Oh my goodness what a fun time I had chatting with Dave Barry on the first episode of 5 Questions, my bite-sized, live-streamed Substack interview show that I’ll be producing in addition to longer-form episodes of Reasonably Happy.
Dave’s column was syndicated to hundreds of newspapers around the globe for several decades. He has published dozens of books on myriad topics that sold millions of copies—of books, not topics—in 22 languages. The New York Times called him “the funniest man in America.” (And when has the NYT ever been wrong?)
In other words, he’s accomplished an incredible amount in the funny game, and I was thrilled to talk to him. In this fast-moving 30-min chat, we talk about:
What he’s looking for in a nursing home.
Advice for shepherding my kids through the college search process (even though it doesn’t matter where they end up)
The rock band he plays in with Stephen King, Amy Tan, Roy Blount, Jr., Scott Turow, and many other best-selling authors
Which other writers make him laugh
What Baby Boomers could learn from Gen Z (and vice versa)
Thank you all, including Doug Berg, Erased Replaced, and many others for tuning into the live stream! See my favorite clips below.
Oh, and here’s the photo I shared at the top of the show…
Some of my favorite quotes
What Dave wants in a nursing home (00:14:49):
Paul: What are the top three amenities you are looking for in a nursing home?
Dave: Okay, number one would be there can be no other residents of this nursing home…I’m basing this on the last time I went to a class reunion, Westonville High School class of 1965. And the last thing you want to see when you’re my age is people who are your age. They’re all the walking dead and it’s very depressing to think, oh my god, that’s her. She was hot in high school.
Paul: And now she’s pulling an oxygen tank.
Dave: Yeah. So I don’t want to have any other residents in my nursing home. And there should be somebody who can make a decent vodka gimlet there. Really important to me Not the kind where they just pour a mix I mean the kind they shake it with a shaker I want to see the shaker when I go to the nursing home That’s the first thing I want to see Where’s the shaker? So no residents, and good vodka gimlet.
Advice on parenting college kids (00:24:19):
While your child is in college, move to a different house and do not tell your child where that house is. And that way, when it’s time for them to make their way into the world, they will have to.
What Boomers could learn from Gen Z (00:12:07):
Dave: What am I going to learn from Gen Z? Well, I think one thing, I will say this, and it’s often used as a criticism of them, but there’s some truth to it, I think. They’re not, like, killing themselves. You know what I mean?
Paul: From a work perspective?
Dave: Yes, From a work perspective. And I don’t mean to generalize all of them or anything like that. But I mean, when I was in my mid-20s, I think most of us were kind of intense about whatever career we were pursuing. I was at newspapers and I had friends who were like various other things. But they seem a little more chill about that. And it could be because the boomers have so screwed up the world that they realize there’s absolutely no point in trying to succeed so maybe it’s just they’re reacting to us but they do seem to have a little bit more like you know what we’re gonna enjoy ourselves.
Come see me tell jokes (or give a talk), in person:
June 4 - Atlanta Athletic Club
June 5 and 6 - Laughing Skull Lounge, Atlanta
June 12 - Wade Hampton Country Club, Cashiers, NC (Talk)
June 19 and 20 - The Comedy Catch, Chattanooga
June 25 - Happy Couples Show, West Side Comedy Club, NYC
July 21 - The Venice West, Los Angeles (on sale soon)
July 23 - Cobbs Comedy Club, San Francisco
Aug 1 - Sticks and Stones Comedy Club, Southampton, NY
Aug 8 - Atlanta Country Club
Aug 13-16 - McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, Sarasota, FL
