Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe made comic book adventures mainstream, Neil Gaiman was laying the groundwork as one of the most important writers of his generation.
Renowned and celebrated for acclaimed genre-bending comic books, films and novels, Gaiman — an author, director, actor and producer — is credited with being one of the creators of modern comics. His groundbreaking “Sandman” series was the first comic to receive a literary award.
Most recently, his “American Gods” novel was turned into an acclaimed Starz series, while his latest children’s book, “Pirate Stew,” was published in 2020.
Between his many projects, the English author enjoys nothing more than getting up close and personal with his audience. That includes “An Evening With Neil Gaiman,” taking place May 17 at Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre.
The News-Herald recently talked to Gaiman about his latest projects, an important lesson he learned in Cleveland and why Duran Duran deserves its upcoming induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Q A quick look at your IMDB page shows you’re quite busy. What’s new?
A I’m in this weird, wonderful world of making TV right now. I’m entering post-production on one show and in the middle of production in another. “Good Omens 2” is in post. That was an enormous amount of fun looking at what we made. Now we’re shooting “Anansi Boys.” That’s an absolute delight.
Q We’re looking forward to getting you back here in Northeast Ohio. What are your memories of Cleveland?
A I’ve been there quite often, actually. I fell in love a little bit with Cleveland and the people of Cleveland about 22 years ago at a lunch held by — if memory serves — The Plain Dealer. They used to bring authors. This time they brought in three authors, and I was very much the most junior of the three authors. The other two were the kind of authors who hang out on the New York Times Best Seller list. I was not one of those. I remember we gave a talk, and my audience was all sort of goth-y young punks, and the audience for the other two were nice ladies with pearls. It was one of those moments I learned so much about both human nature and what kind of an author I was and what kind of an author I wasn’t.
Q This is fascinating. Can you elaborate?
A At the end of the lunch, after we all gave a little talk, the authors started signing books. A lady in another author’s line asked him to sign his book. He got really angry with her. He wasn’t going to sign her book because it wasn’t brand-new and he wasn’t making any money from it. I remember looking at him thinking, “You’re a man who has a reserved parking spot on the best seller list. You made so much money. Why would you humiliate this woman loudly in public?” That was such an education that happened in Cleveland.
Q As far as your speaking tours, how did these popular events come about?
A The whole reason I started doing these “Evenings With Neil Gaiman” was because I read about Charles Dickens. In his time, there were no real copyright agreements between America and the U.K. So Dickens was the best-selling author in America, but these were all pirated editions. He said, “I’m going to go over and get some of that nice American money,” so he started giving readings of his books, and people loved it. I thought it sounded like a wonderful thing to do for an author, especially an author who had a fair amount of stage fright at the time. I loved reading to the audience. I loved the noise audiences make when they’re hearing stories. I thought, “Nobody has read them a story since they were little kids, and now they’re adults.”
Q The other appeal of your “An Evening With Neil Gaiman” show involves a Q&A with audiences.
A No two “An Evening With Neil Gaiman” performances are the same. It’s not like I have the same setlist every night. I read favorites until I get bored. Also for me, the biggest part of each evening involves the questions. I try to get the audience wherever possible to write them down on cards. Sometimes I’ll do it as sort of the last portion of the show or do them all the way through. Some audiences want to know about the people I met or the great issues of today. Whatever it is, it’s fun to get up on stage and try to answer as many questions as possible. Really, it’s just engaging. It’s about going out there and going, “OK, let me demystify the process of being an author for you but also show you where the magic is.”
Q Finally, after years of eligibility, Duran Duran was recently named as a 2022 Rock Hall inductee. Considering your first book, in 1984, was a biography of the pop band, what are your thoughts on their induction?
A What’s lovely is that time has given us a whole new perspective on Duran Duran. When they came out, they were another pop group. They were the Fab Five and people thought they were here today and probably gone tomorrow. They seemed like a flash-in-the-pan band, and they seemed very pretty. They were the new romantics. What’s lovely is now you look back at 40 years of making music and their sound is as fresh as it ever was. The songwriting — actually, in hindsight — was better than we ever believed at the time. And the band itself has reinvented itself. That is fundamentally the heart of Duran Duran — they always were about making amazing music.
An Evening With Neil Gaiman
When: 7:30 p.m. May 17.
Where: KeyBank State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.
Tickets: $25 to $85.
Info: 216-241-6000 or PlayhouseSquare.org.
