About this item
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Includes all-new ma-ma-material! ALL NEW CHAPTER: Baba Booey's Afghanistan Journal! and . . . the Shvoogie Buzzer story! One of pop culture's great enduring unsung heroes: Gary Dell'Abate, Howard Stern Show producer, miracle worker, professional good sport, and servant to the King of All Media, tells the story of his early years and reveals how his chaotic childhood and early obsessions prepared him for life at the center of the greatest show on earth. Baba Booey! Baba Booey! It was a slip of the tongue - that unfortunately was heard by a few million listeners - but in that split second a nickname, a persona, a rallying cry, and a phenomenon was born. Some would say it was the moment Gary Dell'Abate, the long-suffering heroic producer of The Howard Stern Show, for better or worse, finally came into his own. In They Call Me Baba Booey, Dell'Abate explains how his early life was the perfect training ground for the day-to-day chaos that comes with producing the most popular radio show on earth. Growing up on Long Island in the 1970s, the youngest of three boys born to a clinically depressed mother, Gary learned how to fend for himself when under attack. Obsessed with music, he listened with religious intensity to Casey Kasem's Top 40 every Sunday morning, compulsively bought 45s of his favorite songs, and nerdily copied the lyrics into a notebook. Music became an ordering principle to his life, even as the chaos at home got out of hand. Dell'Abate's memoir sketches the trajectory from the obsessive pop-music trivia buff to the man in the beekeeper's mask who handily defeats his opponents playing "Stump the Booey." We learn about the memorable moments in his life that taught him to endure epic bouts of humiliation and get his unique perspective on some of his favorite Stern show episodes - such as the day he nearly killed the Mets mascot while throwing out the first pitch, or the time his mother called Howard's mother and demanded an apology. Hilarious, painful, and eye-opening, it's Gary as you've never seen him before, telling a story that even Stern show insiders can't begin to imagine.
About the Author
One of the most sought after live comedians and talk show guests, Artie Lange was a member of The Howard Stern Show for almost a decade and has followed this with his current gig on The Artie Lange Show.A native of New Jersey, Lange began his career in the comedy clubs of New York City. Lange's breakout work with the popular sketch comedy group Live On Tape led to his being cast as one of the original series regulars on Fox's MADtv, on which he made his television debut.The success of Lange on MADtv led to him being cast opposite Norm MacDonald in Lange's first starring role in the MGM feature film Dirty Work. This led to a string of feature films, including supporting roles in the Dreamworks feature film Old School, starring Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Will Ferrell, as well as New Line Cinema's Elf, also starring Ferrell. He also reunited with MacDonald as a series regular on Norm (ABC) .When Norm finished its run, Lange came back to New York City and began sitting in regularly as a guest comedian on the nationally syndicated program, The Howard Stern Show. In October of 2001 he became a regular member of the show.Lange starred in, co-wrote, and produced his own feature film, Beer League, to rave reviews. Lange is also a regular guest on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Best Damn Sports Show, Period. He was also a guest roaster on Comedy Central's roasts of Hugh Hefner and William Shatner. Elsewhere on television, Lange appeared in episodes of Entourage, Rescue Me, Louie, and Californication.In 2008, Artie's first book, Too Fat to Fish, debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. The book is a collection of narrative episodes from throughout Lange's life, from his childhood to his USO trip to Afghanistan in July 2008, with a foreword written by Howard Stern. In 2009, Artie starred in his own special, Jack and Coke, with Joe Matarese. Lange continues to sell out venues across the United States performing his stand-up comedy. His second book, Crash and Burn, written with Too Fat to Fish co-author Anthony Bozza, will be published by Touchstone in October 2013.
