Saturday, November 19, 2011

Neil Gaiman's American Accent Inspired by Dick Van Dyke

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Staff Blogs, November 18, 2011, "Neil Gaiman guests on 'The Simpsons' Sunday, then it's back to writing" by Sharon Eberson.
The toughest thing for him was the reading of a line that required a bad American accent. He kept being told to make it worse, until it was suggested he think of Dick Van Dyke’s British accent in “Mary Poppins.” “It’s the kind that makes our toes curl, like when he says [and here Mr. Gaiman launches into Dick Van Dyke as Burt], ‘It’s a jolly holiday with Mary.’ So I tried to reach those heights, or depths.”