Sunday, December 18, 2016

Amy Schumer's Auto-bio "The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo" Too Much Info

"The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo" is Amy Schumer's auto-biography.  In it she shares everything (well how would I know that?) & anything about her childhood, family, sex life, comic personna, introvert personna (huh?) and did I mention sex life.  Schumer's writing is self-deprecatingly hilarious especially her footnotes of her own earlier journal entries.  Her writing has a comic timing you don't see coming which is LOL (don't you hate that?)  It seems Amy gives us a full disclosure, full dose dossier of her life from infancy (yep) through adolescence, parental relationships, boyfriends & sexual relationships and her penchant for the spotlight & making people laugh.  There are serious, somber reflections on sexual abuse, self-doubt & sensible gun controls.   Her pontificating on finding your inner strength is palpable mixed with her dry wit & wisdom.  "Know what it is to depend completely on yourself in life." "What's wrong with being alone anyway?  Being alone is sometimes a great place to be but people are always trying to correct this problem for you."  Amy's upbringing was unique (whose isn't?)  But really, her mother made a lot of mistakes by sharing way too much information & being too permissive rather than being a responsible parent.  (Perhaps, Amy gets her sharing of TMI from her mom.)  Amy's father's alcoholism & degenerative muscular disease are an open book.  Again, more shit than I needed to know.  However, whenever 2 sisters are as close as Amy & her sister, there was something unerring in the home.  And, Amy's outlook on life is resplendent. "Life is full of pain & disappointment.  I've made a whole career out of pointing this out and reliving it in ridiculous ways so everyone can laugh and cry along with me."  Amy's never ending lust for the comic hustle under the spotlight is surprisingly at odds with her inner introvert core.  (Is this part of her ultimate hustle at being funny?)  Amy grasps that making people laugh allows her to dismantle power structures (albeit to her advantage.)   Schumer does what comediennes do best, they push boundaries allowing us more space to examine the ludicrousness in life with humor & a sense of kindred-ship.  Schumer's "…Lower Back Tattoo" has too much intimate info but this is what makes it the most entertaining & rewarding autobiography I've read by a comic.  "Sitting & writing & talking to no one is how I wish I could spend the better part of everyday."  Schumer's on-stage talents are rooted in her embracing of the mundane to the insane.  HEY LADY!

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