CHICAGO — A high school reunion becomes a murder mystery when one of the alumni, played by Dave Franco, ends up dead in the Apple TV+ comedic whodunit “The Afterparty,” which also stars Chicago native Ike Barinholtz as one of the possible suspects, a bruiser who was the big man on campus in his teenage heyday.
“He’s still basking in that afterglow and, like a lot of guys who peaked early, trying to pick up the pieces but still holding on to that swagger,” said Barinholtz. “I love the concept of a guy who has not let go of high school.” Who was Barinholtz in high school? “I would say I was popular but not cool, if that makes sense. I played sports, I did a little theater, I was on the 1994 Illinois State Championships Scholastic Bowls team, thank you very much. I went to Latin, over on North and Clark, and it’s a really small school — we only had 72 kids in our graduating class — so everyone kind of got along.”
Barinholtz’s credits include everything from “MADtv” to “The Mindy Project” to “Neighbors”. He’s a screenwriter as well, which makes sense considering he got his start as part of Chicago’s sketch and improv scene, wherein performers are also their own writers.
For Barinholtz, that also meant a stint at Boom Chicago, the Second City-esque comedy theater in Amsterdam where pals including Jason Sudeikis and Jordan Peele also performed, and when asked about a worst moment in his career, he recalled a memory from this period in his life.
My worst moment …
“I literally was going through my mental Rolodex of cringe and there are so many entries, it was a cornucopia of unbelievable embarrassment (laughs). I’ve been fired from this, and couldn’t get hired for that. But this is the first time I remember being very, very embarrassed and it was when I was at Boom Chicago. This is probably 1999.
“We performed every night. And on this day, I had gone to the beach, which was an hour outside of town. We were drinking wine and sitting there having fun and I took a little nap. And when I woke up, I had a little bit of a headache and I thought: Oh, I probably drank too much wine. But as we were on the train coming back into town I was like, God, I’m burning up right now. And when I looked in the mirror, I clutched my chest: I had been outside for three hours with no sunscreen and — I’m not kidding — I was as red as a fire engine. I had sun poisoning.
“So I’m freaking out. But I’m like, I’ve got to do the show tonight. It wasn’t even an option that I wouldn’t. It wasn’t like we were on Broadway with understudies. If people missed the show it was because they had the flu and were throwing up, not because they drank too much wine and got sunburned, which is probably how lesser-known Roman emperors died.
“When I walked out on stage for the first time that night, the audience started laughing because I was so discolored. It looked like I was wearing red makeup. And I was very sweaty. I was also in great pain.
“I can’t remember who I was there with — whether it was Josh Meyers (younger brother of Seth Meyers) or Jason Sudeikis or, you know what, I think it might have been Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard on ‘Ted Lasso’ — and he was like, ‘You need to put cold yogurt on it.’
“The worst part of my sunburn was on the top of my thighs, it was really burning. So I had someone bring me some cold yogurt and I went into this little backstage area and I pulled my pants down and started slathering this cold yogurt all over my thighs. So I’m in a shirt and tie, my boxer shorts and white cream all over my legs.
“Now, the door to our dressing room was very close to the door to the audience bathroom, the women’s room. And this woman walked in. And I stood up. And I’m standing there with no pants on, covered in yogurt, and she looks at me, doesn’t say anything, and backs out and closes the door.
“The cold yogurt did give me some temporary comfort but that was instantly destroyed by this audience member walking in and thinking … well, God knows what she was thinking (laughs). It was horrible for all involved. It’s something that’s going to take years of therapy to really forget and put someplace else.
“So I wipe off the yogurt off, put my pants back on — and just to give you an idea of the time period, I think I was playing Jerry Springer — and went back out on stage. I remember being so terrified of what she was saying to her friends in the audience and trying to look for her and then I was like, what am I doing? Like, why am I trying to look for her? If I see her I’m going to get more self-conscious!
“I don’t know what it is about my personality but when I get hurt, people laugh a lot. So my fellow cast members were openly laughing. And it was one of those things where you’re in pain and your friends are laughing at you and you’re so angry at them, but you understand the comedic implications (laughs). So they were being as nice as can be, but still openly laughing. It was just ridiculous.
“And they were like, ‘Why didn’t you put on sunscreen?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know!’ And they were like, ‘Why were you drinking wine at, like, noon before a show? What’s going on?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, guys!’
“I’m in comedy and the first rule in comedy is: Do anything for a laugh. So (laughs) I’ll throw myself out there and let people laugh at my lobsterized body.
“But that was absolutely my worst night there because of the combination of the physical pain and the unbelievable embarrassment.”
Brenda Hunt has mentioned that Dutch audiences can be blunt
“Yes, one of the things Boom did was: Hey, when you come to work here, part of the job is that you need to talk to the audience after the show. In Chicago, if you have a good show, you go to the bar and you drink. If you have a bad show, you go to the bar and you drink. But at Boom they’re like, no, you’re going to stand in the audience for 15 minutes and you’re going to thank them for coming.
“And just like Brendan said, the Dutch? Really wonderful people, very tall and healthy — and incredibly, brutally honest. I remember one time I had done a sketch with Jordan Peele and one of the audience members afterward said, ‘The sketch you did was very funny, but you were not funny in it, the Black man was funny.’
“Anyway, back to this night. Dave Stassen (Barinholtz’s writing partner, who he has known since high school) and another friend of mine from Latin, we had planned for months that they were going to meet me in Amsterdam and we were going to go out and have a crazy night. And that was the night they were coming. They came to see the show, which was one of my worst shows because I was in so much pain and I looked like a cooked lobster, and then afterward I was like, ‘I have to go home and lay in ice. So you guys are on your own.’ (Laughs) It was just so awful all around.
“And then I had to go on stage a few days later with my skin peeling off. Try doing comedy and connecting with an audience as you’re molting. I’m shedding my exoskeleton (laughs) while I’m trying to ask questions like, ‘Oh, where are you from? Excuse me, my forehead just fell off into your fries.’”
The takeaway …
“I’m loath to give advice to people because what do I know — I’m constantly wrong and the world changes so much and what might be good advice one minute could be terrible and counterintuitive the next — but one of the few things I do know is this: Just wear sunscreen.
“And if you’re like me — half-Irish, half-Ashkenazi Jew — don’t be like, ‘Oh, I’ll put on this 5 SPF spray.’ No, don’t be afraid to cake on the 50 and walk around with pride. In fact, the higher the number the better. And people will say, ‘What’s going on with you,’ and you can say, ‘I’ll tell you what’s going on: I’m not getting a sunburn!’”
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