david taus

Village Idiot Hates Yo Mama

music: John Coltrane- The Prestige Sessions, d.16

There was this guy I knew marginally in college named Kent. We gave each other the noncommital nod as we walked past each other on the Main Green. We played pool at the GCB every now and then. He was something of a campus character, as in everyone knew who he was and that he was completely rediculous but didn’t know him really. And by all measures he was completely rediculous. Kent used to publish his own newspaper called The Kent and illegally distribute it at the dining hall and post office. He used to arrange for and announce events featuring himself. He used to hold contests whose prize was a date with Kent. He slid his way to the front of commencement ceremonies one year (feigning a physical handicap I think) and proceeded to whip out a bullhorn and make a speech to all assembled for such a solemn and dignified event about how he was having a graduation party or something. He was carted off by school police for that one. Kent was by all rights “that guy,” somewhat of a villiage idiot on campus. He was a fringe acquaintance of mine, probably of a lot of people, and after he and I left college I all but forgot about the delightful slice of irreverence he brought to campus. I knew he’d moved to NYC and still was in touch with my buddy Jordan, I’d heard something about trying to make it onto Saturday Night Live, and stand-up comedy, and this-and-that.

Today I found out that Kent has written a book, a full-length book, and to my complete shock it’s been published by Random House. The topic: Yo Mama. Apparently Kent has successfully written and published an entire book that makes fun, busts on, and denigrates Yo Mama. What we at Brown knew is now for the world to read: Kent Roberts’ A Portrait of Yo Mama as a Young Man. Apparently Kent is also working on a solo show and writing for the Onion. Not too shabby for the villiage idiot.

What was so striking to me is that Kent was more often than not written off as a crackpot in college. He was followed with a roll of the eyes and a There-He-Goes-Again. But Kent kept going, and it’s clear now that the irreverence and wierdness were part of a larger scheme for him, a carefully crafted master plan, all those little stunts really resume builders and rehearsal. Kent has actually made a career out of it. Most people at school didn’t think of him as much more than a novelty, Kent was earnest and serious about his performances the whole time. It paid off; now he’s getting paid to pull the same crap on a much larger scale. And good for him. We all have to do something with our time. If anything I’m glad that he didn’t buckle under pressure to conform and didn’t give in to the need for a steady paycheck at a traditional job. And no matter how many people misunderstood his humor and wrote him off, Kent continued to pursue his dream. He’s now making it happen. And it’s not just him; I’m hearing about a bunch of people I knew in college making a name for themselves out there. This article in the New York Times not only is written by someone I knew in college but it also features Jordan and my roommate Evan. Wildness. Maybe one day soon we will all be able to read about my friends’ successes in a real newspaper like The Kent.