Though Mike Reiss, producer of The Simpsons
told a packed Baker University Center Ballroom that he would be talking about comedy rather than doing comedy during his speech last night, the audience's reaction proved otherwise.
Reiss' speech, sponsored by Hillel at Ohio University, addressed his experiences as the executive producer and a writer for The Simpsons which is about to begin its 16th season.
Reiss spoke first about working on other well-known shows, such as Alf and It's Gary Shandling's Show. He also recounted his experience as a writer for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, in which he was expected to write 60 jokes in a single day.
If you write jokes for a living you can't get writer's block
Reiss said.
Reiss also showed clips from his own animated series, The Critic
as well as his other animated creation, Queer Duck
which details the misadventures of a gay duck.
Instead of limiting his speech to discussions of his television experience, Reiss also spoke about his experiences growing up Jewish and how his religion played a role in his profession.
Am I a Jew? I'm Jew -ish
Reiss said. By that I mean I would never eat a ham sandwich in a synagogue on Yom Kippur -if there was anybody watching.
Reiss, who received four Emmy Awards for his work on The Simpsons
also told the crowd that his favorite episode of the show was when Krusty the Clown is reunited with his father, who is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi.
Reiss said that in order to make the religious debate between Krusty and his father as authentic as possible, three rabbis were consulted just for that episode. He also said half of The Simpsons cast members are Jewish.
We felt that bringing someone who's Jewish and really successful in shaping American culture to campus was a really valuable thing for the students
said Danielle Leshaw, the rabbi at Hillel.
OU junior Marcy Bernstein, who helped coordinate the event, said that students seemed excited to hear Reiss' speech.
I've heard great things about him
and I think that it was time for Hillel to bring a big name to campus and have a big event for the entire university
not just the Jewish students
