Once upon a time, I wanted to be a stand-up comedian. I love performing and spent many years on stage as a musician. Comedy, on the other hand, is a wholly different beast. There is something so raw and enticing about standing in front of a crowd with a mic and nothing else. Make them laugh or die a slow death. That challenge has held my intrigue to this day.
Every fan of stand-up comedy can name their Mount Rushmore of comedians. Undeniable greats like Carlin, Pryor, and Hicks will always top the list. But for the comedians themselves, one name consistently rises above the rest: Doug Stanhope.
This living legend is to comedy what The Sex Pistols were to music. Fearless, unrepentant, boundary-pushing rebels who couldn’t care less what you think. Fame and notoriety were byproducts to the overall mission: push the art form to its absolute limits.
Thus, for every fan who delves into the dank corners of stand-up comedy, it is inevitable that you will come across Doug Stanhope. He may not sell out arenas, but his dedicated fan base is the envy of every comedian big and small. In short, Doug knows his place. He’s a road warrior who is equally comfortable in concert halls and backyards. He’s in it for the story, and it pours out of him on stage. There is a brutal honesty to his act that you simply cannot find anywhere else. This is why I count myself as one of his dedicated fans.
Remember that pipe dream I had of trying stand-up comedy? Yeah, that flicker finally died when I read This Is Not Fame.
This book, fittingly subtitled “From What I Re-Memoir,” chronicles the many madcap stories from Stanhope’s career. Fair warning, they are not for the faint of heart. But they are, and I cannot stress this enough, always hysterical. I rarely laugh out loud when reading and this book had me floored on several occasions. It also had me horrified, as if watching the latest slasher flick through my face-clawed fingers. I would recount some of the tales, but that’s a surefire way to get this review taken down for indecency.
Alas, my stand-up ambitions never materialized, and I can now thank the great Doug Stanhope for killing them. (Grateful thanks, not sarcastic thanks.) This Is Not Fame has shown me, in no uncertain terms, just how brutal the life of a trailblazer can be. Earning that cred is an exercise in humiliation, sacrifice, and self-destruction.
Thankfully, I chose to write humorous fiction and credit the talent of Stanhope for showing me what honest comedy sounds like. In fact, I used him as a template for a character in one of my book series. That series (shameless plug: Immortal Wake), is a tech noir saga about a dark and distant future. It needed a formidable wit to break through the relentless gloom. That persona became Doren, a fan-favorite character, who is literally Doug Stanhope.
Needless to say, I loved This Is Not Fame. It’s a hair-raising peek behind the curtain that revels in chaos and refuses to pull its punches. But the question remains: who should read this book? If you are not easily offended and adore twisted humor, then read this book immediately. The belly laughs and jaw drops are well worth the price of admission. But if you are easily offended, then you should definitely read this book because it’s fantastic exposure therapy.
