Name: Harvey Pekar Collection on Letterman, 1986-1994
Uploaded: 2017-08-17T01:46:54.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Harvey Pekar Collection on Letterman, 1986-1994' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-08-17. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Harvey Pekar Collection on Letterman, 1986-1994' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-08-17. Transcript available.

Harvey Pekar Collection on Letterman, 1986-1994

Our next guest tonight works as a file clerk at a Cleveland hospital.
He also writes comic books which deal with his day-to-day pains and pleasures.
And this is an anthology of the nine of those comics.
It's entitled American Splendor.
From off the streets of Cleveland, folks, please say hello to Harvey Pekar.
Harvey, come out here.
Hi, Harvey.
Have to come around here.
Have a seat.
What do you mean calling me curious, you know?
I mean, I met you before the show, you know?
I meant curious in a fascinating way.
Oh, all right.
A man who has the presence of one who is quite fascinating.
Okay, because I met you before the show.
I thought you were a pretty nice guy, you know?
Yeah, well, I think you're...
I might be nursing a viper in my pussy.
You know, something like that.
You're a little defensive about this, huh?
Yeah, I am, man.
I'm waiting for those Cleveland jokes.
You know, go ahead.
All right, settle down, Harvey.
Yeah, all right.
I'm a man.
I'm a man.
Now, let's explain to folks who may not be familiar with your work what it is
you do here exactly.
You have comic books about you in your daily life in Cleveland.
That's right.
And are they embellished at all, or is it pretty much factual?
No, it's all true.
Uh-huh.
All true.
Yeah, and how long have you been doing this?
What, writing comics?
Yeah.
Well, for about 14 years.
That's, you know, but I've been publishing my own stuff for about 11.
Yeah, and you also have a regular job in Cleveland working at a hospital.
That's right.
That's right.
Now, it seems to me that you're...
Aiding the sick, yes.
Aiding the sick.
Well, that's certainly noble work.
Thank you.
Thank you.
But it seems to me, Harvey, that you have a very successful career here.
This is being published by a major publishing company, Doubleday.
That's right.
And why do you maintain the day job?
To make a living.
I don't make a living as a writer.
Yeah.
I've been writing for many years, David.
Maybe more years than you've been alive.
You know, and I...
Yeah, I know.
I know that my youthful appearance belies, you know, my actual age.
Yeah.
But I've been around for a long time.
But I have a feeling, though, if you wanted to, you could probably get by on
what you make
selling your work, because I know people are after you to write other things,
and you're
publishing this anthology.
What do you mean?
What people?
What people?
What are you talking about?
Well, I know that...
You can't even get that stuff.
I know that you...
You...
You know, that people...
I'm no showbiz phony.
I'm telling the truth.
Now, you...
Come on, man.
Now, you can't...
You mean to tell me that other people haven't contacted you about writing
literary criticism
for various publications?
Well, I mean, you know, like...
You could make a living as a writer.
What are you talking...
What do you mean?
How do you know all that stuff?
I can't.
Man, I've been writing...
I've been writing since I was 19 years old, man.
I'm now 47.
For nationally...
You know, you don't believe me.
I'm eight years older than you, man.
I don't look it, man.
You look eight years older than me, man.
You look bad.
I look bad?
You look bad compared to me.
I look bad compared to you.
Yeah, yeah.
It's the hair piece.
Yeah, well...
Okay, now, let's...
This is mine.
No.
Not that much, but it's all mine.
I don't rely on any, you know, prostheses or anything like that.
That's a technical one.
Have you thought about a decaffeinated coffee?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Next thing you know, it's going to be, you know, like your analysis.
No, no.
Now, come on.
Now, but I'm serious.
What?
You have the magazine...
I can't make a living at it, right?
Okay, all right.
You can't make a living.
I can't make a living at it.
I can't make a living as a writer.
But see, I think maybe, and this is only me conjecturing here, that what you're
unwilling
to get, you don't want to lose the daily activity and the daily contact with
ordinary people.
Yes, that's right.
So it's not so much the money.
Where'd you find that out?
It's not so much the...
Once again, somebody briefed you on me.
It's not so...
Some of your writers make it.
It's not so much that you can't get by without the day job.
Right.
You just, you like the contact with the everyday people.
I can't get by without the day job.
Okay.
That's the God's truth.
I can't.
What do you want?
You know, like when I was writing for Donovan, I was getting like four bucks
for a record review,
okay?
Okay.
A lot of people I write for, I get nothing for.
I wrote, I finally had a book review in the New York Times.
I got $2.50 for it.
Okay.
I shouldn't have said that.
Okay.
I'll probably clear myself with the time.
Okay.
Okay, now let's go on to other matters.
All right.
You've proven your point and I'm sorry if I touched the source properly.
That's okay.
No, it's all right, David.
Okay.
I'm a big man.
I can shrug it off.
All right.
Now, good.
Now, you, the people you work with appear as characters in your work, don't
they?
Now, do they know that they're in the comic books?
Most of them do, yeah.
And how do they feel about that?
They love it.
Yeah.
They like it.
You know what I mean?
Like, they like to be on your show, too.
They're flattered about the...
They're flattered, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
People like publicity.
Yeah.
They think it's a big thing.
Uh-huh.
You know?
And do all of them that are in the books know they're in the books or some don't
have any idea?
A few of them, yeah.
A few of them don't.
Most of them don't.
Most of them do.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, there's not really, you know, very many unflattering portraits that I've
done
of people.
Uh-huh.
You know, I do stuff accurately.
A lot of the stuff is pretty serious, actually.
Yeah.
Some of it's humorous.
What I'm trying, you know, I'm focusing on everyday life, you know, rather than
the highs
and lows of people's, you know, like, lives.
Sure.
Why did you select comic books as a forum for that?
Why couldn't it have been a series of essays or articles or whatever?
Because it's a, you know, it just goes along.
You know, it's a wonderful medium.
It's as good an artistic medium as any other medium.
It's, you know, it's words and pictures, and you can do anything you want with
words
and pictures.
Yeah.
It doesn't, there's no limit to how good the words can be.
There's no limit to how good the pictures can be.
And, uh, but it's, you know, considered a junk medium because it's been, always
been
aimed at a lowest, you know, common denominator of audience.
Sure.
But, um, you know, I mean, it's, it's, you know, very, you know, the potential
of it
has just, you know, you know, been, uh, hasn't been, hasn't been artsy
exploited to any extent.
Would you, do you ever one day see yourself writing a screenplay or writing
something that
might reach a broader audience?
Television show, do you, have you ever written a TV script?
No, I haven't.
I had a play based on, uh, my comic book, so, but, uh, a screenplay or, you
know, theater
play is, you know, very similar to, you know, my comic book stuff, you know, or
a comic book
script, because what it involves is it involves writing dialogue, and it
involves, you know,
instructions either to the actors or to the, uh, or to the, uh, or to the, uh,
or to...
Relax, relax.
All right, don't worry about it.
I don't, I'm not worried about it.
You don't worry about it.
I don't worry about it either.
I just, I want a friend.
I got a job.
I'm trying to, I know you've got a job.
I've got a job.
We're both very lucky.
We both have jobs.
Well, what's the matter?
Look, man.
You gotta, you gotta go.
No, no, just, Harvey, I like you.
I'm on your side.
All right, man.
I enjoy the comic books.
Okay.
And here, quickly, tell us about the little doll here.
My wife made it.
Okay.
And they're, and they're, uh...
What am I, am I giving you a hard time?
No, you're not giving me a hard time.
Are you making me nervous?
No, you're not making me nervous.
We have to go now.
And I just wanted to mention that these are for sale.
Yes.
They're made out of your old clothing.
That's right.
Yeah, and what do these go for?
Thirty-four bucks.
Thirty-four dollars?
Thirty-four dollars for this?
What, are you cheap?
You're cheaper than me?
Well, no, but...
Would you pay thirty-four dollars for that?
No, but I'm not asking it.
My wife is.
Oh, I see.
We'll, uh, we'll, excuse me, we'll do a commercial.
We'll be back there with Harvey.
You've got to stick around.
We'll be back with Harvey Picard from off the streets of Cleveland.
And you mentioned your wife, she was making those dolls, and I imagine you're
probably selling those.
Are you an easy man to be married to, do you think?
Yeah, I think so.
The problem is my wives haven't thought so.
How many times have you been married, Harvey?
Three times.
Three times.
And, uh, how long have they lasted?
First one about 12 years.
Twelve years?
The next one about three.
This one's, you know, it's like three years and counting, you know?
I'm a good guy, you know?
You're a nice guy?
Easy going?
I think so, yeah.
You're cheap, though, aren't you?
You're cheap.
I'm a little tight, you know, a little tight.
Yeah, and, uh, uh, you eat a lot of junk food, probably?
Yeah, I eat a lot of junk food.
Not on this show, though.
You guys just got liquid stuff out there.
You don't have anything.
So you came here looking for handouts, didn't you?
Let's go.
And I got them.
You got them.
Tell me, we'd have finger sandwiches or crackers.
You don't have anything, man.
You don't have donuts or anything.
This is the big time.
Listen, man, I, you know, in Cleveland, at least I get donuts.
You get donuts in Cleveland.
I get, you know, something, man.
Well, Brokaw ate all the donuts.
I'm sorry, but...
Is that right?
I thought he only ate fish.
On the, uh, on the cover of your, uh, on the cover of your, uh, anthology here,
it
has a little, uh, scenario, you on a talk show, and that's you.
That's right.
And you're saying, geez, I never, nine years ago, when I started, I never
imagined being
on a talk show.
Right.
Well, now you're on a talk show.
Yeah.
What do you think?
Well, first of all, that idea came from a guy who worked with Double Bay.
The general idea, I wrote the dialogue, but a guy named Mike Barson, you know,
who put
this thing over with Double Bay, thought up that idea.
Yeah.
So, what do I think about it?
Yeah.
I don't know, man.
It's a way to, you know, publicize the thing.
Look, what's the big deal, you know?
I don't want to be a celebrity.
Yeah, you don't want to be a celebrity.
Don't you think there's problems in being a celebrity?
There's problems.
Do you like being a celebrity?
There's problems at all levels of existence.
Let me interview you, man.
I have to do some questions.
Oh, yeah.
Have you ever even seen this show, Harvey?
I've seen it twice.
Hey, shut up, man.
You're just playing with them, aren't you?
You're just playing with them a little bit.
Yeah, it's just a little, yeah.
No, look.
Now, how are things in Cleveland going?
What do you mean, how are things going?
They're going all right, you know?
But I don't, what do you think?
How are things in Indianapolis going?
Pretty well.
Pretty darn well.
All right, they're going pretty darn well in Cleveland.
I'm doing all right, man, you know?
I got a job.
You got a job.
I work with nice people.
When do you retire?
When do you retire from your job at the hospital?
Did somebody ask you to ask me?
No, I just want to know, because I have a feeling you mentioned you're cheap.
The fact you're probably...
I got nine years to go and I get a pension.
Yeah, you're squirreling away a lot of money on this book deal, but you don't
want to give
up the pension.
Isn't that it?
I don't want to give up the pension, no, man.
Yeah.
Well, I worked there 20 years.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You think I'm stupid?
I might make, you know, maybe last year I made two grand on comics.
Yeah.
That was the first year I ever broke even on them.
But see, Harvey, you'