Dimensions
155 x 227 x 21mm
Darryl Hammond has written a harrowing account of his life, from the physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his parents (he would, for instance, attempt to make his mother laugh to keep her from hitting him), to a spiritual valley of alcoholism and self-mutilation, psychiatric hospitalizations and misdiagnoses, and finally--of course--to the peak of fame and success as the longest-tenured cast member of Saturday Night Live. Darryl Hammond delves into the darkest corners of his life both in front of and behind the camera with brutal honesty and a fierce comic wit. Rare is the comic who can be expelled, in a straight jacket, from the SNL studio, and live to write about it.
On the back of his hilarious dead-on impressions of Bill Clinton (whom he roasted in person at the WHite House Correspondent's dinner), Dick Cheney (ditto), Chris Matthews, and a hundred other prominent figures, Hammond was invited to the inner sanctums of the country's political leaders, including three presidents, all the while suffering debilitating and largely undiagnosed anguish that resulted in horrifying flashbacks, shocking benders, a hair-raising stint in a Bahamian jail, and ultimately a long, dark night in a Harlem crack house. His long fight for sobriety, filled with heartbreaking relapses, was propelled by a desire to do right by his young daughter and to set the record straight about how he fell so low while achieving such heights. Throughout, Hammond dishes on fellow cast members and celebrity guest hosts, and lays bare the real inner workings of an iconic television show.
