Celebs talk about getting dumped in 'Things I've Learned'

Ben Karlin enlists a host of comedic talent -- ncluding his former employee, Stephen Colbert, to talk about getting dumped.

By Leonard Jacobs | Metromix.com

March 24, 2008

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In case you haven't noticed, there's been a comedy revolution on American TV, with Ben Karlin leading the charge. A major creative force behind "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and a co-creator and former executive producer of "The Colbert Report," Karlin recently trained his comic antennae to the battle of the sexes with "Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me," a sympathy-raising anthology of stories from jilted Joes that includes an introduction from Karlin's own mother. The 10-time Emmy winner talked about loves won and lost, and a lot more.

This is such a great idea for a book. How'd you think of it? The original idea came from a TV show I wanted to do for NBC about a guy you got to see every week in a different failed relationship--a bad date, a seven-year relationship, or a 13-year-old at a summer camp. It didn't sell, but when it came time to do a book, I had this in my pocket.

As opposed to the "Colbert Report" tell-all you're itching to write. Right! No, I did an anthology because I thought it would be easier, yet it took longer than I thought. Once someone says, 'Yeah, I wanna do it,' you have to get people to get their stuff in on time and get their ideas approved.

You do have Colbert contributing to the book -- and Andy Richter, Bruce Jay Friedman, Dan Savage, Nick Hornby and Bob Kerrey. You already knew these people? Mostly these are people I knew or worked with -- people already in my email address book had a tremendous advantage. It's not like it's a good-paying gig for anybody, so mostly you call in favors and friends. The subject is so incredibly general. Every human who's ever interacted with another human can relate to this.

How did you organize the stories? They're a series of lessons. Sometimes with contributors you had to talk it through to see where the lesson lies, like "The Heart Is a Choking Hazard."

That's Colbert's. Did anyone turn you down? One person I really wanted told me that if he wrote a piece, he'd have to divorce his current wife.

Yikes. Can you also talk about how you separated wheat stories from chaff stories? Well, all these people kind of understand the elements of a funny story. Nobody's story was too unfunny or sad or morose or anything. If someone has a story, they may not have always thought about it in the context of 'What did I learn from this?' Sometimes the lesson was a joke lesson, like "Don't enter a karaoke contest near Smith College. You will lose to lesbians."

Do you have a favorite story? Maybe the story I put first, by ["American Dad" writer-producer] Dan Vebber: 'Sexual Intercourse is the Most Stressful Thing in the History of the World.' It's funny, it's really true, and it's kind of relatable for everyone. For me, it has the best balance.

I'm just trying to figure out how you avoided making the book a pity party-fest. You know, none of the people chose to be bitter and use the story as an exercise in revenge. Even a story called 'A Grudge Can Be Art.' I think the whole idea was for 10 people to take something bad that's usually seen as a universal bad -- getting dumped -- and see if something good can come of it, both for the person it happened to but for someone reading it who's really bummed and thinking, I'll never be able to laugh about this. Maybe they will.

Ben Karlin will read from and sign copies of his new book at Barnes and Noble (97 Warren St.) on Friday, March 28 at 7 p.m.