Nick Offerman is our kind of comedian. When he鈥檚 not delivering sly, subtle jokes on the screen or touring听the comedy show he wrote with his wife, the riotously funny Megan Mullally, he can often be found paddling the tranquil waters near his childhood home in Illinois听or on the lakes near his California home. What鈥檚 more, he鈥檚 often out there on a canoe he made himself in , which he owns with his family. As he prepared to release his latest book听about woodworking, ($35, Dutton), we talked to him about the value of building something on your own, his favorite rivers, and making time to get on the water amid a busy travel听schedule. 听
OUTSIDE:听Hey, Nick. How are you?听
OFFERMAN:听I can鈥檛 complain, I鈥檓 in Charlotte, North Carolina, where my wife and I are starting a tour. This is a comedy show that we do together.听It鈥檚 called Summer of 69: No Apostrophe. 听
How many cities do you have on the tour?听
Last year we did about 30 cities. This time we have 16 cities up the east coast, a couple in the U.K., and eight cities down the coast. It鈥檚 a blast. We engineer it so that we can drive everyplace, except for the U.K., obviously. It鈥檚 like a vacation. We listen to audiobooks and take a poodle with us as our stage manager. 听
Your new book is filled with wood projects鈥攊ncluding making your own coasters, bottle opener, tables, and canoe paddles. 听
To me, it鈥檚 the most magnificent example of how men and women can commune with the woods. There鈥檚 a great quote from a guy named Robert Penn听who wrote a good book that鈥檚 just out, called . I鈥檓 paraphrasing, but it鈥檚 something like: by working through this product of nature, it reflects our enjoyment of nature itself. For me, it鈥檚 like alchemy that I can take a piece of wood that would go in the fireplace or landfill听and turn it into something as charismatic as a canoe paddle, that fuels my enjoyment. So I鈥檝e used my time during the storm to make something practical, and when the sun comes out I get to use it. 听
I understand that you grew up paddling flatwater in the Midwest. 听
In the parlance of 国产吃瓜黑料, I grew up with a very sedate paddling career. My boss on a blacktopping crew that I worked on had a canoe hanging on a shed wall. And when I was about 16, I said, 鈥淐an I take that thing out on the creek?鈥 I grew up rowing a boat on the lakes of Illinois and Minnesota because my family are very avid fisherpeople. But for some reason I had an Indiana Jones moment where I said, 鈥淟et me try out that sleeker model.鈥 And I became obsessed. There鈥檚 a creek that runs partly through my family鈥檚 farmland called the AuxSable. It was my domain. I fell in love with it. I never did any terribly adventurous paddling. It was more about exploring the deep, lonely woods, and the placid silence, and spotting deer and raccoons and a family of beavers鈥攚hich gave me a hard time at first, but eventually we got along.听
Those beaver slaps scare the hell out of me. 听
The first time it ever happened to me, it was on my left flank. I was quietly paddling and I had a girlfriend on the bow, and I about jumped out of the canoe. But I had to play it off as nothing out of the ordinary: Oh, they鈥檙e just communicating to us that they want us to stay 12-15 yards from our lodge, based on the magnitude of that slap.听
When you go out to paddle now, are you exclusively using equipment that you built?
When I can, yes.听When I finally had the great pleasure of building my first canoe, that determined a lot of my vacation time. So we began to spend a lot of time in northern California. And a canoe is a project of magnitude that requires a lot of commitment. But a paddle is like a dessert course. You spend all this time working your way through a delicious tasting menu, but then that wonderfully effervescent final course is simply a paddle. After I built my first canoe, my acting career took off, so I had a lot less building time and a paddle fit my schedule better. So I鈥檝e made a few dozen paddles. That鈥檚 part of the indulgence, is cruising down the Russian River [in California]听in a canoe of my own making, driven by a set of paddles that I created. It鈥檚 an incredibly tall feeling. 听
How does your poodle do in a canoe? Pretty steady? 听
She keeps us mellow. When we get a little nervous if the water gets choppy, she keeps us calm. 听
As your acting career has taken off, how do you sneak off and paddle or find those placid, quiet places that you grew up in?听
I just shot a really nice film called House of Tomorrow鈥攖hey conveniently located it in the deep woods of Minnesota, so on my days off I was able to get out and hike and get on the water. And my family vacations in Minnesota, as well. The two experiences dovetailed into one another. So I had a good buddy of mine who we call Falcon Smoker, and he brought his canoe to our family vacation, and he and I went paddling every day with his two German Shepherds, which was a really exciting, new experience. They鈥檙e both young dogs, so he鈥檚 teaching them to behave, but there was a quick education when they鈥檇 both decide to look out of the same side of the canoe at a turtle. 听
Did Megan grow up with a similar experience with the outdoors?听
She grew up in Oklahoma City, so she didn鈥檛 have as rural a childhood, though she did some horseback riding. But she loves to get in the canoe. For a small, beautiful star of Broadway and the screen, she鈥檚 quite a dependable paddlewoman. I was nervous the first time, but she took to it like a duck to water. 听
That鈥檚 a good sign. I鈥檝e had to separate couples in boats because there was so much arguing. 听
It鈥檚 a test for any relationship. I鈥檝e had a couple of friendships barely survive my explanation of who鈥檚 the motor and who鈥檚 the steering wheel. 听
Will you sneak in some camping or hiking time on the tour? 听
We have a couple spots where we have a couple days off. One of them is in Richmond, Virginia, and I have a couple outings planned with friends there. But I鈥檓 most excited about getting a few days off in Martha鈥檚 Vineyard and I鈥檝e planned an ocean rowing excursion. Being a Midwesterner, I prefer oars to a paddle on the ocean. When there鈥檚 a pod of whales who might want to play with me, I prefer to have two sticks available to me. But I鈥檓 also sailing with a friend who has a schooner that he built himself.
I can鈥檛 imagine tackling a project of that size. 听
Having built a couple of canoes and dinghies, when I visit his workshop I always think, 鈥淏etter you than me, friend. I鈥檒l stick to clowning.鈥澨