Book #181: The Chris Farley Show by Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby.

 

The Chris Farley Show

by Tom Farley Jr. 
and Tanner Colby

 Released: May 6th, 2008

My 47th book for 2026 was Tom Farley Jr., and Tanner Colby’s The Chris Farley Show.

I wonder if it would see more or less appropriate to write this under the influence of something...  Not because I want to play on someone's addictions, but I almost feel Farley would have wanted it that way.

This book follows the life of Chris Farley.  It begins in his younger years, and go up through his upbringing in Wisconsin, successes in comedy, his years developing at Second City, and his breakout success on Saturday Night Live, and a short-lived movie career.  The book concludes with his tragic death and the aftermath of those closest to him.

Chris Farley is an interesting character in the world of comedy.  As a kid, I always knew about him, but never knew he died.  He always reminded me of a cruder John Candy.  He had a role in many big films and TV series and really made his mark in such a short amount of time.  The funny part too is his characters were memorable.  Let alone his performances on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990's, his moments as: 

- The Alice Cooper security guard in Wayne's World (His debut role).

- Milton in Wayne's World 2 ("I hate my father.  I hate my life.  But I feel great man.  I FEEL GREAT!  I'm gonna go pick a fight!").

- His role as an officer in the LAPD where he gets confronted by a clubber with nipple rings.  The clubber rips off his police badge and ask what he's gonna do about it ("Improvise!").

- The barfly who got his "nose bit off by a Saigon whore" in Dirty Work.

It's so hard to believe that Chris only appeared in 10 films in his life.  It feels like that number should be higher.  At least he made it count.  almost 3 of those films are ones I rewatch every year.

I loved his work on Saturday Night Live.  He fit right in with legends such as Adam Sandler, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Tim Meadows, and many more.  Farley was his own brand of comedy.  Something forever sealed to a time period over 30 years ago.  It's a wonder to think about what he would be like had he survived to today.  After reading this book, there was never a chance of him making it to an elderly age.  He sought the live of SNL alum John Belushi, whose life was cut tragically short in an almost identical scenario to Farley's.

This book reads out almost like a script.  It just ping-pongs around to pieces from different interviews about his life at different points in time.

I never knew Chris was super religious.  This book opened my eyes to his faith.  I think he sought refuge in God because he knew he was unable to control his behavior.  It's funny because between Chris Farley, Vince Lombardi, and Tony Dungy, there's an incredible faith in some powerful men.  It really shows through into their character.  I don't think Chris was some bad guy.  I think he lived life to the fullest and, due to hereditary issues, excessively.  

I have seen the sketches from his hosting at SNL, and wow...he looked rough.  It's a wonder he didn't die right there.  Especially that biking skit.  I always thought the strangest evolution of Chris Farley is how he goes from a stocky football/wrestling jock type to a sort of Sweaty Meatball.  If you watch his career, his hair gets messier and more slicked back.  He really let himself go.  The saddest part is his final known words "Don't leave me".  This man never intended to cross over that early.  He had to know just how far he could take it and see what his hero John Belushi truly experienced transcending from life to death.

Here is what I learned:

—————

•  

• For my brother, whom I love and miss; my dad, who gave us all he had to give; my kids, Mary Kate, Emma, and Tommy, the most inspiring, funny, caring, and wonderful kids anyone could have; and most important, my wife and deepest friend, Laura, whom I love with all my heart.  For Gus, a great writer of stories and chapter books.

• Nothing you can make that can't be made, No one you can save that can't be saved, Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time. It's easy. All you need is love.  - JOHN LENNON/PAUL McCARTNEY

• Chris Farley once had a friend stop the car so he could 10 Hail Marys and an Our Father.

• Tommy Boy was Farley’s first starring role.

• Chris came up through plays in Summer Camp and Chicago’s Second City before going on to SNL and later movies.

• His SNL Best Of DVD sold over 1 million copies.

• Farley gave a sober motivational speech at Hazelden drug rehabilitation facility in Center City, Minnesota.

• His friend Patrick gave him his first drink at 17.

• Chris went to college at Marquette University.

• “Every drug that I tried, I couldn’t wait to try more.”

• Farley wanted to be like John Belushi in every way, even if it meant dying of a drug overdose as well.

• Chris briefly worked for his dad.

• Farley joined Second City in Chicago and was threatened to be kicked off for excessive partying.

• Chris would smoke marijuana before going to work.

• He once drank a pint of Bacardi in front of his director, and started stirring his words, so he was sent home for the day.

• He once got booed for his intoxicated performance at Second City the summer after his first year at SNL.

• His parents put him into a detox for Christmas that year.

• Chris would carry clean urine with him.

• Farley went to work in California and ended up in rehab there too.

• He later went to Fellowship New York for their halfway house program there.

• Donald Stephen Farley was his father.

• He was an executive at the A&P Supermarket in Philadelphia.

• He lost everything in the Great Depression.

• Donald was originally from Madison, WI.

• They started a company called Farley Oil selling asphalt.

• Tom Farley was Chris’ brother.

• He attended Georgetown University.

• Tom was president of the Young Republicans club.

• He was a frequent dinner guest of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

• Tom met Mary Anne Crosby his senior year and married her.

• Mary attended Marymount College.

• Donald suffered 2 heart attacks.

• Chris Crosby Farley was born February 15th, 1964 at 3:34p.

• Chris was 8lb 15oz.

• Maple Bluff was a great neighborhood.

• They attended mass regularly as a family.

• There father was very Catholic.

• Chris was very superstitious.

• Red Arrow Camp was established in 1922.

• It was a resident 7-week camp.

• Every year, camp would do a play or skit.

• Chris once sang “Hound Dog” dressed as Miss Piggy.

• Room 217 was the Detention Hall.

• Madison is sports-crazy.

• Chris used to pee in glassware because he wasn’t ready to get up.

• Farley played nose guard.

• Chris was expelled for exposing himself to a girl in school.

• He was sent to a private boarding school La Lumiere in LaPorte, IN.

• He was insecure about his weight.

• Farley changed from the business studies program to pursuing acting and comedy.

• The Avalanche in Milwaukee had a naked slide tradition that Chris used to partake in frequently.

• He lived with his Rugby pals in a beat up house on 19th called the Red House.

• Farley often struggled to get dates.

• “Wired” a book about John Belushi was the only book Chris read in college.

• It helped push his addictions as he began drinking alone.

• The first place Chris and Pat Finn ever performed was Wimpy’s Hunt Club.

• One time, Chris and his friends blew off the school’s Follies Talent Show, only to get a call to get back there because over a thousand people were there to watch him perform.

• Chris once lit a cherry bomb that set a girl’s house on fire.

• He got a “dangerous use of explosives” charge and had to perform 30 hours of community service.

• Chris would read copies of Mad Magazine and Cracked Magazine.

• He we back to work for his dad, because his father never believed he would make it in comedy.

• The Onion was created by students at the University of Wisconsin.

• Chris found a spot at the Ark Improvisational Theater in Madison, WI.

• Dennis and Elaine Kern founded the Ark Improvisational Theater in 1982.

• They would stage weekly shows at the local bar Club de Wash.

• Joan Cusack was an Ark alumni.

• Her performed for a company called Animal Crackers.

• When it came to work, Chris was always very serious about it.

• The Motivational Speaker was based on high school coach Joel Maturi.

• He lived in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood.

• Chris studied at ImprovOlympic in Chicago.

• The met Joel Murray at Second City who gave them some advice.

• "Go find Charna Halpern and Del Close at the Improv-Olympic and study with them, and then see if somebody'll let you paint the bathroom at Second City?"

• ImprovOlympics performed at a bar named Orphans on Lincoln Avenue.

• Chris angrily fought for his chance on stage.

• Tom Meadows toured with Second City and would occasionally do a show for ImprovOlympics.

• Chris was an amazing processor of information.

• Contrary to public perception, Chris was in incredible shape.

• He once passed out checking ID’s as a bouncer after being served too much Grey Goose.

• Chris auditioned for Second City in January 1989.

• “Murray Brothers’ Tea” is a big thing of psilocybin mushroom tea.

• Farley broke his foot and the last preview before opening night.

• Ian Gomez replaced Farley for 8 weeks.

• Chris used to tell people he only had one character: the fat loud guy.”

• Farley would say the “N-word” in a skit with Tim Meadows that called for it.  As intended, it would silence the audience.

• Tim Meadows would call the Chicago bar Burton Place “Satan’s Den” for its association with heavier drug use.

• He had a habit of licking and touching everything.  Doors, his wallet, picture,  money, shoelaces.

• Tim Meadows stopped going to church when he got to Chicago despite being raised religious.

• He lived to a good character moral code despite his addictions.

• He never took money for a charity event.

• He would often ask friar Matt Foley about his addictions and how he suffered from them.

• He was signed by Brillstein-Grey’s Marc Gurvitz in Spring 1990.

• March 24, 1990, Chris was flown to New York to meet with Lorne Michaels about SNL.

• His most famous character Motivational Speaker Matt Foley was based on his pastor.

• “When you’re from the Midwest, you don’t really ask for the spotlight.  You just have your Sunday Packers game and that’s about as exciting as it gets.”

• “Chris has borne the accusation of trying too hard to follow in Belushi’s footsteps—an accusation with varying shades of truth.”

• Chris lived on 7th Ave just north of Times Square.

• He frequented Carnegie Deli, Malachy’s Church on West 49th St, and Irish Pub The Fiddler’s Green.

• David Spade is from Arizona.

• He formed a strong friendship with David Spade, Adam Sandler, and Rob Schneider.

• Chris once lost $160 of his brother’s money playing 3-Card Monte in NYC.

• Chris, George Wendy, and Robert Smigel did stand up at a Bear’s halftime show in the 1991 playoffs.

• Chris started dating Lorne’s assistant Erin Maroney.

• He moved to Riverside Drive on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

• Chris went back to rehab after slicing his arm in Chicago.

• “You can be critical inside the home, but don’t ever bring it out in the street.”

• Tom Arnold has been sober since December 10th, 1989.

• Chris once hid Heroin in the SNL office.

• Chris was suspended on SNL for his intoxication.

• He moved into an apartment in the Upper East Side.  It was the same building Dana Carvey lived in.

• The next year, he moved to a new apartment on 17th Street.

• Chris did a lot of charity work through his church St Malachy’s.

• A lot of it was not revealed until after his death.

• “People always asked me what kind of guy Chris Farley was, and I say “Go and see Tommy Boy.”  That’s Chris Farley.” - Tom Gannon.

• Chris’ film debut was in Wayne’s World

• Wayne’s World made $121 million at the box office.

• He had part in other films such as Coneheads, Wayne’s World 2, and Airheads.

• Chris’ first lead in a movie was Tommy Boy.

• Chris was jealous of Rob Lowe.

• SNL ratings were crazily spiked by Wayne’s World.

• The cast convinced Chris that he had a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, before revealing the joke.

• Chris dated Lorri Bagley.

• Chris was a good golfer.

• Tommy Boy released March 31st, 1995.

• Due to his Paramount contract, Chris had to give up parts in Kingpin and The Cable Guy.

• Penelope Spheeris directed Black Sheep for the money.

• Chris and David Spade’s friendship became strained during the filming of Black Sheep.

• Spade is a control freak.

• If you had to break down the Farley brothers, John is Chevy Chase, Kevin is Dan Aykroyd, Chris is John Belushi, and Tommy is Garrett Morris.

• The Hancock building in Chicago is where the Jerry Springer Show was filmed.

• Jim Carrey is, by all accounts, a pretty uncomfortable guy out in the world.

• Chevy Chase once gave him the riot act once.

• "Look, you're not John Belushi.  And when you overdose or kill yourself, you will not have the same acclaim that John did.  You don't have the record of accomplishment that he had.  And you don't have the same cultural status that he had.  You haven't had the chance to get that far, and you're already screwing yourself up."

• "I've experienced this.  I've seen who dies.  I've seen how far you think you can go, what you can take and what you can't.  You're just going to end up being an overweight guy who could fall on his stomach and had once ore two funny things in his career, but nothing that's ever really stood out.  You'll be a blip in the New York Times obituaries page, and that'll be it.  Is that what you want?"

• Chris Farley was the original voice of Shrek.

• He once relapsed and ran off to Hawaii with prostitutes.

• The woman he was with before he died robbed him.

• His last known words were “Don’t leave me.”

—————

Overall, very interesting piece on a tragic star.  Chris Farley will forever be remembered as a legend in the comedy world, and this book serves as lasting tribute to the memory of a man conquered by his addictions on his rise to fame.  I might be biased in this subject material, but do feel this helps push more light on addiction and how it can be worked on by those who need additional support.

Highly Recommended.

On to Book #182: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

-----

Need to catch up?  See previous blog post: Back To The Future III.