Summary (from goodreads):
A hilarious and biting memoir from the actor, comedian and Saturday Night Live alumni David Spade.
David Spade is best known for his harsh “Hollywood” Minute Sketches on SNL, his starring roles in movies like Joe Dirt and Tommy Boy, and his seven-year stint as Dennis Finch on the series Just Shoot Me. Now, with a wit as dry as the weather in his home state of Arizona, the “comic brat extraordinaire” tells his story in Almost Interesting.
First taking fans back to his childhood as a wannabe cool younger brother and recounting his excruciating road-tour to fame—when he was regularly mistaken for a ten-year-old, Spade then dishes about his time crisscrossing the country as a comedian, for low-paying gigs and dragging along his mother’s old suitcase full of props. He also covers his years on SNL during the beloved Rock/Sandler/Farley era of the 1990s, including his close working relationship and friendship with Chris Farley and brags about the ridiculous perks that fame has brought into his life, including the constant fear of being fired, a crazy ex-assistant who attacked him while he was sleeping, a run-in with Eddie Murphy on the mean streets of Beverley Hills, and of course an endless supply of hot chicks.
Sometimes dirty, always funny, and as sharp as a tack, Almost Interesting reminds you why David Spade is one of our generation’s favorite funny guys.
Edition Read: Overdrive audiobook through local library
Where (else) to buy: kobo*, google play, amazon*, nook*
Thoughts:
Memoirs are definitely better read when by the author. Spade references numerous times that he's not a writer and it shows. It's not bad, but hearing him say it was definitely more enjoyable than it would have been to read it. He laughs at his own jokes, makes goofy sounds, and it just brings it to life.
This one is tricky. About half of it is excellent. I loved hearing about his struggling rise to fame, his time on SNL, and his bromance with Chris Farley. Some of his childhood stories were kind of funny, but he's very crude about it overall and I didn't like it. Although, this may be because I'm not a fan of his stand up, so if you like that, those chapters may work for you.
I don't like any stand up from anyone. Not even comedians I like. It's not my thing. This is not for a lack of trying. My husband absolutely loves stand up comedy (definitely more than football and possibly more than me) so I've suffered through a lot of it. I can honestly say, I don't like it.
"Unfortch", the last few chapters are where this one goes completely off the rails. I can chalk the first part of the book to just being not to my taste, but the last few chapters are just terrible. It boils into an old-man rant about how social media makes in impossible to cheat without getting caught. (Classy.) And then a whole bunch of "tips" that boil down to telling women they should just expect men to cheat on them, to stay off social media, and they should not be expected to be treated any kind of decent way; as well as telling men that they should avoid any woman that expects to be treated like a human being. (Gross.)
Verdict:
It's okay. I'm being generous with an extra 1/2 because the parts I enjoyed were really good. I highly recommend the bits after he drops out of college up until the part where Chris Farley dies. The first part might be worth a shot, if that's your sort of humor. If it's not, then skip it. Definitely skip the last few chapters.
Also, do this one on audio.
Quibbles:
-No Just Shoot Me! (It's mentioned in the blurb!) I'm not faulting the book for this because I don't know the reasoning. I strongly suspect this is for legal reasons. The show isn't available for streaming in full anywhere. (Seasons 1-3 have been available on Crackle at one point or another.) Through research for this post, I did find out they are finally releasing the entire series on DVD this month. (You can buy it here*.)
-No mention of his daughter or what it's like to be a father. I'm a parent, so I get it. I'll go ahead and give the benefit of the doubt that he's respecting her privacy.
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