Soul of the Machine

Comedian and TV host Bert Kreischer takes to the printed page with “Life of the Party: Stories of a Perpetual Man-Child”

By Michael Shashoua / Jester editor-in-chief

“Life of the Party: Stories of a Perpetual Man-Child,” by Bert Kreischer, available May 27, is a breezy collection of crazy stories of misspent youth as a six-plus-year college student in Florida, Russian exchange program misadventures, and eventually, gaining some maturity as a husband and father.

Although Kreischer is an accomplished stand-up comedian, there isn’t much of that in this book, other than some tales of the stunts he’s performed on a few of his Travel Channel series and related show business misadventures. The most notable of these is his account of meeting Will Smith around 2000 when the movie star was interested in giving Kreischer a sitcom development deal. Kreischer had all kinds of crazy fears about Smith and his entourage being interested in a gay encounter and nothing more, which proved unfounded.

Highlights of “Life of the Party” include some of Kreischer’s stories of his time in Russia, during which his hard-partying ways endeared him to some low-level Russian mobsters, and accounts of hanging out or jockeying for spots on stand-up bills with Billy Gardell and Patrice O’Neal. There are however, a handful of bits in the book that don’t seem to have a focused purpose, like one story of an encounter with a pop star while Kreischer was in the hospital with his young daughter, who was being treated for a dental injury. It seemed a bit more like a name drop rather than a profound tale.

Nonetheless, Kreischer, even in book form, certainly displays a dynamic and entertaining personality, and “Party” is a fun one to enjoy.