Laugh Lines: Conversations With Comedians Read Online Free Page A
Author: Corey Andrew, Kathleen Madigan, Jimmy Valentine, Kevin Duncan, Joe Anders, Dave Kirk
hosting a syndicated television program on the weirdly unknown and becoming Elwood Blues, brother to “Joliet” Jake, otherwise known as John Belushi.
“ There’s something classic about a tall guy and a shorter, heavier guy in black suits and hats that seems to work,” Judy Pisano, widow of John, told me. “It’s easy for you to believe you can be them—sort of like a costume like Superman.”
Corey: You have some pretty impressive dance moves. Where did you learn to dance?
Dan Aykroyd: I don’t know where that came from; I’m not sure. I guess that’s just the nature of the music itself. I sure didn’t do it in high school; I was a terrible dancer there. I started dancing when I started playing with Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn and those guys.
Corey: I’ve read some stories about the speakeasy you used to run during ‘Saturday Night Live.’
Dan: Yeah, 505 Queen Street. Prior to that, when I was on Second City in Toronto, we had the after-hours bar. Then, of course, we had a blues bar in New York City and in Chicago. We always had a bar. Now I’ve got seven of them—The House of Blues, of course.
Corey: Do you remember when you first discovered rhythm and blues music?
Dan: Yes, of course. It was in Ottawa, Canada, where I grew up. There was a beautiful club there. We used to go and listen to music and hang.
Corey: When did you get the nerve to get up there and start singing some of these songs?
Dan: I was about 16 when I hopped up and started to play harp. I really didn’t start singing until we did The Blues Brothers.
Corey: Do you still keep in touch with the guys from The Blues Brothers band?
Dan: Oh, yes. In fact, I played with them just a couple weeks ago for a benefit for the Alzheimer’s Fund in New York City and New York State. Yes, I played with Steve Cropper and Lou Marini and Alan Rubin. They were amazing.
Corey: If you had stayed on one of your original paths, criminology, where do you think you’d be today?
Dan: I would be an inspector, probably a deputy chief with the Ontario Provincial Police Department. Why not elevate myself to that field? Why not? I might have been a Mountie, like my grandfather.
Corey: You had a show a few years back about the paranormal…
Dan: Yeah, ‘Psi Factor.’ We ran four years on that in syndication, which is a pretty good run in syndication.
Corey: I’ve heard that you have an interest in that, that your family …
Dan: My great-grandfather was an Edwardian spiritualist, yes.
Corey: What do you think about dream analysis?
Dan: I think that the Carl Jungian school is extremely accurate and full of symbology and gives you a whole clue to living life. And if you dream and take Jung’s symbols, dreams can act as a forecast to what’s coming or a beautiful reflection of the past.
Corey: Do you still have dreams about John Belushi?
Dan: Not so much now, but certainly after he died, I did.
Corey: Did you take that as a good sign?
Dan: I think he was visiting me. He was troubled in those dreams. A soul intervention was done, and I think he’s crossed over now and he’s happy. I lost a friend on 9/11. She was on that first plane that went into the tower. I had a dream about her. She was all in yellow, flowing. I said, ‘Where are you?’ and she said, ‘I’m helping these other people across. They need help.’ She was just like that in life, and I really feel that she was visiting me.
Corey: You performed with John for years, and now you’re performing with Jim Belushi. Was it a little strange at the beginning for you with Jim?
Dan: It was a little strange for him because he didn’t think he could do it. I said, ‘Of course, you can do it. You Albanian-American guys from Illinois know how to sing the blues. Come on!’ And it turned out, he was just great in the show. We do the Have Love Will Travel revue, which is a more informal
“ There’s something classic about a tall guy and a shorter, heavier guy in black suits and hats that seems to work,” Judy Pisano, widow of John, told me. “It’s easy for you to believe you can be them—sort of like a costume like Superman.”
Corey: You have some pretty impressive dance moves. Where did you learn to dance?
Dan Aykroyd: I don’t know where that came from; I’m not sure. I guess that’s just the nature of the music itself. I sure didn’t do it in high school; I was a terrible dancer there. I started dancing when I started playing with Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn and those guys.
Corey: I’ve read some stories about the speakeasy you used to run during ‘Saturday Night Live.’
Dan: Yeah, 505 Queen Street. Prior to that, when I was on Second City in Toronto, we had the after-hours bar. Then, of course, we had a blues bar in New York City and in Chicago. We always had a bar. Now I’ve got seven of them—The House of Blues, of course.
Corey: Do you remember when you first discovered rhythm and blues music?
Dan: Yes, of course. It was in Ottawa, Canada, where I grew up. There was a beautiful club there. We used to go and listen to music and hang.
Corey: When did you get the nerve to get up there and start singing some of these songs?
Dan: I was about 16 when I hopped up and started to play harp. I really didn’t start singing until we did The Blues Brothers.
Corey: Do you still keep in touch with the guys from The Blues Brothers band?
Dan: Oh, yes. In fact, I played with them just a couple weeks ago for a benefit for the Alzheimer’s Fund in New York City and New York State. Yes, I played with Steve Cropper and Lou Marini and Alan Rubin. They were amazing.
Corey: If you had stayed on one of your original paths, criminology, where do you think you’d be today?
Dan: I would be an inspector, probably a deputy chief with the Ontario Provincial Police Department. Why not elevate myself to that field? Why not? I might have been a Mountie, like my grandfather.
Corey: You had a show a few years back about the paranormal…
Dan: Yeah, ‘Psi Factor.’ We ran four years on that in syndication, which is a pretty good run in syndication.
Corey: I’ve heard that you have an interest in that, that your family …
Dan: My great-grandfather was an Edwardian spiritualist, yes.
Corey: What do you think about dream analysis?
Dan: I think that the Carl Jungian school is extremely accurate and full of symbology and gives you a whole clue to living life. And if you dream and take Jung’s symbols, dreams can act as a forecast to what’s coming or a beautiful reflection of the past.
Corey: Do you still have dreams about John Belushi?
Dan: Not so much now, but certainly after he died, I did.
Corey: Did you take that as a good sign?
Dan: I think he was visiting me. He was troubled in those dreams. A soul intervention was done, and I think he’s crossed over now and he’s happy. I lost a friend on 9/11. She was on that first plane that went into the tower. I had a dream about her. She was all in yellow, flowing. I said, ‘Where are you?’ and she said, ‘I’m helping these other people across. They need help.’ She was just like that in life, and I really feel that she was visiting me.
Corey: You performed with John for years, and now you’re performing with Jim Belushi. Was it a little strange at the beginning for you with Jim?
Dan: It was a little strange for him because he didn’t think he could do it. I said, ‘Of course, you can do it. You Albanian-American guys from Illinois know how to sing the blues. Come on!’ And it turned out, he was just great in the show. We do the Have Love Will Travel revue, which is a more informal
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