He claims that most young people recognize him from Ocean’s Eleven (and Twelve and Thirteen), but even if you don’t know him on sight, you owe Carl Reiner for pretty much everything good about American comedy. Like SNL? Reiner perfected the sketch comedy format as a writer/performer on Your Show of Shows in the ‘50s. Fan of 30 Rock? Reiner created The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1961, which pioneered the behind-the-scenes-of-a-show sitcom. Into Judd Apatow? His intellectual wackiness was heavily influenced by the Reiner-directed 1979 film The Jerk. Not to mention his novels, memoirs, Broadway plays, and notable offspring (like director Rob Reiner). For his latest trick, Carl Reiner has written a children’s book, Tell Me Another Scary Story . . . But Not Too Scary! It’s a Halloween-y sequel to a book he published two years ago, inspired by one of his five grandchildren. He also narrates the accompanying CD, which warns children to stop reading if things are getting too scary. Babble spoke to Reiner about the book and other parent-related highlights of his long, funny career. — Gwynne Watkins
Your "scary laugh" on the Tell Me Another Scary Story CD is really scary!
I’m so happy we’re talking about it! I love that little book. Are you looking at the new one or the first one?
I’m looking at the new one. It’s really creepy. I was sort of flipping ahead to make sure everyone was okay by the end.
I think that’s the trick that I found. I wrote the first book because somebody asked me if I had a children’s book in me, and I didn’t know that I did until I remembered my grandchild, Nikki, one of Rob’s kids. I used to tell him stories, and one day he asked me, 'Tell me a scary story, Grandpa, but not too scary.' And I think that little key made the first book a real winner, because teachers would tell me they’d read it in their Kindergarten and all the [kids would] say 'No, no turn, turn!' and I loved that little interplay. I think for me the most fun of the book is the interplay with the children as you read it.
How old are your grandchildren now?
The oldest one is grown up. He’s eighteen. Rob also has a sixteen-year-old, and an eleven-year-old. Lukas has a ten-year-old and a six-year-old.
How do you find being a grandparent compared to being a parent?
Oh much, much easier. It’s a snap. They bring them over to play and say hello and get around a little and then they take them home. Responsibility is much less daunting.
My genre is to make people giggle.
You’re actually the same age as my grandparents, who used to play me The 2000-Year-Old Man when I was a kid. Do you play your comedy for your grandkids?
No, I don’t, but I’m sure my children have played it for them. I’m very gratified to hear that people come up to me — young people — and I say, where did you hear it? And they all say, my mother played it, my father played it. I’m amazed by it. We’re very pleased, Mel [Brooks] and I, that they put together all five albums into a box set for Christmas and they’re going to be re-released, and we’re going to Washington and the Library of Congress is going to install it into the Library of Congress.
Back to the book: you haven’t done much in terms of scary stuff in your career.
No, that’s not my genre. My genre is to make people giggle. As a matter of fact, the two new children’s books I have in the hopper right now, which are ready for next year, I really think are the best of the bunch. One is called Tell Me A Silly Story, and the other is Tell Me a Sillier Story. The two of them, I just love them.
Have you tested those out with kids yet?
Oh yes, I read them to my family members and they giggled. Kids love the words "silly." As soon as I start it, they start to giggle.
Do you find it easier to be silly now that you’re older?
I’ve always been silly! But it doesn’t sit as well on older people. They think you’re becoming senile rather than silly.
