And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Welcome comedian paula poundstone, this selfdetermined doubting thomas was determined to find the secret to lasting happiness and tried a series of experiments. In her new book. Its called the totally unscientific study for the search for Human Happiness. Why a selfproclaimed doubting thomas . Ill tell you. My book is a series of experiments, as you say, doing things that i or other people thought would make me happy, and every chapters written as an experiment with a hypothesis and the conditions and the variables and hopefully the funniest field notes ever written, but the question for me wasnt whether i would enjoy doing something. The question was, what could i do that would give me, you know, a little lasting something. You know what i mean . Like when i finished doing it i wouldnt have an umbrella, so to speak, for the inevitable rains of ones daily life, so the analysis of each chapter is the story of raising a houseful of kids and animals and being a standup comic, which i am, and just being stuck being me for 24 hours a day. I tried many things, and i think i discovered one thing, theres a difference between happiness and enjoying something. If i were to go on a ferris wheel with my son, for example, im sure that i would enjoy it, because i like ferris wheels, but i can guarantee you, by the time i got down, wed already be in an argument, you know . That would be something that i enjoyed, which is not the same as something that gives you lasting happiness. What is, what did you discover or have you discovered what happiness is for you . Well, i think, sadly, its more biochemical than it is romantic. I westeish this wasnt true, bu think it has to do with getting exercise and human interaction, very important, which i think we skip over a lot nowadays because everybodys staring at their flat thing. It steals worlds like friend and connected. But electronic is to happiness and relationships what doritos are to nutrition. Its not good for you. Did you figure out the secret to, how might i put this . To sustained happiness rather than just periodic happiness . Im not sure there is such a thing. Okay. As really long. I think its sprinkled in. I think its an ingredient. As i say in the book. For me, happiness can be the back beat to the score of my life. Im good. Because the other emotions have a place to play, you know. In the very first chapter, the getfit experiment, during that experiment, my dog died and one of my best friends died. And i firmly believe had i been doing anything else other than working out grueling workouts, not every day, but three, four times a week, i think i probably would have been towed under by those sad things. But instead, its not that i wasnt sad, but, you know what i mean . It didnt overpower me. As i read the book, it seems to me after i love it that you read the book. That makes me so happy. Thats our job around here. Yeah. But do you read fast . No, im not a fast reader. I just said to a friend of mine on the phone today, im 57, i got maybe three more books to read. I have to choose very carefully. Im auditioning authors right now. As i go through the text, it seems to me that after all these experiments that you tried, and you correct me if im wrong now, what you ultimately came to as a conclusion is that there are some pretty basic things in life that bring us happiness. Yeah, i think thats true. My point is, you can try a lot of different things, but there are some pretty basic things that are pretty reliable. And by the way, its the stuff we were always told. Exactly. I dont do an experiment with having good sleep hygiene, as they call it, where you go to bed at a regular hour and get up at a regular hour. I dont do an experiment in that, but what i do in one of them, the getwired experiment, it took me seven years to write the book for a number of reasons, but i came to computers later than a lot of people did, but it was still several years ago when we had the big kind in my house. I didnt know how to use it. My kids used it and my sister used it. I went out, everybody kept telling me, oh, if you used a computer, everything could be so much better somehow. So i went out and bought a laptop, because that you can bring door to door and beg for help, whereas the mainframe. The big kind, you have to lure someone into your house, and lets face it, Jeffrey Dahmer ruined that for everyone. I bought the laptop. Whats interesting about the get wired chapter is because i started out a blank slate in terms of electronics, you actually see my steady decline into, you know, the addiction of compulsion of staring at your fla flat thing, whether its a phone or computer. And it is addictive. Theres no question in my mind. Do you regret trying that experiment . No. I dont, i dont. I mean, its not that i mind every aspect of it, but i definitely, my son, and its a story that i tell in the course of the book. My son suffers from very severe electronics addiction. He seems to be doing well now, actually, i think. It was years and years, i put him in front of a computer when he was 3, because i didnt know any better. Its terrible for the developing brain. Whats your advice . None, zero. We have to get them out of our schools. In high school, you want to have a tech class, great. Its behind a door. We learned to type. We didnt carry the typewriter around all day. You put it in a classroom, and they have a class for it. There were some constraints, but, kids need, and by the way, one of the things in the book, people need to make eye contact. People need to shake hands, give hugs, put the occasional hand on the shoulder. These are very important. I was just in new york and i was struck by, as i was walking down these wonderfully crowded streets, streets crowded with people, right, that live there, work there or are vacationing there. No exaggeration, 90 of them were either staring at their flat thing or they had a headset in. So here theyve gone to the trouble of moving or visiting this place, whos, one of their virtues is, its full of people and theyre doing their very best to avoid those people. And that relationship with strangers is so important to us we end up feeling isolated. I think we should live every day like the opening scene of beauty and the beast, you know, bonjour, bonjour thats how were supposed to be. When i got this book, and it came across my desk, one of the first things i thought, other than i loved the title. You shoved your volume of shakespeare away. Yes. I had to read the funny title, but i was struck by your phrase, the search for Human Happiness, and it made me wonder whether or not you think other creatures find happiness. You know where im going with this, right . No do other creatures find happiness like we do . We are really lucky, im the luck yis perform luckiest performer in the world, because i get to go on stage and say things i think might be funny in front of a group of people who want to laugh for the night. And right now i feel like the world is in the midst of a Mental Health crisis, it is an absolute joyful job to be a part of this thing thats really good for people, which is laughing as a group. I think raccoons have it. I cant swear that. [ laughter ] but im telling you, ive seen raccoons like, with one another, and they look to me like they are amusing each other. I suspect that, you know, primates, but i dont now. Cats, not so much. Raccoons, it gives me the chills. Why . Ill tell you why, a funny story, not so funny to me. I really had all the finishes around my house completely redone because there was a family of raccoons making their way under my fences and having a field day in my back yard. What were they doing . Swimming in my pool, in moo jacuzzi, lying on my lounge chairs. Every night about 3 00 in the morning, they would be having a field day. I got tired of the raccoons taking oev taking over my back yard. Then i am absolutely sure of my earlier premise. Raccoons do seek happiness, and apparently they find it at tavis smileys back yard. I love it we fixed that problem. Were you serving like little umbrella drinks . No. I mean we had raccoons in my mulch pile, which is the closest i can come to having a pool and jacuzzi. And couple of summers ago we were having pizza, blazing hot summer. And one night i see my cats like staring out the window at something, and i realize, theres raccoons in the mulch pile. And i go out and take my sons super soaker gun, and i shoot water at these raccoons, and they come out, its like a clown car, one after the other after the other. And the next night, they were out there again and this time i go out with water balloons, i pelt them with water balloons. Same thing. Now theres even more. The first night there were seven, now theres like ten. I didnt realize, its roasting hot, and im throwing water at them. I think they went back to their friends and they go, you know, tomorrow night shes going to have a slip and slide. Who knew, only on pbs, we talk about raccoons with paula poundstone. I love that. Heres my question. I was moved, all jokes aside. I was moved when i saw your dedication in this book. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Robin williams, was, you know, he was a mentor to lots of comics. That frenetic excitement and energy. He was the tazmanian devil of standup comedy. And people went out in clubs because they thought they might see robin, and they saw the rest of us and liked that too when he was the draw. I tried to interview him one time and i just gave up. Yeah. Yeah. There is no interview, there was no interviewing robin williams. He had a little of the raccoon in him. You know, in earlier years, you may have found him floating in your pool in your jacuzzi, if you didnt have the right finsin fencing. On that note, the book is called the totally unscientific search for Human Happiness by paula poundstone. I got carl reiner. You got dick van dyke. And you got lily tomlin. Lily tomlin. Good to have you on, paula. Cheech marin is known, best known as one half of the comedy duo, cheech chong. He is out finally with a new memoir, entitled cheech is not my real name, but dont call me chong. Good to see you, my friend. Always good to see you. I didnt know the back story for how you got this nickname. Oh, yeah. But the story itself is funny. When i was a little bit, just came home from the hospital, just two days old, my uncle looked in the carriage and says he looks like a [ in spanish ] and thats a pork rind. Thats not the best comment that youre a if youre a mexican, theres a certain connotation. And that name stuck all those years. Yeah. To my family. To the rest of the world i was richard. And when we were trying to come up with a duo, richard and tommy . Marin and chong . He said do you have a nickname . And i said cheech is my nickname. And he said cheech, cheech, cheech chong. And that was it. Isnt it funny how you are coming home from the hospital. You get this nickname, but the nickname works so well with chong and the rest is history. Thats fate, what can i say . Yeah, it is, you know. Beautiful. I had no idea. I learned so much about you, the book, thats why you wrote it i guess. The statute of limitations on a lot of that stuff is speaking of statute of limitations, i had no idea, and its funny, given the subject of your movies and the trouble youve gotten yourself into, youre the son of a cop. Your dad was a cop. Yeah, lapd 30 years. How did that happen . I dont now, it was a family profession. Two of my uncles were cops. My mexican uncle. And he was the highestranking chi chicano on the force. And you didnt feel chastised by your behavior given that your father is an over of the law . Funny thing is cops are our biggest fan. They got the humor of it. They dealt with those people every day, and we had this amiable personality. My dad loved it, because he was working in juvenile all those years. So he wanted a free record to give juvies, man. You ever heard cheech chong . Hes my son, heres a free album, come over here, have you seen this guy . [ laughter ] i was thinking, and im so glad you talked about it in the text, in the book. But this is the 30th anniversary of born in east l. A. And for those of us who know the movie and know what its about, what do you make of the 30th anniversary of that film in this moment of immigration being such a its like groundhog day, you know . It keeps happening over and over and over again, and we dont seem to have, we seem to know less about the subject right now and that whole process, but, you know, i view it like a lava flow. You can stand in front of it, i wouldnt recommend it, but this inner weaving of mexico and the United States is never going to be undone. Never, ever. Nor do we want it to be. Mexico is our biggest ally. What, what do you make, i dont mean to make it political unless you want to go there, what do you make of the allout assault and affront on these immigration . You know, i dont, i dont think its based, its based on fear, and its based on not a lot of information, i travel the country, a lot of people do. But i travel the country all the time, and i see the integration of the latino influence all over. I mean, new york, the biggest concentration of latinos are mexicans in new york city. Chicago, second biggest concentration of mexicans in the country. Topeka, kansas has more mexican restaurants than mcdonalds, and so it is a gift to the country, not a threat. Yeah. How were you treated or maltreated as a kid growing up because of your background . Well, i was mexican in a black neighborhood, so. Yomexican i was, i grew up in South Central l. A. Where it was predominantly 90 something black. The rest latino and the lost white guy. Thats who i went to school with. Theres a good story in there about bo bo brazil. A wrestler. My dad was involved in a shooting next door at the barbershop. And we moved after that, a couple years after that to again grenada hills. One day the neighborhood was black and the next day the neighborhood was white. How did you process that . I kind of ignored it unless i was confront, but it was like an opportunity to live in the country and hear crickets and orange groves and stuff like that. How did you process, though, going from an allblack neighborhood to an allwhite neighborhood . Thats a change, man. I was always little, in every class. So thats kind of how i processed this. Im a little kid in this new neighborhood. Everybodys bigger. It didnt really matter to me if they were black or white. They were bigger. [ laughter ] you mentioned bo bo brazil. Go ahead and tell the story. He was a legend aiary wrestl. He had the bolo punch. When youre a kid, i used to watch with my grandmother who spoke no english. You dont 2345need a language f wrestling, look out behind you it was at the Olympic Auditorium which wasnt too far from my house. So my best friend jesse who lived across the street from the school, his mother did bo bo brazils laundry, so he used to pull up every other week in a big, long, white cadillac convertible. And the whole school would rush over to his car and jesse being my best friend, he would call us over and give us a quarter. And me being his best friend, i got a quarter, too. So the whole school was like, my first brush with show business. Im in to this. It was great. When did you know . There are Great Stories in here about how you and chong got together with the club that he owned yeah. Yeah. Maybe youll tell some of that, but when did you now that entertainment was what you were destined to do . First grade. First grade, maybe kindergarten. Yeah. I was in the christmas play for the class, and we were singing up on the rooftop, boom, boom, boom. And for some reason i got chosen to play the kettle drum. And i was the littlest guy, and you couldnt see me. We had these bands, a paper band with a gold star and all you could siee was this little gold star bouncing around. And up on the rooftop, and boom boom boom. And everybody started laughing, and i didnt know why they were laughing. So the next time it came around, boom, boom, boom, again, and bigger la bigger laughter and by the end, they were convulsing, and i was like, this works, i could do this, all i need is a mallet. I knew i was destined. I was a little kid singer when i was 5 years old, i made my first record. And i was an anomaly. I was a little kid that could sing in tune. Squeaky but in tune. When we think of your work over the years we think clearly of the mexican, chicano influences. But i want to go back to that black neighborhood. How much did culture influence your stuff . It was one of the early influences on my life. Because of the music, next to central avenue, johnny otis used to play, and r b, i didnt hear anything but r b growing up, and my sense of humor came from that, my relaxed attitude, and tommy the same thing. He grew up in canada and found the only black neighborhood in calgary. Really. All his neighborhood came from texas. And they said whats furthest we can get from texas on this money, and they ended up in canada at this place, amber valley, and his wife, maxine and her brother who was the drummer for three dog night. So there again, tommy was immersed in that r b scene, black music recorded from motown, and radon and robbie. Thats how we understood each other, a lot of that. Because we understood, okay. And its the rhythm. The rhythm and the cadence of that comedy, you know, that can be halfdozens and half insightful at the same time. Tell me a little b bit about the decision you made to sort of go solo and it worked out. Your acting, youve been on hit tv shows. But sometimes when you step, and there are plenty of examples of this, people step out and it didnt work out, but you stepped away and it worked out and you got back together when you needed to. But talk about the journey ever going solo and be being successful. I had a lot of confidence. It wasnt that i couldnt write and direct and star in a movie. Id been doing that. But as far as being able to lift 100 pounds, ive been able to lift 100 pounds every day since i could remember. I knew i could do it. It was nice to get a chance to make that kind of political commentary in this street comedy, you know. Im a classic charlie chaplin. Those who lived by their wits on the street, had a certain amount of charm and a certain amount of rascalness, and thats who i was. And i knew i could do it. And i knew that the audience was ready for it. It was cool. You know. It felt good. Growing up in South Central, did you ever have any idea that it would turn out to be this good for you all these years later . Well, you know, i just wanted to have a job. Somebodys going to pay me to sing . I was always a good student. I was a straighta student at school. But i was a teachers worst nightmare. I was a straighta student who was a wise they couldnt shut me up. They couldnt fail me. You still got it, all these years later. The book is called cheech is not my real name, but dot call me chong. Cheech, a wonderful book. Come back again, my friend. Id love to. My pleasure. Thats our show for tonight, thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith. For more information on todays show, visit tavis smiley at pbs. Org. Im tavis smiley. Join me next time for a conversation with carl and rob reiner, next time. Well see you then. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Today, on americas test kitchen, bridget and julia make authentic tuscanstyle roast pork, adam shows julia his favorite wine accessories, and becky shows bridget the secrets to the best farro salad with asparagus, sugar snap peas, and tomatoes. Its all coming up on americas test kitchen. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by the following Fisher Paykel. Since 1934, Fisher Paykel has been designing
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