Director's Notes – 154 – The Heist, Part 2

(NOTE: As always, Director's Notes contain spoilers)

Now's as good a time as any to tell you about how wonderful Hal Lublin is. Hal, of course, performs the voice of Steve Carlsberg in Night Vale. Hal is also the voice of many things, not the least of which are his many other podcasts he co-hosts (like We Got This, Good Morning Night Vale, and Tights and Fights). 

Joseph and I met Hal way back in 2013 at the Bell House in Brooklyn, the OG of live podcast venues. The Thrilling Adventure Hour was performing that night, and Ben Blacker and Ben Acker invited Joseph and me to come see the show. They had started listening to Night Vale and were among our earliest champions among the well-established podcast community. 

Obviously we went and had a great time. The TAH cast is enormous, and the backstage is small, so we didn't really get a chance to go to the greenroom and meet the many fine folks in their cast, but after the show, while talking to Ben Acker, Hal Lublin walked up, and Ben introduced us. 

Despite the fact that Hal has a dozen other friends with him and hundreds of fans who want to say hi, he stood and talked with us for half and hour. He didn't know Night Vale at the time, so he asked us about our show, thought it sounded cool, and said he'd give it a listen.

Months later, Night Vale performed its first Brooklyn live show ("The Debate") at Roulette in downtown, and a handful of WorkJuice Players (the official name of the TAH ensemble) offered themselves up to perform with us, including Hal. 

We arbitrarily gave Hal the role of Steve. It was a short part, but he played it perfectly, garnering howls and boos from the Night Vale faithful who loathed that character. That dislike of Steve Carlsberg didn't last long, because Hal was so likable as Steve, and now he's a fan favorite and a major character in our storytelling. 

But this isn't about Steve, it's about Hal. Hal is the posterboy of a good actor. Does he have a Meryl Streep-like range? Idk. Probably? Sure. Can he do his own stunts, like Tom Cruise? Well, we're a podcast, so we've never needed to find out. The point is he is a talented actor who makes good choices, some of which are outside our spheres of expectation. Sometimes his part is elevated. Other times it is exactly what it needs to be.

But through it all he is friendly, social, assertive, and 100% committed to working with his scene-mates. He gives them energy and direction and takes back their returns. He's delightful and funny and nerdy and once took us to get cheesesteaks in his hometown of Philadelphia. 

Acting is more than talent. It's about being part of an ensemble, part of something bigger that your role - bigger than yourself even. Even off the stage, the give and take is vital to great work. And no one exhibits this better than Hal Lublin. 

I love telling Night Vale fans these stories, because as a fan of things myself, I love hearing that actors I like are just as great in real life. Of course, I love telling this to Directors of Casting as well. So if that Venn diagram of Night Vale fans and Hollywood producer has an overlap here in the readership of these directors notes, then consider this my endorsement. Hire Hal Lublin. I'm pretty sure he'd do his own stunts, even.

- Jeffrey Cranor
September 18, 2019

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