Hal Sparks is currently starring in the Disney XD show, “Lab Rats.” The actor and comedian began his professional career as a teenager in Chicago. As a member of the famed Second City Troupe, his quick wit and affable personality quickly gained him recognition and acclaim and he was named the “Funniest Teenager In Chicago” by the Chicago Sun Times.
Sparks went on to host the Emmy Award- winning “Talk Soup” on E! Entertainment Television, winning rave reviews from fans and critics alike. He starred for five seasons on Showtime’s hit series “Queer As Folk” and appeared in the films “Extract,” “Spiderman 2” and “Dude, Where’s My Car?”
Sparks recently starred in his own one hour Showtime comedy special, “Charmageddon,” which is now a best-selling DVD. He is a star commentator on VH1’s popular “I Love the 80’s” series and can be hear every Wednesday on the nationally syndicated “Stephanie Miller Radio Show.” Hal is also a pop culture expert and regularly appears on such shows as “Joy Behar” and CNN’s “Your Money.”
His numerous other television appearances include “The Tonight Show,” “Larry King Live,” “Charlie Rose,” “Good Morning America,” “The View,” “Jimmy Kimmel” and MTV. In addition to a busy acting and stand-up career, he is an accomplished musician. Hal and his band, Zero 1, recently released their debut album.
I was able to chat with Hal about “Lab Rats,” fatherhood, and his career in the entertainment industry.
Art Eddy: You play Donald Davenport on the hit TV Show “Lab Rats” on Disney XD. The show has a cool take on superheroes. What appealed to you about the role and the show?
Hal Sparks: On one hand I am a big science nerd. On the other hand I like the fact of doing a comedy, adventure series. That just seems like the top of the line as far as TV goes. I was on “Queer as Folk.” It was heavy drama a lot of the time. After that series as proud as I was of it I was like I don’t ever need to do a dramatic series ever again.
That is a tooth pull that will make you sick. I will do a play or a dramatic movie. In so far as the best use of my time and emotion during my time on this planet being funny and silly will 
be the best way to do it.
AE: You guys are in your second season of the series. You guys have great fan base. Have you guys discussed with the writers what you are looking to do for season 3?
HS: I am going to have a meeting with them this week actually. For the most part I keep it pretty close to the chest. They do and we do. We all have an abundance of ideas of fun stuff we would like to see happen. They are really open, which is really a great experience. If you have a great idea they will listen, which is fewer and far between than you might think in this industry.
I throw a lot of jokes in the show. I am able to do that kind of stuff. In the beginning I will let them craft the season as they see fit before I start throwing my two cents in. The way Disney works is that they throw in an extra episode or two at the very end. We will have our run and then they will say we need four more episodes in the next six weeks. They want a certain number of shows. That is the time that we can say let’s do something really outside the box.
I love the sci-fi genre. I am a big “Star Trek: Next Generation” fan. I love “Doctor Who.” I like backstory. I like where sci-fi and fantasy can build a personality. I am a big fan of that. I look forward to when we do that type of stuff and when we are able to tell a story than just go on an adventure. I think that is what people really like about sci-fi anyways like superheroes and comic books. You can get into it because of the adventure aspect of it, but it is the personalities that keep you there.
AE: You role on the show is that you are the step dad to the main character, Leo. Two years ago you became a dad. What was it like for you to become a dad?
HS: Well suddenly I had five kids all at once. Suddenly I had a two year old and some teenagers. (Laughs) I have full house in that regard. All of these kids on the show have great parents of their own. You definitely take on a parental role in certain moments. It is just a natural occurrence. I am a huge fan of having kids. I love being a big kid with my son, but at the same time being a genuine adult.
Sometimes you get one of the other. On one side you will have these parents who are really fun to be around, but can’t discipline their kids at all. Then you have some parents who are all discipline and no fun. I think there is a value to both as a parent. Building that bridge is really fun.
AE: How has being a father changed your life? Was there a moment that stuck out at all to you where you realized that you were a dad?
HS: I didn’t have one. To be completely honest I always knew that I wanted children. I always emotionally prepared myself of the idea that I would always have children. There is no real surprise in there. There is no point where I am like how am I going to act in this circumstance. You grow yourself as a human being.
Then you have a kid. You don’t let the kid teach you who you are. That is the mistake. A lot of people do that. They have a kid and then they grow up. That’s why a lot of first kids have a huge different experience than their second or third kid because the parents are different after that.
I think that the process will change you in certain way that you are not aware of. The reality is that it shouldn’t change you all that much. It might settle some elements for you. You might go oh I can handle this or wow emotionally this is a bigger drag than I thought it would be, or it was harder to deal with. That is normal growth. You shouldn’t grow up at your kid’s expense. Don’t have kid when you are 20. Have kid when you are 30 in all honesty. We are a grown up culture. Get your “stuff” together.
AE: What are some of the key things you want to teach your son that will stay with him for the rest of his life?
HS: The number one thing that I hope I can impart on him is that ignorance is exhausting. When I was teaching Kung-Fu that was one of the things that I kept bringing up. If you see someone doing their forms or sparring, the less they know the more they physically over exert themselves in the process. They put forth more physical effort that is necessary to carry out the move.
Because of the stress of not knowing what to do or not feeling what you needed to do that you would extend more physical energy and exhaust yourself. The more comfortable you feel in the basics of what you are doing. The more you practice what you know, when it is called upon to be used you don’t expend so much of yourself doing it. If you got your skill down you can afford to think about other things. You can multitask comfortably instead of stressing.
Stress is a result of ignorance. If you really look at it, ‘what am I going to do’ is your ignorance of the best solution. Now it is not always your fault, but that ignorance is there. If I can teach him about anything, it is just inform yourself about everything you can possibly know. Know your craft better than anybody. So when it comes time to actually perform and use that skill, you do it with a relaxation that everyone else sees as genius. Genius is when people practiced longer than other people cause they didn’t mind the part that sucked.
AE: Going back to your career. Your Showtime special “Charmageddon” was a big hit. You of course were part of the famed Second City Troupe. For you as a standup comedian, how tough is it to keep changing up your material?
HS: At this point, not at all. I have been doing standup for 27 years now. At some point it should be like being a plumber. I shouldn’t be surprised by the leaky faucet that is a tough crowd. To be a comedian and say, I don’t know what I am going to talk about is like being a massage therapist for a neck pain and coming in to say I can’t massage you today because you are too tense.
If you want to be a philosopher and not tell jokes well great, find a way to get paid for that. Comedy is a job. It is the only art form that requires a singular specific response. There is no proper secondary response. You can watch a sad movie. You can cry or not cry. You can applaud or not applaud, but still get the performance.
With standup laughter is the only proper response. Once I can do that. Once I get into the confines of getting you to be able to laugh I am allowed at that point to do anything I want. As long as I am keeping you laughing I can talk about any topic I want. Every topic on earth is within your realm as an artist as long as you can be funny about it. The only limits on it is the ones you put on yourself.