Pot Calls the Kettle?

Bob Smith’s “Artistic Intervention: Help for the Terminally Untalented” (Nov. 9) says one thing--and only one thing--really well: “There are already too many untalented people. . . .” Yo, Bob: Has it not occurred to you that your article demonstrates how well you fit into that category?

It’s astounding that some people actually get paid to write lines like, “Your first big break will be a hip injury.” Lame puns like that would fall flat even on the rubber-chicken circuit.

Take heart, all you starving artists out there. If people like Smith can get work, there’s hope for everyone.

Matthew Jansky

Burbank

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I’m sure Smith believes his glib comments are hilarious, but he probably wasn’t always really funny. It undoubtedly took him years of hit-and-miss performances. I wonder if, when his career was beginning, his personal friends were wishing that he’d give it up.

How easy it is for people, once they’ve had a semblance of success, to forget their beginnings and the drudgery they inflicted on others. Maybe Smith just wants to solidify his special place, so he tries to discourage newcomers.

I’m sure he’ll say he was just kidding and that the magazine’s readers should learn to take a joke. Check your back, Bob. Someone may be saying similar things about you.

Elizabeth Anderson

La Crescenta