Lily Tomlin | 10/27/2008 12:00 am

Lily Tomlin's False Flattery

By Lily Tomlin

Alert me to Lily's new posts

In response to: What is your biggest lie?

Congratulations. We loved the show! You were sooooo good! Really, just great.

Read more about: Acting, Arts, Celebrities, Psychology, Show Business, Theater

26 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Ha! I try to be tactfully honest in such situations, Lil: “You sucked!” Just kidding. But I never rave if I don’t like something. ;-)

By James the Game on 10/27/2008 12:42 am

e-mail alert

Oh, I think everyone does that to an extent…I dont think anyone really takes that question “How did you like it?” very seriously or to heart. It’s almost like the automatic answer questions, like “Hey, How are you?”, where 90% of the time the instant answer is “Good” or “Fine”.

By Sofia Tanner on 10/27/2008 12:50 am

e-mail alert

Sofia - hah, the “good/fine” was part of my answer to this question, too - how funny! Lily, in cases such as the one you are describing, I try to find something positive about the performance/show, and emphasize the everliving HELL out of it until it becomes a distraction from having to ever answer the question directly. (I guess this is called manipulation? Huh, maybe I COULD be a politician after all!) For instance, “Oh, that scene with the nervous breakdown was absolutely riveting. How did you work up enough yada yada to blah blah blah?” I did something similar last year when I had attended a Broadway play in which an actress friend of mine had been starring - I caught both the matinee and evening shows in the same day. The play was okay but very surprisingly low-budget and it had just opened so there were many noticeable mistakes. Well, after the evening show, I stuck around to chat with the star, when one of her other friends came up to greet her and expressed how much she loved the show. She [actress] wasn’t thrilled that her other friend had only caught the second showing, and was attempting to convey that she normally gives a much better performance, and that it was “too bad” she missed the matinee earlier. She immediately turned to me and asked “Right, Kryssi? Wasn’t the matinee better?” I actually disagreed with her completely, but for the sakes of both her and her friend, I managed to B.S. my way through a pretty convincing answer that hardly qualified as a technical lie. I don’t remember the exact words but I compared the different “ENERGIES” of the two performances. It seemed to work.

By Kryssi K on 10/27/2008 2:09 am

e-mail alert

Kryssi, I like to think you are like my friend in Nevada who shouldn’t become a politician due to intelligence, too much of it. Not that I don’t wish they had it but it seems to get lost once they are in there.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 10/27/2008 5:36 am

e-mail alert

It seems the soul is more likely the first to get “lost” in the political game. Either way, I could never be a politician - I possess the kind of idealistic beliefs that could get a person assassinated around here. (That person being me…just to clarify.)

By Kryssi K on 10/27/2008 4:10 pm

e-mail alert

Lily, For real!? You bad girl! :)

By Serena . on 10/27/2008 10:37 am

e-mail alert

Well, when it comes to a performance from Lily Tomlin, I would always speak the truth, which is “fabulous!” And, as far as lying goes, one of Edith Ann’s best ideas is: “the truth can be made up if you know how.”

By Mayr Makenna on 10/27/2008 10:37 am

e-mail alert

Ooooh! Lilly. How cruel! Nobody gets by with that lie around me. I’m fairly objective about my own weaknesses, but after two or three hours in someone else’s skin, I’m so hyper-sensitized I can pretty read people’s minds. Sorry you’ve had to go so far to spare the feelings of someone who might have benefited so much from an honest critique…especially from you!

By Ms. Dee on 10/27/2008 11:50 am

e-mail alert

Dear Ms Lily, People flatter me all the time! “Oh, isn’t he just the cutest thing, the most handsome boy in the world, the cleverest kitty. He is so ‘gentlemanly’ and so polite.” Actually this kind of flattery makes me feel wonderful and loved. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Of course in my case it’s all true. My people have seen you perform, twice, once in Palm Desert and once in Riverside. And they said you are wonderful and they also said that is no lie. And that’s the truth! So there. Love, Dice Love, Dice

By Dice the Nice on 10/27/2008 2:18 pm

e-mail alert

Dear Lily, sorry to have missed you in Dallas. Here is a link to an article in ‘Texas Monthly’, which came out today:http://www.texasmonthly.com/2008-11-01/letterfromdallas.php.

By beth willis on 10/27/2008 2:37 pm

e-mail alert

I’ll try again: http://www.texasmonthly.com/2008-11-01/letterfromdallas.php

By beth willis on 10/27/2008 2:45 pm

e-mail alert

Now, my husband and I have been through a heated discussion about the link. I kept telling him, “It’s supposed to be blue; all the linkers use blue. This is red.” “Just click on it; it’ll work.” Now when you click here, the link will turn red, which is the kind of state Texas has been in the recent past, but it will work just like the blue………..perhaps a sign of a change in the future for out fair state.

By beth willis on 10/27/2008 2:55 pm

e-mail alert

Oh My! Beth …….. you are priceless and funny! Thanks for the link ………… and the chuckle!

By Linda Clark on 10/28/2008 12:41 pm

e-mail alert

Oh dear, here I am again……..Texas is red, we want blue. I can never get that right. Seems like Dems should be red

By beth willis on 10/27/2008 3:44 pm

e-mail alert

No, red is the color of blood. Dems should stay blue. Then again, red being the color of blood = LIFE. Maybe Reps should be red, white, and blue, and Dems could be rainhow. Haha.

By Kryssi K on 10/27/2008 4:06 pm