Q: You have a relationship with music and musicians that I don’t think enough people are quite aware of — you’re good friends with musician Jonathan Coulton, a man against whom you’ve had to run negative campaign ads; you portray “The Deranged Millionaire” in They Might Be Giants’ projects; you’ve appeared on Flight of the Concords. And I read recently that you actually play oboe and viola. Do you still practice?
John Hodgman: Clarinet! I am a SINGLE reed person. Not a double-reed person. No, I no longer practice the clarinet or the viola. I’m practicing ukulele. The ukulele is enjoying its moment and deservedly so. It is portable, it does not require a double reed. And it only has four strings compared to six. If the guitar is the novel, the ukulele is the book of fake trivia. Sublime in its own way, but much, much easier for me.
You know the guy who plays the PC in the Mac ads? Well, he does have a name, and he does other things besides those ads too. And now we learn he was a single reed man. Come to think of it, he does look a bit like a clarinet player. 😉
And I think Mac folks should play double reeds. Or double reed players should use Macs. Either way. Just so you know.
