Spring Break
The Daily OrangeStiller bridges gap between generations
By Pete Freedman
Posted: 4/14/04, 2:02 AM EST Section: Feature
"Tonight I'm celebrating the 60th anniversary of my first erection," Stiller said. "I want to tell you the story."
Between guffaws, Stiller recounted his memories from that fateful day in sixth grade. His teacher was reading his class a story, and Stiller said he began to have a funny feeling in his pants. By the time the bell rang, he still didn't know what to do, so he approached his teacher.
"I told her 'I have a problem,'" Stiller said. "And she looked down at my pants and said, 'My God! You have an erection!'"
His teacher sent him to his gym teacher, who simply told him to him to get rid of it. When he couldn't, he went to the library to figure out how. He started reading a book on the anatomy of sex, penis still erect, when the fire alarm rang. Leaving the library, he had to pass through wooden turnstiles that blocked the exit. When he ran into the turnstile, his "thing went away." Though embarrassing, the experience was a life lesson for Stiller.
"Every once in a while, I still get one of these things," Stiller said. "And when Anne is out of town or away, I go to the subway and purchase a token."
Thanks to stories like these, many in the young crowd - who knew Stiller from his roles on contemporary sitcoms and as Maury Ballstein in "Zoolander," not from his stand-up days with Meara - felt no generational gap between themselves and Stiller.
"I loved it," said Megan Kelsey, a freshman musical theater major. "It basically covered the whole spectrum. You really got a feel for (Stiller and Meara's) relationship with one another."
"I didn't know what to expect," said Jonathan Krieger, a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences. "I liked how he just talked to us and didn't put on an act."
Stiller said he was grateful to Hillel for providing him with the excuse to return to Syracuse and see some old friends. Still, he said he was nervous to speak to the crowd, despite his acting experience, because he's never addressed a public crowd in a speaker format.
"I had to ask myself how to prepare for this type of return," Stiller said. "I can't just come back and wave my arms."
After the speech, though, Stiller said it went just as he had hoped.
"I wouldn't want to come back here and not be great," he said. "I'm very pleased with how it went."
Between guffaws, Stiller recounted his memories from that fateful day in sixth grade. His teacher was reading his class a story, and Stiller said he began to have a funny feeling in his pants. By the time the bell rang, he still didn't know what to do, so he approached his teacher.
"I told her 'I have a problem,'" Stiller said. "And she looked down at my pants and said, 'My God! You have an erection!'"
His teacher sent him to his gym teacher, who simply told him to him to get rid of it. When he couldn't, he went to the library to figure out how. He started reading a book on the anatomy of sex, penis still erect, when the fire alarm rang. Leaving the library, he had to pass through wooden turnstiles that blocked the exit. When he ran into the turnstile, his "thing went away." Though embarrassing, the experience was a life lesson for Stiller.
"Every once in a while, I still get one of these things," Stiller said. "And when Anne is out of town or away, I go to the subway and purchase a token."
Thanks to stories like these, many in the young crowd - who knew Stiller from his roles on contemporary sitcoms and as Maury Ballstein in "Zoolander," not from his stand-up days with Meara - felt no generational gap between themselves and Stiller.
"I loved it," said Megan Kelsey, a freshman musical theater major. "It basically covered the whole spectrum. You really got a feel for (Stiller and Meara's) relationship with one another."
"I didn't know what to expect," said Jonathan Krieger, a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences. "I liked how he just talked to us and didn't put on an act."
Stiller said he was grateful to Hillel for providing him with the excuse to return to Syracuse and see some old friends. Still, he said he was nervous to speak to the crowd, despite his acting experience, because he's never addressed a public crowd in a speaker format.
"I had to ask myself how to prepare for this type of return," Stiller said. "I can't just come back and wave my arms."
After the speech, though, Stiller said it went just as he had hoped.
"I wouldn't want to come back here and not be great," he said. "I'm very pleased with how it went."
