Pee-wee Herman
Paul Reuben recently passed away, he had a complicated career that unfortunately in today's reporting has negative reviews, but I expect no actual journalism. I really liked his energy and off beat humor. I remember his early stand up appearances on talk shows and Saturday Night Live. He was always an acquired taste and broke new comedy ground.
He was never a child friendly entertainer and he was never intended to be. Parents saw the bright sets filled with colorful characters but ignored the obvious underlying adult humor. I don't know his sexuality and I refuse to assume but many commentators express an opinion. He was eccentric and secret about his private life and let his work speak for itself.
He had a way of using subtle to blatant sexual implications accompanied by his patented perfectly timed silence and look. He was hard to explain so I see how many not paying attention missed his genius.
Pee-wee was an original, his standup had a structure. His voice, look and props drew out a few audience members into uncontrolled laughter. He would focus on this small group that quickly infected the entire audience. I was never sure if I was laughing at him or the giggling audience.
His movies were outrageous but the underlying interaction with his famous guests was the focus. Two adults dressed in silly costumes acting out a ridiculous script was on its surface funny. What was really genius was his ability to include his audience in a secret. The inside jokes and comments between Pee-wee and his guests made you feel like part of the cast. Mr Rogers did it with kids but Pee-wee did it with the adults.
Most corporate meetings have at least one class clown who makes comments to entertain the people around them at the expense of the boring speaker. Pee-wee took it to a new level he was on stage assisting the boring speaker while making stealth comments and looks behind their back. He was so good the boring speaker actually thought he was being the funny one.
He has many famous guests, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Magic Johnson, Dinah Shore, Joan Rivers, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Whoopi Goldberg, Little Richard, Cher, Charo, k.d. lang, the Del Rubio triplets, and Grace Jones....
A young Oprah
Laurence Fishburne
and the late Phil Hartman.
Paul had a career derailing arrest as a sex offender. He was caught in a sting in an adult movie theater. Before VHS adult movies were only found in adult movie theaters. These were dark older theaters usually located in a rough part of town. If there was an appropriate public place to masturbate it would be in one of these. The press reports made it sound like he was standing beside a white van next to a school yard.
I understand how parents were outraged because they thought he was a child entertainer. Actually child guests were extremely rare. Pee-wee was always talking to his adult audience not the kids. I believe they appeared after his shows became popular and I never got the feeling they were welcomed by Pee-wee. Stage parents will do anything to promote their children ask Macaulay Culkin.
Paul died after a long bout with brain cancer. He made a few film projects but the Pee-wee Playhouse never reemerged. His movies have become cult classics for their whit and unique comedy. His gift of laughter lives on.
