M/Sagittarius/Staunton, IL
Tell me about your most embarrassing moment. Weird & stupid stuff happens to me all the time; things that others might find embarrassing, but that I’ve come to look upon as regular life. So, it’s difficult to pick a moment that’s most embarrassing. Here’s one example from my past. I’m a percussionist and in college I was a member of the university concert band. During my freshman year, I usually played the cymbals. About a month after the first semester, we were rehearsing for our first concert. I don’t know how it happened, but after crashing the cymbals during one song, they flew out of my hands. One cymbal went flying across the room and smashed into the wall and the other went torpedoing into the floor. I was left standing like a buffoon. The entire band stopped playing and looked around in shocked silence and looked at me. In the movies, that’s when everyone erupts in laughter. That didn’t happen. The room remained completely quiet, I got a stern rebuke from the director, and any chance I had with that cute clarinetist who had been flirting with me evaporated as did what little respect my section leader had for me at that time. It was not a good way to make a first impression.
Do you have any special skills we should know about? “I can tell you I don’t have money…but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career.” That’s all I have to say about that.
What is your current pop culture obsession? I don’t know if it’s an obsession, but I really like The Walking Dead.
Do you have any special interests? I’m a real life Charlie Brown, so I have a keen interest in The Peanuts. I’ve also completed four Tough Mudder competitions.
What do you do for fun? Well, I’m in this show, so acting. Beyond that, I guess there’s the usual: hanging out with friends & family, watching movies, and reading.
What is your guilty pleasure? I really like South Park.
Cast Bio
Tom Varner (Waiter/Man 3): Tom was last seen on stage as Papa Ogre and the Big Bad Wolf in HR’s production of Shrek last summer. He was also the director of the state and regional premiere production of Drinking Habits 2 this past winter. Some of his favorite roles include Harry Lambert in Never Too Late, Charlie Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey, and Igor in Young Frankenstein. Tom currently serves as the Executive Producer for Hard Road. You can also see Tom in a small role in the movie PROXIMITY that is currently showing at film festivals. And ladies, he is single and available and like the waiter in First Date has for years has been patiently waiting.
