This Is Not Fame

As his legions of devoted fans (known as "termites") already know, Doug Stanhope lives in an interesting world, a "cult legend" who nonetheless commands an audience that is larger than many mainstream stars. That's because Stanhope built his career from the ground up, playing the dive-iest dives and most decrepit out-of-the-way comedy rooms you can imagine for two decades, in the process becoming a populist hero to an equally drunken fan base.

THIS IS NOT FAME is the uncensored story of how it happened, full of debauched tales from the low side of the road as related by a master comedic storyteller. In his relentless pursuit of non-fame, Stanhope has done it all, including having to hide out in Alaska from a raging state senator who was searching every bar to kick his ass for remarks made about him on the radio; scouring the frozen streets of Korea trying to procure a prostitute for a certain Fellow Comedian; taking a job doing gay phone sex just for the story (and showing up on mushrooms); being booked for a private backyard party and finding out it's for children; having Johnny Depp call and tell him he thinks he's a legend, not knowing he's standing in the rain in a Days Inn parking lot about to play a sports bar to a crowd of 65 people; pretending to be Johnny Rotten for an incompetent interviewer just so he'll stop calling; agreeing to do a stand-up gig--sober and unpaid--for the country of Iceland's worst criminals; filming his own vasectomy to boost ticket sales ahead of a tour; appearing on The Jerry Springer Show posing as a traveling salesman whose wife is leaving him for a lesbian stripper . . . and so much more (and so much worse).

This book is exactly what Stanhope's fans have been waiting for: Stanhope unleashed, holding nothing back no matter how embarrassing, immoral, sordid, or compromising it may be.

“"Yes."-- Marilyn Manson , via text when asked if he'd write a blurb”

"Doug clearly didn't want a blurb from me but that made me want to write one even more. Doug and I have nothing in common but I still consider him a friend."--Todd Barry, author of Thank You for Coming to Hattiesburg and opening act for Brendon Walsh
"Doug has done it again. Just when I thought he had peaked, I realized that that was a valley and THIS is the peak."--Judd Apatow, author of Sick in the Head
"Doug Stanhope is a true throwback. His authenticity is both hilarious and inspiring."--A.J. Hawk, Famed NFL Linebacker
"Doug Stanhope is my favorite comic. There is no one to compare him to; it all begins with the writing and this book is a great read."--Roseanne Barr, author of Roseannearchy
"Doug Stanhope is my favorite everything. Any comic can write a book, but two books? Watch out, Judy Blume!"--Dave Attell
"Doug Stanhope is the most dangerous comedian in the world. If we both were fighters I would avoid him at all costs. He's a bad, bad man."--Chris Rock, author of Rock This!
"Doug Stanhope's truth telling wakes me up faster than a Zen monk slapping the shit out of me. Pure genius."--Kelly Carlin, author of A Carlin Home Companion
"I was brunching last week with Jerry (Seinfeld) and Chris (Rock), and we were saying how it's such a shame that George Carlin and Richard Pryor aren't around to read Doug's new book."--Daniel Tosh, Entertainer, Gay Billionaire
"Stanhope is our Charles Bukowski. If that isn't good enough for you to buy his stupid book, you don't deserve to read it."--Michael Ian Black, author of Navel Gazing and You're Not Doing It Right
"Yes."--Marilyn Manson, via text when asked if he'd write a blurb

Doug Stanhope is a veteran of over twenty-five years of stand-up comedy, a stalwart of the hard-drinking, chain-smoking, literally dying breed. With a litany of dubious television credits, he has successfully dodged mainstream fame using his uncompromising brand of stand-up to build a cult-like following around the world. He's won numerous accolades, including being voted the best show of the entire Edinburgh Festival by the British press on his 2002 UK debut, and has recorded over a dozen comedy specials.

Stanhope tours extensively in North America and overseas, described by the New York Times as "an acidic blend of prickly hostility, elaborately articulated self-loathing, and righteous anger" and who Ricky Gervais says "might be the most important stand-up working today." A regular guest on the Howard Stern Show and appointed the Voice of America for Charlie Brooker's BBC TV Wipe shows, Stanhope continues to be an armchair revolutionary for the excluded, ignored, forgotten, and wasted of society, rallying them with what The Guardian calls "comedy with brains and guts and a heart."

Stanhope resides in the US border town of Bisbee, Arizona, with pets who have people names, in an absurd relationship with his gal pal Bingo.

As his legions of devoted fans (known as "termites") already know, Doug Stanhope lives in an interesting world, a "cult legend" who nonetheless commands an audience that is larger than many mainstream stars. That's because Stanhope built his career from the ground up, playing the dive-iest dives and most decrepit out-of-the-way comedy rooms you can imagine for two decades, in the process becoming a populist hero to an equally drunken fan base. THIS IS NOT FAME is the uncensored story of how it happened, full of debauched tales from the low side of the road as related by a master comedic storyteller. In his relentless pursuit of non-fame, Stanhope has done it all, including having to hide out in Alaska from a raging state senator who was searching every bar to kick his ass for remarks made about him on the radio; scouring the frozen streets of Korea trying to procure a prostitute for a certain Fellow Comedian; taking a job doing gay phone sex just for the story (and showing up on mushrooms); being booked for a private backyard party and finding out it's for children; having Johnny Depp call and tell him he thinks he's a legend, not knowing he's standing in the rain in a Days Inn parking lot about to play a sports bar to a crowd of 65 people; pretending to be Johnny Rotten for an incompetent interviewer just so he'll stop calling; agreeing to do a stand-up gig--sober and unpaid--for the country of Iceland's worst criminals; filming his own vasectomy to boost ticket sales ahead of a tour; appearing on The Jerry Springer Show posing as a traveling salesman whose wife is leaving him for a lesbian stripper . . . and so much more (and so much worse).This book is exactly what Stanhope's fans have been waiting for: Stanhope unleashed, holding nothing back no matter how embarrassing, immoral, sordid, or compromising it may be.

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