go across the country often and i do an evening of questions and answers. and i just go out on stage and there's the audience there. the way i used to open our show with -- and i would say, bump up the lights, you guys have any questions, raise your hand. >> completely random. >> i have no idea what they're going to ask. >> that's the best way. >> of course. and so sometimes over the years, of course, when they ask about tim or harvey or vickie, i have told stories about them that then become sort of set pieces because i usually get those questions. but then i never know what anybody really is going to ask when i call on that lady in the pink or that guy with the red tie. >> anything could happen. >> anything. the irony, of course, the writing that you do. when your mother first talked to you about writing, she didn't mean it in the most flattering way, did she? >> no, because i wrote and i was the editor of my junior high paper, and my high school paper. and she wanted to be a writer.