A Bad Idea I'm About to Do: True Tales of Seriously Poor Judgment and Stunningly Awkward Adventure

by Chris Gethard

Chris Gethard has often found himself in awkward situations most people, including you, probably would have safely avoided. The good news is now, thanks to this book, you can enjoy the painfully funny consequences of his unfortunate decisions at a safe distance.

A Bad Idea I'm About to Do invites readers to join Chris as he navigates an adolescence and adulthood mired in hilariously ill-fated nerdom, and to take comfort in the fact that - as his experiences often prove - things could always be much, much worse.

Genres: Humor, Memoir, Nonfiction, Comedy, Essays, Biography, Biography Memoir

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

PHOTO CREDIT: Zac X Wolf

Chris Gethard is an actor, comedian, and writer, who most recently starred in Comedy Central’s series Big Lake. Longtime performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, he lives in Queens, New York.

Reviews

[Chasity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was honestly one of the best books that told the story of ‘my life’. It was truly enjoyable .The experience is Chris went through in his life are so unbelievable and funny. He seriously chose some bad ideas and got himself into some crazy situations. I found myself laughing at some of the things he did or what happened to him. Other things like his problems with anxiety and panic attacks. I could relate to. I went through my many years of suffering at the hands of my out of control, anxiety. So I can really understand and feel for him.

Chris's life definitely wasn't a boring one, and neither is this book. You really don't know what to expect next. In this book his life isn't like any other I've ever read about the stories were just so insanely intriguing and funny and out of this world. Insane things happened to him starting at a very young age and he chose decisions that most of us would avoid at all costs.

I loved reading this outrageous biography and I would love to see you show as well. I wasn't familiar with Kris until this book and I can say I am a fan now. This book was definitely a great comic relief life story! I would highly recommend it, and I give it five stars!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book after seeing the author on Jimmy Fallon and finding him absolutely hilarious. Pretty quickly on I had buyer's remorse. I even tried to return it to Amazon, only to find out I was one day past the return date. So I decided I might as well go ahead and finish reading it since I wasn't going to get my money back.

The book isn't as awful as the two atar rating would imply, but I can't bring myself to say I "liked" the book. In all fairness, some of the stories were absolutely hilarious. (The story of Kenneth the female goat was the best and had me crying tears of laughter, and the colonic adventure was pretty good, too.)

However, once you realize the author is Bipolar and most of his "adventures" are a product of some really bad unmedicated manic episodes, things become a whole lot less funny. It's not wacky, comedic hijinks were dealing with here, and I just can't bring myself to laugh light-heartedly at it all like the author seems to want us to.

I'm glad the author seems to have arrived at a good, stable, successful place in his life, and I hope he continues to succeed.

[vizwrtsic · Rating 5 out of 5]

today I ate fish for the second time in my entire life and power-read this book in six and a half hours. the entire time in a state of like manic shock and joy. I have never read like that for any other book, ever. I'm now obsessed with the word 'diarrhea' as a verb. I think what it comes down to is this: chris gethard is like a colonic for all of your manic depressive/self-loathing amused self-reflection- like if you're the kind of person who kind of considers herself a huge loser right now, but can still laugh about it, this book will will feel like crawling naked into a warm man-sized burrito of understanding and comfort. loser is the new nerd. feel better. feel like you could drive across america alone. keep fighting and you'll be okay. diarrhea onto the hands of a stranger.

[Nancy Martira · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection will not be for everyone, but if you come from a place like New Jersey, and a neighborhood where entire families live down the block from each other; if your family's preferred method of communication is yelling and occasionally flames; if you are willing and able to recount for your friends the story of each and every time you shit your pants as an adult; if you love a story about hitting bottom and surrendering for help; this book is for you. I sincerely enjoyed how often Gethard admits to crying (about once every 10 pages.) I wish the closing essay were a little stronger.

[Kaylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I was reading this book, I kept trying to decide how I felt about this comedy writer/comedian. I just couldn't put my finger on it! Then I read the essay about his short time living in California while working on a television show. His Mexican friends came up with the nickname, "Little Bitch." That's exactly what this guy is: a little bitch. There were some funny parts, but I found it to be mostly a whole lot of whining. I mean, this guy was constantly crying and on the phone with his mom. Hats off to the guy for admitting to shitting his pants, though. That's awesome.

[Alex Firer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book whose highs are so much more than its more middling portions, Gethard writes with such absolute honesty and star nakedness that it sets itself apart from all the carefully manicured memoirs that double as lectures from people who just kind of happened to find success. This one pretends to be nothing but itself. I kind of wish it went over his comedy career and decisions about doing the Chris Gethard show more, but what's here is good and I hope for a sequel soon.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book of nonfiction autobiographical short stories that I couldn't put down. The first brief story in the introduction had me laughing out loud on the train and I didn't stop from there. I'm a slow reader and I read it in less than a week, meaning I spent an ungodly amount of time reading. Gethard writes conversationally, the way a friend might tell you a story at the end of a long night of hanging out, where the conversations get deeper and deeper as you run out of more shallow things to discuss. These stories all seem to be from the deep end of his story pool. Not because of the events, but because of the way Gethard discusses his feelings and reflections upon these moments. Sometimes the honesty of these things verges on unadvisable, and are therefore that much more real and entertaining.

His sad and dark humor seems to come from a place of trying desperately to be positive in the face of life's many depressing and awkward events, situations, and characters. This description is similar to one I heard recently from a friend of mine about David Foster Wallace. For those of you who know how I feel about Wallace's nonfiction, you know for me to make this comparison is high praise from me, and I don't give it lightly. The writing is very different stylistically, but the place it comes from must be similar.

A great read for a laugh or a moment of reflection, or for some strange wisdom from one of the most thoughtful and introspective people I've ever had the pleasure to know. Congrats to Chris on a great one.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this wondering if people would care about this book and/or enjoy it if they didn't know who Chris Gethard was. (He's an Upright Citizens Brigade star) At times - like when he volunteered to visit a nearby prison as part of his school's "scared straight" program, or when he drove to a neighboring school in the middle of the night to threaten an Internet bully in person - it didn't matter. I was laughing my ass off. The stories stood on their own. BUT THEN, when I had to read about his colonic and his bowels, his "herpes" scare, and how awesome it was to get beaten up in Jiu-Jitsu class, I figured you had to be a real FAN to hang in. And, I'm guessing, most of his DUDE readers will find that stuff supremely amusing. I did not.

I enjoyed that he exposed his vulnerability - especially when talking about his mental illness - but maybe next time he will expose a little less of his penis on the page.

This review has been written by my 80-year-old grandma.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most excellent book, guys. I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard while reading but it wasn't at Bossypants or Mindy Kaling's recent book. The Chris Gethard Show, shown on NYC public access TV (but can also be seen online), is also something that needs to be checked out by those who get hard over original comedy. Pete and Pete of Adventures of Pete and Pete were on it recently! You're joking, you say! Cringe mucho over the highly realistic awkward and manic (and with that - depressing) Gethard essays. But you'll discover that this is exactly what you yearn for in a comedian's memoirs.

[Jenni V. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not funny.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one. And while there are some funny moments, I was disappointed by the storytelling. Sigh.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and relatable

[Lydia.walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gethard’s A Bad Idea I’m About To Do is a collection of stories chronicling awkward stories of poor judgment, my favorite of which entitled ‘My Father is not the Kindly Mustachioed Man He Seems’ is the story of a group of teenage miscreants repeated attacking of the new front door of Gethard’s father’s house. In Fletcher’s What A Writer Needs, the idea of creating a character references the tools a writer can use to allow the reader visualization and thorough understanding of a character. Gethard does this consistently in his stories. One of my favorite examples is the discussion of his own inability to be a “little” mad. He explains that for him, emotion generally equates to anger and tends to be controlled like the effect of a light switch, he is fine or he is out of control. He references his friends having come to terms with his “outbursts of uncalled for emotion.” All of this is to create an understanding of the role his father played in the creation of his person. We meet his father, a tall and slightly awkward mustachioed man who loves baking, gardening, and his wife. He provides us with a physical description coupled with stories of his father’s gentle behaviors and actions, and the connection between the two seems unclear. Then, following a few nights of having his brand new aluminum door kicked in, we learn of him (the father) building a lair on his porch of old blankets and couch cushions from which to hide and retaliate against the vandals. That first night, they don’t come back. He gives up the fight and goes back to sleeping in his bed, and they kick the door in again. He then explains he will be sleeping in his “rage nest” until he can prove a point to the destructive teens. Which he does, in full delightful detail. Gethard’s character creation allows you to see his Dad, by including his own voice from inside of the rage tent and along the chase and near arrest to be there with him that night. As a reader, the character development allows you a better understanding both of the events within the story as well as the role that the father played in the creation of the author/rager, Chris Gethard. As a teacher of writing, I could ask that my students first develop a character and allow themselves the opportunity to visualize what that character might do, rather than asking them to "write a story." However, I would probably use another text as my example. This one is a great read for those of us who find joy in use of four letter words.

[Byron · Rating 3 out of 5]

You see more and more of these books by stand-ups, comedy writers and what have you, in which they write about what it's like having grown up "mental," or with serious substance abuse problems or both. I've reviewed at least three or four of them here, if not five or eight of them. Chris Gethard, who wrote for some obscure New Jersey magazine for years and wrote at least one other book, might be the best pure writer of the bunch, but he might also have the least interesting story. I feel like I could almost write my state attorney general, complain that nothing here rises to the level of "seriously poor judgment" and get my money back, if I could get him to read it, or if the state just has an obscure discretionary fund for that sort of thing. Otherwise, this is pretty solid for what it is.

[Roadhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Druggies, misfits, alcoholics, and social outcasts have great stories. This book, by a social outcast, is about all the wrong decisions that he has made in life so far and they are entertaining to read. If you find the following excerpts from the book enticing, you will want to read the book.

"Doing diarrhea onto another person's hands.."

and

"My goat's name is Jeffry Timmons, World's Foremost Goat"

[Lauren orso · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're from the same placed, went to the same school, both lived across the street from TaTas AND went to the same gay men's health clinic in New York! IT'S KISMET.


But, I never considered TaTa being sad before, and then that made ME sad, so in the spirit of irrational internet reviews, I am removing a single spited star.

[Gabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The early stories about his family and growing up are funnier than some of the later ones. The early ones were good enough to make me crack up on the bus and look like an insane person, so I have to give it a 4th star for that.

[Ben Dugas · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few memoirs I've read that actually reminded me of my late teens and early twenties. Not all of it but mainly the part about driving down the highway with the 3D cardboard Inspector Gadget display - that part was great.

[laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

dear chris gethard i'm sorry it took me almost a year to finish your book because it was great and you are a fav comedian of mine but a) i lost it for about six months (my bad) and b) well.. i got lazy (also my bad). brb rewatching episodes of the chris gethard show to make up for this atrocity.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the whitest thing I've ever read. Entertaining in spots, but not that funny, and at no time does he really exercise SERIOUSLY poor judgment. The whole affair is rather tame, unremarkable, and milquetoast.

[Meghan-Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awkward tales of a guy from Northern New Jersey; I've laughed out loud a couple of times so far.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very funny.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Gethard is an insane story-teller. Very funny if you like dry, nerdy, self-deprecating humor. I really enjoyed it.

[Lisa P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughed out loud.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Definitely does not live up to it's blurbs. Over and over he tells us he's got these crazy stories but they never materialize. Sad and boring.

[Nate Dern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Gethard is a hilarious storyteller with a unique perspective on life that comes through in each of his stories. If you like the funny and painfully awkward, read this book.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first came across Chris Gethard earlier this year when I heard his comedy special Career Suicide. It was a painful, humorous, and heart-warming depiction of his depression that resonated so strongly with me that at various points I was close to tears.
I knew this book would be different (which is perhaps why I waited a while before reading it), and even though it didn't move me in the same way, it was still a truly enjoyable read. I don't think I've ever been able to truly explain my social awkwardness and anxiety to people who doesn't experience those things. In future I may just get them to read the chapters in this book about the author's early dating experiences. He encapsulates perfectly the helplessness of always been trapped inside your own thoughts, and being paralysed by possibility.
Not all of the anecdotes are brilliant, and maybe you need to be a certain type of person to really get the most from it, but this a really good read and I challenge anybody to not laugh out loud while reading it. I recommend doing so on a busy train. It's more awkward that way.

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last book I've finished in 2018. A great way to end the year!

[Shawn Ly’s Book Notes & Quotes · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Suddenly, a rage known only to those with Irish blood raised by a melodramatic mother in a neighborhood full of self-hating Catholics burst within me.”

[J.J. Lair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the reviews of this funny memoir. I never heard of this guy, but the reviews said I would like this. The reviews I read have a different definition of funny than I do. The wrestling part was amusing, but it didn't rise to funny.
The book was some boring old memories from a writer I don't know.