Synopses & Reviews
A dark and twisted memoir by outrageous comedian Doug Stanhope
Synopsis
Doug Stanhope is one of the most critically acclaimed and stridently unrepentant comedians of his generation. What will surprise some is that he owes so much of his dark and sometimes uncomfortably honest sense of humor to his mother, Bonnie. It was the cartoons in her Hustler magazine issues that molded the beginnings of his comedic journey, long before he was old enough to know what to do with the actual pornography. It was Bonnie who recited Monty Python sketches with him, who introduced him to Richard Pryor at nine years old, and who rescued him from a psychologist when he brought that brand of humor to school. And it was Bonnie who took him along to all of her AA meetings, where Doug undoubtedly found inspiration for his own storytelling.
Bonnie s own path from bartending to truck driving, massage therapy, elder abuse, stand-up comedy, and acting never stopped her from being Doug s genuine number one fan. So when her alcoholic, hoarding life finally came to an end many weird adventures later in rural Arizona, it was inevitable that Doug and Bonnie would be together for one last excursion.
Digging Up Mother follows Doug's absurd, chaotic, and often obscene life as it intersects with that of his best friend, biggest fan, and love of his lifehis mother. And it all starts with her deathone of the most memorable and amazing farewells you will ever read.
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About the Author
Doug Stanhope is a stand-up comic. Has been since 1990.
His material ranges from true-life graphic perversion to volatile social criticism. Doug is vulgar, opinionated, brutally honest, and shockingly uninhibited and is certainly not for everybody.
He started his career in Las Vegas doing jack-off jokes for free drinks. Not much has changed, save for the mullet.
Doug has built a wide-ranging television resume of dubious achievement. He hosted The Man Show on Comedy Central as well as the ubiquitous pseudo-porn for the sexually crippled, Girls Gone Wild, both solely and shamelessly for financial gain. He has appeared on The Howard Stern Show, Comedy Central Presents, Premium Blend, NBC's Late Friday, Spy TV, BBC's Floor Show Live while on ecstasy, and wrote, produced, and starred in Fox's Invasion of the Hidden Cameras and has even popped up on Fox News with Greta Van Sustern and The Jerry Springer Show. In 2010, he was the Voice of America on the BBCand#8217;s Charlie Brookerand#8217;s Newswipe.
None of it compares to seeing him live; Doug is a two-time winner of Time Out New Yorkand#8217;s and#147;Best Comedy Performance of the Year.and#8221;
Heand#8217;s appeared at multiple major comedy festivals including Montreal Just for Laughs, Aspen US Comedy Arts, Chicago Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Scotland, where he won the Strathmore Press Award for Best Act of the Fringe in his debut year.
Selected by both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter as one of the Top Ten Comics to Watch, Doug has released four CDs and three DVDs, including No Refunds on Showtime in 2008 and Beer Hall Putsch on Netflix in 2013. He lives in Arizona.