Q: How do you think your history as a Chicagoan has influenced your works?

A: I don’t know how much actual influence Mike Royko had I my career, but I sure liked to read him. The whole comedy scene in Chicago influenced me. I performed in Chicago from ’85 until ’92. Chicago was a great place to learn, because it had a great comic tradition; Second City and the Compass, and it was an easy place to live, so you could concentrate on taking time to learn instead of always worring about making money. Now it’s all about the money, baby.

Q: How did your stint in Second City change your perception of “funny” and “comedy”? How is this reflected in your more recent works?

A: The best things about Second City are: one, as one of my directors said, “learn to love to fail.” We performed so much that it became less and less important for a scene to succeed. This attitude allowed you to take a lot of chances on stage because you stop giving a shit. Two, You learn to trust the people you work with. I guess most importanly, I met Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish or convery with your films?

A: I just want people to laugh at some aspect of them. And with each one, I want to learn how to make a better movie.

Q: Are there any plans to release Exit 57 or Strangers WIth Candy on DVD?

A: I don’t know. They are owned by Comedy Central.

Q: What is the moral of Wheels of Fury?

A: What makes you think there was a moral?

Q: As a comedian, do you think that jokes must have tangible punchlines, or that the pure zaniness of a situation is enough?

PD: I hate punchlines. Sometimes they sneak by in our writing, but they always make me cringe.

Q: Did improvisation play a big part of your short films?

A: Some are more scripted than others. The scene from Beyond the Door when the doorman teaches the Priest to use a door in the park was improvised. Regardless of the script we tend to go off.