Chris Gethard is an American comedian and talk show host. He has written jokes for an NFL player and completed a writing stint on Saturday Night Live. His HBO special, Career Suicide is presented by the one and only, Judd Apatow and it’s a funny and sobering look at depression, addiction and suicide. We put together the top five things we learned from Career Suicide:
1. Gethard’s shrink, Barb is the star of the show even though she doesn’t actually appear. Gethard describes her as a quirky woman who once got a ride home from a gig with his parents. She has told Chris that she believes that human brains are computers that are created by aliens and implanted into our brains. Think that’s strange? She’s told him this theory more than once!
2. Chris had his first depressive episode at the age of 14. It took him by surprise. But he eventually realised that most people don’t have an interior monologue like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.
3. Chris breaks down the stigma of mental illness with some clever logic. He says we never ask diabetics if they’ll come off their insulin someday or question whether cancer patients really need their chemotherapy. So why do well-meaning friends and family ask people on anti-depressants these very questions?
4. When people tell Chris that anti-depressants can thwart your creativity he cities Nirvana. He says, “I’d prefer it if Kurt Cobain was still alive and making light rock albums or even a Starbucks Christmas record!”
5. Gethard was once in a parody where he played a Japanese school girl named Urine. Enough said.
The one hour special Chris Gethard: Career Suicide premieres Saturday July 29 at 8.30pm only on Foxtel’s Comedy Channel, or to stream on Foxtel Now.
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