Chapter 5: The King of H!jnx

After Mitch is attacked while hosting an alt-comedy open-mic night at his newly acquired sanctuary in Lipstick City, the Velveteria, he  begins practicing the new martial art of Comido Defendu under the tutelage of Sensei Judah Friedlander.Endnotes:Whitney Cummings, I’m Fine… and Other Lies, (New York, Penguin Randomhouse, 2017), p. 55. Capsule Review:  More self-help journey than showbiz bio, very little about her career, more about struggles with body image, anorexia, breast implants, migraines, costochondritis, exploding-head syndrome (audio hallucinations), therapy, and adopting pit bulls, specifically Billy, who almost bit her ear off. Good example of the therapy-by-proxy FCA sub genre.  Slack Score: -6; Snark Score: 3.3 Overall FCA ranking #206Judah Friedlander, How to Beat up Anybody; An Instructional and Inspirational Karate Book by the World Champion, (New York, Harper Collins, 2010) p. 113. Capsule Review: Ostensible martial arts manual with highly questionable claims involving levitation, "sizing," fighting Bigfoot, etc. Notable that the author went from being the "World Champion" of Karate to being one of many secondary teachers of Comidu Defendu in the San Fernando Valley. Slack Score: 11.5; Snark Score 14.2; Overall FCA ranking #221Sebastian Maniscalco, Stay Hungry, (New York, Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster, 2018) p.289 Capsule Summary: Paint-by-numbers FCA with relatively low-trauma origin element; upper-middle-class to marrying rich to getting more rich by telling uninteresting family stories in an over-the-top energized manner. Slack Score: 13; Snark Score: -4; Overall FCA ranking #312unstoppablefarce.com #comedy #standup #speculativefiction #speculativememoir #neilhamburger #longmontpotioncastle #elephantgraveyard #judahfriedlander #comidodefendu.