Thacher amazes Offerman
Nick Offerman could not contain his glee as he walked along the cliffs at Thacher State Park.
The comedian let out a delighted laugh as he and CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason reached a clearing along a foot trail to see a waterfall cascading from the top of the park’s escarpment.
“Holy cow,” he said, letting out a chuckle. “We don’t have this in Illinois.”
“This is kinda what your book’s all about,” Mason responds in an interview broadcast Tuesday.
“Look at that,” Offerman said.
“Yeah, it’s pretty stunning,” the interviewer responds.
Offerman and Mason were at the park for a recent interview about Offerman’s new book “Where the Deer and the Antelope Play,” the “Parks and Recreation” star’s chronicle of America’s natural spaces. The book includes a trek through Glacier National Park with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and author George Saunders, who for a time lived in the Albany area.
Much of Mason’s interview with Offerman took place at a picnic table in the park where the actor and author punctuated the conversation with minor repair work to tighten screws on the table.
“In my book, with a sense of humor, I’m trying to remind everybody ... to get out. If you don’t know what the poison ivy or poison oak situation is then you’re not getting deep enough in the woods,” he said.
The book also details a trip Offerman and his wife, Megan Mullally, took across the country last year with their Airstream trailer.
The interview continued the region’s recent love affair with comedians. Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy proclaimed their love for New York’s capital city last month in a series of Instagram Stories ahead of their upcoming performances.
“We love Albany!” the two proclaimed in a video on Handler’s Instagram.
Koy was in town for a two-night run of shows at The Egg on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24. Handler is set to perform at the Palace Theatre on Friday.
Offerman, who’s cultivated an image tied to his love of the outdoors, spent time fishing at Thompson’s Lake. He detailed his childhood love of catching panfish like bluegills and pumpkinseeds.
But while the park was generous in its views, the lake was not so bountiful. Offerman’s casts landed no fish.