Chapter 10: Rarefied Mirth

Unstoppable Farce; The Mitch Maloney Story

Mitch takes questions from the Seattle media right before his legendary performance on the roof of the Space Needle.

Endnotes:

1. Ali Wong, Dear Girls; Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life (New York, Random House, 2019), p.* Capsule Review: framed as letters of advice to Wong’s daughters, but otherwise disconnected and rambling, with predictable pop-cultural analogizing and confessional pre-sex grooming ritual semi-jokes often repurposed from her specials. Another example of a comedian eventually rising to some degree of fame and success less from funny demeanour or clever joke writing than by relentless careerism. Likely more relevant for readers that are women, Asian, interested in reproduction and bodily fluids and/or functions related to reproduction. Most useful to me for a helpful guide to choosing Asian restaurants to dine at. Slack Score: 3.8; Snark Score: 6; Overall FCA ranking: 581.
2. Woody Allen, Apropos of Nothing; Autobiography (New York, Arcade Publishing, 2020) pp220-382. Capsule Review: The first third (approximately) details his rapid rise in stand up as a contemporary of Cosby and Rivers (both of whom had the same agent and played the same clubs in Greenwich Village in the ‘60s), writing for Candid Camera, Smothers Brothers, etc.; 2nd part whizzes through movies, mostly describes how lazy, unmotivated, and undeserving of praise he really is/was; 3rd part is primarily an explanation/defence of unsavoury accusations regarding Dylan Farrow & Soon-Yi Previn. Slack Score: 9.72; Snark Score: 8; Overall FCA ranking: 89
3. Dadourian, Eric, live performance at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Los Angeles, 2/04/2016, archived at Put Your Hands Together (Earwolf Podcast Network; rebroadcast 12/27/18) more polished version of this routine, “Lunch & Death,” appears on Nebraska 2 (Aspecialthing Records, audio cassette, 2020)