Volunteer Andrea laughs along with Dave Barry at Politics and Prose.
“You may not believe this, but I’ve always been kind of a wise ass,” Dave Barry said to a packed house at Politics and Prose where Barry spoke, took questions and made everyone laugh, including himself.
Barry, a Pulitzer-prize winning author and columnist known for his humor, was promoting Insane City said to be like the movie The Hangover but wilder. Everyone came to Politics and Prose ready to laugh, and Barry did not disappoint.
Barry said he moved to Miami “from the rest of the world” in 1986. He described the odd, real-life joys of living in a city that leads the nation in people driving into buildings, far into buildings. Aspersions were cast on older Miami residents like the gentlemen who drove onto a Miami International Airport runway. Barry said that only in Miami could the Chief of Police almost be killed by a bale of cocaine falling from the sky. In Barry’s opinion, Miami voters see previous jail time as a selling point in those running for office. Such candidates already have their legal team in place. He suggested that in order to streamline Miami politics, newly-elected official should be sworn in and indicted at the same time.
Set in Miami, the fictional Insane City is the story of Seth, a professional tweeter, and Tina, a high-powered attorney. They are to be married. Seth is an appendage to Tina who is caught up in the wedding-industrial-complex and all its trappings, some of which can result in the groom not being invited to the wedding. The only bad decision Tina makes is to have her wedding in Miami. High jinks ensue. Barry wasn’t giving too much away, but he did note that the plot involves an orangutan, a python and some misplaced Haitians.
During the question-and-answer period, Barry described his time in the Rock Bottom Remainders. The band subscribed to the rumor method of playing, basically that a rumor would spring up that a chord change had occurred, and one-by-one the band members would catch on. Barry also described his favorite fan letter written by two kids who said that two of the authors they had previously written to died after receiving their letter.
The biggest laugh of the night came in response to a nine-year-old starting his question with, “My parents told me you used to be a comedian.” After the laughter died down, Barry said that the key to humor writing “is that if you can’t think of another joke right then, you might have to get a real job.”