Interview With Jason Love, Humor Columnist Article

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Interview With Jason Love, Humor Columnist

Interview with a successful humor columnist.

Author: Jason Parker

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>Q: Mr. Love, you are living the dream many of us aspire to, that of being a columnist read by thousands. How did you get your start, and how did you get to where you are now?

>To be honest, Jason, I started down this path for one reason and one reason only … Drugs. Serious, hardcore, mind-altering drugs. That is the only thing that could make a person choose this life over, say, 401K and dental.

I got to where I am by good, old-fashioned pigheadedness. I passed up lucrative offers, I drove a rusty car, I lived in someone’s cupboard. No, it wasn’t a cupboard, but let’s just say you entered my home through the bathroom.

It gets to a point where you’ve gone so far that it doesn’t make sense to turn around or go forward, so you just close your eyes. You don’t see things like statements to Pay Rent or Quit.

Note to beginners: Once you’ve worked at your dream so hard and for so long that you can’t take another step and just want to jump off a bridge and die … you’re about halfway there.

>Q: Could you tell us a little about your business and the services you offer?

>Because the syndicates—all three of them—would not take me on board, I had to create an audience by hand. I have so many rejection form letters that I plan to use them to wallpaper a room. Not my room. That would be too depressing.

I syndicate my column “So It Goes” alongside “Snapshots,” the daily cartoon. Both are available to print editors by way of CD and to online editors by way of high-tech feeds, which I could tell you about but then I would have to kill you.

There is also merchandising, freelance work, videos for the newspaper website, and the occasional standup performance. I’ve become a comedy ho.

>Q: Some of your drawings and writings had my belly on fire with laughter. What and who has inspired your work?

>Inspiration? Drugs. Serious, hardcore, mind-altering drugs. Actually, I’m not sure where the ideas come from. They never seem to come head-on; they sneak in when my head is turned. The best ideas come when I’m in the shower or playing racquetball or am otherwise a thousand miles away from a pen.

The process reminds me of Douglas Adams’ instructions on how to fly: “You just sort of throw yourself at the ground and miss.” The illustrations are done, of course, by Vladimir Stankovski.

>Q: Are you surprised by your success as a humor writer?

>I’m surprised that people pay me to tell jokes that I’m going to tell anyway. If you read for a few minutes, I think you’ll find your Jason Love threshold. Truth is, I get sick of myself and have to do serious, hardcore, mind-altering drugs. My wife puts up with my shtick around the clock. The trick is for me to make enough money that she doesn’t kill me.

>Q: Do you like ballet?

>Ballet … ballet … I could think of better ways to spend my time. For entertainment value, I’d have to rank it alongside the Fabric Channel. To quote the esteemed drunk Dave Attell: “Look at all the work it takes to bore me.”

Visit Jason Love’s website, JasonLove.com.

About Author

Jason is the owner and operator of http://www.GoldenProse.com Reader and Writer Community.

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