Surely, You Can’t Talk about the Movie "Airplane!" for Over an Hour!
Some news:
On this month’s episode, I interview writer Will Harris about his new book, an oral history about 1980’s Airplane!, a movie that became, at the time, one of the highest grossing comedies ever. The book is called Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! and it’s out from St. Martin’s Press.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have called Airplane! the Star Wars of comedy movies, which I love. Weird Al says: “I can’t begin to describe the impact that Airplane! had on me. It was like learning a new language.” We dig deep into this “new language” and how the film changed the comedy scene and the comedy movies to come.
I also talk with author and friend Luisa Colón about her new book, Bad Moon Rising, from Cemetery Dance Publications, and what it took for her to get the book published after a many-year struggle. Helpful to any and all authors looking for an agent and a publisher.
I also plays clips from a classic rock radio show in which the DJ appears to be losing his mind.
My Latest Book:
A self-published memoir of a Maryland thirty-something found by author me, Mike Sacks, at a garage sale in 2019 and re-published here for the first time. The memoir is written by the struggling poet and novelist Noah B., who is embedded in the mind and lifestyle of a perversely unexceptional American asshole named Randy. Like Pale Fire if it were about a Danny McBride-style fuckup, the story is both unmoored from time and eerily prescient of our own—one so stupid and unbelievable that it requires a writer like Sacks to bring it to light.
“If you don’t know who Mike Sacks is, well, you should. His writing is funnier than just about anyone’s and now he has a podcast that is excellent. I say Hooray for Mike Sacks and everything he stands for.” -David Sedaris
“He’s the best kind of comedy writer; a bona fide weirdo with virtually no interest in satisfying anything other than his own personal obsessions.” -Andy Richter
“Randy is a hilariously, unexpectedly poignant and eminently worthy addition to Sacks’ sociological/anthropological exploration of the American Jackass and his curious ways. Audacious and inspired.” -Nathan Rabin
“The year's best memoir is about a man who shot a porno in a Baskin-Robbins.” -Vice
“Randy does more to explain certain unexpected turns in this nation's political fate over the last couple of years than a bazillion think-pieces in the New York Times, Atlantic, New Yorker, MSNBC.” -John Colapinto (The New Yorker)
“As the book’s description alludes, Randy is an experiment in memoir, biography, and, well, sheer insanity.” -Robobutt
An article I wrote you might want to check out:
Last year, I interviewed The Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder for The New Yorker. It was his first ever interview.
A Suggestion from Me:
This is embarrassing, as I was an English major but I’ve never read Moby-Dick. Until this week. And I have to say, it shocked me as to just how funny it is. It’s brilliantly funny, with a main character who’s a complete dolt, not dissimilar to Chris Elliott in Cabin Boy. I’m being serious here. It also reminds me of John Barth’s brilliant The Sot-Weed Factor. If you haven’t yet read it, check it out.
Be well! And keep reachin’ for those stars!
Get in touch with me at mikebsacks@gmail.com!
One more thing: Doin’ It is produced by the best podcast producer in the world world Rob Schulte. You can find this episode and every Doin’ It episode on all major podcast platforms, including on the host’s site Sonar: