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MIKE SACKS IS FUCKING WITH US

Mike Sacks is, first and foremost, our friend. He recently wrote an oral history of Over the Edge for our

Mike Sacks is, first and foremost, our friend. He recently wrote an

oral history of Over the Edge

for our

Film Issue

. Beyond that he's an editor and writer for

Vanity Fair

who published his first book not so long ago, titled

And Here's the Kicker

. The book contains interviews with 20 of the funniest writers around, including Bob Odenkirk of

Mr. Show

, Robert Smigel, Irv Brecher (Marx Brothers), and George Meyer of

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The Simpsons

, and also one interview with David Sedaris. We sat down with Mike Sacks at a coffee house in the East Village of New York to talk about midgets, amusement parks, woofin' coughs, as well as aliens who have strange allergies. Please note that the Kindle version, just released, contains a bonus 200 pages of new material, including four interviews not found in the book. We spoke with Sacks about his hilarious new book, and, in celebration of this illustrious interview, we're holding a contest: The best three photos of readers posing nude with their favorite books will win a signed copy of

And Here's the Kicker

! Please note that anyone posing with anything by J.K. Rowling will be immediately disqualified. Email the goods

here

with the subject line I LIKE TO READ.

Vice: How long did it take you to write this book? Mike Sacks:

From start to finish, a solid two years. I interviewed about 40 writers, and 21 of them made the final cut.

Who was the worst person to interview?

Man, should I really get into that? Is it worth it? Um, there was a writer for a TV show from the 1950s, by the name of Samuel Sarkin. The show was called something like

CBS Presents: The Amazing Comedy Hour

. I'm forgetting because I didn't really do too much research on this guy. A friend of his lived down the hallway from my friend, and I got his number and just called.

What was wrong with him?

He screamed at me for a full five minutes or so and then called me a "Sling-a-Ding."

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That sounds rude. But what does that mean?

I have no idea. He also wanted to show me his surgery scars, which he did, but while we were speaking on the phone. He showed the scars to the phone.

Who was the most interesting person you talked with?

A writer for a TV show in the 80s called

Welcome to the Gunn House

. It was only on a few times, I think in '85 or '86, but it was very influential for the writers who were coming up then. The show was about a midget who lived in the woods outside an amusement park. And the midget built an entire world in those woods. Every once in a while, he'd climb through the fence into the amusement park and would get into very strange and funny adventures. It was a crazy show—

You're making this up!

I am, yes. Or am I? I spoke with the creator of the show, Matt Horan. He hasn't done much since then, but I wanted to find out exactly how the show got on the air to begin with! I mean, how would that happen? It wouldn't happen today. Matt's a real interesting guy. He was in the Army for years and years, was basically kicked out because he kept getting into fights. He always wanted to get into some sort of creative endeavor. He was a painter for awhile; he would only paint naked women on rooftops. One of them was the daughter of the guy who invented the fax machine. Strange guy.

Did you come across any other interesting characters for the book?

Oh, yeah. A ton. There's a writer now living in Phoenix who worked on a sketch show for a little-known Canadian cable station. The show was called

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Peter, Peter!

It was about a group of characters who lived in a Toronto apartment house where there were no doors. Each week they had a different theme: one week it would be "sex," the next week "drugs." And each of the sketches would revolved around these themes. But the producer for the show had a son who wanted to get into show biz real bad and he insisted that this guy, this idiotic kid, play a character in at least a few sketches each week. The kid could never remember his lines and would mumble and fumble. One time, in a sketch about an armless Amish farmer, the kid threw up. It may be on Youtube.

Where did you write the book?

At home.

And where is that?

Poolesville, Maryland. But I also wrote some of it on a skiff that I own. I sailed from Maryland to the Bahamas and back.

Did you learn anything over the course of writing the book?

John Rymer, a writer for a little-seen movie called

Hamburger University

, which starred a young Ken Hipwell, told me something really interesting. When he was just starting out as a writer, he created an animated show called

The Woofin' Coughs

. The show was terrible, but he ended up working with another comedy writer, who's also now famous, Timothy Morrow. Tim later went on to create the web series

Mr. Skattered Pants

and wrote the amazingly funny film

Tomatoes Ain't a Fruit

. Anyway, Tim told Ken that the most important thing to remember in show business is to never work with anyone taller than you are. Isn't that strange? But I guess it worked for him.

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I heard that you were nearly arrested recently.

I'd rather not talk about that, honestly.

What are your favorite comedies? Do you have any?

Wow. Um, I love so many. Have you seen

Welcome to the 'Hood

on the Sci-Fi network? I love the premise of that show: that aliens have invaded a small town in America but they're allergic to wheat and organic products.

This is a show? I never heard of it.

It's great. It's a really funny take on the whole "green" movement.

Any more?

A lot of great new TV shows. Um,

Surviving My Dinner

is great.

The Glam' Fam

on the cooking channel is pretty hilarious.

Hooter Church

,

God's Little Stinkers

,

Axe Me No Questions: Lumberjack Court

, and I really like

Bob and His Raisin Babies

. As far as literature, I really like a new book by a young writer named Juliette Griffin. The book is called

On the Grove

. It's about a family of talking rabbits who decide to hit the road and perform stand-up. They get booed off the stage at the Apollo. It's very sad. But funny, too. And I really like the new novel by Rod Tinsley that takes place in 2015. The premise is that there are no more offices, so everyone just has to work outdoors, usually in a field or in a skateboarding park. Nothing gets done, but everyone has a nice tan. It's a terrific story. It's called

None of This was True

.

Thanks for your time.

Thank you.