Baby, Don't Hurt Me

Stories and Scars from Saturday Night Live

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Pub Date 07 May 2019 | Archive Date 22 Jul 2019

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Description

You may know him as Mango, Mr. Peepers, the gibberish-spouting Suel Forrester, or one half of the head-bopping brothers in A Night at the Roxbury. Maybe you remember him as the forlorn gothic kid Azrael Abyss, Gay Hitler, or the guitarist in the "More Cowbell" sketch. Whichever it is, Chris Kattan has earned a spot in the hearts of a generation of comedy fans.

Chris Kattan has defied comparison, expectations, and sometimes gravity with his inimitable style of physical comedy. By creating some of the most memorable Saturday Night Live characters, as well as his many roles in film and television, Kattan has remained one of the most fearless and versatile comedians in the world.

Not long after Chris was labeled one of the improv group Groundlings' "must-see" performers in the company, he was cast on SNL—and within the first six weeks, Chris's film career also took off.

Now, for the first time, Kattan opens up about eight seasons on SNL, performing alongside friends and future legends including Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, and Tina Fey, and guest hosts from Charlize Theron to Tom Hanks to David Bowie. He also shares stories of his unusual childhood (involving a secluded mountain with zen monks) with Leonard Cohen and Alan Watts. Baby, Don't Hurt Me offers an unprecedented look into Chris's life, from his fascinating relationship with Lorne Michaels, a private Valentine's Day dinner with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, an unforgettable flight with Beyoncé, and even breaking his neck on live television.

Baby, Don't Hurt Me is a candid, revealing memoir from a timeless comedian and a window into the world of millennium-era SNL, from the rehearsals to the after-after parties, as narrated by your hilarious and inspiring friend—who just so happened to be there for all of it.
You may know him as Mango, Mr. Peepers, the gibberish-spouting Suel Forrester, or one half of the head-bopping brothers in A Night at the Roxbury. Maybe you remember him as the forlorn gothic kid...

A Note From the Publisher

Please note that this title is NOT available for Kindle download due to the file size.

Please note that this title is NOT available for Kindle download due to the file size.


Advance Praise

“No one appreciates a scar more than me. I always loved Chris Kattan, but this book made me love him even more.” —Amy Sedaris

“Chris Kattan is one of the greatest physical comedians I have ever seen. He would play a small animal and believe he was 20 pounds. He would play a male stripper and believe that he was an amazing dancer. He would play an old lounge act and you would think he really had been trapped in a smoky Vegas room for 50 years. I’ve always admired his commitment to his characters but also his thirst for learning about comedy. He is a real student of the craft, and he was always great to me and gave me good advice on top of ‘laugh until we are in tears’ moments on SNL. This takes me back.” —Jimmy Fallon

“I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to succeed in comedy as a performer or a writer. Chris Kattan gives a rare, detailed look behind the scenes of SNL. His stories are laugh-out-loud funny (driving Mrs. Koogle!) and very touching. He bares his heart in this riveting memoir.” —Molly Shannon

“No one appreciates a scar more than me. I always loved Chris Kattan, but this book made me love him even more.” —Amy Sedaris

“Chris Kattan is one of the greatest physical comedians I have ever...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781944648497
PRICE $24.95 (USD)
PAGES 270

Average rating from 21 members


Featured Reviews

Zipped through this fantastic memoir of SNL by one of the guys I always thought was the funniest and never failed to crack me up. What I didn’t know was that he was a great storyteller and a helluva writer. Full of stories I’d never heard about backstage at SNL(and Ive heard and read plenty of them)—and some interesting personal stories about Kagan,himself, this is a great piece of TV history. Highly recommended.

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For fans of Snl &Chris Kattan Grab this book.A behind the scenes look at his time on Snl gossipy juicy delicious stories of his life on & off SNL .Some If his stories will make you laugh the end of his friendship with Will Ferrel will make you sad.A great honest wild ride of a read.Highly recommend, #netgalley#benbellabooks,

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I enjoyed reading this book. It is a good bio book about Chris Kattan. I liked the roles he played in Saturday night live and when he acted in movies too. It was a well written book.

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Saturday Night Live has led to the success of many of its stars, but there are also tragic turns that some of their lives took. Chris Kattan was really popular for awhile and he wrote a memoir that perfectly captured the highs and extreme lows of life as a star on Saturday Night Live.

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"This is not a comedy book; it’s a book about a comedian," the author tells us right away before sharing his craziest, funniest and most painful moments on SNL with us. This makes "Baby Don't Hurt Me" a truly unique memoir: not just a collection of memories and anecdotes you come to expect from a legendary comedian, but something much more - a touching and hilarious volume you can actually learn lots of stuff from. #BabyDontHurtMe #NetGalley #MoreCowbell

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Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC. I should state right off that I have always been a huge fan of Mr. Peepers and the Mango. My favorite memory of SNL is Garth Brooks falling for the Mango. So , of course, this book was a hit with me!

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First of all, I'm going to admit that I've been a big fan of Chris Kattan ever since he first appeared on Saturday Night Live. Right from the beginning, I thought he was very funny and incredibly talented. In addition to his work on SNL, I also loved his performance in the very funny and underrated movie, A Night At The Roxbury. It's very silly, but I liked it a lot and I thought Kattan was hilarious in it.

When I heard about this autobiography, I was immediately interested in it. Even though I've liked Kattan for years, I really knew very little about him. I'd heard that he'd had some personal and professional hardships over the years, but I really didn't know any specifics, so I thought it would be interesting to read about them from Chris himself.

And I was right. There were quite a few fascinating stories shared in this book. As soon as I started reading it, I got totally wrapped up in it. Kattan had a very unique childhood that was part showbiz in Los Angeles with his father, yet part very isolated on a mountain with his mother and stepfather. His later growth into a comedic actor was also fascinating to learn about, especially his days with The Groundlings and his early years on Saturday Night Live. It was especially fun for me to read the behind-the-scenes stories of some of his classic sketches and characters from SNL.

And it certainly doesn't stop there with SNL. The book covers a lot. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone and I'm reluctant to share too much of what Chris talks about other than to say that his good times, both on and off the screen, have definitely been mixed with some very hard times that I was unaware of.

If I have any complaint about this book, I'd say that I wish it had been longer. I'm not saying that in some sort of nerdy, super-fan way, like, "Ooooooh, I LOVED it!!! I wish there were a thousand more pages to it. More Chris! More Chris!! More Chris!!!"

No.

What I'm saying is that I wish it had been longer because it seemed that some of the stories in it were actually a little too short and should have been expanded upon. For example, without giving anything too major away, there was a story about a romantic relationship of his that had ended badly. It was told in less than a page and I feel that a few more details on how it had affected him would have made it even more compelling to read about.

In the same vein, I would also liked to have learned a little bit more about some of his more recent projects since he left Saturday Night Live. But I feel like I'm sort of nit-picking there. I don't like to review things on the basis of what they do not include. That would be sort of like me giving a horrible review to a Blue Oyster Cult song because it didn't have enough cowbell in it. Only the cowbell that is actually there in the song should be reviewed, right?

My point is to say that I very much enjoyed what is here in this book. I'm very glad I read it and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about Chris Kattan.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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I enjoyed this book. I wasn't super familiar with the author but I appreciated how be took an honest approach rather than just telling funny stories. He had such an interesting life growing up. the behind the scenes bit were fun too and felt very real and grounded. It didn't come across as name dropping

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After having watched Chris Kattan on SNL and finding him to be hilarious, I was looking forward to reading this book about his life adventures and his time on SNL. It didn’t disappoint! With humor that I expect from him, as well as heart, I enjoyed this book a lot.

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