Maximum Fun Forum

Michael Ian Black talks about his memoir, "You're Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations", and explains why he began compulsively Googling the phrase "Fat Kevin Federline". The writer Tom Bissell recalls his path to creative success... and why that road probably doesn't exist anymore. And comedian Pete Holmes reveals the thing that really ticks him off: a bad sandwich.

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn: Michael Ian Black, Tom Bissell, Video Game Picks & Pete Holmes

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Just wanted to say that I found both of these interviews so moving that they didn't really work for doing mindless work tasks - I wanted to keep stopping to listen. So bad news for the show being light entertainment filler, but good news if it's supposed to be like This American Life, emotional and full of stuff that I might still be thinking about weeks later. I think I know Jesse's secret: he's figured out how to make his interviews turn out like powerful stories. That's certainly what Michael Ian Black's segment was like.

My girlfriend and I have been together for 5 years (I've tried calling her my partner, since girlfriend seems so slight, but everyone then assumes I'm gay.) and I've been struggling with the next step. When the interview with Michael Ian Black first aired, he put into perspective a lot of what I was feeling. I sat my girlfriend down, made her listen to it, and we talked about why I was so hesitant and afraid of getting married. Since then I've (slowly) been planning how I'll propose, and getting a ring. I've been having doubts lately (since summer started actually...) but listening to this interview again has made me refocus what I actually want. Today I plan on calling her mom to get their family ring, and figure out when to propose.

I also folded in my first ever interaction with a drive- thru ATM — not being a fattie or possessor of the bumper sticker, “My Other Car Is A Rascal Scooter”, I’d always assumed they weren’t meant for me; like handicapped parking spaces — and I then proceeded to speed away from a honking, fist-shaking yokel hovering behind me in one of them high-up cars, leaving my cash for the impatient pilot of this monster wheel pick-up to buy a new spangly trucker cap.

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rocky