Digging Up Mother by Doug Stanhope [2016 Humor MP3]

Doug Stanhope is one of the most critically acclaimed and stridently unrepentant comedians of his generation. What will surprise some is that he owes so much of his dark and sometimes uncomfortably honest sense of humor to his mother, Bonnie. It was the cartoons in HER Hustler magazine issues that molded the beginnings of his comedic journey, long before he was old enough to know what to do with the actual pornography. It was Bonnie who recited Monty Python sketches with him, who introduced him to Richard Pryor at nine years old, and who rescued him from a psychologist when he brought that brand of humor to school. And it was Bonnie who took him along to all of her AA meetings, where Doug undoubtedly found inspiration for his own storytelling.

Digging Up Mother follows Doug's absurd, chaotic, and often obscene life as it intersects with that of his best friend, his biggest fan, and the love of his life: his mother, Bonnie. And it all starts with her death - one of the most memorable and amazing farewells you will ever read.

Review
"In the first chapter of Digging Up Mother, [Stanhope] describes the death of his mother in the meticulous detail of someone fascinated by all things uncomfortable and taboo. While he talked about her in a previous stand-up special, this lucid account, deadpan but too impertinent to be called clinical, is even more harrowing and funny."

―Jason Zinoman, New York Times