Stephen King Brings Down the House


The best-selling author told the 600-plus sold-out crowd at Sewickley Academy that there are three faces of Stephen King: the one who writes gruesome horror stories in his office out in the woods, the “at-home Steve” who takes out the garbage and whose wife tells him when it’s time to change his shirt, and the “public Steve” – the one who, according to his children when they were young, would get dressed up and “go out to be Stephen King.” 
He did, however, forget to mention a fourth persona: stand-up comedian Steve.
 
Mr. King had the audience laughing throughout “An Evening with Stephen King,” sponsored by the Penguin Bookshop on Wednesday, June 8, 2016, telling stories of his experiences in Pittsburgh, in film, and in life. He opened the evening with a hilariously embarrassing story from 1979 about the time he was having dinner on Mount Washington while promoting “The Dead Zone” and came down with a severe case of food poisoning. Excusing himself to the restroom before becoming “nuclear,” Mr. King didn’t think his situation could get much worse – he was extremely sick to his stomach in a bathroom that had no doors on the stalls – until, of course, it did.
 
“Here comes the oldest bathroom attendant in the world walking towards me with a pad and pen. It was the only autograph I gave while sitting on the John,” Mr. King said to the captive audience. “It was my first encounter with fame, and it sort of gave me a perspective from the bottom up.”  

All joking aside, Mr. King did tell the audience how he successfully scares people – he gives them characters to believe in. He told them made-up statistics about how a handful of them probably left their car or house unlocked, and that a maniac with a very sharp knife could be hiding in their backseat or lurking behind the shower curtain in the bathroom.
 
“The last thing I want you to think about at night when you go home alone and no one can hear you scream is, ‘Did I leave that shower curtain open?’ You laugh now because we are all here together and you are safe, but eventually you have to go home to that bathroom,” Mr. King teased.
 
After spending time in the Academy’s chorus room, Mr. King decided to read a brand new story to the audience instead of an excerpt from his latest book, “End of Watch.” The narrative, entitled “The Music Room,” is a cruel tale about a married couple and the company they keep – literally.
 
Halfway through the event, Mr. King joked that he was going to talk some more because “bullshit is what I’m all about.” But throughout his comedic performance, he had a few touching and serious moments about the importance of the written word. He recalled how his nose was always in a book as a child, and many adults always asked him why. His response (in hindsight of course)? “You’re going to live one life and I’m going to live 10,000.”
 
Stephen King visited 12 cities in as many days to promote his latest book while also showing his support for independent bookstores. The Pittsburgh event was a hosted by Sewickley's Penguin Bookshop. Each of the 620 attendees received a copy (400 were autographed) of the novel, “End of Watch.” It completes the thriller trilogy starring retired police detective Bill Hodges and Bradly Hartsfield. “Mr. Mercedes” (2014) — an Edgar award-winner — and “Finders Keepers” (2015) were books one and two. 

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