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Steve Allen's Funny Stuff
| Article
# : |
20638 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1992 |
3,664 Words |
| Author
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John C. Tibbetts
John C. Tibbetts, an associate professor of theater and film
at the University of Kansas, contributes regularly to national
music publications and is editor of the recently published
Dvorak in America.
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Once upon a time, in the land of Obopshebam" lived Steve Allen. He created a 1950s television world ever so much resembling the mythical kingdom he wrote about in his hugely charming Bop Fables--a fairy-tale world of lunacy and seriousness that, despite the Lilliputian proportions of the TV screen, seemed bigger than life.
"Oobopshebam is a pretty good place to be from!" laughs the irrepressible Allen, now celebrating fifty years in broadcasting. We are in his office at Meadowlane Enterprises, his business address in Van Nuys, California. His familiar, professorial horn-rimmed glasses are still offset by the puckish expression at the corners of the mouth.
Today, Allen is what he always has been--a bewildering mixture of funnyman, musician, author, poet, philosopher, talk-show host, and concerned citizen. At last count, his many television shows (including the legendary Tonight show) have won four Emmys, two Peabody Awards, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Comedy Awards, and induction into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame in 1986. He is listed in the 1985 Guinness Book of World Records as the world's most prolific songwriter (with four thousand-plus songs, including the "Theme from Picnic," "This Could Be the Start of Something," and the Grammy Award-winning "The Gravy Waltz"). He has written thirty-eight books of poetry, fiction and commentary, several Broadway musicals (including Sophie and Belle Starr) and appeared in movies (most notably in the title role in The Benny Goodman Story). His classic television shows can still be seen on cable TV. One can readily believe Andy Williams' famous description: "Steve Allen does so many things, he's the only man I know who's listed on every one of the Yellow Pages."
Behind Steve's desk are shelves filled with bound volumes cryptically marked Funny Stuff. "Those books contain the various kind of funny thoughts that have occurred to me over the years," he explains. "I dictate things into the tape recorders I keep--in my pockets, by my bed, in the bathroom. Talking is how I live. I don't write on a word-processor or use outlines. I might spend ninety minutes a day in the car here in Los Angeles, so while I'm riding, I'll be dictating.
I wonder loud if he doesn't ever just stop everything--take a few minutes out of his day--and do nothing…?
"The way I work is not a discipline," he laughs. Inactivity seems a preposterous notion to him. "It's more random. Somebody turned on my brain many
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