Finding the Laughter in the Lunacy

Harry Shearer, who could easily enjoy a career under any one of several dream labels--actor, author, comedian, commentator, columnist--succeeds instead under them all. Perhaps most widely known for his work on the seminal rock “mockumentary” “This Is Spinal Tap,” his voice work on Fox-TV’s “The Simpsons” and his days with “Saturday Night Live,” Shearer also hosts a long-running program, “Le Show,” on national public radio. His second book, “It’s the Stupidity, Stupid: Why (Some) People Hate Clinton and Why the Rest of Us Have to Watch” (Library of Contemporary Thought), is now in bookstores.

Question: You work in so many different fields--radio, television, books--which do you prefer?

Answer: They are all my children. No, sorry, that’s my answer to the question about who’s my favorite “Simpsons” character. Well, regarding different media, my strategy has always been to be a moving target, have irons in several fires and basically keep a lot of balls in the air. In other words, to keep many cliches gainfully employed.

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Q: How do you switch gears for the demands of each field?

A: It’s not a conscious process, and actually the demands for one--say, acting--serve as a break from the demands of another--like writing. It’s not “synergy.” That’s what corporations do, and it’s not “synecdoche,” whatever that is. Let’s just say that switching around lowers the potential boredom factor (PDF), the lowering of which is my basic goal in life.

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Q: If you had the opportunity to chat with any writer, who would be your dream guest?

A: Dream guests should be dead, shouldn’t they? I’d love to talk with James Thurber and Nathaniel Benchley and also with the recently deceased Stanley Elkin. Basically, I’d like to ask each of them what they think of me.

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Q: If you couldn’t do what you do now, what career would you pursue?

A: I tried a number of other careers--teaching school, working on the staff at the state Legislature, journalism--before inflicting myself on show biz, so I could go back to one or more of those, I suppose. I pumped gas at my mom’s service station when I was a kid, so I imagine I could hire on at some full-serve installation. Clearly, I haven’t given this matter a lot of thought.

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Q: What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

A: Gee, I’ve hammered this particular nail clear into the ground by now. Working at “Saturday Night Live.” Great co-workers, terrible bosses. ‘Nuff said.

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Q: What’s the most fun you’ve had at work?

A: Definitely the entire process of making “This Is Spinal Tap.” Despite the fact that most of my recent work has consisted of solo efforts, I thrive on collaboration, and “Tap” was the most completely collaborative project I’ve ever been involved with, collaborating with three other talented and strong-minded people [Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Rob Reiner]. Many disagreements, of course, but way more laughs.

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Q: Most people probably don’t know you once worked as . . .

A: Eddie Haskell in the pilot of “Leave It to Beaver.”

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Q: What do you love about your work?

A: The laughs, always the laughs. That’s why I got back into show business after my childhood fling with it, and that’s what sustains my interest in it. And, of course, like any performer, I thrive on rejection.

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Q: What drives you to keep working?

A: You only get better by continuing to do your work. There’s nothing I’ve done that I wouldn’t go back and try to fix if I had the chance, so the attraction is to finally do something I wouldn’t go back and try to fix.

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Q: Do you struggle to find things to satirize or comment on, or does it come easily?

A: If it didn’t come easily during the last year, it never will. You often hear people complain that public life is now hard to satirize, but that’s just because the complainers are trying in vain to find ways to exaggerate. I’ve never been a fan of exaggeration. To me, the job is to try to approach the lunacy of reality, and just edit out the dull parts.

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Q: What’s something most people don’t know about what you do?

A: How I do different characters talking to each other on my radio show. It’s a technique that, as far as I know, no one else uses. And you’ll find a complete guide to it at https://www.harryshearer.com, along with my home address and PIN numbers.

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Q: What did you want to be as a child?

A: A grown-up. Now, wait, I know it sounds glib, but I really was bored with the stuff of childhood, and I saw early on that grown-ups had all the cool stuff, while we kids were saddled with nothing but toys and candy (sounds good to Rosie O’Donnell, I know). I wanted to hang out with the adults, which was why getting into show business as a kid was such a treat for me.

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Whatever Works runs every Monday.