Arlington Heights native is one busy actor

There are two kinds of actors: the unemployed and the extremely busy. Jerry Kernion belongs in the second group.

You can find him all over:

• On TV. He has played a variety of roles, including crazy Chef Paolo on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody."

• In movies. Listen for him as one of the voices in the new Disney animated movie, "The Princess and the Frog."

• And in live theater. He is an ensemble member of the insanely funny Reduced Shakespeare Company.

These days you can find him back home in the Chicago area, in Cirque du Soleil's newly minted theatrical event, "Banana Shpeel" (running through Jan. 2 at The Chicago Theatre).

"I play Martin Schmelky," Kernion says, "the producer who is continually striving to make his show better and better."

"Banana Shpeel," the brainchild of comic actor and clown David Shiner, marries the wild European circus tradition of Cirque du Soleil to theater traditions that go back at least as far as vaudeville and the old music halls. Kernion has his feet planted firmly on the theatrical side. But he has wanted to work in a Cirque du Soleil show ever since he saw "Nouvelle Experience."

After seeing the show, Kernion auditioned for the company. "This was a long time ago," he says, "back in the early '90s. I was called back, but I didn't get cast."

The dream of being in a Cirque du Soleil show was not as wild as it seems. As a teenager, going to school at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Kernion had been all about performing - anything.

"I did a lot of theater at Hersey," Kernion remembers, "a lot of theater. Hersey really helped put me on my career path."

In college, at Ohio University, his major in acting required that he become well versed in many acting styles.

"We studied everything," Kernion says. "I even studied with a guy who had studied with (the French mime) Jacques LeCoq in Paris."

Kernion graduated, ready for any role that came his way. He moved to New York, where among other things, he regularly performed with the improvisational comedy troupe, ComedySportz.

He then moved to Los Angeles in 1994 to break into film and TV.

"I have been out there ever since," Kernion says.

In 2000 he auditioned for the Reduced Shakespeare Company and was invited to join the troupe. He continues to be one of 12 members of the company, famous for performing all of Shakespeare's plays in less than two hours.

He has cowritten shows, and when time allows he tours with them. Right now time does not allow.

"After I auditioned for Cirque du Soleil they put me in their files," Kernion says. "From time to time, over the years, they would call me for an audition."

When they were filling roles in "Banana Shpeel," Kernion was called in to try out for the producer. He landed the role, and it has been a joy ride ever since.

"I stepped in late in the process," Kernion says. "They worked on it for three months in Montreal during the creation period. I stepped in later on."

Still, Shiner and company have been fine-tuning the show in Chicago, which will move from here to New York - and from there, who knows?

The process is a lot like the Reduced Shakespeare Company process. "You improvise and then later shape it," Kernion says. "You have a lot of ideas, but the audience has the final say in what comes out and what stays in."

• "Banana Shpeel" runs through Jan. 2 at The Chicago Theatre, 175 North State St., Chicago. For tickets call (866) 624-7783 or visit cirquedusoleil.com or thechicagotheatre.com.