Answers with Ashleigh Brilliant

Answer 1

What are Pot-Shots?

Illustrated epigrams in a special self-concocted format. The essence of an epigram is that it is a short meaningful expression.

Where did the original idea for Pot-Shots come from?

From advertising slogans and graffiti. The truth is, there was no "original idea." It was a process (which may still be going on.) For years I wrote crazy little thing and just put them away in boxes and drawers. Not till my thirties did I begin reciting them (eg at parties) as a kind of one-line poetry. People urged me to publish them, but I thought of each one as a separate complete work, hence the idea of postcards (which I still think is the ideal form for them.)

Has the format for Pot-Shots always been the same?

Essentially yes: A maximum of 17 English words, easily translatable.

How many Pot-Shots are there?

10,000 so far published.

At what point did you realize that Pot-Shots are your life's work?

Not until you asked that question.

What formats or media are Pot-Shots available in?

A wide variety of print, electronic media, and manufactured products. Since their beginning on postcards in 1967, Pot-Shots have appeared in many books (my own and, by permission, other people's), as a syndicated newspaper feature, and on various licensed products, including t-shirts, greeting-cards, mugs, calendars, magnets, plaques, place-mats, and many more (although many proved to be one-time ventures.) Our current most popular product is the Catalog on CD which contains words and graphics of all 10,000 published Pot-Shots in very useful database form. They are been estimated to have been printed on over 100 million items.

What is the most unusual way Pot-Shots have ever been used?

As an epitaph on a tombstone in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Buena Vista CO. It was used with permission, and contains a copyright symbol. It's #1041: "Before I knew the best part of my life had come, it had gone."

Have there been any ideas that just couldn't fit into the Pot-Shots format?

Not that I'm aware of.

What do you think of Piet Hein's Grooks?

I like them, and have a whole set. But there is little similarity to my work.

What is the copyright history for Pot-Shots?

"In a 1979 case a Federal Judge (William Byrne) declared my copyrights to be "valid, subsisting, and enforceable. The case involved a Southern California company (W.B. Productions) making and selling t-shirt transfers, on which they used 3 of my lines, despite being asked repeatedly to stop. They hardly put up any defense, and to my surprise paid the $18,000 judgment in full. I can't remember if a lower court was first involved, but if that did happen, I didn't have to appear in person, as I did before Judge Byrne. The only question he asked that I can remember was whether I had paid Clifton Fadiman to write the words of praise which introduced my first book. Of course my answer was an emphatic NO. We had a very good lawyer named Ronald S. Laurie, who went on to specialize in software copyright cases."

Will there ever be any more than 10,000 Pot-Shots?

There are many more, but I stopped publishing at 10,000, feeling a lack of incentive to continue.

Has anyone other than you ever tried writing using the Pot-Shots form?

Not in any serious legitimate commercial way, that I know of.

What are some of your favorite Pot-Shots?

"#937 They're all my children, and it's very hard for me to choose between so many. I particularly like #937, ""Fundamentally, there may be no basis for anything,"" because of the simplicity, the meaningfulness, the wit, and how well my illustration goes with the words."

Do you write in any other format?

Yes. I'm currently doing a series of "Bedtime Stories."

Have you ever just noticed a Pot-Shot in your other writing?

Yes, e.g. in my play "Begetting." - but it's not intentional.

What else should everyone know about Pot-Shots?

That they can find out much more from my website www.ashleighbrilliant.com and from my series of books of "Brilliant Thoughts."