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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, JUNE 26, 2017
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ARTS & CULTURE
Courtney Bierman/KANSAN
KANSAN.COM
Q&A: Comic Barry Crimmins talks Lawrence, Trump and bears
Comic Barry Crimmins performs a 90-minute set at the Lawrence Arts Center's Free State Festival on Friday night.
▶ COURTNEY BIERMAN
@courtbierman
Barry Crimmins loves Lawrence.
The veteran comic and activist returned to Lawrence for the Free State Film on Friday with his new show "Atlas's Knees."
Crimmins filmed an hour-long comedy special titled "Whatever Threatens You" at the Lawrence Arts Center last summer. The Louis C.K.-produced special is available for streaming.
The Kansan caught up with Crimmins to talk about his career, the political climate, and what it is that makes Lawrence special.
The Free State Festival first hosted Crimmins after the release of the 2015 documentary "Call Me Lucky," directed by fellow comic and Crimmins' longtime friend Bobcat Goldthwait which details Crimmins' life, from cutting his teeth on the Boston comedy scene (and helping numerous others do the same), to opening up about being molested as a child and using his experiences to help others. In the '90s, Crimmins found a corner of an AOL chatroom that was being used to traffic child pornography. He contacted the FBI and eventually testified before Congress. Almost 150 convictions were made as a result.
You're a truth-teller comedian. What are the truths that need to be told today?
First off, never trust anyone who claims sole possession of the truth. I try to be truthful. I try to do humor that if you at least dug away at it for a while you would find that it's basically motivated by love, even if the love is just behaving stupidly and looking dumb. I was a disciple of Twain from early on, and Vonnegut. I just realized there were big laughs in stating the obvious that no one was stating. I guess part of the truth is to tell it even if it might cost you a little something.
And you've consistently done that. Not necessarily at the expense of fame, but definitely at the expense of emotional security.
Not to be self-aggrandizing, but it was at the expense of my fame, too (laughs).
When I came into comedy, it was only 20 or so years since plenty of people in show business had suffered through McCarthyism. I realized that a lot of older people in show business were kind of suggesting I tone it down. I think there was a great, big, new unwritten rule in show business about kind of keeping your mouth shut. But generally if you went far enough for them to even begin to redbait you, you shut up. And I got red-baited early on. I mean, I'm not a communist — I could never take the meetings (laughs). But socialism's fine, I just don't believe in it for the Pentagon. I believe
the stuff that sustains life and protects our incredibly delicate and remarkable coincidence of a habitat.
Even today, you consider it a 'remarkable coincidence,' despite everything that's going on?
All that stuff doesn't change a lot of what a tiny little molecule on a speck of sand this planet is. It's cosmic, or whatever you want to call it. I'm no scientist, but I appreciate the fact that I'm sitting in my yard, which is attached to a beautiful forest that's 4,000 acres of state land. I could never afford to own 4,000 acres, but the only other time any other humans come up here is to kill the animals (laughs),
and I clean up the litter after them.
What kind of animals do you see up there?
The bears up here don't bother anybody, and they're harmless. I've had bears pass through my yard in the summer you get to know it well enough, you can smell them coming through. One time I got out of my car in my driveway — it was like 4 a.m. I get out of the car, and I sense something. I turn around, and there's about an 8-foot bear standing there looking at me like, 'It's 4 a.m. You're not supposed to be here.' I go 'Sorry, man I'm just going home.' I left my bags in the car and just walked in the house. The bear just kind of went 'harrumph' and walked away.
You've helped a lot of other comedians get their start. What does it mean to have helped people like Paula Poundstone and Tom Kenny and Bobcat Goldthwait?
This is no knock on janitors, but comedians are the janitors of show business. There's a certain ilk of comic who's desperate and will do anything for a laugh, and it kind of applied to all of us. As a result, it's one of the reasons you get treated like crap.
I'd been doing comedy in most of the country by the time I got to Boston in '79, and I was just looking to start a room. It was
just my idea that if people were treated well and felt like somebody, that would transfer to the stage. And I think it did.
All I did was golden rule people. You need every advantage you have.
How did you first end up at the Free State Festival in Lawrence?
In the '90s I played it a couple of times, so I knew it was a hip town. I also know my history, and when I first got there I was very happy to see that Lawrence knew its history too.
We did all these festivals for "Call Me Lucky," [Bobcat Goldthwait] and I. The movie showed, and we did a Q&A with the audience, and we went 45 minutes longer than we were supposed to, but they let it go. It was really quite a remarkable night. While I was sitting up there and looking at that audience, I knew [Louis C.K.] wanted to shoot a special with me, and that was when I decided, 'I'm going to come back and shoot it at the Lawrence Arts Center because it's perfect.' I just love the people of Lawrence because they're very progressive, but they're also kind and sweet. There's a courtesy and decency. They're just very generous and open, and I just can't think of a more ideal audience.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Kansas Athletics announced that a $300 million renovation will be coming to Memorial Stadium, which will include an indoor practice infrastructure upgrades. Miranda Anaja/KANSAN
ternoons have been spent cheering for the Jayhawks through thick and, unfortunately, a lot of thin moments. But, it's impossible to argue that the stadium doesn't need improvements.
It's the seventh-oldest stadium still used by an FBS team. It shows signs of wear across its exterior. It's severely outdated by contemporary standards.
Miranda Anaya/KANSAN poor practice facility and
It's undoubtedly time for an upgrade.
This is a great move for all interested parties. For the fans, it's going to enhance the game-day experience for the die hards who trek down the hill to see the Jayhawks play. For the players, specifically future recruits, it becomes a more inviting and
thing else at the University.
Discussing college athletics finances is a great way to find out that someone has absolutely no idea what they're talking about. Kansas football isn't going to use $300 million that otherwise would have gone to improving the School of Education or updating equipment in the School of Journalism or whichever department you feel is underfunded.
Things like the Williams Fund and private donors are main sources of income for supporting Kansas Athletics projects. It's understandable that seeing a huge sum of money being spent on football facilities could cause a stir, considering the financial straits the University might be facing in some areas. The reality, though, is that this money will be completely disconnected from the rest of the University.
Football is a massive tool for recruiting (both athletically and for general students), alumni relations and income, and if you don't see that then you simply aren't paying attention.
Alabama is a perfect case study for this. A gold standard for college football, the Crimson Tide's on-field success has generated an unconscionable amount of money
and publicity for that school. It's unrealistic for Kansas, or really any program, to think it can reach Alabama's level of success, but it's clear that improving football will improve the University in other areas.
Again, you need to spend money in order to make it. Putting money into the program now, or at least in the near future, will show dedication to the program and is going to help bring in more high-level recruits over time. The football team needs to get better, and this move will
help in that pursuit.
And if your argument is based around asking why you would spend $300 million to help a football team that won two games in the last two seasons combined, take a moment and think critically.
Most of the arguments against the spending come up baseless and sound unintelligent. The money isn't being stolen from other University programs. Memorial Stadium is nearly 100 years old — it needs to be repaired and updated.
Why wouldn't you spend money to try to improve the program? What else would you do, just ignore the disaster and let the team fall into irreparable ruin? That notion is ridiculous and poorly thought out at best.
The cost of this project is a small price to pay for improving the team, and subsequently the University, over time. Don't get caught up in the price tag or the view from your ivory tower. Trying to better the football team is better for all of us who support the University.
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