Chevy Chase Holds Court At Ames

Television star Chevy Chase said last night at the Law School Forum that it was a "quadruple joy" to be invited to speak to "post-grads at the second finest educational institution in the state."

"To think you'd be remotely interested in a television celebrity is clearly an insight" into the changing sociological patterns of youth, he said.

Chase entered the Ames Courtroom without falling, something he used to do on NBC Saturday Night before he quit the show in October. Once in the courtroom, Chase sat down and opened a brown briefcase so that it obscured his face.

After being introduced, Chase stood up and said "Thank you. Good night," and he began to walk off the stage. However, he returned to speak and answer questions from the audience for an hour and a half.

"For me, it's a rare chance to meet the ordinary people--the young future leaders of this Boston suburb," Chase said. Then Chase spoke about life in the outside world. "It's so exciting--the world. It's such a flexible world. I'm proud for you and I'm proud for me and so very, very horny," Chase said, adding "I meant flattered."

Chase then tried to deliver a paper about his research with "RNA replication" and its link to cancer. But Chase ended his speech abruptly and apologized. "I thought this was the Med School thing," he said.

After assigning reading in "Torts and Farts," Chase devoted the rest of the time to answering questions.

When asked why he was "so bad on The Tonight Show," Wednesday night, Chase replied, "Don't pick at them or squeeze them. Use a steel brush," before conceding that he had been bad.

Most of the questions dealt with his work on Saturday Night. They ranged from a question about friction among the actors of Saturday Night to whether Chase thought the Claudine Longet Ski Tournament segment was tasteless.

Chase called the ski tournament "one of the funniest things ever done on television, although legally it wasn't proper." The segment showed a ski tournament in which Longet, who was convicted of manslaughter in the killing of skier Spider Sabich, is supposedly shooting skiers as they race down a mountain.

When asked if he has seen a psychiatrist, Chase replied, "Have I seen a psychiatrist what?" He added that his step-father was a psychiatrist and he saw him for 25 years.

Chase left the courtroom to the sound of cheering and a standing ovation, 40 minutes before his comedy show. The Chevy Chase Show, aired