| The work-experience section of Tommy Campbell’s resumé must certainly dominate the document. Restaurant chef, travel agent, phone solicitor, movie grip, pizza delivery boy, cartoon voice-over artist, oil company promotions rep, courier and bartender are some – but not all – of the positions he has held.
It’s astounding that, at 24 years of age, the stand-up comic and former Calgarian has already dabbled in more professions than most people attempt in a lifetime. Additionally surprising is the number of odd characters and wild misadventures he has encountered while on the job.
Now Campbell has added "author" to his list, recounting his bizarre work-world odyssey in The Slacker Confessions: True Comical Stories From a Decade of Day Jobs. In his book you’ll read about his week in a travel agency, where, on his first day, he was conned into buying birthday lunch for a boss with serious delusions of grandeur. You’ll find some rather unsettling accounts of what can go wrong in a restaurant kitchen and why you should never assume that there are actually clams in your clam chowder. You’ll also learn how an adulterous relationship between notable people in your community can mean a colossal tip if you’re the pizza guy who knocks on the door of their den of sin.
Having enough stories for a book was not a problem for Campbell, a self-described magnet for odd occurrences.
"I am just the sort of person things happen to," he says in a telephone interview from Toronto. "Weird things happen to me all the time, whether it’s being mugged by prostitutes or something else. I am the kind of person who walks down the street and finds a $100 bill or walks down another street and gets hit in the back of the head with a pipe."
Bringing his worlds together, Campbell used his evening comedy performances to help select the material to be included in The Slacker Confessions.
"Pretty much every story in the book was tested out in front of people at some club in North America," he says. "I knew the book would work, but I just wanted to reassure myself that people were interested in the subject matter and situations."
Apart from a tale at the front of the book about Campbell’s exploits doing telephone surveys, his confessions read in chronological order. One gets to follow Campbell’s evolution from a green 14-year-old working his first days in a pizza restaurant to a wise-ass bartender who can dupe an obnoxious corporate shark into believing he’s the greatest drinker of all time.
Near the end of this riotous collection of tales of debauchery, revenge and teenage employees with way too much time on their hands comes an unexpected account of Campbell’s days as a volunteer at Nino’s Restaurant in New York. Just weeks after the Word Trade Center towers fell, Campbell served up free meals to Big Apple cops and rescue workers dealing with the tragic aftermath of September 11.
While this New York anecdote abruptly changes the tone of the book, switching from anti-establishment blasts to a celebration of everyday heroes, it is undoubtedly an inclusion that Campbell wanted to make. The account reminds the reader that even a smirking, jaded loafer can be profoundly affected by tragedy. It is in these pages of The Slacker Confessions that Campbell puts the completing touches on the sort of everyman appeal the book aspires to and achieves.
The Slacker Confessions is published by Hidden Book Press and can be obtained through the Web site www.slackerconfessions.com. |
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