Jeff Faehnle: On your Web site you are called "The Accidental Comic." How did that name come about?
Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant: After grad school I embarked on a “planned” career as a health educator. During the first week on the job, I fell out of a van and broke my arm in the company parking lot and then rolled over my boss’s foot and broke three of her toes. With a chosen career so rife with accidents, I decided it was in my best interest, safety-wise, to accidentally fall into my next job. I’m just happy they left that banana peel outside the actuarial school.
JF: Your bio says, “she has laugh lines on her face and oddly, her pancreas.” Have you seen a doctor about that?
LAJB: Yes, but she hasn’t seen me, thanks to my cunning use of misdirection. I did have a close call recently at my newly-produced stage play, "Are We There Yet?" but I hid in the ladies’ room during intermission.
JF: Out of all eleven humor books you've had published, which was the most difficult to write and why?
LAJB: Bedtime Stories for Cats. Although I like Feline Americans, having spent so much of my time with Canines, it was difficult for me to get into the mind of the cat. Eventually, though I was able. It was a lot like "Being John Malkevich," only with Friskies.
JF: Which book was the most difficult to get published and how did you get around those problems?
LAJB: Every one was the most difficult to get published while I was in the process. But none were as difficult as the thirty-seven books that remained unpublished, despite heavy lobbying from Jack Abramoff and a team of chocolatiers. My first book was accepted by the first publisher who read it, so I got a little spoiled (maybe ordering my own limo was presumptuous, but I always wanted to wear a chauffeur’s cap). My next six books were accepted before they were written and I thought, why does everyone say this is so hard? It’s all been downhill from there. Fortunately, I’m afraid of heights so downhill is fine with me. Besides, I’m thinking of publishing my lovely collection of rejection letters myself.
JF: You are also a stress management speaker. How do you use your background as a humorist to aid in your speeches?
LAJB: My presentations focus on how to use your sense of humor to manage stress, change and conflict. I use examples from my own life (like the time the huge piece of pine bark fell out of my pants while talking to group of librarians) and from the lives of my students (those who can’t do, teach, and you’ll have plenty to talk about) to pepper my presentations with laughter. Although I focus a lot on research (why laughter is good for you, who laughs most and why, what tricks you can use to help yourself see the funny in life), I try to make at least 40% of all my presentations funny. I gauge my success by how much chicken my audience spits up at lunch.
JF: How did you get started writing?
LAJB: I don’t actually remember, but my mother says her uterus is graffitied. I think my first complete written sentence was, “It was a dark and stormy womb.”
JF: What advice can you give to people just starting to write?
LAJB: Well there’s always the clichéd “What are you, crazy?” But I’ll go with: Believe in yourself. If you don’t think you’re good, no one else will. Readers are like dogs – they can smell fear. Make yourself laugh. You’re your first editor. If you don’t impress yourself with your funny bone, go back to writing something that pays more like advertising copy or Enron legal briefs. Write something every day, even if it’s a note on the mirror in lipstick that says “We’re out of toilet paper.” Don’t put the cart before the horseradish. You shouldn’t be stressing out about why you haven’t been published if you’ve only written five columns. Get the work right first, then concentrate on finding the market for it. Always have plenty of carbohydrates in your pantry. Never try to write like someone else. You’ll end up dissatisfied with your writing and walking funny at parties. Oh, and occasionally write wearing nothing but a garbage bag and a smile.
JF: A good portion of your Web site is about avoiding a real job. Have you been lucky enough to be unsuccessful in getting a real job? And if so, what have you been doing with all the free time?
LAJB: The truth is, real jobs avoid me. I once saw one on the sidewalk, but it tried to avoid me by crossing to the other side and unfortunately got run over by a bus. In my free time, I’m a wiener dog wrangler. It’s hard work, but it pays almost nothing.
JF: Can you give the readers a preview of what you will b speaking about at this year’s Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop?
LAJB: Ooh, a preview. I love those. It’ll give the readers a chance to go get popcorn and a soft drink with more fluid ounces than the water tower in Abilene, TX where I grew up. My topic is "Yoga for Your Funny Bone: My Favorite Comedy Writing Exercises." Both yoga and comedy writing require and help build balance, flexibility, strength, and spirit. And both are more fun when the person nearest you has a really good body you don’t mind staring at while you’re working. My comedy writing exercises focus on these issues and are fun to do. There are exercises named: If You Can Read My Bumpersticker, You Might be a Comedy Writer, Three Word Funny, Card Me, Emotional Rollercoaster, Separation Anxiety, and much, much more. Rated PG-13 for grammatically incorrect use of language and poor fashion sense. (No animals or middle aged people were injured in the making of this preview.)
By the way, in terms of a shameless plug, I have a book coming out called, oddly enough, Yoga for Your Funny Bone.
