To Be (a fan) or Not To Be (a fan)

I worked on the very last film that Carl Reiner directed. First of all let me say that Carl is the coolest cat. I can’t say enough nice things about him. Totally low key. Totally down to earth. Extremely friendly. Always mellow. And extremely sharp. He has an amazing memory and recall. Look up the word “Mensch” in a Yiddish dictionary and you’ll see Carl smiling back at you.

To give an example, Carl told us how the “Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld was based on an actual place in Midtown New York. I did not know that. A few months after the movie was finished, I was planning a trip to NYC to visit my parents. So I called Carl to ask the name or location of the actual “Soup Nazi.” Carl said that he thinks that it is International Soup Kitchen and that it’s around 55^th and Broadway. But wasn’t sure. So he said, “You know what? Hang on. Let me call my nephew on the other line and get the exact information for you.”

The “nephew” that Carl was referring to is George Shapiro, the executive producer of Seinfeld! So I reply, “Oh, don’t bother. I have a name and a general area. That’s enough. I can ask some friends and I’m sure I can find it.” I did eventually go there (that location has since closed down), and let me tell you first hand, it was just like the episode. There was a line around the corner. Everyone followed the rules. No one spoke. And it was some REALLY GOOD soup!

As many of you probably know, Carl’s best friend is Mel Brooks. Now I love The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Jerk, and All of Me, but if you were to X-Ray me you would see that Mel Brooks’ films are in my bones. When I first moved to California I joked that “I was raised a neurotic New York Jew on a steady diet of Pastrami, Woody Allen, Bagels, and Mel Brooks.”

One day at work the phone rang and I picked it up. “Hello this is Mel Brooks calling for Carl Reiner.” In a split second lines started zipping through my brain.

I’d say you boys have had enough beans.

It’s pronounced Fronk-en-Steen.

Hey everybody, guess who has High Anxiety!

My name is Lorenzo Saint Dubois, but my friends call me LSD.

Liquid Schwartz!
No!

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. These lines zip through my brain like a series of runaway trains. I suddenly have another memory and what comes out of my mouth is... “Hold on a second, Mr. Brooks. Let me get him for you.” What I suddenly remembered was getting admonished on my last job for not being professional enough especially on the phone.

Later that day as we were walking from lunch back to the office I tell Carl what my instinct was when I picked up the phone. Carl bellows out, “Oh, Mel loves it when people quote his movies back to him. You would have been on the phone with him for hours!” It was like straight out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon where Elmer Fudd’s head turns into a Donkey’s. There are times to be professional and there are times when it is okay to just be a fan. The trick is knowing when to trust your first instinct.

.