Victory Laps: Interview with Dan Kilian

Following the critical and commercial success of The Screaming Majority production of Waste Fraud and Abuse, writer / performer / director / producer Dan Kilian is returning to his first love, solo performance.  Okay, there was no critical acclaim of any kind, they didn’t make a cent, and Dan gets extremely anxious during his live shows, but there’s still some truth to the idea that this show Victory Laps IS a victory lap for Dan. At least that’s the sense I got while interviewing Dan at his Sunnyside home earlier this afternoon. Also, I am Dan and am interviewing myself. The following is an excerpt of the conversation. 

What do you expect to get out of this performance?

Well, I was hoping some of the young actors we cast in Waste Fraud and Abuse would come out and see me in a different format, and that they would have a lot of friends and that my little pyramid scheme would snowball into a massive fan base. Also hoped all those people who came to the play would have forgotten that they’d already blown a few hours of their life to me only recently, and want to come see me now. My other expectation is that none of that happens and that I play my songs for my beloved gift circle.

What do you find is the main difference between writing for a play and writing individual songs for public consumption?

When you write a song for a play, it goes into the play. When you write for public consumption it’s not always consumed. Also, you don’t have to write about some guy named Ron.

Will we ever see Waste Fraud and Abuse again?

If our upcoming fundraiser goes well, we’re hoping to put a revised version of the play on in a three weekend run at a theatrical venue in October next year.

What’s on the back of this sheet?*

An actual page from an earlier script to Waste Fraud and Abuse! A commemorative piece of history!

Are you a vainglorious bastard?

Am I not conducting an imaginary interview with myself?

Did you kill those women?

No! That was you!

You’re right. It was I. And you’ll never tell?

I’ll never tell! 

--Dan Kilian

* This was the program for the Victory Laps show, with this interview printed as described. Because of printer problems, there were only 5 or 6 programs printed, and they were not distributed. 

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