That Guy
A Cautionary Memoir
Business Circus. Went to Greenwich Village and started bussing bars between
2am and 6am while doing Open Mic Nites at the coffee-houses all over The Village.
Within a couple of months, I was opening for Woody Allen, Miles Davis, The
Kingston Trio, on to “Second City” in Chicago, became a Founding Member of
“The Committee” – A San Francisco attraction rivaling Second City, co-starred
or was featured in Escape from Alcatraz, Friends, Seinfeld, Trains, Planes and
Automobiles, Home Alone, Billy Madison, Breaking Bad, El Camino, Barry, etc.
Within my first year an angry roommate was holding a knife to my throat. It
turned out to be more of a “Carny” Show involving money, lots of rejections, The
Police, and rent: A cautionary tale.
I’ve had an amazing, sometimes life-threatening, and rewarding life, and I
wouldn’t trade it for a normal life even if one really existed.
Synopsis
It’s my true adventures from my Quixotic and Great/Sad/Cool barroom brawl my Graduation Day, which took me from Syracuse U with a degree in Industrial Design to my life chasing a dream I always had and never knew how to get to from Far Rockaway, Long Island, New York. But that’s what it did – to my family’s dismay and my grandfather’s blessing – I bailed into stand-up in the middle of Greenwich Village and within a year Lenny, George and Richy uncovered Critical Thinking for me, That’s when the police pulled my off stage in the middle of a Lovin’ Spoonful College crowd, which got me to look at where I belonged in all this. Second City and The Committee refined it, schooled it, and this book is what I learned, had to put on, put up with, witnessed, laughed at and with, in a lot of shows and projects (102 different shows in Holywood alone), what saw, what I learned again, took with me and made funny. Because that’s what I saw: extremely intelligent and dangerously curious Homo sapiens trying to figure it out and get along. I wish us all Good Luck.
Loved it! 😍
Larry Hankin has mastered the art of alchemy in the game of life and describes how in this entertaining book.
The Alchemy of Larry Hankins
The definition of a character actor is one who, “…specializes in portraying unique, offbeat, colorful characters…”. Larry Hankin not only portrays unique, offbeat, colorful characters he is a member in good standing of the club.
He chose the perfect book title, “That Guy: A Cautionary Memoir”. While, his face is well known to many clubgoers, moviegoers and TV fans they would probably not recognize his name. But show them a picture of Hankin and they inevitably reply, “Oh, that guy! Yeah I know that guy”. I can attest to this fact because I personally tested my friends and none recognized the name Larry Hankins but each one, no exceptions, when shown his picture, said, “Yeah, I know that guy”!
The ‘cautionary’ part of his story deals with his unsettling childhood and erratic career. Hankin’s early training was rooted in a painful, turbulent childhood in an immigrant family packed with colorful, eccentric personalities. His observational skills, grasp of the absurd, satirical bent, eccentric sense of humor and ability to improvise were essential survival tools.
Hankin rejected a conventional career as a Ford Motor industrial designer. Detroit’s loss was Greenwich Village’s gain. Working as a standup comedian and a satirist he rubbed elbows and absorbed life and career lessons from such young and upcoming performers as Lenny Bruce, Miles Davis, Robin Williams, Bob Dylan and more. He provides an insider’s look at the real people behind the famous names, such as Clint Eastwood and director John Huston. He offers funny but frightening takes on dealing with an angry college audience throwing arm rests at him, fending off a knife wielding roommate, and the continual need to adapt to the roller coaster ride of juggling a hodgepodge career. Written in his own dialect of “Hankin-ese”, this book is about the crazy, funny, sad, unconventional life of a man who astutely scrutinizes and interprets his bizarre world with honesty, insight and humor.
Alchemy is the,“art of turning base metals into gold”. Transforming an unhappy, unpromising start in life into a multi-faceted, successful, mostly happy life and career, Hankin shows that he has mastered the art of alchemy in the game of life.
Incredibly, he even makes it seem, “Easy-Peasy”.
The Loopholes Dossier - a satire
Back-in-the-day, Larry Hankin lived homeless for a year. In his new book, “The Loopholes Dossier – a satire”, Larry explores the amazing and comic ways different types of Homo sapiens not only survive, but choose how to define it.
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