Harvey Pekar Isn't A Showbiz Phony | Letterman
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- The underground comic book writer of "American Splendor" is in a mood. (From "Late Night," air date: 10/15/86)
#HarveyPekar #AmericanSplendor #Letterman
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This was "Late Night" at its best, when Dave would have people on like Harvey that you just wouldn't see elsewhere and then would bring them back. Brother Theodore, Lynda Barry, Tom Savini....it was a beautiful, eccentric, colorful showcase for the world that exists outside of the mainstream.
Yeah, I developed a crush on a young Fran Lebowitz. I still have a thing for Jewish intellectual women.
I stayed up or snuck out of my room all the time to watch this show as a kid, and Brother Theodore just blew my mind. Then I'd be trying to explain Brother Theodore to other 5th graders the next day, and... not easy to do.
Yes! Before DL became bitter and angry
Without this exposure, the biopic never gets made.
@@Lethgar_Smith Eww
I met Harvey once. I was attending his one and only opera, "Leave Me Alone." My friend produced it. So, I'm introduced, and he shook my hand like I still owed him money. He grunted. Then he quickly turned and shambled away.
That's my Harvey Pekar story.
That's cool, I met him at a Cleveland Public Library where he gave a lecture, when asked if he liked to spend time at the library when he was younger he said "Oh, Hell yeah man"
Did you pay up in the end - out of guilt?
Guess he meant the "Leave Me Alone" thing.
I met him in a record store, we talked about Sun Ra for about an hour or so. Really nice engaging guy.
"shambled away" is absolutely hilarious
He's a wise man to keep his day job and get that pension!
Totally!
Too bad he died at 70.
Definitely sounds like he needed a better agent to represent his comic book career!
Besides which he needed material for his books.
Those have become increasingly rare since the 90s, and possibly before
Harvey was great. He was much smarter than people (including Dave at the time) gave him credit for. I love how he said "What are you talking about?"
I love how he goes on the show and his attitude is "WHY YOU ASKING ME ALL THESE QUESTIONS"?!!
probably because he's asking stupid questions
I met Harvey twice, and the second time, spoke with him at length, for about an hour. He was friendly, funny, humble and just an all around nice guy. He knew why he was on Letterman-in order for Dave to make gentle sport of-as Dave did with his other fringe-oddball guests. Harvey went there to sell books. But he knew who he was dealing with, and so he would not let himself be an easy target, though he probably was more combative than he needed to be. Oh well.
I also met his wife and she was unpleasant.
This man might have been rich this days.
@@vince0896 Have you heard of people being an over night success after 25 yrs ?
I hope he did.
Wow 🤯👍👏👏🙂✌️. That's why I love YT comments. You uncover amazing things. Thx for sharing. ✌️🙏👋🙂
She that wanted overprice for her raggedy doll. Yeah, it was a hint there already.
I absolutely love this guy's attitude, doesn't let anybody get away with any passive aggressive bullshit
he comes across as abrasive rude. No idea why anyone would like that kind of attitude.
@@geofreyrHarvey was a real soul. He was prickly because he hated to play the pathetic game of pretense. He hated the establishment and kissing up to entertainment shills. Dave himself later said how much he respects Harvey. Harvey may have been intense, but he was absolutely genuine. No pretense with Harvey.
@@ZoeChan-s4j I dunno, he just seems instantly abrasive and rude for no reason. Maybe he was different in real life, on the street etc.
Then why is he choosing to be on a talk show? Waste of time.
@@geofreyrMellow out. Anyway Angelyne is the only one who would pull of having a pink sports car as their photos. Don’t take things so seriously, pilGRIM.
Dave was great at putting people on his stage that wouldn't normally get any time on camera. And he'd bring them back again and again. Good times.
When late night TV had ballz. Now it's just vacuous airheads playing childish party games with Fallon.
Harvey Pekar is Oscar the Grouch in human form.
Oh right! and your....Skeeter? bleh....
After Pekar's death, Letterman reflected in 2017 that...
"He was great.... He would just go after stuff. He ... would go after me, he would go after the network, he would go after everything, in a very committed way. It wasn’t a gag, it wasn’t an act, he would really go to work on you.... [Pekar] was anti-establishment in a way that you don’t see guys like that anymore. And that used to really upset me, because I just thought 'Come on Harvey, don’t do this to us, just play the game, blah blah blah blah.'... I’m a completely different person now. And I would be so much more better equipped to view the immediate surroundings of that show now, than I was [then].... Now, jeez, I wish I could have had Harvey on every night."[38]
Dave is a globalist sellout now, I can tell you what he is going to bring up when he makes appearances now, or what he is actually referring to. He was a better man back when he was a bit more in the dark about things, he has been "enlightened" now, or so his masters have probably convinced him.
Excellent. Thanks for sharing. Hats off to dave, there's real wisdom here.
@@noahyes indeed. btw Source of that is Wikipedia if i recall.
@@GungaLaGungaThe source is his 2017 appearance on Howard Stern.
Every talk show now is worked out beforehand and controlled. This is two real humans winging it. Letterman used to be essential.
@@patreekotime4578 There is more than that, he didn't have a general script, and he said what he wanted.
I can't imagine a numbskull like Jimmy interviewing someone like this. Guests like Harvey are long gone. Too unpredictable and on the fringe.👍
I love the lack of polish on the old Letterman shows. He really embraced the off-beat, and it allowed people like Harvey Pekar to get more exposure to audiences who otherwise might not have heard of him.
yea i'm not a fan of the polish people either
It’s frustrating that they never explained the actual work, always playing it off as some sort of joke. American Splendor was like reading Studs Terkel with a dash more humor. It profiled some really moving stories and interviews with normal people.
One of the best guests to every appear on Late Night. I remember watching this when it aired.
Sadly, Harvey Pekar passed away on Monday, July 12th, 2010 in Cleveland, Ohio at the age of 70. Pekar is immortal here and in print.
I think he would have said, Finally lol
So cool to see these classic clips. Harvey was always entertaining on Dave's show, I couldn't wait to see him. RIP Harvey (died in 2010)
It's sad that only in retrospect does Dave regret banning him. Beneath his so-called "irreverence", he really was a company man. That's why he felt so betrayed by NBC. He was a company man. Harvey, not so much.
What a pity that he passed away
The movie is original, imaginative, perfectly cast, and very funny. The world needs more crazy bastards like the great Harvey Pekar.
which movie?
@@johnmachter40 American Splendor.
I can't believe I watched this nearly 36 years ago. Everything was so very different than they are today.
I can't believe how old you are.
@@SethMcFartlane Me neither! I was even old when this aired in 1986. But don't worry -- you'll get there too eventually.
Not comparing myself to a legend like Harvey, but it's absolutely true that you can't make a living as a writer unless you're on staff at the New York Times or a major magazine. Harvey made $4 per record review. I made $10 for each review for a defunct mag called Reflex. I got $50 writing a music column in the local newspaper. Harvey made $2K on his comics (the first year that he did more than break even), I made about that publishing my own magazine. But at least Harvey had a good job as a file clerk in a Cleveland hospital. I was a columnist for a newspaper and people were recognizing me at my real job, in a fish market.
@macemaster Yup writing will soon be a dead profession. Art and illustration is also on the chopping block. It's nothing less than tragic and will change human history in ways we can't even imagine. I'll be dead before the most serious consequences.
Amen, man. Been trying for about twenty years now. I don't mean in any kind of developing way, but slogging for decades with somewhat of a competitive resume. I once had this notion that taking hack was beneath me, but that went to the wayside *really* quick. You are not pulling people's leg with these rates. It's comical that somebody like Letterman who lives in New York would berate somebody telling the truth about the industry. I get that, too. People think I work a day job (a real job) because I lack ambition or confidence, etc. People have no clue. They think if Stephen King, James Patterson, or Dan Brown can do it, anybody can.
@@carlswart7310 Yes, people always just assume writing makes you rich, and I'm quick to tell them that's only the case for King, Rowling, and the author of those hideous 50 Shades books (that literally started as Twilight fan-fic). Of course, there are a myriad of ways one can grind out a living now with various web options and such, but I'm betting AI is going to gnaw deeply into those avenues very soon.
I used to get paid something like 50 cents per column inch.
😅loser
We should all strive to be more like, Harvey. Speaking the truth no matter the circumstances.
RIP Harvey
And thanks for sharing these videos. 🤟😎🤘
It was an act....
@@DutchVanHelsing how so
@@DutchVanHelsing wrong
"We should all strive to be more like, Harvey. Speaking the truth no matter the circumstances."
Which also sounds a lot like the late George Carlin as well.
Exactly, that's the whole point.
This is classic Letterman, him interviewing a hostile guest and loving every minute of it. There aren't any guests like this anymore, everyone's too nice and accommodating!
Too bad he's a creep and not remotely funny
It's not for lack of hostile people that want to be guests, none of the current talk show hosts are willing or able to deal with a confrontational guest. Dave was willing to take the chance he could make it into something funny and knew how to shut it down if it started getting out of hand.
I think it was win-win. Pekar got some publicity; Letterman got memorable, funny interviews with him.
Harvey and Dabney would've been a nice hostile lineup. Maybe a Friday show.
@@kindabluejazz These days they're all frightened of being cancelled and losing money, they'll do anything for a buck!
Paul Giammetti was the perfect choice to play him in that movie (he even looks like z Harvey
This is the best thing I’ve seen on TH-cam in ages.
Harvey Pekar is one of the greatest human beings who ever lived. His American Splendor comic books are must reading for anyone interested in life, art, and fantastic, humanistic writing.
Absolutely true in my opinion.
Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.
You got THAT right.
@@cbus Damn straight, brother. Well said.
The fact that he seemed genuinely upset that the comedian who was supposed to go on next didn't get to perform because the show ran out of time tells me he was a stand up kinda guy.
If he quit his day job he’d lose his material…
I live in the Cleveland area and I was lucky enough to have met Harvey. I found him to be a friendly good natured man. Typical Clevelander in many ways. He's missed. Rest in peace Harv.
Native Clevelander here. Yeah…..many of us are like that.
Something in the Erie I think….😅
Native Clevelander as well and I fully agree!
I live in the burbs, but get the vibe. I can relate to Harvey.
The best talk-show guest in human history. Couldn’t decide through if he was a comedian putting it on, but apparently not. So refreshing after all the bullshit guests on all the shows.
Loved Harvey and Dave together. I met Harvey about three years before he passed. He was a nice man who had a passion for what he did.
You simply could not have this kind of honesty on network television nowadays with Fallon et al.
Too true.
OMG imagine Harvey on Fallon. 😂
It’s just propaganda nowadays. I can’t think of a single talk show host, left or right, who isn’t a political hack and shill.
@@thing12games44 he would have a brain embolism
I love the American Splendor movie. Harvey is real but he seems like a miserable guy. Love the guy, though. His perspective is different, but it doesn't mean that it's appreciated. That's the tragic part. I relate to Harvey. I'm creative and talented, but it never brought me noteriety or financial success. It's all good. I'm a happy person with a beautiful wife, family and church family. Praying for you Harvey.
I feel The same as you. I'm 50 now. Great family, kids, life. I've achieved "success" but no recognition. I'm a creative misfit. Love the fact that his wife made the dolls! My name is Harvey also. I'm 50. Never saw that coming.
I went to one of the shows when he was having an argument with Dave.
then after Dave retired he said in an interview Harvey was one of his favorite guest because he liked his honesty and what he believed in?
Definitely should be the embodiment of the American dream. What an original genuine dude trying to make something out of his everyday life.
He's not wrong about his youthful appearance. I thought he was in his 30s, not 47, lol.
This dude is one of a kind.
I know several comedians just like him in real life
Yep, along with actor Crispin Glover who carried on with bizarre behaviour on Letterman's Show in the '80s, finally being banned from the show in 1987, though that ban was lifted years later, I think. But they were likely the wackiest and most troublesome of all guests for Dave in his show's history.
Harvey was a challenging guest.
Eh, seemed like he was at the beginning but then the giant assumptions coming out of Dave's mouth kinda surprised me. The idea that he doesn't need a day job or that offers are being thrown at Harvey's feet kinda indicate that Dave's more than a bit out of touch with other careers. It's like he's talking down to the guy. Like he thinks that Harvey is playing a character rather than Harvey being a creative guy trying to get by.
Dave Letterman was once in pop art form on the cover of The Avengers Marvel comic book issue #239 which was on newsstands and comic book spinner racks in October, 1983 as well as on the cover of American Splendor issue #12 in 1987. Great to hear the "Late Night" theme at the very end of the clip.
And of course Letterman was in the epic comic the Dark Knight Returns
@@paulpolpiboon9535 thinly disguised as “Dave Endocrine”. Amazing how that comic book is still so influential.
I live in University Heights, I used to see him occasionally at the old post office that used to be on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. Then one day, I was hanging out at a record store that was on Lee Road at the time, called Tunes (was only there for about 2 years), and Harvey came in, and I talked to him for about a minute. Very quiet, very down to Earth guy.
Love this guy. American Splendor was SUCH a great movie.
Indeed! Loved the comic magazine too.
The comics are even better!
I grew up reading Image comics that my brother owned, I kinda stopped with comics in high school and in the years that followed. I was recommended the American Splendor movie and it pretty much single-handedly reinvigorated any interest I had in comics. The movie was such a cool mix of documentary/scripted movie etc. and worked really well.
It's a COMIC bro
@@SchizoMelody Twas also a movie
A legendary appearance by a legendary guest. I remember my teenaged friends and I discussing appearances like this for days, if not weeks.
Wish that I knew you and your friends. My circle wouldn't know anything about this guy.
i just loved late night talk shows had my few fav him and conan johnny carson too just loved these tipes of talk on tele at night lol
7:10 "Would you pay $34 for that?"
"No, but I'm not asking it. My wife is."
Dave inadvertently touched Harvey's leg 7:24
And he apologized profusely for that too
Harvey was mentally ill. And that's the only reason Dave had him on so often. Crazy people make for interesting viewing. It's not being "phony" to show a modicum of respect and gratitude for the people who are helping you make a living. Nobody twisted his arm and forced him to appear on Letterman.
I've got a feeling Harvey never tried decaf.
"Have you thought about a decaffeinated coffee?"
Classic 😂
Corny....ridged jab.
Saw this the night it aired. Been a fan, since. Dave again showed his genius in keeping up. Harvey was so relatable to a midwesterner's sarcastic core and strong sense of self.
Good job society 💯🖤
Sarcastic core and strong sense of self ?? You're so smart
I remember I saw the premiere of American Splendor in Edinburgh at the film festival there and Harvey Pekar was there to introduce the movie with his family and it was a really nice moment.
Pekar is not wrong, right out of the gate. Dave wants to tell him how the publishing industry works? He wants to make assumptions about the life of a writer??
Pekar has been shit on his whole life. He doesn't need Davey Doodle to question his life choices.
Please upload more Harvey Pekar
th-cam.com/video/cXnivwMjN3k/w-d-xo.html
I second that!
rare Harvey in CLE clip....plenty
th-cam.com/video/biOodnioY8c/w-d-xo.html
He was spot on about comics being taken seriously as an artistic medium, which I’m sure people scoffed at him back then for saying.
Are good comic books and graphic novels the same thing?
@@Frank_Nemo Yes. Graphic novel is the fancy name for comic book that seek a more adult, mature audience.
People assume that writers make far more money than they ever do.
They do. "Oh you write novels? Ohhhhh, you must be raking it in" ... and if you write comics? "Oh, that's what they make all those movies out of, very good - you're probably rolling in it" ... shhhhhyeah!
Most people have no idea. 30-50¢ a word is about average for a no name writer. Stop and think about that. You have to spend time organizing what you write in your mind, likely do many hours of research and note taking, then do several drafts before having a finished piece. They often make less then minimum wage.
why L ron hubbard invented a religion... he even said so
Harvey is a role model for me. A lifelong hero, even if he would have preferred not to be.
real superhero
This guy is like Bill Burr, 20 years before Bill Burr made it big.
I know Carson is still considered the best.
But Letterman’s show was such a unique style. Perhaps it’s cuz I grew up with it but he had such an interesting way he ran the show.
Pekar is hilarious in this.
Agree, but everytime someone says "hilarious", I'm beaming - due to Louis CK's bit.
This guy legitimately does not give a shit...Refreshing 🤙🏽
Never allowed himself to be the easy butt of the joke.
Audiences are weird.
Man, they are choosing some choice clips! Forgot all about Harvey. How about Crispin Glover?
A rare guest if there ever were one. He was legit human being. No fakery or fasade to hide beind: Just Harvey.
Harvey Pekar is definitely a great guest for Letterman and you can tell he knows it.
Harvey is such an authentic character. We need more people like him.
He was an idiot. literally a circus geek. Very entertaining.
I only wish Harvey Pekar and Andy Kaufman had been on together...
Pekar roasting letterman big time. Dave tried to get him back, but clearly failed. You leave this knowing Pekar punched open a new hole.
When I imagine who reads or writes comic books this is who always comes to mind.
Those dolls are absolutely worth more than 34 dollars now.
Settle down, Harvey
I love this guy. He probably wouldnhave ripped me and everyone I know nto shreds...but hey...we fkn.need it dont we?
Don't like this guy. Poor man's Woody Allen.
This interview was much better than his final one with Dave where he was just over confrontational.
They told me to come out here do anything I wanted. I dont care man. You're making more than 100 bucks.
I feel bad for the comedian, but I also feel like they made the right choice bumping him. That was up Their with the best of Rupert or Norm.
They didn't "have time for the comedian" because Harvey was so good. for $100
Looking back from a 2023 perspective, Letterman just seems so unfunny it's shocking.
This is just how people in Cleveland talk to each other lol.
I'm surprised he came all the way to NYC for this silliness.
Wonderful. Thank you for this upload. What a gem.
Thirty years later and I still remember this guy.
He was one feisty character! God bless him!
Thanks to Norm McDonald for providing Harvey's script 😳
This guy sounds like Pesci in Good Fellas
This episode aired exactly a week after Harvey’s birthday and the day I was born.
This is pure Dave it's fuckin fantastic. I'd love to hear his retrospective on it today.
He regrets how he went about things with Pekar and now thinks very highly in retrospect. He went on saying in an interview that Pekar truly was anti establishment and didn’t play the game by the numbers which he resented back in the day but admires now.
Paul Giamatti did a great job playing him in the movie
The complete opposite of the new style of late night hosts to absolutely kiss the guests a** and play kids games with the guest. Love Dave
Harvey was so great here & there is a tension here that was rare. Loved his appearance on this show. Dave is meh ok like usual.
Two great characters. Harvey just has no tolerance for the showbiz b.s. 😆😆
Insecurity manifests itself in a lot of different ways.
Early Letterman was so off the wall. Always walking that fine line between comedy and embarassment.
It's not a hairpiece that makes him look bad, it's called alcoholism
Pretty sure this is the voice that lives In Joe Pesci;s head when he is doing a character
Harvey is one of those guys whom I always wanted to meet and have a beer with. He always have busted Dave chops, but that's what made it fun..
Harvey’s what happens when you spend your youth sniffing glue
We don't have this level of comedy and interactions now days due to social media
If Chucky the Doll had been a file clerk who did graphic novels instead of an evil serial killer doll
What the world needs more than anything is blue collar guys who still read books
I'm not sure if this was Letterman in his Heyday but it's got to be pretty close. One thanks for sure, talk shows aren't anything like this anymore then again Letterman was pretty original back then.
Harvey Pekar is on the right side of history in this discussion.
I like when Harvey started to explain why he was a comic book writer; the best part of this interview.
That guy is 47?? So he's younger than me??