Influences and Identity in Comedy

Earlier this month, writer Percival Everett was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for James, his subversive and singular reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

At the top, we discuss the philosophical problem that led to James (5:50), what repeated readings of Twain’s classic unlocked in Percival (7:56), the influence of his father’s sense of humor (16:20), how he arrived at writing growing up in South Carolina (19:40), and his relationship to the publishing industry, as depicted in Erasure and later the Oscar-winning film American Fiction (21:59).

On the back-half, we talk about teaching in the digital age (32:26), why Everett still assigns Blazing Saddles to his students (34:22), the “bad neighborhood” of his own mind (46:08), and what he’s chasing—or trying to excavate—each time he sits down to write (47:04).

This conversation was recorded live in Los Angeles in partnership with the Aspen Society.

If you’d like to come to our next live show, it will be Saturday, June 14th at the Tribeca Audio Festival in NYC with actor Sam Rockwell. Tickets here!

Thoughts, future guest ideas, or your favorite one-liner from this talk with Percival? Comment below or email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

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