Samuel Clemenstein Interview: Filthy Easy Vocab! 😎

Filthy Easy interview with the Filthy Easy Vocab author!

May 29, 2024

I’m starting a new series of Substacker interviews. Hopefully this makes you laugh and introduces you to different Substacks you never heard of. Enjoy!

I’m interviewing Samuel Clemenstein, the writer of Filthy Easy Vocab. Check it out!

What is your Substack about?

My Substack Filthy Easy Vocab is a word of the day service that aims to teach new words through humor. Every weekday you are sent a new word accompanied by an absurd or satirical example passage that should brighten up your morning. Unless you live in Alaska or uppermost regions of Scandinavia, where you only have two hours of sunlight a day. The only things that may brighten your morning if you live in those inhospitable environments are a nice piece of smoked whitefish and a cigarette bummed from an ice road trucker.

What are some of your favorite movies?

I enjoy a lot of dark comedies like In Bruges, The Big Lebowski, and Being John Malkovich. I also fancy a horror movie every now and then, with some of my favorites being The Shining, Hereditary, and Unfrosted. Just kidding about that last one, though it is scary that Jerry Seinfeld would shamelessly attach himself to that train wreck. Schindler’s List is probably my all-time favorite movie, though I often find myself reaching for my DVD copy of Mr. Bean’s Holiday, my ultimate comfort watch.

What are some of your favorite tv shows?

Cancellation aside, I thought Louie was the best TV comedy since Seinfeld. I don’t watch too many shows, though I’m pretty much in line with public opinion about Breaking Bad and The Sopranos being two of the very best. The writing in Bojack Horseman and Rick and Morty is also fantastic.

What are some of your favorite books?

I love anything by Bill Bryson: A Walk in the Woods, The Road to Little Dribbling, etc… For a more serious read I tend to lean towards bleak and ominous sci-fi tales like Something Wicked This Way Comes and The Road. I went through a bit of a Bourdain phase recently and found myself reading Kitchen Confidential, A Cook’s Tour, and Medium Raw over the winter and spring.

What is some of your favorite music?

Two bands I have on repeat right now are Dinosaur Jr. and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. I like indie rock with some grunge elements as well as psych rock. A band I saw in person a few times recently is Eggy, who are from my hometown in Connecticut. They have an album on the way that’s going to be epic. I went through a classic middle school “I think I’m black” phase despite being a white suburban Jewish kid and fell in love with rap music, though I don’t listen to much anymore. My tastes are kind of all over the place. In any given day, I can go from listening to sad country girl music like Waxahatchee and Soccer Mommy, to classic rock albums like Animals by Pink Floyd, to Action Bronson talking about muffling shotguns with old onions over an Alchemist beat.

What caused you to laugh the hardest that you remember?

One of my college roommates once had to go the bathroom so urgently that he just couldn’t hold it anymore and started peeing while walking down a crowded street somewhere near midtown Manhattan. He was dressed as Harry Potter and there were tourist families looking at him in an extremely concerned manner. I’d like to think that was one of the first things they saw after stepping out of Grand Central and taking in the Big Apple for the first time. I think the statute of limitations is up on that one hopefully.

Who is the funniest person you know? What is something funny they did/said?

Probably my dad. He sometimes will go outside, get down on all fours, and bang together metal trash can lids to entertain the dog. At 7 AM. His neighbors love him.

Do you have a story that people might find unbelievable?

I once got threatened by a crackhead with a gun while picking up my friends from a deli late at night. That’s not the unbelievable part. Get this, the crackhead had just been in the deli DEMANDING that they cut his sandwich into little triangles and cut the crust off as well. How un-gangster is that? Pick a lane, man. Are you late for a tea party with your aunt Gertrude, or are you on your way to steal sheet metal from a scrapyard?

What do you have the most fun doing?

I love to play soccer. I’m in a couple of men’s leagues. Honestly, I really love to sit on my deck and write while my dog sits next to me. I’m not opposed to downing the occasional brewski and chopping it up with my pals at a dive bar or Irish pub either.

Where is the most fun place on Earth that you’ve been?

Other than the New Jersey Turnpike? I kid. Visiting my extended family in Cape Town has always been a blast. I once participated in an Ostrich race against my brothers there.

What are some weird topics that you consider yourself very knowledgeable?

I have been obsessed with cereal for a long, long time. I am familiar with probably 95% of the cereals in existence and can tell you the pros and cons of each.

Do you have a hobby? What’s the basic starter pack to begin that hobby?

I have too many hobbies. I’ll say cooking is a particular passion of mine. As far as my cooking starter pack, it’d probably be too much salt, a shoddy “non-stick” pan that everything in the universe-- even things I’m not actively cooking with-- sticks to, spicy honey, a chef’s hat with a talking rat inside of it, and a dull knife to ensure the crushing of many cell walls as I chop onions, resulting in a much-needed, cathartic cry.

What would be your theme song?

Long Black Veil- The Band version