(pb; 2009: humor book)
From the back cover:
"No one understands the complexities of modern life better than Eugene Mirman - claims Eugene Mirman - and anyone seeking guidance from the man who has lived through everything (except for the Great Depression, the Spanish-American War, and Jerry Lee Lewis's sex scandal) won't resist this charmingly hysterical guidebook.
"
• Become Ultrapopular in High School (Without 'Putting Out' - Whatever That Is)
"
• Discover Somewhere Between Four and Two Thousand Ways to Overcome Social Anxiety (Closer to Four)
"
• Start a Band, Become an Artist, or Disappoint Your Parents By Getting a Reality Television Show"
Review:
Will is an offbeat, sometimes bizarre and dark, and consistently funny book - just like Mirman's stand-up comedy routines and his work on television (e.g., as "Gene" on the animated show Bob's Burgers).
If you're not a fan of Mirman's output, know that he regularly riffs on subjects like politics, pop culture, religion and sex with fearless abandon - while he's nowhere near as focused and raw as Doug Stanhope, Bill Hicks or comedians of that ilk, he is still willing to go beyond the norm-pale for a (sometimes) dark punchline.
For example:
• "There's even a common belief in many countries (mostly Japan and Nigeria) that cats write love poems to each other. Silly foreigners - no they don't."
•"If you want to go on the street in your torn leather pants and hand a flyer to a slut, you go right ahead - that's metal. Hiring a girl (even if it's Sigourney Weaver) to send e-mails to random people that mimic the marketing strategy of ringtone companies is not metal, and your band should be put to death (the obvious punishment for betraying the Devil-God of Metal - which on earth is manifested in the physical form of Scott Ian's goatee)."
•"Nobody likes it when a farmer punches a chicken (though punched chickens taste the best), but to insist that chickens have the right to avoid self-incrimination in court? That's too much, Mr. Hippie. Plus, drug-dealing chickens shouldn't have an easy way out - they f**ked up; they do the time. If some chicken molests a little boy (even a bully), you're telling me it should have a fair trial? F**k that. Prison, Mr. Chicken."
Worth checking out, this.
Showing posts with label Bill Hicks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Hicks. Show all posts
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Friday, December 10, 2010
American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story, by Cynthia True
(pb; 2002; biography. Foreword by Janeane Garofalo)
From the back cover:
"Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman -- add Bill Hicks to that list of brilliant, fearless comics. Just emerging from underground cult status when he died at age thirty-two, Bill Hicks spent most of his life making audiences roar -- and censors cringe -- with biting social satire about everything from former president George Bush to rock stars who hawk diet Coke. His nervy talent redefined the boundaries of comedy in the '80s and won him a list of admirers that includes John Cleese, George Carlin, and Thom Yorke of [the band] Radiohead.
"This posthumous biography reveals for the first time what made Bill Hicks tick -- what made him laugh, what pissed him off, and what he saw as his ultimate mission: to release people from their prison of ignorance. From his first comedy gig at Bible camp to his infamous cancellation on The Late Show with David Letterman, Cynthia True portrays an artist whose outrage, drive, and compassion fueled a controversial body of work that still resonates today."
Review:
Excellent biography, as intense as its subject. Hicks comes off as someone who strove to be more than just a joke-teller; he was a literate spiritual philosopher, who, for a time, loved drugs, all the while seeking to combat collective (often religious) ignorance, kneejerk uber-patriotism, and unthinking political and social conservatism.
Often savage and pornographic in his rock n' roll-themed stage act, Hicks was a friend of Sam Kinison (with whom he shared similar comedic sensibilities) and Denis Leary, who, in his 1993 No Cure For Cancer routine, ripped off Hicks' "kill talentless rock stars" riffs (from Hicks' 1989 Dangerous set).
It's a cliché, but in Hicks' case, it's true: he was ahead of his time, and, as the book's back blurb notes, his often-hilarious, sharp commentaries are still applicable to today's American society.
Check this out.
From the back cover:
"Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman -- add Bill Hicks to that list of brilliant, fearless comics. Just emerging from underground cult status when he died at age thirty-two, Bill Hicks spent most of his life making audiences roar -- and censors cringe -- with biting social satire about everything from former president George Bush to rock stars who hawk diet Coke. His nervy talent redefined the boundaries of comedy in the '80s and won him a list of admirers that includes John Cleese, George Carlin, and Thom Yorke of [the band] Radiohead.
"This posthumous biography reveals for the first time what made Bill Hicks tick -- what made him laugh, what pissed him off, and what he saw as his ultimate mission: to release people from their prison of ignorance. From his first comedy gig at Bible camp to his infamous cancellation on The Late Show with David Letterman, Cynthia True portrays an artist whose outrage, drive, and compassion fueled a controversial body of work that still resonates today."
Review:
Excellent biography, as intense as its subject. Hicks comes off as someone who strove to be more than just a joke-teller; he was a literate spiritual philosopher, who, for a time, loved drugs, all the while seeking to combat collective (often religious) ignorance, kneejerk uber-patriotism, and unthinking political and social conservatism.
Often savage and pornographic in his rock n' roll-themed stage act, Hicks was a friend of Sam Kinison (with whom he shared similar comedic sensibilities) and Denis Leary, who, in his 1993 No Cure For Cancer routine, ripped off Hicks' "kill talentless rock stars" riffs (from Hicks' 1989 Dangerous set).
It's a cliché, but in Hicks' case, it's true: he was ahead of his time, and, as the book's back blurb notes, his often-hilarious, sharp commentaries are still applicable to today's American society.
Check this out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)