So Many Footnotes

I have watched some of his stand-up specials and I did find them hilarious but never would have sought out a memoir of his life but this book was recommended to me and I am glad I read it.   I listened to the audio book instead of the written book and I highly recommend that format.  His narration is very genuine, charismatic and engaging.  I don’t think I would have enjoyed this this book if I read the words on a page.

Although there are very funny parts of this book (macaroni and warm milk stands out) it is not a comedy book.  He starts out with the death of his mother at a very young age and tells the reader that most of what he has done in his life is to try to bring her back. (see, not very funny) The death of his mother leads to boarding school so after losing a parent he doesn’t get to see the other one for two-thirds of the year.  He talks about his family dynamic and navigating boarding schools.  There are antidotes about school and home life that are made much more compelling due to his narration.

He refers to himself interchangeably as a transvestite and a transsexual and he also refers to himself as a male lesbian.  During his stories he references himself as in girl mode or boy mode.  As complicated as that sounds in a very rambling way he conveys his thoughts on his sexuality and sexuality in general in an easy to digest way.  (There are no mentions of pronouns so I choose to use male during this review).  He makes the point that women have been wearing traditionally men’s clothes for decades.  No one bats an eye if a woman wears trousers but it is still taboo for men to wear traditionally women’s clothes.   So he decided if women can wear what they want freely so should he.   It goes into more detail about coming out, going out the first time in women’s clothes, and not having any luck with getting councilors to call him back.

Of course it goes through what inspired him to perform and the path that took him get where he is today. He goes through years as a semi-failed sketch performer, successful street performer then ultimately successful stand up and acting career.   It took over 10 years of persistence and it is an enjoyable ride having him walk you through.