Lowering the bar

This ranks as a brand new level of silly. A ventriloquist doesn't want to do a phone interview to save his voice (which is fine, though weird and self-indulgent. Somehow, I doubt the guy is texting for room service or for the bus driver to pull over so he can take a leak). The publicist wants to know if I would e-mail the questions?

Say it with me people... No.

E-mail interviews with entertainment types blow goats. They blow goats one after the other while the little, red tractor goes around and around. They're always half-baked, particularly since you only get one try and the other person can pick and choose which questions they answer. There is never a follow-up, so if they say something interesting, you can't ask them to explain... and of course, there is always the very distinct possibility that all of it is getting filtered through handlers. For all you know (and who is to know), you're not writing questions for the talent, but for his publicist or manager to answer.

About the only person I'd happily consent to do an e-mail interview with would be Stephen Hawking and he's not likely to be playing an arena named after a furniture store.

I should have known. His national publicist is the same person who handles Willie Nelson, which, for me, typically means an unusual amount of bullshit, ending with frustration and anger. She's not overseeing the tour, but I'm starting to see a similarity in the kind of artist who hires her on. Maybe she likes crazy.