Personal History
My Audience with the Pope
I thought that the e-mailed invitation was spam. “Nice try, Russia,” I said to my laptop screen. But the Pope really did want to meet with comics and humorists.
My Mother, the Gambler
For a long time, I didn’t know that what my mother was doing—playing the so-called Italian lottery—was illegal. She certainly didn’t look like a criminal.
The Last Rave
In the summer of 2020, I felt as if I’d entered the wrong portal, out of the world I knew and into its bizarro twin.
Notes on a Last-Minute Safari
We saw every animal that was in “The Lion King” and then some. They were just there, like ants at a picnic, except that they were elephants and giraffes and zebras.
The Detroit Pistons Were My Father’s Second Family
Jack McCloskey built a championship team that was both loved and loathed. I only began to appreciate who he was years later.
