Life of the Party

March 17, 2014
Kreischer had just finished a massive bong hit when destiny struck in the form of a phone call. A reporter from Rolling Stone had heard he was the guy to show him why Florida State University, where Kreischer was then a student, was the country’s top party school. It was and he did, resulting in a cover story that would change his life. Stand-up comedy was a natural next step, and it turned out that his “up for anything” approach to life was good fodder for reality TV. With a “can you believe this?” tone that runs through this breezy memoir, Kreischer relates tales of booze-fueled evenings with Russian mobsters, hanging out with Will Smith (and getting a lucrative TV development deal in the process), and wrestling with a bear while feeding it marshmallows. Played a different way, these debauched tales could come off as crass or pathetic, but the author’s affability and self-deprecation only add to his charm, and the result is a genuinely hilarious look at life in the fast lane. Agent: Alyssa Reuben, Paradigm Entertainment.

May 1, 2014
Another comedian extends his brand to the printed page.Though stand-up comics once shared their material primarily in clubs, onstage, the career has gone multiplatform: social media, viral video, TV development deals, film projects and, once sufficient name recognition has been achieved, a book deal. Kreischer doesn't really have a book in him, and by his account, it's unlikely that he's read many, for pleasure at least. On his honeymoon, someone offered him a James Patterson novel, but he didn't see how that could add to the fun of the beach and the booze. (The opening line of the book is, "Bong hits are like strippers: they're best shared with a group of friends.") Some books within the expanding genre of comedian memoir help aspiring readers learn how to emulate the career progression or at least illuminate what sort of character traits are likely to lead to success. Kreischer's path was singular-while still in college (six years without graduating), he received a cold call from a Rolling Stone reporter who wanted a tour guide to partying on campus, which turned into an extended feature in the magazine on the premier party animal, which inspired the movie National Lampoon's Van Wilder, which led to comedy clubs and TV programs. Many of his stories are like many other peoples' stories-fumbling adolescent sex, frat hazing, drugs and drinking-balanced by what appears to be surprising maturity as a husband and father, though he's not above using his daughters for jokes that might make other fathers cringe: "I hope [they] will take advantage of all that college has to offer (except, obviously, for the designer drugs and virginity-saving anal sex)."The market for this sophomoric book likely consists of men who don't read many others.

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