Not So Musical Monday: Celebrity Autobiography

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. After reading Vanna White’s autobiography in a used book store, Eugene Pack had the idea for a show. What if they just read celebrity autobiographies on stage? It’s a format that won Pack a 2009 Drama Desk award for Unique Theatrical Experience, and it has one more night on Broadway—tonight. I would suggest anyone with an interest in celebrity culture or desiring a laugh go see Celebrity Autobiography.

There is an innate human desire to tell one’s own story, but hearing dramatic readings of the self-told tales of Mr. T, Khloe Kardashian, and Burt Reynolds (performed last Monday by Rachel Dratch, Cecily Strong, and Alec Baldwin) respectively turns a lens to this human desire to show just how much hubris one has to have to think masses are yearning for a book that tells shockingly little. Each show has different guests and different autobiographies. Every word on stage is taken directly from the books—as Pack says in his introduction, you might not believe it, but it’s this absurdity that makes the show so wonderfully funny. Since each show is different, giving in depth analysis of the show I saw is pointless. I do want to do a brief bulleted list of the times I laughed the hardest.

· Tony Danza reading from Justin Bieber’s book about trying to get ice cream in Buenos Aires

· Alec Baldwin reading from Geraldo Rivera’s book about trying over the course of years to seduce Liza Minelli, who was played wonderfully by Mario Cantone

· Dayle Reyfel reading from Mary Lou Renner’s book about sex with Tony Danza while Tony Danza was on stage reading a phenomenally cringey passage from David Cassidy considering having sex with Susan Dey

· Cecily Strong’s impressions of Celine Dion and Khloe Kardashian discussing swimming with a manatee and going to the gym respectively

Ultimately, if you go tonight, the show will be different. The format will be the same though. It’s simple. Shine a light to celebrity and let them tell their story in their own words—it is a mine of comedic gold that they unquestionably didn’t intend. Plus, there is no other way you would’ve heard any of Dolly Parton’s insane diet book.