It’s… Uhhh… “Thisismyboomstick!” Bruce Campbell!

As most of you probably haven’t noticed, the old book counter has ticked another notch on its journey to maximum entropy. That’s right, I have finished reading Bruce Campbell’s New York Times bestseller If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. I feel I have to explain the title of the post, and I will in my own rambling way.

I have to say that I’ve been a fan of Mr. Campbell for years. Shoot, I can’t even remember what I saw him in first, but it was probably Army of Darkness, “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.”, or The Hudsucker Proxy. They all came out in 1993. With my penchant for watching B-Grade movies I’ve probably seen him before that, but I can’t be sure. For some reason I liked him from the beginning. Maybe it was the characters he played or something, but he always seemed like an interesting kind of working stiff actor. Maybe it’s also because he is so recognizable, and I really liked Army of Darkness. That’s just my kind of camp. Anyway “This is my BOOM stick.” is a pretty famous quote by Campbell in AoD. I have a pretty well trained ability to recognize familiar people, even through sci-fi and horror makeup, but I have a hard time placing faces to names. I usually run through mental images I have of movies and scenes I remember seeing the person in until I get the name. (This happens every day as well. I’ve been through whole conversations without being able to remember someone’s name.) Some friends and I went to see the Spiderman movie, and we had heard that BC was going to have a cameo, but we didn’t know when exactly. (Isn’t it nice that a self professed B actor can get cameos. I personally think it kicks ass.) We were sitting there when the wrestling scene starts, and I recognize BC as the Ring Announcer, but my name recall missed a shift again. In my frustration I muttered the post title word for word. Add a shaking pointed finger for the real effect. Anyway. On with the book.

I’ve had this book for a couple of years, but I had never gotten around to reading it. I usually take reading in spurts, but I’m trying to work up to a continual habit. For those of you who don’t know Bruce Campbell is kind of a cult favorite actor known and loved by people around the world. Just do a search for him on Google or Wikipedia if you don’t believe me.

As far as the book, it’s like I would expect a conversation with BC to be, funny and impressive. I swear, don’t read this book at work unless you can stifle a laugh, or at least can get away with laughing. There were several parts where I had to close the book I was laughing so hard. Basically Mr. C takes you on a chronological walk through his life from boyhood to the writing of the book. You get the basic tomfoolery of children and teenage years, but you also get a look at the early life of making 8mm (Super 8) films for family and friends. Then the film making gets more complicated, and you get the idea of what happens from there. The one thing I couldn’t get over was the names of the people he grew up with and worked with at such early points in his life and career: Sam Raimi of course, the Coen brothers, Scott Speigel, John Camron, etc. I swear it’s amazing who all he has worked with, and what he’s done that I had no idea about.

I say that if you want a good laugh and an idea of what it takes to make it in the film and television industry then this is a good read. If you like Bruce Campbell, then it is a MUST read.

In case you are wondering the Automotive bodies book is for a class I’m taking right now, ME 440 Materials for Aggressive Environments. It’s a real page turner, I tell you. Plus, it’s chock full of run on sentences, and sentences that are technically not run on, but they take three breaths to say. The Steven Hawking book I have had for several years and am just getting around to reading. Since it is hard back, I don’t want to damage it. Therefore I’m leaving it at home for reading. The book from Charles Van Doren sounded interesting, but that is not the cover on my book. We’ll see what comes of them.