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Opening Day video: Chicago's #1 Cubs fan (or at least the drunkest)

by Justin Kaufmann | Apr. 01, 2011

I went up to Wrigley Field this morning to revel in another season of Chicago Cubs baseball. Wrigleyville comes alive (or dies a little) when the Cubs' season begins and Opening Day offers fans a chance to start drinking just after sunrise.

I caught up with one fan who claims she was the first person in line for bar time this morning. She also claims to be the biggest Cubs fan on the planet. And she has a pink Cubs hat, which separates her from the pack. Introducing...Henneman.

It's no Sarah Jindra traffic report, but you gotta love Henneman.

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Comments

arctic frank wrote:

There is no way that this is real.

Fri Apr 1 2011, 5:01 PM

Andrew Gill (agill) wrote:

This video is as real as Sarah Jindra's traffic report yesterday morning. For more on that, check out this tweet: http://twitter.com/SarahJindra/status/53789657850331136

Update: What I'm trying to say is, the video is totally a fake.

Sat Apr 2 2011, 8:08 AM

J. Wilson wrote:

@ arctic frank- Apparently you don't go to Wrigleyville that often. I wouldn't just call it real, but typical.

Sat Apr 2 2011, 7:34 PM

Eben Abbaan wrote:

This is amazing. Cubs fans are awful, embodying all that is wrong with humanity. We, too, headed to Wrigley to document that final day of the 2008 collapse:

http://www.fattyproductions.com/Collapse.html

Sun Apr 3 2011, 12:23 PM

Chuckerpated wrote:

Absolutely SPECTACULAR! At least three times throughout the video I thought it couldn't get any better, but it never let me down. Henneman was a superb find. Wicked interview Kaufmann - go cubs indeed! Hahahahahaha!

Sun Apr 3 2011, 12:53 PM

Chuck wrote:

This was like every day of my life talking to women at Western.

Sun Apr 3 2011, 1:25 PM

Hari Kiri wrote:

GO CUBBBBBBIIIIEEEESSSS!!!

Mon Apr 4 2011, 2:14 PM

kp wrote:

UFF DA that was painful. If this was an April Fool's joke, she is an incredible actor.

Mon Apr 4 2011, 2:44 PM

Ry wrote:

FAKE!!! Stupid Wannabe Second City Improv Bullshit!

Wed Apr 6 2011, 10:52 AM

Justin Kaufmann (jkaufmann) wrote:

Hey Ry, thanks for stopping by! Always great to hear from a fan.

Wed Apr 6 2011, 11:10 AM

nunya wrote:

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE

Thu Apr 7 2011, 11:12 AM

fake wrote:

this is definitely fake

Thu Apr 7 2011, 8:00 PM

Jessica wrote:

This is awesome. I HAVE to find out if this is real or a marketing stunt. I'm not sure which would be better....I think being real would take the cake. 'Henneman...h - e - n - n - slur slur - m & m" LOL!

Sat Apr 9 2011, 9:34 AM

goldjerrygold wrote:

fake and gay

Sat Apr 9 2011, 7:07 PM

Paul Popovich's Sweat Pants wrote:

Fake? I was asleep under the table with this woman. I vomited on her prosthetic leg and she put some of it in her pocket because she is a romantic and wanted to take a piece of me home.

Sat Apr 9 2011, 11:06 PM

DFP wrote:

I call shennanigans! That's no random drunk, that's your SISTER!!! Schadenfreude is a bitch!!!

Sun Apr 10 2011, 2:26 AM

Greg wrote:

I was still barely believing it might be real until she got political at the end. HAD to bring politics into it.

Sun Apr 10 2011, 7:00 AM

Rick wrote:

This is very close to being perfect dry humor. A couple times she goes a BIT over the top (this kind of humor is best right on the edge of reality and ridiculousness), but the stuff about the twins and HBO/birth control are comedy gold. Thank you for making this! You can tell how skilled she is with how natural her mannerisms are.

Sun Apr 10 2011, 9:04 AM

matt wrote:

So freaking fake. Would have been funny if you didn't overdo it. Boooooo

Sun Apr 10 2011, 12:11 PM

Brendamaged wrote:

Second City 'Field' trip.

Sun Apr 10 2011, 1:12 PM

Perno wrote:

I'm going to say this is set up.

Mon Apr 11 2011, 2:59 PM

Zeddie wrote:

hey Artic...went to Spring training in Arizona.....the most popular saying on fans backs... "shut up and drink your beer"....
Twenty somethings from North Dakota and Wyoming fill the stands in the warm weather to sun and drink.

Mon Apr 11 2011, 7:23 PM

me wrote:

Fake. But not far from the truth.

Mon Apr 11 2011, 8:32 PM

Erick wrote:

she can dance too!

Got to Dance Audition

Mon Apr 11 2011, 11:09 PM

RideThePine.com wrote:

I don't care if this is real or fake, it's really funny...and if its fake, than Henneman deserves a freaking Oscar. I just featured this video on my show at www.ridethepine.com

Tue Apr 12 2011, 6:29 AM

jessica wrote:

ugh c'mon you could of found someone waaaaay more intoxicated than this!!!

Tue Apr 12 2011, 10:28 AM

John wrote:

Very funny - I thought "Henneman" was great and convincing. You fooled a lot of people.

Tue Apr 12 2011, 5:40 PM

marlene witte wrote:

To painful to watch !!!!!!

Wed Apr 13 2011, 11:31 AM

Shawn wrote:

Justin,
Is this a bit or a straight interview?
Thanks, Shawn

Fri Apr 15 2011, 4:11 PM

Justin Kaufmann (jkaufmann) wrote:

Shawn (and everyone else): Yes, the video is fake. It was posted on April 1, 2011 as an April Fool's Joke. It went viral weeks after and people just decided to ignore the joke and send it around as real. It was my intention to fool you, but not in the way it ended up fooling people. Does that make sense? That being sad, Kate James (Henneman) did completely improvise the piece so kudos for her for an amazing performance.

We were actually up at Wrigley that day shooting scenes for a new web-series following Henneman (the character) throughout the summer. Look for it around Memorial Day.

Thu Apr 21 2011, 2:35 PM

Zeddie wrote:

you know the saying ,"there is truth in comedy"....that's why some folks took it as authentic. Go back in the summer when the yoo-hoos fill the stands. It's more fun than the game.

Thu Apr 21 2011, 2:55 PM

Andy G wrote:

Kate James, comedy star in the making! I lived right around the corner from the field on Waveland for several years and I know the girl she's playing; and if you don't youve either never been theer or you weren't paying attention.

Thu Apr 21 2011, 4:36 PM

Tommy from Chicago wrote:

That was an amazing argument to defund NPR! I was not expecting that. That was awesome!! Seriously, let them pay for themselves, my tax dollars shouldn't go for this? It's not Government's job. Where in the Constitution does it say we need to fund NPR? And to think I have made fun of Cubs fans all these years... GO CUBBIES!! (I can't beleive I just said that.)

Fri Apr 29 2011, 1:12 AM

Morgan wrote:

I absolutelyoved every second of this! And embarassingly just found out it wasn't real! To and she seemed like a fun person to party with!

Mon May 16 2011, 1:51 AM

tom wrote:

Gotta get over to Barleycorns and get some wings...Prior's on the bump at 1.

Great charecters, always nice to see them return.

Wed Aug 24 2011, 2:42 PM

Justin Kaufmann

As senior content developer for WBEZ, Justin is responsible for the WBEZ web site. Justin is an ensemble member of the comedy group Schadenfreude, which formerly had a weekly radio program on WBEZ.