Michael O'Donoghue was an original writer/performer on "Saturday Night Live," a writer/editor the "National Lampoon" magazine, and was the brains behind the early "National Lampoon Radio Hour." He was also very demented, a bit out of touch, and also very talented. He died in 1994 of a cerebral hemorrhage. He also had an intense disdain for Al Franken, which is another reason I'm drawn to his story and work. Dennis Perrin wrote a great biography on O'Donoghue called "Mr. Mike," which I would recommend to anyone who likes to write, make people laugh, or both -- or who wishes they could do both.
I've decided to post a few examples of quotes/bits of work from O'Donoghue to add some more weirdness to cyberspace:
"Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy."
"You only live once, and usually not even then."
"I dislike the name SoHo, and I dislike the person who thought up the name, though I don't know him. He must have been very pleased with himself when he thought the name up. The Factory District is south of Houston Street. Get it? I bet he wrote the Village Voice when he thought it up."
"What you really want in life you get stuck with."
"A free press is vital because slaves would be too stupid to write the news."
"The only difference between television and a lava lamp is that television has slightly better audio."
I just finished reading John Stossel's book, "Give Me A Break," and it contains some great work.
When Stossel came to UTC a few years ago, I got to meet him, and will never forget the chilling response he got from a certain expendable UTC Communication Professor. After his lecture, Stossel seemed a bit defensive upon meeting a small group of teachers and professors, but a few years hindsight has helped me understand his defensiveness. You see, the "enlightened" members of the higher education world do not like Stossel and his ilk, and I can't imagine how many stuffy and elitist college personnel Stossel had probably met by the time he visited us.
Stossel dares to talk about absolutes, simple truths, and lessons by example. Academia likes to talk, incessantly, about the REAL reason for things, but never gets around to that reason; just lets people endlessly debate. At least that's how it was in this particular class.
The professor in question took exception to almost everything Stossel said in his lecture, while I took exception to almost everything this professor said in his class that semester. It was my first real taste of big-time, professional jealousy in action. The funny part is that I've learned a lot more from watching Stossel over the years - and from this one measly book - than I ever did in this guy's class.