Comedian Bob Smith on his Novel: Selfish and Perverse

Comedian Bob Smith on his new novel

Unlike many stand-up comics, Bob Smith is more drawn to writing his material than performing it. That literary bent led to several collections of humorous essays like 2000's Way to Go, Smith (if you haven't read them, imagine a David Sedaris book with the relentless staccato rhythm of a comedy club). Now Smith has published his first novel, Selfish and Perverse, a wry look at gay love, and the creative process, through the eyes of a wanna-be writer torn between two men. As a fan of Smith's comedy, I couldn't wait for his upcoming local appearances to get the skinny on this new phase of his career, so I rang him up for a chat.

Q: Of course my first question is, why a novel?
A: I felt ready to write a novel. I love comic novels, and I came up with an idea that would work better as a novel.

Q: What was that initial inspiration?
A: Out magazine sent me up to write a story about Alaska. I went out there and went fishing with my friend, a gay fisherman. I've gone up there at least 12 time and met gay men and lesbians all over the state. I always asked the people who weren't born there, what brought them there. And they said they came in their 20s and stayed. And really, if I had gone there in my 20s I would have stayed. I just love it there.

Q: Is it a good place to be if you're gay?
A: It's isolated, so if you're in a really small town that could be difficult. But Anchorage is a pretty big city. It has a gay community center, and Pride. Even Juneau and Fairbanks have gay pride festivals.

Q: I would have guessed the book began with your experiences in L.A.
A: I worked on MadTV as a staff writer, and the poor writers' assistants worked right outside my office. I was overhearing their conversations every day. There was a queeny guy and a bisexual woman, and they would talk about their sex lives with an openness that would be lawsuit material anywhere else.

Q: Sounds like our office.
A: A lot of them wanted to write for TV, and I liked the idea of ... I've always known what I wanted to do, but I know lots of writers and artists who get stuck or don't commit, and I wanted to write about that. The process of getting to total commitment. And really, I wanted to write the kind of book I wanted to read. A gay Jane Austen.

Q: But with more sex.
A: Yeah. She was a spinster, she didn't have sex. I really like comic novelists like Evelyn Waugh and Barbara Pym. Waugh used to travel somewhere, research it and come back and write a novel about it. No one really does that now. You know, I think this is the first book that can be shelved under L.A. fiction, Alaska fiction and gay fiction.

Q: Did you set out to be satirical?
A: In what way?

Q: Well, in that Nelson, the main character, is so self-involved. And of course Dylan is like the ultimate narcissistic actor.
A: It was fun writing Dylan. I didn't just want him to be the villain, but I gave him every self-involved urge an artist might have, or a man might have. Almost every character says something I agree with, and things I disagree with. People are going to think Nelson is me, and that's fine, but he really isn't. I'm not that crazy, I've always known what I want to do.

Q: Is there anything from stand-up that you bring into writing a novel?
A: Stand up is very concise. That teaches you good writing, I think. And then the beauty of stand-up is that you write something and you don't have to hand it off to an editor or publisher. You can do it that night.

Q: Are you more focused on writing or stand-up these days?
A: More writing. I like doing stand-up, it's a different form of writing. But I want to keep them separate. I don't want to write a novel that feels like standup comedy. Or stand-up comedy that feels like a novel.

Q: That would be called a one-woman show.
A: Oh, that's good. Be sure to put that in the article.

Q: I'll attribute it to you. I don't want to upstage.
A: No, no. I'm confident that I'm funny.

Q: You have to be confident to do stand-up, but you might have an extra dose of confidence. You were also in the first wave of out comics.
A: The idea of a gay or lesbian comic is just part of the scene now. Last night I did a show in the East Village and everyone seemed to be under 30. Most of them were performers, and I was treated like the great old man of gay comedy. That was interesting, to say the least. But it's nice that people who know comedy respect what you did.

Q: Will you write another novel?
A: I have an idea for a new novel, and my friend Eddie Sarfaty and I - he's also a comic - have been hired to write a movie. It's going to be sort of a parody of 12 Angry Men, with comedians.

Q: Will you write parts for yourselves?
A: No. Well, maybe for Eddie. I prefer writing. I'm one of the few standup comics who will admit I don't want to have my own sitcom.

Bob Smith reads from Selfish and Perverse at 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 15 at The Art House, 214 Commercial St., Provincetown; and at 7 p.m. on Tues., Sept. 18 at Calamus Books, 92B South St., Boston.