What do you think?
Rate this book
Dig Infinity!: The Life and Art of Lord Buckley
In this first study of the man behind the myth, Oliver Trager explains Buckley's life and career and the enormous following he developed in the entertainment community as well as the reasons behind the obscurity into which the man and his work disappeared after his death in 1960.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
1 person is currently reading
45 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 9, 2023
If the last 100 years produced any entertainers that were genuinely insane, not eccentric but genuinely insane I would say it would be Tiny Tim and Lord Buckley. The stories about Buckley are so genuinely over the top it's remarkable he wasn't taken away to a sanitorium. The original outrage comedian/performance artist, he not only predates Jonathan Winters and Robin Williams' style but even gets testimonials from both of them in this book.
Buckley's life was the stuff of legend: grown up in a tough Northern California logging town, later worked as an MC at dance marathons (his rival MC was Red Skelton!), and moved his way up to speakeasies pulling Andy Kaufman-style stunts that were mentally deranged: working a gangster-heavy club and requesting their wives hand over their mink stoles and then setting them on fire (the world's worst magic trick). The only one who laughed hysterically at the stunt was club owner Al Capone, who called Buckley "the only man who can make me laugh".
The story about him following a set by Frank Sinatra by mutilating himself to keep the audience's attention has to be read to be believed, too. Buckley's comedy still sounds avant garde after all these years, he shifts so many dialects and voices, sometimes even speaking in tongues, going from fake British royalty to imitating a black railroad porter and back at lightning speed, he needs to be heard to be believed. Dig Infinity tells his tale very, very well.
Buckley's life was the stuff of legend: grown up in a tough Northern California logging town, later worked as an MC at dance marathons (his rival MC was Red Skelton!), and moved his way up to speakeasies pulling Andy Kaufman-style stunts that were mentally deranged: working a gangster-heavy club and requesting their wives hand over their mink stoles and then setting them on fire (the world's worst magic trick). The only one who laughed hysterically at the stunt was club owner Al Capone, who called Buckley "the only man who can make me laugh".
The story about him following a set by Frank Sinatra by mutilating himself to keep the audience's attention has to be read to be believed, too. Buckley's comedy still sounds avant garde after all these years, he shifts so many dialects and voices, sometimes even speaking in tongues, going from fake British royalty to imitating a black railroad porter and back at lightning speed, he needs to be heard to be believed. Dig Infinity tells his tale very, very well.
May 5, 2012
Hipsters, flipsters, and finger-poppin' daddies - you owe it to yourselves to read this bio of the quintessential beat comedian, raconteur, and stand-up philosopher. I dunno if the paperback version also comes with the cd of His High(see what I did there?)ness' live performances, but if not, it's well worth tracking down the original hardcover.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews