The 5 Questions We Ask Everyone: Aaron Karo

I first learned of Aaron Karo when I was a junior in college. My friend bought me Karo’s first book, “Ruminations on College Life” for my birthday. I read it in one day. And laughed so hard I cried.

Then I went on Facebook and stalked Karo in hopes that 1) I could meet him and 2) I could date him. (Funny, cute and Jewish? He was like my knight in shining college apparel.) That was back in the days when you had to have a .edu address to be on Facebook (I’m old), so I couldn’t find him. But I did see his stand-up show, where I laughed so hard I peed a little. And that is a true story.

Not familiar with Aaron Karo? Well, you should be. He’s totes gourmet. While at Wharton, Karo would send emails to his friends “ruminating” on college life. Those friends forwarded the email to their friends. Then those people sent it on to their friends. Soon, Karo had a million subscribers and a brand new career path as a stand-up comedian/author.

And he’s still going. Karo’s newest book, “I’m Having More Fun Than You” just hit the stores yesterday. In it Karo discusses the perks of being single when everyone else you know is getting hitched. Whether your friends are getting married or just act like it with their LDBF of 4 years, you will relate, laugh and maybe even pee a little. Or a lot-tle

Anyways, I finally tracked Karo down. The good news is he agreed to let me interview him. The bad news is he lives in L.A., which is way too far for a booty call.

5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1. What is your most hysterical/ridiculous college memory?
I stayed out of (serious) trouble [in college], but my most ridiculous memory is a tie. On one hand is the time the football team won the league championship, we tore down the goalposts, then used them as battering rams to break out of the stadium after they locked us in. On the other hand was the night I took one of my fraternity brothers to the ER after he jumped off a ledge and cracked his head open – only to find the rest of my fraternity already there assisting another guy who had punched his hand through a window. Good times.

2. What are five things you can’t live without?
DVR, Blackberry, LOST, alcohol, and the Yankees.

3. What’s your motto/advice you live by?
Work hard, play harder.

4. What’s your favorite song to belt out at the bar/in the car/for karaoke?
My fraternity brothers still make fun of me for playing “Still Not a Player” by Big Pun every day for a year. I still love it.

5. Ten years from now you will be….
Hopefully still answering interview questions on college web sites.

5 Questions Just for Aaron Karo:

1. What do you miss most about college?
Not having to worry…about anything. Any concern you could possibly have in college pales in comparison to what we have to deal with after college.

2. What do current college students have to look forward to in the real world?
The one benefit of graduating during a recession? Low expectations.

3. You went to school to get into business and now you’re doing stand-up. Why did you change your path? What advice do you have for college students who changed their minds about their futures and are now totally freaking out?
I didn’t change my career path as much as many people think. I’m still in business – just for myself. In fact, I use my business degree more now than I ever did on Wall Street. People would be surprised by how much the seemingly irrelevant stuff they learned in college comes in handy later.

4. What is the biggest thing/truth about guys that college girls just don’t get?
One – we are morons. Even by college, we have not yet learned the nuances of attracting women so we just go at it caveman style. We don’t know any better. Two – we are dicks. Not so much because we’re assholes, but because, as college guys, we’re surrounded by like-minded dudes who encourage boorish behavior. At least that’s the excuse I’m going with.

5. Tell us about your new book – what inspired this book? What lessons can people take from it? (Because there has to be a lesson in there, right?)
The book came about when I got closer to turning thirty. I realized that all of the women around me wanted to get married more… while I actually wanted to get married less. So that inspired this humorous take on why single people are having more fun than people in relationships. There is in fact a lesson – that one of the advantages of being single that isn’t talked about much is that you get the opportunity to learn about yourself. I believe that only once you’ve been single for a while and put yourself out there can you really know what you want in a relationship. Also, the blow jobs are pretty good too.

Pick up “I’m Having More Fun Than You” and the entire Karo collection on Amazon. And for a good laugh/something else to procrastinate that paper a little longer, visit Karo’s site, Ruminations.com.