Kindle Edition Amazon Official Website Category:  Humor Publisher: Tenth Street Press ISBN-10:  0648480275 Type: Fiction Copyright: December 10, 2019 ISBN-13: 9780648480273 Price: $2.99 (eBook) Do Not Feed The Clown is not a political diatribe suggesting we starve all clowns, since they are depleting our food supply. Nor is it a book full of paint-by-the-number clown jokes from 1953 (sorry to disappoint). Instead, it is a box full of satirical delights and irreverent parodies. Consisting of 34 short works, it highlights the absurdities of our socio-political climate, tackles the mayhem of our news cycle, and highlights the inconsistencies of our cultural norms. This is a countercultural book, a bit of a challenge to the system, but in a lighthearted way and in the tradition of the court jester. The author, Matt Nagin, had his work banned from Funny or Die, which, let's face it, is all the more reason for you to read this book!

Something Undeniably Funny And Inconceivably Different
Comedy is a very subjective concept. What one person finds funny another might not. Any person who says any particular thing isn’t funny, is wrong. This is because someone will find it funny. Even if just one person laughs. Then it’s funny. It’s not an argument. It’s a fact.

If all 8 billion people in the world don’t laugh, then I guess it’s not funny, but if one does, then that person found it funny. What you get with Matt Nagin‘s new book Do Not Feed The Clown is something undeniably funny and inconceivably different. A collection of 34 short comedic pieces. Some of them even come off a pitches for films or TV shows, podcasts even.

I’ve been lucky to have known Matt Nagin for several years now. Matt, or Nagin, as many of his friends call him, is the son of a sharecropper and Alastor, God of family feuds… Okay that isn’t true, but he has written some great comedic material over the years. In addition to being an actor and comedian, Matt is promoting his second foray into comedic writings and stories since, Butterflies Lost Within The Crooked Moonlight which is available on Amazon was first released way back. The Tables of Contents for his new book, “Do Not Feed The Clown,” reads like a book on “How To Not Make Friends and Not Influence People.” With titles like “Go Fund My Extraterrestrial Law Suit,” “A Brief Guide To Hell” and “Confessions Of A Wayward Santa” and a few dozen other great concepts, Matt Nagin truly covers a lot of funny.

For me, the funniest of the 34 original pieces was “A Brief Guide To Hell.” Hell is a ubiquitous concept in comedy. One of my favorites. There is so much one can draw from. Hell can literally be anything. This piece reads as if one were arriving in hell for their first day and getting the down low from possibly Satan himself or in my mind, Burt Reynolds.

With talk of millions of hate letters that arrive in hell every day, each point of reference in the piece is really just an excuse to remind the person who has arrived in hell that they are doomed and to remind the reader that they are also doomed. Noted. Whats funnier than “doom”? Here, Hell is a place of fire where cigarettes are banned because they are a fire hazard and Amy Schumer’s “The Leather Special” is the only entertainment.

A second piece by Nagin that stands out in this collection is “Glorious Casting Notices.” After a despondent but honest explanation of the level of degradation actors endure to get even the lowliest of parts, Matt lists a litany of actor types that could be requested in a casting notice, but unlikely to be able to be met. Several of which were Paraplegic Soldier, Wounded Mute Freak and Monkey Boy among another dozen or so. Matt’s mind is truly warped, and just what we need in these trying times. He has a knack for playing with concepts anyone can identify with but goes in a direction no other mind would dare.

I think you catch my drift. Matt’s mind is a quandary and one could only ponder how his dendrites and synapses create the ideas they do and how he gets from point A to point Z. Again, you really ought to check out Matt Nagin. You can start at MattNagin.com, @MNagin on Twitter or peruse his writings on https://www.humortimes.com and a link to this review is there. Do Not Feed The Clown is available on Amazon. --DB Frick

Do Not Feed The Clown
Nagin's short essays mix Frank Zappa, Lewis J. Carrolll, and Monty Python together with a post-beatnik wacky introspection. An automatic attitude adjuster for those who wish to use comedy to feel good and relieved of woes.--Ferris Butler

Romance today, like the sea, is a chemical-ridden, genetically-modified cesspool likely to poison you to death.
Synopsis: Do Not Feed The Clown is a box full of 34 satirical and parodical short works, focused on the absurdities of the socio-political climate, the mayhem of the news cycle and inconsistencies of Western cultural norms. This is a countercultural book, seeking to challenge the system in a lighthearted way following the tradition of the court jester.

First things first, you absolutely need to be okay with dark humour to enjoy this book. As long as you remember not to take this seriously, you’ll be fine! I certainly raised my eyebrows many times, and had to remind myself that Nagin doesn’t mean everything he says, especially as most segment are written from the perspective of either a parody of a famous figure or an imaginary person. ‘Do Not Feed the Clown’ uses sardonic humour to jostle socially acceptable boundaries and raises some pretty interesting points, especially about social justice warriors, virtue signalling and the possibility of being over-sensitised to matters of racism and discrimination. Much like how the court jester could sling verbal barbs at whoever they please – even the powerful – no group is safe from Nagin’s brand of sarcastic wit.

One of my favourite segments was the very tongue-in-cheek ‘Gay Conversion Therapy 2.0’ chapter – not what it sounds like – which hilariously details an action plan towards ‘going gay for Jesus’ rather than the old turning-off-homosexuality that characterises ‘traditional’ gay conversion therapy. It also plays off stereotypes of gay men as effeminate and flamboyant to great comedic effect – I think this was likely intentional (especially considering the context of the chapter) and aims to highlight how these caricatures fail to capture the nuance of sexuality and expression.

Religion cannot eradicate human urges. That said, if devout Christians wants [sic] to “reform” homosexuals, they would have way more success aiming for a middle ground. An alternative campaign that might succeed (or, at least, not fail so spectacularly) is titled Go Gay For Jesus! …Jesus died for our sins — died so that if you wish you can go gay for him — love him wholeheartedly — making him your lord and savior. Never lose sight of all this sexy hunk has done for us. Amen!
It was SO. HARD. Not to cackle out loud as I was reading on the train!
This was actually the first satirical humour book I’ve ever read, as my brand of humour doesn’t usually veer quite so dark – unless we’re talking about death. I did enjoy it, but I think it requires a greater and personal understanding of the US socio-political climate to really have full comedic impact. (I’ve never even visited the USA!) There were a few typos but they had a negligible effect on the book as a whole.
Overall…

…a quick and hilarious read serving as a spicy introduction to the satirical comedy genre. Nagin has also written some acclaimed poetry, which I’ll definitely check out too.

Thanks to Tenth Street Press for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review! -- Paper Plane Nomad