[Music] [Interview with David Letterman’s hometown childhood friends - Ralph Masterson and Sam Cooper]
(Ralph Masterson): Oh, yeah, yes. Absolutely! We're real proud
of Dave. He represents the best of Indiana.
(Sam Cooper): Do I remember David Letterman? Well
sure, I remember Dave. No, he was the biggest thing that ever happened to this
part of Indiana. And he never forgot us. You know, and around here, that means
something. It really does. [Music]
(Ralph Masterson): Dave and I were in first grade together. And if you'd asked anyone in the class
who the funny guy was, I think they would have said – me! I say that with humility,
but that I really was the funny guy and I'm still very proud of Dave you know.
We're all proud of Dave. (Sam Cooper): How would I describe Dave back then? Well, dry. Very
dry. Not funny dry either. Just a guy who described
things as they were with very little else to it. Who knew that would be a
thing people would like one day!
(Ralph Masterson): I remember one day, we were playing softball, and Jeff Anderson comes in with
his dog. And he taught the dog how to open a can of pop with his paw.
(Sam Cooper): And I said, “that's a stupid pet trick”, and Dave said right away “stupid pet trick. That's
great! I'm gonna steal that one day.” And I jumped right in and I said “that's not
yours to take, Dave!” and he said “Sam -- can it!” and I said “Dave, I need this.” And, you
know, he ignored me and he just gave his little Dave laugh.
(Ralph Masterson & Sam Cooper laugh)
(Ralph Masterson): But yeah,
we’re proud of him and couldn't be happier.
(Sam Cooper): Here's our old high school. (Ralph Masterson): The whole NBC thing was very hard for us.
(Sam Cooper): Very hard. (Ralph Masterson): Yeah cuz you know, we considered Dave family. You know, he's one
of our own and and we did not like how that went down. (Sam Cooper): Before then, I was a
big Leno fan, but after that, I never watched more than his opening monologue
(Ralph Masterson): I mean you had to watch the monologue.
(Sam Cooper): Jay's monologue. So many jokes. (Ralph Masterson): But after
the monologue, I promise you I'd switch right over to Dave.
(Sam Cooper): Depending on who the first guest was.
(Ralph Masterson): Right. Depending on the first guest. Of course.
So in town, we had this iron pencil factory. They made these pencils. They
were heavy duty industrial pencils. They're very heavy and my dad worked
there. He used to, you know, stuff the lead into the wood and he'd come home drunk.
And well, he tried to throw these pencils at us and all six of us, you know, the
kids in the family would duck, would have to duck and the pencils would go right
through the window and then break the windows. And it was scary. I confided in
Dave about it, and he said … “oh, the pencils break the windows? That's funny.”
It wasn't funny, but he thought it was a riot and he
wanted to use it in his show. (Sam Cooper): Yeah, one person's tragedy is another person's
gold mine, I guess.
(Ralph Masterson): We're happy for him. We're happy for Dave.
(Sam Cooper): You know Letterman isn't really his last name. No he just, Dave really just likes letterman jackets.
His real name is Dave Parka.
(Ralph Masterson): Now Dave. Was he the funniest guy in Indiana?
No, but can you name a funnier guy who left Indiana? (Dave Cooper): Mike Pence. (Ralph Masterson): Mike Pence. I
forgot about Mike Pence. (Sam Cooper): So yeah, congrats Dave. The Kennedy Center
Mark Twain Prize. (Ralph Masterson): JFK, Mark Twain and Dave. (Sam Cooper): Yeah, two legends – and Dave!
[Music]