I've slipped behind in telling you things I've done lately. Last Sunday evening, I spent one of the best evenings I've spent in a show in a long time, seeing a presentation of Celebrity Autobiography here in Los Angeles. Well actually, it was in Santa Monica — in a new and beautiful theater complex called the Broad Stage where I hope to see many more shows.
Celebrity Autobiography is a new show that's sweeping the nation. The folks who do it do it all over…and they're even taking it to England. It consists of celebrities reading from the autobiographies of other celebrities. In most cases, the readers are comedians or comic actors. In most cases, the celebs whose books are read are pretentious folks…in some cases being their most pretentious to think that anyone would plunk down money to read the stories of their lives. Needless to say, the excerpts are chosen for their outrageousness and the whole thing is very funny. How funny is it? I think I laughed as much as I've laughed in any show I've ever seen. The whole audience laughed a lot more than the audience you'll see in this piece from Nightline, which explains about the franchise…
That was shot at a New York presentation. The show is all over and you can see if and when it'll be near you at the Celebrity Autobiography website…where you can also see other clips and a list of who-all has been in it. It's a pretty impressive roster.
I was invited to the show last Sunday evening by Laraine Newman, who joined a cast that included Fred Willard, Kathy Nijimy, Rita Wilson, Tate Donovan, Michael Urie, Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel. It would be hard to tell you who was the funniest as they read from the works of Joan Lunden, Mr. T, Suzanne Somers, Diana Ross, Ivana Trump, Kenny Loggins, Britney Spears, Tommy Lee, Tiger Woods, Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Fisher, Burt Reynolds, Debbie Reynolds, Loni Anderson and others. Some of these folks (the readers, I mean) may be coming to a venue near you. If they do, go. I really had a great time.