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This month I decided to take it easy during the two months where my trip back to school should be bombarding me with term papers and tests. I'm doing a month of fairly light a comedic reading. Who knows? Anyway, while not all of these books are comedies per se, they are really funny.
- If Chins Could Kill- Confessions of a B Movie Actor By Bruce Campbell:
We've all read those usual Hollywood autobiographies. While many of them include one or two funny moments, Bruce Campbell writes 342 pages filled with as much self-deprecation as it does the self-congratulatory Hollywood tales and some manages to do both at the same time. It strips away most of the glamour. Let's face it- Campbell is not a household name. If you know him it all it is either from 'The Evil Dead' movies, 'Brisco County Jnr.' or 'Burn Notice.' (The latter of which did not yet exist when the book was written.) Sure, you might have seen him in Hudsucker Proxy or Spider-Man but it is those cheesy movies for which he is best known. It is refreshing to see an actor admit freely that he took a role (in this case Congo) just to get a free trip to Costa Rica and a paycheck instead of trying to pass it off as a 'well intentioned piece of art that didn't quite work out'. Though he leaves the question of why a movie set in the Congo was filming in Costa Rica in the first place. It is amusing to see him be both saddened and delighted that he didn't get the role in The Phantom. Be amazed as you read a scene that Campbell and French Stewart more or less made up almost on the spot (borrowing some bits from classic vaudeville) that were cut from the big budget flop McHale's Navy. In this reader's opinion, the scene was probably cut for being the only scene in the movie that got a laugh from anyone over the age of eight. Most of all be surprised at all the truly embarrassing things he did just to get some of those really horrible movies he was in made. Ultimately, the message of the book is there is basically one person in Hollywood who is just as comfortable being in ridiculously bad (but if you're in the right mood- completely hysterical) movies like Bubba Ho-Tep as he is in great films like Intolerable Cruelty. Other actors who are in good movies occasional star in clunkers for cash but Bruce Campbell is the only one who weaves back and forth between the two with ease, even if his B-Movies are his most beloved.
- I Know I am, But What Are You by Samantha Bee:
Every time Samantha Bee shows up on The Daily Show I have one simple and safety rule: no food or beverages. She will, and probably has, said anything for a laugh. Even at her most over the top one gets an inkling of barely restrained sarcasm. It's the type of comedy- where the humor is more about how something is said rather than what is said- that can sometimes be hard to transfer to the page. Yet here, it really works. Almost every autobiographical essay in this book reads like one of Mrs. Bee's comedy sketches. It is incredibly funny. There are some points where you don't know where the truth ends and the exaggerations begin. It doesn't matter because the book is pretty damn entertaining. There is a degree of honesty even in the pieces that are obviously exaggerated. The chapters on her early childhood and some of her tales from college were difficult for me to read. I was making that face where you know people are around so you're trying not to laugh but you really have to anyway so your cheeks puff up and your lips twist, then your nose scrunches so you somehow wind up looking like some of sort of CGI monsters played by Andy Serkis. In short, this book is Samantha Bee without a basic cable leash. So yeah, it is not for the easily offended or for the stupid. The book did something I didn't quite think was possible: it made me even more jealous of Jason Jones.
And now for some comedic fiction --
- Myth Directions by Robert Lynn Asprin:
Skeeve, Aahz and Tananda are up to their old tricks. It starts off as a trip to another dimension for Tananda and Skeeve to steal the perfect birthday present for Aahz. It turns into a very long, very silly look at the thin line between professional sports and conventional warfare. Why? Tananda gets caught stealing a sacred trophy. Or rather attempting to steal it at the same time the opposing team comes to steal it. The usual sort of antics and hijinks ensue. If you compare the action sequences between this book (which as I said is about sports) and the previous book (about actual war) you'll find that Myth Directions is far more brutal in its portrayal of violence. Again, Skeeve and Aahz are not the most physical of characters. They get themselves into trouble faster than some people change underpants but they survive almost entirely on their wits or maybe the merciful stupidity of others. Again, it is fun to see Skeeve bumble through things while Aahz tries to figure things out. Or when things get really bad seeing Aahz bumble through things and Skeeve try to figure things out. It's light. It's breezy. It's very funny and it's kind of insane. Anyone expecting anything less from a Mythadventures book will be disappointed.
And now because people have been questioning my patriotism --
- America Again Re=Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert and Company:
Readers, if you know me, you know I get my news from three sources: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and the stalls of public restrooms. The one problem with these sources for news is that a big screen HDTV is too heavy to carry everywhere you go and any part of a public restroom smells like urine. Don't try to sell me on simply watching my favorite news shows on my phone. Those screens aren't big enough for all the eye popping punditry action. If only they made things that were like The Colbert Report but lightweight and on paper. Oh sure, a few years ago Colbert and his writing staff produced: 'I am America (And So Can You)' but what have they done lately? Apparently- another book. It's filled with the same sort of hard hitting truths about this great country. Or if you're one of my Canadian readers that country to your south that is like Canada only without a good educational system or health care system, etc. You know- your absolute superiors at everything. It's also filled with jabs at the popular culture that makes America great. No one other than Stephen Colbert (and his entire writing staff) could have written this book. It wouldn't be hard to see this book adapted into an eight part Colbert Report special event starring Morgan Freeman as The Reverend Dr. Sir Stephen T. Colbert, DFA. That's how close this tome is to the source material. If you love America or The Colbert Report, buy and read this book. You'll enjoy it. If you hate America or The Colbert Report buy and read this book. I guarantee it will be the scariest book you read this year. In fact only those rare people who hate America and love The Colbert Report should not read this book. And don't think I don't know who the seven of you are . . .
Next: Epic Star Trek
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