Paul Reubens is uniquely funny. But you knew that. He once told me that because he didn't often come up with funny lines he didn't think he was a good improviser. I had to agree with him. I told him he wasn't . . . that he was a great one. Outstanding. He changed the subject.
So many people stand around in improvised scenes waiting to drop that "gem" that will get the big laugh. Paul will just walk into the scene and look and listen and get laughs because he looks and listens funny. His movements are just right and his timing is perfect. He's such a good actor because he's such a good reactor. If you say something that strikes his character as strange, be prepared to wait for a while because his "take" is sure to get an even bigger reaction from the audience.
During one of our marathon photo sessions one Saturday morning, with everyone coming and going and changing into different costumes and makeup, Paul arrived late. he had four or five really wild characters: Jay Long-Toe the Indian entertainer in full feathered headdress(former "Little Flathead" from the "Whitey Walker Western Series"), a guy with a beret and a pencil mustache, a hippie from the '60s with shoulder length brown hair and a strange distant gaze, and a few more I can't remember right now.
I was taking down the lights when he rushed back in. "Wait a minute," he said in a panic, "I almost forgot!" He had just premiered a new character in a sketch satirizing a comedy club. The guy only had a first name. "We gotta shoot some of Pee-wee" he said.
I had only two shots left in my camera. The first one became the original official fan club picture. The one above is the "out take".
