to give back to the school in a way that would be special…someone reached out to me and asked me if I’d be interested in doing a fundraiser and I thought, “Yeah I would.”  And I would ultimately want to do one for Sacred Heart too.

What can we expect on the 19th? Can you give us a little preview?

Well, it’s funny because a lot of people don’t know that I do stand up comedy although it was really my forte and it was my passion when I started when I moved from Bridgeport to Los Angeles in 1978, and I’ve never stopped doing it since then… I’m at a point in my stand-up career where I think I’ve never been sharper with my material you know and I’m just really on top of it… I had a stand up special last year on Showtime and the DVD’s out now it’s called “Hear Me Out.”  So, now I’m working on new stuff and I hope to do another special soon.  Basically, though, my material is leaning more towards truth now about myself but also exaggerated.

You play Doug Wilson the accountant, councilman, and drug dealer on the Showtime series, “Weeds.” Can you tell fans what to expect from your character and the show this season?

I really admire the writers because they really get themselves into a pickle each year and they really have to write themselves out.  The show is kind of renewed each year because it’s a whole different ball game and so this year we’re on the run and it’s always been a story about survival. I think he’s (Doug Wilson) learning more and more about himself but he hasn’t really digested it yet.

I know you’re working on the Nick at Nite series “Glenn Martin DDS,” how do you like that and are you working on any upcoming projects?

Oh, I love doing that, I play Glenn Martin DDS. I do the voice of him and then my wife is played by Catherine O’Hara and she’s great, and I just finished a movie with Adam Sandler called “Just Go With It.” It’s with Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman.  I’m getting ready to do another one with Al Pacino, Adam Sandler, and Katie Holmes and that one’s called “Jack and Jill,” and then I have two other ones that are coming out soon.  One is called, “Born to be a Star,” and that’s with Nick Swardson and the other one is with Martin Mull and Sean Astin and that’s called “And They’re Off.”

Are you playing anywhere in the area soon so we can let students know?

I’ll be in Boston the night before on the Sept. 18 and besides from that I play New York occasionally at Caroline’s.  I was just on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last night (Sept. 8) and I might be doing “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” Oct. 29.

Is there anything else you would like to say?

Not too much, I’m just looking forward to coming back and connecting again with a lot of the people that I knew from Bridgeport…whenever I play the area it’s a great kind of reunion, you know we all kind of get together and some of the people haven’t seen each other in 20 years so it’s a good excuse to get together.

For the full interview with Kevin Nealon go to

www.sacredheartspectrum.com

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