Comedy writer, comics writer, copywriter. Call 314-479-1966, email walt@waltnow.com. But, first: this interview. Q: HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE JASCHEK? Walt: The answer is, not surprisingly, very, very dull. Q. Tell anyway. Walt: (Sigh) Okay. Much of my family...
more »Comedy writer, comics writer, copywriter. Call 314-479-1966, email walt@waltnow.com. But, first: this interview. Q: HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE JASCHEK?
Walt: The answer is, not surprisingly, very, very dull.
Q. Tell anyway.
Walt: (Sigh) Okay. Much of my family here in the U.S., including parents, pronounces the "s-c-h" combination as a simple "s" sound, like ja-sic, with a short "a" sound, as if to rhyme with "classic."
Q. But YOU do not pronounce it that way?
Walt: No.
Q. Why is that?
Walt: Well, during college, I started to embrace that odd consonant combination "sch" as a "shhhhh" sound, like the "sch" in Schwab or Dr. Scholls or Anheuser Busch, makers of Busch Light, thinking that "Jashhh-ek" would actually help pronunciation, not hinder.
Q. So did it help, then?
Walt: No, not at all.
Q. Is it true that your high school gym teacher would call you "JAZZ-check" in a high-pitched nasal voice, and that you felt that "JAZZ-check" was some alternate version of yourself that ran laps in a jock strap?
Walt: That is true. How did you get that information?
Q. We hear things.
Walt: Hmmm.
Q. You know, in its original, Germanc language, the "j" would be pronounced like a "y." It would be "Ya-sheck."
Walt: True.
Q. So you do it that way?
Walt: I can't really yustify that. I mean, justify that.
Q. So, in that case: how DO you pronounce "Jaschek"?
Walt: Me?
Q. Yes.
Walt: I have no idea.
Q. [Sigh.]
Walt: I was hoping you knew.
Q. Might I slap you now?
Walt: Sure, go ahead. I get that a lot.
[SFX: SLAP!] « less
Keep your pants on...
