Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue [Paperback]

Dennis Perrin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 1999

Michael O'Donoghue's humor spared no one's feelings or sensitivities. He was a towering figure in American popular culture, the prime artistic force behind an entire generation of humorists and satirists. John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, P.J. O'Rourke, Buck Henry, Doug Kenney, and more were all affected by the acid wit of Mr. Mike. This book examines O'Donoghue's life and work, from his early days devising confrontational theatre and the underground comic Phoebe Zeit-Geist to an unprecedented string of pieces in National Lampoon, from O'Donoghue's breathtaking stint as the key founding writer of Saturday Night Live to his tumultuous adventures in Hollywood. Included is never-before-seen O'Donoghue material, some of it censored by editors or TV executives, made public here for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"I had a funny thought: What if Ed Sullivan were tortured? And when I say tortured what I mean is, what if steel needles, say six inches long, were plunged into Ed's eyes? I think it would go something like this...[several minutes of horrible screaming and thrashing]."

Now that the National Lampoon is virtually defunct, and Saturday Night Live has turned into just another late-night network cash cow, you can be excused for forgetting about Michael O'Donoghue. But back in the glory days of the 1970s, O'Donoghue gave both their distinctive edge of viciousness, death, and celebratory mayhem. Even though O'Donoghue died (prematurely) in 1994, his legacy in American comedy is still strong. Dennis Perrin has done a boon service by bringing this American original out of the shadows.

For the devoted fan of O'Donoghue--you're likely either one of those, or nothing--Mr. Mike is often more tantalizing than completely fulfilling. Though his life and career are described in welcome detail, the author's attempts at analysis are less sure. For example, Perrin lets O'Donoghue off much too easily when discussing the sinister elements of his work: Was his obsession with Nazis--one of his tried-and-true comic devices--anti-Semitic? What was his fascination with S&M, mutilation, and torture all about, and how much did the readers really connect with it? Was O'Donoghue a self-made artist in the right place at the right time, or did the culture around him create his distinctive double-dark worldview? Since O'Donoghue himself was highly intellectual and analytical regarding his feral art, one expects answers to these questions, but they are not forthcoming.

Gaps in analysis aside, fans of American humor owe Perrin big-time; for better or worse, O'Donoghue remains as unique and seminal as ever, and Mr. Mike goes an awfully long way towards ensuring that its subject doesn't fade into literary obscurity, at the very same time that the style of humor he created becomes more and more mainstream. --Michael Gerber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Angry comic genius Michael O'Donoghue (1940-1994) indelibly shaped National Lampoon and Saturday Night Live in their heydays. This "primer" offers an intriguing, respectful treatment by freelance journalist Perrin, who describes his subject as a "personal god to me." While Perrin suggests that a childhood bout with rheumatic fever helped O'Donoghue (born Donohue) create his alternate world, his book concentrates more on O'Donoghue's writings than on his irregular life. The author devotes unnecessary attention to ephemeral work, but his accounts of O'Donoghue's Lampoon satire (the manic home-study parody, "How to Write Good"; "Lt. Calley's Kill the Children Federation") and SNL work (the brutal "Police State"; the psycho character Mr. Mike) suggest a bite missing from most contemporary humor. In his last decade, O'Donoghue wrote unproduced screenplays and otherwise faded from view. Perrin terms him "less an influence than a trailblazer," though he sees his subject's legacy in some writers (Bruce Wagner), zine producers and even Howard Stern. While this book could use a bit more balance, it achieves the author's apparent aimAit cements the memory of a cult figure. Photos throughout.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 429 pages
• Publisher: Spike (July 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038072832X
• ISBN-13: 978-0380728329
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,086,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only all biographies were like Mr Mike., June 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Mike : The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue The Man Who Made Comedy Dangerous (Hardcover)

Michael O'Donoghue's influence on contemporary comedy is analagous to the Velvet Underground's influence on alternative music. Only a hip minority appreciated O'Donoghue during his lifetime, but a lot of them went on to become stand-up comics, screenwriters, journalists, etc. Perrin does a marvelous job describing O'Donoghue's odyssey from obscurity in Rochester in the fifties to the undergound epicenter of The Evergreen Review and then the National Lampoon. In 1975, O'Donoghue won an Emmy as one of the founding writer/producers of Saturday Night Live. Through SNL, O'Donoghue unleashed a savage yet strangely lyric brand of satire on television audiences. Sadly O'Donoghue was never able to bring this remarkable talent into film despite penning several dark, but tantalizing screen projects that remain unproduced. Perrin's book is not only written with the same sharp wit and intelligence of its subject, but it is also rigorously researched. While Perrin makes a strong argument for O'Donoghue's achievements and brillance, he is not blind to his subject's mood swings and self-destructive career moves. Last but not least, the book is extremely well edited. For a change, photos and illustrations co-exist with the text not as a cheap five page insert of randomly selected pics. Ah, if only all bios were this user friendly, fun and illuminating. Perrin has made me love Mr. Mike all over again and reminded us that satire means never having to say "that's not funny, that's sick."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It would sound something like this., February 5, 2009

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Neil The Unreel (MD) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mr. Mike : The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue The Man Who Made Comedy Dangerous (Hardcover)

Most biograhpies have a tendency to be boring. This has some pages that drag on, but with such an interesting person they can be overlooked.
Saturday Night Live and National Lampoon both owe their status in the world of humor to this man. He was not well-liked among his peers and is not someone you want to share a drink with in a bar, but that is what makes him one of the great underrated comedy writers of the 20th century.
There was little humor in his personal life, but that never stopped him from being funny.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines., February 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Mike : The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue The Man Who Made Comedy Dangerous (Hardcover)

Reading this book reminded me why I used to watch Saturday Night Live. It sent me to the video store to search (vainly) for Michael O'Donoghue skits among the "Best Of..." compilations. I guess there are still a lot of folks who just don't get it. But those who do, will enjoy this book. And if enough folks start looking for O'Donoghue's works, maybe someone will notice. Now I'm going to go look for Phoebe Zeit-Geist.