Lance Krall crawls to the top of Hollywood

While no one will ever match Sid Caesar’s take on hundreds of comedic characters he created on his sketch comedy show with Imogene Coca in the 1950s, Lance Krall comes very close. And just as television hailed Cesar with his own show, so does Krall, as VH1 launches the second season of “Free Radio,” airing eight consecutive Thursdays at 11 pm beginning April 2.

Although in “Free Radio” Krall sticks to one character, in the face of hundreds of them that he easily slips into in the blink of an eye during an improv performance, you never know what his character will do. Playing an idiotic morning radio host who interviews A-list celebrities like Kiefer Sutherland, Tony Shalhoub and Ray Romano, he and his guest improvise the entire show.

Krall began his acting career in Atlanta at Whole World Theatre, an improvisational company he co-founded a year before graduating in 1995 with a BA in Film and Theater from Georgia State University. As a Whole World student, I saw character versions of him that seemed as real as anything you’ve seen at home, in a mall, or in a park. Not only could he mimic a person’s voice, facial movements, and postures, but he put his wide variety of characters in weird situations, gave them certain tics, and made them say and do funny things.

I wasn’t the only one who raved about his talent at Whole World. After a Hollywood talent agent spotted him there and suggested he move to Los Angeles, he did so in 2000 and landed his first acting job on an NBC sketch comedy show produced by Steve Martin called “The Downer.” Channel”. It was a disappointment, and lasted only four episodes. From there, Krall played “Kip the Gay Guy” on “The Joe Schmo Show,” a fake reality show on Spike TV, and went on to create his own show, “The Lance Krall Show,” which also ran on Spike.

Krall has been acting and writing since landing in Hollywood. If you want a good laugh, click visit YouTube and type “Lance Krall” to see his wacky phone calls and his appearance in Conan O’Brien explaining why the CIA closed down three airports to search for him. It really is a true story.