Friedman serious about laughs
Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2008
WASHINGTON — “The only thing Jews and cowboys have in common is we both like to wear our hats indoors,” says the rarely bareheaded Kinky Friedman, a novelist, magazine columnist, humorist, cigar maker, animal lover, Texas gubernatorial candidate and occasional touring country singer.
Friedman is heading to the nation’s capital this week by happenstance: Washington is on the way to Woodstock, where he will play with his old buddy Levon Helm, drummer from the Band. Friedman will be joined on stage at both venues by longtime bandmate Little Jewford (Jeff Shelby ) and old friend Washington Ratso (Larry Sloman ).
He doesn’t have a new album and hasn’t written a song in decades, but he has a new book, What Would Kinky Do ?, and, ever the gracious entertainer, he welcomes autograph-seekers: “I will sign anything but bad legislation,” he says from his Echo Hill Ranch in Texas. The show will feature the classic songs and stage banter he has been honing for years: Friedman is known as a funnyman who doesn’t shy away from repeating his best lines.
Friedman first rose to semiprominence in the 1970 s with Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, styling the band’s name after Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.
He wrote traditional-sounding country songs with provocative or satirical lyrics, such as “Sold American,” “ We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You ” and “Ride ’Em, Jewboy.” But he couldn’t find mainstream success in America. So he turned to writing mystery novels starring an amateur detective named Kinky Friedman, writing 28 books since becoming a full-time author.
Then, in 2006, he ran for governor of Texas as an independent — using the slogan “Why the Hell Not ?” — and received 12 percent of the vote. He is seriously thinking about running again in 2010. This time, though, he’d be a Democrat.
Between the writing and the campaign trail, Friedman has been an infrequent performer. He still tours Europe every couple of years; after a successful few weeks there this summer, he is playing the East Coast for the first time in a decade.
His physical appearance (cowboy hat, mustache, cigar in mouth ) looks just as it did in the ’ 70 s. So does his curly hair, the reason for his nickname. He was born Richard Friedman 63 years ago.
Onstage, he gets into character by thickening his Texas accent, warming the audience up with off-color anecdotes and one-liners that he reuses in columns from Texas Monthly and novels.
Interviewing him feels a bit like being in an audience: He uses all the same jokes, and although his tone is a bit more intimate, he rarely breaks the fourth wall. Offstage, he calls those reruns “literary echoes.” He constantly references Mark Twain, often sounding Twain-like himself. (As Friedman says, “Being funny is a serious thing.” ) And he is serious about being funny. “I’m not really a simple kind of guy,” he says. “I hate intellectuals, but I am one.” He uses the redneck persona and accent to tell sharp truths.
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