Letterman shows no sign of stopping after twenty years of laughter

MUNCIE -- David Letterman has spent the past 20 years of his career prying into the personal affairs of guests who appear on his show. But there is one life Letterman has kept away from the eye of late-night scrutiny -- his own.\nAs a fraternity brother who knew Letterman well, Ball State alumnus Jeff Lewis said he believes Letterman's insecurity stemmed from a deep-seated lack of self-confidence.\n"Dave always thought one of his keys to success was his ability to keep people from really knowing him," Lewis said. "He has said in the past that the more people know about him, the less they're going to like him. The irony of that statement is that he has appeared on network television for the last 20 years having never really bought into his own success."\nFormer Sigma Chi fraternity brother Tom Leys remembered Letterman's difficulties with his self-esteem.\n"Dave was very insecure with who he was at the time," Leys said. "Then again, we all were. It was during Vietnam, and we were all a little more scared than we cared to admit. It was Dave's ability to take control of a situation with his cutting humor that made him more comfortable during times like that."\nIn the biography, "The Letterman Wit," by Bill Adler, Letterman attested to his inability to share much about himself in front of a television audience.\n"I like talking about things that happen in my life if I think I can make me the butt of the joke," Letterman said. "But I'm not crazy about actually talking about real things in my life: The women in my life, or my own political feelings and beliefs, limited as they are."\nAs odd as it may seem that one of America's most influential television personalities has endured a constant struggle with his self-esteem, there was once a time in Letterman's early career when his reclusive nature was more the outcome of being unheard than it was a result of playing it cool.\nFans of Letterman's "Late Show" have developed a love for the comedian's sarcastic, cynical humor. But before his enrollment at Ball State, the young comedian met with difficulty finding an audience that would appreciate the derisive jokes and mocking humor he has made so popular.\nDespite IU being his first choice, Letterman considered his academic shortcomings and decided to attend Ball State instead.\nIn 1965, Letterman enrolled as a freshman and before long was seeking a niche in which to be included. Lewis remembered meeting Letterman in the fall of that year.\n"Dave approached me and asked how he would go about joining a fraternity," Lewis said. "We all thought he would rush Sigma Chi, but he ended up pledging Sigma Phi Epsilon instead."\nUpon graduating in 1970, Letterman began working full-time at Channel 13 in Indianapolis. In 1975, the frustrated broadcaster left Indiana to try his hand at show biz in Los Angeles.\nWhat followed next -- his ventures as one of The Comedy Store's most well received guests, his numerous spots on the "Tonight Show" and his attempts to host an NBC morning show -- led him to his own late night program in February 1982.\n"Dave rose from absolute obscurity to get where he is today," Lewis said. "He came from a middle-class family, attended a middle-class university and went on to become a television industry giant without any extra influence, pull or favor. He simply did it on his own, without any power plays, because he's just that good. It's an absolutely incredible achievement."\nIn his biography, Letterman talked about Johnny Carson's decades-long success in late night.\n"The reason the 'Tonight Show' succeeds is because people like him," he said. "They didn't really turn the show on to see whoever Johnny had as guests. They turned on the show to see Johnny."\nThere is truth to Letterman's reasoning. And, you know what, Dave? We now turn our televisions on to see you.