- Ira Nayman's Yard - Photo by Ira Nayman
Ira Nayman is an award-winning satirist with a Web site, three books (two of “comic science fiction journalism”), the pilot for a radio series and a nifty Facebook page for fans. But he always dreamed of being a rift in the time-space continuum…
The desert island question – what book would you take with you?
Gravity’s Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon. It has been years since I read it, but I remember it as being incredibly rich in ideas and detail (and, of course, I have read all of the novels Pynchon has written since, which proved to be a reminder of how rich in ideas and details his writing is). Since you don’t know how long you are going to be on the island, you want a book that will reward multiple readings, and this one definitely qualifies.
What DVD?
The Complete Buster Keaton. Chaplin is the silent film comedian everybody has heard about, but Keaton was the innovative genius. The box set contains all of his silent features and silent shorts that survive. It is a magnificent window into the mind of somebody who intuitively understood film as a medium in its earliest days - and is tremendously funny. I could watch his films endlessly.
And what music album or instrument?
Nooooo - don’t make me choose!
The Elvis Costello boxed set. Three monumental albums in a year and a half, plus a live album recorded at the El Mocambo in my (and Scott Pilgrim’s) home town. You can’t get any better than that. Unless…it’s a Beatles box set. From their early days of pure pop to the psychedelic material of their final days, this band travelled further in the decade of their existence than most musical acts do in the entire lifetimes of their members. Or…or…or…
Tell you what. Let’s call it an electronic keyboard. I’ve always wanted to learn a musical instrument, and this is one I think I could get a lot of play out of.
What is your favourite memory from childhood?
I decided to devote my life to writing humour, in as many media and forms as I could, when I was eight years old. (This is not as impressive as it may sound. I was watching The Green Room, a show where comedians sit around and talk about comedy - the episode featuring Eddie Izzard. He told a story about a conversation he had had with Richard Pryor - apparently, they both knew they wanted to be comics when they were four years old. So, even though deciding to write comedy at eight may seem precocious, I was already four years behind the curve!) The first things I wrote were parodies of Sherlock Holmes mysteries (which I was reading at the time). I wrote them on the backs of my father’s green legal sized accounting ledgers. I wrote three - one per page. After I was done, I remember thinking: “How do people come up with enough material to fill a whole story?” But, that’s not the reason I like this memory the best. When I first started writing, it seemed like I was embarking upon a project with unlimited potential, it seemed like I had just discovered a whole universe just for me to explore. Those initial stories are lost to time (which is probably for the best), but that sense of adventure, of the wonder and playfulness of creativity, has always stayed with me.
5) What is the worst job you’ve ever had?
I worked for three days at a fast food restaurant I will not name (although I will say that its initials were BK and its mascot was a member of royalty - but, seriously, more than that I cannot say). Being the new guy, I was given the job of cleaning out the grease pan at the end of the shift. (The grease pan, as you might imagine, is where the grease that drips off the food while it is frying collects.) The smell was so disgusting that I was sick long after my shift had ended, so I quit after 3 days. It was 10 years before I could eat at a fast food burger joint after that experience.
Tell us a secret.
I have never worn Spiderman pyjamas. Ever. In my life. My childhood was sooooo deprived.
Who plays you in the movie of your life?
Paul Giammati. Aside from the uncanny resemblance, I think he could capture my understated wit well.
And what’s the pivotal scene?
When I first went to University for the last time, the one that stuck, I was supposed to get an accounting degree. (My dad had always wanted one of his children to take over his accounting firm, and, being the oldest of the four children, it was most logical that it would be me.) I struggled through some math courses and took a lot of other courses that I thought would be interesting. At the end of the first term, I was talking to my dad, and, out of the blue, he said: “You know what? I know accounting isn’t really what you want to do. Stay in school and do whatever you want.” (Not only did he pay for my schooling up to my PhD, but he has been the biggest supporter of my writing career ever since.) That was the moment that really freed me to pursue the life I have wanted, including allowing me to write what I wanted. You gotta love that.
We'll talk about Ira's latest project, Tthe Alternate Reality News Service tomorrow...
Colin Harvey - Author six novels, and editor of four anthologies; professional reviewer since 2003, including six years at Strange Horizons. Member of ...
