Chapter 17: The Gathering of the Q-uggalos

Unstoppable Farce; The Mitch Maloney Story

Mitch begins his comeback tour by playing the MAXXED ULTRA Testosta-boosted Dude-fuel 2026 Gathering of the Q-uggalos, an off-the-grid militant hillbilly shock comedy festival at Stone Mountain Park, Georgia, but his set gets interrupted by a mysterious bag-headed interloper and the festival itself erupts in chaos and destruction when mysterious unknown invaders descend over the festival grounds.

Endnotes:

1. Phyllis DIller (with Richard Buskin), Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse; My Life in Comedy (New York, Penguin, 2005) p.225-244 (Chapter 10:”A Change of Face”) Capsule Review: Diller forged a career from almost nothing, with arguably less social advantage than her peer-contemporaries such as Joan Rivers or even Moms Mabley. There’s plenty of self-deprecation, or perhaps self-loathing, on display throughout, although once her will to self-actualization clicked into place she let no one stand in her way. There is some dated racial humor that doesn’t play very well, of course, and times when her ambition eclipses her affection for friends and family, such as the occasion when she ditched her 3rd husband/love-of-her-life on his proverbial death-bed so she could make a gig, that make her less than sympathetic. But she had to be tough to make it in the biz, at least that’s how she saw it. Slack Score: -9; Snark Score: 9; Overall FCA ranking: 39
2. Jeff Dunham, All by my Selves; Walter, Peanut, Achmed and me (New York, Penguin, 2010) p5 Capsule Review: pretty innocuous, bordering on vapid, story of an average kid who gets into an unusual hobby early and sticks with it obsessively until he manages to become rich and famous from it. Not much in the way of drama, he really stretches to make his minor “controversies” sound serious. The most unusual/interesting aspect is that he gives his characters little sections to speak for themselves, but as anyone who’s seen his act knows, they’re not very interesting either, and painfully unfunny. Slack Score: 7.5; Snark Score: 1; Overall FCA ranking: 611
3. Roseanne Barr, Roseannearchy; Dispatches from trhe Nut Farm (New York, Simon & Schuster, 2011) p80 Capsule Review: an all-over-the-place collection of essays and reminiscences, sometimes baffling, sometimes banal. She’s still a pretty decent writer, and certain passages are pretty compelling, but the lack of focus and inherent contradictions make it difficult to stay with her. Slack Score: 7; Snark Score: 6; Overall FCA ranking: 185
4. Lewis Black, Me of Little Faith (New York, Penguin, 2008) p.86 Capsule Review: More a series of comedic essays on religion/faith than a memoir, there’s enough autobio here for me to rank it as an FCA, but not too highly. Definitely benefits from the audiobook presentation as 90% of Black’s humor comes from his quavering, angry inflection. Somewhat inconsistent on where he actually lands on his personal faith. He criticizes atheists as having a worthless, miserable existence but also claims to be the least religious person alive. Likewise he constantly identifies himself as Jewish while also claiming to have no personal connection to the faith or the culture. The arguments shift, in other words, to fit the jokey jag of the passage, which is fine, just not a lot of depth or consistency here. Slack Score: 5; Snark Score: 14; Overall FCA ranking: 413