Panel Nerds: Ira Glass and Etgar Keret’s “This Israeli Life”

Who: Writer Etgar Keret interviewed by This American Life host Ira Glass

What: Live from NYPL’s “Is Reality Overrated?”

Where: New York Public Library’s Celeste Bartos Forum

When: October 28, 2009

Thumbs: Up

It’s obvious why Ira Glass and Etgar Keret immediately became friends. They work in fields where they get to, professionally, contemplate and struggle with the issue of what constitutes a story.

While they have that in common, it was the pair’s disagreements and miscommunications that provided the best moments of the night. Glass, an interviewer par excellence, came prepared with a list of questions and agenda to cover in the discussion. At the top of that list was a question of whether Keret’s comedic style of imaginative fiction have stood in his way of being respected by his peers and admirers. After Keret sidestepped the question several times, Glass eventually relented and allowed the writer to talk about what he wanted to: lessons we can learn from talking animals.

Once he adjusted to the laid-back pace Keret set, Glass played his part well. He remained fixated on Keret, paid attention to every word, kept his questions and comments brief, assisted the Israeli Keret with English words when necessary, and made sure that everything got covered during the Q&A.

Keret was extremely forthcoming about his process, inspiration and ideas. He said everything he’s ever written stems from a tense incident he either witnessed or experienced. While Keret meant to include only the slight tensions of day-to-day life, Glass hoped to extend the conversation to the ongoing conflict and political situation in Israel. And with that, Keret had stumbled into an impromptu slice of “This Israeli Life.”

But Keret intended to keep the conversation lighter and more upbeat. He shared a story about a previous event where he was asked what he’d do if he woke up tomorrow as Ariel Sharon. Without missing a beat, Keret said, “Diet.”

What They Said
“When you write, you always try to document the subjective experience.”
– Etgar Keret said that those who write stories about themselves are really just too lazy to write stories. Those too lazy to write about themselves, write gym.

“Sometimes you’ll see a happy pig telling you to come eat barbecue and I always think that’s so disrespectful to the pig.”
– Ira Glass would rather see more Sesame Street pig portrayals

“I have no writing proficiency at all. It’s a well-known fact.”
– Etgar Keret rejects traditional methods and terms in favor of writing what sounds good to him

“We speak the language of the elders but Abraham never texted, Isaac never used a GPS, and Jacob never texted.”
– Etgar Keret discusses how the Hebrew language, while updating, has also remained traditional. By the way, we’d read the social media-ized version of the Bible.

“For a Chinese midget, you don’t need a pick-up line. Just use the cliche.”
– Etgar Keret… confuses us

What We Thought

• Flash Rosenberg, NYPL’s artist-in-residence added a wholly different element to the conversation. A screen beside the panelists periodically aired Rosenberg’s live sketches and interpretations of points being made. It fit beautifully into one of the themes of the evening: Make it up as you go.
• We liked the way Keret compared everything about himself and his writing to something Americans can relate to, from microwaves to reality television. Our favorite example? Keret said that when he tells a story, he’s like Bob Dylan singing an original song, but when trained writers tell that story they sound like “American Idol” contestants trying to sing a Bob Dylan song.
• Keret took a good-intentioned jab at Glass for not letting him read his own material on “This American Life.” (Dermot Mulroney subbed) Glass said that Keret’s accent makes it difficult to understand him, but that in person Keret is easier to absorb. Though we had some moments of difficulty at times, we tend to agree with Glass on this one.

PANEL RULES!
Some audience behavior seems to repeat itself panel after panel. We’ll be updating a running list of “PANEL RULES!” that will help ensure that you are not the dweeb of the Panel Nerds.

Panel Nerds don’t like…Linguists
You’ve studied languages. We get it. You like their similarities and their differences fascinate you. But for the rest of us, language remains best when used in its simplest form: words spoken by human beings. When you use phrases like “medium for expression,” your language begins to lose meaning. And if you love language so much, you should want it to mean something.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.