Dave Barry prepares - or doesn't, that is - to make it up as he goes along

Dave Barry is on the phone. 

And, as Barry often writes, “I’m not making this up.”

“I used that phrase a lot  because I lied a lot,” Barry said. 

He’s in his South Florida home, in his bare feet – unless he’s making that up – days before he’s scheduled to speak tonight at the Virginia Beach Forum at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts. To say that he’s preparing for the talk might qualify as one of those lies. So he doesn’t say that.

“I have no theme,” he said. “I kind of meander around and tell some stories.”

Barry was a nationally syndicated columnist for The Miami Herald for 22 years, until 2005, becoming known for writing about exploding or on-fire toilets, whales, Pop-Tarts, Barbies, for his holiday gift guide, for running a gag campaign for president. A TV sitcom, “Dave’s World,” was loosely based on Barry.

He helped create International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and he formed a band called “The Rock Bottom Remainders” that featured other authors such as Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, Ridley Pearson and Stephen King.

Barry said he grew up admiring humorists Erma Bombeck and Art Buchwald, though he did not aim to mimic their style.

“I loved using the voice of authority in being really, really wrong,” he said. “I sort of abused the rules of punctuation, capitalization and grammar.”

He’s not sure what might topics might be funny in 2009, particularly with the country’s economy in the midst of recession, but he’s sure there are opportunities.

“If you can set aside your concern that you’re going to end up living in a refrigerator carton,” he said, “it’s always funny to watch Congress try to solve a big problem.”