Wharton alum, list-serve abuser and wife-beater fanatic Aaron Karo of Ruminations on College Life will be in Philly doing his stand-up thang this weekend. Karo checks in with Street to keep us posted on his rumors and ruminations.
Street: Tell us who you are and why we should care that you're coming to Philly.
Aaron Karo: I can tell you how I started. I was a freshman at Penn and started sending e-mails to 20 of my high school friends while I was living in the Quad, just random observations about college life. My friends starting forwarding it around, and eventually random people started e-mailing me and were like, "Karo, can you add me to your list?" and I was like, "Uh. what list?" I was kinda just doing it out of insomnia. But I kept writing and people kept e-mailing me. long story short, almost 11 years later I still write the e-mails every other week and now I have 50,000 subscribers around the world. I've published two books; one, Ruminations on College Life, is a compilation of all my columns (basically a book about Penn), and the second one, Ruminations on Twentysomething Life, is the sequel.
Street: What's the difference between college life and being a twentysomething? Do you prefer one over the other?
AK: I graduated seven years ago; it feels like fuckin' forever. Twentysomething definitely has its advantages. Ah, college. you never recapture that same glory, but there's a different kind of glory in being a twentysomething. And now I'm reaching the end of my twentysomething years, so I guess I'll have to figure something else out. I still have over a year so we'll see what happens.
Street: Which do you prefer, Philly or L.A.?
AK: Well, I was only in Philly during college. I guess I'm going with Philly, since that's where the show will be. I'm not a huge L.A. fan anyway; I'm definitely an East Coast kind of guy. L.A. isn't really a city... it's no East Coast. My life diminishes a little bit going to L.A.
Street: What else did you do in college besides sending out e-mails?
AK: I was in the original ZBT and lived in the house. I went back and was wandering around the house, and there was some girl who I guess was living there and she was like, "Who are you?" and I'm like, "Who the fuck are you?" Then I was like, oh wait, this isn't a fraternity house anymore. I went back for my five-year reunion when it was not recolonized yet.
Street: Do you remember the best/worst classes you took while you were here?
AK: Worst class I took was C++ Programming, OPIM 311. I still remember. I just couldn't fucking do it. I could not physically do it. I had a friend of mine do most of the work for me, while I sat next to him while we'd be getting our sandwiches or something. OPIM was fucked up. I don't know what was going on. Okay, best class. um. what did I even take?... I barely missed class, that was like my thing. I might not do the work, but I'm gonna be there.
Street: Have you used anything you learned in college out in the real world?
AK: I've used so much shit. People are always like, "You went to Wharton, now you're a comedian. You wasted it." But I think it's the complete opposite. I use my education more now than I ever did when I used to work on Wall Street. But it's more of a framework I think - knowledge of business that other performers don't necessarily have. Just being able to speak intelligently to my lawyer and agent. Half the people in L.A. have no idea about that stuff. I've always thought 50% of being a performer is marketing yourself.
Street: What's the other 50%?
AK: Fuck, as soon as I said that I was like, "I better think of something; they're going to ask me." Damn 34th Street. Umm. the other 50% is. execution. How do you like that?
Street: Rumor has it that you think the sexiest thing a girl can wear is a wife-beater. Is that true?
AK: It's not really a rumor because I wrote that myself. If it's not white, it's not a wife-beater, I think. If it's like purple or black or has some kind of fucking rhinestones on it or something, that's a special tank top. It doesn't really qualify. A white wife-beater, that's my thing. Rumor has it.
Street: If you could have any job other than your own, what would it be?
AK: I'd probably pick doctor. Rumor has it I have a thing for doctor chicks as well. Rumor according to myself again. I guess if you're a doctor chick in a wife-beater you'd be my wife. I have this obsession with doctors; I think it's like the coolest job. I say it's the one thing I could never really do.
Street: So do you watch those crappy doctor shows on TV?
AK: Grey's isn't crappy. Why would you say that? I love Grey's, dude.
Street: Sell your show to us in 30 seconds or less.
AK: The show is a comedy show. I basically break it down to three parts, which are drinking, dating and fucking. I get all the selling points. I actually talk about relationships in the show more than I have in the past; I talk about the five stages of twentysomething relationships: booty call, hooking up, seeing each other, being exclusive, being boyfriend and girlfriend. I break down each stage. It's pretty complicated, people whip out pens and take notes in the middle of the show. It's both enlightening and hilarious.
