Marshall Dodge and Bob Bryan started it back in the late 1950s when the two Yale students came out with a record titled “Bert and I.”
Their collection of classic old Maine humor, worked into some of their own stories, became a sensation in this state, and lines such as “You can’t get there from here” have been used by thousands of Mainers in conversation ever since.
Low-key, dry Maine humor has a long history, but Dodge, in particular, brought it to a wider public audience. In the process, he also encouraged the next generation of Down East storytellers.
Tim Sample got to know Dodge as a young musician who also told Maine jokes, and had become friends with legendary musician Noel Paul Stookey. Sample says the three of them went to a fundraiser in Portland around 1980, when the two humorists were suddenly asked to take the stage.
“And [the organizer] knew me and said, ‘Wait a minute, we have Tim Sample and Marshall Dodge here. Why don’t you guys get up on stage and do some stuff?’ We looked at each other and said, ‘We’re already here, why not?’ I don’t remember what we did, but it hit like a bomb, because we had this chemistry.”
Tim Sample joined fellow humorist Gary Crocker to talk about Maine humor on an afternoon at the old Topsham Grange Hall, a place that has heard many old stories told over the decades.
Gary Crocker says he had heard Marshall Dodge on a record and went to see him do a show in the small town of Wayne.
“I was the first one in the door and sat in the front row,” he recalled. “And all he did was sit on a stool with a microphone and talk for an hour and a half. And I was just mesmerized.”
Gary says he told his parents he was going to become a Maine humorist.
“They said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I said, ‘It just made people feel good.'”
He became a Maine storyteller and humorist, just like Tim Sample did. Tim worked at it as a full-time performer, while Gary held down a day job and told stories on the side.
Both agree there is something special about Maine humor.
“And I think most of Maine humor is not angry, it’s friendly and it’s kind,” Gary explained.
“I agree completely,” Tim responded. “The message of Down East humor, if there is one overarching perspective, is don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s all just the way it is. I was in my 30s or 40s before I put it all together.”
Marshall Dodge died in the late 1980s in an accident, and Sample in particular became the most prominent Maine humorist of the 35 years. Gary Crocker performed in mostly smaller venues, but also toured parts of the country, sharing his stories. Both men use the classic old “Bert and I” lines from time to time, but have also adapted the feeling of those stories to their own creations.
“We are individual, entrepreneurial storytellers,” Tim explained, “People who love the craft and fabric of the storytelling thing. And we are part of the arc of these stories being told for generations on the coast. People ask, ‘Oh, is storytelling dying out?’ Storytelling never dies out.”
Tim Sample’s imminent departure from the stage—he plans to continue focusing on his artwork and recording audio books—has prompted some to wonder what will become of Maine humor and storytelling.
Both men say there are others out there working now, notably comedian Bob Marley, who often uses a Maine dialect to tell his stories. And say they are confident others will come in the years ahead to keep the traditions alive, even as audiences have less and less connection to the “old Maine” of farmers and fishermen that underscored so many of the old-time Maine stories.
“I know there are people out there who will pick it up,” Gary said. “Sure. Timmy’s gonna walk away, and some day I’ll drop dead. But there will be a kid out there who says, ‘I can do that.’”
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