Having a hard time with losing Sinéad, Paul Reubens, and Adrian Street (look him up) within a week, three uniquely aware performers who challenged gender expectations like few others in their respective media.
His last statement was truly something too. Apologizing for keeping his cancer a secret and saying “I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”
Well that ending was a punch in the heart. A beautiful remembrance. I hope people watch the YouTube video of Reubens talking about how Tim Burton came to direct “Big Adventure”. A lovely man.
I thought Paul was great and his creation of Pee-wee and the playhouse just awesome. I pretended i was watching it with my young daughters but I made sure we watched it and taped it if there was a conflict. To be sure my daughters didn't miss an episode ;-)
He was an incomparable genius of delight. Pee-Wee's Big Holiday on Netflix was delightful to share with my kids after my childhood of watching him every week. 💔
As a kid who grew up on Andy Devine yelling in a border-line psycho, jovial rasp: "Pluck your magic twanger, Froggie" (which is about as suggestive and disorienting as it gets for an 8 year old) not to mention Grandie the Piano and Midnight (the creepy cat, voiced by June Foray?) I got to share Pee-wee with my daughter. Now between Andy Devine and Pee-wee, I briefly took a fair amount of acid so I was deeply moved when I was able to deliver "Pee-wee's Playhouse" to my daughter at 4 years old--- sans LSD. Yes, I mailed Soupy money and later I knew my dad (once he got over my pilfering) was missing the point of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" ---but thanks to Paul Reubens I have a relationship with my daughter that lasts to this day. It aint in Dr. Spock's book but it remains a mutual wonder for us both.
Really great tribute Ty, with rich and colorful language and the links to clips that make it real. From storytelling to art direction, he was one of the great child/parent communicators and you portray him perfectly.
Thank you Ty. I felt sad today and kept it to myself, because I thought because of Paul's scandals we weren't supposed to admit liking him anymore... but I do. Will always remember seeing "Big Adventure" with my high school friends when it came out -- late at night, theater was packed, never heard an audience laugh so loud together -- it was a blast, and I'll always have a soft spot for Pee Wee/Paul for that memory. And now my own kid and his friends love that movie too! Surreal!
Pee Wee’s Playhouse first aired when I was in college. I lived off-campus in a house with six other women, and there was always a lot of coming and going. No matter what we were doing or how late we were out Friday night, we gathered in front of the TV every Saturday morning to watch Pee Wee. Comic genius.
Ty — thank you for such a wonderful, spot-on tribute to his art and all he gave us. Yes, appreciation of Pee-wee was (and still is) a kind of litmus test!
An ex of mine got to know him (as well as anyone could) from spending weeks together on the playa at Black Rock City over many weeks and Burns. If I remember correctly, more than once she and Reubens shared a camp, and made plans to meet there. She was his perfect complement: when I think of it now, her LA house was modelled after the Playhouse, with strange outsider art everywhere, mismatched tiles in the bathroom, asymmetrical and nonplanar walls and a backyard out of Grey Gardens. Can’t imagine who she sold it to when she up and bolted for Oz, but that would be someone worth meeting. Her wardrobe was also pure Burton, and the art she eventually made herself (when we were together she insisted she was only a ‘designer’) was concocted of trash she found during morning runs on Venice Beach. [google Marina DeBris]. One has to believe that Peewee and the Playhouse even helped reify the artistic vision of Burton, though the germ was present in his shorts and what we can see of his work as animator. Reubens, his quirky optimism, his notion of a funny, unsettling and scary (but ultimately just) universe, had a huge cultural effect far beyond the reach of the Playhouse and the Big Adventure. It’s said that the Velvet Underground never sold many albums, but that everyone who ever bought one started a band. I think that same may be said of Reubens: that his reach exceeded his grasp, his influence became universal through those he touched, and his sweetly subversive power will not dim over time.
Watched Playhouse every week -- a break from grad school traumas. Thanks, Ty, for the lovely tribute. I was a bit surprised at how hard it hit yesterday, but you reminded me of Paul Reubens's many, many gifts!
Thank you, thank you for celebrating his genius.
This was terrific, sir, thank you.
Having a hard time with losing Sinéad, Paul Reubens, and Adrian Street (look him up) within a week, three uniquely aware performers who challenged gender expectations like few others in their respective media.
His last statement was truly something too. Apologizing for keeping his cancer a secret and saying “I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”
What a beautiful kind soul he was.
Well that ending was a punch in the heart. A beautiful remembrance. I hope people watch the YouTube video of Reubens talking about how Tim Burton came to direct “Big Adventure”. A lovely man.
Ty, I love your writing and this tribute to Peewee Herman really captured his effervescence. Really, REALLY well done. And thank you!
I thought Paul was great and his creation of Pee-wee and the playhouse just awesome. I pretended i was watching it with my young daughters but I made sure we watched it and taped it if there was a conflict. To be sure my daughters didn't miss an episode ;-)
He was an incomparable genius of delight. Pee-Wee's Big Holiday on Netflix was delightful to share with my kids after my childhood of watching him every week. 💔
As a kid who grew up on Andy Devine yelling in a border-line psycho, jovial rasp: "Pluck your magic twanger, Froggie" (which is about as suggestive and disorienting as it gets for an 8 year old) not to mention Grandie the Piano and Midnight (the creepy cat, voiced by June Foray?) I got to share Pee-wee with my daughter. Now between Andy Devine and Pee-wee, I briefly took a fair amount of acid so I was deeply moved when I was able to deliver "Pee-wee's Playhouse" to my daughter at 4 years old--- sans LSD. Yes, I mailed Soupy money and later I knew my dad (once he got over my pilfering) was missing the point of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" ---but thanks to Paul Reubens I have a relationship with my daughter that lasts to this day. It aint in Dr. Spock's book but it remains a mutual wonder for us both.
Really great tribute Ty, with rich and colorful language and the links to clips that make it real. From storytelling to art direction, he was one of the great child/parent communicators and you portray him perfectly.
Thank you Ty. I felt sad today and kept it to myself, because I thought because of Paul's scandals we weren't supposed to admit liking him anymore... but I do. Will always remember seeing "Big Adventure" with my high school friends when it came out -- late at night, theater was packed, never heard an audience laugh so loud together -- it was a blast, and I'll always have a soft spot for Pee Wee/Paul for that memory. And now my own kid and his friends love that movie too! Surreal!
Pee Wee’s Playhouse first aired when I was in college. I lived off-campus in a house with six other women, and there was always a lot of coming and going. No matter what we were doing or how late we were out Friday night, we gathered in front of the TV every Saturday morning to watch Pee Wee. Comic genius.
Ty — thank you for such a wonderful, spot-on tribute to his art and all he gave us. Yes, appreciation of Pee-wee was (and still is) a kind of litmus test!
P.S. Robert and I cracked up as we both chanted along with the Jambi clip!!!
An ex of mine got to know him (as well as anyone could) from spending weeks together on the playa at Black Rock City over many weeks and Burns. If I remember correctly, more than once she and Reubens shared a camp, and made plans to meet there. She was his perfect complement: when I think of it now, her LA house was modelled after the Playhouse, with strange outsider art everywhere, mismatched tiles in the bathroom, asymmetrical and nonplanar walls and a backyard out of Grey Gardens. Can’t imagine who she sold it to when she up and bolted for Oz, but that would be someone worth meeting. Her wardrobe was also pure Burton, and the art she eventually made herself (when we were together she insisted she was only a ‘designer’) was concocted of trash she found during morning runs on Venice Beach. [google Marina DeBris]. One has to believe that Peewee and the Playhouse even helped reify the artistic vision of Burton, though the germ was present in his shorts and what we can see of his work as animator. Reubens, his quirky optimism, his notion of a funny, unsettling and scary (but ultimately just) universe, had a huge cultural effect far beyond the reach of the Playhouse and the Big Adventure. It’s said that the Velvet Underground never sold many albums, but that everyone who ever bought one started a band. I think that same may be said of Reubens: that his reach exceeded his grasp, his influence became universal through those he touched, and his sweetly subversive power will not dim over time.
Watched Playhouse every week -- a break from grad school traumas. Thanks, Ty, for the lovely tribute. I was a bit surprised at how hard it hit yesterday, but you reminded me of Paul Reubens's many, many gifts!