Randy! Part 2: Q+A With Randy!
A Slackjaw Comedy Exclusive, from Author Mike Sacks
Slackjaw is tickled to present Part 2 of this comedy exclusive, from the mind of writer Mike Sacks (Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, The New Yorker, The New York Times, McSweeney’s).
(Find Part 1: An Exclusive Sneak Peak of Randy! here)
Randy! is a self-published memoir of a man from Maryland found by Mike Sacks at a garage sale and is being re-published “as is.” Randy is a thirty-something who sells his family farm and commissions an out-of-work local author, named Noah B., to write and type his memoir.
“This book is fucking awesome. It’s my life’s story. I’m thirty-four but look twenty-one. Maybe twenty-two at the most. I live in Maryland. Please read it. I’m a writer, a songwriter, an artist. I do it all. I’m an artist of life. I’m an adventurer, I’m the president of my development. Read the memoir. You won’t be disappointed.” — Randy S.
In part 2, we bring you an exclusive Q+A session with the man himself, Randy S.!
Enjoy the Q+A, then pick up Randy!’s amazing memoir!
Randy, you commissioned an author to write your life story when you were just 34, which is pretty young. Winston Churchill didn’t write his first autobiography until 36. What made you want you story written so early in life?
Ive been writing since I was ten. I never stopped. I have a need to create and I’ve always had it. I don’t know why. Ive written hundreds of songs and poems and stories and I just can’t stop. it was always a dream of mine to write my own story, my own autobiography. I thought it would be easier if I hired someone to do it. that’s why I hired Noah. he was a not successful writer and I put an ad in the Washington city paper and he answered it. I told him if he wrote my story then he could live in my townhouse (its really big) and that id pay him, which id id. I never o back on my word. this s the book. then mike Sachs found the book for some reason at a garage sale and bought it and loved it and wanted to publish it with his own press which is cool that’s what happendd. I’ve lived a kick assed life and I wanted people to know about it.
Your book is being (re-released) by comedy writer Mike Sacks, and much of the pre-release hype is touting the book as humorous. Do you see your story as a funny one?
not at all. theres nothing funny about being misunderstood you’re whole life. that’s what happens to me. but theres definitely some humor in there. like when I pulled out a dead rabbit at a magic show in middle school. thats sill funny as shit to me
You apparently wrote (or came up with) some of the material for this book in an American Girl Doll store. You say your best writing happens there. Any idea why?
oh yeah. its the best place in the world to write but only during school hours. after that, forget it. way too fucking crowded. but the food is good and the people are nice and I get way more worker done there than I would at a fucking starshits or something. I love it there. now there was a problem and they didn’t want me hanging there without a kid. fuck em. I bought a doll and had the ACLU help me get back in. it worked.
You mention in your book that you’ve written and recorded over 200 songs, available to purchase by mailing a check for $1.99 per song to your P.O. Box in Poolesville, Maryland. Most independent artists in the 21st century put their music on Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, etc. Why do you insist on a mailed check? Has anyone bought your music?
are you fucking kidding me? thousands have bought it. I’ve had my music played at club secrets in oc Maryland, at bars, and once in a hotel lobby that I played on a boombox. I insisted on mailed checks so I know who buys my music and I have their address and I can send them updates about me. its a smart marketing move and I don’t know why more people and artists don’t do this
You’ve applied for many patents, such as a patent on an eye patch with a Metallica logo. Have any of your patents gone through?
A ton but I can’t talk about tit. one of the things Im really excited about it a water park in poolesville Maryland. theres nothing like it around. you can aread about it here and you can contribute to it with money. all the info is here. check it. ffucking awesome:
http://www.ragineffininsanity.com
You call yourself an artist: a songwriter, a regular writer, a poet, an inventor, an artist of life. In some ways, you put even Leonardo DaVinci to shame. Do you ever find it overwhelming to have so many working mediums?
I don’t cause I m lucky enough to have a. lot of free time to spend on my artistic outlets. I’m not overly familiar with da vinci but I’m a Odeon day version of a rensaicne man
You hate zoos but love animals, and you once owned a pet capybara for one day. You say it died because you fed it too many jelly beans. Where’d you get the capybara, and why feed it candy?
a friend of mine is really into exotic animals. he once brought him an alligator from Florida. his name is Brandon fizterald. he’s awesome. he finds me all of the animals, whatever I request. I really fucking want a Chinese panda from the dc zoo. I’m working on that. would love to train him to stand on chairs and shit. that would be cool.
Now that your book is done and being re-released professionally, what’s next for you, Randy?
so many projects. I have inventions. I just invented a white noise machine that will play club noises. I just wrote a play about Dennis Rodman going to South Korean. Noah is still living with me. were working on another memoir. this one concentrating on my early years. hoping to sell some ideas to Hollywood. I have an idea about goat astronauts but they talk. I want to write a children’s book with a talking toaster named poppers. I have a lot of fun ideas planned. only time will tell. the world can’t hold back the dandy randy!!!!!!
Randy! comes out September 11, 2018. Order it at Amazon.
Mike Sacks is also the author of Stinker Lets Loose and Poking A Dead Frog: Conversations With Today’s Top Comedy Writers, among many others.
Learn more about Mike Sacks at his website, and follow him on Twitter.
