By Chelsea LoCascio
Production Manager
Actor David Koechner began his lecture describing his relationship with his favorite drinking buddy — where staying up until the early morning, being kicked out of bars and doing doughnuts on an old nemesis’ lawn was a typical night out.
“That’s the relationship I have with my wife,” said Koechner, defining his idea of a perfect marriage.
Koechner shared more of his comical wisdom about life, marriage and kids in the College Union Board’s spring lecture-turned comedy show on Wednesday, Jan. 28, in Kendall Hall.
Hidden underneath the jokes, impressions and singing was advice students could take away and apply to life after college. Despite the good intentions, Koechner felt he had to filter his thoughts while talking to a younger audience.
“‘Don’t talk down to us, we’re grown-ups now.’ No you’re not,” said Koechner, providing a perspective from an adult who has seen it all. He later warned the students, “I’m your future.”
Koechner told stories about his kids, such as receiving an unwarranted “World’s Best Dad” bracelet and an incident where one of his sons neglected to save him from drowning in their pool. He also chronicled his relationship with his young son Charlie, where any topic — especially anything inappropriate — is open for discussion.
After plenty of jokes, Koechner got back to the real reason he was here: to bestow some knowledge on students at the College.
“I was just told this is a lecture. Is that what you guys were expecting?” Koechner said. “I love to lecture. I have five kids. I can lecture all day.”
As predicted by most students, Koechner went a different direction with his lecture portion of the show. He roasted the College, with references to recent snow day activities, past names of the College and the unfair ratio of girls to guys.
The rest of the lecture continued with amusing anecdotes of married life, Missouri carnies from his childhood and a man who lost his leg from a La-Z-Boy recliner. After the show, students asked Koechner about past roles and how he got started in acting.
Koechner said that he went from taking acting classes in Chicago to being a part of “Second City Theater” and later “Saturday Night Live.” Koechner has currently played over 100 characters, usually loud and imprudent, according to IMDB.
He talked about his more famous roles as Todd Packer from the television sitcom “The Office” and Champ Kind from the “Anchorman” series. Fans of the movie happily applauded as Koechner yelled “whammy” and joined in to sing the chorus of “Afternoon Delight.”
In an interview with The Signal, Koechner said that although those roles were fun, he could play Nathan, an annoying neighbor in Mike Judge’s “Extract” for the rest of his life.
However, he keeps his options open for any job, and has no preference between acting in television or movies, writing or voicing a character.
“If you just have a(n) (acting) job, that’s the best,” Koechner said. “(With) television, I can stay home with my kids, which is the best part, given if it’s in Los Angeles. I can drop my kids off in the morning and pick them up most days, not miss any games, just be there all the time. That would be the best.”
During the lecture, Koechner said that the hardest part of reaching a goal is having one. When talking to The Signal, he gave an aspiring actor, or anyone with a dream, advice on how to achieve what they want most.
“Be better than everybody else… have a goal,” Koechner said. “Don’t ask someone else, ‘How do I do this?’ You got to investigate how to do something and then go out and do it. Be the person they have to see. That’s really what it boils down to.”
