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Books, Celebrities, Entertainment

‘Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama’: Bob Odenkirk Memoir exposes his Comedic Origins

Actor Bob Odenkirk, who portrays the iconic Jimmy McGill /Saul Goodman character in AMC’s “Better Call Saul” is currently wrapping up the show’s final season, which is now available to watch (or stream) weekly on AMC . And even though the show is coming to an end, there is still so much more in store for the actor; he is set to star in a new series, an adaptation, also on the AMC Network called “Straight Man”, as well as venturing out on a book tour for his newly released memoir “Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama”. 

Starting to re-watch the series from scratch, it’s easy to see the why the show has been so incredibly successful. Odenkirk it’s a unique star with a wide acting range, playing an easily lovable character that you feel you can stand behind (as he cares for his mentally ill brother), even when he is doing sketchy things (bribing witnesses, forging documents, etc.) to get by. 

Of course, not to be forgotten is the epic and one-of-a-kind construction that made ‘Better Call Saul’ into a 6 season prequel to ‘Breaking Bad’s’ 5 amazing seasons. Since the 6th and final season is currently underway – there will no doubt be an amazing opportunity to watch all 11 seasons in the binge of all binge marathons.

The shared characters and storylines, from Ignacio “Nacho” Varga to Michael Ehrmantraut to Walter White and Jesse Pinkman make for an amazing and truly gargantuan story arc. The final season of ‘Better Call Saul’ even includes a few “flash forwards’ to the post ‘Breaking Bad’ timeframe which currently also has the ‘El Camino’ feature in its time-space dimension.

Rising from his early origins as a stand up comic, then to writing for Saturday Night Live (SNL) to eventually an on-screen debut in “The Ben Stiller Show”, HBO’s “Mr Show with Bod and David” and of course, making his lasting trademark as Saul Goodman in “Breaking Bad”. 

If you want to learn more about Bob’s new memoir, more information about the book with a description from the publisher follows, below.

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir

Click the photo for more information on “Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama“

Bob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations–with a side-trip into the action-man world that is baffling to all who know him–it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty. Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City’s legendary Del Close. He somehow made his way to a job as a writer at Saturday Night Live.

While surviving that legendary gauntlet by the skin of his gnashing teeth, he stashed away the secrets of comedy writing–eventually employing them in the immortal “Motivational Speaker” sketch for Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr. Show with Bob and David. In Hollywood, Bob demonstrated a bullheadedness that would shame Sisyphus himself, and when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, the phone rang with an offer to appear on Breaking Bad–a show about how boring it is to be a high school chemistry teacher. His embrace of this strange new world of dramatic acting led him to working with Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, and Greta Gerwig, and then, in a twist that will confound you, he re-re-invented himself as a bona fide action star. Why? Read this and do your own psychoanalysis–it’s fun! Featuring humorous tangents, never-before-seen photos, wild characters, and Bob’s trademark unflinching drive, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a classic showbiz tale told by a determined idiot.

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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies, Music, Observation, Politics

James Corden’s Les Misérables send-up a fitting Comedy Tour-de-force

Video

There’s a strange and oddly fitting feeling as Les Misérables spoof soars on a sad yet freeing occasion

On the eve before the final hours of Trump’s bizarre and sick term in office, James Corden and company took the time to put together this video musical spoof that captures the odd combination of joy, disgust and freedom that comes with the knowledge that, going forward, all things Trump will recede in importance, inexorably.

For most of us, that would be along the lines of “the sooner-the-better” that he has finally disappeared from the public discourse and most of all from the political life of the USA.

Read more: As Trump Flees to Florida, Memes Follow

At the same time, many of us, particularly in the media, have had an odd way of life due to this wannabe tyrant dominating the airwaves and news-cycles. It’s become such a daily ritual to follow the outrage and try, in any way possible, to stand up and challenge the criminal ideas and even actions that have swirled around us in a way that has been so consistent that it almost became “normal”. Almost.

It never was normal, and that’s where the odd “joy”, as can be heard in various tenor tones from this song, is also an honest reaction to history, finally, moving forward. And perhaps, there is the ever so faint recognition that we, all of us, played a small part in making sure that this man’s sick and twisted dreams did not continue to impact our reality for more than his four year term.

https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1351714199903236097/vid/1280x720/A_d2F1G10uPrvgV6.mp4?tag=13

Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic / James Corden

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Breaking News, Entertainment, Politics

Billie Eilish, Lil John, Johnny Depp, Jack Black and more Say “Hell No” to Trump Train

Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic

Trump’s attempt to enlist entertainers for taxpayer funded propaganda program fails spectacularly

Lately, the Trump Administration has been looking for a celebrity to be the face of its new COVID-19 PSA campaign. Well, kind of. While the $265 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign is supposed to raise coronavirus awareness, the White House has unsubtly been twisting it into an explicit Trump promotion.

Read More: All Americans need to watch “Totally Under Control” – available to stream for free until Election day

According to U.S. Heath and Human Services Secretary Michael Caputo, the theoretically non-partisan campaign’s message is “Helping The President Will Help The Country.” Interestingly, this whole fiasco arrives just days before the 2020 Presidential Election, where Trump is behind in the polls.

Regardless of the hidden meaning behind the campaign—or perhaps directly because of it—the Administration has had trouble finding a suitable face for the ads. According to documents that Democratic lawmakers revealed to the Washington Post, the Administration went down a list of 247 celebs considered for the PSAs, but hardly any of them fit the bill.

Notes from the documents suggest a strict pro-Republican criteria for the job. Behavior that disqualified celebrities included if they had ever been critical of Trump, if they ever expressed support for Barak Obama, and if they ever supported gay marriage or LBGTQ+ rights. Unsurprisingly, these stipulations left options rather thin.

Names on the list included comedians Judd Apatow and George Lopez (both disqualified for expressing anti-Trump sentiments); singers Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine and Justin Timberlake (all ruled out for endorsing Obama and championing gay rights); actress Jennifer Lopez (eliminated for her so-called radical Super Bowl halftime show); and actors Johnny Depp and Jack Black (both excluded for simply aligning with the American left).

The name on the list that met the most scathing response was probably singer/songwriter Billie Eilish. Notes on the eighteen-year old celebrity recount that she “Made a political statement on gun control in 2019; will be a first time voter in 2020; not a Trump supporter, stated he ‘is destroying our country and everything we care about.'”

Read More: I want my Apple Music TV— Apple launches twenty-four hour music video streaming channel in the U.S.

Of the 247 names initially listed, only ten survived the President’s elimination process— Dennis Quaid, Marc Anthony, Enrique Iglesias, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miranda Lambert, Garth Brooks, Dwyane Wade, Dr. Mehmet Oz, CeCe Winans, and Shulem Lemmer. 

There are also a number of celebrities listed as “pending” or “declined.” Among the latter are Dwayne Johnson, Selena Gomez, and Sandra Oh. 

Trump Train about to Derail or will Celebs like Lil Wayne & Kanye come to the Rescue

These slim pickings show that Trump does not garner the strongest support (or any) from American entertainers. In addition to all of the listed names considered and rejected for this campaign, there are many more celebrities who have publically denounced the POTUS, several of whom were formerly apolitical or even republicans (Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarzenegger) before the current term.

Not all celebrities are steadfastly anti-Trump, though. The President has actually found support in some unlikely places. Because of Trump’s recent Platinum Plan to assist black Americans, he has created seemingly positive relations with rappers such as Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, 50 Cent, and Lil Pump. It’s unclear if any of these recognizable names actually endorse Trump, but they’ve all shown degrees of support via social media. 

Trump doesn’t have all rappers on board, though. Kanye West retracted his longstanding support for the President when he decided to run for the office himself this year. Meanwhile, when rapper Lil John was solicited to support Trump on Twitter, he responded bluntly:

Evidently, while there are some exceptions, few recognizable entertainers fully support the President. Ironically, Donald Trump himself has a strong background in entertainment— perhaps boasting the most show business-savvy resume of any President since Reagan.

However, while Reagan was an accomplished actor and later President of the Screen Actor’s Guild, Trump was more of a crude businessman slapped before the camera for a reality TV paycheck. 

Entertainers carry a lot of influence. Unfortunately, Trump has struggled to win the hearts of such influencers. In fact, many of them are now using that very influence against him.

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Books

John Lithgow’s “Trumpty-Dumpty wanted a Crown: verses for a despotic age” becomes instant bestseller

Robust Laughter will arise from these Verses for the Despotic Age of Trump

Last year, Tony Award winning actor John Lithgow released a playful book of satirical poems titled “Dumpty: The Age Of Trump In Verse.” The collection poked scathing fun at President Donald Trump as well as many of his supporters in Washington, all alongside illustrations from the author.

Click here to see
“Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown“
and help Independent Bookstores.
Also available on Amazon.

Now, Lithgow is back with a follow-up— a new anthology with an even more creative title, “Trumpty Dumpty Wanted A Crown: Verses For A Despotic Age.”

Like Lithgow’s first book, “Trumpty Dumpty” explores the chaos that is the current presidency through poetry. Only now, there are even more characters and topics to delve into, and Lithgow does so with humorous and timely poignancy. 

Read More: Important New Books on WWII, fascism and threats to Democracy

Lithgow’s images take on the same style as those in the first book as well. The author noted in an interview that he grew up wanting to be a visual artist before falling into acting. Clearly, he’s never lost touch with his original passion. For this book, the pictures appropriately look like something out of an old-time newspaper; the author cites political cartoonist Thomas Nast as a primary inspiration.

More than a book of illustrations – prose and rhymes delight as well

As for the writing itself, Lithgow has always held a longstanding passion for stories and verse. The Harvard grad mentions that his father— actor/director Arthur Washington Lithgow—held immense skill in creating rhymes on the fly. Evidently, it must be hereditary, as John never misses an opportunity for cleverness in this cheeky collection.

The author finished writing the book in May, and he read some of the original pieces on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert several months back. However, the accompanying drawings took a bit longer to finish, and the publication process went right up to the bell.

Click here to see “Dumpty”
and help Independent Bookstores.
Also available on Amazon.

Now that the book is out, though, many others are getting in on the fun. In an amusing promotional endeavor, Lithgow organized some dramatic readings from his celebrity friends. Fellow actors Meryl Streep, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Glenn Close all showed up, as well as a few figures on the political scene.

With the help of producers B. Swibel, Adam Westbrook, Adam Bankhead, and Tim Van Patten, the team created a series of videos with these notable faces reciting Lithgow’s zany words, the backgrounds all cartoonish facades in the spirit of Lithgow’s art. 

Lithgow says that he had the time to write the book during quarantine, as Broadway theaters shut their doors and film/television productions took a pause due to the pandemic. Poetry kept him busy as the acting business went on hiatus. Only now are productions starting to pick up again. While Lithgow makes a stellar poet and a great humorist, he now looks forward to returning to the thespian world.

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