Stories of when things go wrong. Really wrong. When you leave the normal realm of human error, fumble, mishap, and mistake and enter the territory of really huge breakdowns. Fiascos. Things go so awry that normal social order collapses.
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Arthur Jones for This American Life
An updated version of a classic episode, including one of the most popular stories we've ever aired, about a police officer and a squirrel. Plus a story by Mike Birbiglia.
Prologue
Jack Hitt tells the story of a small town production of Peter Pan in which the flying apparatus smacks the actors into the furniture, and Captain Hook's hook flies off his arm and hits an old woman in the stomach. By the end of the evening, firemen have arrived and all the normal boundaries between audience and actors have completely dissolved. (6 minutes)
Opening Night
Jack Hitt's Peter Pan story continues. Jack is the co-host of the podcast “Uncivil”. (18 minutes)
Squirrel Cop
The first day on the job inevitably means mistakes, mishaps, and sometimes, fiascos. A true story, told by a former rookie cop. (13 minutes)
Tragedy Minus Comedy Equals Time
Comedian Mike Birbiglia talks about the time he ruined a cancer charity event, by giving the worst performance of his life. Here's a hint: He improvised. About cancer. (10 minutes)
Fiascos As A Force For Good
Journalist Margy Rochlin on her first big assignment to do a celebrity interview. It was 1982. The interviewee was Moon Unit Zappa, who'd just released "Valley Girl" with her father Frank. She'd only been interviewed once. Midway through the interview: fiasco! Margy chokes on some coffee, which pumps out of her nose. Moon's mother administers the Heimlich Maneuver. And after that, everyone's so relaxed that Margy gets an interview that becomes her first syndicated article and a big scoop for her paper. When a fiasco destroys social boundaries, it can bring people together. (7 minutes)
Related
Act Three: Chicken Diva
Act Two: Striptease
Act Two: Hotline Bleak
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