"I tend not to offend an audience. I hate the artistic credo of 'we got 10 people to walk out of a show.’ ...Contextually, I strive to protect the show so the audience could enjoy it."

In 2000 Napier and his partner, actress Jennifer Estlin, established Annoyance Productions–"a national comedy content distribution company." But the seeds had been planted as far back as 1992 during pre-production for his first film, Fatty Drives the Bus (completed five years later and released by Troma Pictures in 1999). Annoyance gave a name to its film vision in 1999–shortly before the irreverent theatre’s Wrigleyville space was demolished.

"I haven’t shed a tear over the space," says Napier, 39. "Live performance took everyone’s time, and I was very interested in moving ahead with more film-related projects. I don’t think I regret not having a theatre company right after we lost our space. I’ve made more of a [film] production declaration."

While he admits to being on "a learning spree" over the past year–especially in the areas of financing and distribution–Napier believes he’s at a "real grounded place" right now. Last summer, he and Estlin moved into a 3,000-square-foot loft space at Lincoln-Wellington-Southport, where they live, run Annoyance Productions and offer improv classes. They envision adding a 50-seat theatre for live productions and a sound stage within one year. The building itself is growing into a creative tech center. Other tenants include a recording studio and Web design company.

Napier is currently writing a comedy, Chicken Trip, about two people who encounter a bizarre ritual while traveling cross-country from the Midwest to California. He begins shooting this summer. Napier’s and Estlin’s saga of trying to get financing for a production-company encompassing film, TV and the Internet at a time when the dot.com industry collapsed has been well-documented in the local press. The pair’s greatest challenge has been finding local investors for their enterprise, which also includes broadband features like digital animation and streaming video in addition to their Web site, www.annoyanceproductions.com.

In the fall of 2000, their preliminary business plan was a finalist in the PrairieFire High Tech Business Plan Competition–an honor that allowed them to hook up with professional consultants and learn as much about the technological entertainment industry as possible. Last summer, they also gathered together fellow Annoyance Theatre members to rally financial support for their business by using guerilla performance-art tactics, involving bananas and business cards, at the Chicago Board of Trade.

When they still ran up against a brick wall in terms of financing, Napier and Estlin decided to host the first "Chicago Entertainment Industry Summit Meeting" last fall to empower the city’s production and technology industries. It attracted 300 participants and included high-powered speakers, like director Harold Ramis and Richard Moskal of the Chicago Film Office (see Annoyance Productions, p. 1).

"I’m more interested in having people from Chicago filming here," says Napier. "The advantages include the city’s diversity, its architecture and the different looks you can achieve. You also can go outside Chicago to what looks like a small town.

"And Chicago is a magnet for young comedy talent. For the last 10 years, I’ve seen people leave Chicago and go to LA or New York as a last resort. I would like to see more Chicago comedy actors, who bring a very unique and individual style, working here."

Comedy has been one of Napier’s most serious pursuits. As founder of Annoyance Theater (originally named Metraform) in 1987, he created a style of charred-black comedy, which he believes "gave permission to people to create things that were taboo–especially in the Midwest." He also has found his comedic sensibilities moving into more cerebral/abstract realms lately.

"My comedy has become a lot more weird, but not so visceral or dirty," he explains. "I don’t laugh at the same sophomoric humor anymore. I was just working on a four-minute silent scene of a woman trying to get to her door."

That statement will probably shock readers familiar with a writer-director who coined the term "Splatter Theater." Of course, it’s hard to imagine Napier eschewing irreverence for more scrubbed and perfumed humor. But his talents have never been restricted to in-your-face mayhem. Irony, tinged with off-kilter juxtapositions, more accurately describes his trademark brand of comedy.

Napier recalls that members of his family were "very playfully hateful toward one another," and credits them with introducing him to the notion of funny. Besides taping episodes of "Saturday Night Live" on an audio recorder off his TV, he wrote comedy skits for class projects. He also performed in plays in high school and college. Deep down, Napier wanted to be a veterinarian–not a great surprise, considering his attachment to one of Annoyance’s most colorful performers, his late dog Kaluah.

"Ever since the second grade, I wanted to use the slogan, 'If your dog is sick, call Mick,’" quips Napier. "I went to Indiana University [Bloomington] to be a veterinarian. Then my interest in theatre trumped my interest to learn biology. I changed my major to theatre in my junior year."

But he got tired of theatre’s focus on endless rehearsals. After reading Jeffrey Sweet’s book, "Something Wonderful Right Away," Napier got turned onto improvisation. While still in college, he started his own improv group, Dubble Taque. At that time, he met the writer-actors–like Joe Bill, Mark Sutton and Faith Soloway of The Brady Bunch Live fame–who would help form Annoyance Theater.

Napier moved to Chicago in 1986 and went through The Second City and ImprovOlympic training programs. One year later, the then-itinerant Annoyance debuted with his spoof of slasher films, Splatter Theater, followed by Splatter Theater 2 in 1988–both in small Lakeview spaces.

Annoyance was founded on a single premise: original ensemble-generated works created through improv. They were typically character-driven and inspired by a quirky title. Since its inception, the theatre premiered more than 90 comedies. It also pioneered the multiple-show format–at one time having 13 different productions running in one week.

In 1989, Napier opened Co-Ed Prison Sluts on North Broadway. Considered the longest-running show in Chicago’s theatre history, it continued at Annoyance’s Wrigleyville theatre (where they moved in 1994) until the space’s demise in 2000. The show cost $844 to produce and has grossed over $1 million.

"Co-Ed Prison Sluts left people aghast," the writer-director acknowledges, "but I always thought of it not as sophomoric, but smart. It had a disturbing theme, but it also had innocence. And I was conscious that the audience would be protected while watching these horrible things."

When the show premiered, Napier noticed that it elicited very few laughs. So he and Mark Sutton got together and changed the running order, then grounded Co-Ed in more exposition. "We didn’t want the audience to feel alienated or offended," he says in total seriousness.

In fact, Napier is constantly aware of toggling that fine line between tasteless and hilarious. Despite Annoyance’s penchant for slapping everything from masturbation to spree killing on stage, Napier insists audiences can feel safe–a philosophy that has served him well at The Second City, where he began teaching in 1988 and directing in 1991.

"One of the main ways you protect the audience in sketch comedy is by meticulously planning a running order," he says. "You have to balance the tone and themes of the show, together with the ensemble. At Second City, when we had [the character of] Christopher Reeve dressed as Superman come out in a wheelchair, I knew that could come across as tasteless. But I wanted his viewpoint represented, and he sang a song. I wanted him to be sweet, strong and funny.

"I tend to not offend an audience. I hate the artistic credo of 'we got 10 people to walk out of a show.’ I like to think I can make it a fun experience. Contextually, I strive to protect the show so the audience could enjoy it."

From 1991-92, Napier directed revues at The Second City’s pre-Metropolis Arlington Heights location. He then moved to New York City for a few years. While there, he directed David Sedaris’ off-Broadway, Obie Award-winning hit, One Woman Shoe; and was a writer-performance director for the Cable Ace-nominated "Exit 57," which aired on Comedy Central for two seasons.

He directed his first Second City Chicago mainstage show in 1994 and has since directed nine revues, including their recent premiere at Las Vegas’ Flamingo Hotel. Napier received a Jeff Award for Best Direction for Second City’s Paradigm Lost.

"What I revere about Second City," says Napier, "is that you’re watching the actors’ words."

Throughout the 1990s, he gravitated toward film/TV work. He served as creative producer on the nationally syndicated sketch TV show, "The Sports Bar"; and for HBO/Comedy Central, he directed the live pilot, "T.B.A." Napier’s original animations have appeared on cable programs, "Tame Show" and "R-Rated," as well as in the Chicago Comedy Film Festival. And he has acted in various independent films over the last 10 years, his favorite role being the title lead in Pippi LeGrue’s Basket of Freaks.

Napier cites his first film, Fatty Drives the Bus–a bizarre comedy set on a Chicago tour bus taken over by Satan, who tries to claim the passengers’ souls while being pursued by Jesus–as getting him hooked on the moving image, especially his experiences with the Media 100 Editing System.

"It [Fatty Drives the Bus] should be called film school," acknowledges Napier, who has no formal film training. "I found that my theatre background was a detriment. I positioned the actors as if they were standing in front of an audience. It was very stilted. I also thought it would be great to have the actors improvise scenes based on beats I had written down. But you also get mistakes and frightened inconsistency from take to take.

"It cost me thousands of dollars to realize what most people learn in film school. I didn’t make a cent [on the film], but I’m glad for the distribution. There are these pockets of cult followers who e-mail me about the film. It’s a weird movie that looks like a first movie."

In general, Napier prefers the "quiet and focused serenity" of making a film versus the more chaotic world of television, where he says, "there’s this whole cyber network happening on headphones."

Nevertheless, he seems to be enmeshed in multitasking. Napier says he always wanted to be a roving talk-show host. Plans are in the works for a co-production between Annoyance and Second City of a live talk show held at Second City e.t.c. He’s also writing Chicken Trip; perfecting broadcast capabilities for the Internet; finishing a book on improv; and championing Chicago talent.

"I think Chicago, even though it’s in the Midwest," notes Napier, "inspires more absurd and edgy comedy. And there are a lot of people here who love subversive comedy. It works because it’s grounded in this ordinary Midwestern point of view. It’s easy to access because you have pretty average people saying really weird things."

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