IvyGate recently ran a review of Simon Rich's "Free-Range Chickens" for its inaugural meeting of the "IvyGate Book Club." In case you didn't catch the review, here's a quick bio of our man Rich: Harvard '07 alum and former Editor-in-Chief of the Lampoon, Rich has written two critically acclaimed collections of humor stories and is a staff writer at "Saturday Night Live." His father is Frank Rich, a guy who writes columns for the New York Times. Simon lives in Brooklyn Heights, where I met him at a restaurant for this interview.

And so it goes:

Simon Rich arrives. I'm already seated and I wave him over. Rich looks like a 16-year-old. But he's affable and confident. On the other hand, I'm nervous because Rich is around my age and achieving everything I want to be achieving. Amy Poehler is his co-worker. Amy Poehler is my dream girl. You get the picture.

Rich wants to change our seat because it's the Mets' last chance to make the playoffs and he can't see the TV. For the first twenty minutes of our interview, Rich's attention is divided between me and the Mets. Rich orders an iced coffee. I order a Diet Coke.

Why did you choose Harvard?

Because of the Lampoon. I always wanted to write for the Lampoon. Because I heard if you write for the Lampoon you could write for the Simpsons. And the Simpsons was sort of the center of my whole world.

I noticed a lot of people liked the Simpsons until around 7 years ago.

I still like it. It’s probably the single most important--not just the most important TV show but probably the most important thing in my whole life. It taught me not only most of what I know about jokes but also about the world in general.

After the jump, Rich discusses Harvard's dating life, vampires, and being Frank Rich's son. Read the rest of this entry »