Editor’s Note: Sometimes, you may find yourself scrolling through whatever streaming service you subscribe to, and you come across a comedy special from an artist you may or may not be familiar with. Inevitably, the first question you ask yourself as you contemplate your next move will most likely be ‘Is this something worth an hour that I can’t get back?’ — and we are here to help you shuffle through the latest and greatest comedy releases to make sure that hour and change is well spent. Welcome to The ReVue Stage. Here in the latest little corner carved out in Vanyaland’s comedy coverage, where not only will you find reviews and recaps of what we feel are the best stand-up specials and other comedy-minded materials to recently hit the scene, but also thoughts on any brand spankin’ new comedy albums or books, and hell, when we feel like leaving the house for a minute, we’ll even do the damn thing at live stand-up shows around the area. It’s all killer no filler around these parts, comrade. So kick back and let us help you figure out your next chuckle.
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It happens all too often, where artists change mediums and try their hand at writing a book, and the phrasing and delivery can seem overly ambitious or just outright disingenuous. But in the case of Gary Gulman, who has cemented his position as one of comedy’s most linguistically gifted patrons over the course of more than 20 years in the stand-up realm, the words found in his literary maiden voyage are anything but.
Instead, the stories that are woven together to create the tapestry that is Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the ’80s [Flatiron Books] read out with the same passion and dedication that Gulman shows on stage. If you’re the type of person who reads aloud, and are familiar with Gulman’s stand-up, you may just find yourself reading in your own quasi-impression of the Peabody native. Or if you’re the silent type who can’t help but chuckle out loud while consuming Gulman’s many adolescent musings, whether it be due to relatability or just simple entertainment, the physical book can sort of serve as something of a soft green seashell found on the beach, in a way. But even without having to pull it up close to your ear, you can almost hear Gulman’s signature inflections and dialect jump off the page as he brings us through, and relives years worth of triumphs, tragedies and tribulations separated into each grade level of his school days.
Every chapter, progressively titled according to each passing school year, is heavily drenched in comedic elements that reel you in even deeper, whether it’s Gulman’s reflections on meeting kids (and one particular classmate with a cooler lunchbox) at the bus stop for the first time as a Kindergartner and his career as a somewhat reluctant athlete in high school, or the seemingly endless plethora of nostalgic cultural references that have the tendency to bring the reader back to the delicately balanced turmoil and euphoria of their own classroom days.
But even with all of the artistic passion that seeps through each page, what shines through the brightest is Gulman’s refreshing honesty — with the reader and with himself — as he digs his heels in and takes big swings with detailed stories of the struggles with all too familiar feelings of not fitting in, depression, anxiety, jealousy — all starting at a very early age — and how those experiences ultimately broke him down and built him up into the person and artist who stands before us today.
Anyone can tell a good story, and Gulman paints these moments beautifully. But pulling back the curtain on the bad times, and offering up a helping hand in a way that says “This is my story, but you’re still not alone” takes a real one to pull off with genuine care. With this dashingly entertaining collection of ups, downs, and in-betweens, Gary Gulman shows us all that he is just that.