Kinkaid Welcomes Distinguished Alumni

(From left) Eric Ladin, Christopher Carothers and Jeff Martin discuss acting and writing on stage for The Kinkaid Upper School. 

Two Kinkaid alumni returned to campus Monday, Sept. 26 as the 2016 AJ Carothers Visiting Artists series. The Carothers family provides the opportunity for distinguished alumni to come back to Kinkaid and share their experiences with the current upper school students. Both Jeff Martin and Eric Ladin shared information about their respective careers in acting and writing.

Christopher Carothers, a member of the family who created this visiting artist series, mediated the conversation between Ladin and Martin. The audience also got to watch clips of the speakers’ work and ask questions at the end. 

Eric Ladin and Jeff Martin perform a short skit depicting the relationship between writer and actor. 

Jeff Martin, class of ‘78, spoke about his time as a writer. He was involved in theatre when he attended Kinkaid in high school and went on to attend Harvard and write for the Harvard Lampoon. He has written for David Letterman and received four Emmys during his time with the show. He currently writes for the Fox TV series, The Simpsons. He spoke of the relationship between himself (the writer) and actors or actresses and how complicated or easy it can be. He also told stories about working with famous people and having to teach them how to “cluck” or do other strange things for The Simpsons. Detailing his experience writing a musical episode, Martin explained how the musicals he did at Kinkaid helped inspire him to write that episode. 

Eric Ladin, Christopher Carothers and Jeff Martin meet with a smaller group of students for an extended question and answer session. 

Eric Ladin, class of ‘97, shared his experience has an actor with the audience. He has had roles in The Brink, Boardwalk Empire and American Sniper to name a few. He also shared the perspective of an actor in the relationship between writers and actors and how much he is allowed to change or alter the scripts. He was also in the theatre during his time at Kinkaid and continued to act during his time at the University of Southern California. He discussed some of the roles he has played like J. Edgar Hoover in The Brink and how much research went into his portrayal. He told students how hard it was starting out with the jobs he had to have to supplement his career, but how great it is now to be living his dream. 

Both alumni made themselves available for questions from students and spent more time with individual classes following the assembly. Aspiring writers and actors got to get real life advice and hear about experience from professionals. It was a great opportunity for students who are interested in theatre or curious students in general to see where a Kinkaid education and experience can lead.