PANTS
May 19, 2015
I have three shirts related to David Letterman, a Late Night shirt, a Late Show shirt and my favorite, PANTS, a shirt that gets comments every time I wear it. Pants for his production company World Wide Pants purchased in the Late Show gift shop the second time we saw his show in NY.
Letterman was magical to me when I was a kid. Showing how logical I was at a young age, I had trouble wrapping my head around him and the people in his audience being awake and out, at 12:30 at night. I remember thinking the world went to bed at 11, so why are people on this show so late? Same thoughts with Carson, but Dave’s broadcast was the tough one to grasp. It was on “tomorrow…” maybe I was 12? Somewhere around there, it did not take long to figure it out, tape the show at 5, play back later, to me, at that age it felt live. I knew how sitcoms worked, this was not a sitcom. This had energy, it had a pulse, a sitcom is live in front of people, but this was LIVE, electric, real. I can even see how I could get to that conclusion as a kid, but at the time it was like magic. The answer seemed easy – this guy was so good that people will stay up late to be on his show – to be that naive and put things in the simplest terms.
I would sneak his show when I could, it felt like something I should not watch but it made me love it more. Some kids are trying to descramble the adults channels and I am sneaking comedy talk shows. Then as I hit 15 I got my own room and a TV, there were many school nights where I would be up watching Dave, when I should had been sleeping. There were also many times when I was sleeping in Mrs. O’s first period English class the next morning as a direct result to Letterman. He molded my sense of humor. I could relate to him, at the time I had never met anyone like him, and sometimes thought there was no one like me. I thought I was as quick as Dave, but it would be years until I would chance it, I laughed at what he laughed at, I knew where he was going with bits, I wanted to be him. The older I got the more I watched, I learned to respect Carson through Dave. He spoke highly of Johnny, so in what could be a reversal of expectations, Late Night with Letterman was a lead in to the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson for me. They balanced each other out, but Dave was my king.
So what does it mean when someone you grew up idolizing retires? One, it means you are getting old. Two, it causes you to reflect. I am happy he is retiring, it is time. I remember when Carson retired, he seemed so old to me. May 22, 1992… Johnny was 65, Letterman is 68, he does not feel as old, but I think that is more about me not being 19 this time. The closest thing we have now is Jimmy Kimmel, you can see Letterman’s influence all over him, and there seems to be a huge respect both ways. Fallon is a different breed, in a league of his own, not even playing the same sport. And that is why it is time, the sport has changed. I will miss knowing Dave is there, he was a huge part of my life during my formative years, as far as entertainers go, it is safe to say he will be the last one I would ever say that about.
I shared a post and thoughts about his retirement way back when it was announced, I mentioned Barbara and I went to see him twice at the Ed Sullivan Theater. Tickets were free, yet we waiting in line to guarantee good seats both times. The second time we went in 1994, when I got the PANTS shirt ,we even got on camera. You can see it all below, because of course I have the tape.
Good Luck Dave, you made being a career out of being a funny smart ass, for that I am jealous.
“There’s only one requirement for any of us, and that is to be courageous — because courage, as you might know, defines all other human behavior.” David Letterman, first show after 9/11
“Hey, would you like to buy a monkey?” David Letterman in Cabin Boy
