This collection of stories highlight some of the more ridiculous situations stand-up comedian Tom Segura has found himself in over the years. The stories span decades and touch on all different levels of his career. There's a mix of celebrity encounters, days of youth, his life on the road, and a lot of points in between - all told in Segura's signature grumpy delivery.
I overall really enjoyed my time reading this and I was glad that it was written so clearly in Segura's voice. I've been a fan of his for a few years and regularly watch his content. I'm familiar enough with his speaking pattern that I could really hear his voice in my head while i was reading. I've seen that he is reading the audiobook and while I haven't heard that, I would expect him reading these stories would be the best way to consume this content. There were a few stories that I've heard him tell before on various podcast episodes, but the majority of the content was new to me. Segura is an excellent storyteller and I think his timing of where and when to add in the little details vs a punchline are spot on. He's one of those comedians where I like re-watching his specials/podcast episodes because going back and seeing the set up is almost better the second time around. Humor is so subjective but I find his style of stand-up and writing to be pretty widely liked as he doesn't have a very outlandish style or gimmick (in my opinion, at least).
I think the description of this being a "collection of stories" rather than essays or an autobiography was really spot on. There are some stories that have a bit of a lesson in them or are particularly poignant but there are just as many that seem to be added in just for the laughs - which is what I was expecting from a comedian. I enjoyed how the stories spanned Segura's life and his career path instead of just focusing on when he became successful. While we do get some chapters with Segura and his parents or his children, most of the stories are not family-specific. Which, again, makes sense considering he tours often for his career and is thus away from home for a good portion of time. Despite there not really being any hard though-line or message in this collection, I think Segura does succeed at humanizing his on-stage persona. Even with the stories I've heard before, he adds in a little extra insight which helps elevate those stories to the next level.
As a note, Segura is not a 'clean' comic and so he does use strong language at times. He's had his share of controversies in the past in regards to the language he uses - specifically his use of 'retarded' in one of his stand-up specials. There is a whole chapter in this dedicated to this word (he calls it his favorite word) so I wanted to point it out in case any readers would want to steer clear of that chapter.
Overall, I enjoyed this read and it was exactly what I was hoping it would be - a bunch of stories from a guy who is really good at telling stories. I think this would be even better listening to the audiobook to hear Segura tell them himself.
Thanks NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC
Expected publication date is June 14, 2022
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