I recently had the opportunity to speak to writer/director/producer Bobcat Goldthwait about his new documentary CALL ME LUCKY, which chronicles the story of Barry Crimmins, political satirist and former stand-up comic and comedy club owner.
Himself a survivor of childhood abuse, Crimmins notoriously testified before the U.S. Senate in the 1990’s to expose internet service provider AOL for allowing images of child sexual abuse to be displayed and traded in its public chat rooms, before becoming somewhat of a recluse in the past few decades.
Read our review HERE. Travis Keune says CALL ME LUCKY “may very well be one of the most important documentaries you will see in 2015.”
WAMG: First of all, I had never heard of Barry and his story and it was so fascinating to me. I know you have a lot of different projects going on –writing and producing and directing. Where did this project fall in the priority of things that you are doing?
Bobcat Goldthwait: Well, I always knew I wanted to tell Barry’s story, especially after he had written an article in the Boston Phoenix, after he spoke on the Senate floor and the judiciary hearing where he exposed AOL and that they were allowing child pornography to be exchanged in the chat rooms. He had written this article and it read like a Frank Capra movie, you know, so even though he was a friend and a mentor, I just thought this was an amazing story. Over the years I thought I would write it as a narrative, but I write a lot of screenplays and I have a lot of different movies that I’m usually interested in making. I land them when they come. It’s like an air-traffic controller. After World’s Greatest Dad, I wrote 11 screenplays. I make the movies when I get the money and when it makes sense to make them and they’re all different sizes and shapes. This is one that I am passionate about, so when the opportunity came to finally make it, I was more than willing to pull the trigger on it.
WAMG: The subject matter goes back and forth between being sort of really dark and serious to having these funny moments and talking to all these well-known comics. How did you balance that out without making it too dark or to light?
BG: I thought it was really important that the movie was entertaining and funny, and then at the same time we had the message in it, because you can tell a story that is important, but if it’s not entertaining… One of the things that I’m proud of about the movie is that it is life reaffirming for such a heavy subject. So I don’t know how I balance it, I guess that kind of stuff seems to come through on all the movies I tend to make. There always is a heavy subject, but there’s always comedy in them because maybe that’s how I see the world.
WAMG: Regarding the comics and other well-known people you spoke to in the film – do you think that having them there will draw in an audience that might not otherwise be interested because they may not be as familiar with Barry as they are with say, Steven Wright or Patton Oswalt?
BG: Yeah, I spoke with all kinds of different folks from Barry’s life and I’m really grateful that comedians of their stature were willing to be interviewed in the movie. It says a lot about how much they admire and what they think of Barry. And it also says that even though they are successful comedians, they’re not a-holes. It means a lot that these people made time to be in the movie. No one turned me down.
WAMG: I read somewhere that Barry said that doing this movie was like putting his life in your hands. Was there a certain amount of pressure that came along with that to tell it the right way?
BG: That was probably the most difficult part of making the movie. Making sure that he was happy with the final product was something that really concerned me, but on the other side, that’s a small thing compared to the life he led and the example he gives. You know Barry hadn’t seen the movie until it played at Sundance, so I was nervous, I wanted him to like it. It was very nerve-wracking.
WAMG: Once I got to know who Barry was and I starting YouTubing and watching his old material and his bits, I realized that he really was edgy for his time with his political humor. After this new exposure, do you think he has a lot to say about the current political climate and want to contribute?
BG: Oh yeah, he continues to write material, and he’s working on a book and speaking engagements. You know that is why I felt it was important to film Barry now on stage. Often in documentaries they’ll have the scene with the band’s reunion or the triumphant performance and I wasn’t very interested in that. I wanted to have Barry on stage so that you saw that he was still a valid entertainer and he has a lot of things to say now. I mean, for a guy who just made a documentary, I loathe nostalgia, viciously. I spend so much time talking to people about things that happened so long ago, and it’s nice and I appreciate it, and I’m respectful, but I’m always making stuff and I’m excited about the latest and newest things.
WAMG: So speaking of the latest and newest, what is on the horizon for you? What are you doing next?
BG: Well, it’s one of two movies – one is more of my take on Preston Sturges’ HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO. I wrote a movie similar to that. I just try to make different genres because that’s what interests me. I love the challenge of saying, oh can I make a documentary? Can I make a scary movie? I want to make a musical. I really do! I just love movies so I want to see how many I can do before I die.
WAMG: That actually comes across in your body of work. You never do the same thing twice, so everything feels different every time.
BG: Well thanks, yeah it probably doesn’t behoove me to do that, because it’s not like I have a style. I don’t generate an audience because the movies are similar in tone. Although I guess tonally they all have something in common.
CALL ME LUCKY OPENS IN THEATERS AUGUST 7.
http://www.callmeluckymovie.com/
