Veteran actor Ed Asner to receive Comedy Legend award from Norfolk festival

Ed Asner likes to joke around.

But when it comes to comedy or other parts of his show business work, it’s apparent he couldn’t be more serious.

Asner is probably most well known for his role as Lou Grant on both the Mary Tyler Moore Show and then on his own series, “Lou Grant.” He was able to prove his versatility by going from comedy to a serious role while keeping the same character working in journalism.

When asked to distinguish between drama and comedy, Asner said show business can thrive only if the entertainer finds the means to achieve both.

“The greatest tragedies need the sporadic laugh to break up the heaviness, to break up the constancy,” Asner said.

It’s also possible to go overboard with comedy, especially when there’s nothing to say, he said. “You’ve got to work for a mellow blending of both in whatever you do,” he said.
So which is harder?

“Comedy is harder,” he said. “It’s more easily spotted, so when you fail at it, it’s recognized. With drama, it’s up for grabs as to when failure takes place.”

Along with two hit TV series, Asner has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows in a career that spans more than five decades.

One of his most recent movies was the voice of Carl Fredricksen, aka the grumpy old man, in the animated movie, “Up.”

It is for all of those accomplishments that Asner will be presented the “Comedy Legend” award on Saturday, June 19, at a performance of the 2010 Viaero Great American Comedy Festival in Norfolk. The festival runs from June 16-20, primarily at the Johnny Carson Theatre in Norfolk.

The legend award is presented each year at the festival to an entertainer who embodies the characteristics of the late Johnny Carson. In the festival’s first two years, the recipients were Dick Cavett and Bill Dana.

Asner said he enjoys work, calling it “the finest part of living.”

Asner often pauses before answering questions. It’s apparent he puts considerable thought into his answers, even when making small talk or saying something silly.
“Be sure and goose me,” he tells reporters when he’s asked about his upcoming trip to Norfolk.

Asner said he is looking forward to coming to Norfolk and has been to Omaha and Lincoln in the past.

“Being a Kansan, I’ve learned to tolerate you people,” Asner said with a laugh.

Asner was born in Kansas City, Mo., but grew up across the river in Kansas City, Kan.

He said he was on the “Tonight Show” once when Johnny Carson hosted.

“I was a callow youth when I was asked to be on. And Ed Weinberger was one of our producers by then, and he had been a writer for Johnny. When it was discovered that I was going to be on, he said, ‘Well you have to prepare this, prepare that, prepare that.’

“Normally I would just go on and wing it. He had me busy preparing everything and got me very, very nervous and uptight. His attitude totally destroyed me so that my nerves and equanimity were out to lunch.”

Asner said he mentioned that he had taken some dance training when he lived in New York. Weinberger arranged it so that Asner would teach Carson and Ed McMahon some of those dance moves.

“It was very uncomfortable, and I was covered with flop sweat the whole time,” Asner said.

So what makes Asner laugh?

“Somebody slipping on a banana peel,” Asner said.

“We can always look at the things that make us laugh and realize they skirt on the edge of tragedy. The person slipping on a wet floor is funny until they come down and break their spine. It’s the averting of disaster that lets us laugh, among other things. That certainly is one key element.”

It’s also important to note that not everything can be funny, he said.

“I love comedy,” Asner said. “I’m glad I’ve had some success at it. But if the seeds are not there to make it funny . . . I guess I’ve learned . . . it’s best not to break your hump to try to make it funny.”

Asner said he was fortunate to work with many talented people and writers, but Ted Knight, who played newsman Ted Baxter on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” holds a special place, with Asner calling him “the funniest man I’d ever seen in terms of constantly being able to make you laugh.”

Asner said he recently finished a movie in North Carolina, called “Elephant Sighs.” Efforts are being made to sell it now. Asner said the movie is a romance about five guys who love and appreciate each other.

Asner said he also is going back on the road for a one-man show of “FDR” and then will do another one-man show called “Number of People.”

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TO LEARN MORE about the 2010 comedy festival, go to www.greatamericancomedyfestival.com