[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.39,0:00:05.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(tape rewinding)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.03,0:00:12.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(bluegrass music)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.81,0:00:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Garrison] There was a man\Nsitting on his front porch
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.90,0:00:19.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the pastor came by\Nand they sat and talked
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.54,0:00:21.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about theology for a little while.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.96,0:00:25.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the pastor asked the man
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.40,0:00:29.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if he believed in infant baptism.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.83,0:00:31.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the man said "Believe in it, hell,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.62,0:00:33.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I've seen it done."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.29,0:00:35.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(audience laughing)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.57,0:00:44.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A humorist has to, has to, has to what?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.14,0:00:45.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What was I about to say?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.18,0:00:46.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.09,0:00:49.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was distracted, if everyone\Nwould just be perfectly still
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.22,0:00:50.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm sure I...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.62,0:00:52.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughing)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.82,0:00:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- When did you decide to\Nbecome a writer, and why?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.00,0:01:02.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- I grew up in a fundamentalist\NProtestant family
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.09,0:01:06.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that stressed that we\Nwere a select people,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.31,0:01:11.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so we were to avoid\Ncontact with others
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.96,0:01:14.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who did not share our faith.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.84,0:01:16.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We were isolated.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.37,0:01:20.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, perhaps, growing up in this world,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.07,0:01:25.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first of all, one has a\Nreverence for the word,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.14,0:01:29.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and for language, God spoke to us through
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.56,0:01:34.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the word, and in our family\Nthis was the King James Bible.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.78,0:01:39.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It also, I think, gave books, fiction,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.53,0:01:42.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,great power, because they were proscribed.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.11,0:01:46.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We were not to touch them,\Nand my family was shocked
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.08,0:01:50.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I came home with\Na volume of Hemingway
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.88,0:01:55.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I was a boy, and I wanted to read it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.04,0:01:57.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there was a price to be paid for
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.57,0:02:01.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,being interested in\Nfiction and in writing.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.89,0:02:03.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pushing my family away.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.98,0:02:08.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Books and authors became my family.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.44,0:02:12.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a decision however\Nthat continually seems
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.76,0:02:15.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,temporary, that you're never quite sure
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.61,0:02:17.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you've made it absolutely.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.58,0:02:20.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm only 52, so I made a\Nsort of tentative chice
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.88,0:02:25.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that has lasted this\Nlong, but, I could still
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.53,0:02:28.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fall back on retail sales.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.17,0:02:30.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughing)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.91,0:02:34.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Being considered a humorist,\Nare you constantly aware
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.12,0:02:35.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it's time to come up with something
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.65,0:02:36.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as clever as you've just described,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.99,0:02:38.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or to be comic in some way?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.94,0:02:42.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- I think that you're only\Nobliged to be a humorist
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.19,0:02:46.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from maybe the age of\N18 until you turn 30.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.23,0:02:48.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Past the age of 30, I don't think
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.18,0:02:50.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's any obligation\Nto be clever at all.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.66,0:02:53.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After that, you, I think, are supposed to
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.31,0:02:55.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,settle down, be a good person,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.83,0:03:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,raise your children, and\Nbe good to your friends
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.40,0:03:04.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which you may not have been\Nwhen you were very clever.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.88,0:03:08.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And try to atone for your cleverness.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.04,0:03:13.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Humor has to surprise us,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.01,0:03:15.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,otherwise it isn't funny, and,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.96,0:03:18.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's a death knell for a writer
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.79,0:03:22.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be labeled a humorist,\Nbecause then of course,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.26,0:03:25.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's not a surprise anymore,\Nit's what's expected of him.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.59,0:03:28.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when you come to\Nexpect humor of people,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.66,0:03:30.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you will never get it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.70,0:03:33.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Looking for it, demanding\Nit, expecting it,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.84,0:03:38.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what you do is to kill off every joke
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.60,0:03:40.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you ever come across.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.12,0:03:47.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Humor in writing needs to come in
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.65,0:03:50.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,under cover of darkness and be disguised.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.69,0:03:52.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has to surprise people.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.74,0:03:54.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You don't want to get that sort of
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.06,0:03:56.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,badoing, badoing, badoing sound
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.82,0:03:59.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in your writing, that boing,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.85,0:04:02.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that gives you away.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.61,0:04:08.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Humor is not about problems with
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.14,0:04:12.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,airline luggage handlers, it's\Nabout our lives in America.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.74,0:04:15.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's about the ends of our lives,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.11,0:04:17.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's about everything\Nthat happens after that
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.13,0:04:19.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and everything that happened before.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.70,0:04:36.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [George] Well you\Npaint this lovely picture
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.60,0:04:37.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the piece going up and then
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.92,0:04:38.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,immediately appearing in the magazine,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.99,0:04:41.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was wondering if sometimes,\Nat the New Yorker they say,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.81,0:04:43.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Well you know this is\Nnot quite up to snuff."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.64,0:04:45.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or however they would put it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.45,0:04:47.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Garrison] Well, you see though,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.74,0:04:50.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the New Yorker turned down work,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.94,0:04:55.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they turned it down in such an elaborately
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.05,0:04:58.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gentlemanly way, making\Napologies for their own
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.44,0:05:02.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,shortsightedness, and undoubtedly
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.62,0:05:06.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was their fault, but\Nsomehow, for some reason,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.13,0:05:10.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this fell short of the\Nremarkably high standard
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.77,0:05:13.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you, by your own work\Nhave set for yourself.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.77,0:05:15.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughing)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.84,0:05:20.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They had a way of rejecting\Nmy work that made me
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.01,0:05:21.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,feel sorry for them somehow.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.78,0:05:23.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughing)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.12,0:05:38.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(tape rewinding)