Pee-wee's lasting (not so secret) legacy: Joy

I highly recommend the new documentary Pee-wee As Himself. It’s raw, funny, sad, and frustrating — often all at once. For longtime fans like me, it offers a wave of nostalgia, revisiting his meteoric rise and infamous fall. What surprised me most, though, was the deep dive into his childhood and the psychological tug-of-war between Paul Reubens and his alter ego, Pee-wee. Suffice to say - there’s a LOT in this documentary, fascinatingly told by an extremely talented, lovable and unreliable narrator in Paul Reubens, right up to the end of his life. 

As a teenager, I knew a little about him from his appearances on David Letterman. The movie, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, was hilarious and I loved the TV show. It was my first wave of stage of nostalgia - thinking back on my own early childhood. Pee-wee gave us tacet permission to explore our own childhoods. Sweet, silly, hilarious, loud and wildly playful, his show was a siren call to all of our inner children. I didn’t realize Pee-wee's broad appeal until my dad walked in on me watching Pee-wee on a Saturday morning. My first thought was to change the channel to something he’d enjoy - and also not to embarrass myself. But dad wanted to watch Pee-wee, too. He laughed. He began to do the voices and mimic the ridiculous jokes. There’s one long routine Pee-wee did on Letterman that ends with the line “No…but his face rings a bell!” that is an oft-repeated family favorite. 

Dan, Robert and about 50,000 cicadas talk about an upcoming trip to the Alamo.

Pee-wee shows up, to a degree, in the first Boys of Summer, too (click the video clip to the right for more on that).

I also have a daily dose of Pee-wee in my life thanks to a bobblehead version of him given to me by my dear friend and Yes, And…eXercise! Board member, BJ Bement. True to form, my bobblehead Pee-wee is holding the secret word “Fun.” I use him to introduce the secret emotion of the day in our Jam for Joy improv classes every week. It’s a way to allow us to play with a myriad of emotions, some of them quite challenging.

Here’s how it works: I spin a digital wheel populated with 87 emotions identified by Brene’ Brown in her book Atlas of the Heart. As emotions are unpredictable, we all chant “I don’t know” until the wheel lands on the secret emotion of the day. There’s always a response - for example “dehumanization” draws groans while “awe” elicits excited calls of “whoa!” We discuss what we feel about the emotion. It sets the table for where we’re headed - into the unknown world of improvisation. Then, just to make it fun, we put the lid on that emotion and the next time someone says it we all scream really loud! Bobblehead Pee-wee makes sure to appear in those moments. We laugh. We connect. We are grateful for each other and the man who dedicated a large part of his life to bringing us all joy. 

Thank you, Paul Reubens, for creating and sharing Pee-wee Herman with all of us. 

Robert Cochrane and BJ Bement celebrating Pee-wee Herman with Tequila. Christine Cochrane on the vocals and keys, along with Allen Fisher. Location: Pete's Dueling Piano Bar, Austin, TX (a little over an hour north of the Alamo).