Control Freaked Paperback - 2000

This book defies categorization. It is an auto-biographical novel, a book about how to have fun, a cautionary tale for the sexually and socially inhibited. It is a political treatise on how to combat puritanism, a philosophical tract on the importance of humour to the human soul, a buyers' guide to outstanding porno tapes and a business book for the entertainment industry. It is the life of Mark Breslin. Beginning as the enfant terrible of Canadian comedy, Mark Breslin rose up and built an empire: the Yuk Yuk's chain of comedy clubs. He pulled Jim Carrey out of open-mic obscurity, gave dozens of other comics their big breaks and made an astounding contribution to the widely held belief that Canadians are the funniest people in the world. Along the way he learned how far some people will go for money, or for a dream; how truly puritanical North American society remains in this supposedly progressive age; how as you move closer to the top, the only thing you really get is a better view of the men pulling the strings. Written in the sort of irreverent, confessional prose style that will keep the Yuk Yuk's lawyers awake at night, Control Freaked takes us on a hilarious and shocking journey into the dark corners of the entertainment industry.