4 P.M. INTERVIEW: "Cracked Up" Documentary Screening
"Cracked Up", a documentary exposing the childhood trauma of comedian Darrell Hammond, will be screened in Eau Claire.
PESI, Inc., and United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley presents the free screening January 16 with a Q & A session to follow with the director.
News Release:
Join us for an exclusive FREE screening, followed by a Q&A session with the documentary’s director (in attendance) and trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk (via livestream)
Thursday, January 16 at 6:30 PM
The Pablo Center for the Confluence
For fourteen seasons, fans of Saturday Night Live watched Darrell Hammond crack jokes as Bill Clinton, Sean Connery, and other high-profile people without ever knowing his impeccable ability to impersonate celebrities came with a dark secret.
Hammond himself didn’t understand how years of childhood trauma had shaped his reality until decades - and dozens of misdiagnoses – later. Now the longest-running cast member of SNL is opening up about the abuse that wreaked havoc on his adolescence and, with the help of documentary film maker Michelle Esrick, sharing his experience with the world.
See Hammond’s journey of enlightenment and recovery for yourself at an exclusive, free screening of the award-winning documentary Cracked Up – a story which gracefully weaves together comedy and tragedy and helps us understand the biological effects of childhood trauma in a new light.
“It reminds us that there is always more to someone’s story than what we see,” PESI’s Kate Sample, a licensed professional counselor, said after viewing the documentary. “Cracked Up is changing the way we talk about mental health and, hopefully, how we relate to one another.”
PESI, in partnership with the United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley, invites everyone to learn how becoming more trauma-informed can help transform our communities. Join us at the Pablo Center at the Confluence in Eau Claire on Thursday, January 16, 2020 for a free screening of the documentary, followed by a Q&A session with Cracked Up Director Michelle Esrick in attendance and world-renowned trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, via livestream.
The United Way knows that access to mental health care is a priority for people in Eau Claire and Chippewa counties and works to advance community-based initiatives around mental health throughout the Chippewa Valley by providing program funding and support. That’s why they are teaming up with PESI to bring Cracked Up to the Pablo Center and will also have a list of local mental health resources available at the event.
The January 16th screening will begin at 6:30 PM, though doors open at 6:00 PM. The event is free to the public, but seating is limited so you must have a ticket to enter. Tickets are available on the website for the Pablo Center at the Confluence.
