When I was given the opportunity to interview a character from The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to let Josh, a super funny fourth grader, conduct the interview.
Illustration by Jason Week
Josh’s words will appear in black and Louie’s will appear in red.
Hi, my name is Josh. I am an 11 year old boy that goes to Minges Brook Elementary. Guess what? I LOVE READING! I enjoyed reading your book. I hope you like my questions.
Hi Josh! Thanks for reading. I’m sure your questions will be great.
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When did you start being a comedian?
I decided I wanted to be a comedian the first time my dad let me stay up late to watch Lou Lafferman on TV. Lou did a segment called Stuff You Don’t Want to Find in Your Nose, and I laughed so hard I almost couldn’t breathe. It was the best. I figured if I became a comedian, I’d get to laugh like that all the time. And I’d get to help other people laugh, too. Even better!
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What’s the hardest part about being a comedian?
The hardest part is the fear of bombing. When I perform in my closet, I never fail. But when I have to stand up in front of real people, my feet suddenly remember that they want to go for a walk in Peru. Then the hardest part is keeping them still and staying on stage!
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Did you like being a sporty kid?
Well, I wasn’t very good at it, was I? Probably because I haven’t had enough practice at it.
If I stick with it long enough, I’ll bet I’ll find tons of sports that I like, for example, table tennis, cheese rolling, tuna throwing and chess boxing. (Those are real sports by the way!)
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If you could time travel back in time and change one thing what would it be?
Hmmm…I have to stroke my chin for a minute and think. Changing time can be very dangerous. Small changes can have big unintended consequences. For example, if I went back in time and changed Thermos’ name to Soup, my whole story might have turned out different. And in the end, I’m kind of glad it turned out the way it did.
However, I would like to go back in time and meet Archibald Query, the inventor of Marshmallow Fluff. I’d shake his hand and give him the Louie Burger Medal of Deliciousness. (That’s not a real thing by the way, but I wish it was!)
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How long does it take you to make a joke?
Sometimes jokes pop in my brain like lightning flashes and sometimes they circle the edges like slugs. Every joke is different. The important thing is to always try to think like a comedian and see the funny side of everything. Things that seem bad, like your sister putting a unicorn in your lunchbox, are actually funny when you look at them in another way.
I’d like to thank Josh and Louie for being such great sports and visiting shapread today. I hope everyone gets the opportunity to read The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger this summer. Hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as Josh.
Jenny Meyerhoff is the author of The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger
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