Craig Ferguson and His American Dream
The Scottish comedian, naturalized U.S. citizen, and host of The Late Late Show makes an unlikely patriot.
Craig Ferguson, host of The Late Late Show, doesn’t sound like your average American. He boasts a thick Scottish accent he takes no effort to hide.
But there’s something remarkably American about his life story, the tale of an immigrant eager to take advantage of what the U.S. has to offer.
American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot lets Ferguson tell his own story while saluting American prosperity.
“I didn’t flee a dictator or swim an ocean to be an American like some do. I just thought long and hard about it,” he writes in the preface.
Conservative readers will grit their teeth through the book’s opening pages, during which Ferguson glibly labels former Vice President Dick Cheney “evil,” falls for the “Bush is dumb” meme, and calls MSNBC‘s Keith Olbermann “mighty.”
But the memoir quickly falls back on Ferguson’s formative years. He grew up in a poor neighborhood near Glasgow, Scotland, a blighted parcel of land whose initial promise never materialized.
Ferguson’s comic gifts took time to take hold. He played the drums for a few rock bands and worked some blue-collar gigs while sorting out his career prospects.
One thing he learned at relatively young age was that he loved getting drunk.
His late teens and early to mid-20s are a blur of blackouts and binge drinking. Only when he hit rock bottom, a valley that incurred a mountain of debt and regret, did he wake up from his alcoholic slumber.
Even at his soggiest state he dreamed of coming to America., a vision enriched whenever he looked around at the religious infighting and habitual poverty of his peers.
Like a favorite Gillette commercial of yore, he longed to be “the best a man can be.” That meant becoming an American. But he had drank too much, hurt too many people, and disappointed anyone foolish enough to put their faith in him.
He eventually started a comedy career, earning some attention in his homeland playing a character called Bing Hitler before finally making a home in the U.S.
In the midst of all that he found the time to make rehab work for him, and he never looked back.
Page 1 of 2 Next ->
Christian Toto is a freelance writer and film critic for The Washington Times. His work has appeared in People magazine, MovieMaker Magazine, The Denver Post, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and Scripps Howard News Service. He also contributes movie radio commentary to three stations as well as the nationally syndicated Dennis Miller Show and runs the blog What Would Toto Watch?
 |
 |
 |
Podcasts |  PJM Home |
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
25 Comments
1. vivo:Craig Ferguson can be funny, sometimes he just wears out his audience with his incessant talk, but he seems to enjoy what he does. He can be entertaining but some of his political comments carry a grain of truth.
Sep 25, 2009 - 5:18 am 2. HonestJon:You gotta love Ferguson! He kills me with the puppets. He’s a funny, entertaining, and very strange guy. Very similar to a modern-day Monty Python.
And you have to respect ANYONE who starts his show off every night with, “It’s a great day for America, everybody.” I would like to see David Letterman (gag, spit) say something even vaguely decent like that.
regards
Sep 25, 2009 - 5:56 am 3. Bonnie_:Some friends of ours told us Craig Ferguson was terrific so we put him on the DVR list. After a week or so we took him off the list. He’s hilarious and has a great comedic talent, but like all late night comedians he kneels to the liberal left and viciously attacks conservatism.
Having worked for a battered woman’s clinic, I have no intention of enduring abuse in hopes that it will get better. I know how that turns out.
Sep 25, 2009 - 7:10 am 4. Poor Citizen:He said Bush is dumb and Cheney evil?
Is there anyone out there that didnt know that already?
America holds a special place for those that come from other countries, or, at least it used to. Good Article.
Sep 25, 2009 - 7:26 am 5. HonestJon:3. Bonnie_: I don’t think that Ferguson “viciously attacks conservatism” very frequently. If he did, I wouldn’t ever watch him. Most of his political jokes are tongue-in-cheek, as are the other jokes he tells. Furthermore, he’s not NEARLY as partisan as others, like David Letterman.
If only President Obama were to regularly say, “It’s a great day to be an American,” or, “It’s a great day for America!”
If only all immigrants to the USA were like Ferguson, this country would be better off for them. Alas, that’s not the case.
regards
Sep 25, 2009 - 8:50 am 6. Dave:I have no use for this unfunny leftist ass. Anybody who admires Olbermann has some real problems.
Sep 25, 2009 - 12:15 pm 7. Richard:Of all the late night bilge, this one offends me the least.
Sep 25, 2009 - 12:22 pm 8. Linda Mae:I championed Craig – his wit was refreshing. He was a combo of Dame Edna, Monty Python, Benny Hill, with a touch of classical class. He did a outlandish thing trying to get his citizenship one city at a time since the wait for his INS interview took so long – as it usually does. During that time, he received a video from Sarah Palin making him an honorary citizen of Alaska. He played it on air and thanked her for her action. Later, when she became the running mate he joined the smear-Sarah team. I stopped watching him in the middle of September, 2008 because I objected to his unfair treatment of Palin as a person, never mind elected official. I missed him but it seemed every time I tried to watch him again, I heard another Palin smear so I just kept the remote off and started surfing the web for news instead. I don’t think he surpassed Letterman’s record of 95 nights with Palin jokes (as of August, 2009 – bet there’s more now).
I’m glad to know he and Letterman are not “close.” One night I saw DeeDee Meyers on Craig’s show and Katie Couric on Letterman and both repeated – almost word for word – negative comments about Rush’s appearance at the conference for conservatives. Both laughed at his weight. It was too Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, Rule #5: Ridicule the speaker in order to neutralize the message for me. To hear such scripted comments was proof that there had been a plan made by the 2 women prior to their appearances on one coast and the other. Now we know Rahm calls Jim, George, Paul and a few others daily to spew his message. Sounds like others also get the message of the day.
I still love Craig’s greeting: It’s a wonderful day for America! Why can’t he see that our wonderful days are coming to an end with this administration? Oh well.
I have shown the You Tube videos of his taking his Citizenship interview and his going to be sworn in by taking his oath of allegiance to my citizenship classes. They loved it and it calmed their fear of the test.
I do miss his humor – his monologues had never been one-line jokes but always developed with a theme. Perhaps I should try again – but I can’t abide any more Palin smears. John Zeigler’s video covering the media’s mistreatment of her was eye opening. The coverage of her speech in China is still unfairly negative by the MSM. I wonder if Craig mentioned it?
Sep 25, 2009 - 10:39 pm 9. vivo:The Late Night shows are the best filter of American and World politics. The jokes are funny and truthful. Conservatives that can’t take the jokes is because they are painfully discovering their ilk are pathetic. It’s like someone telling you ‘you did something dumb’. But instead of accepting the truth, they hurt and recoil.
‘Liberals’ get laughed at too. Nobody escapes. It’s just that the idiocies of the right are so abundant.
Sep 26, 2009 - 5:19 am 10. 888:The blind fools worshipping the elitist charlatan, having now spent up to $1.4 million to hide his past and birth and not allow anyone to come near his white, Indonesian and Kenyan relatives, are the true tragic idiots in this socialist push to change America. Reality and truth escapes these fools, like they escape you, Vivo.
Sep 26, 2009 - 11:13 am 11. JAM:I was a huge Craig fan – he is a comedic genius. He has the best monologue in late night. I have come to expect the one sided nature of the medium and I am able to laugh at myself and other conservatives, however, it does become a bit tiring when it’s so one sided. I am less offended as a conservative as I am as a fan of comedy. I mean how hard is it to make fun of Obama? Yet somehow none of these guys seem to find a way. After watching Craig from the beginning, I pegged him to be somewhat libertarian/conservative, however, he has made some political comments/Obama worshiping that has made me cringe. Not that I expect anything much of late night hosts, but I have lost some respect for him after showing glimmers of equal opportunity hope. Despite proving he is smarter than the others, he seems like he has been brainwashed like the rest of them. Oh well.
Sep 26, 2009 - 4:38 pm 12. Deborah:Ferguson was much funnier BEFORE he became a US citizen. I guess he was more careful then, more polite. I have stopped watching him. His interviews with guests are some of the best in the business, but his monologues are juvenile. He CAN be gasping-for-breath funny, but now all he wants to do is spout leftist platitudes.
Sep 26, 2009 - 9:16 pm 13. vivo:10. 888:
Reality and truth escapes these fools, like they escape you, birther. Pls say hi to Elvis.
Sep 27, 2009 - 4:39 am 14. Anonymous:“The Late Night shows are the best filter of American and World politics.”
And now I understand where you get your kernels of knowledge, makes a lot of sense!! You have completely lost your mind! If there was ever one to lose in the first place!! Good luck with that!
Sep 27, 2009 - 6:42 am 15. tedders:From 2006-present, Ferguson has remembered the 9/11 anniversary, stating: “It will never again be a great day for America.” In 2009, he quoted: “Some people may be watching this show who don’t like America, so to those people who don’t like America f*** you”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdRVQ4xwwmQ&feature=channel
Sep 27, 2009 - 7:58 am 16. vivo:14. Anonymous:
“The Late Night shows are the best filter of American and World politics.”
You don’t get the jokes because you live in another dimension. To arrive at those jokes requires research and understanding of politics and the social environment.
Sep 27, 2009 - 5:33 pm 17. Anonymous:“You don’t get the jokes because you live in another dimension. To arrive at those jokes requires research and understanding of politics and the social environment.”
I have to post this one more time, because the absolute ridiculousness is completely sublime!
“To arrive at those jokes requires research and understanding of politics and the social environment.”
Research??? Understanding of politics and the social environment??? LMAO!!!!!! Research, (rolling my eyes!) too rich!! How old are you vivo? You believe what the script and screen writers guild put out as factual scientific social commentary? Maybe those writers should get together and write some of Obama’s policy, oh, … it seems they already have!! What’s your level of education? Because you sound like an MTV watching, pop culture worshipping, skateboard riding, X box playing no rent paying, living with your parents narcissistic sociopath freeloader. Hollywood writers and late night talk show hosts have a real feel for the ideals and issues of middle America? LOL, well, not so much, or, not at all, not even close my friend.
I get the jokes all too well, juvenile as they are. Whining, complaining, satirical, but never giving or suggesting viable or real workable solutions, … they miss the larger point entirely. It’s easy to complain and be entertaining, that’s why they exist, to entertain, not so much to offer solutions. Real solutions take a bit more thought than mere snappy repertoire or satirical wit. Those shows are there to entertain minimum wage earners and teenagers, they’re for 20 something year olds that have their rent paid for by their parents who do actually get up in the morning to go to work.
Your thesis that the late night talk show hosts represent the solid majority of electoral mass of the United States is folly, naive and imbecilic but completely understandable for a liberal whippersnapper ideologue such as yourself. Hope, change, hope, change, yes we can! I’d like to have seen Obama’s face during his first security briefing. It’s easy to criticize, not so easy to govern. What a learning curve Obama is faced with.
Do you really believe letterman, conan stewart or kimmel represent the American working masses?? That the Hollywood mentality is in tune with the vast majority of Americans trying to pay the rent, raise families or just try get ahead? Ferguson comes as close as anyone but you my friend are the one living in the different dimension.
What an absolute scientific and unarguable method of choice you employ, late night television hosts jokes as a scientific method of polling the US political winds!!! You are delusional! What is your liberal Arts education major in? English? Journalism? Anthropology? There’s a 12 step program in the front of the yellow pages that can help you if your committed enough.
Here’s some real advice for you vivo, you should look into Craig Ferguson’s advice in the closing of his monologue on the link below, seriously. Stupid is as stupid does (believes).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bbaRyDLMvA&feature=fvw
2010 is going to be a good year for America and the world. 2012 will be even better. Better enjoy your false confidence while you can young man, reality is coming quick and it’s going to slam you like a brick wall, … soon.
Sep 27, 2009 - 7:52 pm 18. Rork Azak:“Conservatives that can’t take the jokes is because they are painfully discovering their ilk are pathetic”(9:vivo)
Sep 27, 2009 - 8:50 pm 19. vivo:Umm, how about you learn to speak and write English.
17. Anonymous:
It’s obvious you don’t understand TV or late night jokes. Your idiotic comment about research, I didn’t mean scientific research, I meant the writers verify and interpret the consequences of the subject of the joke. Like the Palin ‘I can see Russia from my house’, that gem showed the total ignorance of her world view, she didn’t literally said it but condenses what she is like. Not many Chinese trip jokes yet, except ‘Is this Japan?’
“I get the jokes all too well, juvenile as they are. Whining, complaining, satirical, but never giving or suggesting viable or real workable solutions, … they miss the larger point entirely.”
Solutions??? They are jokes! I haven’t seen your conservative pals making a joke and giving a solution. Or maybe that’s why they are not funny.
“Your thesis that the late night talk show hosts represent the solid majority of electoral mass of the United States is folly,”
I never said that, and I know they do not represent the masses. You are a typical word twister.
“What is your liberal Arts education major in?”
How about Engineering.
Can’t wait for 2010-12 and laugh every night about your pals idiocies. Eight years of Bush showed the pathetic guy he was and is.
Sep 27, 2009 - 10:29 pm 20. vivo:18. Rork Azak:
“Umm, how about you learn to speak and write English.”
How about rewriting my sentence ‘your’ proper way?
Let me learn.
Sep 27, 2009 - 10:32 pm 21. klrtz1:Here’s a tip vivo. There’s no major called “Engineering”. There’s always a qualifier, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, etc.
If you’re a freshman or sophomore and you haven’t had to chose a major yet, maybe you wouldn’t know that.
Remember, if you cheat your way through life, you cheat yourself most of all.
Sep 28, 2009 - 4:34 am 22. vivo:21. klrtz1:
I don’t disclose certain specifics of my private life. Take it or leave it. It’s not relevant to this blog. I may omit, but I don’t lie.
Sep 28, 2009 - 5:06 am 23. Anonymous:“How about Engineering.”
What kind of engineering?
Sep 28, 2009 - 7:23 am 24. Anonymous:“How about Engineering.”
Sounds like Social Engineering
Sep 28, 2009 - 2:05 pm 25. Kristy:I LOVE Craig Ferguson! He’s smart, hilariously funny, handsome, sexy, and the quickest wit ever! There’s no one else like him on television!!!!
Oct 1, 2009 - 3:14 pm