Michael Ian Black has a lot of accomplishments under his belt. I will lead with my favorite of his accomplishments: Michael Ian Black has kissed Bradley Cooper.
Perhaps Michael Ian Black would not crown that achievement as his favorite, but it is one that begs to be shared. Am I right? Now that I have gotten the attention of Bradley Cooper fans, they may be asking themselves, “Who is Michael Ian Black?” Good question.
On Twitter, Michael Ian Black calls himself a “magician of the heart.” In the real world, that translates to “comedian.” But Black is so much more than a funny man-a fact revealed by his appearance at Barnes and Noble in Exton, Pa. on March 6. He was there promoting his latest book “You’re Not Doing It Right,” in which he details his troublesome trials as a father and a husband.
Despite the fact that his appearance attracted mostly young adults, Black had the crowd laughing and cringing with sympathy as he read from the chapter, “I Hate My Baby.” I have never taken care of a baby for an extended period of time, but something about his dark desire to shake his son to sleep rings a bell with me, as I am sure it would with anyone else whose logic has ever been incapacitated by fatigue.
Although his book is undoubtedly funny, Black objects to its label as a “comedic memoir.” He feels that it is just a bunch of his stories that happen to have some jokes woven into them. He tells the truth-if the book was stripped of its comedy, I would still have experienced a lot of touching moments with Black and his family. Maybe “‘magician of the heart” is pretty accurate after all.
A Q&A session followed his reading, revealing Black’s many other endeavours. His experiences with stand-up comedy, including his comedy groups “The State” and “Stella,” allowed him to assure an aspiring comedian in the crowd.
“Philadelphia is a great place to do comedy because you people have nothing to live for.”
Both “The State” and “Stella” became short-lived shows on MTV and Comedy Central, respectively. He worked with members of his comedy groups on other projects, including the uproarious movie “Wet Hot American Summer” in which Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, and yes, Bradley Cooper, also appear.
He addressed rumors of another “Wet Hot” movie by saying that many people were on board with the idea, but nothing was definite yet.
In response to a question about his next book, Black revealed his collaboration with Republican columnist and blogger, Meghan McCain. The book, “America, You Sexy Bitch,” details the pair’s road trip across America during which they discover how much Americans have in common. It will debut just in time for the presidential election.
Toward the end of the Q&A session, Black’s podcast, “Mike and Tom [Cavanagh] Eat Snacks,” became the subject of interrogation. When asked about his favorite snacks, he admitted that the only two snacks to receive a perfect rating from both him and Tom were clementines and individual-serve Haagen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream.
As if being a comedian, a writer, a father, a husband, an actor, a snack-connoisseur, and a one-time kisser of Bradley Cooper were not enough, Michael Ian Black also happens to dole out helpings of advice to young people like myself. When I asked if he had any advice for college students, he warned: “Don’t be an a**hole.” Sound advice, I think.
Molly Herbison is a first-year student at WCU. She can be reached at MH757997@wcupa.edu.