The truth is funny, Anderson says

Pitt students got a lesson last Friday morning on how to be funny — at least, Pitt students… Pitt students got a lesson last Friday morning on how to be funny — at least, Pitt students who were not passed out in pools of green vomit from the previous night’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

In an animated discussion with Pitt professor and Saint Elmo’s fire screenwriter Carl Kurlander, comedian Louie Anderson explained comedic technique in everything from literature to everyday conversation. Voted by Comedy Central as one of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time, Anderson began his career on a dare at a bar, where he took the mic to out-joke the less-than-mediocre acts on stage.

People would laugh at him when he tried to be serious, he said, explaining that he then “realized how much attention I could get from it.” After his success in the bar dare, he made a name for himself in Minnesota before moving to Los Angeles in 1981 and becoming a regular act at the world-famous Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip, where other frequent performers included Robin Williams and John Belushi.

Although the Sunset Strip has undergone massive sterilization and commercialization since the debauchery and rock ‘n’ roll of the ’80s, Anderson said that “everybody still stops by,” including contestants from Last Comic Standing and Chris Rock, whose notorious Jude Law joke at the Oscars was analyzed thoroughly during the lecture.

Anderson explained that when the audience goes quiet, the joke has gone too far, citing the line between what terrible life experiences can be twisted into funny punch lines and what is just offensive.

“Comedy looks at a situation or person and sees it on a third level,” Anderson explained, citing the notion that every bad situation makes good comedy. He illustrated this concept with a joke about his father, who he describes as “a very violent, cruel alcoholic.”

“My dad never hit us. He carried a gun,” Anderson said.

Anderson’s self-deprecating humor and emphasis on writing jokes stemming from truth earned him two Emmys for his TV show, “Life With Louie,” a gig hosting Family Feud, status as a public figure worthy of being mocked on Saturday Night Live and a part in the 1988 film “Coming to America.” Anderson nevertheless described himself as a less-than-stellar actor.

“I’ve never been able to take myself out of me for a role,” he said. Indeed, this is the importance of truth and egoism in writing and comedy that Anderson advocates.

“Comedy always has to be based on, dipped in, or surrounded by truth,” Anderson said during a question-and-answer segment, during which he was asked, “If you went to school, what would be your major?” and “Are you ever worried about any other comics stealing your jokes?”

When asked, “How do you get from two-sided conversation to one-sided diatribe?” Anderson responded, “All of my jokes were originally in conversation.”

Asked to describe what the rest of his day would be like, the best-selling author replied that he will go back to the hotel, eat, nap, make some phone calls, do two shows at the Improv, eat and go to sleep.

“If I wasn’t here right now, I’d be watching ‘The Price is Right,'” he said.

Anderson said that he works about two weeks a month, doing stand-up gigs when he’s on the road and TV when he’s at home in Los Angeles.

Soon, he will perform at a gala for troops at Camp Pendleton, Calif., with acts ranging from Jay Mohr to Destiny’s Child to KISS.