I've told stories in my past columns about famous smart people. One man I've
always admired for his brilliance is Steve Allen. We all know of his wide
accomplishments in TV, music, comedy and writing. I would always sit in awe
when Steve would demonstrate his incredible ability to improvise witty lines faster
than a speeding bullet. (as my friends can tell you, I can only think of funny
answers two days later) I've always wondered, has Steve ever been a member
of Mensa? So I found out. I asked him. That's right, I met him at a bookstore
appearance and asked him. Here's exactly what Steve told me: "I'm not a
member formally, but I've spoken at a number of their meetings every year,
maybe 4 or 5 times. It's fun to be with such bright people at those
occasions!" Later that evening when most of the crowd had left, I had a chance
to talk some more with Steve, but let me leave you with an interesting exchange
that we had. I was explaining to some of the group there about my big win last
year on "America's Funniest Home Videos", that the program was nice enough to
give me $10,000 for turning a water sprinkler onto a cat. Someone asked me if
any animal rights group had objected to my clip. I told them that I had to do my
interview with Bob Saget three times, after Vin Di Bona told me not to use words
like "squirt" and "blow-up" when describing my clip. Steve overheard my
comments, and explained that he got a lot of negative mail from animal rights
groups when he told a certain dog joke on one of his shows. Steve then told me
the joke:
"There was a man and his dog trapped on a desert island. After a few weeks,
food was really getting scarce for this man, so he made a desperate decision;
He killed his dog and ate it. There was nothing left but a pile of bones. As this
man was savoring the meal that he had just had, he looked at the bones. Finally,
thinking about the best friend that he had just lost, he said, 'y'know, I wish Spot
was here; he would've loved those bones!'"
always admired for his brilliance is Steve Allen. We all know of his wide
accomplishments in TV, music, comedy and writing. I would always sit in awe
when Steve would demonstrate his incredible ability to improvise witty lines faster
than a speeding bullet. (as my friends can tell you, I can only think of funny
answers two days later) I've always wondered, has Steve ever been a member
of Mensa? So I found out. I asked him. That's right, I met him at a bookstore
appearance and asked him. Here's exactly what Steve told me: "I'm not a
member formally, but I've spoken at a number of their meetings every year,
maybe 4 or 5 times. It's fun to be with such bright people at those
occasions!" Later that evening when most of the crowd had left, I had a chance
to talk some more with Steve, but let me leave you with an interesting exchange
that we had. I was explaining to some of the group there about my big win last
year on "America's Funniest Home Videos", that the program was nice enough to
give me $10,000 for turning a water sprinkler onto a cat. Someone asked me if
any animal rights group had objected to my clip. I told them that I had to do my
interview with Bob Saget three times, after Vin Di Bona told me not to use words
like "squirt" and "blow-up" when describing my clip. Steve overheard my
comments, and explained that he got a lot of negative mail from animal rights
groups when he told a certain dog joke on one of his shows. Steve then told me
the joke:
"There was a man and his dog trapped on a desert island. After a few weeks,
food was really getting scarce for this man, so he made a desperate decision;
He killed his dog and ate it. There was nothing left but a pile of bones. As this
man was savoring the meal that he had just had, he looked at the bones. Finally,
thinking about the best friend that he had just lost, he said, 'y'know, I wish Spot
was here; he would've loved those bones!'"
| AN ACCIDENTAL MEETING OF THE MINDS? (reprinted from the Mensa Matrix 1995) |
| Listen to Don talk to Steve at an earlier meeting! This was at the Tattered Cover bookstore on 1-29-83, as Don had Steve autograph his "Funny People" book -- click on player at right: |
