Hola, Sneakers! It’s Episode 616 of the show that let’s it all hang out!
This week Ian and David talk: marvelous; trending; no pukes; a draining experience; hair today; popcorny jokes; Graphix content; humour mill; in a style, crocodile; let them eat cake; too clever; aggressive-aggressive, arbitrary bullies; bordering on cruelty; you can’t make it anywhere; tracking shot; bad grandma; vice principles; don’t Boebert that joint; age is just a loss of mind; real fictional people; RIP Joe Matt – one of the seminal auto-bio comics artists of the 90s; revealing yourself; twisted misters; a new world; a brand new Bagge; dynamic comics; uncurated eras; the forgotten men; open your door; selective reading; weird and wired; hunters and collectors; literary Sneaky Dragon; and, finally, solo fun.
Question of the Week: What is your favourite autobiographical work?
Sub-question of the Week: When do you start eating your snacks at the movies?
Thanks for listening.
Here is that “Baddies” sketch that both Laurel and Ian recommended:
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Here is the Roman Empire cartoon from The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/thursday-september-21st-macedonian-empire
The Fabelmans. I eat the snacks as soon as I sit down but I definitely pace myself until the movie starts.
For autobiographical works, I absolutely love Roald Dahl’s books ‘Boy’ and ‘Going Solo.’ The former recounts his early life in the brutal British boarding school system, while the latter covers his time as a Shell Oil rep in Africa and his time as a WW2 pilot.
Both books are full of startling anecdotes told with his trademark mixture of whimsy and humour and the delight is in never really knowing where the line is between fact and fiction.
I also love the autobiographical essays of David Sedaris which never fail to induce tears of laughter.
Movie snacks are best eaten during action scenes as a courtesy to other patrons. I will sometimes hold onto a handful of popcorn until a quiet scene finishes so as not to disturb anyone else in the cinema. I have also learnt not to drink too much too early in a movie as nothing distracts me more in a film than my own bladder.
Lately I’ve been enjoying the genre of autobiographical comedy specials such as the ones by Hannah Gadsby and Mike Birbiglia. I like how they build a narrative into their shows while they share both amusing and painful parts of their lives. They remind you that humour can help you get through traumatic times. If anyone out there has any recommendations for performers who do something similar, let me know.
I don’t eat snacks at the movies anymore. Maybe I’ll suck on a mint I’ve smuggled in but that’s about it. I think it’s a combination of the high prices at the snack bar and the temptation to keep on nibbling well past the point of satiety.