PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: REMEMBERING MASTER STORYTELLER, JEAN SHEPHERD WITH JERRY SEINFELD AND BILL CARTER {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented by The Paley Center for Media in New York. This seminar celebrates the career of influential writer and actor Jean Shepherd. Ron Simon (curator, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks before introducing moderator Bill Carter (writer, The New York Times) and the evenings' guest, comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Carter and Seinfeld touch on such topics as: how Shepherd served as an inspiration to Seinfeld; Seinfeld's comments on Shepherd's method of finding "cataclysmic drama in the ordinary"; how Seinfeld's self-titled television show was influenced by Shepherd's storytelling style, and how Seinfeld continues to be influenced by Shepherd; how Shepherd commented on aspects of American life in a different way than most other comedians; Shepherd's talent for improvisation and conjuring colorful anecdotes; how Seinfeld views Shepherd's ability to "philosophize" with his comedy; the difference between comedy and "humorism"; Shepherd's relationship with traditional stand-up comedy; Shepherd's use of recurring stories from his childhood in his material; Seinfeld on seeing Shepherd perform live and how Shepherd's voice conveyed "genuine enthusiasm"; how Shepherd was "caught between arts" during an era that emphasized stand-up comedy; whether Shepherd was depressed or not and how depression relates to comedy, including commentary from Shepherd's biographer Eugene Bergmann and his executor Irwin Zwilling, both in the audience; Shepherd's affinity for cars; Shepherd's thoughts on "A Christmas Story"; and recent re-releases of Shepherd's old material. Clips are interspersed throughout, including: snippets of audio from Shepherd's radio shows; excerpts from "Jean Shepherd's America" (1971, 1978, 1985); a clip from the film "The Phantom of the Open Hearth" (1976); a clip from the film "The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski" (1985); a clip from the film "The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters" (1982); a clip of the unaired "Jean Shepherd: an American Humorist Looks At America" (1962) concerning a story from Shepherd's youth; and an audio clip of Shepherd at the Limelight (1964) telling a story to an audience that would later be incorporated into his film "A Christmas Story."
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: January 23, 2012 6:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:12:59
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 107051
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Host
- Bill Carter … Moderator
- Jerry Seinfeld … Guest
- Eugene Bergmann
- Jean Shepherd
- Irwin Zwilling