Latest news with #YouAndMeAndThePeanutButterBeast
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Pull the right lever and kids laugh like drains': Andy Griffiths on his comedic formula
This story is part of the August 16 edition of Good Weekend. See all 14 stories. Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we're told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they're given. This week he speaks to Andy Griffiths. The children's author, 63, has written 40 books, is published in more than 35 countries and has sold 13 million copies in Australia and New Zealand alone. His latest novel is You And Me And The Peanut Butter Beast. MONEY What did you do before you started writing? Well, I went to university and studied English literature for as long as I possibly could. By day, I did an honours degree and at night, I was in punk-rock bands. How lucrative – or not – was playing punk rock? We were paid $50 per gig, which we split between four of us. And we had to pay the lighting and sound guys. We eventually made it to the princely sum of $100 per gig. That was living! This is the early '80s and there was no sense that it was leading anywhere. We just loved what we were doing; that was enough reward. How did you pivot to writing? Well, I became a high-school English teacher and was in touch with all these year 7 and 8 kids who hated reading with a passion. They'd never had a good experience with a book, and assured me books were for losers and nerds. And I was like, 'No, no, no! You're making such a big mistake.' You can have movies and punk rock and computer games and books. So I would stop work at five and write until midnight. And how rich are you now? I can spend all my time creating and writing books and I have a stereo system and can buy almost any record I want. That, to me, is the definition of wealth. SEX Andy, we've landed on 'sex'. I knew this was going to happen! [Groans] How does a children's writer talk about sex? Looking back, was your sex education robust enough to equip you for later? Not entirely, no. I think there should be classes on relationships in high school, alongside English and maths. After my first marriage ended, I was like, 'I'm not sure what just happened there.' I was very literate when it came to English and writing, but illiterate in how to maintain a relationship. So I started doing courses and reading books, trying to learn.
The Age
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘Pull the right lever and kids laugh like drains': Andy Griffiths on his comedic formula
This story is part of the August 16 edition of Good Weekend. See all 14 stories. Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we're told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they're given. This week he speaks to Andy Griffiths. The children's author, 63, has written 40 books, is published in more than 35 countries and has sold 13 million copies in Australia and New Zealand alone. His latest novel is You And Me And The Peanut Butter Beast. MONEY What did you do before you started writing? Well, I went to university and studied English literature for as long as I possibly could. By day, I did an honours degree and at night, I was in punk-rock bands. How lucrative – or not – was playing punk rock? We were paid $50 per gig, which we split between four of us. And we had to pay the lighting and sound guys. We eventually made it to the princely sum of $100 per gig. That was living! This is the early '80s and there was no sense that it was leading anywhere. We just loved what we were doing; that was enough reward. How did you pivot to writing? Well, I became a high-school English teacher and was in touch with all these year 7 and 8 kids who hated reading with a passion. They'd never had a good experience with a book, and assured me books were for losers and nerds. And I was like, 'No, no, no! You're making such a big mistake.' You can have movies and punk rock and computer games and books. So I would stop work at five and write until midnight. And how rich are you now? I can spend all my time creating and writing books and I have a stereo system and can buy almost any record I want. That, to me, is the definition of wealth. SEX Andy, we've landed on 'sex'. I knew this was going to happen! [Groans] How does a children's writer talk about sex? Looking back, was your sex education robust enough to equip you for later? Not entirely, no. I think there should be classes on relationships in high school, alongside English and maths. After my first marriage ended, I was like, 'I'm not sure what just happened there.' I was very literate when it came to English and writing, but illiterate in how to maintain a relationship. So I started doing courses and reading books, trying to learn.
