Name: Al Pacino on Late Show, August 21, 2002
Uploaded: 2017-05-18T00:02:35.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Al Pacino on Late Show, August 21, 2002' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-05-18. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Al Pacino on Late Show, August 21, 2002' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-05-18. Transcript available.

Thank you very much.
All right, here we go.
Remember what I told you earlier?
Here's now where things get good.
All right.
We're going to bring out a real guy.
How you talk now.
Things happen, exactly.
Our first guest is an Academy Award-winning actor
starring in a new motion picture entitled Simone.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Al Pacino.
Al Pacino, kid.
There you go.
Man, see ya.
How you doing?
Well, hello, dude.
Somebody told me.
I got that from someone.
You know, I was not expecting you.
Normally, I don't think I remember you having blonde hair.
How did that happen?
How did that happen?
Oh, it wasn't me.
Well, it's the thing with actors.
You know, we always change our thing,
and sometimes we change our hair.
And I was in this part,
and it called for gray hair.
And my hair, believe it or not,
isn't normally gray except for the sideburns.
So we had to bleach it.
I hit the sun.
Now it turned blonde.
So it's blonde and gray,
and the roots are black.
So, you know, it's totally out of control.
You know, I'm not saying it looks bad.
It's just different.
It's unusual.
It's different, yeah.
There are a lot of people with it, I think, though.
I've been seeing it.
Well, at least that's what I start to notice.
Are you going to just let it go now
because there's probably not much you can do with it?
We'll let it go.
Just let it go.
Let it live its own.
Take it, follow its own course.
Do you remember the,
I know that I have not seen you on many television shows.
I don't think I've ever seen you.
I know I've never seen you on this show.
I saw you, I think I saw you on an airplane once.
That's exactly right.
That's a long, long time ago.
We were flying east, I believe.
Yeah.
But have you,
you must have done them before.
What was your first television talk show experience?
How old were you?
What was the circumstance?
What was the show?
It was a long time ago,
which is why it's about 30 years.
30 years?
More, yeah.
You do one every 30 years of show?
Every 30.
Well, let's,
we'll see after this one.
So far, so good, right?
So far, so good, good.
Yeah, well, I was on this show.
I could mention it was the Merv Griffin show,
but I don't know if my story about it
is as accurate as what happened,
what really happened.
But I was, I was,
you know how it is when you tell the story
and you think about it years,
years later, it's sort of.
So I went out.
I went out and I was announced.
And in, in, in those days,
I hadn't made a movie,
so not many people knew who I was.
I was, I was,
I did a Broadway show.
And so there was an applause sign.
The audience applauded,
you know, to be polite.
And I came on,
but I wasn't used to it
because I thought they were applauding
and they don't know me,
but still, I,
I was still into the theater bow.
So I, I, I bowed as though I was doing,
you know,
I had just finished Hamlet
and I came out.
Only I was down there too long.
You know, I, I,
how long were you down there?
Well, they stopped applauding
and I was still down there.
And so I got up slowly
because I knew when I did it,
I thought,
what are you doing?
You're here.
They're not applauding.
How are you going to get up now?
You know?
And so I got up finally
and Merv Griffin,
you know, he,
he's a great,
he was a great talk show.
He still does it,
does he?
No,
I think he's retired.
There it is.
I've outlived him, right?
Do you know who Vin Diesel is?
I do actually, I do.
See, I didn't know that.
He's not blonde.
So anyway,
I got on the show
and,
and he asked me a few questions
and it's all a blah,
but do you remember
the, the, the late,
great Anthony Newley?
Remember he was so,
you know,
he,
he protected me
in a way he took me
and was quite,
he covered for me
because I was,
because Merv Griffin
asked me,
how did I get
from the Bronx to Broadway?
Because I was from,
and I said,
I walked.
It's all right.
I thought that was funny.
It is funny.
It's funny.
Now I'm looking over
your filmography,
that's a list of your work
and this is unbelievable
to me that the second
motion picture,
and tell me if this
is not correct,
the second motion picture
that you made
is The Godfather.
Is that true?
Is that how that
actually works?
It's true.
Did you have trouble,
did you have trouble
getting that part
and once you had it,
what was that experience
like for a,
certainly a beginner?
Oh yeah.
Huge stars.
It was,
there was so much
controversy over the casting
of the picture,
the different parts
and I never thought
that I would be cast
in it because I knew
Francis Coppola,
he wanted me
for another movie
and he asked me
to be in this picture
and I thought,
this is the wrong part
for me, Michael.
I would have preferred
Sonny,
but there I was,
you know,
I was choosing the parts
but it was wonderful
to be offered that.
I was shocked by it
and then the trouble
started because after that
nobody wanted me.
Really?
And you know,
you mentioned Scarecrow
and one of my favorite
directors,
Jerry Schatzberg,
directed that
and he also directed
a movie called
A Panic in Needle Park.
That was my first picture.
Right, right.
Thank you.
The Panic in Needle Park
was,
they finally took
an eight-minute reel
from that picture
and showed it to Paramount
and I think that's
what got me the role,
finally.
Was there a moment
when you're confronted
with the cast
and when you realized,
oh my God,
not only does everybody
else think I'm in
over my head,
maybe I am in
over my head.
Were you intimidated
by people that you
worked with there?
Totally, all the time
for the whole picture.
Practically.
And I still am.
But the idea of doing it
was an interesting
thing happened
when we all got together
for the first time.
Marlon Brando,
who is such an icon
and such an idol
of all of us
and the greatest actor
in the world.
Well, when he
and all of us
got together,
Francis Coppola
liked everyone to eat
and go out
and have dinner
and he thought
that if we were together
in that environment,
we would get
to know each other.
And what was interesting
about it,
we went up in Harlem
and we had
an Italian dinner
and we were all there,
Brando, Jimmy Kahn,
Robert Duvall
and my dear friend,
the late John Cassell
who played Fredo,
great actor.
You know.
and so we would have
our dinner
and then we would,
it would be,
actors are funny that way.
We would start going
into our characters
and everybody was behaving
like the characters
in the movie
but we were just
getting together,
you know.
I became introverted
and kind of sullen
and it was a comfortable
thing to be.
I mean,
I didn't have to talk
or anything.
Take a bow.
We'll be right back
with Al Pacino,
everybody.
Yes, sir.
Al Pacino,
ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you, Paul.
Now, this movie is Simone.
It's fantastic, by the way.
Very entertaining,
very funny,
a very strange film.
Yes.
And part of it
is a dynamic
of the relationship
between a director
and a star
who may be difficult
or perceived
to be difficult.
Yes.
Now, when you were
working early on
with Francis Ford Coppola,
did you have any
of those moments
when he was asking
things that maybe
you couldn't deliver on
or a misunderstanding
about performance
or what was being requested?
Any moments like that
come to mind
early on in your career?
Well, yeah.
Oh, gee.
There's a few.
And I think the one
that's most outstanding
with Francis,
if I can remember it,
was it's a...
I hope it's not too long,
but it's a...
Take your time, Al.
Oh, gee.
I know it's...
You don't kill time,
it kills you, right?
That's it, yeah.
There was the scene
in Godfather 1,
if anybody remembers it,
when Michael,
young Michael,
gets married in Sicily
and he has to
pass around candies.
It's a tradition,
an Italian tradition.
And then Francis says,
okay, Al,
here's the thing.
You pass around the candies,
you go to the different people,
and then you
take the girl,
who's your wife,
and you waltz,
you do a waltz,
and you go off in the car.
So I thought,
okay.
I said,
Francis,
you say you want me
to talk in Italian
to these people
that I'm passing the candy.
I said,
I don't speak Italian.
He said,
well,
it doesn't matter.
I mean,
just say anything.
Whatever.
You know,
I mean,
double talk,
whatever,
because I'm way up
with the camera.
We'll get it later.
You know,
don't worry about the things.
Just waltz around
with the girl.
So I said,
Francis,
I don't waltz.
I don't know how to waltz.
He's looking at me.
He said,
well,
do something.
You move with the girl.
It doesn't matter.
Just move around.
Hold her.
You walk around.
You've got something.
Just do a thing.
Spin around a couple of times.
I got the camera up there.
It doesn't matter.
Get in the car
and take off.
I said,
Francis,
I don't drive.
Why did I pick him?
Why him?
Speaking of driving,
I was looking at this list of stuff.
1977,
Bobby Deerfield,
great racing movie.
Don't you think?
Well,
yeah.
I mean,
I liked it,
but
I like part,
a lot.
There's some parts in it
that were quite good.
Sidney Pollack directed.
And he
did Tootsie
and
that wonderful movie
with Beryl Streep
out of Africa.
He's a great director.
Tell us stories
about working
in live theater.
Well,
there's so many.
I have stories.
I just happen to know
about this one thing.
I have a story.
Theater is what I do
most of the time,
believe it or not.
Really?
Yeah.
Is that your preference,
honestly?
Well,
it's what I started with.
And I think that I have
more of a feeling
about it some way.
I feel more at home
when I'm doing it.
Money's a little different
though, isn't it?
Yeah.
That's why I can afford
to do it now.
Absolutely.
I was in a play once
and it was in Boston.
The play was called
The Basic Training
of Pavlo Hummel.
And eventually,
I came to New York
and I did it.
Thank you.
Many years ago.
But during a performance
in Boston,
it just gives you
an idea of what happens
on stage sometimes,
the kind of relationship
you have with an audience
because you get really
intense about it
and you start to connect
in ways that you just
don't understand.
I mean,
so one night
I was doing the play
and I had this feeling.
It was a feeling
I had never had before.
I was connecting
to someone
in that audience
and it was like a,
because the eyes
were riveted to me
and I felt
I was drawn to it
at all times.
So you're making contact
with someone's eyes?
It's not, yes.
It's a feeling you get.
It's like being in the,
athletes talk about
the zone maybe.
You're in the zone
with that person
and you just,
you know,
and finally I started
playing the whole play.
It was,
it was,
it was at such a degree
that I had to look out
at the end of the play
and look into the area
that,
that was giving me
so much,
so much vibe.
So I went,
I couldn't wait
for the curtain call
to come
and finally it comes
and it's the end
of the play
and we come out
and we take our bowels
and the first thing
I do is I look over
directly to where
those eyes were
and they were
two seeing eye dogs.
Well, that's silly.
It's an illusion,
you know.
That's not right.
Now,
I think,
we have some videotape
of you
at a baseball game.
I think it's 1997
is what I'm guessing.
Does that ring a bell?
Oh, it does.
Should we talk about it first?
A loud bell
in my inner ear.
Should we look at the videotape
first and then talk about it
or talk about it first
and then look at it?
Maybe I should talk about it first.
Okay,
tell people what this was.
This is a Yankee game, right?
I'm doing
an inordinate amount
of talking though.
It's a talk show.
There it is.
There it is.
That's the,
that's the idea.
You fit right in.
This is,
who am I kidding?
This is where I belong.
Anyway,
one day
I'm going to the baseball game.
You're a big sports fan.
Well,
I like sports a lot.
I enjoy the games.
I love baseball
and all of them.
You know,
it's great to watch
the athletes.
They're amazing.
So occasionally I go
and I like to go
and practice
before the game starts
so you can just get,
you see them
just milling around the field
and then the game starts.
But I had an appointment
that day
and I got this impulse
to go to the game
and I thought,
well,
I'll go to the game
and I was with my girlfriend,
Beverly D'Angelo
and we went to the,
so we went to the game
and I thought
as an afterthought,
this is my,
sometimes my reality.
It's,
I'm thinking,
you know,
I've got to leave early
about the second
or third inning.
They're going to get upset
because,
you know,
remember that Jack Benny movie
To Be or Not to Be
where every time
he's playing Hamlet
gets to be on,
to say To Be or Not to Be,
somebody gets up
in the third row
and leaves.
He just,
he just watches them
as they go,
you know.
It's right in the middle
of this soliloquy
and he gets,
well,
I thought if I get up
in the middle of the game.
It's inconsiderate.
It's inconsiderate.
A big star
leaving the ball.
It doesn't look good.
He walked out on us.
What's up?
Exactly.
So,
I was,
I was,
I was thinking
it was a Broadway show
or something.
So,
anyway,
I go away
and I said,
you know I happen
to have a spare beard
in the car.
Go figure that.
In case I get hungry,
you know.
So,
I put the beard on
and it's like,
you know,
the Smith Brothers
kind of beard.
I got a baseball cap
and some eyeglasses.
Well,
I might have known
something was wrong
because as I was going
to my seat
with this,
I passed someone
who said,
hi, Al.
Yeah.
You know.
I was off and running
with that,
you know.
I thought,
this is somebody else
he's talking to,
right?
Not to mention,
I'm with Beverly D'Angelo
as well.
I don't know if it makes any sense.
Well,
I'm sitting down
and I'm watching them practice
and at one time
my chin started to itch
a little bit
so I lifted up the beard
and I went on
and I put it.
But I'm so sure of myself,
you know what I mean?
No one's going to know
and Beverly's there
and I'm not putting
two and two together yet
until I look out in the field
and for some reason
the cameras
that were on the players
are now switched
and turned around on me.
So,
I wound up
being on
the 11 o'clock news.
I was on highlights.
At the end of the year
they showed it
as special
crazy things
that happened
and it was me
with the beard.
Crazy things that happened?
Crazy things.
Well,
you must have felt
like a dope
for heaven's sakes.
Did you?
I still do.
Still do.
All right.
That beard
has been retired
into the Museum of the States.
If you don't mind,
let's take a look.
So,
this is the day
of the ball game
1997
at Yankee Stadium.
Al Pacino.
We think it's Al Pacino.
Man of mystery.
What is the matter with you?
Excellent idea.
I love the cuts of grey.
Don't you hear that?
Very nice.
I was cold.
That's what I can call it.
We want to talk about Simone.
It opens Friday,
August 23rd.
And it's just wonderful.
Very entertaining film.
And can you tell people
what this is
in a...
Is it any way
to explain the premise really?
No.
It's you working with a synthesized star.
That's it.
It's a guy
who's run out of tricks
and he can't get a job
anymore in Hollywood
and his ex-wife
runs the studio
and she gave him a chance
and he blew it.
And Winona Ryder
plays the starlet
who is very uppity
and she leaves the picture
and now he's left
without anything.
So he invents...
He gets a formula
from some wild, crazy guy
and he puts it on
and he invents
this virtual actress.
It's an actress
that's made out of pixels.
Then the fun begins,
as we say.
Let's hope.
All right.
We have a clip here.
Do you know what this is?
Oh, no.
I can tell you the clip.
I know the clip.
All right.
Good.
This girl, Rebecca Stamos,
she plays Simone's body double
and she's standing in for Simone
because everybody thinks
Simone is real
and she's not
and I'm making this girl
into Simone.
Like, she's hiding
but she's supposed to be Simone
and then I rush her out
and put her in a car
and we go to my house
and she sort of likes Simone
so you'll see that.
Okay, but this is not Simone.
This is someone pretending
to be Simone.
She is Simone's double.
She is what I want her
to be the double.
I want people to think
that's Simone
so that she really exists
because she runs into a car
but she covers her face
like that.
It's the old bait and switch.
Yeah.
Something like that.
It's called Simone.
It opens Friday.
Take a look.
Here we go.
That is some clip.
My God.
That's unbelievable.
It was a little long.
Yeah.
That acting is hard work,
isn't it, Al?
Have a beautiful woman
on top of you
for 20 minutes?
That really hurt.
It really did.
Anyway, it's great fun
and it opens August 23rd.
What are you going to do now?
You got some time off?
You're going to hang around?
What's going on?
Wow.
That's an incredible question.
I mean,
now I'll probably
I'm going to continue
in the theater.
You know,
I've got some plans
to do some theater downtown.
But I meant like tonight.
Are you going to go home
and have dinner?
Oh, tonight?
Well,
I'll probably
No, I got some
Actually, I have to dub
do some dubbing tonight.
I have to go to work.
All right.
Good to see you.
Good luck with your hair.
Thanks.
I have to tune out
I've got to get the right back.
I have to tune out
I've got to get the right back.

Al Pacino on Late Show, August 21, 2002

Thank you very much.
All right, here we go.
Remember what I told you earlier?
Here's now where things get good.
All right.
We're going to bring out a real guy.
How you talk now.
Things happen, exactly.
Our first guest is an Academy Award-winning actor
starring in a new motion picture entitled Simone.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Al Pacino.
Al Pacino, kid.
There you go.
Man, see ya.
How you doing?
Well, hello, dude.
Somebody told me.
I got that from someone.
You know, I was not expecting you.
Normally, I don't think I remember you having blonde hair.
How did that happen?
How did that happen?
Oh, it wasn't me.
Well, it's the thing with actors.
You know, we always change our thing,
and sometimes we change our hair.
And I was in this part,
and it called for gray hair.
And my hair, believe it or not,
isn't normally gray except for the sideburns.
So we had to bleach it.
I hit the sun.
Now it turned blonde.
So it's blonde and gray,
and the roots are black.
So, you know, it's totally out of control.
You know, I'm not saying it looks bad.
It's just different.
It's unusual.
It's different, yeah.
There are a lot of people with it, I think, though.
I've been seeing it.
Well, at least that's what I start to notice.
Are you going to just let it go now
because there's probably not much you can do with it?
We'll let it go.
Just let it go.
Let it live its own.
Take it, follow its own course.
Do you remember the,
I know that I have not seen you on many television shows.
I don't think I've ever seen you.
I know I've never seen you on this show.
I saw you, I think I saw you on an airplane once.
That's exactly right.
That's a long, long time ago.
We were flying east, I believe.
Yeah.
But have you,
you must have done them before.
What was your first television talk show experience?
How old were you?
What was the circumstance?
What was the show?
It was a long time ago,
which is why it's about 30 years.
30 years?
More, yeah.
You do one every 30 years of show?
Every 30.
Well, let's,
we'll see after this one.
So far, so good, right?
So far, so good, good.
Yeah, well, I was on this show.
I could mention it was the Merv Griffin show,
but I don't know if my story about it
is as accurate as what happened,
what really happened.
But I was, I was,
you know how it is when you tell the story
and you think about it years,
years later, it's sort of.
So I went out.
I went out and I was announced.
And in, in, in those days,
I hadn't made a movie,
so not many people knew who I was.
I was, I was,
I did a Broadway show.
And so there was an applause sign.
The audience applauded,
you know, to be polite.
And I came on,
but I wasn't used to it
because I thought they were applauding
and they don't know me,
but still, I,
I was still into the theater bow.
So I, I, I bowed as though I was doing,
you know,
I had just finished Hamlet
and I came out.
Only I was down there too long.
You know, I, I,
how long were you down there?
Well, they stopped applauding
and I was still down there.
And so I got up slowly
because I knew when I did it,
I thought,
what are you doing?
You're here.
They're not applauding.
How are you going to get up now?
You know?
And so I got up finally
and Merv Griffin,
you know, he,
he's a great,
he was a great talk show.
He still does it,
does he?
No,
I think he's retired.
There it is.
I've outlived him, right?
Do you know who Vin Diesel is?
I do actually, I do.
See, I didn't know that.
He's not blonde.
So anyway,
I got on the show
and,
and he asked me a few questions
and it's all a blah,
but do you remember
the, the, the late,
great Anthony Newley?
Remember he was so,
you know,
he,
he protected me
in a way he took me
and was quite,
he covered for me
because I was,
because Merv Griffin
asked me,
how did I get
from the Bronx to Broadway?
Because I was from,
and I said,
I walked.
It's all right.
I thought that was funny.
It is funny.
It's funny.
Now I'm looking over
your filmography,
that's a list of your work
and this is unbelievable
to me that the second
motion picture,
and tell me if this
is not correct,
the second motion picture
that you made
is The Godfather.
Is that true?
Is that how that
actually works?
It's true.
Did you have trouble,
did you have trouble
getting that part
and once you had it,
what was that experience
like for a,
certainly a beginner?
Oh yeah.
Huge stars.
It was,
there was so much
controversy over the casting
of the picture,
the different parts
and I never thought
that I would be cast
in it because I knew
Francis Coppola,
he wanted me
for another movie
and he asked me
to be in this picture
and I thought,
this is the wrong part
for me, Michael.
I would have preferred
Sonny,
but there I was,
you know,
I was choosing the parts
but it was wonderful
to be offered that.
I was shocked by it
and then the trouble
started because after that
nobody wanted me.
Really?
And you know,
you mentioned Scarecrow
and one of my favorite
directors,
Jerry Schatzberg,
directed that
and he also directed
a movie called
A Panic in Needle Park.
That was my first picture.
Right, right.
Thank you.
The Panic in Needle Park
was,
they finally took
an eight-minute reel
from that picture
and showed it to Paramount
and I think that's
what got me the role,
finally.
Was there a moment
when you're confronted
with the cast
and when you realized,
oh my God,
not only does everybody
else think I'm in
over my head,
maybe I am in
over my head.
Were you intimidated
by people that you
worked with there?
Totally, all the time
for the whole picture.
Practically.
And I still am.
But the idea of doing it
was an interesting
thing happened
when we all got together
for the first time.
Marlon Brando,
who is such an icon
and such an idol
of all of us
and the greatest actor
in the world.
Well, when he
and all of us
got together,
Francis Coppola
liked everyone to eat
and go out
and have dinner
and he thought
that if we were together
in that environment,
we would get
to know each other.
And what was interesting
about it,
we went up in Harlem
and we had
an Italian dinner
and we were all there,
Brando, Jimmy Kahn,
Robert Duvall
and my dear friend,
the late John Cassell
who played Fredo,
great actor.
You know.
and so we would have
our dinner
and then we would,
it would be,
actors are funny that way.
We would start going
into our characters
and everybody was behaving
like the characters
in the movie
but we were just
getting together,
you know.
I became introverted
and kind of sullen
and it was a comfortable
thing to be.
I mean,
I didn't have to talk
or anything.
Take a bow.
We'll be right back
with Al Pacino,
everybody.
Yes, sir.
Al Pacino,
ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you, Paul.
Now, this movie is Simone.
It's fantastic, by the way.
Very entertaining,
very funny,
a very strange film.
Yes.
And part of it
is a dynamic
of the relationship
between a director
and a star
who may be difficult
or perceived
to be difficult.
Yes.
Now, when you were
working early on
with Francis Ford Coppola,
did you have any
of those moments
when he was asking
things that maybe
you couldn't deliver on
or a misunderstanding
about performance
or what was being requested?
Any moments like that
come to mind
early on in your career?
Well, yeah.
Oh, gee.
There's a few.
And I think the one
that's most outstanding
with Francis,
if I can remember it,
was it's a...
I hope it's not too long,
but it's a...
Take your time, Al.
Oh, gee.
I know it's...
You don't kill time,
it kills you, right?
That's it, yeah.
There was the scene
in Godfather 1,
if anybody remembers it,
when Michael,
young Michael,
gets married in Sicily
and he has to
pass around candies.
It's a tradition,
an Italian tradition.
And then Francis says,
okay, Al,
here's the thing.
You pass around the candies,
you go to the different people,
and then you
take the girl,
who's your wife,
and you waltz,
you do a waltz,
and you go off in the car.
So I thought,
okay.
I said,
Francis,
you say you want me
to talk in Italian
to these people
that I'm passing the candy.
I said,
I don't speak Italian.
He said,
well,
it doesn't matter.
I mean,
just say anything.
Whatever.
You know,
I mean,
double talk,
whatever,
because I'm way up
with the camera.
We'll get it later.
You know,
don't worry about the things.
Just waltz around
with the girl.
So I said,
Francis,
I don't waltz.
I don't know how to waltz.
He's looking at me.
He said,
well,
do something.
You move with the girl.
It doesn't matter.
Just move around.
Hold her.
You walk around.
You've got something.
Just do a thing.
Spin around a couple of times.
I got the camera up there.
It doesn't matter.
Get in the car
and take off.
I said,
Francis,
I don't drive.
Why did I pick him?
Why him?
Speaking of driving,
I was looking at this list of stuff.
1977,
Bobby Deerfield,
great racing movie.
Don't you think?
Well,
yeah.
I mean,
I liked it,
but
I like part,
a lot.
There's some parts in it
that were quite good.
Sidney Pollack directed.
And he
did Tootsie
and
that wonderful movie
with Beryl Streep
out of Africa.
He's a great director.
Tell us stories
about working
in live theater.
Well,
there's so many.
I have stories.
I just happen to know
about this one thing.
I have a story.
Theater is what I do
most of the time,
believe it or not.
Really?
Yeah.
Is that your preference,
honestly?
Well,
it's what I started with.
And I think that I have
more of a feeling
about it some way.
I feel more at home
when I'm doing it.
Money's a little different
though, isn't it?
Yeah.
That's why I can afford
to do it now.
Absolutely.
I was in a play once
and it was in Boston.
The play was called
The Basic Training
of Pavlo Hummel.
And eventually,
I came to New York
and I did it.
Thank you.
Many years ago.
But during a performance
in Boston,
it just gives you
an idea of what happens
on stage sometimes,
the kind of relationship
you have with an audience
because you get really
intense about it
and you start to connect
in ways that you just
don't understand.
I mean,
so one night
I was doing the play
and I had this feeling.
It was a feeling
I had never had before.
I was connecting
to someone
in that audience
and it was like a,
because the eyes
were riveted to me
and I felt
I was drawn to it
at all times.
So you're making contact
with someone's eyes?
It's not, yes.
It's a feeling you get.
It's like being in the,
athletes talk about
the zone maybe.
You're in the zone
with that person
and you just,
you know,
and finally I started
playing the whole play.
It was,
it was,
it was at such a degree
that I had to look out
at the end of the play
and look into the area
that,
that was giving me
so much,
so much vibe.
So I went,
I couldn't wait
for the curtain call
to come
and finally it comes
and it's the end
of the play
and we come out
and we take our bowels
and the first thing
I do is I look over
directly to where
those eyes were
and they were
two seeing eye dogs.
Well, that's silly.
It's an illusion,
you know.
That's not right.
Now,
I think,
we have some videotape
of you
at a baseball game.
I think it's 1997
is what I'm guessing.
Does that ring a bell?
Oh, it does.
Should we talk about it first?
A loud bell
in my inner ear.
Should we look at the videotape
first and then talk about it
or talk about it first
and then look at it?
Maybe I should talk about it first.
Okay,
tell people what this was.
This is a Yankee game, right?
I'm doing
an inordinate amount
of talking though.
It's a talk show.
There it is.
There it is.
That's the,
that's the idea.
You fit right in.
This is,
who am I kidding?
This is where I belong.
Anyway,
one day
I'm going to the baseball game.
You're a big sports fan.
Well,
I like sports a lot.
I enjoy the games.
I love baseball
and all of them.
You know,
it's great to watch
the athletes.
They're amazing.
So occasionally I go
and I like to go
and practice
before the game starts
so you can just get,
you see them
just milling around the field
and then the game starts.
But I had an appointment
that day
and I got this impulse
to go to the game
and I thought,
well,
I'll go to the game
and I was with my girlfrien