[Music] [Interview with David Letterman’s hometown childhood friends - Ralph Masterson and Sam Cooper] (Ralph Masterson): Oh, yeah, yes. Absolutely! We're real proud of Dave. He represents the best of
Indiana. (Sam Cooper): Do I remember David Letterman? Well sure, I remember Dave. No, he was the
biggest thing that ever happened to this part of Indiana. And he never forgot us.
You know, and around here, that means something. It really does.
[Music] (Ralph Masterson): Dave and I were in first grade together. And if you'd asked anyone in the class who the funny guy was, I think they would
have said – me! I say that with humility, but that I really was the funny guy and
I'm still very proud of Dave you know. We're all proud of Dave. (Sam Cooper): How would I describe Dave back then? Well, dry. Very dry. Not funny dry either. Just a guy who described things as they were with very little
else to it. Who knew that would be a thing people would like one day! (Ralph Masterson): I remember one day, we were playing softball, and Jeff Anderson comes in with his dog. And he taught the dog how to
open a can of pop with his paw. (Sam Cooper): And I said, “that's a stupid pet trick”, and Dave said right away “stupid pet trick. That's great! I'm gonna steal that one day.” And I
jumped right in and I said “that's not yours to take, Dave!” and he said “Sam -- can
it!” and I said “Dave, I need this.” And, you know, he ignored me and he just gave his
little Dave laugh. (Ralph Masterson & Sam Cooper laugh) (Ralph Masterson): But yeah, we’re proud of him and couldn't be happier. (Sam Cooper): Here's our old high school. (Ralph Masterson): The whole NBC thing was very hard for us. (Sam Cooper): Very hard. (Ralph Masterson): Yeah cuz you know, we considered Dave family. You know, he's one of our own and and we did not like how
that went down. (Sam Cooper): Before then, I was a big Leno fan, but after that, I never
watched more than his opening monologue (Ralph Masterson): I mean you had to watch the monologue. (Sam Cooper): Jay's monologue. So many jokes. (Ralph Masterson): But after the monologue, I promise you I'd switch
right over to Dave. (Sam Cooper): Depending on who the first guest was. (Ralph Masterson): Right. Depending on the first guest. Of course. So in town, we had this iron pencil
factory. They made these pencils. They were heavy duty industrial pencils.
They're very heavy and my dad worked there. He used to, you know, stuff the lead
into the wood and he'd come home drunk. And well, he tried to throw these pencils
at us and all six of us, you know, the kids in the family would duck, would have
to duck and the pencils would go right through the window and then break the
windows. And it was scary. I confided in Dave about it, and he said … “oh, the pencils
break the windows? That's funny.” It wasn't funny,
but he thought it was a riot and he wanted to use it in his show. (Sam Cooper): Yeah, one
person's tragedy is another person's gold mine, I guess. (Ralph Masterson): We're happy for him.
We're happy for Dave. (Sam Cooper): You know Letterman isn't really his last name. No he just, Dave really just likes letterman jackets. His real name is Dave Parka. (Ralph Masterson): Now Dave. Was
he the funniest guy in Indiana? No, but can you name a funnier guy who
left Indiana? (Dave Cooper): Mike Pence. (Ralph Masterson): Mike Pence. I forgot about Mike Pence.
(Sam Cooper): So yeah, congrats Dave. The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize. (Ralph Masterson): JFK,
Mark Twain and Dave. (Sam Cooper): Yeah, two legends – and Dave! [Music]
huh? Is this what they people in Indiana look and talk like? Not funny...