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A B C A always B C closing. Always be

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closing.

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I don't understand what anything means.

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You want to learn the first rule you'd

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know if you ever spent a day in your

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life.

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What do you want me to do?

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Teach me. I want you to teach me.

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What do you mean? Can I talk to him

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about this?

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Yeah.

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Are you just talking about this or were

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we just talking about it?

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Yeah, we're just speaking about it.

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Speaking about an idea.

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What I hope I'm doing, and here's where

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your English papers got a point, is I'm

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responding to the will of the people.

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You laughing now.

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No, there are people out there. People

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who came here to know something they

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didn't know. Who came here to be helped.

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I've been in this business 15 years.

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What's your name?

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[ __ ] you. That's my name. I think you're

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angry.

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Oh, have I got your attention now?

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Good.

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They say when the student is prepared

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that the teacher appears. So, the same

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is true of most of the lessons you're

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going to learn uh in any I don't know if

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any art, but certainly in any craft.

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When you're ready to learn it, you will.

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if you want to and if you need to and if

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and and and if you don't want to and you

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don't need to, you ain't ready yet or

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maybe maybe you don't want to. I always

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say, you know, the arts is my experience

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is like running away to the circus. You

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know, if you got something to fall back

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on, the circus don't need you. The

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circus don't want you. You got to run

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away say, "Okay,

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I'll leave, but you're going to have to

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kill me."

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And what that's one of the great things

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I found in our in this wonderful bis

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show business and also in the movies is

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is the kid who shows up and says what

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can I do and you say nothing get out of

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here right the kid keeps coming back a

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week later you say for Christ sake

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you're going to get me a cup of coffee

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and get out of here right by the end of

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the third week you're saying where's

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that kid right and at the end of the

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movie you're saying kid what do you want

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to do next it's it's magnificent but I

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always thought that being a writer is a

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lot like being a beaver

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that beavers

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their teeth itch, right? And so that's

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why they cut down trees,

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right?

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Because that's the only thing that stops

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their their teeth from driving them

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crazy. And so I think that I'm kind of

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like, it's not the teeth, it's my

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consciousness. But it's the same thing.

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How can I get it to shut up for a while?

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Give it a different give it a problem

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that it likes, right? And so once in a

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while the problem that likes is

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unpleasant.

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But what else am I going to do? Well,

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I'm not going to play golf.

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I think I'm going to talk about kind of

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a unified field theory of aesthetics.

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And if anyone's still listening after

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that, um, you're probably even more

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caffeinated than I am. Um, so I've

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always been fascinated by the idea that

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there's exists a unified field theory of

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where we can regularize the way we

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perceive with the way that we write and

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write because we understand the way the

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human beings perceive

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and to apply and this theory I try to

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apply to

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the uh the performing arts. How do human

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beings perceive A plus B therefore C? we

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perceive in terms of cause and and

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effect. That's our survival mechanism.

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Therefore, any performing art has to

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take into account the way we perceive

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cause and effect. The best way that this

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describe the how this operates in drama

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is a plot. A plot is an exercise in

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cause and effect. So, that's what I'm

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going to be talking about. That's the

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way a plot works. That's the way a scene

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works. That's the way a movie script

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works. That's the way I talk to actors

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in terms of what does the character

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want? Why does he want it? What happens

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if he doesn't get it? Why now? Those are

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the questions I ask of everything.

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Over the years, I taught in a lot of

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different venues. I founded a couple of

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acting schools with my friend William H.

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Macy. One of them is is still operating

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in New York. It's part of the Atlantic

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Theater Company. I taught at all these

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hot shot universities uh as an

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instructor, guest lecture, blah blah

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blah. I taught private classes. And

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there was one group that was the only

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group I met that was significantly more

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intelligent in the universities was the

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kids at MIT because they were they

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knew how to be analytical

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and they were it was kind of like a po

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what they used to call like po uh poetry

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for physicists. So I was talking to them

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about my theories and they were used to

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being analytical saying okay let me test

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that out. Let me see if it jives with my

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experience. Let me see if I can practice

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it. If so, it's probably true. So, the

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guys at MIT, the guys and the girls at

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MIT didn't have any didn't have any

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preconceptions about drama. They were

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simply physicists. So, it was easy for

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them to say, "I get it. This guy's

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propounding a theory. Let me see if it

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makes sense." And so, I hope that's what

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you guys and girls would do, too. Say,

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"Okay, he's propounding various

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theories. Let me see if I follow them.

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Let me see if they jive with my

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experience. And if I practice them, let

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me see if they work. They say if you

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want to really learn something, teach

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it. So I I love teaching. I'm a

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Sagittarius. All Sagittariuses are

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teachers. I was born on November 30th,

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same day as Winston Churchill and Mark

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Twain, who are two of my idols. And one

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day before Woody Ellen, who's who's the

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third, and that's why I'm glad to be

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here.

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teaching a class this way was really

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interesting for me. I don't know if you

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walk away with anything other than

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thinking, oh, you know, he's moderately

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charming. You know, that might inspire

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me uh to look at his works or it might

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inspire me, you know, if that buffoon is

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going to waste my time for 6 hours. Let

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me see if I can do better. So I I would

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hope that you guys would would be

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encouraged to say if this class clown

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can do so well, you know, and get

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through life on just a shoe shine and

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smile for 50 years, hell, I'll try it,

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too.

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I'm David Mamemoth and this is my master

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class.

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The purpose of drama, that's a really

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really good question. That's a really

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good question. Uh there's an old Je I'm

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Jewish. My people have only been Jewish

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about 5,000 6,000 years. So we're kind

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of getting used to it. So there's an old

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there's an old joke about there's a

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international flight and this terrorist

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breaks in with the submachine gun. He

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says, "Okay, who's a Jew?" And a little

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old little guy at the back says, "That's

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a really interesting question." So

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that's kind of how I feel about about

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drama. I think the purpose of drama uh

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is to define the clan.

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And the reason I think this is I've been

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watching a lot of football games lately.

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And also my Chicago Cubs finally won

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after 108 years in the best ball game

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anyone's ever seen. And I realized that

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what the sports rooting does is it

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defines the clan. Not just Green Bay

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versus Atlanta, but football fans. You

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know, the the fan the fans get together

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and they get to scream at the referee.

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you know, you you evil swine, you are

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you blind, blah, blah, blah. But the the

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United

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rules because if there weren't any

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rules, the guy would just come out with

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brass knuckles and bang and get the ball

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over the So, the United which unites the

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clan is the rules. Drama has rules.

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We're given a premise. The hero wants

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something to find the cause of the

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plague on thieves or to free the Jews or

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to uh establish civil rights or to fly

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the Atlantic. We get it. We're going to

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follow his or her um journey until the

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end. And the end is going to be

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surprising and inevitable. Just like in

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a great football game, it's surpris you

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00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,399
know the the perfect game is the last

213
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game in a World Series. It comes down to

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00:08:41,839 --> 00:08:44,640
the final three seconds, right? and then

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00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:46,320
they have to they have to call it off

216
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because the the the uh because the

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00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:50,640
field's no good or Green Bay's playing

218
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and the guy kicks the final field goal,

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00:08:52,399 --> 00:08:54,160
they have to call it back because it was

220
00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:58,240
a timeout. That's the perfect that that

221
00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,519
our consciousness is freed, right? We're

222
00:09:01,519 --> 00:09:02,959
relieved of the burden of our

223
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consciousness. So, one way we've always

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00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:06,880
done this is through getting into

225
00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:09,360
trouble. That's what human beings do.

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00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,480
with sex and drugs, booze,

227
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sports, and drama. So, here's what

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happens. At the end of the day, what do

229
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we we human beings do? We gather around

230
00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:21,760
the campfire, right? That's what human

231
00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:24,160
beings always do. The other day, today,

232
00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,760
the campfire is called a computer or a

233
00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,040
television, whatever. We may not sit in

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00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:32,640
the same place, but watching the young

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people today, while they're watching,

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they're all talking to each other around

237
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the campfire. Did you see that? Drama

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00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:40,800
goes back to the beginning of

239
00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,440
civilization around the campfire where

240
00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,200
the tribe comes together and they say,

241
00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,920
"My god, did you see what blah blah did

242
00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,000
with that mountain lion today?" And the

243
00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:51,360
other guy says, "I'll tell you one

244
00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,279
better than that.

245
00:09:53,279 --> 00:09:55,519
When when I was young," and they we tell

246
00:09:55,519 --> 00:09:58,800
stories that unite the tribe. We

247
00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,880
reinforce our our our tribal um unity.

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00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,040
We say, "This is how we do things here."

249
00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,120
And we we establish this by telling

250
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,200
jokes. We establish it by telling

251
00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:10,640
stories. We establish it through

252
00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,040
religion, religious observance. And it's

253
00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:14,959
all the same thing. It's saying we're

254
00:10:14,959 --> 00:10:16,560
going to put aside the burden of our

255
00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:18,160
consciousness

256
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,480
for a while and sit around the campfire

257
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,120
and tell stories and then we can go to

258
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bed.

259
00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,720
Everything in our life is drama, right?

260
00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,640
A neurosis is to is a false uh

261
00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,079
relationship of cause and effect. Right?

262
00:10:42,079 --> 00:10:44,160
I'm standing at the uh I'm standing at

263
00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:45,680
the corner and I look over and this is

264
00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:47,600
attractive young person over there and

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00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:49,279
she looks away and decides to cross the

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street the other way. Obviously, she was

267
00:10:52,079 --> 00:10:54,560
offended by me, right? That's how we we

268
00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:57,200
we we structure everything into cause

269
00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,040
and effect. Well, see, it may not they

270
00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,600
may not be related at all, but we

271
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:03,519
structure everything into in our lives

272
00:11:03,519 --> 00:11:06,720
into cause and effect. And it takes a

273
00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,040
great deal of thought to be able to

274
00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:11,920
unravel the un the unhealthy

275
00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,399
relationships, right? And to understand

276
00:11:14,399 --> 00:11:18,079
what the truth is, right? So that so

277
00:11:18,079 --> 00:11:21,279
drama at the end of the day is just a

278
00:11:21,279 --> 00:11:23,839
way of discharging any leftover uh

279
00:11:23,839 --> 00:11:27,519
energy that same leftover energy of

280
00:11:27,519 --> 00:11:29,360
trying to establish cause and effect.

281
00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,839
And the we reason it establishes it is

282
00:11:31,839 --> 00:11:33,920
at the end of the drama we realize we're

283
00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:35,680
wrong.

284
00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:37,920
Right. Because we say, "Yeah, the bear

285
00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:39,600
this. Yeah, the bear that. Yeah, the

286
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,600
bear that. Tell me grandpa. Tell me

287
00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:43,200
grandpa." And then at the end of the

288
00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,240
day, yes, I realized it wasn't a bear at

289
00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,880
all. Right. That's how when and when we

290
00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:51,200
tell stories to each other all day long,

291
00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:53,839
we're dramatizing it. We're always

292
00:11:53,839 --> 00:11:55,760
altering it for an effect. You say, "I

293
00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,600
waited for that dang bus 42 minutes."

294
00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,440
Well, it felt like 42 minutes, right? It

295
00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:05,600
might have been 2 minutes, right? You

296
00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,079
know how many times I I I I crapped out

297
00:12:08,079 --> 00:12:11,040
of Las Vegas? 16 time. We we

298
00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,040
unconsciously

299
00:12:14,399 --> 00:12:16,000
alter

300
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,880
what may or may not be real events to

301
00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:21,120
increase their their dramatic potential.

302
00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:23,680
And we tell stories that have a

303
00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:25,519
punchline that's surprising. That's all

304
00:12:25,519 --> 00:12:28,320
drama is. And then aunt Shirley turns

305
00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:30,880
out, guess what? She left everything to

306
00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,480
her dog. Wa.

307
00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:35,920
It's the same thing as saying and then

308
00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,720
Edipus found out he was the cause of the

309
00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,519
plague on thieves. Wa, you know,

310
00:12:41,519 --> 00:12:43,040
everybody slaps their knees. I don't

311
00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:44,800
know about that. Here's one thing that

312
00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:46,320
we all dramatize. It's called the

313
00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,120
weather, right? The weather happens

314
00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,000
every day. It's the weather. But yet, we

315
00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,560
all dramatize. Did you see what that

316
00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:56,880
rain was like today? And on the morning

317
00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,279
when I got to be in this studio at 9:30,

318
00:12:59,279 --> 00:13:02,240
why of this? It's just the weather,

319
00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,360
right? There's no connection between the

320
00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,920
weather and my need to be at the studio.

321
00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,720
But we dramatize everything. Of course

322
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,959
we do.

323
00:13:18,079 --> 00:13:20,959
What is not the purpose of drama is to

324
00:13:20,959 --> 00:13:24,240
make people better, to give them ideas,

325
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:28,000
right? To teach, to reform,

326
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,600
uh to espouse good causes. This is not

327
00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,240
the purpose of drama, right? You any

328
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,480
more than it's the purpose of a joke,

329
00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,040
right? You know, for example, my

330
00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,200
favorite one my favorite joke two two my

331
00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,279
favorite jokes. What did Washington say

332
00:13:43,279 --> 00:13:46,079
to his men before crossing Delaware? Get

333
00:13:46,079 --> 00:13:48,000
in a boat.

334
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,959
Right. What did Kuster say when he saw

335
00:13:50,959 --> 00:13:53,279
the Indians coming? Here come the

336
00:13:53,279 --> 00:13:56,320
Indians. Right? That's a great Those are

337
00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,240
great jokes, right? They're surprising

338
00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,079
and yet inevitable. You go, "Yeah, okay.

339
00:14:00,079 --> 00:14:01,600
I I get it." You don't want to say,

340
00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:04,480
"What did Washington say before crossing

341
00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:06,880
to Delaware? get in the boat because if

342
00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,199
you don't we will not be able to cross

343
00:14:09,199 --> 00:14:11,920
the Delaware. Okay. So that's taking a

344
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,320
joke and turning it into an object

345
00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:18,320
lesson or a cautionary tale. So it's not

346
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,079
the purpose of drama to be cautionary

347
00:14:20,079 --> 00:14:22,160
tales. Anybody's got kids, you know,

348
00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,959
kids love stories, right? And the

349
00:14:24,959 --> 00:14:27,600
weirder the better. And when you can uh

350
00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,600
as as I think a lot of people do,

351
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,199
suspend

352
00:14:31,199 --> 00:14:33,199
your own rational process and just start

353
00:14:33,199 --> 00:14:35,360
making up a story out of thin air, the

354
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,160
kid loves it because that's his or her

355
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,120
special time to be like two little

356
00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,120
furbies communicating with their

357
00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,199
parents, right? Talking about the nature

358
00:14:45,199 --> 00:14:47,519
of the world. You're sharing something

359
00:14:47,519 --> 00:14:50,480
that's not rational. The bad use of that

360
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,399
time is to say, you know, I want to tell

361
00:14:52,399 --> 00:14:54,000
you a story about a little rabbit who

362
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,160
didn't do his homework.

363
00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,560
Right? So that's not the that's not the

364
00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:00,639
purpose of a bedtime story. And drama is

365
00:15:00,639 --> 00:15:02,240
just a form of bedtime story. That's all

366
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,480
it is.

367
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,839
There were some people

368
00:15:11,839 --> 00:15:15,120
who were doing a show on Broadway and at

369
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:16,320
the end of the show there was somebody

370
00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:17,920
in the audience who was a politician who

371
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:19,600
the people in the in the cast didn't

372
00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,160
like and they stopped the show the

373
00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,399
curtain call and started addressing that

374
00:15:24,399 --> 00:15:27,360
person. This is a irrespective of the

375
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:28,959
worth of the show they were putting on.

376
00:15:28,959 --> 00:15:31,360
This is a profound misunderstanding of

377
00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,000
the responsibility of the artist because

378
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,399
the people who come to the theater don't

379
00:15:36,399 --> 00:15:38,639
come to be taught. They come to be

380
00:15:38,639 --> 00:15:40,800
entertained. Period. If you're not

381
00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:42,560
entertaining them, you're not doing your

382
00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,880
job. Because the those people on

383
00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,160
Broadway nor I nor knows better than the

384
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,639
audience whom they should vote for.

385
00:15:50,639 --> 00:15:52,800
Right? When you pay that money, you're

386
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,079
there to be entertained. So

387
00:15:56,079 --> 00:15:59,040
that's that's the purpose of drama. It

388
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,000
is to entertain. That's enough. I mean,

389
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:03,440
Lord have mercy. I mean, if you can

390
00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,440
entertain somebody and take away from

391
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,600
them the burden of their consciousness

392
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,720
for half hour comedy or two-hour movie

393
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,720
or hour and a half play, you've done a

394
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:15,839
fantastic amount. I mean, they say, uh,

395
00:16:15,839 --> 00:16:18,560
who rises refreshed from his prayers,

396
00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,360
his prayers have been answered.

397
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,360
So, it's not our purpose to teach

398
00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:24,399
because I don't know anything better

399
00:16:24,399 --> 00:16:25,920
than anyone else who they should vote

400
00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,320
for. It's like, think about this. You go

401
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:29,839
to the dentist. Okay? So, what the

402
00:16:29,839 --> 00:16:31,120
dentist is going to do is they're going

403
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,079
to give you some sort of a numbing

404
00:16:34,079 --> 00:16:36,320
uh novacane or g whatever the hell

405
00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:37,920
they're going to give you. Right? So,

406
00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,079
now you've given yourself up to that

407
00:16:40,079 --> 00:16:42,320
dentist. You say, "I trust you that

408
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:44,560
you're not going to rape me, rob me, or

409
00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:46,800
beat me or kill me while I have less

410
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:49,199
than my complete faculties." So for the

411
00:16:49,199 --> 00:16:50,720
dentist to say, "Yes, you know, while

412
00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,880
you have I have you here, although you

413
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:54,959
only came for dentistry, I'd like to

414
00:16:54,959 --> 00:16:56,880
tell you about an investment opportunity

415
00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,120
I have or I'd like to lect you about

416
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,199
politics. I'd like to give you my views

417
00:17:01,199 --> 00:17:03,040
on feminism." That's not what you you

418
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,039
wouldn't have got into that chair unless

419
00:17:05,039 --> 00:17:06,799
you trusted that the dentist was only

420
00:17:06,799 --> 00:17:08,400
going to do what he or she said they

421
00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:10,079
were going to do. It's so nice being

422
00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:11,679
back on a movie set. I spent many

423
00:17:11,679 --> 00:17:13,360
decades on a movie set on the other side

424
00:17:13,360 --> 00:17:15,439
of the camera. And one of the things I

425
00:17:15,439 --> 00:17:18,319
remembered which is uh

426
00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:20,400
this as we know it's a very very tight

427
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,559
cultural community and the nobody tells

428
00:17:22,559 --> 00:17:23,919
you the laws but you got to figure them

429
00:17:23,919 --> 00:17:27,039
out right. You got to show up, shut up,

430
00:17:27,039 --> 00:17:28,559
do your job. And one of the wonderful

431
00:17:28,559 --> 00:17:31,120
things is never ever ever do somebody

432
00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:33,760
else's job. Doesn't matter if you it

433
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:34,880
doesn't matter if they're driving off

434
00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:36,720
the cliff. Doesn't matter. Doesn't make

435
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,400
any difference. You do your job. That's

436
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,400
enough for you. So that's what I think

437
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,840
about uh drama. My job is to entertain.

438
00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,080
Somebody else's job can can be to put on

439
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:52,320
a political uh uh a political show and

440
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:56,000
it should be advertised as such,

441
00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,240
right? Or else you're tricking people.

442
00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,559
For example, if you listen to AM radio,

443
00:18:04,559 --> 00:18:06,240
the they're selling a lot. I like AM

444
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,160
radio because they're selling snake oil.

445
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:09,760
Everything they sell on AM radio is a

446
00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:11,840
bunch of snake oil. consolidate your

447
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:14,400
debt. We'll get you out of your condo.

448
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,320
We'll take 10 inches off your waist. Uh

449
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,120
uh we'll uh teach you how to flip

450
00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:23,280
houses. There'll It's snake oil, right?

451
00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,520
So, hell, I bought a lot of snake oil my

452
00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:27,679
time, right? So, one of the things that

453
00:18:27,679 --> 00:18:30,080
they do is they'll say blah blah blah

454
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,720
with five snake oil um commercials. Now,

455
00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:37,440
we'll go back to uh uh whatever the

456
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,520
Douggee Burn and the Douggee Burn Show.

457
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:41,120
Hi, this is Douggee Burn and I know that

458
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,120
a lot of people are concerned about the

459
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:46,320
economy. Well, what I do is I invest in

460
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,240
gold. So, you're saying, "Wait a second.

461
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,360
Wait a second. I signed on to listen to

462
00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,039
the 10 minutes of commercials about

463
00:18:53,039 --> 00:18:55,919
snake oil. I switched gears. I'm going

464
00:18:55,919 --> 00:18:57,760
to go back. I'm going to suspend my

465
00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:59,600
disbelief. I'm listening to you to be

466
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:01,360
entertained. And you're going to you're

467
00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:04,320
going to misuse that license which I

468
00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:08,160
gave you to sell me gold?" Uh-uh. No.

469
00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:10,240
You know, you just you you just lost my

470
00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,520
respect. You took advantage of me.

471
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,799
Drama is also just a form of myth. Myth

472
00:19:24,799 --> 00:19:28,880
is a poetic statement of an unverifiable

473
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:30,400
reality.

474
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,200
Right? Myth is not false. It's just

475
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:34,880
unverifiable.

476
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:36,799
Right?

477
00:19:36,799 --> 00:19:38,880
For example, Jesus Christ died for our

478
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:40,559
sins. It's not false. If you're a

479
00:19:40,559 --> 00:19:42,160
Christian, that's the essence of your

480
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,080
life. You just can't point to it on a

481
00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,160
sheet of paper and say, "See here." But

482
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,480
it's nonetheless true for that. So myth

483
00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:52,799
again is a statement of truth which is

484
00:19:52,799 --> 00:19:54,640
not verifiable.

485
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,640
And so is drama. Drama involves us in

486
00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,919
the quest of a human being to achieve

487
00:20:01,919 --> 00:20:04,000
something.

488
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,000
uh whether it's um um Willie Lman or

489
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:09,840
whether it's Dr. king or whether it's

490
00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:12,640
Jesus or whether it's Moses

491
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,799
they all become myths and the fact that

492
00:20:14,799 --> 00:20:15,919
some of them actually happen to have

493
00:20:15,919 --> 00:20:17,840
lived nonetheless they become a myth we

494
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,480
see yes I understand how at every step

495
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,640
this human being was trying to achieve

496
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,240
something and they underwent um traumas

497
00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,480
I could not even begin to imagine and

498
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:30,720
they doubt and they doubted themselves

499
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,200
and they all wanted to quit every human

500
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,919
every hero every heroine wants to quit

501
00:20:35,919 --> 00:20:37,520
every hero and heroine wants to give it

502
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,159
up and say had enough. I'm not equal to

503
00:20:40,159 --> 00:20:43,120
the task. Right? But nonetheless, they

504
00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:45,520
found strength somewhere and they

505
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:49,679
achieved a result which elevated them to

506
00:20:49,679 --> 00:20:54,600
to the status of a god or killed them.

507
00:20:58,159 --> 00:20:59,840
I've been writing drama for about 50

508
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,960
years. The more the more you look at it,

509
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:04,559
the more complex you understand the

510
00:21:04,559 --> 00:21:06,640
human being is, including ourselves. one

511
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,679
of the so one way that we try to we have

512
00:21:09,679 --> 00:21:11,360
to organize the world that's the

513
00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:12,640
difference between human beings and

514
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,120
animals is we have the capacity to use

515
00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:20,480
reason to organize the world we say if A

516
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,039
and A happened and B happened perhaps

517
00:21:23,039 --> 00:21:24,640
there's a relationship between them

518
00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,520
which would enable me to reason oh yes C

519
00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,919
I shouldn't sit on a hot stove again or

520
00:21:31,919 --> 00:21:35,120
I think it's obviously say in 1902 it's

521
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:37,280
obviously impossible for human beings to

522
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,440
fly because they're heavier than air.

523
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,760
Human beings will never fly. But wait a

524
00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:43,600
second, birds can fly and birds are

525
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,320
heavier than air. Therefore, my reason

526
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,200
tells me I can figure out as a human

527
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,480
being how to get people to fly, right?

528
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,000
So, this is what separates us from the

529
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,159
animals, right? We have the capacity to

530
00:21:56,159 --> 00:21:58,480
reason. We aren't just working on

531
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,200
instinct. But reason's insufficient

532
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,000
because reason always has the capacity

533
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,919
to lead us down the wrong path. We

534
00:22:05,919 --> 00:22:08,240
become arrogant. We say I I'm

535
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,480
reasonable, right? I'm I married the

536
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,240
wrong man. I married the wrong woman.

537
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,559
Oh, because I'm reasonable. It's their

538
00:22:14,559 --> 00:22:17,280
fault. I voted for a politician. The

539
00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:18,799
politician didn't keep his or her

540
00:22:18,799 --> 00:22:21,840
promises. Oh, yeah. Well, no politician

541
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,200
keeps his or her promises. Why? They're

542
00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,679
politicians. So, we reason ourselves. It

543
00:22:25,679 --> 00:22:28,320
makes sense to go fight World War I.

544
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,200
We'll draw a line from uh Belgium

545
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,200
straight down south and we'll line up

546
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,200
the two most advanced civilizations in

547
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,200
the world across from each other and

548
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,159
from 1914 to 1918 they'll kill each

549
00:22:40,159 --> 00:22:43,679
other. That seems reasonable.

550
00:22:43,679 --> 00:22:46,240
A reason is flawed. So the purpose of

551
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,679
drama is not to investigate reason. It's

552
00:22:49,679 --> 00:22:52,880
to free us from reason. And all drama is

553
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,000
basically the same as a joke.

554
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,799
The joke frees us from reason because we

555
00:22:58,799 --> 00:23:00,400
take a reasonable proposition we're

556
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,720
trying to find the end to and the joke

557
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:04,320
tells us no, you're looking in the wrong

558
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,320
place. Why does a chicken cross the

559
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,320
road? I don't know. To get to the other

560
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,559
side. Ah, so all drama is basically why

561
00:23:12,559 --> 00:23:14,880
does the chicken cross the road? It's

562
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,360
leading us, as Aristotle tells us, to a

563
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,720
conclusion which is both surprising

564
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,760
and inevitable. we realize, oh my god, I

565
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,080
my my my mind doesn't work. I mean,

566
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:27,840
which of us didn't say, oh my god, I

567
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,039
can't believe I did, said, bought, sold

568
00:23:31,039 --> 00:23:34,000
that. Am I insane? And the answer is

569
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:35,919
yes. Right? That that's part of the

570
00:23:35,919 --> 00:23:37,679
nature of human consciousness is we

571
00:23:37,679 --> 00:23:40,320
believe what we think and we believe

572
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,720
what we're told. And one way to get the

573
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,280
group together is through prejudice. We

574
00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,760
can you can almost always coalesce a

575
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,200
group through prejudice saying you know

576
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,320
what let's hate those bad people over

577
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,360
there. The problem is not human nature.

578
00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:57,440
The problem is not my consciousness.

579
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,400
It's those bad black, white, Christian,

580
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,440
Jewish, German, blah blah. Those people

581
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,360
left, right. It's those bad people over

582
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:08,640
there. That's why I feel so upset.

583
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,640
So our that's one way we can deal with

584
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:12,799
our consciousness, but it's a it's a

585
00:24:12,799 --> 00:24:16,000
sorted way. There's a better way which

586
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,760
is through drama which is basically a

587
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:23,400
stepchild of religion.

588
00:24:27,679 --> 00:24:30,559
We're basically nuts. Human beings are

589
00:24:30,559 --> 00:24:32,640
we're we're basically insane. I mean

590
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:34,640
it's it's a and I'm talking about, you

591
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:35,760
know, not not you of course but

592
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:37,279
certainly me and everybody else I ever

593
00:24:37,279 --> 00:24:39,840
met, right? We kind of stumble around

594
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,120
blindly with these ideas and we that we

595
00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:45,600
think we believe in and we say, "Oh, I

596
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:46,799
don't believe in God." And then we go

597
00:24:46,799 --> 00:24:48,720
and create our own religions or we say,

598
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,799
"I don't believe in love." And then we

599
00:24:50,799 --> 00:24:53,360
go out and treat people unlovingly. And

600
00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:57,760
we very seldom um put our beliefs and

601
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,360
our actions into the same box.

602
00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:03,679
That that's just human nature because

603
00:25:03,679 --> 00:25:06,400
you you because we're nuts. And I I I

604
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:07,919
wouldn't say that we're sinful. I would

605
00:25:07,919 --> 00:25:09,360
just say that we're missing a

606
00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:12,480
connection. This is an ancient idea,

607
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,960
right? It goes back uh in fact, you

608
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,880
know, Freud denied it, but he was a

609
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,600
fairly serious Jew. And the Jewish idea

610
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,520
is called the yetzahara, which means the

611
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,679
evil impulse. There's another he called

612
00:25:23,679 --> 00:25:28,720
it um um aeros andos, right? The life

613
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,559
impulse and the death impulse. But

614
00:25:30,559 --> 00:25:32,720
there's a thing called the yetzah which

615
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,200
in Jewish tradition is that evil side of

616
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,799
our it's our consciousness. It wants to

617
00:25:38,799 --> 00:25:41,520
kill us. It wants to lead us astray.

618
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,760
Wants to call lies truth and truth lies.

619
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:44,960
It says you know you can go out and

620
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,440
cheat on your wife. You of course we

621
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,200
know it's against the law. But in this

622
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,840
case who would blame you know or you can

623
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,240
cheat on your taxes or blah blah blah or

624
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,000
you know it's not a good idea to call

625
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,480
your that son of a gun your neighbor an

626
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,960
xyz. you know that's not a good idea but

627
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,200
the way he looked at you today right so

628
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,360
all day long there's this other side of

629
00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:07,840
our nature called the yetzahara the dark

630
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,679
side or the sitra a right that's we got

631
00:26:11,679 --> 00:26:13,279
to we got to figure out how to deal with

632
00:26:13,279 --> 00:26:16,559
it and one way we can deal with it is

633
00:26:16,559 --> 00:26:18,559
religion and another way we can deal

634
00:26:18,559 --> 00:26:22,080
with it is is drama right the problem is

635
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,799
using the mind to cure the mind and it's

636
00:26:26,799 --> 00:26:29,120
really really difficult and The term

637
00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:31,039
that Freud used was psychoanalysis,

638
00:26:31,039 --> 00:26:35,520
which doesn't which is um uh psycho is

639
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,159
is the soul, right? He's really talking

640
00:26:38,159 --> 00:26:40,080
about the soul. He's trying to find out

641
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,799
what is the soul, right? So, you're not

642
00:26:42,799 --> 00:26:45,120
going to find the soul through reason

643
00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:46,960
because you can't point to it. So,

644
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:48,480
people say, "Oh, the soul doesn't exist.

645
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,960
I can't point to it." Right? Well, you

646
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:52,880
can't point to patriotism. You can't

647
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:54,960
point to love. You can't point to

648
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,279
justice. These are ideals, right? You

649
00:26:57,279 --> 00:26:59,279
can point to some examples but you can't

650
00:26:59,279 --> 00:27:02,799
point to the thing. So we know that the

651
00:27:02,799 --> 00:27:05,520
soul exists, right? So the question is

652
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,000
ho how how do we ex how do we examine

653
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,000
our soul? How do we get closer to God?

654
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:11,919
How do we get closer to the truth? And

655
00:27:11,919 --> 00:27:15,520
one way is is through drama is by being

656
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:16,880
relieved of the burden of our

657
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:18,880
consciousness. Why did the chicken cross

658
00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:23,640
the road to get to the other side?

659
00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:33,679
Your job is to tell a story. The story

660
00:27:33,679 --> 00:27:36,480
has a hero and he or she wants one

661
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,159
thing. And the story begins

662
00:27:40,159 --> 00:27:42,960
when something precipitates the event.

663
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,480
Aunt Martha dies and the first nephew or

664
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,640
niece who can get to her house gets a

665
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,960
million dollars. The story didn't exist

666
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,159
before that. Now it does exist. Okay.

667
00:27:54,159 --> 00:27:57,279
The story ends when the we either find

668
00:27:57,279 --> 00:27:59,440
out that Aunt Martha left you the money,

669
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,679
right? Or find out why she didn't.

670
00:28:01,679 --> 00:28:04,159
Everything has got everything in the

671
00:28:04,159 --> 00:28:06,000
story has got to be a progression from

672
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,480
the telegram and I have to get to Aunt

673
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,799
Martha's will to the reading of the

674
00:28:10,799 --> 00:28:12,480
will. Anything which is not on that

675
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,919
line, throw it away.

676
00:28:15,919 --> 00:28:17,760
And what happens when you get yourself

677
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:19,520
into a situation you can't think your

678
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,720
way out of? That's great. Cuz if you

679
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:24,080
can't think your way out of it, the

680
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:26,000
audience can't either. So that's the

681
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,679
point. You got to say, "Hold on. It's

682
00:28:27,679 --> 00:28:29,679
not time for me to sit down and drive

683
00:28:29,679 --> 00:28:31,440
myself crazy trying to figure out how to

684
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,840
get out of Buffalo."

685
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,000
Aristotle wrote a little pamphlet on

686
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:41,840
playwriting called poetics. And he said,

687
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:43,039
"It comes down to some very simple

688
00:28:43,039 --> 00:28:44,640
rules." He says, "It's the hero journey

689
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,880
from A to B. The hero has to be

690
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,120
transformed from a beggar to a king,

691
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:50,960
from a king to a beggar. It has to

692
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,039
happen in the least possible number of

693
00:28:53,039 --> 00:28:55,440
steps. It has to happen in one place

694
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,159
over 48 hours. And at the end, we have

695
00:28:58,159 --> 00:29:01,039
to undergo recognition.

696
00:29:01,039 --> 00:29:03,919
We have to undergo a shock and awe. We

697
00:29:03,919 --> 00:29:06,960
have to undergo fear and pity. Fear and

698
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,200
pity. Pity because we see the poor

699
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,399
schmo. My god, he's just like me. and

700
00:29:12,399 --> 00:29:14,480
fear or awe because my say oh my I

701
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,640
didn't see that coming how is it

702
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,120
possible that I just like the hero who

703
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,399
represents me on stage didn't see that

704
00:29:22,399 --> 00:29:25,760
coming we have to undergo and so that's

705
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,159
what we have to undergo what the hero

706
00:29:28,159 --> 00:29:30,000
has to undergo is two things called

707
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:31,919
recognition and reversal of the

708
00:29:31,919 --> 00:29:35,120
situation in one moment bam Aristotle

709
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:36,559
become he realized he'd been sleeping

710
00:29:36,559 --> 00:29:38,080
with his mom he killed his dad he puts

711
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:39,919
his eyes out he goes from being the most

712
00:29:39,919 --> 00:29:41,200
powerful man in the world to being a

713
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:42,240
blind beggar

714
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,120
So he under goes reversal of the

715
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,159
situation and he under goes recognition.

716
00:29:48,159 --> 00:29:50,320
He has to undergo he has to say oh my

717
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:51,919
god

718
00:29:51,919 --> 00:29:54,399
what have I done and that's the

719
00:29:54,399 --> 00:29:56,000
punchline of the tragedy. So that's

720
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,200
basically Aristotle's poetics in in in

721
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,520
30 seconds.

722
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:07,679
Every plane needs to have a beginning

723
00:30:07,679 --> 00:30:10,000
middle and an end. So, Jean Lucada said,

724
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:11,440
"Yes, every movie needs to have a

725
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:12,720
beginning, middle, and end, but not

726
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:14,799
necessarily in that order." And that's

727
00:30:14,799 --> 00:30:17,440
why French movies are so effing boring,

728
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,840
right? Because it says fi at the end,

729
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:21,360
right? Which is French for You can go

730
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,320
home now, right? So, a play needs to

731
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,240
have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

732
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:27,679
Just like a joke has to have a

733
00:30:27,679 --> 00:30:29,840
beginning, a middle, and an end. So, you

734
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:31,600
got to start at the beginning, go on

735
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,640
till you get to the end, and then stop.

736
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,039
Okay? So, every story is the hero

737
00:30:37,039 --> 00:30:39,200
journey. and we're the hero. There's

738
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,360
Moses, right? He's the king. He's he's

739
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:43,840
the uh uh prince of Egypt. He's like

740
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,399
unto Pharaoh. And he says, I He says, "I

741
00:30:46,399 --> 00:30:49,200
I I I I can't take it anymore. I saw

742
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,039
this Jewish guy getting beat up, this

743
00:30:51,039 --> 00:30:52,799
slave." I said to him, "Do you like

744
00:30:52,799 --> 00:30:54,960
being a slave?" And he wouldn't. So, I

745
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:56,640
killed this. He said, "Yes, I do. I

746
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:58,320
killed this the slave master. So, I went

747
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,559
off to the uh to the wilderness. I got

748
00:31:00,559 --> 00:31:01,919
to figure this thing out. I don't like

749
00:31:01,919 --> 00:31:04,720
being king of I'm a Jew and I'm almost

750
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:06,000
Pharaoh. I don't like it. I got to

751
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,679
figure out who the hell I am. Goes off

752
00:31:07,679 --> 00:31:09,120
to the wilderness. There's a burning

753
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,279
bush. Okay, so now the story starts. The

754
00:31:13,279 --> 00:31:15,679
burning bush says, "Guess, guess who I

755
00:31:15,679 --> 00:31:18,159
am, right? I got something I want you to

756
00:31:18,159 --> 00:31:21,200
do." So what does Moses say? He says,

757
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,520
"Now is not good for me." He says,

758
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,120
"Saving the Jewish people and listening

759
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,679
to a burning bush. That's great. Why

760
00:31:27,679 --> 00:31:29,440
don't you take my brother Aaron? He

761
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:31,440
speaks I have a speech impediment."

762
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:33,039
Well, my brother Aaron, he's smarter

763
00:31:33,039 --> 00:31:34,640
than I am. Why don't you pick him? God

764
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:36,559
says, "No, actually I want to pick you."

765
00:31:36,559 --> 00:31:39,200
So the story doesn't begin until the

766
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,519
burning bush speaks to Moses. Moses

767
00:31:41,519 --> 00:31:44,159
doesn't want to go. The whole story of

768
00:31:44,159 --> 00:31:46,640
the five books of Moses is him having

769
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,480
difficulty with these idiot people, my

770
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,799
own people, the Jews, who are trying at

771
00:31:52,799 --> 00:31:56,720
every stage to go back to slavery. Moses

772
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,440
keeps wanting to give up. He says, "God,

773
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,399
start again, right? Or give me one more

774
00:32:02,399 --> 00:32:04,240
chance or

775
00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,039
I don't know what to do. I'm lost. I was

776
00:32:07,039 --> 00:32:08,559
up there on the mountain getting the

777
00:32:08,559 --> 00:32:11,120
word of God. I came down 30 minutes late

778
00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:13,440
and they're worshiping a golden calf.

779
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:14,799
It's the same people we took out of

780
00:32:14,799 --> 00:32:16,880
Egypt two weeks ago when you parted the

781
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:18,240
Red Sea. They're worshiping golden calf.

782
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:20,720
I can't take it anymore. God says, "No,

783
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:21,919
you're not done yet. I'll tell you

784
00:32:21,919 --> 00:32:24,000
when." So, the story of the five books

785
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,640
of Moses, the hero journey, which is the

786
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,640
paradigmatic

787
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:30,640
story of all drama, because we're always

788
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,760
the hero, ends. Moses is just about to

789
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,720
get into the promised land, right? We're

790
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:38,080
just about to get to this wonderful

791
00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:39,600
ending with the fuzzy little bunnies and

792
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:41,360
the sheep and all that, right? And all

793
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,880
the hummus, unfortunately. Okay. And God

794
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,440
says, "Nope." He says,

795
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,159
"Oh, you're going to die here." Moses,

796
00:32:50,159 --> 00:32:52,000
well, you know, you remember from

797
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:53,519
before, you know, I'm the guy at Burning

798
00:32:53,519 --> 00:32:54,880
Bush. We had such a good time. We had

799
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:56,080
all those adventures. I worked real

800
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,000
hard. God says, "Yeah, you're done."

801
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,080
[ __ ] And that's the end of the story.

802
00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:01,919
It's surprising and inevitable. And it's

803
00:33:01,919 --> 00:33:06,200
the hero it's the hero journey.

804
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:08,799
So that's what that's what all drama is.

805
00:33:08,799 --> 00:33:11,039
It's the hero journey.

806
00:33:11,039 --> 00:33:13,200
And if it's not the hero journey, it

807
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:15,039
might be advertising or it might be

808
00:33:15,039 --> 00:33:18,799
politics or it might be hack work, you

809
00:33:18,799 --> 00:33:21,679
know. And so what the artist has to, at

810
00:33:21,679 --> 00:33:24,559
least I do, has to fight with all all

811
00:33:24,559 --> 00:33:27,679
the time is nope, do better.

812
00:33:27,679 --> 00:33:31,120
Nope, just do better.

813
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:32,799
I know you don't want just like Moses

814
00:33:32,799 --> 00:33:35,279
because the the artist is the hero just

815
00:33:35,279 --> 00:33:37,120
as the hero is the hero just as the art

816
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,600
the audience is the hero. The lights go

817
00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:41,840
out they become that hero trying to

818
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:42,960
figure out how's he going to get out of

819
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:44,799
this how's he going to get out of that.

820
00:33:44,799 --> 00:33:47,440
I think a dramatist at least I is one

821
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:49,360
who's not inspired by solutions but one

822
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:51,600
inspired by situations

823
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,760
right because the solution is I know

824
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:58,880
you know I know what I'll do I'll just

825
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:00,960
um

826
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:02,880
I'll realize that I am the cause of the

827
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,039
plague on thieves so what Aristotle says

828
00:34:05,039 --> 00:34:09,200
is the hero can't just get the idea

829
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,760
something has to happen from outside

830
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:14,000
that inspires the hero in a way that he

831
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,079
or she didn't realize before. He said,

832
00:34:16,079 --> 00:34:17,839
"Cuz if they could realize it before,

833
00:34:17,839 --> 00:34:21,440
why now?" So if you look at most dramas,

834
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,240
most modern dramas, especially movies,

835
00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:27,599
the hero just gets the idea, right? They

836
00:34:27,599 --> 00:34:30,879
they discover it's all within themselves

837
00:34:30,879 --> 00:34:32,800
that they knew, they know a league of

838
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,040
their own or blah blah blah, whatever

839
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,359
the hell or school of rock. They

840
00:34:37,359 --> 00:34:39,839
suddenly become inspired. But the

841
00:34:39,839 --> 00:34:42,079
question is why?

842
00:34:42,079 --> 00:34:44,639
What inspired them?

843
00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:46,879
And the answer is

844
00:34:46,879 --> 00:34:48,240
the writer had to think a little bit

845
00:34:48,240 --> 00:34:49,919
harder,

846
00:34:49,919 --> 00:34:51,760
right? Because if you knew the answer

847
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:53,919
before you started out, I swear to you,

848
00:34:53,919 --> 00:34:56,639
the audience knew it too. So the only

849
00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:58,880
way to get their attention to play along

850
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,119
is to you have to go through the process

851
00:35:01,119 --> 00:35:02,960
and you have to find out the answer to

852
00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:05,040
the question that you didn't know when

853
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,800
you started. And that involves,

854
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:11,359
as Hemingway said, writing is easy. All

855
00:35:11,359 --> 00:35:12,400
you got to do is sit down at the

856
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:16,119
typewriter and bleed.

857
00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:17,920
So when you're writing, when I'm

858
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:19,200
writing, there's two things you're going

859
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:20,400
through and you better be going through

860
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,560
one of them. One of them is this will

861
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,119
kill him and the other is this will kill

862
00:35:25,119 --> 00:35:28,119
me.

863
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:33,760
Aristotle says that the that there have

864
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:36,800
to be the unities of time, place, and

865
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,880
action. The hero has to be only doing

866
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:41,359
one thing. If he's doing anything other

867
00:35:41,359 --> 00:35:43,359
than that one thing, uh-uh, you're

868
00:35:43,359 --> 00:35:45,200
breaking the rules. It has to take place

869
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,599
in one place and it has to take place

870
00:35:47,599 --> 00:35:50,400
over 48 hours. So, you can screw around

871
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,000
with a little bit, but I always thought,

872
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,000
okay,

873
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:55,680
there's a pencil, right? That's all I

874
00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:57,440
need is a pencil. A piece of paper would

875
00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:59,040
come in handy, and I'm going to write

876
00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,200
some dialogue

877
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:03,440
that

878
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,280
through the dialogue expresses the

879
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:08,000
journey of of a hero toward a goal. and

880
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:09,599
it's going to take place in one place

881
00:36:09,599 --> 00:36:12,240
and I can do it on a bare stage with two

882
00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:15,040
chairs and that's all I need. So it

883
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:16,480
takes so it's marvelous. It's like

884
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,720
anybody ever went camping, you know, if

885
00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:20,000
like camping you say, "Well, I got a

886
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:21,520
knife and I got some matches. Okay, I'm

887
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:23,200
going to I can live in the woods for 10

888
00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,359
for 10 days." It's marvelous. It's

889
00:36:25,359 --> 00:36:26,880
that's the most primal thing in the

890
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,119
world because it takes me back to the

891
00:36:29,119 --> 00:36:31,200
campfire and it takes the audience back

892
00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:33,200
to the campfire. Yeah. Say, "Yeah, tell

893
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:37,960
me a story. I don't need a moving set.

894
00:36:41,839 --> 00:36:43,359
If you're a dramatist, you have to be

895
00:36:43,359 --> 00:36:44,640
simple in your storytelling so the

896
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:46,240
audience can follow it. They have to

897
00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:47,920
know what story they're following so

898
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,720
that they can be misled. You see,

899
00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:52,640
because what we do when we listen to a

900
00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:54,880
story is we jump ahead. We say, "Oh,

901
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:56,320
yeah, I see what he's going to do." Or,

902
00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:57,599
"Oh, no, I don't know what they're going

903
00:36:57,599 --> 00:36:59,520
to do. Let me try to figure it out." And

904
00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:01,839
then the next step is surprising and

905
00:37:01,839 --> 00:37:04,400
inevitable. Each scene is a simple

906
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:07,040
attempt to solve the problem. The scene

907
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,599
fails. It has to or we wouldn't go on to

908
00:37:09,599 --> 00:37:12,720
the next scene. The next scene is more

909
00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:14,320
information which helps us solve the

910
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:16,720
problem, but we get in more trouble. The

911
00:37:16,720 --> 00:37:18,720
third scene is even more information. We

912
00:37:18,720 --> 00:37:20,560
get even deeper. Now, now we're into the

913
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,200
second act. The second act, they say

914
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:24,880
it's hard to remember that you set out

915
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:26,160
to drain the swamp when you're up to

916
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:27,680
your ass and alligators. The second act,

917
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:28,880
you don't even remember why you were

918
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:32,880
born. So every the the the difficulty in

919
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:34,640
writing any drama, especially a tragedy,

920
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,040
is what is second act problems because

921
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:38,720
the hero is stuck there and they don't

922
00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:40,960
even know why they're there. Nothing has

923
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:43,040
worked. Every all of their good ideas

924
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,760
have have fallen by the wayside and the

925
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:48,640
hero has to has to struggle with simply

926
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:50,640
coming back to a sense of self or a

927
00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:52,800
sense of purpose in a world doesn't make

928
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:55,119
any sense until at the end of the second

929
00:37:55,119 --> 00:37:58,480
act, the quest is

930
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:00,800
clarified. and enabling the hero to go

931
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,280
on to the third act.

932
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:07,280
So drama is an exercise in failure and

933
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:08,960
it's also an exercise in lies because

934
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,599
all drama is based on lies.

935
00:38:11,599 --> 00:38:13,599
I was learning n I was learning aerial

936
00:38:13,599 --> 00:38:15,839
navigation from a great great teacher

937
00:38:15,839 --> 00:38:18,560
and he and I was floundering and he said

938
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:20,160
okay I'm going to make it simple for you

939
00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:22,560
got a map United States. He he said here

940
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:24,240
we are in Los Angeles and got a ruler.

941
00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:26,400
Where do you want to go? I said I want

942
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,320
to go to Las Vegas. He said, "Okay,

943
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:31,680
there's a dot Los Angeles. There's a dot

944
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:34,240
at Los Las Las Vegas.

945
00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:36,800
Take a ruler and draw a line between Las

946
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:39,760
the two dots." I did. He said, "Okay,

947
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,320
start at this dot, go till you get to

948
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,560
that dot and land."

949
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:48,079
So, that's the rule. That's the rule of

950
00:38:48,079 --> 00:38:50,400
of dramatic writing. You start at this

951
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:54,079
dot, you go to that dot, and you stop.

952
00:38:54,079 --> 00:38:55,599
You told me you were going to that dot.

953
00:38:55,599 --> 00:38:57,680
Go there. You're going to encounter

954
00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:00,079
stuff along the way. The stuff that you

955
00:39:00,079 --> 00:39:02,000
encounter along the way will be

956
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,800
determined by your imagination. You'll

957
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:06,640
say, "Oh my god, what if this? What if

958
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:08,400
that? What if that?" But you have to be

959
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:12,680
unafraid to be challenged.

960
00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:29,040
The rules to me are very very simple.

961
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,359
It's uh

962
00:39:31,359 --> 00:39:33,040
I I wrote a I was very involved in

963
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:34,800
martial arts for a while and I wrote a a

964
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:36,400
martial arts movie that I also directed

965
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:38,720
called Red Belt. And this woman comes

966
00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:41,599
and she's been um physically abused and

967
00:39:41,599 --> 00:39:43,920
she comes to this great teacher of

968
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,760
martial arts and he says, "Uh, okay." He

969
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:49,520
says, "Come on to the mat." So he comes

970
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:52,000
on to the mat

971
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:53,680
and he says, "Okay." He says, "I want to

972
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:55,359
stand sideways to you." But he said,

973
00:39:55,359 --> 00:39:56,480
"I'm not going to touch you. I'm not

974
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:57,599
going to touch you. I'm going to stand

975
00:39:57,599 --> 00:39:59,280
about three inches apart." He says,

976
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,599
"Now, if I stood sideways to you and you

977
00:40:01,599 --> 00:40:04,320
grabbed me," he said, "Could he he said,

978
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:06,720
"Could I strike you?"

979
00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:09,920
She says, "No, I don't think so." He

980
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:11,200
says, "Okay." He says, "I want you to

981
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:14,640
stand 20 ft away from me." So, she says,

982
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:16,960
"20 ft away." So, he says, "Oh, 20 ft

983
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:20,079
away." He said, "Could I strike you?"

984
00:40:20,079 --> 00:40:22,960
She says, "No." He He says, "Well, walk

985
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:24,880
forward. Get to the point where you

986
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:26,640
think I could strike you." So, she comes

987
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:28,720
forward till she's about 4t away. He

988
00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:30,400
said, "Could I strike you there?" She

989
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:33,200
says, "Yeah." He says, "Don't stand

990
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,280
there.

991
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:36,560
If you want to come back for a second

992
00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:41,040
lesson, give me a call. Right?

993
00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:42,560
So, that's what I feel. The rules are

994
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,119
are pretty darn simple, right? There

995
00:40:45,119 --> 00:40:46,320
aren't that many of them. They're pretty

996
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,240
darn simple. Tell the story. Start at

997
00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:49,440
the beginning. Go on until you get to

998
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:52,640
the end. Don't stop. Be interesting.

999
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:54,240
Make sure that everything is on the

1000
00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:57,599
line. You know, if you want to go from

1001
00:40:57,599 --> 00:41:00,079
New York City

1002
00:41:00,079 --> 00:41:02,800
to Baltimore, it doesn't matter if

1003
00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,599
there's something interesting

1004
00:41:05,599 --> 00:41:07,920
in Boston. That's not where you told me

1005
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:10,160
you wanted to go. So, there's something

1006
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:11,440
that happens when you're making a movie

1007
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:15,280
that I call location sickness.

1008
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:17,839
So, location sickness is I'm making a a

1009
00:41:17,839 --> 00:41:20,880
shoot shooting a scene at a girl school.

1010
00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:23,200
The girls come out, blah blah blah,

1011
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:25,040
whatever. The bus comes, but the bus is

1012
00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:26,880
late. So, the girls, they're going to

1013
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,680
practice cheerleading on on on the

1014
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,359
sidewalk because they're going to the

1015
00:41:31,359 --> 00:41:34,720
cor the um competition while Okay, that

1016
00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:36,800
that's our setup. So, we go there and

1017
00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:38,000
the location people say, "Okay, here's

1018
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,400
our girls. It's great. Oh my god, look

1019
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:42,400
over there. There's a shoe store that

1020
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,520
was built in 1940 in the shape of a

1021
00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:47,200
sneaker.

1022
00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:49,440
That's magnificent.

1023
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:52,400
We got to figure out some way

1024
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:54,960
to put that sneaker in in the in the

1025
00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:57,200
story because it would be a shame. It's

1026
00:41:57,200 --> 00:41:59,119
free, right? So, it's the free stuff

1027
00:41:59,119 --> 00:42:00,880
that kills you. That's called location

1028
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:02,560
sickness,

1029
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:05,280
right? Doesn't matter that it's a looks

1030
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:06,800
like a sneaker. That's not the story

1031
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:08,720
that you were telling me. You got to

1032
00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:10,720
throw it away. So, all of the

1033
00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:12,960
interesting stuff, the rule is take all

1034
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,520
like Hemingway said, write the best

1035
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:17,680
story you can and throw out all the good

1036
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:19,839
lines.

1037
00:42:19,839 --> 00:42:21,280
So that's how you make a movie. You got

1038
00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:23,040
to throw anything that's not the plot,

1039
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:26,520
throw it away.

1040
00:42:30,079 --> 00:42:32,480
So one of the rules is if you, and this

1041
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:36,480
is especially true of um screenwriting,

1042
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:37,520
and it's harder to learn with

1043
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:39,040
screenwriting than it is in playwriting,

1044
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:40,240
because in playwriting, you write the

1045
00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:41,520
play, you put it on with the audience.

1046
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:45,760
You get it right. They just because when

1047
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:47,280
the lights go down, you got their

1048
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:50,960
attention. It's yours to lose, right?

1049
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:53,280
When you lose it, you don't get it back.

1050
00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:54,720
Okay? So, you see that with an audience,

1051
00:42:54,720 --> 00:42:56,319
you feel it. It's harder when you're

1052
00:42:56,319 --> 00:42:59,599
working without an audience in in a um

1053
00:42:59,599 --> 00:43:04,319
in a uh in a television show or or a

1054
00:43:04,319 --> 00:43:06,720
film, but uh you can learn in the to a

1055
00:43:06,720 --> 00:43:09,040
certain extent in the editing room. And

1056
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:10,880
the f one of the the great rules if you

1057
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:13,200
think that possibly maybe you might

1058
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:15,520
sometime cut

1059
00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,079
right now throw it away throw it away

1060
00:43:18,079 --> 00:43:19,599
because there my great friend and

1061
00:43:19,599 --> 00:43:21,280
teacher Barbara Tulliver has cut my

1062
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:24,880
films for 354 years says uh there's

1063
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:26,560
there's there's no rules but there's

1064
00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:28,240
only one law and the law is don't be

1065
00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:29,839
boring

1066
00:43:29,839 --> 00:43:33,200
throw it away. And so Barbara's cut 12

1067
00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:34,720
or so features of mine and a million

1068
00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:36,880
hours of TV and everything and learned

1069
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:40,480
so much from her. And every project she

1070
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:42,720
calls up in the middle and says, "You're

1071
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:45,440
going to kill me." I said, "Why?" She

1072
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:48,000
says, "I got to tell you something." I

1073
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:50,880
say, "What?" She says, "You know scene

1074
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:52,800
12?" I said, "Yeah, scene 12, my

1075
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:55,280
favorite scene." Da da da da da. She

1076
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:57,440
says, "Yeah, I cut it out. The film's a

1077
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,160
thousand% better for it." time after

1078
00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:01,839
time. And of course, she's right because

1079
00:44:01,839 --> 00:44:03,200
the audience don't care. It's my

1080
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:05,119
favorite scene. It gets in the way of

1081
00:44:05,119 --> 00:44:08,720
the progression. Throw it away.

1082
00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:12,240
And so, Czechov said the same thing uh

1083
00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:14,560
as quoted by Constantine Stannislovski

1084
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:16,079
where they're working on this play, the

1085
00:44:16,079 --> 00:44:18,079
three sisters.

1086
00:44:18,079 --> 00:44:21,520
And Czechov uh somebody says, one of the

1087
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:23,920
characters, Guy says, "How's your wife?"

1088
00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:26,079
And the guy says, "Oh, my wife, I'll

1089
00:44:26,079 --> 00:44:27,839
tell you how my wife is. My wife is like

1090
00:44:27,839 --> 00:44:30,160
the spring. Sometimes it is gorgeous and

1091
00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:32,240
full of sunshine and new birth and

1092
00:44:32,240 --> 00:44:34,720
sometimes it is just like continuation

1093
00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:37,200
of winter and full of frost. She's like

1094
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:40,800
us and the scene goes on forever and

1095
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:43,760
it's weep weep weep beautiful. So the do

1096
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:45,520
the stage in the play and check off

1097
00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:47,359
telegrams and he says you know the thing

1098
00:44:47,359 --> 00:44:49,200
where the guy says how's your wife that

1099
00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:51,280
long three pages just have the other guy

1100
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:54,800
say a wife is a wife.

1101
00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:56,800
So that to me is a genius lesson in

1102
00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:00,720
play. Wife is a wife, you know, cut. If

1103
00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:02,319
you think you should cut, cut. Get out

1104
00:45:02,319 --> 00:45:04,079
of there. The audience beat you there.

1105
00:45:04,079 --> 00:45:07,079
Anyway,

1106
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:12,640
there was a guy called Howard Lindsay

1107
00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:14,079
and he had a partner called Russell

1108
00:45:14,079 --> 00:45:16,400
Krauss and there Lindsay and Krauss were

1109
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,880
playwriting team and they wrote the uh

1110
00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:22,079
some of the great um um dramas and

1111
00:45:22,079 --> 00:45:24,880
comedies of the 30s, 40s and 50s. very

1112
00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:27,440
phenomenally successful arsenic and olay

1113
00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:29,440
state of the union life with father etc

1114
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:31,520
etc on and on and on and he wrote a

1115
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:33,119
little pamphlet I think you can guys can

1116
00:45:33,119 --> 00:45:35,359
probably find it online of some tips

1117
00:45:35,359 --> 00:45:38,319
which I find very helpful so these are

1118
00:45:38,319 --> 00:45:42,079
not philosophy just tips one of them is

1119
00:45:42,079 --> 00:45:44,240
save your be biggest laugh for the end

1120
00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:48,240
of the second act I said okay I get it

1121
00:45:48,240 --> 00:45:50,560
second one I found very helpful is at

1122
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:51,920
the beginning of the I don't know if

1123
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:53,440
people write three-act plays anymore

1124
00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:56,160
I've written bungee and uh at the

1125
00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:57,839
beginning of the second act, remind the

1126
00:45:57,839 --> 00:45:59,280
audience who they love and who they

1127
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:00,800
hate.

1128
00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:02,720
I thought that's very helpful. And the

1129
00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:04,560
other one I found really provocative is

1130
00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:06,319
stop giving your best lines to the

1131
00:46:06,319 --> 00:46:08,880
secondary characters

1132
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:11,599
cuz I I sure do it right. I don't know

1133
00:46:11,599 --> 00:46:13,920
why. I think it might be envy. I said,

1134
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:15,839
"Well, oh, hero hero, you get to do the

1135
00:46:15,839 --> 00:46:17,280
whole thing. You know, you get to free

1136
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:19,520
the Jewish people or to walk." But the

1137
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:20,800
secondary charact they're the

1138
00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:23,359
interesting ones, right? So, I got to

1139
00:46:23,359 --> 00:46:25,599
force myself to take my best lines from

1140
00:46:25,599 --> 00:46:27,680
the secondary characters and give them

1141
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:30,720
to the uh give them to the hero. And

1142
00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:33,680
there's a several more more tips, but

1143
00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:36,160
you you learn you got to learn it

1144
00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:38,560
through doing it. And as they they say,

1145
00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:40,160
you know, the easily shamed will not

1146
00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:41,680
learn. You got to put up with a lot of

1147
00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:44,480
shame. So the unfortunately there is no

1148
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:46,960
list of rules other than those of

1149
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:51,599
Aristotle that will help a dramatist and

1150
00:46:51,599 --> 00:46:53,599
those are only going to help if you

1151
00:46:53,599 --> 00:46:57,040
assiduously do them. I I studied uh

1152
00:46:57,040 --> 00:46:59,599
Brazilian jiu-jitsu for many years and

1153
00:46:59,599 --> 00:47:03,119
uh it's a fascinating um study and it

1154
00:47:03,119 --> 00:47:06,560
becomes clear that if you could

1155
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:10,560
perfectly master the first five things

1156
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:12,640
they show you

1157
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:15,359
in the first month perfectly, no one

1158
00:47:15,359 --> 00:47:18,480
could defeat you.

1159
00:47:18,480 --> 00:47:20,160
So it's like that with playwriting,

1160
00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:22,640
right? If you could perfectly master

1161
00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:26,319
those the the the unities of Aristotle,

1162
00:47:26,319 --> 00:47:27,760
you can write. It ain't going to be

1163
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:28,960
pretty and you're going to get beat up

1164
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:32,000
sometime, but but uh no one can defeat

1165
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:35,000
you.

1166
00:47:41,119 --> 00:47:43,599
I always used to tell my kids and they'd

1167
00:47:43,599 --> 00:47:45,040
say, "Dad, where do you get your ideas?"

1168
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:46,880
I say, "Well, there's this little

1169
00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:49,520
Mexican guy in Inino, okay? He drives in

1170
00:47:49,520 --> 00:47:50,720
on the weekend. and he sells them off

1171
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:53,599
the back of his truck. So, we all have

1172
00:47:53,599 --> 00:47:56,640
ideas all the time. I mean, our mind, as

1173
00:47:56,640 --> 00:47:59,280
I believe Swinburn said, is a raging

1174
00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:01,920
fire. We have all these ideas all the

1175
00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:03,520
time. What if that person turned around

1176
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:05,280
and said, "I love you." What if we got a

1177
00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:06,960
thing in the mail saying it's not your

1178
00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:08,880
real father? What about if I found a

1179
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:10,480
wallet with a billion dollar? That's how

1180
00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:13,359
we go through life all day, right? We're

1181
00:48:13,359 --> 00:48:14,880
fantasizing. I mean, that's kind of a

1182
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:17,040
shame that people are on these the the

1183
00:48:17,040 --> 00:48:18,640
little machines everybody uses all the

1184
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:20,480
time just because they spend less time

1185
00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:23,440
fantasizing. You know, it it it

1186
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:27,480
fantasizes for you.

1187
00:48:31,040 --> 00:48:33,119
At the beginning of my life, I say I was

1188
00:48:33,119 --> 00:48:35,920
I was um

1189
00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:37,680
uh living rather interesting uh

1190
00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:40,240
existence in Chicago and earning my

1191
00:48:40,240 --> 00:48:41,680
living doing various things and playing

1192
00:48:41,680 --> 00:48:42,960
a lot of poker and hanging out with a

1193
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:45,040
bunch of thieves and uh I was also

1194
00:48:45,040 --> 00:48:47,200
working in a prison for a couple of days

1195
00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:50,319
a week, two prisons and I was fascinated

1196
00:48:50,319 --> 00:48:51,839
by everything that I saw. So I wrote

1197
00:48:51,839 --> 00:48:54,480
about it and the the menu in which I was

1198
00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:57,200
writing at that point was kind of the

1199
00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:59,359
the the

1200
00:48:59,359 --> 00:49:03,920
underbelly of the uh a big city which I

1201
00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,720
was in involved in. That's what that's

1202
00:49:06,720 --> 00:49:08,400
what I was doing when I was 20 and 30.

1203
00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:10,240
Later on my life I was doing different

1204
00:49:10,240 --> 00:49:12,079
things and I got interested in in

1205
00:49:12,079 --> 00:49:13,520
different subjects and I wrote about

1206
00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:15,200
them. I think there was a famous story

1207
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:18,079
about Stannisloski. Someone said some

1208
00:49:18,079 --> 00:49:20,160
woman was preparing a part and she said

1209
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:22,160
should I use my own life experiences? He

1210
00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:24,880
said what choice do you have?

1211
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:27,119
So I mean my own life experiences are

1212
00:49:27,119 --> 00:49:29,040
somewhat similar to everybody else's and

1213
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:30,400
sufficiently different that they at

1214
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:32,880
least interest me. The question is is

1215
00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:35,440
what is what choice do you have? I'm not

1216
00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:36,640
trying to make a point. I'm just trying

1217
00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:41,240
to get the voices in my head to shut up.

1218
00:49:44,559 --> 00:49:48,640
American Buffalo. I was um

1219
00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:50,160
playing a p used to play a lot of poker.

1220
00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:51,440
This is in the days when nobody played

1221
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:53,599
poker. They started again I think in the

1222
00:49:53,599 --> 00:49:55,920
80s but in those days the poker was just

1223
00:49:55,920 --> 00:49:58,960
played in home games and in illegal

1224
00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:00,559
games and a lot of them were run by the

1225
00:50:00,559 --> 00:50:03,359
mob especially in New York and in

1226
00:50:03,359 --> 00:50:06,000
Chicago a lot of the illegal games were

1227
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:08,160
kind of a a crossbreed between an

1228
00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:09,680
illegal game and a home game. And I used

1229
00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:11,040
to play in this one game that was all

1230
00:50:11,040 --> 00:50:13,200
thieves and they played poker all day

1231
00:50:13,200 --> 00:50:14,480
cuz you know I didn't go to work till

1232
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:17,200
the sun went down. So I hung out with

1233
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:20,400
them and I was very inspired by them.

1234
00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:22,960
And one one of the kids said something

1235
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:25,359
once about there was the son of the one

1236
00:50:25,359 --> 00:50:27,119
of the owners said if I didn't know

1237
00:50:27,119 --> 00:50:29,440
better I would think that you guys was

1238
00:50:29,440 --> 00:50:31,599
cheating me. And I thought oh that's

1239
00:50:31,599 --> 00:50:32,880
interesting. That's very very

1240
00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:35,200
provocative because he is is both

1241
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:37,599
accusing them and not accusing them. he

1242
00:50:37,599 --> 00:50:40,079
can't figure it out in his own mind. So

1243
00:50:40,079 --> 00:50:42,720
I started writing about about those guys

1244
00:50:42,720 --> 00:50:46,520
at that poker game.

1245
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:51,920
The inspiration for sexual perversity in

1246
00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:54,559
Chicago was that that process which back

1247
00:50:54,559 --> 00:50:55,839
in the stone age we used to call

1248
00:50:55,839 --> 00:50:58,000
courting. And I I'm sure it's called

1249
00:50:58,000 --> 00:50:59,520
something else now. It's probably the

1250
00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:01,440
same nature. But uh but I had an

1251
00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:03,119
interesting experience there. It was a

1252
00:51:03,119 --> 00:51:05,680
play about um really a play about

1253
00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:07,520
misogyny. I mean which one would one

1254
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:08,800
would have thought it was fairly clear

1255
00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:10,400
from the title that perverse

1256
00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:12,240
perverseness is acting contrary to one's

1257
00:51:12,240 --> 00:51:14,559
best interest but some goodwilled people

1258
00:51:14,559 --> 00:51:16,640
in the press got the idea that because

1259
00:51:16,640 --> 00:51:18,880
it was a play about misogyny that I was

1260
00:51:18,880 --> 00:51:20,960
somehow a misogynist and to this day

1261
00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:22,319
people come up and say well why don't

1262
00:51:22,319 --> 00:51:25,200
you like women I'm rather fond of women

1263
00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:26,800
a they're human beings and b I like

1264
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:29,040
women and b why don't you write for

1265
00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:31,839
women and in truth I probably written as

1266
00:51:31,839 --> 00:51:33,920
many parts for women as I have for men

1267
00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:37,920
but that became part of a uh um

1268
00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:42,280
um a meme or an idea.

1269
00:51:45,839 --> 00:51:49,520
Oolana was um is another tragedy. These

1270
00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:51,520
two people, a young woman, female

1271
00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:53,760
student and an older male professor who

1272
00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:56,480
really have a lot to offer to each other

1273
00:51:56,480 --> 00:51:59,280
and end up ruining each other's lives.

1274
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:02,960
And um somebody was uh a friend of mine

1275
00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:04,960
was been a professor somewhere and said,

1276
00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:07,760
"Oh my god, he'd just been accused of

1277
00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:11,040
sexual harassment by not by the young

1278
00:52:11,040 --> 00:52:14,400
woman, but by the uh young woman's

1279
00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:17,040
adviser that the young woman had been

1280
00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:18,559
telling a story and the adviser said,

1281
00:52:18,559 --> 00:52:20,240
"Oh, you know, you you're a victim of

1282
00:52:20,240 --> 00:52:22,880
sexual harassment that this guy did

1283
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:24,400
something or said something blah blah

1284
00:52:24,400 --> 00:52:26,480
blah, sexual harassment." And the woman

1285
00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:28,319
said, "No, no, no. Absolutely not.

1286
00:52:28,319 --> 00:52:30,559
you've misinterpreted me. And so they

1287
00:52:30,559 --> 00:52:32,240
started an action against the professor,

1288
00:52:32,240 --> 00:52:33,839
the adviser did on the part of the

1289
00:52:33,839 --> 00:52:35,760
college. And so the woman went to her

1290
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:37,280
parents

1291
00:52:37,280 --> 00:52:38,640
and the parents came in and said, "No,

1292
00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:40,079
no, no. You have to call this off. You

1293
00:52:40,079 --> 00:52:41,920
know, you've misinterpreted or even if

1294
00:52:41,920 --> 00:52:43,680
you haven't, it's certainly our we don't

1295
00:52:43,680 --> 00:52:45,040
want to prosecute this thing." So this

1296
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:46,480
guy came close to having his life

1297
00:52:46,480 --> 00:52:49,680
ruined. And this was 30 years ago. 30

1298
00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:51,920
years 25 years ago. So this was in the

1299
00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:56,559
heyday of that uh that phenomenon. And I

1300
00:52:56,559 --> 00:52:58,559
was kind of I was shocked. So I wrote

1301
00:52:58,559 --> 00:53:00,000
this play Ooliano. We did it off

1302
00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:03,119
Broadway, ran for a year and a half and

1303
00:53:03,119 --> 00:53:07,079
it drove people crazy.

1304
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:13,520
People talk about themes and I'm very

1305
00:53:13,520 --> 00:53:15,520
fortunate. I, you know, as I say, I

1306
00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:17,839
never opened a school book and I went to

1307
00:53:17,839 --> 00:53:19,280
this hippie- dippy college who didn't

1308
00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:21,440
have any classes. So I I never got much

1309
00:53:21,440 --> 00:53:23,440
of an education other than, you know,

1310
00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:24,960
washing windows and driving a cabin, all

1311
00:53:24,960 --> 00:53:27,839
that stuff I was privileged to do. So I

1312
00:53:27,839 --> 00:53:30,720
never learned about themes. I'm not

1313
00:53:30,720 --> 00:53:33,040
quite sure what I know what themes are.

1314
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,920
I know English departments care about

1315
00:53:35,920 --> 00:53:38,880
themes. So it's possible to look at my

1316
00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:41,839
work, I guess, anybody's work and infer

1317
00:53:41,839 --> 00:53:43,440
a theme, but it's not something which

1318
00:53:43,440 --> 00:53:45,200
concerns me. I'm interested in telling a

1319
00:53:45,200 --> 00:53:47,680
story.

1320
00:53:47,680 --> 00:53:50,800
I mean to to me it's personally it's as

1321
00:53:50,800 --> 00:53:52,319
pointless about talk as talking about

1322
00:53:52,319 --> 00:53:54,880
the theme of a joke

1323
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:57,280
right there to make you laugh. Drama is

1324
00:53:57,280 --> 00:53:58,480
there to keep you interested for an hour

1325
00:53:58,480 --> 00:54:00,319
and a half.

1326
00:54:00,319 --> 00:54:02,559
I mean nobody ever left a great play

1327
00:54:02,559 --> 00:54:06,280
humming the theme.

1328
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:13,520
I always knew that a good writer threw

1329
00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:16,960
out what a bad writer kept. That

1330
00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:18,559
occurred to me after years the opposite

1331
00:54:18,559 --> 00:54:20,240
was also true that a good writer kept

1332
00:54:20,240 --> 00:54:22,800
what a bad writer threw out.

1333
00:54:22,800 --> 00:54:24,319
Right? The stuff that someone would say,

1334
00:54:24,319 --> 00:54:25,839
"No, that doesn't seem to make sense."

1335
00:54:25,839 --> 00:54:27,520
Well, I say, "Well, hell, work it

1336
00:54:27,520 --> 00:54:29,359
through. See where see where that's

1337
00:54:29,359 --> 00:54:33,280
going to lead you." Cuz writing a drama

1338
00:54:33,280 --> 00:54:36,400
is just like analyzing a dream. You're

1339
00:54:36,400 --> 00:54:38,160
kind of doing it backwards. You're

1340
00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:40,400
making up the dream instead of analyzing

1341
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:42,319
it. But when you analyze a dream, you

1342
00:54:42,319 --> 00:54:43,920
might say, "Well, there I was. I was in

1343
00:54:43,920 --> 00:54:47,200
bed with my dad and a dog was uh eating

1344
00:54:47,200 --> 00:54:49,760
my leg and it was raining outside and

1345
00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:51,520
there was something about a parakeet and

1346
00:54:51,520 --> 00:54:53,040
then I was getting shot and I was going

1347
00:54:53,040 --> 00:54:55,680
to have to stand trial blah blah blah.

1348
00:54:55,680 --> 00:54:57,920
So what Freud would say is and what I

1349
00:54:57,920 --> 00:55:00,000
would say is what's the out what what

1350
00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:03,680
doesn't belong the little parakeet. So

1351
00:55:03,680 --> 00:55:04,800
that's where you got to put your

1352
00:55:04,800 --> 00:55:06,240
attention. We know the rest of the

1353
00:55:06,240 --> 00:55:08,480
stuff, right? Your mind is a bundle of

1354
00:55:08,480 --> 00:55:10,640
snakes. All of your ideas are wretched.

1355
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:12,800
Your thoughts are loathsome, right?

1356
00:55:12,800 --> 00:55:14,400
You're you're you're a sinful human

1357
00:55:14,400 --> 00:55:16,319
being. You're no damned good. What was

1358
00:55:16,319 --> 00:55:18,559
the parakeet doing there? So, if you

1359
00:55:18,559 --> 00:55:20,319
start analyzing the dream, start writing

1360
00:55:20,319 --> 00:55:22,400
about the parakeet, something will

1361
00:55:22,400 --> 00:55:25,680
happen that you did not expect. The

1362
00:55:25,680 --> 00:55:27,040
truth's going to be where you didn't

1363
00:55:27,040 --> 00:55:29,200
expect it and you're going to have to

1364
00:55:29,200 --> 00:55:31,280
get it and muck around and find it. So,

1365
00:55:31,280 --> 00:55:33,280
I was just up in Vermont. I this old

1366
00:55:33,280 --> 00:55:34,880
farmhouse I lived in for many, many

1367
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:38,559
years. And I had an old Civil War safe,

1368
00:55:38,559 --> 00:55:42,079
a key turn safe, and I'd put some

1369
00:55:42,079 --> 00:55:44,240
valuable papers into the safe a long,

1370
00:55:44,240 --> 00:55:46,800
long, long time ago.

1371
00:55:46,800 --> 00:55:48,240
And I hadn't been up in the house in

1372
00:55:48,240 --> 00:55:51,200
years. And I went to clean out the safe.

1373
00:55:51,200 --> 00:55:54,079
And I took the key and I took off the

1374
00:55:54,079 --> 00:55:57,599
strike plate of the uh the lock, right?

1375
00:55:57,599 --> 00:55:58,960
The thing that the bolt goes into the

1376
00:55:58,960 --> 00:56:01,040
strike plate. I to unscrewed it, drilled

1377
00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:04,400
a hole, and inserted the key in, and

1378
00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:06,880
then put in some packing material and

1379
00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:08,799
put the strike plate back. I thought,

1380
00:56:08,799 --> 00:56:11,599
"That's fine. No one will ever know it's

1381
00:56:11,599 --> 00:56:13,920
there except me." So, I go back. I take

1382
00:56:13,920 --> 00:56:17,680
off the strike plate. There's no key.

1383
00:56:17,680 --> 00:56:19,680
I That's ridiculous. So, there has to be

1384
00:56:19,680 --> 00:56:21,760
the key there. I remember blah blah blah

1385
00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:24,079
blah blah blah blah. Aha. I say, "I've

1386
00:56:24,079 --> 00:56:26,160
been robbed." I said, "Wait a second.

1387
00:56:26,160 --> 00:56:27,839
How would anybody know there was a key

1388
00:56:27,839 --> 00:56:31,040
there?" And also the safe has a trick

1389
00:56:31,040 --> 00:56:33,839
mechanism. This puzzle mechanism where

1390
00:56:33,839 --> 00:56:36,319
you insert the key, but you don't turn

1391
00:56:36,319 --> 00:56:38,160
the key, you turn the knob. You have to

1392
00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:39,760
turn the knob halfway. It's a really

1393
00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:42,000
wonderful old mechanism. I got to get

1394
00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:43,359
those papers. I can't leave those

1395
00:56:43,359 --> 00:56:45,440
papers. I got to get them out. So I call

1396
00:56:45,440 --> 00:56:48,880
up this locksmith comes over 30 miles

1397
00:56:48,880 --> 00:56:51,520
and he says, "Uh, I tell him the story."

1398
00:56:51,520 --> 00:56:52,400
And I said, "You're going to have to

1399
00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:54,079
pick the lock." And he looks at the

1400
00:56:54,079 --> 00:56:55,760
safe. He says, he says, "I can't pick

1401
00:56:55,760 --> 00:56:57,680
this lock." He said, "We could take this

1402
00:56:57,680 --> 00:57:00,640
safe, which weighs 500 lb, somehow get

1403
00:57:00,640 --> 00:57:02,799
it on the truck, take it and you know,

1404
00:57:02,799 --> 00:57:05,280
in effect crack the safe." But he said,

1405
00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:07,839
"I'll tell you something." He said, "The

1406
00:57:07,839 --> 00:57:10,240
key is in his room." I said, "What do

1407
00:57:10,240 --> 00:57:12,000
you mean?" He said, "You haven't been."

1408
00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:13,040
He said, "I've been doing this for all

1409
00:57:13,040 --> 00:57:16,000
my life. You haven't been robbed. You

1410
00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:17,440
put the key someplace and you've

1411
00:57:17,440 --> 00:57:21,040
forgotten it. Keys in this room."

1412
00:57:21,040 --> 00:57:22,319
I said, "That's the silliest thing I've

1413
00:57:22,319 --> 00:57:23,520
ever heard." I said, "I didn't say it. I

1414
00:57:23,520 --> 00:57:25,200
thought that." I said, "Well, thank you,

1415
00:57:25,200 --> 00:57:27,520
sir." He leaves. I'm tearing apart the

1416
00:57:27,520 --> 00:57:28,799
room, throwing stuff out, throwing stuff

1417
00:57:28,799 --> 00:57:30,559
out, throwing stuff out. I come this

1418
00:57:30,559 --> 00:57:32,319
little box of an old metal from the

1419
00:57:32,319 --> 00:57:34,720
Chicago World's Fair. It's just a box. I

1420
00:57:34,720 --> 00:57:37,200
start to throw it out and it rattles. I

1421
00:57:37,200 --> 00:57:39,280
take off the the padding and there's the

1422
00:57:39,280 --> 00:57:42,160
key to the safe.

1423
00:57:42,160 --> 00:57:43,760
So, I start screaming, you know, with

1424
00:57:43,760 --> 00:57:45,920
wonder and and and delight and

1425
00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:48,240
gratitude, right? It's well, you didn't

1426
00:57:48,240 --> 00:57:50,880
expect it, but this guy knew it, right?

1427
00:57:50,880 --> 00:57:53,920
He knew it was going to be in in in he

1428
00:57:53,920 --> 00:57:56,400
knew it was in the room,

1429
00:57:56,400 --> 00:57:58,160
right? So that's what I would say to the

1430
00:57:58,160 --> 00:58:01,200
writers. It's it's there somewhere. You

1431
00:58:01,200 --> 00:58:03,359
got to look for it, right? And you got

1432
00:58:03,359 --> 00:58:05,760
to trust that it's there even when you

1433
00:58:05,760 --> 00:58:08,319
don't believe it's there. Cuz it is

1434
00:58:08,319 --> 00:58:11,319
there.

1435
00:58:23,359 --> 00:58:25,839
Here's the thing. Stacy Schiff is a

1436
00:58:25,839 --> 00:58:27,119
great historian. She just wrote a book

1437
00:58:27,119 --> 00:58:29,760
about the witches in in Salem, right?

1438
00:58:29,760 --> 00:58:32,000
Marvelous book. And if you look at it,

1439
00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:34,799
they were the Salem right over here was

1440
00:58:34,799 --> 00:58:36,720
involved in a mass hysteria for about a

1441
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:39,520
year and a half. And you could say, "No,

1442
00:58:39,520 --> 00:58:42,079
I'm not a witch. I'm not No, I'm not a

1443
00:58:42,079 --> 00:58:44,319
witch." But what you couldn't say, and

1444
00:58:44,319 --> 00:58:46,079
you might be able to get off. You

1445
00:58:46,079 --> 00:58:47,920
probably wouldn't, but you might be able

1446
00:58:47,920 --> 00:58:50,160
to get off by saying, "I can prove to

1447
00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:51,760
you that I'm not a witch." I don't know

1448
00:58:51,760 --> 00:58:54,559
how you prove a negative conosition.

1449
00:58:54,559 --> 00:58:56,799
You can't logically, but you might be

1450
00:58:56,799 --> 00:58:58,640
able to get off. The one thing that

1451
00:58:58,640 --> 00:59:01,200
would get you killed is saying there are

1452
00:59:01,200 --> 00:59:03,359
no witches.

1453
00:59:03,359 --> 00:59:04,960
Right?

1454
00:59:04,960 --> 00:59:07,280
So the one thing the un the the

1455
00:59:07,280 --> 00:59:09,920
unpalatable truth

1456
00:59:09,920 --> 00:59:12,799
is there's no such thing as character.

1457
00:59:12,799 --> 00:59:16,319
Just doesn't exist. Where is it? Where

1458
00:59:16,319 --> 00:59:18,880
is it? Here. Go through the thing. I'm

1459
00:59:18,880 --> 00:59:21,359
going to shake out. All there is is the

1460
00:59:21,359 --> 00:59:23,760
things that people say. Why do they say

1461
00:59:23,760 --> 00:59:25,520
them? In order to get something from

1462
00:59:25,520 --> 00:59:28,160
each other. Guy A wants to get something

1463
00:59:28,160 --> 00:59:29,599
from girl B. Girl B wants to get

1464
00:59:29,599 --> 00:59:31,040
something from guy A. That's why they

1465
00:59:31,040 --> 00:59:33,440
talk. The rhythm of their speech is a

1466
00:59:33,440 --> 00:59:35,760
certain kind of poetry which structured

1467
00:59:35,760 --> 00:59:37,680
so that each one of them if each one of

1468
00:59:37,680 --> 00:59:39,920
them is pursuing a specific goal, you

1469
00:59:39,920 --> 00:59:42,480
might even call it a play.

1470
00:59:42,480 --> 00:59:44,240
But there is no backstory because they

1471
00:59:44,240 --> 00:59:47,200
don't. We imagine them. And here's a

1472
00:59:47,200 --> 00:59:49,599
perfect example.

1473
00:59:49,599 --> 00:59:51,680
We listen to the radio, right? And

1474
00:59:51,680 --> 00:59:53,920
sometimes you ever many of us had the

1475
00:59:53,920 --> 00:59:55,280
experience of thinking, "Oh my gosh,

1476
00:59:55,280 --> 00:59:57,599
when we meet a radio personality, I

1477
00:59:57,599 --> 00:59:58,880
didn't think she looked like that.

1478
00:59:58,880 --> 01:00:00,240
That's not what I thought she looked

1479
01:00:00,240 --> 01:00:03,119
like." Right? Because it's never what we

1480
01:00:03,119 --> 01:00:05,280
thought she or he looked like because we

1481
01:00:05,280 --> 01:00:07,680
didn't think they looked like anything.

1482
01:00:07,680 --> 01:00:11,040
We It's a f We thought we thought they

1483
01:00:11,040 --> 01:00:13,200
looked like something, but we didn't. We

1484
01:00:13,200 --> 01:00:15,200
never had a picture in our head. And

1485
01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:16,960
here's another example. Anybody have

1486
01:00:16,960 --> 01:00:19,920
voices inside their head? I certainly

1487
01:00:19,920 --> 01:00:21,599
do. You know, I almost shut up. Most of

1488
01:00:21,599 --> 01:00:23,200
us do. We have this voice. It's not

1489
01:00:23,200 --> 01:00:27,040
quite our voice, but it's a voice. What

1490
01:00:27,040 --> 01:00:30,079
does that person look like?

1491
01:00:30,079 --> 01:00:33,440
It's not us. It's it's something, right?

1492
01:00:33,440 --> 01:00:35,200
We think we almost know what they look

1493
01:00:35,200 --> 01:00:36,559
like, but they don't have a physical

1494
01:00:36,559 --> 01:00:38,240
being.

1495
01:00:38,240 --> 01:00:39,760
And if we saw the physical being, say,

1496
01:00:39,760 --> 01:00:41,760
"No, no, no. That's not him."

1497
01:00:41,760 --> 01:00:46,079
Similarly, these lines on the page

1498
01:00:46,079 --> 01:00:48,720
create the illusion that there is

1499
01:00:48,720 --> 01:00:52,160
something behind them and that we can

1500
01:00:52,160 --> 01:00:54,799
grasp it. We can write it. We can

1501
01:00:54,799 --> 01:00:56,960
understand that he's the kind of a guy

1502
01:00:56,960 --> 01:01:00,160
who but it doesn't exist. It just it's a

1503
01:01:00,160 --> 01:01:02,079
it's a what what's what we're creating

1504
01:01:02,079 --> 01:01:05,040
is an illusion. And there's another way

1505
01:01:05,040 --> 01:01:06,960
that we can understand this. Bruno wrote

1506
01:01:06,960 --> 01:01:08,319
a wonderful book called the uses of

1507
01:01:08,319 --> 01:01:10,960
enchantment about fairy tales. And he

1508
01:01:10,960 --> 01:01:14,559
said the fairy tales work because

1509
01:01:14,559 --> 01:01:16,240
one of the reasons they work is because

1510
01:01:16,240 --> 01:01:19,280
we don't characterize

1511
01:01:19,280 --> 01:01:23,520
the hero and the heroine. You say

1512
01:01:23,520 --> 01:01:25,680
a a beautiful young woman rode into town

1513
01:01:25,680 --> 01:01:27,680
on a horse, right? We don't say a

1514
01:01:27,680 --> 01:01:29,040
beautiful young black woman because if

1515
01:01:29,040 --> 01:01:30,319
you're not black it ain't you. You don't

1516
01:01:30,319 --> 01:01:31,920
say a beautiful white young white woman

1517
01:01:31,920 --> 01:01:33,040
because if you're not white it ain't

1518
01:01:33,040 --> 01:01:35,040
you. You say a beautiful young woman. I

1519
01:01:35,040 --> 01:01:37,119
get it. If you're a woman it's you.

1520
01:01:37,119 --> 01:01:39,040
Right? We don't say the tall, handsome

1521
01:01:39,040 --> 01:01:40,799
blonde prince. If I'm that handsome,

1522
01:01:40,799 --> 01:01:42,480
tall, and blonde, that cuts me out. You

1523
01:01:42,480 --> 01:01:45,520
just say the prince. That's all we know.

1524
01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:47,760
What's his position in the lineup? He's

1525
01:01:47,760 --> 01:01:51,440
the prince. We get it, right? He's a

1526
01:01:51,440 --> 01:01:53,280
salesman. We get it. That's all we need

1527
01:01:53,280 --> 01:01:56,000
to know. That's all we do know. And

1528
01:01:56,000 --> 01:01:58,000
that's all we can know. So, think about

1529
01:01:58,000 --> 01:02:00,079
this. Here's another another example

1530
01:02:00,079 --> 01:02:03,280
about character. Say you're at a party,

1531
01:02:03,280 --> 01:02:06,240
okay? And there's some guy over there

1532
01:02:06,240 --> 01:02:07,680
and he's kind of talking. Hi, how are

1533
01:02:07,680 --> 01:02:09,839
you? looked like a complete schmuck,

1534
01:02:09,839 --> 01:02:11,920
okay? And he's badly dressed and da da

1535
01:02:11,920 --> 01:02:13,760
da. You hardly pay any attention to him.

1536
01:02:13,760 --> 01:02:15,359
And someone says, "Oh, we're talking to

1537
01:02:15,359 --> 01:02:16,960
Joe over there. You know, you know, he

1538
01:02:16,960 --> 01:02:18,480
know he owns Silicon Valley. He's worth

1539
01:02:18,480 --> 01:02:21,839
$47 billion." Now all of a sudden, oh my

1540
01:02:21,839 --> 01:02:24,160
god, that's all we need to know. He's a

1541
01:02:24,160 --> 01:02:26,319
a billionaire. Now all of a sudden, we

1542
01:02:26,319 --> 01:02:28,799
invest him with all of these

1543
01:02:28,799 --> 01:02:30,319
characteristics.

1544
01:02:30,319 --> 01:02:32,720
A billionaire is no different than a

1545
01:02:32,720 --> 01:02:35,839
salesman. That's all we need to know.

1546
01:02:35,839 --> 01:02:38,960
Anything else has to be a lie because we

1547
01:02:38,960 --> 01:02:42,760
we didn't discover it.

1548
01:02:46,640 --> 01:02:48,480
Question is what is character? And

1549
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:50,880
Aristotle says character is just

1550
01:02:50,880 --> 01:02:54,000
habitual action. There is no more to a

1551
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:56,160
character other than what we see them

1552
01:02:56,160 --> 01:02:59,680
do. That's it. You can't characterize

1553
01:02:59,680 --> 01:03:01,680
them saying she's the kind of woman who

1554
01:03:01,680 --> 01:03:04,000
in this situ who cares, right? Also,

1555
01:03:04,000 --> 01:03:06,559
it's a lie. We know it's a lie because

1556
01:03:06,559 --> 01:03:07,760
if anyone ever you meet someone at the

1557
01:03:07,760 --> 01:03:09,119
party says let me tell you a few things

1558
01:03:09,119 --> 01:03:11,440
about myself. Whatever comes next is

1559
01:03:11,440 --> 01:03:14,000
going to be a lie because who who go

1560
01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:15,119
they don't know anything about

1561
01:03:15,119 --> 01:03:16,559
themselves right? They might have a

1562
01:03:16,559 --> 01:03:19,599
fiction but they're speaking in order to

1563
01:03:19,599 --> 01:03:22,000
um manipulate us whether they know it or

1564
01:03:22,000 --> 01:03:23,839
not. They're speaking in order to

1565
01:03:23,839 --> 01:03:26,720
manipulate us to to

1566
01:03:26,720 --> 01:03:29,680
sidestep our process of observation

1567
01:03:29,680 --> 01:03:31,200
because all that we know about a

1568
01:03:31,200 --> 01:03:33,280
person's character in real life is what

1569
01:03:33,280 --> 01:03:36,319
they do. And I was working with while a

1570
01:03:36,319 --> 01:03:38,240
guy in Delta Force who'd been instructed

1571
01:03:38,240 --> 01:03:39,599
there for years. And he said that they

1572
01:03:39,599 --> 01:03:42,799
always said that it took 90 hours at a

1573
01:03:42,799 --> 01:03:46,240
minimum for people to figure out who was

1574
01:03:46,240 --> 01:03:48,640
who and just to begin to see who did

1575
01:03:48,640 --> 01:03:50,559
what to who when and whom you could

1576
01:03:50,559 --> 01:03:52,799
trust and so forth. Similarly on a set

1577
01:03:52,799 --> 01:03:54,559
you walk onto a set by the third or

1578
01:03:54,559 --> 01:03:56,559
fourth day people generally know who

1579
01:03:56,559 --> 01:03:58,160
everybody is and they know their

1580
01:03:58,160 --> 01:04:00,720
character. This person can absolutely be

1581
01:04:00,720 --> 01:04:03,200
counted upon. this person can ab it's

1582
01:04:03,200 --> 01:04:05,599
got to be watched right this person will

1583
01:04:05,599 --> 01:04:07,839
do more than I ever thought possible and

1584
01:04:07,839 --> 01:04:09,520
you begin to know these people's

1585
01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:12,319
characters through what you see them do

1586
01:04:12,319 --> 01:04:15,039
and nobody says effing thing you watch

1587
01:04:15,039 --> 01:04:17,119
them just like they're watching you and

1588
01:04:17,119 --> 01:04:19,280
so that bond that happens on a set

1589
01:04:19,280 --> 01:04:22,720
happens from watching habitual action in

1590
01:04:22,720 --> 01:04:24,559
this circumstances that's what a person

1591
01:04:24,559 --> 01:04:27,680
will habitually do that's character and

1592
01:04:27,680 --> 01:04:29,280
so Aristotle says that's all a character

1593
01:04:29,280 --> 01:04:32,000
is on stage there's Nothing. What else

1594
01:04:32,000 --> 01:04:34,559
would it be? It's what they do.

1595
01:04:34,559 --> 01:04:36,480
We came to watch what that character

1596
01:04:36,480 --> 01:04:38,960
does will determine what their character

1597
01:04:38,960 --> 01:04:41,960
is.

1598
01:04:45,839 --> 01:04:47,680
Stannislovski is something great. He

1599
01:04:47,680 --> 01:04:49,200
said, "The most interesting thing in the

1600
01:04:49,200 --> 01:04:51,280
world is a guy trying to get a knot out

1601
01:04:51,280 --> 01:04:53,680
of his shoelace."

1602
01:04:53,680 --> 01:04:55,280
So that's what you're watching in

1603
01:04:55,280 --> 01:04:57,839
Glengary Glenn Ross. Another another

1604
01:04:57,839 --> 01:04:59,520
name for that is he got an objective. He

1605
01:04:59,520 --> 01:05:03,359
wants something so bad

1606
01:05:03,359 --> 01:05:06,160
that there's nothing in the world he

1607
01:05:06,160 --> 01:05:07,920
won't do.

1608
01:05:07,920 --> 01:05:09,119
You know, and I always say the perfect

1609
01:05:09,119 --> 01:05:10,480
example of a kid who doesn't want to go

1610
01:05:10,480 --> 01:05:12,319
to bed and a young man who wants to have

1611
01:05:12,319 --> 01:05:14,319
sex. There's nothing they won't do,

1612
01:05:14,319 --> 01:05:15,839
right? There's no lie that they won't

1613
01:05:15,839 --> 01:05:18,000
tell. There's no strategy that they

1614
01:05:18,000 --> 01:05:19,760
won't end. There's nothing they won't

1615
01:05:19,760 --> 01:05:21,680
try. They'll never give up. They'll

1616
01:05:21,680 --> 01:05:23,839
pretend to surren.

1617
01:05:23,839 --> 01:05:26,880
And they'll never ever ever stop. Right?

1618
01:05:26,880 --> 01:05:29,440
The characters are what they do. Nobody

1619
01:05:29,440 --> 01:05:30,960
sat down and said, "Oh, I'm going to be

1620
01:05:30,960 --> 01:05:32,880
the this. I'm going to be the that. Oh,

1621
01:05:32,880 --> 01:05:35,280
look, uh, there's the there's the

1622
01:05:35,280 --> 01:05:36,960
corrector of mistakes. There's the

1623
01:05:36,960 --> 01:05:39,920
martinette." Right? It hap. So, we all

1624
01:05:39,920 --> 01:05:42,880
know what characters are. The problem

1625
01:05:42,880 --> 01:05:44,400
writing drama is when we sit down to

1626
01:05:44,400 --> 01:05:46,559
write, we kind of forget it. It's just

1627
01:05:46,559 --> 01:05:48,160
like politicians. You talk to

1628
01:05:48,160 --> 01:05:49,920
politicians, right? They're all what

1629
01:05:49,920 --> 01:05:50,960
they are, right? None of them are very

1630
01:05:50,960 --> 01:05:52,319
damn good. They're all a bunch of lying

1631
01:05:52,319 --> 01:05:55,039
[ __ ] We know that. But in person,

1632
01:05:55,039 --> 01:05:57,359
some of them are kind of interesting. if

1633
01:05:57,359 --> 01:05:59,280
once in a while they let down their

1634
01:05:59,280 --> 01:06:01,839
guard because they're crooks, right? And

1635
01:06:01,839 --> 01:06:04,000
crooks are interesting people and they

1636
01:06:04,000 --> 01:06:05,599
have great stories that they tell and

1637
01:06:05,599 --> 01:06:07,280
they love to tell stories to each other

1638
01:06:07,280 --> 01:06:09,200
and my god, what happened in that

1639
01:06:09,200 --> 01:06:11,760
election? Wibbity bobby boo. Interesting

1640
01:06:11,760 --> 01:06:13,920
people, but they put on their politician

1641
01:06:13,920 --> 01:06:16,480
hat and all of a sudden they forget a

1642
01:06:16,480 --> 01:06:18,319
that they're people and b that they're

1643
01:06:18,319 --> 01:06:20,000
talking to people and they start

1644
01:06:20,000 --> 01:06:22,079
speaking like a politician in this

1645
01:06:22,079 --> 01:06:25,280
cadence. we must and we shall and the

1646
01:06:25,280 --> 01:06:28,319
American people this and my who cares,

1647
01:06:28,319 --> 01:06:30,799
you know, it's recognizable as political

1648
01:06:30,799 --> 01:06:33,039
talk, but they forgot that they're just

1649
01:06:33,039 --> 01:06:34,880
people and they're just talking to

1650
01:06:34,880 --> 01:06:36,400
people.

1651
01:06:36,400 --> 01:06:38,079
So, we're just we're just all stuck in

1652
01:06:38,079 --> 01:06:40,400
the elevator here. At some point,

1653
01:06:40,400 --> 01:06:41,839
somebody in the elevator say, "Well,

1654
01:06:41,839 --> 01:06:42,960
what are you going to be here for?"

1655
01:06:42,960 --> 01:06:44,640
Like, I don't know, it's going to be an

1656
01:06:44,640 --> 01:06:45,920
hour. They said it's going to be an hour

1657
01:06:45,920 --> 01:06:47,920
anyway. You know, this reminds me of the

1658
01:06:47,920 --> 01:06:50,400
time. And that person will start telling

1659
01:06:50,400 --> 01:06:52,559
a story which is all that I've been

1660
01:06:52,559 --> 01:06:54,240
doing

1661
01:06:54,240 --> 01:06:55,680
in my life and all I've been doing up

1662
01:06:55,680 --> 01:07:00,039
here and you can do it too.

1663
01:07:03,599 --> 01:07:05,839
Actors used to talk a lot about when I

1664
01:07:05,839 --> 01:07:08,000
went to other people's rehearsals where

1665
01:07:08,000 --> 01:07:09,839
such a character would have gone to

1666
01:07:09,839 --> 01:07:12,559
school, right? Or what was their

1667
01:07:12,559 --> 01:07:14,880
favorite kind of car or blah blah blah

1668
01:07:14,880 --> 01:07:16,799
blah. It's a good It's a wonderful tool

1669
01:07:16,799 --> 01:07:18,640
because it keeps them from rehearsing

1670
01:07:18,640 --> 01:07:21,119
because what does rehearsing mean? You

1671
01:07:21,119 --> 01:07:22,720
if you want to be good, how do you start

1672
01:07:22,720 --> 01:07:26,480
out by being bad, right? If you if if

1673
01:07:26,480 --> 01:07:27,599
you were good at the beginning, you

1674
01:07:27,599 --> 01:07:29,359
wouldn't have to rehearse. So the

1675
01:07:29,359 --> 01:07:31,680
actors, like any other human being, want

1676
01:07:31,680 --> 01:07:34,559
to put off the pain of being bad. So the

1677
01:07:34,559 --> 01:07:36,880
way they put it off is by talking

1678
01:07:36,880 --> 01:07:38,880
garbage to each other, sitting around

1679
01:07:38,880 --> 01:07:41,119
used to be smoking cigarettes, right now

1680
01:07:41,119 --> 01:07:42,720
it's like drinking kelp or whatever the

1681
01:07:42,720 --> 01:07:44,720
hell they do. and then four weeks later

1682
01:07:44,720 --> 01:07:45,839
saying, "Oh my god, let's learn the

1683
01:07:45,839 --> 01:07:47,119
lines and get up there and stumble

1684
01:07:47,119 --> 01:07:48,799
around." I mean, everybody has his or

1685
01:07:48,799 --> 01:07:51,599
her own way and probably they're as

1686
01:07:51,599 --> 01:07:54,000
self-delusive as I am. I mean, cuz they

1687
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:54,960
don't know what the hell they're doing

1688
01:07:54,960 --> 01:07:56,160
and I don't know what the hell I'm

1689
01:07:56,160 --> 01:07:57,839
doing. So, we're making up a story to

1690
01:07:57,839 --> 01:07:59,520
explain ourselves to you what we

1691
01:07:59,520 --> 01:08:01,440
couldn't explain otherwise. It's like an

1692
01:08:01,440 --> 01:08:03,280
actor, you know, you see all the time

1693
01:08:03,280 --> 01:08:04,559
the actors say, you know, I played a

1694
01:08:04,559 --> 01:08:06,400
waitress and I went and worked in a

1695
01:08:06,400 --> 01:08:09,440
greasy spoon for 6 weeks. That may mean

1696
01:08:09,440 --> 01:08:12,960
that she maybe read the script, right?

1697
01:08:12,960 --> 01:08:16,080
You don't pay actors to do research and

1698
01:08:16,080 --> 01:08:17,359
they don't have to do research. They

1699
01:08:17,359 --> 01:08:19,759
have to show up and act. If they can act

1700
01:08:19,759 --> 01:08:21,359
and you give them a waitress outfit and

1701
01:08:21,359 --> 01:08:23,040
they got a good scene, why would they

1702
01:08:23,040 --> 01:08:27,040
have to dish hash for 6 weeks? It's it's

1703
01:08:27,040 --> 01:08:28,640
beside the point. It's not going to

1704
01:08:28,640 --> 01:08:33,359
influence the the uh the performance.

1705
01:08:33,359 --> 01:08:35,359
So for me anyway to sit down and say

1706
01:08:35,359 --> 01:08:37,120
what kind of shoes he wore, it might be

1707
01:08:37,120 --> 01:08:40,159
a good way to pass the time so that I

1708
01:08:40,159 --> 01:08:41,600
don't have to actually write the silly

1709
01:08:41,600 --> 01:08:44,600
thing.

1710
01:08:47,920 --> 01:08:49,520
I just cleaned up this house in Vermont

1711
01:08:49,520 --> 01:08:51,199
I've been living at for 40 years off and

1712
01:08:51,199 --> 01:08:52,960
on. It's old farmhouse. And I look at

1713
01:08:52,960 --> 01:08:55,199
the changes that I went through and the

1714
01:08:55,199 --> 01:08:57,440
stuff that I accumulated and the things

1715
01:08:57,440 --> 01:08:59,839
that I said and did. And there's an

1716
01:08:59,839 --> 01:09:02,560
incredible mixture of grief at the

1717
01:09:02,560 --> 01:09:05,279
passage of time which seems to pass,

1718
01:09:05,279 --> 01:09:08,319
right? And gratitude that I got to do

1719
01:09:08,319 --> 01:09:10,400
all the stuff that I used to do and

1720
01:09:10,400 --> 01:09:12,719
regret of the stuff that I did badly or

1721
01:09:12,719 --> 01:09:15,679
didn't didn't do. It's kind of it was

1722
01:09:15,679 --> 01:09:17,359
overwhelming. So it's not that I needed

1723
01:09:17,359 --> 01:09:19,839
to change, I did change, right? Just

1724
01:09:19,839 --> 01:09:21,759
like you and I do during the day or over

1725
01:09:21,759 --> 01:09:24,560
the course of a life. Okay? So it's not

1726
01:09:24,560 --> 01:09:26,319
that you have to make the character

1727
01:09:26,319 --> 01:09:28,719
change. That's that's manipulative. So

1728
01:09:28,719 --> 01:09:30,960
to manipulate the character is an

1729
01:09:30,960 --> 01:09:33,600
attempt to manipulate the audience. So I

1730
01:09:33,600 --> 01:09:34,960
say I would never manipulate the

1731
01:09:34,960 --> 01:09:36,960
audience.

1732
01:09:36,960 --> 01:09:38,960
I mean I learned a lot from the

1733
01:09:38,960 --> 01:09:41,120
audience. I like the audience. I love

1734
01:09:41,120 --> 01:09:42,319
working with the audience. They pay my

1735
01:09:42,319 --> 01:09:46,679
rent. I'm not going to manipulate them.

1736
01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:01,280
Plot is all that there is.

1737
01:10:01,280 --> 01:10:05,120
And that's all that there is. And

1738
01:10:05,120 --> 01:10:08,880
as I say, the perfect example is

1739
01:10:08,880 --> 01:10:11,920
the the joke, right? There's nothing in

1740
01:10:11,920 --> 01:10:14,159
the joke that does not tend toward the

1741
01:10:14,159 --> 01:10:16,400
punchline. Anything in the joke that

1742
01:10:16,400 --> 01:10:18,960
does not tend toward the punchline kills

1743
01:10:18,960 --> 01:10:21,040
the joke. And if you talk to comedy

1744
01:10:21,040 --> 01:10:23,760
writers in LA, what they have a saying

1745
01:10:23,760 --> 01:10:25,120
among themselves, what do you do all

1746
01:10:25,120 --> 01:10:26,960
week? Well, I'm I'm in there shaving

1747
01:10:26,960 --> 01:10:28,960
syllables,

1748
01:10:28,960 --> 01:10:30,480
right? They're taking out extra

1749
01:10:30,480 --> 01:10:32,560
syllables so we could I wanted to tell a

1750
01:10:32,560 --> 01:10:34,480
joke, but all the jokes I know are

1751
01:10:34,480 --> 01:10:36,159
filthy. So, I got to think if I think if

1752
01:10:36,159 --> 01:10:38,239
I can come up with a joke that's e

1753
01:10:38,239 --> 01:10:39,679
either clean enough to tell to the

1754
01:10:39,679 --> 01:10:41,679
camera without breaking the camera or

1755
01:10:41,679 --> 01:10:43,600
insufficiently Jewish so that it might

1756
01:10:43,600 --> 01:10:48,239
uh uh uh resound to a uh uh the benefit

1757
01:10:48,239 --> 01:10:51,280
of a a wider audience. Tick- tock, tick-

1758
01:10:51,280 --> 01:10:53,440
tock, tick tock. This is this is me

1759
01:10:53,440 --> 01:10:55,040
thinking

1760
01:10:55,040 --> 01:10:57,520
a guy is marooned on a desert island

1761
01:10:57,520 --> 01:11:01,840
with let us say Jessica Chastain. Okay?

1762
01:11:01,840 --> 01:11:03,360
And they're there for months and months.

1763
01:11:03,360 --> 01:11:05,199
a guy named Jessica Chastain. They

1764
01:11:05,199 --> 01:11:06,480
become very good friends. They know

1765
01:11:06,480 --> 01:11:07,440
they're going to be there for years.

1766
01:11:07,440 --> 01:11:09,840
They become intimate, right? After a

1767
01:11:09,840 --> 01:11:11,600
while, he gets up one morning. He says,

1768
01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:13,760
"Uh, Jessica,

1769
01:11:13,760 --> 01:11:16,159
would you do me a favor?" He said, "Uh,

1770
01:11:16,159 --> 01:11:19,520
would you put on my clothes?"

1771
01:11:19,520 --> 01:11:21,280
So, she says, "Okay." He says, he said,

1772
01:11:21,280 --> 01:11:22,560
"I'm going to take a little bit of burnt

1773
01:11:22,560 --> 01:11:24,239
cork from the the fire and kind of

1774
01:11:24,239 --> 01:11:27,040
stipple in a beard on you. Would you do

1775
01:11:27,040 --> 01:11:28,400
that?" She says, "Yeah, sure." He said,

1776
01:11:28,400 --> 01:11:30,000
"You mind walking down the beach with

1777
01:11:30,000 --> 01:11:31,600
me?" He says, "So they're walking down

1778
01:11:31,600 --> 01:11:33,920
the beach and he says at one point

1779
01:11:33,920 --> 01:11:36,400
they're walking, he says, "Uh, I'm

1780
01:11:36,400 --> 01:11:40,440
sleeping with Jessica Chastain."

1781
01:11:42,640 --> 01:11:45,360
So

1782
01:11:45,360 --> 01:11:47,360
everything in the joke tends toward the

1783
01:11:47,360 --> 01:11:49,679
punchline, right? It's a guy. That's all

1784
01:11:49,679 --> 01:11:52,239
we have to know, right? It doesn't a

1785
01:11:52,239 --> 01:11:54,960
banker, a football player, a movie. It

1786
01:11:54,960 --> 01:11:56,960
doesn't make any difference. A desert

1787
01:11:56,960 --> 01:12:00,480
island. We get it. It's a desert island.

1788
01:12:00,480 --> 01:12:02,480
Right. They're there for a long time. We

1789
01:12:02,480 --> 01:12:05,600
get it. We can put in as an amateur was

1790
01:12:05,600 --> 01:12:09,040
he he bl he he brings her a rose and she

1791
01:12:09,040 --> 01:12:10,960
who cares? We're all Everything tends

1792
01:12:10,960 --> 01:12:13,360
toward the punchline. Just that's what a

1793
01:12:13,360 --> 01:12:15,360
plot is. If it doesn't tend toward the

1794
01:12:15,360 --> 01:12:19,719
punchline, take it out.

1795
01:12:23,520 --> 01:12:26,000
There are a lot of um plays that have a

1796
01:12:26,000 --> 01:12:29,199
title of a present participle being,

1797
01:12:29,199 --> 01:12:32,159
going, achieving, feeling, blah blah

1798
01:12:32,159 --> 01:12:33,920
blah. Present participle is an ongoing

1799
01:12:33,920 --> 01:12:36,560
action, right? Something that makes a

1800
01:12:36,560 --> 01:12:38,800
terrible play, right? It's a except for

1801
01:12:38,800 --> 01:12:40,640
being there. It's a dead giveaway that

1802
01:12:40,640 --> 01:12:41,920
you you're looking at something where

1803
01:12:41,920 --> 01:12:44,400
the a writer hasn't quite thought

1804
01:12:44,400 --> 01:12:46,000
enough. A play has to have a

1805
01:12:46,000 --> 01:12:48,239
precipitating event before which the

1806
01:12:48,239 --> 01:12:51,440
play didn't exist.

1807
01:12:51,440 --> 01:12:54,960
And the prec precipitating event has to

1808
01:12:54,960 --> 01:12:58,080
inspire the hero on a goal, a journey

1809
01:12:58,080 --> 01:13:00,800
that has a specific end at the end of

1810
01:13:00,800 --> 01:13:02,239
which the question which is raised at

1811
01:13:02,239 --> 01:13:04,239
the beginning is answered either in the

1812
01:13:04,239 --> 01:13:06,560
positive or the negative. A sristotle

1813
01:13:06,560 --> 01:13:08,640
says edypus says I want to find out the

1814
01:13:08,640 --> 01:13:10,560
cause of the plague on thieves. He's

1815
01:13:10,560 --> 01:13:11,920
becomes king. He wants to that's the

1816
01:13:11,920 --> 01:13:13,920
precipitating event. I want to find out

1817
01:13:13,920 --> 01:13:15,360
the cause of the plague on thieves. At

1818
01:13:15,360 --> 01:13:16,880
the end he finds out he's the cause the

1819
01:13:16,880 --> 01:13:18,960
play's over. Right? We've stated a

1820
01:13:18,960 --> 01:13:21,040
proposition and we've solved it.

1821
01:13:21,040 --> 01:13:24,320
Anything which is not on that line

1822
01:13:24,320 --> 01:13:28,199
has to be thrown out.

1823
01:13:31,920 --> 01:13:33,520
The second act problem is we talked

1824
01:13:33,520 --> 01:13:35,120
about the swamp and the alligators,

1825
01:13:35,120 --> 01:13:37,679
right? It's hard to drain the swamp when

1826
01:13:37,679 --> 01:13:39,840
you're up to your tushy and alligators.

1827
01:13:39,840 --> 01:13:41,520
So the second act is you know where

1828
01:13:41,520 --> 01:13:42,880
you're going and then all of a sudden

1829
01:13:42,880 --> 01:13:47,440
you get lost. You say like um

1830
01:13:47,440 --> 01:13:49,600
uh what you call it Dante says walking

1831
01:13:49,600 --> 01:13:51,280
in in the middle of my life. I found

1832
01:13:51,280 --> 01:13:54,159
myself lost in the middle of a dark wood

1833
01:13:54,159 --> 01:13:56,239
because I I' I'd lost track of the

1834
01:13:56,239 --> 01:13:58,960
direct path. So that's what happens in

1835
01:13:58,960 --> 01:14:00,719
the middle of your life. That's called a

1836
01:14:00,719 --> 01:14:02,400
midlife crisis. So you get old enough

1837
01:14:02,400 --> 01:14:03,840
you realize it's an ongoing thing. It's

1838
01:14:03,840 --> 01:14:06,320
called life, right? So we're constantly

1839
01:14:06,320 --> 01:14:07,920
saying, "Wait a second. I knew what I

1840
01:14:07,920 --> 01:14:09,840
was going to do, right? I wanted to have

1841
01:14:09,840 --> 01:14:11,280
a girlfriend, have a wife, have a

1842
01:14:11,280 --> 01:14:13,520
boyfriend, have kids, get married, blah

1843
01:14:13,520 --> 01:14:15,040
blah blah." Now wait a second. All the

1844
01:14:15,040 --> 01:14:17,600
kids grew up and the dog died.

1845
01:14:17,600 --> 01:14:20,560
Now what? I've forgotten what I was

1846
01:14:20,560 --> 01:14:23,199
about what I set out to do. I'm

1847
01:14:23,199 --> 01:14:25,520
complete. Lord help me. I'm lost. And

1848
01:14:25,520 --> 01:14:27,760
there's a very good book of funny little

1849
01:14:27,760 --> 01:14:29,440
sayings written on this. It's called the

1850
01:14:29,440 --> 01:14:31,520
Psalms, right? So if you read the

1851
01:14:31,520 --> 01:14:33,920
Psalms, you know there's written by King

1852
01:14:33,920 --> 01:14:36,159
David. And there this guy who just says,

1853
01:14:36,159 --> 01:14:38,800
"Lord, help me. I'm I'm lost. I need

1854
01:14:38,800 --> 01:14:42,320
some help here right now. I don't know

1855
01:14:42,320 --> 01:14:44,640
anything. I don't know why I'm here.

1856
01:14:44,640 --> 01:14:46,080
I've forgotten what I was supposed to

1857
01:14:46,080 --> 01:14:48,800
do. I forgotten why I took those oaths.

1858
01:14:48,800 --> 01:14:51,199
I don't trust I don't trust anything in

1859
01:14:51,199 --> 01:14:55,040
the world. I got nothing left but you.

1860
01:14:55,040 --> 01:14:58,800
There's an interesting phenomenon

1861
01:14:58,800 --> 01:15:02,159
of it has to do with confession and uh

1862
01:15:02,159 --> 01:15:05,520
the uh I'm a Jew and the Jews confess uh

1863
01:15:05,520 --> 01:15:06,719
well, you know, you should talk to God

1864
01:15:06,719 --> 01:15:08,960
every day. It's a good idea, right? It's

1865
01:15:08,960 --> 01:15:10,960
good to know somebody's listening, you

1866
01:15:10,960 --> 01:15:13,040
know, especially if you got kids. But,

1867
01:15:13,040 --> 01:15:15,280
uh, there's a Yam Kapor is the Jewish

1868
01:15:15,280 --> 01:15:18,239
day of atonement and confession. And

1869
01:15:18,239 --> 01:15:20,320
you, uh, do this service several times,

1870
01:15:20,320 --> 01:15:23,040
and about 5/8s of the way through the

1871
01:15:23,040 --> 01:15:26,560
service comes a confession. You stop

1872
01:15:26,560 --> 01:15:28,080
everything. You get to the point of the

1873
01:15:28,080 --> 01:15:31,520
confession. I confess all my sins before

1874
01:15:31,520 --> 01:15:35,199
God. I I let them out. Curiously, in

1875
01:15:35,199 --> 01:15:37,120
every movie,

1876
01:15:37,120 --> 01:15:38,960
not so much in plays, in every movies,

1877
01:15:38,960 --> 01:15:41,199
about 5/8 of the way or 3/4 of the way

1878
01:15:41,199 --> 01:15:44,719
through, there's a confessional.

1879
01:15:44,719 --> 01:15:46,960
And the confessional usually takes the

1880
01:15:46,960 --> 01:15:51,120
point takes the form of the death of my

1881
01:15:51,120 --> 01:15:52,719
kitten.

1882
01:15:52,719 --> 01:15:54,400
Right?

1883
01:15:54,400 --> 01:15:55,920
Two, three, threequarters of the way

1884
01:15:55,920 --> 01:15:58,640
through, somebody's saying, in fact, I

1885
01:15:58,640 --> 01:16:01,280
don't know why I'm telling you all this,

1886
01:16:01,280 --> 01:16:03,600
right? When I was young, I had a kitten

1887
01:16:03,600 --> 01:16:05,760
or my mother never really loved me. It's

1888
01:16:05,760 --> 01:16:07,840
a confessional. And sometimes the

1889
01:16:07,840 --> 01:16:10,159
confessional takes the form of a

1890
01:16:10,159 --> 01:16:13,440
montage. Curiously, rather than saying

1891
01:16:13,440 --> 01:16:15,280
being a verbal confession, I'm going to

1892
01:16:15,280 --> 01:16:17,199
throw a bunch of images up on the

1893
01:16:17,199 --> 01:16:20,400
screen, which more or less reflect what

1894
01:16:20,400 --> 01:16:22,159
I think is more or less the state of the

1895
01:16:22,159 --> 01:16:23,760
hero at this because I don't know how to

1896
01:16:23,760 --> 01:16:27,840
go on. You can't go on to the end. You

1897
01:16:27,840 --> 01:16:29,520
can't go on to the end of the yam kipur

1898
01:16:29,520 --> 01:16:31,840
service until you've divested yourself

1899
01:16:31,840 --> 01:16:34,560
by means of confession. So the second

1900
01:16:34,560 --> 01:16:38,320
act ends just as does the yum kipur

1901
01:16:38,320 --> 01:16:40,560
service and just as it does in the death

1902
01:16:40,560 --> 01:16:42,960
of my kitten speech. The second act of

1903
01:16:42,960 --> 01:16:44,400
the play ends with a certain

1904
01:16:44,400 --> 01:16:47,440
confessional. And the confession is Lord

1905
01:16:47,440 --> 01:16:50,800
help me. I've I've lost my faith. I

1906
01:16:50,800 --> 01:16:53,199
don't know what in the world I'm doing.

1907
01:16:53,199 --> 01:16:55,679
And only at that point when the 12step

1908
01:16:55,679 --> 01:16:57,840
program they call it hitting bottom only

1909
01:16:57,840 --> 01:16:59,520
until and the thing is about hitting

1910
01:16:59,520 --> 01:17:01,040
bottom those of us who have the

1911
01:17:01,040 --> 01:17:02,719
privilege if you wonder whether you've

1912
01:17:02,719 --> 01:17:05,280
hit bottom or not you haven't right but

1913
01:17:05,280 --> 01:17:07,199
when you have right you don't got to

1914
01:17:07,199 --> 01:17:10,320
wonder about it and so at that point you

1915
01:17:10,320 --> 01:17:13,840
have the capacity only then to face the

1916
01:17:13,840 --> 01:17:16,480
third act to be reinvigorated for the

1917
01:17:16,480 --> 01:17:18,719
struggle because now for the first time

1918
01:17:18,719 --> 01:17:21,440
you understand the struggle

1919
01:17:21,440 --> 01:17:23,520
and that's that's the second act is lost

1920
01:17:23,520 --> 01:17:25,520
in a swamp. The second act ends with a

1921
01:17:25,520 --> 01:17:27,840
confessional and then the hero the

1922
01:17:27,840 --> 01:17:31,040
heroine is energized or inspired to

1923
01:17:31,040 --> 01:17:33,600
continue the continue the quest. And

1924
01:17:33,600 --> 01:17:35,120
also you see it in all religious

1925
01:17:35,120 --> 01:17:36,560
stories, right? It's Jesus and

1926
01:17:36,560 --> 01:17:39,760
Gethsemane, right? Or it's Moses

1927
01:17:39,760 --> 01:17:41,600
pleading throughout the five books of

1928
01:17:41,600 --> 01:17:44,080
Moses, I can't do it anymore. I can't I

1929
01:17:44,080 --> 01:17:45,840
just can't go on. You got to give me an

1930
01:17:45,840 --> 01:17:49,199
out. And every hero journey contains

1931
01:17:49,199 --> 01:17:51,440
this confession. And there's a very good

1932
01:17:51,440 --> 01:17:53,280
book on the subject all you guys would

1933
01:17:53,280 --> 01:17:55,040
get a kick out of. It's called the hero

1934
01:17:55,040 --> 01:17:57,440
with a thousand faces and it's by Joseph

1935
01:17:57,440 --> 01:18:00,239
Campbell and it's a study of world myth

1936
01:18:00,239 --> 01:18:04,000
of the hero myth uh Moses Jesus uh

1937
01:18:04,000 --> 01:18:08,080
Buddha Superman uh that he says every

1938
01:18:08,080 --> 01:18:10,159
hero myth every hero myth heroine myth

1939
01:18:10,159 --> 01:18:12,640
is the same myth goes through the same

1940
01:18:12,640 --> 01:18:15,199
stories because that's how we perceive

1941
01:18:15,199 --> 01:18:18,239
the hero myth right that the hero myth

1942
01:18:18,239 --> 01:18:21,840
doesn't exist as a creation it it it ex

1943
01:18:21,840 --> 01:18:24,239
it exists as an expression of our

1944
01:18:24,239 --> 01:18:28,040
understanding of life.

1945
01:18:31,600 --> 01:18:34,000
There's an old theatrical phrase which

1946
01:18:34,000 --> 01:18:35,840
is that anybody can write a good first

1947
01:18:35,840 --> 01:18:38,960
act which of course I think it's it's it

1948
01:18:38,960 --> 01:18:40,239
there's some truth in it because you're

1949
01:18:40,239 --> 01:18:43,360
setting up an interesting problem,

1950
01:18:43,360 --> 01:18:44,800
right? The question is how you figure

1951
01:18:44,800 --> 01:18:47,440
your way out of it. There was a very

1952
01:18:47,440 --> 01:18:49,520
good movie. I don't mean to malign the

1953
01:18:49,520 --> 01:18:51,199
work of of my colleagues. I'm not going

1954
01:18:51,199 --> 01:18:52,560
to malign. I'm just going to comment on

1955
01:18:52,560 --> 01:18:57,120
it because because and it was called

1956
01:18:57,120 --> 01:19:00,480
Arrival and it was about these aliens

1957
01:19:00,480 --> 01:19:02,640
who come they want to communicate with

1958
01:19:02,640 --> 01:19:04,400
us. Great story, great a couple of great

1959
01:19:04,400 --> 01:19:06,480
actors and so these guys they want to

1960
01:19:06,480 --> 01:19:07,840
communicate with the aliens who of

1961
01:19:07,840 --> 01:19:10,000
course are octopuses, right? So the

1962
01:19:10,000 --> 01:19:12,080
aliens are these octopuses. Great story,

1963
01:19:12,080 --> 01:19:15,760
great setup but the question is how they

1964
01:19:15,760 --> 01:19:18,560
communicate with the octopuses

1965
01:19:18,560 --> 01:19:21,360
and they gloss over it. They say, "Oh,

1966
01:19:21,360 --> 01:19:24,159
Amy Adams somehow made a graph and she

1967
01:19:24,159 --> 01:19:25,360
saw the blah blah blah and that's how

1968
01:19:25,360 --> 01:19:28,159
she learned to commun to speak octopus."

1969
01:19:28,159 --> 01:19:30,480
And so then the problem is that China

1970
01:19:30,480 --> 01:19:34,000
somehow those bad bad Chinese

1971
01:19:34,000 --> 01:19:36,960
want to blow up the octopuses because

1972
01:19:36,960 --> 01:19:39,199
they distrust their motives. So the

1973
01:19:39,199 --> 01:19:42,320
problem is to get some I don't I can't

1974
01:19:42,320 --> 01:19:44,000
remember what the problem was. The

1975
01:19:44,000 --> 01:19:46,960
reason I can't remember was that they

1976
01:19:46,960 --> 01:19:49,280
skipped over the real problem to my

1977
01:19:49,280 --> 01:19:50,880
mind. I mean, it was a good movie. I

1978
01:19:50,880 --> 01:19:52,880
enjoyed every minute of it. But I I go

1979
01:19:52,880 --> 01:19:54,400
back and my great friend Shell

1980
01:19:54,400 --> 01:19:57,199
Silverstein was a

1981
01:19:57,199 --> 01:19:59,199
wrote children's books and country

1982
01:19:59,199 --> 01:20:01,520
songs, was a genius cartoonist, and we

1983
01:20:01,520 --> 01:20:03,199
used to call each other up and fix

1984
01:20:03,199 --> 01:20:05,280
jokes. We say, "I heard this joke. It

1985
01:20:05,280 --> 01:20:07,199
almost works. What's what's wrong with

1986
01:20:07,199 --> 01:20:09,280
it?" Because we've shared the idea that

1987
01:20:09,280 --> 01:20:11,760
the joke exists in some ethereal

1988
01:20:11,760 --> 01:20:13,840
existence, whether or not we tell it,

1989
01:20:13,840 --> 01:20:15,600
whether or not we hear it, that it's our

1990
01:20:15,600 --> 01:20:18,560
responsibility to fix it.

1991
01:20:18,560 --> 01:20:20,320
And so I'm looking at this movie and

1992
01:20:20,320 --> 01:20:22,080
thinking, okay, why why can I not

1993
01:20:22,080 --> 01:20:24,080
remember what the real problem was at

1994
01:20:24,080 --> 01:20:25,199
the end? Because it's not the real

1995
01:20:25,199 --> 01:20:28,719
problem. What is the real problem?

1996
01:20:28,719 --> 01:20:30,719
It's how to speak octopus. That's the

1997
01:20:30,719 --> 01:20:33,840
real problem, right? Because and I

1998
01:20:33,840 --> 01:20:35,280
think, well, if I were going to re It's

1999
01:20:35,280 --> 01:20:37,280
always easier to rewrite somebody else's

2000
01:20:37,280 --> 01:20:39,040
movie, but I'm thinking if I'm writing

2001
01:20:39,040 --> 01:20:41,600
that movie, I'm going to come up against

2002
01:20:41,600 --> 01:20:44,400
that problem. I'm going to have to stop.

2003
01:20:44,400 --> 01:20:47,199
I'm going to say, "Wait a second. I

2004
01:20:47,199 --> 01:20:50,400
don't know the answer. Right. So, the

2005
01:20:50,400 --> 01:20:52,480
first act is I got to get onto the ship

2006
01:20:52,480 --> 01:20:54,560
and I establish a relationship. I figure

2007
01:20:54,560 --> 01:20:56,320
out they're not going to kill me. Now,

2008
01:20:56,320 --> 01:20:58,239
they're doing something that might be

2009
01:20:58,239 --> 01:21:00,719
speech. So, what's the second act? I'm

2010
01:21:00,719 --> 01:21:02,320
lost.

2011
01:21:02,320 --> 01:21:03,760
They're trying to tell me something.

2012
01:21:03,760 --> 01:21:06,159
They came here from the planet Mugaban,

2013
01:21:06,159 --> 01:21:08,239
right? I know they're trying to tell me

2014
01:21:08,239 --> 01:21:09,679
something because not trying to kill me.

2015
01:21:09,679 --> 01:21:12,080
They're making these symbols. I don't

2016
01:21:12,080 --> 01:21:14,080
know how to talk to them. So, that's the

2017
01:21:14,080 --> 01:21:16,640
problem of the second act. It's the

2018
01:21:16,640 --> 01:21:18,480
problem that's so insurmountable that

2019
01:21:18,480 --> 01:21:20,640
the dramatist doesn't know how to fix

2020
01:21:20,640 --> 01:21:23,120
it. So the dramatist is going to have to

2021
01:21:23,120 --> 01:21:25,760
sit down and think and think and think.

2022
01:21:25,760 --> 01:21:27,679
So what happens curiously is then the

2023
01:21:27,679 --> 01:21:30,080
dramatist is in the same position as Amy

2024
01:21:30,080 --> 01:21:32,400
Adams.

2025
01:21:32,400 --> 01:21:34,880
She doesn't know and he doesn't know and

2026
01:21:34,880 --> 01:21:37,920
the audience doesn't know. So this so

2027
01:21:37,920 --> 01:21:40,880
the surprising solution which thus into

2028
01:21:40,880 --> 01:21:43,679
the third act won't come until that

2029
01:21:43,679 --> 01:21:45,760
problem is solved. However much you'd

2030
01:21:45,760 --> 01:21:47,679
want to have a different problem, that's

2031
01:21:47,679 --> 01:21:49,760
the problem you've got. As a lot of us

2032
01:21:49,760 --> 01:21:51,440
say, you know, the troubles which are

2033
01:21:51,440 --> 01:21:53,360
true to life, you know, Lord, you know,

2034
01:21:53,360 --> 01:21:57,040
any any test you want except this,

2035
01:21:57,040 --> 01:21:59,440
right? Just not not this anything else,

2036
01:21:59,440 --> 01:22:01,440
just not this one. But that's of course

2037
01:22:01,440 --> 01:22:03,440
always the test that we get. So these

2038
01:22:03,440 --> 01:22:06,080
guys write a great first act. The

2039
01:22:06,080 --> 01:22:08,639
octopuses show up. We get we get onto

2040
01:22:08,639 --> 01:22:10,320
their ship. They're making these

2041
01:22:10,320 --> 01:22:11,600
symbols. They're trying to tell us

2042
01:22:11,600 --> 01:22:13,600
something. The second act, I don't know

2043
01:22:13,600 --> 01:22:16,400
what they're trying to say. So, you can

2044
01:22:16,400 --> 01:22:19,520
go, now I can speak octopus, or you can

2045
01:22:19,520 --> 01:22:22,080
face it head on, but that's going to be

2046
01:22:22,080 --> 01:22:26,440
icky. It ain't going to be fun.

2047
01:22:29,840 --> 01:22:34,800
This is something that really can't be

2048
01:22:34,800 --> 01:22:36,960
taught, but must be learned. And so,

2049
01:22:36,960 --> 01:22:39,440
what I'd like to encourage uh the the

2050
01:22:39,440 --> 01:22:41,120
viewers and listeners to do is teach

2051
01:22:41,120 --> 01:22:42,880
yourself. You have to teach yourself.

2052
01:22:42,880 --> 01:22:44,960
There's nobody who can teach you. And if

2053
01:22:44,960 --> 01:22:46,239
there's anything that I could do to

2054
01:22:46,239 --> 01:22:47,520
teach you, it's not in what I'm going to

2055
01:22:47,520 --> 01:22:50,000
say, but what what I wrote. Because when

2056
01:22:50,000 --> 01:22:51,520
you get to the point where you can look

2057
01:22:51,520 --> 01:22:54,320
at something and say, "Oh, I get it. I

2058
01:22:54,320 --> 01:22:56,639
see what he or she is doing here. I

2059
01:22:56,639 --> 01:22:58,639
understand." Then you're on the track of

2060
01:22:58,639 --> 01:23:00,480
learning to write a plot. You have to

2061
01:23:00,480 --> 01:23:02,800
learn how to write a plot for every new

2062
01:23:02,800 --> 01:23:05,280
play

2063
01:23:05,280 --> 01:23:06,400
because you have to figure out what the

2064
01:23:06,400 --> 01:23:08,320
play's about, why it starts where it

2065
01:23:08,320 --> 01:23:09,920
starts, where why it finishes where it

2066
01:23:09,920 --> 01:23:11,679
finishes. And you might be wrong. You

2067
01:23:11,679 --> 01:23:12,800
might write the whole thing through and

2068
01:23:12,800 --> 01:23:14,000
say, "Wait a second. This is not what

2069
01:23:14,000 --> 01:23:16,800
this play is about. Let me start again."

2070
01:23:16,800 --> 01:23:19,120
But I I was talking to a woodworker once

2071
01:23:19,120 --> 01:23:20,880
about some staircase he was going to

2072
01:23:20,880 --> 01:23:23,440
rebuild. And it was very very complex

2073
01:23:23,440 --> 01:23:27,040
and very complex uh curves and recurves.

2074
01:23:27,040 --> 01:23:28,480
And I said, "How do you do that?" And he

2075
01:23:28,480 --> 01:23:30,560
said, "Well, when I can draw it, I can

2076
01:23:30,560 --> 01:23:33,280
build it." So when you can write the

2077
01:23:33,280 --> 01:23:36,239
plot on 15 lines on one sheet of paper,

2078
01:23:36,239 --> 01:23:37,600
you could then you can write the movie

2079
01:23:37,600 --> 01:23:41,000
or the play.

2080
01:23:44,800 --> 01:23:46,159
Sometimes you don't know what the story

2081
01:23:46,159 --> 01:23:48,719
is. You know, sometimes you you write

2082
01:23:48,719 --> 01:23:50,560
scenes and write scenes and write scenes

2083
01:23:50,560 --> 01:23:52,480
and you say, "Oh, I get it. If A, B, and

2084
01:23:52,480 --> 01:23:54,480
C and I got these scenes, maybe there's

2085
01:23:54,480 --> 01:23:56,960
a story involved." Like everybody when

2086
01:23:56,960 --> 01:23:58,159
they start off, if they find out they

2087
01:23:58,159 --> 01:24:00,560
can write, they're going to write a

2088
01:24:00,560 --> 01:24:02,960
bunch of episodic plays which are

2089
01:24:02,960 --> 01:24:06,159
basically an epic, right? Oh, the couple

2090
01:24:06,159 --> 01:24:07,440
doesn't get along in scene one. know

2091
01:24:07,440 --> 01:24:08,960
they don't get along in scene two or

2092
01:24:08,960 --> 01:24:10,320
they kind of get along in scene three

2093
01:24:10,320 --> 01:24:13,520
bib. We've all written those plays but I

2094
01:24:13,520 --> 01:24:16,080
had a very uh wonderful experience. I

2095
01:24:16,080 --> 01:24:17,920
wrote a play when I was very young

2096
01:24:17,920 --> 01:24:20,159
called American Buffalo and we did it in

2097
01:24:20,159 --> 01:24:22,320
Chicago at uh the Goodman Theater and

2098
01:24:22,320 --> 01:24:24,000
the St. Nicholas Theater with Billy Macy

2099
01:24:24,000 --> 01:24:26,639
and we moved it off off off off off

2100
01:24:26,639 --> 01:24:28,719
Broadway to New York and this is a

2101
01:24:28,719 --> 01:24:31,280
wonderful director called Ulu Grossbard

2102
01:24:31,280 --> 01:24:33,600
who was a stage director and a film

2103
01:24:33,600 --> 01:24:35,199
director and he came and saw it and I

2104
01:24:35,199 --> 01:24:37,120
thought man this this plays cast

2105
01:24:37,120 --> 01:24:38,560
pajamas. Nobody ever wrote a play that

2106
01:24:38,560 --> 01:24:42,639
good and he said find the plot. He said

2107
01:24:42,639 --> 01:24:45,199
if you find the plot I'll put it on

2108
01:24:45,199 --> 01:24:47,760
Broadway. So I thought find the plot

2109
01:24:47,760 --> 01:24:50,239
man. I'm so good I don't need a plot.

2110
01:24:50,239 --> 01:24:52,639
Right. But then the next this then then

2111
01:24:52,639 --> 01:24:54,639
the next stage is to say, "Well, okay, I

2112
01:24:54,639 --> 01:24:56,800
better find the plot. I better

2113
01:24:56,800 --> 01:24:59,040
understand how to write a plot." And

2114
01:24:59,040 --> 01:25:00,960
writing a plot's one of the hardest

2115
01:25:00,960 --> 01:25:02,880
things I've ever learned how to do. It's

2116
01:25:02,880 --> 01:25:07,360
just hard cuz it's like

2117
01:25:07,360 --> 01:25:10,880
it's like playing with with with with

2118
01:25:10,880 --> 01:25:12,960
some unclean substance. And and it is

2119
01:25:12,960 --> 01:25:14,400
because the unclean substance is your

2120
01:25:14,400 --> 01:25:16,639
own consciousness. You say, "I've

2121
01:25:16,639 --> 01:25:18,560
created these marvelous characters. I'll

2122
01:25:18,560 --> 01:25:20,400
listen to them all day." Well, yeah, I

2123
01:25:20,400 --> 01:25:21,920
will cuz I wrote them, but the audience

2124
01:25:21,920 --> 01:25:25,679
won't. So, can you learn Can one learn

2125
01:25:25,679 --> 01:25:28,719
how to write a plot? Yes. And you have

2126
01:25:28,719 --> 01:25:31,520
to learn it again every play because

2127
01:25:31,520 --> 01:25:33,120
every play the plot is different. It's

2128
01:25:33,120 --> 01:25:36,480
hiding, right? If it were clear to

2129
01:25:36,480 --> 01:25:37,679
writing a play with, you know, if you

2130
01:25:37,679 --> 01:25:39,840
can write I mean, I can write an hour's

2131
01:25:39,840 --> 01:25:42,000
worth of dialogue in 26 minutes. That's

2132
01:25:42,000 --> 01:25:43,679
no, that's that's just a gift. Some

2133
01:25:43,679 --> 01:25:45,679
people can do it, some people can't. You

2134
01:25:45,679 --> 01:25:47,120
don't need to do it to write a play, but

2135
01:25:47,120 --> 01:25:50,480
I can. But to to craft a plot is actual

2136
01:25:50,480 --> 01:25:54,159
work and uh

2137
01:25:54,159 --> 01:25:56,639
it feels dreadful except when you you

2138
01:25:56,639 --> 01:26:00,600
finish you can be proud of yourself.

2139
01:26:06,320 --> 01:26:07,920
Can I say something about my outfit

2140
01:26:07,920 --> 01:26:10,000
because I love this outfit. I showed up

2141
01:26:10,000 --> 01:26:12,320
this morning in my usual street clothes

2142
01:26:12,320 --> 01:26:14,960
with I wife beater t-shirt. Okay. Cut

2143
01:26:14,960 --> 01:26:17,760
off jeans. All I've worn for 70 years,

2144
01:26:17,760 --> 01:26:20,400
flip flops and a motorcycle jacket. And

2145
01:26:20,400 --> 01:26:21,840
I thought that would be cool to let you

2146
01:26:21,840 --> 01:26:24,560
into how I actually look is also I take

2147
01:26:24,560 --> 01:26:26,480
off the motorcycle. My I'm covered in

2148
01:26:26,480 --> 01:26:30,000
tats. And my left arm is uh Admiral Dwey

2149
01:26:30,000 --> 01:26:33,120
at the Battle of Manila 1895. And my

2150
01:26:33,120 --> 01:26:34,800
right arm, and I think I'm the only guy

2151
01:26:34,800 --> 01:26:36,880
who has this, you tell me, is the final

2152
01:26:36,880 --> 01:26:39,840
scene from Kramer versus Kramer. And

2153
01:26:39,840 --> 01:26:41,360
then on my chest, I got the first

2154
01:26:41,360 --> 01:26:43,600
chapter of 50 Shades of Gray, but it's

2155
01:26:43,600 --> 01:26:46,000
reversed. So when the I can read it when

2156
01:26:46,000 --> 01:26:48,960
I'm shaving and on my back is Good Night

2157
01:26:48,960 --> 01:26:51,440
Moon. So when you I go to the gym, I do

2158
01:26:51,440 --> 01:26:52,719
a lot of weightlifting, a lot, you know,

2159
01:26:52,719 --> 01:26:55,120
I can bench press 8,000 pounds and I get

2160
01:26:55,120 --> 01:26:56,639
all sweaty and the people in the gym,

2161
01:26:56,639 --> 01:26:58,000
they can read Good Night Moon while

2162
01:26:58,000 --> 01:26:59,280
they're while they're they're working

2163
01:26:59,280 --> 01:27:01,840
out. So this outfit, it's it's wicked

2164
01:27:01,840 --> 01:27:03,360
cool. I'm dressed up like a professor.

2165
01:27:03,360 --> 01:27:06,080
You see, I got the prop and everything.

2166
01:27:06,080 --> 01:27:08,320
But I realized you you can't wear it on

2167
01:27:08,320 --> 01:27:10,320
the street because if you do, a bunch of

2168
01:27:10,320 --> 01:27:12,800
people are going to descend on you and

2169
01:27:12,800 --> 01:27:15,360
try to sell you a Volvo.

2170
01:27:15,360 --> 01:27:16,560
And there's nothing wrong with the

2171
01:27:16,560 --> 01:27:17,679
Volvo, by the way. The only thing wrong

2172
01:27:17,679 --> 01:27:19,040
with them is they never wear out. They

2173
01:27:19,040 --> 01:27:20,719
got the original Volvo were pulled by

2174
01:27:20,719 --> 01:27:22,719
horses. The horses died, so those guys

2175
01:27:22,719 --> 01:27:24,320
are immobile. Everything after that is

2176
01:27:24,320 --> 01:27:26,639
still on the streets. It's a great car.

2177
01:27:26,639 --> 01:27:28,560
It's the national car of either Sweden

2178
01:27:28,560 --> 01:27:30,239
or Denmark.

2179
01:27:30,239 --> 01:27:33,360
and uh their their national uh pastime

2180
01:27:33,360 --> 01:27:35,360
of course as we know is suicide is

2181
01:27:35,360 --> 01:27:37,199
jumping off of cliffs like lemmings. So

2182
01:27:37,199 --> 01:27:39,520
how how wrong can they be? Having issued

2183
01:27:39,520 --> 01:27:42,000
that disclaimer, I just like to say how

2184
01:27:42,000 --> 01:27:44,880
glad I am to be back with you today. I

2185
01:27:44,880 --> 01:27:47,199
want to talk about plot and and we we'll

2186
01:27:47,199 --> 01:27:50,239
talk about a couple of um plays of mine

2187
01:27:50,239 --> 01:27:52,800
and how I structure a plot and I like to

2188
01:27:52,800 --> 01:27:55,440
use a a board like this. when I I got

2189
01:27:55,440 --> 01:27:56,800
I'm always surrounded by a bunch of

2190
01:27:56,800 --> 01:27:59,360
corkboards or so in my offices that I

2191
01:27:59,360 --> 01:28:01,440
can either put up a sheet of butcher

2192
01:28:01,440 --> 01:28:03,520
paper or else index cards always say

2193
01:28:03,520 --> 01:28:05,760
scene one blah blah scene two blah blah

2194
01:28:05,760 --> 01:28:08,880
scene three so I can look and see if the

2195
01:28:08,880 --> 01:28:12,239
progression makes sense cuz sometimes it

2196
01:28:12,239 --> 01:28:13,920
it's much easier to see if the

2197
01:28:13,920 --> 01:28:15,360
progression makes sense and to see if

2198
01:28:15,360 --> 01:28:17,199
the scenes make sense because you get

2199
01:28:17,199 --> 01:28:19,040
involved in the scenes and the scenes

2200
01:28:19,040 --> 01:28:20,719
might be wonderful and you work so hard

2201
01:28:20,719 --> 01:28:22,960
and they say such cool stuff you have to

2202
01:28:22,960 --> 01:28:24,639
reduce the scene

2203
01:28:24,639 --> 01:28:27,440
to an incident,

2204
01:28:27,440 --> 01:28:30,639
I get out of the stuck elevator

2205
01:28:30,639 --> 01:28:32,719
and put that, at least I do, on the

2206
01:28:32,719 --> 01:28:34,239
board. And when the when the the

2207
01:28:34,239 --> 01:28:36,239
progression makes sense, then the play

2208
01:28:36,239 --> 01:28:37,920
makes sense. I'd also like to say about

2209
01:28:37,920 --> 01:28:39,840
plotting that we all know about

2210
01:28:39,840 --> 01:28:42,159
plotting. We all do it naturally.

2211
01:28:42,159 --> 01:28:44,320
Plotting to get Sally and Suzie

2212
01:28:44,320 --> 01:28:45,840
together,

2213
01:28:45,840 --> 01:28:48,880
plotting uh to get Aunt Mabel to leave

2214
01:28:48,880 --> 01:28:51,440
me the silverware. plotting to get my

2215
01:28:51,440 --> 01:28:56,400
bad coworker kicked off. Uh plotting a a

2216
01:28:56,400 --> 01:28:58,639
surprise party. It's all plotting. We

2217
01:28:58,639 --> 01:29:01,040
say, "Okay, I know where I want to get.

2218
01:29:01,040 --> 01:29:02,960
What do I have to do in order to get

2219
01:29:02,960 --> 01:29:04,800
there?" So, it's something that we all

2220
01:29:04,800 --> 01:29:08,239
do naturally. And unfortunately, and

2221
01:29:08,239 --> 01:29:10,560
what I'm told is called everyday life.

2222
01:29:10,560 --> 01:29:12,880
It has a bad association with, oh, he's

2223
01:29:12,880 --> 01:29:15,600
just plotting. But that's exactly what

2224
01:29:15,600 --> 01:29:16,639
you're doing when you're making up a

2225
01:29:16,639 --> 01:29:18,880
play. You you're following a plot in

2226
01:29:18,880 --> 01:29:21,280
order to to get the silverware. That's

2227
01:29:21,280 --> 01:29:24,280
all

2228
01:29:28,239 --> 01:29:30,639
the guy taught me aerial navigation. He

2229
01:29:30,639 --> 01:29:33,440
said let's let's pretend for example in

2230
01:29:33,440 --> 01:29:34,960
fact let's not pretend let's actually do

2231
01:29:34,960 --> 01:29:40,360
we draw a map. Map looks like this.

2232
01:29:50,400 --> 01:29:52,159
So, as you see, this is a map of United

2233
01:29:52,159 --> 01:29:53,440
States of America. It's a heck of a

2234
01:29:53,440 --> 01:29:55,280
country. I love it here. My grandparents

2235
01:29:55,280 --> 01:29:57,040
came here.

2236
01:29:57,040 --> 01:29:58,639
Um,

2237
01:29:58,639 --> 01:30:00,080
and the guy said about aerial

2238
01:30:00,080 --> 01:30:01,600
navigation. He said, "Here's what it

2239
01:30:01,600 --> 01:30:03,600
comes down to." This is true for sea

2240
01:30:03,600 --> 01:30:05,840
navigation, too. Say you're over here.

2241
01:30:05,840 --> 01:30:08,320
Where are we? In in New York City,

2242
01:30:08,320 --> 01:30:10,800
right? Where do you want to go? That's

2243
01:30:10,800 --> 01:30:12,320
the first question. Where do I want to

2244
01:30:12,320 --> 01:30:14,960
go? You will remember Alice and the C

2245
01:30:14,960 --> 01:30:18,480
the caterpillar. Uh Alice is at a

2246
01:30:18,480 --> 01:30:20,080
crossroads. There's this big caterpillar

2247
01:30:20,080 --> 01:30:22,480
sitting on a mushroom. She says, "Uh,

2248
01:30:22,480 --> 01:30:24,080
please sir, which road should I take?"

2249
01:30:24,080 --> 01:30:26,080
He says, "Where do you want to go?" She

2250
01:30:26,080 --> 01:30:27,199
says, "I don't know." He says, "It

2251
01:30:27,199 --> 01:30:32,199
doesn't matter what road you take." So,

2252
01:30:32,480 --> 01:30:34,719
for the purposes of navigation, it does

2253
01:30:34,719 --> 01:30:36,159
matter what road you take. So, here's

2254
01:30:36,159 --> 01:30:38,800
Los Angeles, California here, right?

2255
01:30:38,800 --> 01:30:40,880
which is the cultural capital of Los

2256
01:30:40,880 --> 01:30:43,600
Angeles County and here we have New

2257
01:30:43,600 --> 01:30:45,840
York. So what we want to do is we want

2258
01:30:45,840 --> 01:30:50,639
to draw a line connecting

2259
01:30:50,639 --> 01:30:54,120
the two cities.

2260
01:30:56,480 --> 01:31:00,639
So we want to go if we follow the line

2261
01:31:00,639 --> 01:31:02,320
theoretically

2262
01:31:02,320 --> 01:31:04,719
will take us to Los Angeles. That's all

2263
01:31:04,719 --> 01:31:07,040
we got to know to start off with. This

2264
01:31:07,040 --> 01:31:11,920
is called a rum line. R U R H U MB from

2265
01:31:11,920 --> 01:31:13,600
um

2266
01:31:13,600 --> 01:31:15,920
um naval navigation.

2267
01:31:15,920 --> 01:31:18,239
The direct line from one place to the

2268
01:31:18,239 --> 01:31:20,800
other. But of course there's going to be

2269
01:31:20,800 --> 01:31:22,480
difficulties. Perhaps you can't go

2270
01:31:22,480 --> 01:31:26,639
direct. Perhaps for example

2271
01:31:26,639 --> 01:31:31,679
there are ice storms over here, right?

2272
01:31:31,679 --> 01:31:34,719
Perhaps, for example,

2273
01:31:34,719 --> 01:31:37,199
there are runway closures and you're

2274
01:31:37,199 --> 01:31:39,840
flying. There are runway closures at

2275
01:31:39,840 --> 01:31:42,480
your fuel stop over here.

2276
01:31:42,480 --> 01:31:44,800
Perhaps, for example, you're going to be

2277
01:31:44,800 --> 01:31:47,280
out of fuel when you get over to here,

2278
01:31:47,280 --> 01:31:49,120
and you ain't going to get enough fuel.

2279
01:31:49,120 --> 01:31:51,040
You don't have enough fuel left to get

2280
01:31:51,040 --> 01:31:53,360
over the mountains. So, what do you have

2281
01:31:53,360 --> 01:31:55,440
to do?

2282
01:31:55,440 --> 01:31:57,600
You're still going from point A to point

2283
01:31:57,600 --> 01:32:00,800
B. New York City, the Bronx is up, the

2284
01:32:00,800 --> 01:32:03,520
batteries down. Los Angeles, the

2285
01:32:03,520 --> 01:32:05,920
cultural capital of Los Angeles County,

2286
01:32:05,920 --> 01:32:07,679
you're still going from A to B, but

2287
01:32:07,679 --> 01:32:10,480
perhaps the most direct route is not a

2288
01:32:10,480 --> 01:32:12,960
straight line because perhaps you have

2289
01:32:12,960 --> 01:32:17,920
to de detour around the thunderstorms.

2290
01:32:17,920 --> 01:32:21,199
Perhaps you can't stop for fuel here, so

2291
01:32:21,199 --> 01:32:24,400
you have to stop for fuel here. Perhaps

2292
01:32:24,400 --> 01:32:25,920
you don't have enough fuel to make it

2293
01:32:25,920 --> 01:32:27,360
over the mountains or the winds are

2294
01:32:27,360 --> 01:32:30,000
adverse so you have to come down here to

2295
01:32:30,000 --> 01:32:32,560
get to Los Angeles. So each of these

2296
01:32:32,560 --> 01:32:35,600
stops is an incident which could be

2297
01:32:35,600 --> 01:32:38,239
likened to an incident in a play.

2298
01:32:38,239 --> 01:32:40,239
Aristotle tells us that a play is

2299
01:32:40,239 --> 01:32:42,320
nothing other than the structure of the

2300
01:32:42,320 --> 01:32:45,280
incidents. That's all that a play is.

2301
01:32:45,280 --> 01:32:48,320
What happened? I got into the play. I

2302
01:32:48,320 --> 01:32:52,320
had to deviate here. That's an incident.

2303
01:32:52,320 --> 01:32:54,560
I ran out of fuel here. I had to go up

2304
01:32:54,560 --> 01:32:56,639
here. That's an incident. I couldn't get

2305
01:32:56,639 --> 01:32:58,320
over the mountains here. I had to

2306
01:32:58,320 --> 01:33:00,320
deviate there. That's an incident. A

2307
01:33:00,320 --> 01:33:03,440
scene is the unit which contains one

2308
01:33:03,440 --> 01:33:07,440
incident which informs the journey. One

2309
01:33:07,440 --> 01:33:09,600
incident. If it doesn't contain an

2310
01:33:09,600 --> 01:33:12,480
incident that informs the journey, it's

2311
01:33:12,480 --> 01:33:14,239
it's not a scene. It doesn't belong in

2312
01:33:14,239 --> 01:33:16,800
the play. It doesn't matter what happens

2313
01:33:16,800 --> 01:33:20,800
between here and here.

2314
01:33:20,800 --> 01:33:22,960
If it's not an incident

2315
01:33:22,960 --> 01:33:24,880
now, could we have an incident between

2316
01:33:24,880 --> 01:33:27,360
here and the thunderstorms? Sure. What

2317
01:33:27,360 --> 01:33:30,000
about if the engine quit? That's an

2318
01:33:30,000 --> 01:33:32,080
incident, right? So, because the instant

2319
01:33:32,080 --> 01:33:34,560
the engine quit, we didn't end up here.

2320
01:33:34,560 --> 01:33:36,960
We ended up here. Now, we couldn't get

2321
01:33:36,960 --> 01:33:38,800
the engine fixed. So, what do we have to

2322
01:33:38,800 --> 01:33:42,639
do? We had to rent a car.

2323
01:33:42,639 --> 01:33:45,040
Okay? So, that's an incident. A engine

2324
01:33:45,040 --> 01:33:48,000
quits incident. Bent the car incident.

2325
01:33:48,000 --> 01:33:49,520
Now, you notice you don't got to you

2326
01:33:49,520 --> 01:33:50,880
don't got to think very hard about

2327
01:33:50,880 --> 01:33:52,800
remembering these things. You don't have

2328
01:33:52,800 --> 01:33:54,320
to go, "Yeah, what happened then?" or

2329
01:33:54,320 --> 01:33:56,639
"What do I do next?" Because you always

2330
01:33:56,639 --> 01:34:00,560
have in mind the progress from A to B.

2331
01:34:00,560 --> 01:34:02,480
You get it? You're always trying to get

2332
01:34:02,480 --> 01:34:04,560
to B. That's all you're trying to do.

2333
01:34:04,560 --> 01:34:06,719
Now, Stannislovski, you remember, was a

2334
01:34:06,719 --> 01:34:11,520
uh a Russian director and um writer and

2335
01:34:11,520 --> 01:34:14,800
teacher and theoretist. And he said he

2336
01:34:14,800 --> 01:34:17,840
was on the Great Vulgar River,

2337
01:34:17,840 --> 01:34:20,639
uh which runs through Russia, uh a bunch

2338
01:34:20,639 --> 01:34:21,840
of commies, you know, what are you going

2339
01:34:21,840 --> 01:34:23,600
to do? runs down through Russia, great

2340
01:34:23,600 --> 01:34:26,239
vulgar river, and there's the the vulga

2341
01:34:26,239 --> 01:34:29,280
boatman, the steamer captain has to

2342
01:34:29,280 --> 01:34:31,920
navigate constantly over here to get out

2343
01:34:31,920 --> 01:34:33,760
of the shores, over there to getting

2344
01:34:33,760 --> 01:34:35,840
into the calm water, over here to take

2345
01:34:35,840 --> 01:34:37,360
advantage of the current. And

2346
01:34:37,360 --> 01:34:39,360
Stannosloski says, "This river is so

2347
01:34:39,360 --> 01:34:42,320
long, you're constantly capable of

2348
01:34:42,320 --> 01:34:44,239
navigating it. How do you remember all

2349
01:34:44,239 --> 01:34:46,159
those things?"

2350
01:34:46,159 --> 01:34:47,679
Captain says, "I don't remember. I stick

2351
01:34:47,679 --> 01:34:50,320
to the channel.

2352
01:34:50,320 --> 01:34:52,560
I stick to the channel." The channel is

2353
01:34:52,560 --> 01:34:54,480
marked.

2354
01:34:54,480 --> 01:34:57,120
The channel is I got to go from A to B.

2355
01:34:57,120 --> 01:34:59,520
I stick to that channel. If something

2356
01:34:59,520 --> 01:35:02,000
happens in the midst of that, I deviate

2357
01:35:02,000 --> 01:35:04,400
so that I can come back to the channel.

2358
01:35:04,400 --> 01:35:06,400
The deviations are called incidents. The

2359
01:35:06,400 --> 01:35:08,719
incidents are called scenes. And the

2360
01:35:08,719 --> 01:35:11,600
totality of the scenes leads us from

2361
01:35:11,600 --> 01:35:15,040
point A to point B. Now, this is very

2362
01:35:15,040 --> 01:35:16,560
very important when you're making a

2363
01:35:16,560 --> 01:35:18,320
movie.

2364
01:35:18,320 --> 01:35:20,719
For example, you've structured the the

2365
01:35:20,719 --> 01:35:23,440
incidents in the film. You get onto the

2366
01:35:23,440 --> 01:35:26,080
set and you say, "Okay, I know exactly

2367
01:35:26,080 --> 01:35:28,800
what I'm doing today. Today is the scene

2368
01:35:28,800 --> 01:35:32,719
when we rent the car." Good. You get to

2369
01:35:32,719 --> 01:35:36,320
the car place and guess what? The car

2370
01:35:36,320 --> 01:35:38,560
didn't show up. The prop car didn't show

2371
01:35:38,560 --> 01:35:40,880
up. You got to get the film in the can

2372
01:35:40,880 --> 01:35:44,400
today, right? You have no option. The

2373
01:35:44,400 --> 01:35:47,120
the actors are on a tight schedule. They

2374
01:35:47,120 --> 01:35:49,120
got a heart out. You got to see shoot

2375
01:35:49,120 --> 01:35:50,800
the scene where they got to get into the

2376
01:35:50,800 --> 01:35:53,520
car, but there's no car. So, what do you

2377
01:35:53,520 --> 01:35:57,440
do? Aha. You stick to the channel. You

2378
01:35:57,440 --> 01:35:59,040
say, "Wait a second. I can't get the

2379
01:35:59,040 --> 01:36:01,440
car." So, I'm in exactly the same

2380
01:36:01,440 --> 01:36:03,920
position today as the director that the

2381
01:36:03,920 --> 01:36:07,040
hero is in. All I got to remember is

2382
01:36:07,040 --> 01:36:10,239
what's the channel? The channel is I got

2383
01:36:10,239 --> 01:36:13,280
to get to Los Angeles. I had this whole

2384
01:36:13,280 --> 01:36:15,520
scene about a car, but the car didn't

2385
01:36:15,520 --> 01:36:17,520
show up. What am I going what am I going

2386
01:36:17,520 --> 01:36:20,239
to do is the same thing as what is the

2387
01:36:20,239 --> 01:36:23,280
hero going to do? That's the progress of

2388
01:36:23,280 --> 01:36:24,560
the hero. It's the progress of the

2389
01:36:24,560 --> 01:36:26,400
director. It's the progress of the actor

2390
01:36:26,400 --> 01:36:28,159
and the progress of the writer. What do

2391
01:36:28,159 --> 01:36:29,920
I got to do to get from A to B? Well,

2392
01:36:29,920 --> 01:36:32,639
okay, let's think.

2393
01:36:32,639 --> 01:36:34,480
I don't have to be frightened because I

2394
01:36:34,480 --> 01:36:36,480
know where the channel is. Maybe the guy

2395
01:36:36,480 --> 01:36:38,960
gets a horse. Does anybody have a horse?

2396
01:36:38,960 --> 01:36:41,199
Oh, okay. Maybe in order to get the

2397
01:36:41,199 --> 01:36:43,280
horse, I got to walk over these over

2398
01:36:43,280 --> 01:36:45,920
these mountains. Maybe in order to get

2399
01:36:45,920 --> 01:36:48,320
to the horse, I got to go onto this land

2400
01:36:48,320 --> 01:36:50,159
over here, which is marked no

2401
01:36:50,159 --> 01:36:52,000
trespassing.

2402
01:36:52,000 --> 01:36:54,400
Maybe when I get onto the the uh the no

2403
01:36:54,400 --> 01:36:56,560
trespassing line, a guy comes out with a

2404
01:36:56,560 --> 01:36:58,960
gun. Maybe the guy comes out with the

2405
01:36:58,960 --> 01:37:00,320
gun and says, "Wait a second. I'm going

2406
01:37:00,320 --> 01:37:01,679
to make you marry my daughter." I go,

2407
01:37:01,679 --> 01:37:04,639
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, ho, ho. Hold on a

2408
01:37:04,639 --> 01:37:07,440
second. You got the wrong guy." So, you

2409
01:37:07,440 --> 01:37:12,000
see, the difficulties are what creates

2410
01:37:12,000 --> 01:37:14,719
the journey. The difference between a

2411
01:37:14,719 --> 01:37:17,119
vacation and an adventure is on an

2412
01:37:17,119 --> 01:37:18,880
adventure you always wish you were at

2413
01:37:18,880 --> 01:37:22,000
home. Okay? So the interesting journey

2414
01:37:22,000 --> 01:37:24,080
is not a vacation. Oh, let's have

2415
01:37:24,080 --> 01:37:26,159
something h let's have something

2416
01:37:26,159 --> 01:37:28,639
moderately interesting happen here. We

2417
01:37:28,639 --> 01:37:30,239
have a talk while we're in the plane

2418
01:37:30,239 --> 01:37:32,000
about our childhoods. We'll have

2419
01:37:32,000 --> 01:37:33,840
something moderously moderately

2420
01:37:33,840 --> 01:37:35,760
interesting happen there. Oh, look,

2421
01:37:35,760 --> 01:37:39,280
there are water fowl flying from point A

2422
01:37:39,280 --> 01:37:41,440
to point B. Aren't they interesting? No,

2423
01:37:41,440 --> 01:37:42,800
we don't care about moderately

2424
01:37:42,800 --> 01:37:45,040
interesting. All we care about is the is

2425
01:37:45,040 --> 01:37:46,960
the channel. All we care about is the

2426
01:37:46,960 --> 01:37:49,600
journey. And the difficulties of the

2427
01:37:49,600 --> 01:37:51,679
hero are the same thing as the

2428
01:37:51,679 --> 01:37:53,520
difficulties of the writer. Think about

2429
01:37:53,520 --> 01:37:56,159
it. You're writing this movie. It's a

2430
01:37:56,159 --> 01:37:57,760
road movie, right? You're writing this

2431
01:37:57,760 --> 01:38:02,159
play and you say, "Okay, he rents a car,

2432
01:38:02,159 --> 01:38:04,560
but the car ain't there or the car the

2433
01:38:04,560 --> 01:38:07,600
car place is closed. The car rental is

2434
01:38:07,600 --> 01:38:10,560
closed. Why is the car rental closed?

2435
01:38:10,560 --> 01:38:13,360
Let's think about it. Ah, I get it. The

2436
01:38:13,360 --> 01:38:17,760
car rental is closed because it's Martin

2437
01:38:17,760 --> 01:38:21,920
Luther King Day, right? Okay. So, why

2438
01:38:21,920 --> 01:38:24,400
does that occur to me? Because that

2439
01:38:24,400 --> 01:38:25,920
might go back and inform why we're going

2440
01:38:25,920 --> 01:38:28,560
on the journey in the first place. Think

2441
01:38:28,560 --> 01:38:31,280
about it. I have to give a speech on

2442
01:38:31,280 --> 01:38:34,159
Martin Luther King Day in Los Angeles.

2443
01:38:34,159 --> 01:38:36,639
Los Angeles is two days away. I have one

2444
01:38:36,639 --> 01:38:38,560
day to go there and rest up. I've been

2445
01:38:38,560 --> 01:38:40,880
asked I've been uh to give a speech at

2446
01:38:40,880 --> 01:38:42,719
my high school on Martin Luther King

2447
01:38:42,719 --> 01:38:45,199
Day. Now I get here on Saturday, the guy

2448
01:38:45,199 --> 01:38:47,119
said I'm gone, right? I'm closed for the

2449
01:38:47,119 --> 01:38:50,000
whole weekend. I'm gone. So that the

2450
01:38:50,000 --> 01:38:52,800
what seems to be a

2451
01:38:52,800 --> 01:38:58,080
random difficulty relates directly back

2452
01:38:58,080 --> 01:39:00,080
to the purpose of the journey. It's no

2453
01:39:00,080 --> 01:39:02,239
longer random. So what happens if you

2454
01:39:02,239 --> 01:39:05,440
let your imagination work? those things

2455
01:39:05,440 --> 01:39:07,360
which appear to be random can be

2456
01:39:07,360 --> 01:39:09,040
connected back so they don't come out of

2457
01:39:09,040 --> 01:39:11,040
nowhere. So the audience is saying,

2458
01:39:11,040 --> 01:39:13,679
"Yeah, okay. The the car wasn't there."

2459
01:39:13,679 --> 01:39:15,840
Ha ha ha. Oh, but I get it. Of course,

2460
01:39:15,840 --> 01:39:20,159
it's a holiday, right? Or maybe the

2461
01:39:20,159 --> 01:39:22,239
reason I can't drive across the country

2462
01:39:22,239 --> 01:39:24,719
is uh the reason I maybe I can't fly

2463
01:39:24,719 --> 01:39:25,840
across the country because there's an

2464
01:39:25,840 --> 01:39:28,239
ice storm. So, I got to drive across the

2465
01:39:28,239 --> 01:39:31,119
country. My car breaks down. And the

2466
01:39:31,119 --> 01:39:33,040
reason that the the the garage is closed

2467
01:39:33,040 --> 01:39:36,639
is his car broke down. So the it's

2468
01:39:36,639 --> 01:39:40,159
possible to to structure a a drama so

2469
01:39:40,159 --> 01:39:43,600
that the supposed um uh arbitrary

2470
01:39:43,600 --> 01:39:45,679
incidents are related back to the first

2471
01:39:45,679 --> 01:39:49,320
cause. Okay.

2472
01:40:00,880 --> 01:40:02,800
So what do I got to do? What's my

2473
01:40:02,800 --> 01:40:05,920
objective? That's the Aristotle says

2474
01:40:05,920 --> 01:40:07,679
that's the only thing hap that matters.

2475
01:40:07,679 --> 01:40:10,719
What is the objective of the hero to get

2476
01:40:10,719 --> 01:40:14,639
from point A to point B?

2477
01:40:14,639 --> 01:40:18,080
The scenes are the are the incidents and

2478
01:40:18,080 --> 01:40:20,239
each incident builds up into a threeact

2479
01:40:20,239 --> 01:40:23,280
structure. Okay. So the first act

2480
01:40:23,280 --> 01:40:25,840
structure is get there. The first act

2481
01:40:25,840 --> 01:40:28,800
structure is here's where my ideas run

2482
01:40:28,800 --> 01:40:32,800
out. This is act one, right? I get all

2483
01:40:32,800 --> 01:40:34,560
of these great ideas. They get me to

2484
01:40:34,560 --> 01:40:37,600
here and now the ideas run out. The

2485
01:40:37,600 --> 01:40:39,840
second act is wait a second. As we spoke

2486
01:40:39,840 --> 01:40:42,560
about, I believe earlier, I can't

2487
01:40:42,560 --> 01:40:44,560
remember that I'm supposed to drain the

2488
01:40:44,560 --> 01:40:45,920
swamp, but I'm up to my tush and

2489
01:40:45,920 --> 01:40:48,480
alligators. What happens is, think about

2490
01:40:48,480 --> 01:40:51,840
it. I I steal a car. I say I can't help

2491
01:40:51,840 --> 01:40:53,600
it. It's not Martin Luther King Day.

2492
01:40:53,600 --> 01:40:56,159
It's my my great aunt is dying and she's

2493
01:40:56,159 --> 01:40:58,159
going to leave $10 million to the first

2494
01:40:58,159 --> 01:41:00,159
person who gets to LA. I got to get to

2495
01:41:00,159 --> 01:41:03,119
LA. I've rented the car here. The car

2496
01:41:03,119 --> 01:41:05,920
breaks down over here. I have to steal a

2497
01:41:05,920 --> 01:41:08,800
car. I leave him I leave the guy a note

2498
01:41:08,800 --> 01:41:10,159
saying I'm the guy that stole your car.

2499
01:41:10,159 --> 01:41:12,159
Blah blah blah. And I get arrested by

2500
01:41:12,159 --> 01:41:16,000
the cops. Now I get thrown in jail.

2501
01:41:16,000 --> 01:41:18,560
Okay. So now my now now my problem. It's

2502
01:41:18,560 --> 01:41:20,800
still all part of getting to LA, but

2503
01:41:20,800 --> 01:41:22,800
it's a different understanding of the

2504
01:41:22,800 --> 01:41:25,600
problem.

2505
01:41:25,600 --> 01:41:27,520
And so the great Hudy Led Better is

2506
01:41:27,520 --> 01:41:29,679
known as Leed Belly was one of our great

2507
01:41:29,679 --> 01:41:32,000
American poets, a

2508
01:41:32,000 --> 01:41:35,040
a singer and a songwriter. And he said,

2509
01:41:35,040 --> 01:41:37,440
he said, "Here's how you write a blues."

2510
01:41:37,440 --> 01:41:39,920
He said, "It's all about a knife." He

2511
01:41:39,920 --> 01:41:42,400
said, "You've got this knife and you're

2512
01:41:42,400 --> 01:41:44,639
using it to cut bread because you need

2513
01:41:44,639 --> 01:41:46,480
to go to work. Why do you need to go to

2514
01:41:46,480 --> 01:41:48,639
work? You need your strength because

2515
01:41:48,639 --> 01:41:50,400
tonight you're going to be partying with

2516
01:41:50,400 --> 01:41:52,000
your girlfriend. So you need your

2517
01:41:52,000 --> 01:41:53,840
strength for work so that you're going

2518
01:41:53,840 --> 01:41:55,040
to be partying with your girlfriend

2519
01:41:55,040 --> 01:41:57,440
tonight. So you use the knife to cut the

2520
01:41:57,440 --> 01:42:01,360
cut the bread. Verse one. Verse two

2521
01:42:01,360 --> 01:42:03,600
or act two.

2522
01:42:03,600 --> 01:42:05,280
You come home from work, you take a

2523
01:42:05,280 --> 01:42:06,880
shower, take a bath, using a knife to

2524
01:42:06,880 --> 01:42:08,320
shave with so you can be pretty with

2525
01:42:08,320 --> 01:42:11,199
your girlfriend.

2526
01:42:11,199 --> 01:42:12,400
You get to your girlfriend's house.

2527
01:42:12,400 --> 01:42:14,159
She's in bed with another guy. You use

2528
01:42:14,159 --> 01:42:16,800
the knife to cut her lying heart out.

2529
01:42:16,800 --> 01:42:18,480
that Hudy led better. It's a genius

2530
01:42:18,480 --> 01:42:20,880
understanding of drama. The threeact

2531
01:42:20,880 --> 01:42:23,360
structures, it's the same knife, but the

2532
01:42:23,360 --> 01:42:26,080
knife has a completely different uh um

2533
01:42:26,080 --> 01:42:27,920
completely different weight in each of

2534
01:42:27,920 --> 01:42:31,520
the three acts. So here my my objective

2535
01:42:31,520 --> 01:42:34,639
to travel gets thwarted. Here I'm thrown

2536
01:42:34,639 --> 01:42:36,480
in jail.

2537
01:42:36,480 --> 01:42:38,960
So now perhaps the the the sheriff says,

2538
01:42:38,960 --> 01:42:41,360
"Okay, I'll let you out of jail. I

2539
01:42:41,360 --> 01:42:42,880
understand you're a writer. I'll let you

2540
01:42:42,880 --> 01:42:46,159
out of jail if you write my kids

2541
01:42:46,159 --> 01:42:49,679
get into college essay.

2542
01:42:49,679 --> 01:42:52,560
I say, "Okay, what's what's the essay

2543
01:42:52,560 --> 01:42:54,800
on?" He says, "It's on pre-Colombian

2544
01:42:54,800 --> 01:42:56,960
pottery. Do you know anything about

2545
01:42:56,960 --> 01:42:59,520
pre-Colombian pottery?"

2546
01:42:59,520 --> 01:43:01,199
I say, "Do I I do I know anything about

2547
01:43:01,199 --> 01:43:02,800
pre-colian pottery?" "Yeah, it's my

2548
01:43:02,800 --> 01:43:05,520
hobby." Okay. So, he says, "Okay, good.

2549
01:43:05,520 --> 01:43:06,960
Write the essay. We'll let you out of

2550
01:43:06,960 --> 01:43:08,960
jail." So, now I got to write an essay

2551
01:43:08,960 --> 01:43:11,360
on pre-colian pottery.

2552
01:43:11,360 --> 01:43:12,320
I don't know anything about

2553
01:43:12,320 --> 01:43:14,800
pre-Colombian pottery.

2554
01:43:14,800 --> 01:43:16,639
How can I find out about pre-colian

2555
01:43:16,639 --> 01:43:18,639
pottery in order to get out of jail?

2556
01:43:18,639 --> 01:43:20,639
Well, I have to go to the library. Why

2557
01:43:20,639 --> 01:43:22,159
can't I go to the library? Because

2558
01:43:22,159 --> 01:43:24,400
there's an ice storm and and they've

2559
01:43:24,400 --> 01:43:26,719
closed down the library.

2560
01:43:26,719 --> 01:43:28,320
What do I have to do? I have to break

2561
01:43:28,320 --> 01:43:30,480
into the library to find a book on

2562
01:43:30,480 --> 01:43:32,880
pre-colian pottery so that I can get out

2563
01:43:32,880 --> 01:43:35,440
of jail so that I can get to my aunt's

2564
01:43:35,440 --> 01:43:37,920
uh uh house so that she don't give away

2565
01:43:37,920 --> 01:43:40,159
the uh the $10 million to my lying

2566
01:43:40,159 --> 01:43:42,480
cheating sister.

2567
01:43:42,480 --> 01:43:44,960
The audience will follow you because

2568
01:43:44,960 --> 01:43:48,080
it's they understand the process. They

2569
01:43:48,080 --> 01:43:50,000
understand that it's all part of getting

2570
01:43:50,000 --> 01:43:52,880
to LA. These aren't random incidents.

2571
01:43:52,880 --> 01:43:55,199
Most road trip movies are random

2572
01:43:55,199 --> 01:43:58,239
incidents about people who find out

2573
01:43:58,239 --> 01:44:00,320
things about themselves and about each

2574
01:44:00,320 --> 01:44:02,480
other, right? It's an easy movie to to

2575
01:44:02,480 --> 01:44:04,960
to to make and it's not a hard movie to

2576
01:44:04,960 --> 01:44:06,800
watch, but big deal because if you can

2577
01:44:06,800 --> 01:44:08,320
take one incident and put it here and

2578
01:44:08,320 --> 01:44:10,400
the other in put it there, if the

2579
01:44:10,400 --> 01:44:13,280
structure is not absolutely linked, the

2580
01:44:13,280 --> 01:44:16,000
audience won't follow it.

2581
01:44:16,000 --> 01:44:17,600
Because what's see what's happened is

2582
01:44:17,600 --> 01:44:19,119
we've involved the audience in our

2583
01:44:19,119 --> 01:44:21,520
journey. They said, 'Oh my gosh, I see

2584
01:44:21,520 --> 01:44:23,360
how we got out of here. We rented a car.

2585
01:44:23,360 --> 01:44:25,280
I see how we got out of here. We rented

2586
01:44:25,280 --> 01:44:27,199
a horse. I see how we got out of here.

2587
01:44:27,199 --> 01:44:29,440
We stole a car. How's he going to get

2588
01:44:29,440 --> 01:44:31,760
into the library? They have all Now

2589
01:44:31,760 --> 01:44:34,080
they're thinking ahead.

2590
01:44:34,080 --> 01:44:35,920
They're anticipating, which is what you

2591
01:44:35,920 --> 01:44:37,360
need the audience to do. That's what

2592
01:44:37,360 --> 01:44:39,760
drama is. Just like around the campfire,

2593
01:44:39,760 --> 01:44:42,719
you say, "And then we saw the bear, but

2594
01:44:42,719 --> 01:44:44,719
then guess what?" The audience go,

2595
01:44:44,719 --> 01:44:46,800
"Yeah, what? What?" So that your

2596
01:44:46,800 --> 01:44:48,239
audience around the campfire is saying,

2597
01:44:48,239 --> 01:44:50,560
"Oh my gosh, how are we going to get out

2598
01:44:50,560 --> 01:44:53,280
of here?" So what do they know about the

2599
01:44:53,280 --> 01:44:56,960
hero? They know his or her character.

2600
01:44:56,960 --> 01:44:59,760
Why? Because character is nothing other

2601
01:44:59,760 --> 01:45:02,320
than habitual action. Remember we were

2602
01:45:02,320 --> 01:45:03,520
talking about that. That's all a

2603
01:45:03,520 --> 01:45:05,760
character is. The guy or the gal over

2604
01:45:05,760 --> 01:45:06,960
here didn't say, "Let me tell you a

2605
01:45:06,960 --> 01:45:09,760
little bit about myself." Right? They

2606
01:45:09,760 --> 01:45:12,080
got in an airplane. The airplane ran out

2607
01:45:12,080 --> 01:45:14,000
of gas. They stole a car. The car ran

2608
01:45:14,000 --> 01:45:16,400
out of gas. uh uh they broke into the

2609
01:45:16,400 --> 01:45:18,080
they got thrown in jail. They made a

2610
01:45:18,080 --> 01:45:20,400
deal to write the essay. That's all we

2611
01:45:20,400 --> 01:45:22,400
know about them. That's all there is. If

2612
01:45:22,400 --> 01:45:25,040
you take a script and shake it upside

2613
01:45:25,040 --> 01:45:27,600
down, there's not a character that's

2614
01:45:27,600 --> 01:45:30,080
going to fall out of it,

2615
01:45:30,080 --> 01:45:31,440
right? There's nothing in there. It's

2616
01:45:31,440 --> 01:45:33,760
just words and actions. The words that

2617
01:45:33,760 --> 01:45:36,000
the guy woman says and the actions that

2618
01:45:36,000 --> 01:45:39,600
they do. Okay. So, now we're we we got

2619
01:45:39,600 --> 01:45:41,840
to we got to drain the we're up to our

2620
01:45:41,840 --> 01:45:43,360
ass in alligators and we forget we got

2621
01:45:43,360 --> 01:45:44,960
to drain the swamp. We got to find out

2622
01:45:44,960 --> 01:45:48,000
about pre-Colombian pottery. Okay, so

2623
01:45:48,000 --> 01:45:51,119
we're finding out pre-Colombian pottery

2624
01:45:51,119 --> 01:45:55,360
in act two and act two ends with a

2625
01:45:55,360 --> 01:45:59,520
revelation of some sort. For example,

2626
01:45:59,520 --> 01:46:01,440
act when we start getting into the

2627
01:46:01,440 --> 01:46:03,440
library, we start going into pre-colian

2628
01:46:03,440 --> 01:46:05,360
pottery. We're studying pre-colian

2629
01:46:05,360 --> 01:46:06,960
pottery. We're looking through a book

2630
01:46:06,960 --> 01:46:10,800
and it mentions something about

2631
01:46:10,800 --> 01:46:14,000
my aunt mentioned something about she

2632
01:46:14,000 --> 01:46:15,760
was going to leave all of her money to

2633
01:46:15,760 --> 01:46:18,239
the uh the society for the prevention of

2634
01:46:18,239 --> 01:46:21,520
of something or other. Right? That's who

2635
01:46:21,520 --> 01:46:24,080
she's going to leave her money to if I

2636
01:46:24,080 --> 01:46:26,800
don't get there. So I find out something

2637
01:46:26,800 --> 01:46:30,159
here in act two about these guys, these

2638
01:46:30,159 --> 01:46:32,480
swine from the prevention of blah blah

2639
01:46:32,480 --> 01:46:34,239
blah.

2640
01:46:34,239 --> 01:46:36,719
And I find out that something that

2641
01:46:36,719 --> 01:46:38,719
informs the end of the journey. I find

2642
01:46:38,719 --> 01:46:41,040
out, wait a second,

2643
01:46:41,040 --> 01:46:42,719
they aren't going to hold this will in

2644
01:46:42,719 --> 01:46:45,280
LA at all

2645
01:46:45,280 --> 01:46:47,199
from I I look through the minutes of

2646
01:46:47,199 --> 01:46:48,480
this meeting and I looked them up in

2647
01:46:48,480 --> 01:46:50,719
those those computers and I found out

2648
01:46:50,719 --> 01:46:53,199
Society for the Prevention of Blahla,

2649
01:46:53,199 --> 01:46:55,920
they don't even meet in LA anymore. I've

2650
01:46:55,920 --> 01:46:58,639
been given wrong information. Where do

2651
01:46:58,639 --> 01:47:00,960
they meet?

2652
01:47:00,960 --> 01:47:02,480
Well, they meet up obviously. you know,

2653
01:47:02,480 --> 01:47:05,040
they meet here in Seattle. So now I have

2654
01:47:05,040 --> 01:47:07,119
this whole plan which I've worked out to

2655
01:47:07,119 --> 01:47:10,080
get me to LA, but I learned something in

2656
01:47:10,080 --> 01:47:12,880
act two seemingly by accident which says

2657
01:47:12,880 --> 01:47:16,800
it's not LA at all. Aha, I have to get

2658
01:47:16,800 --> 01:47:19,199
myself up to Seattle. So the journey is

2659
01:47:19,199 --> 01:47:21,920
the same. The point of the journey is

2660
01:47:21,920 --> 01:47:24,480
the same to get the money. We find out

2661
01:47:24,480 --> 01:47:26,320
at the end of act two, the money ain't

2662
01:47:26,320 --> 01:47:29,600
even in LA, right? The money's up in

2663
01:47:29,600 --> 01:47:31,520
Seattle.

2664
01:47:31,520 --> 01:47:33,520
So, it's the it's the three uses of the

2665
01:47:33,520 --> 01:47:37,280
knife. Act one, cut the bread.

2666
01:47:37,280 --> 01:47:39,440
It's a rational journey. I'm going to

2667
01:47:39,440 --> 01:47:41,920
LA. What could happen to me? I cut the

2668
01:47:41,920 --> 01:47:43,920
cut the bread to make myself a sandwich

2669
01:47:43,920 --> 01:47:46,000
so I can have

2670
01:47:46,000 --> 01:47:49,280
a strength to do my work. Act two, I'm

2671
01:47:49,280 --> 01:47:51,600
stuck.

2672
01:47:51,600 --> 01:47:53,360
I'm I'm using the It's the same knife

2673
01:47:53,360 --> 01:47:54,960
here. I'm using it to shave, but here

2674
01:47:54,960 --> 01:47:59,360
I'm stuck. I have to use my tool, my my

2675
01:47:59,360 --> 01:48:01,199
uh intellect in order to write the

2676
01:48:01,199 --> 01:48:03,520
pre-Colombian pottery thing in order to

2677
01:48:03,520 --> 01:48:05,600
get out of jail, in order to get to LA.

2678
01:48:05,600 --> 01:48:08,719
And I find something here, the nagging

2679
01:48:08,719 --> 01:48:11,760
little friend, which as we know from the

2680
01:48:11,760 --> 01:48:13,840
greatest work of drama of all time, of

2681
01:48:13,840 --> 01:48:16,239
course, Dumbo, is the little is the

2682
01:48:16,239 --> 01:48:18,159
little mouse with a magic feather. And

2683
01:48:18,159 --> 01:48:19,760
the little mouse with a magic feather,

2684
01:48:19,760 --> 01:48:22,320
in this case it's a librarian, we'll

2685
01:48:22,320 --> 01:48:25,199
call her Beth, is pointing out to us,

2686
01:48:25,199 --> 01:48:27,119
wait a second, pre-Colombian poverty,

2687
01:48:27,119 --> 01:48:29,840
blah blah blah, uh, the Society for the

2688
01:48:29,840 --> 01:48:31,679
Prevention of Blah blah blah, aren't

2689
01:48:31,679 --> 01:48:34,159
they the ones who,

2690
01:48:34,159 --> 01:48:35,920
and it's always with our little friends,

2691
01:48:35,920 --> 01:48:37,280
what do we try to do with our little

2692
01:48:37,280 --> 01:48:38,960
friends, the helper? We try to scrape

2693
01:48:38,960 --> 01:48:41,040
them off our shoe. We say, "Okay, leave

2694
01:48:41,040 --> 01:48:42,480
me alone. Leave me alone. I'm studying

2695
01:48:42,480 --> 01:48:44,159
pre-Colombian pottery." and they're

2696
01:48:44,159 --> 01:48:46,080
trying and finally we listen to that

2697
01:48:46,080 --> 01:48:48,880
little nagging message which sends us

2698
01:48:48,880 --> 01:48:51,760
off to

2699
01:48:51,760 --> 01:48:56,199
Seattle so we can get the money

2700
01:48:57,199 --> 01:48:58,960
sticking to the channel. It's all the

2701
01:48:58,960 --> 01:49:00,800
same action,

2702
01:49:00,800 --> 01:49:02,400
right?

2703
01:49:02,400 --> 01:49:04,480
The nature of it changes from one act to

2704
01:49:04,480 --> 01:49:06,480
the other. Every act is made up of

2705
01:49:06,480 --> 01:49:10,080
scenes and every scene is an incident.

2706
01:49:10,080 --> 01:49:12,719
An incident is an incident may be

2707
01:49:12,719 --> 01:49:15,520
defined as a happenstance which if you

2708
01:49:15,520 --> 01:49:18,560
removed it

2709
01:49:18,560 --> 01:49:21,280
the journey wouldn't make sense

2710
01:49:21,280 --> 01:49:23,520
right if you could put in something that

2711
01:49:23,520 --> 01:49:26,000
you can take out for example here he

2712
01:49:26,000 --> 01:49:27,840
discovers that I don't know what the

2713
01:49:27,840 --> 01:49:29,760
heck here in the middle act he discovers

2714
01:49:29,760 --> 01:49:32,560
that this town was also an ancient Inca

2715
01:49:32,560 --> 01:49:34,239
site doesn't make any difference take it

2716
01:49:34,239 --> 01:49:35,840
out

2717
01:49:35,840 --> 01:49:37,920
if we leave out the incident of the

2718
01:49:37,920 --> 01:49:39,679
sheriff doesn't make sense

2719
01:49:39,679 --> 01:49:41,520
So we always know what to put in and

2720
01:49:41,520 --> 01:49:45,840
what to take out. Does each does each

2721
01:49:45,840 --> 01:49:48,400
scene does each incident advance or

2722
01:49:48,400 --> 01:49:50,880
impede the journey of the hero? Does it

2723
01:49:50,880 --> 01:49:53,040
affect the journey of the hero? If it

2724
01:49:53,040 --> 01:49:56,679
doesn't, take it out.

2725
01:49:57,440 --> 01:50:00,159
Just as if I'm going across the country,

2726
01:50:00,159 --> 01:50:01,520
doesn't make any difference if I go

2727
01:50:01,520 --> 01:50:03,679
through the Grand Canyon and I say, "Oh

2728
01:50:03,679 --> 01:50:04,960
my goodness, that's the biggest canyon

2729
01:50:04,960 --> 01:50:06,800
in the world. It's it truly is Grand.

2730
01:50:06,800 --> 01:50:08,320
I'm going to stop and look at it."

2731
01:50:08,320 --> 01:50:09,679
doesn't make any difference. The Grand

2732
01:50:09,679 --> 01:50:12,480
Canyon is not on it's not on your map,

2733
01:50:12,480 --> 01:50:14,480
right? It's not on your journey, so you

2734
01:50:14,480 --> 01:50:17,199
don't have to worry about it. Uh, so

2735
01:50:17,199 --> 01:50:21,000
that's how you write a play.

2736
01:50:27,440 --> 01:50:28,960
We're going to talk about dramatic

2737
01:50:28,960 --> 01:50:31,040
structure now is applied to one of my

2738
01:50:31,040 --> 01:50:33,440
plays. And this might be I have to ask

2739
01:50:33,440 --> 01:50:36,159
your patience cuz I mean they pay me to

2740
01:50:36,159 --> 01:50:37,199
write them, but they don't pay me to

2741
01:50:37,199 --> 01:50:38,960
read them. So, I wrote this play a long

2742
01:50:38,960 --> 01:50:40,320
time ago, so I'll see if I can remember

2743
01:50:40,320 --> 01:50:43,679
it. I'll do my best. It's a play uh it's

2744
01:50:43,679 --> 01:50:45,600
called American Buffalo. So, American

2745
01:50:45,600 --> 01:50:48,159
Buffalo was done on Broadway. First, we

2746
01:50:48,159 --> 01:50:49,920
did it in Chicago, then we did off off

2747
01:50:49,920 --> 01:50:51,280
Broadway, then we did it on Broadway

2748
01:50:51,280 --> 01:50:53,360
with Robert Duval and Kenny McMillan,

2749
01:50:53,360 --> 01:50:55,920
John Savage. It was a great production.

2750
01:50:55,920 --> 01:51:00,159
And um the opening night party was at

2751
01:51:00,159 --> 01:51:01,920
Sard's restaurant, which was then a

2752
01:51:01,920 --> 01:51:04,400
theatrical tradition. It may still be.

2753
01:51:04,400 --> 01:51:06,239
Sardis used to be a speak easy in the

2754
01:51:06,239 --> 01:51:08,560
20s and then was taken over and run as a

2755
01:51:08,560 --> 01:51:10,560
wonderful restaurant and it was the

2756
01:51:10,560 --> 01:51:12,800
theatrical restaurant still may be. So

2757
01:51:12,800 --> 01:51:14,800
the tradition was all the backers of the

2758
01:51:14,800 --> 01:51:17,040
play and the friends came to Sardis for

2759
01:51:17,040 --> 01:51:20,400
the opening night and so um my dad and

2760
01:51:20,400 --> 01:51:22,320
my stepmother are there from Chicago. My

2761
01:51:22,320 --> 01:51:25,440
dad was a a labor lawyer and a

2762
01:51:25,440 --> 01:51:28,880
depression baby and

2763
01:51:28,880 --> 01:51:30,560
in the army in World War II and an

2764
01:51:30,560 --> 01:51:32,400
immigrant kid. Very tough tough guy.

2765
01:51:32,400 --> 01:51:34,719
Wonderful guy. And we're sitting around

2766
01:51:34,719 --> 01:51:36,800
and the reviews of this play come in. No

2767
01:51:36,800 --> 01:51:37,679
one's ever heard of me. They don't know

2768
01:51:37,679 --> 01:51:39,599
who the hell I am. Reviews come in. One,

2769
01:51:39,599 --> 01:51:42,400
there about six papers and the New York

2770
01:51:42,400 --> 01:51:44,960
Post and the New York Daily News and the

2771
01:51:44,960 --> 01:51:47,760
uh uh uh Brooklyn whatever the hell and

2772
01:51:47,760 --> 01:51:49,599
the New York Legend blah blah blah.

2773
01:51:49,599 --> 01:51:51,280
They're all genius reviews and

2774
01:51:51,280 --> 01:51:54,159
everyone's very morose. And my dad says,

2775
01:51:54,159 --> 01:51:55,679
"These are great reviews. Why is

2776
01:51:55,679 --> 01:51:58,480
everybody so morose?" So the producer

2777
01:51:58,480 --> 01:52:00,480
says, "They aren't morose. They're just

2778
01:52:00,480 --> 01:52:02,080
anxious." And he says, "Why are you

2779
01:52:02,080 --> 01:52:04,320
anxious? these reviews are great. They

2780
01:52:04,320 --> 01:52:05,520
said, "We're waiting for the New York

2781
01:52:05,520 --> 01:52:08,560
Times review." So he says, "Well, wait a

2782
01:52:08,560 --> 01:52:10,320
second. These reviews are great. What

2783
01:52:10,320 --> 01:52:11,520
difference does the New York Times

2784
01:52:11,520 --> 01:52:13,679
make?" So the producer said, "Well, it

2785
01:52:13,679 --> 01:52:14,880
makes all the difference in the world.

2786
01:52:14,880 --> 01:52:18,960
The play will stand or fall based

2787
01:52:18,960 --> 01:52:21,679
on the New York Times review." So my dad

2788
01:52:21,679 --> 01:52:23,199
thinks for a second. He says, "Wait a

2789
01:52:23,199 --> 01:52:25,520
second." He says, "The guy who writes

2790
01:52:25,520 --> 01:52:27,760
this review at the New York Times, how

2791
01:52:27,760 --> 01:52:30,639
much money you think he makes?" So Bruce

2792
01:52:30,639 --> 01:52:31,920
says, "Well, he probably makes like

2793
01:52:31,920 --> 01:52:35,840
$35,000 a year a while ago." My dad

2794
01:52:35,840 --> 01:52:37,119
said, "Well, what and what did this

2795
01:52:37,119 --> 01:52:39,840
plate cost to mount?"

2796
01:52:39,840 --> 01:52:41,599
And the guy says, "Well, I think it cost

2797
01:52:41,599 --> 01:52:43,440
about $700,000."

2798
01:52:43,440 --> 01:52:47,599
My dad says, "Are you crazy?"

2799
01:52:47,599 --> 01:52:49,760
So that that was the Chicago answer,

2800
01:52:49,760 --> 01:52:52,480
right? And I've I've uh often had time

2801
01:52:52,480 --> 01:52:55,280
to think about it and admire his admire

2802
01:52:55,280 --> 01:52:57,040
his wisdom

2803
01:52:57,040 --> 01:52:59,119
because uh there are there are very few

2804
01:52:59,119 --> 01:53:01,520
things in his life uh that aren't rigged

2805
01:53:01,520 --> 01:53:03,520
and I'm thankful for both of them. So

2806
01:53:03,520 --> 01:53:05,840
American Buffalo played by is about a

2807
01:53:05,840 --> 01:53:08,000
bunch of guys in a junk shop and it's a

2808
01:53:08,000 --> 01:53:09,920
tragedy.

2809
01:53:09,920 --> 01:53:12,480
That means people have more or less good

2810
01:53:12,480 --> 01:53:15,040
intentions and they end up ruining each

2811
01:53:15,040 --> 01:53:17,119
other in a way that they could not

2812
01:53:17,119 --> 01:53:19,760
foresee. But that at the end of the play

2813
01:53:19,760 --> 01:53:23,280
is revealed as inevitable

2814
01:53:23,280 --> 01:53:27,960
and at the same time surprising.

2815
01:53:28,719 --> 01:53:32,159
So we start off the play over here and

2816
01:53:32,159 --> 01:53:34,320
there's these guys in a junk shop,

2817
01:53:34,320 --> 01:53:37,440
right? There's this guy Donnie Dubro.

2818
01:53:37,440 --> 01:53:40,800
He's the um the protagonist

2819
01:53:40,800 --> 01:53:44,320
of the play and his mentor. He's a

2820
01:53:44,320 --> 01:53:48,159
mentor to a young kid named um Bobby

2821
01:53:48,159 --> 01:53:49,679
who's in effect his son. It's his

2822
01:53:49,679 --> 01:53:51,280
adopted son or his boyfriend. We don't

2823
01:53:51,280 --> 01:53:52,560
know who it is. It's the most

2824
01:53:52,560 --> 01:53:54,800
significant person in his life. And he

2825
01:53:54,800 --> 01:53:57,520
is the protector of this young young

2826
01:53:57,520 --> 01:54:02,320
boy. And um the boy has failed. They're

2827
01:54:02,320 --> 01:54:04,159
they're all thieves. And the boy has

2828
01:54:04,159 --> 01:54:06,800
failed in one of his tasks. The boy was

2829
01:54:06,800 --> 01:54:09,280
supposed to watch this mark who they

2830
01:54:09,280 --> 01:54:11,920
were going to rob. And the boy has

2831
01:54:11,920 --> 01:54:14,639
failed in one of these tasks. And so at

2832
01:54:14,639 --> 01:54:16,480
the beginning of the play, the the

2833
01:54:16,480 --> 01:54:21,199
protagonist Donnie is uh lambasting the

2834
01:54:21,199 --> 01:54:24,320
boy. He's trying to teach the boy how to

2835
01:54:24,320 --> 01:54:26,639
behave like a man. He's trying to teach

2836
01:54:26,639 --> 01:54:29,199
the boy the code of their life. It

2837
01:54:29,199 --> 01:54:31,119
happens to be thievery, but it could be

2838
01:54:31,119 --> 01:54:32,880
doesn't make any difference, you know.

2839
01:54:32,880 --> 01:54:34,480
And if you look at it, this is a very

2840
01:54:34,480 --> 01:54:37,920
very common um scene

2841
01:54:37,920 --> 01:54:40,320
and one of the great exemplars of it is

2842
01:54:40,320 --> 01:54:42,400
the scene between Pelonius and Leertes.

2843
01:54:42,400 --> 01:54:44,800
Pelonius and his son Leertes where the

2844
01:54:44,800 --> 01:54:48,080
kid is leaving the house and Pelonius is

2845
01:54:48,080 --> 01:54:51,440
trying to say just uh neither neither a

2846
01:54:51,440 --> 01:54:53,760
borrower nor a lender be for loan both

2847
01:54:53,760 --> 01:54:56,400
loses both itself and friend. Costly thy

2848
01:54:56,400 --> 01:54:59,280
habit as the purse may bear, but rich

2849
01:54:59,280 --> 01:55:01,440
not showy. And he's giving the he's

2850
01:55:01,440 --> 01:55:04,080
saying to this kid the last few things

2851
01:55:04,080 --> 01:55:06,800
before the kid goes off into the world.

2852
01:55:06,800 --> 01:55:09,440
And I think he's usually played Ponius

2853
01:55:09,440 --> 01:55:11,599
as a clown. But anyone who ever had kids

2854
01:55:11,599 --> 01:55:13,920
who goes went off into the world know

2855
01:55:13,920 --> 01:55:16,480
that speech. And the speech is I've

2856
01:55:16,480 --> 01:55:18,639
screwed everything up. I've been a

2857
01:55:18,639 --> 01:55:20,880
terrible parent to you. Lord knows I've

2858
01:55:20,880 --> 01:55:23,679
tried, but Lord also knows I failed.

2859
01:55:23,679 --> 01:55:25,440
Perhaps I didn't try hard enough. There

2860
01:55:25,440 --> 01:55:27,119
are a few things I would like you to

2861
01:55:27,119 --> 01:55:30,080
know before you go off. is so important.

2862
01:55:30,080 --> 01:55:32,080
Please, please listen to me. Every

2863
01:55:32,080 --> 01:55:36,000
parent knows andor has made this speech.

2864
01:55:36,000 --> 01:55:38,560
So, while he's teaching the kid, it

2865
01:55:38,560 --> 01:55:40,080
turns out that the kid was supposed to

2866
01:55:40,080 --> 01:55:44,000
watch the uh the mark, the supposed

2867
01:55:44,000 --> 01:55:45,440
victim of a robbery. They're going to

2868
01:55:45,440 --> 01:55:47,760
take rob a guy's coin collection. So,

2869
01:55:47,760 --> 01:55:50,400
who comes into the equation here is uh

2870
01:55:50,400 --> 01:55:54,480
the third party, the antagonist,

2871
01:55:54,480 --> 01:55:57,679
a guy named Teach. And Teach is a thief.

2872
01:55:57,679 --> 01:56:02,320
And uh teach figures out that Don is

2873
01:56:02,320 --> 01:56:04,000
engaged in a robbery. And the way he

2874
01:56:04,000 --> 01:56:06,400
figures this out is Don is talking

2875
01:56:06,400 --> 01:56:08,000
around the robbery. He's talking in code

2876
01:56:08,000 --> 01:56:09,679
to the kid saying, you know, when we do

2877
01:56:09,679 --> 01:56:11,440
the thing blah blah blah, we do the

2878
01:56:11,440 --> 01:56:13,920
thing bibbidity bobby boo. And so the

2879
01:56:13,920 --> 01:56:16,400
the kid gets sent out to get some coffee

2880
01:56:16,400 --> 01:56:18,960
and teach says, "Okay, I've got it

2881
01:56:18,960 --> 01:56:22,880
figured out. New scene.

2882
01:56:22,880 --> 01:56:25,360
What's going on? Are you and the kid

2883
01:56:25,360 --> 01:56:27,760
planning something?" So Donnie says,

2884
01:56:27,760 --> 01:56:29,440
"No, no, no. It's just don't worry about

2885
01:56:29,440 --> 01:56:31,840
it." Blah, blah, blah. And so Teach

2886
01:56:31,840 --> 01:56:33,440
talks him around. Says, "Wait a second.

2887
01:56:33,440 --> 01:56:34,960
Wait a second. Don't we have a

2888
01:56:34,960 --> 01:56:37,440
relationship independent of what you

2889
01:56:37,440 --> 01:56:40,480
think you owe the kid? He's just a kid.

2890
01:56:40,480 --> 01:56:42,159
Aren't we thieves together? Haven't we

2891
01:56:42,159 --> 01:56:43,840
done a lot of stuff together? Tell me

2892
01:56:43,840 --> 01:56:47,280
what the deal is."

2893
01:56:47,280 --> 01:56:49,119
So Donnie gets talked around and he

2894
01:56:49,119 --> 01:56:52,639
tells him what the deal is. And so Teach

2895
01:56:52,639 --> 01:56:56,239
deals himself into the robbery.

2896
01:56:56,239 --> 01:56:58,159
Now Teach is involved in the robbery and

2897
01:56:58,159 --> 01:56:59,840
they start planning the robbery and

2898
01:56:59,840 --> 01:57:03,199
Teach uh gets caught up to speed and now

2899
01:57:03,199 --> 01:57:05,119
Bobby who's been sent out for coffee

2900
01:57:05,119 --> 01:57:07,280
comes back with the coffee and so the

2901
01:57:07,280 --> 01:57:11,599
new incident is Teach says

2902
01:57:11,599 --> 01:57:14,080
I'm going to get rid of the kid. We

2903
01:57:14,080 --> 01:57:15,760
don't need the kid. Donnie says we don't

2904
01:57:15,760 --> 01:57:18,159
need this kid.

2905
01:57:18,159 --> 01:57:21,840
The kid the kid is uh he's not up to the

2906
01:57:21,840 --> 01:57:23,840
job.

2907
01:57:23,840 --> 01:57:27,199
And so this plays in the same way that

2908
01:57:27,199 --> 01:57:30,560
um Athell gets played upon by Iago. This

2909
01:57:30,560 --> 01:57:32,880
plays upon Donniey's concerns, right?

2910
01:57:32,880 --> 01:57:34,639
You might say it's it's the second

2911
01:57:34,639 --> 01:57:38,080
aspect of the psychology of the of the

2912
01:57:38,080 --> 01:57:40,239
father. This kid ain't ready to go into

2913
01:57:40,239 --> 01:57:42,400
the world. He doesn't know all the stuff

2914
01:57:42,400 --> 01:57:44,719
that I've told him. He he doesn't he

2915
01:57:44,719 --> 01:57:47,040
doesn't have the uh uh the s doesn't

2916
01:57:47,040 --> 01:57:48,560
have the understanding to go into the

2917
01:57:48,560 --> 01:57:51,360
world. Teach plays upon that, right?

2918
01:57:51,360 --> 01:57:53,520
He's the he's the yetah. He's the bad

2919
01:57:53,520 --> 01:57:56,400
influence, the bad part of the self, the

2920
01:57:56,400 --> 01:57:58,960
bad part of the protagonist, and says,

2921
01:57:58,960 --> 01:58:01,360
"The kid's not ready to go. Let's get

2922
01:58:01,360 --> 01:58:04,000
rid of the kid.

2923
01:58:04,000 --> 01:58:08,239
Let's deal the kid out of the robbery."

2924
01:58:08,239 --> 01:58:10,400
And he talks Donnie around and

2925
01:58:10,400 --> 01:58:12,639
humiliates the kid. And Donnie, instead

2926
01:58:12,639 --> 01:58:16,000
of standing up for the kid

2927
01:58:16,000 --> 01:58:18,080
to stop the humiliation or out of his

2928
01:58:18,080 --> 01:58:19,840
own weakness, says to the kid, "You know

2929
01:58:19,840 --> 01:58:21,520
what, kid? you're not going to do the

2930
01:58:21,520 --> 01:58:23,199
robbery.

2931
01:58:23,199 --> 01:58:24,400
I'm going to deal you out. We'll give

2932
01:58:24,400 --> 01:58:26,159
you 10 bucks. Get the hell out of here.

2933
01:58:26,159 --> 01:58:28,239
We're not going to do the robbery. And

2934
01:58:28,239 --> 01:58:30,320
so the kid is heartbroken and the kid

2935
01:58:30,320 --> 01:58:32,880
doesn't understand. And Donnie says,

2936
01:58:32,880 --> 01:58:35,119
"That's it. You're out." So that's the

2937
01:58:35,119 --> 01:58:37,360
end of that.

2938
01:58:37,360 --> 01:58:39,840
His anxiety has been curiously played

2939
01:58:39,840 --> 01:58:41,760
upon by the protagonist. Now the kid's

2940
01:58:41,760 --> 01:58:45,040
out. So now the kid's out and we come to

2941
01:58:45,040 --> 01:58:47,679
the to the end of the scene here, which

2942
01:58:47,679 --> 01:58:50,239
we're coming to the end of the act.

2943
01:58:50,239 --> 01:58:51,679
where there's another guy called

2944
01:58:51,679 --> 01:58:53,760
Fletcher who's been setting up the

2945
01:58:53,760 --> 01:58:55,440
robbery. He's the out offstage

2946
01:58:55,440 --> 01:58:57,280
character. And now with the final

2947
01:58:57,280 --> 01:59:01,199
incident is in the first act is Teach

2948
01:59:01,199 --> 01:59:02,400
comes around and says, "Let's get rid of

2949
01:59:02,400 --> 01:59:05,840
Fletcher too, right? There'll be more

2950
01:59:05,840 --> 01:59:07,199
for you, there'll be more for me,

2951
01:59:07,199 --> 01:59:08,880
there'll be less for we don't need

2952
01:59:08,880 --> 01:59:10,159
Fletcher because the whole thing's set

2953
01:59:10,159 --> 01:59:12,080
up. We're going to deal him out." So

2954
01:59:12,080 --> 01:59:13,679
Donniey's manhood kicks in. He says,

2955
01:59:13,679 --> 01:59:14,719
"No, no." He said, "That would be

2956
01:59:14,719 --> 01:59:16,960
treason. We can't deal Fletcher out.

2957
01:59:16,960 --> 01:59:19,440
Fletcher is in, the kids out. Get out of

2958
01:59:19,440 --> 01:59:22,480
here. Go take a nap.

2959
01:59:22,480 --> 01:59:25,199
So that's the end of that act.

2960
01:59:25,199 --> 01:59:27,679
Okay. So now we come back to that that.

2961
01:59:27,679 --> 01:59:29,920
So where where are we at the end of the

2962
01:59:29,920 --> 01:59:32,480
first act? We tried to teach the kid a

2963
01:59:32,480 --> 01:59:34,719
lesson and the lesson was you're not

2964
01:59:34,719 --> 01:59:37,280
equal to it. I'll I I'll stand up for

2965
01:59:37,280 --> 01:59:39,280
you being humiliated. I won't sell the

2966
01:59:39,280 --> 01:59:40,880
other guy out, but you're out. We come

2967
01:59:40,880 --> 01:59:43,360
back to act two and everything is now a

2968
01:59:43,360 --> 01:59:46,639
who. Fletcher can't be found. They can't

2969
01:59:46,639 --> 01:59:48,560
find out where Fletcher is. They don't

2970
01:59:48,560 --> 01:59:52,880
know where he is. Now, Teach,

2971
01:59:52,880 --> 01:59:56,960
who's the the uh the antagonist, says,

2972
01:59:56,960 --> 02:00:00,000
"This doesn't feel right that Fletcher's

2973
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:01,920
not here. He's supposed to be here. I

2974
02:00:01,920 --> 02:00:05,360
think he's selling us out. In fact, I

2975
02:00:05,360 --> 02:00:07,679
think maybe he and the kid are selling

2976
02:00:07,679 --> 02:00:10,159
us out. There should be nobody left here

2977
02:00:10,159 --> 02:00:14,480
but you and me." He's uh he's um

2978
02:00:14,480 --> 02:00:17,599
capitalizing on the credul of Donnie and

2979
02:00:17,599 --> 02:00:18,639
saying, "Let's get rid of Fletcher."

2980
02:00:18,639 --> 02:00:20,639
Now, you see, let's go do the robbery

2981
02:00:20,639 --> 02:00:22,880
right now.

2982
02:00:22,880 --> 02:00:25,599
Then the kid comes in and the kid has a

2983
02:00:25,599 --> 02:00:27,199
report about what happened to Fletcher

2984
02:00:27,199 --> 02:00:28,560
and he says, "Fletcher's in the

2985
02:00:28,560 --> 02:00:30,719
hospital. Fletcher got mugged by some

2986
02:00:30,719 --> 02:00:33,440
thugs and Fletcher's in the hospital. I

2987
02:00:33,440 --> 02:00:36,159
don't I know I'm not in the um the

2988
02:00:36,159 --> 02:00:38,000
robbery. I just came back to tell you. I

2989
02:00:38,000 --> 02:00:40,000
wanted you wanted you to know I'm still

2990
02:00:40,000 --> 02:00:42,880
on your side. So that's this incident

2991
02:00:42,880 --> 02:00:45,119
here. And now Teach says, "Wait a

2992
02:00:45,119 --> 02:00:47,199
second. Wait a second. How do you know

2993
02:00:47,199 --> 02:00:49,199
all this stuff,

2994
02:00:49,199 --> 02:00:52,639
Bobby? How do you know all this stuff?"

2995
02:00:52,639 --> 02:00:55,599
And he convinces Donnie Dubro that the

2996
02:00:55,599 --> 02:00:58,639
kid is in league with Fletcher

2997
02:00:58,639 --> 02:01:01,520
and that they're all selling the robbery

2998
02:01:01,520 --> 02:01:05,119
out and they're and the kid is the cause

2999
02:01:05,119 --> 02:01:07,440
of the whole thing.

3000
02:01:07,440 --> 02:01:10,239
And he tries to extort a confession.

3001
02:01:10,239 --> 02:01:12,239
Teach tries to extort a confession from

3002
02:01:12,239 --> 02:01:14,320
the kid here. Tries to extort a

3003
02:01:14,320 --> 02:01:16,159
confession from the kid. And the kid

3004
02:01:16,159 --> 02:01:17,760
won't confess. He's got nothing to

3005
02:01:17,760 --> 02:01:20,960
confess. So eventually teach starts

3006
02:01:20,960 --> 02:01:23,199
beating the kid to death to extort a

3007
02:01:23,199 --> 02:01:25,599
confession because teach says, "Wait a

3008
02:01:25,599 --> 02:01:28,320
second, Don. The cops may be coming in.

3009
02:01:28,320 --> 02:01:29,760
We don't know what's going to be h

3010
02:01:29,760 --> 02:01:31,440
what's happening. Nothing makes any

3011
02:01:31,440 --> 02:01:33,760
sense. The only way this all makes sense

3012
02:01:33,760 --> 02:01:36,480
is that the kid has sold us out. So,

3013
02:01:36,480 --> 02:01:38,639
we've gone down the line of tragedy from

3014
02:01:38,639 --> 02:01:40,400
Donnie trying to teach the kid how to be

3015
02:01:40,400 --> 02:01:44,000
a man to Donnie being talked into. Yes,

3016
02:01:44,000 --> 02:01:46,400
he's not a man. I knew that back here.

3017
02:01:46,400 --> 02:01:48,560
He's a kid. Not only is a kid, he's a

3018
02:01:48,560 --> 02:01:50,719
traitor. And the only way to teach him

3019
02:01:50,719 --> 02:01:52,719
is to beat him. And they're beating the

3020
02:01:52,719 --> 02:01:55,599
kid to death. When what comes out is

3021
02:01:55,599 --> 02:01:57,199
what the kid has been doing throughout

3022
02:01:57,199 --> 02:02:00,239
has been trying to make up for his lack

3023
02:02:00,239 --> 02:02:03,199
in scene one. Miss Lackam in scene one

3024
02:02:03,199 --> 02:02:06,080
he was supposed to be following the mark

3025
02:02:06,080 --> 02:02:08,239
and because they wanted to steal a rare

3026
02:02:08,239 --> 02:02:10,800
coin from the mark and all throughout

3027
02:02:10,800 --> 02:02:12,880
he's been trying to help his father

3028
02:02:12,880 --> 02:02:15,040
who's Donnie and so what he does he

3029
02:02:15,040 --> 02:02:16,480
takes the money that's been given him

3030
02:02:16,480 --> 02:02:20,560
and he buys a rare coin to plate his

3031
02:02:20,560 --> 02:02:23,119
father and he says that he found found

3032
02:02:23,119 --> 02:02:25,520
the coin they know that that's a lie and

3033
02:02:25,520 --> 02:02:27,199
so that's why they start beating him

3034
02:02:27,199 --> 02:02:28,719
teach says that's a lie you didn't buy

3035
02:02:28,719 --> 02:02:30,400
you didn't find that coin you bought

3036
02:02:30,400 --> 02:02:32,800
that coin or you robbed you robbed the

3037
02:02:32,800 --> 02:02:37,360
joint. So the the the kid's attempt to

3038
02:02:37,360 --> 02:02:40,320
be a man to to uh fulfill his father's

3039
02:02:40,320 --> 02:02:43,119
um best wishes

3040
02:02:43,119 --> 02:02:45,360
is interpreted by the father as an act

3041
02:02:45,360 --> 02:02:47,760
of treason and they start beating the

3042
02:02:47,760 --> 02:02:50,960
kid to death until the kid fin the kid

3043
02:02:50,960 --> 02:02:53,840
says here's what I did. I missed the guy

3044
02:02:53,840 --> 02:02:56,320
over here but I bought a coin in order

3045
02:02:56,320 --> 02:02:59,199
to retain your love in order to prove my

3046
02:02:59,199 --> 02:03:01,119
manhood. And now they got to take the

3047
02:03:01,119 --> 02:03:03,599
kid to the hospital because he's dying.

3048
02:03:03,599 --> 02:03:06,719
And and uh Teach throws a fit and he

3049
02:03:06,719 --> 02:03:09,199
wrecks the junk store. And then we're

3050
02:03:09,199 --> 02:03:11,920
left with the Donnie and and and the kid

3051
02:03:11,920 --> 02:03:14,800
who's beaten something to death. And

3052
02:03:14,800 --> 02:03:16,560
Donnie underos reversal of the

3053
02:03:16,560 --> 02:03:19,199
situation. He goes from being the mentor

3054
02:03:19,199 --> 02:03:24,000
to being a a monster and recognition. He

3055
02:03:24,000 --> 02:03:26,800
re realizes that he's been behaving like

3056
02:03:26,800 --> 02:03:29,599
a monster and he's come close to killing

3057
02:03:29,599 --> 02:03:31,360
what

3058
02:03:31,360 --> 02:03:32,800
the most important thing in his life,

3059
02:03:32,800 --> 02:03:35,119
his beloved son.

3060
02:03:35,119 --> 02:03:37,440
And so the the hero underos recognition

3061
02:03:37,440 --> 02:03:39,440
of the situation and reversal of the

3062
02:03:39,440 --> 02:03:41,360
situation. And that's how we know the

3063
02:03:41,360 --> 02:03:43,599
play was over.

3064
02:03:43,599 --> 02:03:49,639
And it all stems from the original um

3065
02:03:50,080 --> 02:03:52,320
the original premise which is I have to

3066
02:03:52,320 --> 02:03:55,040
teach my son how to be a man cuz he just

3067
02:03:55,040 --> 02:03:58,400
got something wrong and ends with the

3068
02:03:58,400 --> 02:04:00,880
best way to teach him is to kill him.

3069
02:04:00,880 --> 02:04:03,199
And uh that's American Buffalo. I mean,

3070
02:04:03,199 --> 02:04:04,800
it looks like a bunch of badly drawn

3071
02:04:04,800 --> 02:04:08,639
dolphins or something, but uh

3072
02:04:08,639 --> 02:04:13,239
that's the that's that play.

3073
02:04:17,040 --> 02:04:20,400
The play, what starts the play? The play

3074
02:04:20,400 --> 02:04:24,080
starts because a guy comes in to the

3075
02:04:24,080 --> 02:04:25,840
junk shop. It all takes place in a junk

3076
02:04:25,840 --> 02:04:27,280
shop.

3077
02:04:27,280 --> 02:04:30,239
takes a coin and offers 10 bucks for

3078
02:04:30,239 --> 02:04:32,880
this Buffalo nickel and leaves. And

3079
02:04:32,880 --> 02:04:35,440
Donnie Dubro says, "You know what? I

3080
02:04:35,440 --> 02:04:36,960
didn't like that guy's attitude. He was

3081
02:04:36,960 --> 02:04:38,719
a rich guy. He lives around the corner

3082
02:04:38,719 --> 02:04:41,119
with his girlfriend. I seen him. If he

3083
02:04:41,119 --> 02:04:43,440
offered me 10 bucks for that, I bet he's

3084
02:04:43,440 --> 02:04:46,000
got a lot more money than that. I don't

3085
02:04:46,000 --> 02:04:49,679
like his attitude. I want to rob him."

3086
02:04:49,679 --> 02:04:53,199
and he puts his son or his his mentee

3087
02:04:53,199 --> 02:04:55,199
Bobby out to keep an eye on the guy to

3088
02:04:55,199 --> 02:04:57,520
see when the guy's going away because

3089
02:04:57,520 --> 02:04:58,960
they're going to rob the coin

3090
02:04:58,960 --> 02:05:01,520
collection. That was the precipitating

3091
02:05:01,520 --> 02:05:03,599
event. Before the guy came into the

3092
02:05:03,599 --> 02:05:07,520
store, nothing was happening.

3093
02:05:07,520 --> 02:05:09,440
Before the ant died, there was no reason

3094
02:05:09,440 --> 02:05:12,159
to go to Los Angeles.

3095
02:05:12,159 --> 02:05:14,800
As we move along,

3096
02:05:14,800 --> 02:05:17,520
the coin collection becomes the reason

3097
02:05:17,520 --> 02:05:20,080
that the a that the antagonist to teach

3098
02:05:20,080 --> 02:05:22,800
says you got to get rid of the kid. It's

3099
02:05:22,800 --> 02:05:26,480
much much too valuable a a project. It's

3100
02:05:26,480 --> 02:05:28,560
not a teaching opportunity. The kid's

3101
02:05:28,560 --> 02:05:30,560
not your science project. You got to get

3102
02:05:30,560 --> 02:05:32,560
rid of the kid. We have to get those

3103
02:05:32,560 --> 02:05:34,639
coins. The only thing that matters is

3104
02:05:34,639 --> 02:05:38,000
those coins. So, it begins to wean the

3105
02:05:38,000 --> 02:05:40,159
protagonist Donnie away from the

3106
02:05:40,159 --> 02:05:42,480
original objective. And and at the end

3107
02:05:42,480 --> 02:05:44,239
of act two, they've gotten rid of the

3108
02:05:44,239 --> 02:05:47,040
kid. The best way we can teach this kid,

3109
02:05:47,040 --> 02:05:49,679
says teach, is to not let him come in on

3110
02:05:49,679 --> 02:05:51,520
the coins because the important lesson

3111
02:05:51,520 --> 02:05:54,080
is don't screw up. If you're going to be

3112
02:05:54,080 --> 02:05:55,760
on the wrong side of the tracks, you

3113
02:05:55,760 --> 02:05:57,760
can't screw up. He says, Donnie, you

3114
02:05:57,760 --> 02:05:59,760
remember the kid screwed up on day one.

3115
02:05:59,760 --> 02:06:01,119
That's why we got to play in the first

3116
02:06:01,119 --> 02:06:02,719
place. We aren't going to let him screw

3117
02:06:02,719 --> 02:06:05,119
up again because Donnie, you're

3118
02:06:05,119 --> 02:06:06,719
interested in being the the excellent

3119
02:06:06,719 --> 02:06:09,119
man. The excellent man doesn't let

3120
02:06:09,119 --> 02:06:10,639
sympathy

3121
02:06:10,639 --> 02:06:12,960
get the better of reason. Kick the kid

3122
02:06:12,960 --> 02:06:16,800
out. Kids kicked out. Act three, they're

3123
02:06:16,800 --> 02:06:18,719
looking for the coin collection. And

3124
02:06:18,719 --> 02:06:22,000
Teach wants to kick out Fletcher because

3125
02:06:22,000 --> 02:06:24,239
he wants all the coins for himself. The

3126
02:06:24,239 --> 02:06:27,520
kid comes in and he says, uh, and the

3127
02:06:27,520 --> 02:06:30,400
kid gets accused of

3128
02:06:30,400 --> 02:06:32,159
being in league with Fletcher and trying

3129
02:06:32,159 --> 02:06:34,639
to take Donnie off. And the kid comes in

3130
02:06:34,639 --> 02:06:36,800
and he says, "Look what I got. I got

3131
02:06:36,800 --> 02:06:39,280
something for you. I have this valuable

3132
02:06:39,280 --> 02:06:41,040
nickel.

3133
02:06:41,040 --> 02:06:42,560
Takes us right back to the beginning of

3134
02:06:42,560 --> 02:06:44,560
the play. He says, "Let me back in on

3135
02:06:44,560 --> 02:06:46,880
this on the on the job because look what

3136
02:06:46,880 --> 02:06:48,880
I was capable of doing. I got this

3137
02:06:48,880 --> 02:06:51,920
valuable nickel for you." So now teach

3138
02:06:51,920 --> 02:06:53,840
and Donnie teach convinces Donnie says,

3139
02:06:53,840 --> 02:06:57,599
"Wait a second. This kid's an idiot.

3140
02:06:57,599 --> 02:06:59,280
Remember that you told me it on day one.

3141
02:06:59,280 --> 02:07:00,639
What? How does he get a valuable

3142
02:07:00,639 --> 02:07:02,560
nickel?" And so he says to the kid,

3143
02:07:02,560 --> 02:07:04,880
"Well, how'd you get the nickel, Bob?"

3144
02:07:04,880 --> 02:07:06,239
up. So, you know, I talked to this guy.

3145
02:07:06,239 --> 02:07:08,320
I met this guy around. He can't account

3146
02:07:08,320 --> 02:07:10,880
for his actions. So, because he c

3147
02:07:10,880 --> 02:07:12,639
because the kid cannot account for his

3148
02:07:12,639 --> 02:07:15,679
actions. He's accused and convicted of

3149
02:07:15,679 --> 02:07:17,760
treason

3150
02:07:17,760 --> 02:07:20,239
and he's beaten almost to death and it

3151
02:07:20,239 --> 02:07:22,480
comes out the way he got the nickel was

3152
02:07:22,480 --> 02:07:25,280
when Bob Don gave him some money up

3153
02:07:25,280 --> 02:07:28,000
here, he went out and bought it to make

3154
02:07:28,000 --> 02:07:30,480
up for his supposed sin of missing the

3155
02:07:30,480 --> 02:07:33,280
guy in the first place. So the nickel is

3156
02:07:33,280 --> 02:07:35,679
be from the kid's point of view is an

3157
02:07:35,679 --> 02:07:38,079
article of redemption. It's a relic. And

3158
02:07:38,079 --> 02:07:39,920
from Donniey's point of view, it's proof

3159
02:07:39,920 --> 02:07:41,679
of treason.

3160
02:07:41,679 --> 02:07:44,480
So we come full circle from the the the

3161
02:07:44,480 --> 02:07:46,159
first guy comes into the nickel. We

3162
02:07:46,159 --> 02:07:48,639
follow the nickel throughout the course

3163
02:07:48,639 --> 02:07:51,679
and it has three meanings.

3164
02:07:51,679 --> 02:07:56,040
And uh there you go.

3165
02:07:59,679 --> 02:08:01,280
Structure is very important. I mean, I

3166
02:08:01,280 --> 02:08:03,040
think a lot about structure and I think

3167
02:08:03,040 --> 02:08:04,880
a lot about our greatest western

3168
02:08:04,880 --> 02:08:07,440
philosopher and I think a lot of you

3169
02:08:07,440 --> 02:08:09,679
guys have already beaten me to the punch

3170
02:08:09,679 --> 02:08:12,400
when I say of course it was Daffy Duck

3171
02:08:12,400 --> 02:08:15,199
because Daffy Duck asked the essential

3172
02:08:15,199 --> 02:08:19,119
question of philosophy which is FA

3173
02:08:19,119 --> 02:08:23,679
what's going on here anyway.

3174
02:08:23,679 --> 02:08:26,000
So the question of structure is what's

3175
02:08:26,000 --> 02:08:28,800
going on here anyways. So why does the

3176
02:08:28,800 --> 02:08:31,360
structure exist? Why do we have scenes

3177
02:08:31,360 --> 02:08:34,159
which are approximately 7 minutes long,

3178
02:08:34,159 --> 02:08:36,079
scenes structured into acts which are

3179
02:08:36,079 --> 02:08:38,560
approximately a half an hour long and

3180
02:08:38,560 --> 02:08:40,480
the act structured into a play which is

3181
02:08:40,480 --> 02:08:42,800
approximately an hour and a half long.

3182
02:08:42,800 --> 02:08:46,079
And the answer goes back to the campfire

3183
02:08:46,079 --> 02:08:48,800
because it's built into the uh we're

3184
02:08:48,800 --> 02:08:52,400
hardwired human beings that every seven

3185
02:08:52,400 --> 02:08:54,639
minutes approximately every seven

3186
02:08:54,639 --> 02:08:56,800
minutes we stop and we take a little

3187
02:08:56,800 --> 02:08:58,880
look around

3188
02:08:58,880 --> 02:09:00,560
cuz that's what that's goes back to the

3189
02:09:00,560 --> 02:09:03,679
caveman days. And if you think about it,

3190
02:09:03,679 --> 02:09:06,159
that's the length of a comedy skit and

3191
02:09:06,159 --> 02:09:07,840
it's also the length of the time between

3192
02:09:07,840 --> 02:09:10,480
commercials on a television show, right?

3193
02:09:10,480 --> 02:09:12,480
It's not an accident. They've written

3194
02:09:12,480 --> 02:09:15,119
the scene unconsciously nonetheless

3195
02:09:15,119 --> 02:09:17,199
because that's the amount of time we

3196
02:09:17,199 --> 02:09:19,760
need for that before we start to look

3197
02:09:19,760 --> 02:09:22,719
around. Every 20 minutes, which is

3198
02:09:22,719 --> 02:09:25,840
approximately three of those 7 minutes

3199
02:09:25,840 --> 02:09:29,520
of um intervals, we take a longer look

3200
02:09:29,520 --> 02:09:31,920
around and conversation stops. In fact,

3201
02:09:31,920 --> 02:09:34,560
our friends, the French, you remember

3202
02:09:34,560 --> 02:09:36,320
them, right? They gave us Alan Delone,

3203
02:09:36,320 --> 02:09:39,199
Bridget Bardeau, and they they gave

3204
02:09:39,199 --> 02:09:41,360
Paris to the Germans a couple of times.

3205
02:09:41,360 --> 02:09:43,040
I think they got it back, but it's all

3206
02:09:43,040 --> 02:09:44,480
part of the European Union. So, what who

3207
02:09:44,480 --> 02:09:47,360
am I to judge? Okay. In any case, they

3208
02:09:47,360 --> 02:09:51,679
say an right 20 minutes after the hour,

3209
02:09:51,679 --> 02:09:54,000
they say an angel passes. And if you

3210
02:09:54,000 --> 02:09:55,679
think about it, you you watch it, you'll

3211
02:09:55,679 --> 02:09:57,520
see in your daily lives. At 20 minutes

3212
02:09:57,520 --> 02:09:59,520
after the hour and 20 minutes before the

3213
02:09:59,520 --> 02:10:02,000
hour, there's a longer pause in the

3214
02:10:02,000 --> 02:10:04,960
conversation. Why? Why do the pause

3215
02:10:04,960 --> 02:10:06,800
pauses occur there? Because most things

3216
02:10:06,800 --> 02:10:09,920
start in the hour. Most events, dinners,

3217
02:10:09,920 --> 02:10:11,280
dates, blah blah, most of them start in

3218
02:10:11,280 --> 02:10:13,440
the hour. So 20 minutes after that,

3219
02:10:13,440 --> 02:10:15,199
there's a pause and people and the

3220
02:10:15,199 --> 02:10:17,679
conversation just dies. And the same

3221
02:10:17,679 --> 02:10:20,000
thing is true 20 minutes later, it's 20

3222
02:10:20,000 --> 02:10:21,679
minutes to the hour. The conversation

3223
02:10:21,679 --> 02:10:24,000
just dies.

3224
02:10:24,000 --> 02:10:26,800
So this is the hard wiring of the human

3225
02:10:26,800 --> 02:10:29,040
being around the campfire. Every seven

3226
02:10:29,040 --> 02:10:30,159
minutes, you want to look a little bit

3227
02:10:30,159 --> 02:10:32,079
around and keep talking. Every 20

3228
02:10:32,079 --> 02:10:33,520
minutes or so, you want to take a little

3229
02:10:33,520 --> 02:10:35,679
bit longer pause.

3230
02:10:35,679 --> 02:10:37,599
And when you go to the theater, you'll

3231
02:10:37,599 --> 02:10:39,920
see this happen because most theater uh

3232
02:10:39,920 --> 02:10:41,440
the curtain is if it's called for 8,

3233
02:10:41,440 --> 02:10:44,880
it'll go open at 8:07. And at 8:07, you

3234
02:10:44,880 --> 02:10:47,119
can set your stopwatch by it. The

3235
02:10:47,119 --> 02:10:49,360
audience stops talking. They just

3236
02:10:49,360 --> 02:10:52,079
naturally quiet down at 8:07. If the

3237
02:10:52,079 --> 02:10:53,760
play doesn't start, they'll start

3238
02:10:53,760 --> 02:10:55,840
talking again. But it's it's hardwired

3239
02:10:55,840 --> 02:10:58,560
into the human experience. So the seven

3240
02:10:58,560 --> 02:11:02,159
minute scene, three of them um more or

3241
02:11:02,159 --> 02:11:05,040
less make an act. and three acts more or

3242
02:11:05,040 --> 02:11:06,880
less make a whole play. That's the

3243
02:11:06,880 --> 02:11:09,440
traditional three-act structure. Some of

3244
02:11:09,440 --> 02:11:12,560
my plays are written in a long oneact

3245
02:11:12,560 --> 02:11:14,159
structure and some of them are written

3246
02:11:14,159 --> 02:11:16,480
in two act structure. And the reason for

3247
02:11:16,480 --> 02:11:19,360
that is I I think just because I mean I

3248
02:11:19,360 --> 02:11:20,960
don't know any better. That's just how

3249
02:11:20,960 --> 02:11:22,480
it occurred to me. That's just how it

3250
02:11:22,480 --> 02:11:25,520
occurred to me at the time.

3251
02:11:25,520 --> 02:11:27,520
People sell Michelangelo statue of

3252
02:11:27,520 --> 02:11:31,040
David, right? Pretty cute. And they say,

3253
02:11:31,040 --> 02:11:33,599
"My god, how did you do that?" and he

3254
02:11:33,599 --> 02:11:35,040
said, 'I just looked at this block of

3255
02:11:35,040 --> 02:11:38,000
marble and I cut away everything that

3256
02:11:38,000 --> 02:11:39,599
wasn't

3257
02:11:39,599 --> 02:11:42,079
David.' And so I grew up like everyone

3258
02:11:42,079 --> 02:11:43,920
else listening to that, thinking, "My

3259
02:11:43,920 --> 02:11:45,920
god, that's brilliant." until I realized

3260
02:11:45,920 --> 02:11:51,159
what he was really saying was buzz off.

3261
02:12:03,360 --> 02:12:06,000
I was working in a real estate office in

3262
02:12:06,000 --> 02:12:08,800
Chicago uh in what was called a boiler

3263
02:12:08,800 --> 02:12:10,159
room. For those of you who never had the

3264
02:12:10,159 --> 02:12:11,840
experience, a boiler room, you're

3265
02:12:11,840 --> 02:12:14,079
subject to it, but most of you haven't

3266
02:12:14,079 --> 02:12:15,840
done it. Somebody calls up and says,

3267
02:12:15,840 --> 02:12:18,800
"Hi, uh, Miss Sanchez. This is uh, uh,

3268
02:12:18,800 --> 02:12:21,040
Oscar Lavine. I'm with uh, Rex

3269
02:12:21,040 --> 02:12:23,280
carpeting. We're having a special offer

3270
02:12:23,280 --> 02:12:25,280
on carpeting this thing, and I got your

3271
02:12:25,280 --> 02:12:28,159
name from and you give this pitch in

3272
02:12:28,159 --> 02:12:30,719
order to set up what's called a sit.

3273
02:12:30,719 --> 02:12:32,239
You're trying to get I think that

3274
02:12:32,239 --> 02:12:34,400
they're now automated, most of them, but

3275
02:12:34,400 --> 02:12:36,000
in the in the old days, they were real

3276
02:12:36,000 --> 02:12:38,079
life people. I was one of them trying I

3277
02:12:38,079 --> 02:12:39,840
tried to sell land over the telephone. I

3278
02:12:39,840 --> 02:12:42,239
sold carpets over the telephone. what

3279
02:12:42,239 --> 02:12:44,400
they call cold calling, which is they

3280
02:12:44,400 --> 02:12:46,159
give you a phone book and they say,

3281
02:12:46,159 --> 02:12:48,000
"Here,

3282
02:12:48,000 --> 02:12:50,320
these are not leads. Nobody's qualified

3283
02:12:50,320 --> 02:12:51,840
them. They're just people. See what you

3284
02:12:51,840 --> 02:12:55,520
can do." And it's it's it's it's real

3285
02:12:55,520 --> 02:12:56,800
hard work. And and I found it very

3286
02:12:56,800 --> 02:12:59,280
grueling because uh a I'm lazy and b you

3287
02:12:59,280 --> 02:13:02,320
have a conscience. So I'm working in

3288
02:13:02,320 --> 02:13:04,079
this office and I'm listening to these

3289
02:13:04,079 --> 02:13:06,639
guys and I'm out at we all went to the

3290
02:13:06,639 --> 02:13:08,719
Chinese restaurant every night and I'm

3291
02:13:08,719 --> 02:13:10,880
listening to guys in the next booth

3292
02:13:10,880 --> 02:13:12,800
talking about something or other and all

3293
02:13:12,800 --> 02:13:14,719
these guys I mean it was fraudulent land

3294
02:13:14,719 --> 02:13:17,520
sales I mean it was 6 to5 in a pickum

3295
02:13:17,520 --> 02:13:18,880
whether it was actually a crime or not

3296
02:13:18,880 --> 02:13:21,679
but these guys were all genius salesman

3297
02:13:21,679 --> 02:13:24,639
stroke crooks stroke confidence men and

3298
02:13:24,639 --> 02:13:26,239
I'm listening into the next booth and

3299
02:13:26,239 --> 02:13:29,280
I'm thinking wow that's really cool that

3300
02:13:29,280 --> 02:13:31,440
I can just overhear a little bit of this

3301
02:13:31,440 --> 02:13:34,000
conversation next booth. I don't quite

3302
02:13:34,000 --> 02:13:36,079
know what they're talking about, but

3303
02:13:36,079 --> 02:13:38,400
they're so intent I'm going to listen

3304
02:13:38,400 --> 02:13:40,079
harder. I think we've all had this

3305
02:13:40,079 --> 02:13:42,560
experience, right? So, this should teach

3306
02:13:42,560 --> 02:13:45,840
you if nothing else does.

3307
02:13:45,840 --> 02:13:47,679
Don't write exposition and don't write

3308
02:13:47,679 --> 02:13:49,520
narration because you want to start the

3309
02:13:49,520 --> 02:13:51,920
story as the Roman said in the middle.

3310
02:13:51,920 --> 02:13:53,280
Say, "Well, what's what the hell's going

3311
02:13:53,280 --> 02:13:57,040
on?" No, just as you do when you come to

3312
02:13:57,040 --> 02:13:58,480
the bar and there's a thing on the

3313
02:13:58,480 --> 02:14:00,400
television, you say, "Give me a glass of

3314
02:14:00,400 --> 02:14:03,760
water, you know, or you know, a uh what

3315
02:14:03,760 --> 02:14:05,520
do you call whistle pig straight white

3316
02:14:05,520 --> 02:14:07,599
whiskey for choice and you're watching

3317
02:14:07,599 --> 02:14:09,360
and you see two people talking in the

3318
02:14:09,360 --> 02:14:11,280
show and you you understand what's going

3319
02:14:11,280 --> 02:14:12,960
on.

3320
02:14:12,960 --> 02:14:14,719
You don't need someone to you don't need

3321
02:14:14,719 --> 02:14:16,800
you don't need the first reel." So,

3322
02:14:16,800 --> 02:14:18,800
there's ancient theatrical wisdom which

3323
02:14:18,800 --> 02:14:20,400
is how do you make any movie better?

3324
02:14:20,400 --> 02:14:23,119
Burn the first reel. Take the first 10

3325
02:14:23,119 --> 02:14:28,159
minutes of any movie, throw it away,

3326
02:14:28,159 --> 02:14:29,920
and you'll see this. Check it out. Try

3327
02:14:29,920 --> 02:14:31,920
it. Watch a movie and see 10 minutes in,

3328
02:14:31,920 --> 02:14:33,280
12 minutes in. Say, "Well, hell, why

3329
02:14:33,280 --> 02:14:35,440
don't you start here?" I didn't need all

3330
02:14:35,440 --> 02:14:37,199
this. Well, back when we were young. And

3331
02:14:37,199 --> 02:14:38,880
the reason I'm telling you this, and

3332
02:14:38,880 --> 02:14:40,639
Jim, you know, you are the head of this

3333
02:14:40,639 --> 02:14:42,560
hospital. You don't need it. Start in

3334
02:14:42,560 --> 02:14:44,480
the middle. How do we know you can start

3335
02:14:44,480 --> 02:14:45,920
in the middle? Well, you know it cuz

3336
02:14:45,920 --> 02:14:47,360
when you come to the bar, and you know

3337
02:14:47,360 --> 02:14:48,639
it cuz when you sit at the Chinese

3338
02:14:48,639 --> 02:14:50,000
restaurant, you're listening to the next

3339
02:14:50,000 --> 02:14:51,679
booth. you want to find out what's going

3340
02:14:51,679 --> 02:14:53,840
on.

3341
02:14:53,840 --> 02:14:55,920
So I thought I started writing this

3342
02:14:55,920 --> 02:14:58,400
scene. What about if this great salesman

3343
02:14:58,400 --> 02:15:00,880
is trying to sell land to somebody who

3344
02:15:00,880 --> 02:15:02,960
doesn't care? And the salesman starts

3345
02:15:02,960 --> 02:15:07,520
off in scene one with this long rambling

3346
02:15:07,520 --> 02:15:09,360
monologue doesn't seem to make much

3347
02:15:09,360 --> 02:15:12,000
sense until he brings it down at the end

3348
02:15:12,000 --> 02:15:14,079
and he says this what I what I'm doing

3349
02:15:14,079 --> 02:15:16,320
is I'm talking about investing in land

3350
02:15:16,320 --> 02:15:17,920
and he's talking to the guy like this

3351
02:15:17,920 --> 02:15:20,880
guy is his best buddy in the world and

3352
02:15:20,880 --> 02:15:22,639
the punchline is hi my name is Ricky

3353
02:15:22,639 --> 02:15:25,360
Roma what's yours and we say oh my god

3354
02:15:25,360 --> 02:15:26,880
this guy's the best salesman in the

3355
02:15:26,880 --> 02:15:30,079
world he just had me the audience

3356
02:15:30,079 --> 02:15:32,960
listening to him for 38 minutes talk

3357
02:15:32,960 --> 02:15:35,679
about this obstruuse land values and

3358
02:15:35,679 --> 02:15:38,480
depreciation and this and that. I I'm

3359
02:15:38,480 --> 02:15:41,760
gone. So what happens is Ricky Roma, one

3360
02:15:41,760 --> 02:15:44,079
of the heroes of the gang drama, is the

3361
02:15:44,079 --> 02:15:46,560
in the same position as the writer. I

3362
02:15:46,560 --> 02:15:48,480
say, man, okay, I'm going to I'm going

3363
02:15:48,480 --> 02:15:50,159
to catch you by the hair. I'm going to

3364
02:15:50,159 --> 02:15:52,880
make you listen. Watch this. You just

3365
02:15:52,880 --> 02:15:55,599
got all this information. Why? Because

3366
02:15:55,599 --> 02:15:57,440
Ricky, not because I, the the

3367
02:15:57,440 --> 02:15:58,719
playwright, wanted to give it to you,

3368
02:15:58,719 --> 02:16:01,040
the audience, because Ricky Roma, the

3369
02:16:01,040 --> 02:16:02,719
hero, wanted to give it to this guy he's

3370
02:16:02,719 --> 02:16:04,320
trying to take it advantage of. How

3371
02:16:04,320 --> 02:16:08,280
about that? Ain't that cute?

3372
02:16:11,840 --> 02:16:13,840
Difference between tragedy and and

3373
02:16:13,840 --> 02:16:15,920
drama. Well, we talked about tragedy.

3374
02:16:15,920 --> 02:16:20,719
Tragedy is is the the quest of the hero

3375
02:16:20,719 --> 02:16:24,639
for one specific goal. Such quest re

3376
02:16:24,639 --> 02:16:26,639
resulting at the end of his at the end

3377
02:16:26,639 --> 02:16:29,599
of the journey in reversal of situation

3378
02:16:29,599 --> 02:16:32,080
and recognition such that it awakens in

3379
02:16:32,080 --> 02:16:35,040
the audience fear. Oh my god, I'm just

3380
02:16:35,040 --> 02:16:37,679
like that and pity. Oh, the poor son of

3381
02:16:37,679 --> 02:16:40,160
a gun.

3382
02:16:40,160 --> 02:16:42,399
Tragedy has to be strictly structured so

3383
02:16:42,399 --> 02:16:45,040
that we only have incidents. Incidents

3384
02:16:45,040 --> 02:16:47,200
are also called scenes. Each incident

3385
02:16:47,200 --> 02:16:51,359
has to be an essential step in

3386
02:16:51,359 --> 02:16:53,439
achieving the goal. Now, here's a here's

3387
02:16:53,439 --> 02:16:57,519
a really uh handy dandy little giant

3388
02:16:57,519 --> 02:17:00,880
test for you. The incidents can be

3389
02:17:00,880 --> 02:17:03,040
understood as

3390
02:17:03,040 --> 02:17:04,719
let's say you got to go to get your we

3391
02:17:04,719 --> 02:17:05,920
talked about you got to go to get your

3392
02:17:05,920 --> 02:17:07,760
wife's or your your aunt's what do you

3393
02:17:07,760 --> 02:17:09,760
call it the legacy or your your wife's

3394
02:17:09,760 --> 02:17:12,160
mittens whatever the hell it is. How are

3395
02:17:12,160 --> 02:17:13,840
you going to get there? Well, you got to

3396
02:17:13,840 --> 02:17:16,080
get to the elevator, right? The elev you

3397
02:17:16,080 --> 02:17:18,319
got to get the cab. You got to get to

3398
02:17:18,319 --> 02:17:19,920
security. You got to get through

3399
02:17:19,920 --> 02:17:22,000
security. You got to get from security

3400
02:17:22,000 --> 02:17:23,840
onto the plane. Each of those is an

3401
02:17:23,840 --> 02:17:27,359
incident. You cannot take one away.

3402
02:17:27,359 --> 02:17:29,599
You can't say I'll I won't do the cab.

3403
02:17:29,599 --> 02:17:32,000
Each is an essential incident to get you

3404
02:17:32,000 --> 02:17:34,800
on the plane. You you you want to add

3405
02:17:34,800 --> 02:17:36,639
another incident of you discover a cure

3406
02:17:36,639 --> 02:17:38,479
for cancer. That's fine, but it's not a

3407
02:17:38,479 --> 02:17:40,000
part of the story that you were telling

3408
02:17:40,000 --> 02:17:42,880
me. So those are the incidents. So a

3409
02:17:42,880 --> 02:17:46,719
tragedy is is strictly structured

3410
02:17:46,719 --> 02:17:49,200
progression of incidents. The reason it

3411
02:17:49,200 --> 02:17:51,760
has to be that as we spoke of is so the

3412
02:17:51,760 --> 02:17:54,719
audience can follow it. Napoleon said

3413
02:17:54,719 --> 02:17:58,000
you got to keep your plans very very

3414
02:17:58,000 --> 02:18:00,319
simple so that your enemy can follow

3415
02:18:00,319 --> 02:18:03,599
them. Kind of a brilliant thing to say.

3416
02:18:03,599 --> 02:18:05,280
Okay. So you got to keep your plans very

3417
02:18:05,280 --> 02:18:07,040
very simple so that they aren't the

3418
02:18:07,040 --> 02:18:09,280
enemy that your friends the audience can

3419
02:18:09,280 --> 02:18:11,840
follow them so they can think ahead. And

3420
02:18:11,840 --> 02:18:13,920
the perfect example of course is the

3421
02:18:13,920 --> 02:18:17,280
other greatest stoical philosophical

3422
02:18:17,280 --> 02:18:19,760
philosophy which is the philosophy of

3423
02:18:19,760 --> 02:18:23,040
wishing things to occur as they do and

3424
02:18:23,040 --> 02:18:24,719
only wishing for those things we can

3425
02:18:24,719 --> 02:18:28,240
award ourselves for example honor not

3426
02:18:28,240 --> 02:18:30,160
wishing for those things we cannot award

3427
02:18:30,160 --> 02:18:32,639
ourselves for example fame. And the

3428
02:18:32,639 --> 02:18:35,359
greatest so uh uh soal philosophy of all

3429
02:18:35,359 --> 02:18:38,479
time was of course the roadrunner who

3430
02:18:38,479 --> 02:18:40,240
reduced all philosophy to those two

3431
02:18:40,240 --> 02:18:43,280
magical words beep beep. So wy coyote

3432
02:18:43,280 --> 02:18:45,679
he's always trying again. He's always

3433
02:18:45,679 --> 02:18:49,519
trying again. Every everything

3434
02:18:49,519 --> 02:18:52,240
he's when he fails he tries again. His

3435
02:18:52,240 --> 02:18:55,519
one goal in life is to catch the road

3436
02:18:55,519 --> 02:18:57,599
runner. Nothing will force him to give

3437
02:18:57,599 --> 02:19:00,880
up this. So Wally Coyote is the tragic

3438
02:19:00,880 --> 02:19:02,960
hero and the roadrunner could be

3439
02:19:02,960 --> 02:19:05,439
considered as fate or you know as a

3440
02:19:05,439 --> 02:19:07,359
silly prairie chicken. I mean you know

3441
02:19:07,359 --> 02:19:10,479
you take your choice. So that's tragedy.

3442
02:19:10,479 --> 02:19:14,719
So drama has to deal with drama does not

3443
02:19:14,719 --> 02:19:17,920
result in reversal of the situation and

3444
02:19:17,920 --> 02:19:20,479
recognition.

3445
02:19:20,479 --> 02:19:23,359
Things are changed somewhat and we're

3446
02:19:23,359 --> 02:19:26,160
given a slice of life. certain things

3447
02:19:26,160 --> 02:19:29,679
happen and we live we we leave not full

3448
02:19:29,679 --> 02:19:32,240
of fear and pity but saying isn't life

3449
02:19:32,240 --> 02:19:36,800
just like that by this definition

3450
02:19:36,800 --> 02:19:38,399
a death of a salesman is not a tragedy

3451
02:19:38,399 --> 02:19:40,559
it's a drama

3452
02:19:40,559 --> 02:19:43,040
oh my sons another Arthur Miller play

3453
02:19:43,040 --> 02:19:46,000
great play is a tragedy okay so Glengary

3454
02:19:46,000 --> 02:19:48,880
Glenn Ross is a kind of a new 20th

3455
02:19:48,880 --> 02:19:54,960
century form called the gang drama

3456
02:19:55,600 --> 02:19:58,560
As we see in the tragedy, everything is

3457
02:19:58,560 --> 02:20:01,280
an aspect of the hero, right? Donnie

3458
02:20:01,280 --> 02:20:04,560
Dubro is the protagonist. The antagonist

3459
02:20:04,560 --> 02:20:07,840
teach is his yet harah, his dark side of

3460
02:20:07,840 --> 02:20:10,240
Thanootos, as Freud would say. And the

3461
02:20:10,240 --> 02:20:13,439
other side that he's taking care of is

3462
02:20:13,439 --> 02:20:16,399
is been split off from the hero is is

3463
02:20:16,399 --> 02:20:19,040
the son is the the part which deserves

3464
02:20:19,040 --> 02:20:22,240
compassion. In a gang drama, rather than

3465
02:20:22,240 --> 02:20:26,479
having one protagonist, you have many.

3466
02:20:26,479 --> 02:20:30,960
And gang dramas usually deal with

3467
02:20:30,960 --> 02:20:32,800
professions.

3468
02:20:32,800 --> 02:20:35,040
Almost all drama, in fact, I think all

3469
02:20:35,040 --> 02:20:37,040
drama on television is gang drama. It's

3470
02:20:37,040 --> 02:20:40,720
cops or it's lawyers or it's crooks or

3471
02:20:40,720 --> 02:20:43,920
it's medical people. You those are all

3472
02:20:43,920 --> 02:20:46,240
gang dramas. And it started in the 20th

3473
02:20:46,240 --> 02:20:49,280
century I believe with uh Elmer Rice

3474
02:20:49,280 --> 02:20:51,600
wrote a play called Street Scene and

3475
02:20:51,600 --> 02:20:53,120
Sydney Kingsley who's a wonderful

3476
02:20:53,120 --> 02:20:54,720
dramatist. He wrote Check out these

3477
02:20:54,720 --> 02:20:55,920
plays. They're great. They made great

3478
02:20:55,920 --> 02:20:58,800
movies too. Men in White the the the

3479
02:20:58,800 --> 02:21:00,960
quintessential doctor drama and

3480
02:21:00,960 --> 02:21:02,560
Detective Story the quintessential

3481
02:21:02,560 --> 02:21:05,359
detective drama. Claire Booth Loose

3482
02:21:05,359 --> 02:21:08,160
wrote The Women. Her gang was women uh

3483
02:21:08,160 --> 02:21:11,280
stuck in a um hotel in Reno, Nevada,

3484
02:21:11,280 --> 02:21:13,920
awaiting their divorce. These are all

3485
02:21:13,920 --> 02:21:15,920
gang dramas.

3486
02:21:15,920 --> 02:21:18,720
And Glen Gary Glenn Ross is a gang drama

3487
02:21:18,720 --> 02:21:21,760
about men in a real estate office

3488
02:21:21,760 --> 02:21:25,040
selling fraudulent land uh in Chicago.

3489
02:21:25,040 --> 02:21:27,439
And uh

3490
02:21:27,439 --> 02:21:31,160
that's what that is.

3491
02:21:34,160 --> 02:21:37,520
So Glen Gary Glenn Ross is a uh an

3492
02:21:37,520 --> 02:21:40,080
exercise to me in in uh character like

3493
02:21:40,080 --> 02:21:43,680
just as we're speaking about one gets to

3494
02:21:43,680 --> 02:21:45,600
know people from knowing their character

3495
02:21:45,600 --> 02:21:48,399
through watching what they do. We

3496
02:21:48,399 --> 02:21:50,240
determine what their character is. Are

3497
02:21:50,240 --> 02:21:52,240
they good? Are they bad? Are they

3498
02:21:52,240 --> 02:21:54,960
reliable? We determine this also when

3499
02:21:54,960 --> 02:21:56,800
listening somebody tell a joke. They

3500
02:21:56,800 --> 02:21:58,640
tell a joke and the joke is good. They

3501
02:21:58,640 --> 02:22:01,120
tell the next joke. However bizarre the

3502
02:22:01,120 --> 02:22:03,840
joke is, we'll listen along because we

3503
02:22:03,840 --> 02:22:05,200
know their character. We know they're

3504
02:22:05,200 --> 02:22:07,120
going to get to a punchline. So, we'll

3505
02:22:07,120 --> 02:22:09,280
play along. We're going to give them the

3506
02:22:09,280 --> 02:22:11,520
benefit of the doubt. The same thing is

3507
02:22:11,520 --> 02:22:13,280
true when the audience is watching a

3508
02:22:13,280 --> 02:22:15,120
play. If they know that eventually

3509
02:22:15,120 --> 02:22:16,800
you're going to get to a punchline,

3510
02:22:16,800 --> 02:22:19,600
they'll play along. They'll say, "Wait a

3511
02:22:19,600 --> 02:22:21,439
second. Okay, I don't quite understand,

3512
02:22:21,439 --> 02:22:24,479
but I know I'm in good hands. I know

3513
02:22:24,479 --> 02:22:27,920
he's taken me somewhere, so I'll listen.

3514
02:22:27,920 --> 02:22:29,920
So, in Glengary, Glenn Rosson, the first

3515
02:22:29,920 --> 02:22:33,040
scene is uh these two guys in a booth

3516
02:22:33,040 --> 02:22:35,200
talking about leads. Who the hell knows

3517
02:22:35,200 --> 02:22:36,720
what leads are? The audience doesn't

3518
02:22:36,720 --> 02:22:39,439
know what leads are, but the guys know.

3519
02:22:39,439 --> 02:22:41,439
One guy wants something called leads.

3520
02:22:41,439 --> 02:22:43,120
The other guy doesn't want to get them

3521
02:22:43,120 --> 02:22:45,600
give him the leads. Little by little, we

3522
02:22:45,600 --> 02:22:48,319
begin to understand through their

3523
02:22:48,319 --> 02:22:52,000
dialogue that leads are

3524
02:22:52,000 --> 02:22:55,120
indications of who who might be a good

3525
02:22:55,120 --> 02:22:58,960
prospect to be sold this stuff. What is

3526
02:22:58,960 --> 02:23:02,319
this stuff? It's land. We we we don't

3527
02:23:02,319 --> 02:23:04,800
start off by narrating what's going to

3528
02:23:04,800 --> 02:23:06,479
happen. We start off in the middle of

3529
02:23:06,479 --> 02:23:07,840
two guys talking about something we

3530
02:23:07,840 --> 02:23:09,840
don't understand. But the one guy is so

3531
02:23:09,840 --> 02:23:12,160
intent uh Lavine on getting these leads

3532
02:23:12,160 --> 02:23:13,439
getting these leads getting this leads

3533
02:23:13,439 --> 02:23:15,520
that we'll go along with him. We'll go

3534
02:23:15,520 --> 02:23:18,479
along and at the end we found out what

3535
02:23:18,479 --> 02:23:21,680
the deal is. We've because we not

3536
02:23:21,680 --> 02:23:23,200
because we were told not because

3537
02:23:23,200 --> 02:23:25,359
somebody spoonfed it to us with a

3538
02:23:25,359 --> 02:23:28,080
shovel. And if you notice, most most

3539
02:23:28,080 --> 02:23:30,800
dramas have these days and all the

3540
02:23:30,800 --> 02:23:33,439
action movies have a big computer room

3541
02:23:33,439 --> 02:23:35,520
scene where people are always talking

3542
02:23:35,520 --> 02:23:37,200
about, "Oh my god, we got a bad reading

3543
02:23:37,200 --> 02:23:39,760
on the ADS SP2."

3544
02:23:39,760 --> 02:23:42,960
You don't mean the automatic sync credit

3545
02:23:42,960 --> 02:23:46,960
P.2, do you? Right. Who cares? If I got

3546
02:23:46,960 --> 02:23:48,640
a bad reading on the machine, get on

3547
02:23:48,640 --> 02:23:50,800
with it. We don't need to give the

3548
02:23:50,800 --> 02:23:53,200
machine a name and then explain what the

3549
02:23:53,200 --> 02:23:55,439
name means because whom for whom are we

3550
02:23:55,439 --> 02:23:56,800
explaining it for the purpose of the

3551
02:23:56,800 --> 02:23:58,319
audience? They don't care. They want to

3552
02:23:58,319 --> 02:23:59,760
know what's happening. They don't care

3553
02:23:59,760 --> 02:24:01,600
about the we'll assume that the machine

3554
02:24:01,600 --> 02:24:03,359
can do anything because that's what

3555
02:24:03,359 --> 02:24:05,600
computers do in a in in in a movie. They

3556
02:24:05,600 --> 02:24:08,720
do anything. So, uh, computers in a

3557
02:24:08,720 --> 02:24:11,760
movie are the same are the equivalent of

3558
02:24:11,760 --> 02:24:14,160
cigarettes in the theater in the old in

3559
02:24:14,160 --> 02:24:16,399
the old days. You could block anything.

3560
02:24:16,399 --> 02:24:18,399
You could blocking is getting pre people

3561
02:24:18,399 --> 02:24:20,479
from one part of the stage to the other.

3562
02:24:20,479 --> 02:24:22,160
It's very important to move people

3563
02:24:22,160 --> 02:24:24,479
around the stage because if you guys are

3564
02:24:24,479 --> 02:24:27,040
the audience, I may be talking to

3565
02:24:27,040 --> 02:24:28,720
somebody whose back is to you, but at

3566
02:24:28,720 --> 02:24:30,080
some point that she's going to be want

3567
02:24:30,080 --> 02:24:31,680
to be talking to me. So, at some point,

3568
02:24:31,680 --> 02:24:34,000
I got to move so that she can be talking

3569
02:24:34,000 --> 02:24:36,399
to you. Get it? We can't move the camera

3570
02:24:36,399 --> 02:24:39,439
on the stage. You're set. In the old

3571
02:24:39,439 --> 02:24:41,760
days, you could always block, you could

3572
02:24:41,760 --> 02:24:44,000
move anybody by having them go get a

3573
02:24:44,000 --> 02:24:45,760
cigarette.

3574
02:24:45,760 --> 02:24:47,040
So, I would go over here to get the

3575
02:24:47,040 --> 02:24:48,399
cigarette and the woman over there would

3576
02:24:48,399 --> 02:24:49,680
come down and start talking to me. You

3577
02:24:49,680 --> 02:24:51,920
could see her face.

3578
02:24:51,920 --> 02:24:56,160
So, the the computer is the if you if

3579
02:24:56,160 --> 02:24:57,760
you don't know how to move the thing

3580
02:24:57,760 --> 02:25:00,080
forward in a movie, you can always go to

3581
02:25:00,080 --> 02:25:02,000
the computer because the computer will

3582
02:25:02,000 --> 02:25:04,240
say tickity, tickity, tickity. Oh, look

3583
02:25:04,240 --> 02:25:05,840
what the computer's saying. Here's the

3584
02:25:05,840 --> 02:25:07,600
piece of information we didn't know.

3585
02:25:07,600 --> 02:25:09,280
Find me where this person is right now.

3586
02:25:09,280 --> 02:25:11,359
Tickity, tickity, tickity talk. Oh,

3587
02:25:11,359 --> 02:25:13,439
boom, boom, boom. Google Earth says that

3588
02:25:13,439 --> 02:25:15,120
he's over there in the thing. Oh,

3589
02:25:15,120 --> 02:25:17,359
tickity, tickity.

3590
02:25:17,359 --> 02:25:19,680
You just took the movie out of it. and

3591
02:25:19,680 --> 02:25:21,520
Chuck Jones, who was the great director

3592
02:25:21,520 --> 02:25:24,399
of the um uh Warner Brothers cartoons,

3593
02:25:24,399 --> 02:25:26,000
all the great Warner Brothers cartoons,

3594
02:25:26,000 --> 02:25:28,720
Ad Daffy and Marvin the Martian and Bugs

3595
02:25:28,720 --> 02:25:31,439
Bunny and the Roadrunner. He said, "You

3596
02:25:31,439 --> 02:25:33,600
can't have a a character who can do

3597
02:25:33,600 --> 02:25:35,439
everything.

3598
02:25:35,439 --> 02:25:37,280
If the character character can do

3599
02:25:37,280 --> 02:25:40,880
everything, the audience loses interest,

3600
02:25:40,880 --> 02:25:43,040
right? Superman has to have kryptonite

3601
02:25:43,040 --> 02:25:45,280
or he doesn't exist. Because if Superman

3602
02:25:45,280 --> 02:25:49,600
can do anything, who cares? We we we We

3603
02:25:49,600 --> 02:25:50,960
can't identify with somebody who can do

3604
02:25:50,960 --> 02:25:54,479
anything. Okay. So, uh narration. So,

3605
02:25:54,479 --> 02:25:56,000
what can you what can you do without

3606
02:25:56,000 --> 02:25:57,920
narration? If you say I'm going to going

3607
02:25:57,920 --> 02:26:00,240
to have one piece of narration in this

3608
02:26:00,240 --> 02:26:03,280
movie, in this play, you can tax

3609
02:26:03,280 --> 02:26:05,280
yourself to be sufficiently interesting

3610
02:26:05,280 --> 02:26:07,040
that the audience will play along with

3611
02:26:07,040 --> 02:26:08,720
you. But you also have to be

3612
02:26:08,720 --> 02:26:11,200
sufficiently honorable that you're not

3613
02:26:11,200 --> 02:26:13,120
going to disappoint them by by leaving

3614
02:26:13,120 --> 02:26:14,960
them saying, "What what the hell's going

3615
02:26:14,960 --> 02:26:17,680
on?" So the first scene is these two

3616
02:26:17,680 --> 02:26:19,120
guys talking about leads, talking about

3617
02:26:19,120 --> 02:26:20,720
leads, talking about leads. We

3618
02:26:20,720 --> 02:26:22,240
understand that the leads are so

3619
02:26:22,240 --> 02:26:24,560
important in the first scene that the

3620
02:26:24,560 --> 02:26:25,680
first scene is between a guy called

3621
02:26:25,680 --> 02:26:27,760
Lavine and a guy called Williamson. We

3622
02:26:27,760 --> 02:26:29,200
understand that the leads are so

3623
02:26:29,200 --> 02:26:32,160
important that there's uh Lavine and

3624
02:26:32,160 --> 02:26:35,760
Williamson that

3625
02:26:35,760 --> 02:26:38,000
Lavine bribes Williamson. He says, "I'll

3626
02:26:38,000 --> 02:26:39,359
give you I'll give you a bunch of money

3627
02:26:39,359 --> 02:26:41,439
to give me the leads." And Williamson's

3628
02:26:41,439 --> 02:26:42,880
okay, but you got to pay me right now.

3629
02:26:42,880 --> 02:26:44,479
Lavine doesn't have the money. So, we

3630
02:26:44,479 --> 02:26:46,960
left Lavine is in a quandry. What do we

3631
02:26:46,960 --> 02:26:49,120
know? He wants the leads. That's all we

3632
02:26:49,120 --> 02:26:51,920
know in scene one. He's got to get the

3633
02:26:51,920 --> 02:26:54,319
leads. Why? His daughter's sick. Okay,

3634
02:26:54,319 --> 02:26:57,600
give me a break. Scene two,

3635
02:26:57,600 --> 02:26:59,920
the same booth. Two more salesmen. Now,

3636
02:26:59,920 --> 02:27:01,920
these salesmen are called Moss and Ear

3637
02:27:01,920 --> 02:27:04,319
now. And they're they're bitching.

3638
02:27:04,319 --> 02:27:06,319
They're fetching about the leads.

3639
02:27:06,319 --> 02:27:07,760
They're talking about how terrible it

3640
02:27:07,760 --> 02:27:10,240
is. They have this contest on that if

3641
02:27:10,240 --> 02:27:11,840
they don't get sales, they're going to

3642
02:27:11,840 --> 02:27:14,960
get fired, but they can't get the leads

3643
02:27:14,960 --> 02:27:17,200
because an edict has come down from

3644
02:27:17,200 --> 02:27:19,200
Williamson that the good leads only go

3645
02:27:19,200 --> 02:27:21,600
to the uh great salesman because they

3646
02:27:21,600 --> 02:27:23,760
can't waste the leads. So, at the end of

3647
02:27:23,760 --> 02:27:26,080
the scene, Moss says to Aaron, "Now, you

3648
02:27:26,080 --> 02:27:27,760
know what? There's an easier way out of

3649
02:27:27,760 --> 02:27:31,359
this. Let's just steal the leads."

3650
02:27:31,359 --> 02:27:32,560
Moss says, "What?" He says, "Yeah, we'll

3651
02:27:32,560 --> 02:27:34,560
steal the leads. The leads are the most

3652
02:27:34,560 --> 02:27:36,000
important thing which you, the audience,

3653
02:27:36,000 --> 02:27:37,920
remember from scene one. Everybody wants

3654
02:27:37,920 --> 02:27:40,720
the leads. We can't earn the leads.

3655
02:27:40,720 --> 02:27:42,479
Lavine's trying to bribe the leads.

3656
02:27:42,479 --> 02:27:44,720
Let's steal them. We'll break into the

3657
02:27:44,720 --> 02:27:47,680
office. We wreck the joint up and we'll

3658
02:27:47,680 --> 02:27:49,680
go across the street to Jerry Graph.

3659
02:27:49,680 --> 02:27:51,600
There's a different organization. We'll

3660
02:27:51,600 --> 02:27:53,040
have the leads and it'll give us

3661
02:27:53,040 --> 02:27:55,359
$10,000. Moss says, "I'm not going to do

3662
02:27:55,359 --> 02:27:57,359
it." Aron says, "Yes, you are." Well,

3663
02:27:57,359 --> 02:27:58,880
Moss says, "No, I'm not cuz I'm not a

3664
02:27:58,880 --> 02:28:00,479
thief."

3665
02:28:00,479 --> 02:28:01,840
Aron says, "No, I'm not. I'm not a

3666
02:28:01,840 --> 02:28:03,200
thief." And Moss says, "I don't care

3667
02:28:03,200 --> 02:28:05,200
whether you're a thief or not. I need

3668
02:28:05,200 --> 02:28:06,560
the leads. I need the money. I'm going

3669
02:28:06,560 --> 02:28:08,720
to rob the joint. If you don't do it,

3670
02:28:08,720 --> 02:28:10,240
I'm going to do it and tell me you tell

3671
02:28:10,240 --> 02:28:11,680
them you help me. So, tell me if you're

3672
02:28:11,680 --> 02:28:14,560
in or out. So, that's the end of that's

3673
02:28:14,560 --> 02:28:18,399
the end of scene two.

3674
02:28:18,399 --> 02:28:20,240
Now, we go to scene three and there's a

3675
02:28:20,240 --> 02:28:22,000
guy, we don't know who he is, in a

3676
02:28:22,000 --> 02:28:23,840
Chinese restaurant talking to a guy in

3677
02:28:23,840 --> 02:28:26,640
the next booth. And this guy is saying

3678
02:28:26,640 --> 02:28:28,479
he's saying talking about train

3679
02:28:28,479 --> 02:28:30,560
compartments and sex and life and

3680
02:28:30,560 --> 02:28:32,720
philosophy. We don't know what the hell

3681
02:28:32,720 --> 02:28:34,160
he's talking about. We don't know why

3682
02:28:34,160 --> 02:28:36,160
he's talking to this guy, but we're

3683
02:28:36,160 --> 02:28:38,880
willing to listen.

3684
02:28:38,880 --> 02:28:41,040
Because we're intrigued,

3685
02:28:41,040 --> 02:28:43,680
not because we've been informed, but

3686
02:28:43,680 --> 02:28:47,200
because we've been intrigued.

3687
02:28:47,200 --> 02:28:50,560
Narration is informing people. Nobody

3688
02:28:50,560 --> 02:28:53,200
cares. They'll accept it. Yeah, I get

3689
02:28:53,200 --> 02:28:55,120
it. Most almost all politics is

3690
02:28:55,120 --> 02:28:57,200
narration. Let me tell you a few things

3691
02:28:57,200 --> 02:28:59,520
about myself. Let me tell you what I'm

3692
02:28:59,520 --> 02:29:01,359
going to do. Let me tell you what the

3693
02:29:01,359 --> 02:29:02,399
other thing. And if you notice,

3694
02:29:02,399 --> 02:29:04,319
politicians point their finger a lot.

3695
02:29:04,319 --> 02:29:05,920
Both both sides open. They're saying,

3696
02:29:05,920 --> 02:29:07,520
"In effect, those guys over there,

3697
02:29:07,520 --> 02:29:09,040
they're the bad guys. We're the good

3698
02:29:09,040 --> 02:29:11,200
guys. Let me tell you about." So if you

3699
02:29:11,200 --> 02:29:12,560
say, "Wait a second. Let's look at the

3700
02:29:12,560 --> 02:29:14,720
guy. Let's look at the woman's record."

3701
02:29:14,720 --> 02:29:16,000
The pol what's the politician going to

3702
02:29:16,000 --> 02:29:18,479
say? That's cheating. Don't look at my

3703
02:29:18,479 --> 02:29:20,479
record. Don't look at my marital

3704
02:29:20,479 --> 02:29:22,399
infidelities. Don't look at the stuff

3705
02:29:22,399 --> 02:29:23,760
that I've robbed. Don't look at the

3706
02:29:23,760 --> 02:29:26,240
stuff that I've said. No, no, no. Listen

3707
02:29:26,240 --> 02:29:28,240
to my narration because I'm telling you

3708
02:29:28,240 --> 02:29:29,840
a story. you know, you can believe in

3709
02:29:29,840 --> 02:29:31,760
this fairy tale. If you cut out the

3710
02:29:31,760 --> 02:29:33,280
narration, it's easier to see what's

3711
02:29:33,280 --> 02:29:35,040
going on.

3712
02:29:35,040 --> 02:29:37,600
A A and B are all the same. So now we

3713
02:29:37,600 --> 02:29:40,000
got a guy over here. He's talking about

3714
02:29:40,000 --> 02:29:42,160
he's talking about philosophy. He's

3715
02:29:42,160 --> 02:29:43,920
talking about life. He's talking about

3716
02:29:43,920 --> 02:29:45,680
courage. And the guy over here is

3717
02:29:45,680 --> 02:29:46,880
listening. We don't even know who the

3718
02:29:46,880 --> 02:29:48,720
hell this guy is. At the end of this

3719
02:29:48,720 --> 02:29:51,439
long monologue, this guy over here says,

3720
02:29:51,439 --> 02:29:54,080
"My hi, my name's Ricky Roma." All of a

3721
02:29:54,080 --> 02:29:56,240
sudden, we go, "My god, this guy's been

3722
02:29:56,240 --> 02:30:00,160
talking to a total stranger. Right.

3723
02:30:00,160 --> 02:30:02,160
Great piece of getting lucky on my part.

3724
02:30:02,160 --> 02:30:03,760
I mean, if you put, "Hi, my name is

3725
02:30:03,760 --> 02:30:05,680
Ricky Roma." There's no reason it can't

3726
02:30:05,680 --> 02:30:07,040
come at the beginning of the scene,

3727
02:30:07,040 --> 02:30:09,359
except it's not interesting. Where's the

3728
02:30:09,359 --> 02:30:12,000
fun in that? The fun is my god, he's

3729
02:30:12,000 --> 02:30:13,280
talking about the most intimate things

3730
02:30:13,280 --> 02:30:14,319
in life to a guy. I didn't even know

3731
02:30:14,319 --> 02:30:16,000
what the hell the guy's name is. And

3732
02:30:16,000 --> 02:30:18,800
then Ricky Roma says, "Oh, Ricky Roma."

3733
02:30:18,800 --> 02:30:19,920
They say, "We've been talking about

3734
02:30:19,920 --> 02:30:21,680
Ricky Roma in scene one and scene two.

3735
02:30:21,680 --> 02:30:24,560
Who is he? He's the chief salesman. He's

3736
02:30:24,560 --> 02:30:27,840
the observed of all observer. He's the

3737
02:30:27,840 --> 02:30:30,000
greatest salesman in the world. He's the

3738
02:30:30,000 --> 02:30:32,080
guy who gets the good leads. And Ricky,

3739
02:30:32,080 --> 02:30:34,399
now we see who Ricky Roman is. My god, I

3740
02:30:34,399 --> 02:30:36,160
understand why he's a great salesman. He

3741
02:30:36,160 --> 02:30:37,920
had me listening to nothing. And he

3742
02:30:37,920 --> 02:30:38,960
says, "Listen, I want to show you

3743
02:30:38,960 --> 02:30:41,760
something. This is a piece of land." We

3744
02:30:41,760 --> 02:30:44,319
say, "Oh my god, we just saw this guy

3745
02:30:44,319 --> 02:30:46,800
sell a piece of worthless property." And

3746
02:30:46,800 --> 02:30:48,560
that's the end of act one. We've

3747
02:30:48,560 --> 02:30:50,640
introduced all of the characters. Act

3748
02:30:50,640 --> 02:30:53,120
two, we bring them all together and we

3749
02:30:53,120 --> 02:30:54,720
start off with Aaronau here in

3750
02:30:54,720 --> 02:30:56,880
Williamson. All the office has been

3751
02:30:56,880 --> 02:30:59,760
wrecked. So we see the result of all of

3752
02:30:59,760 --> 02:31:01,280
this talk here is there somebody who's

3753
02:31:01,280 --> 02:31:03,439
robbed the office. They've wrecked the

3754
02:31:03,439 --> 02:31:05,680
office. Who who robbed it? Obviously

3755
02:31:05,680 --> 02:31:07,280
Moss and Arinau because they were

3756
02:31:07,280 --> 02:31:09,120
talking about it. And now Williamson's

3757
02:31:09,120 --> 02:31:10,800
got to make sense of this. The cops are

3758
02:31:10,800 --> 02:31:14,000
here. And act two becomes who robbed the

3759
02:31:14,000 --> 02:31:16,319
office and the chaos that is brought

3760
02:31:16,319 --> 02:31:18,720
about by the fact that we had started

3761
02:31:18,720 --> 02:31:20,960
the sales contest. Everyone had their

3762
02:31:20,960 --> 02:31:23,359
job put on the line.

3763
02:31:23,359 --> 02:31:26,720
And as as the act progresses,

3764
02:31:26,720 --> 02:31:29,120
people start cross-connecting with each

3765
02:31:29,120 --> 02:31:31,680
other. Ri Ricky Roma comes to the

3766
02:31:31,680 --> 02:31:33,680
defense of Shelley Lavine over there,

3767
02:31:33,680 --> 02:31:35,600
who was a great salesman. And because

3768
02:31:35,600 --> 02:31:37,359
Lavine comes in, he says, "I finally

3769
02:31:37,359 --> 02:31:39,200
closed the sale. I closed this great

3770
02:31:39,200 --> 02:31:41,280
sale with these great leads. You told me

3771
02:31:41,280 --> 02:31:42,479
you wouldn't give me the leads without

3772
02:31:42,479 --> 02:31:44,000
selling without selling them to me. I

3773
02:31:44,000 --> 02:31:45,280
didn't have enough money. I went out and

3774
02:31:45,280 --> 02:31:47,520
closed these crappy leads. The hell with

3775
02:31:47,520 --> 02:31:49,439
all of you." And Williamson then says,

3776
02:31:49,439 --> 02:31:51,120
"You know what? I gave you a bad lead.

3777
02:31:51,120 --> 02:31:53,600
The guy's insane." He said, "You closed

3778
02:31:53,600 --> 02:31:55,600
nothing. You're no goddamn good." And

3779
02:31:55,600 --> 02:31:57,600
then it comes out that everyone gets

3780
02:31:57,600 --> 02:32:00,560
interrogated by the cops. Link, who's

3781
02:32:00,560 --> 02:32:03,520
the uh this guy Link over here? Roma

3782
02:32:03,520 --> 02:32:06,319
sold a bunch of land to Link. And Link

3783
02:32:06,319 --> 02:32:07,920
comes in to say, "I want to call the

3784
02:32:07,920 --> 02:32:09,920
deal off cuz my wife says it's a bad

3785
02:32:09,920 --> 02:32:12,080
deal." And Ricky Roma's got to hold him

3786
02:32:12,080 --> 02:32:14,240
in. He's got to cement the deal. Not

3787
02:32:14,240 --> 02:32:15,840
only because in the in the in the face

3788
02:32:15,840 --> 02:32:17,920
of the wife, but in the face of the the

3789
02:32:17,920 --> 02:32:19,760
whole thing's been uh robbed.

3790
02:32:19,760 --> 02:32:21,680
Everything's shambles. So Rick, we get

3791
02:32:21,680 --> 02:32:24,640
to see Ricky Roma as the great salesman

3792
02:32:24,640 --> 02:32:26,399
cementing

3793
02:32:26,399 --> 02:32:29,359
uh Link in the in the face of chaos. And

3794
02:32:29,359 --> 02:32:32,319
it comes out that of course the office

3795
02:32:32,319 --> 02:32:35,040
was not robbed by Moss and Areronau at

3796
02:32:35,040 --> 02:32:37,439
all. It was robbed by Shelley Lavine

3797
02:32:37,439 --> 02:32:39,439
because that's the only way that he

3798
02:32:39,439 --> 02:32:43,200
could um uh make money. And because he

3799
02:32:43,200 --> 02:32:45,200
made the money from selling the leads,

3800
02:32:45,200 --> 02:32:47,040
he took one of the bad leads and had

3801
02:32:47,040 --> 02:32:49,120
enough confidence to close that. and he

3802
02:32:49,120 --> 02:32:50,640
finds out that he's been completely

3803
02:32:50,640 --> 02:32:53,359
duped and he ends up going to jail. And

3804
02:32:53,359 --> 02:32:56,319
the punchline of the this the gang uh

3805
02:32:56,319 --> 02:33:00,000
drama is uh Aaron says, "Oh god, I hate

3806
02:33:00,000 --> 02:33:02,720
this job." So that's a gang drama about

3807
02:33:02,720 --> 02:33:05,680
guys in the in the in the uh in the real

3808
02:33:05,680 --> 02:33:08,000
estate profession.

3809
02:33:08,000 --> 02:33:11,040
Three scenes in a Chinese restaurant

3810
02:33:11,040 --> 02:33:12,960
and a second act which ties them all

3811
02:33:12,960 --> 02:33:15,840
together. And we end we say, "Oh my god,

3812
02:33:15,840 --> 02:33:17,120
life was just like that. What an

3813
02:33:17,120 --> 02:33:19,359
interesting trip I just had into the

3814
02:33:19,359 --> 02:33:21,359
world of real estate. Just like we do in

3815
02:33:21,359 --> 02:33:24,319
the cops shows or the medical shows or

3816
02:33:24,319 --> 02:33:27,600
the special ops shows or the fire shows,

3817
02:33:27,600 --> 02:33:30,160
we get to get to go backstage. Everybody

3818
02:33:30,160 --> 02:33:33,720
loves to go backstage.

3819
02:33:47,680 --> 02:33:49,200
You have to write dialogue in a rhythmic

3820
02:33:49,200 --> 02:33:51,760
way because human speech is rhythmic.

3821
02:33:51,760 --> 02:33:53,439
And if you listen to people having a

3822
02:33:53,439 --> 02:33:54,720
conversation, what they're doing is

3823
02:33:54,720 --> 02:33:56,960
they're creating a rhythmic poetry.

3824
02:33:56,960 --> 02:33:58,479
They're filling in the pauses and

3825
02:33:58,479 --> 02:34:00,399
capping each other's speech and so forth

3826
02:34:00,399 --> 02:34:02,800
in a way which is rhythmic. And uh

3827
02:34:02,800 --> 02:34:06,479
Shakespeare was who was our um I think

3828
02:34:06,479 --> 02:34:08,000
somebody said English is the only

3829
02:34:08,000 --> 02:34:10,640
language which our our prime writer is a

3830
02:34:10,640 --> 02:34:12,800
dramatist. So it's Shakespeare and the

3831
02:34:12,800 --> 02:34:14,960
greatest poet of the English language

3832
02:34:14,960 --> 02:34:18,160
and he wrote an iamic pentameter because

3833
02:34:18,160 --> 02:34:20,560
that's the the rhythm of everyday

3834
02:34:20,560 --> 02:34:23,520
English speech. WC Handy also wrote

3835
02:34:23,520 --> 02:34:25,200
anamic pentameter because that's the

3836
02:34:25,200 --> 02:34:28,319
rhythm of of everyday English speech.

3837
02:34:28,319 --> 02:34:30,720
I hate to see the evening sun go down is

3838
02:34:30,720 --> 02:34:32,960
amic pentameter. Oh what a rogue and

3839
02:34:32,960 --> 02:34:37,040
peasant slave am I isamic pentameter.

3840
02:34:37,040 --> 02:34:38,640
I'll see you Sunday if it doesn't rain.

3841
02:34:38,640 --> 02:34:40,080
That's amamic pentameter. It's the

3842
02:34:40,080 --> 02:34:42,800
rhythm of of natural uh English speech

3843
02:34:42,800 --> 02:34:44,560
and Shakespeare raised it to the

3844
02:34:44,560 --> 02:34:46,720
greatest of art forms. I mean I talking

3845
02:34:46,720 --> 02:34:48,960
my friend a rabbi Rabbi Finley and he

3846
02:34:48,960 --> 02:34:51,600
says when he sees sees a couple and he

3847
02:34:51,600 --> 02:34:53,520
says okay tell me what the problem is.

3848
02:34:53,520 --> 02:34:55,439
He says he can almost tune it out. He

3849
02:34:55,439 --> 02:34:58,399
can tell just by the rhythm

3850
02:34:58,399 --> 02:35:00,080
what's what they're saying to each

3851
02:35:00,080 --> 02:35:03,040
other. Right? And we can too because if

3852
02:35:03,040 --> 02:35:04,960
you think about it, you see a couple,

3853
02:35:04,960 --> 02:35:06,880
two businessmen, two business women, a

3854
02:35:06,880 --> 02:35:08,319
couple blah blah blah cross the

3855
02:35:08,319 --> 02:35:09,840
restaurant, you can't hear what they're

3856
02:35:09,840 --> 02:35:11,040
saying, but you know what they're

3857
02:35:11,040 --> 02:35:12,800
talking about, right? Because you can

3858
02:35:12,800 --> 02:35:14,960
tell from the rhythm, how they cap each

3859
02:35:14,960 --> 02:35:16,399
other, how they come on top of each

3860
02:35:16,399 --> 02:35:18,960
other, how they cut each other off. And

3861
02:35:18,960 --> 02:35:21,600
so if you can write that

3862
02:35:21,600 --> 02:35:24,319
such that if you can write it, the

3863
02:35:24,319 --> 02:35:27,680
actors know it and they love it because

3864
02:35:27,680 --> 02:35:29,520
it's natural because they don't have to

3865
02:35:29,520 --> 02:35:31,920
fight against the current of a clunky

3866
02:35:31,920 --> 02:35:34,640
line. So the the lines come out of their

3867
02:35:34,640 --> 02:35:37,680
their mouths naturally and uh they're

3868
02:35:37,680 --> 02:35:39,439
grateful for it and so I'm I'm grateful

3869
02:35:39,439 --> 02:35:42,680
to them.

3870
02:35:47,439 --> 02:35:49,359
But the old joke is one guy says to

3871
02:35:49,359 --> 02:35:51,520
another why does a Jew always answer a

3872
02:35:51,520 --> 02:35:53,520
question with a question. The answer is

3873
02:35:53,520 --> 02:35:55,200
well what what should a Jew answer a

3874
02:35:55,200 --> 02:35:57,359
question with? The the question is why

3875
02:35:57,359 --> 02:36:00,640
do people speak in real life? They speak

3876
02:36:00,640 --> 02:36:02,720
to get something from each other. It

3877
02:36:02,720 --> 02:36:05,439
might seem like they speak to express

3878
02:36:05,439 --> 02:36:07,680
themselves. But as I understand that

3879
02:36:07,680 --> 02:36:10,319
that's not true. They only express

3880
02:36:10,319 --> 02:36:12,479
themselves to get something from one

3881
02:36:12,479 --> 02:36:14,240
another. It might be something

3882
02:36:14,240 --> 02:36:16,479
legitimate, right? Right? Or it might be

3883
02:36:16,479 --> 02:36:17,920
something illegitimate but they only

3884
02:36:17,920 --> 02:36:20,319
speak to get something.

3885
02:36:20,319 --> 02:36:23,280
So similarly on stage they only speak to

3886
02:36:23,280 --> 02:36:25,680
get something. So the question is what

3887
02:36:25,680 --> 02:36:28,160
does each person want? Then we know why

3888
02:36:28,160 --> 02:36:29,439
they're speaking. Then we know what they

3889
02:36:29,439 --> 02:36:32,240
want to say. For example

3890
02:36:32,240 --> 02:36:35,680
um what what go one person might say to

3891
02:36:35,680 --> 02:36:39,520
another what what floor do you want? Or

3892
02:36:39,520 --> 02:36:41,520
they might say I want to go to bed with

3893
02:36:41,520 --> 02:36:43,439
you until the cows come home. And the

3894
02:36:43,439 --> 02:36:45,439
two things might mean exactly the same

3895
02:36:45,439 --> 02:36:48,240
thing, right? But there's a way to say

3896
02:36:48,240 --> 02:36:50,720
it,

3897
02:36:50,720 --> 02:36:52,479
right? So the qu So what the person's

3898
02:36:52,479 --> 02:36:54,560
saying is not I need to know what floor

3899
02:36:54,560 --> 02:36:57,520
you're going to, right? Or what floor

3900
02:36:57,520 --> 02:36:59,200
you want. What floor do you want might

3901
02:36:59,200 --> 02:37:01,760
mean I seen you before and there's

3902
02:37:01,760 --> 02:37:03,040
something about you I don't like. You

3903
02:37:03,040 --> 02:37:04,640
don't know what it means, right? But

3904
02:37:04,640 --> 02:37:06,319
they don't speak to get or to give

3905
02:37:06,319 --> 02:37:11,000
information. They speak to get a result.

3906
02:37:15,280 --> 02:37:18,080
bad dialogue. Well, if it doesn't if it

3907
02:37:18,080 --> 02:37:20,720
what's bad dialogue if don't if it don't

3908
02:37:20,720 --> 02:37:23,359
work right. If the if the if the point

3909
02:37:23,359 --> 02:37:26,399
has already been been made or if the po

3910
02:37:26,399 --> 02:37:27,920
the person is not speaking to get

3911
02:37:27,920 --> 02:37:29,280
something from the other person bad

3912
02:37:29,280 --> 02:37:31,359
dialogue if in addition it can be

3913
02:37:31,359 --> 02:37:33,120
beautiful and rhythmic if it can be

3914
02:37:33,120 --> 02:37:35,600
interesting

3915
02:37:35,600 --> 02:37:37,439
and who knows where the uh where it

3916
02:37:37,439 --> 02:37:39,920
comes from. I wrote this novel I just

3917
02:37:39,920 --> 02:37:41,520
finished I think I told called Chicago

3918
02:37:41,520 --> 02:37:43,920
novel of prohibition and this this guy

3919
02:37:43,920 --> 02:37:46,800
is talking to this old uh uh madam who's

3920
02:37:46,800 --> 02:37:48,800
uh who he who who's kind of his uh

3921
02:37:48,800 --> 02:37:51,040
preceptor right his philosophical

3922
02:37:51,040 --> 02:37:52,960
preceptor and they've just killed his

3923
02:37:52,960 --> 02:37:54,640
girlfriend

3924
02:37:54,640 --> 02:37:57,359
and he says uh I got to take revenge he

3925
02:37:57,359 --> 02:38:00,560
says cuz I got to do it but I can't do

3926
02:38:00,560 --> 02:38:04,080
it now because I know the proverb

3927
02:38:04,080 --> 02:38:08,640
revenge is a dish best eaten coal

3928
02:38:08,640 --> 02:38:11,040
And she says, "Honey,

3929
02:38:11,040 --> 02:38:12,800
revenge is like lobster. It's good hot

3930
02:38:12,800 --> 02:38:15,439
or cold."

3931
02:38:15,439 --> 02:38:17,439
And I and I don't know where the hell

3932
02:38:17,439 --> 02:38:18,880
that line came down, but I just wrote it

3933
02:38:18,880 --> 02:38:21,200
down. I started screaming with laughter,

3934
02:38:21,200 --> 02:38:23,280
you know? So, it's not it's not like I

3935
02:38:23,280 --> 02:38:25,439
invented it. It's like, you know, I I

3936
02:38:25,439 --> 02:38:28,240
discovered it. So, that's that's the

3937
02:38:28,240 --> 02:38:30,720
thrill of writing dialogue. And I' I

3938
02:38:30,720 --> 02:38:32,240
guess I've written some bad dialogue.

3939
02:38:32,240 --> 02:38:34,880
The trick is to go through and take it

3940
02:38:34,880 --> 02:38:37,880
out.

3941
02:38:41,439 --> 02:38:43,040
The other thing about dialogue is some

3942
02:38:43,040 --> 02:38:44,399
people have that gift, some people

3943
02:38:44,399 --> 02:38:46,479
don't. But do you need to be able to

3944
02:38:46,479 --> 02:38:48,319
write dialogue in order to write a play?

3945
02:38:48,319 --> 02:38:51,120
The answer is no. How do we know? Cuz we

3946
02:38:51,120 --> 02:38:54,240
do plays in translation. You know, most

3947
02:38:54,240 --> 02:38:56,160
people in America don't speak Russian,

3948
02:38:56,160 --> 02:38:58,479
yet we understand Czechov. We appreciate

3949
02:38:58,479 --> 02:39:00,720
Czechov's plays. How do we know you

3950
02:39:00,720 --> 02:39:02,560
don't have to do dialogue? We watch

3951
02:39:02,560 --> 02:39:04,960
movies with subtitles,

3952
02:39:04,960 --> 02:39:06,479
right? or we watch movies that have been

3953
02:39:06,479 --> 02:39:09,439
dubbed. So if one can write dialogue,

3954
02:39:09,439 --> 02:39:12,080
that's a plus, but you don't need it to

3955
02:39:12,080 --> 02:39:14,319
hold the audience's attention. You watch

3956
02:39:14,319 --> 02:39:17,120
Green Bay, right? I could study for a

3957
02:39:17,120 --> 02:39:18,960
trillion trillion years. I wouldn't be

3958
02:39:18,960 --> 02:39:22,000
able to to to handle the ball like Aaron

3959
02:39:22,000 --> 02:39:24,960
Rogers. You know, to a certain extent,

3960
02:39:24,960 --> 02:39:26,479
everybody can learn a little bit of

3961
02:39:26,479 --> 02:39:28,560
passing a football, but to a certain

3962
02:39:28,560 --> 02:39:31,920
extent, you have to have a gift. Right?

3963
02:39:31,920 --> 02:39:33,920
Now, can you get by without the gift?

3964
02:39:33,920 --> 02:39:34,960
Yeah. Are you going to be the

3965
02:39:34,960 --> 02:39:39,840
quarterback for Green Bay? Probably not.

3966
02:39:39,840 --> 02:39:41,520
You know, you got to take the hand you

3967
02:39:41,520 --> 02:39:43,120
were dealt. Like there's a famous, he

3968
02:39:43,120 --> 02:39:45,359
was a Russian theater director and and

3969
02:39:45,359 --> 02:39:47,520
he kind of discovered Czechov and he

3970
02:39:47,520 --> 02:39:49,359
worked in Moscow, founded the Moscow Art

3971
02:39:49,359 --> 02:39:53,040
Theater about 1895, I think. And some

3972
02:39:53,040 --> 02:39:55,359
kid and he invented this thing called

3973
02:39:55,359 --> 02:39:57,600
the Stannislovski system. I have no idea

3974
02:39:57,600 --> 02:39:59,600
what the hell he's talking about, but I

3975
02:39:59,600 --> 02:40:02,399
he might have. And some kid comes to him

3976
02:40:02,399 --> 02:40:03,920
and says, "Constantine Stannislovski."

3977
02:40:03,920 --> 02:40:07,040
He says, "I lack the gifts of so and so

3978
02:40:07,040 --> 02:40:09,120
over there. What am I going to do? I

3979
02:40:09,120 --> 02:40:11,920
don't have those particular gifts."

3980
02:40:11,920 --> 02:40:13,439
And Stannoski said, "Well," he said,

3981
02:40:13,439 --> 02:40:15,520
"Okay." He says, "Have you got a you got

3982
02:40:15,520 --> 02:40:18,000
a girlfriend?" Guy said, "Yes, I do." He

3983
02:40:18,000 --> 02:40:19,120
said, "Okay, you've got a girlfriend

3984
02:40:19,120 --> 02:40:20,720
now." He says, "Do you have a male

3985
02:40:20,720 --> 02:40:24,080
friend who's richer andor better looking

3986
02:40:24,080 --> 02:40:26,160
than you are?" The guy said, "Yeah, I

3987
02:40:26,160 --> 02:40:27,760
think so." He said, 'Well, then

3988
02:40:27,760 --> 02:40:30,240
obviously you should

3989
02:40:30,240 --> 02:40:31,359
he should be going out with your

3990
02:40:31,359 --> 02:40:33,600
girlfriend. So, what's the point? The

3991
02:40:33,600 --> 02:40:35,280
kid has a right to his girlfriend. He's

3992
02:40:35,280 --> 02:40:36,720
got a right to his life, whatever his

3993
02:40:36,720 --> 02:40:38,640
talents are. And that's what I would say

3994
02:40:38,640 --> 02:40:40,960
to the writers. Write it down. See what

3995
02:40:40,960 --> 02:40:43,040
you come up with. Are you going to hate

3996
02:40:43,040 --> 02:40:45,200
it? Yeah. Are you sometimes going to

3997
02:40:45,200 --> 02:40:46,960
love it? And yeah. And then are you

3998
02:40:46,960 --> 02:40:49,439
going to hate yourself for feeling uh uh

3999
02:40:49,439 --> 02:40:51,840
um so self-confident and doubt yourself?

4000
02:40:51,840 --> 02:40:56,600
Yeah. Welcome to my world.

4001
02:41:08,640 --> 02:41:11,600
play is

4002
02:41:11,600 --> 02:41:14,640
essentially a poem. It's a it's a poem

4003
02:41:14,640 --> 02:41:17,040
written for two voices or three voices

4004
02:41:17,040 --> 02:41:20,160
or four voices. So the lines have to be

4005
02:41:20,160 --> 02:41:23,520
rhythmic and beautiful if you can

4006
02:41:23,520 --> 02:41:25,120
because they aren't about conveying

4007
02:41:25,120 --> 02:41:28,120
information.

4008
02:41:28,399 --> 02:41:31,560
For example,

4009
02:41:32,160 --> 02:41:34,240
sh uh uh Churchill says, "We will fight

4010
02:41:34,240 --> 02:41:35,680
them on the beaches. We will fight them

4011
02:41:35,680 --> 02:41:37,359
in the in the fields. We will fight them

4012
02:41:37,359 --> 02:41:39,200
on the landing fields. We will never

4013
02:41:39,200 --> 02:41:40,720
surrender."

4014
02:41:40,720 --> 02:41:45,520
Uh and he could have just said

4015
02:41:45,520 --> 02:41:48,479
we're going to fight.

4016
02:41:48,479 --> 02:41:53,120
But he his speech created

4017
02:41:53,120 --> 02:41:55,200
an idea in the in the minds of its

4018
02:41:55,200 --> 02:41:58,080
hearers. The poetry of of Churchill

4019
02:41:58,080 --> 02:42:00,240
which comes right out of his love of

4020
02:42:00,240 --> 02:42:02,160
Shakespeare and of the King James Bible.

4021
02:42:02,160 --> 02:42:04,880
Those are the same cadences

4022
02:42:04,880 --> 02:42:08,000
in encouraged the British people who

4023
02:42:08,000 --> 02:42:11,920
were they were beaten in in 1939. There

4024
02:42:11,920 --> 02:42:14,000
was no way that they could have defeated

4025
02:42:14,000 --> 02:42:16,800
the Nazis. There was no way except

4026
02:42:16,800 --> 02:42:19,600
Churchill said we're going to win. We

4027
02:42:19,600 --> 02:42:22,160
will never ever surrender. And he said

4028
02:42:22,160 --> 02:42:25,040
it may be our fate to drown in a welter

4029
02:42:25,040 --> 02:42:27,920
of our own blood and that's preferable

4030
02:42:27,920 --> 02:42:30,080
to living under the Nazis. And he wasn't

4031
02:42:30,080 --> 02:42:31,920
talking to the Nazis. He was talking to

4032
02:42:31,920 --> 02:42:34,479
the his fellow Brits who said, "Yes,

4033
02:42:34,479 --> 02:42:37,520
that's true. We are like that."

4034
02:42:37,520 --> 02:42:38,960
But they weren't like that until

4035
02:42:38,960 --> 02:42:40,800
Churchill said it. Then they realized

4036
02:42:40,800 --> 02:42:42,720
they were like that. So that's the power

4037
02:42:42,720 --> 02:42:45,359
of poetry.

4038
02:42:45,359 --> 02:42:47,120
Dr. King's a perfect example. I have a

4039
02:42:47,120 --> 02:42:50,479
dream. The speech changed America,

4040
02:42:50,479 --> 02:42:52,640
right? He was speaking prophecy. He was

4041
02:42:52,640 --> 02:42:54,960
speaking poetry. And he could have

4042
02:42:54,960 --> 02:42:56,640
spoken like a politician. Nobody listens

4043
02:42:56,640 --> 02:42:58,479
to politicians because every it might be

4044
02:42:58,479 --> 02:43:00,800
true, but it's all dril.

4045
02:43:00,800 --> 02:43:03,120
Right. But when you put it in poetry

4046
02:43:03,120 --> 02:43:05,280
which has an element of prophecy in it,

4047
02:43:05,280 --> 02:43:07,920
it has the the capacity to move souls.

4048
02:43:07,920 --> 02:43:10,240
Some people have a gift to write poetry

4049
02:43:10,240 --> 02:43:13,200
and and others don't. And great poetry

4050
02:43:13,200 --> 02:43:16,000
has the capacity to move and it works

4051
02:43:16,000 --> 02:43:18,560
itself into the mind. Like if you read

4052
02:43:18,560 --> 02:43:20,319
Shakespeare, you're going to remember a

4053
02:43:20,319 --> 02:43:21,760
lot of Shakespeare. Even if it's only a

4054
02:43:21,760 --> 02:43:23,120
phrase, you remember a lot of them. You

4055
02:43:23,120 --> 02:43:25,520
read Roger Kipling, you know, or you

4056
02:43:25,520 --> 02:43:29,840
read um uh say for example uh Ceridge or

4057
02:43:29,840 --> 02:43:31,600
Keith Shell or those guys, you remember

4058
02:43:31,600 --> 02:43:34,240
it. The glossy magazines today

4059
02:43:34,240 --> 02:43:36,800
publishing dril they call poetry. You

4060
02:43:36,800 --> 02:43:38,560
can't remember one. If I said to you,

4061
02:43:38,560 --> 02:43:40,000
okay, I'll give you a billion dollars if

4062
02:43:40,000 --> 02:43:42,160
you can quote me that poem tomorrow. You

4063
02:43:42,160 --> 02:43:44,080
couldn't remember it. You know, the

4064
02:43:44,080 --> 02:43:46,000
poetry is the stuff that you want to

4065
02:43:46,000 --> 02:43:47,600
want to shout back and forth to each

4066
02:43:47,600 --> 02:43:51,960
other across the hall.

4067
02:43:55,840 --> 02:43:58,000
There are certain cultures that I've

4068
02:43:58,000 --> 02:43:59,920
encountered

4069
02:43:59,920 --> 02:44:03,359
that communicate um

4070
02:44:03,359 --> 02:44:06,319
by telling stories or by telling jokes

4071
02:44:06,319 --> 02:44:08,160
or by one of them is the Jewish culture.

4072
02:44:08,160 --> 02:44:09,600
We communicate between, you know, by

4073
02:44:09,600 --> 02:44:11,520
telling stories, by telling jokes. And,

4074
02:44:11,520 --> 02:44:13,359
you know, we we grew up in a in a in a

4075
02:44:13,359 --> 02:44:14,800
mixed neighborhood, an African-American

4076
02:44:14,800 --> 02:44:17,120
and a Jewish and and we all used to play

4077
02:44:17,120 --> 02:44:18,800
the dozens on each other, right, on just

4078
02:44:18,800 --> 02:44:21,439
on Stony Island Avenue. And we and

4079
02:44:21,439 --> 02:44:25,120
status was awarded for the ability to be

4080
02:44:25,120 --> 02:44:28,640
witty, to be funny, and to be trenchant,

4081
02:44:28,640 --> 02:44:29,920
right? As it is in the Italian

4082
02:44:29,920 --> 02:44:32,240
community, as it is in the in the in the

4083
02:44:32,240 --> 02:44:34,640
law enforcement community. You know, if

4084
02:44:34,640 --> 02:44:35,920
you can tell a good story, if you can

4085
02:44:35,920 --> 02:44:37,520
come up with a good line, you get a lot

4086
02:44:37,520 --> 02:44:39,760
of status. There was a guy called Bo

4087
02:44:39,760 --> 02:44:42,560
Brummel, and he was a a dandy in the

4088
02:44:42,560 --> 02:44:44,319
reign of, I think, George III in

4089
02:44:44,319 --> 02:44:47,760
England, and he was everybody didn't

4090
02:44:47,760 --> 02:44:50,080
mean money, but he was famous cuz he was

4091
02:44:50,080 --> 02:44:53,680
so witty. I mean, he came to a club one

4092
02:44:53,680 --> 02:44:55,920
day and somebody said, "Mr. Bruml, you

4093
02:44:55,920 --> 02:44:58,000
seem to be limping. What's uh what's the

4094
02:44:58,000 --> 02:44:59,600
matter?" He said, "I've hurt I've hurt

4095
02:44:59,600 --> 02:45:03,600
my right leg and it's my favorite leg.

4096
02:45:03,600 --> 02:45:05,439
So all of a sudden everybody in in

4097
02:45:05,439 --> 02:45:07,680
London is just say yeah like they're

4098
02:45:07,680 --> 02:45:08,880
giving the son of a [ __ ] a nooiegie.

4099
02:45:08,880 --> 02:45:10,560
You know get over it you son of a [ __ ]

4100
02:45:10,560 --> 02:45:13,120
Yeah do that thing about the you know.

4101
02:45:13,120 --> 02:45:15,120
So we grew up with the ability to tell

4102
02:45:15,120 --> 02:45:17,920
stories and to and to tell jokes was

4103
02:45:17,920 --> 02:45:20,160
very highly praised. Also you know I

4104
02:45:20,160 --> 02:45:23,840
think we were fairly common um uh middle

4105
02:45:23,840 --> 02:45:27,200
class uh 1950 Jewish uh neurotic family

4106
02:45:27,200 --> 02:45:29,120
and we drove each other crazy. So the

4107
02:45:29,120 --> 02:45:32,960
ability to um inflict damage

4108
02:45:32,960 --> 02:45:35,359
neurotically on your dearest and most

4109
02:45:35,359 --> 02:45:38,240
beloved uh family members was highly

4110
02:45:38,240 --> 02:45:39,760
praised.

4111
02:45:39,760 --> 02:45:42,399
You know, oh yeah wouldn't cut it, you

4112
02:45:42,399 --> 02:45:45,439
know. And so the Jews have always um

4113
02:45:45,439 --> 02:45:47,920
loved language. I mean, there's never

4114
02:45:47,920 --> 02:45:50,240
been an illiterate Jew. And you go back

4115
02:45:50,240 --> 02:45:53,120
and you read the uh the Torah in the

4116
02:45:53,120 --> 02:45:56,319
original, it's it's very very piffy. I

4117
02:45:56,319 --> 02:45:58,319
mean it's like street corner language.

4118
02:45:58,319 --> 02:46:00,319
You know we we get used to interpreting

4119
02:46:00,319 --> 02:46:03,120
the Bible as in most of western culture

4120
02:46:03,120 --> 02:46:05,520
in in English in the King James version

4121
02:46:05,520 --> 02:46:07,040
which is all full of privies and

4122
02:46:07,040 --> 02:46:09,279
wherefors and that stuff but the but the

4123
02:46:09,279 --> 02:46:13,640
original language is very very punchy.

4124
02:46:17,520 --> 02:46:19,279
Some people can write dialogue and some

4125
02:46:19,279 --> 02:46:22,080
people can't. I think most people can

4126
02:46:22,080 --> 02:46:24,160
because it's just gossip.

4127
02:46:24,160 --> 02:46:25,680
You know you make that up all day long.

4128
02:46:25,680 --> 02:46:27,600
He said, she said what happens is

4129
02:46:27,600 --> 02:46:30,240
something kicks in and all something

4130
02:46:30,240 --> 02:46:32,960
artificial kicks in between what we do

4131
02:46:32,960 --> 02:46:35,439
naturally and our ability to do it when

4132
02:46:35,439 --> 02:46:37,439
we say it's art. And I think that thing

4133
02:46:37,439 --> 02:46:41,120
which kicks in is called education

4134
02:46:41,120 --> 02:46:43,840
which is the worst thing to happen since

4135
02:46:43,840 --> 02:46:45,359
kale.

4136
02:46:45,359 --> 02:46:47,040
But there are a lot of people who do it

4137
02:46:47,040 --> 02:46:49,520
who do it naturally.

4138
02:46:49,520 --> 02:46:51,840
they as I we're talking about cultures

4139
02:46:51,840 --> 02:46:54,960
that prize the ability to um speak

4140
02:46:54,960 --> 02:46:56,640
poetically

4141
02:46:56,640 --> 02:46:59,680
and it it's uh and you know one of them

4142
02:46:59,680 --> 02:47:01,439
is African-American culture is Jewish

4143
02:47:01,439 --> 02:47:04,080
culture another is um or the Irish and

4144
02:47:04,080 --> 02:47:06,000
storytelling and the you know and the

4145
02:47:06,000 --> 02:47:07,840
Italians and street c and there was a

4146
02:47:07,840 --> 02:47:10,960
guy there was a guy called Louis Eito

4147
02:47:10,960 --> 02:47:14,240
Louito was a cop in New York and he

4148
02:47:14,240 --> 02:47:17,520
wrote a book called mafia cop

4149
02:47:17,520 --> 02:47:19,279
because his family would all mafia had

4150
02:47:19,279 --> 02:47:21,279
all all been members of and I think

4151
02:47:21,279 --> 02:47:22,720
eventually killed by the I think the

4152
02:47:22,720 --> 02:47:24,800
Gambino family. And Lou says, "No, I'm

4153
02:47:24,800 --> 02:47:25,920
going to go straight. I'm going to be a

4154
02:47:25,920 --> 02:47:28,240
straightup cop." And he goes into and he

4155
02:47:28,240 --> 02:47:30,479
wrote a book called Mafia Cop about his

4156
02:47:30,479 --> 02:47:33,200
experiences as a straightup

4157
02:47:33,200 --> 02:47:35,520
police officer.

4158
02:47:35,520 --> 02:47:38,399
And he was eventually uh convicted of

4159
02:47:38,399 --> 02:47:39,760
while being a police officer of

4160
02:47:39,760 --> 02:47:42,080
committing 70 murders for the Gambino

4161
02:47:42,080 --> 02:47:44,319
family. And he went to prison. He's in

4162
02:47:44,319 --> 02:47:46,080
prison. I was in prison forever, right?

4163
02:47:46,080 --> 02:47:47,600
And I used to hang out with him because

4164
02:47:47,600 --> 02:47:49,760
he was a good friend before he was

4165
02:47:49,760 --> 02:47:51,600
convicted. He was a good friend of

4166
02:47:51,600 --> 02:47:53,840
Bumbum Mancini, Ray Boom Boom Mancini,

4167
02:47:53,840 --> 02:47:56,560
champion of the world. And uh Boom Boom

4168
02:47:56,560 --> 02:47:59,279
knew everybody. And we have this

4169
02:47:59,279 --> 02:48:01,279
lunchon club in Santa Monica, the place

4170
02:48:01,279 --> 02:48:02,800
we go called a joint. Everybody goes

4171
02:48:02,800 --> 02:48:04,720
there every day for lunch. There's a lot

4172
02:48:04,720 --> 02:48:06,880
of cops and a lot of jiu-jitsu fighters

4173
02:48:06,880 --> 02:48:09,520
and pilots and bouncers and stuntmen.

4174
02:48:09,520 --> 02:48:12,800
It's really great. And so, um, one time

4175
02:48:12,800 --> 02:48:14,399
Lou is over there and he starts talking

4176
02:48:14,399 --> 02:48:18,160
about his, um, some stakeout he'd been

4177
02:48:18,160 --> 02:48:20,080
on. He says he comes in from a stakeout

4178
02:48:20,080 --> 02:48:21,520
and he says, "I look like I stink

4179
02:48:21,520 --> 02:48:22,880
because I do stink. I've been sitting in

4180
02:48:22,880 --> 02:48:24,880
a car for 5 days." And there's a

4181
02:48:24,880 --> 02:48:27,040
beautiful mafia kid, a connected kid

4182
02:48:27,040 --> 02:48:29,040
there. And the kid is all tugged out

4183
02:48:29,040 --> 02:48:31,520
with the $10,000 suit. He's got gold all

4184
02:48:31,520 --> 02:48:33,439
over and his nails are done and he's

4185
02:48:33,439 --> 02:48:35,279
gorgeous. He looks like a movie star.

4186
02:48:35,279 --> 02:48:36,640
And they've been asking him for

4187
02:48:36,640 --> 02:48:38,720
information. And the kid's not giving up

4188
02:48:38,720 --> 02:48:40,240
information.

4189
02:48:40,240 --> 02:48:42,560
So Lou says, "So I say to the guys say,

4190
02:48:42,560 --> 02:48:45,040
"Excuse me a second,

4191
02:48:45,040 --> 02:48:46,160
would you leave the room?" They leave

4192
02:48:46,160 --> 02:48:48,560
the room and he says, "Kid, you got a

4193
02:48:48,560 --> 02:48:51,200
lot of good looks and you got a lot of

4194
02:48:51,200 --> 02:48:52,880
information."

4195
02:48:52,880 --> 02:48:54,479
And one of those two [ __ ] is

4196
02:48:54,479 --> 02:48:57,680
staying in this room.

4197
02:48:57,680 --> 02:49:00,000
Like

4198
02:49:00,000 --> 02:49:01,520
that's the best thing I ever heard

4199
02:49:01,520 --> 02:49:05,200
anybody say, you know? And of course the

4200
02:49:05,200 --> 02:49:08,560
the cops they they they prize verbal

4201
02:49:08,560 --> 02:49:10,640
acuity. They love to tell stories, you

4202
02:49:10,640 --> 02:49:14,240
know, to put in as is uh

4203
02:49:14,240 --> 02:49:16,880
put it the best way possible. So a lot

4204
02:49:16,880 --> 02:49:18,880
of us have that ability and some of us

4205
02:49:18,880 --> 02:49:20,560
don't. Like I'm always struck at people

4206
02:49:20,560 --> 02:49:23,520
who don't know how to tell a joke. It's

4207
02:49:23,520 --> 02:49:26,240
always I always think well anybody can

4208
02:49:26,240 --> 02:49:27,840
tell a joke. Well, how can you tell a

4209
02:49:27,840 --> 02:49:30,640
joke that badly? And but some people

4210
02:49:30,640 --> 02:49:32,880
don't hear it. Most people do. You know,

4211
02:49:32,880 --> 02:49:35,279
my sainted grandmother spoke very very

4212
02:49:35,279 --> 02:49:37,920
uh broken English and very accented

4213
02:49:37,920 --> 02:49:39,120
English. She didn't understand English

4214
02:49:39,120 --> 02:49:40,720
very well. I just loved listening to

4215
02:49:40,720 --> 02:49:43,120
her. I remember there's a couple of

4216
02:49:43,120 --> 02:49:44,640
stories I've told about I think before

4217
02:49:44,640 --> 02:49:47,520
is my dad would speak to her and say,

4218
02:49:47,520 --> 02:49:48,800
"Ma, you know, we're going to move you

4219
02:49:48,800 --> 02:49:50,479
into this other apartment, but in the

4220
02:49:50,479 --> 02:49:52,399
interim I want you to stay here. In the

4221
02:49:52,399 --> 02:49:54,800
interim, I think bibity bobby boo." So

4222
02:49:54,800 --> 02:49:56,479
she says, "Buddy, when you say the

4223
02:49:56,479 --> 02:50:01,200
interim, do you mean the vestibule?"

4224
02:50:01,200 --> 02:50:04,000
So that that was my grandmother

4225
02:50:04,000 --> 02:50:06,399
one time he's saying ma he said I see

4226
02:50:06,399 --> 02:50:07,600
you've been doing this and that blah

4227
02:50:07,600 --> 02:50:09,600
blah blah in lie of that I'd rather you

4228
02:50:09,600 --> 02:50:11,359
do this in lie of that I'd rather you do

4229
02:50:11,359 --> 02:50:16,160
this so she said buddy who is this Lou

4230
02:50:16,160 --> 02:50:19,279
so she was she was in she was in the old

4231
02:50:19,279 --> 02:50:21,600
old country Yiddishama and one of the

4232
02:50:21,600 --> 02:50:23,359
first plays I ever wrote was about these

4233
02:50:23,359 --> 02:50:26,720
two old Jewish um uh DPS displaced

4234
02:50:26,720 --> 02:50:28,479
persons

4235
02:50:28,479 --> 02:50:30,720
uh sitting on a bench in Lincoln Park in

4236
02:50:30,720 --> 02:50:32,640
Chicago called the duck variations and

4237
02:50:32,640 --> 02:50:34,319
they're two old Jewish guys talking

4238
02:50:34,319 --> 02:50:37,200
about ducks for and I was very

4239
02:50:37,200 --> 02:50:40,960
influenced of course not only by uh my

4240
02:50:40,960 --> 02:50:42,960
grandparent I mean everybody I knew

4241
02:50:42,960 --> 02:50:44,880
their grandparents came from the old

4242
02:50:44,880 --> 02:50:46,560
country was nobody in my neighborhood

4243
02:50:46,560 --> 02:50:48,080
whose grandparents didn't grow up

4244
02:50:48,080 --> 02:50:50,960
speaking Russian and Yiddish so I was

4245
02:50:50,960 --> 02:50:53,600
exposed to that and I just read read a

4246
02:50:53,600 --> 02:50:56,000
book by Aaron Copeland

4247
02:50:56,000 --> 02:50:57,920
uh great composer and theoretician

4248
02:50:57,920 --> 02:50:59,520
teacher of music and I think it was

4249
02:50:59,520 --> 02:51:02,080
called theme variations I think it was

4250
02:51:02,080 --> 02:51:03,520
called and I thought well wouldn't that

4251
02:51:03,520 --> 02:51:06,960
be cool to write a series of variations

4252
02:51:06,960 --> 02:51:09,359
but instead of writing it musically to

4253
02:51:09,359 --> 02:51:11,760
write it dramatically so these two guys

4254
02:51:11,760 --> 02:51:13,840
do in effect I think there are 14

4255
02:51:13,840 --> 02:51:16,319
variations on a theme of talking about

4256
02:51:16,319 --> 02:51:19,319
ducks

4257
02:51:20,640 --> 02:51:23,200
so that was that was that idea two old

4258
02:51:23,200 --> 02:51:26,560
guys sitting on a park bench

4259
02:51:31,520 --> 02:51:33,920
I love to read. If I'm not writing, I'm

4260
02:51:33,920 --> 02:51:36,319
I'm usually reading. And it's like

4261
02:51:36,319 --> 02:51:37,600
having a different language. You see, if

4262
02:51:37,600 --> 02:51:38,560
you got another language, you got

4263
02:51:38,560 --> 02:51:40,240
another soul, right? You also get a

4264
02:51:40,240 --> 02:51:41,600
chance in reading to see how other

4265
02:51:41,600 --> 02:51:44,000
people observe human interactions. I

4266
02:51:44,000 --> 02:51:45,359
read the, you know, some great genius

4267
02:51:45,359 --> 02:51:48,399
writers say, "Man, that's great." And as

4268
02:51:48,399 --> 02:51:49,760
I said before, not that I want to be

4269
02:51:49,760 --> 02:51:52,319
just like him or her, but I now I see

4270
02:51:52,319 --> 02:51:54,560
what people that it's cap I'm capable of

4271
02:51:54,560 --> 02:51:58,720
ascribing to that sort of uh uh

4272
02:51:58,720 --> 02:52:02,000
concision or or poetry if you will. And

4273
02:52:02,000 --> 02:52:03,680
uh most of the writers I read, it's not

4274
02:52:03,680 --> 02:52:05,359
so much the dialogue that I appreciate,

4275
02:52:05,359 --> 02:52:07,040
although I'll mention three of them. One

4276
02:52:07,040 --> 02:52:08,880
of them is uh George V. Higgins who was

4277
02:52:08,880 --> 02:52:10,880
a assistant district attorney in Boston

4278
02:52:10,880 --> 02:52:13,120
for many years and wrote about 30 novels

4279
02:52:13,120 --> 02:52:16,240
about Boston the the the interaction

4280
02:52:16,240 --> 02:52:18,240
between the criminal world and the legal

4281
02:52:18,240 --> 02:52:21,359
world in Boston. He was a genius. Uh

4282
02:52:21,359 --> 02:52:24,080
another one was Patrick O'Brien who

4283
02:52:24,080 --> 02:52:26,720
wrote 22 C novels taking place during

4284
02:52:26,720 --> 02:52:29,520
the Napoleonic wars and he just died

4285
02:52:29,520 --> 02:52:31,920
about 15 years ago in his 90s. And the

4286
02:52:31,920 --> 02:52:33,680
third was John Licare who had of course

4287
02:52:33,680 --> 02:52:35,760
been a spy and wrote about the secret

4288
02:52:35,760 --> 02:52:37,439
world and their dialogue is is just

4289
02:52:37,439 --> 02:52:38,960
spectacular.

4290
02:52:38,960 --> 02:52:40,640
And we mentioned Hemingway and I'm sure

4291
02:52:40,640 --> 02:52:42,720
I'll think of a whole whole bunch more.

4292
02:52:42,720 --> 02:52:45,120
Uh well another one is Don Powell who

4293
02:52:45,120 --> 02:52:47,200
wrote in the 40s and 50s in New York

4294
02:52:47,200 --> 02:52:50,000
City. Nobody reads her much anymore.

4295
02:52:50,000 --> 02:52:52,160
Great great writer. There's a piece that

4296
02:52:52,160 --> 02:52:54,319
Hemingway wrote in a a book called

4297
02:52:54,319 --> 02:52:56,399
Islands in the Stream. And it takes

4298
02:52:56,399 --> 02:52:59,840
place in uh there's this painter, a

4299
02:52:59,840 --> 02:53:01,600
famous painter who's the hero. And

4300
02:53:01,600 --> 02:53:04,080
writers always love to pick painters for

4301
02:53:04,080 --> 02:53:06,399
their heroes cuz they think, "Oh my god,

4302
02:53:06,399 --> 02:53:08,960
you know, I'm being a writer. I loathe

4303
02:53:08,960 --> 02:53:10,640
every second of it except the time that

4304
02:53:10,640 --> 02:53:12,960
that I don't. And then I loathe myself

4305
02:53:12,960 --> 02:53:14,560
for being proud of myself." But

4306
02:53:14,560 --> 02:53:16,240
painters, man, they got it easy. They

4307
02:53:16,240 --> 02:53:17,920
just sit down and blah blah blah. They

4308
02:53:17,920 --> 02:53:19,120
paint a little bit of this, but they

4309
02:53:19,120 --> 02:53:21,359
must have it really easy. So writers

4310
02:53:21,359 --> 02:53:24,160
love having having painter heroes. So

4311
02:53:24,160 --> 02:53:27,439
this painter hero and who's divorced

4312
02:53:27,439 --> 02:53:29,680
from a movie star and he hasn't seen the

4313
02:53:29,680 --> 02:53:31,359
woman movie star in years and years and

4314
02:53:31,359 --> 02:53:32,960
years and it's during World War II and

4315
02:53:32,960 --> 02:53:36,000
our painter hero is living in Cuba and

4316
02:53:36,000 --> 02:53:38,880
uh the movie star shows up, the woman

4317
02:53:38,880 --> 02:53:40,800
movie star, and they have a bunch of

4318
02:53:40,800 --> 02:53:43,120
drinks and they take a walk on the beach

4319
02:53:43,120 --> 02:53:44,560
and they have a son who's in the Air

4320
02:53:44,560 --> 02:53:46,080
Force. They take a walk and out of

4321
02:53:46,080 --> 02:53:49,600
nowhere he says, "Uh, it's the boy."

4322
02:53:49,600 --> 02:53:52,640
Yeah. Isn't it? She says, "Yeah." He

4323
02:53:52,640 --> 02:53:55,279
says, "Uh, he's dead, isn't he?" She

4324
02:53:55,279 --> 02:53:58,319
says, "Sure."

4325
02:53:58,319 --> 02:54:01,640
It's a genius.

4326
02:54:13,840 --> 02:54:15,040
Drama has nothing to do with

4327
02:54:15,040 --> 02:54:17,120
information. Drama is storytelling

4328
02:54:17,120 --> 02:54:19,520
that's that that that assembles the

4329
02:54:19,520 --> 02:54:24,560
clan. Information is is um

4330
02:54:24,560 --> 02:54:26,000
information is the compiling of facts

4331
02:54:26,000 --> 02:54:27,760
which may or may not be useful and also

4332
02:54:27,760 --> 02:54:30,479
which may or may not be true. So I don't

4333
02:54:30,479 --> 02:54:31,760
why would I want to give people

4334
02:54:31,760 --> 02:54:33,359
information? It's all we do all day is

4335
02:54:33,359 --> 02:54:35,279
we get information. Almost all of it's a

4336
02:54:35,279 --> 02:54:37,359
lie and even the true stuff we don't act

4337
02:54:37,359 --> 02:54:40,479
upon. Right? It's other people's job is

4338
02:54:40,479 --> 02:54:43,200
to give people information. Right? or in

4339
02:54:43,200 --> 02:54:45,920
the case of newspapers, misinformation.

4340
02:54:45,920 --> 02:54:50,319
My job is to tell them a story. Period.

4341
02:54:50,319 --> 02:54:52,960
It's not my job to be informative. My

4342
02:54:52,960 --> 02:54:55,040
job to be interesting. I got a special

4343
02:54:55,040 --> 02:54:56,640
way of being interesting that pays my

4344
02:54:56,640 --> 02:55:01,200
rent. It's called uh uh writing drama.

4345
02:55:01,200 --> 02:55:03,920
I'm I'm just a class clown. Uh uh

4346
02:55:03,920 --> 02:55:06,800
writing drama.

4347
02:55:06,800 --> 02:55:11,399
That that that's what I do for a living.

4348
02:55:15,520 --> 02:55:17,120
He used to say in the old days in this

4349
02:55:17,120 --> 02:55:19,359
movie business you meet a writer you say

4350
02:55:19,359 --> 02:55:21,359
what do you do he'd say I write gags and

4351
02:55:21,359 --> 02:55:23,359
titles because that goes back to the

4352
02:55:23,359 --> 02:55:26,319
silent era they made up gags and they

4353
02:55:26,319 --> 02:55:28,880
wrote the titles in silent film we've

4354
02:55:28,880 --> 02:55:31,200
all seen a silent film so the writing of

4355
02:55:31,200 --> 02:55:34,960
gags uh is is magnificent because if you

4356
02:55:34,960 --> 02:55:36,319
look at Buster Keaton's films for

4357
02:55:36,319 --> 02:55:39,040
example he's structuring this wonderful

4358
02:55:39,040 --> 02:55:41,600
progression which is like a joke the end

4359
02:55:41,600 --> 02:55:44,479
of which the gag is surprising and

4360
02:55:44,479 --> 02:55:47,520
inevitable. So even in the early talkie

4361
02:55:47,520 --> 02:55:50,080
days the hip writers would say what are

4362
02:55:50,080 --> 02:55:52,319
you doing say I write gags and titles

4363
02:55:52,319 --> 02:55:54,479
and I'm going to pick up the phrase from

4364
02:55:54,479 --> 02:55:56,319
from the old days. The other thing about

4365
02:55:56,319 --> 02:55:58,399
titles which is interesting to me in

4366
02:55:58,399 --> 02:56:00,479
black and white films is they're none of

4367
02:56:00,479 --> 02:56:02,319
them are necessary.

4368
02:56:02,319 --> 02:56:04,160
If you take everyone out of every black

4369
02:56:04,160 --> 02:56:08,800
and white film changes nothing.

4370
02:56:08,800 --> 02:56:11,359
But the tradition of writing titles

4371
02:56:11,359 --> 02:56:13,520
exists today in the unfortunate

4372
02:56:13,520 --> 02:56:17,040
tradition of conveying information. CBS

4373
02:56:17,040 --> 02:56:18,640
used to drive me [ __ ] crazy. I mean,

4374
02:56:18,640 --> 02:56:22,240
it shows they'd say, "Okay, uh the scene

4375
02:56:22,240 --> 02:56:25,920
takes place in the Senate uh Senate uh

4376
02:56:25,920 --> 02:56:28,399
offices." I say, "Okay." They say, "Oh,

4377
02:56:28,399 --> 02:56:30,080
got to have an establishing shot of

4378
02:56:30,080 --> 02:56:31,680
Washington."

4379
02:56:31,680 --> 02:56:33,439
I say, "Well, where else would the

4380
02:56:33,439 --> 02:56:35,040
Senate offices be?" "No, we got to have

4381
02:56:35,040 --> 02:56:37,600
an establishing shot."

4382
02:56:37,600 --> 02:56:39,760
I say, "Put it put an establishing."

4383
02:56:39,760 --> 02:56:42,640
Okay. Put an establishing shot. I look

4384
02:56:42,640 --> 02:56:44,399
at it on TV and there's establishing

4385
02:56:44,399 --> 02:56:46,640
shot and superimposed of the capital

4386
02:56:46,640 --> 02:56:48,880
building. Superimposed as what?

4387
02:56:48,880 --> 02:56:52,560
Washington DC. What? Who? Who? Who is

4388
02:56:52,560 --> 02:56:55,680
this for the benefit of,

4389
02:56:55,680 --> 02:56:58,240
right? A, it matters that it's in a room

4390
02:56:58,240 --> 02:57:00,160
with a bunch of fat white guys who look

4391
02:57:00,160 --> 02:57:02,240
like senators. We'll assume it's the

4392
02:57:02,240 --> 02:57:05,279
Senate, right? B, where would the Senate

4393
02:57:05,279 --> 02:57:07,520
be even? not in Washington DC. Is there

4394
02:57:07,520 --> 02:57:09,200
going to help anybody understand the

4395
02:57:09,200 --> 02:57:11,279
scene? Right. Right. They're fat

4396
02:57:11,279 --> 02:57:14,000
corporate types. And see, so I did my

4397
02:57:14,000 --> 02:57:17,040
first movie, House of Games, and uh we

4398
02:57:17,040 --> 02:57:20,240
shot it in Seattle and the guys who re

4399
02:57:20,240 --> 02:57:22,560
who uh

4400
02:57:22,560 --> 02:57:25,439
released it, a guy, think a guy called

4401
02:57:25,439 --> 02:57:28,560
Orion, guy called Bill Bernstein, and he

4402
02:57:28,560 --> 02:57:30,720
says, "You have to have an establishing

4403
02:57:30,720 --> 02:57:33,760
shot." I say, "Why?" He says, "How will

4404
02:57:33,760 --> 02:57:35,200
people know it's Seattle?" I said, "It's

4405
02:57:35,200 --> 02:57:36,640
not important that Seattle. It's a

4406
02:57:36,640 --> 02:57:38,880
city." He says, "No, no, no, no, no. You

4407
02:57:38,880 --> 02:57:42,319
have to have an establishing shot."

4408
02:57:42,319 --> 02:57:44,960
I said, "Oh, [ __ ] Okay." So, I go to,

4409
02:57:44,960 --> 02:57:46,800
you know, my favorite department, the

4410
02:57:46,800 --> 02:57:48,399
toy department. I say to props, "Okay,

4411
02:57:48,399 --> 02:57:49,840
we have have to have an establishing

4412
02:57:49,840 --> 02:57:52,000
shot of Seattle. Here's what we need. We

4413
02:57:52,000 --> 02:57:54,000
need a ter

4414
02:57:54,000 --> 02:57:56,160
of Seattle, right? A big fat poster

4415
02:57:56,160 --> 02:57:59,120
Seattle skyline. And then we need a

4416
02:57:59,120 --> 02:58:02,399
mirror. Okay? And then we need like a

4417
02:58:02,399 --> 02:58:05,359
little wooden tugboat with a string.

4418
02:58:05,359 --> 02:58:08,080
Okay. And we're gonna pull the tugboat

4419
02:58:08,080 --> 02:58:10,800
across, right? Like that. And then we

4420
02:58:10,800 --> 02:58:13,920
need a a watering can

4421
02:58:13,920 --> 02:58:16,240
making it rain. And so we shoot the shot

4422
02:58:16,240 --> 02:58:18,080
and the tugboat's coming along. And the

4423
02:58:18,080 --> 02:58:19,680
watering can I say, "You got to get the

4424
02:58:19,680 --> 02:58:21,439
watering can in the shot." So they bring

4425
02:58:21,439 --> 02:58:23,120
the watering can in the shot and they

4426
02:58:23,120 --> 02:58:26,479
pull the tugboat. So we sent it to send

4427
02:58:26,479 --> 02:58:28,800
it to uh Orion said, "There's your as

4428
02:58:28,800 --> 02:58:32,319
your establishing shot.

4429
02:58:36,000 --> 02:58:37,760
What you want to do is take off, you

4430
02:58:37,760 --> 02:58:41,200
want to take off the um the excess

4431
02:58:41,200 --> 02:58:43,279
flesh. Friend of mine when she was

4432
02:58:43,279 --> 02:58:44,720
young, she danced for the Elvin a

4433
02:58:44,720 --> 02:58:46,080
company and she came and said two

4434
02:58:46,080 --> 02:58:47,279
things. She said what Elvin wanted to do

4435
02:58:47,279 --> 02:58:48,960
is two things. He said first he said

4436
02:58:48,960 --> 02:58:50,399
take off the tights. He said I want to

4437
02:58:50,399 --> 02:58:52,160
see what your legs actually look like.

4438
02:58:52,160 --> 02:58:53,359
And he said the second here's the

4439
02:58:53,359 --> 02:58:56,240
audition. Walk across the room. He said

4440
02:58:56,240 --> 02:58:57,920
I'll figure it out. I thought oh good.

4441
02:58:57,920 --> 02:58:59,520
Those two good things. So, you got to

4442
02:58:59,520 --> 02:59:01,680
take out the excess flesh. You got to

4443
02:59:01,680 --> 02:59:03,200
make sure you don't cut too deeply,

4444
02:59:03,200 --> 02:59:04,800
though. And that's why you have to work

4445
02:59:04,800 --> 02:59:07,279
for the audience. Are they keeping up?

4446
02:59:07,279 --> 02:59:09,120
Good. And you haven't cut too deeply.

4447
02:59:09,120 --> 02:59:12,880
Are they going to sleep? Bad. Then you

4448
02:59:12,880 --> 02:59:14,720
haven't cut deeply enough. If they get

4449
02:59:14,720 --> 02:59:17,040
it, you don't want to say it twice. The

4450
02:59:17,040 --> 02:59:19,279
test is how little one can put up. Like

4451
02:59:19,279 --> 02:59:21,680
the world's great great juggling Michael

4452
02:59:21,680 --> 02:59:23,520
Motion and he used to work with Big

4453
02:59:23,520 --> 02:59:25,040
Apple Circ. He worked all over. I I

4454
02:59:25,040 --> 02:59:26,240
don't know what he's doing these days,

4455
02:59:26,240 --> 02:59:28,000
but one point he said, "Okay, you know,

4456
02:59:28,000 --> 02:59:30,399
I can juggle 14 balls. I'm just going to

4457
02:59:30,399 --> 02:59:32,800
juggle one ball." And he did a routine

4458
02:59:32,800 --> 02:59:34,880
with of just juggling one ball. Most

4459
02:59:34,880 --> 02:59:39,000
beautiful thing anybody ever saw,

4460
02:59:39,279 --> 02:59:41,120
you know, or like, you know, Misha

4461
02:59:41,120 --> 02:59:43,120
Bishnikov, right? You watch him dancing

4462
02:59:43,120 --> 02:59:44,720
like he doesn't have the athleticism

4463
02:59:44,720 --> 02:59:46,640
that he that he had when he was young.

4464
02:59:46,640 --> 02:59:49,200
Who does? But you just walk and walk

4465
02:59:49,200 --> 02:59:50,720
watch them walk across the street and

4466
02:59:50,720 --> 02:59:52,720
and just turn uh across the stage and

4467
02:59:52,720 --> 02:59:54,479
turn direction and it's the most

4468
02:59:54,479 --> 02:59:57,040
beautiful beautiful thing you ever saw.

4469
02:59:57,040 --> 02:59:59,040
What can you do without? That's the

4470
02:59:59,040 --> 03:00:03,640
question, not what can you put in.

4471
03:00:07,040 --> 03:00:10,000
I did a movie called Spartan and it's uh

4472
03:00:10,000 --> 03:00:13,359
with Billy Macy and Val Kilmer and uh

4473
03:00:13,359 --> 03:00:16,640
and um

4474
03:00:16,640 --> 03:00:19,040
Kristen Bell and it's pretty good movie

4475
03:00:19,040 --> 03:00:20,800
and there's no narration in it.

4476
03:00:20,800 --> 03:00:22,080
Somebody's been kidnapped. You don't

4477
03:00:22,080 --> 03:00:24,240
know who she is. Somebody's sent to find

4478
03:00:24,240 --> 03:00:26,720
her. You don't know who who he is. You

4479
03:00:26,720 --> 03:00:28,720
don't quite And Macy paid me the highest

4480
03:00:28,720 --> 03:00:29,840
compliment. He said, "You know, there's

4481
03:00:29,840 --> 03:00:31,920
not one second of narration in that

4482
03:00:31,920 --> 03:00:34,160
whole damned movie." I Well, that's a

4483
03:00:34,160 --> 03:00:36,479
great that's a great compliment, right?

4484
03:00:36,479 --> 03:00:37,840
because anybody can write narrations.

4485
03:00:37,840 --> 03:00:39,359
It's why anybody can write television

4486
03:00:39,359 --> 03:00:41,359
because it's all basically narration.

4487
03:00:41,359 --> 03:00:45,600
And one of the um hallmarks of soap

4488
03:00:45,600 --> 03:00:48,160
opera, which most television drama is,

4489
03:00:48,160 --> 03:00:49,920
is two people talking about something

4490
03:00:49,920 --> 03:00:52,160
that happened offstage. They don't want

4491
03:00:52,160 --> 03:00:53,520
anything from each other. They're

4492
03:00:53,520 --> 03:00:55,439
saying, "Did you see that Dr. Jim, whose

4493
03:00:55,439 --> 03:00:57,359
sister is an albino? Do you know that he

4494
03:00:57,359 --> 03:00:58,800
didn't get arrested for the blah blah

4495
03:00:58,800 --> 03:01:00,560
blah, but he got arrested for the da da

4496
03:01:00,560 --> 03:01:02,319
da?" No, no, no. I can't talk about that

4497
03:01:02,319 --> 03:01:04,800
now because nurse Tweeie over there as

4498
03:01:04,800 --> 03:01:07,920
you know. So

4499
03:01:07,920 --> 03:01:10,880
that's the death of drama. And I tried

4500
03:01:10,880 --> 03:01:12,319
to tell writers that when I was working

4501
03:01:12,319 --> 03:01:14,640
on a television show that phrase as you

4502
03:01:14,640 --> 03:01:19,800
know cuz who who we talking to?

4503
03:01:23,279 --> 03:01:24,640
There's a time and a place for

4504
03:01:24,640 --> 03:01:27,920
everything, you know, except cilantro.

4505
03:01:27,920 --> 03:01:30,880
And we mentioned kale, right?

4506
03:01:30,880 --> 03:01:34,479
And um somebody asked Woody Allen, they

4507
03:01:34,479 --> 03:01:35,760
said, "Woody, if you had your life to

4508
03:01:35,760 --> 03:01:36,960
live over again, what would you do

4509
03:01:36,960 --> 03:01:38,399
differently?" He said, "I do everything

4510
03:01:38,399 --> 03:01:40,560
exactly the same, but I wouldn't see the

4511
03:01:40,560 --> 03:01:42,800
ice capes."

4512
03:01:42,800 --> 03:01:44,000
I thought that was one of the hippest

4513
03:01:44,000 --> 03:01:46,240
things anybody ever said. So narration,

4514
03:01:46,240 --> 03:01:49,279
I don't know. I What does it add? You

4515
03:01:49,279 --> 03:01:52,000
know, I fly across the country and I

4516
03:01:52,000 --> 03:01:54,319
watch them watch movies, but I always

4517
03:01:54,319 --> 03:01:57,040
watch them with the sound off because we

4518
03:01:57,040 --> 03:01:58,240
were talking about the woman who said

4519
03:01:58,240 --> 03:02:00,000
Elvin Haley said, "No, you know, you

4520
03:02:00,000 --> 03:02:01,120
know, you got let's see what you like.

4521
03:02:01,120 --> 03:02:02,640
Let's see if you got muscles or not.

4522
03:02:02,640 --> 03:02:04,319
Take it tight." So, watch the movie with

4523
03:02:04,319 --> 03:02:06,960
the sound off. See, does it make sense,

4524
03:02:06,960 --> 03:02:09,040
right? They're all pretty wretched, but

4525
03:02:09,040 --> 03:02:10,720
some of them aren't, but you got to

4526
03:02:10,720 --> 03:02:12,560
watch it with the sound off and see if

4527
03:02:12,560 --> 03:02:14,399
it makes sense.

4528
03:02:14,399 --> 03:02:16,080
So the question is if I'm using in

4529
03:02:16,080 --> 03:02:19,279
effect marital aids to make the thing

4530
03:02:19,279 --> 03:02:22,960
work such as montage such as narration

4531
03:02:22,960 --> 03:02:24,560
there may be something wrong with my mar

4532
03:02:24,560 --> 03:02:26,240
you know if the magic has gone to that

4533
03:02:26,240 --> 03:02:28,319
extent out of the marriage maybe I

4534
03:02:28,319 --> 03:02:31,200
should have fixed it on day one so when

4535
03:02:31,200 --> 03:02:33,600
we talking about airplanes

4536
03:02:33,600 --> 03:02:35,520
you want to fix a problem on the ground

4537
03:02:35,520 --> 03:02:36,880
right you don't want to fix it in the

4538
03:02:36,880 --> 03:02:38,800
air you can fix it on the ground if you

4539
03:02:38,800 --> 03:02:41,359
can fix it in the script

4540
03:02:41,359 --> 03:02:44,560
fix it then don't shoot something you

4541
03:02:44,560 --> 03:02:47,760
don't intend to keep. Right? Don't write

4542
03:02:47,760 --> 03:02:50,880
something you don't intend to shoot.

4543
03:02:50,880 --> 03:02:53,120
Keep it simple, stupid. Fix your

4544
03:02:53,120 --> 03:02:55,600
problems. Now, cuz they're just going to

4545
03:02:55,600 --> 03:02:59,240
they're just going to burgeon.

4546
03:03:02,960 --> 03:03:04,880
My son and I uh we like to read

4547
03:03:04,880 --> 03:03:07,439
magazines at night and he likes um

4548
03:03:07,439 --> 03:03:10,160
gaming, you know, being 18-year-old. So,

4549
03:03:10,160 --> 03:03:12,399
we read a lot of gaming magazines, and

4550
03:03:12,399 --> 03:03:14,319
gaming magazines are interesting to me

4551
03:03:14,319 --> 03:03:17,680
because unlike, for some reason, unlike

4552
03:03:17,680 --> 03:03:21,600
most um hobbyist magazines, they're

4553
03:03:21,600 --> 03:03:24,000
dreadfully written. I I love hobbyist

4554
03:03:24,000 --> 03:03:25,600
magazine as somebody who just loves what

4555
03:03:25,600 --> 03:03:27,279
they're doing. Doesn't matter model

4556
03:03:27,279 --> 03:03:30,640
airplanes or model model boats or tulip

4557
03:03:30,640 --> 03:03:33,200
culture or poodle grooming. I just love

4558
03:03:33,200 --> 03:03:36,080
the fact that they're so interested. But

4559
03:03:36,080 --> 03:03:37,920
these magazines are really dreadfully

4560
03:03:37,920 --> 03:03:39,760
written. at least the ones that he gets.

4561
03:03:39,760 --> 03:03:41,520
So maybe some aren't. And so they say

4562
03:03:41,520 --> 03:03:43,600
things like the reason for this fact is

4563
03:03:43,600 --> 03:03:45,439
because of the prevailing fact that

4564
03:03:45,439 --> 03:03:48,160
prior to this happening and I say

4565
03:03:48,160 --> 03:03:53,040
rewrite that and he says okay when

4566
03:03:53,040 --> 03:03:55,279
I say yeah that's right okay she's got a

4567
03:03:55,279 --> 03:03:58,319
great sense cut. What do you actually

4568
03:03:58,319 --> 03:04:00,479
mean to say? There's an old phrase that

4569
03:04:00,479 --> 03:04:03,040
says if you

4570
03:04:03,040 --> 03:04:04,560
if you can't express your thoughts

4571
03:04:04,560 --> 03:04:06,319
clearly your thoughts are muddied. So

4572
03:04:06,319 --> 03:04:08,880
cut cut. As I used to say, shoot for

4573
03:04:08,880 --> 03:04:13,240
show, cut for dough.

4574
03:04:17,120 --> 03:04:19,520
If you have to narrate it, the audience

4575
03:04:19,520 --> 03:04:21,840
might understand, but they'll no longer

4576
03:04:21,840 --> 03:04:24,240
care.

4577
03:04:24,240 --> 03:04:26,960
You want them to care,

4578
03:04:26,960 --> 03:04:30,399
right? If you have to narrate,

4579
03:04:30,399 --> 03:04:32,640
a plane goes down in the middle of the

4580
03:04:32,640 --> 03:04:35,680
ocean. On this plane is Jessica

4581
03:04:35,680 --> 03:04:38,479
Chastain. She is also there's one other

4582
03:04:38,479 --> 03:04:42,479
survivor and they they are no ability to

4583
03:04:42,479 --> 03:04:45,520
communicate with the outside world. In

4584
03:04:45,520 --> 03:04:48,080
fact, the plane has been blown off

4585
03:04:48,080 --> 03:04:51,920
course. So no one will ever know

4586
03:04:51,920 --> 03:04:55,040
what island they are on. Thus they real

4587
03:04:55,040 --> 03:04:57,120
Okay. All you got to say is this guy's

4588
03:04:57,120 --> 03:04:58,319
on a desert island with Jessica

4589
03:04:58,319 --> 03:05:00,319
Chastain. That's that's where the the

4590
03:05:00,319 --> 03:05:04,000
story starts there. the the the what do

4591
03:05:04,000 --> 03:05:06,560
you call the backstory or the prequel is

4592
03:05:06,560 --> 03:05:10,000
narration. Nobody cares. You come why do

4593
03:05:10,000 --> 03:05:11,120
you know you're watching the movies on

4594
03:05:11,120 --> 03:05:13,520
TV going to the other room to get a beer

4595
03:05:13,520 --> 03:05:15,359
right? You come back 15 minutes later

4596
03:05:15,359 --> 03:05:19,040
you haven't missed anything right if it

4597
03:05:19,040 --> 03:05:21,760
were holding your attention you wouldn't

4598
03:05:21,760 --> 03:05:26,160
go get the beer would you? No.

4599
03:05:26,160 --> 03:05:27,680
So what I said to these writers as

4600
03:05:27,680 --> 03:05:30,720
working on a television show is your

4601
03:05:30,720 --> 03:05:33,120
living and my living depends on your

4602
03:05:33,120 --> 03:05:34,960
ability and my ability to get the

4603
03:05:34,960 --> 03:05:36,399
audience to come back after the

4604
03:05:36,399 --> 03:05:38,399
commercial, right? Just like you rush

4605
03:05:38,399 --> 03:05:40,399
back, you know, when the commercials are

4606
03:05:40,399 --> 03:05:42,560
wonderful commercials are over for Geico

4607
03:05:42,560 --> 03:05:44,000
insurance, but they're going to start,

4608
03:05:44,000 --> 03:05:45,760
you know, Green Bay is has got the the

4609
03:05:45,760 --> 03:05:48,080
ball on the three yard line. You're not

4610
03:05:48,080 --> 03:05:49,279
going to say, "Well, I'll catch up with

4611
03:05:49,279 --> 03:05:52,520
it later.

4612
03:05:56,080 --> 03:05:57,680
How do you not fall into the trap of

4613
03:05:57,680 --> 03:05:59,439
exposition? There's only one way in the

4614
03:05:59,439 --> 03:06:01,200
world, and that's you have to stage your

4615
03:06:01,200 --> 03:06:03,600
plays in front of a paying audience,

4616
03:06:03,600 --> 03:06:05,279
right? You stage them in front of mom

4617
03:06:05,279 --> 03:06:06,720
and dad. They're going to say they loved

4618
03:06:06,720 --> 03:06:08,319
it. You'll say, "Well, you'd say that

4619
03:06:08,319 --> 03:06:09,279
anyway, wouldn't you?" And they say,

4620
03:06:09,279 --> 03:06:11,040
"Yeah." So, you say, "Mom and dad, how

4621
03:06:11,040 --> 03:06:12,399
can I believe you?" The answer is, "You

4622
03:06:12,399 --> 03:06:14,560
can't. You can't believe mom and dad."

4623
03:06:14,560 --> 03:06:16,399
You can't believe anybody at the school

4624
03:06:16,399 --> 03:06:18,000
cuz why? Cuz they want to keep you in

4625
03:06:18,000 --> 03:06:20,240
school, right? If you're more talented

4626
03:06:20,240 --> 03:06:22,000
than they can possibly imagine, they're

4627
03:06:22,000 --> 03:06:24,000
going to give you a failing grade,

4628
03:06:24,000 --> 03:06:26,000
right? If you're middle of the road, uh,

4629
03:06:26,000 --> 03:06:27,520
and they want to keep you in school,

4630
03:06:27,520 --> 03:06:29,040
they'll they'll they'll praise your work

4631
03:06:29,040 --> 03:06:30,800
to the sky. In a school, they're going

4632
03:06:30,800 --> 03:06:33,279
to assign you actors so you don't have

4633
03:06:33,279 --> 03:06:35,680
to engage actors through the worth of

4634
03:06:35,680 --> 03:06:38,000
your of your writing. You got to go out

4635
03:06:38,000 --> 03:06:40,479
and and and and get the stuffing kicked

4636
03:06:40,479 --> 03:06:42,479
out of you. That's the only way you can

4637
03:06:42,479 --> 03:06:44,399
learn. The only, you know, how you learn

4638
03:06:44,399 --> 03:06:47,359
to def defend yourself in a in a in a in

4639
03:06:47,359 --> 03:06:49,600
in boxing is by sparring with someone

4640
03:06:49,600 --> 03:06:52,319
getting hurt. You say, "Oh, I get it. I

4641
03:06:52,319 --> 03:06:54,399
get it. I got hurt. I better defend

4642
03:06:54,399 --> 03:06:56,560
myself." Right? Learn to land an

4643
03:06:56,560 --> 03:06:57,760
airplane. You better learn how to land

4644
03:06:57,760 --> 03:06:59,279
the airplane or you're going to die.

4645
03:06:59,279 --> 03:07:03,120
It's that simple. So, if if your

4646
03:07:03,120 --> 03:07:06,240
self-esteem or your livelihood

4647
03:07:06,240 --> 03:07:08,160
depends on learning these lessons,

4648
03:07:08,160 --> 03:07:10,800
you'll learn them or you'll you'll quit.

4649
03:07:10,800 --> 03:07:12,800
And it's not for the the faint of heart.

4650
03:07:12,800 --> 03:07:15,600
So there's no way in which these lessons

4651
03:07:15,600 --> 03:07:17,680
are going to become clear to you guys

4652
03:07:17,680 --> 03:07:19,600
who are starting writing because you

4653
03:07:19,600 --> 03:07:21,520
can't know. And for the largest extent I

4654
03:07:21,520 --> 03:07:23,359
can't know. I write something I think

4655
03:07:23,359 --> 03:07:25,120
it's perfect. I put it in a rehearsal

4656
03:07:25,120 --> 03:07:27,439
hall. I see oh my god it's overwritten.

4657
03:07:27,439 --> 03:07:29,200
I rewrite it. I say it's perfect. I put

4658
03:07:29,200 --> 03:07:31,040
it in front of the audience. I say no I

4659
03:07:31,040 --> 03:07:33,439
just made a dreadful dreadful error.

4660
03:07:33,439 --> 03:07:35,760
Right? So what I can do that you can't

4661
03:07:35,760 --> 03:07:38,640
do a lot of you can absolutely write is

4662
03:07:38,640 --> 03:07:41,120
I know how to cut. Right? Because as

4663
03:07:41,120 --> 03:07:44,000
painful as it is to cut, it's more

4664
03:07:44,000 --> 03:07:46,240
painful to be shamed by the audience

4665
03:07:46,240 --> 03:07:48,880
going to sleep. I believe it was the

4666
03:07:48,880 --> 03:07:50,240
great Billy Wilder who said, "When the

4667
03:07:50,240 --> 03:07:51,600
lights go down, you've got their

4668
03:07:51,600 --> 03:07:54,479
attention. You've got their attention."

4669
03:07:54,479 --> 03:07:56,080
And friends I know who went to Ranger

4670
03:07:56,080 --> 03:07:57,439
School say, "When you go to Ranger

4671
03:07:57,439 --> 03:07:58,960
School, the first thing they say is,

4672
03:07:58,960 --> 03:08:01,439
"Okay, welcome to Ranger School. You are

4673
03:08:01,439 --> 03:08:03,520
now an Army Ranger. You have three

4674
03:08:03,520 --> 03:08:04,960
months to see if you can keep that

4675
03:08:04,960 --> 03:08:07,439
status." When the lights go down, you

4676
03:08:07,439 --> 03:08:09,840
got their attention. Can you keep it?

4677
03:08:09,840 --> 03:08:10,960
How do you know if you're going to keep

4678
03:08:10,960 --> 03:08:12,720
it or not? Well, if you have intuition,

4679
03:08:12,720 --> 03:08:14,240
that's good. And then you got to test it

4680
03:08:14,240 --> 03:08:18,040
to find out where you're wrong.

4681
03:08:30,080 --> 03:08:33,200
The scene has to contain a

4682
03:08:33,200 --> 03:08:36,479
uh an attempt of the hero to achieve a

4683
03:08:36,479 --> 03:08:39,920
goal. That's it. That goal has to be

4684
03:08:39,920 --> 03:08:43,279
part of an a

4685
03:08:43,279 --> 03:08:45,760
rockhard structure of a journey from A

4686
03:08:45,760 --> 03:08:48,640
to B. Right? For example, we talked

4687
03:08:48,640 --> 03:08:51,040
about getting to the airport, right? The

4688
03:08:51,040 --> 03:08:52,880
scene could be I'm I I need the elevator

4689
03:08:52,880 --> 03:08:55,040
to get downstairs, but the elevator is

4690
03:08:55,040 --> 03:08:56,560
broken. Oh my god, what am I going to

4691
03:08:56,560 --> 03:08:58,800
do? I can't get to the elevator without

4692
03:08:58,800 --> 03:09:01,279
getting downstairs. Right? So, this is

4693
03:09:01,279 --> 03:09:03,680
an essential scene. The beginning of the

4694
03:09:03,680 --> 03:09:07,359
scene is the elevator don't work right.

4695
03:09:07,359 --> 03:09:09,840
I got to get downstairs. How am I going

4696
03:09:09,840 --> 03:09:11,840
to do it?

4697
03:09:11,840 --> 03:09:13,680
That's every scene. Well, I better take

4698
03:09:13,680 --> 03:09:15,600
the stairs. Oh my god, there's a fire on

4699
03:09:15,600 --> 03:09:17,279
the stairs. Maybe I got to go up to the

4700
03:09:17,279 --> 03:09:19,120
roof and jump over. Maybe I got to get a

4701
03:09:19,120 --> 03:09:21,200
helicopter, but I got to get out of the

4702
03:09:21,200 --> 03:09:23,600
building. There's three questions. Who

4703
03:09:23,600 --> 03:09:25,680
wants what from who? What happens if

4704
03:09:25,680 --> 03:09:28,080
they don't get it? Why now? You got to

4705
03:09:28,080 --> 03:09:29,680
be able to answer those three simple

4706
03:09:29,680 --> 03:09:31,200
questions about any scene, about any

4707
03:09:31,200 --> 03:09:34,080
play. who wants what from whom? What

4708
03:09:34,080 --> 03:09:36,240
happens if they don't get it and why?

4709
03:09:36,240 --> 03:09:38,479
Now, for example, when going across

4710
03:09:38,479 --> 03:09:41,279
country, if

4711
03:09:41,279 --> 03:09:43,520
if you don't get to Los Angeles, your

4712
03:09:43,520 --> 03:09:46,479
dog, they're going to shoot your dog.

4713
03:09:46,479 --> 03:09:47,920
You're going to exercise a certain

4714
03:09:47,920 --> 03:09:49,279
amount of energy in getting to Los

4715
03:09:49,279 --> 03:09:51,680
Angeles. If you don't get to Los

4716
03:09:51,680 --> 03:09:52,800
Angeles, they're going to shoot your

4717
03:09:52,800 --> 03:09:54,560
wife. You're going to exercise different

4718
03:09:54,560 --> 03:09:56,880
kind of energy. So what happens if they

4719
03:09:56,880 --> 03:09:59,520
don't get it informs the urgency of the

4720
03:09:59,520 --> 03:10:04,200
of the is the urgency of the scene?

4721
03:10:07,600 --> 03:10:10,160
Is the scene essential?

4722
03:10:10,160 --> 03:10:13,200
Not is it lovely, but is it essential?

4723
03:10:13,200 --> 03:10:16,080
Cuz if it's not essential, throw it out.

4724
03:10:16,080 --> 03:10:17,520
And if you look at movies, there's

4725
03:10:17,520 --> 03:10:18,960
usually a part, and it's usually the

4726
03:10:18,960 --> 03:10:20,800
woman's part. Yeah. That's usually the

4727
03:10:20,800 --> 03:10:22,800
woman's part where at some point about

4728
03:10:22,800 --> 03:10:25,359
2/ird of the way through she's speaking

4729
03:10:25,359 --> 03:10:28,560
very impassionately about what X means

4730
03:10:28,560 --> 03:10:31,120
to her, whatever X is. And you're

4731
03:10:31,120 --> 03:10:33,600
looking at it and it's always overacted

4732
03:10:33,600 --> 03:10:35,600
and you're thinking

4733
03:10:35,600 --> 03:10:38,880
that's the audition scene. Of course,

4734
03:10:38,880 --> 03:10:40,960
that's the audition scene. They gave her

4735
03:10:40,960 --> 03:10:43,359
the part because she did the audition

4736
03:10:43,359 --> 03:10:45,520
scene in such a way that was so

4737
03:10:45,520 --> 03:10:48,479
predictable that we understood

4738
03:10:48,479 --> 03:10:50,560
that it was the obligatory scene. It was

4739
03:10:50,560 --> 03:10:52,399
the essence

4740
03:10:52,399 --> 03:10:54,640
of the But you don't want one scene to

4741
03:10:54,640 --> 03:10:56,560
be the essence of of the movie. You want

4742
03:10:56,560 --> 03:10:57,920
the movie to be the essence of the

4743
03:10:57,920 --> 03:11:00,800
movie. The question is if you took See,

4744
03:11:00,800 --> 03:11:02,720
here's the thing. The question is if you

4745
03:11:02,720 --> 03:11:05,279
took it out, not would you miss it, but

4746
03:11:05,279 --> 03:11:07,120
if you took it out, would the audience

4747
03:11:07,120 --> 03:11:09,920
miss it? That's the only question. cuz

4748
03:11:09,920 --> 03:11:11,040
of course you're going to miss it cuz

4749
03:11:11,040 --> 03:11:13,120
you wrote it. The question is the

4750
03:11:13,120 --> 03:11:14,479
audience goes, "Wait a second. Wait a

4751
03:11:14,479 --> 03:11:16,560
second. Wait a second. I understand the

4752
03:11:16,560 --> 03:11:18,560
trains on fire, right? And I understand

4753
03:11:18,560 --> 03:11:21,120
that we're being bombed by Soviet Russia

4754
03:11:21,120 --> 03:11:22,880
and I understand that the child's dying

4755
03:11:22,880 --> 03:11:24,880
of leukemia and we have to get to the

4756
03:11:24,880 --> 03:11:27,040
next station before Bibbidity Babidity

4757
03:11:27,040 --> 03:11:28,720
Boob. But where's the scene where she

4758
03:11:28,720 --> 03:11:32,160
talks about her kitten?"

4759
03:11:32,160 --> 03:11:34,479
I miss that scene. The audience, just

4760
03:11:34,479 --> 03:11:37,040
like the audience does not know what's

4761
03:11:37,040 --> 03:11:39,600
behind the camera, the audience doesn't

4762
03:11:39,600 --> 03:11:41,600
know what you took out. All they know is

4763
03:11:41,600 --> 03:11:43,439
what they're looking at. You got to

4764
03:11:43,439 --> 03:11:44,880
learn from the audience. You can't learn

4765
03:11:44,880 --> 03:11:47,520
playwriting except from the audience.

4766
03:11:47,520 --> 03:11:49,359
You can't learn bull writing except by

4767
03:11:49,359 --> 03:11:53,840
getting on the bull. The problem is that

4768
03:11:53,840 --> 03:11:55,760
the difficulty is it's going to cost you

4769
03:11:55,760 --> 03:11:59,040
something. You got to to pay the price

4770
03:11:59,040 --> 03:12:02,240
of putting up with their verdict,

4771
03:12:02,240 --> 03:12:04,399
right? Because the verdict is uh you

4772
03:12:04,399 --> 03:12:07,200
can't um you can't there is no higher

4773
03:12:07,200 --> 03:12:08,800
court. You can't say wait a second

4774
03:12:08,800 --> 03:12:10,479
audience do you know how hard I worked?

4775
03:12:10,479 --> 03:12:12,319
They don't care. The scene that you

4776
03:12:12,319 --> 03:12:13,920
worked for 12 years on and the scene

4777
03:12:13,920 --> 03:12:15,439
that you dashed off on the way to the

4778
03:12:15,439 --> 03:12:16,800
theater. They don't care. It's none of

4779
03:12:16,800 --> 03:12:19,680
their business. Nor should it be. They

4780
03:12:19,680 --> 03:12:21,520
just they're saying, "Okay, did you did

4781
03:12:21,520 --> 03:12:23,040
you did you do what I expected? Did you

4782
03:12:23,040 --> 03:12:26,920
do less? Did you do more?"

4783
03:12:30,240 --> 03:12:31,920
An obligatory scene is a scene that

4784
03:12:31,920 --> 03:12:34,080
doesn't belong. That it's the like my

4785
03:12:34,080 --> 03:12:35,760
good friend Barbara Toiver, my cutter

4786
03:12:35,760 --> 03:12:37,520
for many years and colleague, always

4787
03:12:37,520 --> 03:12:39,279
takes out the obligatory scene, which is

4788
03:12:39,279 --> 03:12:41,200
always my favorite scene. It's the most

4789
03:12:41,200 --> 03:12:43,120
heartfelt scene. It's the most moving

4790
03:12:43,120 --> 03:12:45,600
scene, you know. And she says, "It's

4791
03:12:45,600 --> 03:12:46,880
ruining the movie. It's cutting the

4792
03:12:46,880 --> 03:12:48,640
movie." I say, I say, "You I thought you

4793
03:12:48,640 --> 03:12:50,640
were my friend and you've betrayed me by

4794
03:12:50,640 --> 03:12:53,120
taking up my my baby, my puppy, my

4795
03:12:53,120 --> 03:12:55,279
firstborn, my beloved son, Jacob, you

4796
03:12:55,279 --> 03:12:58,800
know, and uh or Isaac rather." and she

4797
03:12:58,800 --> 03:13:01,279
said, "Yeah, let me explain to you why

4798
03:13:01,279 --> 03:13:03,600
everything has happened so far is the

4799
03:13:03,600 --> 03:13:06,000
obligatory scene. Let me think of some

4800
03:13:06,000 --> 03:13:07,439
examples. I'm sure there are a lot of

4801
03:13:07,439 --> 03:13:09,920
examples in in most movies have them.

4802
03:13:09,920 --> 03:13:12,080
They have at least several of them where

4803
03:13:12,080 --> 03:13:13,680
people stop and they explain to each

4804
03:13:13,680 --> 03:13:16,160
other why they have to save the world or

4805
03:13:16,160 --> 03:13:18,080
why it's necessary to get this dying

4806
03:13:18,080 --> 03:13:23,880
child to the hospital, you know, or or

4807
03:13:24,080 --> 03:13:26,479
we get it. If the child's dying, we're

4808
03:13:26,479 --> 03:13:28,479
going to assume that that's why you have

4809
03:13:28,479 --> 03:13:30,399
to get it to the hospital or how much

4810
03:13:30,399 --> 03:13:32,640
they how much they love the old couple

4811
03:13:32,640 --> 03:13:34,319
how much they love each other and how

4812
03:13:34,319 --> 03:13:35,680
much they've learned from there. All

4813
03:13:35,680 --> 03:13:38,960
these buddy movies that one sees about

4814
03:13:38,960 --> 03:13:40,880
um how much people have learned from

4815
03:13:40,880 --> 03:13:43,040
each other over the years and how

4816
03:13:43,040 --> 03:13:44,640
they've finally come to realize that

4817
03:13:44,640 --> 03:13:46,399
they need each other. After all, those

4818
03:13:46,399 --> 03:13:49,120
movies are all they are is the

4819
03:13:49,120 --> 03:13:52,560
obligatory scene. Who cares? Nobody

4820
03:13:52,560 --> 03:13:54,720
cares, right? the people who are making

4821
03:13:54,720 --> 03:13:56,960
it don't care. Yeah. So, in the mo movie

4822
03:13:56,960 --> 03:13:58,720
Munich, right, there's the Munich.

4823
03:13:58,720 --> 03:14:01,439
There's a wonderful No, I can't even use

4824
03:14:01,439 --> 03:14:02,960
that word. And one of the most

4825
03:14:02,960 --> 03:14:04,399
horrifying things I've ever seen is a

4826
03:14:04,399 --> 03:14:07,040
documentary docu magnificent documentary

4827
03:14:07,040 --> 03:14:08,880
called One Day in September. And it's

4828
03:14:08,880 --> 03:14:11,600
about the Munich massacre where the PLO

4829
03:14:11,600 --> 03:14:14,720
came in into the Olympic Village in 1972

4830
03:14:14,720 --> 03:14:17,600
and kidnapped and murdered uh 11 Israeli

4831
03:14:17,600 --> 03:14:20,880
athletes. And it's a spectacular

4832
03:14:20,880 --> 03:14:22,720
documentary. It's narrated by Michael

4833
03:14:22,720 --> 03:14:25,040
Douglas. And there's one shot from the

4834
03:14:25,040 --> 03:14:29,200
news footage of the time where

4835
03:14:29,200 --> 03:14:32,720
the screen is taken up by a barricade

4836
03:14:32,720 --> 03:14:34,479
and the building is barricaded and

4837
03:14:34,479 --> 03:14:35,760
there's all these shooters up here and

4838
03:14:35,760 --> 03:14:37,600
all these shooters down over there and

4839
03:14:37,600 --> 03:14:40,160
they can see the the masked terrorists

4840
03:14:40,160 --> 03:14:42,239
inside, you know, with masks over their

4841
03:14:42,239 --> 03:14:44,319
face holding guns. And then the camera

4842
03:14:44,319 --> 03:14:47,200
pans over to the right and you see that

4843
03:14:47,200 --> 03:14:48,720
just on the other side of this wall is

4844
03:14:48,720 --> 03:14:50,479
the Olympic village and they're playing

4845
03:14:50,479 --> 03:14:52,479
pingpong and volleyball in the Olympic

4846
03:14:52,479 --> 03:14:55,120
village.

4847
03:14:55,120 --> 03:14:57,439
So rather than the Germans, God bless

4848
03:14:57,439 --> 03:15:00,319
them, saying, "Excuse me, the Olympics

4849
03:15:00,319 --> 03:15:02,640
are now over and going in and killing

4850
03:15:02,640 --> 03:15:06,000
the the uh the kidnappers."

4851
03:15:06,000 --> 03:15:07,439
They said, "No, no, it's more important

4852
03:15:07,439 --> 03:15:10,080
for the Olympics to continue." And PS,

4853
03:15:10,080 --> 03:15:11,520
we aren't going to kill the kidnappers

4854
03:15:11,520 --> 03:15:13,520
because we're afraid of reprisals. So,

4855
03:15:13,520 --> 03:15:15,760
we'll let the kidnappers uh uh kill the

4856
03:15:15,760 --> 03:15:20,800
Jews, which they did. And so, uh

4857
03:15:20,800 --> 03:15:22,640
Spielberg, I believe, made a movie about

4858
03:15:22,640 --> 03:15:26,399
it. And I think Tony Tony Kushner wrote

4859
03:15:26,399 --> 03:15:29,520
the script. And at one point, one of the

4860
03:15:29,520 --> 03:15:31,439
guys from the Mossad, which is the

4861
03:15:31,439 --> 03:15:34,080
Israeli foreign for foreign intelligence

4862
03:15:34,080 --> 03:15:35,760
operations,

4863
03:15:35,760 --> 03:15:38,399
finds himself in a building with a

4864
03:15:38,399 --> 03:15:41,760
Palestinian who was on the on the other

4865
03:15:41,760 --> 03:15:44,399
side and they meet on the staircase and

4866
03:15:44,399 --> 03:15:46,720
they have a talk.

4867
03:15:46,720 --> 03:15:49,520
That's an obligatory scene,

4868
03:15:49,520 --> 03:15:52,479
right?

4869
03:15:52,479 --> 03:15:54,640
It's it's useless and it's not the story

4870
03:15:54,640 --> 03:15:56,479
that he said he was going to tell. It's

4871
03:15:56,479 --> 03:16:01,399
a story, but it's not that story.

4872
03:16:05,279 --> 03:16:06,720
If a scene bores you as you're writing,

4873
03:16:06,720 --> 03:16:09,120
it's going to write bore the actors when

4874
03:16:09,120 --> 03:16:10,399
they're acting it, and it's going to

4875
03:16:10,399 --> 03:16:11,760
bore the audience when they're looking

4876
03:16:11,760 --> 03:16:13,439
at it. So, everybody's going to try to

4877
03:16:13,439 --> 03:16:15,840
take up the slack. The actors are going

4878
03:16:15,840 --> 03:16:18,160
to try to do more, which is the last

4879
03:16:18,160 --> 03:16:20,080
thing that you you want them to do. The

4880
03:16:20,080 --> 03:16:22,479
directors going to try to do more with

4881
03:16:22,479 --> 03:16:23,920
the actors, which is the last thing you

4882
03:16:23,920 --> 03:16:25,840
want to do. that the scene designer is

4883
03:16:25,840 --> 03:16:27,040
going to try to do something

4884
03:16:27,040 --> 03:16:29,600
interesting. Big deal. Stannislovski

4885
03:16:29,600 --> 03:16:31,200
said, "Any director who does something

4886
03:16:31,200 --> 03:16:33,120
interesting with the text doesn't

4887
03:16:33,120 --> 03:16:35,120
understand the text." It's like the old

4888
03:16:35,120 --> 03:16:37,760
pilots uh adage, if there's any doubt,

4889
03:16:37,760 --> 03:16:40,880
there's no doubt.

4890
03:16:40,880 --> 03:16:42,239
Or if there's any doubt that you can

4891
03:16:42,239 --> 03:16:44,800
make it from point A to point B with the

4892
03:16:44,800 --> 03:16:47,200
gas in the plane, there's no doubt. Stay

4893
03:16:47,200 --> 03:16:48,560
on the ground. If you think it's

4894
03:16:48,560 --> 03:16:51,680
failing, it is failing probably. Try it

4895
03:16:51,680 --> 03:16:54,640
out on the audience. They're you're no

4896
03:16:54,640 --> 03:16:56,319
different than they are. If you're

4897
03:16:56,319 --> 03:16:58,239
bored, they're they're bored. If you

4898
03:16:58,239 --> 03:17:00,080
say, "Okay, I gotta get this thing in

4899
03:17:00,080 --> 03:17:02,000
here." They're going to reject it cuz

4900
03:17:02,000 --> 03:17:04,160
the audience know less than the kid at

4901
03:17:04,160 --> 03:17:08,560
bedtime doesn't like cautionary tales,

4902
03:17:08,560 --> 03:17:11,439
right? They don't like being force-fed

4903
03:17:11,439 --> 03:17:15,720
stuff that's good for them.

4904
03:17:27,520 --> 03:17:28,800
I just went up to this house from

4905
03:17:28,800 --> 03:17:30,640
Vermont that I've been living for more

4906
03:17:30,640 --> 03:17:34,560
than 40 years and many kids and dogs and

4907
03:17:34,560 --> 03:17:40,319
marriages and uh outdoor excursions and

4908
03:17:40,319 --> 03:17:44,319
collecting this and that and collect

4909
03:17:44,319 --> 03:17:45,920
it and I thought my god there's there's

4910
03:17:45,920 --> 03:17:47,680
no way I there's no way to do this. I

4911
03:17:47,680 --> 03:17:49,040
don't, you know, it was the Aian

4912
03:17:49,040 --> 03:17:50,160
stables. I don't even know where to

4913
03:17:50,160 --> 03:17:51,920
start. So, the answer was there's no

4914
03:17:51,920 --> 03:17:53,439
good place to start. You just jump in

4915
03:17:53,439 --> 03:17:56,319
and muck in like the rest of us. And

4916
03:17:56,319 --> 03:17:59,680
there was a um talking about poetry.

4917
03:17:59,680 --> 03:18:02,479
There was a um a couple of books written

4918
03:18:02,479 --> 03:18:03,920
about something called the Jailhouse

4919
03:18:03,920 --> 03:18:05,920
Toast. And I don't know if anybody knows

4920
03:18:05,920 --> 03:18:07,279
the Jailhouse Toast anymore. The

4921
03:18:07,279 --> 03:18:10,399
Jailhouse Toast were and areal

4922
03:18:10,399 --> 03:18:11,920
tradition

4923
03:18:11,920 --> 03:18:15,920
uh epic poems. I mean the the the uh the

4924
03:18:15,920 --> 03:18:19,040
equivalent of the Iliad and the Odyssey

4925
03:18:19,040 --> 03:18:21,359
and they came out of the jail house

4926
03:18:21,359 --> 03:18:23,279
basically black jailhouse in the south

4927
03:18:23,279 --> 03:18:25,600
and became current throughout the jail

4928
03:18:25,600 --> 03:18:27,520
system and I encountered them with some

4929
03:18:27,520 --> 03:18:30,160
ex-convicts in I used to hang out with

4930
03:18:30,160 --> 03:18:32,720
in Chicago in the 60s and one of them

4931
03:18:32,720 --> 03:18:36,160
was called um the stagal toast and went

4932
03:18:36,160 --> 03:18:37,600
on forever and people would add you know

4933
03:18:37,600 --> 03:18:39,040
just like cadence in the military they

4934
03:18:39,040 --> 03:18:40,640
would add to it they would embellish it

4935
03:18:40,640 --> 03:18:42,720
they would throw in the verses one was

4936
03:18:42,720 --> 03:18:45,920
called The stagly went uh um talked

4937
03:18:45,920 --> 03:18:47,520
about your gamblers. You ought to see my

4938
03:18:47,520 --> 03:18:50,239
Richard Lee shot $10,000 and he come out

4939
03:18:50,239 --> 03:18:52,399
on a three. When you lose your money,

4940
03:18:52,399 --> 03:18:54,640
learn to lose. And the stackly was this

4941
03:18:54,640 --> 03:18:57,200
bad man, a black man, a bad man. And it

4942
03:18:57,200 --> 03:18:58,640
went on forever and people would

4943
03:18:58,640 --> 03:19:00,880
embellish it. And another one was called

4944
03:19:00,880 --> 03:19:03,520
the signifying monkey way down in the

4945
03:19:03,520 --> 03:19:04,720
jungle with what he I can't see

4946
03:19:04,720 --> 03:19:07,840
signifying monkey uh climbed up a tree.

4947
03:19:07,840 --> 03:19:09,359
And that would go on forever and people

4948
03:19:09,359 --> 03:19:11,279
would add to it. And one was called the

4949
03:19:11,279 --> 03:19:14,640
Titanic. uh the Titanic toast, which was

4950
03:19:14,640 --> 03:19:16,479
a toast about the Titanic went down in

4951
03:19:16,479 --> 03:19:20,239
1912 and about this guy who was um a

4952
03:19:20,239 --> 03:19:23,279
black um stoer and he got on the Titanic

4953
03:19:23,279 --> 03:19:24,720
as a Stoker and he's talking a lot about

4954
03:19:24,720 --> 03:19:26,720
Jack Johnson who was the champion of the

4955
03:19:26,720 --> 03:19:28,000
world but they wouldn't let him on the

4956
03:19:28,000 --> 03:19:30,160
Titanic because he was African-American

4957
03:19:30,160 --> 03:19:31,520
and it saved his life because the

4958
03:19:31,520 --> 03:19:34,239
Titanic went down and so Stacle has to

4959
03:19:34,239 --> 03:19:36,319
save the captain's life and the captain

4960
03:19:36,319 --> 03:19:38,880
is saying uh uh check that the Stoker I

4961
03:19:38,880 --> 03:19:40,560
forgotten his name has got to save the

4962
03:19:40,560 --> 03:19:42,319
captain's life and he says oh my god my

4963
03:19:42,319 --> 03:19:44,080
daughter, what will the answer be? And

4964
03:19:44,080 --> 03:19:45,680
the guy says, "Get your ass in the water

4965
03:19:45,680 --> 03:19:49,040
and swim like me." So, a guy came out of

4966
03:19:49,040 --> 03:19:51,200
Harvard University

4967
03:19:51,200 --> 03:19:54,319
in the 70s and he wrote a history of

4968
03:19:54,319 --> 03:19:57,840
jailhouse toasts with a great title, get

4969
03:19:57,840 --> 03:20:00,399
your ass in the water and swim like me.

4970
03:20:00,399 --> 03:20:05,239
So, that's that's my advice to you guys.

4971
03:20:08,720 --> 03:20:10,479
I don't have a secret that I'd like to

4972
03:20:10,479 --> 03:20:12,080
share with you about my process because

4973
03:20:12,080 --> 03:20:14,560
I know what my process is. And if I did,

4974
03:20:14,560 --> 03:20:16,399
I wouldn't tell you for fear of God

4975
03:20:16,399 --> 03:20:18,640
forbid offending it. But if you like,

4976
03:20:18,640 --> 03:20:19,920
I'll make up something. You know how

4977
03:20:19,920 --> 03:20:22,000
Hemingway always wrote standing up.

4978
03:20:22,000 --> 03:20:23,120
You've heard that. Everyone's heard

4979
03:20:23,120 --> 03:20:26,560
that, right? Well, I write sitting down.

4980
03:20:26,560 --> 03:20:29,359
You got to sit down at the damn desk and

4981
03:20:29,359 --> 03:20:31,120
as Hemingway said, sit down with the

4982
03:20:31,120 --> 03:20:33,439
typewriter and bleed. throw away all the

4983
03:20:33,439 --> 03:20:36,160
distractions and write something. If you

4984
03:20:36,160 --> 03:20:37,600
can write it better, write it better. If

4985
03:20:37,600 --> 03:20:40,399
you think it's perfect, put it on and

4986
03:20:40,399 --> 03:20:42,080
learn from the audience, rewrite it, and

4987
03:20:42,080 --> 03:20:45,760
write another one. I mean, who who where

4988
03:20:45,760 --> 03:20:47,600
else you going to learn how to write? I

4989
03:20:47,600 --> 03:20:50,720
used to spent many, many decades in this

4990
03:20:50,720 --> 03:20:52,800
little cabin in Vermont with no um

4991
03:20:52,800 --> 03:20:55,120
heated by wood, with no electricity, and

4992
03:20:55,120 --> 03:20:57,279
an oil lamp and a candle and I had

4993
03:20:57,279 --> 03:20:59,760
nothing to do except read, write, and

4994
03:20:59,760 --> 03:21:02,479
take a nap. So eventually, you know, at

4995
03:21:02,479 --> 03:21:03,840
the end of the day, at some point, maybe

4996
03:21:03,840 --> 03:21:05,200
you come up with a new idea. You say,

4997
03:21:05,200 --> 03:21:07,439
"Well, it's 4:00. I got 20 more minutes

4998
03:21:07,439 --> 03:21:09,760
of light left, but thank God I'm done

4999
03:21:09,760 --> 03:21:12,960
for the day." Oh, what about if? So, you

5000
03:21:12,960 --> 03:21:15,920
got to have leisure in order to write.

5001
03:21:15,920 --> 03:21:19,120
You have to have a lack of um

5002
03:21:19,120 --> 03:21:20,880
distractions.

5003
03:21:20,880 --> 03:21:22,640
And I was very fortunate to have that

5004
03:21:22,640 --> 03:21:24,319
for a number of years before the

5005
03:21:24,319 --> 03:21:26,080
computer age when I just wrote with a

5006
03:21:26,080 --> 03:21:27,600
pencil, pen, and wrote with a

5007
03:21:27,600 --> 03:21:28,800
typewriter. There weren't any

5008
03:21:28,800 --> 03:21:31,359
distractions. So I had to amuse myself.

5009
03:21:31,359 --> 03:21:35,560
So amuse myself by writing.

5010
03:21:39,200 --> 03:21:40,800
I tried writing on a computer once. I

5011
03:21:40,800 --> 03:21:43,760
don't like it because um there's

5012
03:21:43,760 --> 03:21:46,080
something about the the sound and the

5013
03:21:46,080 --> 03:21:48,319
rhythm and the tactile feel because when

5014
03:21:48,319 --> 03:21:49,520
you you're writing, you know, what are

5015
03:21:49,520 --> 03:21:50,880
you doing? I mean there's basically

5016
03:21:50,880 --> 03:21:53,279
nothing there except your own diseased

5017
03:21:53,279 --> 03:21:55,840
consciousness. So you want to So I

5018
03:21:55,840 --> 03:21:58,319
anyway become very very attached to the

5019
03:21:58,319 --> 03:22:00,800
very very few artifacts

5020
03:22:00,800 --> 03:22:02,239
that are around me like an old

5021
03:22:02,239 --> 03:22:04,399
typewriter or an old pen and also that's

5022
03:22:04,399 --> 03:22:05,920
how I make my living. So you ever been

5023
03:22:05,920 --> 03:22:07,680
lost in the woods? You know the things

5024
03:22:07,680 --> 03:22:09,760
that helped you get out whether you know

5025
03:22:09,760 --> 03:22:11,680
it's a firearm or a knife or a compass

5026
03:22:11,680 --> 03:22:12,880
you know you're going to you're going to

5027
03:22:12,880 --> 03:22:15,760
treasure them. They have a a real

5028
03:22:15,760 --> 03:22:18,560
meaning for you. I mean obviously I'm

5029
03:22:18,560 --> 03:22:22,720
going to uh praise those things which I

5030
03:22:22,720 --> 03:22:24,640
found good

5031
03:22:24,640 --> 03:22:26,560
uh and uh suggest that they were

5032
03:22:26,560 --> 03:22:28,720
universal good. They perhaps they aren't

5033
03:22:28,720 --> 03:22:30,239
the universal good. Perhaps they're just

5034
03:22:30,239 --> 03:22:34,080
good for me. But what was good for me

5035
03:22:34,080 --> 03:22:37,600
was a beautiful fountain pen and uh some

5036
03:22:37,600 --> 03:22:41,279
nice paper and a typewriter and doing a

5037
03:22:41,279 --> 03:22:43,520
million drafts and having the drafts all

5038
03:22:43,520 --> 03:22:45,920
in front of me. So, I never learned to

5039
03:22:45,920 --> 03:22:47,920
use a computer. And I understand that

5040
03:22:47,920 --> 03:22:50,000
people could do use computers now fairly

5041
03:22:50,000 --> 03:22:52,239
exclusively, but I wouldn't want to do

5042
03:22:52,239 --> 03:22:53,680
that. A because I'm lazy. I don't want

5043
03:22:53,680 --> 03:22:55,680
to learn the new thing. And B because I

5044
03:22:55,680 --> 03:22:57,760
I have an affinity for the things that I

5045
03:22:57,760 --> 03:23:00,399
that I know and love. And so, I'm going

5046
03:23:00,399 --> 03:23:02,800
to um universalize that and saying, "Oh,

5047
03:23:02,800 --> 03:23:05,120
that's the only way to write. I I don't

5048
03:23:05,120 --> 03:23:06,640
I don't know that it's the only way to

5049
03:23:06,640 --> 03:23:07,920
write. It's the only way to write for

5050
03:23:07,920 --> 03:23:10,920
me.

5051
03:23:14,640 --> 03:23:16,800
A play's got to be crafted. I mean, you

5052
03:23:16,800 --> 03:23:18,960
can start with a a precipitating event.

5053
03:23:18,960 --> 03:23:20,960
You can start with a line of dialogue,

5054
03:23:20,960 --> 03:23:23,520
but what you want to be is inspired. Cuz

5055
03:23:23,520 --> 03:23:25,840
if if it's not fun for you, it's not

5056
03:23:25,840 --> 03:23:28,000
going to be fun for the audience. If you

5057
03:23:28,000 --> 03:23:30,720
know at the beginning, you're in a lot

5058
03:23:30,720 --> 03:23:32,880
of trouble.

5059
03:23:32,880 --> 03:23:35,439
It's like saying, "I know the perfect

5060
03:23:35,439 --> 03:23:36,800
girl. I'll know her when I see her."

5061
03:23:36,800 --> 03:23:38,239
Because look here. Here's what she's

5062
03:23:38,239 --> 03:23:41,279
going to be like, right? Bity bobby boo.

5063
03:23:41,279 --> 03:23:43,279
Uh-uh.

5064
03:23:43,279 --> 03:23:45,279
Right. If you say, "Yes, I have this

5065
03:23:45,279 --> 03:23:46,640
feeling about this person over there,

5066
03:23:46,640 --> 03:23:48,640
but obviously it's not on it's not as

5067
03:23:48,640 --> 03:23:50,239
part of my plan, so I can't pay

5068
03:23:50,239 --> 03:23:52,800
attention to that." You're in a lot of

5069
03:23:52,800 --> 03:23:54,399
trouble. It's the same thing. If you

5070
03:23:54,399 --> 03:23:55,920
start out and you know what that drama

5071
03:23:55,920 --> 03:24:00,319
is kabing, when you sit down,

5072
03:24:00,319 --> 03:24:02,880
you're not delving into your unconscious

5073
03:24:02,880 --> 03:24:06,160
mind. And the so the audience will not

5074
03:24:06,160 --> 03:24:08,239
participate with their unconscious mind.

5075
03:24:08,239 --> 03:24:09,760
They will participate with their

5076
03:24:09,760 --> 03:24:12,880
conscious mind. Oh yes, I see. And Frank

5077
03:24:12,880 --> 03:24:14,319
shouldn't have been pursued by the

5078
03:24:14,319 --> 03:24:18,880
Nazis. H thank you. I really Right. But

5079
03:24:18,880 --> 03:24:21,040
so what? Right. None of them are going

5080
03:24:21,040 --> 03:24:24,200
to go, "Ooh,

5081
03:24:28,000 --> 03:24:29,200
whatever you do first, you're going to

5082
03:24:29,200 --> 03:24:30,960
have to do the other thing." Right? If

5083
03:24:30,960 --> 03:24:32,800
you write the scenes, you're eventually

5084
03:24:32,800 --> 03:24:34,319
going to have to do the structure and

5085
03:24:34,319 --> 03:24:35,920
they're going to inform each other and

5086
03:24:35,920 --> 03:24:38,319
you'll reform your diagnosis. You write

5087
03:24:38,319 --> 03:24:39,439
the structure first, eventually you're

5088
03:24:39,439 --> 03:24:40,800
going to have to do the scenes and

5089
03:24:40,800 --> 03:24:42,960
they'll reform each other and you'll and

5090
03:24:42,960 --> 03:24:44,640
the best thing is when you come to the

5091
03:24:44,640 --> 03:24:46,000
end of the process, you say, "My god, I

5092
03:24:46,000 --> 03:24:48,160
was I was wrong all around." That's not

5093
03:24:48,160 --> 03:24:51,760
what this play is about. Oh my god. And

5094
03:24:51,760 --> 03:24:53,520
you get a little bit of inspiration and

5095
03:24:53,520 --> 03:24:56,080
because you get stuck with it,

5096
03:24:56,080 --> 03:24:57,520
theoretically the audience can go

5097
03:24:57,520 --> 03:24:59,040
through the same thing. They're not

5098
03:24:59,040 --> 03:25:00,160
going to go through anything you haven't

5099
03:25:00,160 --> 03:25:02,640
gone through. The tough part in dramatic

5100
03:25:02,640 --> 03:25:05,040
writing for me is at some point you got

5101
03:25:05,040 --> 03:25:07,279
to say, "Okay, I'm done screwing around,

5102
03:25:07,279 --> 03:25:09,680
right? I got three hours worth of the

5103
03:25:09,680 --> 03:25:11,439
most beautiful scenes anybody ever

5104
03:25:11,439 --> 03:25:13,359
wrote. I'm going to have to sit down and

5105
03:25:13,359 --> 03:25:15,840
wade through them and throw them out and

5106
03:25:15,840 --> 03:25:17,760
structure them into something that I

5107
03:25:17,760 --> 03:25:20,720
don't want. I I I there's nothing in the

5108
03:25:20,720 --> 03:25:23,520
world I would rather do less, but I'm

5109
03:25:23,520 --> 03:25:25,279
going to do it because I'm tired of

5110
03:25:25,279 --> 03:25:29,120
these damned notes." If you go out to

5111
03:25:29,120 --> 03:25:31,600
uh where my archive is in Texas, I mean,

5112
03:25:31,600 --> 03:25:33,279
they have hundreds of pages of notes on

5113
03:25:33,279 --> 03:25:35,120
on movies. I just I can't figure it out.

5114
03:25:35,120 --> 03:25:36,319
I can't figure it out. I can't figure it

5115
03:25:36,319 --> 03:25:39,600
out until some point I say, "Oh my god,

5116
03:25:39,600 --> 03:25:41,600
duh."

5117
03:25:41,600 --> 03:25:43,279
And that's why the audience will go

5118
03:25:43,279 --> 03:25:44,800
through the process because I went

5119
03:25:44,800 --> 03:25:47,960
through it.

5120
03:25:51,520 --> 03:25:53,359
Davy Crockett once, somebody's once

5121
03:25:53,359 --> 03:25:54,560
said, "Dave Crockett, were you ever

5122
03:25:54,560 --> 03:25:56,720
lost?" He says, "I was never lost, but I

5123
03:25:56,720 --> 03:25:58,560
was once a might bewildered for three

5124
03:25:58,560 --> 03:26:01,439
weeks." So, I don't know if I experience

5125
03:26:01,439 --> 03:26:03,359
writer's block, but I experience, you

5126
03:26:03,359 --> 03:26:05,200
know, sometimes I I get stuck. So, what

5127
03:26:05,200 --> 03:26:06,640
I'll do, I'll take a nap or I'll write

5128
03:26:06,640 --> 03:26:08,720
something else or I'll force myself. So,

5129
03:26:08,720 --> 03:26:10,640
it's very hard to know if the correct

5130
03:26:10,640 --> 03:26:13,120
answer any any given day is go back for

5131
03:26:13,120 --> 03:26:14,800
God's sake and pick up where you left

5132
03:26:14,800 --> 03:26:16,720
off and figure it out or the correct

5133
03:26:16,720 --> 03:26:19,120
answer is take the day off and, you

5134
03:26:19,120 --> 03:26:21,200
know, go take a walk. It's hard to know.

5135
03:26:21,200 --> 03:26:23,359
I work on I work on one thing until I

5136
03:26:23,359 --> 03:26:26,160
get bored or get blocked and then I go

5137
03:26:26,160 --> 03:26:28,239
home and complain and then I come back

5138
03:26:28,239 --> 03:26:29,760
the next day and work on it again. And

5139
03:26:29,760 --> 03:26:31,040
my wife always says she knows when

5140
03:26:31,040 --> 03:26:33,680
something's going great when Monday and

5141
03:26:33,680 --> 03:26:35,120
Wednesday I'm saying it's the best thing

5142
03:26:35,120 --> 03:26:36,560
ever written and Tuesday and Thursday

5143
03:26:36,560 --> 03:26:38,160
are saying I'm going to kill myself. I'm

5144
03:26:38,160 --> 03:26:41,720
a no good hack.

5145
03:26:54,080 --> 03:26:56,000
There's an old joke about the they used

5146
03:26:56,000 --> 03:26:58,319
to have the writer rooms at the studios,

5147
03:26:58,319 --> 03:26:59,439
right? Where they put the writers in

5148
03:26:59,439 --> 03:27:00,880
these rooms, they're kind of prisons and

5149
03:27:00,880 --> 03:27:02,880
they put 10 of them there and they and

5150
03:27:02,880 --> 03:27:05,040
they used to have studio spies and the

5151
03:27:05,040 --> 03:27:07,520
spy when they he came around and he

5152
03:27:07,520 --> 03:27:09,279
reported to his boss. He says, "I stood

5153
03:27:09,279 --> 03:27:10,960
outside the writing room and there was

5154
03:27:10,960 --> 03:27:13,120
one guy in there. He wasn't writing for

5155
03:27:13,120 --> 03:27:16,080
three whole minutes. As far as I know,

5156
03:27:16,080 --> 03:27:18,000
writing is is mainly thinking. It's

5157
03:27:18,000 --> 03:27:19,680
thinking and worrying and writing and

5158
03:27:19,680 --> 03:27:21,439
thinking and worrying and taking a nap

5159
03:27:21,439 --> 03:27:23,920
and and trying to jump out the window

5160
03:27:23,920 --> 03:27:25,840
and eventually something gets done.

5161
03:27:25,840 --> 03:27:28,080
You're not quite sure how. I try not to

5162
03:27:28,080 --> 03:27:30,080
write on the on the weekends, but other

5163
03:27:30,080 --> 03:27:32,080
than that, I just write every day. And I

5164
03:27:32,080 --> 03:27:33,520
used to work in this cabin very much

5165
03:27:33,520 --> 03:27:36,160
like this in Vermont. And one day, I got

5166
03:27:36,160 --> 03:27:38,319
up and I I try to get there 9:30, 10

5167
03:27:38,319 --> 03:27:39,439
o'clock in the morning. and I got my

5168
03:27:39,439 --> 03:27:41,279
little mug of tea and my daughter who's

5169
03:27:41,279 --> 03:27:44,319
now 33 was 10 and she said, "Dad, where

5170
03:27:44,319 --> 03:27:45,439
you going?" I said, "Well, I'm going off

5171
03:27:45,439 --> 03:27:48,960
to write." She said, "Nighty night."

5172
03:27:48,960 --> 03:27:52,000
Cuz a lot of my writing those days and

5173
03:27:52,000 --> 03:27:53,520
this consistent taking a nap cuz

5174
03:27:53,520 --> 03:27:57,640
sometimes you just get burnt out.

5175
03:28:01,520 --> 03:28:03,120
Well, eventually you have to end up with

5176
03:28:03,120 --> 03:28:06,800
an outline uh for a play eventually and

5177
03:28:06,800 --> 03:28:08,640
especially for a movie. So, I don't know

5178
03:28:08,640 --> 03:28:10,160
if I mentioned before, but what I try to

5179
03:28:10,160 --> 03:28:14,640
do is take an unformed idea and write

5180
03:28:14,640 --> 03:28:16,560
scenes and notes and blah blah blah till

5181
03:28:16,560 --> 03:28:19,439
I can get the outline down to uh 15

5182
03:28:19,439 --> 03:28:21,840
lines on one page. And that's going to

5183
03:28:21,840 --> 03:28:24,000
be the movie. And so what I do when I've

5184
03:28:24,000 --> 03:28:25,279
directed the movie, I've written and

5185
03:28:25,279 --> 03:28:26,800
directed a movie, I've gotten the

5186
03:28:26,800 --> 03:28:28,800
script, but I've rewritten the script

5187
03:28:28,800 --> 03:28:31,279
and I've reduced the script to a series

5188
03:28:31,279 --> 03:28:33,359
of sequences that I can remember. And

5189
03:28:33,359 --> 03:28:34,880
I've reduced the sequences to the

5190
03:28:34,880 --> 03:28:36,319
scenes, and I've reduced the scenes to

5191
03:28:36,319 --> 03:28:39,200
the shot list. so that I know every shot

5192
03:28:39,200 --> 03:28:42,720
in the movie before I step set foot onto

5193
03:28:42,720 --> 03:28:45,600
the the the set. And when I set foot

5194
03:28:45,600 --> 03:28:46,960
onto the set, of course, I never look at

5195
03:28:46,960 --> 03:28:48,319
the notes. Why? Because I know them.

5196
03:28:48,319 --> 03:28:49,600
Because if I don't know them when I

5197
03:28:49,600 --> 03:28:51,040
stand up on the set, I' I've done

5198
03:28:51,040 --> 03:28:54,960
something wrong. Now, I may, and many

5199
03:28:54,960 --> 03:28:58,880
times will uh uh come off the shot list.

5200
03:28:58,880 --> 03:29:00,960
But if I don't got the shot and get a

5201
03:29:00,960 --> 03:29:02,560
better idea, or somebody might say,

5202
03:29:02,560 --> 03:29:04,319
"What about this?" But if I don't got

5203
03:29:04,319 --> 03:29:05,760
the shot list, if I don't have that

5204
03:29:05,760 --> 03:29:07,200
outline, what am I shooting when I get

5205
03:29:07,200 --> 03:29:10,080
onto the set? I I I was talking to some

5206
03:29:10,080 --> 03:29:13,120
exe executive from a studio and I he

5207
03:29:13,120 --> 03:29:14,800
said I said, "How you doing?" He said,

5208
03:29:14,800 --> 03:29:16,560
"I've got this big movie coming out.

5209
03:29:16,560 --> 03:29:18,720
It's $150 million movie coming out on

5210
03:29:18,720 --> 03:29:21,520
Friday. I'm concerned about it." I said,

5211
03:29:21,520 --> 03:29:23,120
"Well, why are you concerned about it?"

5212
03:29:23,120 --> 03:29:24,239
He said, "Well, the ending doesn't

5213
03:29:24,239 --> 03:29:27,680
work." And I thought, "Well, why didn't

5214
03:29:27,680 --> 03:29:30,880
you fix it? If you know if the ending

5215
03:29:30,880 --> 03:29:32,800
doesn't work, who's going to sprinkle

5216
03:29:32,800 --> 03:29:36,000
fairy dust on your movie? If the outline

5217
03:29:36,000 --> 03:29:38,560
doesn't work, the movie's not going to

5218
03:29:38,560 --> 03:29:41,120
work. And so that's there's this thing

5219
03:29:41,120 --> 03:29:43,040
called the pitch process, right? Where

5220
03:29:43,040 --> 03:29:45,040
you come in and you talk to some

5221
03:29:45,040 --> 03:29:47,760
executive for 10 minutes or 5 minutes

5222
03:29:47,760 --> 03:29:49,439
and the executive says, "Tell me the

5223
03:29:49,439 --> 03:29:51,120
movie." You're pitching the movie to

5224
03:29:51,120 --> 03:29:53,279
them, right? If you can't pitch the

5225
03:29:53,279 --> 03:29:54,800
movie in 3 minutes and keep their

5226
03:29:54,800 --> 03:29:56,800
attention, not only aren't they going to

5227
03:29:56,800 --> 03:29:58,560
make the movie, you aren't going to make

5228
03:29:58,560 --> 03:29:59,600
the movie because you don't know what

5229
03:29:59,600 --> 03:30:02,000
the movie is. You got to be able to tell

5230
03:30:02,000 --> 03:30:04,319
it in those three minutes. You got to be

5231
03:30:04,319 --> 03:30:07,200
able to tell it in those 15 lines. And

5232
03:30:07,200 --> 03:30:09,040
one of the great lessons I learned in

5233
03:30:09,040 --> 03:30:13,760
movie making came from a um a continuity

5234
03:30:13,760 --> 03:30:16,479
supervisor and she was working on doing

5235
03:30:16,479 --> 03:30:18,319
the the day out of days of the board or

5236
03:30:18,319 --> 03:30:20,160
whatever the hell it was. What you do is

5237
03:30:20,160 --> 03:30:24,160
you put down uh scene one uh or or day

5238
03:30:24,160 --> 03:30:27,120
one. Scene one, uh Alice finds her dogs

5239
03:30:27,120 --> 03:30:29,680
missing. Scene two, she tries to contact

5240
03:30:29,680 --> 03:30:31,840
the veterinarian to get the chip number.

5241
03:30:31,840 --> 03:30:34,160
Scene three, the veterinarian, she finds

5242
03:30:34,160 --> 03:30:35,840
the veterinarian's dead. Scene four,

5243
03:30:35,840 --> 03:30:37,840
blah blah blah. So that each scene is a

5244
03:30:37,840 --> 03:30:41,279
subtle reminder, a a succinct reminder

5245
03:30:41,279 --> 03:30:43,680
rather, to everybody. What's scene four

5246
03:30:43,680 --> 03:30:45,680
again? Oh yeah, scene four is she can't

5247
03:30:45,680 --> 03:30:47,760
find her collages. I get it. That's the

5248
03:30:47,760 --> 03:30:49,920
scene we're doing. So the continuity

5249
03:30:49,920 --> 03:30:51,439
supervisor was looking at the board and

5250
03:30:51,439 --> 03:30:53,040
she said, "Wait a second. We got two

5251
03:30:53,040 --> 03:30:55,120
scenes here that sound kind of like

5252
03:30:55,120 --> 03:30:58,160
they're the same scene." And so I looked

5253
03:30:58,160 --> 03:30:59,359
at it and I thought, "Well, that's

5254
03:30:59,359 --> 03:31:01,920
wisdom. If two scenes on the board sound

5255
03:31:01,920 --> 03:31:04,720
like they're the same scene, obviously I

5256
03:31:04,720 --> 03:31:06,239
don't need both of them. I might not

5257
03:31:06,239 --> 03:31:07,600
even need either one of them.

5258
03:31:07,600 --> 03:31:09,279
Something's out of whack. I'm going to

5259
03:31:09,279 --> 03:31:12,000
fix it on the outline so I don't so I

5260
03:31:12,000 --> 03:31:13,840
don't have to fix it on the set. So I

5261
03:31:13,840 --> 03:31:15,359
don't end up having to fix it in the

5262
03:31:15,359 --> 03:31:17,359
editing room. So I don't end up with an

5263
03:31:17,359 --> 03:31:20,000
unreleasable movie because I somehow

5264
03:31:20,000 --> 03:31:21,520
thought someone was going to sprinkle

5265
03:31:21,520 --> 03:31:23,840
the fairy dust on it. There isn't any

5266
03:31:23,840 --> 03:31:25,520
fairy dust. It's just a story. If you

5267
03:31:25,520 --> 03:31:28,160
can't tell it to the next guy, you can't

5268
03:31:28,160 --> 03:31:32,040
make a movie out of it.

5269
03:31:35,600 --> 03:31:38,479
Writing dramatically is rewriting. You

5270
03:31:38,479 --> 03:31:40,319
have to rewrite all the time. Rewrite

5271
03:31:40,319 --> 03:31:42,080
all the time. Rewrite all the time. I

5272
03:31:42,080 --> 03:31:43,760
made a lot of movies as both as a

5273
03:31:43,760 --> 03:31:45,600
director and as a screenwriter. And they

5274
03:31:45,600 --> 03:31:47,279
say you make a movie three times. You

5275
03:31:47,279 --> 03:31:48,479
make it when you write it, you make it

5276
03:31:48,479 --> 03:31:49,520
when you shoot it, and you make it when

5277
03:31:49,520 --> 03:31:52,080
you cut it. And so I write a script and

5278
03:31:52,080 --> 03:31:55,120
I go work for very hard on a script.

5279
03:31:55,120 --> 03:31:57,040
It's like a because that's what I do for

5280
03:31:57,040 --> 03:31:58,319
a living and b because I find it

5281
03:31:58,319 --> 03:32:00,239
fascinating. And I take the script in

5282
03:32:00,239 --> 03:32:01,279
front of the camera, say, "This is the

5283
03:32:01,279 --> 03:32:03,439
best script anybody ever made. This is

5284
03:32:03,439 --> 03:32:04,720
going to be the best movie. I have

5285
03:32:04,720 --> 03:32:06,080
nothing wrong with the script. It's

5286
03:32:06,080 --> 03:32:07,840
perfect." And you start filming, you

5287
03:32:07,840 --> 03:32:09,840
say, "This is a croc of dre. What what

5288
03:32:09,840 --> 03:32:12,319
have I done? Oh my god, I better I

5289
03:32:12,319 --> 03:32:14,399
better try again. And you shoot it and

5290
03:32:14,399 --> 03:32:16,000
you say, "This is the best movie anybody

5291
03:32:16,000 --> 03:32:17,600
ever made. It's perfect." You get into

5292
03:32:17,600 --> 03:32:20,080
the editing room and all anybody ever

5293
03:32:20,080 --> 03:32:22,560
says in the editing room is, "Get me out

5294
03:32:22,560 --> 03:32:25,200
of here. I am the dumbest son of a gun

5295
03:32:25,200 --> 03:32:28,319
that ever lived. What have I done? Oh my

5296
03:32:28,319 --> 03:32:29,840
god." And then again, you know, you

5297
03:32:29,840 --> 03:32:33,680
preview the things. Okay, it's perfect.

5298
03:32:33,680 --> 03:32:35,279
And you go through the process again.

5299
03:32:35,279 --> 03:32:37,120
Writing is rewriting because it's

5300
03:32:37,120 --> 03:32:39,520
getting rid of your bad ideas because

5301
03:32:39,520 --> 03:32:41,920
there's something that lives outside of

5302
03:32:41,920 --> 03:32:44,479
your head that's trying to tell you

5303
03:32:44,479 --> 03:32:46,000
something. If you say, "Okay, I want to

5304
03:32:46,000 --> 03:32:48,000
make a I want to write a story about a

5305
03:32:48,000 --> 03:32:50,000
guy

5306
03:32:50,000 --> 03:32:53,120
who becomes king of thieves."

5307
03:32:53,120 --> 03:32:55,760
There's something that's beyond your

5308
03:32:55,760 --> 03:32:58,080
consciousness that does that says,

5309
03:32:58,080 --> 03:33:01,359
"Okay, listen to me." Right? listen to

5310
03:33:01,359 --> 03:33:03,040
me

5311
03:33:03,040 --> 03:33:05,040
because I don't want you to write a

5312
03:33:05,040 --> 03:33:07,200
cautionary tale. I don't want you to

5313
03:33:07,200 --> 03:33:09,520
write the stuff that we can figure out

5314
03:33:09,520 --> 03:33:11,920
daytoday. Right? Like Freud said,

5315
03:33:11,920 --> 03:33:13,359
there's such a thing called psychic

5316
03:33:13,359 --> 03:33:15,760
economy. He says he says you're going to

5317
03:33:15,760 --> 03:33:17,920
have very serious problems in your life,

5318
03:33:17,920 --> 03:33:20,319
right? One of them is do I hire Sally or

5319
03:33:20,319 --> 03:33:22,880
do I hire Rebecca? Right? But you're not

5320
03:33:22,880 --> 03:33:25,200
going to dream about it, right? Cuz your

5321
03:33:25,200 --> 03:33:27,920
your dream time is precious. You're only

5322
03:33:27,920 --> 03:33:29,200
going to dream about the stuff that you

5323
03:33:29,200 --> 03:33:31,680
can't solve rationally.

5324
03:33:31,680 --> 03:33:35,359
So drama is dream time. You don't want

5325
03:33:35,359 --> 03:33:38,000
to write a drama about oh my god deaf

5326
03:33:38,000 --> 03:33:41,520
deaf people are people too. Oh my god.

5327
03:33:41,520 --> 03:33:43,600
Thank you. Thank you dramatist. You want

5328
03:33:43,600 --> 03:33:45,359
to write a drama about the stuff that

5329
03:33:45,359 --> 03:33:47,680
you that you can't figure that doesn't

5330
03:33:47,680 --> 03:33:49,760
quite have a rational solution and

5331
03:33:49,760 --> 03:33:52,160
that's driving you nuts.

5332
03:33:52,160 --> 03:33:56,760
That's that's the correct use of drama.

5333
03:34:00,560 --> 03:34:02,239
You know, I was talking to a friend of

5334
03:34:02,239 --> 03:34:05,359
mine was a spent decades as an ER doctor

5335
03:34:05,359 --> 03:34:07,439
and she said, we're talking about

5336
03:34:07,439 --> 03:34:08,640
something. She said, "It's very simple.

5337
03:34:08,640 --> 03:34:09,920
They come in. If it's X, they're going

5338
03:34:09,920 --> 03:34:11,439
to die. If it's Y, they'll probably make

5339
03:34:11,439 --> 03:34:15,439
it into the O, right? If if if I can get

5340
03:34:15,439 --> 03:34:17,520
them to the O, I've done my job. I have

5341
03:34:17,520 --> 03:34:18,960
five things I got to ask. What's their

5342
03:34:18,960 --> 03:34:20,720
temperature? What's their what's their

5343
03:34:20,720 --> 03:34:22,720
pulse? What are their vital signs?"

5344
03:34:22,720 --> 03:34:25,040
Bibbidity bobby boo. Right? That's how

5345
03:34:25,040 --> 03:34:27,359
the ER doctor looks at the person who

5346
03:34:27,359 --> 03:34:30,080
comes in off the car crash, right? You

5347
03:34:30,080 --> 03:34:31,600
or I are going to look at the person and

5348
03:34:31,600 --> 03:34:33,520
say, "Oh my god, look at the this. Look

5349
03:34:33,520 --> 03:34:35,760
at the that. Doctor, doctor, doctor, I

5350
03:34:35,760 --> 03:34:36,720
have to tell you they're on this

5351
03:34:36,720 --> 03:34:38,640
medicine." Doctor says, "Shut up and go

5352
03:34:38,640 --> 03:34:41,200
away. I got a list of things I got to

5353
03:34:41,200 --> 03:34:44,080
do." That will get me there faster than

5354
03:34:44,080 --> 03:34:45,920
yours. Then I understand that you're

5355
03:34:45,920 --> 03:34:48,960
involved, but I got to be um clinical.

5356
03:34:48,960 --> 03:34:50,319
And so that's what you got to be when

5357
03:34:50,319 --> 03:34:51,520
you're looking at your own work. You got

5358
03:34:51,520 --> 03:34:54,239
to be clinical. And the one thing that I

5359
03:34:54,239 --> 03:34:58,479
love to do, love it, is to cut,

5360
03:34:58,479 --> 03:35:00,640
right? Because that's that's to me the

5361
03:35:00,640 --> 03:35:02,960
utmost generosity, right? It's saying,

5362
03:35:02,960 --> 03:35:04,880
"Yep, this is a scene. It's better to

5363
03:35:04,880 --> 03:35:06,640
scene anybody ever wrote. Oh, it don't

5364
03:35:06,640 --> 03:35:08,960
work." Boom. So, somebody else might

5365
03:35:08,960 --> 03:35:11,520
say, "Yes, but I say, uh-uh." My biggest

5366
03:35:11,520 --> 03:35:13,680
fear in life is that the audience is

5367
03:35:13,680 --> 03:35:17,479
going to beat me to the punchline.

5368
03:35:22,319 --> 03:35:24,080
You got to write it down. You write it

5369
03:35:24,080 --> 03:35:26,319
down. There's is there is there magic

5370
03:35:26,319 --> 03:35:29,600
involved? Probably. But the all you guys

5371
03:35:29,600 --> 03:35:31,840
out there, write it down. There's no way

5372
03:35:31,840 --> 03:35:35,520
that you can um subvert the process.

5373
03:35:35,520 --> 03:35:37,680
There are many ways you can try. One is

5374
03:35:37,680 --> 03:35:40,319
to stay in school. One is to get better

5375
03:35:40,319 --> 03:35:44,319
um more or trickier software. Another

5376
03:35:44,319 --> 03:35:46,319
one is, as I've done for my whole life,

5377
03:35:46,319 --> 03:35:48,640
write lots and lots of outlines. But

5378
03:35:48,640 --> 03:35:50,880
finally, they say in the screenplay, the

5379
03:35:50,880 --> 03:35:52,960
hardest two word words to write are fade

5380
03:35:52,960 --> 03:35:54,720
in. At some point, you're going to say,

5381
03:35:54,720 --> 03:35:58,399
"Okay, it's going to be bad." You got to

5382
03:35:58,399 --> 03:36:00,560
stand being bad. If you want to be a

5383
03:36:00,560 --> 03:36:02,479
writer,

5384
03:36:02,479 --> 03:36:03,760
because if you don't, you're never going

5385
03:36:03,760 --> 03:36:06,000
to write anything good.

5386
03:36:06,000 --> 03:36:08,080
a wonderful man named Anthony Trrollop

5387
03:36:08,080 --> 03:36:10,880
who wrote 47 novels uh in the late

5388
03:36:10,880 --> 03:36:15,439
Victorian period from 1860 to 1880

5389
03:36:15,439 --> 03:36:18,479
1890 47 novels and his day job was

5390
03:36:18,479 --> 03:36:20,960
running the British post office and so

5391
03:36:20,960 --> 03:36:23,200
he paid a guy to come in and wake him up

5392
03:36:23,200 --> 03:36:25,279
every morning make him get out of bed at

5393
03:36:25,279 --> 03:36:27,600
5:00 in the morning because at 8:00 he

5394
03:36:27,600 --> 03:36:29,359
had to run the post office and he would

5395
03:36:29,359 --> 03:36:31,840
sit down every morning at 5:00 and he

5396
03:36:31,840 --> 03:36:36,239
would write 2500 words and he'd up and

5397
03:36:36,239 --> 03:36:38,880
if he wrote 20 if he wrote 1,500 words

5398
03:36:38,880 --> 03:36:41,600
and that finished the novel, he'd write

5399
03:36:41,600 --> 03:36:43,359
another thousand words of the beginning

5400
03:36:43,359 --> 03:36:45,920
of the next novel. And that was his his

5401
03:36:45,920 --> 03:36:48,960
his uh that's what he did. Everybody has

5402
03:36:48,960 --> 03:36:50,560
their own ways and it doesn't make any

5403
03:36:50,560 --> 03:36:53,600
difference. I used to beat myself up

5404
03:36:53,600 --> 03:36:56,000
constantly because I said, "Oh, Dave,

5405
03:36:56,000 --> 03:36:58,080
you don't have any discipline." I I

5406
03:36:58,080 --> 03:36:59,040
know, Dave, you don't have any

5407
03:36:59,040 --> 03:37:00,000
discipline because everybody told you

5408
03:37:00,000 --> 03:37:01,680
you don't have any discipline. You

5409
03:37:01,680 --> 03:37:03,200
stupid son of a gun. You know, sometimes

5410
03:37:03,200 --> 03:37:04,880
you go to work and you just stare at the

5411
03:37:04,880 --> 03:37:06,640
thing. Sometimes you walk around.

5412
03:37:06,640 --> 03:37:08,000
Sometimes you take a nap. You don't have

5413
03:37:08,000 --> 03:37:12,000
any discipline. So discipline was a a

5414
03:37:12,000 --> 03:37:18,560
rod used to beat dreamy kids or back in

5415
03:37:18,560 --> 03:37:21,760
the day and it may still be.

5416
03:37:21,760 --> 03:37:23,120
But I realized well there's another

5417
03:37:23,120 --> 03:37:25,120
meaning of discipline which is I have

5418
03:37:25,120 --> 03:37:27,359
the discipline to look at something

5419
03:37:27,359 --> 03:37:31,439
truthfully and say I can do better or to

5420
03:37:31,439 --> 03:37:32,880
look at something that I don't want to

5421
03:37:32,880 --> 03:37:35,200
do cuz it's hard and say no you have the

5422
03:37:35,200 --> 03:37:37,120
discipline to stick with it until you're

5423
03:37:37,120 --> 03:37:39,840
done cuz when you put your name on it

5424
03:37:39,840 --> 03:37:42,000
that's your name on it that's your name

5425
03:37:42,000 --> 03:37:45,200
at the top of the paper you know

5426
03:37:45,200 --> 03:37:47,439
so that's a different kind of discipline

5427
03:37:47,439 --> 03:37:51,600
and um the great Leo Tol story talks

5428
03:37:51,600 --> 03:37:54,399
about this in the Anakarana where

5429
03:37:54,399 --> 03:37:57,200
Karenan has this son called Sergey and

5430
03:37:57,200 --> 03:38:00,160
Sergey is a dreamer

5431
03:38:00,160 --> 03:38:03,120
and Karen the kind of martinet father is

5432
03:38:03,120 --> 03:38:04,720
saying no no no I'm trying to talk to

5433
03:38:04,720 --> 03:38:06,239
you about the difference between an

5434
03:38:06,239 --> 03:38:08,720
adjective and an adverb can't you get

5435
03:38:08,720 --> 03:38:10,399
into your head the difference between an

5436
03:38:10,399 --> 03:38:12,640
adjective and an adverb it's so simple

5437
03:38:12,640 --> 03:38:14,800
and he gets into the kid's head told the

5438
03:38:14,800 --> 03:38:16,000
kid's looking out the window and he's

5439
03:38:16,000 --> 03:38:18,000
looking at a butterfly and he's thinking

5440
03:38:18,000 --> 03:38:19,840
about wind currents and he's thinking

5441
03:38:19,840 --> 03:38:21,840
about what causes the wind and the

5442
03:38:21,840 --> 03:38:23,840
rotation of the earth and the kid is

5443
03:38:23,840 --> 03:38:26,080
trying so hard

5444
03:38:26,080 --> 03:38:28,800
to bring his attention back so as not to

5445
03:38:28,800 --> 03:38:30,960
disappoint or not not to be ungrateful

5446
03:38:30,960 --> 03:38:34,720
to his father but he's dreaming and uh

5447
03:38:34,720 --> 03:38:36,000
you know that's what I done all my life

5448
03:38:36,000 --> 03:38:37,520
and a lot a lot of people I think we all

5449
03:38:37,520 --> 03:38:40,960
do to a certain extent and difference in

5450
03:38:40,960 --> 03:38:44,680
me is I wrote it on.

5451
03:38:56,720 --> 03:38:58,319
There's not a lot that we can learn as

5452
03:38:58,319 --> 03:39:01,680
humans, right? Because we're stupid. We

5453
03:39:01,680 --> 03:39:04,319
really are. And Bill, myself more more

5454
03:39:04,319 --> 03:39:06,720
than anyone else. Billy Wilder was a

5455
03:39:06,720 --> 03:39:09,040
great great uh wasn't a better director

5456
03:39:09,040 --> 03:39:11,120
and there wasn't a better screenwriter.

5457
03:39:11,120 --> 03:39:13,920
And he said

5458
03:39:13,920 --> 03:39:16,160
the audience, he said, individually

5459
03:39:16,160 --> 03:39:18,720
they're idiots.

5460
03:39:18,720 --> 03:39:21,680
Collectively they're a genius. And

5461
03:39:21,680 --> 03:39:24,000
that's been my experience. Individually

5462
03:39:24,000 --> 03:39:26,880
they like like me

5463
03:39:26,880 --> 03:39:30,239
are idiots, right? But collectively you

5464
03:39:30,239 --> 03:39:33,600
cannot fool them. And I've done my stuff

5465
03:39:33,600 --> 03:39:35,520
in every medium that I know of all

5466
03:39:35,520 --> 03:39:37,439
around the world. I've never met a dumb

5467
03:39:37,439 --> 03:39:40,800
audience. Never. because they cuz they

5468
03:39:40,800 --> 03:39:42,960
they they the lights go out and the

5469
03:39:42,960 --> 03:39:44,640
button gets pushed. Okay, tell me a

5470
03:39:44,640 --> 03:39:47,680
story, right? And if you're interesting

5471
03:39:47,680 --> 03:39:50,399
interesting them, they'll follow along.

5472
03:39:50,399 --> 03:39:52,399
And if it's funny, they'll laugh. And if

5473
03:39:52,399 --> 03:39:55,520
it's not funny, they won't,

5474
03:39:55,520 --> 03:39:59,279
right? And if it's and if if it's

5475
03:39:59,279 --> 03:40:01,600
stunning, they'll gasp. And I mean,

5476
03:40:01,600 --> 03:40:06,160
that's you you know, you can extort a um

5477
03:40:06,160 --> 03:40:07,920
standing ovation out of any audience in

5478
03:40:07,920 --> 03:40:10,080
the world. You can extort it, right? But

5479
03:40:10,080 --> 03:40:12,239
you can't extort a laugh out of them and

5480
03:40:12,239 --> 03:40:14,000
you can't extort a gasp out of them.

5481
03:40:14,000 --> 03:40:15,279
They did that. Boy, you've done

5482
03:40:15,279 --> 03:40:18,279
something.

5483
03:40:22,000 --> 03:40:23,840
I learned something really important

5484
03:40:23,840 --> 03:40:25,520
years and years ago. I think we're on in

5485
03:40:25,520 --> 03:40:27,840
the same studio where I shot um Sydney

5486
03:40:27,840 --> 03:40:29,520
Lamett shot the movie The Verdict of

5487
03:40:29,520 --> 03:40:33,040
Paul Newman and uh and I and Sydney

5488
03:40:33,040 --> 03:40:34,560
asked me to write a couple other movies

5489
03:40:34,560 --> 03:40:36,080
for him and one of them was the

5490
03:40:36,080 --> 03:40:38,640
autobiography of Malcolm X. That that

5491
03:40:38,640 --> 03:40:40,160
script never got made. Eventually Spike

5492
03:40:40,160 --> 03:40:42,880
Lee made his version, but I really loved

5493
03:40:42,880 --> 03:40:46,399
um uh doing research and one of the

5494
03:40:46,399 --> 03:40:48,160
research that I did was reading from the

5495
03:40:48,160 --> 03:40:50,800
Quran in English. I got a big kick out

5496
03:40:50,800 --> 03:40:53,680
of it. And one thing that the Quran says

5497
03:40:53,680 --> 03:40:56,560
is the prophet Muhammad says he says I'm

5498
03:40:56,560 --> 03:40:58,880
I'm leaving now.

5499
03:40:58,880 --> 03:41:01,279
But I'm going to leave you two teachers.

5500
03:41:01,279 --> 03:41:05,200
There's a speaking teacher and a silent

5501
03:41:05,200 --> 03:41:07,680
teacher. The speaking teacher is this

5502
03:41:07,680 --> 03:41:10,640
book, the Quran, and the silent teacher

5503
03:41:10,640 --> 03:41:12,720
is death.

5504
03:41:12,720 --> 03:41:15,840
I thought, well, okay, you know, and

5505
03:41:15,840 --> 03:41:17,600
then I started thinking about drama. I

5506
03:41:17,600 --> 03:41:19,760
thought, how do you teach people about

5507
03:41:19,760 --> 03:41:22,479
drama? And there's only two two things

5508
03:41:22,479 --> 03:41:24,479
that can teach the people about drama.

5509
03:41:24,479 --> 03:41:26,239
There's the silent teacher and the

5510
03:41:26,239 --> 03:41:28,880
speaking teacher. And the speaking

5511
03:41:28,880 --> 03:41:31,200
teacher is the audience. You cannot

5512
03:41:31,200 --> 03:41:33,439
learn how to write drama without writing

5513
03:41:33,439 --> 03:41:35,279
plays, putting it on in front of an

5514
03:41:35,279 --> 03:41:37,760
audience, and getting humiliated.

5515
03:41:37,760 --> 03:41:39,840
Nothing makes any sense until you do

5516
03:41:39,840 --> 03:41:41,279
that. Until you've used your

5517
03:41:41,279 --> 03:41:43,439
consciousness and you said, "This is

5518
03:41:43,439 --> 03:41:45,200
this will kill them. This is the best

5519
03:41:45,200 --> 03:41:47,200
thing anybody ever wrote. It's going to

5520
03:41:47,200 --> 03:41:48,640
grab them by the throat and they won't

5521
03:41:48,640 --> 03:41:50,720
be able to look up." and then you watch

5522
03:41:50,720 --> 03:41:52,399
the audience go to sleep and you're

5523
03:41:52,399 --> 03:41:55,040
humiliated. You found you were an error,

5524
03:41:55,040 --> 03:41:57,439
you have to try again. And if you're

5525
03:41:57,439 --> 03:41:59,120
easily shamed, you're not going to

5526
03:41:59,120 --> 03:42:02,479
learn. So that's the um the speaking

5527
03:42:02,479 --> 03:42:03,920
teacher, the audience. You cannot learn

5528
03:42:03,920 --> 03:42:05,600
to write drama without an audience. And

5529
03:42:05,600 --> 03:42:09,600
the silent teacher is the empty page.

5530
03:42:09,600 --> 03:42:12,239
You got to look at that empty page and

5531
03:42:12,239 --> 03:42:14,880
say, "Man, somebody's trying to tell me

5532
03:42:14,880 --> 03:42:16,960
something.

5533
03:42:16,960 --> 03:42:19,680
I got to start to listen." Because the

5534
03:42:19,680 --> 03:42:21,520
process to me, and I think the process

5535
03:42:21,520 --> 03:42:24,160
to most artists doesn't feel like

5536
03:42:24,160 --> 03:42:25,760
creation so much as it feels like

5537
03:42:25,760 --> 03:42:28,640
discovery, there's something there. If I

5538
03:42:28,640 --> 03:42:30,720
start with this premise, there's

5539
03:42:30,720 --> 03:42:32,720
something there. Something's trying to

5540
03:42:32,720 --> 03:42:34,800
tell me something and it wants to get

5541
03:42:34,800 --> 03:42:37,200
onto that page.

5542
03:42:37,200 --> 03:42:39,760
And it's kind of like saying, well, they

5543
03:42:39,760 --> 03:42:41,200
say, well, oh, can things exist

5544
03:42:41,200 --> 03:42:43,120
non-verbbally? Can is that possible? Of

5545
03:42:43,120 --> 03:42:44,479
course they can. because we've all had

5546
03:42:44,479 --> 03:42:47,120
the experience of saying I I almost know

5547
03:42:47,120 --> 03:42:50,160
what the word is but I don't quite right

5548
03:42:50,160 --> 03:42:52,479
I almost can express this it exists

5549
03:42:52,479 --> 03:42:56,000
outside of your mind right and trying to

5550
03:42:56,000 --> 03:42:59,200
be become a re a receptacle for that is

5551
03:42:59,200 --> 03:43:02,800
the to me is the um uh the silent uh the

5552
03:43:02,800 --> 03:43:06,439
silent teacher

5553
03:43:10,800 --> 03:43:12,960
there's an old Jewish proverb that says

5554
03:43:12,960 --> 03:43:15,120
says flattery

5555
03:43:15,120 --> 03:43:16,960
is theft.

5556
03:43:16,960 --> 03:43:18,000
So you say, "Oh, that's interesting.

5557
03:43:18,000 --> 03:43:19,680
Flattery is theft." They say, "Yeah,

5558
03:43:19,680 --> 03:43:21,600
flattery is theft. To flatter someone is

5559
03:43:21,600 --> 03:43:24,000
to try to steal from them a little bit

5560
03:43:24,000 --> 03:43:26,319
of their capacity to make an independent

5561
03:43:26,319 --> 03:43:27,840
judgment."

5562
03:43:27,840 --> 03:43:30,319
So they teach the Orthodox, don't talk

5563
03:43:30,319 --> 03:43:33,359
about people, don't flatter them. Okay?

5564
03:43:33,359 --> 03:43:36,319
So flattering the audience by appealing

5565
03:43:36,319 --> 03:43:39,279
to their whatever their political biases

5566
03:43:39,279 --> 03:43:41,120
is theft.

5567
03:43:41,120 --> 03:43:44,000
You know, one can do it, but uh as

5568
03:43:44,000 --> 03:43:46,080
Richard Nixon said, I could do it, but

5569
03:43:46,080 --> 03:43:49,600
it would be wrong, right? That as I

5570
03:43:49,600 --> 03:43:51,840
think I said previously, they're pretty

5571
03:43:51,840 --> 03:43:53,760
smart. There's they're smarter than you

5572
03:43:53,760 --> 03:43:55,520
are. They're smarter than one is.

5573
03:43:55,520 --> 03:43:56,560
They're going to beat you to the

5574
03:43:56,560 --> 03:44:01,040
punchline if you let them. And um what

5575
03:44:01,040 --> 03:44:02,640
they did is they paid you the compliment

5576
03:44:02,640 --> 03:44:04,720
of coming to see your play or movie and

5577
03:44:04,720 --> 03:44:06,399
throwing a couple bucks in the kitty.

5578
03:44:06,399 --> 03:44:07,840
So, you can repay that compliment

5579
03:44:07,840 --> 03:44:08,880
saying, "Okay, I'm going to show you a

5580
03:44:08,880 --> 03:44:10,640
good time. If it's a comedy, you're

5581
03:44:10,640 --> 03:44:12,239
going to laugh. And if it's a tragedy,

5582
03:44:12,239 --> 03:44:15,760
you're going to cry. You know, if if if

5583
03:44:15,760 --> 03:44:18,560
I sell myself short and sell them short,

5584
03:44:18,560 --> 03:44:20,800
they might go along with it for for

5585
03:44:20,800 --> 03:44:22,960
reasons of political reasons, or they

5586
03:44:22,960 --> 03:44:24,479
might go along with because, well, I I

5587
03:44:24,479 --> 03:44:25,760
paid my money. I'm going to give it a

5588
03:44:25,760 --> 03:44:27,359
standing ovation. I'm going to make sure

5589
03:44:27,359 --> 03:44:30,080
I got my money's worth. But, uh, where's

5590
03:44:30,080 --> 03:44:33,800
the sport in that?

5591
03:44:38,000 --> 03:44:41,040
Suspending disbelief is you sit down.

5592
03:44:41,040 --> 03:44:43,199
Like somebody said, there's only one

5593
03:44:43,199 --> 03:44:44,880
difference between a fairy tale and a

5594
03:44:44,880 --> 03:44:47,279
war story. A fairy tale starts once upon

5595
03:44:47,279 --> 03:44:49,600
a time and a war story starts this is no

5596
03:44:49,600 --> 03:44:51,760
[ __ ] right? It's the same thing. It's

5597
03:44:51,760 --> 03:44:53,680
all a fairy tale, right? Because we

5598
03:44:53,680 --> 03:44:56,000
dramatize even if a quote actually

5599
03:44:56,000 --> 03:44:57,920
happened, we don't remember it

5600
03:44:57,920 --> 03:44:59,840
correctly. So, we dramatize it for our

5601
03:44:59,840 --> 03:45:01,760
own benefit or we dramatize it for

5602
03:45:01,760 --> 03:45:03,920
dramatic effect. Like just like saying

5603
03:45:03,920 --> 03:45:06,960
the bus was 1 hour and 12 minutes late.

5604
03:45:06,960 --> 03:45:08,479
Well, maybe it was eight minutes later,

5605
03:45:08,479 --> 03:45:10,319
right? It felt like 1 hour, 12 minutes,

5606
03:45:10,319 --> 03:45:12,000
everyone's going, "Uhhuh." They're

5607
03:45:12,000 --> 03:45:14,000
listening to the story around around the

5608
03:45:14,000 --> 03:45:16,640
campfire. They they they are not going

5609
03:45:16,640 --> 03:45:18,960
to judge. When you listen to the story

5610
03:45:18,960 --> 03:45:21,680
around the campfire or when we gossip,

5611
03:45:21,680 --> 03:45:24,479
gossip is just creating dialogue. Millie

5612
03:45:24,479 --> 03:45:26,000
says to him blah blah blah and Bob said,

5613
03:45:26,000 --> 03:45:28,000
"Bibby bobby boo." Millie comes back and

5614
03:45:28,000 --> 03:45:30,000
she says, "Blah blah blah." When you're

5615
03:45:30,000 --> 03:45:32,479
gossiping like that, that's as good as

5616
03:45:32,479 --> 03:45:34,560
dialogue as anybody else can write,

5617
03:45:34,560 --> 03:45:36,239
right? because you're doing it for

5618
03:45:36,239 --> 03:45:39,040
unconsciously for the dramatic effect of

5619
03:45:39,040 --> 03:45:41,920
narrating not what happened but the

5620
03:45:41,920 --> 03:45:43,840
essence of what happened for the benefit

5621
03:45:43,840 --> 03:45:47,760
of benefit of the listener. So gossip is

5622
03:45:47,760 --> 03:45:50,880
is is dramatizing uh for your for your

5623
03:45:50,880 --> 03:45:52,720
audience and the audience goes along

5624
03:45:52,720 --> 03:45:55,359
when you gossip the person suspends

5625
03:45:55,359 --> 03:45:57,920
disbelief. They say, "Okay, this is not

5626
03:45:57,920 --> 03:46:00,560
a question of is it true or is it false?

5627
03:46:00,560 --> 03:46:01,840
I'm going to put it into a third

5628
03:46:01,840 --> 03:46:04,479
category." Right? I'm listening to

5629
03:46:04,479 --> 03:46:08,560
gossip. What's more enjoyable? Nothing.

5630
03:46:08,560 --> 03:46:10,160
In fact, I'm going to add to the

5631
03:46:10,160 --> 03:46:12,239
dialogue. Merely says blah blah and Bob

5632
03:46:12,239 --> 03:46:14,000
says blah blah. You say, "Uh-huh." And

5633
03:46:14,000 --> 03:46:16,319
what did what did Sammy say? Right? So,

5634
03:46:16,319 --> 03:46:18,880
if you listen if you were to record a

5635
03:46:18,880 --> 03:46:21,520
gossip session, the the rhythms would be

5636
03:46:21,520 --> 03:46:24,560
magnificent. They'd be perfect. Right?

5637
03:46:24,560 --> 03:46:26,960
People are doing it unconsciously just

5638
03:46:26,960 --> 03:46:29,600
like the guy in Tartu who was told he

5639
03:46:29,600 --> 03:46:31,840
spoke pros his whole life, right? And he

5640
03:46:31,840 --> 03:46:33,520
was thrilled to find out that he spoke

5641
03:46:33,520 --> 03:46:35,199
pros.

5642
03:46:35,199 --> 03:46:38,319
So the the person listening to a war

5643
03:46:38,319 --> 03:46:40,239
story, to a fairy tale, to a myth, to

5644
03:46:40,239 --> 03:46:44,000
gossip, suspends their disbelief. They

5645
03:46:44,000 --> 03:46:45,680
which means they stop asking if it's

5646
03:46:45,680 --> 03:46:50,399
true or not. It's it's it's true gossip,

5647
03:46:50,399 --> 03:46:53,359
right? And so the play can be in that

5648
03:46:53,359 --> 03:46:55,279
category. It can be in the category of

5649
03:46:55,279 --> 03:46:57,680
true gossip. I get to watch somebody

5650
03:46:57,680 --> 03:46:59,840
else's life, right? To see if a

5651
03:46:59,840 --> 03:47:02,160
dramatization of it makes sense. I'm not

5652
03:47:02,160 --> 03:47:03,600
going to say, "Wait a second. Hold on.

5653
03:47:03,600 --> 03:47:05,520
Wait.

5654
03:47:05,520 --> 03:47:07,840
Elephants can't fly.

5655
03:47:07,840 --> 03:47:09,600
Excuse me. I love this movie." Dumbo.

5656
03:47:09,600 --> 03:47:11,760
Great. Love the movie. But elephants

5657
03:47:11,760 --> 03:47:14,160
can't actually fly. You know that. I can

5658
03:47:14,160 --> 03:47:15,760
prove it already. Right. You suspend

5659
03:47:15,760 --> 03:47:18,920
your disbelief.

5660
03:47:22,720 --> 03:47:24,399
The audience's journey and the hero's

5661
03:47:24,399 --> 03:47:25,760
journey and the writer's journey are all

5662
03:47:25,760 --> 03:47:28,319
the same. It's the same thing. They've

5663
03:47:28,319 --> 03:47:32,479
elected for one uh evening to have me be

5664
03:47:32,479 --> 03:47:34,399
their dosent as you will leading them

5665
03:47:34,399 --> 03:47:36,800
through the dark wood by telling them a

5666
03:47:36,800 --> 03:47:39,439
story which they understand correctly as

5667
03:47:39,439 --> 03:47:41,760
being about themselves. And how do I

5668
03:47:41,760 --> 03:47:43,199
know it's about themselves? It's about

5669
03:47:43,199 --> 03:47:47,199
me, right? You know, it's and it I think

5670
03:47:47,199 --> 03:47:49,439
it was um

5671
03:47:49,439 --> 03:47:50,800
I can't remember who it might have been

5672
03:47:50,800 --> 03:47:52,880
St. Paul. St. Paul I think said what I

5673
03:47:52,880 --> 03:47:55,279
am for you frightens me and what I am

5674
03:47:55,279 --> 03:47:58,640
with you comforts me as for you I am a

5675
03:47:58,640 --> 03:48:01,120
preacher but with you I am a Christian

5676
03:48:01,120 --> 03:48:04,399
right so for the audience for them I am

5677
03:48:04,399 --> 03:48:06,800
this writer right but with them I'm just

5678
03:48:06,800 --> 03:48:08,720
a human being who likes stories so

5679
03:48:08,720 --> 03:48:11,439
that's a great comfort

5680
03:48:24,800 --> 03:48:27,600
the the the rabbis say guy comes to the

5681
03:48:27,600 --> 03:48:29,840
rabbi says if there's only going to obey

5682
03:48:29,840 --> 03:48:32,239
one rule in my life what would that rule

5683
03:48:32,239 --> 03:48:36,600
be rabbi says don't lie

5684
03:48:37,120 --> 03:48:39,359
pretty good rule hard but it's pretty

5685
03:48:39,359 --> 03:48:41,359
real cuz a if you don't lie b you're not

5686
03:48:41,359 --> 03:48:42,399
going to do anything you got to lie

5687
03:48:42,399 --> 03:48:45,199
about. So I always thought that my

5688
03:48:45,199 --> 03:48:47,439
responsibility as a writer and a

5689
03:48:47,439 --> 03:48:50,239
director is don't lie that there is

5690
03:48:50,239 --> 03:48:54,160
something called the truth which is

5691
03:48:54,160 --> 03:48:56,160
exists somewhere in an ideal form

5692
03:48:56,160 --> 03:48:58,720
outside of myself and if I really pay

5693
03:48:58,720 --> 03:49:00,800
attention I might have access to some of

5694
03:49:00,800 --> 03:49:03,760
it and sometimes I don't know the truth

5695
03:49:03,760 --> 03:49:06,319
but if I try to find out the truth I'm

5696
03:49:06,319 --> 03:49:08,880
doing my job and so if I'm writing a

5697
03:49:08,880 --> 03:49:10,880
play it might take me 10 minutes to find

5698
03:49:10,880 --> 03:49:14,080
out the truth or it might take me 20

5699
03:49:14,080 --> 03:49:16,800
years. But if I say, "No, no, no. This

5700
03:49:16,800 --> 03:49:20,160
is not quite true. I can get by with it.

5701
03:49:20,160 --> 03:49:22,000
I can cheat with it. The audience might

5702
03:49:22,000 --> 03:49:24,239
even buy it. Might even be successful. I

5703
03:49:24,239 --> 03:49:26,319
don't know. If it's not quite true, then

5704
03:49:26,319 --> 03:49:30,000
I'm not doing my job. So, it's a it's

5705
03:49:30,000 --> 03:49:33,520
it's important to me that to tell the

5706
03:49:33,520 --> 03:49:35,279
truth. So, in order to tell the truth,

5707
03:49:35,279 --> 03:49:37,439
you got to figure out what the truth is.

5708
03:49:37,439 --> 03:49:38,800
And that sometimes that's a very

5709
03:49:38,800 --> 03:49:42,439
unpleasant process.

5710
03:49:46,720 --> 03:49:48,319
Curiously,

5711
03:49:48,319 --> 03:49:50,000
the theater is the place we go to hear

5712
03:49:50,000 --> 03:49:52,479
the truth.

5713
03:49:52,479 --> 03:49:56,239
And the theater in this is like the

5714
03:49:56,239 --> 03:49:59,040
religious setting. And I'll prove it to

5715
03:49:59,040 --> 03:50:00,800
you.

5716
03:50:00,800 --> 03:50:05,120
How many people come late to a movie?

5717
03:50:05,120 --> 03:50:06,880
Nobody comes late to a movie. Everybody

5718
03:50:06,880 --> 03:50:09,279
gets to the movie early. How many people

5719
03:50:09,279 --> 03:50:11,760
come late to church in synagogue?

5720
03:50:11,760 --> 03:50:15,520
Everyone. Everyone in the world has the

5721
03:50:15,520 --> 03:50:17,920
same experience of for God's sake, we're

5722
03:50:17,920 --> 03:50:19,520
late with blah blah blah. Don't change

5723
03:50:19,520 --> 03:50:21,359
your shoes. Did you lose your keys? Get

5724
03:50:21,359 --> 03:50:23,040
the car. I'll get the kids. We're going

5725
03:50:23,040 --> 03:50:24,080
to church. We're going to school. We're

5726
03:50:24,080 --> 03:50:26,720
late. Don't we're late. Everybody comes

5727
03:50:26,720 --> 03:50:29,040
late. Everybody also comes late to the

5728
03:50:29,040 --> 03:50:30,560
theater.

5729
03:50:30,560 --> 03:50:31,840
My god, we got tickets to do. We're

5730
03:50:31,840 --> 03:50:34,080
late. Blah blah blah. We get But nobody

5731
03:50:34,080 --> 03:50:36,319
comes late to the movies. Why? Because

5732
03:50:36,319 --> 03:50:38,800
the movies don't challenge them. The

5733
03:50:38,800 --> 03:50:40,960
church, the synagogue, and the theater

5734
03:50:40,960 --> 03:50:43,520
challenges them so deeply because

5735
03:50:43,520 --> 03:50:45,600
there's a human need to hear the truth

5736
03:50:45,600 --> 03:50:47,520
challenges so deeply. They have to

5737
03:50:47,520 --> 03:50:50,319
retain some measure of autonomy. Right?

5738
03:50:50,319 --> 03:50:52,720
I'm not going to say I'm anxious about

5739
03:50:52,720 --> 03:50:54,560
the word of God or I'm anxious about the

5740
03:50:54,560 --> 03:50:55,920
play. They say, "No, no, I'm anxious

5741
03:50:55,920 --> 03:50:58,720
about the time." So, it's a it's a dead,

5742
03:50:58,720 --> 03:51:01,359
you know, Freud said psychoanalysis is

5743
03:51:01,359 --> 03:51:05,080
the art of the obvious.

5744
03:51:09,359 --> 03:51:13,840
It's hard to face the truth, isn't it?

5745
03:51:13,840 --> 03:51:16,239
Uh I've been fortunate to be very

5746
03:51:16,239 --> 03:51:20,160
friendly with and u study with a a

5747
03:51:20,160 --> 03:51:23,279
great rabbi in Santa Monica named Morai

5748
03:51:23,279 --> 03:51:26,640
Finley. And um he was telling a story

5749
03:51:26,640 --> 03:51:29,600
one day about counseling.

5750
03:51:29,600 --> 03:51:31,359
And um he said, "This woman comes and

5751
03:51:31,359 --> 03:51:34,520
says, "Rabbi,

5752
03:51:34,560 --> 03:51:36,479
my mother has forgotten my birthday for

5753
03:51:36,479 --> 03:51:39,439
the fourth time in a row. She calls me

5754
03:51:39,439 --> 03:51:40,800
like one day or two days later." She

5755
03:51:40,800 --> 03:51:42,640
said, "I was so busy." She says, she

5756
03:51:42,640 --> 03:51:44,399
never sends a present. Or she says

5757
03:51:44,399 --> 03:51:46,160
she'll write a letter a month later

5758
03:51:46,160 --> 03:51:47,840
saying, you know, I I thought I'd send

5759
03:51:47,840 --> 03:51:49,359
you a present, but I missed the birthday

5760
03:51:49,359 --> 03:51:51,600
and blah blah blah. And she doesn't

5761
03:51:51,600 --> 03:51:54,239
return my calls and blah blah blah. And

5762
03:51:54,239 --> 03:51:56,000
the rabbi says, "Your mother doesn't

5763
03:51:56,000 --> 03:51:58,000
like you."

5764
03:51:58,000 --> 03:52:00,319
So, you know, may be comfortable not but

5765
03:52:00,319 --> 03:52:02,560
that's the truth. I mean, so that's the

5766
03:52:02,560 --> 03:52:03,920
different from the psychoanalytic

5767
03:52:03,920 --> 03:52:05,520
paradigm where you could sit there and

5768
03:52:05,520 --> 03:52:07,040
say, well, when you were young, blah,

5769
03:52:07,040 --> 03:52:08,720
blah, blah. He says, okay, your mother

5770
03:52:08,720 --> 03:52:11,680
doesn't like you. That's the truth. Now,

5771
03:52:11,680 --> 03:52:13,279
the question is what do you now you got

5772
03:52:13,279 --> 03:52:15,520
the truth. Can you take the truth what

5773
03:52:15,520 --> 03:52:17,520
do you want to do with it? Up to you.

5774
03:52:17,520 --> 03:52:19,120
All drama is about something which is

5775
03:52:19,120 --> 03:52:20,960
hidden. Like in the story I was telling

5776
03:52:20,960 --> 03:52:22,560
about the rabbi which is hidden is the

5777
03:52:22,560 --> 03:52:24,560
woman is spending all of her time

5778
03:52:24,560 --> 03:52:26,880
repressing the fact that her mother

5779
03:52:26,880 --> 03:52:29,359
likes doesn't like her. So the idea is

5780
03:52:29,359 --> 03:52:30,880
you search for the truth. The truth will

5781
03:52:30,880 --> 03:52:33,199
set you free. And it may be pretty or it

5782
03:52:33,199 --> 03:52:35,680
may be ugly, but it's the truth. How do

5783
03:52:35,680 --> 03:52:36,960
we know that? Because we have the

5784
03:52:36,960 --> 03:52:41,600
capacity to commune with

5785
03:52:41,600 --> 03:52:44,160
the preverbal with the ethereal love,

5786
03:52:44,160 --> 03:52:46,080
justice, truth, and beauty. They're out

5787
03:52:46,080 --> 03:52:48,479
there. We can feel them,

5788
03:52:48,479 --> 03:52:49,920
right? But we have to devote ourselves

5789
03:52:49,920 --> 03:52:53,359
to feeling them and train ourselves to

5790
03:52:53,359 --> 03:52:57,279
overcome the dictates of our reason. I

5791
03:52:57,279 --> 03:52:58,960
said, 'W wait a second. Are you telling

5792
03:52:58,960 --> 03:53:00,160
me that you're going to spend every

5793
03:53:00,160 --> 03:53:02,800
Sunday morning

5794
03:53:02,800 --> 03:53:06,080
going to church and singing these songs

5795
03:53:06,080 --> 03:53:08,560
about some guy who died 2,000 years ago

5796
03:53:08,560 --> 03:53:10,479
and may not even live? Does that make

5797
03:53:10,479 --> 03:53:12,560
sense?

5798
03:53:12,560 --> 03:53:14,720
Well, yeah, it makes sense. It's called

5799
03:53:14,720 --> 03:53:16,319
religion. It just makes a different kind

5800
03:53:16,319 --> 03:53:19,560
of sense.

5801
03:53:23,520 --> 03:53:25,199
You know, you think about kids, right?

5802
03:53:25,199 --> 03:53:27,120
What are kids best at in the world?

5803
03:53:27,120 --> 03:53:30,080
Right? Lying, right? No kid has ever

5804
03:53:30,080 --> 03:53:31,279
told the truth to their parents about

5805
03:53:31,279 --> 03:53:33,199
anything, right? We remember that when

5806
03:53:33,199 --> 03:53:36,479
we remember we were kids. Okay? So, as

5807
03:53:36,479 --> 03:53:39,199
Rabbi Finley teaches,

5808
03:53:39,199 --> 03:53:41,439
you can take a superior position. You

5809
03:53:41,439 --> 03:53:43,279
say, "No, no, no. You did not do two

5810
03:53:43,279 --> 03:53:45,199
hours of homework. I know that because I

5811
03:53:45,199 --> 03:53:46,880
had a clock and a nanny cam in your room

5812
03:53:46,880 --> 03:53:48,640
and you did six minutes of homework."

5813
03:53:48,640 --> 03:53:50,000
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And wagged

5814
03:53:50,000 --> 03:53:51,279
your finger at the kid, saying, "It's

5815
03:53:51,279 --> 03:53:53,120
not true." Or you could suspend your

5816
03:53:53,120 --> 03:53:55,680
disbelief and say, "I get it. The kid

5817
03:53:55,680 --> 03:53:57,520
didn't want to do homework. He's trying

5818
03:53:57,520 --> 03:54:00,560
to protect his individuality. He doesn't

5819
03:54:00,560 --> 03:54:02,319
want to be criticized. So he says, "I

5820
03:54:02,319 --> 03:54:05,040
did two hours of homework." I get it.

5821
03:54:05,040 --> 03:54:09,600
Okay. I'll I'll parent the kid's soul.

5822
03:54:09,600 --> 03:54:12,239
And um also I learned something else

5823
03:54:12,239 --> 03:54:14,640
from um Rabbi Finley. I'm very very

5824
03:54:14,640 --> 03:54:16,640
lucky to have my second great teacher.

5825
03:54:16,640 --> 03:54:18,960
My first was Rabbi Larry Kushner. He was

5826
03:54:18,960 --> 03:54:22,399
talking about lying and he said he said

5827
03:54:22,399 --> 03:54:24,319
what's a lie? He said imagine you went

5828
03:54:24,319 --> 03:54:26,880
to the doctors and you had a procedure

5829
03:54:26,880 --> 03:54:29,760
done that was none of anybody's business

5830
03:54:29,760 --> 03:54:31,439
and somebody said to you oh where were

5831
03:54:31,439 --> 03:54:32,880
you yesterday I didn't see you at the

5832
03:54:32,880 --> 03:54:34,399
club and you said you know I just

5833
03:54:34,399 --> 03:54:36,319
decided to take a walk. He said that's

5834
03:54:36,319 --> 03:54:39,359
not a lie. He said there are untruths

5835
03:54:39,359 --> 03:54:40,880
which are not lies. He said what's a

5836
03:54:40,880 --> 03:54:44,080
lie? A lie is an untruth that's told to

5837
03:54:44,080 --> 03:54:46,880
injure someone. I thought that oh that's

5838
03:54:46,880 --> 03:54:49,439
pretty damn good. We have a right to

5839
03:54:49,439 --> 03:54:52,479
privacy. We have a right to embellish,

5840
03:54:52,479 --> 03:54:53,840
right? As long as we're not injuring

5841
03:54:53,840 --> 03:54:56,160
someone. And in a gossip situation, we

5842
03:54:56,160 --> 03:54:58,319
know that we aren't injuring someone,

5843
03:54:58,319 --> 03:55:00,800
right? We're just gossiping.

5844
03:55:00,800 --> 03:55:03,680
Similarly, in a theatrical situation, we

5845
03:55:03,680 --> 03:55:05,760
can say things that if they're

5846
03:55:05,760 --> 03:55:08,160
internally consistent might be pleasing,

5847
03:55:08,160 --> 03:55:10,720
but they aren't a lie. Although, in one

5848
03:55:10,720 --> 03:55:14,520
sense, they aren't true.

5849
03:55:17,920 --> 03:55:20,960
Speed Plaza is a comedy, right? So,

5850
03:55:20,960 --> 03:55:22,640
these two guys think they know how to

5851
03:55:22,640 --> 03:55:27,040
get rich, right? By capitalizing on um

5852
03:55:27,040 --> 03:55:31,279
capitalizing on uh an an adventicious

5853
03:55:31,279 --> 03:55:33,680
event in show business. They got this

5854
03:55:33,680 --> 03:55:35,120
into this. See, that's the thing about

5855
03:55:35,120 --> 03:55:36,640
Hollywood, right? It's a dreadful,

5856
03:55:36,640 --> 03:55:39,120
dreadful, dreadful place to live, right?

5857
03:55:39,120 --> 03:55:41,359
Unless you're unless you're like dead or

5858
03:55:41,359 --> 03:55:44,239
something. Because the lie in Hollywood

5859
03:55:44,239 --> 03:55:47,760
is Hollywood functions like Las Vegas.

5860
03:55:47,760 --> 03:55:51,199
You're just this far from getting vastly

5861
03:55:51,199 --> 03:55:53,120
wealthy. My god. You could walk into the

5862
03:55:53,120 --> 03:55:54,560
supermarket and see blah blah. And

5863
03:55:54,560 --> 03:55:55,840
they'd say, "Oh, what a nice pair of

5864
03:55:55,840 --> 03:55:57,359
glasses." And you'd say, "Yes." You'd

5865
03:55:57,359 --> 03:55:58,720
start talking and then you would be the

5866
03:55:58,720 --> 03:56:01,760
producer on the new movie. Just like Las

5867
03:56:01,760 --> 03:56:03,600
Vegas. The reason people go to Las Vegas

5868
03:56:03,600 --> 03:56:08,479
and get broke is it's almost true.

5869
03:56:08,479 --> 03:56:11,920
If if nobody ever won in Las Vegas,

5870
03:56:11,920 --> 03:56:14,160
nobody would go to Las Vegas. The fact

5871
03:56:14,160 --> 03:56:16,080
that somebody might win in Las Vegas

5872
03:56:16,080 --> 03:56:17,760
means everybody goes to Las Vegas. The

5873
03:56:17,760 --> 03:56:19,840
fact that somebody might get lucky in in

5874
03:56:19,840 --> 03:56:21,760
Los Angeles means everybody goes to Los

5875
03:56:21,760 --> 03:56:23,760
Angeles and and they waste their lives.

5876
03:56:23,760 --> 03:56:25,359
So, it's hard to get rid of that

5877
03:56:25,359 --> 03:56:28,800
addiction because if you like being

5878
03:56:28,800 --> 03:56:30,960
inert,

5879
03:56:30,960 --> 03:56:32,160
you can live with that addiction

5880
03:56:32,160 --> 03:56:34,800
forever. That's the lie, right? There's

5881
03:56:34,800 --> 03:56:36,560
just enough truth in it that you can

5882
03:56:36,560 --> 03:56:39,520
fool yourself into saying, "Well, then

5883
03:56:39,520 --> 03:56:41,279
that that makes sense. What what the the

5884
03:56:41,279 --> 03:56:43,600
old joke is, what what and leave show

5885
03:56:43,600 --> 03:56:47,239
business, right?"

5886
03:56:51,520 --> 03:56:54,000
In American Buffalo, the lie is

5887
03:56:54,000 --> 03:56:55,439
introduced by the character the

5888
03:56:55,439 --> 03:56:57,279
antagonist of. So everything that

5889
03:56:57,279 --> 03:56:59,840
happens in a dream, of course, are all

5890
03:56:59,840 --> 03:57:01,600
aspects of our own consciousness. What

5891
03:57:01,600 --> 03:57:03,680
else would they be, right? the the

5892
03:57:03,680 --> 03:57:05,520
little dog fluff and the mountain and

5893
03:57:05,520 --> 03:57:07,120
the stream. They're all aspects of our

5894
03:57:07,120 --> 03:57:09,680
own consciousness symbolized and we're

5895
03:57:09,680 --> 03:57:11,359
free to interpret the symbols however we

5896
03:57:11,359 --> 03:57:14,319
want. So that the the so that all as

5897
03:57:14,319 --> 03:57:16,800
everybody in the drama is aspects of one

5898
03:57:16,800 --> 03:57:19,279
character, right? The character split

5899
03:57:19,279 --> 03:57:21,840
used to be that the drama was just one

5900
03:57:21,840 --> 03:57:24,239
person on stage in a chorus and this guy

5901
03:57:24,239 --> 03:57:26,479
called the thespus I think introduced

5902
03:57:26,479 --> 03:57:28,479
the the duteragonist, right? the second

5903
03:57:28,479 --> 03:57:30,479
player. You have the antagonist, the guy

5904
03:57:30,479 --> 03:57:34,640
who's uh uh uh acts against the

5905
03:57:34,640 --> 03:57:37,040
protagonist. So the protagonist in the

5906
03:57:37,040 --> 03:57:38,560
play is Donnie Dubro in American

5907
03:57:38,560 --> 03:57:40,000
Buffalo. The antagonist is this

5908
03:57:40,000 --> 03:57:42,960
character called Teach. And his lie is

5909
03:57:42,960 --> 03:57:45,439
nobody can lead you to the truth but me.

5910
03:57:45,439 --> 03:57:47,600
Everybody else is trying to uh take

5911
03:57:47,600 --> 03:57:49,199
advantage of you. You aren't getting

5912
03:57:49,199 --> 03:57:51,600
what you deserve. the the young fellow

5913
03:57:51,600 --> 03:57:53,760
who you've befriended as your proteéé,

5914
03:57:53,760 --> 03:57:57,199
he's turned on you. And he speaks so

5915
03:57:57,199 --> 03:58:00,960
convincingly that he leads the the the

5916
03:58:00,960 --> 03:58:03,439
protagonist down the road almost to

5917
03:58:03,439 --> 03:58:05,359
murdering the guy who's in effect his

5918
03:58:05,359 --> 03:58:08,359
son.

5919
03:58:20,399 --> 03:58:22,640
Well, Ooliana was a play I wrote about

5920
03:58:22,640 --> 03:58:25,040
25 years ago and I would always have um

5921
03:58:25,040 --> 03:58:27,359
fascinated by a piece in the Hamlet

5922
03:58:27,359 --> 03:58:30,800
where Hamlet uh hires these Sperling

5923
03:58:30,800 --> 03:58:32,640
players and he says to his sidekick

5924
03:58:32,640 --> 03:58:35,120
Horatio, he says, "I want you to stage a

5925
03:58:35,120 --> 03:58:36,960
play something like the murder of

5926
03:58:36,960 --> 03:58:39,840
Gonzago with his wife kills a husband

5927
03:58:39,840 --> 03:58:42,319
and marries the uncle much like my uh

5928
03:58:42,319 --> 03:58:46,160
mother and so forth." Uh and he says, "I

5929
03:58:46,160 --> 03:58:48,560
have been to I've heard that guilty

5930
03:58:48,560 --> 03:58:53,160
creatures sitting at a play

5931
03:58:54,399 --> 03:58:56,960
may by the cunning of the set of scene

5932
03:58:56,960 --> 03:58:59,680
be so moved as to confess their own

5933
03:58:59,680 --> 03:59:01,600
malifactions."

5934
03:59:01,600 --> 03:59:02,960
And I'm think, well, that's cute, but

5935
03:59:02,960 --> 03:59:04,800
certainly not true. You know, you can't

5936
03:59:04,800 --> 03:59:07,199
get somebody, however guilty or however

5937
03:59:07,199 --> 03:59:09,680
upset at a play to start confessing

5938
03:59:09,680 --> 03:59:11,199
their own malfactions. Okay,

5939
03:59:11,199 --> 03:59:12,640
Shakespeare, you know, you wrote a lot

5940
03:59:12,640 --> 03:59:14,399
of good stuff. will give you a pass. So

5941
03:59:14,399 --> 03:59:16,720
then I write this play called Oana which

5942
03:59:16,720 --> 03:59:18,640
was about at the beginning of this whole

5943
03:59:18,640 --> 03:59:20,960
nonsense about political correctness and

5944
03:59:20,960 --> 03:59:23,040
incipient fascism and the end of free

5945
03:59:23,040 --> 03:59:25,040
speech and all that other good stuff.

5946
03:59:25,040 --> 03:59:27,439
And I put it off Broadway. We did it

5947
03:59:27,439 --> 03:59:29,760
first in Cambridge Mass and then we were

5948
03:59:29,760 --> 03:59:31,520
off Broadway and it's about this young

5949
03:59:31,520 --> 03:59:36,880
woman student and uh her professor

5950
03:59:36,880 --> 03:59:39,199
and she's all confessed. She's confused

5951
03:59:39,199 --> 03:59:40,960
and she doesn't know why she got such a

5952
03:59:40,960 --> 03:59:43,120
bad grade. And he says, "Well, okay, let

5953
03:59:43,120 --> 03:59:44,800
me help you. Let me devote myself to

5954
03:59:44,800 --> 03:59:47,040
you." Blah, blah, blah. I'll talk you

5955
03:59:47,040 --> 03:59:48,960
through the thing. You know what? The

5956
03:59:48,960 --> 03:59:50,319
grade doesn't count. I'll just give you

5957
03:59:50,319 --> 03:59:52,960
an A. She says, "But I don't understand.

5958
03:59:52,960 --> 03:59:54,960
Is the I don't understand then. I'm the

5959
03:59:54,960 --> 03:59:57,120
first in my family ever came to to

5960
03:59:57,120 --> 03:59:58,720
college, so I don't understand how this

5961
03:59:58,720 --> 04:00:01,279
works, and I work like mad to get here.

5962
04:00:01,279 --> 04:00:04,399
You can just assign me a grade?" He

5963
04:00:04,399 --> 04:00:05,680
says, "Yes, that's right." He says,

5964
04:00:05,680 --> 04:00:08,319
"Education is nonsense." He says, "We

5965
04:00:08,319 --> 04:00:10,239
give you a lot of books and we say read

5966
04:00:10,239 --> 04:00:12,399
them. You say you've read them. I say

5967
04:00:12,399 --> 04:00:14,239
you're lying. We're going to give you a

5968
04:00:14,239 --> 04:00:15,600
test. We're going to find out you lied.

5969
04:00:15,600 --> 04:00:17,359
And when you we find out you lied,

5970
04:00:17,359 --> 04:00:18,800
you'll be disgraced and your life will

5971
04:00:18,800 --> 04:00:20,000
be ruined." He says, "That's the

5972
04:00:20,000 --> 04:00:22,640
educational process." She says, "But

5973
04:00:22,640 --> 04:00:25,279
then I then I'm really confused." She

5974
04:00:25,279 --> 04:00:27,840
says, "Why

5975
04:00:27,840 --> 04:00:29,680
are you involved in it?" And he says,

5976
04:00:29,680 --> 04:00:31,920
"Because I love teaching." She says,

5977
04:00:31,920 --> 04:00:34,640
"No." She says, "I'm lost. I'm I'm

5978
04:00:34,640 --> 04:00:37,120
really really lost." things begin to

5979
04:00:37,120 --> 04:00:40,239
escalate. And he says, "Listen, you got

5980
04:00:40,239 --> 04:00:42,560
stuff stuck into your head early on

5981
04:00:42,560 --> 04:00:44,800
about what the educational process." He

5982
04:00:44,800 --> 04:00:46,160
says, "I'll give you an example." He

5983
04:00:46,160 --> 04:00:49,520
says, "When I was a kid, I heard that

5984
04:00:49,520 --> 04:00:52,000
poor people make love more frequently

5985
04:00:52,000 --> 04:00:54,399
than rich people, but they take less of

5986
04:00:54,399 --> 04:00:56,720
their clothes off."

5987
04:00:56,720 --> 04:00:58,880
He says, "Is that true?" He says, "I

5988
04:00:58,880 --> 04:01:00,720
don't know." He says, "Is the person who

5989
04:01:00,720 --> 04:01:02,239
said it, do they know if it's true?" I

5990
04:01:02,239 --> 04:01:04,880
don't know. It's stuck in my head. Why?

5991
04:01:04,880 --> 04:01:07,359
I don't know, but there it is. He says,

5992
04:01:07,359 --> 04:01:09,520
I don't have time to go through and rip

5993
04:01:09,520 --> 04:01:11,680
out all this stuff, but it's operating

5994
04:01:11,680 --> 04:01:14,720
against me. It's it's clogging up my

5995
04:01:14,720 --> 04:01:16,720
head. You have a prejudice about

5996
04:01:16,720 --> 04:01:19,279
education. It should be XYZ. That got

5997
04:01:19,279 --> 04:01:21,359
stuck in there. So, they go on blah blah

5998
04:01:21,359 --> 04:01:24,840
blah blah blah.

5999
04:01:25,199 --> 04:01:27,199
She gets radicalized because the

6000
04:01:27,199 --> 04:01:29,520
president, the the the guy won't help

6001
04:01:29,520 --> 04:01:32,000
her. And so, she seeks out F, which

6002
04:01:32,000 --> 04:01:33,199
happens at college. You know, I went to

6003
04:01:33,199 --> 04:01:36,000
a a feral hippie dippy sippy in college,

6004
04:01:36,000 --> 04:01:38,479
right? Sex and drugs and radicalization.

6005
04:01:38,479 --> 04:01:39,920
You know, there I am playing poker and

6006
04:01:39,920 --> 04:01:41,680
listening to the Beatles and the the

6007
04:01:41,680 --> 04:01:43,680
weathermen over there staging guns to

6008
04:01:43,680 --> 04:01:45,520
blow up the building on 11th Street. I

6009
04:01:45,520 --> 04:01:46,640
didn't know who they were. Yeah. And

6010
04:01:46,640 --> 04:01:48,399
they my my roommates, they went

6011
04:01:48,399 --> 04:01:52,080
underground for 30 years, right? Because

6012
04:01:52,080 --> 04:01:55,439
from having dealt with kids in this age

6013
04:01:55,439 --> 04:01:59,920
range, 17 to 22, that's the door is

6014
04:01:59,920 --> 04:02:02,399
closing. There's a good reason that

6015
04:02:02,399 --> 04:02:04,640
healthy societies take these kids and

6016
04:02:04,640 --> 04:02:07,040
put them in the military, right? Because

6017
04:02:07,040 --> 04:02:09,520
they need a lot of discipline, right?

6018
04:02:09,520 --> 04:02:10,960
They don't need a lot of exuberance.

6019
04:02:10,960 --> 04:02:12,560
They got that. They don't need a lot of

6020
04:02:12,560 --> 04:02:14,319
inspiration. They got that. They need

6021
04:02:14,319 --> 04:02:16,319
someone to say, "For this amount of

6022
04:02:16,319 --> 04:02:20,720
time, do this. Don't do that. Shut up."

6023
04:02:20,720 --> 04:02:23,439
Right? So the Mormons, whom I love,

6024
04:02:23,439 --> 04:02:25,520
right, for many reasons, one of which is

6025
04:02:25,520 --> 04:02:27,199
they're the smartest people in the world

6026
04:02:27,199 --> 04:02:28,720
because they say to these kids, you

6027
04:02:28,720 --> 04:02:30,560
know, why don't you go to like Bolivia

6028
04:02:30,560 --> 04:02:32,319
for a couple of years and convert

6029
04:02:32,319 --> 04:02:34,640
people, right? So whether or not they're

6030
04:02:34,640 --> 04:02:37,040
converting people, I hope hope they are,

6031
04:02:37,040 --> 04:02:38,239
they're getting the kids out of the

6032
04:02:38,239 --> 04:02:40,720
house and they're saying, I can't be

6033
04:02:40,720 --> 04:02:43,439
your parents anymore, which is a great

6034
04:02:43,439 --> 04:02:46,479
thing. And in ancient Rome, they used to

6035
04:02:46,479 --> 04:02:49,040
have the tradition of guest parentage

6036
04:02:49,040 --> 04:02:50,479
where they would take a young I don't

6037
04:02:50,479 --> 04:02:51,600
know if they were boys and girls,

6038
04:02:51,600 --> 04:02:53,920
certainly boys at the age of like eight

6039
04:02:53,920 --> 04:02:56,479
and they would swap kids.

6040
04:02:56,479 --> 04:02:57,760
So I'm going to raise your kid. You

6041
04:02:57,760 --> 04:02:59,279
raise mine. And we've all had this

6042
04:02:59,279 --> 04:03:00,560
experience. You say, "I don't

6043
04:03:00,560 --> 04:03:02,160
understand. I can't do anything with my

6044
04:03:02,160 --> 04:03:04,560
son. Uncle Timmy comes in and they're

6045
04:03:04,560 --> 04:03:06,640
they're the best buds and he's behaving

6046
04:03:06,640 --> 04:03:09,120
like an a because right because the kid

6047
04:03:09,120 --> 04:03:10,640
doesn't have to rebel against uncle

6048
04:03:10,640 --> 04:03:13,840
Timmy. So you take kids in the age range

6049
04:03:13,840 --> 04:03:15,840
17 to 22, now we're sticking them in

6050
04:03:15,840 --> 04:03:17,040
college where they learn to, you know,

6051
04:03:17,040 --> 04:03:19,120
march around with signs and and and and

6052
04:03:19,120 --> 04:03:21,359
burn and burn effiges and so forth.

6053
04:03:21,359 --> 04:03:23,439
That's all that's all good fun, but what

6054
04:03:23,439 --> 04:03:25,279
about preparing for the wider world?

6055
04:03:25,279 --> 04:03:26,479
It's not going to prepare them for the

6056
04:03:26,479 --> 04:03:27,680
wilder. They could do it on the

6057
04:03:27,680 --> 04:03:29,760
weekends. If you do it all the time,

6058
04:03:29,760 --> 04:03:31,920
you're going to be very very confused.

6059
04:03:31,920 --> 04:03:33,520
So what happens to kids who are very

6060
04:03:33,520 --> 04:03:36,000
very confused? They have the capacity to

6061
04:03:36,000 --> 04:03:38,319
become radicalized because they just

6062
04:03:38,319 --> 04:03:40,800
like gangs, right? Gangs are an attempt

6063
04:03:40,800 --> 04:03:42,800
of young people with unsufficient

6064
04:03:42,800 --> 04:03:44,880
structure to find structure. It's it's

6065
04:03:44,880 --> 04:03:46,560
perfect. It's perfectly logical. Of

6066
04:03:46,560 --> 04:03:49,199
course, they need structure.

6067
04:03:49,199 --> 04:03:51,359
It may the result may be unfortunate,

6068
04:03:51,359 --> 04:03:53,439
but the the urge is is absolutely

6069
04:03:53,439 --> 04:03:58,000
logical. So, young kids at college,

6070
04:03:58,000 --> 04:04:00,800
they form gangs, right? And one of the

6071
04:04:00,800 --> 04:04:02,960
gangs, young kids can get radicalized to

6072
04:04:02,960 --> 04:04:05,840
any any cause, right or left, American,

6073
04:04:05,840 --> 04:04:08,880
anti-American, Islamic, Zionist, anti-

6074
04:04:08,880 --> 04:04:10,319
they can get radicalized. He said, "I'm

6075
04:04:10,319 --> 04:04:12,640
going to put all my energy cuz I finally

6076
04:04:12,640 --> 04:04:14,960
found the truth." I didn't know what the

6077
04:04:14,960 --> 04:04:17,600
truth was cuz I'm confused. I didn't go

6078
04:04:17,600 --> 04:04:18,960
into the military where they said the

6079
04:04:18,960 --> 04:04:20,160
truth is make your bed or you're going

6080
04:04:20,160 --> 04:04:22,720
to the brrig. That's the truth. The rest

6081
04:04:22,720 --> 04:04:24,479
of it you can figure out on your own.

6082
04:04:24,479 --> 04:04:26,000
They got nobody to tell them make your

6083
04:04:26,000 --> 04:04:28,560
bed. You know, so what are they they're

6084
04:04:28,560 --> 04:04:29,840
going to say? I want the truth. Someone

6085
04:04:29,840 --> 04:04:32,640
says, "Here's the truth. The educational

6086
04:04:32,640 --> 04:04:36,560
system is misogynistic and uh it's male

6087
04:04:36,560 --> 04:04:38,399
oriented and you've just been taken

6088
04:04:38,399 --> 04:04:40,800
advantage of." This is what the pro the

6089
04:04:40,800 --> 04:04:42,399
young girl goes out off stage. She gets

6090
04:04:42,399 --> 04:04:44,080
radicalized. So, of course, she's going

6091
04:04:44,080 --> 04:04:46,239
to listen to to the person who says, "I

6092
04:04:46,239 --> 04:04:49,600
have the truth and I will protect you."

6093
04:04:49,600 --> 04:04:51,840
So, the college is not protecting her.

6094
04:04:51,840 --> 04:04:53,600
Her parents aren't protecting her. The

6095
04:04:53,600 --> 04:04:55,120
group was protecting her. She says,

6096
04:04:55,120 --> 04:04:57,760
"Yeah." So, she the group tells her,

6097
04:04:57,760 --> 04:04:59,680
"Wait a second. that guy put his arm

6098
04:04:59,680 --> 04:05:01,439
around you and he talked to you about

6099
04:05:01,439 --> 04:05:02,880
people taking off their clothes and

6100
04:05:02,880 --> 04:05:06,000
making love. Oh my god, you've just been

6101
04:05:06,000 --> 04:05:07,520
raped.

6102
04:05:07,520 --> 04:05:10,000
So the girl, wait a second. He said,

6103
04:05:10,000 --> 04:05:11,840
nope. Under the college code of sexual

6104
04:05:11,840 --> 04:05:14,000
ethic, that constitutes rape. Let's ruin

6105
04:05:14,000 --> 04:05:16,880
the professor's life. So the girl comes

6106
04:05:16,880 --> 04:05:18,720
back to the professor in act two and act

6107
04:05:18,720 --> 04:05:21,040
three and eventually they end up almost

6108
04:05:21,040 --> 04:05:23,040
killing each other. It's a dreadful,

6109
04:05:23,040 --> 04:05:25,199
dreadful situation.

6110
04:05:25,199 --> 04:05:28,640
And it so raised the audience to a fever

6111
04:05:28,640 --> 04:05:30,080
pitch that they would scream at the

6112
04:05:30,080 --> 04:05:32,319
stage every night. They'd scream at the

6113
04:05:32,319 --> 04:05:34,080
stage. They they wouldn't do it on

6114
04:05:34,080 --> 04:05:35,199
purpose. They just find themselves

6115
04:05:35,199 --> 04:05:37,359
scream. Every night there would be

6116
04:05:37,359 --> 04:05:39,600
fights within the audience at the end of

6117
04:05:39,600 --> 04:05:41,199
the thing, a man and a woman, and they

6118
04:05:41,199 --> 04:05:43,120
wouldn't always take the same side. How

6119
04:05:43,120 --> 04:05:44,560
can you say that? How can you say that?

6120
04:05:44,560 --> 04:05:46,479
Pointing finger, marriages, breaking up.

6121
04:05:46,479 --> 04:05:49,120
It was great. And then the woman who my

6122
04:05:49,120 --> 04:05:51,120
wife Rebecca Pigeon played the young

6123
04:05:51,120 --> 04:05:53,520
girl and William H. Macy played the man.

6124
04:05:53,520 --> 04:05:55,199
And the woman who replaced Rebecca, I

6125
04:05:55,199 --> 04:05:56,720
don't know if I mentioned it, was my

6126
04:05:56,720 --> 04:05:58,479
good friend Mary McCann. Did it for a

6127
04:05:58,479 --> 04:06:00,640
year and she once got actually punched

6128
04:06:00,640 --> 04:06:02,800
coming out of the uh dressing room by an

6129
04:06:02,800 --> 04:06:06,160
audience member. People were screaming

6130
04:06:06,160 --> 04:06:10,720
and because um it drove them nuts. the

6131
04:06:10,720 --> 04:06:12,000
fact that and I thought it was

6132
04:06:12,000 --> 04:06:13,760
marvelous. You know, the fact that I

6133
04:06:13,760 --> 04:06:17,520
could uh look at an impossible problem

6134
04:06:17,520 --> 04:06:19,359
and say, "Well, okay, you know, let's

6135
04:06:19,359 --> 04:06:22,160
take it up to 11 now.

6136
04:06:22,160 --> 04:06:23,920
Let's see where that goes. Ain't that

6137
04:06:23,920 --> 04:06:26,920
fun?"

6138
04:06:30,720 --> 04:06:33,040
I wrote a play called Race. And Race was

6139
04:06:33,040 --> 04:06:34,640
a play was on Broadway. It was Carrie

6140
04:06:34,640 --> 04:06:37,199
Washington, David Allen Greer, Richard

6141
04:06:37,199 --> 04:06:39,359
Thomas, and James Speder. And it was

6142
04:06:39,359 --> 04:06:42,319
about Another very very very provocative

6143
04:06:42,319 --> 04:06:44,960
case that I mean you know things get I

6144
04:06:44,960 --> 04:06:47,920
mean the question is who who become the

6145
04:06:47,920 --> 04:06:50,000
writers the people who are affronted by

6146
04:06:50,000 --> 04:06:52,000
something in youth or who don't

6147
04:06:52,000 --> 04:06:54,000
understand so a lot of writing

6148
04:06:54,000 --> 04:06:55,840
especially my writing is an attempt to

6149
04:06:55,840 --> 04:06:57,840
understand to work something out in a

6150
04:06:57,840 --> 04:06:59,840
way that it can be understood because a

6151
04:06:59,840 --> 04:07:01,760
lot of human equations don't come out

6152
04:07:01,760 --> 04:07:04,960
even on a on a day-to-day scale but

6153
04:07:04,960 --> 04:07:06,319
perhaps they can be understood

6154
04:07:06,319 --> 04:07:08,399
poetically they can be understood

6155
04:07:08,399 --> 04:07:10,560
mythologically So our country's been

6156
04:07:10,560 --> 04:07:12,720
fighting about race now, right, for for

6157
04:07:12,720 --> 04:07:15,359
you know 230 years and there all of

6158
04:07:15,359 --> 04:07:17,439
these cases coming up pro and con. I say

6159
04:07:17,439 --> 04:07:19,279
well gosh it would be a terrible

6160
04:07:19,279 --> 04:07:21,359
terrible idea to write a play about s

6161
04:07:21,359 --> 04:07:24,640
such a provocative um uh topic. Here I

6162
04:07:24,640 --> 04:07:27,439
go. And so I wrote it. So the the the

6163
04:07:27,439 --> 04:07:29,199
play is there these two lawyers, black

6164
04:07:29,199 --> 04:07:30,479
guy and a white guy. The white guy is

6165
04:07:30,479 --> 04:07:31,840
James Spade, a black guy's David Alen

6166
04:07:31,840 --> 04:07:33,920
Greer. And they have another associated

6167
04:07:33,920 --> 04:07:35,760
young woman lawyer, Carrie Washington.

6168
04:07:35,760 --> 04:07:38,239
and they take on a new client who's a

6169
04:07:38,239 --> 04:07:40,720
white guy, Richard Thomas, who's accused

6170
04:07:40,720 --> 04:07:42,960
of raping a black woman. So the question

6171
04:07:42,960 --> 04:07:45,600
is whether or not they're going to take

6172
04:07:45,600 --> 04:07:48,080
on his case. He's a billionaire. And so

6173
04:07:48,080 --> 04:07:50,720
I wrote this long expository scene, oh,

6174
04:07:50,720 --> 04:07:52,479
you know, when he comes in this, when he

6175
04:07:52,479 --> 04:07:54,560
comes in that, it says in the paper this

6176
04:07:54,560 --> 04:07:56,080
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

6177
04:07:56,080 --> 04:07:58,880
blah. And then there's a speech at the

6178
04:07:58,880 --> 04:08:00,560
end where the the the the

6179
04:08:00,560 --> 04:08:02,000
African-American lawyer played by David

6180
04:08:02,000 --> 04:08:03,680
Alen Greer says, "Okay, wait a And he

6181
04:08:03,680 --> 04:08:05,040
says, "You want me to tell you about

6182
04:08:05,040 --> 04:08:06,479
black? You want to tell me, Mr. White

6183
04:08:06,479 --> 04:08:09,120
man, about black black people? I'll help

6184
04:08:09,120 --> 04:08:11,359
you." Dr. King was a saint. He was

6185
04:08:11,359 --> 04:08:13,680
killed by a jealous husband. Malcolm X

6186
04:08:13,680 --> 04:08:15,439
became

6187
04:08:15,439 --> 04:08:17,439
uh saintly when he embraced nonviolence.

6188
04:08:17,439 --> 04:08:21,120
Prior to that, he was misguided. Um,

6189
04:08:21,120 --> 04:08:22,800
you never actually [ __ ] a black girl,

6190
04:08:22,800 --> 04:08:24,880
but one sat next to you in science class

6191
04:08:24,880 --> 04:08:27,520
and she was really kind of shy. And the

6192
04:08:27,520 --> 04:08:28,560
other guy says, "Wait a second." The

6193
04:08:28,560 --> 04:08:29,920
white guy says, "I would never say any

6194
04:08:29,920 --> 04:08:31,279
of that stuff." So the black guy says,

6195
04:08:31,279 --> 04:08:32,880
"You're goddamn right you wouldn't. Cuz

6196
04:08:32,880 --> 04:08:34,399
you know what a white guy can say to a

6197
04:08:34,399 --> 04:08:36,239
black guy about race? Nothing. You're

6198
04:08:36,239 --> 04:08:39,199
goddamn right. Nothing." He says, he

6199
04:08:39,199 --> 04:08:41,199
says, "You white people think," he says,

6200
04:08:41,199 --> 04:08:42,560
"Let me put you out of your misery. You

6201
04:08:42,560 --> 04:08:43,920
white people think that black people

6202
04:08:43,920 --> 04:08:45,840
hate you. You're right. We absolutely

6203
04:08:45,840 --> 04:08:47,120
do." He says, "I don't want you coming

6204
04:08:47,120 --> 04:08:48,880
in with your white [ __ ] and your

6205
04:08:48,880 --> 04:08:50,319
rich [ __ ] about how you were

6206
04:08:50,319 --> 04:08:53,359
wronged." So the white guy says, "I I'm"

6207
04:08:53,359 --> 04:08:56,000
She made a false accusation. So the

6208
04:08:56,000 --> 04:08:58,000
black guy says, "Well, which of us is

6209
04:08:58,000 --> 04:09:01,120
which of us is is immune?" So the So the

6210
04:09:01,120 --> 04:09:04,960
white guy says, "Uh, she she said she

6211
04:09:04,960 --> 04:09:06,800
loved me." And the black guy says,

6212
04:09:06,800 --> 04:09:08,239
"Well, I guess she changed her mind cuz

6213
04:09:08,239 --> 04:09:10,160
it says here you say she says you raped

6214
04:09:10,160 --> 04:09:12,880
her." So I'm talking I'm looking at this

6215
04:09:12,880 --> 04:09:14,720
is 35 minutes into the play. I'm

6216
04:09:14,720 --> 04:09:17,040
thinking, man, if you don't start the

6217
04:09:17,040 --> 04:09:18,399
play with this speech, you're stupid and

6218
04:09:18,399 --> 04:09:20,640
I think you are. Right? So all of a

6219
04:09:20,640 --> 04:09:22,640
sudden we rip the band-aid off the

6220
04:09:22,640 --> 04:09:24,640
subject of race where this black guy

6221
04:09:24,640 --> 04:09:26,080
says, "I don't care if you don't never

6222
04:09:26,080 --> 04:09:28,080
like it. This is the truth. You want to

6223
04:09:28,080 --> 04:09:30,000
talk or not?" So the whole beginning of

6224
04:09:30,000 --> 04:09:31,920
the play becomes these this this black

6225
04:09:31,920 --> 04:09:33,520
and white couple saying to the white

6226
04:09:33,520 --> 04:09:35,520
rich guy, "You want to talk or not?"

6227
04:09:35,520 --> 04:09:36,640
Right? You want to tell the truth or

6228
04:09:36,640 --> 04:09:38,720
not? I don't give a [ __ ] Right? But

6229
04:09:38,720 --> 04:09:42,399
you're paying us uh to defend you.

6230
04:09:42,399 --> 04:09:43,600
And he said, "I don't even want the

6231
04:09:43,600 --> 04:09:44,720
case, but you're paying us to defend

6232
04:09:44,720 --> 04:09:46,000
you. I'm going to tell you the truth."

6233
04:09:46,000 --> 04:09:48,000
And so that was a it was I thought it

6234
04:09:48,000 --> 04:09:49,600
was just electrifying. and the audience,

6235
04:09:49,600 --> 04:09:52,399
God bless them, they they loved it. I

6236
04:09:52,399 --> 04:09:56,760
was I was It was thrilling.

6237
04:10:08,960 --> 04:10:10,800
I've thought a lot about acting for 50

6238
04:10:10,800 --> 04:10:13,600
years. I was 50 years ago as a student

6239
04:10:13,600 --> 04:10:14,960
at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of

6240
04:10:14,960 --> 04:10:16,880
the New York. And our my teachers a man

6241
04:10:16,880 --> 04:10:20,000
named Sanford Meisner among others who

6242
04:10:20,000 --> 04:10:22,560
was co-evil with Lee Strawber. They both

6243
04:10:22,560 --> 04:10:24,560
came out of the group theater and Lee

6244
04:10:24,560 --> 04:10:26,399
Strawber invented this idea called the

6245
04:10:26,399 --> 04:10:30,239
method. And uh Sandy Meisner invented

6246
04:10:30,239 --> 04:10:31,600
this thing that came to be called the

6247
04:10:31,600 --> 04:10:33,760
Meisner technique. And before you went

6248
04:10:33,760 --> 04:10:34,880
to the neighborhood players, they gave

6249
04:10:34,880 --> 04:10:37,680
you a list of about 50 books that were

6250
04:10:37,680 --> 04:10:39,199
all about technique. And they were by

6251
04:10:39,199 --> 04:10:41,600
Stannislovski and Neorovich Stanchenko

6252
04:10:41,600 --> 04:10:46,160
and all the Russians and uh um all all

6253
04:10:46,160 --> 04:10:49,040
the um Michael Redgrave mask and face

6254
04:10:49,040 --> 04:10:52,640
and uh Shalyapian talking about singing

6255
04:10:52,640 --> 04:10:54,720
and they they came from a very very

6256
04:10:54,720 --> 04:10:57,040
Jewish tradition right because the group

6257
04:10:57,040 --> 04:10:59,199
theater was very Jewish tradition. Lee

6258
04:10:59,199 --> 04:11:02,479
Strawberg and um Sandy Meiser was the

6259
04:11:02,479 --> 04:11:04,800
tradition of study that the that the

6260
04:11:04,800 --> 04:11:07,279
truth can be found in um

6261
04:11:07,279 --> 04:11:09,279
intellectualizing

6262
04:11:09,279 --> 04:11:11,199
and so they invented the these

6263
04:11:11,199 --> 04:11:12,560
techniques and I looked there as I was

6264
04:11:12,560 --> 04:11:14,399
an acting student. I didn't understand

6265
04:11:14,399 --> 04:11:16,800
them. I understood the beauty of trying

6266
04:11:16,800 --> 04:11:20,960
to to find a technique for acting, but I

6267
04:11:20,960 --> 04:11:24,960
didn't I didn't understand how that

6268
04:11:24,960 --> 04:11:27,520
other than as an article of faith

6269
04:11:27,520 --> 04:11:30,479
translated into acting that I liked. And

6270
04:11:30,479 --> 04:11:32,319
so I started thinking about it. And so I

6271
04:11:32,319 --> 04:11:34,239
founded a theater company. I think I

6272
04:11:34,239 --> 04:11:36,000
founded my first theater company. It was

6273
04:11:36,000 --> 04:11:38,080
maybe 21 years old. And I said, "Wait a

6274
04:11:38,080 --> 04:11:39,760
second. Let's start at the beginning.

6275
04:11:39,760 --> 04:11:43,120
What's an actor actually doing?"

6276
04:11:43,120 --> 04:11:47,199
And this puts me in mind of um

6277
04:11:47,199 --> 04:11:49,439
uh combat handgun shooting. So the

6278
04:11:49,439 --> 04:11:50,960
combat handgun shooting, you know,

6279
04:11:50,960 --> 04:11:53,359
following it as we all do over the

6280
04:11:53,359 --> 04:11:55,279
course of decades, you know, back in the

6281
04:11:55,279 --> 04:11:57,439
50s, the the guys at that point, they

6282
04:11:57,439 --> 04:11:59,279
were all guys. The cops were taught

6283
04:11:59,279 --> 04:12:01,199
stick one hand in your pocket and we're

6284
04:12:01,199 --> 04:12:03,199
going to practice on a bullseye, stand

6285
04:12:03,199 --> 04:12:06,640
at 90 degrees to the topic and at to the

6286
04:12:06,640 --> 04:12:10,000
target and blah blah blah. Later on,

6287
04:12:10,000 --> 04:12:11,760
some theorists said, "No, no, that's not

6288
04:12:11,760 --> 04:12:13,120
what you want to do. What you want to do

6289
04:12:13,120 --> 04:12:15,600
is you want to use both hands,

6290
04:12:15,600 --> 04:12:18,560
right? You want to thrust the gun out,

6291
04:12:18,560 --> 04:12:20,560
right? And hold kind of they call an

6292
04:12:20,560 --> 04:12:22,960
isosles stance, right? One hand is going

6293
04:12:22,960 --> 04:12:25,359
to pistol pistol hand's going to thrust

6294
04:12:25,359 --> 04:12:27,920
out. The other hand is going to pull

6295
04:12:27,920 --> 04:12:29,840
back and you want to take a sight

6296
04:12:29,840 --> 04:12:32,000
picture so that you have three things in

6297
04:12:32,000 --> 04:12:33,920
a line. The back sight, the front sight,

6298
04:12:33,920 --> 04:12:36,560
and the target. Your your mind can't

6299
04:12:36,560 --> 04:12:38,640
hold the the eye can't hold that much

6300
04:12:38,640 --> 04:12:40,880
focal length. So, what are you going to

6301
04:12:40,880 --> 04:12:42,640
focus on?

6302
04:12:42,640 --> 04:12:44,800
focus on the front sight and you let the

6303
04:12:44,800 --> 04:12:46,800
back sight go fuzzy and you let the

6304
04:12:46,800 --> 04:12:49,120
target go fuzzy and you it's a great way

6305
04:12:49,120 --> 04:12:51,199
to shoot targets. But then somebody came

6306
04:12:51,199 --> 04:12:52,960
along and said, "Wait a second, that's

6307
04:12:52,960 --> 04:12:54,880
really great for shooting targets, but

6308
04:12:54,880 --> 04:12:56,800
when someone's shooting back at you,

6309
04:12:56,800 --> 04:12:59,120
there's nobody in the world who's not

6310
04:12:59,120 --> 04:13:00,960
going to grab the gun from the holster,

6311
04:13:00,960 --> 04:13:04,080
stick it out over there. The your vision

6312
04:13:04,080 --> 04:13:06,239
narrows to the size of a pin and they're

6313
04:13:06,239 --> 04:13:07,920
going to and and they're going to slap

6314
04:13:07,920 --> 04:13:09,680
the trigger."

6315
04:13:09,680 --> 04:13:13,040
So current thinking was let's see what

6316
04:13:13,040 --> 04:13:14,880
people do naturally and train them to do

6317
04:13:14,880 --> 04:13:16,640
that because there's no way they're not

6318
04:13:16,640 --> 04:13:19,520
going to do it. So let's capitalize on

6319
04:13:19,520 --> 04:13:22,640
that. So similarly in acting training we

6320
04:13:22,640 --> 04:13:24,479
have all these techniques which they're

6321
04:13:24,479 --> 04:13:26,880
great techniques but they don't work

6322
04:13:26,880 --> 04:13:29,600
under the great stress

6323
04:13:29,600 --> 04:13:32,479
of I want to be good and there's an

6324
04:13:32,479 --> 04:13:34,960
audience. So my question was what does

6325
04:13:34,960 --> 04:13:37,120
work?

6326
04:13:37,120 --> 04:13:40,000
And my answer was

6327
04:13:40,000 --> 04:13:43,279
uh back to the days of hiking, don't put

6328
04:13:43,279 --> 04:13:44,560
it in your pack if you don't want to

6329
04:13:44,560 --> 04:13:46,720
carry it.

6330
04:13:46,720 --> 04:13:48,239
If you pick it up, you're going to carry

6331
04:13:48,239 --> 04:13:51,199
it. So all these ideas of in this moment

6332
04:13:51,199 --> 04:13:53,439
I A and in that moment I be and my

6333
04:13:53,439 --> 04:13:56,080
character is the kind of person who when

6334
04:13:56,080 --> 04:13:58,720
you take that on stage, you all you're

6335
04:13:58,720 --> 04:14:01,040
left with is wait a minute. Wait a

6336
04:14:01,040 --> 04:14:02,960
minute. Am I going to hit this moment?

6337
04:14:02,960 --> 04:14:04,399
uh uh correctly. I'm going to hit that

6338
04:14:04,399 --> 04:14:06,239
moment correctly. So, what that does is

6339
04:14:06,239 --> 04:14:08,560
it makes you self-conscious. The desire

6340
04:14:08,560 --> 04:14:10,720
to be perfect

6341
04:14:10,720 --> 04:14:12,479
makes you self-conscious, which is to

6342
04:14:12,479 --> 04:14:15,520
say sterile. So, you say, "Okay, how can

6343
04:14:15,520 --> 04:14:16,640
we make actors other than

6344
04:14:16,640 --> 04:14:18,960
self-conscious?"

6345
04:14:18,960 --> 04:14:21,680
Well, Stannislovski says, "Don't tell

6346
04:14:21,680 --> 04:14:24,000
them to do anything more complex than go

6347
04:14:24,000 --> 04:14:26,479
over there and open the window." Because

6348
04:14:26,479 --> 04:14:28,720
that's something you can do. If I say to

6349
04:14:28,720 --> 04:14:30,399
you, go over there and open the window,

6350
04:14:30,399 --> 04:14:33,040
okay? or move your chair back 6 in. You

6351
04:14:33,040 --> 04:14:37,520
can do that, right? If I say to you,

6352
04:14:37,520 --> 04:14:39,439
remember the time when your little dog

6353
04:14:39,439 --> 04:14:41,680
died, you can kind of pretend to do it

6354
04:14:41,680 --> 04:14:43,920
cuz what's going to happen when I give

6355
04:14:43,920 --> 04:14:47,960
you a instruction

6356
04:14:48,239 --> 04:14:49,760
is self-consciousness because you're

6357
04:14:49,760 --> 04:14:51,199
going to be saying, "Wait a second. Am I

6358
04:14:51,199 --> 04:14:52,800
really thinking about the dog the time

6359
04:14:52,800 --> 04:14:54,720
my dog died? Am I doing it enough?" Blah

6360
04:14:54,720 --> 04:14:56,479
blah blah. So, what does it does do? It

6361
04:14:56,479 --> 04:14:59,520
closes you in rather than opens you out.

6362
04:14:59,520 --> 04:15:01,359
So what you want to say to the actor is

6363
04:15:01,359 --> 04:15:02,960
don't do anything which is not

6364
04:15:02,960 --> 04:15:06,080
physically capable of being done which

6365
04:15:06,080 --> 04:15:07,520
is not something like what the author

6366
04:15:07,520 --> 04:15:09,520
intended which is not fun because if

6367
04:15:09,520 --> 04:15:12,239
it's not fun

6368
04:15:12,239 --> 04:15:14,159
why would you do it you know if acting

6369
04:15:14,159 --> 04:15:16,159
is not fun why would you do it it's not

6370
04:15:16,159 --> 04:15:18,960
an exercise in getting the moments right

6371
04:15:18,960 --> 04:15:21,520
who cares I mean there are some

6372
04:15:21,520 --> 04:15:24,960
musicians who give such oomph to every

6373
04:15:24,960 --> 04:15:27,439
passage they just want to shoot yourself

6374
04:15:27,439 --> 04:15:29,199
you know and that became like the style

6375
04:15:29,199 --> 04:15:30,960
of singing starting after Barbara

6376
04:15:30,960 --> 04:15:33,920
Stryson, you had to sing each note as if

6377
04:15:33,920 --> 04:15:36,720
the fate of the universe depended on it,

6378
04:15:36,720 --> 04:15:38,720
right? But you go back and listen to,

6379
04:15:38,720 --> 04:15:40,640
for example, for Billy Holiday, who

6380
04:15:40,640 --> 04:15:42,159
knows what she's doing, but it's not

6381
04:15:42,159 --> 04:15:44,800
much in every bit of its genius. You

6382
04:15:44,800 --> 04:15:45,760
know, you don't have to save the

6383
04:15:45,760 --> 04:15:47,920
universe, just sing the stupid song. So,

6384
04:15:47,920 --> 04:15:49,680
the actor has to do something which is

6385
04:15:49,680 --> 04:15:50,880
something like what the playright

6386
04:15:50,880 --> 04:15:55,439
intended, capable of being done and fun.

6387
04:15:55,439 --> 04:15:56,960
Get the other guy's attention. Hey, hey,

6388
04:15:56,960 --> 04:15:58,399
I can do that. Get the other guy's

6389
04:15:58,399 --> 04:16:00,960
attention. Hey, I can do that. Change

6390
04:16:00,960 --> 04:16:02,800
the other guy's mind. Well, I'm I'm not

6391
04:16:02,800 --> 04:16:04,640
quite sure that's physically capable of

6392
04:16:04,640 --> 04:16:07,880
being done.

6393
04:16:11,600 --> 04:16:14,319
Most people, casting directors and and

6394
04:16:14,319 --> 04:16:16,640
directors in general

6395
04:16:16,640 --> 04:16:18,640
tend to believe that they have an image

6396
04:16:18,640 --> 04:16:20,080
in their head of what the character

6397
04:16:20,080 --> 04:16:22,399
would be. And so they see a bunch of

6398
04:16:22,399 --> 04:16:24,080
people that say, "No, no, no, no, no,

6399
04:16:24,080 --> 04:16:26,479
no, no, no, no." But what they don't re

6400
04:16:26,479 --> 04:16:28,640
realize is they don't have an image in

6401
04:16:28,640 --> 04:16:29,840
their head of what the charact they

6402
04:16:29,840 --> 04:16:31,840
think they do. It's like the the radio

6403
04:16:31,840 --> 04:16:34,000
personality. So what they end up doing

6404
04:16:34,000 --> 04:16:37,120
is discarding the unusual and ending up

6405
04:16:37,120 --> 04:16:38,960
with a run-of-the-mill oh this looks

6406
04:16:38,960 --> 04:16:40,159
just like the woman who played the

6407
04:16:40,159 --> 04:16:42,960
lawyer on the other show. And Sydney Lum

6408
04:16:42,960 --> 04:16:44,800
hated was a great director and hated the

6409
04:16:44,800 --> 04:16:46,319
casting process because it's terrible

6410
04:16:46,319 --> 04:16:48,800
thing for the actors to go through and

6411
04:16:48,800 --> 04:16:50,720
he loved actors as do I. And he said,

6412
04:16:50,720 --> 04:16:52,239
"Okay, the first person in the door who

6413
04:16:52,239 --> 04:16:54,720
can play the part gets the part." I

6414
04:16:54,720 --> 04:16:56,640
don't know that that's any less cruel or

6415
04:16:56,640 --> 04:16:57,840
more cruel. I don't know that that's any

6416
04:16:57,840 --> 04:16:59,680
more cruel than the other way. Cuz the

6417
04:16:59,680 --> 04:17:01,600
real question in casting is not can they

6418
04:17:01,600 --> 04:17:03,120
act the part. The question is can they

6419
04:17:03,120 --> 04:17:04,800
act?

6420
04:17:04,800 --> 04:17:06,880
If somebody can act right and and

6421
04:17:06,880 --> 04:17:08,319
they're, you know, they're you don't

6422
04:17:08,319 --> 04:17:09,520
want to cast a young woman to play an

6423
04:17:09,520 --> 04:17:11,120
old man. Someone can act and they're

6424
04:17:11,120 --> 04:17:13,359
more or less in the ballpark. Now I've

6425
04:17:13,359 --> 04:17:14,720
narrowed down the field. I don't care if

6426
04:17:14,720 --> 04:17:16,479
they can act the part. Most people come

6427
04:17:16,479 --> 04:17:19,120
to an audition and co come up with their

6428
04:17:19,120 --> 04:17:21,439
own idea of how the part should be acted

6429
04:17:21,439 --> 04:17:22,960
and the casting agent or the director

6430
04:17:22,960 --> 04:17:23,840
don't know what the hell they're doing

6431
04:17:23,840 --> 04:17:26,319
and say no that's not it right it's it's

6432
04:17:26,319 --> 04:17:28,399
it's heartbreaking because they don't

6433
04:17:28,399 --> 04:17:30,720
they don't tell the actor what they're

6434
04:17:30,720 --> 04:17:33,040
looking for in terms that the actor can

6435
04:17:33,040 --> 04:17:34,800
appreciate which is only an action

6436
04:17:34,800 --> 04:17:37,040
that's all an actor can do only an

6437
04:17:37,040 --> 04:17:39,040
action so if you tell the actor any

6438
04:17:39,040 --> 04:17:40,720
actions find out can they do it or not

6439
04:17:40,720 --> 04:17:43,040
so since the the directors most of them

6440
04:17:43,040 --> 04:17:45,279
and casting directors most of them don't

6441
04:17:45,279 --> 04:17:47,760
understand acting by just saying no, you

6442
04:17:47,760 --> 04:17:49,760
know, she was a little bit loud or I

6443
04:17:49,760 --> 04:17:51,439
really didn't like the way he moved his

6444
04:17:51,439 --> 04:17:55,640
head and etc.

6445
04:17:59,359 --> 04:18:03,439
There's craft and then there's art.

6446
04:18:03,439 --> 04:18:06,479
And uh art is

6447
04:18:06,479 --> 04:18:09,520
in the Jewish tradition, prophecy is not

6448
04:18:09,520 --> 04:18:11,920
the ability to foretell the future, but

6449
04:18:11,920 --> 04:18:14,000
pro a prophet is one who has a direct

6450
04:18:14,000 --> 04:18:16,080
connection to God or to something

6451
04:18:16,080 --> 04:18:18,720
spiritual. So you would say that a Bach

6452
04:18:18,720 --> 04:18:21,120
was a prophet, right? Bach was certainly

6453
04:18:21,120 --> 04:18:23,680
a prophet. Or if you look back at the

6454
04:18:23,680 --> 04:18:25,680
there's a woman called Jean Eagles who

6455
04:18:25,680 --> 04:18:27,600
was an America American stage actress.

6456
04:18:27,600 --> 04:18:29,840
She's great great stage actress in the

6457
04:18:29,840 --> 04:18:32,640
20s and she did one or two movies. One

6458
04:18:32,640 --> 04:18:34,399
of them is called Valletter. It was

6459
04:18:34,399 --> 04:18:36,000
later made with Betty Davis was very

6460
04:18:36,000 --> 04:18:37,120
good. But if you look at the earlier

6461
04:18:37,120 --> 04:18:38,399
thing with Gene Eagles, you're looking

6462
04:18:38,399 --> 04:18:41,040
at a force of nature that has never been

6463
04:18:41,040 --> 04:18:42,880
seen before. You say, "Oh my god, what

6464
04:18:42,880 --> 04:18:45,760
is that?" And Stannisloski talks about

6465
04:18:45,760 --> 04:18:47,680
two actresses playing the same part. One

6466
04:18:47,680 --> 04:18:50,960
was El was uh Sarah Burnernhard who was

6467
04:18:50,960 --> 04:18:53,199
famed for her quote technique and the

6468
04:18:53,199 --> 04:18:56,399
other was Eleanor Redusa who reduced

6469
04:18:56,399 --> 04:18:59,040
people to to a state of raw

6470
04:18:59,040 --> 04:19:01,760
spirituality. And nobody knew how she

6471
04:19:01,760 --> 04:19:03,120
did it. and she didn't know how she did

6472
04:19:03,120 --> 04:19:04,640
it. And he looked at him playing the

6473
04:19:04,640 --> 04:19:06,399
same part and saw Dooa looked like a

6474
04:19:06,399 --> 04:19:08,720
genius until you checked that that uh

6475
04:19:08,720 --> 04:19:10,319
Baron Hart looked like a genius till he

6476
04:19:10,319 --> 04:19:12,800
saw Elanor Aduza and someone came up to

6477
04:19:12,800 --> 04:19:14,720
Dooa afterward at the stage door and he

6478
04:19:14,720 --> 04:19:18,000
was transfixed and said, "Who are you?"

6479
04:19:18,000 --> 04:19:20,880
And she said, "I am nobody."

6480
04:19:20,880 --> 04:19:24,080
So there are those actors who are

6481
04:19:24,080 --> 04:19:26,880
prophets who something flows through

6482
04:19:26,880 --> 04:19:28,640
them and it's not of their own

6483
04:19:28,640 --> 04:19:30,720
construction and they didn't work it up

6484
04:19:30,720 --> 04:19:31,840
in the mirror but it comes from

6485
04:19:31,840 --> 04:19:33,520
somewhere and Stannisloki says there's

6486
04:19:33,520 --> 04:19:35,199
three kinds of actors. He says there's

6487
04:19:35,199 --> 04:19:37,279
the one who says I get it. This is how

6488
04:19:37,279 --> 04:19:39,600
you portray grief. I've seen other

6489
04:19:39,600 --> 04:19:41,199
actors do it. This is how you portray

6490
04:19:41,199 --> 04:19:43,600
joy. I've seen other actors do it. I can

6491
04:19:43,600 --> 04:19:45,520
do that. And he says then there's

6492
04:19:45,520 --> 04:19:47,840
another type which says no no no. I'm

6493
04:19:47,840 --> 04:19:49,920
going to figure it out for myself. I'm

6494
04:19:49,920 --> 04:19:51,439
going to figure the moments out in

6495
04:19:51,439 --> 04:19:53,760
myself and I'm going to say this is what

6496
04:19:53,760 --> 04:19:55,520
this moment means to me. That's what

6497
04:19:55,520 --> 04:19:58,159
this moment means to me. And he said the

6498
04:19:58,159 --> 04:19:59,520
third actors who don't do either of

6499
04:19:59,520 --> 04:20:02,080
those things, they go on stage and they

6500
04:20:02,080 --> 04:20:04,000
say the words and they're gifted with

6501
04:20:04,000 --> 04:20:06,479
prophecy and things come out of them

6502
04:20:06,479 --> 04:20:10,239
that they didn't put in and that's art.

6503
04:20:10,239 --> 04:20:12,000
And that's worth anything in the world

6504
04:20:12,000 --> 04:20:15,880
when you see that on stage.

6505
04:20:19,359 --> 04:20:21,520
There's certain techniques which

6506
04:20:21,520 --> 04:20:24,479
unfortunately actors um don't learn

6507
04:20:24,479 --> 04:20:25,920
which are the only techniques that can

6508
04:20:25,920 --> 04:20:28,239
be learned and must be learned. I I my

6509
04:20:28,239 --> 04:20:30,080
wife Rebecca Pigeon did a lot of work

6510
04:20:30,080 --> 04:20:32,239
with her on stage and in film and so

6511
04:20:32,239 --> 04:20:33,760
forth. And she went to the Royal Academy

6512
04:20:33,760 --> 04:20:37,600
of Dramatic Art uh Rada. And I said,

6513
04:20:37,600 --> 04:20:39,359
"What were the acting classes like?" She

6514
04:20:39,359 --> 04:20:41,760
said, "We didn't have acting classes." I

6515
04:20:41,760 --> 04:20:44,080
said, "What? Rada doesn't have acting

6516
04:20:44,080 --> 04:20:45,920
classes." No. She said, "We had

6517
04:20:45,920 --> 04:20:47,439
directors come in and direct us in

6518
04:20:47,439 --> 04:20:49,040
scenes and we'd learn whatever we could

6519
04:20:49,040 --> 04:20:51,040
or from not, but nobody approached

6520
04:20:51,040 --> 04:20:53,199
acting in a technical manner. What they

6521
04:20:53,199 --> 04:20:55,840
did do is teach you to speak and teach

6522
04:20:55,840 --> 04:20:58,800
you to stand still and teach you to face

6523
04:20:58,800 --> 04:21:01,359
out and teach you the other the other

6524
04:21:01,359 --> 04:21:04,080
skills, the the important skills. Show

6525
04:21:04,080 --> 04:21:06,800
up early, be kind, let everybody do

6526
04:21:06,800 --> 04:21:10,399
their job and you do yours." And those

6527
04:21:10,399 --> 04:21:12,640
are those are the great skills. And if

6528
04:21:12,640 --> 04:21:15,279
you start with show up early, know your

6529
04:21:15,279 --> 04:21:18,560
lines, stand still. As Jimmy Kagny used

6530
04:21:18,560 --> 04:21:21,520
to say, what's acting? Hit your mark,

6531
04:21:21,520 --> 04:21:23,439
look the other guy in the eye, and tell

6532
04:21:23,439 --> 04:21:25,199
the truth.

6533
04:21:25,199 --> 04:21:29,680
So if you can do that, that's the that's

6534
04:21:29,680 --> 04:21:32,000
the path to good acting. And if you do

6535
04:21:32,000 --> 04:21:34,399
that and you have inspiration, that's

6536
04:21:34,399 --> 04:21:35,840
the path to something which which

6537
04:21:35,840 --> 04:21:39,399
approaches prophecy.

6538
04:21:51,439 --> 04:21:54,560
actors. Unfortunately,

6539
04:21:54,560 --> 04:21:56,960
they have to be biddable because it's

6540
04:21:56,960 --> 04:21:58,800
part of

6541
04:21:58,800 --> 04:22:01,520
their job to be both biddable because

6542
04:22:01,520 --> 04:22:03,359
you're directing them and gracious. And

6543
04:22:03,359 --> 04:22:04,800
they're generally very, very gracious

6544
04:22:04,800 --> 04:22:06,960
people. you know, an actor or anybody in

6545
04:22:06,960 --> 04:22:08,960
show business, not gracious, is is an

6546
04:22:08,960 --> 04:22:11,840
anomaly and it's it's such an anomaly

6547
04:22:11,840 --> 04:22:14,800
that when we see it, it becomes the a

6548
04:22:14,800 --> 04:22:16,399
gossip forever. Oh my god, I can't

6549
04:22:16,399 --> 04:22:18,239
believe what this guy did on the set.

6550
04:22:18,239 --> 04:22:21,600
Actors need to be biddable. But um the

6551
04:22:21,600 --> 04:22:23,680
other thing actors I talk to actors

6552
04:22:23,680 --> 04:22:25,040
about, they say, "Wait a second. We want

6553
04:22:25,040 --> 04:22:27,120
sometimes like in a class or something,

6554
04:22:27,120 --> 04:22:30,319
they say, "I I need to discuss this um

6555
04:22:30,319 --> 04:22:32,319
the script."

6556
04:22:32,319 --> 04:22:35,199
And I say, "Well, okay. Well, did you

6557
04:22:35,199 --> 04:22:36,479
understand it when you read it? They

6558
04:22:36,479 --> 04:22:38,479
said, "Well, yeah." I said, "Okay, well,

6559
04:22:38,479 --> 04:22:40,080
let's go do it." It's a recognition

6560
04:22:40,080 --> 04:22:42,960
scene. Off you go.

6561
04:22:42,960 --> 04:22:44,800
It's It's really not that difficult. And

6562
04:22:44,800 --> 04:22:47,840
that's what makes it so hard, right?

6563
04:22:47,840 --> 04:22:50,479
Stand still, speak up, say the words,

6564
04:22:50,479 --> 04:22:53,600
and if you do, and pick up your cues,

6565
04:22:53,600 --> 04:22:55,920
something will happen to you that you

6566
04:22:55,920 --> 04:22:59,720
did not foresee.

6567
04:23:00,880 --> 04:23:02,720
And if you don't, nothing will happen to

6568
04:23:02,720 --> 04:23:04,319
you that you did not foresee. And if you

6569
04:23:04,319 --> 04:23:05,840
couldn't for if you could foresee it,

6570
04:23:05,840 --> 04:23:09,640
the audience could too.

6571
04:23:13,359 --> 04:23:16,560
Our pel William Shakespeare right said

6572
04:23:16,560 --> 04:23:18,560
the world's a stage and all the men and

6573
04:23:18,560 --> 04:23:20,319
women merely players and they have their

6574
04:23:20,319 --> 04:23:22,239
entrance exits and their entrances and

6575
04:23:22,239 --> 04:23:25,040
each man in his time plays many parts.

6576
04:23:25,040 --> 04:23:27,359
And so of course it's appropriate to act

6577
04:23:27,359 --> 04:23:29,760
in certain ways in certain circumstances

6578
04:23:29,760 --> 04:23:32,159
and inappropriate in other circumstances

6579
04:23:32,159 --> 04:23:34,880
and we all we all know that and so we

6580
04:23:34,880 --> 04:23:36,720
gauge our behavior to the to the

6581
04:23:36,720 --> 04:23:39,040
circumstances but that acting on stage

6582
04:23:39,040 --> 04:23:40,720
is a little is a little bit different.

6583
04:23:40,720 --> 04:23:44,080
Acting on stage is um in its perfect

6584
04:23:44,080 --> 04:23:47,040
form is it has to be an attempt to get

6585
04:23:47,040 --> 04:23:48,640
something from the other person but it

6586
04:23:48,640 --> 04:23:50,399
cannot be an attempt to get something

6587
04:23:50,399 --> 04:23:53,840
from the audience. even understanding

6588
04:23:53,840 --> 04:23:55,760
we have to say you're over there I'm

6589
04:23:55,760 --> 04:23:57,199
going to do my job which is getting

6590
04:23:57,199 --> 04:24:00,239
something from him and I trust and it

6591
04:24:00,239 --> 04:24:02,800
will be proved to be true that you will

6592
04:24:02,800 --> 04:24:07,359
give me your attention and so people uh

6593
04:24:07,359 --> 04:24:09,439
currently a lot of them misunderstand

6594
04:24:09,439 --> 04:24:11,920
the purpose of the the the curtain call

6595
04:24:11,920 --> 04:24:14,000
purpose of the curtain call is to thank

6596
04:24:14,000 --> 04:24:16,640
the audience that's why traditionally

6597
04:24:16,640 --> 04:24:19,120
the actors at the end bowed they said

6598
04:24:19,120 --> 04:24:20,960
thank you for your attention it is not

6599
04:24:20,960 --> 04:24:22,720
to receive receive praise from the

6600
04:24:22,720 --> 04:24:25,840
audience but to thank them.

6601
04:24:25,840 --> 04:24:27,600
Um

6602
04:24:27,600 --> 04:24:31,880
that's what Puck says, right?

6603
04:24:32,399 --> 04:24:34,560
If we shadows have offended, think but

6604
04:24:34,560 --> 04:24:36,479
this and all of us mended that you have

6605
04:24:36,479 --> 04:24:39,600
but slumbered here while these visions

6606
04:24:39,600 --> 04:24:43,520
did appear and our weakened feeble

6607
04:24:43,520 --> 04:24:46,319
theme no more yielding than a dream.

6608
04:24:46,319 --> 04:24:49,600
Gentles do not reprehend. If we if you

6609
04:24:49,600 --> 04:24:52,080
will pardon, we will mend. Give us your

6610
04:24:52,080 --> 04:24:54,720
hands if we be friends and Robin shall

6611
04:24:54,720 --> 04:24:56,800
restore amends.

6612
04:24:56,800 --> 04:24:58,960
And then the the actor would bow saying

6613
04:24:58,960 --> 04:25:02,680
thank you for your attention.

6614
04:25:06,640 --> 04:25:08,239
Well, the relationship with the actors,

6615
04:25:08,239 --> 04:25:09,279
I mean, you know, Shakespeare said,

6616
04:25:09,279 --> 04:25:10,960
"You're better to have a bad epipath

6617
04:25:10,960 --> 04:25:13,279
than their ill report during your life."

6618
04:25:13,279 --> 04:25:14,880
They are the abstract and brief

6619
04:25:14,880 --> 04:25:17,359
chronicles of our time.

6620
04:25:17,359 --> 04:25:19,680
And indeed they are, you know, the the

6621
04:25:19,680 --> 04:25:21,680
Marlon Brando playing the godfather of

6622
04:25:21,680 --> 04:25:25,439
Steve McQueen in the Great Escape or

6623
04:25:25,439 --> 04:25:30,399
one could go on and on. I I'm um um

6624
04:25:30,399 --> 04:25:31,680
limiting myself just because I don't

6625
04:25:31,680 --> 04:25:33,120
want to talk about people to make

6626
04:25:33,120 --> 04:25:34,720
invidious comparisons with people who

6627
04:25:34,720 --> 04:25:37,600
are now people who are now working or if

6628
04:25:37,600 --> 04:25:40,159
you look at the um

6629
04:25:40,159 --> 04:25:44,319
ma lawy for example

6630
04:25:44,319 --> 04:25:46,080
they they they inform the way we think

6631
04:25:46,080 --> 04:25:47,680
about life. say, "Oh, yes, I understand.

6632
04:25:47,680 --> 04:25:49,279
That's what courage is. That's what

6633
04:25:49,279 --> 04:25:51,439
grace is." Look at Carrie Grant, that's

6634
04:25:51,439 --> 04:25:53,920
what graciousness is. You know, you look

6635
04:25:53,920 --> 04:25:55,760
at Betty Davis, that's what intensity

6636
04:25:55,760 --> 04:25:57,760
is. You know, honor, you look at James

6637
04:25:57,760 --> 04:25:59,920
Earl doing um the Great White Hope, you

6638
04:25:59,920 --> 04:26:01,680
say, "Oh my god, you know, where' that

6639
04:26:01,680 --> 04:26:03,520
where in the world did that come from?

6640
04:26:03,520 --> 04:26:06,800
Who who is that man?" They are the ab as

6641
04:26:06,800 --> 04:26:08,479
Shakespeare says, they're the abstract

6642
04:26:08,479 --> 04:26:10,080
and brief chronicles of our time.

6643
04:26:10,080 --> 04:26:12,800
There's a famous story that uh

6644
04:26:12,800 --> 04:26:16,640
Shakespeare uh had his own company right

6645
04:26:16,640 --> 04:26:18,399
the king's men and the globe theater

6646
04:26:18,399 --> 04:26:21,520
company and his best actor was a guy

6647
04:26:21,520 --> 04:26:24,080
called Richard Burbage and he when

6648
04:26:24,080 --> 04:26:26,399
Shakespeare wrote the King Lear he gave

6649
04:26:26,399 --> 04:26:27,840
it to him and he said well Dick I

6650
04:26:27,840 --> 04:26:30,800
finally written one you can't play

6651
04:26:30,800 --> 04:26:33,600
so I've been blessed in my life with

6652
04:26:33,600 --> 04:26:35,840
working with the the best actors in the

6653
04:26:35,840 --> 04:26:38,880
world and uh the point is not writing

6654
04:26:38,880 --> 04:26:41,520
for them but knowing that if I if I

6655
04:26:41,520 --> 04:26:45,120
write it that uh they'll they'll inhabit

6656
04:26:45,120 --> 04:26:47,600
it, right? That one doesn't have to that

6657
04:26:47,600 --> 04:26:49,359
that their talent isn't being able to

6658
04:26:49,359 --> 04:26:51,359
being able to do not one thing. So, one

6659
04:26:51,359 --> 04:26:53,359
doesn't have to write for them, one has

6660
04:26:53,359 --> 04:26:57,720
to write and then they'll play it.

6661
04:27:01,040 --> 04:27:04,319
There's a great um exemplar that all of

6662
04:27:04,319 --> 04:27:06,399
you guys out there should really check

6663
04:27:06,399 --> 04:27:08,319
out and is an unknown genius of the

6664
04:27:08,319 --> 04:27:10,080
American theater. Her name was Ruth

6665
04:27:10,080 --> 04:27:13,279
Draper and Ruth Draper uh worked in the

6666
04:27:13,279 --> 04:27:15,680
I guess in the late 20s and throughout

6667
04:27:15,680 --> 04:27:17,520
the 1950s

6668
04:27:17,520 --> 04:27:19,680
and she was a monologist. She would go

6669
04:27:19,680 --> 04:27:22,159
all alone onto the stage and she would

6670
04:27:22,159 --> 04:27:24,479
do monologues and the monologues would

6671
04:27:24,479 --> 04:27:27,279
be at a garden party or in the middle of

6672
04:27:27,279 --> 04:27:30,080
a snowstorm in Fargo, South Dakota or

6673
04:27:30,080 --> 04:27:32,960
the the Italian lesson or an Irish

6674
04:27:32,960 --> 04:27:35,520
immigrant arrives at Ellis Island and

6675
04:27:35,520 --> 04:27:37,040
she would just do one part of the

6676
04:27:37,040 --> 04:27:39,199
conversation but for and you can get

6677
04:27:39,199 --> 04:27:41,520
she's recorded and she would she would

6678
04:27:41,520 --> 04:27:44,399
do these monologues such that she

6679
04:27:44,399 --> 04:27:47,920
created a whole world around her the the

6680
04:27:47,920 --> 04:27:53,120
marvelous whole world around her. And um

6681
04:27:53,120 --> 04:27:55,040
she was a wealthy woman and she was over

6682
04:27:55,040 --> 04:27:57,600
in England and she became uh Bernard

6683
04:27:57,600 --> 04:28:01,040
Shaw and Null Coward came to her parties

6684
04:28:01,040 --> 04:28:02,960
and she'd do these party turns and they

6685
04:28:02,960 --> 04:28:04,479
said, "Oh my gosh, you know, this is

6686
04:28:04,479 --> 04:28:06,479
genius. You should go do them on stage."

6687
04:28:06,479 --> 04:28:08,880
And so she did. And it was she's one of

6688
04:28:08,880 --> 04:28:10,399
the great American playwrs, although

6689
04:28:10,399 --> 04:28:12,880
she's not recognized as such and one of

6690
04:28:12,880 --> 04:28:15,600
the great performers of all time. And

6691
04:28:15,600 --> 04:28:18,560
one of the the um

6692
04:28:18,560 --> 04:28:20,159
routines she did was called Three Women

6693
04:28:20,159 --> 04:28:23,359
and Mrs. Clifford. And it's these uh and

6694
04:28:23,359 --> 04:28:24,720
she plays the three women. Each one

6695
04:28:24,720 --> 04:28:26,159
takes about a half an hour. The first

6696
04:28:26,159 --> 04:28:28,960
one is Mr. Clifford's secretary talking

6697
04:28:28,960 --> 04:28:31,439
about what what uh the wife and the son

6698
04:28:31,439 --> 04:28:33,600
and blah blah and the and the friend

6699
04:28:33,600 --> 04:28:35,760
from France. And the second one is Mr.

6700
04:28:35,760 --> 04:28:37,680
Clifford's wife and they obviously have

6701
04:28:37,680 --> 04:28:39,920
a very very difficult marriage and the

6702
04:28:39,920 --> 04:28:41,439
wife is talking about the same thing

6703
04:28:41,439 --> 04:28:44,080
from her own point of view. And then the

6704
04:28:44,080 --> 04:28:46,000
third one is his mistress with whom he's

6705
04:28:46,000 --> 04:28:47,760
perfectly happy and they're talking

6706
04:28:47,760 --> 04:28:49,359
about the same thing from the same point

6707
04:28:49,359 --> 04:28:51,120
of view. It's one of the great pieces of

6708
04:28:51,120 --> 04:28:53,359
dramatic writing. And where does it come

6709
04:28:53,359 --> 04:28:56,640
from? It not not only did the content

6710
04:28:56,640 --> 04:28:59,920
not exist, the form didn't exist until

6711
04:28:59,920 --> 04:29:02,560
Ruth Draper stood up at a party and and

6712
04:29:02,560 --> 04:29:04,159
started making up these silly little

6713
04:29:04,159 --> 04:29:07,159
characters.

6714
04:29:19,199 --> 04:29:22,479
You know, it's like again uh as Pelonius

6715
04:29:22,479 --> 04:29:24,640
says to a field you love is affections

6716
04:29:24,640 --> 04:29:26,960
do not that way tend. And so I wanted to

6717
04:29:26,960 --> 04:29:28,479
say something to all you guys listening

6718
04:29:28,479 --> 04:29:31,040
about that is that a lot of people are

6719
04:29:31,040 --> 04:29:33,439
drawn into movie making and drawn into

6720
04:29:33,439 --> 04:29:36,880
the theater for because of one thing

6721
04:29:36,880 --> 04:29:38,880
they want to do. That might be being a

6722
04:29:38,880 --> 04:29:40,239
director of photography. It might be

6723
04:29:40,239 --> 04:29:42,640
being an actor. It might be being an ad.

6724
04:29:42,640 --> 04:29:44,000
It might and you might find there

6725
04:29:44,000 --> 04:29:46,159
something else

6726
04:29:46,159 --> 04:29:47,760
that you want to find. Maybe you're not

6727
04:29:47,760 --> 04:29:49,760
so good at that, but you're very good at

6728
04:29:49,760 --> 04:29:52,000
something else. And that's where all of

6729
04:29:52,000 --> 04:29:54,720
the the writers used to come from and

6730
04:29:54,720 --> 04:29:56,479
still did in my day. They came from guys

6731
04:29:56,479 --> 04:29:59,359
who got in as an actor. Okay,

6732
04:29:59,359 --> 04:30:02,080
Shakespeare was an actor. And they said,

6733
04:30:02,080 --> 04:30:03,920
"Wait a second. Let me try this other

6734
04:30:03,920 --> 04:30:06,880
thing." And we know this works when we

6735
04:30:06,880 --> 04:30:09,520
put on the office party. Okay. So, we

6736
04:30:09,520 --> 04:30:12,080
put on the office party and Sally says,

6737
04:30:12,080 --> 04:30:13,279
"We're going to have an office party

6738
04:30:13,279 --> 04:30:16,080
here. We're going to put on a skit about

6739
04:30:16,080 --> 04:30:18,000
the mail room." And one person says,

6740
04:30:18,000 --> 04:30:19,600
"Oh, good, good, good. I got a great

6741
04:30:19,600 --> 04:30:21,120
idea for costumes." And one person says,

6742
04:30:21,120 --> 04:30:22,640
"Oh, can I write it?" And the other guy

6743
04:30:22,640 --> 04:30:23,840
says, "Oh, I'm going to I'm going to

6744
04:30:23,840 --> 04:30:27,560
play Bertha." Right.

6745
04:30:28,000 --> 04:30:30,399
This this is such a cliche of American

6746
04:30:30,399 --> 04:30:32,720
life. Judy Garland and Nick Mickey

6747
04:30:32,720 --> 04:30:34,159
Rooney saying, "We'll put it on in the

6748
04:30:34,159 --> 04:30:37,040
garage." But that's all a theater is.

6749
04:30:37,040 --> 04:30:38,479
It's a bunch of people say, "We'll put

6750
04:30:38,479 --> 04:30:40,319
it on in the garage. My uncle's got a

6751
04:30:40,319 --> 04:30:43,279
top hat. Ooh ooh ooh. Can I Can I sing a

6752
04:30:43,279 --> 04:30:44,880
song?"

6753
04:30:44,880 --> 04:30:46,640
You're not going to find that in school.

6754
04:30:46,640 --> 04:30:48,159
Not going to find it at any school. But

6755
04:30:48,159 --> 04:30:49,680
you're going to find it in the garage.

6756
04:30:49,680 --> 04:30:52,159
Got a job at Ford designing automobiles.

6757
04:30:52,159 --> 04:30:53,600
Well, what's that person going to get a

6758
04:30:53,600 --> 04:30:56,560
job doing? They'll say, "Oh, good.

6759
04:30:56,560 --> 04:30:59,439
You're going to work on the tail light,

6760
04:30:59,439 --> 04:31:00,800
right? So, you're going to work on the

6761
04:31:00,800 --> 04:31:02,319
tail light for 10 years and maybe you

6762
04:31:02,319 --> 04:31:04,720
work on the on the back bumper and blah

6763
04:31:04,720 --> 04:31:07,040
blah blah. It's very seldom that you're

6764
04:31:07,040 --> 04:31:10,239
going to actually get a job designing a

6765
04:31:10,239 --> 04:31:13,359
whole car. On the other hand, there were

6766
04:31:13,359 --> 04:31:15,920
these things in LA in Los Angeles,

6767
04:31:15,920 --> 04:31:17,199
mainly in Los Angeles, there may still

6768
04:31:17,199 --> 04:31:19,680
be called chop shops, which were not the

6769
04:31:19,680 --> 04:31:21,040
chop shops of today where they took

6770
04:31:21,040 --> 04:31:22,640
stolen cars, but where kids would get

6771
04:31:22,640 --> 04:31:25,760
together and they'd create a new car out

6772
04:31:25,760 --> 04:31:28,000
of nothing, right? They create the hot

6773
04:31:28,000 --> 04:31:30,399
rod buggies. They create it. And the

6774
04:31:30,399 --> 04:31:32,319
people from Detroit started coming to

6775
04:31:32,319 --> 04:31:34,640
these chop shops and saying, "Wow,

6776
04:31:34,640 --> 04:31:36,640
that's what we should be doing." So

6777
04:31:36,640 --> 04:31:39,439
these kids were making the cars right

6778
04:31:39,439 --> 04:31:42,479
there that Detroit was beating a path to

6779
04:31:42,479 --> 04:31:43,760
their door and saying, "We want to make

6780
04:31:43,760 --> 04:31:47,279
that. We want to make that car." So it's

6781
04:31:47,279 --> 04:31:48,800
the same in the theater. You know,

6782
04:31:48,800 --> 04:31:50,080
rather than going through all of these

6783
04:31:50,080 --> 04:31:52,239
schools and blahy blahy blah, make your

6784
04:31:52,239 --> 04:31:53,760
own car, put on your own play in the

6785
04:31:53,760 --> 04:31:55,760
garage, and maybe the world will will

6786
04:31:55,760 --> 04:31:57,520
beat the path to your door. And if it

6787
04:31:57,520 --> 04:32:01,319
doesn't, you had fun anyway.

6788
04:32:05,120 --> 04:32:07,279
It's a schizophrenic profession being a

6789
04:32:07,279 --> 04:32:09,760
dramatist because you have to be several

6790
04:32:09,760 --> 04:32:12,239
people and yourself and the audience,

6791
04:32:12,239 --> 04:32:14,159
and you have to like doing it even when

6792
04:32:14,159 --> 04:32:17,040
you're miserable. I was shooting a uh

6793
04:32:17,040 --> 04:32:19,439
movie for HBO, the Phil Spectre story

6794
04:32:19,439 --> 04:32:22,720
with Helen Marin and Alpuccino. And we

6795
04:32:22,720 --> 04:32:26,880
were out here in some place, Long Island

6796
04:32:26,880 --> 04:32:29,359
like 3 4 years ago was the world's worst

6797
04:32:29,359 --> 04:32:31,600
hail storm

6798
04:32:31,600 --> 04:32:33,600
and we were shooting outside of course

6799
04:32:33,600 --> 04:32:35,840
and we had you know 500 extras of course

6800
04:32:35,840 --> 04:32:37,199
and we're shooting outside starts the

6801
04:32:37,199 --> 04:32:39,199
hail. So, we're all under the underhang,

6802
04:32:39,199 --> 04:32:41,680
the whole crew, right? And there's 80

6803
04:32:41,680 --> 04:32:43,279
people and just little underhang all

6804
04:32:43,279 --> 04:32:45,439
hang together and everybody's run for

6805
04:32:45,439 --> 04:32:47,840
cover. And the hail is literally eating

6806
04:32:47,840 --> 04:32:50,479
cars. It's the worst hail. I mean, this

6807
04:32:50,479 --> 04:32:53,520
hail the size of of of freaking golf

6808
04:32:53,520 --> 04:32:55,840
balls. It's eating the cars and the

6809
04:32:55,840 --> 04:32:57,760
temperature drops down and it's 20° and

6810
04:32:57,760 --> 04:32:59,279
we're all shivering and it's pissing

6811
04:32:59,279 --> 04:33:01,279
down rain. We all looked at each other

6812
04:33:01,279 --> 04:33:05,960
and thought, "Ain't this great?

6813
04:33:06,561 --> 04:33:08,561
who who would want to be any place else.

6814
04:33:08,561 --> 04:33:09,680
You know, you pity the people who

6815
04:33:09,680 --> 04:33:12,080
weren't there. So that's, you know, it's

6816
04:33:12,080 --> 04:33:13,279
when it's good, it's great, and when

6817
04:33:13,279 --> 04:33:17,480
it's terrible, it's not so bad.

6818
04:33:21,439 --> 04:33:22,719
You know, the best thing you can say to

6819
04:33:22,719 --> 04:33:24,320
someone who wants to go into show

6820
04:33:24,320 --> 04:33:26,959
business, you know what it is?

6821
04:33:26,959 --> 04:33:29,199
Don't do it.

6822
04:33:29,199 --> 04:33:31,840
You know why? Because if they listen,

6823
04:33:31,840 --> 04:33:33,520
they don't belong in show business. I

6824
04:33:33,520 --> 04:33:34,959
think most people drop out of show

6825
04:33:34,959 --> 04:33:37,600
business in my experience because they

6826
04:33:37,600 --> 04:33:40,160
can't stand the uncertainty

6827
04:33:40,160 --> 04:33:42,400
because it's a life of self-direction

6828
04:33:42,400 --> 04:33:44,959
and you have to learn how to do it by on

6829
04:33:44,959 --> 04:33:47,039
your own. No one there's no one going to

6830
04:33:47,039 --> 04:33:49,119
be your mentor in show business though a

6831
04:33:49,119 --> 04:33:51,760
lot of people claim to. But I think that

6832
04:33:51,760 --> 04:33:54,400
show business is just like raising

6833
04:33:54,400 --> 04:33:57,039
children in that you get everything

6834
04:33:57,039 --> 04:33:59,600
wrong. There's nothing that you get

6835
04:33:59,600 --> 04:34:01,359
right.

6836
04:34:01,359 --> 04:34:02,879
you you're strict when you should be

6837
04:34:02,879 --> 04:34:04,480
lenient, lenient when you should be

6838
04:34:04,480 --> 04:34:06,240
strict, and you're hanging over them

6839
04:34:06,240 --> 04:34:07,600
when you should leave them alone, and

6840
04:34:07,600 --> 04:34:09,039
you're absent when they need you.

6841
04:34:09,039 --> 04:34:11,520
Nonetheless, they grow up. So, that's

6842
04:34:11,520 --> 04:34:14,639
what I think. But, um, everybody's got

6843
04:34:14,639 --> 04:34:16,799
to figure it out for him or herself.

6844
04:34:16,799 --> 04:34:19,760
There's there's what I I guess the

6845
04:34:19,760 --> 04:34:21,119
question is what I'd like people to take

6846
04:34:21,119 --> 04:34:23,520
away from listening to me and thank you

6847
04:34:23,520 --> 04:34:25,840
for your your patience for telling all

6848
04:34:25,840 --> 04:34:28,320
these fairly disjointed stories. I think

6849
04:34:28,320 --> 04:34:30,799
the answer is I'm not any less confused

6850
04:34:30,799 --> 04:34:34,719
than you are. I'm not any less I'm not

6851
04:34:34,719 --> 04:34:37,600
any less uncertain about my work or my

6852
04:34:37,600 --> 04:34:39,840
worth than you are. I just got in the

6853
04:34:39,840 --> 04:34:42,320
habit of doing it and and and you can

6854
04:34:42,320 --> 04:34:45,320
too.

6855
04:34:48,719 --> 04:34:51,760
The conscious mind is has to do what it

6856
04:34:51,760 --> 04:34:54,240
did before. That's what the conscious

6857
04:34:54,240 --> 04:34:57,520
mind does. that the mind, as our good

6858
04:34:57,520 --> 04:35:00,719
friend William James told us, is a

6859
04:35:00,719 --> 04:35:03,119
basically a lump of mud. And we have

6860
04:35:03,119 --> 04:35:05,680
these electrical impulses which can be

6861
04:35:05,680 --> 04:35:08,480
likened to a drop of water. And you put

6862
04:35:08,480 --> 04:35:10,080
the first drop of water on the top of

6863
04:35:10,080 --> 04:35:12,160
the lump of mud, it's going to run down

6864
04:35:12,160 --> 04:35:14,400
some way or other, but the second drop

6865
04:35:14,400 --> 04:35:15,600
is going to run down where the first

6866
04:35:15,600 --> 04:35:18,080
drop ran down. And the the the rivullet

6867
04:35:18,080 --> 04:35:19,359
is going to keep getting deeper and

6868
04:35:19,359 --> 04:35:22,879
deeper. And these electric impulses

6869
04:35:22,879 --> 04:35:26,000
form our consciousness.

6870
04:35:26,000 --> 04:35:27,760
To what extent this is the mind and what

6871
04:35:27,760 --> 04:35:29,119
extent it's the brain, I don't know. But

6872
04:35:29,119 --> 04:35:30,480
it's an interesting way of thinking

6873
04:35:30,480 --> 04:35:32,959
about it. So how that's the conscious

6874
04:35:32,959 --> 04:35:37,359
mind. How do you use the conscious mind

6875
04:35:37,359 --> 04:35:39,920
to subvert the workings of the conscious

6876
04:35:39,920 --> 04:35:42,480
mind? Well, psychoanalysis try doesn't

6877
04:35:42,480 --> 04:35:45,119
work very well. There's meditation

6878
04:35:45,119 --> 04:35:47,680
that's good, right? There's varieties of

6879
04:35:47,680 --> 04:35:50,080
religious experience as William James

6880
04:35:50,080 --> 04:35:52,879
told us and

6881
04:35:52,879 --> 04:35:55,359
there's dedication. So if you dedicate

6882
04:35:55,359 --> 04:35:57,119
yourself, no different than the

6883
04:35:57,119 --> 04:35:58,561
ballerina or no different than the

6884
04:35:58,561 --> 04:36:00,639
quarterback or the tight end, dedicate

6885
04:36:00,639 --> 04:36:03,279
yourself to the discipline of your

6886
04:36:03,279 --> 04:36:07,359
craft, eventually eventually you will be

6887
04:36:07,359 --> 04:36:09,680
rewarded with something which is not

6888
04:36:09,680 --> 04:36:13,561
from your conscious mind.

6889
04:36:25,600 --> 04:36:27,439
You know, it's an odd life and it takes

6890
04:36:27,439 --> 04:36:30,480
a lot of um the ability to put up with

6891
04:36:30,480 --> 04:36:35,199
uncertainty and many many people would

6892
04:36:35,199 --> 04:36:38,320
rather put up with lethargy and would

6893
04:36:38,320 --> 04:36:42,359
rather put up with

6894
04:36:43,680 --> 04:36:47,359
failure rather than put up with

6895
04:36:47,359 --> 04:36:50,080
uncertainty. It drives some people nuts.

6896
04:36:50,080 --> 04:36:52,879
What do I do today?

6897
04:36:52,879 --> 04:36:54,959
How how do I start? How do I blah blah

6898
04:36:54,959 --> 04:36:56,240
blah? And a lot of you guys are asking

6899
04:36:56,240 --> 04:36:57,760
that question. How do I start? The

6900
04:36:57,760 --> 04:37:01,199
answer is figure it out. Figure it out.

6901
04:37:01,199 --> 04:37:02,959
You know, don't forget that you're human

6902
04:37:02,959 --> 04:37:04,799
beings, right? When you got something

6903
04:37:04,799 --> 04:37:07,199
that you really, really want to do,

6904
04:37:07,199 --> 04:37:10,080
anyone, you'll figure it out. I well I

6905
04:37:10,080 --> 04:37:12,400
like writing you know and it's been

6906
04:37:12,400 --> 04:37:14,080
working out pretty well so far kind of

6907
04:37:14,080 --> 04:37:16,719
horror I like writing I do as I do it

6908
04:37:16,719 --> 04:37:18,561
for money and if you if you got trouble

6909
04:37:18,561 --> 04:37:20,719
being motivated do something else you

6910
04:37:20,719 --> 04:37:22,320
don't got to be a writer maybe you're

6911
04:37:22,320 --> 04:37:25,199
not cut out to be a writer

6912
04:37:25,199 --> 04:37:27,119
find out you're entitled to find out

6913
04:37:27,119 --> 04:37:30,639
people there all these novels written of

6914
04:37:30,639 --> 04:37:32,320
used to be written for 100 years of a

6915
04:37:32,320 --> 04:37:34,160
young person who said I'm going to go to

6916
04:37:34,160 --> 04:37:36,400
Paris to paint and I'm just going to

6917
04:37:36,400 --> 04:37:39,199
give it two years and If at the end of

6918
04:37:39,199 --> 04:37:42,080
those two years, well, you're already

6919
04:37:42,080 --> 04:37:44,320
done, right? Like somebody who's got

6920
04:37:44,320 --> 04:37:46,799
something to fall back on will fall back

6921
04:37:46,799 --> 04:37:49,840
on it. Of course, they will. You know,

6922
04:37:49,840 --> 04:37:52,000
it's like saying about young kids living

6923
04:37:52,000 --> 04:37:53,439
together, they say they're they're

6924
04:37:53,439 --> 04:37:55,680
living together. They're practicing

6925
04:37:55,680 --> 04:37:56,719
being married. Well, they aren't.

6926
04:37:56,719 --> 04:37:58,879
They're practicing being not married,

6927
04:37:58,879 --> 04:38:00,400
right? Cuz you're living with somebody

6928
04:38:00,400 --> 04:38:02,160
and someone knows you, oh, she burned a

6929
04:38:02,160 --> 04:38:03,359
toast. I thought she was love my life,

6930
04:38:03,359 --> 04:38:06,080
but she burned a toast. Obviously, she's

6931
04:38:06,080 --> 04:38:08,320
not the one. Thank you, honey. And so

6932
04:38:08,320 --> 04:38:10,400
they get we get involved in serial

6933
04:38:10,400 --> 04:38:12,639
monogamies which is a practice for not

6934
04:38:12,639 --> 04:38:15,520
make being married and being married is

6935
04:38:15,520 --> 04:38:17,039
okay we took an oath we're going to work

6936
04:38:17,039 --> 04:38:20,561
it out you know so usually one person

6937
04:38:20,561 --> 04:38:22,320
and it's always that usually one person

6938
04:38:22,320 --> 04:38:24,400
is always the wife saying don't you dare

6939
04:38:24,400 --> 04:38:26,240
walk out that door you know we're going

6940
04:38:26,240 --> 04:38:28,799
to stay right here until we work it out.

6941
04:38:28,799 --> 04:38:31,600
It's just like with writing right if you

6942
04:38:31,600 --> 04:38:33,199
took that oath say I'm a I'm a writer

6943
04:38:33,199 --> 04:38:34,879
I'm going to work it out. You stay in

6944
04:38:34,879 --> 04:38:38,799
that chair till you work it out.

6945
04:38:42,160 --> 04:38:43,920
I did a few things with the great Jack

6946
04:38:43,920 --> 04:38:45,439
Lemon

6947
04:38:45,439 --> 04:38:46,879
and we were talking one day about

6948
04:38:46,879 --> 04:38:48,400
growing up. He grew up in he went to

6949
04:38:48,400 --> 04:38:50,000
Harvard. He grew up in Cambridge and his

6950
04:38:50,000 --> 04:38:52,400
dad was a baker and he said he said,

6951
04:38:52,400 --> 04:38:53,840
"You know, my dad always said when I get

6952
04:38:53,840 --> 04:38:55,359
up in the morning and there's no romance

6953
04:38:55,359 --> 04:38:57,279
in a loaf of bread, I'm going to quit."

6954
04:38:57,279 --> 04:38:59,439
I thought that was kind of cute. But I

6955
04:38:59,439 --> 04:39:02,799
always feel that about um I've been

6956
04:39:02,799 --> 04:39:05,439
working in on stages all my I was a kid

6957
04:39:05,439 --> 04:39:07,439
actor in Chicago. I've been doing this

6958
04:39:07,439 --> 04:39:10,320
uh for over 60 years and I never come

6959
04:39:10,320 --> 04:39:12,480
onto the sta uh onto a sound stage or

6960
04:39:12,480 --> 04:39:13,920
the backstage. I'm sure you guys all

6961
04:39:13,920 --> 04:39:15,920
feel the same without a feeling of being

6962
04:39:15,920 --> 04:39:17,359
privileged and without a feeling of

6963
04:39:17,359 --> 04:39:19,279
being grateful to be able to come in

6964
04:39:19,279 --> 04:39:20,719
through the stage door, be able to come

6965
04:39:20,719 --> 04:39:23,359
in through the set door. And I always I

6966
04:39:23,359 --> 04:39:26,240
think that most people who nearly all

6967
04:39:26,240 --> 04:39:29,119
but certainly most people in our racket

6968
04:39:29,119 --> 04:39:31,039
feel the same. It's a it's a wonderful

6969
04:39:31,039 --> 04:39:34,400
place and we're given a great um uh gift

6970
04:39:34,400 --> 04:39:36,400
and a great responsibility which is to

6971
04:39:36,400 --> 04:39:40,400
tell stories as honestly as we can and

6972
04:39:40,400 --> 04:39:43,280
experience things in the in the process

6973
04:39:43,280 --> 04:39:48,840
that are uh that are that are beautiful.

6974
04:39:52,480 --> 04:39:54,718
I have self as a writer all the time.

6975
04:39:54,718 --> 04:39:56,638
You know they say woe be to you when all

6976
04:39:56,638 --> 04:39:58,160
men praise you. You know, if you're

6977
04:39:58,160 --> 04:39:59,600
praising yourself all the time, you're

6978
04:39:59,600 --> 04:40:02,080
you're definitely doing something wrong.

6979
04:40:02,080 --> 04:40:03,680
So, as I said earlier, I go back and

6980
04:40:03,680 --> 04:40:04,878
forth between this is the greatest thing

6981
04:40:04,878 --> 04:40:08,160
anybody ever wrote and why was I born?

6982
04:40:08,160 --> 04:40:10,560
I'm I'm a complete fraud. You go back

6983
04:40:10,560 --> 04:40:12,958
and forth and back and forth and you and

6984
04:40:12,958 --> 04:40:16,400
you work it out because um if you're

6985
04:40:16,400 --> 04:40:17,920
making it up off the top of your head,

6986
04:40:17,920 --> 04:40:19,600
it's not going to cost you anything.

6987
04:40:19,600 --> 04:40:21,840
Just like a performance you work up in

6988
04:40:21,840 --> 04:40:23,840
the mirror, that's not going to cost you

6989
04:40:23,840 --> 04:40:25,920
anything, you know? But it's very grand,

6990
04:40:25,920 --> 04:40:27,920
but it ain't art.

6991
04:40:27,920 --> 04:40:29,520
Art is going to cost you something.

6992
04:40:29,520 --> 04:40:31,360
That's going to cost you something you

6993
04:40:31,360 --> 04:40:34,320
weren't prepared to pay, which is the

6994
04:40:34,320 --> 04:40:36,240
definition of what cost is. You know,

6995
04:40:36,240 --> 04:40:37,920
obviously there's something of the of

6996
04:40:37,920 --> 04:40:40,400
the destructive nature in the artist,

6997
04:40:40,400 --> 04:40:42,798
right? Duh. You got to not care if

6998
04:40:42,798 --> 04:40:44,798
school keeps cuz you grow up and people

6999
04:40:44,798 --> 04:40:46,638
says, you know, nobody if you're a smart

7000
04:40:46,638 --> 04:40:49,280
alec, a wise ass like I was. And in

7001
04:40:49,280 --> 04:40:50,958
addition to being a nerd dwell,

7002
04:40:50,958 --> 04:40:52,638
threeletter man, people say, you know,

7003
04:40:52,638 --> 04:40:54,958
nobody nobody likes a smart alec. They

7004
04:40:54,958 --> 04:40:56,638
always I don't know many of you guys and

7005
04:40:56,638 --> 04:40:57,760
women out there have probably heard

7006
04:40:57,760 --> 04:41:01,360
that. It's not true. It's just not true.

7007
04:41:01,360 --> 04:41:03,680
Also, I didn't care if a I knew it was

7008
04:41:03,680 --> 04:41:06,480
not true cuz that was my place in the u

7009
04:41:06,480 --> 04:41:08,560
in the in in in the in the roster,

7010
04:41:08,560 --> 04:41:11,680
right? Was being the no good smart alec.

7011
04:41:11,680 --> 04:41:13,440
And people seemed to laugh at my jokes.

7012
04:41:13,440 --> 04:41:18,200
So [ __ ] that I was I kept telling them.

7013
04:41:21,520 --> 04:41:22,798
If you want to write for a living,

7014
04:41:22,798 --> 04:41:26,400
what's stopping you? nothing

7015
04:41:26,400 --> 04:41:27,920
because because think about it, you

7016
04:41:27,920 --> 04:41:29,200
know, if you want to say I want to write

7017
04:41:29,200 --> 04:41:31,280
for a living but I want to make a lot of

7018
04:41:31,280 --> 04:41:32,798
money at it. Well, you're not entering

7019
04:41:32,798 --> 04:41:35,200
that race. It may happen or it may not

7020
04:41:35,200 --> 04:41:36,638
happen but you're entering a different

7021
04:41:36,638 --> 04:41:39,280
race. And this is a very concept goes

7022
04:41:39,280 --> 04:41:41,440
back to stoal philosophy where someone

7023
04:41:41,440 --> 04:41:43,920
says uh you know I I work so hard I want

7024
04:41:43,920 --> 04:41:47,680
to be famous and um Epictitus I believe

7025
04:41:47,680 --> 04:41:50,718
says you did not enter that race. That's

7026
04:41:50,718 --> 04:41:53,280
a different race. If you want to enter

7027
04:41:53,280 --> 04:41:56,000
the race to be a writer and to learn to

7028
04:41:56,000 --> 04:41:58,560
write, do that. You know, whether you're

7029
04:41:58,560 --> 04:42:00,560
going to be famous or not famous or make

7030
04:42:00,560 --> 04:42:02,958
money or not make money at it, you

7031
04:42:02,958 --> 04:42:06,400
didn't that's a different race.

7032
04:42:06,400 --> 04:42:08,560
So there there was a terrible idea that

7033
04:42:08,560 --> 04:42:11,440
came around in the the turbulent 1960s

7034
04:42:11,440 --> 04:42:14,400
that one can you can have it all, right?

7035
04:42:14,400 --> 04:42:16,000
I mean, it started with women. Women can

7036
04:42:16,000 --> 04:42:17,600
have it all, then everybody can have.

7037
04:42:17,600 --> 04:42:20,560
Why can't everybody have it all? Well,

7038
04:42:20,560 --> 04:42:23,040
nobody can have it all, you know, but

7039
04:42:23,040 --> 04:42:25,920
you might be able to have one thing

7040
04:42:25,920 --> 04:42:28,798
if it's like they say that which you

7041
04:42:28,798 --> 04:42:31,040
that which you desire more than anything

7042
04:42:31,040 --> 04:42:33,520
else in the world. Perhaps that you may

7043
04:42:33,520 --> 04:42:36,520
have.

7044
04:42:39,920 --> 04:42:42,638
You should avoid inaction.

7045
04:42:42,638 --> 04:42:44,320
I remember I was a kid in New York. I

7046
04:42:44,320 --> 04:42:45,840
was in New York and I was making I can't

7047
04:42:45,840 --> 04:42:47,200
even remember what I was doing. sleep my

7048
04:42:47,200 --> 04:42:50,240
friend Johnny Cass's couch and

7049
04:42:50,240 --> 04:42:51,520
doing something. I don't remember what

7050
04:42:51,520 --> 04:42:53,680
he was doing for money. And I one year I

7051
04:42:53,680 --> 04:42:56,560
made like $4,000 and I spent 1,500 bucks

7052
04:42:56,560 --> 04:42:59,760
of it on Xeroxing.

7053
04:42:59,760 --> 04:43:02,400
So you can't afford in action. Can't

7054
04:43:02,400 --> 04:43:04,718
afford waiting for the phone to ring.

7055
04:43:04,718 --> 04:43:06,240
You got to be writing all the time,

7056
04:43:06,240 --> 04:43:08,000
acting all the time. So I tell my kids

7057
04:43:08,000 --> 04:43:09,280
in the business, you got to do two

7058
04:43:09,280 --> 04:43:11,200
things every day. You got to do one

7059
04:43:11,200 --> 04:43:13,280
thing for your art every day, and you

7060
04:43:13,280 --> 04:43:15,040
got to do one thing for your business

7061
04:43:15,040 --> 04:43:18,480
every day. Just one thing, that's all.

7062
04:43:18,480 --> 04:43:20,798
Write a letter, make a phone call, make

7063
04:43:20,798 --> 04:43:23,680
a connection for your business, get new

7064
04:43:23,680 --> 04:43:26,320
cards printed up. Think it's your

7065
04:43:26,320 --> 04:43:28,798
business. Nobody's going to help you but

7066
04:43:28,798 --> 04:43:31,120
you. And do one thing for your art every

7067
04:43:31,120 --> 04:43:33,440
day. Write a scene. If you're the

7068
04:43:33,440 --> 04:43:36,160
actress, take a yoga class,

7069
04:43:36,160 --> 04:43:38,718
take a singing class, read a play. Kind

7070
04:43:38,718 --> 04:43:40,878
of liken it to woodworking. You know,

7071
04:43:40,878 --> 04:43:42,638
you can make a model of a ship. You can

7072
04:43:42,638 --> 04:43:44,240
make a real ship. You can make a

7073
04:43:44,240 --> 04:43:46,718
cabinet. If you like woodworking, you

7074
04:43:46,718 --> 04:43:48,160
like working with wood, you like the

7075
04:43:48,160 --> 04:43:49,600
challenge of the different of the

7076
04:43:49,600 --> 04:43:51,120
different forms. I like the challenge of

7077
04:43:51,120 --> 04:43:53,360
the different forms. Also, it keeps me

7078
04:43:53,360 --> 04:43:55,760
busy, you know, sometime. And it's it I

7079
04:43:55,760 --> 04:43:58,560
I kind of feel like I got a push cart,

7080
04:43:58,560 --> 04:44:02,480
you know. I have had through my life

7081
04:44:02,480 --> 04:44:05,280
zero capacity to be bored. I can't stand

7082
04:44:05,280 --> 04:44:09,120
it. It drives me insane. As a result, I

7083
04:44:09,120 --> 04:44:12,080
ended up as a nerd do in show business.

7084
04:44:12,080 --> 04:44:13,920
I also missed out on a lot of things

7085
04:44:13,920 --> 04:44:15,280
where a little bit of discipline would

7086
04:44:15,280 --> 04:44:18,240
have took me a long way. But we all, you

7087
04:44:18,240 --> 04:44:21,040
know, we all get to lead his or her own

7088
04:44:21,040 --> 04:44:23,680
life, each of us. And, you know, we're

7089
04:44:23,680 --> 04:44:26,400
we're dealt a hand and as they say, uh,

7090
04:44:26,400 --> 04:44:28,878
the good life is not in getting a good

7091
04:44:28,878 --> 04:44:33,878
hand, but in playing a bad hand. Well,

7092
04:44:40,080 --> 04:44:41,680
the people watching this paid me a great

7093
04:44:41,680 --> 04:44:43,840
compliment to turn it in that the that

7094
04:44:43,840 --> 04:44:45,600
I'm not giving you any advice I don't

7095
04:44:45,600 --> 04:44:47,280
give myself. I'm not giving you any

7096
04:44:47,280 --> 04:44:48,718
advice I don't give my kids who are

7097
04:44:48,718 --> 04:44:50,560
writers.

7098
04:44:50,560 --> 04:44:52,080
What I'm telling you is the way I live

7099
04:44:52,080 --> 04:44:55,520
my life. Other people might certainly

7100
04:44:55,520 --> 04:44:56,718
are going to live their lives

7101
04:44:56,718 --> 04:44:58,638
differently and so are you guys watching

7102
04:44:58,638 --> 04:45:00,000
because you have to come to it on your

7103
04:45:00,000 --> 04:45:02,240
own. It occurred to me there's a a verse

7104
04:45:02,240 --> 04:45:05,680
in u in Proverbs which is pretty wise

7105
04:45:05,680 --> 04:45:07,680
stuff in the Bible. It says the stone

7106
04:45:07,680 --> 04:45:10,160
that the builders rejected has become

7107
04:45:10,160 --> 04:45:12,240
the cornerstone.

7108
04:45:12,240 --> 04:45:15,040
And this verse came home to me very

7109
04:45:15,040 --> 04:45:16,480
strongly once. I lived for many many

7110
04:45:16,480 --> 04:45:18,718
years up in very rural Vermont. And I

7111
04:45:18,718 --> 04:45:21,120
was making a laying a stone wall, just a

7112
04:45:21,120 --> 04:45:24,240
laid stone wall. And what happens when

7113
04:45:24,240 --> 04:45:27,200
you live in a laid stone wall is you

7114
04:45:27,200 --> 04:45:29,120
there's some stones which just won't

7115
04:45:29,120 --> 04:45:31,840
fit, right? You want a stone to to fit

7116
04:45:31,840 --> 04:45:33,360
in a certain way, certain way. You say,

7117
04:45:33,360 --> 04:45:34,798
"Oh, I get it. This will fit here with

7118
04:45:34,798 --> 04:45:36,560
that. I get it. That will fit here with

7119
04:45:36,560 --> 04:45:37,920
this. Oh, there's a stone over there

7120
04:45:37,920 --> 04:45:40,000
that I remember." But there's one stone

7121
04:45:40,000 --> 04:45:42,718
that looks fascinating, but it's never

7122
04:45:42,718 --> 04:45:44,560
going to fit any place. It's just got

7123
04:45:44,560 --> 04:45:46,798
the wrong angles and it's just wrong and

7124
04:45:46,798 --> 04:45:49,360
it nags you and at some point you're

7125
04:45:49,360 --> 04:45:51,120
going to get to some point in the wall

7126
04:45:51,120 --> 04:45:54,240
where that's the only stone that'll fit.

7127
04:45:54,240 --> 04:45:56,320
So the stone that the builders reject

7128
04:45:56,320 --> 04:45:58,878
rejected has become the cornerstone, the

7129
04:45:58,878 --> 04:46:02,160
most important stone. So artists are in

7130
04:46:02,160 --> 04:46:04,718
effect the stone that the builders

7131
04:46:04,718 --> 04:46:06,320
rejected.

7132
04:46:06,320 --> 04:46:08,560
So if you look at um Winston Churchill,

7133
04:46:08,560 --> 04:46:10,000
right, he was out of office. He was

7134
04:46:10,000 --> 04:46:12,638
disgraced from World War I. Everybody

7135
04:46:12,638 --> 04:46:14,400
thought he was an old buffoon. He was

7136
04:46:14,400 --> 04:46:15,920
just good for one thing, which was

7137
04:46:15,920 --> 04:46:18,560
saving Western civilization.

7138
04:46:18,560 --> 04:46:21,760
Or uh Ulissiz Srant was last in his

7139
04:46:21,760 --> 04:46:24,400
class at West Point. He was a drunkard.

7140
04:46:24,400 --> 04:46:26,480
He was indigent. When they found him at

7141
04:46:26,480 --> 04:46:28,638
the beginning of the Civil War, he was

7142
04:46:28,638 --> 04:46:32,080
selling firewood and starving to death.

7143
04:46:32,080 --> 04:46:34,080
After the Civil War, he was a dreadful,

7144
04:46:34,080 --> 04:46:35,920
drunken president. The only thing he was

7145
04:46:35,920 --> 04:46:38,000
good at was at winning the Civil War.

7146
04:46:38,000 --> 04:46:40,560
He's just good at that one thing.

7147
04:46:40,560 --> 04:46:43,520
So I'm a guy who got very very very very

7148
04:46:43,520 --> 04:46:46,240
lucky and I grew up in Chicago in a time

7149
04:46:46,240 --> 04:46:49,680
when people who became the people around

7150
04:46:49,680 --> 04:46:52,798
me were creating their own theaters and

7151
04:46:52,798 --> 04:46:56,080
garages you know William Hy and Lorie

7152
04:46:56,080 --> 04:46:59,280
Metaf and John Malovich and John Cusack

7153
04:46:59,280 --> 04:47:01,760
Annie Cusack and Joan Cusack and Joey

7154
04:47:01,760 --> 04:47:05,680
Montenia William Peterson Dennis Frons

7155
04:47:05,680 --> 04:47:07,600
these people were Andre Deields these

7156
04:47:07,600 --> 04:47:10,638
people were all creating little garage

7157
04:47:10,638 --> 04:47:12,798
theaters and I walked into the middle of

7158
04:47:12,798 --> 04:47:14,718
it and I said, "Well, didn't I get

7159
04:47:14,718 --> 04:47:18,480
lucky?" And I started writing plays

7160
04:47:18,480 --> 04:47:23,320
and I never and I never stopped

7161
04:47:23,600 --> 04:47:27,280
and you can do it too or if you want to

7162
04:47:27,280 --> 04:47:29,680
try, you can certainly try to do it too.

7163
04:47:29,680 --> 04:47:31,280
What's stopping you? That's the

7164
04:47:31,280 --> 04:47:32,958
question. And that's the question of

7165
04:47:32,958 --> 04:47:35,600
stoal philosophy. Stoa is Greek for

7166
04:47:35,600 --> 04:47:37,520
porch. And the Stoics were the guys who

7167
04:47:37,520 --> 04:47:39,200
sat out on the porch. So when you say

7168
04:47:39,200 --> 04:47:40,958
the Stoics it sounds like a very heavy

7169
04:47:40,958 --> 04:47:43,920
term but it means the porch guys. So the

7170
04:47:43,920 --> 04:47:47,200
porch guys used to say only like only

7171
04:47:47,200 --> 04:47:49,520
aspire to the things you can award

7172
04:47:49,520 --> 04:47:51,360
yourself.

7173
04:47:51,360 --> 04:47:55,200
Honor, honesty, patience, perseverance.

7174
04:47:55,200 --> 04:47:57,600
You can award those to yourself. Only

7175
04:47:57,600 --> 04:48:00,798
hate the things that you can avoid.

7176
04:48:00,798 --> 04:48:03,840
Dishonesty, sloth,

7177
04:48:03,840 --> 04:48:06,480
uh uh intemperance. Don't desire

7178
04:48:06,480 --> 04:48:10,000
something you can't award yourself fame

7179
04:48:10,000 --> 04:48:12,160
and don't hate those things that that

7180
04:48:12,160 --> 04:48:15,680
you can't a that you can't avoid uh

7181
04:48:15,680 --> 04:48:18,480
dishonesty in others

7182
04:48:18,480 --> 04:48:20,718
and the they said here's here's the best

7183
04:48:20,718 --> 04:48:22,718
test for you and I had this used to have

7184
04:48:22,718 --> 04:48:23,920
an engraved on every time I had a

7185
04:48:23,920 --> 04:48:25,600
wristwatch I got a new wristwatch I

7186
04:48:25,600 --> 04:48:27,920
haven't had an engraved the phrase is

7187
04:48:27,920 --> 04:48:30,878
what hinders you so that's what I'd like

7188
04:48:30,878 --> 04:48:32,878
to you guys take away what hinders you

7189
04:48:32,878 --> 04:48:35,680
what's stopping you you say I wish blah

7190
04:48:35,680 --> 04:48:38,480
blah blah I wish. So any phrase that

7191
04:48:38,480 --> 04:48:41,280
starts with I wish is a proclamation of

7192
04:48:41,280 --> 04:48:44,718
something you're not going to do.

7193
04:48:44,718 --> 04:48:46,400
So rather than I wish, if there's

7194
04:48:46,400 --> 04:48:49,040
something you want, say I will or I

7195
04:48:49,040 --> 04:48:52,878
intend to or I'm going to and do it.

7196
04:48:52,878 --> 04:48:54,080
What's the worst thing that's going to

7197
04:48:54,080 --> 04:48:56,160
happen to you? You're going to fail. So

7198
04:48:56,160 --> 04:48:59,360
what? There's a wonderful book by a guy

7199
04:48:59,360 --> 04:49:01,120
called Benjamin Caps and he wrote

7200
04:49:01,120 --> 04:49:03,600
Western books. And he wrote one book

7201
04:49:03,600 --> 04:49:06,718
about a true story about a woman who was

7202
04:49:06,718 --> 04:49:09,600
a member of the Crow Nation. I believe

7203
04:49:09,600 --> 04:49:12,080
she'd been kidnapped and was raised as a

7204
04:49:12,080 --> 04:49:14,000
crow. She wasn't really a crow. She was

7205
04:49:14,000 --> 04:49:15,520
Shashonyi or something like that. She

7206
04:49:15,520 --> 04:49:18,798
was raised as a crow. And she became the

7207
04:49:18,798 --> 04:49:20,798
chief of the tribe. And the tribe had

7208
04:49:20,798 --> 04:49:23,280
never ever ever had a chief who was a

7209
04:49:23,280 --> 04:49:25,760
woman before. But she through her

7210
04:49:25,760 --> 04:49:28,080
excellence became chief of the tribe and

7211
04:49:28,080 --> 04:49:32,878
someone came to her when she was um

7212
04:49:32,878 --> 04:49:35,040
uh putting herself forward in council

7213
04:49:35,040 --> 04:49:36,240
and someone said you know you're going

7214
04:49:36,240 --> 04:49:38,480
to get into a lot of trouble and she

7215
04:49:38,480 --> 04:49:41,440
said what's wrong with trouble?

7216
04:49:41,440 --> 04:49:44,400
So I thought that was a pretty great um

7217
04:49:44,400 --> 04:49:46,000
pretty great phrase. And the last thing

7218
04:49:46,000 --> 04:49:47,680
I'd like to leave all you with and thank

7219
04:49:47,680 --> 04:49:50,718
you for your attention is a story from a

7220
04:49:50,718 --> 04:49:53,040
book by a guy called Alfred Bester who

7221
04:49:53,040 --> 04:49:57,200
is a British um science fiction writer

7222
04:49:57,200 --> 04:49:59,600
and he wrote a book night mid-50s called

7223
04:49:59,600 --> 04:50:02,958
the demolished man and it's uh in the

7224
04:50:02,958 --> 04:50:05,520
future and it's there are mind readers.

7225
04:50:05,520 --> 04:50:07,840
It's been discovered that some people

7226
04:50:07,840 --> 04:50:10,718
can actually read minds for real and

7227
04:50:10,718 --> 04:50:12,798
also they've discovered this time warp

7228
04:50:12,798 --> 04:50:14,958
so that people can travel over millions

7229
04:50:14,958 --> 04:50:17,120
of light years to a different galaxy.

7230
04:50:17,120 --> 04:50:18,958
But there's only one way to communicate

7231
04:50:18,958 --> 04:50:20,638
with them and that's through the mind

7232
04:50:20,638 --> 04:50:23,200
readers. So the mind readaders are very

7233
04:50:23,200 --> 04:50:24,718
very

7234
04:50:24,718 --> 04:50:28,718
prized and by the civilization they love

7235
04:50:28,718 --> 04:50:30,878
they love their mind readers just in the

7236
04:50:30,878 --> 04:50:32,400
same way we might love our artists or

7237
04:50:32,400 --> 04:50:35,040
our sports figures. They loved the mind

7238
04:50:35,040 --> 04:50:36,480
readaders. Everyone wants everyone

7239
04:50:36,480 --> 04:50:37,440
thinks they're going to be a mind

7240
04:50:37,440 --> 04:50:40,000
readader. And so the mind readaders set

7241
04:50:40,000 --> 04:50:41,520
up a school and they say, "Okay, the

7242
04:50:41,520 --> 04:50:43,920
school will be open

7243
04:50:43,920 --> 04:50:45,440
Monday, Wednesday, Friday. We'll take

7244
04:50:45,440 --> 04:50:47,520
applicants all morning Monday,

7245
04:50:47,520 --> 04:50:49,200
Wednesday, Friday. Line up and start

7246
04:50:49,200 --> 04:50:51,360
filling out your form. You'll be taken

7247
04:50:51,360 --> 04:50:52,878
through the line and it's going to be a

7248
04:50:52,878 --> 04:50:55,360
dayong process."

7249
04:50:55,360 --> 04:50:57,120
So the mind the mind readers are looking

7250
04:50:57,120 --> 04:50:59,120
down at all these people filling out

7251
04:50:59,120 --> 04:51:01,600
forms waiting to be to be tested. And

7252
04:51:01,600 --> 04:51:03,600
the mind readers are thinking if you can

7253
04:51:03,600 --> 04:51:07,680
hear me I want you to leave the line

7254
04:51:07,680 --> 04:51:09,680
and go over to your left and there's a

7255
04:51:09,680 --> 04:51:13,440
door there and the door is marked no

7256
04:51:13,440 --> 04:51:16,440
admittance

7257
04:51:17,840 --> 04:51:20,718
and I want you to go through that door.

7258
04:51:20,718 --> 04:51:23,958
Thank you.