Bennett Tramer will be performing at Difficult to Name on Friday, April 24 at York Manor
I just found out you wrote the lyrics to the Miss Bayside song when Screech won, becoming the first "Mr. Miss Bayside" on Saved by the Bell. That's awesome, I've always loved that song. More controversially, you recently shared a post about how Zack and Kelly were one of the "8 Best '80s Couples." Are you confirming on the record that you think Zack and Kelly made a better couple than A.C. and Jessie?
Thanks! I had fun writing those lyrics. I wanted to address the unique situation - a guy was voted Miss Bayside! And I wrote it in the vein of "There She is, Miss America" (sung at that pageant for decades). "Isn't she - he! - charming, lovely, disarming." As for Zack and Kelly being the best 80s couple, I'm equally fond of Slater and Jessie, especially because millennial women have told me Jessie taught them to take no crap from their boyfriends.
You co-wrote the cult classic horror movie Without Warning, which Kino Lorber released on blu-ray a few years ago. What was the process like writing a horror movie? And if you're a fan of the genre, I've got to ask that classic question -- what's your favorite scary movie?
Without Warning was a rewrite I did in two weeks, while listening to Grand Funk Railroad on headphones. I did have a girl killing the alien, so I'm proud of that. I felt sorry for two great actors - Jack Palance and Martin Landau - whose careers were in such bad shape in 1980 that they agreed to appear in this ultra low budget movie. But then In the 1990s, they each won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor. Never give up! As for fave scary movie, Halloween, because my old pal John Carpenter named a character after me.
I'm gonna steal a thing from Nate Silver's podcast and ask what three books you'd recommend.
For anyone interested in working in Hollywood, I'd recommend What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg. The Great Gatsby has been an influence on the one man show I'll be performing sooner than later. Gogol's Dead Souls is a terrific comic novel...I just wish he'd finished it!