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Posts Tagged ‘comedy’

“Canned food is a perversion.”

Thursday, September 12th, 2013

Early this year, I finally finished reading Anna Karenina and was feeling very gloomy. I also found myself much more aware and alert when I was at train stations. I read the book at the perfect time, since the dreary, dismal outlook of the book matched the ugly February weather. I don’t want to give anything away to anyone that hasn’t conquered Karenina yet, but it’s not a feel-good story. I needed to bring my spirits up after traveling through the dark, ominous, Russian countryside for over a month. For many years, my mom told me that I should read A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I had never heard of the book before and was still severely engrossed in my depressing, Russian classics. I was planning on re-reading Crime and Punishment after finishing Anna Karenina. But my mom, in her Hail Mary attempt to get me to finally read her recommendation and bring me out of my depressing Russian phase, bought the book for me and sent it to my Kindle. So I read it.

I went into the book with no expectations. I asked my mom what the book was about, and she said that she couldn’t really explain it. She told me it was funny and that I would enjoy it. I was skeptical. I was still in school studying depressing literature and was not really exposing myself to comedic books. My book-radar was shut off from that genre, thinking it was low-brow or somehow inferior to what I was reading for class. But, what was I going to do? It was already on the home page of my Kindle, taunting me. I started reading the book cautiously but openly. And I finished it in about three days. It’s not that it was a short book or an easy read. I just couldn’t put it down.

What caught my comedic interest was the absurdity of the story. The title of this blog post, for example, is a quote from the novel. The protagonist/antagonist/focal point of the novel is named Ignatius Riley, an overweight, thirty-year-old man who lives with his mother in New Orleans. Sounds like a real catch, right? Ignatius has a warped sense of reality, and eventually spreads his warped reality to anyone that encounters him. My mom was right: this book is really hard to explain, but it does involve pirates, pornography, burlesque dancers and their birds, hats with flaps, and medieval philosophy. What more does a book really need?

Digression: While I was refreshing my memory about the book for this blog post, I stumbled upon “The Confederacy of Dunces Curse.” A curse?! I needed to know more. I found out that the author of the book, John Kennedy Toole, had committed suicide at the age of thirty-one. After the book was published, it was shopped around to film makers and studios to make into a movie…and here’s where it gets creepy. John Belushi was first chosen to portray Ignatius, but Belushi’s premature death halted production of this adaptation. The next in line to play Ignatius was John Candy, who also died at a young age and delayed the film even further. Next up was Chris Farley. Are you noticing a pattern?! How weird!

There are still rumors around Hollywood that there will be a movie made of this book, and some names that have been mentioned are Will Ferrell, Jack Black and Zach Galifianakis. For their sakes, I hope this movie is never made. Even though it would be so great. (If you want to read more about the catastrophes and deaths surrounding the production of this movie, check out this link: http://splitsider.com/2013/03/8-actors-who-came-close-to-starring-in-a-confederacy-of-dunces/)

-There’s Always Money in the Beaunana Stand

Lolita? More like LOL-ita!

Thursday, September 5th, 2013

Hey reader. I’m Veronica, or There’s Always Money in the Beaunana Stand, one of the new interns at Beaufort, and I’m an Arrested Development addict. AD’s irreverent, awkward, and oftentimes completely insensitive and inappropriate humor is something that I find hilarious, both on television and in the real-world. Finding this particular nom de plume on the list of possible Beaufort puns in the office made me feel a lot more comfortable after I saw it on my first day. As you might expect from my pen-name and confessed interest in the wide world of comedy, I try to find the humor in life. I’ve been told that I laugh at anything, but that is not the case. I just happen to find normal, everyday things to be funnier than the average person might.

As an avid reader and over-all book enthusiast, I have found a general lack of humor in the books that I read. This could possibly be attributed to the fact that I generally read classics (since they are free on my Kindle: thank goodness for public domain books!). Also, I was a Literature major in college and, unfortunately, not many of my required readings were really all that funny. Unless you think Confessions of an Opium Eater is funny. But I didn’t. Due to the amount of depressing and dreary books I have read over the past four years, I have been trying to broaden my scope of potential books to include some more amusing content. I am still enjoying reading my classics (I am currently reading Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night), but I am breaking up these intense, serious reads with spurts of comedy. Or, at least, I’m trying to.

This past summer my brother gave me a book by John Hodgman, a correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (but better known as the guy that played PC in the old Apple versus PC commercials with Justin Long), for my college graduation.

Hodgman on left.

The book is entitled That is All, which my brother thought would be fitting considering I was ending my college career with no job prospects. Thanks brother. After letting the book sit on my desk all summer, mocking me, I finally decided that I would read it. I figured I needed some joy in my life, since I had just finished reading Lolita. If you have never read Lolita and are thinking about reading it, consider your mental state. If you are having a relatively nice time in your life and want to stay positive and upbeat, steer clear. If you are in a dark, dismal funk and want to travel further into the abyss, Lolita is the book for you.

Serious cover page, huh?

But after crawling out of the abyss that I found myself in from Lolita, That is All was the perfect rebound. Hodgman wrote the book in 2012, when the Mayan apocalypse was impending. He wrote the book as a continuation to his first two books (which I have plans to read, if my brother can ever find them in his room). His first two books are titled The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require. These two books function as fictionalized historical and informational books from the mind of Mr. Hodgman. He fabricates historical events and portrays them as seemingly common-knowledge facts (more specifically common knowledge to those with money and influence, which he finds to be an extremely important gateway to the world). That is All acts as a kind of training manual or preparatory instruction for the impending apocalypse, and hilarity ensues.

I devoured this book. After reading Lolita, this was exactly the kind of book that I was craving. It has sections entitled “How to be a Deranged Millionaire” and “A List of Seven Hundred Ancient and Unspeakable Gods.” I found myself laughing out-loud when reading many sections of this book, which was a new thing for me and got to be a little embarrassing when I read the book at the gym (although not as embarrassing as reading Lolita in the gym). Sometimes, when I read something funny I will giggle quietly or smirk, but this book had me chortling and having to take breaks from reading because I was laughing too hard. After finishing the book, I wanted to read more books that made me feel good, unlike most of the depressing, disheartening books that I normally read. My literary goal at the moment, therefore, is to change up the genre of books I read and steer myself in a more humorous direction. We’ll see how that goes.

-There’s Always Money in the Beaunana Stand

And Scene.

Friday, June 21st, 2013

Michael again, and I’d like to talk about a book I’m re-reading right now. It’s called Days and Nights at the Second City by Bernie Sahlins. Days and Nights is one-half memoir and one-half direction on putting up a Second City-style revue performance. I’m digging deep into this book with good reason: come this Fall I’ll be performing on a cruise ship as part of a Second City show. That’s right, when not talking books, I perform improv and sketch in front of paying audiences. If you’re not laughing at my blog posts now then I assure you that I am a fantastic straight man.

I’d like to take a minute to talk about the author, Bernie Sahlins. You see, a week ago, Bernie passed away. Now, I never met him, but Bernie has touched my life in some ways. He was one of the founders of the Second City Theater. He remained with the Second City as a producer and director through to the 1990s, and he’s credited with discovering talents like John Candy and Bill Murray. He’s a pretty big deal for people like me.

My first connection with the Second City Theater is through their training program: that’s where I received my first professional training as a performer. The mainstage players at Second City were my rock stars. And I devoured as much information as I could about the theater—its sense of history and relevance was exciting to be part of, even in my small way. So I read every book about improv and the Second City I could get my hands on. And thus I found Days and Nights. Bernie’s book is filled with comedy wisdom, and has provided me inspiration and ideas for years. Now, when my contract begins, I get to be one of my rock stars and call myself a Second City performer. A big part of that name is filled with Bernie’s heart and soul. So, I want to say thank you, Mr. Sahlins, for everything you’ve done. I hope to make you proud.

Days and Nights