atirist Buchwald talks about art of being funny
P
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[J^DENISELAFFAN
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
[' it’s sort of funny how Art Buchwald,
is probably America’s best known
satirist, claims he is a very serious man.
; “You have to be serious to be funny,”
Buchwald said at a press conference
following his speech "at Rec Hall last
night..
t This statement would probably strike
[most of last night’s audience as strange.
[From the moment that Buchwald
[walked on stage with his arms extended
ii£the famous Nixonian victory gesture,
jhj*« kept the audience laughing as he
fieflfertaihed them with a plethora of
pQecdotes.
HSuchwald, however,' ; s very modest
jgaSjMt his ability to make people laiugh.
py’ljswear I can’t make up anything,” he
jlfeud. ‘‘What is on the front page is far
jpWßder than anything I could make up.”
p (JBut Buchwald said he finds it
pfigiturbirig “when I make something up
jfe'gji it comes true.”
‘g-Cjo illustrate his point, Buchwald
Jjirientioned a column he wrote about a
fighter plane that flew so slow it could
is#iot be shot down. “Two days later, the
j&Pentagon called and said I violated
Isecurity,” Buchwald joked.
iri'Many of Buchwald’s other stories also
with either politics or the
'T Washington scene. Buchwald poked fun
91 Carter, but qualified his
BcJkes by saying, “I have great respect
lor Jimmy Carter. I worship the very
quicksand he walks on.”
While Buchwald did make fun of both
~the president and his family, in his
plolumn Buchwald later said he would
|not pick on people “who can’t defend
jC themselves.” He added that he saw no
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SPECIAL EVENTS
Friday-Sunday, Feb. 9-11
Friday, Feb. 9
Jazz Festival ’79. Workshop with Matrix, 2 p.m., HUB Ballroom; Matrix
Concert, 8 p.m., Eisenhower Auditorium.
Hetzel Union Board Folk workshop, 3 p.m., HUB Main Lounge,
France-Cinema, Kings of the Road, 7 p.m. only, Room 112 Kern.
Model RR Club, work meeting, 7 p.m., HUB Club Room.
SjFO film, The Last Detail, 7,9 and 11 p.m., Room 102 Forum,
if Wargamers meeting, 7 p.m.-midnight Sunday, Room 101 EE East.
„ Commonsplace Coffeehouse, 8 p.m., Room 102 Kern.
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jhzz Festival ’79. Jazz dance workshop, 1 p.m., White Bldg; workshop with Bill
Lewis, 2 p.m., HUB Ballroom; Bill Lewis Concert, 8 p.m., HUBJBallroom.
'-Friends of India film, Koshish, 6:30 p.m., Room 101 Chambers.
France-Cinema, Dear Inspector, 7 and 9 p.m., Room 112 Kern.
Graphic Design students, Film Follies, 8 p.m., Walnut Bldg,
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" Alliance Christian Fellowship Worship Seryice, 10:45 a:m„ HUB Assembly
1,., ; Hall.
b'niverstiy Chapel Service, 11 a.m., Eisenhower Chapel
i; „. Lutheran Student Parish, speaker.
Sports: men’s bowling, vs. Penn State-Capitol, 1 p.m.
i ,I/iterlandia Folk Dance performance, 2 p.m., Room 132 white.
Commonsplace Theatre, Fantastic Animation Festival, 2, 7 and 9 p.m., Room
tiir| 112 Kern.
Artists Series, Mummenschanz, 8:30 p.m., Eisenhower Aud
need to apologize for what he wrote since
he only “picked on the people in power.”
As far as humor goes, Buchwald said
Nixon was his favorite president.
‘Watergate was like Camelot to me,”
Buchwald said.
Buchwald did not dwell only on
politics, however. Buchwald said he
found today’s society to be made up of
many uptight people. “And for every
uptight person, there’s an uptight
organization to back them up,” Buch
wald said.
One of the most uptight organizations,
in Buchwald’s opinion, is the National
Rifle Association. “I’m for gun control
and with me it’s a very personal issue,”
Buchwald explained. “My neighbor has
a gun and he can’t even water the lawn
straight.”
While all of Buchwald’s stories were
received with much laughter, response
to one of his more serious points con
cerning student apathy was also quite
favorable. “There was a period where
students were saying something that
needed to be said.” Buchwald added, “I
wish students would get a little more
involved because not one of the problems
has really been solved.”
Buchwald offered his own solutions to
problems plaguing society today. For
instance, instead of finding a substitute
for saccharin, Buchwald suggested the
companies look for stronger rats, and
not ones that "keep getting sick
whenever we give them too much to
eat.”
When J. Edgar Hoover was director of
the FBI, Buchwald wrote an article
claiming Hoover did not exist but had
been created by Reader’s Digest.
John Wenzke,
Everyone’s man in Washington, c olumnist Art Buchwald, entertained a Rec Hall audience with his rapid-fire but soft-spoken wit last night
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'iV-rr^ —
The Daily Collegian Friday, Feb. 9,1979 —
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