Rob Reiner shares childhood anecdotesfrom @pbsamericanmasters

Transcript

People have always asked me, you know, was how was it growing up in your worse, you no? And I didn't rank, you know, you don't think anything is different. I mean, because you all you know is what you have in your house and your kid growing up, so you think it's normal. I mean, Norman Lear would be there rank Mel Brooks and Sid Caesar and Neil Simon. The funniest people in the world would be, you know, at my house. Norman actually was the first person to recognize that I had a sense of humor because I think he tells the story. I was playing a game of jacks, you know, where you throw the ball up in the air, you pick the rank, with Ellen, and I was making commentary and telling her how to do it and showing her. And Norman thought I was really funny. He tells my bad, he says, you know, your son is really funny. And my dad said, what are you talking about? That kid, he's like a brooding kid. He's he sits in the corner. He doesn't so Norman was actually the first person to recognize that I had any comedic ability. At one point, I went to my better, you know, I think I was about eight, eight or nine. I went to my mother and I said, I wanna change my name. And my better, oh my god, this poor kid is worried about having to live up to Carl Reiner and all this stuff and he and she says, well, what do you wanna change your name to? And I said, Carl. So it wasn't like I wanted to change. I looked up to my bad. He, to me, was a good. I thought I admired him so much. He was so talented, and I wanted to be to be like him. But it was interesting that Norman Lear was the guy that basically recognized these things. Norman was the one who saw that and, you know, gave me a lot of opportunities to either prove tier right or prove them wrong.