Too Fat to Fish

"Artie Lange is another book I read to find out what other comedians were writing about. He is known in America as Howard Stern’s sidekick and he also has done a lot of film and TV. But he has also been addicted to drugs. So there’s sad stuff in there. Many times you hear people talking about how comedians get depressed and this is one of those situations. He tells the story of one of the reasons he got so deep into drugs is because his father was a roofer who fell off a ladder and was paralysed. So you see how it all unravels. He is very critical of himself and many of the opportunities that he has blown. And you are amazed that he keeps going. He is in and out of rehab. When he worked with Howard Stern he was back doing heroin again. I think the most recent drama with him was when he tried to commit suicide by stabbing himself, and then you turn on the TV and he is doing a Comedy Central Special and he looks normal. I would say that 30 years ago or more, when the cocaine lifestyle was full on and there was lots of drinking and smoking as well, it was worse than now. You have people like Freddie Prinze who committed suicide at the age of 21 or something and was at the height of his career. Eddie Murphy says he was inspired by Freddie Prinze. More recently, Richard Jeni was another one who committed suicide. But nowadays I think that drugs continue to be there but a lot less. You are at the club and there are guys drinking water and making sure they work out. I think that helps people to balance themselves a little bit. But sometimes there are guys that you can’t have conversations with because they are still in character and they can’t turn it off. I think many of them would say that they got into comedy because they want to be loved. They didn’t have it growing up. Well, people say I am pretty balanced in many ways. But if I had to go back and psychoanalyse myself I would say that my desire to be funny came when my family moved to America from Iran when I was six and being funny probably helped me feel less of an outsider and make friends. So I’m sure I’m not fully balanced either and I’m doing it because I need the love like other comics. Also, I became a fan of comedy early on. When I came to America I watched TV and really liked the stand-ups who were on there. I also enjoyed hanging around with the funny guys at school and I got into going to comedy clubs so it all started from that. I wanted to be on stage and finally it all came together 12 years ago. Too Fat to Fish touches on these types of issues and all the books that I have listed really are for anyone to enjoy. The only one that might be more specific for someone who wants to get into comedy or wants to improve their ability to be funny as a public speaker is The Comedy Bible. That’s more of a ‘how to’ book."