David Letterman Overview

born: 1947

lives in:

David Letterman influenced the comic sensibility of an entire generation (according to the presenter of his 1992 Peabody Award) by taking "one of TV's most conventional and least inventive forms -- the talk show -- and infusing it with freshness and imagination." Letterman always dreamed of hosting his own talk show. Perhaps it all started when Steve Allen dunked himself in hot water while sporting a suit of tea bags (the offspring of the Velcro and Alka-Seltzer suits). It seems a fitting beginning for Letterman's love affair with the absurd. Consciously or not, the suits -- and every other element of Letterman's humor -- reveal an affinity with Dada performance (insert photo of Hugo Ball, wearing a weird cardboard suit, solemnly reciting gibberish poetry). Dave's world also smacks of '60s and '70s Postmodernism. His cult-status elevation of everyman personalities -- Larry "Bud" Melman, store-owners Mujibar and Sirajul, Bif the stage manager -- is tantamount to what Yvonne Rainer did for dance: taking the ordinary, the pedestrian, and revealing the artistry therein. Many of the classic "Late Night" pranks could seem like performance art, if Dave's gap-toothed, Cheshire-Cat grin weren't hovering above the fracas. Consider these gems: "DROP PIECE. Take a watermelon. Drop it out the window of a skyscraper. See how long it takes to hit the ground." Or "SPAM PIECE. Smash a can of Spam in a two-ton hydraulic press. Examine the result." Letterman's aggravating "man on the street interviews" and the various "cams" with which he nabs audience members, office workers, or backstage guests, recall Vito Acconci's video and performance work. Behind all of the "aw shucks" and "stupid this, stupid that" is a well-defined, cohesive system of signs that has built its history over a period of decades. Stupid Pet Tricks are never really that stupid. This wacky world is his form, the product of diligent craft, an exacting sense of physical and verbal timing. David Letterman always plays the straight man to himself, his solipsism reaching its zenith with the Top Ten List. "Late Night" and "The Late Show" are a theater of cruelty for both the audience and guests. Who will Dave berate? Who will he let off the hook? In the curious moral and ethical game of "The Late Show with David Letterman," one only looks bad if one doesn't meet certain criteria -- first standard of excellence is a sense of humor. There are always the surprises (Martha Stewart was luminous) and the shoe-ins (Kevin Costner, of course, has always been lame). And then there are the guests that you know Letterman invites back just to top himself, to make himself blush. The late 1980s saw many visits from Miss Sandra Bernhard, the most memorable being the show in which she slithered over Dave's desk bellowing, "Slave to the rhythm! I'm just a slave to the rhythm Dave!" And there is, of course, Crispin Glover's infamous karate kick. Letterman invited him back too. Letterman was born in Indianapolis on April 12, 1947. He has described his mother as the "least demonstrative person on the planet." He, in turn, is renowned for his off-camera coldness to his guests -- except the ones he likes, such as Terry Garr, to whom he passed a note during a commercial break that read, "I hate myself." Charmed, we're sure. "Late Night with David Letterman" premiered in February 1982, and throughout the years has been critically acclaimed, has won five Emmy awards, and has been honored with 35 nominations. Yet Dave has always referred to his show as inane and tired. This miserable misanthrope, as one journalist aptly put it, seems only to like "kids, dogs, and audience members from anywhere but L.A. or New York." True, Letterman's only displays of genuine relish and absolute sincerity seem to occur when he's petting his canine guests. The Orwellian/Rockwellian dichotomy. But as one admirer put it, "Because of him, everyone I love is sarcastic." Who could ask for better praise? [show less]