COMEDY COMEDY COMEDY DRAMA :: Bob Odenkirk

I've appreciated Bob Odenkirk for decades, particularly his somewhat dry charm and humor. I've also admired him for presenting, from the outside, as a kind, smart, funny family man. But he really earned my high regard when he took the Bryan Cranston path from jokester to dramatic genius: tighty whitey-wearing comedic foil Hal on Malcolm in the Middle to tighty whitey-wearing drug kingpin Walter White in Breaking Bad.  

Although Odenkirk's Saul Goodman was and is something of a comedic foil in Breaking Bad, the part was layered in drama and character, and that has only amplified within the spinoff Better Call Saul, which has provided material for electrifying dramatic performances from the entire cast.

Thus, I did the Kermit-flail when I saw Odenkirk was writing a memoir with the apt title Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama. Whether my expectations were too high or Odenkirk's admittedly stoic, mid-West "critical/skeptical" demeanor didn't translate well to the page, I admit to being somewhat disappointed. I found the tone rather tight and awkward, and at times felt Odenkirk might have been taking a humorous tone that missed the mark. I think his is a tough delivery to translate to the page. 

It also may have something to do with Odenkirk's "intention" to "identify the 'big breaks'" that set him on the right path, but also to both point to the less obvious, smaller breaks as well as his "failures." Thus the book takes on something of a toiling in the trenches mode quite often, with the added stress of Odenkirk and his wife struggling to make ends meet while raising their family. I didn't expect to laugh at every turn, or even most turns, but the writing almost felt entrenched in this painful mindset.

Of course, there are also moments of humor and beauty. Often even sad beauty, such as Odenkirk's experiences with Chris Farley. There is a ton of heart in this book and even Odenkirk paints himself as a steadfast toiler, a man who "tried just as hard at the stuff that didn't work as I did at the stuff that worked." I have high appreciation for Odenkirk as a talented sumbitch who toots the horns of others more than his own. He credits Janeane Garofolo with being the spark of the big bang that reinvented comedy and the hell of bankruptcy with softening him up. Where else do you see an award-winner crediting financial woes for some success?

I came away from Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama with an even higher level of esteem for Odenkirk. And perhaps some of the "fault" of my sense of the tone is mine, and the state of the world, and war. I will definitely revisit it, for the tale of a Hollywood great who cares more about being a nice person than fame is a rarity. Bob Odenkirk is a good man and the world needs more of those.