Any fan of comedy with a few years under their belt is familiar with Second City Television. It was the Canadian answer to Saturday Night Live and whose roster was a veritable whose who of comedy. Many of which went on to also work for Saturday Night Live. Among that talented roster were performers like Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Joe Flaherty and Dave Thomas. Dave came to SCTV from his previous profession working in advertising.
After establishing himself with his work on SCTV, Dave went on to movie roles, television, writing and directing and producing. Somewhere along the way, he added writing books to his resume including SCTV: Behind the Scenes, published in September of 1997. Recently, Dave collaborated on a book along with Max Allan Collins of Road to Perdition fame. The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton published by NeoText, explores the theory of interdimensional travel combined with an intriguing detective style mystery. Needless to say the opportunity to talk to Mr. Thomas was one I couldn’t pass up. So let’s welcome the iconic actor, director, producer and writer Dave Thomas to GVN’s Talking Comics.
College to Advertising to Comedy
GVN: I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you how big a fan I am of your career. It is an honor to have a few moments to talk to you. Now that I have gotten the Fan Boy stuff out of the way. I’m pretty sure you have been asked every question imaginable at this point in your life. So I will not try to re-invent the wheel here. When it came to writing, when did you get that inspiration to do so and how much of your own life experiences made it to the page?
DT: : I am an English Lit college grad – so I read and studied the masters. My majors in the M.A. Program were Shakespeare, Chaucer and Milton. Then I did a two-year stint as a copywriter in advertising, at McCann Erickson, writing copy, TV and radio commercials for Coca Cola. But I didn’t really start writing comedy until I was cast in the Second City Stage show in Toronto in 1974 and that was not really script writing – it was all improv-based. But that’s writing, I guess, a very immediate on-your-feet kind of writing that is directly connected with an audience. So by the time SCTV started, I was really ready. Advertising had taught me to make my point in less than 60 seconds. And the stage experience at Second City gave me an ear for knowing what an audience might find funny.
Starting with SCTV
GVN: From watching SCTV, I would say that you all learned that skill impeccably. When you first started writing comedy, did you anticipate performing yourself or did you initially only plan to write? Once you started performing, did it change how you approached your writing?
DT: I started as a writer-performer at Second City. It was collaborative writing with other performers like Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, and Joe Flaherty. These are the people who went on to do SNL and SCTV and they were all great writers and wonderful performers.
Learning the Benefit of Research
GVN: Speaking of Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Catherine O’Hara, Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Steve Martin… during your time with them, were there any of these talented creators that motivated you in your writing or performing or who perhaps taught you a lesson that you still use to this day?
DT: I’d have to say Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were the strongest influences on my writing back then. Harold was the head-writer of SCTV for the first season and I worked very closely with him. And Dan Aykroyd taught me the value of research. When Dan and I wrote “Spies Like Us”, Dan showed me a steamer trunk full of books on Central Asia, Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles, and what was known about the KGB and CIA at that time – books on those subjects. He said, “David, we have to read every one of these books before we put pen to paper.” And we did. It made the movie more grounded and authentic.
Inspiration for Jimmy Leighton
GVN: You have collaborated with talented writer Max Allan Collins on your new book, The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton. What was the inspiration for the book?
DT: The inspiration for the book was the work of physicist Hugh Everett III whose Many Worlds Interpretation inspired the idea of interdimensional travel. Essentially, the Many Worlds Interpretation says that, for every binary choice in our lives where there are two possibilities, the road not taken and all the consequences of that choice still exist even if we don’t see or experience them. Of course we experience the consequences of the road taken – that becomes our reality. But Everett believed the other reality still exists even though we don’t see it.
Working with Max
GVN: So the road not taken is still there, even if you chose not to go down it. Which is an interesting premise and one that is explored in your book. As far as your work with Max, how did that come about and how did that process proceed? With COVID I imagine that the process was a little different than it might have been. Social Distancing instead of face to face, etc. (I cheated there…I was supposed to limit my questions…But I threw two in one. Consolidation at work).
DT: Tom Kenny (SpongeBob) introduced Max and I. And when Max found out I was writing a book, he asked to see what I had. I only had three chapters – it was pretty rough. But Max liked it and offered to help me find a publisher and a book agent. Then, he said, “But what I’d rather do is help you write it.” Well, I jumped at the chance to work with someone like Max – an experienced and prolific novelist. So we started working just before COVID hit. Truth be told, I never would’ve finished the book if Max hadn’t offered to help me.
And when we started working together, the entire book took a different shape. We added the detective throughline and I was very excited by that. It made the book much more than an interdimensional sci-fi. It became a quantum thriller with two cops investigating who shot Jimmy Leighton while poor Jimmy hopped from one version of his life to another. We worked mainly by phone but occasionally Zoom too. By late May of 2020, we had five chapters and an outline for the other twelve chapters. Max felt this was enough to take out to publishers and got the publishing deal for us.
And then we went to work. We’d discuss what would happen in a chapter and then I would write a first draft. Then Max would jump on it and do the rewrite, giving it the professional novelist’s touch. It was a wonderful experience and, by the time we finished, Max and I were fast friends – for life.
Capturing South Boston
GVN: Great story and I can understand. I recently spoke to Max about his book Fancy Anders Goes to War: Who Killed Rosie the Riveter? He was great and very open. Right from the beginning, part of the charm of The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton is the realistic South Boston dialogue and references. Whose job was it to get that right?
DT: We both did that. Neither of us are from Boston so it required some research. But that’s what writers do, right? We research. One of the things I did was go on Google Maps and use that little orange man to navigate along the streets of South Boston. Then I’d read stories, first-hand accounts of people from Southie to get their voices. After a while, doing that and navigating the streets of Southie on Google, I got a pretty good feel for the area.
The Perfect Life
GVN: Research wins out. Thanks again for your time, Dave. It was a real pleasure. Before I let you go, do you have any other projects you want to let our followers know about and do you see yourself doing another similar book in the future?
DT: Well, I’m writing another book called the Perfect Life. It’s not a sequel or anything like that. It’s a totally different idea. But I’m excited about it and it gives me something to do in the morning when I wake up.
GVN: We’ll be looking forward to that when it comes out. NeoText’s The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton becomes available on October 26th digitally with a print edition to follow in the future.
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Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
