13-time Emmy winner David Javerbaum, who served as executive producer and Head Writer of “The Daily Show” chatted with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about “The Dog Show.”
What are the unique comedic qualities that make dogs such compelling characters?
They each have distinct personalities and are completely un-self-aware, and un-self-awareness is a great advantage when creating a comic character. Also everything they do is so lovable and well-intentioned that laughing at them doesn’t leaving you feeling either threatened or threatening.
What the human-canine bond can teach us about ourselves and the ways we relate to others?
Dogs are constant living reminders that life is lived in the here and now, and that’s a lesson we could all use. (There are exceptions to this, like when a dog sits by the front door waiting for your return for an hour, and that’s a validation we could all use.)
Please talk about the stories we invent about what might be going on inside our pets’ minds.
Those stories are exactly what The Dog Show consists of. What is a dog thinking when he’s taking a bath? Going for a walk? Leading the blind? Catching a frisbee? Theshow is my imagining and projecting of what I might be saying or thinking if I were in that situation. I think that’s a mental activity many millions of people also engage in at least sometimes when they’re around dogs.
Please discuss the art of giving a voice, personality, and comedic perspective to a character who cannot use words
It was simply a matter of trying to project myself into a particular situation. For example, I’ve seen many dogs look uncomfortable while given baths. I tried to imagine, “If I were a dog, why would I find that so unpleasant?” It occurred to me that dogs go out of their way to smell very different — they deliberately roll around in dead bugs, jump in stagnant pond water, etc. If I were a dog my owners’ continued attempts to make me smell like something other than I want to smell would aggravate me. I used that reflection as the basis for that particular monologue.
Please discuss how storytelling through dogs can shed light on universal experiences such as belonging, devotion, self-discovery, and the desire for connection.
A lot of thereason people are fascinated by dogs is their fascination between the ways in which they’re similar and different from us. I found that writing these monologues let me leverage the differences to get at the similarities. An abandoned dog’s feelings of sadness are somewhat canine but also somewhat universal, and the overlap between the two provided me a way to write about unconditional love in a way that applied to people as well as dogs.
What are the ways your background in political humor and late-night television has influenced your approach to crafting live theater?
To be honest they’re two fairly separate skills that I’ve tried to cultivate separately throughout my career. There’s nothing political or late-night about The Dog Show. I suppose the common thread would be writing in a way that sounds natural coming through the mouth of another ‘person’, but even that’s dubious. I love writing in different styles, and this and TV writing are very different ones.
How do the demands of writing topical satire for The Daily Show compare with the process of developing a stage comedy built around canine characters?
The main influence of political humor and late-night TV on my approach to crafting this show is my desire to have there be nothing political about The Dog Show whatsoever. Writing daily jokes or tweets about political events is thoroughly depressing and dehumanizing. This show was a chance for me to write in a way that “de-humanized” in the best possible way, a way that helped me (and I hope people who come to see it) feel “re”-humanized.
The Dog Show plays The Triad Theater (158 W. 72nd Street). For performance schedule and times, please visit the official website.
