Evan O’Television

1.    I love driving late at night, on sparsely populated highways, while listening to music.  I feel that if this is not how one spends at least 40% of their time in a car, then it is a possession not worth having.

2.    It is very likely that I have seen the movies Duck Soup and Annie Hall more than 50 times each.  Both are still capable of making me laugh out loud.  But even those 2 great films are not capable of making me abbreviate that phrase to an acronym.

3.    I ain’t superstitious, but George Carlin died on my birthday last year.

4.     My favorite novel is Ulysses by James Joyce.  It is the one book I have most consistently enjoyed each and every time I have attempted to read it.

I have started it no less than a dozen times.  I have yet to finish it.  I feel that the metaphorical implications of this fact are as obvious as they are silly.

5.    This is the story of the greatest compliment anyone has ever given me about my comedy act:

I once had dinner with the wife of the late Jim Henson.  I had just performed on a split bill with her daughter Heather, who is a superb artist and impresario in her own right.

(Check out:Heather’s Touring Film Series)

Anyway, Jane Henson, upon seeing me perform an early Evan O’ Television routine, informed me that she had enjoyed the show, but she thought that my sense of humor was “very boring.”  When I looked at her, dumbfounded, she insisted that she meant “very boring” as a compliment.

Heather stepped in at this point, objecting, “Mom, what are you talking about? Evan’s not boring!”

Jane attempted to clarify further, “No sweetie, he’s not boring.  His character is boring– the sense of humor of the character.  You know, it’s the same way that all of Frank’s characters were always boring.  That’s why they were funny.  Do you know what I mean?”

Heather continued to argue on my behalf, but I lost the ability to follow the conversation at that point because I realized that Jane Henson was talking about Frank Oz.

To this day, I have no idea what Jane Henson meant, but I consider it to be the greatest compliment I have ever received, to know that I am boring like Fozzie Bear, Grover, Miss Piggy and Yoda.